Five Free Ways exploring Beijing

Beijing, the national capital, is arguably the most vibrant city in China and has caused the Westerners infinite reverie for the blend of the ancient and the iron-and-cement-made metropolis. As a world-famous destination, Beijing offers much to explore… but it will cost you! While thousands of people are murmuring about the huge expense on touring Beijing, those in the know are enjoying exploring this unique Eastern ancient civilization for free!

Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square, the world’s largest public square, is considered as a should-not-miss stop on your Beijing itinerary, partly because it is free! It is home to a handful of majestic architectures including the monument to the heroes of the revolution, the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum of China, and the Chairman Mao Zedong Memorial Hall (displaying Mao’s embalmed body). You can fly kite on the Tiananmen Square, provided that the weather is good with a soft breeze.

Tiananmen Square

Ritan Park

The used-to-be temple’s altar for ritual sacrifice to the sun god by the ancient emperors is now a busy public park featured charming sceneries. Here, you will see crowds of local residents dancing, practicing tai-chi, performing Peking Opera, and flying kites. Children will also find Ritan Park an interesting place for those rides it has such as trampolines, inflatables and a merry-go-round.

Ritan Park

The Hutong 

There’s no place in Beijing where you’ll feel more hunted by the old lifestyle of the city than in those zigzag hutongs. Hutongs are narrow valleys and lanes flanked with ancient courtyard residences, named Siheyuan, only existing in Beijing. As it is fast disappearing in recent years for the urban construction, your Beijing tour should have it! Renown Beijing Hutongs include Qianshi Hutong, Nanluoguxiang Hutong, Hutong… Have a leisure Hutong tour by bike or rickshaw or just on foot. Walk around, observing and experiencing the local life (people are playing cards, chess, cooking food…) stop by, and chat with the Beijingers.

Beijing Hutong

798 Art District

798 Art District is known as Beijing’s fashion and art center, converted from an abandoned electronics factory of 1950s. Now it is a land dedicated to lush art galleries, artists’ studios , boutique shops, cafes, and bars. There is something new and something old. Strolling through the 798 Art District, you are most likely to be caught up in the ubiquitous art atmosphere, maybe taking foot in the faded Maoist propaganda slogans on the brickwork or triggered through the Bauhaus-style buildings.

798 Art District

Beijing Modern Buildings 

Wanna save time and cost? Pause and glaze at some famous modern buildings of Beijing in a distance is one great choice. Below we recommend are finest examples of Beijing modern architectures very popular among design buffs and travelers.

Bird’s Nest or National Stadium, completed in 2008 for the Beijing Olympic Games has long reminded one of the original wonders of the world.

National Aquatics Center, or Water Cub was built as the main venue for the swimming competition of the 2008 Olympic Games, now becomes a landmark of Beiijng.

National Grand Theatre, surrounded by a man-made lake, is resembling a huge egg floating on the water. It is home to an opera hall, music hall, and theater for top professional performances.

Central Chinese Television Headquarters, short for CCTV Headquarters, is a top world architectural wonder formed by two leaning towers, each bent 90 degrees at the top and bottom to form a continuous loop. The special SHAPE gains it the nickname of “Big Pants Crutch (大裤衩)”.

Terminal 3 of Beijing International Airport was completed in 2008 in conjunction with 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and claims to be the world’s largest of its kind which can handle a huge volume of passengers and features an environmental-control system.

Terminal 3 of Beijing International Airport

 

National Grand Theatre

Emirates Goes Fourth Daily from Dubai to Hong Kong

Emirates Airlines has confirmed its strategic plan for expanding its capacity on South-east Asia by increasing air services to Hong Kong and Bangkok. From the coming October, an extra daily flight will be added between Dubai and Hong Kong. Together with the present three services daily, there will be four flights flying between the two destinations each day.

It is reported that on October 27, the new flight, operating as EK386 will depart from Dubai at 21:00 (Dubai time), and arrive in Hong Kong the next morning at 08:05 (Hong Kong time). The return flight EK387 will depart Hong Kong at 09:40 (Hong Kong time), and reach its destination at 14:55 (Dubai time).

First operated with Airbus A330-200 aircraft in a three-class configuration, the fourth daily service is expected to update to a Boeing 777-300ER later within 2013, and likely boosting the number of passengers by more than 10,000 passengers each week between Dubai and Hong Kong.

Since the launch of the first service to Hong Kong in 1991, Emirates has witnessed a consecutively increasing demand in passenger capacity and flight frequencies. The fourth daily flight is going to benefit people of all parts of the world, and offer more opportunities for those planning to come to Hong Kong and even mainland China for business or leisure travel.

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Hong Kong by night

Walking on the Air Corridor of Bird’s Nest to Overlook Beijing City

Bird’s Nest, or Beijing National Stadium, usually evokes the glorious past of Beijing Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in 2008. Yet it isn’t all about Olympics or sports facility. Bird’s Nest itself is a masterpiece of architecture design that have attracted many people to come and check it out in person. Recently, a 150-meter-long air corridor was built and has undoubtedly increased its charisma. This time, people can walk on the top of the “steel forest” and overlook the beautiful sceneries of Beijing. How exciting!

Magnificent Bird’s Nest

Walk down the corridor from north to south, visitors will be led to the 20m by 4.5m Olympic torch platform, about 50m from the ground. Standing at such a high altitude, people will somewhat have the sensations of vertigo, despite the 1.5-meter-high stainless steel enclosure.

The Steel Structure of Bird’s Nest

To save the cost and time, many choose to stop by Bird’s Nest and simply have a look at the magnificent exterior façade. However, we highly suggest you make time to get into it for the even greater interior structure just like a crisscross steel forest. Especially now with the help of the air corridor on the top, you can not only take a closer look at the original and wonderful design of Bird’s Nest at your eye, but also have the panoramic view of the Water Cube, Linglong Tower, Olympic Forest Park and drink in the beauty of Beijing city.

Walking on the top of Bird’s Nest

As a reminder, the air corridor holds up to 100 visitors per round. Ladies in high-heeled shoes will be asked to put on flats (prepared by the stadium staff) for your safety. The elders over 70 and people who have fear of height or cardiovascular disease please be escorted by family members or friends. In case of inclement weather like high wind, snow and thunderstorm, the air corridor would be suspended for visiting. Looking for China tour? See here.

Ticket Price:

As with the Bird’s Nest, the air corridor will open from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm, and prices at 80 RMB, including ticket for Bird’s Nest (50 RMB).

Bird’s Nest at Night

The 9th China (Beijing) International Garden Expo Is Coming

China International Garden Expo is a biennial festival of China’s highest-level displaying gardens and flowers with a purpose to promote and develop China’s gardening arts and culture and environmental thoughts. The 9th China International Garden Expo will be held in Beijing, making it a more culture-enriched and environment-friendly city. It is a SHOULD-NOT-MISS gardening event this year! Join this celebration of gardening arts from May 18 to November 17 on the west of Yongding River in Fengtai District.

The Main Exhibition Hall

This year the expo occupies 513 hectares, and features 5 main exhibition venues, which are Traditional Exhibition Park, Modern Exhibition Park, Innovation Exhibition Park, Ecological Exhibition Park and International Exhibition Park. And each of them show its own characteristic features. People fascinated by flora will surely find the expo a paradise on earth. From gardens of sakura, crape myrtle and lilac to seas of Chinese flowering crabapple, guava and peonies, to other 340 varieties of flowers, to 1200 kinds of trees and shrubs and so much more – the expo covers nearly every corner of gardening arts in China imaginable!

The Beijing Park

Another highlight of the expo is the focus on low-carbon, green and ecological  ideas. It demonstrated to people the new unpolluted and energy-saved material, technology, techniques and the scientific and rational use of the recycling water, solar, wind and other low carbon technologies.

The Ge Garden

Visitors may as well stroll to the China Garden Museum, Yongding Tower, Jinxiu Valle and Expo Lake and Wetland that are enchanting programs especially established for this expo.

Ticket price:

100 RMB for ordinary days
150 RMB for June 10 – 12, Sep 19 – 21, Oct 1 – 7, and Nov 15 – 17

The Beautiful Flowers

Xishuangbanna Water-Splashing Festival 2013

Do Chinese have Carnival? The answer is yes! For people looking forward to participating in the Carnival within China, Xishuangbanna Water-Splashing Festival is undoubtedly one of the best choices! Xishuangbanna Water-Splashing Festival 2013 was just held between the 12th and 16th of April, attracting tens of thousands of locals and tourists together to enjoy the unprecedented Carnival atmosphere.

People Enjoying the Water-Splashing Festival

The annual Water-Splashing Festival (also known as Buddha Bathing Ceremony) held in Xishuangbanna, SW China’s Yunnan province is scheduled to celebrate the new year of the Dai Calendar. In this grand ceremonial occasion, Dai ethnic people who make up 34% of the total population of Xishuangbanna wore brightly colored costumes to ring out the old and ring in the new by slashing water on each other.

Rites

For Dai people, water stands for holiness, purity, brightness, and the source of life. Prepared to be watered and fall in love with it! As always, people armed with buckets, basins or any containers full of pure water assembled in the public parks and squares, on the roadside, along the riverbank, and then splashed water on each other cheerfully, expressing goodwill and happiness, no matter they are neighbors or friends or strangers.

Dai Girls

To celebrate the New Year, water splashing was only part of the ceremony. There were also other traditional activities of interest, like dragon-boat races, minority song and dance performances, commodity fairs, parades, and throwing colorful pouches for expressing love among unmarried men and women. Many tourists found the Water-Splashing Festival the most unforgettable experience touring China.

Tourists Having Fun in the Water-Splashing Festival

2013 Ya’an Earthquake Kills 188 And Injures 11,460

As of April 22, it was reported that 188 people died, 11,460 were injured, and 25 were still missing resulted from the 7.0-magnitude earthquake taking place in Ya’an city of southwest China’s Sichuan Province, about 116 km fromChengdu, with Lushan County as the epicenter.

The earthquake happened at 08:02 Beijing time on April 20, and has caused serious damages: many people dead or missing or injured, old buildings collapsed, Water and electricity suspended, roads ruined and others. Nevertheless, the Ya’an earthquake is not expected to be as disastrous as the 8.0-magnitude 2008 Wenchuan earthquake.

Medical staff and security personnel arrived at the affected areas to carry out the rescue work immediately aftermath of the earthquake. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang toured the stricken area and emphasized the importance of quick rescue within 72 hours. The Chengdu–Ya’an and Ya’an–Xichang sections of the G5 Beijing–Kunming Expressway were reserved exclusively for vehicles for relief work. Relief materials including food, sleeping bags, tents and other urgent supplies were continuously sent to the victims.

1967 aftershocks have been recorded. Chinese officials also warned of the possibility of potential secondary disasters, like landslides, mud-rock flows, and the collapse of buildings and riverbanks.

Ya’an is world-famous for its tea culture and the Bifengxia Panda Base, home to 62 giant pandas, most of which were relocated from Wolong National Nature Reserve following the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. Luckily, the 62 giant pandas are confirmed to be safe in the Ya’an earthquake.

Luoyang Peony Festival 2013 Is Being Held Now

Luoyang always reminds one of that old oriental capital of nine dynasties, together with its world-famous White Horse Temple and Longmen Grottoes. Yet peony is also one of the various elements that typify this unique charming city. There is a Peony Festival held annually in Luoyang, very popular among tourists and peony enthusiasts. And the 31th annual Luoyang Peony Festival for 2013 is on! This year, the festival lasts around one month from April 1st to May 5th, showing all manners of peonies.

The sea of pink Peonies

Peony, representing elegance and dignity, enjoys the reputation of “King of Flower Kingdom” and is considered as China’s national flower. The Luoyang peony has a history of over 1500 years, and now boasts more than 1200 kinds. Peony was named the city flower of Luoyang in 1982. And the Luoyang Peony Festival has been an annual event in every spring ever since 1983.

The peonies display

During the festival, Luoyang city is fully alive and looks like an ocean of peonies, with fantastic colors ranging from the original red to the supplemented white, yellow, purple and even the rarest dark. Among all the species, “Yaohuang” and “Weizi” peonies are the most noble ones and known as the “king” and “queen”. Apart from the peonies displays, there are a wide range of performances and activities: the dramatic opening ceremony, the peonies photography contest, lantern fairs, the exhibitions of calligraphy and others.

The white peonies

Though peonies are displayed everywhere within the city, Shengzhou Peony Park, Wangcheng Park, China National Flower Garden and Luoyang Sui & Tang Dynasties Relics Botanic Garden are even greater places to enjoy the festival. One more thing that you may need to know – peonies are in full bloom during the festival, but reach the peak between April 15 to 25!

The yellow peony