Author Archives: Janey

Norbulingka

Norbulingka is located on the west side of the Potala Palace. It was built in the 1840s (Dalai VII) and is a place where the Dalai Lama has spent the summer there to deal with government affairs (it is called summer palace). It is a typical Tibetan style garden. The Norbulingka is quite large and covers an area of 360,000 square meters. It consists of several groups of palace buildings, such as Gesangpozhang, Jinse Pozhang, and Dadan Mingjiuzhang. Among them, the Cuoji Pozhang (Huxin Pavilion) is the most beautiful scenic spot in the Norbulingka. “Da Dan Ming Wen Pozhang” is the new palace of the 14th Dalai Lama. The Tibetan language means “the eternal palace.” It is truly magnificent, and full of flowers! However, photographs are not allowed inside the palace. There are many Thangkas and countless treasures, and one of the gold thrones made of pure gold is staggering!

The architectural wall of Norbulingka is yellow, which is a symbol of the color of the Yellow Church. The tour guide will introduce that in the park, the yellow wall refers to the residence of the monks, and the white wall refers to the residence of the laity. Norbulingka highlights the natural atmosphere of gardens and plants on the snowy plateau, with artificial buildings dotted around it. Through the careful management of the Dalai Lama, the Norbulingka has built various palaces, villas, pavilions, otters, and planted a large number of flowers and trees. It has formed a large garden of 360,000 square meters and has become an open park and museum for people to visit and hold various holiday activities.

Many of the palaces inside have murals, which are all historical artifacts, and the painting are very beautiful. In fact, some people may feel that Norbulingka is not very big. There are many palaces that require you to walk slowly to enjoy the special charm there.

Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park

Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park is the only Danxia landform and colored hill complex in China. It is rated as one of the seven most beautiful Danxia landforms in China by China National Geographic. It mainly consists of two scenic spots, Bingou Danxia and Qicai Danxia, which are composed of red gravel, sandstone and mudstone. The unique hilly hills are colorful and magnificent. This is also the location of Zhang Yimou’s “Three Guns Surprise”, Jiang Wen’s “The Sun Also Rises” and the TV series “Detective Di Renjie”. In addition, it is also a paradise for photographers. In the scenic area, many photographers are shooting around with big cameras. If you still visit it the next day, when you buy the ticket, do remember tell the ticket seller that you should cover the seal of the next day, otherwise you will need to buy the ticket again the next day.

Official telephone number of Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park: 0936-5678118; 0936-5520699

Time reference for visiting: more than 3 hours

How to go to the Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park:

There is a shuttle bus from Zhangye West Bus Station to Danxia Park. The fare is 15 yuan/person. The operating frequency is per bus every hour from 9:00 to12:00 a.m., one bus on 15:30, 16:30. Linze Danxia is entered by the west entrance, and Sunan Danxia is entered at the east entrance.

In the Linze management area, there are four sightseeing stations in the scenic area, and the fare is 20 yuan/person.

Tickets: Ordinary ticket: 74 RMB during Monday – Sunday from January 1st – December 31st.

Opening hours:

06:00-18:00 during Monday – Sunday from April 11 – May

05:30-19:00 during Monday – Sunday from May 5th – August 31st

06:30-18:00 during Monday – Sunday from September 1st – October 31st

07:00-17:00 during Monday – Sunday from November 1st – December 31st
Tips: The scenic spot will adjust the opening time according to the changes of the season, which is subject to the announcement on the day of the scenic spot.

Danxia’s travel experience is very good, and there are few people, and it is no at mess, and even though this is the 4A scenic spot, in fact, and the experience is almost the same as many 5A scenic spot. And it is worthy your visit.

Jinli Old Street

Jinli Old Street can be the most favorite street after you have visited some old streets in China. Or maybe in the morning, there are not many people. The town, it seems, is still sleeping. Even if the Jinli Old Street is serious in commercialization, it is still peaceful in the early morning. Every place seems to have a blessing. This is a kind of sustenance. The quiet alley may remind you of Wuzhen. There is a taste of Jiangnan water town.

In the evening, the red lanterns hang high, the entire Jinli Old Street is filled with folk music, when you walk in the flow of people, stop and go, you will feel that the night of Jinli is beautiful and antique.

Jinli Old Street is a commercial street carrying the culture of the Three Kingdoms and the folk customs of Chengdu, and the ticket is free. After visiting Wuhou Temple, you may wish to go shopping and eating delicious snacks in Jinli Old Street and enjoy the leisure life of Chengdu people. Compared with several attractions in the trip to Chengdu, you will find that the price of Jinli is relatively acceptable. For example, the same screen decoration, Jinli sells 58 yuan, and the wide and narrow alley sells 88 to 118 yuan.

Here, you can enjoy a variety of delicious snacks in Chengdu. You can find the ones that are delicious and cheap; but some food may be to cater to all tourists, so you always feel that the taste has been significantly improved, making it not authentic. There are also many folk craftsmen who set up stalls, such as paper-cutting, shadow-shadowing, pinching clay, pendulum painting, and egg-carving art. If you want to buy souvenirs, many shops sell handicrafts featuring pandas and three kingdoms. The price is also cheaper than that of the wide and narrow alleys. There is a very good cigarette shop, which is very large, and if you want to buy a cigarette, don’t hesitate buy here, because if you buy it at the airport, it will be 20 Yuan expensive than buying from this shop in Jinli Old Street.

Ancient City Wall

Xi’an Ancient City Wall is magnificent, which is not even losing to Beijing City. The domineering city wall is now envied by Beijing. The positioning of a ticket for 54 Yuan may be expensive in terms of the size and integrity of its city wall. When you catch up with the spring event offer, the 40 Yuan is acceptable. There are almost no shades on the wall to avoid the strong sun, so most people choose to visit the Ancient Wall in the afternoon close to the time of sunset.

Xi’an Ancient City Wall has a complete style of arrow tower, turret, and Barbican. The large masonry is engraved with the name of the manufacturing unit. Presumably this is a kind of method of handing down the name of the craftsman on the masonry. The name engraved on it is the quality guarantee of the masonry, equivalent to today’s quality traceability system (if there is a quality traceability system today). You can ride a bicycle on the wall or take a battery car. In this way, you can fully experience the charm of the ancient capital of Xi’an.

If you take your visit to the Ancient Wall at dusk, the round sunset gently hangs in the air, giving the ancient wall a thin warmth. Next to the north gate is the Xi’an Railway Station bus station. Standing on the wall and looking down, you will find the traffic is crowded, people come and go, and the city wall is like another world, which is wide and bright and silent. The wall is like a silent guardian. It is silently standing here, watching sun rising and falling, spring passing and autumn coming for a long time.

The total length of the city wall is more than 13 kilometers, which can be followed in the order of the North Gate – East Gate – South Gate. Bicycles can be rented on the wall, but there is a car rental point from the north gate to the west. If you don’t want to walk, just take advantage of the opportunity to rend the bicycle.

Shanghai Xintiandi

It is true that Xintiandi is a fashionable gathering place that must to be visited during your trip in Shanghai. If you are lucky, you will see a Hollywood movie star meeting here. When playing in Shanghai, you must go deep into it, and you cannot experience the charm of the city without falling into the art of fashion and delicious food.

The combination of Chinese and Western Shikumen construction has become a must-visit destination for everyone to travel in Shanghai. The shop signs setting at the side of the Shikumen and the light poles are particularly distinctive. The street outside Shikucheng are casual and comfortable foreign coffee shops. Seeing many foreign friends highlights that Xintiandi is the sense of sight of the international city! Everyone’s friendly conversation, multi-emotional street music, and courteous waiters reveals the quality of the group and the good side of life. Many people always have good impression here.

Shanghai Xintiandi is an attraction with Shanghai’s historical and cultural features and it is a fusion of Chinese and Western style. It can go shopping, enjoy leisure and food here. The atmosphere at night is also very good, so that you can get together with friends. Sometimes there are performances of foreign art groups, and it is obvious to feel the artistic culture of the metropolis.

Xintiandi is a leisure and entertainment complex with Shikumen architecture as its main body and European style. It is a collection of bars, restaurants and nightclubs. It is one of the new landscapes in Shanghai. It is a commercial symbol of Shanghai too. It is also a fashionable zone where Shanghai history and Shanghai modernity are perfectly integrated. Although it is also a transformation of Shanghai’s old alleys, it is more spacious and gives a sense of the times. At night of Xintiandi, there are many people in the restaurant. It is also the ultimate enjoyment to eat the steak while listening to the violin, but the price is very high.

Humble Administrator Garden

There will be relatively few people when you are visiting Humble Administrator’s Garden on non-weekend days, and the Humble Administrator’s Garden is the first of the four major gardens in Suzhou that must have a visit. The parking lot next to the Humble Administrator’s Garden costs 6 Yuan per hour, and non-weekend parking is very convenient. The Humble Administrator’s Garden is still very big, you can go in from the South Gate. After entering the park, it is the eastern scenic spot. The first scenery you can see is Lanxuetang. There is a panoramic view of the lacquered and sacred garden in the south gate of the hall. The whole garden is dominated by water, and the running water runs through two parts of the east and west, and the terrain is getting higher and higher along the running water. It would be a pleasant thing if you could walk around the garden for a whole day.

During the halfway you will pass through the Tianquan Pavilion, it stands on a verdant lawn, and many tourists take a short break inside. There is a straw shed next to Tianquan Pavilion. There are some places in the grass shed where you can sit and rest. There is a small flower bud in front of the grass shed, which is suitable for concave shape photography. The Shuxiang Pavilion is the main building of the Eastern District. If you photograph in the background of the corridor of the Xiangxiang Pavilion, you can shoot a lot of beautiful photos. Xiaolanglang is the first place suitable to take pictures. Standing on a small bridge connecting the pavilion, it naturally becomes a picture. It’s also very good to take pictures in the pavilion, and you can take a short break.

In the garden, it will be a new scenery for every 5 steps, which can be beautiful Jiangnan landscape painting. The western scenic spot is relatively small compared to the central scenic spot. There are many beautiful bonsais on the exit, and you can carefully appreciate the charm there.

Hutong Alleyways

Hutong is Beijing’s most distinctive folk architecture, which is different from the Forbidden City and other royal gardens. It is still home to many Beijing natives. The quaint buildings and their living conditions are intertwined together. It is a good place to stay quiet in the city of Beijing. There are many hutongs in old Beijing, which are very story-like; there is a feeling of entering the real side of Beijing in the alleys.

In old Beijing Hutong, you can really feel the life of local residents, but the premise is not to go to the alleys recommended in the travel guide online, as they are too commercial. And do not have to specifically listen to the recommendation by other people, you just have to play in Beijing for a few days, do not worry about cannot find the Hutong. The Dongcheng District and the Xicheng District are full of hutongs. Traveling alleys is an indispensable part of your trip in Beijing. It is best to ride your own bike and walk slowly. You can also rend a tricycle and listen to the driver to explain the various stories happened in the Hutong. It costs 30 yuan per person, you can also rent a bicycle in Shichahai, but you cannot enter the attractions, and it is not recommended if your time is not enough for your trip there.

The hutongs in Beijing have the unique flavor of old Beijing; if you like the sense of that time, it is worth to take a look. After entering into Hutong, there is a feeling of crossing the time, and separating the city, but you can go out of it in an instant. Hutong culture, whether it is on foot, riding bicycle, or riding a tricycle, is worth a visit.

A random hutong in Beijing has a heavy sense of history. Although modernization gradually erases its historical features, you can still sense the life of Beijing people when you walk into the hutong. Therefore, for your Hutong tour, it is suggested walking freely, because any hutong will give you a very different surprise.

Shanghai Tower

Shanghai Tower is a super high-rise landmark skyscraper. The Shanghai Tower has a project area of 433,954 square meters and the main building has 118 floors, with a total height of 632 meters and a structural height of 580 meters. Among them, “the top of the world” is the functional experience zone, with the city show viewing platform, entertainment, VIP small bar, catering, sightseeing meetings and other functions.

Official telephone number of the Shanghai Tower: 021-20656999

Time visiting for reference: 1-3 hours

How to go to the Shanghai Tower:

Tunnel: 1 minute from Yan’an East Road Tunnel and 2 minutes from XinJian Road Tunnel

Bus: take the No.938, No.961, No.995 bus, or tunnel No.3t line, tunnel night snack line, Shanghai South line

Subway: 5 minutes’ walk from Lujiazui Station on Line 2, 9 minutes’ walk from Shangcheng Road Station on Line 9

Airport: 44 km from Pudong International Airport and 26 km from Hongqiao International Airport

Railway station: 10 kilometers away from Shanghai Railway Station, 18 kilometers away from Shanghai South Railway Station, 26 kilometers away from Hongqiao Railway Station

Tickets:

Adult ticket: 180 RMB; tickets for student or senior citizen over 60: 120 RMB (from Monday to Friday during January 1st to December 31st)

Half ticket: children between 1 and 1.4 meters

Free of charge: children under 1 meter

Opening hours:

09:00-21:00 (from Monday to Friday during January 1st to December 31st)

Tips:

It is open to the 118th floor from Monday to Friday and is open to the 118th and 119th floors from Saturday to Sunday.

Recommended sightseeing time: 17:00-21:00 (day view + night view).

After you are in the Shanghai Tower, it will give you a new look. Taking the fastest elevator in China and the world, you will reach the 118-story sightseeing hall, which is known as the “Shanghai’s top”. The panoramic transparent glass allows you to see the beauty of the area.

Mogao Caves

Mogao Caves is also known as the Thousand Buddha Cave, and the scenic area consists of the Mogao Grottoes Digital Exhibition Center and the Mogao Grottoes. It has a large number of murals, grottoes, cultural relics, etc. It is a world-famous Buddhist art destination.

Mogao Cave is the preferred place to play in Dunhuang, when you make a trip there, first of all, you need watch the movie in the exhibition center to understand the history of Buddhism in Dunhuang for thousands of years, then take a shuttle bus to see the vast and rich grotto and mural art.

Inside the cave, there are Buddha statues, flying heavens, music, fairies, etc. There are of sittings statues which are up to nine stories in height and small bodhisattvas of more than ten centimeters. They are numerous and varied in shape and can be explained one by one during your trip there.

Now under the three-dangerous mountain opposite the Mogao Grottoes, some of the original large caves have been copied, making your trip there more colorful in the Mogao Grottoes.

Official telephone number of Mogao Caves: 0937-882500;0937-8869060

Visiting time for reference: one day

How to go to the Mogao Caves:

You can take a taxi directly in the city, or take the No. 12 bus to the Mogao Grottoes Digital Exhibition Center in front of the Silk Road Yiyuan Hotel.

Ticket:

Mogao Grottoes Tour Ticket: 200 RMB; Foreign Language Tickets: 220 RMB (from Monday to Sunday during May 1st – October 31st)

Mogao Grottoes Tour Ticket: 100 RMB; Foreign Language Tickets: 120 RMB (from Monday to Sunday during November 1st – April 30th of the following year)

Tips:

The digital display center ticket is 50 yuan.

Foreign language tickets include the 20-yuan foreign language explanation fee.

Opening hours:

08:00-18:00 (from Monday to Sunday during May 1st – October 31st)

09:00-17:30 (from Monday to Sunday during November 1st – April 30th of the following year)

Dali Ancient Town

The time of the ancient town is always lazy and idle. Probably when God arrives here, the pointer of the clock has been slowed down by the God. The Dali Ancient Town is simple and quiet, and there is a clear stream of water in the city. Every family raises flowers and trees. A lot of visitors like to see the ancient town, like to know something that the old town has experienced in the past, like its folk customs, and like its unique flavor and food. Each ancient town has its own characteristics, or history, or humanities, or landscapes.

The Dali Ancient Town is a city that you can dream when smelling the wind! As soon as you arrive in Dali, you will be drunk in Dali and could not leave. In August, there are more than a million tourists in Yunnan, but the ancient town of Dali is quiet like a girl. No matter it is in the sky, under the Cangshan Mountain, or next to the sea, here, the sky and the white clouds are so close, the sun and the air are very transparent, as if your world is filled with the taste of a rose, so crazy! I am sure that you will like Dali, so that as long as a friend asks you about the trip to Yunnan, you will recommend Dali, and repeatedly emphasize the need to live in the ancient city for a few more days, to completely slow down the pace, really feel how happy it is to play with time.

What color can you use to allow visitors who are roaming in the ancient town of Dali to integrate into the picture and jump out of the picture? The literary and small fresh plaid series is perfect, and the totem batik will be over-exaggerated; the daily life dress will give people the visual fatigue of “have visited this place”. So, you can choose Komori’s long skirt, retro shoes, and then make a few small flower buds to successfully play the Golden Flower of the Bai nationality.