Jing’an Temple with its gold decoration and ornate roofs seems to fit quite well amongst the shopping centers boasting the likes of Gucci, Mont Blanc and Tiffany in Shanghai’s bustling Jing’an district. This is an expensive area to rent, buy or shop and the crème-de-la-crème of foreigners and Chinese reside here with rented apartments commanding 12,000RMB per month.  This is also the last geographical area before hitting Gubei, the expat housing village that resembles New York’s Park Avenue. Jing’an, with its sauciness and glitter, attracts more singles than families, preferring it to the almost “Truman Show-esque” Gubei.
 
The temple dates back to 247AD making it 1757 years old and counting. The year 247AD actually predates the birth of Shanghai. The temple is held in much higher esteem by the locals than the tourists’ favorite Jade Buddha Temple. However, here at the Jing’an temple, the ambiance is unfortunately disappointing. From the outside the temple appears enchanting, but inside the soul has almost completely escaped, a recent restoration has robbed it of any character. There is nowhere to really sit and just observe your surroundings, and instead a quick tour is heeded by an even quicker exit. It appears that this temple is mostly kept and run as a tourist attraction. You can even see a monk arrive in his car!!
 
The most fascinating thing about the temple is watching visitors pray and make sacrifices. There is a saying in China that the “God of Chinese people is money,” and sad to say, it is true to an extent. Here at the temple, it is astounding to see people with faith in another God (or indeed Gods), and actually be willing to prostrate themselves to that entity. Of course the irony being that they are praying for prosperity.
 
If in the area, Jing’an temple is worth a visit, but it won’t require much time unless of course you are a Buddhist. When in the temple, common sense rules apply. No walkmans, mp3 players, no loud chatter, no cell phones, etc.  Even if it isn’t consistent with your particular flavor, please be respectful of theirs’. Speaking of flavors, Burger King and Haagan Dazs are located right around the corner.
 
1686 Nanjing Xi Lu, Jing’an area
Take metro line 2 to Jing’an temple stop
Open 7am-5pm entrance fee is 10 RMB

Forbidden City  -- General introduction
Lying at the center of Beijing, the Forbidden City, called Gu Gong in Chinese, was the imperial palace for twenty-four emperors during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was first built throughout 14 years during the reign of Emperor Chengzu  in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Ancient Chinese Astronomers believed that the Purple Star (Polaris) was in the center of heaven and the Heavenly Emperor lived in the Purple Palace. The Palace for the emperor on earth was so called the Purple City. It was forbidden to enter without special permission of the empeor. Hence its name 'The Purple Forbidden City', usually 'The Forbidden City'.
Now known as the Palace Museum, it is to the north of Tiananmen Square. Rectangular in shape, it is the world's largest palace complex and covers 74 hectares. Surrounded by a 52-meter-wide moat and a 10-meter-high wall are more than 8,700 rooms. The wall has a gate on each side. Opposite the Tiananmen Gate, to the north is the Gate of Divine Might (Shenwumen), which faces Jingshan Park. The distance between these two gates is 960 meters, while the distance between the east and west gates is 750 meters. There are unique and delicately structured towers on each of the four corners of the curtain wall. These afford views over both the palace and the city outside.
The Forbidden City is divided into two parts. The southern section, or the Outer Court was where the emperor exercised his supreme power over the nation. The northern section, or the Inner Court was where he lived with his royal family. Until 1924 when the last emperor of China was driven from the Inner Court, fourteen emperors of the Ming dynasty and ten emperors of the Qing dynasty had reigned here. Having been the imperial palace for some five centuries, it houses numerous rare treasures and curiosities. Listed by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1987, the Palace Museum is now one of the most popular tourist attractions world-wide.
Construction of the palace complex began in 1407, the 5th year of the Yongle reign of the third emperor (Emperor Chengzu, Zhu Di) of the Ming dynasty. It was completed fourteen years later in 1420, and then the capital city was moved from Nanjing to Beijing the next year. It was said that a million workers including one hundred thousand artisans were driven into the  long-term hard labor. Stone needed was quarried from Fangshan, a suburb of Beijing. It was said a well was dug every fifty meters along the road in order to pour water onto the road in winter to slide huge stones on ice into the city. Huge amounts of timber and other materials were freighted from faraway provinces.

Yangshuo lies in the northeast of Guangxi Province and to the southeast of Guilin City. The special geography gives it breath-taking beauty while over 1,400 years of history bless it with a deep traditional culture.The diverse ethnic minority groups including Hui, Zhuang, Yao and others, enrich it with special folk cultures represented by their various festivals; while many foreign residents add exotic flavors to its fascination.Yangshuo, besides Dali in Yunnan, is China's most popular backpacker destination. In fact, Yangshuo has become legendary as a place to get away from China. The village is set amongst limestone and karst peaks, and is filled with quaint alleys, shops and restaurants that serve many kinds of western foods.The surrounding land is flat and perfect for bicycle riding and with your choice of peaks to climb and local villages to visit, Yangshuo has plenty to do!
 

Yuanyang County (yuán yáng xiàn 元阳县) is located in Honghe Prefecture (hóng hé zhōu 红河州), Yunnan province (yún nán shěng 云南省), China. It is well known for its spectacular rice-paddy terracing. It covers an area of 2200 square kilometres and has a population of approximately 365,000 (2002), of which 88% belong to ethnic minorities and 95% is associated with agriculture.

Geography
Yuanyang county lies at an altitude ranging from 140 along the Red River up to nearly 3000 metres above sea level in the Ailao mountains (āi láo shān 哀牢山) and is situated about 50 km north of the border with Vietnam.

The climate of Yuanyang county is mainly central sub-tropical monsoon with wet summers and dry winters. Average temperatures range from 26 Celsius down in the Red river valley to 4 Celsius in the upper reaches of the mountains.

Due to recent highway construction, Old Yuanyang can now be reached in about 7 hours by direct bus from Yunnan's capital Kunming (kūn míng 昆明), situated 300 km to the north of the county, a trip which only a few years ago, would take 10 hours or more. Buses also connect Yuanyang with the town of Hekou (hé kǒu 河口) and the border crossing with Vietnam (6 hours).

Vertical distribution of the various ethnic minority groups

The Hani (hā nízú 哈尼族) and Yi (yí zú 彝族), the creators of the monumental rice terraced mountains which have made Yuanyang famous, are the original inhabitants of these regions. Both their languages belong to the Tibeto-Burman group. Their villages can mainly be found between 1300 to 1600 metres above sea level.

The Dai (dǎi zú 傣族) moved here 700 years ago. The Zhuang (zhuàng zú 壮族) 400 years ago. Both their languages belong to the Kradai language group. Their villages are situated in the warmer areas below 700 metres elevation, near and along the rivers. Their main crop is rice grow in paddy fields.

The Miao (miáo zú 苗族) and Yao (yáo zú 瑶族) (of the Hmong-Mien language group) are fairly recent arrivals to the region, only settling here 200 and 270 years ago. Their villages are in the cooler and drier upland areas, between 1600 and 1800 metres above sea level, where they grow maize.

Travel in Yunnan

Yuanyang County (yuán yáng xiàn 元阳县) is located in Honghe Prefecture (hóng hé zhōu 红河州), Yunnan province (yún nán shěng 云南省), China. It is well known for its spectacular rice-paddy terracing. It covers an area of 2200 square kilometres and has a population of approximately 365,000 (2002), of which 88% belong to ethnic minorities and 95% is associated with agriculture.

Geography
Yuanyang county lies at an altitude ranging from 140 along the Red River up to nearly 3000 metres above sea level in the Ailao mountains (āi láo shān 哀牢山) and is situated about 50 km north of the border with Vietnam.

The climate of Yuanyang county is mainly central sub-tropical monsoon with wet summers and dry winters. Average temperatures range from 26 Celsius down in the Red river valley to 4 Celsius in the upper reaches of the mountains.

Due to recent highway construction, Old Yuanyang can now be reached in about 7 hours by direct bus from Yunnan's capital Kunming (kūn míng 昆明), situated 300 km to the north of the county, a trip which only a few years ago, would take 10 hours or more. Buses also connect Yuanyang with the town of Hekou (hé kǒu 河口) and the border crossing with Vietnam (6 hours).

Vertical distribution of the various ethnic minority groups
The Hani (hā nízú 哈尼族) and Yi (yí zú 彝族), the creators of the monumental rice terraced mountains which have made Yuanyang famous, are the original inhabitants of these regions. Both their languages belong to the Tibeto-Burman group. Their villages can mainly be found between 1300 to 1600 metres above sea level.

The Dai (dǎi zú 傣族) moved here 700 years ago. The Zhuang (zhuàng zú 壮族) 400 years ago. Both their languages belong to the Kradai language group. Their villages are situated in the warmer areas below 700 metres elevation, near and along the rivers. Their main crop is rice grow in paddy fields.

The Miao (miáo zú 苗族) and Yao (yáo zú 瑶族) (of the Hmong-Mien language group) are fairly recent arrivals to the region, only settling here 200 and 270 years ago. Their villages are in the cooler and drier upland areas, between 1600 and 1800 metres above sea level, where they grow maize.

Photographers and Chinese tourists flock here in droves to watch sunrises and sunsets turn the terraces into pools of gold, red and silver. Even in poor weather they can be breathtaking. Fog rolling into the terraced valleys leaves hill-top villages the only things visible, and the effect can be dramatic, like islands floating in the clouds.

There are three buses daily from Kunming to Yuanyang (Y90, 6½hrs, 10.40am, 7.30pm, 8pm). Other destinations include Hekou (Y37, four hours) and Gejiu (gè jiù 个旧) (Y22, one hour).

Getting there & away
Buses from Xinjie (xīn jiē 新街) back to Kunming leave at 10.12am, 5pm and 9pm. Or, you can forge on to Xishuangbanna (xī shuāng bǎn nà 西双版纳). At the time of research, there were no direct buses to Jinghong (jǐng hóng, 景洪). To get there, take the 7.30am bus to Luchun (lǜ chūn 绿春) (Y25, four hours), there you’ll have wait to get the Jiangcheng (jiāng chéng 江城) bus at 4pm (Y31, five hours). By the time you arrive, there’ll be now more buses but you can stay at the hotel attached to the bus station which has cheap rooms (dm/d Y10/60). Buses to Jǐnghóng (Y50, 8½ hours) start running at 6am.