China Vacation and Travel Information

Food-focused vacation tips

2010-09-21T18:08:00.000-04:00

Our cooking class in Chiang Mai, Thailand took place in a serene nature setting. Slowly grinding spices for curry under the instruction of a well-known local chef was a nice break from the traditional tourist scene.

It’s possible to embark on a global food tour without spending a fortune on expensive restaurants.

Festivals: The Yarmouth Clam Festival, held every summer in Maine, offers family fun and mouth-watering clam recipes cooked to order. Disney’s annual food and wine festival held at Epcot Center features food and drink from around the world. The town of Houlton, Maine hosts a Potato Feast Days celebration every year, complete with mashed potato wrestling.

China Holiday Schedule is Hard Work

2010-09-21T18:07:00.001-04:00

A once-in-500-years lineup of traditional and modern holidays has made for a confusing vacation schedule in China.

The Mid-Autumn festival is traditionally a time for visiting family, watching the full moon and eating moon cakes. It’s followed closely this year by the week-long National Day holiday commemorating the October 1, 1949 founding of the PRC, but the two holidays don’t overlap as they sometimes do. As a result, the government has issued an official holiday schedule that is the most complicated ever, according to local media reports (in Chinese). Even the Liberation Daily, a party mouthpiece, seems baffled (in Chinese).

Travel: One trip, three Chinas

2010-05-25T21:23:00.001-04:00

BEIJING — In booming Beijing, remnants of ancient China are tangible in the Forbidden City. In Hong Kong, skyscrapers symbolize one of the world’s most successful economies. And in Macau, across the Pearl River Delta from Hong Kong, gambling generates more revenue than in Las Vegas.

In one trip, I visited all three places — sampling history on the mainland, the fruits of capitalism in Hong Kong and the glitzy casinos of Macau — and experienced three very different Chinas.

Chinese tourists want 'best,' but visa rules limit their entry

2010-05-25T21:21:00.000-04:00

Shao Yu was given some bad news after traveling from China to Japan for a medical checkup in 2008: She had lung cancer.

But the tests caught the cancer at an early stage, and a subsequent operation enabled Shao to overcome the disease. She also realized that she had stumbled across a great business opportunity.

"Cancer treatments in Japan are among the best in the world. Wealthy Chinese like to have 'the best in the world,'" Shao, 42, said.

First Doubletree By Hilton In Eastern China Now Open Near Kunshan

2009-02-20T12:29:00.001-05:00

Hilton Hotels Corporation has announced the opening of Doubletree by Hilton Huaqiao/Kunshan, the first Doubletree by Hilton branded hotel in East China. The newly built, 397-room hotel is located in the new Huaqiao Central Business District, which is strategically located between Shanghai and Suzhou -- regarded as two of China’s top five economies.

Situated along the main expressway that connects Shanghai and Suzhou, the Doubletree by Hilton is well positioned to Shanghai’s two major airports and is within close proximity to Shanghai Automobile City and China’s Formula 1 racing circuit. Martin Rinck, president Hilton Hotels Corporation Asia Pacific, commented, “We are delighted to introduce our second Doubletree by Hilton hotel in China and in Asia. This is a milestone in our expansion plans for the Hilton Family of brands, and the Doubletree brand, following the successful launch of our Doubletree hotel in Beijing during the Olympics. We are confident the relaxed warm service and contemporary style of the Doubletree hotels will be a hit among travelers in China and beyond”.

S China province's holiday program to be piloted

2009-02-18T12:14:00.001-05:00

The national tourism administration is set to give the go-ahead to authorities in Guangdong to pilot a National Travel and Recreation Program this month, Guangzhou Daily reported over the weekend.

"The program is likely to start at the end of February," the report quoted an anonymous official as saying. "Guangdong will be the first to pilot the program," he said.

Travel golden season continues in China

2009-02-16T12:08:00.001-05:00

In a pleasant surprise for the Chinese travel industry, the golden season hasn't faded away with the end of the Spring Festival holiday. From the tropical island of Hainan to the natural beauty of Qinghai, travelers from home and abroad are still enjoying their vacations.

Forget about the Spring Festival golden week, Hainan Island has welcomed its first ever golden month of travel! The star-rated hotels in Sanya have maintained high occupancy rates above 85-percent. A sign of shifting trends, most travelers here didn't come as part of a group but as individual tourists from China and abroad.

More Chinese tourists heading this way

2009-02-16T12:06:00.001-05:00

The new year opened with a big jump in arrivals from China to Malaysia, with figures last month soaring 37.3 per cent to 100,563."The numbers increased because last month was the Spring Festival holiday break.

Many Chinese are giving Thailand a miss because of the political situation there," said Cai Min Yu, manager for the Southeast Asia market at Guangzhou-based GZL Travel Services Ltd.Southern China accounts for half the market into Malaysia, with most people coming from Shenzhen and Guangzhou, the provincial capital of Guangdong.

China beckons gay travelers

2009-02-13T09:42:00.000-05:00

Like most travelers, gay vacationers have taken particular notice of China lately, Her cuisine, architecture, nightlife, and emerging glamor are beckoning gay travelers young and old.Most people would consider China to be a vast and extraordinary country encompassing thousands of miles, with a unique history spanning thousands of years.

Yet China has recently emerged as one of the stars on the world's stage, and it's easy to see why. Architecture buffs can't ignore China's developing cities. Epicureans are swiftly taking notice of the gastronomic creations of Master Chef Zhao Renliang from Shanghai or Master Chef Zheng Xinmin from Xian.

The Far East: From China with love — Hello again

2009-02-13T09:38:00.000-05:00

Seventy-five years into her life, Carol Preston rearranged her world completely. On July 7, the Salem resident signed up for a two-year stint with the Peace Corps in China. Preston, who is a retired teacher, will prep local instructors to teach English to other Chinese. Preston has agreed to share her experiences with Daily Journal/Daily Messenger readers from time to time in this column.

Beginnings and endings are always difficult — even in letters! January was an interesting month with the ending of the first semester and beginning of the l-o-n-g "Spring Festival" holiday. (We would call it vacation; the Chinese call it "holiday.") Although so far it hasn't been as cold as last year, it is still a challenge to deal with it. I have taken to getting dressed standing on a chair, because the heaters are up high, almost on the ceiling, and you know where heat goes...

China Tour Travel Specialist RitzTours.Com Celebrates Winter with ...

2009-02-04T09:27:00.000-05:00

What better way to take advantage of the winter season than travel to Hongkong, the "Pearl of the Orient", where tourists can take great pleasure in shopping and visiting famous destinations such as Victoria Peak, the Aberdeen Community and other scenic spots that are both exciting and awe-inspiring.

RitzTours.Com, a leading China tour and Asia travel guide, offers travel enthusiasts the most affordable Hongkong travel package to start the new year with a bang.

Find more China information at http://www.thechinazone.net

US vacation spots try to lure Chinese

2009-02-04T09:24:00.001-05:00

Every year, Chinese travelers spend $30 billion going abroad. So U.S. vacation hot spots are marketing to the Chinese. But marketers should know a few things first. Scott Tong reports from a tourism expo in Shanghai.

RENITA JABLONSKI: We give you all sorts of examples of Americans staying home these days, not spending on vacations. But there's still a healthy market for U.S. tourism. Lots of group tours from China started hitting our shores during the start of the Chinese New Year holiday. To get in on all this tourism action, vacation hot spots are selling themselves to Chinese travelers. They spend $30 billion dollars going abroad each year. Our own Scott Tong checked in on a tourism expo in Shanghai.

Despite Olympics, China Tourism Down In '08

2009-01-20T12:13:00.000-05:00

That was an expensive party: China's National Tourism Administration reported over the weekend that foreign visits to China dropped in 2008 for the first time in five years--despite the free publicity generated by the Beijing Summer Olympics.

Some 130 million visitors made tracks to China in '08, 2 million fewer than '07 and a huge disappointment for a host country that put on the most expensive games ever (at an estimated cost of $42 billion). Nearly all sectors of the travel industry suffered: Beijing hotels were actually emptier in the two weeks of the Games than they were over the same period in 2007, and Chinese airlines, despite cutting flights to Beijing in 2007, lost over a billion dollars.

Find more China information at http://www.thechinazone.net

Padres and MLB can't wait to vacation in China

2008-12-31T22:57:00.000-05:00

You know how you talk your boss into sending you on a business trip, because you've never been to New York and you'd like to see the tourist attractions and catch a show?

There is really no benefit to your position or the company, but you're able make vague promises about networking and building relationships. That's the feeling I get with this whole baseball exhibition in China.

Find more China information at http://www.thechinazone.net

The Great Wall Badaling section

2008-12-28T21:13:00.001-05:00

Badaling Great Wall is situated in Yanqing County, over 70 kilometers (43 miles) north of Beijing. It was built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and was the first part of the Wall to open to tourist.

Find more China information at http://www.thechinazone.net

How China Could be Your Perfect Holiday Destination And Supply A Wealth Of Fascinating Places To See

2008-12-26T21:06:00.000-05:00

or anyone who is considering travel for a vacation, the idea of an international getaway can be both thrilling and overwhelming. Leaving the country entails certain forms of identification and paperwork, health considerations, the risks of an unfamiliar location and many types of misunderstandings that can result from differences of culture and language.

On the other hand, international travel is a great way to gain first-hand experience about another country and its people. Even novice travelers can find great group travel packages or tour groups that can allow a tourist to experience a foreign country without the danger of getting completely lost. In the field of international tourism, China is gaining popularity as a holiday destination, and there are many reasons to consider putting this fascinating country on your itinerary.

Find more China information at http://www.thechinazone.net