Category Archives: Travel Tips

July—Torch Festival in southwest China mainly from 24th to 26th of the June of lunar calendar according to the traditional calendar of the Yi minority to bless a good harvest during its upcoming New Year. When you travel there, you will also take part in their celebration with their traditional music, dancing, firework and bull fighting around bonfires.

August, of course the Qingdao International Beer Festival starting in the second weekend of August for 16 days in Qingdao of Shandong province. Traveling there at that time, you can undoubtedly enjoy the largest beer party in Asia to celebrate its the German-style Tsingtao Beer. You can not only experience the beer tastings, and drinking contests, but also enjoy the games, music, parades and live performances there.

September, right, the Mid-Autumn Festival in honor of the Chang’e in the fifteenth Day of the August of the Lunar Calendar when Chinese people get together to have big meal, appreciate the beauty of the moon and taste the delicious moon cakes. It is the most happiest moment for all the Chinese people to get together with their family members.

October—Shaoxing Rice Wine Festival starting from mid-October for a month in Shaoxing of Zhejiang province to showcase its famous Huangjiu, a kind of traditional Chinese fermented rice wine. You can taste the wine there at that time, watch the exciting performance and learn about the process of the Shaoxing Rice Wine by walking around the local brewery.

November—Miaonian Festival in around mid-November in Miao ethnic area especially in Leishan county of Guizhou province. During the festival, the Miao women wear their traditional garbs to celebrate their New Year. If you take a challengeable tour to these minority areas, you will view bullfights, horse racing and enjoy their traditional music which is played on a reed-pipe wind instrument.

December—Dong New Year’s Festival stating from 1st to 11th of November of the lunar calendar mainly in Qindongnan county of the Guizhou province. One activity of the celebration is the water buffalo fight, which will make your tour there fantastic and memorable. Traveling there, the intricate architecture and famous drum towers will also shock you.

Most travelers pay more attentions to the weather of their destinations in China, such as winter to Harbin or Hainan Island, late spring to Li River, summer to most of China cities and autumn to Jiuzhaigou. However, to some other challengers or adventurers, they’d like to challenge themselves and experience the unique ethnic customs or the festivals to make their China tour special. Here are the monthly festivals in China to help make your tour in China much more unforgettable.

January—Harbin Ice and Snow Festival starting from January 5 and lasting for over one month in Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province, which is famous for for its exquisite and artistic ice and snow sculptures. The Sun Island Park is where you can see the Snow Sculpture Exposition displaying a wonderful snow world; Ice and Snow World, however, is one of the world’s largest ice architecture parks where you can view the amazing frozen buildings; and the Zhaolin Park is somewhere shows the most excellent ice lanterns and a must-visit place during the festival.

February—Spring Festival of China in 1st January in lunar calendar. During the Spring festival, you will see all kinds of festive scene in China including lion dancing, temple visiting, fireworks etc. All Chinese people celebrate this great festival in their own ways. And you can taste special Spring Festival food if you visit China during this period.

March—Gongcheng Peach Blossom Festival in Guilin, where you can see the beautiful Peach Blossom all over the mountains and plains in front of you when you travel there. During the festival, you can also get the chance to taste the local oil tea there, which is a concoction of fried tea leaves, spices and puffed rice. As a symbol of life, growth and prosperity, the Peach Blossom will bring good luck to you all the year round.

April—Water Splashing Festival for the Dai minority people to celebrate their New Year in April 12-15, 2013 and signify good luck and health. Just have a trip to Xishuangbanna of Yunnan province at that time to enjoy the funny and meaningful water flight and water bathe with a water gun. So unimaginable!

May—Buddha Bathing Festival in the fourth day of April of lunar calendar in Dengfeng, the hometown of the Shaolin Temple. It is meant to honor the birth of Sakyamuni Buddha with the following activities: gather together all the monks in Shaolin Temple of Western Saints to put the figure of Buddha into a basin, bathe the figure with the scented water while singing sutra and then sprinkle water on monks to drive away the evil.

 June—Dragon Boat Festival in the fifth day of the May of the lunar calendar to remember the suicide of Qu Yuan, a famous Chinese poet. All cities in China celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival with astonishing boat design, especially in big cites with large lakes such as Qinglong and Houhai in Beijing, and you can taste the delicious traditional Chinese rice-pudding at that day.

Want to travel to China with your kids? And also want to make your trip comfortable and enjoyable at the same time? Here are some tips for you to travel to China with your kids about how to plan, what to pack and how to do for easy traveling around China with your children.

1) How to plan your itinerary: Do remember that your tour in China should involve more interesting places and avoid changeable places as kids are often too young to enjoy those museums, historical sites or steep mountains which will make your tour tired and make your kids feel bored. Try to plan your tour containing as many as interesting sites such as zoos and amusement parks such as the Disney in Hong Kong, Changlong Amusement Park in Guangzhou or Seven Star Park in Guilin, and Giant Panda Research Base in Chengdu to see the giant panda. Just take into consideration the attention span and interests of your kids when you plan your tour to China.

2) What to pack for your tour: Though most of the baby supplies such as baby formula, children’ medication, toys and so on can be bought in China, you’d better to take your own supply if you want to make your child comfortable and your tour enjoyable. What you should pack is listed in the follows: Infant formula firstly, diapers cream, first-aid kit which includes children’ fever suspension medicine, children’ antihistamine, children’ rehydration powder or liquid, disinfectant gel and other medication your child uses regularly. Do remember that the medicine you pack can be set in the pharmacy-dispensed bottle so as you can take them conveniently. In addiction, take a plenty of various toys, books, computer games, drawing supplies etc. to make the plane trips of your kids busy and wonderful as it is always a long trip of more than 10 hours from US and UK to China. And take as much as snacks along with you as Chinese food for most of the foreigners are unsavory.

3) During your tour in China. Do remember that don’t make your kids nervous. Most of the parents can’t stop worrying about everything what will happen to their kids, which makes their kids nervous wrecks and feel worse by the time they reach China. Just take it easy as China is a country of hospitality, and the Chinese people are friendly to foreigners and even show love to fair-haired kids. There is no need to make you and your kids so nervous and just make sure they know how to speak to strangers. Besides, if your kids cannot get used to the Chinese food, you can take them to fast food places like McDonalds and KFC, which can be easily find in big cities in China.

Maybe you have gone to China for one time or even several times, or maybe you have never been to China yet, no matter which type you are divided into, here I’d like to share some travel tips with you to make your trip to China much more enjoyable and wonderful next time or for your first time.

First of all, lock you destination for your China trip and avoid somewhere inconvenient and adventurous unless you are an adventurer. For those who have never been China before or just been China just one time, it’s best for you to decide your tour destinations so as to make your trip smoothly and familiar. You can make the famous and highlights destinations such as Beijing, Xi’an, Guilin, Shanghai , Hong Kong or somewhere your know about or at less your have hear about from your friends or those who have been China before. In that case, you won’t feel strange when you traveling there. Besides, those famous cities also have so many highlight attractions for you to enjoy experience and explore their beauty and fantasy. Moreover, most local citizens in these cities can speak English well, which will make your conversation and communications with them not so much difficult when necessary.

Next, do best preparation before starting your trip. You’d better to learn something basic about your destinations such as when is the best time to visit, what is the local delicious food of that destination, what should you pack for your trip and so on. Take Guilin as an example, the best time to visit is April when you will meet some drizzling days which make your Li River much more picturesque and poetic; and Guilin noodles will be a must-taste local food in Guilin; and you’d better take an umbrella and wear warm as it is still somehow cold in Guilin at that time. Learn more about the travel trips of your destinations as possible as you can.

Finally, take it easy when starting your tour.  As there are so much wonders and beauty for you to enjoy and experience in a new country, you will be exhausted with what you are going to see, listen and face such as new sights and sounds, new customs, ways of doing things, a new language, different food, and a different time zone and climate. Therefore, just make time available during your trip so that you can do something what you like to do or just relax yourself after your tour time. Do remember not to take the adventurous trip for you first time to China or anywhere else, just explore only the absolute best of easily-accessible China, only in that way your first trip to China will be much easier and more enjoyable.

April, as an excellent month of the spring time characterized by colorful flowers blossom, green trees, fresh air and warm weather, is ideal time to go out for a travelling.  Thought it still drizzles in some places, the cow-hair-like rains make it a picturesque scene in some southern cities in China, which cannot be met in anywhere else. Here are the best places for you to visit in China in your April time, just prepare for your tour there now!

The Three Gorges will be the No.1 place for your April tour in China as it is neither cold nor hot at that time, which make it a best time to take a relaxing Yangtze Cruise to enjoy the mighty Yangtze River between Chongqing and Yichang. During the cruise, you will appreciate the captivating and astonishing scenery of the Qutang Gorge, Wu Gorge, Xiling Gorge and also the biggest dam in the world—the Three Gorges Dam. All of the attractive scene will make your Yangtze Cruise along the Three Gorges memorable and worthwhile.

Hangzhou, where you can appreciate the panoramic view of classic China and the graceful scenery, ranks No.2 for your choice of April tour in China. Travelling there, you will see the beautiful landscape of Hangzhou decorated with spring greenery, jade-green plants, verdant weeping willow, fresh air, elegant and pink blossoms and leisurely atmosphere, which make you feel like walking on a painting, especially the charm adding by the West Lake, make Hangzhou place of poetic living.  Don’t forget to visit the ancient water towns such as the Xitang Town and Wuzhen Town to experience what the ancient China used to be and take beautiful photos there.

Next will come the Xi’an, which is the most influential city in Chinese history allowing you to experience and enjoy the historical culture of the ancient China. Thanks to the ideal weather in April, you can see the best scenery of Xi’an by visiting the majestic Terracotta Warriors, climbing the steep Hua Mountain, taking an Ancient City Wall ride and viewing other Tang Dynasty historical sites.

Suzhou, of course is another ideal destination for your tour to China in April, where you can appreciate the unique beauty of the traditional Chinese gardens in the temperate weather and warm temperature. The essence of the traditional Chinese gardens in Suzhou including Humble Administrator’s Garden, the Garden of the Master of Nets, Lingering Garden, the Garden of Harmony, and Lion Grove decorated with the verdant and colorfully beautiful blossoms will be great choice for your Suzhou tour. Don’t miss the ancient water towns which will leave you the charming scenery with the poetic scene.

The year of 2013 will be a year full of surprise, wonders and miracles. As it is just the beginning of the branded new year, have you done any plans for your travel this year? Here are some advices for your tour to China in 2013—Yes, the 5 best destinations travelling to China including Beijing, Tibet, Chengdu, Guilin and Suzhou!

Beijing, of course a must-visit city in China because of the famous Great Wall there, it is the capital of China and the most historical city in China. Just plan a 4-day tour to visit there, where you can appreciate the magnificence of the Great Wall, view the grand Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, experience the Beijing life of ancient times by taking a Hutong ride, and taste the delicious Peking Roasted Duck and more.

Guilin, famous for the Li River, is undoubtedly a masterpiece of Karst Landforms. You will feel it beautiful scene on the Li River with the green water and around the picturesque mountains in the drizzling weather in spring. How wonderful and amazing! Travelling in Guilin, you can experience the countryside life in Yangshuo by taking a bicycle ride; moreover, you can also view the captivating Longji Rice Terraces, which will make your trip memorable!

Tibet, a mysterious place where numerous people yearning for visiting, is also a great choice for you to travel in China. Travelling there, you can not only experience the Tibetan Culture but also appreciate the charming scenery of the highlands which will shock you. Don’t forget to visit the PotalaPalace there.

Suzhou, known as “the Oriental Venice”, is famous for its Chinese gardens with graceful watery landscapes. Being the essence of China’s gardens and water towns, you can view the famous and beautiful Humble Administrator’s Garden, Lion Grove, LingeringGarden, and Garden of the Master of the Nets. Just take a 3-day tour to Suzhou to see the charming attraction, experience the profound culture, taste the delicious food and get the Su embroidery there.

Chengdu with the opening bullet connecting Chengdu and Xi’an in 2013, is a one of the best destination for your tour to China this year. You can visit the Great Wall of Beijing, the Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an and the Giant Pandas in Chengdu in a budget tour once you reach China. The Fairy Land of Jiuzhaigou with 8-hour drive from Chengdu, is also alluring and fascinating attraction worthy a visit during your trip in Chengdu.

Tips: Do remember avoid the major holidays in China when the transport and tourist area are crowed with people, what you can see is a sea of people from here to there. Keep in mind some holidays’ time listed as follows: Spring festival (from February 10th and lasting 2 weeks); Labor Day week (May 1– May 7) and National Day week (October 1– October 7).

Are you a photographer? Do you like photography? Have you taken photo every time when you went travelling to keep memory of your wonderful and enjoyable trip everywhere? If the answer is “yes”, then I’m sure you are planning to have a travel to somewhere beautiful in the upcoming spring so as to take photo for those charming and alluring scenery. Here are some great ideas for your spring photography in China, just take them into consideration and you will find them perfect for your photography!

Peony in Luoyang, large and gorgeous, is showing its variety for travelers in April—yellow, white, pink, red, green, black, blue, and purple, it will be unspeakable to tell how beautiful it is when a vast area of the peony blooming in front of you. Just have a travel to Luoyang Peony Garden for the captivating scenery there!

Peach Flowers in Nyingchi of Tibet, also called Taohua Valley, is surrounded on three sides by mountains and capped with white snow. Decorated by a blue sky, green water and white cloud, the fascinating scenery also will make your photography there amazing!

Tulips in Shixianghu Scenic Spot in Chengdu City, is the best place to appreciate the captivating tulips in March, you will view a vast area of the various tulips—yellow, red, white, pink or purple—blooming everywhere in hills, forests, grassland or hills. Just prepare best camera to take photos there!

Pink Apricot Blossoms in Yili, Xinjiang also shows its unique charm and beauty to all travelers in March, which makes the Yili Valley a beautiful and romantic place. The Xinhua Valley there is decorated by beautiful pink apricot blossoms and pale green grass, together with the farm houses and herdsmen standing by, you will surely love this harmonious and peaceful place!

Yuanyang Terraced Fields in Yunnan or Longji Terraced Fields in Guilin, where you appreciate and enjoy the immense fields with various colors in Yuanyang Terraced Fields and view the astonishing scenery Longji Terraced Fields with its irrigation of the entire field and its breath-taking sunrise for the reflections of the fields against more gentle terrain slopes in springtime, which will leave you magnificent photographs.

Have you done any plan for your spring time? Have you gone to China before? Would you like to make your trip this year wonderful and memorable? Yep, just have a travel to China in the upcoming March when it is spring in China whose weather is warming up. Here are the 5 popular places recommended for you to have a visit then—Zhouzhuang Ancient Water Town, Wuyuan Village, Dali, Hainan Island and Guilin.

Zhouzhuang Ancient Water Town, with its average temperature about 11 °C (52 °F) at March, is located near Suzhou in regions south of the Yangtze River. Characterized by the picturesque and captivating landscapes of dreamily graceful scenes in the morning and at nightfall, it is the reprehensive attraction of the Yangtze River in the down reach and the top one ancient water town incisively and vividly showing you what the ancient China is. When travel there, you can also have a chance to view the charming scenery of the Suzhou, where it is famous for its traditional gardens. Do remember to take an umbrella with you as it drizzles at times in south of China.

Wuyuan, being known as “the most beautiful villages in China”, is something cold at the beginning of the March but warms up from the middle March with its highest temperature more than 20 °C (68 °F). Regardless of the cool weather, you will enjoy the culture of the ancient ancestral, mansions, dwellings and bridges featuring the Ming and Qing style architectures. Moreover, the pink peach flowers, white pear flowers, and vast lemon rape flowers blooming in the March, together with the green mountain around and the rivers in front, Wuyuan will show you an elegant idyllic picture of China, whose beauty is far from you can imagine.

Dali, with is temperature ranging from 7 °C (45 °F) to 22 °C (72 °F) with rare rain in March, is located in Yunnan Province and popular with its elegant landscapes and minority customs at that time. Featuring both historical sites and natural scenery, you will not only learn about the culture and history of the Ancient City of Dali, Taihe City Nanzhao, and Three Pagodas, but also enjoy the fascinating and alluring Erhai Lake and Cangshan Mountain at March.

Hainan Island, with its temperature ranging from 18°C (64 °F) to 32 °C (90 °F) in March, is located in the southernmost of China, where it is the warmest place in winter of China. You can enjoy yourself in the sea, on the beach or under the sun, and Yalong Bay, Dongzhaigang Mangrove Forest and Tianya Haijiao Scenic Zone will make your trip here in March unspeakable and unforgettable.

Guilin, a city with rainy days and heavy humility too often in March, may not be an ideal choice to travel, but you can enjoy its unique beauty whenever and wherever can’t be meet—Yes, the drizzling Li River enshrouded by mist, it’s just like a living traditional Chinese painting, beautiful and elegant! Taking a Li River cruise to Yangshuo, experiencing the bamboo raft on Yulong River and enjoying the cycling in the countryside, you will find it peaceful and relaxing from the anxious life in big cities!

It is known to all that wherever you go, a long trip outside or just for a while outdoor, the more things you take, the tired you will feel. Therefore, here I’d like to advise travelers to pack as slightly as possible so as to make your trip relaxing, easy and comfortable you can buy most of your travel necessities at your destinations in China.

First of all, what you should take is the passport with all necessary visas and travel documents. It will be better for you to keep a copy of all documents separately to the original documents in case of something unfortunate happen such as the original documents are lost. Moreover, those copies of the documents are very useful for identification purposes during your trip in China.

Next, take the casual outdoor clothing, umbrella, raincoat, anti-sunshine product or anti-coldness products such as hat, sunscreen, lip creams and sunglasses according to your travel time and destination. As many attractions are quite exposed to the weather – sun, wind, rain etc; for example the Forbidden City has many large open spaces, and many of the Temples have large courtyards between their halls and pagodas. But a pair of good walking shoes is necessary as most tours involve plenty of walking.

Then, itinerary with confirmation numbers and addresses and phone numbers of the places you’ll be staying. Address and telephone number list as a list of e-mail addresses, mailing addresses and telephone numbers will be a great help for you to be kept in touch. Type them onto a sheet instead of taking your whole address book to save weight.

Other things to take: Wallet, Credit cards, Traveler’s checks, Airline, Cruise or Train ticket, First-aid kit, Medicine and vitamins. In addiction, chargers for your mobile phone, digital camera etc. An electrical transformer could be useful. China uses 220V electricity for 110v devices cannot be used on this system.

Special things to take: 1) Insect repellent　for summer months and for travelers who are visiting rural areas. 2) Your own silk sleeping bag liner and lightweight travel towel along with a reasonable supply of tissues, torch, personal toiletries if you are taking a more adventurous and challengeable trip.

What shouldn’t be took: expensive jewelry and watches, daily necessities such as bathroom requirements．

Take as slight as you can for your trip to China as the ‘Carry On’ luggage for air travel in China is limited to 2 pieces for first class travelers and one piece for business and economy class travelers with the dimensions of each shall not exceed 20X40 X55cm and the total weight of the above two pieces shall not exceed 5 kg. So, just make choice about what you are going to pack.

With over 5000 years history and more than 9, 600,000 square kilometers, China is an amazing country offering variously mysterious scenery for travelers to experience and explore, including natural scenery and historical sites.  But what are the most famous attractions in China, and where will be worthy of your visit? Yep, followings are the top 10 attractions in China which you must visit them during your trip to China!

1. The Great Wall.  Being an awe-inspiring feat of ancient defensive architecture, it is one of the greatest sights and the longest wall in the world. It is listed as “the New Seven Wonders of the World” and the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in China.

2. The Yangtze River. As the third longest river in the World but the longest river within a single country, the Yangtze River features the widest variety of outstanding tourist attractions, scenery and culture from its regional resource to its mouth.

3. Terracotta Warriors. Laid underground for more than 2000 years, it was honored as a World Cultural Heritage Site in December 1987, you’ll learn about the ancient history of China here.

4. The Bund. It is one of the most recognizable architectural symbols of Shanghai. You can see towering skyscrapers such as the Oriental Pearl Tower line the river, you can also see the speedier tourist ferry and other locally owned boats navigate there.

5. Li River. Decorated with startling hills, steep cliffs, fantastic caves, farming villages  and bamboo groves, Li River in Guilin is one of the most popular and picturesque scenic spots in China and it was listed as one of the World’s Top Ten Watery Wonders by America’s National Geographic Magazine.

6. Victoria Harbor. With a backdrop of Victoria Peak, Victoria Harbor is among the world’s most beautiful skylines. You can see the charming and astonishing views of the city in the observation decks of the tallest buildings and from Victoria Peak.

7. The Yellow Mountains. It is a World Heritage Site endowing with 5 unique wonders: pines, oddly-shaped rocks, the sea of clouds, hot springs and winter snowscapes.

8. West Lake. It is a silhouette on the northeast horizon and mountains near and far surround it on the other three sides. The occasional pagoda and Chinese-style arched bridge add atmosphere to the tree-lined walkways, verdant islands and hills.

9. The Potala Palace. It is a huge treasure house for the precious sculptures, scriptures, Buddha statues, murals, antiques, and religious jewelry and reflecting the Tibetan history, religion, culture and art, and it is also an UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site.

10. Yungang Grottoes. It is a World Heritage Site representing the excellent achievement of Buddhist sculptural art of ancient China and the development of the architecture, music and religion at that time.

Here are the top 10 highlights in China, just visit them one after another, you’ll find the beauty of the scenery and the profound history of China at the same time!