One day in BeiJing 北京

Discover the lives of various expats who now call ChengDu their home - their work, leisure and thoughts ...

FèngHuáng (Phoenix) ancient town, lies 'close' (about 140 kilometers) to the ZhangJiaJie Nature Reserve. The town retains much of its ancient architecture and culture. Legend tells that two of the mythical phoenix birds flew over the town and were so in awe at its beauty that they remained hovering there for a long time, being reluctant to leave and lose the view. FengHuang is home to several minority ethnic groups, mainly the Miao (苗) and TuJia (土家). Batik and tie-dye are very popular here and the Miao and TuJia have their own ways to produce the cloth with unique folk patterns. Traditional crafts also include embroidery (TuJia), silverware (Miao), 'paper cuts' and ginger candy. DiaoJiaoLou (吊脚楼) is the traditional dwelling of the TuJia, Miao and some other minorities. DiaoJiaoLou can be translated literally into English as "feet-hanging building" which means a building built with its base hanging in the air instead of locating on the ground. The houses lining the river display a strong Miao ethnic style with the front part facing the old official road and the rear part hanging over the Tuo River.

With Walk East ...

ZhouZhuang, part of the area that Marco Polo described as the 'Venice of the East', lies just 37 miles west of Shanghai (about an hour's drive) ...

A beautiful place ...

In GuiZhou province.

Near the city of ZhangJiaJie in central/south China Filmed in January 2010.

A beautiful film by kinabaloo.com.

LiTang is a predominantly Tibetan-culture town in SiChuan province. It lies at an altitude of 4,000 meters, one of the highest towns in the world.

Sadly (terrifyingly) currently blocked by Youtube. Not able to win the argument with reality, just mute the reality : ( These guys discussed next seem to be behind it ... [videogallery type=playlist id=PLWCGr1WEF24tI04PboXnSXC4jI6BPMOJA n=8]