China

A NATURAL AND CULTURAL AND TASTEFUL EXPERIENCE

China is so packed with cultural, natural & manmade goodies, one trip is nowhere near enough to get a sense of it all. Colossal dams, manmade lakes and a futuristic Olympic stadium are just a part of the civilization that built the Great Wall.

Must Dos

Ride through the Great Wall on a bike, bob sled or a single car at the Mutianyu section.
Take a sidecar ride in a hutong in Beijing.
Take a look at the largest medicinal plants garden near the capital (in Haidian district), see & learn about rare plants and get your fill of healing foods.
Take a couple of hours learning calligraphy near the Summer Palace.
Get an insight into Buddhism with Datong, Luoyang & Leshan.
Master the art of making the Chinese dumpling in Yunnan.
Become a part of a Tibetan family at Jiuzhaigou and get the feel of the country like never before.
Admire the scenic colour changing Danxia landforms, Longji rice terraces, the pillar-like Hallelujah Mountains and the Red Beach at Panjin.
Stop by at colourful markets, explore desert villages and enjoy some spectacular scenery along the ancient silk road between Kashgar in the west and Xian in the east.

It’s a slice of the city where slick bankers argue whether ‘clear water’ buns are better than ‘troubled water’ buns. Where serpentine queues form for scallion oil pancakes. Work your way past juicy Xie Huang (crab shell buns), Shēng Jiān, crunchy Guō Tiē, filling Qiangbings, and sizzling, smoky Shaokaos. Round it off with Chinese egg custard tart.

In Xi’an’s oldest and most popular dumpling house, a record breaking 318 varieties of dumplings are served. Taste everything from duck to lotus dumplings, the shape indicating the stuffing inside. There’s also a ‘power dumpling’ lunch for the suit types!

The natives of Hangzhou take their food very seriously. This amazing culinary experience includes a visit to the Hangzhou cuisine museum and the Shengli River Food street, a trip to Snack Alley, near the West lake, where centuries old restaurants still ply customers with delicacies and rounds off with a cooking class that lets you try your hand.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the 270-million-year-old stone forest covers 180 sq. miles, with giant limestone pillars jutting out of the Earth. These craggy formations have poetic names like ‘stone singing praises of plums’ and equally enthralling lore like that of the Ashima stone. It is a sacred site for the local Sani people.

Legend has it that a goddess broke a mirror and the pieces created the 118 glass like lakes at Jiuzhaigou National Park. Hidden by tall trees and kissed by mists, the 5 coloured pool reflects the most brilliant hues. The unusual water clarity shows tree trunks lining the lake bed.

Several major dynasties were based in Shaanxi like the Zhou, Qin, Western Han, Sui and Tang. The 65,000 sq. ft museum curates this inexorable march of history through 2000 plus artefacts, including Tang dynasty gold, silver and ceramic objects.

Arriving from Tibet in the 13th century, the Naxi people of Yunnan, have their own culture & rituals. At the restored town of Lijiang and Baisha, the first Naxi settlement, their way of life goes on unhurried and girls still learn the 1000-year-old art of Naxi embroidery.

Go the wellness way on a tour that takes you to herb plantations, where experts fill you in on Chinese medicinal plants & lore. Learn about the Yi and Miao people, while criss-crossing this verdant region.

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