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1,000 Places to See Before You Die

Page 79

by Patricia Schultz


  The giant panda, a national treasure in China, is related to the bear family and born so small (weighing about 4 ounces) that it is totally dependent on its mother for the first two years. It eventually grows to 5 feet in height and can weigh more than 330 pounds. Sightings of wild giant pandas are never guaranteed at Foping, but it is likely that you will encounter at least one over the course of a few days. While most visitors are here for the pandas, there are also 37 other species of mammals to spot, including the rare and beautiful clouded leopard, the Asiatic brown bear, golden monkey, crested ibis, and golden eagle.

  There is basic, comfortable lodging in the reserve at the Sanguanmiao Research Station, with hot and cold solar-powered showers and “green” electricity.

  WHERE: 98 miles/158 km north of Hanzhong, 130 miles/210 km southwest of Xi’an. HOW: U.S.-based Terra Incognita Ecotours offers a 12-day guided expedition including 4 days tracking giant pandas. Tel 855-326-8687 or 813-476-2810; www.eco tours.com. Cost: from $6,000, inclusive. Originates in Xi’an and finishes in Beijing. When: May.

  Silent Guardians of Ancient History

  XI’AN AND THE TERRA-COTTA WARRIORS

  Shaanxi, China

  The magnificent walled city of Xi’an was home to 11 dynasties, including the Qin Dynasty, first to rule over all eastern China (under the powerful Emperor Qin Shi Huang, who died in 210 B.C.). Today the life-size honor guard of terra-cotta warriors that stand near his tomb are one of China’s supreme cultural treasures and surely the most sensational archaeological discovery of the 20th century. Left in situ beneath a protective hangar that now comprises the Museum of the Terra-Cotta Warriors, the soldiers were discovered in 1974 by a well-digging peasant. Since then, three pits have been excavated, the first containing more than 6,000 soldiers and horses in an imposing formation of 38 columns, 16 feet deep. A second pit contains 1,000 more soldiers and 500 horses, while the highlight of the third is an elaborate war chariot. Every soldier differs in facial features, hair, and expressions, and some carry weapons of the day.

  Xi’an was the easternmost city on the fabled Silk Road, providing a route for merchant caravans since the 2nd century B.C. The resulting exchange of precious cargo, philosophy, religions, and technology transformed every culture along its route to the doorstep of Europe and beyond. To explore the city’s legacy, allot at least a full afternoon for the Shaanxi History Museum, one of the country’s largest and most enlightening, then search out the 8th-century Great Mosque (China’s oldest) in the Old City, with its marvelous combination of Ming Dynasty and Islamic architecture. The mosque is two blocks from Xi’an’s Bell Tower, which offers citywide views from its third-floor balcony.

  Enjoy dinner at Defachang Restaurant, serving dumplings for over 70 years just north of the Bell Tower. À la carte dumplings are served downstairs in a large space where you’ll rub elbows with local patrons, while a more refined restaurant upstairs is calmer and offers a preset multicourse menu of mouthwatering, artistically styled dumplings. For evening entertainment, look no further than the well-known Tang Dynasty Theater and Restaurant, whose lavishly produced theatrical show of music and dance, while admittedly touristy (voiceovers are in English), will take your breath away.

  WHERE: 568 miles/914 km southwest of Beijing. MUSEUM OF THE TERRA-COTTA WARRIORS: Tel 86/29-8139-9170; bj.bmy.com.cn. SHAANXI HISTORY MUSEUM: Tel 86/29-8525-4727; www.sxhm.com. DEFACHANG RESTAURANT: Tel 86/29-8721-4060. Cost: dumpling meal $20. TANG DYNASTY THEATER AND RESTAURANT: Tel 86/29-8782-2222; www.xiantangdynasty.com. Cost: $30. WHERE TO STAY: Shangri-La Hotel, on the edge of the Old City (not to be confused with a second Shangri-La called the Golden Flower) is the best choice in Xi’an. Tel 86/29-8875-8888; in the U.S., 866-565-5050; www.shangri-la.com. Cost: from $170. BEST TIMES: Apr–May and Sep–Nov for nicest weather; Sep for weeklong Xi’an Art Festival of ancient folk and street culture.

  A Spectacular City’s Marriage of Past and Future

  THE BUND

  Shanghai, China

  Visitors to China’s economic, financial, and commercial center head for Shanghai’s waterfront boulevard, known as The Bund (or to locals, Waitan). Stretching along the west bank of the Huangpu River, it’s the perfect place to experience the juxtaposition of old and new Shanghai. An elevated walkway is backed by Colonial architecture that dates mostly to the prosperous 1920s and 1930s. Pedestrians can stroll the promenade, and ferries offer a relaxing parallel alternative. Either way, it’s an awe-inspiring picture, with old Shanghai on one bank and the futuristic skyscrapers in Pudong—the face of new Shanghai—on the other. The Pudong Shangri-La Hotel, one of the first buildings to grace Shanghai’s modern skyline, holds its own against the extremely luxurious Park Hyatt Shanghai. Occupying the 79th to the 93rd floors of the Shanghai World Financial Center, the Park Hyatt is one of the world’s highest hotels, with a 100th-floor observation deck that is also the world’s loftiest. The entire urban profile, presided over by the famous silhouette of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, is spectacular when illuminated at night.

  The Bund comes alive at sunrise as locals practice ballroom dancing, aerobics, and tai chi; the rest of the day bustles with busy pedestrians and sightseeing tourists. Many of the historic buildings along the Bund are enjoying new life: The tony shopping center Three on the Bund is housed in an elegant seven-story landmark building built in 1916 by the Union Assurance Company, while the trailblazing M on the Bund restaurant is perched atop the 1921 Nissin Shipping Building. The famous Old Peace Hotel reopened in 2010, after an extensive renovation, as the Fairmont Peace Hotel; much of the original charm and ambience remains, including its world-renowned Jazz Bar, a Shanghai institution since 1929. The Art Deco–inspired Peninsula Shanghai is the only new structure built on the Bund in the last 60 years and is the classiest address in town. Like its sister hotel in Hong Kong (see p. 492), it boasts a famous afternoon tea; even if you are staying elsewhere, stop by and linger.

  On quiet mornings on The Bund, the Pudong district skyline rises in the distance.

  PUDONG SHANGRI-LA: Tel 86/21-6882-8888; in the U.S., 866-565-5050; www.shan gri-la.com. Cost: from $350. PARK HYATT: Tel 86/21-6888-1234; in the U.S., 800-633-7313; www.shanghai.park.hyatt.com. Cost: from $500 (off-peak), from $610 (peak). THREE ON THE BUND: Tel 86/21-6323-3355; www.threeonthebund.com. MON THE BUND: Tel 86/21-6350-9988; www.m-restaurantgroup.com. Cost: dinner $60. FAIRMONT PEACE: Tel 86/21-6321-6888; in the U.S., 866-940-4914; www.fairmont.com. Cost: from $265 (off-peak), from $365 (peak). PENINSULA SHANGHAI: Tel 86/21-2327-2888; in the U.S., 866-382-8388; www.peninsula.com/shanghai. Cost: from $320 (off-peak), from $530 (peak). BEST TIMES: Apr and especially Sep–Nov for nicest weather.

  Unique Pageant of Chinese Antiquities

  SHANGHAI MUSEUM

  Shanghai, China

  The spectacular Shanghai Museum was designed by well-known local architect Xing Tonghe, in a shape resembling a three-legged cooking vessel from the Western Zhou Dynasty (1100–771 B.C.), one of which is on display inside. The beautifully configured, high-tech, and user-friendly space is spread across four floors surrounding an oval atrium that allows plenty of light into the building. There are 11 galleries in all, as well as three areas for special exhibitions that change throughout the year.

  The museum is a fine showcase of Chinese art and antiquities, with more than 120,000 cultural relics that trace 5,000 years of China’s history, from the Neolithic Age through the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) Dynasties to modern times. Display items are arranged not by dynasty or chronology but by theme, with galleries devoted to bronzes, ceramics, calligraphy, jade, coins, furniture, and other art forms. Ancient scroll paintings, elaborate Qing Dynasty four-poster beds, calligraphy penned by emperors a thousand years ago, imperial seals, bronzes in the shapes of animals, and porcelain figures from the Tang Dynasty are among the highlights. Handicrafts, costumes, and jewelry from China’s many ethnic minorities are also on show. If you have limited time, the Bronze Gallery and Stone Sculpture Gallery are wide
ly considered to have the most impressive collections. As a capper, the museum shop, featuring quality reproduction antiques and ceramics and smaller gift items, is definitely worth a browse. It’s the nicest you’ll find in any of China’s museums.

  INFO: Tel 86/21-6372-3500; www.shanghaimuseum.net.

  Fortress Home of the Dalai Lamas

  POTALA PALACE

  Lhasa, Tibet, China

  Lhasa, which in Tibetan means “Place of the Gods,” is the epicenter of Tibetan spirituality, a city that mystifies and intoxicates, despite the ubiquitous Chinese presence. The vast hilltop Potala, the empty 13-story fortress that was once the winter palace and seat of the revered leader, the Dalai Lama, is the most recognizable of the city’s landmarks. Its white-and-red walls and golden roofs rise above the holy city as if it had grown out of the hill on which it has stood since the 17th century. Although today a museum and an empty shell, the words of 20th-century Chinese-born novelist Han Suyin ring true: “No one can remain unmoved by the sheer power and beauty of the structure, with its thousand windows like a thousand eyes.”

  The Dalai Lamas, each of whom is believed to be the reincarnation of Avalokiteshvara, the Buddhist embodiment of compassion, have ruled Tibet as spiritual and temporal leaders since 1644; the current Dalai Lama, the 14th reincarnation, was just 16 when China’s occupation of Tibet forced him to flee to India in 1959, where he continues to live. His private apartments have been left untouched and the palace is undergoing restoration by the Chinese, with future tourism in mind.

  All Tibetan Buddhists aim to get to Lhasa at least once in their lives to visit the Jokhang Temple, the spiritual heart of Lhasa city and hub of the main market district, known as the Barkhor. Founded more than 1,300 years ago, the golden-roofed Jokhang is a mixture of Tibetan, Indian, Nepalese, and Chinese architecture and is Tibet’s holiest shrine. Tibetan Buddhists express devotion to a holy site by walking clockwise around it. At the temple’s entrance, devout worshippers repeatedly prostrate themselves to gain religious merit, while inside, a million butter candles softly illuminate the most important statue of Buddha, one of more than 200 in the temple.

  For Tibetan hospitality, stay at the welcoming, family-run Kyichu Hotel, centered around a traditional Tibetan inner courtyard in the old quarter of Lhasa. Demonstrating sheer ambition as well as the changes Lhasa is undergoing to encourage tourism, the impressive St. Regis Lhasa Resort opened in 2010 replete with all the latest in Western amenities, soaring views of the Potala, and a level of service heretofore nonexistent in Lhasa. Sitting 11,808 feet above sea level, the hotel has a doctor on call for guests who suffer from the altitude.

  Tibetan monks pray at the Potala Palace, whose name comes from a Sanskrit word meaning “abode of the Buddha of mercy.”

  WHERE: 594 miles/955 km northeast of Kathmandu, Nepal. Getting there via the “Friendship Highway” from Kathmandu takes roughly 2 days but offers spectacular vistas. KYICHU HOTEL: Tel 86/891-633-5728; www.hotelkyichu.com. Cost: from $40. THE ST. REGIS LHASA RESORT: Tel 86/891-680-8888; in the U.S., 877-787-3441; www.starwood hotels.com/stregis/. Cost: from $300 (off-peak), from $410 (peak). BEST TIME: May–Oct for nicest weather.

  Climbing Your Way to Enlightenment

  MOUNT KAILASH

  Tibet, China

  Though at 22,028 feet it’s not among the highest peaks of the Himalayas, Kailash (“crystal” in Sanskrit; Gang Rinpoche in Tibetan) is one of the most beautiful. More important, it’s the most sacred mountain in Asia, revered by Hindus as the abode of Lord Shiva, as well as by Jains, Buddhists, and indigenous Tibetans who follow the ancient Bon religion. The devout of all four religions associate the mountain with eternal bliss and spiritual power. For more than 1,000 years, they have come here on pilgrimages to perform a kora, a 32-mile circumambulation of the mountain, ideally completed in a single day. Hindus and Buddhists travel clockwise, Jains and Bon Tibetans counterclockwise, and some can be seen prostrating their way along the trail. For Buddhists, one circuit is said to erase the sins of a lifetime, and 108 assure Nirvana, the ultimate spiritual enlightenment.

  Intrepid trekkers can join the pilgrims in their circuit, en route experiencing the austere beauty of the landscape, visiting far-flung monasteries, and encountering the occasional nomad family or yak herder.

  Trekking begins and ends at Darchen, on the mountain’s southern flank, where there is very modest infrastructure and accommodations. Most recreational visitors aim to complete the circumambulation in 3 days. Reaching Darchen entails a rough 4-day journey by four-wheel drive across the Tibetan Plateau from Lhasa or Kathmandu (see previous page and p. 562). However, the isolation is all part of the mountain’s mystic appeal. There is no mistaking the holiness of Mount Kailash, one of the world’s very few major peaks that, out of respect for its religious significance, has never been climbed.

  WHERE: in western Tibet, approx 1,250 miles/2,000 km west of Lhasa. HOW: Lhasa-based Tibet Wind Horse Adventures, which is affiliated with Geographic Expeditions in the U.S., has 22-day expeditions to Mount Kailash and customized trips upon request. Tel 86/891-683-3009; www.windhorsetibet.com; in the U.S., 800-777-8183; www.geoex.com. Cost: from $8,000. Originate in Lhasa and end in Kathmandu. BEST TIMES: May–Oct for cool to warm weather; late May–early Jun for the colorful pilgrims’ Saka Dawa Festival.

  The Crossroads of the Silk Road

  SUNDAY MARKET

  Kashgar, Xinjiang, China

  At the foot of the Pamir Mountains—where it’s hard to remember you’re still in China, much less the 21st century—the remote city of Kashgar hosts a mind-boggling market that is any photographer’s dream. By most accounts, it is Asia’s (and arguably the world’s) largest market, with an estimated attendance of over 100,000 per day.

  These days, the impact of the numbers of visitors is slightly diminished, as the market has been split between two sites. The original Sunday Bazaar, which has been going strong for more than 1,000 years, has been covered and renamed the International Grand Bazaar. It’s open for business every day, selling clothing, household items, fur hats, daggers, dowry chests, and carpets. While it has taken on a touristy air with pashminas and embroidered dolls, the locals still frequent its deeper passages. The livestock market, known as the Ivan Bazaar, has been relocated to the outskirts of town; it also operates daily but is particularly worth visiting on Sunday. Muslim Uighurs are the majority population in China’s Alaska-size Xinjiang Autonomous Region, and bearded Uighur men in traditional blue-and-white garb and women hidden behind veils of brown gauze come to trade, sell, and haggle over sheep, cattle, and horses. It is a scene not unlike what Marco Polo must have witnessed when he passed through in the 13th century, heading east.

  Kashgar is just east of the Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan borders (see pp. 559 and 571), and its culture has more in common with the Central Asian republics than with Beijing, 2,500 miles east. It is the last stop in China on the Karakoram Highway (KKH), the highest paved international road in the world, which winds along the very same paths the ancient Silk Road once traversed and links Kashgar with Islamabad, Pakistan, over the Khunjerab Pass. Completed in 1986, the Karakoram Highway has become a prized destination for adventure travelers, and is also used by expeditions en route to scaling some of the world’s tallest mountains.

  WHERE: 913 miles/1,469 km southwest of Urümqi, the provincial capital. WHERE TO STAY: Seman Hotel is a timeworn but decent and characterful hotel in the former Russian consulate. Tel 86/0998-258-2129. Cost: suite $110 (off-peak), $195 (peak). BEST TIMES: Apr–Oct for warm, sunny weather; Aug–Sep especially pleasant.

  Remote, Rural, and Rich with Diversity

  THE ROAD TO SHANGRI-LA

  Yunnan, China

  The remote agricultural Yunnan Province lies deep in China’s southwest. With its beautiful eastern Himalayan scenery, its ancient trading towns, and the vibrant cultures of many ethnic minorities (members of almost half of China’s ethnic groups live here), it is one of China’s most unique destinations.


  Northern Yunnan was once part of the powerful 8th- and 9th-century Nanzhao, or Southern Kingdom. Its ancient capital Dali is perfectly situated between lovely Lake Erhai and the towering Cang Mountains; some of its city gates and pagodas date back over 1,000 years. Wooden houses are still built in traditional style, with gables and painted eaves, and the town’s Bai minority wear bright costumes and bonnets in pink and scarlet. Twelve miles along the lake, the small town of Xizhou has been trading horses and tea since the Tang Dynasty and is the location of the Linden Centre—an inn and cultural retreat of sorts, offering painting, photography, and writing programs. From here, visit Shaxi, with its Old Town of beautiful Bai architecture and a Friday market that harks back to the days of caravans on the trade route to Tibet.

  Some 90 miles northwest, 2,000-year-old Lijiang was once the end of Tibet’s trading route between India and China. The delightful market village is the cultural center for the ancient Naxi people, a matriarchal tribe whose women run the markets and inherit all personal property while the men raise the children. At the center of a strikingly beautiful rural area, the canals and cobbled lanes of ancient Lijiang have become a charming home base from which to explore Yunnan’s ethnic and cultural diversity, especially if you can score a room at the newly inaugurated Banyan Tree Resort, the region’s most stylish eco-friendly lodge. Outside town, Black Dragon Pool Park boasts a lakeside tea pavilion, just the spot for viewing the Jade Dragon Snow Mountains.

  Beyond Lijiang, the Yangtze River turns sharply to form the 18-mile-long Tiger Leaping Gorge—one of the deepest in the world—offering a challenging trek and extraordinary scenery. Beyond, the newly anointed Shangri-La County (formerly Zhongdian County) is believed to have been the inspiration for James Hilton’s Lost Horizon. Sunlight gleams on golden temple rooftops at Ganden Sumtseling Gompa monastery, snow-capped mountains loom, and a sense of ageless tranquility greets visitors.

 

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