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The Potala Palace

For most of people who take a tour to Tibet, the Potala Palace is their top 1 choice there.

It is the highest and most majestic palace in the world, and it is the most important symbol of Lhasa and even Tibet. It was built by the Tubo dynasty, Zanpu Songzan in order to marry the Princess of Wencheng and Princess Bhrikuti. Over the past 1300, there have been nine Tibetan kings and 10 Dalai Lama who have been here for administration.

“Potala” is Sanskrit and translated as “Putuo”. It originally refers to the residence of the Goddess of Mercy. The Potala Palace is also a holy place in the hearts of all pilgrims. It is mainly composed of the Red Palace and the White Palace. The highest red palace in the middle is an important place for religious ceremonies. The surrounding White Palace is place mainly for the Dalai Lama’s life and political activities.

There are a large collection of historical relics collected and preserved in the Potala Palace, including pagodas, statues, murals, Thangka, and scriptures. The most striking of them is the eight spiritual towers of the Dalai Lama since the Fifth World (the Sixth Dalai Lai Cangyang Gyatso has no spiritual tower), which is a palace of art. There are three locations for taking the photos of the Potala Palace: the Yaowangshan Observation Deck on the southwest side of the Potala Palace, the artificial lakeside on the Zongjiao Lukang Park, and the Potala Palace Square.

Official telephone number of the Potala Palace: 0891-6339615;

Referred time needed: 1-3 hours;

How to go to the Potala Palace:

Take the No. 8 bus and get off at the Yaowangshan Farmers Market Station; if you are departing from Beijing East Road, you can walk to it.

Ticket:

Ordinary ticket: 200 RMB (Monday to Sunday during May 1st – October 31st)

Ordinary ticket: 100 RMB (Monday to Sunday during November 1st – April 30th of the following year)

Free of charge: children under 1.2 meters.

Open time:

09:00 a.m. – 14:00 p.m. (Monday to Sunday during January 1st – December 31st.

Tickets for the Potala Palace during the peak season are difficult to buy, and time does not allow you to queue up to buy tickets overnight if you are in a hurry. So, you can book tickets and guides for the Potala Palace online in advance. The whole process will be very satisfactory and the time is reasonable. The tour guide is also very good, but the history of Tibet is not something you can learn by visiting the Potala Palace as you need to learn slowly. Anyway, Potala Palace is surely a great place for you to take a visit.

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Qutang Gorge

The Three Gorges has three large canyons from west to east. The Baidi City to the Tunxi section is called the Qutang Gorge. The Wushan to Badong Guandukou section is called the Wu Gorge. The Xiangxi of Zigui to Nanjinguan section is called the Xiling Gorge. There are many cultural sites, monuments and buildings left over. You can take a cruise on the Three Gorges and enjoy the Three Gorges scenery along the way.

Qutang Gorge is known as being ” powerful”, also called the Kui gorge. It is the shortest gorge of the Three Gorges, but it is the most majestic section. The Qiangtang Gorge is 8 kilometers long. It starts from Baidi Mountain in Fengjie County in the west and reaches Daxi Town in Wushan County in the east. It is 1,200 meters above sea level, even if the water level rises to 175 meters. The absolute height is still more than 1,100 meters, and the momentum of “Kui Men Xiong Tian Xia” is still the same as before.

There are many scenic spots and historical sites in Qutang Gorge. There are Fengjie Ancient City, Eight Diagrams, Stone Sentinel Maze and Yufu Tower on the upper reaches of the gorge narrows. There are Baidi City, Ancient Pland Path and Bellows gorge on the top of the northern bank of the Gorge. There are powder walls, Mengliang Ladder and Daxi cultural ruins on the south bank, etc. In the south bank not far from the lower part of the Bellows gorge, there is a strange and unusual mountain peak that protrudes from the riverside. It is called “Rhinoceros looking at the moon”, which is very vivid. The site of the DuFu Thatched Cottage is just a few kilometers away from Baidi City, and it is a place where poets linger.

Official telephone number of the Qutang Gorge: 023-56528366

Referred time needed: more than 3 hours

How to get to Qutang Gorge:

Qutang Gorge needs to take a boat to have a tour. It will take 7 hours from Chongqing Chaotian Wharf by boat to Fengjie New County, then transfers to Baidi City by bus, or you can directly purchase the Three Gorges cruise tickets in Chongqing, Wuhan or Yichang.

Ticket: free.

Opening time: all day.

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The Terracotta Army Museum

The Terracotta Army Museum is divided into three pits. After going inside, keep in mind that don’t take photos with the terracotta warriors, the tour guide will tell you that after all it is a funerary, and it is a bit suffocating.

The Terracotta Warriors developed today are only three over ten thousand of that very year.

The first pit is the largest of the three pits. The tour guide will also tell you that the terracotta warriors here are all single eyelids. It is said that Qin Shihuang thought that the people with double eyelids are more serious. If you want to be a high official, you can’t be double eyelids. But Qin Shihuang himself is a person with double eyelids.

The head and body of each terracotta warrior are separated, and the high collar is used to cover the gap between the joints.

All the terracotta warriors are higher than the actual height of the Qin Dynasty soldiers. The people in the Qin Dynasty are generally around 160-170CM high, while the terracotta warriors are generally above 172cm. The reason is that Qin Shihuang wanted to create a feeling of grandeur.

There is no large-scale excavation in the No. 2 pit, and it is also a soil slope. There is a cabinet in the back showing the typical terracotta figures. The wrinkles of the collar, the elaboration of the beard and the eyebrows, all show the fineness of the sculptor. The hair is particularly clear, the contours of the ears, the eyes are engraved, the lines of the nails and the palms are all there, the waistband of the hemp rope, and the print of the soles, also are showing the meticulousness and difficulty of the carving.

The third pit is the command post, and the right is the place where divination is. You can find some tassels for divination and the place where the ancient prayer war was won.

Tickets: 150 Yuan/person for terracotta warriors, and people under 16 years old or above 70 years old is free of charge.

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Li River

Li River is the soul of Guilin, its landscape is the essence of Guilin scenery, and it is the must-visit attraction of Guilin tour.

Official telephone number of The Li River: 0773-2825502

Reference for time needed: more than 3 hours.

How to go to The Li River:

1.Full drifting: Since the current Li River ticket is basically purchased by the travel agent, few tourists go to the Li River Water Transport Company to buy tickets, and the water transport company does not have an outlet for the ticket sales. Therefore, there is currently no Public transportation from the city to the pier which is convenient for individual passengers in Guilin city.

(1) If the tourists purchase the tickets for the Li River through other channels, they must go to the terminal by themselves. The only way is to take a taxi. The Mopanshan Wharf and Zhujiang Wharf are 20km away from the urban area, and the fare is about 100 yuan.

(2) If the tourist purchases the ticket through the travel agency and the hotel agent, the travel agency will charge a fare of 35 yuan/person and the tour guide service fee, so the tourists can wait at the hotel, and there are coaches and guides to pick you up directly from the hotel to the pier, which saves you the trouble of getting on the bus.

2, The essence of drifting (ie go to Yangdi or Xingping for drifting):

Departure from Yangshuo: (1) At Yangshuo North Bus Station, there is a shuttle bus from Yangshuo to Yangdi Wharf (the license plate is marked with “Yangdi”, and pick up and drop off at any time), starting at about 6:40 a.m. every day, and there will be the bus for every 20 minutes. And the journey takes about 1 hour, the fare is 9.5 yuan / person; (2) if there are more people, they can choose rend a van from Yangshuo County city to Yangdi dock, about 160-180 yuan for generally 6-7 people;

Departure from Guilin: (1) take the “Guilin to Yangshuo shuttle bus” in Guilin Railway Station Square, get off at Yangdi intersection (not arrive at Yangdi Wharf), the time course is about 1 -1.5 hours, the fare is about 15 yuan, then transfer to the minibus from Yangshuo to Yangdi Wharf at the intersection, the fare is about 3 yuan / person, about 15 minutes to arrive; (2) take the bus to Yangshuo, Lipu, Pingle and Gongcheng at Guilin Bus Station (15 minutes  walks from the railway station square), to Yangdi intersection. The method is the same as (1).

Anyway, it will much convenient for you if you join the tourist group for your Li River tour. Just enjoy.

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Lingering Garden

Suzhou has never lacked the unique tone that the regions south of the Yangtze River exclusively has. The old city of Suzhou is not big. If it is the first time to come to Suzhou, the garden must be included in your itinerary, such as The Humble Administrator’s Garden, Lion Grove Garden, Lingering Garden, Net Master Garden, etc. if you are interested in history, then you can go to Tiger Hill and Hanshan Temple. If there is enough time, don’t forget to choose a few ancient towns nearby to have a visit. The famous ones are Zhouzhuang and Tongli Ancient Towns. The nearest one is the MuDu Ancient Town, even if it is just in a daze, it is good choice for you. If you love the scenery between mountains and rivers, then go to Taihu Lake or go to Tianping Mountain. Dongshan and Xishan are unpopular, but the scenery is absolutely stunning there.

Anyway, among all the gardens in Suzhou, the Lingering Garden is the most preferred for so many visitors. Built in the Ming Dynasty, the Lingering Garden is also known as the Four Famous Gardens of China with Suzhou Humble Administrator’s Garden, Beijing Summer Palace, and Chengde Mountain Resort. It is well known for its exquisite architectural design and numerous stone buildings. In the garden, you can enjoy four different views of mountains and waters, fields, mountains and forest, gardens. It is divided into four scenic spots: the middle, east, west and north garden. The two walls of the corridor that runs through the scenic spot are the famous “legacy of the Lingering Garden”. The central part is famous for its water features, and it is the essence of the whole garden; the western part is known for the rockery scenery, which is the highest point of the whole park; the north is idyllic spot; the Yunyun Peak in the eastern part is one of the three wonders in the Lingering Garden gardens.

Official telephone number of The Lingering Garden: 0512-65517340; 0512-65579466; 0512-65337903.

Reference for time needed: 1-3 hours.

How to go to The Lingering Garden:

Take the tourism line 1, line 3, line 5 or No. 6, 7, 22, 33, 44, 70, 85, 88, 91, 317 directly to the Lingering Garden, or you can take the No.101, No. 103 to the Guanqian street station and transfer to the tourism line 1.

Tickets:

Ordinary ticket: 55 Yuan for adult ticket (Monday to Sunday)

Ordinary ticket: 45 Yuan for adult ticket (Monday to Sunday, October 31 – April 15 of the following year)

Opening hours:

07:30-17:30 (Monday – Sunday from January 1st – December 31st)

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West Lake

The West Lake, located in the west of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, is one of the first national key scenic spots in China and one of China’s top ten scenic spots. It is one of the main ornamental freshwater lakes in mainland China. This West Lake is very suitable for those couple who are falling in love to have a visit for dating. How can you not go to West Lake when you are at Hangzhou? A lot of people think that the fall of the West Lake is the most beautiful, although there are no spring blossoms, the colorful leaves can bring out the beauty of the West Lake. However, if you are not color control, you can also try to shoot the effect like those Chinese painting. Walking around the West Lake under the comfortable sunshine, looking at the broken bridge, the crowd is moving, but you will feel the bridge is even smaller.

The West Lake is very big. It will take not just one day or two days to complete appreciating the ten scenes of the West Lake. The quiet West Lake is like a girl who is lying still, looking green and beautiful. The West Lake is surrounded by mountains on three sides, the middle culverts are clear, the lake is wrapped in mountains, and the mountains and lakes are so beautiful that they complement each other. The beauty of the West Lake is that it is glittering in the enjoyable weather, and it is hazy in the rain, but it can be beautiful scenery no matter it is in the rain, snow, cloudy day or sunny day.

If you come to West Lake in the earlier summer, you will find that the lotus leaf is only a little big, but it has the special charm. The impression that the West Lake gave a lot of tourist was that it is a place full of poetry and painting.

The broken bridge is continuous, the lonely mountain is not alone, and the long bridge is not long. The West Lake worth a visit. If you want to take a boat on the lake, do remember to bring cash.

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Badaling Great Wall

It is said that you cannot be a real hero without climbing the Great Wall. For this saying, mostly it is because the Great Wall is the most famous attraction In China, and even one of the well-known attractions all over the world. And when visiting the Great Wall, the Badaling Great Wall is the most preferred choices for visitors.

You can take the bus No. 877 at Deshengmen directly to the Badaling Great Wall. It is said that there will be some fake No.877 bus nearby, and after you arrive at the Deshengmen, ask the uniformed personnel, and the bus stop is in the north of Deshengmen. When the bus is full of people, it will depart. After you get on the bus, you can buy the ticket. Normally the ticket will cost 12 Yuan/person without the transportation card, but if you have the transportation card, you just need to pay 6 Yuan, and the card will be swiped both when you are getting on the bus and getting off the bus. The journey takes about 1 hour and 10 minutes and it goes directly to the Badaling ticket office. There will be a commentator explaining the situation of the Badaling Great Wall attractions, and their main task is to recommend the mountaineering method of the pulley. The ticket for the Badaling Great Wall is 40RMB/person, the cost of the cable car is calculated separately.

There are three ways to go up the Badaling Great Wall: walking, taking a pulley and taking the cable car. You can consult people around, the entrance for walking is 15 minutes from the ticket office. You need to turn over a mountain. The guide will tell you that the entrance is far from the ticket office. It is not far away in fact, as long as you are not with the elderly and children. Individuals can basically climb from the bottom of the mountain to the top of the mountain. The pulley is to take you from the bottom of the mountain to the No. 4 beacon tower, and then you need to climb from No. 4 to No. 8 floor, and the round-trip fare is 100 yuan per person. You couldn’t see the scenery on both sides, and it won’t take long to get to the No. 4 beacon tower.

The cable car is about half an hour from the ticket office, and the fare is 140 Yuan. The cable car will send you to the No. 6 beacon tower, and then you need climb two more floors. If you go to Badaling Great Wall, you can buy tickets at the scene without having to buy it online in advance. In addition, many of Beijing’s attractions do not support online payment, and only accept cash, so when you are to play in Beijing, so do remember just keep a certain amount of cash in your wallet.

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Shanghai Disneyland

Going to Shanghai Disneyland can’t take a selfie stick and a large bottle of water/beverage, or too many snacks. Be sure to bring a cup, preferably with a little drink. Because there are a lot of free water available for you to drink in Disney, but it costs 10 Yuan to buy ice water and 15 Yuan to buy drinks. After you take the tickets, you must keep them. Don’t think about taking pictures when you enter the Shanghai Disneyland, and don’t go slowly, be sure to run, run to the left, go to Adventure Island and enjoy flying to the horizon, this is one of Shanghai Disneyland’s most popular projects.

Download the Shanghai Disneyland App one day in advance. The app can tell you the time and place of the show, the queue time of each project, and the navigation. The most important thing is to grab the fast pass on the APP.

For Shanghai Disneyland’s specialty drinks, the one so many visitors bought is Star Diane dew, and it is the grape soda taste. After watching the performance, you can have lunch, it is really expensive to eat in Shanghai Disneyland. After having lunch, you can go to see the indoor performances of the Pirates of the Caribbean, this is also very interesting!

Many people say that visitors of Shanghai Disney are really too many and have a bad experience. But if you play there from 7 am to 10 pm, and spend 15 hours in Shanghai Disneyland, you will really feel satisfied and very happy.

Before you come to Shanghai Disneyland, you must be mentally prepared. You must understand that people will definitely be a lot. Don’t worry, and don’t feel upset, especially in the summer, you must know that it will be very hot. Do a good job of sun protection. When you are hot, going to watch the indoor performance is relieved. It is very necessary to do the travel strategy in advance. Some people said that the Disney queue is very scary, but it all depends, when there are not so many visitors, it won’t take long time to queue, for some people, the one that they queued for the longest time is only more than 30 minutes.

You’d better have always maintained a good attitude in Shanghai Disneyland, and play for what you would like to play, and take pictures as you like. Happiness is the most important thing there.

When you enter Shanghai Disneyland, the staff is very eager to say hello to you. When you leave the Shanghai Disneyland, the staff also warmly said goodbye to you. So just enjoy yourself in Shanghai Disneyland.

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The Summer Palace

Before having a visit to the Summer Palace, it’s better for you to check some reviews from other visitors experience there before so as to have simple understanding on The Summer Palace.

The Summer Palace is different from what I originally imagined, as it needs to climb, and it has to climb very high. There is also a legendary old tree at the top of Wanshou Mountain. This trip, I climb and visit the three mountains and five parks, really so enjoyable while feeling tired.

The Summer Palace is very large. Although the Kunming Lake occupies three quarters, the rest is still very large. There are many attractions in the scenic spot, it is easy to get lost. Really, the royal garden is very different. There are a lot of guides inside the Summer Palace, who are a bit annoying. However, the scenery is really beautiful. Thanks to Cixi, who spent a lot of money to rebuild it after it has been burned down for several times, so that we can appreciate it today again.

Tickets are also very cheap for the Summer Palace, but there are a few scenic spots tickets that need to be bought separately. We are afraid of trouble so that we bought the joint ticket. In fact, it is not so necessary to buy the joint ticket. It is not that the point of buying alone is not good, it’s just because you don’t have enough time to visit all the scenic spots within 1 day. We have visited four-fifths of all the spots, we have tried our best, and the other part is too far away at the other end of the lake, so we did not go there, and we have not chosen to take a boat (it can’t easily disembark by boat), and we walked all the way. The scenery on the top of the mountain is great, followed by the 17-hole bridge, Nanhu Island, and the West Bank. They are very beautiful. This is what the fall should look like.

How do you think about the Summer Palace? Just don’t forget adding this scenic spot to your Beijing itinerary when you are planning your travel to Beijing, it will leave you fantastic memory in China.

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The Bund

There are 33 buildings on the Bund, some of which are still expropriated by some units. For example, the Bund No. 13 Customs Building, which was built in the 16th year of the Republic of China (1927), is still the residence of Shanghai Customs; the Bund No. 14 Bank of Communications, is the youngest architecture on the Bund, which was completed in the 37th year of the Republic of China (1948) and has been used by the Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions since its establishment. Others are the headquarters of high-ranking banks and insurance companies and high-end hotels, such as the Bund No.1 Asiatic Building, which was built in 1913; the Nisshin Building, also known as the Maritime Building, was built in the 14th year of the Republic of China (1925), and it was originally the building of Nissin company; The HSBC Building, also known as the City Hall, was built in the 14th year of the Republic of China (1925); the British General Assembly, 110.7-foot bar cabinet is the longest in the East, and now it is the Dongfeng Hotel; The Bund No. 19 Confucius Hotel Building today is the Peace Hotel; the Bund No. 22 Shaxun Building, was built in the 18th year of the Republic of China (1929) and is the tallest building on the Bund, but today it also belongs to the Peace Hotel. The Bund No. 3, No. 6, and No. 18 were refurbished and developed into high-end leisure shopping and entertainment venues, which are the coordinates of Shanghai’s luxury consumption.

The Bund is a landmark in Shanghai. It would be a shame to come to Shanghai without looking at the Bund. The beauty of the Bund can be enjoyed in both the day and night. During the day, you can see the buildings of the country on the edge of Pudong Zhongshan East Road. You can see the modern skyscrapers in Pudong Lujiazui. Beautiful river views can be enjoyed at night.

It is very convenient to go to the Bund. Going down the Nanjing East Road of Metro Line 2, you can take a short walk. You can also drive by car. There are parking lots under the Bund. The Bund can be visited from start to finish. If you have the strength, you can go north to Huangpu Park and Waibaidu Bridge. To the south, you can go to the 16-berth wharf and then all the way to Shanghai Old Street and the Old City Temple. You can buy a tour of Pujiang, or you can spend 4RMB on a ferry boat, which is awesome!