Best Travel Destinations - China
When the clock hit 7 p.m. on our first evening in Shanghai, we had just finished eating dinner at a large tourist-friendly restaurant somewhere in the suburbs. Along with my Chinese teacher and a few dozen volunteers, we were touring Shanghai after teaching a three-week summer camp in a nearby city. This was our chance to let loose in China's main metropolis, and I had truly never seen anything like Shanghai. As the tour bus drove us around the city earlier that day, we were mesmerized by the tall tower blocks that seemed to reach up to the sky in every direction around us. And as evening fell, the city quieted down and geared up for its big night ahead. After leaving the restaurant, our ...
Qingdao, a picturesque coastal city on China's eastern seaboard, boasts an interesting past and a groovy seaside atmosphere. Once colonized by Germans, Qingdao (sounds like "ching daow") is the venerable home of China's most iconic beer: Tsingtao. The name Tsingtao is an earlier Romanized spelling of the same Chinese word: "qing dao," which means “green island.” Although not actually an island, Qingdao is now a major seaport city, and in 2008, it hosted the Beijing Olympic Sailing competition in its scenic bay. The World of Tsingtao is the main brewery and museum of Tsingtao beer, located right in Qingdao City. Tickets to Tsingtao Brewery give you access to the museum, which highlights the history of Tsingtao beer from its founding in 1903 by German settlers. ...
Cruising down the Li River in the Guilin area of China is one of the most memorable ways to experience the natural Chinese landscape. Imagine floating down a peaceful river, ice-cold drink in your hand; while around you, rising up on the banks of the jade-green river, countless karst peaks tower into the sky—majestic renderings of a classical Chinese landscape. Bamboo rafts fitted with chairs and steered by oarsman cruise down the many tributaries of the Li River. Skillfully plying a long bamboo pole through both deep and shallow waters, you are able to relax, forget your worries, and enjoy the misty jade and emerald-hued Guilin landscape. The surrounding karst mountains are curiously eroded and worn into fantastic shapes; their ancient limestone peaks carved with ...
Jiayuguan Fort in China's northwestern Gansu Province is one of the most exotic, faraway places you can visit in the world. Jiayuguan is a small town whose name means "excellent valley pass" and is home to the last outpost of the Great Wall of China. Gansu Province is a land of vast desert, jutting snow-capped mountains, flaming hills, secret caves filled with Buddhist grottoes, camels, sand dunes, and the last mud remnants of the western end of the Great Wall. This culminates at Jiayuguan Fort, a huge trapezoid-shaped fort that once marked the final boundary of the Chinese empire. As legend has it, when a citizen was banished, they were required to exit through the Jiayuguan gate into the west, never to return. Jiayuguan Fort ...
The Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival in China is a fascinating cultural experience. Strolling along the waterfront in Xiamen, a small coastal city in southern China, it's exciting to witness celebrants lighting sky lanterns and watching them float up into the dark sky like red and orange stars. These Mid-Autumn festival paper lanterns are roughly balloon shaped, with a bundle of rags tied underneath them. When the rags are set aflame, the balloons begin to fill up with hot air until they float up into the night sky. While these sky lanterns can’t be very safe (we once witnessed a burning pile of rags dropping down from the sky and just missing a couple of girls on a motor scooter), they are certainly a fun and beautiful ...
Hong Kong is one of the world’s most vibrant cities, and for the uninitiated can seem overwhelming. The crush of crowds in Causeway Bay, the polished skyscrapers in Central, the local eateries where servers rush to and fro shouting in Cantonese, the never-ending rush to shop, shop, shop – it all begins to blur a little after a day or two of sightseeing. One excellent way to enjoy local culture and experience a moment of serenity in the middle of the city is to take the Star Ferry across Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour in the evening. One of the city's icons, the Star Ferry ride is cheap, has local flair, and offers a great view of the Hong Kong skyline and harbur front illuminated at ...
Many traditions are changed or lost over time. Hunting and gathering cultures have long been replaced by online, fast paced and immediate. China a country of contrast, is a busy metropolis around many corners, but in some regions of Guangxi like Guilin and Yangshuo, it still hangs on to some of its traditional conventions. The Cormorant fishermen of China are a small example of this. Once a successful industry in both China and Japan, more efficient fishing techniques have subsequently been developed so that Cormorant fishing is now primarily sustained by the tourism industry. Thankfully foraging forward, it provides visitors with a glimpse into this ancient ritual and leaves us in wonder of such a process. Dressed in traditional costume, the fishermen ride on small ...
The history of roasted duck in China dates back to the Southern and Northern dynasties when this delicacy, originally named “Shaoyazi” was traditionally only available to the emperor. What is now known as Peking Duck was fully developed during the Ming Dynasty and remains today both a delicacy and a tradition in China. Many renowned chefs, including British Chef Jamie Oliver have put their own spin on this recipe, but the opportunity to try Peking Duck in its country of origin really should not be missed. “You have to try Peking Duck in Beijing” were the words resonating in my mind as I stepped into one of the many fine restaurants in Beijing offering this cuisine. The distant memory of a previous ‘bad duck dining’ ...
Early morning wake-up calls to beat the rising sun. Forty minute hikes up steep and slippery steps, with camera bag and tripod, to reach a vantage point over the terraced rice fields, as well as the hotel stop for the night. Constantly thinking about what aperture, angle, what light the day has to offer for the potential ‘money shot’. The rewards can be unbelievable. A single moment of calm, the perfect symmetry of a mountain, the glassy glaze on the river in the early morning light. A photo adventure tour can and will provide all this and more. China is a stunning country, especially in the desirably photographic and often complimented province of Guanxi, along the Li River. As a solo amateur photographer, without local ...
The toboggans are lined up and released in groups of four or five. The road ahead is a smooth metallic ride of twists and turns with occasional straights for momentum gaining speed. The air is crisp, the view is hilly and like any downward ride, the end comes about way too quickly and you just want to go back up and go again. The difference is, there is no snow capped peaks or even ski resort landscape, in fact the location is China and I am tobogganing down the Great Wall. Well not literally, but close enough. The Mutianyu Great Wall crosses the mountain ridges connecting Juyongguan Pass to the west and Gubeikou to the east. It is located in the Huairou County northeast of ...
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