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Lijiang (Old Town)

This small ‘Venice of Orient’ is one of the most charming spots in China, recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site. The Naxi people add color and music to the place with their markets and traditions, while the surrounding mountains and streams offer fine natural beauty.

Lying in a broad, fertile valley dominated by the towering, snow-capped peaks of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Range, the ancient city of Lijiang was founded as a large Naxi settlement some eight centuries ago.

To this day Lijiang′s Old Town remains a delightful maze of cobbled streets, rickety old wooden buildings and gushing canals. Wooden and tiny stone bridges then lead to beautifully decorated brick-and-tile Naxi-style dwellings.

The focus of the old town is the Old Market Square. Another world full of Naxi women in traditional dress engulfed in bustling market life, parrots and plants adorn the front porches, while women sell griddle cakes in front of teahouses.

Popularly known as Black Dragon Pool, the Yuquan (Jade Spring) Park is situated at the foot of the Xiangshan Mountain, north of the city. It derives its name from the pool which, “sparkles as jade and is as clear as spring water”.

The Yu Feng Lama Temple is one of the five major temples in this area. Situated in dense forest at the southern foot of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain 6 3/4 miles (11kms) northwest of Lijiang, this temple is famed for its 1000-year old camellia tree. A monk on the grounds actually risked his life to keep the tree secretly watered during the years of the Cultural Revolution.

Architectural styles of Han and Tibetan Buddhism and Taoism combine in the temple buildings with white and grey tiled roofs, connected by stone steps and paths on several terraced levels.

The Naxi men are renowned for their musical prowess, and local cultural options include a special dinner that salutes their love of music. According to legend, after Kublai Khan’s invasion in the 13th century, the Naxi assisted the Khan across the Yangtze River.

In gratitude he left behind half of his military band and dozens of musical scores. Twenty-two of these compositions still remain an integral part of the Naxi men’s repertoire. The musicians themselves are valued by westerners and Chinese alike as "living fossils of music".

Huangshan

A granite massif consisting of 36 separate peaks rising to above 5,905 feet (1,800 meters), Huangshan has been depicted countless times throughout China’s history, and is the typical mountain portrayed in Chinese paintings.

Located in the Anhui Province of China and frequently shrouded in mist, the many peaks appear to float on clouds. These peaks have fanciful names such as 18 Arhats Worshipping the South Sea, Lotus Flower Peak, Celestial Capital, and the Paint Brush.

The jagged granite peaks clothed in uniquely shaped pine trees create a spectacular landscape that’s still of great interest to artists and photographers. The development of walking tracks and cable cars in the area has made this mesmerizing landscape more accessible to travelers.

The most spectacular tree in the area is the unique pinus huangshanensis, which grows clinging precariously to sheer rock faces. Many of the trees themselves have poetic names such as the Welcoming Guest and the Seeing-off Guest Pines.

The Hanging Temple

About 50 miles (80km) from Datong (to the North of Beijing), the Hanging Temple or Monastery is built on the extremely sheer cliffs of Mt. Hengshan, above Jinlong Canyon.

Construction of the monastery dates back 1400 years to the Northern Wei Dynasty. Most of the architecture was then reconstructed during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Built on the base of the natural hollows and outcrops along the contour of the cliff, the temple contains corridors, bridges and boardwalks. These connect over 40 halls, caves and pavilions in which dozens of bronze, iron, stone and clay statues are enshrined, all within an area of 500.32 square feet (152.5 square meters). This type of structure is rarely seen in Chinese architecture and is the only wooden building built on a cliff in China.

There were three basic reasons monks built the Hanging Temple. The first was to show their determination by constructing a magnificent house of worship. The second reason was to avoid the elements, as at the top of the mountain the temple was better protected from floods, rain and snow, and the position also decreased sun damage.

The third was to promote unity among the Chinese people through a combination of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Instead of a special devotion to a single religion, the Hanging Monastery distinguishes itself from other temples by including reverence to the three major Chinese faiths.

Construction experts from around the world have declared the monastery a unique mix of mechanics, aesthetics, and Buddhism. The monastery actually appears to be floating or falling, and this special visual effect was achieved by the application of a revolutionary mechanical theory for the time. In relation to the building framework, crossbeams were half inserted into the rock as the foundation, while the rock itself was used to provide support.

A great cultural achievement of the Chinese people, there’s a very good reason the number of international visitors to the Hanging Monastery is constantly increasing.