Beijing: the Birthplace of the Great Novel - A Dream of Red Mansion

A Dream of Red Mansion is one of the four Chinese classical novels. It can be said as the first masterpiece through the ages. The writer Cao Xueqin suffered many setbacks during his life. In the early years, his family was rich and powerful, and after his family fortunes declined, the family withdrew from the officialdom and secluded in western hills of Beijing, living a simple and poor life. But he still devoted himself to the writing and revision of the novel A Dream of Red Mansion with his strong will.

His representative work A Dream of Red Mansions was written in the latter half of the 18th century, which is not only a great Chinese novel but also a gem of world literature. The work is named as one of the Great Four Works, together with The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Pilgrim to the Westand, Outlaws of the Marsh.

According to textual research of experts, the place where Cao Xueqin secluded and complete the novel is situated in the Huangye Village in today’s Xiangshan Botanical Garden, while some scholars don’t seem to concur, therefore, the place was opened up as the Memorial Hall for Cao Xueqin instead of being called “the Former Residence of Cao Xueqin”.

Perhaps exactly because of the twists and turns in his life, Cao Xueqin could see through the corruption of the officialdom and the inconstancy of human relationships, and wrote the great masterpiece, which makes him rank the first in Chinese writers.

Shanghai: Why Not Get Drunk in the Longest Night of Shanghai?

Old and antique revolution door, the light-wind old-fashioned ceiling fan, the hazy and and dim droplight, the outdated leather sofas, the pitch-black wooden bar counter, Sassoon octagonal table... All of this present you a sentiment of nostalgia and romance. Leisurely and quiet, but still magnificent—this is the first impression the Peace Hotel left on me when I in a Shanghai Xian tour.

In this beautiful night, I’d like to let my memory go back away to the past, lean against the wall and have a taste of wine, listening to the melodic notes.

The jazz bar of the Peace Hotel is hailed as “the most romantic place of Shanghai”. Here has a goup of renowned jazz band, that is the world-famous Old Jazz Band of Peace. Its signature Old Jazz Band was still playing pre-war favourites, with some of the original octogenarian musicians.

The old jazz band is said to be a legend itself. The average age of the musicians is above 77. And its performance has been the repertoire of the Peace Hotel since 1980s. They have performed for many statesmen and personages, including U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Reagan. The history has been old, but the music is still young.

Additional recommendation: Sunshine Beauty City Grand Theater will provide you a magnificent Tang Dynasty Dancing Show in your Xian tour, if you are interested in traditional Chinese culture.

Shanghai: Shuyin Building

In the busy downtown Shanghai, there is an “architectural hermit” which is called “Shuyin Building”. Covering an total area of more than 2,000 square kilometers, the building is the only one relatively complete large-scale architecture of Qing Dynasty in downtown Shanghai and is also the only one private residence that is listed as the Shanghai Municipal Cultural Relic Preservation Unit.

Built in the 28th year(1763A.D.) of Qianlong Reign in Qing Dynasty, Shuyin Building has a history of nearly 230 years. Now it is located in the NO. 77, Tiandeng Lane, South Shanghai. According to the present owner, the building was originally the private residence of Shen Chu in Qianlong reign. In around 1930s, Guo bought the old base of the building.

I still remember it was the last day my Shanghai Xian tour, I went to the building with my friend’s recommendation. I heard about Shuyin Building long before, and this time I went Tiandeng Lane just for the building.

Due to various reasons, Shuyin Building has not drawn too much attention of Shanghai Municipal Government. The houses have been utterly decadent and the original tinge of the exquisite wood carvings also faded under the erosion of wind and rain. The building owner Mrs Guo was very generous to let me take photos there. When seeing the courtyard full of Boston ivy and wild grass, I felt shocked. My Xian tour left me a deep impression because Xian did make a great effort on protecting the historical and cultural relics. I think if it is in Xian, perhaps you will see something quite different from this.

Beijing: Autumn Outing for Fangshan Changgou

The autumn of Beijing is a gorgeous picture scroll which is painted with attractive bright colors, and is full of the all-year-around arduous cultivation and the joy of harvest. In a sunny autumn morning, I drove my JIMNY and headed for Fangshan Changgou to appreciate the full-bloom sunflower sea, hear the spring gurgling merrily and enjoy the scenes of new socialist countryside. If you like the natural rural life, Fangshan Changgou must be listed in your Beijing to Xian tour. The sunflower in Changgou Town is the nearest sunflower sea to Beijing.

The sunflowers here usually bloom later than that of other places. However, it is the delay of the florescence that make the passionate sunflowers and the mid-autumn atmosphere perfectly complemented with each other. Beijing’s autumn would be always kind enough to provide a bright blue sky and white clouds for the vast sunflower sea. The thousand-mu sunflowers are just like a guard of honor, facing the rising sun and blooming vigorously, which make the vast land paved with gold all along to the skyline.

When the word ‘sunflower’ occurs in my mind, it always reminds me of the abstract beauty of the Sunflower paintings by van Gogh. The growing status of sunflowers always gives people a feeling of rejoicing and enthusiasm of life. Perhaps it is the warm life that encourages numerous artists to get inspired and make them see sunflowers as the embodiment of life.

Unlike Beijing, the Xian tour will provide you a romantic feast of sakura in the Qinglong Temple in early April every year.

Beijing: Ming Royal Palace Waxworks Museum

The Ming Royal Palace Waxworks Museum of Beijing is the most largest waxworks museum in the world so far. Being a perfect combination image of modern architecture and Chinese ancient buildings, the waxworks are hailed as “Super-realism Sculpture” by western countries. Enjoying a famous reputation both at home and abroad, the museum is a large human tourism landscape which combines advanced wax sculpture art and modern audio-visual technology.

With 26 vivid scene, 374 expressive and lifelike wax figures, the Ming Royal Palace Waxworks Museum reproduces important historical events of 16 emperors of Ming Dynasty(1368-1644), from the first Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang taking the throne to the last Emperor Zhu Youjian hanging himself dead in Meishan Mountain, which depicts 276 history of Ming Dynasty from its flourishing time to the declining.

Covering an area of 19.2 square kilometers, the whole building complex consists of 5 parts: Ming Royal Palace waxworks, Ming Singing & Dancing Hall, the shopping center of Ming Royal palace and multi-function recreational halls. The magnificent architecture art of the museum is hailed as “the Eastern Louvre”. If you are interested in Chinese history, you can plan a Beijing to Xian tour, after visiting the Ming Royal Palace museum, you can enjoy the Xian Tang dancing show during your Xian tour.

Xian: Tang Paradise

Tang Paradise is located in the east of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, southeast of Xi’an city, Shaanxi Province. When I attend the Beijng to Xian tour, I have seen the largest and the most complete wooden structure building complex—the Forbidden City in Ming and Qing Dynasty. Tang Paradise is the first largest imperial theme park to give a fully display of the outlook of flourishing Tang Dynasty in China.
First opened in April, 2005, it is a new developed tourism attraction in Qujiang Resort. Covering a total area of 1000mu (about 165 acres), with 49 acres as water area, Tang Paradise is also the biggest cultural theme park in northwestern China. There are totally twelve scenic regions distributed throughout Tang Paradise. Each region provides visitors with different cultural themes to show the profound and brilliant culture of the Tang Dynasty.

As the first theme park in China that combines the five sense(vision, hearing, smell, touch and taste) together,Tang Paradise is hailed as 'Garden of History', 'Garden of Spirit', 'Garden of Nature', 'Garden of Human Culture' and 'Garden of Art'. In addition, it is also the largest outdoors fragrant project in the world. In evening, it also provides you the most largest and spectacular water film all over the world. All those make Tang Paradise one of the most attractive destinations in Xi’an tour.

Xinjiang Baihaba: Fairy Land of Nature

Somebody says that Baihaba is a fairy land of nature. The natural landscape here is considered extremely beautiful and can be as gorgeous as Kanas. Polar leaves in river alley is yellow, while the foot of the mountain is reddened by birch leaves, the lower part of larch leave is yellowish, and meadows on the ridges are in maroon, together with snow-covering peaks and blue sky, you will feel yourself in a spectacular masterpiece created by a great oil painters of impressionism—nature in a fairy land.
Located along the bank of Haba River, the boundary river of China and Kazakhstan, Baihaba is called “the First Village in Northeastern China”. Far away from the madding crowd, it always keeps its simple folk customs.

Baihaba is a typical primitive village of Tuvinians, where lives Mongolian people who embraces lama religion—Tuvinian. It reminds me the Baopo Village when I have a trip in my Beijing Xian tour. Different from the Banpo Village, all buildings in the Tuvinians village are made of wood, with the little wood house as a symbol, being characterized with European village style. The houses are all built with spires, with wall and and roof firmed with a complete log. And the spire of the house is supported to be a herringbone shape, which is helpful to protect the house from rain and snow erosion.

In sunset time and in foggy morning, smokes curling up from the chimneys and cows and sheep scattering on hills, which presents you a harmonious landscape painting. This is my impression about the primitive village of Tuvinians. If you are interested in more aout the Banpo village, you can plan a travel in Xian.

North Xinjiang: Kazakh Golden Eagles

On the way back to Karamay from Kanas, my driver made a brief stop at a small town to have a rest and replenish energy. The place where we stopped by is a noisy small market, where we discovered a golden eagle trained by two Kazakhs. If you want to take photos, you have to pay for it.

Golden eagle belongs to eagle species and it is renowned for is outstanding appearance and swift and powerful flight. With average wingspan over 2 meters and body length over 1 meter, its legs and feet are all covered with feathers. It usually lives in mountainous area or hilly area, especially in cliffs of valleys or plains at mountain foot, and perched on mountain grasslands, desserts, river valleys and forest area. In addition, golden eagles feed on medium and large-size birds and beasts, therefore, it is also famous for bravery and mighty. In ancient Babylonia and Roman Empire, people see golden eagles as symbol of King’s power. In Kublai reign, golden eagles were once trained to hunt wolves by Mongolian hunters.

In modern time, Kazakh remains the tradition of training golden eagles, but they are seldom used to hunt animals and herd sheep, most are used in tourism to make money.

A Fantastic trip in Zhenjiang

On a Saturday afternoon, we arrived in Zhenjiang and left there at 5:00 PM on the second day. Although it was a very short stay at there, we really fell in love with the city Zhenjiang. It took us one hour from Shanghai to Zhenjiang.

We have a wonder in this city by ourselves, exploring the old streets, experiencing the local customs, tasting the delicious local snacks. There is a famous street, named Xijindu Street. Walking on this street, its ancient and historic relics may bring you back to the old times. Meanwhile, you can also smell an atmosphere of youth and modern.

The residents living on the old street enjoy a comfortable life, bathing in the warm sun and immersing in the past memories. In front of their eyes were the shadows of tourists who are riding on donkeys to the Golden Mountain. They savor the special history of Zhenjiang. The flavor is just like they chew malt sugars and dried bean curd. All things in Zhenjiang give you a very inexplicable vitality, such as the long history, the number of heritage, the primitive environment, the traditional custom, and conventional business. Nowadays, with unique charm, Zhenjiang is attracting more and more tourists and investors at home and abroad. It will be developed into a center where has hotels, wine bars and various clubs.