Travel Destinations in China

China is one of the largest countries of the world and worthwhile to visit. This country has also the greatest population and offers many beautiful places to visit. Traveling through China means that you often have to take a plane for traveling from the one city to the other. I traveled to China in the year 2000 and visited four important cities in this wonderful country:

BEIJING

Beijing is the city with the most memorable highlights of China. In my opinion is this city "a must see" for everyone who wants to visit China.
Some important places to visit are:

1) THE FORBIDDEN CITY

This place which is also called "the Palace Museum" is built during the Ming Dynasty from 1406 to 1420. People can enter this place through the Tiananmen Gate next to Tiananmen Square which is dominated by a famous portrait of Mao Zedong and enjoying of the ancient Chinese architecture. It contains 800 buildings and 9000 rooms. The Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Palace of Heavenly Purity, and the Nine Dragons screen are in my opinion the highlights of the Forbidden City.

2) THE GREAT WALL

The great wall can be considered as the national symbol of China. It was built more than 2000 years ago and has a length of more than 6000 kilometres. The function of this wall was to protect the Chinese emporium from the Mongolians and other invaders.

The great wall is now the most popular attraction in China and there are different places where you can visit this impressive wall like Badaling, Mutianyu and Simaltei.
Simaltei is maybe the best choice if you are searching for exercise and the distance of walking is around 5 kilometres and includes 35 towers.

It is required to have a good condition to make this climb but when you become tired you can take a rest and enjoy of a panoramic view of the city. The temperature can be a problem in summer. It was 38 degrees Celsius when I made this climb in the year 2000 and it is was necessary to drink a lot of water during my walk.

3) THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN

The temple of Heaven is an important ancient sacrificial building which is worthwhile to visit. This complex is almost three times the area of the Forbidden City and built from 1406 to 1420 during the reign of emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty. The main buildings are the Altar of Prayer for good harvests, the Imperial Vault of Heaven and the Circular Mound Altar.
There is a great park and you need several hours to walk around for enjoying the beautiful sights.

4) THE SUMMER PALACE

The Summer Palace contains the largest imperial garden of China. It is a beautiful area which represents the Chinese traditional art in garden building. The palace area is covered by a beautiful lake, the Kunming Lake, with the seventeen-Arch bridge .Don't forget to visit "The Marble boat" which you can see at the end of the long corridor next to this lake. This boat is 36m long and was used in the past by the Chinese royals to take tea.

When you walk around you can enjoy the beautiful plants, statues, palaces, temples bridges and halls. It is worthwhile to visit the Beautiful Ming Lion statue which you can find in the outer courtyard. One of the highest buildings is the Tower of Buddhist Incense which is located at the top of the Longevity Hill.
The Summer Palace is really an area for relaxing and enjoying of a beautiful nature and many beautiful buildings.

Other beautiful places to visit in Beijing are : the Beijing Zoo with the Five Pagoda Temple, the Bell and Drum Towers, the Temple of Confucius and the Ming tombs.

XIAN:

Xian is also a beautiful place to visit in China. The most popular tourist attraction of this city is "The Army of the Terracotta warriors".

The area inside the area wall is an interesting place to visit because of the Bell and Drum towers, also called sister buildings. The bell tower is a wooden tower with a height of 36 meters and is probably the best preserved of its kind in China. During the Yun Dynasty (1271-1368) people spoke about the morning bell and dark drum. These drums served as an alarm in case of emergency situations.
This area of Xian is a nice place for walking and it is worthwhile to visit the Muslim quarter with the many mosques and beautiful gardens.

Xian offers you also many temples and The Big Wild Goose Pagoda is probably the most popular. The original one is to see in India but this one is really impressive and a holy place for Buddhists. It is located in the Da Ci'en Temple complex. Many Buddha figures are stored and you can admire the many buildings and gardens around which creates an atmosphere like in a park.

There are two important attractions which I suggest for every tourist who wants to visit Xian:

THE ARMY OF THE TERRACOTTA WARRIORS

The Terracotta Army is "a must see" for every tourist in China. I can't imagine that someone will travel to this city and forget to visit this beautiful museum. This museum represents only 8000 underground warriors which is only a small proportion of the Army which was discovered in 1974. The museum is divided in three parts (pits) and everyone can have a look of the reconstruction of the Army. This contains soldiers, horses and you have the possibility to buy a book of the history and discovery of the terracotta army in the bookstore of this museum.

THE TANG DYNASTY SHOW

When you are searching for entertainment during the evening I can recommend you the Tang Dynasty Show. It is a combination of a delicious meal in a restaurant and an impressive show of Chinese dancers with music from the Tang Dynasty (period 618-907). The costumes of the dancers are really amazing with beautiful colors.

When I visited Xian many years ago I went to a Tang Dynasty show and it was possible to take some beautiful pictures. The prize for the meal and the show was only $50.00 which is very cheap for such a marvelous show. It is the best show I ever saw in Asian.

Also the menu card is very original: beautiful pictures and on the left side you see the program of the music and on the right side the different dishes.

The program of the show that I saw was:

- PRELUDE
Hua Qing Palace (an Ancient Chinese Instrumental ensemble)

- CULTURAL DANCE SEGMENT
White Ramie Cloth Costume Dance
Da Nuo Dance
Rainbow Costume Dance
Warriors Triumphal Dance

- INSTRUMENTAL SOLO
String sextet
Spring Orioles Song

- FINALE
Ta Ge

The menu is a card with 5 dishes of royal names :

- PEARLS OF CATHAY
Platter of assorted seafood and chicken delicacies.

- THE ROYAL MARRIAGE
Black mushroom consomm.

- HEART OF THE DRAGEON
Crispy fresh king prawns garnished with honey glazed nuts in season highlighted with mayonnaised fruit salad.

- THE PRINCESS'S PIN
Succulent tenderloin of beef baked in mushroom sauce served with garden green and fried rice.

- THE WILLOW'S MELODY
Ginger fresh fruit salad with snow fungus in haw berry syrup.

Every tourist who visits Xian will have good memories on this beautiful city because it offers something for everyone. It is also worthwhile to visit some jade carving or silk workshops.

GUILIN

Guilin is a city in China where you can enjoy of the beautiful nature. The temperature is also lower than in the other cities. The Li River is the highlight of a tour in Guilin and can be called the bright pearl between mountains and rivers. A Li River boat trip is a beautiful attraction in Guilin. Everyone can enjoy the beautiful sights of the picturesque mountains, rice fields and the beauty of the crystal clear water.

There is also a romantic legend in Guilin. If an unmarried women threw a ball our her window and if the unmarried men caught this ball he accepted her love and needed to marry her.

Some other beautiful attractions in Guilin are Elephant Trunk Hill, Fubo Hill, Reed Flute cave and Seven Star Park. Guilin is a paradise for tourists who are lovers of the beauty of the nature.

SHANGHAI

Shanghai is a city which is totally different with the other cities of China and is called "the Pearl of the Orient". It is a modern city and the architecture can't be compared with the style of Beijing, Xian and many other cities of China. The Fuxing park is beautiful and the only one in Shanghai which is built in French style and with a sculpture of Marx and Engels which are the fathers of Communism.

The Jade Buddha Temple, which is built in the Song Dynasty style, is in my opinion the most beautiful one in Shanghai. The hall of the sleeping Buddha, the Halls of Heavenly Kings and the Hall of the Jade Buddha are impressive.

The Yuyuan garden is worthwhile to visit and originated in the Ming Dynasty. In the beginning it was a private garden created by Pan Yunduan but now this garden can be visited by every tourist. It is a beautiful place for relaxing and enjoying of beautiful sights.

When you want to visit a museum I can recommend you "the Shanghai museum" where you will find a collection of 120 pieces representing paintings, bronze, ceramics, jade furniture, Chinese coins and western art.

Shanghai is also a great place for entertainment. The Shanghai Circus is one of the best in the world and offers you an evening of pleasure. It is a wonderful experience to see the acrobats and the animals in a circus show and really breathtaking to see the flexibility and the balance in their movements. It is really entertainment for everyone.

CONCLUSION

China is an immense large country which offers impressive monuments, buildings, gardens, temples, museums and entertainment for everyone. A travel to China is an experience you will keep in your memories forever.