Discover China

The new high speed rail service between Wuhan and Shenzhen has commenced, with the entire trip taking only 4 hours and 13 minutes. The new line connects Wuhan to Guangzhou and Guangzhou to Shenzhen, and departs from the Shenzhen North Railway Station where there is a direct connection with the Shenzhen Metro. It makes it easy to visit Wuhan from Shenzhen, as well as other major places of interest such as Changsha.

Tonight, on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month and the last day of the Spring Festival, is China’s traditional Lantern Festival. And the festive atmosphere is building right now, with lanterns and firecrackers lighting up the night skies in an incredible spectacle. The CNTV story Lanterns light up the night across China introduces the different ways in which the Lantern Festival is celebrated in different parts of the country.

The oldest and most important festival in China is the Spring Festival, which marks the start of a new year on the lunar calendar. This year the Lunar New Year day was 23 January, and introduced the Year of the Dragon. Find out more in the CNTV Special Feature 2012 Spring Festival which includes online videos of the spectacular Spring Festival Gala.

Happy New Year from discoverchina.info!

In 2008 I had the pleasure of visiting the White Horse Temple in Luoyang in central China’s Henan Province (see story and pictures). With over 1900 years of history, White Horse Temple is described as the cradle of Buddhism in China.

Over the next eight years, the temple will be expanded into an 87 hectare cultural park, the largest in China, with an International Temples Zone showcasing 10 exotic shrines from foreign countries. One can already be visited – an Indian shrine opened in May 2010. Two more will open shortly – a Thai shrine built in the 1990s is being expanded and will open in April, and a Myanmar Buddhist garden will be created in April.

Find out more in the China Daily article ‘Cradle of Chinese Buddhism’ embraces world.

108 pandas bred in captivity are being released into natural habitat in southwest China´s Sichuan Province. It is a major step toward returning the endangered animals into the wild. The pandas, ages two to four, are being released into the “Panda Valley”, 134 hectares of enclosed forest and part of the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding and Release Research Center. Find out more in the CNTV Special Feature Captive-bred Pandas Return to the Wild.