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 always try to include these places in our travel plans. Only challenge is that these places can be quite remote and not very well known outside China. But the rewards are really, as the title suggested, beautiful places that make ... read more

China has classified 110 cities as historical and cultural cities. The cities were selected as they either had been political, culture or economic centers in the past or significant historical events had taken place. This blog entry is a summary of the historical and cultural cities we have visited. Total of 30 cities visits are:- 1. Beijing 2. Shanghai 3. Chengdu 4. Dujiangyan 5. Leshan 6. Yibin 7. Zigong 8. Tianjin 9. Yinchuan 10. Shanhaiguan 11. Tai an 12. Datong 13. Qufu 14. Qingdao 15. Jinan 16. Pingyao 17. Nanjing 18. Suzhou 19. Jingdezhen 20. Chengde 21. Louyang 22. Kaifeng 23. Zhengzhou 24. Anyang 25. Hangzhou 26. Shaoxing 27. Shengyang 28. Chongqing 29. Xian 30. Nanchang Update 1 31. Haerbin Update 2 32. Wuhan 33. Xiangfan Note: The contents (text and photos) of this article remain ... read more

On 18 of September 1931, the Japanese troops attacked Shenyang and in a week, occupied Liaoning and Jilin. By 27 Feb 1932, the entire Northeast China was under Japanese control. The brutal occupation lasted till Japanese surrender in 1945. The museums related to the incident and occupation now serve as national education sites to remind visitors of the event, the loss and suffering caused by the occupation and to remember those who fight for freedom. The key message in all these sites is “Never Forget 9.18” or “勿忘9.18” in Chinese. Note: The contents (text and photos) of this article remain the copyright of the Author, Jenny. Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author. Please contact the Author by leaving a message if you wish to ... read more

We visit Zone C on the first day. The temperature was a record 40.7 deg C so we decided to visited pavilioins that do not require queuing as the heat was too much esp for the children. The turnout for the day was 425 800. Thus, we only managed to visit the Caribbean Community Joint Pavilion, Africa and Netherlands Pavilions. Still, the children enjoyed the visit very much identifying those countries they know and going to the different pavilions to collect stamps for their World Expo passport. For the rest of the pavilions, we only view the pavilion's exterior designs. Note: The contents (text and photos) of this article remain the copyright of the Author, Jenny. Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author. Please contact ... read more

We took a high speed train from Harbin to Changchun and spent a day visiting the Puppet Regime Imperial Palace Museum which the last Emperor of China, Puyi, was made Emperor of the Japanese-controlled state of Munchukuo. Puyi had stayed there from 1934 till end of World War II in 1945. This museum tells trace life and events during this years he was in the palace. There is another museum within the compound about the Japanese Occupation of North East China. On the next day, we took a 30mins flight to Changbaishan and visited the north part of the mountain. There are shuttle buses to take you to the different scenic areas but you have to pay additional tickets to reach the 2600m peak by jeeps. A nice place but requires a lot of bargaining skills ... read more