Located just outside the remote border town of Mânzh∂ulî, the Hulun Buir’s grasslands are the most pristine in China. This expanse of gentle emerald hills, perfectly punctuated with small streams and rocky outcrops, is all the more attractive for how difficult it is to reach
WHEN TO GO
Posted in Trip, china, travel on 06/22/2009 10:42 am by adminTravel to China is possible year-round, as long as you’re prepared for what the season can throw at you. Spring (March to May) and autumn (September to early November) can be the best time to be on the road, as you avoid the blistering heat of summer (June to August) and stinging chill of winter (No-vember to February/March). Autumn in Běijīng, for example, is particularly pleasant, as are early spring and autumn in Hong Kong. Summer is the busiest tourist season, and getting around and finding accommodation during the peak summer crush can be draining. North China is hot and largely dry in summer, especially in the baking northwest ( but Běijīng is also uncomfortable). The Yangzi River (Cháng Jiāng) region is very hot and humid, and southern China, with a coast-line harassed by typhoons, also swelters. Rainfall rarely falls in quantities that can disrupt travel plans, except on the southern coastline during the typhoon season. Winter is the low season (except for Hǎinán) and can be the quietest time of year, but while Hong Kong in winter is comfortably nippy, north China is a frozen expanse, especially in the northeast, northwest and Inner Mongolia. Wintering in clement central and southern Yúnnán province is enjoyable, but the higher altitude north of the province is frigid. Winter is inadvisable for travel to high-altitude areas in China, although summer visits to high-lying areas such as Qīnghǎi and parts of Tibet can be recommended.Major public holidays can make travel difficult, and sights can be crammed with vacating Chinese. Manoeuvring around China with 1.3 billion others at Chinese New Year ( p944 ) can be daunting, but you also get to see the country at its most colourful and entertaining. Hotel rates (see the boxed text, opposite ) become very expensive during the May Day holiday (now a week long from 1 May) and National Day on 1 October (likewise a week long), and train tickets can be difficult to procure.
Shanghai
Posted in Shanghai on 05/19/2009 08:26 am by admin
Shànghâi is the city China boosters love to cite as representing the country as a whole, but it in fact represents
nothing except itself—the country’s wealthiest city, and with (if the government’s figures are to be believed)
the highest per-capita income. Look closer and you’ll see that many of its shiny new towers are incomplete or
unoccupied. But the sweep of 19th and early-20th-century architecture along The Bund, which looks as if the
town halls of two dozen provincial British cities have been transported to a more exotic setting, and the maze of
Art Deco masterpieces in the French Concession behind the Bund, make Shànghâi the mainland’s top East-meets-West destination, with the restaurants and a more relaxed and open-minded atmosphere to match. Nearby Hángzh∂u and S∆zh∂u offer some of China’s most famous scenery.
Language
Posted in Uncategorized on 05/14/2009 10:01 am by admin
English is widely spoken in Hong Kong, fairly common in Macau, and rare in the mainland, although there will be someone whospeaks a little English at your hotel. Ask that person to help you withphone calls and bookings. Almost no information, booking, complaint, or emergency lines in the mainland have anyone who speaks English.