Finding Pandora in China

Breaking all kinds of movie records, Avatar is a certified international mega hit. Being a travel buff, I left the movie wanting to visit Pandora. To my surprise, Pandora might not be that far.

MSNBC.com reports the floating "Hallelujah Mountains" was inspired by karst limestone formations in China. (click here for full article) James Cameron himself didn't not visit the locations. The Avatar designers and photographers visited Zhangjiajie and Yellow Mountain a few years ago and based the floating mountains these two locations.

China is now quick to capitalize on the enormous popularity of the movie and want to rename Zhangjiajie's "Southern Sky Column" to ""Hallelujah Mountain".

Check out blogs on my last trip to Yellow Mountain:
1. The Peaks of Yellow Mountain
2. Beyond Yellow Mountain

If you are interested in getting a glimpse of "Pandora", you are in luck, Ruby Roads Premium Travel and Events is offering a 12 day China tour package special at 50% OFF which includes 3 days in Yellow Mountain. Click here for full detail.

(Photo courtesy of www.news.cn)

What you don't know about the Great Wall of China (长城)

Everyone on the earth probably heard of the Great Wall of China. It is the symbol of China and pride of all Chinese people. How much do you know really know about the Great Wall. Do you know the wall was never a single continuous wall? Let's start from the beginning:

Who built it? The building of the wall started under the leadership of Qin Shi Emperor, the first emperor of China.

When was it built? It started approximately 2000 years ago during the Qin Dynasty (221 BC-206BC). Later emperors kept on building and restoring. Majority of the wall you see today was built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Why such a long wall? To protect the Northern borders of China and to keep the Mongols out.

How does it work? Soliders were stationed at each watch tower. If one of the towers spots the enemy movement towards the border, the soliders will light a huge fire in their tower. The next tower over sees the fire will proceed to light a fire in its tower and so on so forth. This is a way to quickly inform everyon along the border to be on high alert and prepare for battle.

How long is it really? The Chinese refers to the Great Wall as "The long wall of 10,000 li" (万里长城). Li is a traditional Chinese unit of distance. It is equal to 500 meters or 1640 feet. However, the actual length including all of its branches of the wall is 8851.8 km.

What major cities does it stretches through? From east to west, Beijing, Hebei, Tianjin, Liaoning, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Ningxia and Gansu.

(Image from www.enchantedlearning.com)

There are many sections of the wall that are well restored and popular amongst tourists from all over the world. Notable sections are:

Badaling (八达岭长城) - It is closest to city of Beijing and most popular section of the wall. It is where Nixon visited and was the finish site of a cycling course in the 2008 Summer Olympics. It has very steep inclines and has the highest point along the entire length of the wall.

Mutianyu (慕田峪长城) - Also very close to Beijing, but less crowded and less work to hike than Badaling.

Simatai (司马台长城) - A bit farther out of Beijing, however it has the most authentic part of the wall. It is of the original construction unlike Badaling which was built during the Ming Dynasty.

Jinshanling (金山岭长城) - It connects to section of Simatai.

Shanhaiguan (山海关长城) - this section is actually located in Hebei and Tianjin. It is about 3 hours of train from Beijing. The wall ends into the sea.

Interesting facts you might not know:

• The wall is not a single continuous wall.
  
• Since the wall was discontinuous, the Mogol found a way to go around and eventually conquered most of northern China. They started the Yuan Dynasty and ruled all of China until 1368 when the Ming defeated them. It was said the Mongols were greatest warriors, but lacked management skills.
• Over the 2000 years, approximately 50,000km of the wall were built. The earth's circumference is about 40,000km.
• There are more than 10,000 watchtowers and beacon towers on the wall

Travel Tips about the Wall

The Great Wall offers scenery that varies with seasons. But the winter months can be bitterly cold. Spring and fall are still the best time to go. Wearing good shoes is important unless hiking up is not your cup of tea. Then there are cable cart to take you to the notable peaks. If hiking down is not to your liking either, you can luge down!

There are vendors all along the major sections of the wall. No need to panic and pack tons of food and water for the hike. In fact, don't be surprised to see an old lady vendor carrying 50 pounds of stuff on her back passing you.

Majority of the Great Wall is not restored which the locals refer to as "Wild Walls". These sections can be pretty dangerous due to loose bricks, rocks and unruly vegetation. In addtion, China has no system of mountain and wilderness rescue. However, it is still becoming very popular to hike and camp in these areas despite the potential danger of completely being on your own.

The Winter Olympics is Almost Here!!

Only 28 days to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics!! The city is already hooping despite the unpredictable weather (usually rain dump and high wind in the morning, followed by sun in the afternoon).

From Bombardier Streetcar to Heineken House, here is a list of free events happening during this big international event.

If you are a business and want an opportunity to be invited to exclusive networking events during the games, register your company with 2010 Commerce Centre.

Now we just need to pray the weather will hold up and we get a lot of snow (only in the mountains) and sunny!

Faye's List of Articles, Websites and Social Networks to Follow for China Bound Leisure Travellers

After I compiling a list of article, website and social networks for China bound business travellers, now it is leisure travellers' term:

• China National Tourism Office Website - This should be your first stop before you plan for your trip. The comprehensive website gives you straightforward information about China and its major cities.
• Before heading to China, do you need a visa? what to pack? worried about SARS? This article (click here for full article) should answer all these questions and more.
• China Trip Videos (YouTube) - A little self promotion here. This is a Beijing video from the last group I led. More China related videos in production. Stay tune.
• One of China's biggest attraction is shopping! My favourite! But shopping in China is an art form. Here are some rules and myths you should know.
  
• Learn a little Chinese - English is not very wild spoken in China. It will definitely help to learn a little basic Chinese. If you are lazy or too busy and have an iPhone, be sure to download the free app called iTranslator to take on the road. This translator translates other languages too. It is best free language app I have found so far. There is also a paid option for voice service.
• HongLaoWei (YouTube) - This one is just for fun! HongLaoWei is a Caucasian man who enjoys making videos about China (especially the Communist aspect of China) in Chinese. China is a great country to travel to and explore, but you will encounter aspects of it that are unfamiliar to you, just keep an open mind. After all, this is why we travel.
  

For a list of Articles, Websites and Social Networks to Follow for China Bound Business Travellers - click here.

To book your customized leisure or business travel to China, please contact me at faye@rubyroads.com or visit us at www.rubyroads.com.

Faye's List of Articles, Websites and Social Networks to Follow for China Bound Business Travellers

I decided to compile a list of article, website and social networks for China bound business travellers.

• baidu.com (百度) - this popular and large search engine is the equivalent of Google in China.
• doingbusiness.org - What is like doing business in China? Will it be difficult to hire contractors or employees? How safe will your investment be? The website lists the overall "Ease of Doing Business" rank (out of 183 economies) and the rankings by each topic.
• China Law Blog - China Law for Business
  
• This article (click here for full article) talkes about visa and other related issues when you travel to China for business.
• A lighthearted, but very true article (click here for full article) about what to expect when doing business in China.
• Chinese Name - It is good to give yourself a Chinese name before meeting your Chinese business partners. Because it is very tough for Chinese people to pronounce English names. This website will generate a name for you (usually so what close to your original name), teach you how to say it and give you the meaning of your name. But make sure still to get your Chinese friend to look it over or you can email me at faye@rubyroads.com.
  
• Follow China Business Watch on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ChinaBizWatch - They collect realtime China Business News direct to your Twitter.
  

I will also post a list of Articles, Websites and Social Networks to Follow for China Bound Leisure Travellers in a few days.

To book your leisure or business travel to China, please contact me at faye@rubyroads.com or visit us at www.rubyroads.com.

China’s top 5 business law trends of 2010

Dan Harris is an international lawyer based in the United States. Here is what he thought China's top 5 business law trends of 2010 will be (Click here for the full article):

1. China will step up even further its crackdown on foreigners in China violating its visa/immigration laws. If you lack an employee visa, you may be at risk.

2. China will increase its efforts to root out and shut down illegal and unregistered foreign businesses. I have seen ample evidence of this already happening in the last 3-6 months and I have no doubt this will continue. Providing jobs to Chinese citizens does not let you off the hook.

3. China will increase its tax collection efforts. This has been going on at a rapidly accelerating pace over the last six months or so. If your China operations are not making a healthy profit, do not be surprised if the government imputes healthy profits to it. In particular, the government will look very closely at your transfer pricing and in many cases it will not like what it sees.

4. China now sees itself as a full-fledged economic power and with that perception we can expect it will be stepping up its anti-monopoly monitoring of mergers and acquisitions. I predict China will seek to impose at least some conditions on all mergers and acquisitions that touch on China, if only just to show that it can.

5. The number of cases brought by employees and resolved in their favor will continue rapidly increasing. This will be particularly true with respect to foreign companies as this will be a great way for the government to show its willingness to protect its own.