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

Guilin--Yangshuo

Yangshuo is small country under jurisdiction of Guilin city, which is located at northeast of Guangxi province. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in China. However, if you go to Yangshuo, you’d be surprised that most local people can speak and write English. Is this really a small Chinese
country?

20yuan currency

When I first time went to Yangshuo and got off from the bus, I saw a lot of English letters on the store signs and foreign backpackers. Some shopkeepers are white people. Actually, this place was found by foreigners rather than local people in 1980 because only few people can afford the cost of travel in China in that time.

Li River

Li River

Yangshuo is surrounded by Karst landform so the mountains’ shapes are special. The famous Moon Hill has attracted a lot of foreign and local climbers. If you do not bring your equipment, you can easily find a lot of agencies in West Street, which is the downtown of Yangshuo. Some of them are running by local people, and some of them are foreigners or foreign residents. Furthermore, the famous Li River is through this country, and people can take the motorized bamboo raft to go rafting in the flat-water. I was enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Even you can found this landscape on the 20Yuan currency.

Yulong river

Moreover, if you just want to enjoy relax and peaceful time, you can go to Yulong River that is a small tributary of Li River. However, it is not as busy as Li River, and there are no more motorized bamboo rafts on Yulong River. The bamboo rafts rely on manpower to ferry. Usually, you can spend your whole day on the raft. The upriver of Yulong are better in my mind because few tourists know there. It is attractive, serene and tranquil.

Kayaking

Kayaking is another interesting activity in Yangshuo. People can go to Liugong village that is about 15 minutes drive from West Street to play kayaking. However, no one will drive a car. Usually, people will rent a bicycle in West Street and ride to there. It probably takes your 50 minutes. As I know, only one family is running this business in Yangshuo now and they only have several boats. Therefore, if you and your friends go to Liugong village to kayak, you will find the whole river is belonged to you.

In Yangshuo, people can play rock climbing, rafting, kayaking, bike riding and so on. It is a really fantastic to relax. That is why I went to there twice in one summer holiday.

only us in the river

Liugong village