china travel - Articles - Zimbio

China olympics cities information

Tue, 7 May 2008 10:27:00 GMT

posted by mohankvp

Beijing

Hong Kong

Qingdao

Qinghuangdao

Shanghai

Shenyang

Tianjin

Shenyang

Shenyang will hold the football matches for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. With the strong monsoon impacts, Shenyang witnesses the four distinct seasons. The average temperature in summer reaches 24 degrees celsius, 3-5 degrees lower than in the southern part of China. Shenyang is not only the capital city of Liaoning Province, but the largest city of Northeast China with the largest railroad hub and airport across the region. As a famous historical and cultural city, Shenyang is the birthplace of Qing Dynasty and the location for the first two emperors' mausoleums -- Fuling Mausoleum and Zhaoling Mausoleum. Shenyang Imperial Palace is the second largest and well-preserved ancient palace complex, only next to Beijing Palace Museum. During the spare time after your appreciation of the Olympic Games, you may visit the historic sites of this city along the route of "one palace and two mausoleums". As the World Horticultural Exposition was successfully held in 2006, Shenyang is quickening its steps in converting itself into a garden city and a forest city.

Kunming to Dali, Yunnan, China

Fri, 24 Nov 2007 16:34:25 GMT

posted by Mickmac
In July 2006 I made my first trip to China, on yet another shopping safari, looking for handwoven silk and cotton fabrics for our "Lanna Charm" website. My destination was Dali, in the mid western region of Yunnan province. I flew to Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan, from Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, with Thai Airways, a 90 minute flight. Kunming is a big, modern city, with a population of over 5 million people. It is famous for it's all year round temperate climate, probably because it sits at an altitude of almost 1900 meters, and is known as the "Spring City". I did not find much in the handwoven fabric department, but had a good look around for the 2 days I spent there. One day I was looking for something to eat, and I found myself in a back street called "Shuncheng Jie", just across the street from the museum. There are quite a few Muslim restaurants in this area, so I thought I would try it out. The food was great, the people treated me like a king, and it was so cheap. I went back every day for more, as the bread they make is addictive, you can eat it like cake, and the rice was the best I have ever tasted. They slow cook the rice in a huge wok, with legs of lamb and carrots for the flavor. Enough of this talk, I am getting hungry just thinking about it. I also went to my first Walmart, and that was an experience, I think the entire population of Yunnan province decided to do their shopping that day, it was a madhouse. Good place to buy fresh fruit and vegetables, and about half the price you pay on the streets. There I go, talking about food again. Following are some photos I took around Kunming, and after that some more of the trip up to Dali, and beautiful Dali itself. If you need any first hand information about this area, feel free to contact me via our "Lanna Charm" website. Also, if you would like to see some of the bounty I bagged in Dali, please visit the website. *************************************************************************** Dali is a magic place, dripping in history, with a special atmosphere of it's own. It is well situated between a huge lake, Erhai Hu, and an impressive mountain range. It is a walled city, within a square, each side about 2 km long. Unfortunately it is a victim of it's own attraction, rapidly losing it's old buildings to cater for the onslaught of tourists, most of them Chinese. Even so, it is a wonderful little place to go and chill out for a while, and savour the culture. It has an abundance of good guesthouses and restaurants, and there are some good bargains to be found in the shops, as long as you are prepared to haggle, otherwise you will be overcharged. I picked up some beautiful handwoven cotton scarves, and some old style embroidered table covers. I stayed at the Tibetan Lodge guesthouse in Renmin Road, in the center of Old Dali town. I would recommend this guesthouse to anyone visiting Dali, great lodgings, food and hospitality Tibetan style. Following are some of the many photos I took while in Dali: ######################################################################################################################################################################

Li Hongzhang's former residence (Feb. 22, 2003)

Fri, 22 Mar 2008 23:57:39 GMT

posted by nickdgd

Li Hongzhang (李鴻章, Li is his family name) was a leading statesman of the late Qing Dynasty of China. He was born in Hefei (合肥), Anhui Province (安徽省). I visited his former residence (李鴻章故居) in Huaihe Road (淮河路) in Hefei, in 2003, when it was my 1st year in college.

Although Li's image in China remains largely controversial, there's no doubt that he made significant contributions to defending China from being colonized, industrial and military modernization in China, and overseas Chinese people's rights.

Li and some other government officials started an attempt to industrialize China, by learning modern science, technologies and engineering from western countries, in the 1860s, which was named the Self-Strengthening Movement (洋務運動). During this movement, Li heavily sponsored the building of a modernized navy, the Beiyang Fleet (北洋水師), which contributed important defending in the 1st Sino-Japanese War. Although China lost that war, if there's no Beiyang Fleet, China would have lost much faster. And the result of the war was due to the fact that Japan was an industrialized country, while China just started industrializing. It's not Li's fault.

In 1896, Li toured Europe and the United States, where he made a great effort advocating reform of the American immigration policies that had greatly restricted Chinese immigration after the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 (renewed in 1892).

Brief translation: Li was an important military and political official in the late Qing Dynasty. He was born in 1823 in Hefei. He died in 1901 in Beijing and was buried in Hefei. The houses that belong to the Li family occupied a huge place. This former residence, which is about 2000 square meters (about 21.5 thousand square feet), is only part of them. The houses are typical late Qing style. Li's former residence opens to public since September 27, 1999.

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Mare

Mon, 2 Oct 2007 14:56:11 GMT

posted by prettypeach

It’s actually only in Beijing do we indulge ourselves with these kinds of treats because normally, back in Manila, this would cost a fortune (not to mention fewer choices and lack of quality).

Being one of the voted Best dining experience if I recall correctly, Mare had proved to us how deserving it is in the best-list. For one, the dining experience was superb, notably the surrounding will make it “fine dining”. With silverwares to match, you would feel elegant dining here.

Mare offers a Spanish dining experience. They have lunch sets (which is a good choice for us since we were still on a budget, plus it’s value for money!) that offer an appetizer and main course or main course and dessert for about 40-50rmb.

I would always order the one with appetizer and main course because the dessert I like wasn’t in the choice of desserts for the set. The best order I had was the Seafood Risotto ! You could also order the Seabass or Lamb which are also good. (more…)

Tags: mare, beijing, lamb, chocolava, china, fine, dining

China issues strict rules for summer Olympics

Mon, 3 Jun 2008 05:40:00 GMT

posted by mohankvp
China issues strict rules for summer Olympics

Locking lips at Safeco Field will get you only a minor public outcry. But if you're going to the Chinese Olympic Games this summer, you'd better not mess with the rules.

The Beijing Olympic organizing committee issued a stern, 57-topic guide letting foreigners know what they can't do as they enjoy the games this August -- like sleep outdoors, enter Tibet or stage a protest without the government's permission.

No word on whether kissing is allowed in the stands, but so much for freedom of speech. According to the Associated Press, the guide forbids the display of insulting slogans and any religious or political banner that "disturbs the political order."

It also informs visitors that people with "mental diseases" -- whatever those are -- will be barred from events.

The Olympic committee earlier had to apologize after a volunteer guide that used striking stereotypes to describe the physically disabled spawned a wave of protest.

Read more from the Associated Press.