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China Activities
Guide:
Hiking:
Yunnan province and Yangshuo area are terrific places for long and
short walks while of course the Great Wall is an amazing artifact
to wander in wonder, for days and as far from Beijing as possible.
Hong Kong's MacLehose Trail is renowned, as are Lantau Island hikes.
Tibet offers superb, eyeball-expanding skylines if you can handle the altitude but the bureacracy can be worse than AMS so check out hiking tours and let the experts deal with the paperwork!
The Great Wall of China makes a fascinating hike.
Biking: a great way to see most places,
especially the countryside around small towns like Suzhou, Yangshuo,
Lijiang. Beijing is polluted and car dominated but still cycleable.
Hong Kong has good tracks around the harbour and in the New Territories.
There's plenty of bike hire available.
Trains: The Trans-Siberian is a classic ride, as is the new 1956 km [1,222 mile] Qingzang railway trip
Beijing-Lhasa [Tibet].
Local rail services are generally reliable and more comfortable
than buses for getting around the country but take your own food
and book a place a few days in advance.
Li River cruising offers totally stunning scenery.
River
Cruises:
***Li River boat trips provide spectacular
views from smaller ships than the Yangtze River types, past rural
landscapes, karsts, bamboo groves and little villages. [Best river months are
April, May, Sept, Oct]
***Yangtze River cruises [aka Yangtzi, the longest river in Asia] escape new China's relentless hustle and bustle with a quiet chug
through the famously dramatic Three Gorges, past little old villages,
classic rural scenes, rusting barges and striking monuments.
By 2009 the Gorges will be less impressive as the water level rising
by 175m due to the controversial Three Gorges Dam.
Yangtze cruise ships range from bare bones backpacker operations
to luxury vessels loaded with all the comforts of a five star hotel;
boats commonly travel from Chongoing to Shanghai over 7 days or
just Chongoing to the Three Gorges over 3 days [return by bus],
or many other options.
*The Yellow River is big, dull and
dusty though there are some great monuments along the river banks
so boating works as transport but is not visually worthwhile.
Food!
Some of the best food can be found in little local restaurants so
don't hesitate to dive in where other tourists fear to tread but
locals are scoffing and slurping, even if the floor is littered
with bones.
A terrific north China speciality is Hotpot, often including
lamb, tofu and cabbage among other ingredients.
For the adventurous eater there are lightly barbequed scorpions,
sea cucumber, silk worm kebabs, snake bladders, bamboo rat, lamb's
penis and more exotica available from market stalls.
Chinese wines can be excellent, especially the yellow wine [huang
jiu] and rice wine [mi jiu].
And for those dependant on western food, no problem, KFC and MacDs
have a fat foot in the urban Chinese door..
Hainan Island for Chinese beach life.
Hainan Island [Dao] beaches. Some activities are swimming,
snorkelling, surfing, hiking, sun-burning and too much Tsing Tao
beer; sights include primate-packed Monkey Island and the colourful
Tomb of Hairui.
Travel there by domestic or international flight or by ferry from Hai'an
[Leizhou Peninsula, nearish to Guangzhou]. Best
time to visit: November to April; Worst: May to October [storm
season].
Chinese
Festivals:
Jan & Feb. Harbin Ice Sculpture Festival. Plus ice
sports!
Feb. Xian, Hong Kong Lantern Festival.
Feb/March, Lhasa,Tibetan New Year.
March, Chengdu Flower Festival with music and theatre.
Mid April, Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Yunnan, *Water Splashing
Festival.
April, Dali,Third Moon Street Fair.
May, Cheung Chau Island, Hong Kong, Bun Festival, 3 days.
Late May, early June. Chengdu, Sichuan, Guanxi, Hong Kong, *Dragon
Boat Festival.
June, Stone Forest, Kunming,Torch Festival.
July, Guizhou Province, Tribal Festivals for ethnic minorities.
Sept/Oct. Nationwide, Hong Kong, Moon Festival.
For
some precise dates, more suggestions and information see: World
Festivals
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