With one of the largest land spaces and populations of any other country, it’s no wonder that China has some of the most incredible attractions for tourists to experience throughout its landscape. Here are a few tourist attractions that you have to check out the next time you visit China.
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There are more than 100 museums and galleries in Beijing. Among the well known we can mention: the Palace Museum, The National Museum of China, Beijing Art Museum, the Military Museum and the Ancient Coin Museum.
The National Museum of China
The National Museum of China stretches more than 300 m / 984 ft to the north and to the south along the east side of the Tiananmen Square. The predecessors of the museum are the Museum of Chinese History and the Museum of Chinese Revolution, which shared the same building.
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I came back here three months ago, and in that short time I have faced just about every challenge a person to a new country can face. But, I am a much stronger man because of it. I have dealt with various housing and business issues, a broken computer, registration, passport extensions, teaching, losing a cell phone in the midst of yet another housing search, etc.
The biggest benefit from all of this is that intangible thing called experience. There is a reason why job recruiters have specific requirements regarding experience for most positions. Theoretically, a really …
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That is what they say getting money back from a Chinese person is like. I spent the last month in my apartment with major noise and water problems, and, given the amount I was paying for the place, it just wasn’t acceptable. I allowed the owner several attempts to solve the problem, but it always remained the same. Several times, he said he would try one more thing and if it didn’t work he would let me out of the contract. So, I spent a sleepless month with cold showers, missing many classes and a couple days of work. Finally, he agreed to let me out of the contract last week, only to change his mind the next morning. I was frustrated and upset because I was paying a lot and was very uncomfortable, and most importantly, everything was on hold until I could get the problem solved. I didnt want to have internet installed or buy items if I was going to be leaving anyway. Finally, between my agent and another friend, we were able to pursuade him to terminate the contract and refund most of my money. Nobody I know here thought it could be done. The society is so relationship-based that if you dont have the right ones it can be difficult to get anything done around here. I have run a marathon before, I graduated college after having dropped out of high-school, etc. and, from what others have told me, getting that money back was harder than either.
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It came to me last night - after spending a frustrating evening trying to get by in Chinese - quite unsuccessfully. I am here in China for one primary reason and that is to learn the Chinese language. Now, let’s be honest with each other, this isn’t your Mammy’s Spanish were talking about - this is Chinese!!! Couple that with the fact that I have never learned a language before and that I’m starting my first at 32 (33 in a month) and we have quite a challenge on our hands. I am willing to put everything I have into it, and if I can do it anyone can, do anything. Oh yeah, I have another confession to make, I am tone-deaf! - and Chinese is a tone-based language. I am so tone-deaf in fact, that, when I was waiting tables at the Cheesecake Factory, I was banned from even singing “happy birthday.” Believe me, this is a true story.
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The Terracotta Army is formed by the Terracotta Warriors and Horses located near Xi’an, Shaanxi province. The army belonged to Shi Huang Di the First Emperor of China. The army was discovered by chance in 1974 when several local farmers worked on drilling water well on a field near Xi’an.
What does the terracotta army comprise?
The army is formed by figures which vary in height and are all life-like and life-sized. The tallest of them are the Generals. The army includes warriors, chariots, horses, officials, acrobats, strongmen and musicians. Currently it’s estimated that the army comprises over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses most of all still buried in the pits.
History
The emperor buried his army with him with the only purpose to serve him in the after life to rule another empire. It’s estimated that Shi Huang Di’s army was buried in 209-210 BC.
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The private restaurants and food stalls are part of Beijing’s image. The restaurants satisfy the tourists, the business travelers as well as the foreign residents.
Because of the cold winter, short growing season and the arid climate, the cuisine is based on wheat, soybeans and millet. The modern Beijing chefs are proud of their lai mein (hand-pulled noodles)
Specialties and cuisines
While in Beijing you can experience one of the specialties or cuisines:
Beijing (Peking) Duck (see photo right) is the must for any visitor. Half a duck along with hoisin sauce and silver fungus are rolled up in a piece of bread.
Sichuan style cuisine is hot and spicy, with a lot of red chilies and Sichuan peppercorn, garlic and onions. One of the nicest restaurants serving Sichuan style cuisine is Shu Xiang Zhai.
Hot pots contain varieties of meat, vegetable, tofu and some unique foods. Zhao Deng Wai Yu Lu is one of the best places around Beijing to get hot pots.
Xinjiang food is a Muslim style cuisine and the bread is great.
Dao Xiao Mian are noodles. They are served with soup, meat and sometimes vegetables. La Mian is a variant of the noodles, something like spaghetti
Jiaozi are dumplings. They have different fillings, such as meat, vegetables or sea food.
Gong Bao Ji Ding is a spicy chicken cooked with vegetables and peanuts.
To Doe Zi is made of potatoes and green papers.
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Alright! So, after all that stuff with the apartment and with the internet my computer went ahead and crashed. It seemed like one thing after another, but I took it to the SONY repair shop with a friend, and they repaired it for 300 RMB - about $40 - small price to pay. Apparently, they don’t honor a SONY warranty from the US. Strange, but still a small price to pay and I am happy they were able to fix it quickly.
I am in my new crib and really like the location. There have been …
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I guess you can choose your own name here, so that is my Chinese name. It means “Little Dragon,” which is the Chinese (real) name of Bruce Lee. That is my joke with the ladies – never fails to get a laugh. I like to ask people their name when I meet them – In Chinese this is “Wo Jiao Shenme Mingzi?” Then they ask me my name and I say, “Wo Jiao Li Xiao Long!” For my first two weeks here I was Zheng Leng (Jackie Chan,) but I think Li Xiao Long is better.
Funny enough – I got that job at MAERSK. I guess there were probably two reasons for this:
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This week is off to a great start. Yesterday, I started my first day of classes. I am in the beginner class, with three other students - all from Korea. Yesterday it was just me and a 10 year old girl - she is a bit hyper, but very cute. She likes to draw and one of the exercises was to identify the items from an office room sketch in our text book. She and I went ahead and copied it on the blackboard - almost perfectly - although her half was a little bit better than mine. The teacher then just pointed to and wrote the chinese word for the corresponding items; chair, desk, fax machine, cell phone, etc. It was good fun.
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