Destination of the Month: China

With 4,000 years of history and one of the world’s oldest civilizations in the world, China is an incredible cultural treasure situated in eastern Asia and a country that is certainly awarded Destination of the month. Here you’ll find the famous portrait of Mao Zedong hanging on the palatial crimson wall in Tiananmen Square, the 8,850 km long Great Wall of China, the ancient Terracotta Warriors in Xian, Giant pandas in Chengdu, and see modern China at the cutting edge with a visit to Hong Kong. A journey to China will be an adventure. Kids, Ganzi, NW Sichuan, China. Photo © Lucy Calder. Hosts of the 2008 Beijing Olmypics and a population of 1.3 billion, China is, for the moment, the most populous country in the world. But when planning a journey to China you may find yourself  staring down at a world map and wondering where the hell do I start? Which route shall I go? Well, that all depends on how much time you have? China is huge and it would take forever to see all of it. So, focus on an area that interests you and draw out a route around that  particular area. Or, if you’re really hardcore and have a few months to play with, why not go wild and submerge yourself across all four corners. If you like tea head for Hangzhou’s West Lake district in Zhejiang province, one of the birthplaces of Chinese green tea, or if it’s tribal people and a warmer climate head south to Jinghong and the Yunnan province.  If you want to cycle through a beautiful limestone paradise fly to Hong Kong and travel to Yangshuo. For mountains and a delicious hot pot head west to Chengdu. For the ice festival and Siberian tigers catch a train to Harbin. If it’s cities and Terracotta Warriors visit Xian and Beijing, the heart of China, the political, economic and cultural center of China for over 800 years. Journey to the north west and traverse the Silk Road visiting Urumqi, Turpan and Kasgar. Or, if you like a touch of glam and shopping, grab your wallet and head for China’s premier shopping street, 3.4-mile-long Nanjing Road in Shanghai, with 600 shops that will make your mouth water. The list is endless, it’s up to you to decide and discover. China is booming with an estimated economy by the year 2040 of $123 Trillion. China may be growing confident, but one thing is for sure, any nation who set sail in 1421 to discover the world, and has a wealth of history and delicious hot pots, deserves to be confident. 50 million people visit China each year – there’s a reason for that.  So, grab your rucksack and phase book and have an adventure to this incredible country. For more information about China

Adventure to China

With 4,000 years of history and one of the world’s oldest civilizations in the world, China is an incredible cultural treasure situated in eastern Asia and a country that is certainly awarded Destination of the month. Here you’ll find the famous portrait of Mao Zedong hanging on the palatial crimson wall in Tiananmen Square, the 8,850 km long Great Wall of China, the ancient Terracotta Warriors in Xian, Giant pandas in Chengdu, and see modern China at the cutting edge with a visit to Hong Kong. A journey to China will be an adventure. Kids, Ganzi, NW Sichuan, China. Photo © Lucy Calder. Hosts of the 2008 Beijing Olmypics and a population of 1.3 billion, China is, for the moment, the most populous country in the world. But when planning a journey to China you may find yourself  staring down at a world map and wondering where the hell do I start? Which route shall I go? Well, that all depends on how much time you have? China is huge and it would take forever to see all of it. So, focus on an area that interests you and draw out a route around that  particular area. Or, if you’re really hardcore and have a few months to play with, why not go wild and submerge yourself across all four corners. If you like tea head for Hangzhou’s West Lake district in Zhejiang province, one of the birthplaces of Chinese green tea, or if it’s tribal people and a warmer climate head south to Jinghong and the Yunnan province.  If you want to cycle through a beautiful limestone paradise fly to Hong Kong and travel to Yangshuo. For mountains and a delicious hot pot head west to Chengdu. For the ice festival and Siberian tigers catch a train to Harbin. If it’s cities and Terracotta Warriors visit Xian and Beijing, the heart of China, the political, economic and cultural center of China for over 800 years. Journey to the north west and traverse the Silk Road visiting Urumqi, Turpan and Kasgar. Or, if you like a touch of glam and shopping, grab your wallet and head for China’s premier shopping street, 3.4-mile-long Nanjing Road in Shanghai, with 600 shops that will make your mouth water. The list is endless, it’s up to you to decide and discover. China is booming with an estimated economy by the year 2040 of $123 Trillion. China may be growing confident, but one thing is for sure, any nation who set sail in 1421 to discover the world, and has a wealth of history and delicious hot pots, deserves to be confident. 50 million people visit China each year – there’s a reason for that.  So, grab your rucksack and phase book and have an adventure to this incredible country. For more information about China

Xishuangbanna: China’s deep south

Natural and cultivated beauty. “Twelve thousand rice fields” is the literal meaning of Xishuangbanna, an area covering nearly 20,000 square kilometers of paddy fields, hills, woods and tropical rain forest. Home of China’s famous Pu’er tea, Xishuangbanna is located at the extreme southern tip of Yunnan Province with Burma and Laos to the south, 342 miles (550 km) from Kunming.  Xishuangbanna lies just below the Tropic of Cancer and the land is hilly with some mountains and deep valleys. The climate is ideal for plants and animals and one quarter of China’s faunal species and one sixth of its plant species are living and growing on this marvelously rich and fertile area. The dense forests produce large amounts of teak, sandalwood and medicinal plants, and are home to wild animals including elephants, tigers and peacocks. In many ways, Xishuangbanna has much more in common with Southeast Asian neighbors Thailand, Laos and Burma than with Han-dominated China, and in recent years has seen a strong upsurge in tourism as foreigners and Chinese tourists alike flock to this lush corner of the People’s Republic. Even the temples in this area have a distinctly Thai feel and look to them, complete with saffron-robed monks. There are many ethnic minorities living in the province from Dai, Hani, Bulang and Jinuo, and more than 50% of Xishuangbanna’s 650,000 population are ethnic  Dai, who are close cousins to the Thai people to the south, while only 25% are Han Chinese. The Dai language belongs to the Chinese-Tibetan language family and has three major dialects. It is written in an alphabetic script. The Blang people, numbering 82,400, live mainly in Mt. Blang, Xiding and Bada areas of Menghai County in the Xishuangbanna. Drinking home-brewed wine and smoking tobacco are their main pastimes. Blang women like chewing betel nut and regard teeth dyed black with betel-nut juice as beautiful. In the countryside of Xishuangbanna the most lively side of rural life is presented on market day. Both Xiding and Menghun, towns west of the capital Jinhong, are generally quiet 6 days a week. But once a week, Xiding – Thursday & Menghun – Sunday, they become bustling centers of trade for the locals from the surrounding villages who come here to sell goods. It’s also a social time for the people to meet old friends and swap stories. Xiding’s Thursday market is one of the most authentic ethnic markets in Xishuangbanna. A hive of activity from dawn to midday. The prosperous-looking Dai ladies, dressed in long, colourful sarongs and wearing turbans, tend to run the stalls, while the Hani and Bulang come to town to buy from them, and the people from these minority villages still wearing their traditional clothes that adds colour to these vibrant markets. Experiencing these markets is similar to stepping back in time. The atmosphere and buzz is incredible. Pigs being slaughtered to the left while a woman sells bananas to the right. Menghun is the easiest of the two markets to get to. There are direct buses from Jinghong every 20 min’s starting at 7.00am. The price is Y18 and the journey takes around 90 min’s. If your starting from Menghai then there are micro buses going to Menghun throughout the day. Price is around Y7. The last bus returning to Menghai is at 4.00pm. Menghai to Jinghong the last scheduled bus is at 6.30pm but sometimes it’s possible to catch later buses traveling to Jinghong via Menghai. The road from Jinghong to Menghai is uphill all the way and steep, so cycling to Menghun is an option but it’ll take you around 8-10hrs on a good bike. We would suggest you and your bike catch a bus to Menghun and cycle back. Attempt to find the ‘old’ Menghai to Jinghong road, there’s a turn off on the left approx. 6km out of town, this road is rarely used now but is still in a good condition, the scenery is nice and there are trees that shade the road for those sunny days. Make sure you have some good brakes on your bike.  There are no direct buses from Jinghong to Xiding, you’ll have to first travel to Menghai, from here they have two buses which go to Xiding, the price is Y12 and they leave at 10.40am and 3.30pm. Return buses leave at 7.20am and 1.00pm. Private cars (mostly taxis) can be arranged for day trips to Xiding (or Menghun) market. Up to 4 people per car and the price for the day is around Y400. Minivans can be arranged for larger groups. Price negotiable. Photography © www.itchimages.com Getting to Xishuangbanna By Air : Xishuangbanna Jinghong Airport is the second largest airport (after Kunming) in Yunnan province. The airport can accommodate such large aircrafts as Boeing 737 and Airbus 319. There are direct flights every day from Kunming to Xishuangbanna. The flying time is about 50 minutes, and it costs about 780 RMB. There are also direct flight routes from Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Chongqing, Bangkok and other cities. By Bus : The high-speed express way from Kunming to Xishuangbanna was opened to the public on April 6, 2006. It stretches 550 km, and buses takes less than 9 hours to complete the journey. The bus terminal at Kunming side is located at the Kunming Long-Distance Passenger Bus Station near Kunming Railway Station. There are more than 20 sleeper buses and regular buses heading for Xishuangbanna every day. The bus fare is about 110-150 RMB, and it’s usually adjusted up by 15%-20% during the holidays such as the Chinese New Year. Amazon.co.uk Widgets Amazon.com Widgets