Located in southwest China's Yunnan Province, the Yuanyang terrace is a natural masterpiece, plowed by generations of the Hani ethnic people. The magnificent terrace, which is renowned for its farming techniques utilizing different parts of the mountain, spreads extensively at the south bank of the Red River, or the Honghe. The 11,000 hectares of terraces in Yuanyang County is the core of the Red River Hani Terrace. If you are a scenery-lover, then extend your Shangri-la tour to Yuanyang terrace would be an great idea for you, which would add more sublime charm of your Yunnan trip.

Located in southwest China's Yunnan Province, the Yuanyang terrace is a natural masterpiece, plowed by generations of the Hani ethnic people. The magnificent terrace, which is renowned for its farming techniques utilizing different parts of the mountain, spreads extensively at the south bank of the Red River, or the Honghe. The 11,000 hectares of terraces in Yuanyang County is the core of the Red River Hani Terrace. It is no wonder that so many travelers particularly request the China travel agencies to arrange Yunyang Rice Terrace to their itinerary, which seems make sense now.

Located in southwest China's Yunnan Province, the Yuanyang terrace is a natural masterpiece, plowed by generations of the Hani ethnic people. The magnificent terrace, which is renowned for its farming techniques utilizing different parts of the mountain, spreads extensively at the south bank of the Red River, or the Honghe. The 11,000 hectares of terraces in Yuanyang County is the core of the Red River Hani Terrace.

Located in southwest China's Yunnan Province, the Yuanyang terrace is a natural masterpiece, plowed by generations of the Hani ethnic people. The magnificent terrace, which is renowned for its farming techniques utilizing different parts of the mountain, spreads extensively at the south bank of the Red River, or the Honghe. The 11,000 hectares of terraces in Yuanyang County is the core of the Red River Hani Terrace.

To the adventure-lovers, if they only have time for one tour in China, Silk Road tour would be their first preference, while to the nature-addicts, they may prefer to get closer to nature, in this case, a visit to Yuanyagn Rice Terrace would never get them disappointed!

Dragon boat festival is an important traditional festival in China, which is celebrated on 5th of May in Chinese lunar calendar. During the Dragon Boat Festival, some featured activities would be held for celebration. About the origin of Dragon boat festival, it was told that the festival is held to commemorate an ancient patriotic poet named Qu Yuan who drown himself into the Miluo River. If you are lucky enough and your private tour of China falls into the Dragon boat festival, you should never miss tasting the delicious glutinous dumplings and the watching the brisk Dragon boat race.

Qu Yuen lived during the Warring States Period of the Chinese history which is about 2200 years ago. At that time, he was very sad about the corrupt ruler. Until the moment he thought that there was nothing more he could do for his nation, he took his life by jumping into the Miluo River. His patriotism is since them remembered on every fifth day of the fifth month in the Lunar Year.

During the Dragon Boat Festival, eating rice dumplings, dragon boat racing, hanging mugwort leaves and wearing perfume pouch are all traditional customs passed down from generation to generation. This traditional activities would be induced in the following on by one. No China tour packages of Dragon Boat discovery is complete without eating the seductive rice dumplings.

Zhong Zi, sweet sticky rice wrapped with bamboo leaves, is usually stuffed with various kinds of ingredients such as pork, egg, peanuts and etc. At the time of Qu Yuan's, people immediately dumped many Zhong Zi into the river in order to scare away the fish so they would eat the Zhong Zi instead of Qu Yuan's body. Nowadays, Zhong Zi has become a popular type of food which comes in various forms and taste and people can eat it basically whenever they want to.

Unlike Zhong Zi. Dragon boat competition was originally a ceremony for showing the respect to the God of Water. Later on, the meaning of memorising Qu Yuan was added on the activity. Each dragon boat measures more than 10 meters and carries around 20 people. With steersman at the back and the drummer in the front, all paddlers follow the beats and paddle on. Nowadays, dragon boat festival is held yearly in places such as Hong Kong, Macau, China and Taiwan and it attracts competitors all over the world. In the year of 2012, the Dragon Boat Festival falls on the 23nd June. If you are heading towards the South East Asia, you will definitely not miss this great event.

Also people will hang the mugwort leaves on the door to drive evils Moreover, women will hand-make some perfume punches for children to wear so as to keep their children healthy and happy in the future.

When visiting China is talked about, many people may firstly think of joining a Yangtze River cruise, while to the culture-lovers, they may want to see more about authentic Chinese culture. In this case, arranging the Dragon Boat Festival experience along their travel would be more welcome to them.

Over a period of eight days we retrace a section of the legendary Silk Road, traveling along dusty desert roads and visiting ancient towns immortalized in the accounts of the great Italian traveler, Marco Polo. On our journey, we get a taste of the harsh conditions faced by early merchants and monks who depended on the Silk Road for trade and communication between Europe and Asia. We also gain an appreciation for the oasis settlements that sprung up across the desert, providing a vital backbone for trade and the spread of religion, science, and technology to China and the rest of the region. All the while, we take in the glorious scents and flavors of the vibrant Central Asian culture that lies at the heart of Xinjiang. If you want to experience the excitement of the Silk Road tours, you could contact ChinaTour.com, a prestigious China travel agency in China, then could arrange one for you.

We begin our journey in the Xinjiang capital of Urumqi, where we visit the Xinjiang Regional Museum before flying to Kashgar, the final settlement in China before the Silk Road crosses into Central Asia. Kashgar's ancient alleys and colorful markets still bustle with activity, a reminder of the city's role as an important trade center on the Silk Road. In between perusing the markets, we visit the Id Kah Mosque, the largest mosque in all of China, where more than 10,000 worshippers gather during Friday prayers. From Kashgar, we start the long road trip to Khotan, a key oasis town known throughout Central Asia for its beautifully handcrafted silks. Along the way, we take time to appreciate the surrounding desert scenery by riding camel and enjoying a pleasant evening dinner amidst the sand dunes. Our journey slowly comes to an end as we arrive in Khotan. This city has historically been regarded for its high quality jade, silk, and carpets. We take an opportunity to visit the local handicraft workshops that produce these prized treasures, and afterwards begin our journey into the Taklamakan. To the adventure-lovers, having a silk road travel would be more beguiling than a travel to Shangri-la.

For an entire day, we submerse ourselves in the awesome and relentless isolation of the desert. Weather permitting, in the evening we setup camp under the desert night sky, and, as we warm ourselves around a campfire, experience the vast and uncompromising wilderness around us. After this brief night of desert living, we journey on to the remote town of Kucha, a seldom visited oasis town that was formerly the center of Buddhist civilization in the Tarim Basin. Here we visit the ruins of an ancient capital and the resplendent Kizil Thousand Buddha Caves, an impressive collection of priceless religious artifacts that bears testament to the once dominant role Buddhism played on the Silk Road.

As an experienced travel advisor, it is my great pleasure to offering advice for travelers who are planning to visit China. If you want to discover the authentic culture of people in highland China, a Tibet travel is highly recommended, while to the adventure-seeker, indulging themselves in the silk road travel sounds more invigorating to them.

Worry less about criminals and worry more about crossing the street. Statistically speaking, the biggest risk to your personal safety while your China travel is Chinese traffic.

A big part of the problem is that they just haven’t been driving very long. In 2000, China had less than 10 million passenger vehicles (a proportion less than that of the United States in 1911). Ten years later, the number of privately owned cars in China mushroomed to about 70 million (and who knows how many unlicensed drivers are out there). Most drivers are first-generation drivers who probably learned to drive in a day and didn’t learn the basics of defensive driving (or see those scary driving safety films in high school). Your private tour of China should avoid the rush hours of China, which proves much wiser.

Combine this inexperience with a culture of bending the rules and lax traffic enforcement and you’ll understand why China has the world’s highest per capita rate of vehicular fatalities. China has only 3% of world’s drivers but one of the highest per capita rates of road fatalities. It’s widely reported that each day, about 300 people in China die from traffic accidents (okay, in this case I admit it’s hard to argue against the stereotype of the bad Asian driver!). Never play chicken with a Chinese driver! Like most developing countries, pedestrians in China do not have the right of way. In fact, they’re at the very bottom of the vehicular pecking order. Hope your China vacation packages works well.

The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, located in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, China. The Three Gorges Dam is the world's largest power station in terms of installed capacity (22,500 MW) but is second to Itaipu Dam with regard to the generation of electricity annually. Watching the Three Gorges Dam is a must-have for you China tours.

Except for a ship lift, the dam project was completed and fully functional as of July 4, 2012, when the last of the main turbines in the underground plant began production. Each main turbine has a capacity of 700 MW. The dam body was completed in 2006. Coupling the dam's 32 main turbines with two smaller generators (50 MW each) to power the plant itself, the total electric generating capacity of the dam is 22,500 MW.

As well as producing electricity, the dam is intended to increase the Yangtze River's shipping capacity and reduce the potential for floods downstream by providing flood storage space. The Chinese government regards the project as a historic engineering, social and economic success, with the design of state-of-the-art large turbines, and a move toward limiting greenhouse gas emissions. However, the dam flooded archaeological and cultural sites and displaced some 1.3 million people, and is causing significant ecological changes, including an increased risk of landslides. The dam has been a controversial topic both domestically and abroad.

Locks

The installation of ship locks is intended to increase river shipping from ten million to 100 million tonnes annually, as a result transportation costs will be cut between 30 and 37%. Shipping will become safer, since the gorges are notoriously dangerous to navigate.[63] Ships with much deeper draft will be able to navigate 2,400 kilometres (1,500 mi) upstream from Shanghai all the way to Chongqing. It is expected that shipping to Chongqing will increase fivefold. When you are crossing the Three Gorges Dam on Yangtze River cruise, you will cross the lock and you will be reward with terrific experience.

Ship lifts

In addition to the canal locks, a ship lift, a kind of elevator for vessels, is under construction. The ship lift is designed to be capable of lifting ships of up to 3,000 tons.[95] The original plans specified a lift with the capacity to lift 11,500 ton vessels. The vertical distance traveled will be 113 metres,[96] and the size of the ship lift's basin will be 120x18x3.5 metres. The ship lift, when completed, will take 30 to 40 minutes to transit, as opposed to the three to four hours for stepping through the locks. One complicating factor is that the water level can vary dramatically. The ship lift must work even if water levels vary by 12 meters (39 ft) on the lower side, and 30 metres on the upper side.

The ship lift was not yet complete when the rest of the project was officially opened on May 20, 2006. Construction of the ship lift started in October 2007 and is anticipated to be completed in 2014. Experiencing the Five-leveled ship-lift would be the highlight of your Yangtze River tour.