Need2LearnChinese Blog

Originally called Zhongdian, Shangri-La was renamed in 2001 in a effort to boost tourism. A gateway for travelers into Tibet, the cobblestone-lined old town offers a charming look into local life, which is as close as you can get to experiencing Tibet without actually being there.

A mere four-hour drive from Lijiang and six from Dali, Shangri-La is an excellent hub, conveniently located near attractions like the Songzanlin Monastery, Tiger Leaping Gorge, Pudacuo National Park, Napa Lake, Xiagei Hot Springs and Haba Village. 

Despite the rustic, mountain-town atmosphere, Shangri-La has a number of cafes, bars and hotels that cater to foreign visitors, offering mixtures of local and Western food and simple or extravagant amenities.

History

Archaeological evidence dates human existence in this area back to the Western Zhou Dynasty (1050 - 771 BC). For hundreds of years the area was home to several tribes. During the Han Dynasty (206BC - 220AD) Shangri-La finally made contact with Central China. Today, the town is more Tibetan than Han Chinese with Tibetan architecture, customs and most of the 130,000 population who celebrate New Year according to the Tibetan calendar. As tourism continues to increase, Shangri-La will continue to develop at a rapid rate.

Climate

Shangri-La is about 3,300 meters above the sea level. The weather has a tendency to be humid with temperatures varying both at night and during the four seasons. Winters are cold with lots of snow and summers are the rainy season. The best seasons to go are spring and autumn, specifically May to July and September to October. Although visits during Spring Festival are not recommend as temperatures are generally quite low and indoor heating is still somewhat hard to find in Shangri-La.

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Qingdao has long been famed as a city of leisure and ease. Even its most famous product, Tsingtao beer, fits into this image and has boosted the coastal city's fame around the world. But what makes Qingdao a historical and cultural city is its architecture.

Qingdao, in Shandong Province, retains many buildings with a combination of German and Chinese elements in the city center.

Combine this with some German demographic roots and a large Korean population, and you have an atmosphere special to Qingdao.

The old city was essentially built by Germans during the colonial era.

This area of the city retains many buildings that were designed by Germans.

Every year many Germans still go to Qingdao to see the well-preserved German influence in the city.

Architecture can be considered a part of culture as buildings are living reminders of historical events.

Thus the German buildings in Qingdao are a gift, in a way, to world history and culture.

Zhanqiao Pier is an obvious destination for travelers as it is the symbol of the city. It will also help people understand the changes in Qingdao's fortunes during the past 100 years.

The 440-meter-long Zhanqiao Pier is in Qingdao Bay and connects with Zhongshan Road. The views from here contrast sharply with the towering modern buildings looking down upon the former German Concession with its church peaks and parks, the red clay tiles interrupted only by dark green pines.

During the full-tide season, tourists and locals gather together collecting seashells and enjoying the charming beach view. With the ebbing of the tide people can appreciate the brown reefs and yellowish sand.

Continue reading "East and West charm mix in leisurely city" »

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Anyone who’s been trawling through the China-related web this week will surely have stumbled across the ‘Nine Nations of China’ map that surfaced on Atlantic Monthly. Patrick Chovanec, from Tsinghua University, posted his map amidst the inescapable excitement of Obama’s visit to China, reminding the US President that China is "a mosaic of several distinct regions, each with its own resources, dynamics, and historical character."

The regions Chovanec feels China could be divided into:

• The Frontier, made up of Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang and Tibet represented the mysterious desert-filled and mountainous bulk China’s land, inhabited by only 6% of its population.
• South of that lies the Shangri-La region of Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, a so-called paradise on earth consisting of kaleidoscopic forests, diverse ethnicities and, sadly, a front-door for illicit drugs, as it borders Burma’s Golden Triangle.
• China's Back Door, meanwhile, holds on to Hong Kong, Macau, Guangdong, and Hainan for its lush jungles and economic successes
• ... whilst the neatly tucked-away Refuge on Sichuan, Chongqing remains an area with little investment but substantial brain drain.
• The Crossroads, covering Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hunan, remain China’s transport and communications hub, neighbored by
• The Straits of Fujian and Taiwan.
• Up along the eastern coast is the likely Metropolis of Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, followed by...
• The Yellow Land, or China’s political heart (Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong, Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi),
• And finally, the elusive northeastern wilderness of Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang. A.k.a. The Rust Belt.

Continue reading "China: Nine nations in one?" »

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In celebration of the last weekend of the annual Qingdao International Beer Festival, Shanghaiist presents a list of beer and non-beer related facts about Qingdao:

• After Jiaozhou Bay was ceded to the Germans in May 1897, the small fishing village of Qingdao turned into the military hub of the German Navy. The city became the naval nerve center of all German operations in the Pacific ocean. It was the Germans, homesick and in great need of beer, who constructed and opened the hallmark Tsingtao Brewery in 1903.
  
• In the antebellum period of World War I, the Germans were forced to Flee after the British and Japanese combined forces and laid siege to the outpost. The Japanese maintained control over the city (and the brewery) until 1922, when it was returned to China. But in 1937, the Japanese reoccupied the city as part of their expansion into mainland China.
  
• After World War II, the city served as a U.S. naval port for a brief period before the founding of the PRC.
  
• Tsingtao beer is now sold in 62 countries and regions around the world. It's been in the U.S. since 1972, which is incidentally the year that Richard Nixon became the first U.S. president to visit China.
  
• The Tsingtao Brewery was privatized in the early 1990's, and immediately began holding the Qingdao International Beer Festival in 1991. Part tourist attraction, part brand promotion, the festival has become a mainstay of the city and is one of its most popular attractions

And, of course, all this talk of Qingdao and beer has naturally got us curious about Tsingtao beer. Besides the factoid our friend told us about how the 3 kuai liter bottles use formaldehyde as a preservative (and we kind of believe him, judging from the hangovers), we realized that we know almost nothing about China's most famous beer.

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This mountainous landscape is famed for its colorful pools, snow-capped mountains, deep forests, waterfalls and diversified cultures.

Covering about 700 sq. km in the northwest part of Sichuan province, the Huanglong valley is lined with snow-capped peaks which signify the easternmost of all China's glaciers. In addition to its mountain landscape, diverse forest ecosystems can be found, as well as spectacular limestone formations, waterfalls and hot springs. The area is also home to many endangered animals, including the giant panda and the Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkey.

Physical Features

Located in Songpan County, Sichuan Province, the Huanglong Area is a rare site of limestone landscapes.

The 7.5-km Huanglong Valley is located at the foot of snow-capped mountains, near the source of the Fujiang River. At the end of the valley, near the foot of Green Jade Peak, water from melting snow mixes with limestone water from underground, flowing down the mountain terraces, depositing calcium carbonate from the limestone water on the rocks, stones and fallen branches in its path. The calcium carbonate, in turn, reacts chemically with organic and inorganic substances, resulting in various kinds of calcareous deposits that shine golden in the sunlight, just like a huge yellow dragon flying down from the snow-capped mountain, hence the name of the place.

When the water flows into two separate streams, it turns into more colorful ponds and waterfalls. At the end of the gold-reflecting river is the Bathing Cave Waterfall, plunging 7 m down a cliff to turn into a water curtain. Nearby, the Brilliant Flying Waterfall, fed by the ponds on the upper reaches, cascades 10 m downward, with a width of 60 m. The jigsaw-like cliffs at the top of the waterfall split the water into small streams or curtains of water, creating a most fantastic sight. Of all the colorful pools, eight are most famous, i.e. the Flower-washing Pool, Bonsai Pool, Mirror Pool, Rhododendron Pool, Jade Plants Pool, Riot of Color Pool in the south, the Stone Pagoda Village Sea Pool and the Turning Flower Pool in the north.

Continue reading "Huanglong Area of Scenic and Historic Interest (Sichuan Province)" »

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What’s your destination for the spring outing? If you are stuck for a place Xishuangbanna and Dehong, which are home to the Dai ethnic group in the southwest frontier of China in Yunnan Province, might well be a good choice, as the annual Water Splashing Festival, a jolly jamboree to greet spring with water, will be observed there in the middle of April.

No other ethnic groups in China are more passionate about water than the Dai people in Yunnan Province. In the eyes of the Dai People, water is not only a symbol of sanctity, beauty and brightness but it can also help everything grow, and is rightly considered the god of life

Continue reading "Splashing Water to Greet the New" »

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As outstanding examples of southern China's private gardens, Suzhou's classical gardens are noted for their exquisite design and layout. Landscape and buildings are perfectly integrated, to create a great harmony between man and nature.

Thanks to careful protection and good management, several of the gardens have been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, including Zhuozhen Garden(Humble Administrator's Garden), Wangshi Garden(Master-of-Nets Garden), Liuyuan Garden(Lingering Garden), Huanxiu Villa(Villa with Embraced Beauty) , Canglangting Garden(Surging Waves Pavilion), Shizilin Garden(Lion Forest Garden), Ouyuan Garden (Double Courtyard), Yipu Garden (Art Garden) and Tuisi Garden(Retreat and Reflection Garden). These gardens demonstrate the typical features of Suzhou's classical gardens in layout, structure, design, style, use of color, decoration and furniture.

Suzhou's classical gardens occupy a unique and irreplaceable position in the history of world landscape gardening, and have high value for the study of Chinese landscape gardening, architecture, culture, aesthetics, philosophy and folklore.

Continue reading "Classical Gardens of Suzhou" »

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A well-known part of the Guilin River, it flows from the Piled Festoon Hill to "Bilian Peak" in Yangshou, covering a distance of 83 kilometres. This green ribbon-like river runs zigzag through a multitude of hills against a backdrop of steep peaks, luxuriant flowers and green hills along the shores are mirrored in the blue water, giving the visitor a poetic inspiration. In drizzly days, the peaks embraced by clouds and mists and river.

Blanketed over by light fog make people feel like in a fairyland. Sailing from Yangdi downstream to the south, one will soon see a hill with nine peaks and steep precipices by the riverside. This is the "None Horse" Hill. Viewed from afar, it looks like a colourful mural, examined at a close distance; it presents a vivid image of nine horses in different postures: standing, drinking, neighing and galloping….In misty or rainy days, the image of the horses are even more vividly outlined as if they were galloping through a curtain of clouds and mists. As the old saying goes, "Since an ancient time a mountain is as beautiful as painting; at present day, a painting is just as pretty as a mountain". If one really wants to count the number of horses a folk ballad gives a hint:" a man who can find seven horses will come second in the highest imperial examination; a man who can see all nine horses well come first in the highest imperial examination." 

Continue reading "Li River" »

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If you are stumped for things to do for Chinese New Year and the thought of Siberian-like cold and a hot bowl of borscht seem more appealing then the beaches of Boracay, perhaps Harbin is a city you might consider visiting. Harbin's annual ice and sculpture festival started this week and runs until the end of February, weather permitting.

Established in 1985 as a simple festival, the Ice and Snow Festival has now transformed into one of the biggest winter attractions in China and the fourth largest ice and snow festival in the world, along with Japan's Sapporo Snow Festival, Canada's Quebec City Winter Carnival, and Norway's Ski Festival.

In the evenings, the sculptures are lit up and ice-lantern park touring activities are held in many parks throughout the city. A number of other winter events take place in the city at the same time as the festival: fireworks display, ice hockey competitions, winter swimming, skiing and speed skating events, football games on expansive snow grounds, poetry jamboree, and ice and snow cinematic festival.

Continue reading "Annual Harbin Ice and Sculpture Festival 2009" »

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The dreamland of Jiuzhaigou lies about 450 kilometers north of Chengdu. The valley takes its name from the nine Tibetan villages there. The valley is 50 kilometers long and has 108 lakes, each one unique, as well as a number of waterfalls and streams.

Legend has it that the god of mountains was so taken in by the goddess Semo that he presented her with a mirror made of winds and clouds. She treasured it immensely for a time, but then the devil managed to gain some influence over her and caused her to shatter the mirror. As it broke, it fell to the earth in 108 pieces, and so the lakes were formed.

Continue reading "Jiuzhaigou" »

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The Bund is a section of Zhongsan Road less than a mile long on the west bank of the Huangpu River in Shanghai. Before the British opened a trade depot there in 1846, Shanghai’s city limits didn’t extend that far. After 1846, more and more overseas companies set up offices there. As Shanghai grew to be one of the busiest ports in China The Bund grew with it to be one of the city’s most important trade headquarters and commercial centers. It’s essentially because of Huangpu River and The Bund that Shanghai is one of the most important cities in China today.

During the 19th century buildings grew like grass in The Bund. Each overseas company constructed its office building in its own unique architectural style; in all more than 52 very different buildings were constructed. So diverse is the architecture here that it is sometimes called the Museum of International Architecture. The only thing these 52 buildings really have in common is that they are all built in foreign styles, indicative of the heavy foreign influence on Shanghai.

Continue reading "The Bund" »

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Our parents and sister just visited China for the first time. We won’t bore you with the details on what we did in Shanghai, but since many of you are hosting visitors and/or visiting China for the first time for the Olympics, here are some of the highlights from our travels to Beijing including suggestions for elderly and disabled (something we couldn't find anywhere else online).

Accomodation
We were looking for a moderately priced (by our Chinese-like standards) and centrally located hotel close to a lot of the famous tourist sites. A friend in Beijing inspected some of the cheaper “suggested” hotels listed on Elong.com and Ctrip.com and found them to be shabby at best and wretched at worst. In the end, we decided on the chain Motel 286 (the luxury version of Motel 168), located directly across from the new Hyatt. The rooms were decent sized with modern, Ikea-like decoration. The only odd note is that many of the bathrooms have partial, see through glass walls, which can be a bit uncomfortable for guests who don’t want to know each other that well. Shanghaiist booked online and paid RMB 378 (USD 55) per night pre-Olympic madness. Motel 268 Wang Fu Jing Inn, Address:NO.19 Jin Yu St, Bei Jing, Tel No.:86-010-51671666

Continue reading "Beijing travel tips for elderly or disabled" »

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What fascinates tourists from home and abroad about the ancient city of Lijiang? Its ethnic culture offers the answer.

    After Lijiang was listed as a World Natural and Cultural Heritage Site in December 1997, the 800-year-old city came back to vigor and vitality.

UNESCO praised Lijiang for its remarkable achievements in protecting the ancient city and held it up as a good example of heritage protection for China and the Asia-Pacific region.

    Due to protection and management, Lijiang has promoted the rational development of the tourism industry and the entire local society.

    According to the official statistics, in 2007, per capital gross domestic product (GDP) in Lijiang reached 17,000 yuan and the city's fixed-asset investment surpassed 6 billion yuan.

    Tertiary industries, with the tourism sector as the mainstay, account for over 50 percent of the GDP, compared with Yunnan province's average of 39.4 percent. Thirteen percent of the residents' income comes from the tourism industry.

Continue reading "Ethnic culture brings ancient city to life" »

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This is an unusual ecosystem, with narrow conic karst landforms, renowned for its rolling mountains, dense forests, colorful lakes, precipitous waterfalls, and a wide variety of birds and animals.

Stretching over 600 sq km in the northern part of Sichuan Province, the jagged peaks around Jiuzhaigou Valley reach heights of more than 4,800 m. In the valley there is a series of diverse forest ecosystems. Its superb landscapes are especially interesting for their narrow conic karst landforms and spectacular waterfalls. Some 140 bird species inhabit the valley, as well as a number of endangered plant and animal species, including the giant panda and the Sichuan takin.

Physical Features

Lying on the edge of the diverging belt between the Qinghai-Tibet Plate and the Yangtze Plate, there are major faultlines running through the site. Earthquakes are not uncommon and have been a major influence on the geological landscape. Of the greatest interest, geologically, are the high altitude karst land forms which have been strongly influenced by glacial, hydrological and tectonic activity.

The main valley is 50 km long, and is where Shuzheng, Qunhai, Rize, and Zechawa valleys come together. Waterfalls and streams link 108 lakes of various sizes, many of which are classic ribbon lakes at the base of glacially formed valleys.

Also of note are a number of large and spectacular waterfalls, including Xionguashai (Panda Lake) Fall which drops 78m in three steps, and the Zhengzhutan (Pearl Shoal) Fall, which drops 28m in a broad curtain of water, 310m wide.

According to geologists, the lakes were formed by calcium carbonate in the flowing water when the earth was in the interglacial stage. The calcium carbonate could not coagulate, but flowed with the water. More than 12,000 years ago, the global climate became warmer, and the calcium carbonate became active and attached itself to obstacles in the water. As time passed, the attached matter became thicker, forming the milky white banks of barrier lakes.

Continue reading "Jiuzhaigou Valley" »

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Situated on Potala Mountain in Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, the Potala Palace was first built in the 7th century, for the wedding of the Tibetan king Songtsan Gompo and Princess Wencheng of the Tang Empire. Since it was completed, the palace has been expanded many times. In 1645, the 5th Dalai Lama was appointed by the government of the Qing Dynasty as the local temporal and religious leader of Tibet, and the palace was reconstructed. In 1653, the 5th Dalai Lama moved from Drepung Monastery to the palace. Thus the Potala Palace became the political center of Tibet.

The Potala Palace's halls include worship and pagoda halls, the North Square, the South Square and the Dragon King Pond. The Main Building has 13 floors, with a height of some 110 m and a width of about 360 m. It is surrounded by eight temples, where there are tens of thousands of Buddhist statues. In the Buddhist Practice Cave are preserved the paintings of Songtsan Gompo and Wencheng made in the 7th century. Pagodas in the pagoda halls for each Dalai Lama are well built, in particular, the pagoda for the 5th Dalai Lama, which has a gold covering and is decorated with valuable jewels. Another important building is Qingsha, where the ministers for Tibetan affairs of the Qing Dynasty presided over the inauguration of the Dalai Lamas.

Continue reading "Potala Palace" »

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WORLD Expo Shanghai organizers unveiled a red, traditional design for the China Pavilion as construction on the structure started this morning.

The structure is named as "the crown of the East" as its most distinct feature is the roof. It will be made of traditional dougong brackets, which have a history of more than 2,000 years.

The dougong style features wooden brackets fixed layer upon layer between the top of a column and a crossbeam. Some important buildings in the Forbidden City and Summer Palace in Beijing feature elaborate dougong-style roofs.

Continue reading "China Pavilion at World Expo to be big and red" »

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It may seem an obvious thing to say that Chinese people are generally shorter and all around smaller than Westerners. According to the 2000 National Census, average height for a Chinese man is 169 centimeters. Average height in Western nations is usually around 8 to 10 centimeters taller.  Though Chinese people are gaining in stature as their country gains in prosperity and more people have better access to proper nutrition and healthcare, it’s still the case that Chinese people are generally smaller than Westerners.

But what may not be obvious is that these differences in size can make it rather difficult for Westerners to shop in China. Outside of a few places that cater to Western size – such as the Silk Market in Beijing and similar venues – it’s difficult to find clothes that fit the average Westerner. Those hoping to find unique pieces of Asian style at Chinese malls will find over and over again that a size XL is much too small, and that the largest shoe size available is three sizes too small. Those who are a bit larger than Western average are simply out of luck anywhere and everywhere in China.

Continue reading "It’s All Too Small" »

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For those who don't already know, the Peace Hotel was the property baby of British trader Victor Sassoon and opened in 1929 as the Cathay Hotel. Built in the gothic style of the Chicago school, it was later renamed the Peace Hotel. Its early guests included a significant amount of luminaries, such as Charlie Chaplin and playwright Noel Coward, the latter of which actually completed his famous work "Private Lives" while staying there. Basically, this is one colonial edifice that would be a massive shame to obliterate.

Continue reading "Peace from the past" »

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The two variables he used in determining the Budget Cost per Day for each of the 94 cities in his study are:

1. The cheapest private, double occupancy room that I could find in each city. (private rooms, as they were the most commonly available accommodation options I found across the board. This does not mean that these are the cheapest of all accommodation options, as a dorm style accommodation is certainly less expensive when available. However, for comparison purposes it made more sense to just look at private rooms.)
2. The price of a cheap local meal in each city, multiplied by 2. Meant to represent the cost of two meals per day.

Continue reading "Shanghai the 16th cheapest city for budget travellers?" »

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The Chinese government is considering scrapping two of China's three "golden weeks". The proposal appears to have been drawn up by domestic tourism experts and if the guidelines are accepted, the weeklong May Day holiday would be shortened to one day and the National Day holiday to two days. Only the Lunar New Year golden week would be preserved. To make up for the lost holidays, three traditional Chinese festivals would be set aside as public holidays. Top contenders include the Mid-Autumn Festival, Lantern Festival, Tomb Sweeping Day, Dragonboat Festival and Chongyang Festival. In addition, compulsory paid vacations may be written into labour law. We think this is just as well because

Continue reading "No more Golden Week by 2009?" »

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From just 300,000 in 1978, the number of foreign visitors to China reached 22 million in 2006, excluding arrivals from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

Well it appears China is not just a beneficiary in this whole cycle of things as Chinese tourists have become a key driving force behind fast tourism growth in the Asia-Pacific region, according to the first travel trend and research conference of the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA):

Continue reading "China to be world's top tourism destination by 2014" »

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The imperial palace where the emperors resided during the Ming and the Qing dynasties is known today as the Forbidden City in English (though a more accurate translation would be the Purple Forbidden City) so named because only members of the royal clan could enter. The palace, which has been converted into a museum and tourist attraction, is located north of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Completed in 1420, the Forbidden City took 14 long years to build and over 200,000 laborers. Over the centuries, about 24 emperors have lived there.

At 178 acres, the Forbidden City is the largest palace compound in the world. It’s surrounded and protected by both a moat six meters deep and a wall ten meters high. Rectangular in shape, the city is constructed on a north/south axis, with the most important buildings on the central axis. The Forbidden City compound includes five halls, seventeen palaces and numerous other structures. There are four gates in all – the Meridian Gate, used only by the emperor, and the Gate of Divine Might, used by all others, are the two most prominent. The palace rooftops are all yellow, the royal color, and each has a certain number of statues on it, signifying the power of the person occupying that house. The emperor’s own buildings have nine statues. There is only a single building that has one statue more than the emperor’s number.

Continue reading "Forbidden City" »

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Continue reading "Panda Breeding and Research Center" »

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China's transportation and tourism sectors hit a new record last week as 150 million people travelled within China during the seven day period. 44 million travelled by train, up 6 percent from last year, and preliminary statistics from the Civil Aviation Administration of China show that 3.62 million passengers few on 30882 domestic flights, up 19% and 12% respectively. And beat this, total retail sales in consumer goods totalled 3.2 trillion yuan. *Ka-Ching*!

Now we can all heave a sigh of relief, and those of us who stayed back in Shanghai can finally start thinking about going on a real vacation!

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‘Is it a safe neighborhood?’ might seem like an obvious first question while house-hunting in America of Europe, but it isn’t a question you really need to ask in China. Of course, not all cities are equally safe – boom cities like Shenzen and Guangzhou have a reputation for being less safe than other places – but crime statistics in China are impressively low.

According to a Shanghai Daily article that ran on May 17, 2006, China had 31,000 homicides, of which more than 20,000 were murders, and 554,000 cases of seriously violent crimes in 2005. By way of comparison, there are something in the neighborhood of 16,000 murders and 1.3 million violent crimes in the US every year.

If we take these numbers at face value, and do a bit of math to adjust for the marked differences in population, murders happen only ¼ as often in China and violent crime only 1/16th as often.

In reality, we can’t take the numbers at face value. China’s Ministry of Public Security, which compiles and reports crime statistics, doesn’t define what constitutes a “seriously violent crime,” and without that definition we’ve no way of knowing how violent crime in China really compares to violent crime in America. Too, what constitutes a murder may not be the same under the Chinese legal system as it is under the American one. Grains of salt aside though, the numbers do illustrate something expats already know: China’s cities are safe places to live.

Continue reading "Is it safe ?" »

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Continue reading "Natural Beauty in China" »

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The imperial palace where the emperors resided during the Ming and the Qing dynasties is known today as the Forbidden City in English (though a more accurate translation would be the Purple Forbidden City) so named because only members of the royal clan could enter. The palace, which has been converted into a museum and tourist attraction, is located north of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Completed in 1420, the Forbidden City took 14 long years to build and over 200,000 laborers. Over the centuries, about 24 emperors have lived there.

At 178 acres, the Forbidden City is the largest palace compound in the world. It’s surrounded and protected by both a moat six meters deep and a wall ten meters high. Rectangular in shape, the city is constructed on a north/south axis, with the most important buildings on the central axis. The Forbidden City compound includes five halls, seventeen palaces and numerous other structures. There are four gates in all – the Meridian Gate, used only by the emperor, and the Gate of Divine Might, used by all others, are the two most prominent. The palace rooftops are all yellow, the royal color, and each has a certain number of statues on it, signifying the power of the person occupying that house. The emperor’s own buildings have nine statues. There is only a single building that has one statue more than the emperor’s number.

Continue reading "Forbidden City" »

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Continue reading "Xi'an" »

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Continue reading "Construction of the Great Wall" »

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Continue reading "Top Four Tourist Cities Of China" »

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Whenever Hangzhou is referred, West Lake is invariably reminded. It is so named because it is located on the west side of the city. Many men of letters favored its picturesque scenery. In the Song Dynasty, the great poet Su Dongpo wrote a poem about it,

      Likened West Lake to Lady Xizi (one of the four ancient beauties),      

      Charming she looks whether richly made up or only slightly so. 

Continue reading "West Lake and Hangzhou" »

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"Beijing promises not to set a double standard for Games ticket prices", Beijing vice mayor Liu Jingmin said on an Olympic themed-program yesterday that aired on Beijing Television(BTV).

"If Chinese and Westerners are charged different prices, it will not honor the Olympic spirit."

After more than one year of research, including an online survey, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), instituted the final ticket prices based on how much people can pay, said Liu, who is also the vice executive president of BOCOG.

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China received 124 million inbound travelers in 2006, ranking fourth in the world, according to statistics released by China National Tourism Administration (CNTA). The figures include arrivals from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

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Locals and visitors can be seen at the Sunday market, said to be the largest bazaar in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and one of the largest in Asia. They crowd the Sunday livestock market; and visit Idkah Mosque, one of the largest mosques in China. Streets are alive with tall, blue-eyed old men in embroidered caps; women with headscarves and sequined red dresses; and food is everywhere - shish kebab grilling, bread baking in large clay ovens, and watermelon sliced and sold off carts

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According to the latest statistics from the Beijing Tourism Administration, travelers arriving China spent US$1,033, or about 8,000 yuan, per person last year in Beijing. In addition, the income of foreign exchange from tourism surpassed US$4 billion for the first time. 
 

According to the Beijing Evening News report, Ms. Li, An English tour guide with considerable experience, revealed that silk, pearl and cloisonne are the three favorite goods purchased by foreigners who come to Beijing.

Continue reading "Traditional Goods Favorites Among Foreign Travelers in Beijing" »

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