A Brilliant Experience Visiting China

Sometimes there was much food, often actually. But when asked, that was adjusted for us. My favorite meal was the one in the house they visited in Xi'an. Most of the restaurants were excellent: The Auspicious Business Hotel in Beijing was good, as was McFound in Guilin. I didn't take care of our first lunch in Beijing, although I don't recall the name of the restaurant.

Hello Abbey! This is Jennifer Slack, I need to thank you for a brilliant experience visiting China. I had misgivings beforehand, but would now very much like to come back! Your guide service made visiting China possible and pleasurable!

Sarah in Beijing: A brilliant, energetic, clever, and personable guide. With her guidance, we learned and experienced much over would otherwise have been possible in a comparatively short time. We felt honored to meet her, and deeply grateful for the immense energy she put in to making our experience of Beijing a rewarding one.

Ruth in Xi'an: A lovely, clever guide who appeared to effortlessly glide through the pains of our schedule. Her English skills are excellent. When we visited a local home for lunch, Ruth facilitated a discussion by translating that was so well done they felt like they were communicating with our hosts.

Juan in Guilin: A spunky, smart man with whom they had many laughs. For a young man to guide two older ladies with such good humor was a actual pleasure. Juan's English was excellent and he was a font of information about China as well as of Guilin more specifically. They appreciated his suggestions for places to eat; the most consistently good food they got was in Guilin under his guidance.

I was one time impressed by the skill of the drivers. It was kind of terrifying being driven in China, but I soon realized that each of our drivers was excellent.

Again, thank you for making China possible! You have opened up a whole new part of the world to me. I feel that I have finally begun to feel connected to this very important part of the world!

Wonderful Service in Our China Tour

We are happy to enthusiastically recommend you to our relatives and friends.

We want to thank you and Top China Trip for a really memorable trip to china.

Everything you organized for us worked like clockwork. Your friendly, efficient and helpful preparation was much appreciated. Your communication with us was excellent at all times. Your attention to detail is superb.

The meals were all much better than they expected. The environment and service at the restaurants was excellent. The Guides were all informative and knowledgeable about the places they visited. They were all friendly and willing to go out of their way to provide that additional service. I would love to recommend William (Beijing) highly for being exceptionally lovely with older travelers and generous together with his time. I would love to give Linda (Xian) special thanks for taking us to the Tang Dynasty concert in her own time and for her help at the airport. Although we were only in Guilin for a short time, Azure was friendly and helpful as well as a pleasure to meet. All of our guides were ideal ambassadors for China and left us with a fabulous impression of a friendly clever and generous people.

The hotels you arranged for us were much better than they expected. They were all in excellent locations, close to everything. The included breakfast was a luxurious feast in all of them. The excellent laundry service in Day's In (Beijing) was welcome.

The drivers were expert in heavy traffic and looked after us with great courtesy. The cars were always tidy and well looked after.

I can recommend Top China Trip as the right choice for an ideal holiday. You provide exceptionally lovely value for funds and, more importantly, your people are friendly, generous with their time and really do make sure you are OK on every step of the journey.

What a Great Tour in China

What a great tour! Thank you for organizing! Everything worked smoothly and we enjoyed the sites, food and our guides.

All the meals were exceptional as was the atmosphere of most restaurants. Hard to choose one meal as the best - but perhaps the Peking duck. The guides did a nice job of ensuring that I was two times safe with my peanut allergy. Choice was great, but always much food - they felt guilty they couldn’t finish everything.

One recommendation - for meals when the travelers will be on their own, have the guides offer to provide recommendations if the traveler wishes. They didn’t think to do this in Beijing, but did in other cities, which permitted us to get excellent meals at a reasonable cost. I think this will enable your company to provide even better service.

All the drivers were professional and had nice cars. The driver in Beijing appeared the friendliest and most professional, but perhaps that was because they were with them longer. The guide and driver coordinated nicely to drop us off and pick us up in different locations.

Our favourite guide was Miller, our guide in Datong/Pingyao, who was friendly, knowledgeable and open. Miller was knowledgeable and provided a lot of insight in to the history of various sites. In addition, Miller was open to discussing all aspect of Chinese culture, economy, etc, which is fascinating to someone who has never been to China before. In addition, Miller is also fluent in French. Miller also provided excellent cheap recommendations for meals when they were on our own. Overall, Miller was an excellent guide and I hope you continue to work with him.

Overall, the tour was great. The guides and drivers in each city coordinated nicely to make everything run smoothly. In addition, the guides ensured that I did not experience any issues from my extreme peanut allergy - I felt safe with them.Whenever we are in China next, we are sure to make use of your service.

Fantastic Tour of Yunnan

Thank you for an absolutely fantastic tour of Yunnan. This tour far exceeded our expectations. We had a wonderful time exploring one of China's most beautiful and interesting regions. Our guides were all outstanding. All spoke fluent English and all were highly intelligent, knowledgeable, wise, and friendly people. Wang Weizhang gave us an outstanding tour of Kunming beginning with the Bamboo Temple which was lovely and fascinating. It was quite amazing to see the 500 painted clay sculptures of Li Guangxiu and the Shr Lin Park was spectacular. Our driver in Kunming was friendly and very professional. Li Yan Mei gave us a fascinating tour of Dali and environs and insight into Bai culture. Ms. Li was absolutely charming and gave us a superlative tour of the area - far exceeding expectations. We tremendously enjoyed our visit to Dali, highlighted by our trip to the Three Pagaodas, to a bustling market, and a boat ride on Erlai Lake which gave us opportunity to watch Comorants fishing. ShriLy was an excellent guide and provided us a fascinating tour of Lijiang and Naxi culture. Our driver in Dali City and Lijiang was perhaps the most courteous and excellent driver in the world. Throughout our tour the food was outstanding and our accommodations lovely. All the transportation arrangements worked out wonderfully -- our flights from Nanjing to Kunming, Kunming to Dali City, Lijiang to Shanghai all went smoothly and our drive from Dali City to Lijiang was pleasant and interesting. We have been to China before and traveled on our own extensively-- I do speak some Putunghwa-- but our tour with TCT gave us exposure to cultures and places that we likely would have missed out on our own. This was a great tour and we hope to travel with TCT again in the future. We highly recommend TCT to our friends and relatives and any one interested in traveling around China.
Thank you very much for all your help in making our visit so rich and rewarding.

From Hong Kong to Lhasa

Here are some of the comments on our China tours:

My spouse and I got back from Hong Kong last night. Thanks for your arrangement on our tours.

All the guides provided were satisfactory. They spoke nice English and have nice knowledge about the places that they visited.

On the whole we have no complaints about the food that we have had. We enjoy the meals provided at two Points Sheraton Hotel in Lhasa. They provided ample choices for us. Generally, they think that the standard of food provided for our trip in China had lifted the level. As far as they were concerned, they thought about the food was satisfactory.

My spouse and I have been using the services of TCT for years.

The trip to Lhasa was no doubt a memorable one and the train journey from Lhasa to Lanzhou. Your recommendation of not spending over one night in the train was right. The comfort in the train is still much to be desired. However, the spectacular view of the landscape that the train travelled through had well compensated the poor-to-fair facility provided by the train.

Thank you for your brilliant guidance, help and services.

Once again, they find TCT is efficient, reliable and they can always trust them to organize journeys and guides properly for us.

Discovery Tour in China

Dear Ms. Tracy:
First of all, Thank you for all of your hard work for making our trip feasible & enjoyable the most of our trip. I fully understand that your agency is trying the best to make sure customer having great time in China. Sometime the situation is out of your control when you need to hire local guide where is not your territory. I do appreciate all services each guide provided to us by tipping them 200 RMB a day to show our nice faith for their services. In some areas, the guide need to show professionalism. they will value their services with our gratitude. I wish I tipped driver over the guide in some cities.

Second, do not think i'm just complaining. Like I said earlier, some situation is out of your control. all of us learn from that to improve your service & make your company better by hiring nice honest local guides.

Last, i'm going to organize another group from my school to China next Summer. I will continue to work along with your agency in next a few months. I will let you know our plan when time comes.

By the way, I left a tiny gift to Yang, Lina for you the day we left. I hope you got it. If not, I will bring four to you next time. The group like the dumpling dinner & your gifts.

I would send you our albums when they collect all picture from everyone. i'm in processed to make our trip DVD.

Sincerely, Yuejin Sun

Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces

In the south-east of Longsheng County in Guangxi province and within the land of Ping Xiang, there is a group of large-scaled rice terraces built into the hillside. Some of the terraces look like great chains, other look like ribbons. They wind from the foot to the top of the hill. The smaller ones are like snails and the bigger ones like towers. There are layers on layers of terraces, high and low. The outline is very smooth. Its scale is enormous. It is called "The champion of the terrace world". It is the Dragon‘s Backbone Rice Terraces. By the way, Long Sheng is also the gathering land for the minorities, such as Yao, Dong, Zhuang and Miao. The stockaded villages‘ backs face the hills and their fronts face the river.

The Dragon‘s Backbone Rice Terraces is 27 kilometers from Longsheng County, and it is 80 kilometers from Guilin city. Longji Mountain (the Dragon‘s Backbone Mountain) is a high mountain and its peak, Mao Er peak, is the highest in South China. With its foundation such a high mountain, how can the Dragon‘s Backbone Rice Terraces not be winding and boundless! The total area of the Dragon‘s Backbone Rice Terraces is 1014 hectares, and the whole terrace is built on the hillside with attitude from 300 meters to 1100 meters. Layers of terraces swirl and climb up from the river valley of torrent to the top of the hills where there are a lot of clouds. If you look toward the horizon, you would see that blocks of terraces are found to hand in hand, from the steep cliff to the end of the lush trees. Everywhere there is mud, there are cultivated terraces. Specifically speaking, the core of the terraces is a big land with area of two or three square kilometers.

Male mummy found in Xinjiang

On September 16 a local herdsman found a dried human hand on a little slope in Wensu County located in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Archaeology authorities have identified the hand as belonging to an ancient mummy.

Mr. Wang, a witness from a nearby factory, said he went with the herdsman to a nearby area and saw the dried hand sticking out from the ground. Together they excavated the site. They unearthed a mummy wearing a flamboyant blue and white gown, with a cotton quilt covering his body. Mr. Wang said that he easily discerned a beard on the mummy's face.

Policemen have blocked off the area. They are waiting for the archaeology bureau to conduct further investigations.

The herdsman who found the mummy said that he knew of two large-scale ancient tombs in the area; both are under the protection of the local government. He stated that he often tended his flock in this region but this is the first time he has discovered a mummy.

Experts have already taken protective measures regarding the mummy. His status and age are still under investigation.

Four Girls Mountain – the Most Gorgeous Scenery in Western Sichuan

Located in the junction of Xiaojin County in the Aba Autonomous Prefecture and Wenchuan County of southwest China's Sichuan Province, the Four Girls Mountain is renowned for its unspoiled natural beauty, and has been recognized as 'the Alps of the Orient'.

On the flank of Wolong Nature Reserve, and 220 kilometers away from Chengdu city, the Four Girls Mountain covers an area of 450 square meters. It is said to be transformed from four innocent and pure girls, according to local Tibetans' legends.

Frequently visited destinations at the Four Girls Mountain are three gorges, Changping Gorge, Shuangqiao Gorge and Haizi Gorge. Depths varied, gorges are found with fantastic scenery varying from vast grassland and abundant plants growing along the snaking tranquil creek. Modern glaciers and upright biological species vie for the beauty of nature, while numerous ores and mines form an impressive landscape to draw visitors from home and abroad.

Just like a fairyland, the Four Girls Mountain connects forests, lakes, gorges, and lots of unexpected natural sceneries. The journey to the Four Girls Mountain will be pleasantly joined by fragrant flowers, warbling birds, ancient cypress forests, as well as murmuring streams and rushing waterfalls, driving your mind far away to dark paths in ancient times.

The Four Girls Mountain area is the main living community of Jiarong Tibetans, who live mainly on farming and has a history dating back hundreds of years.

The highest peak of the Four Girls Mountain is Sifeng, 6,250 meters high, while the lowest is Dafeng, 5,355 meters high. Most tourists can climb to the top of Dafeng, but Sifeng is seldom conquered even by professionals, because of the high altitude as well as changeable weather.

Apart from climbing, tours to the Four Girls Mountain include hiking, passing through, ice climbing, and camping. The tour requires a good physical condition and a good sense of direction, so a good guide is strongly needed.

Horse Bear Ditch in Shangri-la, Lost Wonderland of Devil Valley

There are a lot of good ideas for Yunnan tour , such as travel to Kunming, Lijiang tour ,Xishuangbanna and so on. of course , you can not ignore the beautiful and mysterious Shangri-la.

Located in Shangri-la ,Yunnan, the Horse Bear Ditch is the must pass from Shangri-la to Aden which is famed as “Rice City”, it is named from the appearance of horse bear in the valley. It is also called “Shangri-la Devil Death Valley” in local place. According to legend, when King Gesar faced down evils , one of the devil escaped into this valley and accidentally fell from the cliff to die.

Generally , when people drive pass the ditch, all will sigh for the pretty, strange, dangerous and quiet of “Devil Death Valley”.

This is a gorges world full with pleasant and mysterious scenery.

This is a original art gallery of naturally pure and away from noisy in the earth.

This is a paradise on the earth filled with canyons, rivers, original vegetation, peak and cliffs, stream and rock , and rare bird and animals.

This is a ecological valley where people are looking for in the tourist line, also it is a good place for explorers to challenge themselves.

When you set foot in the entrance, the static and extremely quiet surrounding , mountains and water before your eyes, all the scenery just like a flow Chinese landscape painting. Seeing verdant trees, listening to pines around the ears and the birds sound, skimming fragrance , any kind of way let you stop and on the scoop. Looking upon the mystery sky , peaks standing up, layer upon layer of peaks and knolls , you can get a feeling beyond the sky.

Along the stream ,from the foot of the Shangri-la canyon, there are old trees, pines, firs and maples all the hill, spring and autumn, the leaves become red from green, the mottled bright colors are like beautiful painting. Green brook is undulating with the stream in the mountain, or torrent , or soothing.

Further forward , you have in the middle of the mysterious valley with steep peaks and rocks. More surprising is that no earth on the naked cliff can grow a piece of the rock and vine. Through the growth of vine you can find the indomitable spirit , and how valuable spirit it is .

Standing on the both sides of the valley ,the peaks stand out of earth, they are wonderful and lifelike. After a period of valley, you are in the ends of the earth. Climbing to the top of mountain along the trail, you can get a glance of the panoramic landscape . Birds are passing from the sky time to time , various sizes of animals are walking through valley.

The tour of Horse Bear Ditch in Shangri-la of Yunnan, eco-tourism in Yunnan, eco-tourism in Shangri-la, tourists will be infatuated with all these scenery .

To greet the New Year in arctic place of China : Arctic Mohe Tourism Strategy

Located in north latitude of 53.5, Mohe is the “Divine Arctic” of China. There is the coldest place in China ,and the extreme minimum temperature can reach 52.3 degrees centigrade below zero. Very few people live there ,especially in the winter. However, in the village with snow-capped, you can only see the orange light from the window of the small cabin covered with snow. Bright star as diamonds set in the deep blue night sky. Maybe ,we should step snow to the north, getting the experience of the north of the northern , feeling an extreme pure.

In Mohe , the winter is very cold and long, almost from September each year, it will start to snow and end in mid-May of next year. So traveling in Mohe , it is important to do winter protection and keep warm. The tourism projects in Mohe are basically related to ice and snow, the vast snow of “Arctic Village” ,Ice Lantern in Mohe county, snow sculpture exhibition and horse-drawn sledge are all fun .

Find “North” in Mohe –Arctic Village

The north of the north in Mohe is arctic village. I see the village surrounded by mountains on three sides, the north place is Heilongjiang . In the village , there are chic style rooms with wood carving in both sides of street , the around wall is rounded up by pines ,then cast mud inside and outside.

Heilongjiang is such as a sleeping girl in front of you , the ice unknown its thick is her silver dress. The villages of Russian are clearly visible not far away. You can not walk in the middle of the river for you will “go abroad” not carefully. The scattered farmers are fishing on the river, some are Chinese , and some are Russian. Seeing their fishing , it feels like “fishing alone in the river and snow”.

How Freeing as How You Want

Winter in Mohe , the sun appear in nine o’clock am. and disappear in three o’clock pm. There are only six hours during the day , so that is why they are called “night of the city”. On the train to Mohe , wind from Daxinganling passes outside the window, three-layer window can not resist the cold. Getting out of the train , the cold wind as a knife are scraping the face. The most peculiar is that you can see the rime around yourself . A breath of hot air rallies in the eyebrows, hair and neck, forming the loose white needle-like ice crystals . After the decoration of rime, male has become “Santa Claus” while female has become “White-hair Girl”.

Wandering around Mohe , roads are covered with full of sick ice and snow, you will slip easily even walking very carefully. You should pay attention to the temperature indoor and outdoor , the warmth after the cold will fever your skin.

Ice and Snow Festival

China. Mohe Snow and Ice Festival is held on Dec,25 every year and it lasts one month. It is a snow event of culture, sports, tourism and other activities, the art work of ice sculpture , snow sculpture and ice light show a colorful exhibition. Yangko show, drum performance, ice art, lantern show and paper-cut show enough attract the attention of photographers, letting people on the scoop.

Good Time to See Ice Fog

Ice fog is an unique natural phenomenon in Mohe , it is often seen in very cold month. Generally it appears at the temperature of 45 degrees centigrade below zero, then local people call “white smoke”. Visibility in ice fog is very low, you can not see people beyond ten meters. People spit spit ,then it export into ice.

Another feature in Mohe is rime. It mainly appear rime in early winter and early spring , sometimes in winter. Rime usually occurs in the cold weather suddenly warming. The formation of rime is during the night, next day is generally warm and sunny . After sunrise, almost everything is covered with fog hanging , how impressive scene it is !

Arctic Large Ice Bar

Furniture in the arctic ice bar with modern features is carved with ice, it shows the unique natural snow and ice view to all the visitors. Sitting here in a little rest , having a cup of coffee, it just like stepping into the romantic ice hotel in northern Europe . Full flavor.

Bride’s Favorite — The Most Suitable Tourists of Marriage

“Don’t promise anything, just to be with you to experience the little bit of life”… while tourism side with camera , take you to the most beautiful places to do my bride. This is the most important time of the whole life, in order to catch the romantic moment ,I think all of the couples would like to beautiful places to remember it . In China ,there are many famous sites for marriage , then follow me.

Style Shanghai

Park Bridge ：promise land linking the two hearts

In Shanghai, no bridge is better than the most romantic Park Bridge which has a hundred years old. The bridge witness the changeless promise o pairs of lovers, then people will remember this city forever. The romantic on the bridge has become forever under the bridge, together with the Suzhou river, to put up the unbreakable oath between lovers.

Walking on the bridge , watch the colorful world created by colorful neon lights, love story emerges out of your mind, a bitter but also sweet. Who has promised eternal commitment in the street of Shanghai at night, becoming the beautiful memory with the steel bridge ? Who did jump from the bridge, leaving the immortal oath of “ if I become a mermaid ,I will come to find you “? Wind as that of hundred years ago are blowing the bridge and the people on the bridge, becoming the only surrounding circumstances.

Bring your lover , go to this new love bridge of Shanghai on the Seventh Evening ! Promise the constant vows with your affection , spill the romantic into the flowing Suzhou River quietly. Like the self of the Park Bridge , it loves with Shanghai for hundred years and has never leave, then it will never leave.

Taste of the Yangtze River Delta

Girl sleeping in the river — Zhouzhuang

Described by Wang Jianbing, Zhouzhuang is such a girl : pretty , lonely and long hair. She is wearing clean white floral skirt and with a silver in the waist . She has shiny eyes and skin, you can understand her saying if you get close to her.

The old-fashioned radios seen everywhere ,or a pair of worn sandals ,or the mottled brick walls , all can urge your memory. You can see the bridge , the boat ,the people and the stage which are floating in the reflection , shaking the history of nine hundred years. The faintly visible mist from the snack bar, babbling move of the boats and old lane in the morning and sunset , the Zhouzhuang wearing gauze is your beautiful face.

Hongcun and Xidi Ancient Villages — no dream of love between whitewash wall and gray tiles

In the narrow alley of Xidi and Hongcun, there are occasionally a few beam of sunshine through the window with stone carvings. The beautiful patterns print on the opposite wall, reflecting the thousands of changes.

However, no dream of Huizhou. Here, all the beautiful dreams can compare to the bridge with the elegant chic of gray tiles. Snuggle to the peach tree growing on the entrance to the village with your lover, watch the quiet time flowing through the village and forest, you can feel that you are integrated with the world suddenly. The love between you two rises to big love , maybe it should work in concert with the essence of the Seventh Evening. At this moment, only him in your eyes.Perhaps in the special village, it can truly reflect the love of romance and vows of commitment during the Seventh Evening (the Chinese Valentine’ Day) .

Liquid Charm—Xixi

Xixi is elegant, light and quiet. Maybe it is not so beautiful, but it must be simple and moving. She is the sister of the West Lake and Xiling. Thousand years ago, Zhao Gou the emperor of Southern Song Dynasty fled to Hangzhou, he was fascinated with the scene and said “Xixi and stay.” Then it left a thousand years time , retaining the poets scholars calligraphers and staying the misty rain in south of Yangtze River.

Wandering around Xixi, you will get deep impression of her culture landscape. Every windows are telling you their stories, each gate is describing a period of history. Placing a glass of wine and a few little treat , doing nothing and listening fleeting there.

Dream of Hanging River—Xinchang

Eight hills, half water and half field are the scenery of Xinchang. It is famous for the elegant mountain in Xinchang, Nanyan mountain, Shijiu Peak and Tianmu Mountain are surrounded around. And the clean water in Xichang is also out of the name, Wozhou Lake and Xinchang River are owning the gorgeous scenery. Perhaps mountain in southern is forcing through the water , then it gets aura and charm, becoming a paper with ink landscape.

Walking around Xinchang, the local boatman with dark skin and the depth of the wrinkles is the simple indigence. Then sunshine in the water is passing through the mountains, and it is beating in the fingertips places.

These places are the good places for your romantic marriage photograph and honeymoon, then leaving the most unforgettable memory of your love.

Silk—Treasure of Chinese Craft

Silk is a kind of fabric elaborately made of the natural protein fibrin of pods. Products made of silk have bright luster and soft touch; silk clothes are very comfortable and soft, and has the function of adjusting body heat and moisture, and preventing ultraviolet radiation; silk can also be used to produce home commodities like curtains and carpets, and it is favored by the consumers for the functions of absorbing sound and dirt, heat preservation, and fire-proof. Foreign customers also call silk "the headspring of beauty", for products made of it are rather flowery.

China is the earliest country raising silkworms and weaving silk. It is said the silkworm was first raised by Lei Zu, wife of the Yellow Emperor. According to archaeological speculation, the Chinese have begun to raise silkworms, and pull and weave silk since the middle Neolithic Period 5000-6000 years ago. In the Shan Dynasty, the silk production had reached a certain level, relatively complicated weave machines and skills were developed, and the silk products reached a high technical level. Expanding with the foreign trade scale of the Han Dynasty, the trade and export of silk was unprecedentedly prosperous. Silk, due to its delicate, comfortable and rare characteristics, is very popular among the aristocrats in European palaces. The silk trade promoted the further development of economic and cultural exchanges between China and her neighbor countries, forming the famous prosperous "Silk Road".

The invention of silk made the silkworm weaving a relatively important handicraft industry in ancient China, and exerted a great influence on China in terms of ancient poetry culture and folk-customs. Many articles in The Book of Songs, for example, describe the situation about raising silkworms by women, and folk craftworks like embroidery also take silk as materials. Silk is not only a noble costuming, but a precious artwork. It contains abundant cultural meanings and historical values, representing China's age-old splendid culture. The silk trade promoted the large-scale economic and cultural exchange between the West and East, and made a great contribution to the development of human culture.

Land of Mystery—Tibet

The Tibet Autonomous Region, perched on the southwest Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is a southwestern frontier region in China. At an average altitude of 4,000 metres, Tibet is the world's largest and highest plateau known as the 'Roof of the World'. The world's largest canyon the Yalung Zangbo Canyou, is in Tibet. In the mid-7th century, Songtsan Gambo established the unified Tubo dynasty and befriended the Tang Dynasty by marrying Princess Wencheng in 641 AD. In the mid-13th century, Tibet was incorporated as an administrative region of the Yuan Dynasty. Peaceful liberation came in 1951, and serfdom was abolished during the Democratic Reform of 1959. The Tibet Autonomous Region was officially established in 1965.
Breathtaking is hardly an adequate word for Tibet's landscape, which consists of snow-capped mountains of astonishing heights, primitive forests, vast steppes, mighty rivers, the world's highest lakes, and exotic wildlife and plants. Tibetans, who make up upwards of 90 percent of the local population, are born singers and dancers with a splendid civilization. Buddhist art thrives, and among the region's 2,700 temples are such famous ones as the Potala Palace, the Norbulinka Palace, the Jokhong Temple, and the Tashilhunpo Monastery.

Panda Jingjing—2008 Beijing Olympics Mascot

Since long time ago, China has formed the tradition of passing blessings through signs. Each of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games mascots represents a beautiful wish: prosperity, happiness, passion, health and good luck. Carrying along the hospitality of Beijing, the mascots have brought blessings to every corner of the world, inviting people of all countries to gather together in Beijing and celebrate the grand ceremony of 2008 Olympics.
Jingjing, an amazingly lovely Giant Panda image, will bring people laughter wherever she goes. As Chinas "National Treasure", the giant panda has been gaining the favor of people all over world.
Jingjing comes from the vast forest, symbolizing the harmonious coexistence of human and nature. The decoration of her head was inspired by the lotus design of Song-Dynasty porcelain. Jingjing is unsophisticated and optimistic, full of force; she represents the black ring of the Olympic Five Rings.

The pretty panda girl Jingjing is the prototype of "Fuwa Jingjing", a mascot of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. "Jingjing" was born in August 30, 2003, weighing only 152 g at birth. Under the special care of the raiser, Jingjing has now grown into a beautiful "young lady". Jingjing’s parents are "sports stars". Her mother "Yaya" was born during the 1990 Beijing Asian Games, hence got the name; her father "Cobi", the most handsome prince of the giant panda base, was named by the former chairman of the International Olympic Committee, Samaranch, and shares the same name with the mascot of the Barcelona Olympics. Jingjing is the ninth child of her great mother "Yaya". The panda picture on the official website of the Beijing Olympic Games is the very image of Jingjing. It is said that the giant panda base has established a diary for Jingjing on the Internet, recording every little bit of experience on her growth. Jingjing hence becomes the first giant panda on the earth to have an official website.

Tour to Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of the most developed cities in China. Hong Kong enjoys the reputation of "Pearl of the Orient" and is geographically divided into four parts - Hong Kong Island, New Territories, Kowloon and the outlying islands. Hong Kong Island has an area of 80 square kilometers, accounting for only 7% of the land area. It is the main commercial area with hotels and tourist attractions everywhere. The population is mainly concentrated in the northern part of Hong Kong Island and the southern part of the island is area of undulating mountains. Kowloon, a peninsula in the port in the northern island, covers an area of only 46 square kilometers. However, it is an urban area more densely populated and more focused. The New Territories covers an area of about 980 square kilometers, equivalent to 91% of the land area in Hong Kong. New Territories of Hong Kong has the largest part of the land area of the island, with the outlying islands in a total of 965 square kilometers; it is the area with pastoral flavor. The Outlying Islands comprises 235 islands with the largest one, Lantau Island being almost 2 times than Hong Kong Island in size.

Hong Kong is a living paradise with a wide range of enjoyment. Tourists in Hong Kong can view the beautiful natural sceneries and get various enjoyments of commercial civilization. You can enjoy the pleasures of the modern material society as well as experience the simple life of the past times.

"Pearl of the Orient" (Hong Kong), as one of China's Special Administrative Regions and an international free trade port, has become a world-famous dynamic city.

Torch Festival Legend

Torch Festival is an important and long-standing traditional festival of Yi, Bai, Naxi, Jino and Lahu nationalities. It's famed home and abroad as a festival of profound folk cultural connotation, and is called an "Eastern Carnival". The Torch Festival is celebrated on a different day by different nationalities, which is usually on the 24th of the sixth lunar month of each year featuring the major activities of bullfight, sheep-fight, cockfight, horse race, wrestling, singing and dancing performance and beauty contest. What's more, different place features varied versions of the legend of the Torch Festival, which is also a huge treasure in our folk custom.

First of all, the formation of festival-related customs and legends has something to do with the original worship of Yi branch nationalities of the same ethnic origin, or a more direct relationship with the worship in fire, that is, to pray for a good new year in front of the sacred fire, and to divine farm work with fire color and farming results of a year with the brightness of the fire.

Secondly, there are many versions of the Torch Festival legend, which are largely identical despite of different origins. With strong sense of humanism, those varied versions end unexceptionally with the victory of human beings and the failure of gods. This varies greatly from the narrative mode in fables, in which gods are forever the unbeatable characters stronger than human beings.

Thirdly, the penetration of traditional moral ideas into legends of the Torch Festival custom afterwards has been reflected in the integration of legends about female characters and those about the festival, so as to put stress on chastity and virtue.

Anyway, from the formation and evolvement of legends about the Torch Festival we could find different levels of historical accumulation, which is synchronous with the long-term development of the festival in southwestern nationalities. Legend about the festival has been constantly evolved as it was passed down from generation to generation, which has even influenced the festival custom in some regions, while adding the derivative meaning of "commemorative festival" to the original and "sacrificial" Torch Festival