Beijing: Taiwan Farm

The farm was originally called “Dongshan Gongli Ecological Mountain Villa”, in September 9, 2009, it was renamed as “Taiwan Farm” which was the handwritten inscription by KMT Chairman Lian Zhan and Wu Boxiong. The farm owner is a veritable Taiwanese. His management theory is to build the farm as a third space which is not too luxury or too simple, which unlike offices or homes. The interior layout and exhibitions are all carefully designed by the farmer himself.

Now please follow me to the garden area. Tips: specially pay attention to “the Daqing Gongli Garden(Gongli is a kind of pear) ” and “Coffee & Flower Field ”.

The farm is located in the thousand-mu orchard with various species of fruit trees. There is a pear trees grove in the farm which is named the Great Qing Gongli Garden. And in the garden plants ancient pear trees of over 100 hundred years old.

Walking in the pear orchard, you will encounter an eye-catching wooden architecture in the pear trees. Through the large glass windows, you can appreciate the charming green without going out. It has a poetic name: Coffee & Flower Field.

Beijing: The Bookworm — Praise A City for A Bookstore

Located in Gunshi courtyard in south road of Sanlitun Village, the Bookworm is the most active foreign language bookstore, or library. And some people think it is just a coffeehouse with abundant books.

The Bookworm will hold various regular activities every week, such as guessing game, cocktail party, and Classical music appreciation etc. In addition, it would invite some writers and hold readers meeting. There are 16,000 books totally. Readers can buy it, or get a membership card to borrow out, or just do the reading in the store. There are three halls in the Bookworm. Visitors usually read over the coffee and the delicious meals.

In addition to Beijing, the Bookworm also set up branches in Suzhou and Chengdu. The largest activity held by the Bookworm is the annual Bookworm International Literary Festival. During the festival, 60 to 80 famous writers from countries around the world, including China, will be invited to the three bookstores. The previous guests includes Omar Musa, Péter Zilahy, Nir Baram etc and Chinese writers such as Mo Yan, Yan Lianke and Bi Feiyu etc.

In the famous travel book 2011 Lonely Planet, it selected the top ten libraries in the world and the bookworm is one of them. It is also the only one selected bookstore in Asia. In the bookstore, you would see visitors from different countries.

Find the Trace of Jew in Shanghai

Ten years ago, when I first came to Shanghai, I stayed in Zhongya Hotel. Today when I come to Shanghai again in this Shanghai Xian tour, I live in the same hotel, but its name has changed to “Grand Mercure Shanghai Zhongya”. Grand Mercure, a tailor-made brand by French Accorhotels for Chinese market, has been upgraded to a five-star hotel on the basis of Mercure.

The hotel carefully selects ten routes for its guests to travel in Shanghai. You can find relative information in the lobby, including some quality tourist routes such as religious site, children’s entertainment, the Bund sightseeing, museum tour, Luwan night life, Nanjing Road shopping advice, Changning antique store, Huangpu District and Old Shanghai tour etc.

I got to know that in ancient times, Jews had left their trace in Kaifeng city, China’s central Henan Province. In modern times, Jews have came to Shanghai to run business and settled down here. During the World War Ⅱ, about 30,000 Jews fled to Shanghai in order to escape the waves of anti-Semitism and the mad persecution of the Nazi party. The Japanese aggression authority declared the Jewish refugee as “stateless” and set up a quarantined area for them. The picture below is the Shanghai Ghetto.
There are also other places worthy visiting very much, such as Huoshan Park, Moshe Synagogue etc. For many foreign tourists, particularly Jewish tourists, the Jewish Refugee Museum is a must-see place to recall the memory of the “Noah’s Ark” of Jews in the World War Ⅱ.

Shanghai is such a city that perfectly combines Chinese and western culture together. Different from Xian, which is a city embodies more cultural atmosphere. This is also the deepest experience of my Xian tour.

Beijing: Prince Gong’s Mansion

Princely Mansion culture is an important part of traditional Chinese culture. It serves as a bridge for connecting the royal court culture and civilian culture. Located in the Qianhai West Street, Xicheng District, Beijing, the Prince Gong’s Mansion is the best well-preserved Princely Mansion of Qing Dynasty in China’s existing princely mansions. Being the state-level key cultural relic preservation unit, it represents Chinese culture of Princely mansion. So if you are interested in traditional Chinese culture, a Beijing Xian tour will give you a full play of it.

In the 41th year of Qianlong Reign(1776A.D.) in Qing Dynasty, the construction of the mansion was started. It was originally the private residence of He Shen, a member of the imperial guard. The handsome and intelligent twenty-five year old He Shen came to the attention of the Qing Dynasty Emperor Qianlong (1736-1796). Before long He Shen was promoted to positions normally occupied by the most experienced officials, including those controlling finance and the appointment of civil servants; thus enabling him to acquire great wealth. The aging Qinglong did nothing to curb He Shen's corruption but his successor, Emperor Jiaqing (1796-1820), had Heshen executed and his property, which was assessed at over 800 million ounces of silver, was confiscated. The mansion was passed to Prince Qing in 1799. Eventually Emperor Xianfeng (1851-1862) transferred the ownership to Prince Gong and it is his name that was to become that of the mansion.

“A prince Gong’s Mansion is half the history of Qing Dynasty” is the comment on the mansion by historical geographer Hou Ren. In early the Republic of China, the mansion was sold to the church by the grandson of Prince Gong. And later, it was redeemed by Furen University with 108 gold bars and served as a girls’ school. After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, the mansion was used by Ministry of Public Security, Blower Factory and music schools.
Very similar to Beijing, Xian is also a famous historical and cultural city which has been the capital cities of 13 dynasties in Chinese history. In particular, Tang Dynasty culture is most displayed in a Xian tour.

Beijing: Special Troops Training Base of Emperor Qianlong

Maybe you have been to the famous Imperial Palace or the beautiful Summer Palace, but have you heard about the special troops training base of Emperor Qianlong? Today I will introduce to you a military base of Qing Dynasty in my Beijing Xian tour — Tuancheng Martial-Art Training Hall.

Situated 4 miles away from the southeast foot of the Xiangshan Park in Beijing, Tuancheng Martial-Art Training Hall is originally built in the 14th year(1749) of Qianling Reign in Qing Dynasty. And it is the only one town-style building complex in Beijing which combines city wall and moat, temple, pavilion, watchtower and training field together. Tuancheng Martial-Art Training Hall is not only a place for Emperor Qian Long to review the Baqi military (this is a superior military comprised of the soldiers from Manchu. They used to be the central or the main power of the army of the Qing Dynasty) parade, but also a place for martial art training during Qianlong reign. The main architectures are Tuancheng, Martial-Art Training Hall, Training and Contesting Field, Stele Pavilion of Shisheng Temple and Pine-Tree Hall.

Currently it was the popular place of the Wushu or Martial art lovers, annually the large-scale Wushu competition movement is held here. In 1970s, Tuancheng Martial-Art Training Hall was listed as Beijing Municipal Cultural Relics Preservation Unit. And on April 28, 2004, it was open to the public officially and in 2006, it was upgraded to state-level cultural relics preservation unit. After the traveling in Beijing, I flied to Xian for another amazing journey — the Terra-Cotta Warriors tour.

The Rediscovery of Beihai Park

After I came back to Beijng from my Xian tour, I returned to the Beihai park to refind it beauty. The earliest Beihai is a common lake. From the Jin Dynasty, the government began to make lakes and mounds, and expand the Qionghua island. Later, many stone flowers are moved here to make a grand rockery, which lays a milestone of the Beihai construction. The emperor in Yuan Dynasty continued to expand the Qionghua island and wanted to make it as his resort place. The Ancient Beijing capital is built centered on this island. Thus there is a saying: Beijing comes after the Beihai lake. In the Ming Dynasty, the Beihai Park has become the backyard of Imperial Palace.

If you take a Beijing Xian package tour, you should never miss the three most famous scenics in the visiting of Beihai Park. The first one is the White Pagoda, regarded as the landmark of Beihai Park. It was used to be known as a Lama Pagoda in Tibet style. Until it was renovated, people found it was a Dagoba due to the discovery of two Buddhist relics.

The Nine Dragon Wall is second famous park corner, which was built in the year of 1756 in Qing dynasty. Its pictures are known as the most beautiful designs and its construction is regarded as the most sophisticated one. The last famous landscape scenery is the Round Garden Architecture. I would like rather to say it is a 5 meters high platform than to consider it as a city. The main building on the platform is the Chengguang Palace, in which there is a national treasure-White Jade Buddha.

The Charming Ancient Town-Gubeikou

As we all know, the Great Wall is a must-see place in Beijing Xian day tour and the Gubeikou old town is the most famous town under the Great Wall. The best place to get a bird view of whole Gubeikou Town is the Million-flower Bower on the Great Wall. Meanwhile, there is no difficulty in getting to the wall at the main access points. The walking is so comfortable that even beginning hikers or people with physical limitations can get on the wall for a good stroll. North of the old town and Chao River banks, you will find the Gubeikou is locked by Great Wall mountains.

Gubeikou is the only way which must be passed from Qing Emperor’s palace to the Chengde Resorts, as well as the critical juncture in north of China. The steep topography makes Gubeikou become an important military location, which also enhance the charming of its natural scenary.The crossing Great Wall above the Chaohe River connects the Panlong mountain at the west and east side together, and unites the Wanshou mountain as one. Anyone will astonish by the unique landscape.

Gubeikou is known as the only well-preserved ancient and cultural town, for it not only preserved the complete defense system of Ming Great Wall, but also remained numerous historical sites and natural human landscape. The pass at Gubeikou is completely authentic; as one interpretive sign proudly states without exaggeration, every single brick on the Gubeikou wall is original. At the same time, it is a microcosm of 2000 years Chinese history. Biding farewell to the Gubeikou, we continue our ancient China tour to Xian travel- another ancient city with a long history.

A Bite of Beijing: Specialty Restaurant Guide No.1

Sanlitun Region assembles a number of foreign embassies, and absolutely there are also scattering many foreign gourmet restaurants. On the bank of the beautiful Liangma River, there is an authentic German restaurant called “Schindler Anlegestelle”, in Chinese it is called “Kundele Matou”.

Run by a German, the typical German style building is embodied with simple and natural rural feeling, while decorated with unique harbor element, it is full of port sight. On the roof, a piece of unfolded fishing net is hanged, with various fishes and shrimps spreading on it; on the bar counter, different shapes of ship models are displayed on the wine shelves; The wooden platform looks like a deck in ship, with a compass standing on it; while the dolphins hanged on the windows are very much like fat submarines. Sitting in the restaurant, you will feel yourself in a real German port. What’s more, the pirate’s flag on the bar counter makes the restaurant a vivid pirate ship.

Customers here are almost foreigners, because it is full of their home-style flavor. In the restaurant, you can have a taste of sterling German beer, especially stout, and of course delicious meat is also provided. I had been their when I attend a Beijing Xian tour last time, so I strongly recommended you the dish Pork Knuckle with mashed potato and sauerkraut. In fact, there are also many foreign restaurant if you travel Xian.

Hunan: ancient town of Phoenix

Located in the western part of Central China’s Hunan Province, and in the south of Tujia and Miao Prefecture, the ancient towm of Phoenix is surrounded by mountains and rivers. As Chinese historical and cultural city, tone of the first group of tourism county and national 4A level scenic spot, this small ancient town, according to New Zealand writer Rewi Alley, is one of the two most picturesque towns in China, with colorful and hospitable people. More and more tourists choose to visit the city after they travel xian from Beijing, where is not far from the small town.

The phoenix (feng huang in Chinese) is a mythological creature that is a symbol of the sun. Phoenix Town (Feng Huang Cheng) is so called as legend has it that once two phoenixes flew over the town and found it town so beautiful that they hovered above it, reluctant to leave. Phoenix Town is a small city in the western part of Central China's Hunan Province, hence the name Phoenix Town.

As an ancient town, Phoenix town combines natural beauty and its profound culture together, which is exactly what is worthy visiting. The town was built in Kangxi Reign of Qing Dynasty, and then called the present name. After the publish of the renowned novel The Boarder Town (in the book, the boarder town is phoenix town)written by a great writer Shen Congwen, the town became more and more famous. Now it has attracted many viisitors to this town, but having a Xian tour may bring you more interesting knowledge about Chinese ancient cities.