One of China's most enduringly popular holiday spots, Hángzhōu's (杭州) dreamy West Lake panoramas and fabulously green hills can easily tempt you into long sojourns. Eulogid by poets and applauded by emperors, the lake has intoxicated the Chine imagination for aeons.
Kept spotlessly clean by armies of street sweepers and litter collectors, its scenic vistas draw you into a classical Chine watercolour of willow-lined banks, mist-covered hills and the occasional shíkùmén (stone-gate hou) and old lǐlòng (residential lane).
Wonderful as it is, Hángzhōu's charms are by no means limited to West Lake scenery – delve further into the city to climb ancient pagodas and discover blissfully quiet temples.
Away from the tourist drawcards exists a charismatic and buzzing city in its own right, with wide pedestrian walkways to wander, an unpretentious and exciting food scene, upbeat nightlife and increasingly cosmopolitan population.
Guǎngzhōu, once better known to Westerners as Canton, is China's busiest transport and trade hub and the third-largest city in the country.
A giant metropolis, Guǎngzhōu is home to both gleaming towers and leafy alleys, and its history as a strategic trade port to the South China Sea has afforded it a colonial background and culturally diver population that combine to give Guǎngzhōu a cosmopolitan flair.
Additionally, the China Import and Export Fair (more commonly known as the Canton Fair) – China's largest trade fair – es thousands of international visitors flocking to Guǎngzhōu twice a year. And its proximity to Hong Kong means it is one of the most well-connected cities in China.作文话题>cheap是什么意思
Chéngdū (成都) is no great draw when it comes to major tourist sites – pandas excepted, of cour – but many visitors find its laid-back pace and diversity of cultural scenes unexpectedly engaging.
自作多情 英语It could be its relaxing teahou culture, with favourite local institutions rving the same brews across generations. Maybe it's the lively nightlife, with a strong showing of local partiers bolstered by large student and expat populations that gather at craft beer bars an
d super-hip clubs.北京日语学校
threadless
It might be the food: famous for heat, history and variety even in the cuisine-rich cultures of China; and very much a point of pride. It is, after all, Unesco's first-ever City of Gastronomy.
itisme长沙
For three millennia, this city on the Xiāng River (湘江; Xiāng Jiāng) flourished steadily as a centre of agriculture and intellect.
In the 1920s it was still so well prerved that British philosopher Bertrand Rusll is said to have compared it to a medieval town, but not long after, the Sino-Japane War and a massive fire in 1938 gave Chángshā (长沙) an irreversible facelift, leaving little of its early history.
The days it's a modern, energetic city, known mainly for sights relating to Mao Zedong, but with its magnolia-lined streets and riverine aspect, it's a pleasant enough stopover an
d provincial capital.
The capital of Liáoníng province, prosperous Shěnyáng (沈阳) has made enormous strides in overcoming its reputation as a postindustrial 'rust-belt' city.
True, Shěnyáng is still a sprawling metropolis, but the metro is easy to navigate, and there's a buzz on the streets and in the designer malls as locals grow confident, positive and urbane.
For the traveller, Shěnyáng boasts its very own Imperial Palace, a tomb complex and decent muums, as well as veral fine parks. Given its strategic location as a transport hub for the north of China, Shěnyáng is well worth a stopover on your journey.
At China's cartographic bullye, Lánzhōu (兰州) marks the halfway point for overlanders trekking across the country.
小星星英语>口罩英文Growing up on a strategic stretch of the Yellow River (黄河; Huáng Hé), and sitting between competing Chine and Central Asian empires, Gānsù's elongated capital city fr
伞的英文单词equently changed hands, reflected today in its mix of ethnic groups and cultures.
The days, Lánzhōu is perhaps most well known for its favourite food – Lánzhōu beef noodles (牛肉面; niúròu miàn) – and with veral excellent night markets, this is an excellent place to sample the delights of Chine Silk Road fare.
Lánzhōu's reputation as being hazy and traffic-choked is also changing with the building of a new metro, which should be open by the time you read this.
Wǔhàn (武汉) has matured from the sprawling convergence of three smaller cities to an industrial and commercial centre with more than a smattering of fine cultural sites, including the Yellow Crane Tower and a terrific muum.
toll
