Jiuzhaigou National Park isn’t as likely to be visited by people traveling to China as the Great Wall is–but it should be. This region represents an oasis of natural beauty striking enough to rival Yosemite National Park and the Galapagos. Indeed, this breath taking landscape is the very reason WildChina has teamed up with National Geographic photographer Michael Yamashita to offer a photography trip to this “picture perfect” destination. For those of you on the road to becoming the next Ansel Adams, this adventure provides an exciting opportunity to hone your skills.

Jiuzhaigou–a UNESCO World Heritage Site and World Biosphere Reserve–is a national park worthy of the international recognition it has received. Home to exotic birds and the giant panda, Jiuzhaigou is a China wildlife safari all unto itself. But honestly, can you blame these creatures for making their homes in the area? Book now to reserve yourself a spot in the neighborhood from April 2-8.

Throughout your adventure in this utopia Michael Yamashita will be at your side ensuring you get the most out of both your shots and the experience. If you are interested in this journey be sure to reach out to us sooner than later as April is around the corner and spots on this adventure are getting snapped up faster than the shutter on your camera.

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 If you are curious about participating in this journey, or have other questions about travel in China, send us an email at info@wildchina.com and we will be happy to assist you.

For those of you looking for a fantastic photography adventure to another region of China, WildChina also offers an expedition along the Silk Road with Sean Gallagher. Sean’s work has appeared in publications including TIME Magazine, The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, Der Spiegel and National Geographic China. In 2010, he was the official photographer for the visit of British Prime Minister, David Cameron, to China. If you’re up for a focused look at this ancient highway look no further.

This past week, The New York Times did a feature with travel expert Kurt Kutay. Kurt has made a name for himself in the travel world having worked both with the Adventure Travel Trade Association, and The International Ecotourism Society, in addition to currently serving as the president of the International Galapagos Tour Operators Association, CEO of Wildland Adventures, and director of the Travelers Conservation Trust. The focus of The New York Times article was Kurt answering questions posed to him by the baby boomer generation about travel today. Baby boomers, due to their numbers, have always had an outsized impact on the travel industry. WildChina’s name came up in the discussion when Kurt was asked the following questions by Mr. Mitenbuler of Chicago: “Are there people that want to visit remote locations in China? Do you think there is an awareness of ‘wild China,’and if so, is it a destination that will see increases in travelers?”

Mr. Mitenbuler was so close to the right answer! If he had just combined “wild” and “China” he would have had our name-sake and an organization deeply devoted to showing travelers the less traveled parts of China. As it was though, WildChina was at the fore of Kurt’s mind when he responded due to his friendship with WildChina founder Zhang Mei. Kurt reached out to Mei before answering the question and she replied that she feels there is indeed a growing number of people interested in exploring off the beaten path in China. Mei said that business men and women who have traveled to China’s major cities for work have acquired a curiosity to visit the more rural areas of the Middle Kingdom with their families.

Kurt noted several other examples of the burgeoning number of travelers interested in taking the road less traveled before closing his answer to the question with remarks from Mei that Tibet is quickly becoming one of the most popular destinations for travelers. So at this point it’s clear there are people who want to visit remote locations in China, the real question is, are you one?

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If you have questions about travel in China, feel free to send us an email at info@wildchina.com and we will be happy to assist you.

Photo of Kurt Kutay by The New York Times

What do Ang Lee’s ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ and James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ have in common? Both were critically acclaimed films that ignited the global imagination like wildfire, and both can be traced directly back to an unassuming province in Eastern China called Anhui.

Anhui, which is characterized by its ancient merchant towns and misty mountain views, hasn’t been on the international radar for long. The golden fields that border the region’s rustic villages belie the fact that Anhui as a whole lacks large swathes of arable land and has never been able to rely heavily on cash crops. That, coupled with the lack of readily available natural resources, inspired the residents of Anhui to seek creative new ways to make a living. The result was an aggressive mercantile culture that flooded the region with novel business practices and a tenacious desire for wealth and affluence. Anhui’s merchants grew richer and richer, consolidating their gains and constructing entire towns filled with spacious ancestral halls, temples, and academies.

Feng shui, the widely marketed but rarely understood system of Chinese divination which was believed to appeal to the natural powers of both Heaven and Earth, was put into practice in determining the auspicious configuration and layouts of everything from individual residences to large-scale water systems and entire villages. The resulting townships were both practical and beautiful, and in 2000 UNESCO officially paid tribute to the region’s legacy by listing the Anhui’s Xidi and Hongcun villages as official World Heritage sites.

Xidi and Hongcun’s status as World Heritage sites means at times they can be more crowded, but they certainly aren’t the only worthwhile villages in Anhui. To experience the province’s tranquil towns as they are meant to be experienced, we recommend a meander through Chengkan, a lesser-known village that is every bit as beautiful as the better-known villages. Framed against a gentle backdrop of cobalt slopes and buffeted by ancient waterways, Chengkan has remained very much the same throughout the centuries, and we mean it—the ornate structures here have not been re-coated in gaudy paints like many of China’s other monuments, and whenever a family slaughters a pig they smear its blood across their front door so that their fellow villagers know where to go for some fresh bacon. Local artisans whittle away at elaborate woodcarvings, and plants adorning the more prominent ancestral halls have been cultivated to resemble traditional Chinese dragons. Feel free to get lost for a while.

But what about Avatar? For a glimpse of James Cameron’s inspiration for his floating mountains on the Na’vi planet of Pandora, look no further than Huangshan, or ‘Yellow Mountains’, just an hour north of Anhui’s merchant villages. As you ascend past the clouds blanketing Huangshan on what may be the most epic cable car ride of your life, it won’t be hard to see how Cameron and his graphic designers ended up finding their muse atop these misty peaks.

Beyond its crowded urban jungles China is a trove of natural wonders, and its magnificent mountains are no exception. However, Huangshan separates itself from the other mountains in that its scenic views are not only breathtaking but also distinctly Chinese, from the swirling mist that never seems to fully recede to the haunting amphitheater of granite pillars and crags. Pop culture aside, Huangshan is deeply rooted in Chinese history and art, and many of the mountainous Chinese brush paintings you may have seen in passing are unambiguous portrayals of Huangshan.

No trip to Anhui is complete without a visit to Huangshan, and although the pathways here can be crowded during peak seasons if you take the time to set out further you will be able to escape the crowds and catch some spectacular views along the northwest section of the mountains. Allow yourself to be engulfed by the same scenes that have enraptured countless generations of artists and poets. After all, rather than spending hours etching out Huangshan’s beauty with an ink-brush you can now catch a breathtaking panoramic on your SLR or iPhone in just a few seconds. Just don’t take it too far—eight centuries’ worth of deceased Chinese artists and scholars turn in their graves whenever an American teenager Instagrams one of Huangshan’s sacred peaks.

Whether you are interested in history, architecture, art, or nature there is no doubt that Anhui is worth your time. The region’s bucolic villages and inspiring peaks offer the perfect remedy for wanderlust, a peaceful way to wind down a long journey or the perfect setting to reboot your system.

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If you have any questions about visiting Anhui, or traveling to China in general, feel free to send us an email at info@wildchina.com and we will be happy to assist you.

In January, our 2012 WildChina Explorer Grant winner William Bleisch finally had a chance to set out on the first steps of his expedition. Difficulties with permits had delayed his departure and William was extremely excited to hit the trail. Check out the first installment of his adventure journal below!

This last week, with WildChina’s support, we took the first steps to Ailaoshan. We had a team of 8 people: Zhao Tianxiao – an expert on gibbon conservationism from Fauna & Flora International; Yang Xing – a local adventure travel leader from Yuxi; Liu Jian – an enthusiastic executive who is also a dedicated photographer; Li Bo – the Xinping Ailaoshan Nature Reserve Vice-Director; and 3 local forest guards (Chen Zhongping, Zhang Yuande and Li Derong, who is an impressive 59 years old). We hiked across the Ailaoshan Provincial Nature Reserve 50 kilometers (31 miles) from southeast to northwest.

The trip took us four full days, two of which ended with us setting up camp in the dark.  Starting at a forest station above Jingxing Township in Xing Ping County at 1,953 meters (6,405 feet), and ending at the Jinshan Yakou guesthouse on Rt. S307 in Zhenyuan County at 2,409 meters (7,901 feet), each day involved 7 to 8 hours of hiking with full packs, climbing up peaks as high as 2,644 meters (8,672 feet) and down to valleys as low as 2,000 meters (6,560 feet).

Though painful at times, it was well worth it. The trail was everything I had dreamed it would be.  It was just like the Appalachian Trail through the southeast USA, only with bamboo and gibbons!  Spectacular ridge-top views of distant peaks and cloud sea below, dark tunnels through dense jungle, carpets of moss underfoot, forests of giant rhododendron, gentians and fragrant mountain tea flowers, rocky cliffs, and waterfalls.

We found signs of the golden cat, Sambar deer, and large raptors. This time unfortunately, the gibbons’ calls eluded us. Since water was scarce in the dry season, we had to camp low down the valleys, out of hearing range.  But an early morning at any one of a number of listening posts gave visitors a chance to hear known groups calling. Definitely something I’ll try to catch next time!

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If you have any questions about William’s expedition, our WildChina Explorer Grant, or travel in China, send us as email at info@wildchina.com and we will be happy to assist you.

Photos by William Bleisch

Travel + Leisure is once again conducting their World’s Best Survey, a comprehensive look at the very finest organizations in all things travel. The survey covers airlines, airports, cities, cruise lines, destination spas, hotels, islands, rental-car agencies, and–most importantly!–tour operators.  Survey closes the first week of April.

If you have enjoyed traveling with us in the past year, jump on the link above and let us know your thoughts. WildChina works hard around the clock to provide the best possible experience we can for our travelers in China. If we’ve done that for you in the last year, show us some love! Until next time, safe travels.

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If you have any other questions about travel in China send us an email at info@wildchina.com and we will be happy to assist you.

Image by Travel + Leisure

If you’re still trying to figure out which corner of this wonderful world you should head to in 2013 then look no further than this post by travel blogger Ellen Barone. Ellen is an accomplished independent writer-photographer who specializes in global travel. She has journeyed to six continents in search of compelling travel tales and evocative images, using her experiences to help people travel smarter as well as keep them up to date on the latest travel trends and gadgets. WildChina was honored to have our trip Soul of Tibet featured on Ellen’s list of Extraordinary Experiences for 2013.

Although Tibet is closed at the moment to foreigners, we are hopeful it will be reopened in April–we’ll keep you updated via Twitter and Facebook. As Ellen notes, “Tibet is one of those epic destinations so enticing, so enchanting and so compelling that it tends to get put on the back-burner, saved for another day (or decade) when the time and money for such an expedition will be possible. But guess what. There’s never enough time or money. And, while those easier, more accessible, places are fulfilling, Tibet still beckons.” We couldn’t agree more. Is Tibet beckoning to you?

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If you have questions about travel in China or Tibet send us an email at info@wildchina.com and we will be happy to assist you.

Photo of Ellen Barone courtesy of careerbreaksecrets.com all other photos by WildChina

Heli. It was no easy task, but after much deliberation our judges chose this applicant and his journey to study the Tianshan Snow Lotus in Xinjiang’s Uighur Autonomous Region. An avid adventurer whose personal journeys have taken him all over western China and Tibet, Heli is currently a graduate student at Beijing’s Forestry University.

In addition to receiving WildChina’s 2013 Explorer Grant, Heli will be outfitted head to toe in gear provided by WildChina Explorer Grant sponsor The North Face. Our judges were particularly intrigued by Heli’s destination–remote, unexplored, and completely off the beaten path–and inspired by his genuine life-long interest in the Snow Lotus. Heli’s journey will not only push the boundaries for exploration, but will bring attention to the crucial issue of environmental protection.

We received some fantastic video submissions this year–our judges were impressed with the creativity and passion for exploration demonstrated and had a hard time reaching consensus. In recognition of this, we also have a runner-up this year, Zhao Jiang Bo who will receive a portion of the grant to support the furtherance of his bird research in Yunnan. We thank all our followers for their enthusiastic participation and hope everyone had as much fun with the contest as we did.

Once again, please join us in congratulating Heli, winner of the 2013 WildChina Explorer Grant.

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If you would like to know more about our contest please click here. If you have other questions about travel in China send us an email at info@wildchina.com and we will be happy to assist you.

Below is a blog written by WildChina Explorer Grant Applicant E. Briel about her idea for exploring China. If you think her idea is cool show your support on our Pinterest, Youtube, Twitter, and Facebook pages.

I moved to China this year to explore art and to find people who make The Scholars’ Four Treasures (paper, ink, brushes, and ink stones) These artisans’ skills are not being continued by the younger generation. They’re in danger of extinction. I‘ve been recording the stories of the people who make them, and what they’re made from.

(Song Dynasty paintbrushes in Sichuan)

Next summer I hope to explore northern China and document how people make the Four Treasures, for a book and videos. How will I get there? Good question!Exploration is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.

(Yellow weasel whose tail is used for paintbrushes)

Because there’s a lot of pollution in China, I’m really excited to mix art with science in a travel experiment: working with engineers to design an electric bike that will push the limits of solar-powered travel.

(An artist paints at the Thangka Academy in Shangri-la)

This will be a Pedelec-type hybrid electric bike with either a continuous solar self-charging battery trailer, or several solar charged batteries] Travel lets you get close to wildlife And meet some interesting people like artists who make their own brushes and paints from ancient recipes. I hope that by sharing their work, they – and we - can keep these arts alive for future generations in China.

(E. Briel sun burnt at Napahai lake in Shangri-la, Yunnan)

The journey will begin on an electric bike in Beijing, and end on a train in far west China. I’ll skirt the deserts of Inner Mongolia, descend through Tibetan areas of Gansu and Qinghai provinces, and talk to papermakers in Xinjiang.

See you on the road!

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To find out more about our WildChina Explorer Grant check out the contest’s official page on our website.

Photos by E. Briel

Below is a blog written by WildChina Explorer Grant Applicants Andrew and Jon about their idea for exploring China. If you think their idea is cool show your support on our Pinterest, Youtube, Twitter, and Facebook pages.

Where to begin … after five years in college and countless nights in the library I’m ready to hit the road with my best friend Jon.  This isn’t just some road trip to Kansas City.  This is an once-in-a-lifetime motorcycle adventure around China. To pinpoint what inspired this crazy idea is hard to say, it is more or less a culmination of conversations around campfires, posts on Facebook, and childhood bedtime stories of yesteryear’s explorers.  But now that this dream has transformed into an incipient reality we must explain what our goal is and also illustrate why it is important.

This trip is more than just about having a good time and motorcycles, however I would be a liar to say that these aren’t important incentives; this trip is about creating your own journey and taking the road less traveled.  It is about curiosity and self-discovery, it is about uncovering the vast amount of traditions, people, and landscapes that are alive within the country that we don’t get to see in the front pages of the news.

Inspired by my childhood-favorite explorer Sven Hedin, our expedition will follow many of his 19th and 20th century travels throughout Central and Western China. Through comparing and contrasting the China he witnessed with the China of present-day, we hope to illustrate a rich and vibrant story by documenting the people we meet, the food we eat, and the landscapes we ride across.

If you’re itching to explore with us check out our facebook, weibo (A_Ride_Across_China), and youtube pages, all your support (likes, comments, or whatever you fancy) will help us get one step closer to getting on those bikes and living the dream of completing A Ride Across China.

Thanks Andrew and Jon

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To find out more about our WildChina Explorer Grant check out the contest’s official page on our website.

Photos by Andrew and Jon

Below is a blog written by WildChina Explorer Grant Applicant Sara Naumann about her idea for exploring China. If you think her idea is cool show your support on our Pinterest, Youtube, Twitter, and Facebook pages.

Following Stein to Hotan

My proposal for the 2013 WildChina Explorer Grant takes me on the road to Hotan, and the ancient stupa of Rawak, the location of one of Sir Aurel Stein’s first excavations in Western China in the early twentieth century. I am fascinated by Stein’s explorations – it was he and his team who “discovered” the Mogao Caves near Dunhuang, and were the first to take ancient documents from their centuries-old hiding place in the Library Cave there.

After visiting Dunhuang last spring, I found myself wanting to see the other sites Stein visited and excavated. I am a travel writer so I am interested in the way ancient destinations are preserved and visited today. While still not on the main tourist path in China, Dunhuang sees many visitors from both China and abroad. I am interested to see if other places Stein explored could have an equal draw now or in the future.

There are questions about the past I’d like to answer such as what drew Stein to Hotan in the first place as well as exploring more about Hotan’s ancient past compares to its present. Are there visible vestiges of Hotan’s ancient past that can be seen today? Where does Hotan fit in on a trip to China, to the Silk Road?
Please take a moment to view, like and comment on my video. Read more about my travels in China here or follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

谢谢！Thank you!

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To find out more about our WildChina Explorer Grant check out the contest’s official page on our website.

Photos by Sara Naumann