Chengdu - a Relaxing City

Chengdu in Sichuan province which is in the central part of the country is not always included in many group tours.  I like to send people there on private custom tours as Chengdu has so much to offer in the surrounding areas.  Home of the Panda, you can visit the Experiment Station which has only Pandas  including new born ones in the nursery.   Chengdu has many relaxing parks and tea houses where the local people gather to play Mahjong and other games during the warm afternoons. Dufu's Cottage park is one of my favorites.  You can often see an orchestra practicing, choir groups and children playing games.  They have a fantastic Bonsai collection also.  The Wen Shu Temple park is another with vegetarian lunches and tea with snacks in the park.  There are also several areas of the city that have preserved the old buildings and left as they were 100 years ago.  Here you see Jinlin Street as one example.  Another is the beautiful Kuan Xhai Xiang Zi Alley with its beautiful courtyard restaurants and tea houses.  I often stay at the Buddha Zen Hotel which is a traditional hotel built around a courtyard and the area around the hotel has been preserved in the old style. There are many small towns and villages surrounding Chengdu like Huanglongxi town which is very scenic as one example.  If you want to visit remote mountain areas with small villages and Tibetan people you may want to visit my web site at www.interlakechinatours.com       Look under packaged tours:  10 Day Mountain Tour.

You may even stay in a Tibetan family hotel in one of the small villages if you like.  For more information check my web site or email me for details at    email:  interlak@eskimo.com

China is Pandas!

You see here me with a pair of two year old Pandas. They are like lively children always willing to play.  Chengdu in Sichuan province is the home of the Pandas in China.  Located in south central China, the Experiment station just outside Chengdu is like a wonderful zoo devoted to only Pandas.  There is a nursery with a very large picture window where you may see the New Born Pandas close up.  The old Panda Preserve was destroyed by a large earthquake a few years ago.  Fortunately they had just remodeled the Experiment Station so tourists can see the Pandas in their natural habitat close up.  If you go to see Pandas be sure to visit them during the morning hours as afternoons they usually sleep which is part of their habit even in the wild.   I had  my photo taken with a large Male Panda a few years ago and couldn't believe how friendly he was since he was born and raised at the Panda Preserve.   Sichuan province is one of the most interesting provinces in China with many nature sights and cultural places to visit.  A kind of sleepy large city with many parks and tea houses, a visit here will be well rewarded with fond memories of old and new China.   Let my 26 years of Travel in China help you plan a special tour customized just for you and your special interests.  You can see my web site at www.interlakechinatours.   Click on the photo for a full screen view!

Little Visited Guizhou Province

Guizhou province usually gets passed over by most tourists as one can not see everything in China in just a few weeks.  A client wanted to go there to see a specific village years ago so I went to check out the province to see if it was ready for tourism with good hotels and sites worth visiting.  I found very few tourists which was nice and many wonderful small villages one that you see here nestled in a hillside and valley.  Zeniel Village has both Shui and Miao ethic nationalities living there near DuJiang Town.   The largest waterfall in China is also located at Huang Guo Shu on the way to Anshun is a wonderful visit and there is one of the most beautiful Bonsai parks I have seen in all China of which there are many.  In Anshun you can visit Dragon Palace Cave park and take a boat ride on the near by lake.  There is 700 year old Tunpa Han Village nearby where 22 generations of people live who had been warriors.  The Stone Fort or Temple still stands and can be visited at Stone Temple Village.  Eastern Guizhou province is still developing but if you would like to see what past

generations lived like, it is a good place to visit although good hotels are yet to develop fully.   For more information on Guizhou province touring contact us at   interlak@eskimo.com
Let my 25 Years of travel throughout China be of help to you in seeing China up close and personal.

"Encountering the Chinese" Book on China

If you are doing research on China, one of the best books I have found is "Encountering the Chinese" a Guide for Americans.  It is difficult to find so I went right to the publisher and ordered 100 books to have on hand for my customers.   It is just $24.95 post paid if you would like a copy.  It gives an over all picture of meeting and interacting with the Chinese people besides giving you valuable insights into their culture.    It is a must read for anyone who will be interacting directly with the Chinese people whether it is in Business, cultural exchange delegations or as a Tourist who is interested  in understanding and dealing with the culture more in depth.  You can send your check or money order for $24.95 post paid to  Interlake China Tours, Inc.  P.O. Box 33652  Seattle, WA.  98133

Researching Your China Travel

China is a very large and diverse country with many cultures within a culture.  Most people have 2 to 3 weeks  to see such a large country.  In order to see the most important sites that you may be interested in you need to do a lot of research.  Start with a travel book just on China.  You will find them in your favorite travel or book store.  Next look up some of the sites and areas of China that you are interested in on the internet.  Reading Blogs on China such as mine here are very helpful and there are many.   Next determine the time of year you want to travel and your budget.  This all takes a great deal of time but a well planned tour is valuable for your  enjoyment.   As a Tour Operator just to China who does mostly Private Customized tours to the customers interests, I send inquiries a Profile Sheet to fill out with their specific interests and needs.    I then outline these areas for you to do further research on the internet or travel books.  If those areas meet your needs, I then fill out the details of sites to visit based on your Profile Sheet interests.  After 25 years of travel in China and sending over 2,500 people there, I am able to give each and every client their specific interests.  You can't possibly see it all in one trip so you should see what you are most interested in rather than see some general sights that you have little interest in a stock tour.  Some people love museums and others do not as an example.  Many group tours have many museums in their tours which are usually 1/2 day visits.   For more information contact us at:   www.interlakechinatours.com   or email:  interlak@eskimo.com  
People call me ChinaDave.   You can also find me on Frommer's Forum answering questions of travel.

The Ever Changing Lhasa, Tibet

I have traveled China and Tibet for over 25 years watching the changes and the growth.  It has been like watching the U.S. from 1900 to 2014 in the span of just those 25 years.  It is what keeps me going back time and time again to see and watch the changes going on in China.  As a tour operator I work all over China so I see all those changes first hand from year to year.  My first visit to Lhasa was in 1994 when the population was only 250,000 people.  Few hotels on the par of the west but there was an old Holiday Inn at the time which is now under another name.  The others were two and three star hotels and a variety of hostels.  Mostly Chinese and Tibetan food with something similar to western food.  Buildings were only two stories tall and many dirt or gravel streets and roads.  Chinese lived on one side of the town and Tibetans on the other side.  That was 1994 but today when I have been there I can see the difference in these  photos with the population now over 450,000 people.  Motorcycles, cars and the new Tibet train from Beijing have brought many more modern conveniences to Lhasa along with western food in quaint restaurants.  I toured the St. Regis Lhasa Resort Hotel where rooms start at $550 per night to $2,500 per night.  The swimming pool is lined with 24 ct. gold which shimmers with the underwater lights.  There are now 4 star hotels such as the Lhasa Hotel and the Sheraton.  The Monasteries and the Potala Palace are the main sights to visit but the markets and local people contribute to a very cultural tour.  For more information on touring Tibet check my web site with private packaged tours at www.interlakechinatours.com
Click on the photos for a full screen view!
                   

The Lhasa Train

I was reading in ITN magazine a report from a couple who were disappointed in their train trip from Beijing to Lhasa.  It wasn't what they had expected thinking it was a super modern train perhaps like the new Fast Trains in China.  Pictured here is the Lhasa train which is not unlike most trains in China other than the new Fast Trains.  The cars are equipped with oxygen somewhat like an airplane.  They even have extra oxygen tubes in each car.  Otherwise they are like  most of the trains in China.
The photo here is the First Class compartments that have two upper and two lower berths.  During the day the  people in the upper berths can sit with the people on the lower berths.  Sheets and blankets are provided.  There is plenty of room to store luggage.  The trains of course travel at night as well as during the day so the scenery is only during the day part of the trip.  I myself have ridden from Lhasa/near Xian down to Chengdu and finally Chongqing.   I took the train so as a Tour Operator I could give first hand information on it.  I too was a bit disappointed expecting much more.  You MUST book first class as second class is  quite crowded and they allow smoking in those cars.  The dining room is fair but the food is train food and I suggest taking food with you.  Tea is available and there are sellers with carts selling snacks and drinks also during the trip.  For more information on the Lhasa train, contact me at   interlak@eskimo.com   My friends call me ChinaDave.
      Click on the photos for a full screen view.