China travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises spa and resorts

The lands of the great gods of Greece and Rome come to life on this unique eight-day cruise across the beautiful Aegean Sea. Throughout this exciting journey, experience the rich history and culture of ancient Greece and Turkey and the Byzantine, Roman and Ottoman empires while cruising aboard the m.s. Le Diamant This superb vessel is one of the finest cruisers in Europe and offers well-appointed, deluxe accommodations, as well as excellent service and gourmet cuisine.

Continue reading A Paradise in the Mediterranean. Santorini

Jiuzhaigou Valley which means “Valley of Nine Villages” , which is the hometown of nine Tibetan villages; is located in Nanping County in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture about 450 Km north of Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province in south of China Mainland.

Jiuzhaigou is well-known in its many multi-level waterfalls and colorful lakes. This place is full of more than 100 beauteous lakes and what makes the lakes in Jiuzhaigou area differ from other lakes is a high concentration of calcium carbonate so that the lakes and embankments are all covered with crystals. The water in the lake is so clear that you can see the bottom despite depths of several meters.

The main essence of Jiuzhaigou is water and there are all kinds of waters such as small ponds, calm lakes,

Continue reading Welcome to Paradise China and Jiuzhaigou Valley

Ha Long Bay is a body of water of approximately 1,500 square kilometres in north Vietnam with a 120 kilometre coastline, in the Gulf of Tonkin near the border with China, and 170 kilometres east of Hanoi. Ha Long Bay means Bay of the Descending Dragon in the Vietnamese language.

Continue reading Ha Long – Bay of the Descending Dragon

In the western part of Shanghai, a very modern and flourishing city, there is a venerable and famous Buddhist temple, Jade Buddha Temple. As with most modern Chinese Buddhist temples, the current temple draws from both the Pure Land and Chan traditions of Mahayana Buddhism. It was founded in 1882 with two jade Buddha statues imported to Shanghai from Burma by sea. These were a sitting Buddha (1.95 metres tall, 3 tonnes), and a smaller reclining Buddha representing Buddha’s death. The temple was destroyed during the revolution that overthrew the Qing Dynasty. Fortunately the jade Buddha statues were saved and a new temple was built on the present site in 1928. It was named the Jade Buddha Temple. The temple now also contains a much larger reclining Jade Buddha, donated from Singapore, and visitors may mistake this larger sculpture for the original, smaller piece.

At the time emperor Guang Xu in the Qing Dynasty (1875-1908) ruled China, Hui Gen, a Mount Putuo abbot went on a pilgrimage to Tibet via the two famous Chinese mountains Mount Wutai and Mount Emei. First he goes to Tibet and then he contiduen his jorney to Burma. By this time Mr. Chen Jun-Pu, an overseas Chinese resident in Burma, donated five Jade statues of Buddha to Hui Gen, who transported two of them back to Jiang-wan, Shanghai. Here Hui Gen had a temple built with collected from various sorces money, mostly of them donated, and died shortly thereafter. This temple was occupied during the 1911 uprising, and the statues were moved to Maigen Road.

Continue reading What a place to see – Jade Buddha Temple in Shanghai, China