Beijing: Cherry Valley Botanical Garden

The Cherry Valley is situated about 500 meters northwest of Wofo Temple, the foot of Shaoan Mountain in Haidian District, Beijing. The Cherry Valley is also called Cherry Valley Botanical Garden. It is a mountain stream valley between two mountains. It has been said in Ming Dynasty, many cherry trees were planted along the both sides of river valley, hence its name “Cherry Valley”. Nowadays, the cherry trees are no longer as lush as it were before, but the name comes down with generations.

In addition to the cherry trees, there are peach trees, apricot trees, winter jasmines,Malus spectabilis, tree peonies, Chinese herbaceous peony, blooming one after another. The gorgeous flowers and gurgling stream make the cherry valley an arcadia. What’s more, the valley is also dotted with some historical and cultural landscapes, such as Wuhua Temple relic, Retreat Valley Pavilion (Tuigu Pavilion in Chinese), former residence of the famous painter in Qing Dynasty, Zhou Yang’an and the former house of the great writer Cao Xueqin in Qing Dynasty, therefore the valley also named “Retreat Valley” or “Garden of Zhou Family”.

In the valley, there is a teahouse called Clear Spring. Tourists can stop by and have a taste of the sweet spring water.

Qinling Mountain: Daye Lake

In the previous blogs posts, I have mentioned a few beautiful mountains of Beijing during the Beijing Xian tour, today I will introduce you another important mountain in Shaanxi Province—Mt. Qinling.

With an elevation of 3,590 meters above sea level, Daye Lake is the most highest alpine lake in China’s mainland. But it is much more a mysterious and quieter lake of immortal.

The depth of the lake is a mystery. The bone-chilling cold and the changing climate make it more difficult to dive in Daye Lake than in the South Pole and the North Pole. For years, many people have tried to test the depth of this “lake of immortal”, but all return without accomplishing anything, and some even sacrificed for their lives.

How did the lake come into being? It is still a mystery. Because no one has tested the geological structure of the lakebed. It is generally acknowledged that Daye Lake is developed from a glacier-fed lake of the Quaternary ice age 60,000 years ago.

The living beings of the lake is unknown up to now. Experts have conducted various researches to the lake only to find there is no fishes or shrimps living in. But legend has it that there is a kind of bird that will eat the sundries on the lake away, therefore it is called “the water cleaner ”.

In order to experience the so-called mystery, during this Xian tour package , I went to the mysterious and tranquil “lake of immortal”.

Xian Snacks

In the last day of my Beijing-Xian tour, I choose to have a free stroke in Xian. Located at 100 meters west of the Bell Tower, crossing the Door of Drum Tower, a famous Muslem historical Street is presented in front of me. In the quarter, there are 10 mosques in different scale. There are more than 20 thousand Muslins living here and keeping their religious traditions and customs.

 No matter you are local people or tourists travel Xian, you must hear the fame of this famous food street.The restaurants here are all handed down by old generations, surpassing others by exquisite cooking skills and good service. The cold noodle is one of the famous Shaanxi snacks with special taste. It is suitable for people in all ranges which makes it spread to other place of the country and become popular in the whole country. The cold noodle has various kinds and can be divided into Rice Noodle and Flavor Noodle according to different ingredients.

Pomegranate, Chinese date and walnut are local specialties of Xian.

Beijing: Spidermen’s Summer Day

It was sunny that day. I was invited to go the Miyun creeks with several “spidermen” together. After entering a valley, we only to see bees fly back and forth, the flowers sea bloom like brocade, what a beautiful scene! By the way, if you are an adventure lover, Miyun scenic spot is a must-see attraction in the Beijing to Xian tour.

In a shade of the valley, the spidermen took off their coats and get dressed with professional climbing gear. After the chief had fixed the rope on the top of the rock wall and issued an order, all spidermen began to rush up like a swarm of hornets. The rock wall were dotted with different colors, just like iridescent clouds. Unfortunately, I had not been trained in this rock climbing, so I had to stand there and watch them. When I was enjoying the various expressions and postures, a sudden noise on the right side came to my ears. I went there to find out a Russian spider-woman was in a obstacle. She stayed there and just couldn’t move a step. Everybody began to worry about her and offer advices and encourages to her. After about one-hour adjustment and inner struggle, the Russian spider-woman still did not change the mind to head for the top. A new journey started.

Of course, when you travel Xian, Huashan Mountain will be absolutely a perfect place to satisfy your desire for adventure.

Dong Jiao Min Hang Catholic Church

Dong Jiao Min Hang Catholic church, also called St. Michael's Church, which means ‘who is like the God’ in Chinese. It was first built in the reign of Guangxu (1901) and was completed at the year of 1904. Built and designed by a French missionary, the church remained me a similar French built Catholic church in Baoding. What is surprising is that the history records prove the two churches started their construction in the same year. For those catholics, this church is a must-see tourist attraction in their Beijing Xian tours.

This is the last Catholic church built by foreigners in Beijing. It was used to be a place where foreigners in embassy district gather to worship the God. Later, Chinese people who believed in God could come the church to pray.

Since built, it was well preserved without experiencing the burning, flooding and war. After Chinese Liberation, the church became the Taijichang primary school. After the school moved out in 1986, the religion activities were going on again in the church. The building is located at the north of Hutong with its door facing south. The main body was made up by two stories on the ground and one story under ground. It is a rectangular building with the east-west symmetry.

In my Xian tour, I heard that there are two Catholic churches which are called Wuxing Street Catholic Church( local people used to call it “the south church”) and Tangfang Street Catholic Church(the north church) respectively.

Memory about Silver Mountain & Pagoda Forest

The last stop in my Beijing to Xian one day tour is the Silver Mountain & Pagoda Forest. The Pagoda Forest is situated in the mountains, 30 kilometers north of Changping District, and 50 kilometers away of downtown Beijing. It lies on a mountain which is covered with covered with snow, just like silvers, hence the name Siver Mountain.

It has been said that the famous eminent Deng Yinfeng in Tang Dynasty once came here to do preaches, to commemorate him, the following monks built a 4 meter high stone pagoda which is named “Zhuanyao Pagoda”. During Da’an period of Liao Dynasty, the grand Dayan Saint Temple was built below the middle peak of Silver Mountain. Now except the Dayan Saint Temple, there are also many other famous temples such as Laoye Temple, Tiebi Temple, Songpeng Temple and Qingjing Nunnery etc. According to the records, there were over 500 monks living here, after their death, many tomb pagodas were built, most of which were Lama pagodas shaped like inversed bowls. Their sizes varied from about one meter to about a dozen meter with their ranks and status. I have seen many pagodas in Xian travel, but no one can be compared with the Pagoda Forest.

Now, with 18 pagodas remaining, the Siver Mountain and Pagoda Forest is a large scenic spot of historic interest.

A Bite of Beijing: Restaurant Guideline

In most Chinese people’s eyes, Arab is a mysterious world that beyonds our reaches. However, in the remote eastern metropolis, there is a authentic Arabian restaurant, that is the first Middle eastern gourmet restaurant — A Thousand and One Night Arabian Restaurant, standing there to tell visitors the legend of thousand years.

The A Thousand and One Night Restaurant is located in the northwestern corner of Changhong Bridge in the east third ring of Chaoyang District, Beijing, China’s capital city. Lying in east street of Sanlitun Bar street, the restaurant is embodied with Arabian culture. The archy doors and windows are decorated with Arabian cultural elements, with pictures of fairy tales painted on. The inner house of restaurant is a vaulted large sand sculpture space. The splendid exotic colors provide you a strong visual perception. If you are interested in Arabian culture, then when you join a Beijing Xian tour, A Thousand and One Night restaurant is strongly recommended.

 On one side of the restaurant, there is a low stage with a dancing image of Persian people as the background. At lunch time, dinners can enjoy their meals in elegant piano music; while when night falls and neon lights bright, here will be a world of song and dance. Sexy Persian girl dancers sway their gentle body, walking through the tables and dinners and interacting with them, which is really attractive. But if you want to find an Arabian restaurant when you join a Xian tour, it may be so easy, because there are little such restaurant in Xian.

Yunnan: Meili Snow Mountain

This summer we had a Beijing to Xian day tour. When winter comes, we travel to Yunan to enjoy the comfortable weather. Living in Feilai Temple is a coincidence, while it is much more lucky to see the gorgeous night scenery of Meili Snow Mountain. We were supposed to live in Deqin County according to plan, but the hotel was full, which meaned we had to choose another hotel to live in, in that case, we must drive to Feilai Temple by ourselves. On the way to Feilai Temple, when we saw the starry sky, all of the upset things have gone away from our minds.

Unexpectedly, the whether is such good that the bright moonlight set off the sky to be deep blue, with several pieces of white clouds scattering in the sky, Meili Snow mountain standing in the skyline, magnificently and gracefully. On my journey, I had seen a lot of snow mountain, such as Mount. Taibai in Xian tour, Mount. Qomolangma in Tibet, but among which Meili Snow Mountain was the most beautiful one. With the thirteen prince peaks rolling together, it looks very majestic and overwhelming. Lying in the world famous “Three Parallel Rivers Region”of Jinsha River, Lantsang River and Nujiang River, Meili Snow Mountain is in the middle of Nushan Ranges. North to Adonggeni Mountain and south to Biluo Snow Mountain, the main peak of Meili Snow Mountain, Kawagebo is honored as “the No.1 Saint Mountain in Tibet”by some people.

Beijing Hutong

Many of my friends traveling in Beijing will ask me a question: “do you think it is worth for us to visit Hutong?” I do not know how to answer them. Indeed, known as the soul of old Beijing, Hutong is the best place to experience Beijing. Unfortunately, the real authentic Hutong has been demolished and disappeared forever in the highly increasing city contribution.

At the moment you are walking in the street, thousands of Hutong are been reconstructed. Many Siheyuans in the Hutong are replaced by row upon row of high buildings and large mansions. Facing the disappearing ancient Hutong which symbolize the culture and history of Beijing, what can we retain from the modernization? Beijing Hutong used to be lively decades years ago. Walking in deep of the Hutong, you can see dried trees weep over roofs and spread to the sky. Inside the 4-yuan hair cut shops, Hutong hairdressers are busy in cutting hairs. Lying at the lane entrance, the vegetable market was always crowded and noisy.

The winter Hutong sends out an atmosphere of obsolescence. Under the invading of cold air, it looks solemn and quiet. While as, at the end of Hutongs, you can feel the bustling and extravagant of Beijing city.