Yangtze Cruise

Have you read the book of A slow boat to China? Since the development of economy around the world, travelling is becoming much easier; would you like to try the slow and comfortable travel in China? If so, I'd be happy to recommend you taking a Yangtze cruise , which takes three nights and four days for a downstream trip; From the trip, you can not only enjoy the spectacular scenery, but also know the culture of China.

It is my first time taking the cruise; and we are on Century Diamond, there are a lot of interesting activities on the boat, such as taking Tachi classes; taking classes of learning Chinese culture; of course, if you don't like to be so occupied , just like me, sitting on the deck to enjoy the scenery. Oh, how can I forget to mention the Three Gorges Dam? It is a very important and huge man-made project in China's history; by doing so, it can manage the flood as well as generate electricity. Followed are some pictures for your view.

 

Jane Li

Travel Advisor

If you wish to share anything with my supervisor (Ms. Angela Gong), please feel free to send your email to supervisor@chinahighlights.com or reach her via 86-773-2885310.

 

 

A trip to Jiuzhaigou

At the end of October, My colleague Vanessa and I followed a group of our customers to Jiuzhaigou, which is well known for its amazing beauty of mountains and water; though I have seen a lot of photos of it, my breather was taken away when I was really there.

As there is only one small airport in Jiuzhaigou., and there are just several direct flights from big cities of China (such as Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai), normally speaking, people have to do the transfers in Chengdu; it is highly suggested to leave one whole day for the transfer service for the flight from Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou is often delayed because of the changeable weather.

During the trip, I not only enjoyed the beautiful scenery but also felt the Tibetan culture, please join with me to enjoy the pictures.

Jane Li

Travel Advisor

If you wish to share anything with my supervisor (Ms. Angela Gong), please feel free to send your email to supervisor@chinahighlights.com or reach her via 86-773-2885310.

 

 

Being a Fruit Picker for One Day

I worked as a fruit picker during the weekend. We picked baskets of pomelo, candied kumquat as well as orange. It is not easy to be a fruit picker. Being a freshman in doing this, you have to be very careful to choose those ripe ones; be sure you know how to define them; you will be skilled after some practice. We do not know the hardship for the farmers to fertilize the fruit trees, spray insecticide in spring and summer. Picking must be the easiest step during the whole process, after we pick the fruits; the farmers will classed the fruits into 2 or 3 types. The ones that have the best color and shape will get best price; the ones that not that good-looking or not fully ripen will get lower price. Then they will take the fruit baskets by tractor to the town for sale. Sometime the fruit businessmen from other province will come and collect high quality fruits, so the farmers save some pomelo and wait for a better price as well.

Personally I loved my experience as a fruit picker and working in the orchard. I believe most of my peers also like to escape from the city life from time to time to get to the countryside. We love nature far more than we expected, it is in our blood, just like traveling. It is just because we are not born to live the way as most of the children in the countryside, we do not know how much nature had offered to the mankind as well as the happiness being close to the nature.

 

weekend trip to Xianggongshan Mountain

Surely the last two days was the best weekend ever for my friends and me. We went to Sophie's home in the country side, which was well renowned place for taking photos of the sunrise, sunset as well as lights and fishing rafts during the Photography enthusiasts. We got on the bus to Yangshuo and got off at Putao town, and then rent a van taking us to the Xianggongshan, where Sophie's home located. Her parents and elder brother is running a guesthouse, I thought the guesthouse's condition is very basic before I arrived. It turned out that it had everything that we can found in a 3 star hotel in the city. The room is equipped with warm quilts, air-condioned and beautiful view from the balcony. Attached is the photos taken from the top of the mountain.

 

On Sunday morning, we got up at 6 and start to climb Mt. Xianggongshan at 6:30AM. There are newly built steps so it is very easy to get up to the top. Many cameras were set up on the mountain top already when we arrived at 6:45AM. It was a little misty and we cannot see the sunrise yet. Some of the tourists are coming from yangshuo from 3Am by taking a raft and then climb from the other side of the mountain, there are no steps, and they took 2 hours climbing up to the mountain top. At around 7:05Am, finally we saw the sunrise and the mountains became clearer with the sunshine. Sophie told us that the best time to visit is in April and May, as there is more water in the li river. The tourists need to pay CNY10 to climb the mountain, either from the mountain top or after they back to the mountain foot.

 

Another mountain the can be seen right from my room is Hebaoshan Mountain which got its name as it looks like a pouch--- "he bao" in Chinese. It is also called pingguo mountain when we do the li river cruise as the mountain looks like an apple. Attached is the photo for Hebaoshan Mountain.

 

weekend trip to Xianggongshan Mountain

Surely the last two days was the best weekend ever for my friends and me. We went to Sophie's home in the country side, which was well renowned during the Photography enthusiasts. We got on the bus to Yangshuo and got off at Putao town, and then rent a van taking us to the Xianggongshan, where Sophie's home located. Her parents and elder brother is running a guesthouse, I thought the guesthouse's condition is very basic before I arrived. It turned out that it had everything that we can found in a 3 star hotel in the city. The room is equipped with warm quilts, air-condioned and beautiful view from the balcony.Attached is the photo for Hebaoshan mountain, which got its name as it looks like a pouch--- "he bao" in Chinese.

 

On Sunday morning, we got up at 6 and start to climbed Mt. Xianggongshan at 6:30AM. There are newly built steps so it is very easy to get up to the top. Many cameras were set up on the mountain top already when we arrived at 6:45AM. It was a little misty and we cannot see the sunrise yet. Some of the tourists are coming from yangshuo from 3Am by taking a raft and then climb from the other side of the mountain, there are no steps, and they took 2 hours climbing up to the mountain top. At around 7:05Am, finally we saw the sunrise and the mountains became clearer with the sunshine. Sophie told us that the best time to visit is in April and May, as there is more water in the li river. The tourists need to pay CNY10 to climb the mountain, either from the mountain top or after they back to the mountain foot.

 

Eight-section brocade exercise to keep health

The staff at China Highlights is not only interested in providing the professional tour service to the customers. They're also keen on learning to do Eight-section brocade exercise to keep health.

Some Strongly Recommended Tips for Tibet Travel

After visited Tibet with a group of 10 tourists as well as the latest unexpected illness of one customer of mine, I think it is very important to give out some tips for tourists that are planning their Tibet travel.

 

1.     Don't go to Tibet without warm clothes; visiting to Yomdrok lake and Mt.Everest or Lake Namtso etc even in summer requires down jackets or Rocketsports; the reason to get yourself warm is that once you catch a cold, you are more likely to end up with high attitude sickness and cannot deal with the long distance ride on the tour either.

2.     Mental preparation:It is very normal if you have a headache or feel uneasy when you are in Tibet.knowing that to experience the high attitude sickness itself is also a kind of tour experience. Walk slowly and on the first day arrival Lhasa, do not take bath nor do any sightseeing but have a good sleep or just relax at the hotel is good to let yourself be accustomed to the condition in Tibet.

 

3.     For senior travelers, it is suggested that to have a health check before getting to Tibet. A customer of mine who is very energetic and had travelled worldwide had problem in Tibet lately; his tour to Beijing, Xian in the first 6 days was very well. However on the day to Potala Palace, he felt not comfortable and had a stomached. Our guide took him to the hospital and the doctor check said that he had kidney stone and the pain was really killing him. Fortunately, he was well treated by a professional doctor and the pain was gone within 1 day, he flew out of Lhasa the next day.

 

4.     What to pack: Medicine( for cold and diarrhea Aspirin); water proof outdoor shoes; sunglass; Camera, not too heavy If you take very heavy camera set in the high land with less oxygen. It's a burden for you. You can take very good picture in Tibet with even card camera; portable SLR camera is also ok.

 

5.     Travel insurance We recommend that you may buy insurance covering a large scale in your own country. If hospitalized, please remember to collect every single document from hospital that insurance company may need you to offer.

 

6.     Hygiene: Once you get out of Lhasa city, toilets are not available, sometimes a toilet is just a hole on the ground or behind bushes or rocks. Some monasteries had toilet however the condition was very worse; there is even no door at the toilet.

 

 

 

 

 

Visiting to Datong, Taiyuan and Pingyao

October 10th: The First Day in Taiyuan

 

At 8am, Nancy and I met in the front of Minhang Hotel to take the airport express bus to Guilin Liangjiang Airport. Our flight to Taiyuan would depart at 10:40. It took exactly 40 minutes to get to the airport. Since there was still more than 90 minutes before the taking off after we got the board passing, we decided to have a little rest at KFC and enjoyed a short breakfast there. 

 

The flight took 2 hours and 30 minutes. When we arrived at Taiyuan Airport and collected the luggage, it is around 13:20. A little rainny here. To save cost we decided to take the airport express (CNY15 per person) to the hotel (Hua Yuan Hotel). After checking with the staff, we were told that the bus was only available after 2pm, so we chose to take the taxi. After 40 minutes' driving, we arrived at the hotel near train station by paying CNY55.

 

It is said that the noodle is one of the most famous food here. After check in, we took the public bus No. 10 to Liunan Stop, where we were told is commercial and pedestrain area. I think the street is very siminar to Guilin with shops and stores of regular brands of clothes. Since we planned to go to Datong tomorrow and don't stay here long, we decided to visit Jinci this afternoon. It took 1 hour by taking taxi from the city center and cost around CNY80. Truely speaking, we are verydispointed about that place. All the buildings are newly renovated and the large area is just like a park with trees and flowers. It was not worth the long driving. As before, to save cost, we took a public bus back to the hotel with CNY2.5 per person. The bus ride took around 90 minutes and nearly made us exhausted within the traffic jam. 

 

Taiyuan is not as I expected. However, to explore it ourselves still makes me feel exciting. Looking forward to seeing Datong tomorrow.

Since the internet was not convenient to get access during the tour and not all the hotels had the computer in the room, I decided to finish the travel stories after getting back to Guilin.

 

Since the internet was not convenient to get access during the tour and not all the hotels had the computer in the room, I decided to finish the travel stories after getting back to Guilin.

 

October 11th: Long Train Journey to Datong

 

We had a good sleep and then take the afternoon train from Taiyuan to Datong. The train station is just within 3-minute walking from the Huayuan Hotel. All that I remember right now for that day was the long journey (7 hours) in the crowded carriage. We should have taken the express bus, which was said to take only 3.5 hours.

 

October 12th: Great Day to the Yungang Grottoes, the Shanhua Temple and the Nine-Dragon Screen Wall 

 

It took around 30 minutes for the driving from city center to the Yungang Grottoes. All the statues were hand made and were carved in stones or with clays. It's so surprising that they could be kept so well after hundreds of years.

 

 

After visiting Grottoes we drove to Shanhua Temple for around 40 minutes. All the buildings there were made with wood and without using any concrete and iron nail. The polar and crossbeam were combined together under the former architects' intelligence and wisdom. 

 

Staying around 1 hour in the Temple for its Buddhism Culture and structure, we headed for the Nine-dragon Screen Wall. Though only a piece of wall was visited there, the stories about its origination and development are very interested. If only watching the Wall, it takes no more than 10 minutes. However, the stories there I think are worth more then 30 minutes even 1 hour.

 

October 13^th: Driving to Hanging Monastery and Pingyao Ancient City

 

Hanging Monastery is one of the highlights to me. It takes about 1 hour there. It's located in a canyon between 2 mountains. The wind in the canyon was strong. However, it stopped gradually when we approached to the Monastery. The stairs and the balconies were narrow. I could measure it completely with only one arm. I felt a little scary but excited by standing on the top. Just imaging how the monk lived here before. It is said that they didn't need to cook and the believers would take all the food from outside of the canyon to them.

 

I expected Pingyao so much. After enjoying lunch at Ying County near to Hanging Monastery, we drove directly to Pingyao, which took another 4 hours. We stopped several times on the way to stretch the arms and legs to get refreshed. Finally Pingyao was on our front. It's more original and less crowded then I expected. Maybe because the days we stayed there were weekdays. Walking on the Ancient City Wall in the sunset felt so romantic.

 

 

October 14^th: The next day after arriving Pingyao, we just walked around the ancient city to explore and feel its ancient breath.

 

October 15^th: Exciting visit to Wang Courtyard and Mian Mountain

 

The weather was so lovely that day. Wang Courtyard was definitely the same size as normal residence. It's like a village not just a courtyard. Walking through it, we can still imagine how wealthy and grand it was. Besides this, the exquisite stone carving is another feature.

 

Before visiting Mian Mountain, I had watched a beautiful video about it. Besides experiencing its grandness, the other reason I want to visit it is to get the difference between the video and the real scenery. It didn't disappoint me when the Mountain came out to my eyes. Hiking along the canyon and to the top made me out of puff, but felt so good by overlooking the whole mountains.

 

 

October 16^th: Say Bye to Pingyao and take the flight back to Guilin. I'll come to visit it again in the future.

Cat Mountain Hike

Last weekend we went to Cat Mountaion, which got the name Cat Mountain for its peak looks like a huge cat. The main peak of the mountain is about 2,141 meters high above sea level and is known as the "Summit of South China". There were 12 of us, took the express bus to Cat Mountain at 9:30 AM and arrived at the gate of the scenic spot at 12:30, it taken a while for us to bargain with the staff at the entrance to carter a bus get up to the top of the mountain. Finally Simon, our group leader, got the deal of CNY1500 totally for the 12 of us, meanwhile we had some instant noodle and some cookie and fruits for lunch. At 1:20PM, we started hiking from the foot of the mountain till Tiziling, where we can get on our rented bus to go up to the mountain.

The hiking tour was very much different than the other hike tour that I had before. We hired a local farmer as a guide as the roads bumpy; we did not see other companion all the way, it was cool, however it was an arduous trip for most of us: you have to use you hand to balance yourself on the mountainous "road", actually it cannot be called road most of the time, as there was barely any sign or guidance, our guide was fast, I did not see him much, as he was always ahead of us and we hurried up to catch him. Xiaobai, one of my friend, got exhausted half way; I tried my best to follow the group without taken backpack; and we rested every 30 minutes, everyone was try his/her best to finish the tour, which lasted for 4 hours, the view on the way was beautiful however we did not taken much picture as we have to arrive at Tiziling to get on the bus. Finally we see the cement road and get on the bus await us.

At around 5:50PM, we got on the top of the mountain and check-in the Cat Mountain hotel, we have to camp at night in the hotel as there was no rooms available any longer. It was cold on the mountain top, I taken on my jacket and followed Simon to tent and take shower when there was still hot water available.

  We had a fantastic evening, enjoying the sunset and taken photos of the Shenxianfoot on the top of the mountain and shared a simple but unforgettable dinner, which was hot pot chicken. The next morning, we got up at 4AM and hiked from 4:20AM till 5AM to the peak of the mountain to enjoy the sunrise, the highlight of cat mountain tour. It was impresieve to see all the stars blinked so close to me, and faded away in every passing minute, the color of the sky changed as well, the prettiest moment turned out to be the very moment before the sunrise. Attached are some photos in the mountain; however the best memory was always in my mind.

 

 

 

Yulong River Rafting

Last week I went to Yangshuo and did the Yulong River rafting as well as some biking in the countryside with some of my friends. We got up at around 9am and checked out of the hotel, after bargain a lit bit, we got 3 bicycles for CNY40, one of which was a brand new Giant, it was cool.

We kept seeing big tractor taking many rafts and bikes on the way, which made us felt that the pier was just nearby, however it was not. After over 1 hour biking, we arrived at Chaoyang pier, we probably biked on a wrong way, and however the scenery was awesome on the way to the pier. We got on the raft at around 1pm, the rafting takes 1.5 hour to 2 hours; two persons shared one raft with two bamboo chairs on the raft, a raftsman was controlling each raft. On the raft, sitting and enjoying the peaceful countryside, the limestone mountains beauty opens. Even if we have cycled the area, the view from the river was very different, and on the raft, it was cool. They had a big umbrella to keep you from sunshine, the water itself makes people cool. One of my friend even jump into the crystal water to swimming for half hour, when the rest of us were enjoying the fried fish and corn on the wooden kiosk that along the river. The price for drinks and food on the river was more than twice higher than the market price, however it was acceptable with the superb view you can see from the raft.

Closer to the end of the rafting, we arrived at GongNong bridge, we taken our bikes that the tractor carried to the end of the journey and kept biking to see more of the moon hill and the days tour ended at around 5pm.