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…)

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

Like the neighboring Lesser Three Gorges in Wushan County, the ancient plank path runs along the river, mysterious ancient coffins suspended high on the cliff, wild monkeys running under the primitive trees and bushes.

I went on the Yangtze River Cruise last Oct with my group, and our local guide in Shennong Stream - a little girl who doesn’t speak good English but very sweet, sang the local songs on the sampan for us one after another. The original beauty of the nature with her sweet unpolished voice in the peaceful canyon, it was truly an unforgettable moment!

If you have any more questions, please feel free to contact me through our website: http://jiasdreamtours.com/destinations.h…

I love the country side of Xi’an, especially on the way from Xi’an city to Terra Cotta Warriors Museum. It is a nice drive. Normally we’ll stop at Banpo Museum, where you can learn about the leadership role that women played in the whole society in this area. Other than its amazing exhibitions, I love the peacefulness and quietness of this place. Sometimes they play the ancient musical instrument there, the Xun, a kind of round, ball-like instrument with a hole on top where you blow. The tune is always so sad and vivid, fitting right in with the atmosphere here. Of course, the highlight is the Terra Cotta Warriors - the eighth wonder of the world! The Terra Cotta Warriors, created by Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of a unified China, this 8,000 strong army of life-sized warriors and officers along with horses and chariots serve as his eternal guarding force, still in their battle formations, facing east against the six conquered kingdoms; eternally vigilant and awaiting the command of their emperor! Emperor Qin Shihuang’s mysterious tomb is still uncovered and untouched, waiting for his day to face the world again! Each time while standing with them face to face, I still couldn’t believe the courageous look and spirit of 2000 years - what a breathtaking scene! Towards the end of the day, we’ll enjoy the same scenic drive back to Xi’an. The beautiful country scenery under the sunset makes you wonder how it looked thousands of years ago under the same light of sunset.

My next highlight is the city wall. Xi’an still maintains the traditional ancient city wall, which is square in shape and symmetrically designed. At night, the whole city wall is completely lit up, framing the beautiful silhouette of this ancient capital!

After a full day of visiting these treasures you can head to bed, and after such a rich and fantastic sightseeing you will have a sweet dreams: maybe greeting Qin Shihuang, or dancing with some Tang dynasty ladies…

My fun memory came from my shopping experience on Bakhor Street. I wanted to find some real Tibetan souvenir back home and finally I found a beautiful carved bronze incense burner. It was very elegant and carved with dragon and other Tibetan lions on the incense burner. When I started asking price, as I expected the owner, a Han people (ethnic Chinese) looked at me trying to figure out where I’m from. You see part of the art of negotiating is knowing who you are dealing with. I spoke mandarin with him and told him that I’m no tourist, so to get rid of his confusion about whether I’m not a real Chinese. He was quite impressed by my standard Mandarin, but still suspiciously looking at my husband and a friend who were with me, and both of them are Caucasian. I started countering his price with one third of his asking price, as I expected he wasn’t offended at all, and just kept asking me to increase the offer. I told him we had almost finished our circle in Bhakor Street, so I know the market price pretty well. He agreed to drop one third, however we still haven’t got agreement yet. Many locals, including vendors, Tibetans, and tourists stopped by and started to watch my bargaining. Even the Tibetan monk who was sitting behind the vendor started to emerge and show interest to our negotiation. … Eventually I got it in between one third and one half of his asking price, which is quite a good deal in my opinion. The onlookers seemed didn’t have enough of the show and were reluctant to leave; so I teased them and said the show is over. The vendor appreciated my business and carefully wrapped my incense burner for me. After I went back to our group meeting place, I showed our guide Lobsong my hard-bargained incense burner and told him the price, he gave his signature sunny smile first, and as I expected he said “It was okay…” I knew by his smile that I could have got better deal if he was there. But I had great fun there, and even today that beautiful incense burner is still the center piece of our dining table, reminding me all those fun times I had in the Holy City - Lhasa!

First, because of its high altitude, not everyone is able to go there, so makes it even more mysterious. As soon as we landed at Lhasa airport, I could feel the thin and pure air, even the sun seemed stronger. What a direct, bold welcome to “the roof of the world”!

Our local guide was a sunny young Tibetan man, who was once a monk. So my group was very lucky to gain a lot of deep, insightful knowledge of Lama Buddhism. Our guide Lobsong, who was warm as the Tibetan sun in Lhasa and a smile that was just as bright, impressed my group with his genuine honesty, and warm-heart.

Lobsong’s English was beyond my expectation, especially after he honestly told the group that he taught himself English and had never been to college. I really got tickled that whenever he had difficulty with English, he would pause and ask me in Chinese right in front of the group “How do you say… in English, I don’t know.” Then flash a big sunny smile. But when people asked anything about Lama Buddhism, Lobsong instantly lit up and gave a sophisticated lecture, including those big religious words which was even first time for me to hear! Our whole group fell in love with this genuine Tibetan boy!

My highlight was the day we visited Potala Palace, which was even more impressive than its physical heights - especially after we heard and had seen how religious it is here. It is a several hundreds steps climb one way up. Not everyone in my group attempted the trek because once you start climbing, you can’t go back; since it is one-way you have to keep going forward. So standing at entrance to Palace after climbing all those stairs, I felt quite a sense of accomplishment. Even though it was so high and the air so much thinner, it was well worth it ! The dramatic architecture of the Potala Palace framed in the unusually blue sky, surrounded by the mountains around, it was quite a picture!

On the way out from the Potala Palace, there were some Tibetan ladies working on repairing the roof, they were patting some dirt or mud into the walls with some very primitive tools. Our group had just finished touring the Potala Palace and on our way out. After several hundred steps up and down combined with the altitude sickness, no one had energy to talk any more, we were just trying to breath in the thin air and at the same time enjoy the unusual blue sky. It was quite a picture: the dramatic Potala Palace with its shining gorgeous red and gold colors under the beautiful sunshine, framed against the pure blue sky! Suddenly, the sound of a deliberately rhythmic beating came to us. All of the young women were beating the patching mud to the same beat. Then so naturally, a beautiful song began to flow out of that rhythm… Listening to them sing to the beat so cheerfully, the performing was magical! What a peaceful and natural scene! No one could make it as perfect as the way it was naturally made. Everyone stopped and looked up: there they were – those Tibetan girls dressed in their traditional dress sitting on the roof, patting and beating and singing in perfect harmony… They didn’t even notice that we were videoing them, just enjoying themselves in their work. They were so happy, even though they don’t have fancy designer clothes or modern lifestyle; they were being true to themselves. No one was directing, no one was following, but it made such a harmonious symphony! I felt my heart lifted with this original beauty of human beings, and I truly hope they can always have and enjoy this true happiness! That video is one of my priceless treasures I took home form Tibet!

Located at the foothill of Yan Mountain, on the western side of Beijing, Fragrant Hill enjoys the reputation as the best place in Beijing to see the autumn colors! Of course due to its naturally higher elevation, Fragrant Hill area also enjoys the fresher air of Beijing. Combined with densely populated trees and plant life, Fragrant Hill well deserves the reputation of Summer Retreat!

Even though Fragrant Hill is more famous for its fall colors, in my opinion, it’s beautiful during all four seasons. There are four attractions in Fragrant Hill area: Fragrant Hill Park, Beijing Botanical Garden, Cherry Blossom Valley and Reclining Buddha Temple.

Fragrant Hill Park is a large park of hills and forest covering 160 hectares (395.4 acres). The park was first built in 1186 in the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) and later extended to a large scale in the Yuan and Ming dynasties. The most spectacular natural scenery in the Fragrant Hills Park is the red smoke tree leaves over the mountains in autumn! When autumn arrives, fiery red leaves blanket the entire mountain. It becomes one of the top attractions for the locals to look forward to in the autumn!

Beijing Botanical Garden is a large 400 Hectare ( ~988 acres) park close to XiangShan at the foot of the Western Fragrant Hills. It presents magical, peaceful surroundings just 15 km from central Beijing. There are many local and exotic flora and fauna, including the Perennial Garden, Peony Garden, Ornamental Peach Garden, a magnificent 10,000 square meter Conservatory housing Rain Forest House, Orchid House, Desert Garden House, Exhibition Flower House and numerous other gardens featuring camellias, bamboo, tree peonies, ornamental cherries and many others.

Cherry Blossom Valley, (Yingtaogou) also commonly known as the Zhou’s Family Garden, is situated at the foot of Shou’an Mountain near Fragrant Hill Park. Walking west from the Botanical Garden, one comes to a narrow, winding path, which leads to Cherry Blossom Valley; a quiet, secluded valley ideal for a getaway from the city life. During the Ming Dynasty, the Temple of Wisdom (Guanghuisi) was built here. In front of and behind the temple were orchards in which cherry trees were especially abundant, which is how the valley obtained its name. It is so quiet and peaceful here, that you can hear the sound of a bubbling spring, the wind blowing through the pine trees and birds chirping!

My favorite is actually Cherry Blossom Valley. From the name you can tell this valley is full of cherry trees which are consider rare in Beijing. And you can imagine the best time for this part of Fragrant Hill is spring: during cherry blossom time. The whole valley is full of blooming cherry and all the other flowers: peach, magnolia, peony… it’s truly a fresh picture of spring! My favorite time is sunset time at Cherry Blossom Valley, after it has quieted down from a whole day of visitors. Since it’s next to Reclining Buddha Temple, you can basically walk in between the two places. With the solemn and peaceful atmosphere of the temple, you can even appreciate more of this quiet moment by yourself.

Another reason I love Cherry Blossom Valley is that the author of my favorite Chinese book: Dream of Red Mansion - Mr. Cao Xue Qin used to live here and supposedly was inspired here. If you want to read one of the true classics of Chinese literature, Dream of Red Mansion is an incredible, haunting love story that you will never forget! If you walk all the way to the end of Cherry Blossom Valley, you will see there is a famous site called: Pine Growing Out of a Giant Rock. This was one of the most memorable symbols in his book (Dream of Red Mansion) of the love and relationship between a girl and the boy. What a touching and inspiring story!

I highly recommend if you get chance to go to Beijing, spend some time in Fragrant Hill. Even though it’s not on top of the tourist’s list, its beauty and charm will be really win you over, especially if you are into the traditional Chinese culture. Try to spend at least one night there, slow down and wander around the old temple, breathe in the fresh air from the fragrant valley, immerse yourself into mother nature, read a couple of chapters of Dream of Red Mansion… That’s an enchanting moment of your life!