“I want to thank you for arranging our travels within Beijing. Everything came together without a hitch and Lyan and I had a most wonderful time in China. Now what can I say about Beijing except wow! We witnessed some of the most amazing sights and performances, indeed too numerous to list. But the coolese place in my mind is Nanluoguxiang, which is the highlight of our trip, and leaves me more wow!”

The best destinations during the transition from autumn into winter are campsites that can offer visitors the opportunity to enjoy the cool weather and count the stars. Here are three campsites especially for travelers who love outdoor recreation.

Bookshops are a traveler’s best friend: they provide convenient shelter and diversion in bad weather, they’re a reliable source of maps, notebooks, and travel guides, they often host readings and other cultural events, and if you raced through your lone paperback on the first leg of your trip, the bookshop is the place to go for literrary replenishment.

Happy Thanksgiving Day – Our Sincere Thanks to my Readers and our Customers

Appropriate Clothing when Touring in Beijing

As the yuletide season fast approaches, people start planning their vacation trips and holidays thinking of different ideas on where and how to spend Christmas. As usual Christmas around the world is almost the same but if you want to have an unforgettable December filled with some oriental feeling, forget about the worries of the past, pack your bags and come and experience a unique Christmas celebration touring China and its many beautiful cities.

“Singles’ Day” is special in China. It falls on Nov. 11. As the name suggests, it is exclusively for single people. They celebrate it for being free and unattached. The following are recommended places to visit and activities held on the day.

At the northeast of the Temple of Heaven lies a well-known pearl market. Every day it attracts a great many people from home and abroad. Recently I paid a visit there, and was greatly impressed with Fanghua Pearl and Jewel, the largest shop in the market. If you want to find a beautiful natural pearl necklace, and give yourself a more elegant and nobler look, don’t miss this shop.

Recently, a plague of “Da Qing You Zheng” which literally means Post Office of Qing Dynasty as well as a green iron made old postal post appears at Yandai Xiejie. Although the post office is still under renovation and yet to open for business, the unique design of the building exterior has attracted many Beijing tours visitors to stop and take some photos. According to the person in charge, the renovation of the post office might take a few months to complete and it is estimated that it will start business around Spring Festival next year.

What are the traditional xiaochi (“small eats” or snacks) that Beijingers have been enjoying since an emperor was ensconced in the Forbidden City? There are three types of traditional snacks – imperial, Han, and Hui. Aiwowo, an imperial candy, is a sugar-filled ball of glutinous rice and a favorite of the Empress Cixi, while tangshaobing (brown-sugar biscuits) was the granola bar for Hui Muslims on the road. From Han kitchens, luzhu huoshao is the cheap folk version of slow-braised pork belly. These snacks have been around for at least one to two hundred years; at one point there were over 300 varieties to tempt city folk. The number has dwindled drastically, and waning popularity has meant fewer and fewer shops sell authentic Beijing-style xiaochi.