Jackie Chans dream itinerary: China
We asked international film star Jackie Chan what his perfect trip through China would look like. Heres what he told us.
First destination: Hong Kong
Hong Kong is my hometown and of course its on my list of places that people should visit in China. The first place you should go in Hong Kong is Victo
Are you fluent in Chinglish?
Wherever you glance in China, you enter the through-the-mirror world of Chinglish. You may at first be confused by a sign that says Be Seated Defecate, but its just a way of saying that the loo youre about to use isnt a squat version. Deformed Man Toilet may sound like something from the David Lynch
londoninfopage:Roads Less Travelled China itinerary
From Yunnans capital city, Kunming, its a 600km bus ride west to Liuku, the main town in the Nujiang Valley. Stock up on provisions here before making your way to the neighbouring Gaoligong Mountain Nature Reserve, home to Lisu villages. After a homestay with local Lisu hunters (learn to harvest loc
Khampa yakboys in Shangri-la
Since it was renamed Shangri-la by savvy officials 2001, remote Zhongdian has popped up on the Chinese travel circuit. ?The old town is now a warren of glossed-up new old buildings filled with tourists, although most of the locals are of Tibetan descent.
Ive arranged a homestay with Chui Pi, a local
Taking the stage in Shaxi
Once an important stop on the old tea-trading route, quiet Shaxi has been carefully preserved, and its ancient town square is well worth a visit – when the opera is in town.
In 2001, the World Monument Fund placed the Shaxi market on its list of 101 Most Endangered Sites, and a US$1.3 million rehabi
In search of the Dulong
Kong Dang is at the end of a 96km butt-clenching ride from Gongshan and is the gateway town to the Dulong Valley. The road was only opened in 1999 (before that, it was a three- or four-day trek in and out). The first 16km or so is paved but the rest is unsealed. Its only passable by 4WD, lorries or
Hunting with the Lisu
Down in the Nu Valley, in a remote western corner of Chinas Yunnan province, life revolves around the mighty Nu Jiang (Nu River). The river is usually turquoise except during heavy rains when mudslides from surrounding mountains turn it the colour of milky coffee. Nestled in the foothills of the Nu
The top 5 free attractions in Macau
The former Portuguese colony makes more money from gambling than anywhere else in the world (US$6 billion a year), it’s the most densely populated place around (18,000 folk per sq km) and it’s home to the world’s largest casino, The Venetian.
It’s also a place where bling is king and high-rollers ar
Chill out: the Hāěrbīn Ice and Snow Festival
China’s northern Hēilóngjiāng province may be cursed with one of the coldest climates in Asia, but its capital Hāěrbīn has made the best of a bad thing with its International Ice and Snow Festival. Held in the depths of winter, the festival revolves around an amazing array of fanciful and elaborate
Shanghai outdoor excursions
If youre heading to Shanghai for Expo 2010, you certainly wont be alone. Over 25 million tickets have already been sold, and Shanghai city officials are predicting 70 million visitors to visit by the time the Expo wraps up in October. If you tire of traipsing through the rest of the world in the man
Hiking Chinas Sunshine Coast
Imagine a 4km hiking trail thats built into a sheer rock face, looking out onto a forest of fantastical granite spires and a gorgeous canopy sprinkled with white rhododendron blooms. This is only one of the walks you can do at Sanqing Mountain (三清山), one of the most underrated national parks in east
Bunk with the monks in Tibetan Sichuan
Dala Gong Monastery Guesthouse
Travellers in remote,?western Sichuan who are sick of staying in dusty market towns and only seeing the drop-dead-gorgeous scenery through the window of a bus will adore this place (dm Y30, private rooms with bathroom Y100). Its a 10-minute walk from the back gate of D
Which way to the guesthouse? A lost authors tale.
In all my weeks of travelling around the Tibetan areas of?western Sichuan, the incredibly basic but oh-so-charming Dala Gong monastery guesthouse has to be my favourite place to stay. And I found it completely by accident.
7 reasons to visit Eastern Tibet
Its a pain in the backside to get permits for, and many places are still off limits to foreigners, but here are seven reasons why eastern Tibet should be firmly fastened to your?Tibet itinerary.
1. Getting off the beaten track
Beijings once Forbidden City
Once home to China’s emperors, the Forbidden City was the very heart of the country for five centuries and even now exerts a powerful pull on the nation’s psyche. So called because an unauthorised visit to the palace would result in instant death, it’s the best-preserved collection of ancient archit
Hutong alleyways: Old Beijing at its timeless best
Chinas capital may be racing towards the future at breakneck speed but sneak behind one of the citys glittering, ultra-modern tower blocks and you find a slice of old Beijing that seems to have been lost in time. Welcome to the hutong; centuries-old, tree-lined alleyways that are the true heartbeat
The Hakka earth buildings of Fujian
Strewn across the hills where the three provinces of Fujian, Jiangxi and Guangdong merge, the colossal Hakka earth buildings (Kejia tulou) are a mesmerising picture of an ancient but slowly disappearing way of life.
Beyond their monumental size, earth buildings are unique for their jaw-droppingly ro
Nanjie Cun: the village that time forgot
Little known to the outside world, a radical community ? defiantly out of step with the rest of China ? survives at the heart of slow-moving Henan province. Its equivalent in the West may be a New Age community, an Amish settlement or possibly something rather more sinister, like a cult base. In fac
Top 10 Shanghai pastimes
You can’t see the Great Wall from space, but you’d have a job missing Shanghai. One of China’s biggest and most vibrant cities, it is heading places the rest of the country can only fantasise about.
In a land five millennia old, Shanghai feels like it was born yesterday. When you’ve had your fill of
Top 10 ways to delve into Hong Kong’s underbelly
Hong Kong is a place that provokes questions, some without answers. Those five-star hotels and soaring skyscrapers are first world, but those crumbling tenements look third world, don’t they? How do seven million people fit on this tiny speck of land? And how do they decide where to eat in The City
