China Tourist Destinations

Top tourist destinations to see in China including cities, nature, pandas, famous Yangtze cruise, trip across the Tibet and Himalayas and much more – all documented on thousands of pictures.....  

Welcome to China 

      During the last two decades we got used to the fact that China is on top of the daily news.

       By most of those following the news, China is either admired or envied for its enormous economic progress and might. By many potential tourists however, it is first of all greatly embraced for opening its borders.

Unfortunately despite its recent giant steps towards the prosperity and great achievements in almost every aspect of human life and every field of science and technology - for us westerners, China is still seen rather through the prism of old pictures dated from the times of Cultural Revolution.

Forbidden City seen from the nearby hill.

     The bottom line is that China is still a “Terra Incognita”. It is true that due to China’s “Centuries long remoteness” from our European and then North-American centrism, cultural differences and hard to comprehend language it is not easy to make quick change to our perceptions of this great country.

But I guess we have to match the policy of open borders with the process of opening our minds for what China is today and has to offer. It may require our own version of “Cultural Revolution” to reject our prejudices and bias, but I can guarantee you – it will be a very rewarding effort.

Places to visit in China

Shanghai

Shanghai - view from the TV tower on Pudong

      Shanghai – an extraordinary mega-city called “New York on steroids” …..

Old Chinese traditions mixed with modernity of vertically and horizontally expanding metropolis in an attempt to re-capture the long forgotten glory of the past on the way to the modern future.

To make a tour of this this mega-city please click on the left picture or select the following link: Shanghai City 

Winding path in Shanghai's Yu Garden

       If you are a bit tired of the crowd on the streets, cars, bikes, scooters etc.... and you wish just to find the peaceful place to relax and may be meditate - then please stop at Yu Gardens - an oasis of peace in the center of this bustling city.

Enter the gardens by clicking on the left picture or selecting the link: Shanghai- Yu Garden

Guilin

Guilin downtown - Golden and Silver pagodas, lake with islands, gardens with an old tree remembering times we do not remember- all connected by meandering pathways.... 

      Once you stop at another beautiful Chinese city - Guilin, you may want to stay there for much longer than initially planed. And it is not only due to the extraordinary beauty of the city itself with the downtown lakes, islands, pagodas.....

You will find there warm and friendly, enjoying their lives people, dancing on the streets, singing for themselves or friends.....

Not to mention surrounding attractions like parks, fairy-tale caves, cruise along the Li-River's breathtaking landscape and the famous show on the water...

You can tour this city of lakes and parks, learn the local legends and read about its history and past by clicking on the left picture or selecting the link: Guilin City Tour 

Striking beauty of the Underground World! - could it be the palace of the Sleeping Beauty? 

       You can tour this city of lakes and parks and enter the marvelous underground world of Guilin Caves by clicking on the left picture or selecting the link: Guilin caves

Fairy-tale landscape along the Li River

      Relax when cruising on the calm waters of the famous Li River, meandering through its extraordinary landscape. Just click on the left picture or select the link: Li River cruise

And evening, after the day full of surprises and discoveries there is a perfect time to watch the fabulous Impression Liu-Sanjie show on the waters of the Li River. This is a kind of Do-Not-Miss event, like the best Broadway's musical unfolding in front of your eyes under the night sky......

Take the front seat in the amphitheater by selecting the link:
Impression Liu Sanjie Show

Mighty Yangtze River

      Talking about Chinese rivers - certainly the Yangtze River and especially its passage through the Three Gorges is a place not to miss when in China. Not many know that the name Yangtze (or Yangtse) is not the one Chinese gave to this mighty river. Indeed in China the river is known ss Chang Jiang which in English means "Long River". Certainly this name reflects the fact that Yangtze is the longest Asian river and the 3rd longest in the world after Amazon and Nile.

To start the virtual tour of Yangtze and Three Gorges, please select one of the following links:
Yangtze River 
Yangtse River in Poetry 
Three Gorges Dam
3 Gorges Tour
Three Gorges
Lesser Gorges on Chang Jiang

Leshan Giant Buddha

Giant Buddha

     Long before starting construction of the Giant Buddha in 713 AD, the area of today’s Leshan was already known as a holy land of Chinese Buddhism. In the 1st century AD the nearby Sacred Mountain Mt. Emei (some 30 miles/50km east of Leshan) was home to the first Buddhist monastery.

Over the time the region of Leshan-Emeishan became one of four most important Buddhist centers in the world, home to many monasteries and "teachers".....

See more at: --> Leshan Giant Buddha

Pandas (Chengdu and Beijing)

   The Chengdu Research Base and Breeding Center offers the possibility to “get close and personal” with pandas. At the cost of the “small donation” to the Center (about $150) you will have a chance to hug the panda, keep it on your lap….. and believe me, it is an unforgettable experience.

   And the best is that the donation is going entirely for the panda’ research and conservation efforts!

DO NOT miss opportunity to see Giant Pandas by clicking: Giant Pandas

and/or
Discover the Red Pandas (distinct cousins of Giant Pandas) by selecting the link: --> Red Panda

Tibetan Adventure 

Sacred Yamdrok Lake: Stunning Tibetan landscapes of unspoiled beauty..... 

      This is one of the most epic journeys from China - the travel across the Tibetan plains to meet its friendly people, beauty of unspoiled nature, raw power of the Queen of all Mountains - Mt. Everest and every day challenges on the road....

Start the epic Tibetan journey by selecting the link: Lhasa-Kathmandu by Friendship Highway 

Personal encounter with the Mother of All Mountains: Mt. Everest

       I cannot describe you my sigh of relief when first from far and then from closer and closer the Mother of all Mountains exposed her beautifully majestic silhouette over the clear sky.

It was something almost unreal – combination of the stunning beauty and power of the raw nature, legendary but also so real and surprisingly almost at the touch of the fingers…
Find it on your own by selecting the link: Mt Everest

      Or visit the Mount Everest Base Camp - with its "field restaurants" and "hotels"..... It is a once in the life experience! So please select the link: Mount Everest Base Camp - Tibet 

This is how Thubten Jigme Norbu in his autobiography “Tibet is My Country” memorized his observations of wild yaks:

……and what a wonderful sight it is to see a great herd of them plunging head down in a wild gallop across the steppes. The earth shakes under their heels and a vast cloud of dust marks their passage……

To see Tibetan's wildlife like yaks, wild goats, foxes ... click the picture or select the link: --> Yaks and Tibetan Wildlife

Note - this Web-Site is a work in progress. Many more China destinations will be available soon. Thanks for understanding :-) Below is the preview of what is coming first....

Incredibly complex structure of the TV Center

     Beijing as almost everything in China is a mixture of stunning, super-advanced architecture from recent time and a "calming" past.

First of all we have to realize that China is one of only four Ancient Civilizations together with Babylon, India and Egypt (if we discount more “recent” Greek civilization emerged at about 800 BC and even younger Roman one).

It is little know to us that the first known Chinese written records left by Shang Dynasty are dated at 17th century BC. That means almost 3600 years of written history!

Add to that the vastness of the country encompassing variety of climate zones, incredible landscapes and scenery in all shapes and forms from mighty rivers, through steppes, deserts and mountain ranges to famous Himalayas with half of world’s eight-thousanders. Unspoiled nature (yes, you can still find it there), exotic flora and fauna from which so far we can recognize only lovely Giant Pandas…

And then the present-day China with modern cities, jungles of skyscrapers, web of super-highways, levitating trains, …. Well, this is easier to visualize as we know most of that from either every-day live experience in our countries or sometimes from the “science-fiction” ….

The only difference is the scale and rate of changes of this “steroids-boosted growth”.

So if you are looking for new world-class tourist destinations, you are ready to immerse in an ocean of millennia old culture mixed with “nowadays fantasy”, you are willing to leave behind the “known ground” and put your foot on an unknown one, then China is the place to go.

And if you are still hesitating, then let me quote here the great American novelist:

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, dream, discover …

Mark Twain

OK, one more tip before you board the plane to China. This is the country where some two thousand years ago the Taoism was born. The shortest way this religious and philosophical system can be characterized is by the following three words:

Compassion, Moderation and Humility

Regardless of our own believes and philosophical or social standings, respecting the spirit of these words is always beneficial and helpful no matter where we are.

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