Influenced by Heavy Rain, Longmen Grottoes Closed Today

News from Luoyang Net, 25 July, 2010. The reporter get the news from the Manage Bureau of Longmen Grottoes that, due to the influence of the heavy rainfall on 24 July, the water level of Yihe River rose, and has overflew the passage for the visitors in the scenic area. To make better preparation for the potential flood, and to make sure of the safety of the visitors, the Manage Committee of Longmen Cultural Tourism District have decided to temporarily close the Longmen Grottoes Scenic Area and the night visiting program, on July 25,2010. The concrete re-opening up date will be disclosed on the official website of the Longmen Grottoes Scenic Area. The telephone number for consultation is 0379-65980972.
The Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang is a very famous tourist site for China tours. It is in Henan Province. The Longmen Grottos are one of the three most important Buddhist sculptures and carvings in China, situated on the bank of the Yihe River, some 12 kilometers from Luoyang, about a 30 minutes drive. The Longmen Grottos are of great historical and cultural value. The site has been listed in the World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO. To protect such a valuable heritage site, the Chinese government as well as some influential world cultural organizations is trying hard to share this site with the whole world. A large-scale renovation was undertaken in 2003 to keep the grottos in good condition.
Also, in Henan Province, there is the world-famous Shaolin Temple, and the Shaolin Kungfu performance is a big attraction for foreign guests who travel China.
Visitors who want to visit China especially for the Buddhism culture are suggested to pay attention to the latest weather conditions in Luoyang.

Summer Vacation to World Expo

David and I arrived in Shanghai on the 22nd for the World Expo. During our 4 and a half day stay, a fantastic experience!
These are some of the highlights and common sights of the expo:
- On a lighter note, there were lots of nice pavilions that were actually worth waiting in line for vs. some that completely sucked and had next to nothing inside.... we would go to some just because they had short lines or quick moving long lines, usually to leave not really impressed by anything. The longer the line, the better the pavilion it seemed. Our China trip guide in Shanghai has already booked for us the tickets, and this is much more convenient for us.
- The passport: They were selling these souvenir passports that you would get stamped at every pavilion you went into, of course I got one.
The line ups to get these stamps easily rivalled the line-ups to get into the pavilion, so many people and you need to wait for your turn.

Some of the pavilion highlights included:
- Japan: turning sewage into safe drinking water, robots that play violin and can do other tasks, this sweet virtual wall that allows you to interact with it as if it is a touch screen computer: opening up screens were the TV will be, having a calendar, changing the backgrounds, pulling windows open bigger and shrinking them down for multiple screens- it was really cool. They also introduced the Canon 3D camera, flooring that generates power by people walking on it, and little electric one-person standing vehicles.
- Italy: one of my favourites, it was just really cool inside. There were walls of pastas, wines, mannequins in tailored beautiful clothes, roses hanging from the roof, sculptures hanging off of walls, and entire band hanging vertically on a wall. It was great. There were
ferraris and race cars, and miniatures of famous buildings, loved it!
- Korea: saving the world through dancing and magic
- Hungary - the introduction of a new shape?
- Canada: VIP access.
- Latvia: we thought it would suck - and the line did suck - but inside there was a big tube where people flew up and down in a wind tunnel... so that was interesting... hahaha

There were lots of other really good pavilions - lots of shows, tons of screens, creativity was definitely on high for the creators of these pavilions.

We normally got to the park around 9-9:30am and would leave around 10:30-11pm. long days of standing. Our feet, and low backs were in rough shape every single night. We saw a lot but didn't come anywhere close to seeing the whole thing.

The Expo left me with some mixed feelings. I really think it a good idea to visit China at this time, during the Expo, as you may have more experience than a single China tour. The Expo was excellent, so many peculiar things to watch, and so much to learn and experience. Some Chinese people would take photos of me when we were waiting in the queue. People who had the decency to ask first I would stop for a quick smile and keep going.
Tomorrow we get our visas for Vietnam, and Friday we start our adventure there! This week will be spent doing some touristy things in Shenzhen and hopefully catching up on some much needed sleep.

Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company:

Full-range measures to Facilitate Leap Increase of Passenger Volume

News from the Xihua Net. Reporters get from the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company that, since the beginning of July, there has been an evidently increasing warming trend in Tibet Tour. The visitors volume to enter Tibet increase dramatically. To ease the railway transportation tension of Qinghai—Tibet railway during the summer time, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Corporation have begun to take various measures to facilitate passenger travel. Tibet has always been a major destination for China trip, and summer is the good time to travel China. From July on, the weather is good for sightseeing in Tibet, the tourist sites Potala Palace, Norbu Lingka, etc, all enjoy international fame.
Person in charge of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway said, with the support of the Ministry of Railways, in early July, the train T163 / 4 from Shanghai to Lhasa, which used to set off every other day, has changed to run a daily run rountine. Meanwhile, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Corporation also has a timely manner to operate the L9813 / 4, K9811 / 2 passenger train from Xining to Lhasa, and add some hard sleeper and hard seat compartments to the passenger trains from Xining to Lhasa, and the trains from Xining to Beijing.
For the convenience of passengers to buy tickets in Xining, Qinghai-Tibet Railway Corporation has newly opened three ticket selling sites in Xining urban area. The ticket selling time at Xining Railway Station has been advanced to 7:30 am, and the ticket selling sites in the urban area begin to work from 7:50 am. Meanwhile, measures such as restricting the sale section, reasonable passenger flow diversion for short and long distance, etc. are taken to alleviate transport pressure.

Macau Museum

It is rather difficult to find a place so tiny would have such a rich past, culture and patrimony as Macau. Macau is indeed one of those cities which we may have difficulties to point out on the map, but once we walk through its narrow streets and charming squares we start realising what makes it so unique. Different beliefs, smells, costumes and habits parade in front of our eyes: a reality which is here for centuries embodied by the two major communities (Chinese and Portuguese) that found a sage and tolerant way to live together. It is this rich history that makes the specific cultural heritage of Macau, which we can observe in the various Museums of the city as well as in its monuments.
Museum Pass
At the cost of MOP$25 for adults and MOP$12 for children under 18 years old and senior over 60 years old, visitors can buy a Museum Pass, which entitles to one free entry, within a period of 5 days to each of the following museums: Grand Prix Museum, Wine Museum, Maritime Museum, Lin Zexu Museum, Museum of Art and Museum of Macau.
Museum Pass may be purchased at the above Museums.

Recommend Tours:
1 Day Macau Memorable Tour
2 Days Macau Tour
3 Days Macau Memorable Tour
4 Days Macau Discovery Tour

The Historic Centre of Macao

In the middle of the 16th century, the Portuguese began to settle and trade in the southwest area of the Macao peninsula. Macao subsequently developed into a main port. With its prosperity in inteational trading, Macao attracted more people to settle there from countries around the world.
At the same time, these settlers introduced to their own countries, the cultures, religions and social customs of the Chinese people. Macao became the land where China meets the cultures of the weste world. Today, millions of people come to the core part of Macau, which is now called the Historic Center of Macao.
In its Historic Center, you will find the oldest and the best-preserved weste-style buildings in China, in different architectural styles emerging after the Renaissance from Baroque to neo-classical.
The architects of these buildings added Indian and Chinese characteristics into their buildings; even the murals in the Guia Chapel were painted in Chinese style. The Chinese temples and residential buildings make this area very diverse.
Until today, people in this area have held their national beliefs and habits. They hold various celebrations to continue their different traditions and the combination of Chinese and Weste cultures and elements.
You'll note the alleys marked by porcelain street signs in Portuguese and Chinese characters ; they are said to contain the oldest and most complete array of Weste architectural legacy on Chinese soil today.
The Historic Center of Macao mainly has Portuguese unreligious architectures, some churches, some Chinese residential and religious buildings and some streets and squares connecting them.

Recommend Tour:
4 Days Macau Discovery Tour

Lou Lim Iok Garden

The most Chinese of all of Macau's gardens is the Lou Lim Ieoc Garden. It was built by a wealthy 19th century Chinese merchant, Lou Kau, and was inherited by his son Lou Lim Ieoc in 1906. When the family fortunes declined the garden fell into ruins, but it was eventually purchased and restored by the govement and opened to the public in 1974.
The garden is modeled on those of Soochow, the most famous of all Chinese classical gardens. Enclosed by a high wall, it is a miniaturized landscape with narrow paths winding through groves of bamboo and flowering bushes, under molded concrete "mountains" to a large pond filled with golden carp and lotus flowers. A nine-tu bridge zigzags across the pond (according to legend, evil spirits can only move in straight lines) to a large pavilion combining Classical and Chinese architecture elements. There are frequent arts and crafts exhibitions in the pavilion, which also serves as an auditorium for recitals during the annual Inteational Music Festival.


Recommend Tour:
4 Days Macau Discovery Tour

Lin Fung Temple

Built in 1592 and most regularly restored, this Temple of the Lotus has a fine facade of intricate clay stoop carved in the 19th century depicting historical and mythological figures. Stone lions guard the entrance. Inside is a hall with a statue of Tin Hau on the altar, flanked by the guardian generals. Beyond is a courtyard decorated with a frieze of writhing dragons, a lotus filled pond and fine iron brazier. The main hall is dedicated to Kun Iam, whose statue occupies an elaborate altar which is adjacent to a shrine to Kwan Tai. The temple's ceiling is a particularly good example of the black beams and exposed white tiles construction. Lin Fung Miu is historically famous as the place where for centuries Chinese Mandarins from Guangdong Province would stay when they came to Macau. The most renowned visitor was Commissioner Lin Zexu, who spent most of September 3rd 1839 in Macau. To honor his visit, a six-foot granite statue and a new museum was put in the temple courtyard.