JIA’s Dream Tours China Blog

Enjoyed watching the Olympics in Beijing? Time to experience China for yourselves! Spring and Autumn are the best times to go from the weather perspective, but you will enjoy China whatever time you go.

The first step in planning your trip is deciding where to go in China.The answer to that is very simple… it depends! Sorry, had to say that.

Seriously though, it does depend on a couple of questions: the time your have to spend in China and your interests (historical, natural wonders, cultural, all of the above, etc.)

The main must-visit places in China are Beijing, Xi’an and Guilin. Why?

Beijing - the capital and heart of China. Home of the fabulous Ming Dynasty legacies such as the Forbidden City, Summer Palace and Temple of Heaven. And of course the fabled Great Wall. Not to mention some of the modern marvels such as Tian’anmen Square, and the ultra-new icons The Water Cube, Bird’s Nest and other Olympic venues. If you want to read more on Beijing click here.

Xi’an - Xi’an is the cradle of Chinese civilization. Located in the very center of the Middle Kingdom (the literal translation of China), Xi’an served as the ancient capital of China for 11 dynasties from the 11th century B.C. to the early 10th century A.D. and was the first capital of a unified China. Xi’an is over 2000 years old, with 73 emperors buried here. As the starting point of the famous ancient “Silk Road” that linked China with central Asia and the Roman Empire, Xi’an was the key place for China to open the door to the outside world! From as early as the Second Century B.C. Want to read more on Xi’an? Click here.

Guilin - the most beautiful city in China! The scenery of Guilin has inspired thousands of Chinese artists over the ages to draw such beautiful paintings! Guilin is the very essence of the classical Chinese landscape paintings; fantastically shaped peaks that are studded with pines and delicate pavilions, partly shrouded in the mist. You will get easily get lost at this peaceful land of Shangri-La! More on Guilin can be found here.

Of course I have not even mentioned Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, or a dozen other wonderful places to see. It all depends of course on how much time you have.

If you want to know more just ask! That is the whole purpose of this Blog. Let me know how long you are thinking of spending in China and I will be happy to give you suggestions.

Happy Journeys!

Jia (more…)

Get recharged in the exotic land of China and get decompressed from the stress of daily life: join us on the spiritual Tour to China in April 2009.

Next year, from April 5 to 26, 2009, Martin Gray will be leading a group tour to numerous sacred places and cultural landmarks around China. Some of the sites we will visit are the White Cloud Temple and Forbidden City in Beijing, the Great Wall, the Yungang Grottoes, the 3rd century BC Terracotta warriors and the sacred mountains of Wu Tai and Putuo. The size of the group will be limited to 40 people. Throughout the tour Martin will give numerous talks about the history and pilgrimage traditions of Taoism and Buddhism.

Martin Gray is a National Geographic photographer and anthropologist specializing in the photographic documentation of holy places around the world. During two decades of travel he photographed nearly one thousand sacred sites in a hundred countries. His photographs and writings are shown on the Places of Peace and Power web site at SacredSites.com. This web site explores subjects such as sacred geography, earth mysteries, archaeoastronomy, ecopsychology and the evolution of eco-spiritual consciousness in increasing numbers of humans around the globe. Martin’s latest book, Sacred Earth, is a collection of beautiful color photographs of sacred sites all across the planet.

This will be a fantastic trip for people who are spiritually thirsty and looking for something off the beaten paths. This tour not only covers the must-sees in China for the first timers, like Beijing, Xi’an and Guilin, but also highlights the famous religious places: like Mt. Wu Tai and Mt. Pu Tuo. With personal interactive escort by Martin, it will be a trip of a lifetime!

You can see the details of the trip on my website: http://jiasdreamtours.com/spiritual_tour.html

Welcome to Jia’s blog on China travel! Here I will share my experiences and expertise to help you plan a true dream tour to China!