Giant Pandas Become Special Victims of Ya’an Earthquake
During the latest 7.0-magnitude earthquake that jolted Ya’an city, China, giant pandas at Bifengxia Panda Base have become special “victims”.
Although no deaths or injuries of pandas were reported so far, the rare species at Bifengxia Panda Base, located 50 kilometers away from the epicenter in Longmen county, Ya’an city, were found scared by the devastating quake.
Giant Pandas at Bifengxia Panda Base
According to the video captured by the camera surveillance, when the quake occurred at 8:02 a.m. Saturday, the pandas were slack-jawed for a while, and then some of them climbed onto trees, and some others fled somewhere.
“Those daring ones remained calm, while the timid ones suffered from shock,” a spokesman with the base said.
A large percentage of the pandas are in need of extra care and even psychological therapy. At the moment Breeders provided abundant food and even play with them to remove their tense.
Ya’an is home to giant pandas. In 1869, a French missionary discovered the giant panda in Baoxing County of the city, making the cute black-and-white animals known to the world. Currently there are 61 giant pandas at the base, and nearly half of them were moved here from the Wolong Natural Reserve in 2008, when 8.0-magnitude earthquake happened near the area. People in Wolong also felt the shake this time, but no casualties of human beings and pandas were caused, said Zhang Hemin, chief of Wolong Natural Reserve.
4 Traditional Chinese Festival Foods
Chinese New Year: Jiaozi/Dumpling
People today in northern China typically will eat jiaozi on New Year’s Eve. For the reason that ‘jiaozi’ sounds like a word meaning ‘bidding farewell to the old and ushering in the new.’ in Chinese. As a sign of good fortune for those who eat them, Some people prefer to wrap a one-yuan, fifty-cent or ten-cent coin in certain of the dumplings. This is believed to ensure good luck and prosperity in the coming New Year.
Lantern Festival: Tangyuan
Yuanxiao (glutinous rice ball) or Tangyuan,a kind of sweet dumpling. It is the special food for the Lantern Festival, be made with sticky rice flour and filled with sweet stuffing. And the festival is named after the famous dumpling. Yuanxiao is sticky, sweet and round in shape, symbolizing family unity, completeness and happiness.
Dragon Boat Festival: Zongzi
Zongzi is definitely the special food eaten here. Made with sticky rice, Zongzi has different shapes as well as various fillings. In the north part of china, people prefer the jujube as filling, while the south sweetened bean paste, fresh meat, or egg yolk. Plenty of families make zongzi on their own. When making it, soaking the glutinous rice, washing the reed or bamboo leaves and wrapping zongzi with leaves are the key parts. Nowadays, this custom prevails in China and other countries.
Mid-Autumn Festival: Moon Cake
Since the moon cake is round in shape, it is a symbol of the reunion of a family, that makes it clear to see how the eating of moon cakes under the round moon can inspire the missing of distant relatives. Today, people present the moon cakes to relatives and friends to show that they wish them a long and happy life..
Beijing, Best Place to Experience Chinese New Year
A celebration filled with color, energy, food, and history, Chinese New Year in Beijing hosts numerous fascinating local events to make your journey really special and unforgettable. China Tour Guide delivers you an essential travel guide to a number of the traditional activities in Beijing during the Chinese New Year.
Watch The Fireworks at Chinese Lunar New Year
Each year, Beijing’s skyline erupts in a colorful array of fireworks for nights on end. The most well known venues for setting off fireworks as well as watching the pandemonium that ensues - are around the Drum and Bell Towers in the Houhai Lake district. For the duration, this Beijing neighborhood is usually a fantastic spot for guests who wish to study about traditional hutong lifestyles.
Experience Beijing’s Temple Fairs
Chinese New Year in Beijing is usually a noisy, colorful and busy occasion. If you have never experienced the temple fairs of Beijing before, then this should be in your travel itinerary during Chinese New Year. The first temple fairs in Beijing can date back to about 1000 AD. Vendors would usually set up shop outside of the temples where pilgrims came to pay tribute towards the gods during traditional festival periods like Chinese New Year. Currently, Beijing’s temple fairs attract a huge number of guests from all over the world.
Watch Lentern Show and Eat Tang Yuan During Lantern Festival
The Chinese Lunar New Year comes to an finish when the Festival of Lanterns sets in. During the lantern festival, you can see lantern shows and folk dance everywhere around Beijing. One of unique food for the festival is the Tang Yuan, another sort of dumplings made of sweet rice rolled into balls (glutinous rice ball) and stuffed with either sweet or different fillings. The round shape symbolizes wholeness and unity.
New Year in Style: Hong Kong Victoria Harbour Fireworks
CNN has highlighted 10 top destinations in which to welcome 2013, and Hong Kong ranks in the first place for its great festive feast offered by the Victoria Harbour.
Some friends may have witness the spectacle on December 31, 2012, when Hong Kong glowed with the midnight fireworks display – Beginning at the sea, and moving along Victoria Harbour, and to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai. And the whole spectacle will on show again in February as the city prepares to ring in the Chinese New Year – Spring Festival (February 10).
Best Place for Viewing the Spectacle: Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza, the Promenade from the Avenue of Stars to Hong Kong Cultural Centre, the Promenade at Golden Bauhinia Square in Wan Chai, the area near Central Pier. And the BEST of the best - Victoria Harbour Cruise!
>> Victoria Harbour Cruise Ticket Booking
The Main Food of Tibet
Tibet is the highest region in the world with an average elevation of 4,900 meters. Due to its special geographic location, Tibet has its unique customs for eating food, which has great difference with the rest part of China.
Beef & Mutton
Beef, mutton and dairy products are the main food to the Tibetan people. There are generally no vegetables in the pastoral areas of Tibet, which make monotonous diet here. And from this part, the pastoral areas and even the entire Tibet all are the high fat, and high protein diet place. As is known to all beef and mutton are high-calorie food, it will help the people living in high altitude area keep out the cold. The interesting thing is, the Tibetan people have the habit of eating raw meat. If you have the chance to visit the pastoralist’s home, you will see the air-dry beef and mutton hanging inside their house or tents, and the host will call you to taste it. This kind of flavor you can only get taste in plateau.
Drinks
All kinds of drinks is the essential part that consisting of the Tibetan people’s nutrition food. They are butter tea, sweet tea, barley wine and some others. Butter tea, which always be eaten with Zanba, the main course of Tibet. Besides, it is also cosidered as a daily edible drink. It is made of boiled brick tea and ghee, both buttered tea and sweet tea all have the function of tea. In Tibet, it is an old Tibetan traditions serving the customer with buttered tea. Whatever you walking into the pastoralists’ tents, or farmers’ mud hut, or (in) visiting relatives and friends, the host will make a good fragrance of buttered tea to let you taste. When Tibetans travel far from home, the relatives and friends will come to see off and present him a white hada, and a bowl of butter tea for a wish of a smooth strip.
Made from the highland barley, barley wine is another drink in Tibet. In Tibet, nomatter men and women, old and young, all drink barley wine. The Tibetan usually make a good deal of barley wine before the holiday’s coming. From april to august, nearly all of the traditional festivals and non-traditional festivals, religious holiday or not a religious holiday, the Tibetan will take their barley wine to the green glassland and put up all sorts of tents, drink barley wine, while enjoy singing and dancing. What the charm of Tibetan wine culture！
Butter Tea
Barley Wine
Ghee
In Tibet，you can find Ghee anytime, anywhere. Ghee is an indispensable food for Tibetan people. Tibetan people, especially those in pastoral areas, generally have rare chance to eat vegetables and fruits; who get daily calories in addition to the meat, all dependent on Ghee. Traditionally Ghee is always made from cow’s milk and widely used in Tibetan cuisine, like making butter tea, be used in zanba ect.
Ghee
Must See Regions in Tibet
With its special geographic location, Tibet presents us its unique plateau snowy scenery, as well as enchanting Austral elegant demeanour. Its vast lands, majestic and magnificent natural scenery as well as its wonderful ethnic groups and magic Tibetan Buddhism make the land as one of the world’s great travel destinations since opening for tourism in the 1980s. Next let’s ckeck out where are your must see regions in Tibet:
Lasha – The Capital of Tibet
As the capital of Tibet, Lasha is the center of Tibet’s political, economic, cultural and religious activities. It is also an old city with 1300 years’ history. In the year of 1982, Lahsa was designated as one of the 24 first published historical and cultural city. The most famous attraction in Lasha – Potala Palace, which is a world-famous palace-castle-like architectural complex, located at the center of Lasha, on the top of Hongshan Mountain at an elevation of 3,600 meters. It was originally built by King Songtsen Gampo, to greet his bride, Princess Wencheng of China’s Tang Dynasty.
Shigatse – A Prosperous Buddhism City
Shigatse is the second biggest city in Tibet, with an area of 3,875 square kilometers. Shigatse is also a prosperous Buddhism city, not only because it is the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, but also for its dozens of monasteries, such as Tashilhunpo Monastery, Palkhor Monastery, Sakya Monastery and more.
Ngari – The Most Tibetan Part of Tibet
Located at an average elevation of 4,500 meters, Ngari is the largest reigion in Tibet but with the lowest population. Well known as the most”Tibetan” part of Tibet, it has great mountains, beautiful lakes, vast grasslands and spectacular snow mountains. And among them, there is one mountain called Mt Kailash is considered to be the spiritual center of Buddhism and the most holy mountain for the Tibetans. Devotees from Tibetan, India, Nepal and Bhutan will make pilgrimages to the sacred places every year.
Nyingchi – Known As “The Swiss Alps of Tibet”
Nyingchi, located in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, which is the place in Tibet well knowm as “the Swiss Alps of Tibet”. Since the effects of the summer moonsoon from Assam bring a lot of rain from early June to Septemper, Nyingchi enjoys exceptional advantages in natural tourist resources like green mountain slopes, snow-capped peaks and crystal-clear rivers. Nyingchi is also home to Tibetans and several other ethnic minorities. Yarlung Zangbo Canyon is the most alluring of all the tourist resources in Nyingchi.
Top 5 Famous Local Snacks in Xi’an
Top1: Jiaozi (Dumplings) Feast
Jiaozi feast is the most famous snack feast in Xi’an, which successfully develop from the basis of the study of tang dynasty dumplings as well as the traditional Chinese dumplings. Owing to the carefully selected materials used and unique process, the dumplings would be made to ba various kinds of shapes, both pleasing your eyes and mouth.
Carrot-like dumpling
Top2: Qin Town Liangpi (Qin Town Cold Noodles)
Qin town liangpi has a long history of more than 2000 years. According to the local legend at qin town, liangpi has already existed as a tribute during the reign of Emperor Qin (221BC-210BC). It is made from wheat or rice flour and mainly produced in Qin town, so it is also well known as Qin town rice noodles.
Qin Town Liangpi
Top3: Yangrou Paomo
Yangrou Paomo, the most representative local food in Xi’an, is a famous Muslim food. When eating the dish, you would be served with a large bowl and a flat-baked bread, you break the bread into small pieces, put in into the bowl and pour with hot mutton soup. Except for the main materials, the ingredients also play an important roles in this food, like ginger, caraway, and a specially salted sweet garlic ect.
Yangrou Paomo
Top4: Rou Jia Mo
Well known as a famous snack in Shannxi province even the whole Northwest China, Rou Jia Mo is welcomed by a large number of Chinese people. Rou Jia Mo, also called Chinese Hamburger, means “meat burger or meat sandwich”. It is very easy to imagine what the food is from its name. The meat (commonly pork or beef) is the essence of this snack, which is stewed for hours in a soup consisting of over 20 kinds of spices and seasonings that will make the meat more flavourful.
Rou Jia Mo
Top5: Rice and Jujube Cake
Rice and Jujube Cake is the traditional breakfast food in the Guanzhong region of China. It is a kind of pastry made from the raw material rice and jujube. There are two places offering the best flavor Rice and Jujube Cake, one made by the Muslim people at the Lianhu District of Xi’an; another is the restaurant named“东南亚甑糕王” located at the Muslim quarter.
Rice and Jujube Cake
The Muslim Culture in Xi’an
As being the starting point of the famous Silk Road, Xi’an drawn traders from West since 1st century BC. Throughout the 8th century AD, Xi’an was the largest city across the world with more than one million inhabitants, among which 1 / 3 of those were foreigners. The ancestors of these Muslims dwelled in Xian with Han people harmoniously and built Great Mosque for worship simultaneously.
Almost all of Xi’an’s 50,000 Muslim Hui people are located in Xi’an’s Muslim Quarter. The narrow alleyways of this area are best seen when night falling, when the markets come alive. At the Xi’an bazaars, merchants sell a wide range of everything from terra cotta trinkets, to calligraphy and poetry books. The food at these night markets should not to be missed and provides the best street food in the city. This is the best spot to taste local Xi’an snacks and specialties. Beiyuan Men Muslim Street is one among the famous street that sells Hui food and crafts.
Combining Islamic culture with Chinese traditional architecture seamlessly, Great Mosque has become most featured and renowned mosques in China. Since Tang Dynasty, the Arabian merchants bring the Islam to the Chang’an (early name of Xi’an) by crossing the Silk Road, some of them settled down here. They started to study local laws and custom, spread Islam to local people, then set up mosque for their own worship and pray. With reconstruction and extension in the following dynasties, Great Mosque became an architectural complex which owns large-scale pavilions, towers, arches and palaces.
Famous Local Snacks in Shanghai
Your Shanghai tour should not be completed without tasting Shanghai’s local snacks, here are the top 5:
1 Crab-Yellow Pastry
As early as the beginning of 20th century, this snack prevailed in Shanghai’s teahouses. This round yellow pastry looks like the shell of a cooked crab, therefore it is named Crab-Yellow Pastry. Oil-mixed dough is the main raw material for this snack, which is split into small pieces, stuffed and squashed to form a flat round cake. And then wrapped with a layer of sesame and finally baked in an oven. It usually has a salty or sweet flavor.
Recommended Place to try: Wuyuan Bakery
ADD: No. 255, Yanping Road, Jing’an District Or (No.1530, West Beijing Road, Jing’an District)
Crab-Yellow Pastry
2 Xiao Long Bao (Soup Dumplings)
The dumpling, cleverly hiding its soup within its delicately pinched wrapper, has reached cult-like fanaticism in this city. Don’t burns your mouths and tongues, before you eat it. you have to puncture the dumpling wrapper to let out the steam, and then slurp the soup slowly before shoveling the xiaolongbao down.
Recommended Place to try: Nanxiang Mantou
ADD: Yu Garden Shopping Street
Xiao Long Bao (Soup Dumplings)
3 Fried Stuffed Bun
Fried Stuffed Bun is a typical indigenous snack of Shanghai with nearly 100 years’ history. With a thin and soft wrap, a golden-colored and crispy bottom, and delicious meat, this snack tastes best when served hot.
Recommended Place to try: Yang’s Fry Dumpling (xiǎo yáng shēng jiān guǎn), it boasts the most delicious Fried Stuffed Buns (Shengjian) in Shanghai.
ADD: No. 54 and No. 60, Wujiang Road, Jing’an District
Fried Stuffed Bun
4 Niangao
Soft and chewy sliced Shanghai-style niangao is an old-school treat that remains a salvation for bachelors cooking dinner as well as a popular lunch order at local noodle joints. Stir-fried with leeks and pork, or for special occasions mixed with pieces of hairy crab in a sweet brown concoction, niangao is freaking delicious. We love the sweet, gooey, chewy hairy crab niangao at Wang Jia Sha.
Recommended Place to try: Wang Jia Sha
ADD: 805 Nanjing Xi Lu, near Shimen Yi Lu
Niangao
5 Vegetable Stuffed Bun
As the name suggests, this is without meat but the flavor is not reduced at all. For veggies, these buns, stuffed with greengrocery, mushroom, bamboo shoots and dried bean curd, are a good choice.
Recommended Place to try: Chunfeng Songyue Vegetarian Restaurant
ADD: No.99, Jiu Jiaochang Road, Huangpu District (near Bailing Road)
Vegetable Stuffed Bun
Safety Tips for Your Tibet Tour
Known as “the roof of the world”, a mysterious land – Tibet attracts a great number of visitor to explore its beauty. Are you planning to visit the land? For helping you to have great Tibet tours, here i would like to share with you some important tips.
1. Coldness & Dryness
The temperature decreases as the altitude goes up. It is very important to keep warm and get away from hypothermia or catching cold since the lack of air and thin cloud layer in Tibet makes the temperature difference during the day and night time obvious.
Countermeasures:
Even in the summer season, preparing one or more layered cloth for your Tibet tour is very necessary, you may need it in night. And if you travel to the EBC in the winter time, be sure you bring yourself one down coat.
Do not take a shower upon your arrival day even you feel uncomfortable, since showering will place you at potential risk of catching cold which is very bad for your acclimatization and stay in Tibet. You can do it on the second or third day according to your acclimatization situation if you need a shower seriously.
A hat is high recommended, as your head that impacting the body temperature mostly. You practically need it at some high passes or lake when the wind is strong.
For the high altitude as well as the lack of air moisture, temperature in Tibet is very dry although it is the origin place of many rivers. Plus, the strong wind there makes the evaporation faster, particularly when you have deep breath or strong exercise. The lack of air moisture and the fast evaporation makes your body dry, particularly your respiratory system. In consequence, you are more easily susceptible to pharyngitis, hacking cough, nose-bleed and cracks to your lips or limbs.
Countermeasures:
Every day, you should at least drink a bottle of mineral water to retain sufficient fluid inside your body. If you have tours like trekking, you need to drink a lot. Do bring a lipstick along with you or else you will have lip cracks soon after your arrival.
2. Long sunshine duration & Strong solar radiation
The solar radiation in Tibet could be the strongest in the world due to the thin air and cloud layers. The strong solar radiation and ultraviolet radiation will cause damages to skin, like sunburns, edema, pigmentation and wrinkle increases. If you do not wear a UV protection sunglasses, the strong ultraviolet radiation will bring about acute injuries to your eyes too, such as acute inflammation of the cornea, cataract and snow-blindness.
Countermeasures: Bring a sun hat, UV protection sunglasses, muffler as well as sun cream. Don’t underestimate those small things; they will be of great use then.
The lack of oxygen often slows the peristalsis of the stomach and the intestine; reduce the secretion of saliva, gall; consequently, this will bring about appetite loss and indigestion.
Do not eat too much food per meal. Have more vegetable and fruits that are rich in vitamins.
Keep away from tobacco, alcohol as well as other depressant drugs including barbiturates, tranquillizers, sleeping pills and opiates. Which will result in a worsening of symptoms for the reason that the drugs what have talked above would further decrease the respiratory drive while sleeping.result.
