Hotels Guangzhou China: Adding Excitement to your Vacation

An urbane city that still retains its quaintness- that’s Guangzhou for you. Being the capital of Guangdong, Guangzhou boasts of many tourist attractions. From largest public parks to imposing structure of colonial times; from stupendous art galleries to world class Hotels Guangzhou China, this city is galore with pleasant surprises.

Ranging from Guangzhou Cheap Hotels to luxury ones, accommodations in Guangzhou fall in all price brackets and come in all variety and range.

An interesting place to visit, some of the best tourist places to visit in Guangzhou includes:

The Baiyun Shan

The Baiyun Shan or the White Cloud Mountain is a beautiful place to sit back and revel in the beauty of Mother Nature. What adds to the fun of visiting this hilly region is the fact that you may have a good time playing sports and even trying hands at bungee jumping. Unwind and have a good time at the kiosks selling refreshments.

Yuexiu Park

Being the biggest public park in China, the Yuexiu Park cover acres of hills and also includes he Ming Dynasty Zhenhai Tower and many pretty lakes. The park is a perfect sanctuary for family and people wanting to spend some time at peace with themselves.

Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family

Also called the Chen Clan Academy, the Ancestral temple is not only a sacrificial ground but it is also a study center. The temple today serves as a downright cultural tourist place of interest. The temple consists of nineteen buildings, six courtyards and nine halls. A walk down the corridors of this imposing edifice leaves you absolutely dumbfound.

Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall

Built in the year 1929- 31, the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall was erected in the loving memory of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen of Chinese Democratic revolution by the local citizens of China. Renovated in 1998, the structure boasts of an imposing octagon building of characteristic of the distinctive Chinese architectural design. The hall can hold multitude in thousands and it equipped with state of the art facilities and equipments. You may even have access to the displays of Sun Yat- Sen’s memorabilia.

Festivals and Events that you may attend in Guangzhou are as follows:

Chinese New Year

The biggest of all festival celebrated in China for a period of 15 days, the Spring Festival (as it is also known as) makes the entire country swing in celebration. Each street and each district is adorned with festoons and light. The work places can be found deserted as no one works during this time round. The main highlight of this festival is the flower fair that becomes a nation wide rage.

Dragon Boat Festival

The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated in the months of May or June on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. The festival marks the sacrifice and death anniversary of the well- known poet Qu Yuan who committed self-annihilation as a rebellious measure against the prevalent governmental corruption. As an honor to the great man, boat races are held along the Pearl River.

Mid-Autumn Festival

Observed on the 15th day of the 18th Lunar month, the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated with great pomp and show all over China. Its specialty being the famous Cantonese moon cakes.

Please visit:- Guangzhou Hotels ,List of Hotels in China

Visit Guangzhou and revel in its beauty.

Luxurious and cheap Hong Kong Hotels

Hong Kong, a dependent territory of the United Kingdom, transferred its sovereignty to People’s Republic of China. It begins as a trading port, but emerged as a financial centre where service industries are the main basis of capitalist economy. Hong Kong has a multicultural identity that is influenced by both eastern and western cultures and is reflected in its cinema, music and cuisines. It is generally described as a place where east meets west. Western rule ended in 1997, but it has been deeply ingrained in Hong Kong and exists together with traditional practices and philosophies of the Chinese.

Hong Kong is one of the famous tourist destinations. Millions of tourists visit the place every year. The main tourists’ spots include few new territories, the Hong Kong Island, the Kowloon peninsula and 260 other islands. Hong Kong attracts business visitors for it one of the biggest business destinations in Asia. There are many Hong Kong hotels ranging from cheap hotels to star hotels, which serve their clients with various facilities and amenities. Few fantastic hotels are located around Tsimshatsui, Causeway Bay, Wanchai, Admiralty and Central.

There are many top class Hong Kong hotels. One of them is Macau hotels that are located off the southern coast of china, which is 70 km from Hong Kong. Macau’s history perfectly goes with the meaning of its name, which means ‘Door’ or ‘Gateway’. It played an important role in acting as a gateway between east and west and encouraged development by bringing business license to western casino financer. Macau’s food, music and architecture are all about the mixture of culture of east and west. Some main tourist attractions around the place are Cosa Garden, Old Protestant Cemetery and A-Ma temple. The area is well known for its blended culture. There are lots of recreational and entertaining activities such as electronica, enthralled night life, classical music, and Chinese folk pop.

Hong Kong is a major tourist destination, so it caters to people of all sort of budget. There are many 1 to 3 star hotels that offer several different types of discounts and make it easy for people to adjust the vacation in their budget. These cheap hotels in Hong Kong satisfy the need of travelers to stay in the cheap and clean place. The rooms are well furnished with modern architecture and in room facilities. Many of the Hong Kong hotels cater their visitors with conference rooms, restaurant, bars, pool, minibar in the rooms, spa, fitness facilities etc… These hotels on budget are best for the people who focus on their budget before traveling as they serve their visitors at affordable price.

Touring China in the winter: Ice and Snow festival showcase

Even though China is well known for its historical, cultural and architectural heritage, tourists still get to enjoy the best of China even in winter. A number of tourist operators in China organize winter tours for tourists who love experiencing the ice and snow festival which China celebrates. Harbin’s Ice and Snow festival is one of the greatest tourist attractions in northern China as the multicolored lanterns and snow carvings and sculptures are a major sight to see during a typical Ice festival in Harbin. Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province is a quiet village in the North of China, which is popular for celebrating the Ice and Snow festival. Walking on the streets of Harbin gives you a warm feeling because the people love talking about the chilliness of city.
The Ice Lantern festival normally takes place between early January and mid February. If you plan to tour China during this time of the year, this is a great time to take pleasure in great fruits and wisdom. The city exhibits its neat ice and snow sculptures and carvings on the frozen rivers. During the festival, famous monuments like cathedrals, pyramids, legendary figures and animals are carved out of ice in enormous sizes. The cold yet warm festival is a grand celebration of Peace and Friendship. The festival is described as warm even in the cold because its natives say the colder it gets, the happier they become.

Ice Lantern Park touring activities includes the ice lantern exhibition held in Zhaolin Park, the Yabuli alpine skiing as well as winter swimming in Songhua River. The Harbin Ice and Snow World continue to showcase large buildings and structures but ice carvings like life-sized horses are sometimes displayed. A typical ice carving of a life sized horse is carved from a single block of ice, which is a fusion of many ice blocks. These structures when sculptured are lit by exterior spotlights below the sculptures.
One of the previous key attractions of the ice festival in Harbin was an ice sculpture of the Great Wall of China which doubled as a long ice slide. As the event progressed from year to year, the tourists and enthusiasts developed and created more enormous ice sculptures of popular landmarks and monuments in China.
Attending the ice festival on its opening night is an unforgettable souvenir one because the explosion of the fireworks over the ice sculptures is a wonderful sight to see. An interesting thing about the fireworks in the ice festival is that unlike most fireworks which build to a climax, the fireworks is displayed on a foreground with four flights of ice stairs leading to another ice stairs of about ten to twelve meters high serving as the centerpiece to the festival grounds.
One of the public attractions during the Harbin Ice festival is the wall of ice that people try to climb during the events but as years go by, the number of people who were able to perform this activity decreased as the sculpted wall of ice became steeper. This winter season will be something to look forward to, as Harbin welcomes tourists and ice sculptors around to experience its annual ice lantern festival.

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Mao’s Final Resting Place

Tiananmen Square is probably the biggest square in the world; it is located at the Centre of Beijing China’s capital. Though the square is infamous for the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests it has also become a tourist attraction for its cultural and historical significance. The history of the square dates back to the 15th century when Tiananmen Gate was built during the Ming dynasty. The square was later used as a base by British and French troops that invade China in 1860. However the present nature of Tiananmen Square only came to be when troops required a place to assemble during the 1900’s Boxer Rebellion, thus Tiananmen Square was built in its present form.

Since its inception the Square has been used as a public gathering place as it is ideally suited for the purpose with over 100 acres of perfectly flat paved floor area, save for a 38 meter high monument known as the Monument to the People’s Heroes. However the particular veneration the Chinese have for Tiananmen Square can be attributed to Mao Zedong’s Mausoleum which was built here in 1977; Mao was the undisputed leader of the Chinese communist party during the Cultural Revolution.

Along the western side of the square is the Great Hall of the People and is used for ceremonial functions by the government. The architecture of the building is obviously meant to reflect the reformist agenda of the Communist party and to exude the power of the Chinese people; it was one of the “ten great constructions” planned for the tenth anniversary of the Cultural Revolution.

On the eastern side of Tiananmen Square is the National Museum of China it is a veritable treasure trove of history and art of China. The museum effectively combines the Museum of the People’s Revolution and the Museum of Chinese History. Located in the centre of China’s bustling capital- Beijing the Tiananmen Square is a must see attraction. For long stay travelers Beijing serviced apartments can be found close to the Tiananmen Square.

Enter China’s Forbidden City

China has been growing at an incredible rate for the last several decades and today with the focus of the Olympics and their huge economy and manufacturing sector many Westerners are once again focused on this world giant. China offers to many Westerners exotic culture and architecture. In fact, one of its landmarks- the Forbidden City is now becoming one of China’s most popular tourist attractions.

The Forbidden City
The Forbidden City has always been surrounded with mystery and intrigue. In fact, it is called the Forbidden City because no person could either leave or enter this palace without the permission from the emperor. And while it was well known throughout the world, many have always been fascinated at what is exactly inside and just what goes on in this magnificent palace.

The Largest Palace in the World
The Forbidden City is known as the largest palace in the world. Located on 178 acres in Beijing the Forbidden City was built during the 15th century with the labor of more than a million men along with about 100,000 artisans. It took less than 15 years to build this masterpiece and one of the most incredible facts about this palace is that it reportedly has 9,999 rooms and an astonishing one million pieces of precious art. The Forbidden City served as the seat for the Ming Dynasty, upon its completion in 1420, a total of 24 emperors have called the Forbidden City home. The last emperor ruled from this palace up until 1912.

The Forbidden City is Now Open to All
The Forbidden City, once a great palace later became a museum that was closed off to all foreigners. However, over the last 30 years foreigners have been invited and welcomed to enter the great walls of the Forbidden City to see all that this incredible landmark now a World Heritage Site has to offer. Since being open to all, millions have flocked to see this great architectural and cultural achievement.

For those that are interested in either visiting the Forbidden City or finding out about all the amazing art and architectural delights found inside, the Smithsonian Magazine has an interesting article on the subject. To read more about this incredible landmark, please visit our main website.

Petaling Street- China in Kuala Lumpur

Petaling Street is in the heart if Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown area, and features an Array of bargain shops and counterfeit goods. Known as Chi-Cheong-Kai in Cantonese, it is infamous for pirated clothes and accessories along with bootleg DVDs and CDs. Petaling Street however does not exclusively offer pirated products. Haggling is a common sight here, vehicular traffic is usually not allowed in this area but that does not make movement easy as the place is usually crowded with locals and tourists.

Petaling Street also has it’s share of tourist attractions, Masjid Jamek, an old mosque of Moorish architecture and the Sri Mahamariamman Temple a Hindu temple that is one of KL’s most famous landmarks are regular tourist destinations. The area also has a bevy of restaurants and eateries that offer food ranging from predominantly Chinese to Indian, and Malay.
Some of the major features of the Chinatown are the McDonald’s that reflects the growing globalization of the area. The Army Hostel which is in fact a hotel that gives boot camp style accommodation, Hotel Malaya, Swiss Inn and the no frills Stay Orange hotel. Also near there are Chinese bookshops and a few stalls selling Hainanese chicken rice and Noodles.
The area attracts many locals and visitors in search of bargain items, including inexpensive dresses, shoes, fabrics and souvenirs, and lives up to its name of being a huge outdoor flea market. From fake Rolexes to fake Gucci bags to the sweetest papayas and pirated CDs. Petaling Street maintains much of its traditional atmosphere, particularly at night when vendors fan out their merchandise along the street.
The Grand Millennium Kuala Lumpur is about 15 km away from Petaling Street but offers access to the area through the KTM station that is just a short distance away from this Kuala Lumpur hotel.

Unbeatable Value in Hong Kong

Hong Kong, one of the most densely populated places in the world, is famous for its charm and diverse culture. The residents here lead different way of life and the society is contemporary and capitalistic. Even though the people still follow the Chinese tradition. It is considered as one of the world’s vibrant cities since the olden days.

The history of the place has some connection with the Opium War. In the middle of nineteenth century, Great Britain colonized the island. In 1898, an agreement was signed and the city was handed over to British for 99 years. But by 1984, British agreed to give back Hong Kong to China.

Hong Kong is considered as one of the most popular tourist attraction around the world. The city is small but lively with a fantastic night life which is akin to the Caribbean. The city is situated near India and Philippines and is one of the best English speaking areas in Asia.

You can enjoy several mouth-watering cuisines in the region including Chinese, Indian, Mughalai, and international cuisines. Unique Chinese dishes like special dim sum are very tasty. You can also taste other Chinese specialties like chicken lo mein, fried whole trout, Peking duck, stuffed scallops, tofu dishes, mouth-watering Tong Cho oysters, and exotic seafood plates of soft-shell crab topped with crawfish tails.

There are several McDonald’s outlets and Western-style restaurants for American and European food. When compared to other tourist locations around the world, this destination is a bit expensive. If you want to reduce your cost of living in Hong Kong, you have to choose dormitories for stay and eat budget meals, usually Chinese dishes, instead of going to other big fancy restaurants. As it is a shopping paradise, it is difficult to resist your desire to buy. So it is better to embrace your money, if you do not need to overspend.

Hong Kong is well known for its thriving service industry and most of the residents are working in either banking, telecommunications, insurance or tourism. It is also popular for its entertainment industry and is considered as the Movie capital of Asia.

As it is both a modern and ancient city, you can find places to stay with out any problem when visiting Hong Kong. Accommodation facilities come in all types of excellence, shapes and prices. Cheap youth hostels with standard amenities and five star luxury hotels with luxurious facilities are offered.

Most of the luxurious facilities are available in Hong Kong Island, the central area of the city. For people looking for cheap accommodation, Kowloon and the New territories offer diverse sources. You can also find hostels in Hong Kong Island. As Hong Kong is a major transportation hub of Asia, it can cater to all budgets.

Hong Kong has a varied mix of characters as a result of lengthy British occupation and a great Chinese influence. The place has a lot to offer tourists around the world; this is the reason why more and more people visit this place year round. Situated in Kowloon, Hong Kong Museum of Art is the best place for history buffs. The Museum houses more than 14,000 items including paintings, calligraphy Hong Kong treasure, art objects, antiques and lithographs.

Hong Kong Disneyland, the fist Disneyland in Asia, offers an enchanting experience to the travelers and natives alike. The park features four main attractions, Adventureland, Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, and Main Street, USA. You can have a view of the entire city from Victoria Peak which is situated around 1810 feet above sea level. Take a cruise around the water of Lantau Island and watch pink dolphins that only live in this water.

Have great fun in Ocean Park which is one of the great attractions in the city. The park houses Lowlands Gardens, Marine Land and Headlands amusement park where you can go and have a ride with cable cars and roller coasters. Have fun with your kids in Water World’s wave pools, play area, and water slides.

Hong Kong Space Museum is another major attraction in the city. It features several displays including robotics, telecommunications, energy, computers, and physics. Middle Kingdom, The Central district, Lamma Island, Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery and Wet Market are also worth a visit. Plan your next vacation to this vibrant city now itself.

History: The Great Wall of China

Wall building in China began long before the great wall itself was built. Discoveries of village walls and other tamped-earth walls have been discovered through China. Archeological findings have suggested that the Shang state began that building of a network of walls around their cities. Other states also followed suit, walling off many of their cities. Many peasant populations lived in the areas that surrounded the walled cities. However the beginning of the Qin dynasty these city walls were destroyed in the attempt to weaken the states that had recently been warring. The First Emperor then began a wall building project of his own

The Qin Wall

This wall was a new border defense and was called the ten-thousand li long wall’, which equates to about 546 yards. After the Qin emperor had conquered his rivals from among the Chinese feudal states he turned his view toward the roaming nomads of the north. After driving these nomads out of China the Emperor sent Meng Tian, his general, along with 300,000 men to begin working on a fortification to keep these nomads out.

Rather than beginning work on an entirely new wall Tian began to repair and connect the Warring States walls. This work went on for nearly ten years and was a complex undertaking. The ever changing terrain and the huge distance between their much needed supplies made this a very difficult task. Successive dynasty also put in their efforts to repair, rebuild or expand the wall. Although very little of this first wall remains, it was the beginning of the tradition that would provide the world with one of its seven wonders.

The Ming Wall

The wall standing on China’s border is not the same one built during the Qin dynasty but one built during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644 CE). The wall built during the Qin dynasty came to be viewed as a symbol of the cruelty of the First Emperor toward his people. Stories are told about men who died while building the wall and were then buried within the wall itself. To avoid association with that wall the Ming called their walls border walls’ instead of the Qin term “long walls”. They worked on the walls for the same reason that previous dynasties had, to block the destructive nomadic tribes from the north.

The Ming’s wall construction was much more complex than the Qin wall. The advent of bricks and stones made the wall much sturdier than the previous packed earth walls. The Mongol raids continued over the years and in response the Ming continued to provide serious amounts of time and supplies to the construction and repair of the wall. Under the Qing dynasty China’s borders expanded beyond the wall and so the construction of the wall ceased.

The Great Wall Today

In modern times only some parts of the wall have been preserved, other parts are in disrepair. Some parts of the wall have even been covered in graffiti and other vandalisms and several sections have been removed because they are in the way of modern construction. Nature is also playing a role, eroding huge sections of the wall that are not expressly preserved for use as tourist attractions.

Huangpu River & the Bund

 

Huangpu river is the most important waterway of Shanghai, handling a majority of its shipping needs.

The river rolls itself, originating from the river Yangtze, Wusong, to the East Chinese sea. The river is yellow and free of ice, and about 71 miles in length (approximately 114 km), a quarter mile in width (around 400 meters), with a general depth of 9 meters ( around thirty feet). Huangpu divides Shanghai in to two main parts, east and west.

 

There is plenty to do at the river with all the cruises that are at the travelers’ disposal. These are scheduled almost everyday travelers can choose between short, as well as long, cruises. These cruises go around the prime waterfront sections of Shanghai; the Yangpu and Nanpu bridges respectively. The complete cruises are much longer, typically 60 kms, and go along the whole golden waterway. Cruising during the day and nighttime is very enchanting and travelers have the opportunity to silently witness the beauty of Shanghai, through its modern architecture.

 

The Bund, commonly called as Zhongshan Road, is a famous waterfront, and is considered as the symbol that stands for the greatness of the city of Shanghai. The Baidu bridge is the point that connects the Suzhou creek to the Huangpu river. This is where the bund starts, extending to the East Jinling Road, traversing an arc of 1500 meters( just under one mile). The Bund is at the western shore of the Huangpu, and the Oriental TV Tower is located just on the opposite side, along with the Jin Mao Tower. This is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Shanghai. The recently constructed Flood Control bank is an architectural attraction that protects the city from flooding. The Marshal Chen Yi statue is an open air podium giving exceptional viewing of the Shanghai Plaza Culture.

 

Another famous area is the western side of the bund, including around 52 different types of buildings. All of these have varying styles of architectural make, like the Gothic, Romanesque, Baroque, Classic, and the Renaissance. The Bund has a vast historical significance. It has stood as the heart of Shanghai’s politics, culture and economy for over several centuries.

 

In the city of Shanghai, accommodation is abundant. Most of the prominent Shanghai serviced apartments provide guests with luxury comfort and modern amenities. The Ascott Shanghai Pudong is a quiet and relaxed serviced residence in Shanghai, providing excellent luxury accommodation facilities for their guests, and is highly recommended by fellow tourists.

For westerners traveling to Asia, is it better to vacation in China or Japan? – Part 4

China or Japan, eh? To come up with a concise answer for this question you will have to look at it from various points of view because it depends on your age and preferences. I suppose it also depends on what you actually get to experience in Japan or China. Unfortunately, I can only look at this debate from the perspective of a sixteen year old girl.

Earlier this year, I had a rare chance of being able to visit Japan and see many attractions that normal tourists would not be able to see. Being a Japan

fanatic, I relished the idea of visiting Japan and I got extremely hyped up about it (I was jumping around my room) and it was exactly what I had expected, if not better. You’ll never find such a country that has a mixture of opposites: traditional and modern; informal and formal; western and eastern. On the outside, it is a modern metropolis filled with the Japanese who have no time to stop and smell the roses. Once you get involved, you’ll find it’s a country built on tradition and amazing architecture.

I found myself staring wide-eyed at Narita airport and I was already mesmerized by the politeness and niceness of the Japanese people. I was stunned by the lights and the signs and the amount of people. I was amused by the young elementary school kids as they ran to school. Everything was built into a perfect bubble for me.

As a young person, I visited all the student spots: Shibuya; Harajuku; Akihabara and more. I joined in the parade of people cosplaying on Harajuku Bridge. I listened in to young Japanese students having a conversation about their favourite bands. I listened to people busking all night long. I was taught by street dancers at night. At this point, I should mention that I’m fluent in Japanese and Korean.

Like I said in my first paragraph, it depends highly on your experiences in Japan. For me, I absorbed the culture as much as I could and I crammed in activities normal tourists wouldn’t dream of doing. I even managed to visit a Japanese high school for a day which really made me happy. I managed to meet people my age who liked the same bands and dramas as me. Communicating and learning would be a big part of the experience for me.

Again, like I said. I’m only speaking from experience. I’m sure if you know the language and if you’re into Chinese culture then China

would be a big thing for you. Unfortunately for me, I can only say hello in the language and I find the youth culture of Japan much more interesting from the people themselves to the latest fashion trends.

Japan is a must see if you ever get to go.

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