Beijing: Desolated Landscapes in Western Beijing

Beijing City has a history of over 3,000 years, and the most oldest administrative region is Mentougou District. It is located in the mountainous area of western Beijing. Early in 10,000 years ago, “Donghulin” people of Neolithic Age began to live and reproduce there. Mentougou District is the only one place in suburbs of Beijing that is affiliated to Beijing city since always. Other suburb counties are all divided from Hebei Province continuously.

 “Mountainous” is the most obvious natural characteristics of Mentougou. It covers a total area of 1,455 square kilometers, with mountainous area occupies 96%. Mountains stretch for several kilometers from northwest to southeast, magnificent and overwhelming, therefore it was hailed as “the natural barrier in western of the capital city”. Among these mountains, there is a highest peak in Beijing — Lingshan Mountain, as well as Baihua Mountain with beautiful landscapes and Miaofeng Mountain which is abundant in roses. If you are an adventurer, Qingling Mountain is a perfect place to go when you join a Xian one day tour.

Because of the mountainous landform, a lot of famous valleys are formed, such as the eastern and western Longmen gorge which are hailed as “Little Three Gorges”, and Yixiantian Valley in Longkou Village. If you have time to join a Beijing Xian tour, Mentougou District is strongly recommended. Believe it or not, just see the pictures!

Sichuan: Lugu Lake

After I finished Beijing Xian tour in North part of China, I fly to the south of Sicuan. From Lijiang to Lugu Lake, the first feeling is quiet. The place where I travel is called Lige, a small Peninsula, along which there were over 10 inns. Compared with the crowded street in Old Town of Lijiang,the countable tourists made Lugu Lake like a fictitious land of peace.

Boating to Camel Peak to see sunrise is a traditional your in Lugu Lake. After several days rain before, the sky turned completely blue in that morning. I got up at 5 o’clock and walk into the lake bank, and find the boat we booked before which is called Zhucao Boat. Under the whity sky, we boated to the center of the lake. What we only could hear is the sound made by quant and water. With time goes by, the eastern sky turned into slightred.

After about 20 minutes, we arrived at the foot of Camel Peak. At that time, the sun had rose to the sky. The scenery in front of us was like a scroll painting. The sunlight gave the surrounding clouds with various colors, and the lake reflected the whole sky, rippling with the small waves. Looking from a far distance, there were fishermen busy working. Under the sunlight,the little fishing boats became silhouettes, just like boating in a picture. Lugu Lake tour is another highlight trip during my journey in China, after I travel Xian.

Anhui Huangshan: Huizhou—town of white chrysanthemum

Groups of white chrysanthemum came into my eyes, shining like layed snow scattering on mountains — what you see is an ordinary village in ancient Huizhou area(today’s Huangshan City), remote and unfamiliar, but it has a bond with me because of my wife.

Several years ago, when my father-in-law heard I like photography, he tattled the beautiful sceneries in his town: “ The chrysanthemum is as white as snow, landing on everything surrounding the house…”. I used to be attracted by his description.

When the scenery I has been missing is rightly in front of my eyes, I can’t help to run into the chrysanthemum land. The chrysanthemums here usually are planted in tea gardens, one row of green tea and one row of white chrysanthemum, and another row of green tea, and white chrysanthemum again, spreading from the mountain top to the valley.

My uncles and aunts began to work at early morning, and I joined them too. Under the morning sun, dews reflects colorful lights. My sleeves are contaminated with fragrance in no time.

Suzhou Huqiu Tower: the Western Leaning Tower of Pisa

Huqiu Tower(also “Yunyan Pagoda”) is situated about 5 kilometers northwest of downtown Suzhou, China’s east Jiangsu Province. It was first built in the later period of the Five Dynasties (907-960 AD) and completed in the second year (961AD) of Jianlong reign in North Song Dynasty.

With 47 meters high, the tower is a seven-story octagonal building built with blue bricks, and it was once a masterpiece in Yangtze River Basin during the tenth century. Standing at the top of Huqiu Mount, Huqiu Tower is the oldest survived Buddhist pagoda in Suzhou and be hailed as “the No.1 tourism attraction”in Wuzhong District, Suzhou City. In 1961, it was designated as one of the State-level Key Cultural Relic Protection Unit. Because it is very similar to the contemporaneous Leifeng Tower in Hangzhou in terms of style, capital city of Zhejiang Province, the two towers are known as “the Two Oldest Towers in lower reaches of Yangtze River”.

Due to forces of nature, the tower has gradually slanted. Now the top and bottom of the tower vary by 2.32 meters. Therefore, Huqiu Tower is renowned as the eastern leaning tower of Pisa. In 1957, efforts were made by Suzhou Municipal Government to stabilize the tower and prevent further leaning. Concrete was also pumped into the soil forming a stronger foundation.

The Ancient City in Cliff

The Heaven-like King City scenic site is located at Town Quanzhuang, Yishui County. With “The NO.1 Gu(a kind of landform with small hill precipitous all around but flat on the top)”— Ji Wang Gu as the center and relying on the rare landform scenery in Yimeng Mountain, and themed by the history of Ji Kingdom in the Spring and Autumn period (770B.C.-476 B.C.), the scenic site possesses six regions, including the Landform viewing area, Yucheng Culture experience area, folk custom experience area, countryside playground, underground ice palace, royal birds garden. It is a representative scenic spot for visitors to appreciate the beautiful sceneries of Yimeng, explore history and experience Yimeng folk custom.

The Heaven-like King City is the best place to command a full view. Standing there, the 72 gus are all under your sight. Visitors can attend activities like the iron-forging, weaving, wine-brewing etc.

Shangri-la: Pudacuo National Forest Park

Pulacuo National Forest occupies an area of 1,313 square kilometers, to be more specific, it is much bigger than the land area of Hong Kong(1104 square kilometers). So far, it is only partially developed. The surrounding Shudu Lake, Bita Lake and Mili Pool still need to be connected.by green vehicles. The driving distance is along as as 69 kilometers, which will take three to four hours to go through Pudacuo roughly. Don’t ask me when is the best time for visiting Pudacuo, because the answer is no answer. The sceneries there vary across the whole year with its own unique characteristics. In spring, different kinds of flowers blossom among the alpine meadows; in summer, you can go to the forest for cooling purpose; in autumn, the leaves are in the depth of diverse tints; and in winter, you can just enjoy the blue lakes in the white snow.

The picture on the left is Shudou Lake. In Tibetan, “shu”means cheese, “dou” means stone. Legend said that there was an eminent monk coming to here, then the local herdsmen consecrated a piece of cheese to him. The cheese in this area is as solid as stone, so he prayed: May the cheese here will be as this solid forever, hence the name Shudugang.

Jiangsu: Walking into Chinese Sex Culture Museum

Tongli, one of the six famous towns in southern China, is located beside the Taihu Lake and east of ancient Beijing-Hangzhou Canal. It was constructed 1000 thousand years ago in Song Dynasty. With water surrounding around, Tongli enjoys a reputation for its beautiful scenery. In 1995, Tongli was listed as one of the first Historical and Cultural Town of China’s eastern Jiangsu Province.

The Museum of Ancient Chinese Sex Culture was moved from Shanghai to Tongli in April in 2004. The opening ceremony was held in April 19 and then it was renamed as Chinese Sex Culture Museum. The museum is situated in the east of the famous scenic spot Retreat Garden in Tongli. The place is the former site of Lize Women School which was built in 1902. To construct the museum, the local government invest more than ￥3,000,000 to the project. One part of the architecture is in European style in the late Qing and early the Republic of China, and the other part is a typical ancient southern gardens style.

The museum is divided into four parts: the sex culture in primeval society; marriage and women; the sex in daily life; abnormal sexual behavior. There are totally 1700 sex tools in the four exhibition areas aging from 9000 years ago to the Republic of China.

Chinese Peking Opera

The unique theatrical synthesis of song and dance, acting and acrobatics known as Peking Opera began m emerge in its present form around 200 years ago. Though the Beijing variety is world-famous, there are many different versions of the art throughout China In the early part of the 20th century, mil]ions went to the opera house — more like a teahouse Dr a variety theatre—and largely through the acting genius of the late Mei Lanfang (1894—1961)，Peking Opera even influenced Western artists such as Charles Spencer Chaplin (卓别麟1889—1977) in England and playwright Bertold Brecht布来希特(1898—1956) in Germany. Recently, traditional opera has undergone something of a renaissance and there are performances nightly in Beijing Overseas tourists should not miss the opportunity to see one, even though the tourist will he baffled by much of it. Most operas are based on folk mythology or classical literatures, but don't worry about the plots (even many Chinese have difficult following the archaic language and the words of songs are usually screened at the side of the stage to assist audiences). What impress the audiences most are the sumptuous costumes and make-up and the acrobatic battle scenes (like circus performers, opera artists are rigorously trained from early childhood). Everything in the opera has significance — from the embroidery on a robe indicating the wearer’s rank to the pattern and color of his make up, expressing character. As in other Asian &once forms, gestures, even of figures and eyes, are all-important. And mime is a key element. Very few people are used and it is up to the actor to show, by lifting a foot that he is going through a doorway, or by waving a whip that he is riding a horse. Swords and staves will be brandished and twirled at breakneck speed in flight sequences without the actors ever touching one another. For the aficionados, it is the singing that matters (old timers talk of “listening to” rather than "watching" an opera), but the lengthy arias may seem strange to ears raised on Western harmonies. Likewise the harsh, percussive sounds of the orchestra, which sits on the side of the stage and is led by an er hu, or two-stringed Chinese fiddle. Among the most famous Peking Operas are “the Monkey King,” “the Drunken Beauty,” “be White Snake,” “Crossroads,” “a Fisherman's Revenge, ” and “Strategy of an Unguarded City. ” But for the newcomer, programme of of excerpts featuring the highlights of two or three operas is recommended, since entire performance may prove a tittle much to take at one setting.