Discover China

China offers a fascinating array of museums showcasing aspects of Chinese culture and history. Coinciding with International Museum Day, CNTV has been presenting a great series of stories about an interesting selection of these museums:

• Tang Dynasty Arts Museum
• Suzhou Embroidery Museum
• Tianjin Theater Museum
• China Numismatic Museum
• Sichuan Cuisine Museum
• “China House” tells extraordinary story
• China Calligraphy Museum
• Traditional Medicine Museum in Hangzhou
• Costume Museum
• China Printing Museum
• China National Tea Museum
• Bazhou China Bicycle Museum
• Camel Xiangzi Museum in Qingdao

From the end of December 2010 we returned for my fifth trip to China, spending three amazing weeks visiting China’s capital Beijing as well as Tianjin, located south of Beijing, and Zhengzhou in central China. You can now read the story of my trip and see the pictures.

It’s been three amazing weeks visiting Beijing, Tianjin and Zhengzhou, taking in incredible sites like the Imperial and Summer Palaces, Temple of Heaven and Henan Museum.  This time we flew to and from China with Air China, the national flag carrier, and their service was excellent. Already I miss the vibrant daily modern life, friendly Chinese people, rich ancient culture, and the amazing diversity of food – hopefully the next visit won’t be too long away! Look for the full story and pictures from this trip in My China Trips and the Galleries soon (and in the meantime check out the stories and pictures from my previous four trips).

On 2 January we took a day trip to the city of Tianjin, famous for its great food and European colonial architecture. The 130km journey from Beijing to Tianjin took only 30 minutes on the new high speed rail service which reached a speed of 325 km/h. China has 17,000 km of high speed rail lines under construction across the country, and metro rail networks are being built in many cities.

Beijing’s beautiful Beihai Park was our destination on 3 January. Located in the centre of Beijing, Beihai Park is one of the oldest, largest and best preserved ancient imperial gardens in China with a history of about 1,000 years.

A major landmark in Beihai Park is the majestic White Dagoba which is situated on the peak of Qionghua Islet.

At last another trip to China is very near. Over three weeks from the end of December we will visit China’s capital Beijing as well as Tianjin, located south of Beijing, Zhengzhou in central China, and possibly some other places too. Beijing has an abundance of historical and cultural attractions which we will explore over several days. As it is winter, impressive sites such as the Forbidden City and Summer Palace are likely to be framed in snow. From Beijing we’ll then take a 30-minute journey on one of China’s new high speed rail trains to the city of Tianjin, and then after that travel to Zhengzhou. I can hardly wait!