A gargantuan mix of modern and primitive, free and authoritarian, China boasts some of the most impressive and iconic sights in the world, as well as some spectacular scenery. (We hear the lo mein's not bad, either!)
Experience old China in the southeast-central villages of Huangshan
Known as one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in China, Huangshan is situated in Huizhou region of the country's southeast-central province of Anhui. Millions of visitors make a trip each year to catch a sight of theses magnificent granite peaks cradled by beds of clouds and frequently depicted in traditional Chinese paintings. And named after the mountain, the area around Huangshan City (pop. 1.5 million, a 4½-hour drive west of Shanghai) is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites:…
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Am planning to be in Shanghai in June for the ALTM. ( My first visit to China!) Anyone visited the Expo lately? is it easy to get to the venue from downtown hotels?
Any advice will be appreciated.
regards
Nayaz
BEIJING - The Chinese government said on Monday that it aims to build the southern island of Hainan into a top international tourism destination by 2020.
I was particularly bemused to read the following passage:
"But amid all of this busy re-engineering, both physical and social, Shanghai has overlooked what is perhaps the most basic campaign of all: a hospitality campaign aimed at persuading Chinese people that they are the common siblings of the rest of mankind.
Why, one might ask, should there be such a need? The answer lies in the daily experience of any foreigner who wanders off the main streets, and it sometimes includes experiences on the main streets as well. Foreign visitors can often still draw stares as if freshly descended from the moon. People may talk about you in your presence, on the assumption that you don’t understand their language or, worse, that it doesn’t matter if you do. And the term “lao wai,” a less than endearing word for foreigner, hangs thickly in the air. Even the English word “hello” can take on a strange new meaning here, delivered as it sometimes is more as a sing-song taunt than as a true greeting."
This brought me back to my first visit to Shanghai, back in 1993, when a fellow lao wai and I became tourist attractions while strolling along the Bund -- a couple of locals even took photos of us! With everything that's been going on in China since -- and especially in its largest and supposedly most cosmopolitan city -- I would've thought things might've changed just a tad in 16 years. But old habits die hard, I guess!
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