Category: Culture

Most tourists to China try to get themselves to the Great Wall or the Forbidden City and with good reason. Since China opened up to the foreign travel market in the 1980s, people haven’t limited themselves to the most well known spots and traveled to the grasslands of Inner Mongolia and the more remote towns…

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Can you feel it? The cool breeze, the sunshine? The old brick walkway under your feet, the grass ambling upwards between the cracks and in between your toes? You must be on the shores of Heavenly Lake, or Tian Chi, breathing deep under the whitewashed clouds and reveling in the beauty of the world.…

The Tibetan travel permits are currently only being issued to foreign groups of three or more travelers, and every member of the tour group must be either of the same nationality or part of one family. As traveling in Tibet can be an expensive trip (all foreigners are required to travel by private vehicle, with…

Spring Festival is just around the corner, and from east to west, north to south, folks all over China are checking their calenders and making travel plans. Whether it be to visit the homestead or sink into some body of tropical water, Chinese New Year is a time to get away from the day-to-day, and…

It’s that time of year and the Canton Fair is here! And sure, the company’s sending you there to source another shoe supplier, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy your Guangzhou trip. When you’re not doing business in Guangzhou, there’s plenty to enjoy along the city’s tree-lined boulevards, from historical sites to delicious Cantonese…

Every nation on Earth, at some point or another, considers itself to be the baddest tribe out there. Maybe it’s a new sword technology or a particularly fantastic military victory. A scientific breakthrough might do it. Religious fervor. The emergence of a Great Leader… All you have to do to topple these pretenders from the…

Once the Eight Banners of the Manchu military force ruled All Under Heaven. Today only small parts of the northeastern China can still be called “Manchu territory,” and they have largely assimilated and scattered over the last century such that for much of modern China’s history, most Manchu identified themselves as Han Chinese. However, the…

Hope you enjoyed 48 hours in Shanghai (Part I), last week’s contribution to the Ctrip English YouTube channel. We feel pretty good about the community that is starting to coalesce around these videos, but we still have a very long way to go and every one we finish is a step along that path, so……

you don’t immediately think “romance”. But a trip to the Great Wall needn’t be all bustling crowds, tour guides and cheap souvenirs. There’s gasp-inducing scenery, amazing dining and wonderful authentic culture to take in here as well, both in China’s great modern cities and off the beaten path. And near China’s most romantic destinations, there…

China, famed for its intricate teahouse culture, is fast developing its own coffee culture. Far beyond the doors of mass-markete Starbucks and Costa outlets in the big cities, China’s new generation of coffee lovers is giving rise to countless small cafes where you can relax over a perfectly brewed cup of cappuccino and an exquisite…