Adventuring in China

If you like to explore something outstanding, if you want to experience something exciting that you have never done before and if you are ready to face the risks, then China is giving you a chance to convert all these desires into a memorable reality by making you enjoy some adventurous places that you would have never visited. Normally, people visit China for its ancient history, dynamic architecture, beautiful landscapes and rivers, the great wall of China etc. But there are some ways to make your trip something beyond your expectations by giving it an amazing touch of adventure and exciting exploration.

Despite its growing openness to overseas visitors and increasing ease of tour, China is also considered as a highly untamed state with a lot of wild adventures to be experienced. However, since the country has been developing its tourism infrastructure, it’s also on its way taking the courageous out of as numerous of its interesting activities as it can, generally through infrastructure, trams and staircases. None the less you can still find plenty of adventures out there. Just explore these to drive up your adrenaline and put some fuel on your own audacious fire.

Wondering along the Sichuan-Tibet Highway:

There are many adventurous areas of Sichuan that are still unvisited by many travelers, both foreign and natives. They want you to explore their hidden charm and experience something wonderful in your life. A bumpy, high-elevation highway between Tibet and Chengdu where mud slide and rock flood are general is the source of biggest adventure you could have in China. The entire highway contains so many deadly twists and areas but from adventure point of view, nothing can be better than driving through this highway. Start this adventure through Kangding, a striking, mostly Tibetan city huddled into its own little gorge. From there you can go all the way to Litang. After that, this broad highway drives on into Tibet and the central city of Lhasa. These appealing locations will eventually lead you towards Zhongdian, to explore the lovely province of Yunnan. The entire trip is adventurous. You can’t know where the road you are passing by will end, however, at the end; it ends at something adventurous and loveable to experience.

Hiking along the Great Wall of China:

Your trip can never become adventurous in a true sense, if you do not visit the seventh wonder of the world and enjoy hiking there. It is the main destination for every tourist who visits China. Either start or end your China adventurous journey through hiking the ancient Great Wall of China.

During the hiking through Great Wall of China, an endless journey will make you able to encounter various restaurants and hotels in the way where you can rest and enjoy the delicious food, especially at night. So, if you are afraid of hiking this endless wall, then just gorge all your fares, as this will be one of the most adventurous and pleasant experience rather than just a tiring walk.

When visiting any of the above sites, be sure to have safety precautions and first aid with you, as the places are little bit riskier in terms of track and weather. If you do not have sufficient knowledge about the places, you can also consult and hire some tourist guide companies readily available in the nearby areas. 

China Travel offers China Hiking tours to the Great Wall from only 300 USD, please check it out.

Beijing Food - Tasting China

What is in, in Chinese cuisine?
Right from the era of development, significant shifts have also been occurred in Chinese cuisine along with other aspects of China. However, the food trends of south differ than that of southern China. Being a part of northern China, you will find more consumption and liking of the people towards Jiaozi and its varieties. Jiaozi is the name of a particular Chinese dish which is extremely popular especially in Beijing. It is small simmered dumplings that can be stuffed either with vegetable or meat. If you want to explore the unique taste of China, then Beijing welcomes you to have some quite innovative, internationally famous and delicious cuisine. Let’s have a look on some of its highly admired dishes both locally and by tourists as well.

1. Peking Baked Duck:

 Two things are must to do if you are in Beijing that is; eating the delicious and appetizing Peking duck and climbing the Great Wall. Peking duck enjoys the status of being the most scrumptious food Beijing can represent to its people and guests. The best cooked peking duck is date-red, clean with oil, with a crunchy skin and soft meat. The roasted duck’s meat is cut into skinny slices which are served up with Chinese onions and unique sauce.

The places at Beijing where you can enjoy the mouth watering Peking Duck is the Quan Ju De Restaurant, having numerous outlets presence at Wangfujing, Qianmen and Hepingmen. These places are considered as the pioneer in serving this attractive and most popular dish of Beijing.

2. Imperial Court Food:

If you want to experience Chinese food in quite traditional and royal style, then Imperial Court Food is the best place that offers the way of Chinese food having genesis in the Imperial Palace. This dynamic food court presents you the foods that were used to be served to the court and its emperors. Ting Li Guan in the Summer Palace and Fang Shan in Beihai Park are also good options.

3. Hot Pot:

The winters in Beijing become extremely cold that’s why hot pot is a likely desired with native people. In current years, Sichuan and Cantonese flavor hot pots seemed to be grown in attractiveness, surpassing the more usual Beijing tradition of baking slim slices of beef in a seasoned soup. The essential components of a hot pot feast include finely sliced mutton and beef with some fresh vegetables.
Find more information about Beijing Food.

HKSAR 15th Anniversary

Celebrate the 15th Anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). July 1, 2012. In the past 15 year, HKSAR has got rapid development both in economy and society. All the best wishes to HKSAR!

Ziyuan - Beautiful Danxia landform in Guilin

I went to Ziyuan （资源, famous for its Danxia landform） last week and it is really beautiful. The picture is the Tianmenshan Mountain in Ziyuan. It is about 100 Km from Guilin. 

Folk-customs during Dragon Boat Festival

Falling on the 5th day of the 5th month of the lunar calendar according to Chinese calendar, Dragon BoatFestival is also called Double Fifth festival, which can date back to pre-Qin period. It falls on June 23^rd in 2012, and people will have a three-day holiday from June 22 to 24. Eating rice dumplings (zongzi) is a tradition for people to celebrate the festival in common. Besides this, in celebration of this famous festival of long standing, people of various nationalities and areas also have their own folk activities of a variety.

Folk-customs in Zengcheng (a county-level city of Guangdong Province)

The folk-customs in various areas are in consideration of temporal weather condition. As the temperature in the fifth month of the lunar calendar is increasing day by day, in order to bring down temperature, local people will wash their hair with acorus calamus, drink realgar liquor and eating rice dumplings. They will also visit the parental home or exchange presents with their friends and relatives. The most characteristic activity is the dragon boat scene when friends and relatives gather together to watch dragon boat races and eat dragon boat rice. Dragon boat rice is a kind of fried rice, containing sleeve-fish, agaric, small shrimp and glutinous rice. Tourists coming to watch dragon boat race will be invited to have dragon boat rice.

Folk-customs in Zigui County (in the west of Hubei Province)

Zigui County is the hometown of the famous poet Quyuan of Warring States, which is also regarded as the birthplace of dragon boat customs and culture. Visiting Zigui County during dragon boat festival is an ideal opportunity to appreciate original customs and know about ancient cultures of dragon boat festival. Besides, you can also participate in bustling commemorative activities. For hundreds of years, dragon boat racing is the largest mass meeting in Zigui County. The best venue to appreciate dragon boat race is Muyudao harbor which is only 1 kilometer from Three Gorges Dam. The yearly dragon boat race is held on the nearby river. Local people in Zigui like to hang Artemisia argyi and drink realgar liquor. During the dragon boat festival 2012, there will be a commemorate evening party and an open tournament of dragon boat racing. Traveling to Zigui County, you can also go sightseeing of Three Gorges Dam and Jiuwanxi drifting spot. You can take a flight from Guangzhou to Yichang, and take a bus from Yichang to Zigui County.

Folk-customs in Suzhou

Generally speaking, the dragon boat festival is held in celebration of the famous poet Quyuan of Warring States. However, the dragon boat festival around Suzhou is in celebration of Ng Gee Sui, and the related celebration activities are 200 years earlier than the commemorative activity of Quyuan. In celebration of the festival, local people make rice dumplings according to ancient method by themselves and dragon boat race.

Folk-customs in Sanjiang County of Guangxi Province

During dragon boat festival, people of Sanjiang County in Guangxi Province will hold male and female dragon boat races. They will make dumplings, offering sacrifice to Quyuan, ancestors and Zombie. Besides, you can also appreciate Chengyang Bridge which is ranked as the world’s one of top 10 most spectacular bridges and the song of the Dong nationality which is national intangible cultural heritage.

Folk-customs in stockaded village of the Miao Nationality in Guizhou

People of Miao nationality hold dragon boat festival in celebration of dragons, rivers and ancestors, which is the world’s unique dragon canoe festival. There are unique dragon canoes which are very small and narrow, and they can only carry one person basically. In Shidong town of Taijiang County, there is a dragon boat museum that is the first dragon boat museum in China. The local dragon boat festival is held from the 20^th to the 24^th day of the 5^th month based on lunar calendar. You can take a flight from Guangzhou to Guiyang and then transfer to Kaili City. Taijiang County is about 38 kilometers from Kaili City.

Folk-customs in Mayang County of Hunan Province

The dragon boat festival is held in celebration of their ancestor of Miao minority, Panhu. The festival lasts 17 days from the first day to the 17th day of the 5th month according to lunar calendar. The nearby villages of Panhu temple will organize various entertainment activities and invite troupes to provide performances. Besides, dragon boat racing is also an unmissable activity held during that period. You can take a flight from Guangzhou to Zhijiang Airport of Huaihua, and then transfer to Mayang.