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.