The well-know Great Wall, Forbidden City, Summer Palace and Temple of Heaven depict the long and colorful history of Beijing. The waning residential Beijing Hutongs have transformed into pedestrian streets with trendy shops and bars.
Shanghai has become a worldwide metropolis in the last fifty years during last century. From the Bund along the Huangpu River, you can see the city’s rapid development, demonstrated by the great changes of the skyline on the Pudong side.
Xi'an is the shining pearl on the Yellow River along which the ancient Chinese culture originated. The astonishing Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Emperor Qin Shi Huang were excavated in this city and the famous Silk Road started here via brilliant Dunhuang to Europe thousands of years ago.
Winding through eleven provinces and cities, the Yangtze River is the longest river in China. A Yangtze River cruise from Chongqing to Yichang will be an enjoyable holiday with endless green mountains. Comparatively, the picturesque Li River in Guilin is calmer, and the beautiful West Lake in Hangzhou is well cultivated, which is appealing to nature lovers.
Various folk customs and landscapes also formed along these rivers. The cradle of the Yangtze River is on the mysterious Qinghai-Tibet Plateau where you could see the holy Potala Palace, snow-capped Mt. Everest and heavenly Namtso Lake. When the river reaches the lower Sichuan Basin, there are cute giant pandas and multicolored water of the Jiuzhai Valley waiting for you. The Yellow Mountain situated at the lower reaches of the Yangtze River was included in the UNESCO’s World Cultural and Natural Heritage Site List in 1990.
