Travel Topics
Zhangjiajie, in the Chinese province of Hunan, encompasses the world famous Wulingyuan Scenic Area. This huge, natural mountainous landscape is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its unique landscape includes thousands…
2020 has been the most forgettable of years, so why not give it a proper send off? Here is our round-up of virtual New Year’s Eve 2020 celebrations. While we…
It’s that time of the year again that love birds look forward to, many singles dread, and some brave souls try to ignore. The least that could be said about…
Chinese New Year is undoubtedly China’s pre-eminent and most intense festive period characterised by sumptuous family meals, the colour red, paper lanterns and lots…
Once mostly a regional affair, the Harbin Ice Festival, China – or the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival as it is officially known – has grown into…
A major exhibition of art from contemporary China opens at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao on May 11. Entitled Art and China after 1989: Theatre of the World, the exhibition is…
With the largest population of any country in the world and some of the most interesting archaeological and cultural sites, China is a must to visit for the discerning traveller.
Nothing quite prepares the first time traveller for Beijing, the capital of the People’s Republic of China. Tiananmen Square is breath-taking in its sheer size, with the Great Hall of the People situated on its eastern edge of the square, used as a legislature, it has the biggest hall imaginable. Also located at the eastern edge is Chairman Mau’s Mausoleum, his last resting place. Adjacent to the square is the series of palaces known as The Forbidden City, built by the Ming Dynasty in the 15th Century.
The Great Wall was built by the first emperor of China, Gin Shi Huang, to protect his Gin dynasty from warring nomads from Asia. Started in 212 BC, the part of the wall mainly remaining today was built by the Ming Dynasty. Somewhat disconcerting for the history enthusiast, are people dressed as warriors that leap out at you unexpectedly from time to time, but the views are terrific.
Xian, the capital of Shaanxi Province, is famed for The Terracotta Army which was constructed to guard the emperor’s tomb for his afterlife. The soldiers were first moulded, then fired and painted. It is considered by many to be the world’s greatest archaeological site.
