Theme Week China

22 July 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  158 minutes

Giant Panda © flickr.com - Chen Wu/cc-by-2.0

Giant Panda © flickr.com – Chen Wu/cc-by-2.0

China, officially the People’s Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia and the world’s most populous country, with a population of around 1.404 billion. Covering approximately 9,600,000 square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), it is the third- or fourth-largest country by total area. According to its constitution, the People’s Republic of China is “under the democratic dictatorship of the people”, but since 1949 authoritarian ruled by the Communist Party of China (CCP), the state exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four direct-controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. There are 53 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the country.   read more…

Shanghai Disney Resort

5 July 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  4 minutes

Main entrance © Baycrest/cc-by-sa-2.5

Main entrance © Baycrest/cc-by-sa-2.5

Shanghai Disneyland Park is a theme park located in Pudong, Shanghai, China, that is part of the Shanghai Disney Resort. The park is operated by Disney Parks, Experiences and Products and Shanghai Shendi Group, through a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and Shendi. Construction began on April 8, 2011. The park opened on June 16, 2016. The park operated in its first half-year with a visitor attendance of 5.6 million guests.   read more…

Canton Tower in Guangzhou

19 June 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

© panoramio.com - jiang-wen-jie/cc-by-sa-3.0

© panoramio.com – jiang-wen-jie/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Canton Tower is a 604 metres (1,982 ft) tall multi-purpose observation tower in the Haizhu District of the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton). The tower was topped out in 2009 and it became operational on 29 September 2010 for the 2010 Asian Games. The tower briefly held the title of tallest tower in the world, replacing the CN Tower, before being surpassed by the Tokyo Skytree. It was the tallest structure in China prior to the topping out of Shanghai Tower on 3 August 2013. It is now the second tallest tower and the fourth-tallest freestanding structure in the world.   read more…

The Bund in Shanghai

5 June 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  11 minutes

© Bimal Mehta/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Bimal Mehta/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Bund or Waitan is a waterfront area in central Shanghai. The area centers on a section of Zhongshan Road (East No.1 Zhongshan Road) within the former Shanghai International Settlement, which runs along the western bank of the Huangpu River in the eastern part of Huangpu District. The area along the river faces the modern skyscrapers of Lujiazui in the Pudong District. The Bund usually refers to the buildings and wharves on this section of the road, as well as some adjacent areas. It is one of the most famous tourist destinations in Shanghai. Building heights are restricted in the area. The Bund houses 52 buildings of various architectural styles, generally Eclecticist, but with some buildings displaying predominantly Romanesque Revival, Gothic Revival, Renaissance Revival, Baroque Revival, Neo-Classical or Beaux-Arts styles, and a number in Art Deco style (Shanghai has one of the richest collections of Art Deco architecture in the world).   read more…

Guangzhou, the Southern Gateway to China

29 May 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  10 minutes

© Meihe Chen/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Meihe Chen/cc-by-sa-4.0

Guangzhou, also known as Canton since its French colonial times before the end of World War II, is the capital and most populous city of the province of Guangdong in southern China. On the Pearl River about 120 km (75 mi) north-northwest of Hong Kong and 145 km (90 mi) north of Macau, Guangzhou has a history of over 2,200 years and was a major terminus of the maritime Silk Road, and continues to serve as a major port and transportation hub, as well as one of China’s three largest cities.   read more…

The Norwegian Joy

1 September 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Cruise Ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  5 minutes

© Spaceaero2/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Spaceaero2/cc-by-sa-4.0

Norwegian Joy is a cruise ship for Norwegian Cruise Line, which entered service in April 2017. She was built by Meyer Werft in Papenburg in Germany. Base ports are Shanghai and Tianjin. The ship exclusively serves Japanese ports.   read more…

Xi’an in China

29 August 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  15 minutes

Bell tower © Danielinblue/cc-by-sa-3.0

Bell tower © Danielinblue/cc-by-sa-3.0

Xi’an is the capital of Shaanxi Province, People’s Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city located in the center of the Guanzhong Plain in Northwestern China. One of the oldest cities in China, Xi’an is the oldest of the Four Great Ancient Capitals, having held the position under several of the most important dynasties in Chinese history, including Western Zhou, Qin, Western Han, Sui, and Tang. Xi’an is the starting point of the Silk Road and home to the Terracotta Army of Emperor Qin Shi Huang.   read more…

Forbidden City in China

9 July 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  8 minutes

The Forbidden City - View from Jingshan Hill © Pixelflake/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Forbidden City – View from Jingshan Hill © Pixelflake/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Forbidden City is a palace complex in central Beijing in China. The former Chinese imperial palace from the Ming dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty—the years 1420 to 1912, it now houses the Palace Museum. The Forbidden City served as the home of emperors and their households as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government for almost 500 years. Constructed from 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 buildings and covers 72 hectares (over 180 acres). The palace exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987, and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.   read more…

Shenyang in China

16 March 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  27 minutes

West Pagoda Street © Ecabal/cc-by-sa-4.0

West Pagoda Street © Ecabal/cc-by-sa-4.0

Shenyang, formerly known by its Manchu name Mukden or Fengtian, is the provincial capital and the largest city of Liaoning Province in the People’s Republic of China, as well as the largest city in Northeast China by urban population. The city’s urban area has 6.3 million inhabitants, while the total population of the Shenyang municipality, which holds the administrative status of a sub-provincial city, is up to 8.1 million. Shenyang’s city region includes the ten metropolitan districts of Shenyang proper, the county-level city of Xinmin, and two counties of Kangping and Faku. In the 17th century, Shenyang was conquered by the Manchu people and briefly used as the capital of the Qing dynasty.   read more…

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