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WildChina, USA Pavilion partner on iPhone app for Shanghai World Expo

September 1, 2010 in In the News, On the Road, Travel Tips by Alex G | No comments

Exclusive access to USA Pavilion content plus an interactive tour all in the palm of your hand. Sound appealing?

It’s here! We’re excited to announce that we have partnered with the USA Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo to offer users of the iPhone and iPod Touch our Expo Guide Shanghai application, which features exclusive USA Pavilion content that you can’t find anywhere else.


Through the mobile Expo Guide Shanghai application, users can listen to facts about the pavilion, view a video sneak peek of the venue and submit their favorite USA Pavilion photos to the official USA photo contest.

The application uses colorful 3D graphics and GPS navigation to guide visitors through a three-day, customizable tour of the entire Expo site. Navigation features enable visitors to locate themselves on an interactive map, look up bus routes and even call a cab from inside the Expo grounds.

Want to see more? The Expo Guide Shanghai is available for download for US$1.99 from the iTunes store. You can also find more details on our WildChina Touch page.

Autumn destinations: Xinjiang

August 30, 2010 in Culture, Food, On the Road by Alex G | No comments

If you’ve been thinking about an autumn getaway in China, now is the time to make plans for an unforgettable trip. Not too hot and not too cold, fall provides ideal weather conditions to see almost every part of the country. We’ve compiled a shortlist of our favorite fall spots in which to enjoy the lesser-known travel gems that China has to offer.

Our first pick is Xinjiang Autonomous Region, a perennial favorite known for its diverse landscapes and rich Uighur culture, which is closer to Turkic culture than Han Chinese culture. Xinjiang is home to a diverse array of lakes, mountains and deserts offering incredible sights, sounds, and a comfortable climate to boot.

No trip to Xinjiang is complete without sampling the region’s remarkable cuisine, which features rich stews, tasty breads and a mind-boggling variety of noodles from flat and wide to easily spoonable diced noodles if you’re still working on your chopstick skills.

Mutton is the meat of choice in Xinjiang, where it is generally barbecued or stewed. ‘Big plate chicken’ is one dish not to be missed – it is a mountain of tender chunks of chicken with potatoes, peppers and garlic cloves in a fragrant curry-like sauce, all served on – you guessed it – a very large plate. There are also plenty of delicious vegetarian options not found in Chinese cuisine – our favorite is the spicy Tiger Salad, which is typically made with fresh slices of tomato, bell pepper, purple onion and cucumber, all in a spicy vinegar sauce with sprigs of coriander. Wash it all down with the non-caffeinated tea drunk by the Uighurs, a local beer or a delicious glass of fresh cherry or pomegranate juice.

Most people living in Xinjiang follow a very moderate strain of Islam and are very open to visitors from afar. Their physical appearance is also quite different from what you might be expecting – don’t be surprised to meet locals with blonde hair and blue eyes. At the crossroads of Asia and Europe, Xinjiang never fails to provide a bit of the unexpected.

In early autumn, Xinjiang’s sky is deep blue and the cooler breezes blow the scorching summer away. Kashgar itself has a desert climate with long periods of sunshine and little rainfall. It also has sunshine much later into the day than the rest of China, a result of the entire country running on Beijing time. Although you haven’t left the country, a trip to Xinjiang can often make the rest of the country feel very far away.

Destinations

Very hot in the summer and bone-chilling cold in the winter, Xinjiang is at its most pleasant in the autumn. During the fall months, we suggest that you venture to the Taklamakan Desert for an overnight outdoor adventure. Don’t forget Xinjiang’s current must-visit destination – Kashgar’s historic old town, which was once a vibrant outpost on the Silk Road. Sadly, 85 percent of the old town is slated for demolition, so if you’ve ever considered visiting this storied Central Asian trading town, this may be your last chance.

Activities

While soaking in the rhythmic and passion-filled music of the Uighurs, enjoy the immense vastness of the Taklamakan at dusk and watch the clear sky gradually fill with stars. For the complete experience, ride a camel there and back. In Kashgar’s old town, be sure to visit Id Kah Mosque, Abakh Khoja Mausoleum and the city’s old handicrafts street, as well as the Sunday livestock market and bazaar.

Stay tuned for our next featured fall favorite for more ideas on autumn trips.

Shangri-La dreaming

August 24, 2010 in Culture, On the Road, environment by WildChina | No comments

As another summer draws to a close, we find our mind drifting to one of our favorite places to enjoy fall scenery in China – Shangri-La and the surrounding Tibetan areas. Although it is doubtful that it is actually the place James Hilton described in his novel Lost Horizon, Shangri-La taps into many of the themes that have enchanted readers of the book since it was first published in 1933.

Every autumn, we are drawn to this corner of Yunnan near the Tibetan border, where the Songzanlin Monastery looks down upon a valley where yaks graze in meadows crisscrossed with crystal-clear streams and the leaves of the trees in surrounding hills are ablaze with color.

Songzanlin is only the beginning of what this area has to offer. Towering snowcapped mountains, the headwaters of the Mekong River, alpine forests and massive glaciers combine to make this one of the most breathtaking areas in one of China’s most scenic provinces. Bringing it all together is the otherworldly holy mountain known to Han Chinese as Meili Snow Mountain and Tibetans as Mt. Kawagebo.

Just as with Hilton’s Shangri-La, this sacred geography is removed from the trappings of modern life, with time moving at its own pace. The days are characterized by warm sunshine and cool breezes while the nights are crisp and intoxicating.

Regardless of which of our journeys we’re on, this corner of the “roof of the world” never fails to invigorate and rejuvenate.

Interview: Brian Linden of the Linden Centre

August 23, 2010 in Culture, On the Road, WildChina Collection by WildChina | No comments

Brian Linden interacting with local children in Xizhou

Sometimes the most unlikely partnerships can lead to fantastic results. Such is the story of the Linden Centre, a one-of-a-kind boutique hotel set in the small town of Xizhou, about 20 miles north of Dali in southwest China’s Yunnan province.

The Linden Centre itself is a meticulously restored traditional Bai courtyard home dating back to another era, but it is the cooperation between a visionary American couple and the local government that is the foundation for the Centre’s success – it has already been named one of the top boutique hotels in China by publications around the country. With full support from the Xizhou government and protected status on par with the Great Wall, the Linden Centre is the brainchild of Brian and Jeanee Linden, who had previously been coming to China to find unique crafts and artwork for their gallery in Door County, Wisconsin.

Brian Linden is a true ‘old China hand’ – he first came here in 1984 to study Chinese and later worked as a cameraman and translator for CBS. He and Jeanee have poured time, effort and money into making the Linden Centre what it is today: an example of how cultural heritage can be preserved while creating a platform for cultural exchange. WildChina spoke with Brian Linden about the Centre’s achievements and its vision for the future:

WildChina: What makes Xizhou a unique travel destination?

Brian Linden: Xizhou is unique because it is a functioning village full of historical complexes. The Xizhou merchants of the 19th and early 20th centuries built over 100 stone and wood courtyard homes, most in the san fang yi zhao bi style [three sides of the courtyard dedicated to living quarters and one side highlighting a work of art]. These structures exist and currently function as homes and local businesses. They have not been gentrified nor sold to outsiders to open t-shirt shops. In this regard, it allows visitors to see a slice of traditional Bai village life – made all the more interesting because of the stunning architectural legacy. Most of our guests stay 4-5 days, and we have yet to have any complaints about Xizhou.

The Linden Centre frequently hosts cultural events and performances

WildChina: What are the goals of the Linden Centre?

Linden: To develop a new travel paradigm that focuses on learning and cultural immersion. This model’s uniqueness is that we are targeting adults, who want an indigenous experience but can also recognize elegance in art and antiques and culinary options. The Centre is completely different from any other hotel in China. We have as many staff as guests usually, and it our staff’s job to help our discerning guests to go beyond the contemporary facades of China.

WildChina: What have the highlights of the Centre’s existence been so far?

Linden: While Jeanee and I did not set out to establish a hotel but rather an intellectual retreat in the Aspen Institute tradition, we are proud to have been selected as the Best Boutique Hotel in China by Sina.com and the most interesting hotel in SW China by Xinzhoukan. We are also the top rated hotel in all of China among over 32,000 other properties on Tripadvisor. We have stories about us in Travel+Leisure, Atlantic Monthly, Food and Wine, dozens of Chinese and Asian magazines and newspapers, and have recently hosted renowned writer Amitav Ghosh who is doing an article about the Centre and region for Condé Nast India.

WildChina: The Centre is obviously a labor of love, what do you find most rewarding about it?

Linden: Because of the CCTV documentaries about us, we have had a constant flow of Chinese visitors from around the country, many of whom have traveled from north and south China to express their support for our efforts. This has been very touching. We also have been moved by our guests’ responses to the local immersions. We consistently have visitors with tears in their eyes when it comes time to leave the Centre. This is a wonderful feeling, especially when we know that we have helped expand our guests’ views of China. Most guests feel like they never truly felt China or knew the non-urban Chinese until they spent time with us. We are hoping that this expanded view will help lead to greater understanding between East and West.

Visitors to the Linden Centre take part in a variety of cultural immersion activities

WildChina: How is Bai architecture different from traditional Han Chinese architecture?

Linden: One of the first things that our guests comment on is the Bai tradition of painting on their homes. Most houses in Xizhou have series of paintings lining their upper walls, just below the roofline. These paintings, which are still being created on new buildings in Xizhou, depict flowers, animals and even city scenes from 1920s Shanghai and England! The pleasant weather in Dali also has allowed the Bai people to truly incorporate the courtyard space into a year-round functioning living area. These courtyards often serve as open air dining areas for the family, homework space for the children, and weaving areas for the women. Time is spent mainly in these open courtyards, thus greatly expanding the living space for the typical Bai family.

WildChina: How does the Linden Centre interact with the local community in Xizhou?

Linden: We offer weekly language interaction classes with local kindergartens and spend Saturday evenings at our village activity center teaching English to the local community. We are working with the local government to help place visiting doctors, teachers and carpenters in village facilities. We plan to establish a program to help rebuild old temples. We also will be developing a museum in Xizhou.

WildChina: What are your plans for the future?

Linden: We have been inundated with requests to expand our sites to other locations. These often come from local governments who feel that we would be a great asset for their communities. We are seriously looking into Weishan and Kunming as future sites. We also hope to develop our second complex in Xizhou, the former town hall, into an artist-in-residence center and a daytime cooking school.

WildChina is pleased to include the Linden Centre in the WildChina Collection – watch this space for more info!

Sipping on Chengdu’s legendary teahouse culture

August 20, 2010 in Culture, On the Road, What We're Reading by WildChina | No comments

The buzzing metropolis of Chengdu may be most famous for being the capital of Sichuan cuisine, but its identity is not linked to food alone – is also arguably the Chinese city with the most pervasive teahouse culture.

Home to somewhere between four and five thousand teahouses, Chengdu is known throughout China for being a laid-back city where everywhere you go, you’ll find a busy teahouse full of people chatting, talking business or playing majiang (mahjong) – all while sipping on small cups of their favorite cha.

We recently stumbled upon an interview on Chengdu website GoChengdoo with Texas A&M associate professor of history Wang Di, who is researching the role of the teahouse in China during the 20th Century.

The Chengdu native authored the book The Teahouse: Small Business, Everyday Culture and Public Politics in Chengdu, 1900-1950, a look at Chengdu’s teahouse culture in old Chengdu, making several interesting arguments about what led to the popularity of teahouses in Chengdu and its reputation for leisurely locals.

In the early 20th Century, many Chengdu residents lacked access to running water, and water in many of the wells around the city had a bitter alkaline taste, so a stop by the teahouse was important for many people. So important, that being located near a teahouse could push an apartment’s rent up significantly.

In addition to generating plenty of local wealth, the agricultural abundance of Chengdu and the fertile Chengdu Plain also translated to people spending less time in the fields to ensure a good harvest than in other parts of China. No wonder why drinking tea and catching up on the latest news and gossip was the activity of choice for people of all backgrounds in Chengdu.

Whenever we’re passing through Chengdu we always try to squeeze in a visit to open-air teahouse at People’s Park. Undoubtedly the city’s most famous teahouse, it is the perfect place to experience teahouses as they used to be in Chengdu. After a few hot cups of green tea, the tea-fuelled chatter around us fades into the background and we think about how far those little leaves traveled to get there.

Mudslides continue to ‘wreak havoc’ in Yunnan, SW China

August 18, 2010 in In the News, News You Can Use, On the Road, environment by Alex G | No comments

The torrential rains that have plagued southwestern China this summer have caused even further damage, this time in Yunnan province.

Xinhua reports that in Pudali Township of Yunnan’s Gongshan Drung-Nu Autonomous Region, “at least 67 people are missing and seven others injured after mudslides slammed [the] remote town” earlier today.

Gongshan in Yunnan province. (Photo: Wikimedia.org)

In addition to affecting roads, power sources and telecommunications, the mudslides also “destroyed a bridge and made the Nujiang River swollen with the water level increasing by up to six meters.”

Rescuers have been dispatched to the area through local government.

At this time, none of WildChina’s journeys to Yunnan have been affected. We will update the blog with any updates on the situation.

UPDATE: The mudslides occurred very close to where we begin our From the Salween to the Mekong: Hiking the 19th Century French Explorers’ Route journey. Please enquire with your travel associate at WildChina for further details on this itinerary.

Sichuan Update: Chengdu-Jiuzhaigou road closure

August 16, 2010 in News You Can Use, On the Road, environment by Alex G | 2 comments

Our local Sichuan partners have just informed us that the road from Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou has been closed. At the moment, the only way to travel between the two areas is by plane. Neither Chengdu nor Jiuzhaigou have been affected by floods or landslides.

Stay tuned for more updates.

China fights floods, mudslides in southwestern Sichuan

August 16, 2010 in In the News, On the Road, Sichuan-Earthquake by Alex G | No comments

Wenchuan County in China’s southwestern Sichuan province has yet again been struck by natural disaster.

Rain-induced flooding and mudslides on August 14 “ravaged” the area, resulting in at least 38 people missing and approximately 10,000 evacuated residents.

Photo: Xinhua / Wen Xin

The county first experienced disaster when about 70,000 residents died in the 7.8-magnitude earthquake on May 12, 2008.

Rescue work is already underway. Local county government is housing displaced residents in schools and government buildings, with rescue teams conducting searches for victims and coordinating removal of debris.

The Chinese government has also implemented financial policies to ease rebuilding for affected citizens in both Sichuan and Gansu, which was hit with landslides earlier this month. Xinhua reports, “China’s central bank and banking regulatory commission have ordered the country’s financial institutions to provide preferential loan policies to victims in the mudslide-hit regions of Gansu and Sichuan provinces.”

We at WildChina are heartbroken by this news. After witnessing the aftermath of the 2008 earthquake first-hand, we know how difficult the recovery process has been for the people of Wenchuan. China’s morale has been tried multiple times already this year – in Qinghai, Gansu, and now Sichuan – and our thoughts go out to the affected communities in these areas. We hope that, given the amount of damage done in the past few years, that the government has gained the experience and insight necessary to swiftly and effectively provide aid.

We are following developments closely, and will keep you informed of any updates.

All WildChina itineraries to Sichuan are currently running as planned.

Opposing viewpoint: No to Lijiang?

August 5, 2010 in Culture, On the Road, What We're Reading, environment by Alex G | No comments

This week on Twitter, we engaged in a short but telling debate with @chinaandbeyond, or blogger Jessica Marsden, on Lijiang, Yunnan province.

(credit: Michael Mudd)

After reading our tweets on our Chinese Treasures journey – our ’China 101′ itinerary with an-off-the-beaten-path twist – she challenged our choice of Lijiang among cultural and historical mainstays Beijing, Shanghai and Xi’an in a blog post, citing its devolvement into a tourist trap.

As we have discussed in previous posts on the WildChina blog, we don’t dispute this fact. Much of Lijiang’s cultural value has been replaced by cafes, bars and other entertainment venues targeted at foreigners. It’s a tough call, and one that we have to make each time we take our clients to lesser-known villages and sites in the area.

Explore the many facets of this ongoing debate: read Jessica’s full post on her blog and Lonely Planet, get our thoughts on the subject, and join the conversation on tourism in China with us on Twitter.

Living like the Miao: Guizhou Homestays

July 28, 2010 in Culture, On the Road by Alex G | No comments

It is one thing to visit a remote Chinese village – but have you ever wondered what it would be like to live and participate in one?

I often think back to my study abroad experiences in China. While studying at Hangzhou’s Zhejiang University of Technology (through the C.V. Starr – Middlebury program), I loved taking trips with my Chinese roommate, both with school and on our own, meeting local people in various provinces and sampling all things cultural that my semester in China could offer me. (After such a great experience, it’s no surprise that I moved back.)

So, when my colleague Summer, who works in WildChina’s Educational Travel department, recently shared with me a few stories of student homestays in Miao minority villages in Guizhou province, my interest was immediately piqued. The trips’ unique combination of cultural interaction, adventure and service made me wish I were still that student on her abroad program trips.

The coolest part about these trips is that they were both centered rural village homestays – an integral part, in my opinion, of academic travel in China for both high school and college students alike. Doing so offers students a chance to personally encounter and understand daily life for rural minority peoples in China.

The beginning of the students’ homestay was one I didn’t expect: to arrive at these communities, Summer told me, students hiked 1-2 hours from Kaili, a larger town in Guizhou.  With a larger group of students, it’s not always easy to motivate everyone to trek on foot to a new destination. But, the old adage “when in Rome” applies here – it’s all part of the rural experience. I think it is a special, and important, part of the program.

Other highlights I found from my conversation with Summer were Miao fish hotpot, service activities at local schools, and learning to play the lusheng.

But, what really impressed me was the inclusion of household chores in these homestays. This may seem incredibly mundane, but to explain myself, a quick anecdote about my horse-crazed sister. Growing up, she rode at a barn that required riders to do everything from tacking up, feeding the horses, and cleaning stalls to tidying up the barn, fundraising at events, and running a rider-created committee to work on barn improvement. She has always had a closer relationship to and greater understanding of horses and riding than anyone I have ever known.

It’s the same with chores in these Miao villages: there is so much value to being a part of a daily system that sustains a traditional Chinese community. It makes a student’s experience in the community that much more integrated and personal. In the spirit of my own positive personal experience with Chinese community members during study abroad, I think Summer was right to make this a core part of the academic homestay experience.

Make your school trip experience in China memorable, too – take a look at our customizable educational travel programs.

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