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| Ranking Among Countries: #37 |
| Venturers: 7 |
| Mid-Venturers: 6 |
| Centrics-Venturers: 6 |
| Centrics-Authentics: 5 |
| Mid-Authentics: 5 |
| Authentics: 4 |
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| • The Three Gorges Dam site is the world’s largest hydroelectric project |
| • There are no past-tense or future-tense verbs in Chinese; the verbs have no tenses at all |
| • China is broad enough for five, but it operates with one time zone |
| • The Chinese invented paper, paper money and toilet paper; now the money is plastic |
| • Sunglasses were first used in China (pre-1430) by judges, to hide their expressions |
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The Qin dynasty created a unified Chinese state with a strong central government in 221 B.C. Under a succession of dynasties, the empire survived wars, invasions, rebellions, famine and floods for more than 2,000 years, until 1911. (Ironically, the Qin lasted only 15 years.)
Events of those two millennia have yielded treasures that bind the Chinese to their history and each other — and, it turns out — enhance the country’s appeal to tourists.
Most famously, the treasures include the Great Wall, the Grand Canal and the terra-cotta warriors and horses in Xi’an, but the country also is dotted with palaces, temples and other relics that bring history to life.
Visitors of all personality types include such attractions on their must-see lists. That needn’t make for cookie-cutter experiences though. For example, travelers can take a guided coach tour to the Great Wall, but the more venturesome can choose to hike or cycle along part of the wall.
There is much variety in the way visitors may experience other aspects of Chinese culture, too. Tourists can attend a martial-arts demonstration, watch folk dancers or see the Chinese opera, but those who want to be more involved can sign on for language instruction or cooking classes.
Speaking of food, dining in China can be as adventuresome as the visitor wants. Choices run the gamut from restaurants with Western cuisine to the slightly bizarre. Also, shopping venues range from modern boutiques to noisy, crowded open-air markets in the hinterlands.
There was a time when tourists stayed in tired guest houses, but no more. Four- or five-star hotels are available in most places — but, for those who want them, yurts and homestays remain on offer.
China is at once exotic and accessible. It is also larger than the United States, which means visitors may cover great distances quickly. Combining Beijing, Guilin, Shanghai and Xi'an is comparable to visiting Atlanta, Chicago, Miami and Washington in one trip.
China’s location also dictates extreme weather variations. Southernmost areas have no winter; northernmost points have no summer. But generally, May, September and October are ideal anywhere in the country.
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• From your base in Guiyang, capital of Guizhou province, spend your days hiking to area villages. On one of those days, overnight in a villager’s home.
• Taste 1,000-year-old eggs.
• Sign on for a summer program (five weeks or longer) to learn Chinese. Numerous language programs of varying lengths are available.
• Mingle among the imams, merchants and veiled women who frequent the Great Bazaar of Kashgar. Get an eyeful of scenes more exotic than fiction.
• Take a bicycle tour through Tibet.
• Stretch your muscles and mingle with the Chinese with early morning tai chi, or even ballroom dancing in some city parks.
• Get a taste of the Silk Road. Ride a camel in the Taklamakan Desert. Travel to Turpan, the lowest place in China, on an overnight train from Liuyuan.
• Bike along a seldom-visited section of the Great Wall. Or, explore parts of the wall on horseback.
• Stay in a yurt in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia.
• At Zengzhou, join a kung fu class at Shaolin Temple, known as the birthplace of this martial art.
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• Take a boat ride, maybe on a dragon boat, on the ancient Grand Canal. Short excursions are an option in Nanjing, Suzhou, Yangzhou and Wuxi. Or take a longer canal cruise of up four days.
• Learn more about Chinese culture in a tai chi class.
• Take a pedicab ride through Beijing’s hutongs (the narrow streets in old Beijing) to see something of a traditional way of life lived on narrow lanes and in courtyard gardens.
• Besides seeing Xi’an’s famous terra-cotta warriors, spend time in the city’s Muslim quarter.
• Try your hand at creating calligraphy — after collecting a few pointers from an experienced calligrapher, of course.
• Extend your basic tour with a few days in high-altitude Tibet. Ride the world’s highest-altitude train to Lhasa.
• Arrange for lessons in Chinese cooking. There are several options in Hong Kong. Or, sign on for a full-blown culinary journey to China.
• In Chengdu, visit the Panda Breeding Research Institute. Then walk the trails of its bamboo forest to see pandas in their natural habitat.
• Buy tie-dyed fabrics on your visit to the Bai people in China’s tribal areas.
• Take an excursion to the Stone Forest outside Kunming. This is 32 acres of karst limestone formations that have eroded into cliffs and peaks, caves and pavilions.
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• See China while traveling on a river cruise. The Yangtze River cruises are very popular.
• Stroll where Chinese emperors have walked, in the Forbidden City and elsewhere in the Chinese capital, Beijing.
• Attend a Chinese banquet where the menu includes Peking duck. Also, sample regional specialties in the areas you choose to visit.
• Tour a silk factory in Suzhou to see the production process from silkworm to textiles, or visit a factory in Beijing where cloisonne-style enameled goods are made.
• Pursue your interest in World War II history at the Stilwell Museum in Chongqing. Its collection of memorabilia includes exhibits on the legendary Flying Tigers.
• Attend a Chinese tea ceremony, and sip the commodity that helped shape the British Empire.
• See and photograph dinner shows featuring traditional dance and music programs. They are offered in many cities on the tourist circuit.
• Buy silk fabrics for use at home, or have garments made in Hong Kong on your way home.
• Try your luck in one of the big casinos in Macau, then taste the island’s Portuguese-influenced cuisine.
• Visit Shanghai’s Children’s Palace and see musical and cultural performances by the children who attend classes there.
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For more information, consult the China National Tourist Office at www.cnto.org. To find a travel agent who is a China Specialist, go to www.chinadiscoveryvideo.com/quiz/index.asp.
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