Jiuzhaigou Will Partially Reopen From March 8, 2018

Jiuzhaigou Valley is a beautiful nature reserve located in China’s Sichuan Province. According to official sources, Jiuzhaigou will partially reopen to tourists on March 8 after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck last year of August. 

1. Open Area & Tourist Route

With 7 months’ reconstruction efforts, some of the Jiuzhaigou National Park’s popular sites will reopen to the public, such as the Long Lake, Five-Color Lake, Mirror Lake, Nuorilang Waterfall, Shuzheng Lakes, Double Dragon Waterfall, Zharu Temple. In principle, these are walking tour area, but the specific way of sightseeing will be arranged by the instructors.

2. Visiting Time & Ways

Opening Time: 8:00-17:00 per day

Visiting Way: Take the same Sightseeing Vehicle from one scenic spot to another, until the end of your tour.

3. Daily Reception Number & Reception Visitors

The daily number of visitors will be capped at 2,000 at present. Its aim is to ensure the tourists’ safety and protect the Jiuzhaigou sites.

Only group tours will be accepted. No individual travellers will be allowed to enter the park. And all visitors must be covered by travel insurance. It is still based on safety considerations. That is to say, you need to sign up for a tour group, before your Jiuzhaigou tour.

4. Ticket Purchases

Tickets will be only sold online with real-name system.

Tickets Price: 

110 Yuan, from April to Mid-November

40 Yuan, from March 8 to March 31, November 16 to December 31

90 Yuan for taking Sightseeing Vehicle

As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Jiuzhaigou has its unique charm. The colorful ethnic minority culture, the amazing landscape, the crystal lakes hidden in valleys, spectacular waterfalls and other stunning scenery made it well-known all over the world. 

Especially after the reconstruction of the earthquake, some new scenic spots have emerged. These changes give Jiuzhaigou different tour values. Its captivating beauty is waiting you to exploring.

Recommended Jiuzhaigou Travel Tips & Tour Packages:

Useful Travel Tips for Jiuzhaigou Valley, Sichuan:

https://www.easytourchina.com/blog-v1337-useful-travel-tips-for-jiuzhaigou-valley-sichuan

China Jiuzhaigou tour packages by Easy Tour China:

8-day Sichuan Highlights

15-day Scenic & Historic China

Easy Tour China 2017 Annual Meeting – A Distinguishing Longji Tour

How time flies! The team of ETC had a fruitful year. In order to reward ourselves with a treat, and celebrate the New Year coming, we decided to hold a 2017 Annual Meeting in Huangluo Yao Village, Longji Scenic Area.

Huangluo Yao Village is the world’s First Long-hair Village. The ladies & girls all keep a long hair as a custom of Yao ethnic minority. It is said that the longest hair can reach 2 meters long. 

When we enter this village, we are all attracted by the breathtaking scenery. The air is so clean, the river is so crystal clear, the wooden houses are so characteristic and the people here are so hospitable. The host family even took out their Yao national costumes to let us have a dressing show.

Then we sat around the charcoal fire, shared the beautiful photographs that taken in this fantastic village, and told some stories behind them.

In the evening, the host family taught us how to make Bamboo Rice, which is so fun. It is the special food of Yao nationality. After being cooked, it produced a pleasant bamboo smell, which makes the rice tastier.

The whole trip to Longji was easy and pleasant. It is definitely a good way to discover the unique minority culture, get to know the kind-hearted and hospitality Yao nationality people, and enjoy the laid-back Chinese rural lifestyle, which you may not experience in the noisy city.

The fantastic landscapes and lovely long-haired girls will feast your eyes! So, if you would like to have a characteristic Longji tour like us, here we recommend some wonderful Longsheng trips to you:

2-day Longsheng Tour

3-day Longsheng Tour

Jiuzhaigou Valley to Reopen After Quake (Updates 2018)

Jiuzhaigou (Jiuzhai Valley), or Jiuzhaigou National Park is a fairyland place in Sichuan Province, China. It is located on the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which is highly praised as a dreamlike paradise of a true gem of nature. 

Jiuzhaigou National Park is famous for its ethnic minority communities, snow-capped mountains, splendid plunging waterfalls, crystal and colorful lake, dense and diverse vegetation, fantastic rare birds and animals and other stunning scenery. 

Water is the spirit of Jiuzhai Valley. It just like the goddess breaks a mirror and the pieces fall to the earth, and then the sparkling crystal lakes are formed.

Despite the 7.0-magnitude earthquake last year, Jiuzhai Valley will gradually reopen this year after strenuous effort to fix the damage. Besides, it also brought some new scenery to tourists. For example, the crevasse Five-Flower Lake (Wuhuahai) meets the downstream Double Dragon Lake, and then a new giant waterfall has been formed at the site of the breach, which temporarily named as “The Double Dragon Waterfall”. The amount of water is greater than Rinuolang Waterfall and Pearl Shoal Waterfall, “The Double Dragon Waterfall” becomes the largest waterfall in Jiuzhaigou National Park.

What’s more, the sceneries of Jiuzhaigou vary according to seasons. You can see the views full of vigor and vitality in spring, or you can get acquainted with some of animal residents here in summer, enjoy the beautiful fall colors and fabled blue and green lakes in autumn, marvel at the magnificent frozen waterfalls with giant blue icicles in winter, particularly the Pearl Shoal and Nuorilang Waterfalls, of course, and the new largest Double Dragon Waterfall above-mentioned.

Although the post-earthquake reconstruction will be complete by 2020, and then all Jiuzhaigou attractions will meet with tourists from home and abroad. But now, Jiuzhaigou National Park is gradually prepared for visitors to explore. Some Jiuzhaigou scenic spots will reopen partially，including Zhangzha Town, a kilometer area on both sides of Yangdong to Zezhawagou Changhai Lake Sightseeing Platform and a kilometer area on both sides of Yangdong to Zharugou, guoduzhai this year and Five-Flower Lake (Wuhuahai) in 2019. “Admission fees are expected to be reduced and tickets need to be booked in advance.” According to Liu Zuoming, Party chief of the Aba Tibetan and Qiang autonomous prefecture.

If you want to catch a glimpse of the new attractions of reopened Jiuzhaigou Scenic Spots after earthquake, here are some useful Jiuzhaigou Travel Tips and recommended Jiuzhaigou Tours for you:

Useful Travel Tips for Jiuzhaigou Valley, Sichuan:

https://www.easytourchina.com/blog-v1337-useful-travel-tips-for-jiuzhaigou-valley-sichuan

Recommended China Jiuzhaigou tours by Easy Tour China:

8-day Sichuan Highlights

15-day Scenic & Historic China

Guilin Huixian Wetland Park Officially Become National Wetland Park

Have you heard about this latest news? Guilin Huixian Wetland Park has become the National Wetland Park! Only 2 parks in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have been upgrated successfully, and of which is our beautiful Guilin Huixian Wetland Park. It is a must-go place in a Guilin tour. 

Huixian Wetland is located in Huixian Town, Lingui District. It is just like the “Kidney of Lijiang River”, and it is the largest original ecological wetland of karst landform of the Lijiang River Basin. 

It is like a secret garden, when you are tired of your bustle city life, and want to find a quiet, aesthetical, ecological resort as a heaven, then Guilin Huixian Wetland Park is your best choice. 

Among the karst topography, Huixian Wetland is a plain. And the climate here is the classical subtropical monsoon climate, so the 4 seasons are very distinct. With ample sunshine and rainfall, plants, birds, fish, plankton, zooplankton and phytoplankton are plentiful. You can easily encounter many animals such as carp, frog, egret, duck etc. They all lived here freely and happily. Besides, the reed, lotus, and other kind of plants made Huixian Wetland an elegance ecological garden. The whole park is like a beautiful landscape painting, which makes it a photographers’ paradise. 

Especially when lotus flowers blossoms, you will have much fun if you choose to take a cycling tour in Huixian, Guilin. Ride a bike through small rural villages of Huixian for delightful countryside scenery, and then boat cross green lotus leaves, spikes of rice and bulrush, watching the foraging wild ducks, distanced peaks, enjoying the cool weather, fresh air, and the laid-back atmosphere. If you are lucky, you may see a rainbow on clear sky after a rain. Maybe, this will be one of the best things you have in life. 

Recommeded Short-distance Guilin Cycling Tour:

Guilin Cycling Day Tour to Less Traveled Huixian Wetland Park 

In addition, the other National Wetland Park of Guangxi is Hengxian Xijin Wetland Park, which is located in Heng County, Nanning. When the Xijin Hydropower Plant Dam construction completed, a huge reservoir in the upper reaches has been formed. The large and shallow area creates a unique wetland ecological environment, which has attracted various kinds of birds come here to breed, and also attracted people from all over the world to have a leisure trip.  

Longji Terraces Listed As Globally Important Agriculture Heritage

Big news! Guilin Longji Rice Terraces has been listed in the protection of Globally Important Agriculture Heritage Systems (GIAHS). Until now, there’re altogether 15 projects in China that have entered the GIAHS, ranking NO.1 in the world.    

Longji Rice Terraces are located in Longsheng County, about 100 kilometers from Guilin, Guangxi, China. They received their name for the terraces look like a dragon’s scales, while the summit of the mountain range resembles the backbone of the dragon. Longji Rice Terraced Fields have a very long history. They were first built in the Yuan dynasty and completed in the Qing dynasty as the crystallization of the wisdom and diligence of the Zhuang people.    

They are built along the slope winding from the riverside up to the mountain top. And there’re numerous unique Zhuang or Yao style wooden houses built on the terraces. It is definitely a magnificent terraces field landscape.  

The magnificent Longsheng Longji Terraces are very large. And they are worthy of visiting four times in different seasons. In mid-April to late June, you will meet mirror-like irrigated terraces; for green terraces, you can choose July to mid-September to visit; if you go late September to mid-November, the sun reflects in the water of the paddy fields and the rice has matured, you will marvel at the golden terraces; and if you want to appreciate silver-white terraces, go late December to early February after snow fall, which is your best choice.    

Besides, sunrise over the Guilin Longji Rice Terraces should not be missed. If you get up early in the morning (as early as 4:00 a.m.), hike to a high place, and wait for a little moment, then you can see the sunshine pierces the horizon. What a spectacular view!     

As well as its amazing scenery, Longji is also a perfect place for you to experience China’s ethnic minorities’ culture. You can get closer look at the original Zhuang life, and even stay with hospitable local families enjoy Longji tea, Longji wine and other special local products. Tour to Longji for just 1 time, you may fall in love with this wonderful place.      

2017 Guilin International Marathon, Running in Guilin

On November 19, 2017, Guilin International Marathon has achieved a great success. There were 20,000 runners from 14 different countries participating in this competition.     

In order to meet the different needs of different running mates, the contest organizers set up 4 competing events in this marathon - Full Marathon, Half Marathon, 10-K Marathon and 5-K Mini Marathon. And Armed Police Force and Specialized Medical Emergency Team guarded the whole runners all the time, until the competition is completed.

8:00 a.m., all the runners started the marathon race from Guilin Finest Under Heaven Square (Jia Tian Xia Square), passed through the Lijiang River Bridge, the golden tourist channel of Guilin and Yangshuo – Guiyang Road, Guangxi Normal University campus and other wonderful places. The route type is point to point, and the terrain is very flat, there is no substantial slope. It is a good route for all runners to enjoy the picturesque scenery such as Crystal Rivers, strangely-shaped karst peaks along the way.

He Zhaoling, 62 years old, it was his 66th full marathon competition. He said, “I have taken part in marathon in 55 cities and 22 countries. And I found that marathon was actuary a unique way of travel.”

Besides, 2017 Guilin International Marathon also set up Wheelchair Marathon for the first time, and 19 disabled athletes completed 5-K Mini Marathon successfully.

The contest organizers integrated the characteristics of Guilin landscape and the national fitness wave to spread the beauty of sports to the citizens, the people who travel to Guilin, and advocate a healthy lifestyle.

Guilin is world-renowned for its beautiful natural landscape and colorful culture. If you have interest in taking close look at the natural beauty of Guilin, we would like to recommend several Guilin Tour Packages for you: https://www.easytourchina.com/tours-from-guilin 

Beijing Forbidden City Tour Itinerary for US President

On Nov. 8, 2017, President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump toured the Forbidden City in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan. If you are planning to explore the Forbidden City, one of the most important historical and cultural sites in China, the President’s special itinerary may give you some inspiration about which spots to visit. 

Recommended Beijing Tour with Forbidden City: 

5-Day Beijing Highlights Tour

   

Tea Break at the Century-old Baoyun Building

The two state leaders had afternoon tea at the century-old Baoyun Building – a hall of hidden treasures, which is the only western-style building in the imperial palace. 

Baoyun Building, also known as the Hall of Embodied Treasures, lies between the Hall of Martial Valor (Wuying Dian) and the West Prosperity Gate (Xihua Men). It was built in 1915 to store cultural relics which had been transported to Beijing from the Shenyang Imperial Palace and the Chengde Mountain Resort. After a properly comprehensive renovation in 2013, it has now been transformed into a wonderful museum to show the history and historical evolution of the Palace Museum.

Visit Three Main Halls

Then the Trumps visited three main halls, respectively are the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Central Harmony and the Hall of Preserving Harmony. These three halls are all in the outer court of the Forbidden City, also known as Palace Museum.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony rises some 30 meters above the level of the surrounding square, which is heart of the Forbidden City palace complex. It is the largest surviving wooden structure in China, covering 2,377sq m (25,586sq ft.). It is also the most important building of the nation and the ceremonial center of imperial power. In history, the Emperor came to the hall to receive congratulations from the civil and military officials.

The Hall of Central Harmony is the smallest hall of the three, covering a total area of 580 square meters. It is a square structure built like a pavilion, each side of which is five bays long, measuring 24.15m. It was used as a preparation room for the emperor before he attended sacrifices or other rituals.

The Hall of Preserving Harmony was used for many functions throughout history, for example, it was used for rehearsing ceremonies, holding royal weddings, Chinese New Year banquets, and was also the site of the final stage of the Imperial examination.

These three main halls, all with the Chinese character ”he” (meaning peace and harmony) in the middle of their names, symbolize the idea of the pursuit of peace and harmony.

Watch Restoration of Relics

The Trumps visited the Cultural Relics Hospital at the Palace Museum and watched craftsmen repairing historical artifacts there. This hospital covers 13,000 square meters and boasts the nation's most-advanced restoration workshops, which is the largest cultural heritage conservation center in China. As spiritual and cultural symbols of Chinese civilization, cultural relics reflects national memory, thus protecting cultural relics is protecting the county's history.

Cultural relic "doctors" showed their skills in repairing damaged ancient pieces including clocks, pottery, textiles, metal containers, wooden items, calligraphy, paintings and so on. The two presidents even tried their own hands at repairing a relic facsimile and then watched an exhibition of treasury relics together.

Watch Peking Opera at the Pavilion of Cheerful Melodies

The two presidential couples watched a Peking Opera performance at the Pavilion of Cheerful Melodies. Peking Opera is regarded as one of the cultural treasures of China. It is the largest Chinese opera form with a history of 160 years. It is also extolled as “Oriental Opera”.

The actors performed several scenes from three classic operas, such as Meihouwang (The Monkey King), which is the main character in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, features stunning action sequences; and Guifei Zuijiu (The Tipsy Beauty), a classic Peking Opera that describes Yang Yuhuan – a beloved concubine of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, who danced with beautiful steps after getting drunk. The beauty of art broke through language barriers and culture differences, just stroked the soul directly.

What is also worth mentioning is that the Pavilion of Cheerful Melodies will gradually restore the performance of palace opera gradually in the future. The Pavilion of Cheerful Melodies is a three-story wooden opera house, being used for the emperor and empress watched the opera in history. It has been quiet for 100 years and without any performing, but after all-round renovation, it will be not only a house for collecting opera artifacts and clothing, but also a real opera stage, which can let general visitors enjoy the royal feeling during the tour in the near future.