Results tagged “China” from Intelligent Travel Blog

The exhibit "Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China's First Emperor" opens this Thursday, November 19th, at the National Geographic Museum in Washington, DC. We weaseled our way into the press preview to get you a sneak peek. But before letting us loose to see Emperor Qin Shihuangdi's lifesized warriors face-to-face, Stanford Professor Emeritus Albert Dien, guest curator of the exhibit, reminisced on his first visit to Xi'an, China, in 1977 to see the warriors who'd been discovered three years before by a local farmer digging a well. In our October Places of a Lifetime issue he relates this moment:

Turning a corner, we came upon the figure of an archer that I hadn't seen in any published literature. It was such a shock to see this startlingly lifelike figure that our hosts insisted I sit and rest awhile. . . [T]his archer seemed so vibrant, almost in motion. . .I simply sat and stared in wonderment--and the wonder has never left me, no matter how often I've returned to Xi'an.

The kneeling archer is here at our headquarters, along with 14 other figures including infantrymen, a chariot driver, two musicians, a well-muscled (albeit headless) strongman, a 700-pound horse, cavalrymen, a seemingly obsequious court official, and a general. Also on display in the 12,000-square-foot, four-themed exhibit space are 100 objects--decorative jade pieces, bronze weapons, coins, a naturalistic crane sculpture, details of the warriors' armor, and roof tiles--including 20 "Level 1" artifacts, those designated as the site's rarest and most important finds.

I'm setting off on a group tour to Morocco next week, and throughout my travel planning, I've been somewhat apologetic as I explain that yes, as a travel editor, I signed up for a tour. So I was heartened to read Daisann McLane's column in our current issue espousing the benefits of group travel, which she noticed on a recent bus trip through Guangzhou, China:

As I sat on a bus wearing a silly cap, eating pork buns, and being serenaded by a karaoke-singing tour guide, I had to laugh at myself. Not that many years ago I was so allergic to anything remotely "touristy" that I even refused to carry a camera when I traveled. I kept a list of "not for me" places--popular attractions, neighborhoods, even nations, that I refused to visit because I thought they'd be "too full of tourists." I considered myself a class apart, a traveler, and that meant going places nobody else did, and going, mostly, alone. Tour groups? No way.

In anticipation of the arrival of the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit at National Geographic headquarters, Destination DC is offering a Weekend Warriors Package from mid-November to the end of March.

The Terra Cotta Warriors, the guardians of China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, will be on display at the National Geographic Museum in D.C. from November 19 through March 31. Since their discovery in 1974 by farmers digging a well, over 1,000 life-size terra cotta soldiers, wearing full armor, have been unearthed and an estimated 7,000 additional warriors remain, waiting to be exhumed. Each warrior is unique, with his own hairstyle, facial features and expression. Since the discovery of the first warriors, life-size chariots and horses, servants, musicians, acrobats and animals have also been uncovered. It is believed that the warriors were made in order to protect the emperor during the afterlife, one example of his obsessive quest for immortality.

Michael Meyer, author of The Last Days of Old Beijing: Life in the Vanishing Backstreets of a City Transformed and a panelist on Traveler's annual Destinations Rated issue, shares an intimate glimpse of life in his hutong neighborhood.

Last year, billboards across the city promised: "New Beijing, New Olympics." To an American, the result looks uncomfortably familiar. Ancient courtyard homes and narrow lanes have been replaced by shopping malls, parking lots, nearly 200 McDonald's, and over one hundred Starbucks. I live in one of the capital's last remaining traditional neighborhoods, located just south of Tiananmen Square. Visitors to Beijing should see it now; the hutong - narrow lanes - are slated for destruction at summer's end.

Hutong are to Beijing what canals are to Venice. In 1949, a survey recorded more than seven thousand hutong. Shaded by rows of leaning locust trees, many were too narrow for vehicles to enter. The network of backstreets connected neighborhoods of walled courtyards and also formed an elongated public marketplace, where itinerant peddlers and performers worked door-to-door. In a period of the late 1990s, an average of six hundred lanes were destroyed each year. Now, less than thirteen hundred hutong remain, and the government admits to evicting over five hundred thousand residents from the city center, a figure that continues to rise.

Settled over eight centuries ago, my hutong neighborhood, Dazhalan (Big Fence), is Beijing's most venerable community. The name dates to the fifteenth century, when wicker gates on either end of the area's hutong were clasped shut at night to deter thieves from preying upon the shops that formed the capital's most prosperous commercial district. After a succession of seventeenth-century imperial edicts banned hotels, restaurants, teahouses, and theaters from inside the imperial confines, businesses migrated through Qianmen (Front Gate) to the other side of the city wall. Dazhalan became the capital's entertainment, artisan, and antiques district. Beijing specialties such as roast duck, acrobatics, and opera flourished here. Some lanes filled with silversmiths, silk embroiderers, and calligraphers; others with stages, brothels, and opium dens.

Need another reason to come visit us here at National Geographic? Well here's one more: tickets are now on sale for the upcoming Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit at the National Geographic Museum. The exhibit will open in November, and it's expected to be a tremendous hit. Here are the details from the museum:

Soldiers. Charioteers. Archers. Musicians. Generals. Acrobats. Nearly 2,000 years ago, thousands of life-size clay figures were buried in massive underground pits to accompany China's first emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, into the afterlife. Their discovery outside the city of Xi'an in 1974 is one of the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century.

Now, you can stand face-to-face with these terra cotta warriors. In November 2009, National Geographic Museum will host Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China's First Emperor, an exhibition featuring treasures from the tomb complex including 15 life-size figures, weapons, armor, coins, and more. Don't miss this chance to see the largest collection of significant artifacts from China ever to travel to the United States.

Today there's an event going on in our courtyard to announce the opening, and one man, Chi Chang, will be dressed as a warrior and making appearances throughout D.C. over the next few days. Here's the schedule of where you can find him, (just so you have a little warning, as Jeannette just saw him on her way through the basement, and was a bit freaked out). For more on the warriors visit www.warriorsdc.org.

Update: Above is a photo from today's press event, featuring local schoolchildren, the majority of whom sported warrior masks. By Kate Baylor.

Since its rise to popularity in 2005, the number game Sudoku has produced an overwhelming array of addicts. And last week, when National Geographic Games's new online game, Sudoku Traveler: China, hit the market, I joined the ranks of happily addicted Sudoku players. After all, the only thing better than losing yourself in a game for a half hour or so is losing yourself in a game that transports you to a place like China via National Geographic photographs.

Sudoku Traveler: China allows you to choose from hundreds of Sudoku puzzles (with adjustable difficulty levels) that are set against images of China from over 20 of its most popular sites. Each time you successfully complete a puzzle, more images (in the form of backgrounds and screensavers) are unveiled on your screen--gradually leading you on a tour through China. The details of your travels are logged in a Travelogue area, which also feeds you bits of information and history on the ground you've covered.

I recently sat down to take my first stab at the game (starting at the easiest level, of course) and after five minutes I was hooked. The fusion of visual, mental, and auditory (there's relaxing Chinese music playing in the background) stimulation was effective enough to make me forget I was in an office building--or that I still had loads of work to tackle. Check it out for yourself here, where you're granted an hour of free playing time and then given the option to purchase the game. Enjoy!

Gary Krist is the author of "Buy, Buy Shanghai," a feature story in the March issue of Traveler which recounts his search for the perfect anniversary gift for his wife. Here, he offers another insider tidbit on where to snag some designer frames.
 
In a city known for good deals, some items stand out as particular bargains, including freshwater pearls, custom-made clothing, and, of course, counterfeit copies of everything from designer handbags to computer software (remember that such products violate intellectual property rights and may be seized by U.S. Customs). My vote for biggest bargain in town, though, goes to prescription eyeglasses.

Behind Shanghai Railway Station metro stop is a hard-to-find underground mall containing scores of tiny optician stalls where you can get glasses while you wait for under $40 (under $30 if you bargain energetically). I visited them one morning with my American prescription in hand and had a delightful time sipping tea and making (largely pantomimed) conversation with a sales clerk while her colleagues located lenses of the proper strength, ground them to fit the frames I chose, and had them tinted for sunglasses. Total expenditure: about 45 minutes and 270Y ($40), much cheaper than back home. To find the place, take the metro to Shanghai Railway Station and follow the little blue signs to Sanye Wholesale Eyeglass Bazaar.

Photo: Justin Guariglia. For more photos from the story, check out our Shanghai photo gallery.

What is perhaps the world's most famous ice festival has become another of the world's Disney theme parks, with a Disney licensing company taking over operations from the local Communist government. It is the first time a private company has run the ice festival.

Snow White has replaced snow dragons. Children wander through the frozen hallways of Aladdin's Castle instead of a Qing dynasty palace. "It's a Small World" plays in one corner of the park. (What better theme music for globalization?)

Foodie Challenge time!

Today's winning photo was taken in China, where Rachel Cotterill traveled for her honeymoon. (The newlyweds rode the Trans-Mongolian Railway and traveled through China, eventually ending up in Beijing. Sounds like an awesome trip!) On one excursion, Rachel was able to share a meal with some fellow travelers and snapped this photo.

Rachel tells the story behind the photo after the break...