Travel China and Beyond

Travel to Fenghua, Zhejiang Province — Off the beaten track

Most visitors to China spend certain amount of time in Zhejiang Province, but that is usually in the city of Hangzhou - a beautiful place famous for both its natural scenery as well as tea plantations.  If you want to get to a less travelled location after visiting Hangzhou, you could head to Fenghua located near Ningbo city (south of Hangzhou).
Fenghua is the hometown of Chiang Kai-Shek, a Chinese figure who has influenced China and Taiwan’s history to a large extent (Chiang Kai-Shek fled with Kuomintang troops to Taiwan in 1949)

Fenghua is famous for both natural scenery as well as great fruit, yellow-fin tuna (from the Eastern Sea), tea — yes there are tea plantations in the hills around the city.

The notable sites around Fenghua are Xikou Xuedou Hill (northwest of Ningbo city) together with the ancient town of Xikou (here you can find Chiang Kai-Shek’s house and the tomb of his mother — apparently a tunnel 668 meters long) Xuedou Temple located on Xuedou Hill, is one of the famous Buddhist temples in China.  The temple (rebuilt in the late 1980s / early 1990s) has also a Sheng School (associated with Chan Buddhism). 
Near by is also the Tingxia lake — a man-made lake on the Shanxi River (south of Xuedou Hill) - which offers some good opportunity for relaxing away from large crowds.

Overall a visit to Fenghua will give you the chance to see some old Chinese towns and architecture and step away from the rapid development in the big cities of China.

Travel to Hangzhou - sites, shopping, places to see

I have travelled to Hangzhou on numerous occasions over the past 19 years.  My first trip there was in 1988 (while I was a student in Shanghai).  Friends of mine were studying in the Hangzhou Fine Arts Institute.  At that time the city was a very nice escape from the overcrowding and smog of Shanghai.  Plus you could not miss the beautiful hills and tea growing areas.

Over the years Hangzhou has changed as the rest of China.  It has grown and become modernized.

The famous sites remain pretty much the same though:

•  The West Lake — with many scenic pagodas and temples as well as the natural beauty of the surrounding hills  (I used to love the beer made in Hangzhou with the same name XiHu PiJiu)
• The Buddhist carvings at the Feilai Feng Caves
• Multiple Tea plantations

If you like Tea, Hangzhou is the place to enjoy fresh picked tea — the famous Long Jing (Dragon Well) variety of green tea.

In the early Spring (April timeframe) you can visit some of the small restaurants on the outskirts of Hangzhou in the hills and both have very nice dinner or lunch as well as enjoy some very aromatic tea and also see and smell the freshly picked tea.

At that time of the year you will find tea leaves drying in woven baskets everywhere infront of the houses in the hills.

Shopping related:
Tea -  You can also purchase the fresh green tea at a very reasonable prices — read Cheap…

 The famous Long Jing teas are:
  XiHu Long Jing
  Lion Xi Hu Long Jing
  Emperor Long Jing  / Emperor Lung Ching
Silk Umbrellas
  Hangzhou silk and Zhejiang Bamboo
  Hangzhou is also famous for silk — the other famous silk city in China is Suzhou.

Shopping street:
   Hubin street (near Hyatt)
   Qing Hefang Street   
   XuHu TianDi — a bar and restaurant / tea house street.  Does this remind you of the name sake in Shanghai ?
Some Museum sites:

• The China Tea Museum located in Shuangfeng, Longjing Road ,Hangzhou
• China Silk Museum (on bus number 38) - located at the bottom of YuHuang Hill near the West Lake.
• West Lake Museum — a nice place to relax and enjoy the scenery — located near XiHu Tiandi

Other places to visit:
  Chenghuang Temple
  Leifeng pagoda
  Dragon Well Village
  Su Causeway
  JingCi Temple
  Yue Temple

With regards to places to stay, here are some options:

• If you would like to be located at a really nice spot - near the West lake — essentially across the street from the paths around the lake — you should consider the Shangri-La hotel; Rates are around RMB1100
• The Radisson Plaza Hotel — also a nice one. Rates are in the range of RMB1000
• Hangzhou International Holiday Inn — you can get a nice room for about RMB600

In terms of getting to the city, you probably should consider travel via train to Shanghai. The train ride is very comfortable and relatively fast (make sure you get on an express train).  Otherwise if you are travelling by plane keep in mind that the airport is a good distance away from town and a taxi ride to the airport will run you around RMB120.

I have heard also about a new service of Air China.  If you are traveling via Air China and you need to get from Hangzhou to Pudong Int’l Airport you can use the Free Shuttle.  The bus leaves from Hangzhou Tourist Center and goes to Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

Well, this is a quick summary.  Enjoy your trip!

Day Trips from Beijing - Visiting Chengde, an ancient imperial resort North of Beijing

So the weekend comes and you are feeling adventurous and with strong urge to challenge the roads North of Beijing This is where you decide to take a road trip of roughly 150 miles from Beijing. The destination is Chengde — an old imperial resort North of Beijing. Yes, this is definitely an adventure. Here is a summary of the trip and some photos for you.

Chengde is best known as the summer resort for the Qing dynasty emperors. For those of you who would really like to get a deep understanding of the Qing dynasty, here is a very comprehensive study of that period: New Qing Imperial History: The Making of the Inner Asian Empire at Qing Chengde

Probably the main attraction there is the Mountain Park / Resort, which includes a vast area of gardens, lakes, pagoda, and palaces. The whole place, of course is surrounded by a wall. Outside of the imperial park are several temples (the 8 Outer Temples) — all built as replicas or in the style of famous sites around China. Probably the most famous one is the Pǔtuó Zōngchéng (in Chinese: 普陀宗乘) - essentially a temple built to resemble the Potala Palace in Lhasa / Tibet. Here are some photos from the Putuo Zongcheng — first several from 1987/88 (Yes, I was in China then as my first stay there (as a student)) and then a few from last several months (2006/07) — more pictures will show up in the photo album section soon enough:

  
Getting to Chengde and going home, though is at least half the fun. Heading out towards that city you will take the “famous” JingShun Road (it could be really congested and slow), you will go through Huairou,

and eventually you can get on the JingCheng (Beijing - Chengde) Expressway or you could continue on the back country roads (interesting but quite challenging from traffic point of view). On your way to Chengde you could also spend time at the Simatai section of the Great Wall. If you do that though you may want to plan to spend the night either near Simatai or in Chengde and make it a two day trip.

Visiting the Lama Temple - YongHeGong - in Beijing

Temples in China have many different origins…The Lama temple in Beijing is (per the Chinese historians) the biggest Buddhist Temple in Beijing.  It was built in 1694 as a residence for the Qing Dynasty prince Yong.  Then in 1725 it was made into a palace with the name Yong He Gong (apparently the name is supposed to mean Harmony and Peace Yong He, palace Gong).  Then in 1744 the palace was changed into a Lamasery.

The construction of the place carries the characteristics of multiple cultures - Han, Manchu, Tibetan.  There are many Buddhist statues in the various halls of the place.  With the three most famous ones being:

• Niche of Buddha - carved from NanMu (one of the precious hard woods of China)
• Five Hundred Arhat Mountain - carved from red sandalwood
• Big Buddha Maitreya - 18 meters high statues. its main part carved from one single piece of white sandalwood

Here are some images from the Temple so you can decide for yourself if you would like to visit.  More images will be posted in the blog Photo Album web page.  Enjoy!
          

Visiting the Lama Temple - YongHeGong - in Beijing

Temples in China have many different origins…The Lama temple in Beijing is (per the Chinese historians) the biggest Buddhist Temple in Beijing. It was built in 1694 as a residence for the Qing Dynasty prince Yong. Then in 1725 it was made into a palace with the name Yong He Gong (apparently the name is supposed to mean Harmony and Peace Yong He, palace Gong). Then in 1744 the palace was changed into a Lamasery.

The construction of the place carries the characteristics of multiple cultures - Han, Manchu, Tibetan. There are many Buddhist statues in the various halls of the place. With the three most famous ones being:

• Niche of Buddha - carved from NanMu (one of the precious hard woods of China)
• Five Hundred Arhat Mountain - carved from red sandalwood
• Big Buddha Maitreya - 18 meters high statues. its main part carved from one single piece of white sandalwood

Here are some images from the Temple so you can decide for yourself if you would like to visit. More images will be posted in the blog Photo Album web page. Enjoy!

The Red Snail Temple (Hongluo Si) - an interesting place to visit in the vicinity of Beijing

If you are looking for a way to experience somewhat of a different side of Beijing, you need to head out in the countryside outside of the city. Earlier last year I posted an article about touring the Beijing area - mountains and villages within driving distance. Today I will point you in the direction of one of the temples outside of the city — the Red Snail Temple located North-East of Huairou (north-east of Beijing).

The temple is one of the most attractive and (possibly) largest temples in Beijing and vicinity. It includes a significant area set in the mountain immediately behind the main temple grounds. Thus you could spend almost a whole day hiking the slopes of the mountains and enjoying the views of the plains towards Beijing (in case you are lucky to have clear weather on the day you visit). According to historians, the temple was built in 4th century A.D. Later in the 14th century it was named as “temple guarding the country” as it had relatively commanding position in the mountains… Then the legend states that red snails were found in the pools of water in the temple and the new name was given — Hongluo Si (Red Snail Temple).

No matter what the legends are, the temple is a beautiful place to visit, especially in the early spring when trees begin to blossom. Here later in the year, you can also see plenty of ginko trees. Here are some photos from the temple grounds and a view from the mountain above the temple.

If you need directions for getting there, essentially you need to head out on JingShun Road towards Shunyi. Then follow the signs for Huairou and once in that town look for sign for HongLuo Si. Drop me a line via the comment option on this blog or email me if you need more information. Here is also a map you can pick up Beijing Travel Map: China Regional Maps 2005/2006 Edition (Periplus Travel Maps)

Chengdu Visit - Wenshu Temple

One of the more interesting and beautiful sites to see and experience in Chengdu is Wenshu Temple — located in the Northern part of the city - at No. 15 Wenshu Yuan Lu. The temple is usually relatively busy with worshippers but overall there are few tourists. According to the signs at the location, the temple was initially built during the Tang dynasty, but the currect structures are from the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Here is some good reading on the Qing Dynasty - China’s Cultural Heritage: The Qing Dynasty, 1644-1912.
The grounds of the temple are beautiful - after all this is apparently one of the best preserved Buddhist temples in China.  Here are some images from the temple (check back on this blog - I will post an album):
 
One of the notable aspects of the temple is the presence of 300 Buddhas, with one of them being a jade one brought by a monk from Burma in 1922.

While you are the temple you could also enjoy a nice lunch in the famous vegetarian restaurant (yes, this is a Buddhist temple after all) in one of the temple courtyards.   You can spend a whole day if you so desire.  There are many things to see and you can also just relax in the nice gardens.

Travel to Chengdu - Wen Shu Temple, Panda Research Base

Several postings ago I wrote a short article about travel to JiuZhaiGou (in Sichuan province). Today I will continue with a posting on another significantly more well known place in Sichuan province — the city of Chengdu. Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan province. While 900 km away JiuZhaiGou offers stunning views of nature, high, snow-covered peaks, rugged terrain, waterfalls and lakes, Chengdu offers interesting sites like:

• The Panda Research Base
• Wen Shu Temple
• People’s Park
• Shunxing Old Teahouse - a place where you could enjoy a few cups of tea while watching Sichuan Opera (here is an interesting CD with music from Sichuan opera An Introduction to the Chinese Opera, Vol. 1: Kun Opera; Sichuan Opera)

Getting to Chengdu is probably best by airplane. The airport is approximately 40 minute ride from downtown. In terms of cost - it should be about RMB70.

In terms of staying, I recommend the excellent Chengdu Lidu Sheraton hotel — located very centrally in the city. If you are looking for ways to see as much as possible of day-to-day life in the city, right behind the hotel you would find a booming vegetable, fruit, and meat market. While I would not venture to buy meat here, the fruit and vegetables are excellent.

Here are some interesting photos from our recent visit to Chengdu:

traditional baby basket Sunday in Renmin (People’s) Park

The images above should give you some idea about the beautiful architecture of Chengdu. In my next postings in the next few days I will provide more details and images from the Wen Shu Temple, and the Panda Research Base. Here is a book that provides a historic backdrop to today’s Chengdu Street Culture in Chengdu: Public Space, Urban Commoners, and Local Politics, 1870-1930

Happy Travels!

Starbucks and the Forbidden City — too much noise about what?

Over the last week there have been a bunch of articles in several newspapers in China and overseas about whether or not the Starbucks location in the Forbiddent City in Beijing should stay or go. There has been a tremendous number of postings on various sites and comments to newspapers from Beijingers who appear to be in a oversensitive state of protectionism and nationalism — i.e. “….Starbucks should not be in one of the most visited national monuments in China…

My response to all this noise is “What is the big deal…?” The Starbucks location in the Forbidden City is located in a very discrete small building (it was used centuries ago by visitors who waited there for an audience with the Emperor). The actual Starbucks signage and logos are barely visible and you really need to be close by in order to notice it. The building itself is preserved in the traditional style of the rest of the buildings and is very non-obtrusive. So all in all it is just an issue of actually being there, rather than being visible.

At the same time you need to know that other corporate logos are VERY visible around the Forbidden City — e.g. the American Express logo is on most if not all plaques that describe the sites…. Of course it will be — American Express has contributed significant funding for the restoration of the site.

Also, I would say, the Forbidden City has other problems to solve — e.g. how it is organized and how tourists can find the multiple attractions inside. It is rather confusing place, the various exhibits are not easy to locate. I have been there multiple times over the years — the first time in 1987 (when I was a foreign student in China/Beijing) and as late as the Spring of 2006. Things are still not very orderly.

So rather than nitpicking about whether or not there could be a coffee house on the premises (no matter if it is Starbucks of one of the Chinese copycat establishments — e.g. IBC Coffee), I believe the management of the Forbidden City should spend significant effort in improving the organization and arrangement of the museum.

Don’t take me wrong — the Forbidden City is a grand museum — but it will benefit further more from some organization.

Travel to China and Ways to Maximize Your Time

Recently I was asked for some suggestion as to maximizing your time spent in China while on a business trip. The person who contacted me asked for best ways to use a few days prior to business in Canton (Guangzhou). Here is what I suggested for his trip:

Since you are flying to Beijing first, you will actually have time to see quite a few things before you head to Canton (Guangzhou). Book a hotel in Beijing - near downtown - look for hotels near Wangfujing street (one of the main shopping streets). In the back streets off Wangfujing you will find many hotels that are acceptable accomodations wise and have good prices. Continue reading Travel to China and Ways to Maximize Your Time…