8. Friends gathering

The first five days after the Spring Festival are a good time for relatives, friends, classmates and colleagues to exchange greetings, gifts and chat leisurely. Friends meet together to share what have happened in their lives during the past year, talk about their plans for the coming year, and otherwise enjoy their time together. Never miss gathering with friends when you are enjoying your affordable China tour package during the Spring Festival.

9. Drinking

There is a Chinese saying that “a thousand cups of wine is not too much when bosom friends meet together,” emphasizing the strong bond of friendship. The Spring Festival is a favorite time for family reunions and gathering of friends and classmates, and it is probably one of the most significant occasions for social drinking. However, please be careful not to drink and drive! Drinking with friends to celebrate the Spring Festival would be another must-haves along your China business tours of Spring Festival discovery.

10. Gambling

Most families play card games or mahjong for fun over the Spring Festival. A small sum of bet is usually placed to add excitement. Playing mahjong or poker is not only for entertainment, but also a ritual for cathartic release traditionally at the social gathering of peasants, completing the leisure activities during the holiday break. This may show us that why many China tour agents have arranged the Spring Festival discovery to their travelers.

May you have enjoyed the natural landscape of China along the Yangtze River cruises, while to discover a complete China, Chinese culture would be another essential aspect. Let’s start from Chinese Spring Festival! During the Chinese Spring Festival, the above must-dos should never be missed.

Unlike the Chinese gardens in Suzhou which are appreciated for their architecture, Shenyuan Garden in Shaoxing, a water town in Zhejiang province is sought by tourists who want to bask in the aura of an 800-year-old love story. If you are romantic, you should never miss visiting the Love Unrequited in Shenyuan Garden along your China tour of Shenyang with your beloved.

Lu You was the famous Song Dynasty poet. He was separated from and forced to divorce his wife Tang Wan by his mother. Shenyuan Garden is the special spot where the two star-crossed lovers reencountered each other. It is no wonder that many China travel agents have arranged the Love Unrequited in Shenyuan Garden into their itinerary of Shenyang designed for lovers.

Although they had both remarried, their love for each other was never extinguished. So close and yet so far apart from the love of his life, a heartbroken Lu You unleashed his anguish and sorrow into a poem which he carved onto a stone wall in Shenyuan Garden. When Tang Wang saw her ex-husband's poem, Tang Wan was overcome by despair and fell ill. Shortly before her death, she wrote a poem echoing Lu You's. Carrying the map of China for the Love Unrequited in Shenyuan Garden would be much helpful for finding ways on the trip.

In his mourning, Lu You revisited the Shenyuan Garden several times and his stay in Shenyuan yielded a number of poems which have been memorized by generations of people. Shenyuan Garden was built by the rich Shen family in the Song Dynasty. It was restored in the 1980s. Besides the delicate southern style pavilions, fish ponds and rockery, the garden also has a small museum about the life and works of Lu You. Shenyuan Garden is located within ten minutes' walk to the former residence of Lu Xun, one of the major Chinese writers of the 20th century. The best time to visit Shenyuan Garden is in spring when the plum trees are in full blossom. Ticket price for the garden is 40 yuan per person. If your China vacation packages just fall into spring, the best time to visit it. You should never miss it.

Zhuanghang Town: Fengxian District, Shanghai

It takes less than an hour to drive from downtown Shanghai to Zhuanghang Town where more than 13 hectares are in bloom. The drive is scenic and rapeseed is in bloom everywhere along the way. It's tempting to stop, take pictures and go for a romp in fields where flowers are as tall as some people. Children chase each other in the fields and couples stroll along holding hands, and kissing. Before your Yangtze River cruises starts in Shanghai, you could take some time to discover the rapeseed flowers in Zhuanghang Town in Fengxian District, Shanghai.

"We can see many beautiful brides wearing their pretty white wedding dress standing in rape flower fields taking pictures," says a farmer who is known as uncle Zhao. "This golden sea of flowers becomes a holy destination for those seeking blessings and happiness." Visitors can spend "happy farmer" days in the country, going for hikes, feeding poultry, catching fish, flying kites and savoring home cooking. Indulging yourself in the sublime rapeseed flower would make the time before your Yangtze River tour more memorable and enjoyable.

How to get there:

The best way is to drive. Take the South-North Highway to Jiyang Road, exit at Puxing Road. Road toll is around 40 yuan (US$6).

Lotus Island: Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province

Also around an hour's drive from Shanghai, Lotus Island in Yangcheng Lake (famous for hairy crab) is famous for its fields of rapeseed. The flowers are everywhere, around quaint farmhouses and wooden bridges; wooden boats ply the streams. Wooden plank paths make it possible to walk among the golden flowers. Students particularly like to visit the Lotus Island in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province when their educational tours in China come to Jiangsu region.

The best vantage point for viewing flower fields is on the north side of the island. Many people hire a speedboat and go ashore at ports on the south side of Lotus Flower Island; then they walk or take a bicycle through the fields.

How to get there:

There are frequent trains and buses between Shanghai and Suzhou. From Suzhou take bus No. 78 to Yangcheng Lake. The shuttle boat to Lotus Island departs at Yangcheng Lake Tourist Center and the return trip costs 50 yuan. Carrying some essential China maps of Jiangsu region would ease your trip greatly.

3. Heilongjiang River

The Heilongjiang River (also called Amur), the Sino-Russian boundary river, runs eastwardly across the northern part of north China and finally empties into the Sea of Okhotsk. Its entire length is 4,370 kilometers, the 11th largest river in the world. Wherever the Heilongjiang River flows across, the forests are luxuriant and the aquatic grasses are verdant. The river is in the shape of a black dragon and the name of the Heilongjiang River was thus formed. If your China travel packages cover Heilongjiang province, you should never miss discovering the Heilongjiang River there.

4. Songhuajiang River

The Songhuajiang River (also known as the Sungari River in English) is a river in Northeast China, and it is the largest tributary of the Heilongjiang River, flowing about 1,927 km from Changbai Mountains through the Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces. In winter, the beautiful rime along the banks of the Songhuajiang River is the unique feature of the river. Experiencing the white fairytale land in winter is amazing. Many China tour agents have stretched their Heilongjiang itinerary to the Songhuajiang River, offering students chances to discover Heilongjiang area further.

5. Zhujiang River

The Zhujiang (the Pearl River) is the third longest river in China (2,200 km, after the Yangtze River and the Yellow River), and second largest by volume (after the Yangtze). It is the largest river in south China, flowing into the South China Sea between Hong Kong and Macau. Its lower reach forms the Pearl River Delta. The Pearl River is formed by convergence of three rivers---the Xijiang, Beijiang and Dongjaing. The river flows through the majority of Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou Provinces, and parts of Hunan and Jiangxi, forming the 409,480 km² Pearl River Basin, which has a network of rivers, fertile soil, abundant natural resources and a sense population. No China travel deals of Chinese rivers discovery are complete if the Zhujiang River is missed in their schedule.

6. Brahmaputra River

The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river and one of the major rivers of Asia. From its headsprings in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, the Brahmaputra River flows first east and then south into the Indian Ocean. About 1,800 miles (2,900 km) long, the Brahmaputra boasts the Brahmaputra Grand Canyon, the largest canyon in the world, 504.6 km long and 6,009 m deep. The river is an important source for irrigation and transportation. Along your educational tours in China of Tibet, chances are offered to discover the Brahmaputra River.

The seventh young daughter of Jade Emperor was named Zi Er. She was quite talented, skillful, smart and kind. One day, she heard of a young man named Dong Yong who lived in Danyang, today’s Xiaogan of Hubei province. Dong Yong was quite obedient to his parents. Unluckily, he parents died, but he was too poor to bury his parents. He had no other choice but to sell himself to bury his parents. Zi Er was quite moved and secretly went to the earthly world to marry Dong Yong. They got married under an old locust tree, who served as the marriage celebrant to bless their marriage last for hundreds of years, but the old locus tree spoke the blessing words wrongly to be a hundreds of days, which made finally their marriage just several hundred days. This mysterious story about the Tianzhu Mountain would make your China tours of Anhui more interesting and enjoyable.

Zi Er weaved 10 batches of brocades with her magic shuttle to buy back Dong Yong and prepared to begin their happy life. Unexpectedly, Jade Emperor got known the story of Zi Er and got rather angry and summoned Zi Er back at once. Zi Er had no choice but to leave her beloved husband. However, before her departure, she left her magic shuttle, and this shuttle later became the Stone of Flying Shuttle, and the weaving machine was also left in human world. Since then, people always heard the sound of weaving cloths. Many students particularly like listening the tour guides telling this story along their educational tours in China to Tianzhu mountain.

Annually, on 15th night of first month in lunar calendar, the well-dressed girls would gather nearby the Stone of Flying Shuttle and hold the workbox to pray Zi Er for being as smart and specialized as her to do the needlework and weaving jobs. They also sing the related songs. After completing the singing, they also inquire the situation of this New Year; exactly ask the question whether it is suitable for marriage or not this year. The grandfather of Zi Er was Pan Gu, who was the oldest and most powerful god creating the world, heaven and earth. And her mother was Ma Zu, who was the god of the sea. Today, Tianzhu Mountain is crowned to be the hometown of Zi Er when she lived in human world. It is no wonder that many China travel agencies have specified this mysterious story while they are promoting tours to the Tianmen Mountain.

The history of Feilai Peak is truly mysterious and hardly known. But a story about the Feilai Peak should be added here. It was said that there was a vast western sea in front of Tianzhu Mountain roughly 2,600,000,000 years ago. There were also many demons and sprites in western sea, and these demons did a lot of harms to local people. Later, Tai Shang Lao Jun, who was said to be Lao Zi and the most important and leading god in Taoist god system), for helping the local people, borrowed a magic stone from Dragon King of East Sea and set it on the top of Feilai Peak to crack down the demons. Why not take a tours to the Tianmen Mountain as a extension to your Yangtze River cruises of Anhui area?