1. Prague Castle, Cezch
2. Mont Saint-Michel and its abbey, France
3. The Potala Palace, China
4. Predjama castle, Slovenia
5. New Swan Castle, Germany
6. Matsumoto Castle, Japan
7.Bran Castle(a.k.a Dracula’s Castle), Romania
8. Malbork Castle, Germany
9. The Pena National Palace, Portugal
10. The Lion castle, Germany
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China has enacted a new rule to ban smoking in enclosed public spaces. The new rule will take effect on May 1 and has been added to the revised regulations on health management in public places from the country’s Ministry of Health.
The revised regulations also stipulate that business owners with public places should put up non-smoking signs, carry out promotional activities to warn people of the danger of smoking and dispatch personnel to dissuade smokers.
Furthermore, the smoking area in outdoor locations should not occupy people’s paths and cigarette vending machines should be excluded from public places. However, the new rule does not list any penalty provisions for violators, which arouses doubts over how the new legislation will be implemented.
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Police have revealed that workers accidentally caused the Shanghai Telecom Building fire which killed at lease four people Tuesday afternoon.
Preliminary investigations showed sparks from a metal cutting machine used by workers to cut an air conditioning duct had ignited thermal insulation material wrapped around the pipe.
Five workers were working at the scene. One escaped, and another four were rescued by fire fighters but died later in hospital, police said.
The fire broke out on the 13th floor of the Shanghai Telecom Building at 1:32 pm The fire was extinguished 20 minutes later.
Shanghai’s communication services were not affected by the incident after an emergency response plan was initiated, said local police.
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China was the number one source of international tourist arrivals to Australia in February, the first time it has topped the monthly arrivals, Australia’s Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF) said on Tuesday.
TTF, the peak industry group for the Australian tourism, transport and aviation sectors, said the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed 77,700 Chinese visitors arrived in Australia in February, up 6.1 percent compared to the same month in 2010.
Combining January and February, arrivals from China increased 25.3 percent or 27,900 visitors, as a result of Chinese New Year and international student arrivals.
TTF chief executive John Lee said China offers incredible potential.
“To meet the needs of growing numbers of Chinese visitors, we must ensure that tourism operators are prepared, with cultural awareness, language skills, cuisine and activities tailored to their needs,” Lee said.
“To foster growth in an increasingly competitive international marketplace, we need to provide new and exciting accommodation, attractions and experiences, which will also help to cater for the increasingly sophisticated and demanding tastes of Australian travelers.”
Australia also needs to remove barriers for tourists to travel to Australia, Lee said.
“We are calling on the federal government to streamline the highly bureaucratic, cumbersome and expensive tourism visa application process to ensure that it does not unnecessarily curtail growth in Chinese arrivals,” he said in a statement.
“With the anticipated decline in arrivals from New Zealand and Japan, two of our top five international markets, and the impact of the flooding and cyclone in Queensland, removing administrative barriers could help to offset any downturn from other key markets, ” Lee said.
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The ruins of the Guge Kingdom are located on a mountain in Zhabran Village 19 km west of the county town of Zhada in the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China.
The Guge kingdom was found in the 10th Century and survived for about 700 years before mysteriously disappearing. For decades, the ruins of the Guge Kingdom have attracted numerous tourists, archeologists, photographers, and explorers from all around the world. People are not only interested in the culture and art of the Guge Kingdom but also in the mystery of how such a huge kingdom disappeared overnight.
Many believe that the castle in the ruins shares a lot of similarities with the castles in the world-famous movie series “The Lord of the Rings,” which adds a mysterious feel to the ruins. Surviving rooms in the ruins of the Guge Kingdom cover various styles, including simple and crude rooms for ordinary people, fortifications, and luxurious royal palaces and temples. Compared with the simple rooms at the bottom of the kingdom, palaces for nobles and royal families at the top of the castle are more ornate and enjoy a view of the whole castle. The castle was built on the edge of a cliff as a defense mechanism, with the only passage to the top of the kingdom in the front of the castle.
Firewood was widely used by people in the Guge Kingdom to fight off the cold winters brought by the high elevation. Some smoke stains can still be seen on ceiling in the ruins.
Most of the sculptures are gold or silver Buddhist statues, among which the best one is a statue called “Guge Silver Eye” (Yinyan in Chinese). The kingdom’s intricate murals are preserved in good condition, despite being hundreds of years old. The murals depict almost every aspect of ancient Guge society.
Guge Kingdom remains a mystery waiting to be explored, but the secrets of the ancient kingdom may never be recovered.
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China’s northwestern city of Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, aims to attract 10 million tourists this year as the ethnically diverse city recovers from the deadly riot two years ago. Director of Urumqi’s tourism bureau, Shewketi Tursun, said Tuesday that the government expects 7.5 billion yuan (1.15 billion U.S. dollars) of revenue from tourism and tourist shopping this year, up from 6.37 billion yuan in 2010. Tursun said the regional government hopes to achieve that goal by intensifying promotion efforts in cities across the country and by regulating the tourism sector, mostly through curbing price speculation and false advertisements. Urumqi is a town along the ancient Silk Road, located on the verge of northwest China’s sprawling desert with a population of over 2 million. With air links to major Chinese and central Asian cities, Urumqi serves as a jumping-off point for back-packers on their way to Xinjiang’s idyllic pastures and mountain villages. Urumqi, with a fairly large presence of the ethnic Uygurs, also features a number of ethnic cultural sights of interests. The city’s tourism plunged to its lowest point in decades after the riot on July 5, 2009, which left 197 people dead. Authorities blame overseas separatists for instigating the riot.
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Located in Ningde, Fujian, Xiapu has a stretch to the East China Sea coast, with many harbors and islands. It is well known for its mudflat aquaculture and attracts visitors and photographers for its unique coastal scenery.
Due to the suitable temperature, the Xiapu mudflats are rich in oyster, yellow croakers, kelp and laver. As the sun rises and sets, the tide rises and falls, the fishing boats, bamboo poles and fish nets form spectacular sceneries.
Transportation:
1. Take a long-distance bus in Fuzhou South/North Station to Xiapu county and take a taxi to Beiqi.
2. Start from Songbai Long-distance Bus Station and arrive in Xiapu county, take a taxi to Beiqi.
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Xiangshan Mountain Beijing
What to see in autumn: sumac, red maple
Best time to visit: Frost’s Descent
Best positions to view the maples: a small pavilion at the top of Mount Senyuhu, Yuhuaxiu Park, Kanyunqi, Shuangqing Villa, Chanchu Peak, Jingcui Lake, Xianglu (Incense Burner) Peak, Xiangwu Cave, Heshunmen and Xunlu (Reindeer) Slope.
Located at the east foot of Xishan Mountain in Beijing, the Xiangshan Mountain is one of the famous sites to view maples in China. The scenic spot Fragrant Mountain Red Leaves, one of the four most famous sites to view maples in China, is located in the well-known Fragrant Mountain Forest Park of Beijing. The best season for sightseeing in the mountain is from mid-October to the first ten days of November. During this time, thousands of hectares of maple leaves are so red that you would mistake them for fallen petals if looking from a further area.
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The Double Seventh Festival, on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month, is a traditional festival full of romance. It often goes into August in the Gregorian calendar.
This festival is in mid-summer when the weather is warm and the grass and trees reveal their luxurious greens. At night when the sky is dotted with stars, and people can see the Milky Way spanning from the north to the south. On each bank of it is a bright star, which see each other from afar. They are the Cowherd and Weaver Maid, and about them there is a beautiful love story passed down from generation to generation.
Long, long ago, there was an honest and kind-hearted fellow named Niu Lang (Cowhand). His parents died when he was a child. Later he was driven out of his home by his sister-in-law. So he lived by himself herding cattle and farming. One day, a fairy from heaven Zhi Nu (Weaver Maid) fell in love with him and came down secretly to earth and married him. The cowhand farmed in the field and the Weaver Maid wove at home. They lived a happy life and gave birth to a boy and a girl. Unfortunately, the God of Heaven soon found out the fact and ordered the Queen Mother of the Western Heavens to bring the Weaver Maid back.
With the help of celestial cattle, the Cowhand flew to heaven with his son and daughter. At the time when he was about to catch up with his wife, the Queen Mother took off one of her gold hairpins and made a stroke. One billowy river appeared in front of the Cowhand. The Cowhand and Weaver Maid were separated on the two banks forever and could only feel their tears. Their loyalty to love touched magpies, so tens of thousands of magpies came to build a bridge for the Cowhand and Weaver Maid to meet each other. The Queen Mother was eventually moved and allowed them to meet each year on the 7th of the 7th lunar month. Hence their meeting date has been called “Qi Xi” (Double Seventh).
Scholars have shown the Double Seventh Festival originated from the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD220). Historical documents from the Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD371-420) mention the festival, while records from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) depict the grand evening banquet of Emperor Taizong and his concubines. By the Song (960-1279) and Yuan (1279-1368) dynasties, special articles for the “Qi Xi” were seen being sold on markets in the capital. The bustling markets demonstrated the significance of the festival.
Today some traditional customs are still observed in rural areas of China, but have been weakened or diluted in urban cities. However, the legend of the Cowhand and Weaver Maid has taken root in the hearts of the people. In recent years, in particular, urban youths have celebrated it as Valentine’s Day in China. As a result, owners of flower shops, bars and stores are full of joy as they sell more commodities for love.
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Green Tea
Chinese tea may be classified into five categories according to the different methods by which it is processed: Green Tea; Black Tea;Oolong Tea;Compressed Tea and Scented Tea.
Green tea is the variety that keeps the original color of the tealeaves without fermentation during processing. This category consists mainly of Longjing tea of Zhejiang Province, Maofeng of Huangshan Mountain in Anhui Province and Biluochun produced in Jiangsu.Green Tea is the most natural of all Chinese teaclasses. It’s picked, naturally dried, and then fried briefly (a process called “killing the green”) to get rid of its grassy smell. Green Tea has the most medical value and the least caffeine content of all Chinese tea classes. Aroma is medium to high, and flavor is light to medium. About 50% of China’s teas are Green tea.
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