This entry is a summary of the UNESCO World Heritage sites in China that we have visited. You can look at the descriptions in the photos to understand the place. We think they are the best sites to visit in China. Every visit is very educational and you get to know a little bit more about China. There are 38 sites in China so far. We will add on as we visit the other sites. We are writing about the trips in seperate entries later on. We are staying in Beijing so those sites in the city are easy for visiting. [View Full Entry]

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In 2005, the Chinese National Geography magazines listed 114 places in 17 categories as the most beautiful places in China. The list was not developed through voting competitions by tourists to select their favourite places but by academics and specialists, who are experts in each of the categories so it’s the most authoritative list so far. You can feel the difference when comparing this list to those titles you can find in bookshops as the justification for the places were very professionally explained. We visited a few places and they are indeed beautiful. Since then, we alway [View Full Entry]

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This entry is a summary of China's provinces that we have visited. There are a total of 34 provinces and we have visited 19 so far and we plan to visit the rest soon. Of the remaining ones, Tibet will be the most challenging because of the high altitude. In our travel, our favourite are places from the UNESCO World Heritage sites and Most Beautiful Places in China list. See the related blog entries about the 2 list:- See from blog page or 1) UNESCO World Heritage Site in China [url=http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/blog-453 [View Full Entry]

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This entry is a summary of China’s famous grottoes that we have visited. In the past, the grottoes were used for the promotion Buddhism and places for worship. Today, they showcase the artistic work of the times and study of integration of Buddhism into Chinese culture. All the grottoes had a long history of more than 1000 years and the works are of high artistic value that 5 of them are included in the UNESCO world heritage site. The common design among them is having a large symbolic sculpture among the smaller ones. These are the one in each site that [View Full Entry]

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We managed to visit the key attractions in Shanxi in 3 days instead of the typical 4-5 days. Our initial plan was to visit the Pingyao Ancient City and a local residential compound of the past rich merchants on the first 2 days then spent a day in Taiyuan before going back to Beijing. Fortunately, we met a good honest driver who knows the place very well and we were able to bring us to the key attractions in the province. Day 1 - Qiao Family Compound and Pingyao Ancient City We took a morning flight from Beijing to Taiyuan airport. [View Full Entry]

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It was a wonderful time to be in Beijing during the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. The entire city was decorated with Olympics logos and colours and the news of China’s wins were broadcasted in public buildings. Every place with a TV screen was crowded with people cheering for the China team. It was a big display of national pride for the Chinese. We managed to get tickets for the table tennis match (3rd place play off Japan Vs Hong Kong and South Korea vs USA) and the baseball match between USA and Japan. The atmosphere was great with co-ordinated loud cheering [View Full Entry]

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There used to be only 7 ancient capitals in China till 2004 when zhengzhou was added to the list after archaeological evidence proved that it was another one. So there are now 8 anicents capitals in China and 8 happened to be a lucky number for the Chinese. We have travelled to all 8. The 8 are Beijing, Zheng zhou, Kaifeng, Louyang, Anyang, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Xian. You can see the descriptions in the photos to know about the cities. Traveling to the cities is easy as Zhenzhou, Anyang, Kaifeng and Louyang are all in Henan and within 2 hours travelling [View Full Entry]

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It's a 2 days trip to see one of the most beautiful grassland in China. Jul to Aug is the best time to go there as the grass has grown fully and beautiful flowers can be seen abundantly on the grassland. It is very relaxing to sit on the grassland and enjoyed the view that nature have for all of us. You can also be involved in activities like horse riding, canoeing and birds viewing. Inner mongolia autonomous region has a different feel from a typical chinese city. From the food, drinks and building architectural. One of the symbol commonly seen [View Full Entry]

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This is our first trip travelling by train in China. It's a 3 days tour but we have only 1 full day in the city as the travelling by train takes 3 hours plus. This is a historical city where the Great Wall of China begins from the sea (called Lao Long Tou or Old Dragon Head). We planned to visit that section of the great wall . We booked a taxi to take us and agree to pay him by the meter. The driver recommended us another section of the great water called Jiu Men Kou which has a section [View Full Entry]

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