Chinese Rivers
Beijing
The capital as well as the second largest city in China is home to more than 14 million people and a whole lot of traffic - but many more reasons to make this the one city not to be missed in China. The energy is palpable. Gone are the days of buttoned tunic uniforms and conformity - replaced by a vivacious sense of individuality accentuated with pulsing colors and buzzing electronics. Sprinkled through it all are the notable treasures that hark back as early as the 7th century.
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Chongging
Perched on steep hills at the confluence of the Yangtze and its major tributary, the Jialing River, Chongqing is the gateway for Yangtze River cruises. This proud mountain city was the capital of China during World War II when the American Volunteer Air Group, the "Flying Tigers," was based here. Visit the Stilwell Museum dedicated to "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell, commander of American forces in China, Burma and India during World War II. Today, Chongqing is China's most important inland industrial city in China, and is particularly lively at night with its neon-lit Liberation Monument.
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Dongting Lake
Dongting Lake is the second largest freshwater lake in China, famous for its scenic beauty and tea production. On the lake is Yueyang Tower, a graceful pavilion made famous by popular poems dedicated to its beauty.
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Fengdu
Called the "City of Ghosts" because of its temples filled with statues of demons, Fengdu boasts a population of 740,000 and features 70 temples, the oldest dating to the Tang dynasty, many climbing the Mingshan Hill above the city.
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Taking a trip into the hully karst landscape of Guilin at sunset is one of the most breath-taking site in China. Guilin by the banks of the Li River in southern China is justifiably considered to be one of the most beautiful in China. Today, Guilin attracts innumerable tourists because of its unique landscape.
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Huangshan
Huangshan City is a region with a long history and splendid cultures. Shexian and Yixian Counties were established more than 2,000 years ago. In the Jin Dynasty (265-420) Huangshan City was called Xin' an Shire. Until the Song Dynasty (960-1279) when the name was changed to Huizhou, the city was famed for Hui businessmen, Hui carvings, Xin'an school of painting, Xin'an medicine, Hui architecture, Hui cuisine, and Hui opera (one of the tonalities of Beijing Opera). Also notable are the scenic spots of Mt.Huangshan - a key point of interest in ancient China, the Tangyue Memorial Archway, the Tunxi Ancient Street and the ancient villages of Yixian County . Historians at home and abroad regard Huangshan City as a natural history and culture museum of China.
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Jingdezhan
Located in northeastern Jiangxi Province, Jingdezhen is one of the famous historic and cultural cities in China. It has a 1,000-year history of making porcelain, and has long been known as the "capital of porcelain." During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the white-glazed porcelain produced in Jingdezhen was called "artificial jadeware."
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Jingzhou
Jingzhou has been a transportation hub and distribution center of commodities since ancient times. As early as 6,000 years ago human activities began in Jingzhou, creating the Daxi culture. The ancient city of Jingzhou is what is now Jiangling District of Jingzhou City. It is situated in the middle reaches of the Chang Jiang, a strategic place of military importance since ancient times. Jingzhou was the capital of 20 kings over 411 years of the State of Chu during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States of the Zhou Dynasty. The city is said to have been built with earth by Guan Yu in the Three Kingdoms period. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties period, it was the capital of Qihedi, Liangyuandi, the Later Liang; in Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, it was the capital of the Nanping State.
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Lesser Three Gorges
Sandouping village is the site of the monumental Three Gorges Dam project, the most ambitious engineering project of its kind. Here you will learn about the immense construction project and its effects on the people and landscapes of China. This hydroelectric project is planned for completion in 2009 when the river will rise to a final 575 feet above sea level, displacing 1.25 million people, submerging 13 cities, 140 towns and 1,352 villages and flooding the narrow gorges of the Yangtze's tributaries, creating a lake behind the dam and smoothing out the shoals and rapids in the river. China's new dam promises to yield the equivalent power of 15 nuclear plants as well as control the centuries-old problem of devastating Yangtze floods. While the dam has changed certain aspects of this experience, the gorges remain an impressive natural phenomenon.
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Mount Jiu Hua
Mt. Jiu Hua, meaning "the Mountain of the Nine Lotuses," is a sacred place for Buddhist pilgrims was established as one of the four principal Buddhist Mountains and is renowned as "the most picturesque mountain in the southeast China." The area is full of "ridges and peaks, exotic-shaped stones, gushing fountains, roaring waterfalls, and clear streams." Of the temples housed on Mt. Jiuhua "Huacheng Temple" is the oldest but the Wannian Temple contains the "Corporeal Body Hall" where the mummified remains of Monk Wu Xia, wearing a "lotus-flower-shaped crown and a vermilion kasaya," is still well preserved after more than 350 years.
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Nanjing
Man has lived here since paleolithic times, and myriad dynasties have left their stamp on this lovely, 6,000 year old city. As China´s national capital no fewer than seven times, Nanjing is a bastion of dynastic relics. Many of the 14th-century Ming gates along with sections of the original wall still stand.
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Shanghai
Post-Mao-era Shanghai is light-years away from its restrained past (and even farther away from the equally unrestrained reputation it held for a long time before that). Today's Shanghai is firmly focused on the future, a bustling metropolis with a revitalized port and a sizzling art/shopping/restaurant scene that rivals even the most cosmopolitan of its Western cousins. Anyone with an eye for the global stage just has to see this city.
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Shibaozhai
Shibaozhai, Literally means Stone Treasure Fortress, Located in ZhongCounty, at the south bank of the Yangtze River, 278 km away from Chongqing, it was first built in Qing Dynasty in 1750. Shibaozhai is one historic site that will look much different in 2009. When the lake formed by the Three Gorges Dam is completed, most of this bluff will be under water and the temple will sit close to the lake's edge on a newly formed island. The wooden architecture stands on the riverside. It is built by catch upon a rectangular rock with sheer cliffs with a height of 56 meters and 12 stories. And every floor of the wooden structure contains interesting artifacts. Each of the 12 floors of Shibaozhai is dedicated to a famous general of the Three Kingdoms period (220-265AD), a local scholar or a renowned Chinese poet.
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Suzhou
Suzhou is a city on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Lake Taihu in the province of Jiangsu, China. The city is renowned for its beautiful stone bridges, pagodas, and meticulously designed gardens, which has become a great tourist attraction. Suzhou has also been an important center for China's silk industry since the Song Dynasty (960-1279), and continues to hold that prominent position today. It is part of the Golden Triangle region.
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Three Gorges Dam
Sandouping village is the site of the monumental Three Gorges Dam project, the most ambitious engineering project of its kind. Here you will learn about the immense construction project and its effects on the people and landscapes of China. This hydroelectric project is planned for completion in 2009 when the river will rise to a final 575 feet above sea level, displacing 1.25 million people, submerging 13 cities, 140 towns and 1,352 villages and flooding the narrow gorges of the Yangtze's tributaries, creating a lake behind the dam and smoothing out the shoals and rapids in the river. China's new dam promises to yield the equivalent power of 15 nuclear plants as well as control the centuries-old problem of devastating Yangtze floods. While the dam has changed certain aspects of this experience, the gorges remain an impressive natural phenomenon.
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Wuhan
This capital of Hubei Province is noted as the most important site of the republican revolution and as a gateway city to the Yangtze Gorges. Visit the Hubei Provincial Museum with its collection of elaborately decorated bronze bells. The city also boasts the remarkable five-tiered Yellow Crane Tower and the elegant Guiyuan Buddhist Temple.
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Xian
If you're looking to broaden your knowledge of Chinese civilization, you've come to the right place. Located in the heart of China, Xian (or Xi'an) is listed among Athens, Cairo and Rome as a major ancient civilization capital. It's home to many important historic treasures, such as the City Wall, remains from the Neolithic Banpo Village (dating as far back as 8000 BC!) and some of the most beautiful pagodas you're likely to see in China.
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Yichang
Yichang, a major city of Hubei Province, located in the dividing line between the upriver and middle reaches of Yangtze River and gorges and plains, it is the port for transferring in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and a cultural city with a long history as well.
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