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Jiuzhai Valley Architecture

Jiuzhaigou ( Jiuzhaigou Valley ) is named after the nine Tibetan villages with in the national park boundaries, like the hundreds of other villages in the region the local people's houses are traditionally made of wood, which is to be expected for somewhere that has been surrounded with ...

Jiuzhaigou ( Jiuzhaigou Valley ) is named after the nine Tibetan villages with in the national park boundaries, like the hundreds of other villages in the region the local people's houses are traditionally made of wood, which is to be expected for somewhere that has been surrounded with thick forests for thousands of years. 

    The best example of traditional architecture within the park can be seen in the abandoned Guodu VIllage in Zharu Valley. Traditionally, houses had three floors. The ground floor housed livestock. This was one way of keeping homes warm during the cold winters, as the animals' body heat would radiate up through the floorboards. The first floor was the family's living quarters and the top floor which was usually open at the gable ends was for drying crops, storing grain, animal feed and farm tools.

    When Jiuzhai Valley was officially classified as a nature reserve in the 1980s all agriculture and animal husbandry was banned in the park and today the locals make a living from tourism. There is no longer a need to build houses in the traditional fashion and most are now built with a combination of bricks and wood. The brightly painted exteriors of the homes are a modern addition to local villages and are a sign of increased prosperity. 

     Traditionally only monasteries would be able to afford such elaborate painting . Now all homes will be painted to some degree ( inside or outside of both) with particular attention beging paid to the home alter which is an important feature of each home. 

Mengdong River Rafting

The Mengdong River Scenic Zone is in Yongshun County, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture in Hunan, the birthplace of the Tujia nationality. Rivers flow from west to east and there are scattered lakes in the south and north. This configuration provides good conditions for Drifting tours. There are rapi...

The Mengdong River Scenic Zone is in Yongshun County, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture in Hunan, the birthplace of the Tujia nationality. Rivers flow from west to east and there are scattered lakes in the south and north. This configuration provides good conditions for Drifting tours. There are rapid streams, dangerous shoals and calm rivers. The drifting covers about 47km. The river flows through steep country with high cliffs and deep valleys. The waterway is narrow and the flow is rapid which makes the tour exciting.

2 hours drive from Zhangjiajie city, Rafting usually take 3 hours. Wide calm river section take another 3 hours ending at Furong town that's well preserved old town famous for its old streets and stilted houses, it is worth visit. Tourists can see many Tujia style houses which are on stilts in the water at both banks. There are also the Xizhou bronze pillars, important cultural relics under the key protection of the state in the ancient town of Furong on the lower reaches of the river. You'll thrill to the excitement of the major rapids of the Mengdong River; there are a few of the rapids that get your heart pounding. The rapids are interspersed with calm stretches, which give you a chance to enjoy the breathtaking scenery. Gentle rapids carve a pathway through mountains and provide plenty of chance to swim, spot wildlife, take the fried the river fish, and just relax.

On the drifting boat, seeing mountains on both sides passing quickly and the stream rolling on with roars, one feels as if they were dropping to the deep valley from the sky, or jumping to the air from the ground, or galloping on horse backs, or riding clouds and mist. With great admiration, one feels shocked first and then delighted. The drifting is extraordinarily thrilling and one will never forget it!

Below are suggested items you should bring for your trip. You will enjoy your trip more if you are prepared for varying weather conditions.
Always Bring:
Swimsuit shorts wool sweaters or synthetic fleece wool socks windbreaker jacket and pants, footwear that can get wet (plus a dry pair for after your trip) dry clothes and towel. Sun screen sunglasses baseball cap or visor.
Cool weather:synthetic long johns wool hat and glovesWet Suit

Temple of Six Banyan Trees

Having a long history of about 1,400 years, the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees is one of the four best Buddhist temples in Guangzhou and located on the Liurong Road (meaning the Six Banyan Trees Road). It has a rich collection of cultural-relics and is renowned both at home and abroad.
Or...

Having a long history of about 1,400 years, the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees is one of the four best Buddhist temples in Guangzhou and located on the Liurong Road (meaning the Six Banyan Trees Road). It has a rich collection of cultural-relics and is renowned both at home and abroad.
Originally built in 537, it has been rebuilt several times, and the name has also been changed several times from Changshou Temple (meaning Longevity Temple) to Jinghui Temple and finally the current name. It is a name given by the great liiterateur Su Dongpo in the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279). It is said that he visited there while returning to the north. During the visit, he found six banyan trees there particularly striking. The vitality of the trees put him in a good mood and cheered him up. When the abbot of the monastery invited him to suggest a name, Su Dongpo wrote down its present name. Finally, its former name (Jinghui Temple) was changed to the present one, Temple of the Six Banyan Trees. A pagoda inside is known variously as Six Banyan Pagoda or Flowery Pagoda.

After entering by the mountain gate, the Tianwang Hall is the first hall you will see. The Laughing Buddha is there with smile all over his face to welcome visitors. Behind it is the Weituo Hall. According to legend, Weituo was a general who recaptured the Buddhist relics which had been stolen. He keeps a straight face, looking very serious and frightful, in distinct contrast with the Laughing Buddha.

The architecture that catches the visitors' eyes most is the Six Banyan Pagoda. It is a pagoda where Buddhist relics are placed. Its roofs curve upwards and look like dark red flower petals. The tip of the pagoda is like stamens, while the whole construction looks like a huge stigma high in the air. Therefore, people like to call it the Flowery Pagoda. The pagoda not only has a nice appearance, but also provides visitors a good place to overlook enchanting scenery around.

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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 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.

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