Top 5 Must-go Places in Your Life

1.  Grand Canyon:

Grand Canyon is a deep gorge created by the Colorado River in Arizona of United States. The origin that causes an impact on the Grand Canyon is erosion, first by water and second by wind. About 5 million tourists visit the 1 mile deep canyon every single year. Having a vacation in Grand Canyon national park makes you and your family relieve from presures. The best time to visit Grand Canyon is during the summer, fall and mild spring, but most local people agree that winter is the great time to visit.

Grand Canyon

2.  Great Barrier Reef:

This is the world's largest coral reef ecosystem, which is located in Australia. The Reef can be seen from the outer space and it is the largest single structure, which is made of living organisms. This beauty attracts many tourists to visit the place.

Great Barrier Reef

3.  Florida:

This state of United States built its own brand of tourism. It is the south eastern state in the US. It has become the favorite destination during the winter. Florida in Spanish means the land of flowers. Central Florida is conquered by Orlando and it is famous for coterie of theme parks, sea world, universal studios, Disney world, and many more attractions.

Florida

4.  The South Island:

The most famous scenery of The South Island in New Zealand is grand open landscapes. The island is well known for marvelous fiords, large beach forests, golden sand beaches and broad plains. The South Island has 10 national parks. These parks features in world heritage sites, lakes, glaciers, fiords, native forests, coastline, and world class hiking tracks. The fabulous scenery across the south land attracts many visitors to go.

The South Island

5. Cape Town:

Cape Town is located at the tip of the African Continent. The best way to know more about Cape Town is by experiencing different cultures and different lifestyles by yourself. In the summer, Cape Town is filled with tourists enjoying the hot weather, sunny beaches and beautiful sceneries. Therefore, if you wish to spend your vacation here in summer, I advise you to make reservations before you go to this place.

Cape Town

Dazu Rock Carving

Dazu Rock Carving is also a must-go place even though you have been to Longmen or Yungang. Dazu Rock Carving is a masterpiece of Chinese ancient rock carving art.  There are about 70 sculptures and inscriptions. The most famous are Baoding Mountain and Beishan Mountain. Dazu Rock Carving started from late Tang Dynasty, and became  prosperous in Song Dynasty. In 1999, Dazu Rock Carving was listed  in World Heritage List by UNESCO.

Traffic of Dazu Rock Carving

Dazu County is only 1-hour drive from Chongqing Proper. And Baoding Mountain is 15 kilometers from Dazu County. You can take bus or train to Dazu County and then take  mini bus or taxi to Baoding Mountain. Beishan Mountain is 2 kilometers from Dazu County.

Accommodation of Dazu Rock Carving

There are many hotels in Dazu for you to choose. You can also live in local people's house, the price is about 50 RMB per person.

Local Products of Dazu Rock Carving

Baoding Dongjian Tea

It has the history of over 100 years. It is famous in China and it is sold to many cities in China, such as Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai.

Dazu Steel Knife

It is the most famous local product of Dazu Rock Carving. And it is also a good choice as a gift you bring to your family members and friends.

Food of Dazu Rock Carving

There are many delicious food of Dazu Rock Carving, such as Sanqu Bean Jelly, Youting Fish, and famous Buddhist vegetarian food provided by Dazu Rock Carving scenic  area.

In a word, Dazu Rock Carving is a good place to spend your vacation. You can not only watch the famous rock carvings, but also enjoy the delicious food there.

Travel to Ghost City – Fengdu

Fengdu County, also called Ghost City, is located on the north bank of Yangtze River. It is an important attraction along our Yangtze Cruise. As the Home of The Chinese Divine Comedy, there are many legends and buildings of ghost culture in Fengdu Ghost City.

When we stepped on the stairs of Ghost City, Glen said we are walking on the road where ghosts walked. Everybody laughed. Indeed, the sculptures and statues there are scary. Even you can smell the blood from hell.

Naihe Bridge

Naihe Bridge is the only way to the Hell. Based on Chinese legend, when people died, they will pass this bridge and drink a kind of soup, Mengpo Soup. Dead people will lost the memory while having the soup. Then, we came to the Pass to Hell. The pass is like a big mouth of a monster. Visitors will pass through this mouth to go into hell. This feeling is weird.

Ghost City

We also visit 18 Levels of Hell. Every level is a place to torture bad people. And we visit Wangxiang Tower and so on.

In a word, this travel to Ghost City is a very scary and interesting trip. It is so impressive that we will never forget.

Tips For Chengdu Travel

Traffic

1.You can go to Chengdu from many cities in China very easily by train, bus and air. When by air, you can book airport pick-up service as you wish.

2.When you are in Chengdu, taking taxi is not a bad choice. It is not very expensive and conenient for you to visit the attractions of this city.

3.You can take bus at the Xinnanmen Bus Station to go to Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Center. Taking taxi is a little bit expensive, about 50 RMB.

Accommodation

1.There are many hotels for you to choose, Jinjiang Hotel, Holiday Inn, Hilton and so on.

2.If you wish to save some money, you could choose smaller hotel or inn to live, such as Jinjiang Zhixing Hotel. The Business Room B is very small. I advise you to take Business Room A. This hotel is very near to the center of Chengdu, Chunxi Road.

Food

1.There are so many delicious snacks for you to eat in Chengdu. A good place to have snacks is Jinli. The expense here is not very high but cost-effective.

2.Tea House is one of the most famous features of Chengdu. Local people like to gather in a tea house, drinking a cup of tea and chatting with each other. It is a good place for people to exchange information and make friends. Heming Tea House in People Park is the perfect place to go.

3.Hot Pot is a must-go during your trip in Chengdu. Although Chengdu is not the birth place of Hot Pot (the birth place of Hot Pot is Chongqing), it is also tasty and delicious.

Shopping

1.Jinli is a good place to buy some souvenirs for your family members and friends. Different traditional Chinese handicrafts can be found here, such as silver ornaments, Chinese Tea and so on. If you love panda, there is a small store to sell items related to pandas.

2.You can go to super market in Chengdu to buy local products, such as Zhangfei Beef.

White Crane Ridge Underwater Museum

White Crane Ridge is the first hydrological station in the world, also considered as the Database of World Hydrological Information and Underwater Stele Forest. White Crane Ridge is located at Fuling County of Chongqing. It gets its name because white cranes liked to gather on the stone ridge in ancient times.

Gem of Chinese Culture

The length of White Crane Ridge is about 1,600 meters and its width is about 15 meters. Its height is 138 meters and about 2 or 3 meters higher than the water level of Yangtze River. There are 165 inscriptions, about 30,000 Chinese characters. The earliest inscription dates back to Tang Dynasties.

The 18 stone fishes carved on the ridge record the hydrological situations of 72 droughts in the history of 1200 years in China. These precious information reflects the water level changes of Yangtze River and also provides important proof for the research of Yangtze River hydrology and world climate. The constructions of Gezhou Dam and Three Gorges Dam are also based on the information provided by White Crane Ridge. Therefore, White Crane Ridge has become the Ancient Yangtze River Hydrological Station and World Hydrology Database.

White Crane Ridge is also called the only well-preserved ancient hydrology station in the world by UNESCO.

There are also many poets, paintings carved on the ridge. So, it is also a famous cultural relics on Yangtze River.

Underwater Meseum of White Crane Ridge

Due to the construction of Three Gorges Dam, the water level of Yangtze River rises to 185 meters. So, the White Crane Ridge was submerged. In order to protect this precious cultural relics, Chinese government built a meseum underwater. Visitors can walk into water and watch the inscriptions through underwater windows and cameras.

Thanks to this underwater museum, we can watch White Crane Ridge more clearly than before.

Hot Pot Tour after Yangtze Cruise

After we finished our Yangtze cruise, we arrived in Chongqing to have a spectacular hot pot tour in this city. That’s what I expected before we came to China.

The bus took us in front of The People’s Assembly Hall of Chongqing, an architectural attraction with green dome and red columns supporting it. 

When Renee and I got out of our bus, a Chinese man who appeared to be around 30 met us. He is our local guide for the hot pot tour in Chongqing. His name is Leo. Then, Leo ushered us into a Buick van while the driver loaded our luggage into the trunk. As we began driving, Leo began to introduce this city to us. He had encyclopedic knowledge of his city and barely paused to take a breath.

We got know more about this city through Leo’s detailed introduction. Chongqing has been a center for trade for centuries and it used be the capital of China during World War II. In 1997, Chongqing became China’s fourth municipality administered by the Chinese government.

Chongqing is known as the hottest city in China for three reasons. One, hot weather. Two, spicy food. Three, beautiful women. Renee and I all laughed because of Leo’s interesting introduction.
Chongqing is also the Hot Pot Capital of the World. When someone tells you that you’re in “the capital of the world” for any type of food, it would be a crime not to eat it.

Soon, the van took us to a nice restaurant. We were at a table with a boiling pot of water with tomato and spices in the middle of it. Leo had called ahead and asked the waiters to prepare a medium-spicy hot pot for us; actually “medium spicy” was really spicy. The waiter brought us Chinese beers at our request and explained how the hot pot experience worked.

The dishes for hot pot are meat, fish, vegetables, noodles, bean curd, and herbs. Every single dish was placed in a little bowl. And you can pick each item up with chopsticks and place it in the water. After a few minutes, take it out of the water and dip it in sauce.

Very kindly, the waiter taught us how to mix hot pot sauce with minced garlic, and sesame oil. It was one of the best meals we had ever had: fresh, unique, and delicious. When Leo returned to the restaurant to collect us, he found us with our bellies stuffed.

This hot pot tour is amazing and we will never forget!

A Travel to Lijiang - A Beautiful Ancient City in Yunnan

Yunnan means the south of colorful clouds in Chinese. Lijiang is a place in Yunnan where I’m expecting for a very long time. Finally, I got a chance to go there. I was so excited that I could not sleep before our flight.

Day 1

The flight from Shanghai to Lijiang took about 3 hours. When I arrived in Lijiang, I immediately feel the heat as well as the hospitality of local people in Lijiang Ancient City. The ancient street was crowded, but this made a unique atmosphere of a traditional Chinese festival - Spring Festival which is the most important festival in China. Thanks to the environmental protection of the government, the stream which went through the whole city was pure and crystal. There were a lot of shops and stores to sell Chinese-style souvenirs. You can choose some of them to bring back to US as a present.

Day 2

I got up early today. Because I knew today’s destination is Lugu Lake. It is a little bit far from Lijiang Ancient City. The bus ride took 6 hours and the road condition was bad. But I felt worthy as soon as I saw the astondingly beautiful sceneries of Lugu Lake. The mirror-like lake reflected the blue sky. You could also see snow mountains afar. You would feel like you were in heaven. The lake reminded me of a famous saying, the lake on high mountain is just like a tear on earth. The sunset of Lugu Lake was also spectacular. During the sunset, the sky became dark blue, and then purple - very dark purple. Any word can not decribe the beauty, I think.

Day 3

We got back to Lijiang and I experienced the other side of Lijiang - the ancient city at night. There were many red lanterns on at night. The red lighted on the evening of this quiet ancient city. People gathered in the bars of Lijiang. They drink, talk and released themselves from daily routine work and life.

Tips

Accommodation

There are hotels and inns for you to choose. Jinquan Hotel was where we lived in Lijiang. It is a 4-star hotel even equipped with health clinic. Accommodation is not a problem you would worry about in Lijiang.

Food

The food in ancient city is a little bit expensive, but full of exotic flavors. It is worthy a try. The food in hotel was tasty and cheap. The meal for 4 persons was about 70-80 RMBs.

Traffic

The traffic is convenient. But the ride to Lugu Lake is tough.

Clothes

I advise you to bring more clothes because the tempreture there differs a lot between day and night. And sunglass is a must.

Three Gorges

Three Gorges, called "200-Kilometer Natural Gallery" by local people, starts from Fengjie County to Nanjin Pass in Yichang City with the length of 193 kilometers. One foreign hydrology expert used to said that Three Gorges is the gift to China from God. It consists of Qutang Gorge, Wu Gorge and Xiling Gorge. It was awarded as one of the Top 10 Scenic Spots in China in 1995.

Taking the yangtze Cruise ship from Chongqing, you will experience the most impressive tour of Three Gorges. Three Gorges is the most beautiful and spetacular part along the Yangtze River and it is also a masterpiece of nature. There are three gorges of it, Qutang Gorge - famous for its magnificence, Wu Gorge - the most elegant one, Xiling Gorge - the most adventuring part.

Cultural Relics of Three Gorges

Three Gorges is not only famous for its natural beauty but also for the culture and legend of it. There are many famous cultural relics left by ancient Chinese, such as White Emperor City, Goddess Peak, Three Visitors Cave, Huangling Temple, Lantern Shadow Gorge, Qingtan Shoal, Ox Liver and Horse Lung Gorge, Military Books and Precious Sword Gorge, Xiangxi Stream and Hometown of Quyuan.

White Emperor City, located at Qutang Gorge, is also called Badicheng in Chinese. It is the place Liu Bei - Emperor of Shu Kingdom entrusts his son to Zhuge Liang - Prime Minister of Shu Kingdom. Legend says that Liu Bei started a war against his enemy and failed. After the war, Liu Bei escaped to White Emperor City and got sick. Before his death, he asked Zhuge Liang come to White Emperor City and entrusted his young boy to Zhuge Liang. This legend is a very famous story about the history of Shu Kingdom. That is why many people like to visit here.

Twelve Peaks of Wu Mountain is the most famous scenic spot of Wu Gorge. Every peak has one beautiful legend. The most moving one is story of Goddess Peak. Legend says that 12 fairy ladies from heaven came to Three Gorges and they saw the river course is dangerous. So, they decided to stay here to protect the ships cruising through Wu Gorge. Finally, 12 fairy ladies became 12 peaks after a long period. The most beautiful one is Goddess Peak. Goddess Peak is the youngest sister of the 12 fairy ladies. Looking afar, the peak looks like a beautiful girl standing on the northern bank of Wu Gorge. It stays here to protect the ships and local people along Yangtze River.