Guizhou

Because Guizhou is my girlfriend's hometown, I visit the capital city - Guiyang along with some local people.The first feeling is that there is no flat road, are all in the downhill, business district good concentration, traffic jam is very serious. However, it is an interesting province. I was impressed by the hospitable ethnic minorities, the beautiful landscapes, and the very delicious and special local food.

One of the most unique place you must to visit is the famous ethnic minorities community named Xijiang Miao Village. You will be surprised by the local style building - stilted building, amazing native costume, and interesting Miao culture.

The second place I recommend is Zhijin Caves. It is the king of caves in China. It is glories and magical. Zhijin cave, formerly the chicken cave, located in northeastern guizhou zhijin county officer village township, 23 kilometers from the provincial capital Guiyang 120 kilometers. It is a multi-level, multi-type water-eroded cave. The cave is 6.6 kilometers long, 175 meters at its widest point, relative elevation 150 meters, the whole hole volume of 5 million cubic meters. There are three layers. The hole with more than 40 karst accumulation, shows the cave form of some of the major categories. You cannot know how amazing there are without put yourself in the Caves.

You can try some special food in different scenic. However, I must show you my favorite food in the capital city - Guiyang. The people there like sour and spicy. Some typical food you cannot try in other province like Sour Soup Fish Pot, Siwawa, Love Toufu, Huang Ba, Changwang Noodle, and Sour Rice Noodle. Guizhou is famous of its chili. The chili there is different from other province in China. Unfortunately, it is hard to describe the flavor, it is best to try it by yourself. 

Beijing

Beijing is one of the famous cities in the world. The reason is not only the long history of the city but also the modernization. Beijing is the capital of China while it is the political, economic, cultural, and international trade and communication center.

There are a lot of attractions around Beijing no matter ancient or modern places. First of all, if you visit to Beijing, I suggest you to go The Imperial Palace as known as Forbidden City that was built from Ming dynasty and end of the Qing dynasty. It burned down and was rebuilt, sacked and renovated for times, so most of the architecture you can see today dates back to the 18th century in the Qing Dynasty. Make sure to wear comfortable shoes, as you have to walk a lot. Forbidden City is mysterious for foreign. If you want to deep visit rather than just look around, you should do some research before you go there. You will feel much different. Think about how many tricks happened here and how many secrets were buried. You can have a glance of ancient Chinese royal household’s life through Imperial Palace.

The second one is the Great Wall that was built between 220-206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qinshihuang.  Over 2000 years ago, the Great Wall had been serving as an effective way for defense in China history. As a product of the clatters between agricultural and nomadic economies, the Great Wall provided protection to the economic development and cultural progress, protected the trading routes such as the Silk Road, and secured communication of information and transportation. There are eight mainly sections of the Great Wall crossing the northern part of Beijing. They were preserved well. In my memory, it is not hard to climb the Great Wall. However, you need to prepare a good shoes and a coat if Beijing is not in summer time.

 

Moreover, Beijing cuisine is famous including Peking duck, Zhangjiang noodle, Hotpot and various snacks and so on. I give a suggestion to eat Peking duck that is called Bianyifang roast duck. It is cheaper but taste is good. 

Zhengzhou

Shaolin Temple

Zhengzhou is the capital city of Henan province. It is also my hometown, and I am born and bred there. This city has long history. It was the capital of Shang dynasty that was established in 3,500 years ago. Nowadays, Zhengzhou is a major transportation hub in China, especially for railway because it is located in the central part of China and lies on southern bank of Yellow River.

The famous attraction of Zhengzhou is Shaolin Temple where the Kung fu comes from. However, if you go to Shaolin temple now, you cannot find the ancient buildings because they were burned by warlord in 19 century. Pagoda forest is preservation, and tourists can visit. Shaolin temple is close to Mount Song, which is called “ Central Great Mountain” by Chinese. Unlike other famous mountain, there is not amazing scenery, and even it is not too high. The summit only has 1,500 meters above sea level. I think the important geographic location makes it to be famous.

Shaolin Temple

Henan stewed noodles and hula soup are famous Chinese snack. They are very cheap and delicious. Zhengzhou people cannot leave these two dishes. You can find stewed noodles shops everywhere in Zhengzhou. Xiao ji and He ji are the two good shops for stewed noodles.

Finger-punching

Furthermore, Zhengzhou is close to Luoyang city. Longmen Grottoes is located in Luoyang. It is one of the four great grottoes in China and cultural heritage in the world. Longmen Grottoes was finished in Tang Dynasty. It shows world the ancient Chinese sculptures skills and Chinese Buddhist art. There are 100,000 status and about 1400 caves. Longmen Grottoes has attracted a larger number of native and foreign scholars and visitors.

Pagoda forest

Longmen Grottoes

Longmen Grottoes

Bank of Yellow River

Yunnan-Lijiang

Lijiang old Town stree

Lijiang is an ancient small town located in the northwest of Yunnan province. Chinese people call Yunnan as “ the south place of colorful cloud”. In my opinion, the reason is that Yunnan Province is full of beautiful popular tourist attractions. Actually, the province itself is a gorgeous attraction. There are Snow Mountains, stone forest, rivers, gorges, lakes, ancient cities and architectures, blue sky, fresh air, creatures, every ethnic minorities cultures of China and so on. However, in this post, I just pick up the tip of the iceberg Lijiang country to describe Yunnan.

night

street

In general, Lijiang is an old town to drink, eat, shop and relax. There are no high buildings around the town. Unlike cities, people who live in Lijiang are enjoying the slow pace of life. When you walk into the small town, you will feel a totally different context. Backpackers and tourists are everywhere because Lijiang is a transition place to other attractions. People are walking with relax expression. A lot of small snack stores and shops are located in the both side of streets. Most of them are selling minority food, adornments and clothes.

Lashihai wetland

The central part of Lijiang town is called Si Fang Jie. There are many pubs around there. When the night falls, Si Fang jie becomes lively rise. There will be a bonfire, and local people will dance there. Tourists are welcome to join them. Bars are divided into music bar and dance bar. Personally, I prefer to go music bar because I am likely to enjoy the live music with fresh coffee or cocktail. However, the most exciting in Lijiang town is short-term flings. It is always happened.

Lashihai hill

Around the old town, there are a number of popular attractions. In my opinion, Lashihai wetland is not the best but it is very close to Lijiang. Specifically, tourists can visit the hill with riding a horse and paddle a boat in the lake. You should try the grilled fish cooked by local fishermen on the small boat if you go there. It is very delicious.

Lashihai lake

HongKong

shopping mall

Hong Kong, even you never hear any other cities in China, you probably know it. When I hear the city’s name, the first word appeared in my mind is shopping. I was spending a whole day in Hong Kong just for shopping - in only one mall - even though it is not enough to browse all stores. You probably know how big the mall is.

Street

 Victoria harbour

There are so many brands in the mall from top international brands to local street fashion brands. Also, they come from all over the world like Erope, North American, Mainland China, Korean, and Japanese. Sometimes, you may find a lot of brands that you never seen in Canada, or even in Unite States. According to my experience, I suggest you to go Harbour City for shopping because after the crazy shopping, you can find a nice restaurant to enjoy the tasty food and beautiful night scene of Victoria Harbour.

Victoria harbour

Another thing impressed me most in Hong Kong is food. You can find every types of food in the world in Hong Kong. However, if you go to Hong Kong, you have to try one specific type of restaurant named Tea Restaurant that it is the most Hongkongnist restaurant. It represents the traditional, local and universal food culture. It is not fancy style but you can find every popular type of Hong Kong style dishes in Tea Restaurants. For example, you can get fish ball, different kinds of noodles/rice noodles, roast meat, steamed rice rolls, rocky bun with butter, and so on. This stuff is also available in Toronto. However, It will surprise you when you try them in the local restaurant. The dessert shops are also fantastic in Hong Kong. That is the second typical food category and the style is different from western countries.

Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple 

The special history makes Hong Kong different from the other cities in China. So in my mind, Hong Kong is combined the traditional Chinese culture and western culture. You can visit the Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple that is a very famous temple due to the story of “makes every wish come true”. It will show you the traditional Chinese religions, including the ritually activities and architectures. Moreover, there are a lot of modern buildings in Hong Kong, and you can see the beautiful night scene in Victoria harbour. The other popular tourist destinations are Hong Kong Ocean Park, Racecourse, different museums and so on.

Tea Restaurant

Tea Restaurant