'China Travel: What To See' ↓

     
It is common knowledge for the Beijing locals that, if you want to buy books, go for the array of bookstores converging in the Haidian area(海淀區) , where all the prominent universities are located, such as Qinghua University or Beijing University.

Since May 2007, the bookstore area called Book City (圖書城) has been given a facelift by the authorities, with grey as the standardized color of the area, and allowing only bookstores or culture related businesses in operation. Some new bookstores have moved in.

Though the color of the City is drab, it now boasts hosting some of the “vanguard” bookstores in China, such as the reputedly first and only 24 hour bookstore Guang He Zuo Yong (photosynthesis, 光合作用), focusing on lifestyle books with coffee shop attached, and the giant Di San Ji (The Third Pole﹐第三極) bookstore, which claims to be the biggest bookstore in the world with the widest choice of books. I am not sure its claim is valid but the bookstore has become a new force in Beijing’s book industry, with its 20,000 sq meters of floor areas and 300,000 books on offer. The Beijing University is just around its corner.

In the Book City, you can also find secondhand and specialty bookstores, galleries, stationery shops, and so on.

Foreign visitors may think the Book City offers Chinese books only and hence irrelevant to them. Wrong. You can also find English books, Japanese books and Korean books here. In the Di San Ji bookstore, for instance, one area is devoted to second hand foreign language books, including some real bargain second hand English books.

If you happen to be planning a visit to China, think about attending the Guangzhou Cherry Blossoms Festival. The Festival is said to be the largest ever in China for Cherry Blossom display. About 12,000 Cherry Blossom trees are planted in the Sculpture Park, Guangzhou.

Details:
Date: Now to 23 March 2008
Address: Guangzhou Sculpture Park（广州雕塑公园）, No 545, Xiatang Road West（下塘西路）
Entrance Fee: 40RMB
Website: www.cn-sakura.com (in Chinese only)

How to go:
It is 1.3km from the Guangzhou Train Station (not the Guangzhou East Train Station). Take the taxi from there.

Or if you come from other cities in China, take a long-distance bus to the Guangyuan Bus Terminal (for long-distance buses) in Guangzhou. The Park is only about 500m away.

In a recent national survey, five cities in China are awarded for their distinct quality. If you are considering a visit to China and thinking about which cities to go, the survey result may be of some reference.

 (one of the many parks, big and clean, in Dalian)

Dalian (大連): the most polite/civilized city
(This is true, speaking from my own experience. Dalian is probably the only China city where residents will queue up at the bus stop and do not spit on the street. The city is amazingly clean compared to other China cities.)

Shenzhen (深圳): the fastest developing city
(Evidenced by the city’s GDP growth statistics)

Tianjin (天津): the safest city (measured by residents’ feeling)
(Yeah,Tianjin is safe.)

Changsha (長沙): the most entertaining city
(Changsha’s provincial TV station has produced China’s first of its kind entertainment show - the American Idol China version, hence earning the city the award.)

Changchun (長春): the most humane city
(Changchun sounds nice, but I’ve never been there. Too cold in the winter.)

You probably do not know what osmanthus tree is. It doesn’t matter. But I can tell you it smells so wonderful when the tree is in blossom, producing a light, fresh and pleasing fragrance with its small yellow flowers. 

To experience this very delightful smell, you must visit Hangzhou in September. For osmanthus is the city flower of Hangzhou, which is one of China’s five osmanthus producing areas. The Manjuelong Village to the south west of the West Lake is the spot for smelling the tree flowers. There, more than 7000 ostmanthus trees are planted, with some 200 years old.

“Manjue” means complete enlightenment, a very beautiful name, hinting at the area’s historic link with Buddhism and temples.

The Osmanthus Festival is held in the area every autumn, where some colorful tents are set to serve tea and cakes made from ostmanthus flowers, with some game (like mahjong) tools provided for entertainment.

Because of the increasing popularity of the area, a big park called Manlong Osmanthus Rain has stood there since 2000.

There is public transport to the area of Manjuelong. Bus No 308, 324 and 508 reach the area.

If you don’t want to travel a bit far, then look no further than the city itself. You can smell it at many corners of the city, or just walk along the West Lake.

When my friend was in Pingyao, a small ancient city in central shanxi province, he met three professional photographers from the West who came purposely to the city for taking photos. Two of them, father and son, are from Germany. They planned to publish a photo album about Pingyao upon return to Germany. 

Pingyao is a beautiful town preserving the architectural aesthetics of Chinese traditional buildings. It is distinguished from other places in China in that it has well preserved its architecture and urban landscape of China’s Ming and Qing dynasties, earning it a place on the UNESCO world heritage list. Because it is relatively unknown, the city is not swamped with tourists yet and the local government has done a good job in preserving the 2,700-year old city – it is the best preserved wall-city in China.

My friend likes the city very much. For one thing, the people there are very friendly and “they smile a lot”, my friend said. In the morning, the locals will pour out on the street to dance a local dance. It was very funny and interesting, he said.

And, there is one more reason to keep him in such a small town for two weeks – most tourists make a day trip to Pingyao from Beijing, or stop by it on the way to Xi’an, a much more famous wall-city known for its heritage of terracotta soldiers. I will write in the following post why. 

Wedding service is a big business in Mainland China. My friend is traveling in Dalian, China’s famous summer resort and port city. He told me “here, the whole street is lined with wedding shops, showing case beautiful bridal gowns.” He got the impression that “the dreams of girls here all seem to converge on one thing, i.e. marry a guy who has money, can provide a comfortable home and a nice car.”

Dalian is China’s city of fashion, my friend also said. The people here look very fashionable, even more than people in Shanghai or Beijing. Well, that may be true. There is the annual Dalian International Fashion Festival in September, a major and influential fashion event attracting even the world’s famous designers.

Arguably, Dalian is also China’s cleanest city. I think it has something to do with its Japanese colonial history. Japanese influence is strongly felt even today, with many Japanese tourists and Japanese language schools in the city. Dalian is also Japanese favorite destination for learning mandarin.

“I was on the square, and no people came up to talk to me. I think the locals are like Japanese - they don’t talk to you before they know you,” my friend observed.

Nanjing is one of the four great ancient capitals of China. It is also the second largest commercial center in the East China region, behind Shanghai.

My friend says the city is a cheap copy of Shanghai, with construction sites everywhere, even in the city centre. In the underground train, you can find parents with children wearing open trousers in tow - a scene you probably won’t see in Shanghai. So if you want to see a Chinese city of mid-level of development, and see a bit of Chinese culture and history, you probably should come to Nanjing.

I must say, Nanjing is not very exciting. But Nangjing is a popular tourist destination for Chinese tourists, because of some historic and cultural sites. And the city wall and the interspersed lakes do add to the charm of the city.

Here’s some travel info inside the city:

Bus No.1 runs from Confucius Temple all the way northward to the train station - every one or two minutes. 2 RMB fare for an air-conditioned bus, and 1RMB without air-condition. This is the city’s most popular and frequent bus line.

Nanjing’s train station is impressive, like an airport, very moden and new. In front of the train station lies a lake and some relaxing areas. “Probably the train station is the most impressive of all in Nanjing,” my friend said, who just visited the city.