Hainan is China’s Hawaii. It’s on the same latitude, with a highly developed agricultural economy, roads and infrastructure. It’s China’s smallest province, divided by a 1.5 km strait from Guangdong, and nestled between the Gulf of Tonkin and South China Sea. Like Hawaii it has the beaches, hills, forests, wildlife, and recreational roster. 

In the central highlands, the descendants of the Li, Miao and Han wear tribal dress in the villages, and ancient Chinese poetry proclaims the beauty of the waterfalls, gorges, lush forests with chattering monkeys – and the same coconut, banana, pepper and fruit fields you can see, if on a different scale. This is where to join the annual Water-Splashing Festival. 

Sanya, Hainan’s second city in the south, is the centre of beach life, and focal point of all tourism. Xiao Dongtian, to the west at Yazhou Bay is spectacularly pretty, with beauty spots alongside regular beach and countryside facilities. 

When to go: Year-round. Population: 8,200,000. How to get there: By air from mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore or Japan, to Haikou or Sanya; by train and rail-ferry, from Guangzhou in Guangdong, to Haikou; by boat from several Chinese ports, to Haikou or Sanya. Photos by: Alfred(??) in Shanghai

The Mogao Caves(Caves of the Thousand Buddhas , or Caves of Dunhuang ) are a system of Buddhist cave temples near the city of Dunhuang in Gansu province, China. “Mogao” means high up in the desert. The caves contain some of the finest examples of Buddhist art spanning a period of 1,000 years.

According to Tang Dynasty records, a monk had witnessed on-site a vision of thousand Buddhas under showers of golden rays. He started the caves construction work that spanned ten dynasties.Other pilgrims and travelers followed for the next thousand years.

The Mogao Grottoes contain priceless paintings, sculptures, some 50,000 Buddhist scriptures, historical documents, textiles, and other relics. The styles applied are typically from Indian-Buddhist schools.

Some sutras as big as 65 square metres, and encompassing a whole wall.

Despite erosion and man-made destruction, the 492 caves are well preserved, with frescoes covering an area of 45,000 square metres, more than 2,000 colored sculptured figures and five wooden eaves overhanging the caves.

Today, 220 of the Tang caves remain.  Today, the site is an important tourist attraction and the subject of an ongoing archaeological project.

The Mogao Caves became one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1987.

Located in Hunan Province in China,  Zhangjiajie Forest Geo-park covers a total area of 9,600 sq. k?, 1.1000 of China’s territory. This scenic area which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992. In the area many scenic spots such as Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Baofeng Lake, Suoxiyu Valley, Tianzi Mountain, Yangjiajie Nature Reserve – together with Huanglong Cave (Asia’s largest cave), and many beautiful bridges, brooks and waterfalls. The area is a rare natural museum and famous tourist scenic spot.

The most attractive scene that Zhangjiajie features is the mysterious mountain covered with dense, primeval forests. It is said that 23 species of tare animals and more than 3,000 species of plants are living in the misty world. Many rocks are shaped like animals and fairies, and each is given its own legend.

This Linked Hybrid complex sited adjacent to the city of old city wall of Beijing. The Linked Hybrid is also called an ”open city within a city” project. The huge structure linked together 750 apartments, a public green space, commercial zones, a hotel, a cinema, a kinder garden, Montessori school and an underground parking. The buildings on the ground, under the ground and over the ground are fused together.

The ground level offers a number of open for all people (residents and visitors) to walk around. The space ensure some kind of micro-urbanisms of small scale. All public functions have connections with greenery.

From the 12th and18th floor, a multi-functional of skybridges with a swimming pool, a fitness room, a cafe, a gallery, auditorium and a minisalon connects the eight residential towers and the hotel tower and offer breathtaking view over the city.

Peninsula Hotel Hong Kong is located in the heart of Kowloon’s business and entertainment district, overlooking the Victoria Harbour. Situated in the city center, the hotel is only a short distance from all major shops and attractions. The Hotel is famous for its fleet of Rolls-Royce limousines, which are used to transport guests in style to various locations throughout the territory.

Rooms and suites are extremely spacious, ranging from about 450 square feet. Guests have a choice of rooms and suites in either the grand, historic Main Building or the more contemporary floors of The Peninsula Tower.

Room Facilities: Air conditioning, Cable/satellite TV, Multi-line phone, silent fax machines, valet-call buttons and outside temperature and humidity indicator.

The hotel includes one of the best French restaurants in Asia-Gaddi’s, and equally mouthwatering is the authentic Cantonese food served in the Lobby.

The hotel features a state-of-the-art fitness centre and a huge Roman-style swimming pool.  The Peninsula Spa is one of Hong Kong’s most luxurious hotel spa facilities, complete with a state-of-the-art Health Club.

Baekdu Mountain is a volcanic mountain on the border between China and North Korea. At 2,744 m, it is the highest mountain on the Korean peninsula. The area is a known habitat for tigers, bears, leopards, wolves, and wild boars. One of the highest crater lakes in the world, Heaven Lake, is at the top of the mountain. It has a circumference of 14 km, with an average depth of 213 m and maximum depth of 384 m. From mid-October to mid-June, the lake is covered with ice.

The road is situated in the Taihang ?ountains, Hunan Province of China. It is 1,200-metre-long tunnel which is about 5 m high and 4 m wide. Before the construction of the tunnel, Guoliang Village was almost cut off from its surrounding towns and villages. Its construction took 5 years but on May 1, 1977, the tunnel was opened to traffic. The wall of the tunnel is uneven and there are more than thirty windows of different sizes and shapes. One article suggested they carved windows mainly as a way to push the rubble out.

Located in the central business district, it is one of Macau’s tallest buildings with 52- storey. Grand Lisboa is a well-known city landmark and often is definite as the most luxuries casino and hotel in Asia. Just only for your information, the project amounts to US$375 million. At night, the building is as a kaleidoscope with 1.2 million light colors diodes on its surface.

The hotel’s design was inspired by the Chinese and Brazilian culture. The building is shaped like a giant yellow lotus flower (the symbol of Buddhist) combined with the distinctive headdress plumes of exotic carnival dancers.

The Grand Lisboa Hotel has 200 tables, 300 guest rooms and 40 floors. The complex often is acclaimed as a perfect mix of traditional hospitality and world-class facilities, including: spa and fitness center, hair salon, an outdoor pool, a center with high-speed Internet access, a conference room. Room Rates- 180-260 euro for standard single room.

This is the south-western coast of Sri Lanka (26th December 2004). In this picture we can see the ocean rapidly retreats 400 metres,  just 5 minutes prior to the arrival of a devastating tsunami.

The spiraling waters continue to fill the coast just moments after the tremendous wave has hit.

This photo shows an alluvial fan, formed on the southern border of the Taklimakan Desert in China. An alluvial fan usually develops when water leaves a canyon, each new stream eventually closing up due to sediment – the result being a triangle of active and inactive channels. The blue ones on the left are currently active.

Retreating Glaciers Bhutan Himalaya. They are very beautiful and has a clear sign of slowly melting due to global warming. Easily visible are the ends of most of these glacial valleys’ surfaces turning to water to form lakes, a trend which has been noticed only in the last few decades.

Hurricane Isabel 2003. This photo was taken on the international space station in 2003 and illustrates the huge size of the hurricane’s eye. Isabel was the deadliest of 2003 and its winds reached 165 mph.

Greenland Eastern Coast. Greenland’s eastern coast is included in this true-color Terra MODIS image from August 21, 2003. The small marks of white in the water looks like ice originating from the deeper fjords and reach all the way to the ice-cap covering most of the island.

Aurora Borealis is natural phenomenon. The image was taken on-board space shuttle Atlantis during the sts-117 mission.

Egmont National Park New Zealand. The picture displays Egmont volcano last erupted in 1755 and is now situated at the centre of Egmont National Park. The volcano can be seen from space in the form of huge dark green disc. This photo was taken during the sts-110 mission, april 2002.

This is Beipanjiang River Railroad Bridge located in Guizhou, China. The bridge is a huge railway bridge that was built as part of the much larger ‘guizhou-shuibai railway project and connects two mountains. Its highest point is 918ft above the ground. The bridge has succeeded in connecting 2 of the country’s poorest areas.

This one is a Pedestrian Bridge located in Lake Austin, Texas. The bridge looks enjoyably risky to use, and is in fact not for public consumption – it links the main house on the estate to a guest house, across the lake. The 100ft arch structure has a main span of 80ft, achieved through the ‘nesting’ of five 5 inch diameter pipes that diverge from the spring point of the main span and the abutments.

This is Kintaikyo Iwakuni Bridge in Japan. The original Kintai Bridge was built in 1673 and didn’t last long until it was damaged due to flooding. It was then rebuilt and survived for more than 200 years until a typhoon battered it to death in 1950. The bridge that is now over the Nishiki river is the 3rd one and looks magnificent, it’s 5 wooden arches displaying an anamazing amount of detail and craftsmanship.

‘Henderson Waves’ is the highest pedestrian bridge in Singapore and can be found in a beautiful 9km stretch of gardens and parks. The bridge is a spectacular landmark. The horizontal part is made of thousands of balau wood slats, perfectly cut and arranged, and along the length of the deck a huge snaking, undulating shell cleverly forms sheltered seating areas on every upward curve.

This is a bridge. The only difference is that the bridge can’t be used by humans because of the fact that its purpose is to support 2 pipelines – 1 gas, 1 oil – across the extremely high gap in Papua New Guinea.

Piano house in Anhui, China

This unique piano house is in Anhui Province, China. This building was designed by the local Chinese government to attract more development to this area. Inside of the transparent violin is the escalator to the building, where a variety of city plans and ideas for the future development are on display.

The Blue Building, Netherlands

This building is located in the borough of Delfshaven, Rotterdam. It was once derelict building and one of the most unseen blocks of houses in Rotterdam. But by applying a layer of only 2 micron of blue paint, the block will remain blue as long as there isn’t a new plan for the area. And it became Rotterdam’s most photographed one.

It is the largest airport in the southern part of the country, and serves as the operational base for China Southern Airlines. The Hong Kong International Airport was named the world’s best for the seventh-year in an annual survey of passengers, with Asian airports dominating the top positions in the list. 

Hong Kong International Airport is the fifth busiest in the world; it sees an average of 800 aircraft take-offs and landings every day. The airport covers 12.48km² of reclaimed land between the two islands of Chek Lap Kok and Lam Chau.

The Airport is  judge on factors like shopping, dining, staff courtesy, baggage delivery and wait-times at security.

All car park functions and procedures, including all back-office and interfaced third-party equipment may be accessed and managed from the central control room.

Pearl of the Orient, Paris of the East. For a century and a half  Shanghai was the wildest, wealthiest, flashiest city in Asia—the rival of any world capital. Western visitors were captivated by the crowded, chaotic, yet thoroughly cosmopolitan city. Foreign powers carved out concession zones featuring their own cafes, clubs, police forces, and legions of prostitutes.

Everything seemed so different. China crowded it was, and so hot. There were lots of people everywhere, sleeping on the streets. Apartments were so small and basic. Everything was so dark, so dank.

But today the city is unlike any in the world. Travelers from around the globe poured in, creating a uniquely international place, with newspapers and performances in spectacular art deco theaters in a dozen languages. Splendid colonial architecture rose along a riverfront called the Bund that contrasted delightfully with traditional tile-roofed Chinese dwellings, creating a unique fusion of East and West. Food, fashion, and music blended in a similar spirit.

It’s got a great vibe and great music. Ten years ago, Shanghai was a completely different place and none of what you see now existed. The city used to be the only spark of creativity, with a basement that had the only alternative art and music in the city. The place has changed.

There’s a lot of great places to explore in Shanghai like very cool art districts and a lot of great designer boutiques, pottery shops, and other creative shops. I also like the Shanghai Art Museum, which has this fantastic setting along the old racing track, the former British Jockey Club. Green tea is the way to go—and a lot of wine.

Sevva is a rooftop restaurant/club on the 25-th floor penthouse of the Prince’s Building in Hong Kong with a breathtaking views of the city harbor. The native Calvin Taso says ‘ We Chinese eat all the time. Nibbles, snacks, power breakfasts, late breakfasts,  lunch tea, drinks.’In my opinion Sevva is a real social hub with unique interior and vast establishment, giving its several restaurants and bars a relaxed elegance. Sevva offers the Taste bar for drinks, live music and tapas. The bars clear acrylic klismos chairs, vintage finds, have jewel-toned pony skin upholstery for punch. Moroccan style cushions, covered in equally vibrant skills, from a banquette that stretches 30 feet. Old bank chairs are upholstered in tufted baby blue silk, and a back-to-back sofa had its oak legs hand carved and gold-flecked in London. I would say ‘It costs an arm and a leg’.

For ultimate power lunch, there is the Bank Side restaurant adorned with images and magnificent banks. The dinning room’s custom furnishings include a stained-oak table and benches and a wool rug. High wall are filled with some of the most coveted pieces of Modern Art featuring works from world renowned photographer Candida Hoffer.

The best place for a relaxed drink is the long and narrow Lounge with its live garden wall. Casually elegant meals can be enjoyed under the vaulted ceiling of the Harbor Side restaurant. The owner of Sevva is Bonnie Gokson, whose reputation in the world of branding and fashion has helped Sevva gain lots of attention.

Gokson loves art and drama, so it is no wonder she chose Tsao & McKown Architects to transform the 1960s mixed-use Prince’s Building space into the dramatic Sevva environment.

Fresh vertical gardens energizes the  spirit of the Lounge area. The light streaming from the floor to ceilings windows complement the soft colors of the furnishing. The music selection harmonize more and more the lounge. This is just a spot to savour a good life…