Guide to China Attractions

China Attractions

Bao Tu Quan Park (Baotu Spring Park)

Bao Tu Quan Park provided me with the best experience I've ever had in a park in China. It’s as if the soul of Chinese literature itself was breathing throughout the park, with natural springs as its gills. The park was the former home compound of Song Dynasty poetess Li Qing Zhao. The park contains a full museum devoted to her life and work, with placards in English and Chinese, and wax figures illustrating her childhood, marriage, and later years.

In addition to the poetry and history of Li Qing Zhao, the park is full of courtyards that guide you in and out of one another. Each one is devoted to a natural Chinese icon such as bamboo, plum, peach, crabtree, persimmon, or even the springs themselves. Therefore every courtyard inspires a different feeling, one that was carefully engineered by initiated feng shui masters!

Baotu Spring Park is located across the street from Quan Cheng Square (泉城广场) on Qingnian Xilu (青年西路), north of Luoyuan Da Jie (泺源大街) and south of Heihuquan Xilu.

Chinese Website

Peak Lookout

An old gem still standing and running smoothly to this day. The Peak Lookout doesn’t have the best views on

An old gem still standing and running smoothly to this day. The Peak Lookout doesn’t have the best views on the Peak, but it still has a lot of welcoming warm charm. The restaurant specializes in Southeast Asian cuisine with gardens and a nice barbecue corner. Offering both indoor and outdoor seating, the restaurant is actually a converted workshop submerged in heritage dating back to 1947. A view of the Lamma Channel and plenty of tropical flora produces a comforting old-school ambience contrasting many of the other newer outlets around the Peak.

Dim Sum Restaurants

Dim Sum Restaurants (Cha Lau) 茶楼

In Hong Kong, many people have breakfast or lunch at Dim Sum Restaurants (cha lau – ’cha’ means tea, ’lau’ means building). We call it ’yum cha’ (drink tea) in Cantonese. To some families, this is a once weekly event. It can even be a daily activity for retired people or housewives.

How to dress:

In Chinese restaurants, especially those located in residential areas, it is not a surprise to see some male customers simply wearing their slippers and taking the horseracing newspaper and a radio with them for entertainment. However, if you go to a higher-class restaurant, then dressing in smart casual is more appropriate.

What to eat:

Aside from dim sum, these Hong Kong Dim Sum Restaurants also serve Chinese cuisine in their own style depending on the theme of the restaurant. However, in the daytime, people mainly order dim sum as main dish, coupled with fried rice and noodles instead of dishes on the menu. I think many Westerners are familiar with the word ’dim sum’ and have likely tried it before in their own country. It is a general term for the small steamed or deep fried dish usually served at 3 or 4 pieces.

What to drink:

In ’cha lau’, customers will be served with their preferred type of ’cha’ (tea). Commonly ordered types are:

Po Lay: Pu-erh – the most common type of black tea. It leaves a taste of herbs that lingers in the mouth.
Sau Mei – peony, white tea with a slightly sweet flavour.
Lung Cheng – ’lung’ means dragon, ’cheng’ is a well, it is a kind of green tea which is light, tastes fresh and has a bit of ’grassy’ undertone.
Wu lung – oolong tea, the finest one has a ’peach’ like aroma and gives a long lingering effect.
Heung Pin: jasmine, floral tea

When to go:

As dim sum is part of the Hong Kong culture, you may wish to spend a morning visiting one of these Dim Sum Restaurants to enjoy the food. As competition among the restaurants is keener than before, many have extended their dim sum serving hours and added more choices so people can also enjoy it at tea-time. If you want to have a greater variety of choices of specialized Chinese cuisine, it is better to visit at dinnertime. Set dinner is also available at some restaurants.

How to order dim sum:

Nowadays most Hong Kong Dim Sum Restaurants use a dim sum order form for placing orders. You just need to check the boxes next to your choices and pass the form to the staff. They will then serve what you ordered within 10 minutes. In some restaurants, there are still ladies that serve dim sum on a cart with heater. They will yell out what they have loudly and customers can pick what they want as the cart passes by. The lady will mark the relevant price category on the record card. However, both the dim sum form and the signage on the dim sum cart are presented in Chinese. Also do not count on the menu on the table, as it just shows pictures of dishes instead of dim sum. You had better learn how to order the basic and common ones direct from the waiter.

What to order:

Cha siu bao (叉烧包): barbecued pork bun
Har gou: steamed prawn dumplings with a translucent wrap
Siu my: steamed pork dumplings
Ngau yuk: steamed beef balls
Chun kuen: spring rolls
Cheong fun: steamed rice rolls (with different fillings such as prawn, scallop, beef, barbecued pork or vegetarian and more)
Cha siu so: baked barbecued pork pastry
Gin cheong fun: fried rice rolls
Gin law pak go: fried carrot cake
Har kok: deep fried prawn dumplings
Yau yu so: deep fried octopus
Law mei gai: sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf
Dan tart: baked egg tarts
Nine wong bau: sweet egg and cream bun
Yeung chow chau fan: fried rice with shrimp, ham and green pea
Gone chau ngau hor: fried rice noodle with beef
Gone siu yi min: vegetarian noodle stewed in soy sauce
Ha kou wor min: noodle with prawn, mushroom and vegetable served with soup

Where to go:

Maxim’s Chinese Restaurant
Luk Yu Tea House
Kung Tak Lam

Did you know:

There are several categories of dim sum, viz. small, medium, large, special, and top. Price is ranging from about HK$10 to HK$30 each.

Tip:

Many Chinese restaurants give discounts if you check your bill before noon or if you visit after 2:00pm. Some even have special offers like ’unit-price’ for all categories of dim sum. Try checking with the restaurant staff when you arrive at the restaurant.

Lotus Lake

Following the quiet canal a few kilometers south from Slender West Lake leads to Lotus Lake (He Hua Chi). There is a pleasant tea house on an island in the lake, and some trails and paths meander throughout the park as well. The lake can even be enjoyed without physically entering the park, as the bustling side streets around Lotus Lake are interesting places to explore as well.

Ye Chun Teahouse

The Ye Chun Teahouse has been a Yangzhou staple for nearly 200 years. Not only is the teahouse set in one of the prettiest locations in town, along the tree lined banks of the Hu Cheng Canal near the Qian Long Imperial Dock, Ye Chun serves up some of the best steamed Chinese dishes as well. Most famous is the Ye Chun Zhengjiao 冶春蒸饺, a steamed meat dumpling, which is a must-order if visiting the restaurant. Other specials include Baozi 包子(stuffed steam buns) sold outside at breakfast and dinner time, along with Shaomai 烧卖 (dark rice wrapped dumplings), and Tang Gan Si 烫干丝(a Yangzhou specialty composed of thin tofu noodles in broth). Ye Chun Teahouse is easily the best place in town to grab a traditional breakfast as well, which comes in set meals.

How to Get There: Ye Chun is located at No. 10 Fengle Shang Jie (丰乐上街11号) which is on the west side of Beimen Wai Dajie (北门外大街). A second and unrelated Ye Chun is almost right next door at No. 1 Fengle Shang Jie which is on the east side of Beimen Wai Dajie.

Tian Ning Antique Market

Tian Ning Market is one of the best places in Yangzhou to score a rare, unusual gift. Chinese art and antique stores line the courtyard’s outer edge and are open seven days a week. On the weekends the market is often very crowded and busy, as the courtyard generally fills up with vendors selling anything from old coins and jade bracelets to ear pickers and carved wooden dragons. Don’t forget to bargain hard!

The temple (天宁寺) is the big red structure just north of Yanfu Road (盐阜路) and just west of the Yangzhou Hotel(扬州宾馆). The actual temple itself behind the courtyard is now the Yangzhou museum, another worthwhile visit.

Let the bargaining begin

Yanfu Road is also a great street to shop for Chinese collectibles, including Yangzhou’s famous lacquer ware for which there are several shops. There is also an interesting old book store and numerous calligraphy shops as well.

Local bus routes: No. 1, 4, 8, 20.

Shanhaiguan Great Wall and the Old Dragon Head

The starting point of the Great Wall of China was the old dragon head along the Shanhaiguan Great Wall which is facing the Yellow Sea on the east end of China.

Zhagana - Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture

Known as the "little sweden" in China, Zhagana is an old town made up by stones, forests and tibetan villiages. a real utopia to stay away from the crowds and tension.

Great wall of Han dynasty

The great wall of Han Dynasty---It is bulit in west Han dynasty during 2 century BC. At that time it is used to defend the strong cavalry from Huns, the strong minority from north. The construction is quite different from other parts of great wall. It is made of one layer of sandstone and one layer of straw and tamarisk, which is quite different from other great walls.The great wall of Han dynasty stretches around 1800km,which connected with the great wall of Qin dynasty in the north of Lannzhou.

Yumen pass （Jade gate pass）

Yu Men Pass, Yu means Jade, and Men means gate. It is also called Jade Gate Pass ,which is located in the northwest of dunhuang 100km . It is the north customs of the silk road over 2000 years. A lot of beautiful jades from west regions were transported to China through this gate, so it got the name Jade Gate Pass. Many relics were found here,such as the woodslips of ancient passport,coins,silk ,arrow heads and so on. In 2014 it was included into the world heritage by UNESO.

China Articles

Why did Chinese build the Great Wall?

Great Wall in Chinese named Chang Cheng (that is long wall), Great Wall means the first: that is so long has 21196Km,that is longer than the one of the UK’s famous section Hadrians Wall, we can called shorter wall.

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Why did Chinese build the Great Wall?

Only 135Km from the eastern coast river tyne to the west coast of Solway firth.

Secondly, Great Wall started to build since 1046BC, more than 2000 years history with 10 different dynasties. Well the hadrians wall dates back to 122AD to 147AD.

Thirdly, Great Wall cross by the 15 different provinces, while the hadrians wall cross by 3 counties and 12 shires.

Great Wall is the function of defending project which is keep out barbarian outside of the wall. Who is barbarian: no matter where the people around the world, they have civilized people and uncivilized respectively.

For Hadrains Wall is to keep pics out (at that time Roman people called Caledonia), in 142 AD, they started to build another section Antonine Wall, total length only has 59Km.

One of the Disney movie: Hua Mulan, story happened in the Han dynasty: Huns people what we called barbarians. Because of north location and environment condition, and shortage of variety food, they are good at catching and stealing to the main city. That is why we build Great Wall. Dates back 2000 years, during the silk road time, for business people pass through the gate without pass, what we called passport right now, they have to go back, so for us, the Great Wall not only for its defending project, but also a security gate at that time. We must say, China Great Wall is so far a tremendous cultural project,. Great Wall is one of the seven wonders of the world!

China National Museum-The Four-Goat Square Sacrificial Vessel(Zun).

The Four-Goat Square Sacrificial Vessel(Zun). 四羊方尊

It is a ritual vessel that has history of 3000 years.

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The Four-Goat Square Sacrificial Vessel(Zun). 四羊方尊

It is a ritual vessel that has history of 3000 years.

In the remote past, the Shang Dynasty used it to pray for good luck. Among the 10 National treasures, it occupies the third place. In order to protect it, the government has banned its trips to foreign countries. It is The Four-goat Square Sacrificial Vessel..

Today I will share the ancient story of the Four-goat Square Zun. This is not a commonly liquor vessel, in the height of 58.3 centimeters, with the weight of 34.5 kilograms. It is used to offer sacrifices to gods or ancestors, It is also the largest square bronze untensil among all existing Shang Dynasty bronze objects. Today the Four-goat Square Zun can be rank third among the ten great national treasures. It is closely related to its casting process.

In accordance with the analysis of archeologists, The Four-goat square Zun was forged by twice forging technique: firstly the horns and heads were forged separately, they were placed in the planned position for an integrated forging. But it was perfectly integrated, reflecting the excellent forging techniques, therefor it is regard the ultimate model of bronze ware. More than that, the Four-goat Square Zun represents the sheep totem. It is an important reason for its priceless, what is all about? Goat was one of earliest hunted and domestic animals meanwhile, the species was widely and commonly raised across China. Therefore, goat had a long relationship with mankind.

Lamb had the tradition to kneel to suck its mother’s milk which was considered a model for kindness and filial piety. Even later generation took it a role model of filial piety. Not only for that, sheep are often associated with auspicious words of kindness.

The Four-Goat Square Zun is priceless, because it is confirmed as early as in the Shang Dynasty, sheep have become an important totem culture. Early in the Shang Dynasty 3000 years ago, ancient people carried out rites with it. After 3000 year the treasure is finally woke up, unearthed in 1938, one day of April in Huangcai village of Hunan Province, three yang men were cultivating the land, suddenly their hoes meet something strong, and the sound clear voice, and thus make 3 guys attention, they started to dig it out, though never been touched antiques before, they believed this object must be a treasure and took it back home. At home 3 boys kept knocking and tapping until they broke one piece of it, then they parceled it and put into the box, soon after, everybody in the village knows it, even the antique shop in the city which the boss paid 400 Yuan bought it, at that poverty time, poor family with 3 boys, the only incomes is their father’s part time working hour’s pay and of handed –made beancurd done by grandfather’s pay, it has been said enough money for support family, though they wanted to keep it , they have to sell it . By selling treasure must through the process via the leader of village and security manager, that is why they only get 240 Yuan left. For many years after the war happened in China, the unearthed bronze ware not been oxygenized by air, still keeping its golden color, the inscription carved on it is clearly seen. It uses its unique manner to tell an ancient story.

Confucius

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Confucius

Confucius is the most famous ancient Chinese philosopher known to the Western world. His importance could be compared with Socrates in ancient Greece, or Buddha in ancient India. They lived in similar times. Confucius (6th-4th BC). Many call this time as a period of wisdom. My understanding is that people were smart enough to have literature and logic, and a good amount of observations in life, but had not discovered scientific solutions. So, they came up with many abstract concepts to explain the world. That is called philosophy. The name Confucius was a Latinized translation of Kong Zi. Kong was his surname. Zi is a suffix for Master. Confucius lived in an era when China was not unified. Several kingdoms constantly fought against each other. War and human suffering together born many philosophers and Confucius was just one of them. When he was alive, he traveled all over China to persuade kings to adopt his advice of governance, and the people to follow his teaching to self-cultivate. Some kings paid attention to him for a while but eventually chased him away. He did have many students. Among them, 72 faithfully followed him. We do not know if he wrote any books. If so, none of them survived. Many of his stories and words were recorded by these students. This is the classic book “Lun Yu” which probably the most well read book in China. Confucius never gained much fame and definitely not any fortune. He nearly starved to death a few times. But, he managed to have a sense of humor. Once, he was lost and helpless by a road. His students asked a villager if he saw an old gentleman. The villager answered: “no, but I only saw a poor guy like an old stray dog at the end of the road”. When his students found him and complained about how rude the villager was, Confucius laughed, “Thanks to his accurate description, you find me!”.

Confucianism’s core is humanity, which includes respect, empathy, honesty, and mutual favor. This is similar to the golden rule in the west – Do not impose on others what you do not desire. He pointed out that a society, or even a family, must follow certain structures. People need to behave according to their roles to achieve harmony. He also promoted “Balance” or some may interpret as mediocracy. For example, in a forest, if a tree is taller and stronger than all others, it may be cut down first for lumber. If a tree is the weakest, it may be cut down to make room for others. So, those trees in the middle survive. If you are pessimistic, you may see this as a reason to be mediocre. If you are optimistic like me, you may think that we should not be too extreme, but to find a balance somewhere in the middle. One other important part of Confucianism is education. Life is a journey of learning. If a person is not educated, his father is the first to blame. If a student is not well disciplined, his teacher must be too lazy. The concept of self-cultivation is also from Confucius, for that the most important education is to educate ourselves. We shall self-examine three times a day to reflect and learn.

None of his teachings promote violence. You can see why his ideas were not adopted during his time when kingdoms kept fighting wars. Nearly 400 years later, after China had long been unified, the emperor picked Confucianism as the dominant philosophy to govern China. All the humanity, structure, balance, and education together served the emperor well. 1,400 years ago, when China decided to use a civil service exam system to select talents for all levels in the administration, Confucianism was picked as the testing subject. People were proud to claim themselves as students of Confucius. In fact, everyone in the administration was indeed his student. China has many different dynasties. All of them only lasted around 300 years or less. Confucianism has governed China for over 2,000 years. It is safe to say that Confucius is more powerful than any of the emperors. Furthermore, China radiated its culture to its neighboring states for thousands of years as well. People may relocate outside of China, but they always carry Confucius teaching with them. Confucianism became the common denominator for all Chinese people, and still going strong today. If you travel to Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, or Japan, you can easily find Confucius temples. If you have a China town in your home town, I bet you can find a Confucius statue there. In the end, I’d like to offer you a quote from Confucius – Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it. You will see many beautiful things and meet many beautiful people in China. I wish you a beautiful journey.

Top China Tours

$238 Per Day

Private Hangzhou Day Trip from Shanghai by Bullet Train

Take in the highlights of beautiful Hangzhou on a private full-day tour from Shanghai. After hotel pickup and transfer by high-speed train to Hangzhou, your private guide takes you to see some city attractions, such as Faxi temple. Moreover, enjoy a tasty lunch at a local restaurant before heading to Longjing village. There, learn about the process of farming and producing dragonwell tea, the region’s most famous product. Finally, enjoy a scenic boat cruise on UNESCO World Heritage-listed West Lake before returning to Shanghai.

This is a private, full-day trip from Shanghai to Hangzhou. After you are picked up in your hotel lobby in the early morning, you will take a bullet train to Hangzhou. This is the fastest way to Hangzhou and you can experience train speeds of up to 300 kilometers per hour. Your tour begins at one of Hangzhou's signature sites, the West Lake. Enjoy a lake cruise to see the top ten West Lake scenic views. You will then be taken to experience the wonderful cuisine of Hangzhou at a local restaurant. After lunch, you will visit Faxi temple, a well-known Temple dating back to the Jin Dynasty. See its famous wooden Buddha. Here, you will see fewer tourists and more locals. Finally, enjoy a cup of green tea when you visit the famous Longjing village to see wild fields of Longjing tea bushes where the locals produce the world famous green tea- Longjing Tea. In the village, all locals are tea farmers and you will see the entire procedure of making the famous tea and will get the chance to taste the best quality emperor tea. Afterwards, you will take the bullet train back to Shanghai and you will be returned to your hotel.

$150 Per Day

Guangzhou

Day 1 Arrive in Guangzhou

Arrive in Guangzhou in the morning, you will be met and transferred to hotel, then visit Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. The Memorial Hall is a very famous historical scenic spot. It is in memory of Sun Yat-sen, the great revolutionary forerunner. After that proceed to visit the Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family. It is a unique site for offering up sacrifices to worship ancestors of 72 Chen families in Guangdong. This ancestral temple is also the largest, best preserved and best decorated ancient architecture existing in Guangdong province.

Day 1 Arrive in Guangzhou

Day 2 Guanzhou Tour

After breakfast, you will go to Yuexiu Park first, the largest and the most famous park in downtown Guangzhou. There are three artificial lakes and seven hills of Yuexiu Mountain. Then you will visit Temple of Six Banyan Trees, which is one of the four best Buddhist temples in Guangzhou and located on the Liurong Road (meaning the Six Banyan Trees Road). The Nanyue King Tomb Museum is a must-see Guangzhou attraction, which dates back to 2,000 years ago, is the earliest large scale painted stone chamber tomb ever found south of the Five Ridges. Buried with the tomb owner in a jade shroud are a gold seal and a lot of exquisite jade adornments. It has become a world famous museum. After the day tour you will be transferred to airport for your next destination.

$53 Per Day

Pingyao Highlights Walking Tour

Pingyao Highlights Walking Day Tour

With our guide to know the Ancient Pingyao better!

Our guide will meet you at your hotel lobby at 08:00 or 08:30, then show you the ticket office to get the ticket for the museums we will visit later.

Pingyao Highlights Walking Day Tour

With our guide to know the Ancient Pingyao better!

Our guide will meet you at your hotel lobby at 08:00 or 08:30, then show you the ticket office to get the ticket for the museums we will visit later.

First we will visit the 700 years old City wall, We will climb up from south gate and have a walk on the wall. We are not sure how many km we can walk, because of the renovating of the wall. Normally we will walk from south gate to the Yunlu Exit.

Then visit the Confucius temple, there is a old building named Dacheng Hall which is over 840 years old. From outside, we can see the big wood joints to lift the big roof around the building which is named Dougong. Due to this design, there are less columns inside the hall for giving the big space for the statues and the prayer. We have chance to see the Confucius statue and learn the philosophy of Confucius. If you like, you can pray for you and your children to get better study.

There is the Paper Cutting master named Wentao nearby the exit of Confucius temple. She is very smart and create the new style paper cutting with much more details and good wishes on it. Her products are made by hanks. It is worth to visit and buy as a souvenir from Pingyao. From the table standing and wall hangings. Please remember, take the red one because of red is the traditional and happy color. But the white one is the best. It is really difficult to choose, because of all of them are really nice.

Then you can have coffee break or tea break if you need at Chummy coffee, after this, visit the City god temple (ChenghuangMiao) which is most beautiful temple inside the wall. Because of the roof is covered by the colorful glazed tiles. There is not only city god and also the three money gods, Now you know why pingyao was the financial center.

Next we will visit the Ancient government building, to see the pingyao politics center in the ancient time. It is the complete building with officials bed room, kitchen and private garden. Follow the guide to look the official’s life from the 250km far away from the hometown.

Have a stroll in the alley to the Rishengchang exchange bank, which is the first bank all of china.You can not miss it.

After lunch, walk to the Ming and Qing street, this is the shopping street full of the stores on the both side of street. You can find alot things here , from post card to lacquered boxes, and wall panels. One more place to see, it is the Armed escort agency also named security and transport service for the business man before the bank founded.

Inlcusions

1.private english speaking tour guide servcie

2.bottle water for the tour

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