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I was sat right at the top, in the Royal Opera House it would have been seat Y51 – very high up with a restricted view. Looking down and behind the half naked archaeologist who was unmoved by the burning sun I could almost see Russell Crowe fighting ferociously for his freedom. Behind me was a flat green field with occasional glimpses of the Danube river, on whose bed was preserved this rich archaeological site.
“We are standing at the top of the amphitheatre with a capacity of 12,000 seats” the voice of the enthusiastic guide woke me up.
We are at Viminacium, one of many Roman towns and fortress in Serbia, not far from the capital city Belgrade. It covers a huge area and some of it is still undiscovered due to the presence of the nearby power plant which produces 20% of Serbia’s energy. The government is trying to buy land still owned by the local people to stop the theft of artefacts that are uncovered after heavy rain.
Large numbers of lamps, bricks, paving tiles, rings and coins have been uncovered and exhibited either at the Museum in Pozarevac or the Museum in Belgrade. The Viminacium complex is building their own museum too at the moment.
The site has beautiful tombs decorated with frescoes whose colour was still bright and with mixed pagan and Christian symbolism. Tomb G5517 has a Christogram in a double floral garland and this is known as a Constantine Cross, after the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity. Tomb G2624 has animals and flowers and is clearly pagan, thus proving that Christians and Pagans were sometimes buried in the same cemetery.
Serbia has the largest number of Roman emperors born outside of Italy – 17 altogether, among them Constantine I and Justinian I. The tourist board has put together a project to combine visits to all the major Roman excavations on Serbian soil, called Itinerarium Romanum Serbiae. It will incorporate Sirmium, today known as Sremska Mitrovica, Singindunum which is Belgrade, Viminacium or Stari Kostolac, combined with visits to the forts of Nis, Kostol and Karats. The itinerary also includes visits to the imperial residences at Gamzigrad and the UNESCO site, Šarkamen, Mediana and Iustiniana Prima .
2013 will see the 1,700 anniversary of the Edict of Milan by which Emperor Constantine legalised Christianity throughout the Roman Empire, and celebrations will take place in the city of his birth, Nis. A historic moment is planned when the Pope and the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church meet formally for the very first time.
When you book a group tour to China usually there is not much choice about what to see and when. Your day is packed from 8am to 7pm when you are taken to a restaurant where the menu is decided by the government. You are usually presented with a visit to the Great Wall of China without specifying which part of the Great Wall. To keep costs down most companies take you to the Badaling section which is close to Beijing and most of the time, very overcrowded.
If you are on a group tour your not able to see any current exhibitions in any of the cities visited, because there’s just not time. In the evenings, you are booked to see a performance of Beijing Opera but without any explanation what is the significance of any of the colours or costumes or masks or dances, so you’ll sit there out of sheer politeness and stay till the bitter end like most tourists do.You’ll go to Shanghai but you won’t have time to catch a world-class performance in the magnificent Shanghai theatre (the seats are so cheap too!). Nor will you be able to ride the fastest train in China, the Maglev, as there is no time, nor will you be able to go to the charming Taikang Lu district as buses can’t park down the narrow streets.
However, on your group tour you will be taken on factory visits, so-called friendship shops, again earmarked by the government for tourists, in order to increase guides’ commission. Most of the time clients are get annoyed that they weren’t told about these visits (sometimes 3 a day) which can take up a considerable proportion of your time – for example, instead of spending some quality time at the Great Wall of China you have to go to the pearl shop and even if none of the group members buy anything, the will still guide get commission. On your group tour there will be at least 20 other people, sometimes 30 or 40, and just one guide – how many questions are you going to be able to answer? Are you going to be able to get close enough to hear them even?
For a perfect holiday in China, book your own guide and driver and set your own pace on a series of private day trips in each city, special discounts are available for more than 3 tours when booked together.
This is what you can see and do in China in just a week with ReadyClickAndGo!
Day 1 Beijing
AM: If you early starter get to the Tiananmen Square for flag risingceremony. Later in the morning visit the magnificent Tiananmen Square bordered by Great Hall of the People and Mao’s Mausoleum. Later visit the impressive UNESCO site, the Forbidden City which was a home to a succession of Emperors for more than 500 years. Exit through the north gate of the Forbidden City and visit the Jingshan Park for panoramic views of the city.
PM: Visit another UNESCO site in Beijing, the beautiful Summer Palace, and the best preserved Imperial Garden in China.
EVENING: Spend the evening with the performers at the Beijing Opera learning about this uniquely Chinese art.
PM: In the afternoon visit another UNESCO site and the Ming dynasty masterpiece, the Temple of Heaven and try Tai Chi. Opposite the Temple of Heaven visit one of the biggest market of fake goods in China, the Hongqiao Market where you can try your haggling skills.
PM:Learn about modern Chinese art at the funky 798 street which was formerly a military industrial complex from the 50’s. What’s fascinating is that several of the factories within the complex are still operational.
EVENING: Spend the evening at the Hou Hai Lake among the modern bars and restaurants.
PM: If you are travelling to Xian between April and October 2011 try to visit the magnificent International Horticultural EXPO whose landmark is Changhan Tower which has the characteristics of a traditional timber-structure pagodas of the Tang Dynasty: every layer of roof overhang has a layer of supporting pedestals with a patterned layer-by-layer structure.
AM: Fly to cosmopolitan city Shanghai for two nights and take the Maglev train from the airport to the city.
PM: Along with the usual visits to the Jade Buddha Temple and the Yuyuan garden. I suggest you walk to the fast-disappearing Jewish quarter around the Astor Hotel. You can even ask at the hotel reception and try to visit the room in which Albert Einstein received a phone call about his Nobel Prize. It’s still the same. Continue along the Bund and watch Chinese people performing tai chi. If you are hungry you can either go to the 8th floor of the Peace Hotel for a sumptuous Chinese meal at the Phoenix restaurant with fascinating views over the Huangpu River. If you prefer something more western why not visit Cloud 8 on the 88th floor of the Grand Hyatt Hotel on the other side of the river. The views are breathtaking…
EVENING: In the evening visit Taikang Art Street, full of art galleries, sculpture workshops, photography studios, pottery and woodcarving workshops, etc. Stroll through Xintiandi Concession area where bars, cafes and shops are housed in typical old Shanghai houses.
Day 7 Shanghai
AM: Visit the world class Shanghai Museum. Check what’s on at the Shanghai Theatre and continue through the People’s Park to watch the locals relaxing playing cards, performing tai chi…If you are hungry try the Barbarossa restaurant situated in the middle of the People’s Park.
PM: Continue through the famous Nanjing Road towards the Peace Hotel and listen to jazz there at the bar which has been playing there since 1923. Take the stairs to the famous Phoenix restaurant for panoramic views of the Huangpu River.
Temples are not just places for tourists, or places or worship – they are the embodiment of Chinese history, culture, tradition, art…
My favourite temple in China is theJade Buddha Templein Shanghai not because it’s the most famous temple but because I had a personal welcome there on my first visit to China twenty years ago. I had a welcome kiss from a Chinese grandpa who looked the epitome of harmony with his grey hair and goatee beard with a big smile and very happy eyes. We didn’t understand each other, we smiled and then inspired by the celebration around us he looked at me and just kissed me on the cheek. My local guide ran up to explain that I had been welcomed to China. The whole experience was the more significant as it happened in the Grand Hall just in front of the Buddha statues representing the past, present and future. Since then I believe that my past life was well spent in China!
The Jade Buddha Temple was founded in 1882 with two jade Buddha statues brought to Shanghai from Burma by sea, a sitting Buddha (1.95 meters tall, 3 tons), and a smaller reclining Buddha representing his own death. These statues are the centrepiece of the small temple, but there are several halls such as the Hall of Heavenly Kings, Great Treasure Hall and the Hall of the 10,000 Buddhas. Its Chinese name is Yu Fo Si, and it’s situated in the northwest of the city near the intersection of Anyuan Lu and Jiangning Lu – take Subway Line 6 at Wulian Road Station, get off at Shiji Dadao Station then take Subway Line 2 and get off at Nanjing Road West Station, take bus no.112 and get off at Haifang Road, and walk about 350 meters and you will find the Jade Buddha Temple.
Shanghai has always been a cosmopolitan city and as result you have several active Christian churches and an Islamic mosque where foreign visitors may worship or visit. But what really sets religious Shanghai apart, at least in China, is its Jewish legacy, most powerfully evoked by the reopening of the Ohel Moshe Synagogue as a museum and study centre. A word of advice – before you set off check with the locals if it still exists – a church I headed to one day had actually been transformed into a nice trendy bar with a cross on the top of one of the cupolas!
Less known is the Palace of Peace and Harmony or Lama Templeor Yonghegong Lamasery which is a monastery of the Geluk School of Tibetan Buddhism in Beijing. Building work on the Lama Temple started in 1694 and originally it served as an official residence for court eunuchs. It was then converted into the court of Prince Yong (Yin Zhen). After the Prince’s ascension to the throne in 1722, half of the building was converted into a lamasery, a monastery for monks of the Geluk School of Tibetan Buddhism. The other half remained an imperial palace. There are five main halls which are separated by courtyards, the Hall of the Heavenly Kings, the Hall of Harmony and Peace, the Hall of Everlasting Protection, the Hall of the Wheel of the Law and the Pavilion of Ten Thousand Happiness’s.
The inside of the temple is decorated with yellow tiles which was a colour reserved exclusively for the emperors, but it survived the destruction of the Cultural Revolution thanks to the intervention of Prime Minister Zhou Enlai and was reopened to the public in 1981. The Lama Temple is located in Beijing’s Dongcheng District, near the northeastern corner of the Second Ring Road. Lines 2 and 5 of the Beijing Subway both stop at Yonghegong.
If you are visiting the Lama Temple it would be a waste not to cross the road and visit the Confucius Templetoo – although the temple is run down and seemingly forgotten by the Chinese Tourist Board. It covers some 20,000 square metres but it’s not the largest Confucius temple, that is in his birth place, Qufu. This temple was built in 1302 when the Chinese people used it to pay their respects to Confucius. Today it’s almost empty except for the occasional lost tourist clutching a guide book and looking bemused that no one else is there. This temple consists of four courtyards, with the Gate of the First Teacher, the Gate of Great Accomplishment, the Hall of Great Accomplishment and Worship Hall. It’s a very tranquil place to spend an afternoon away from busy and noisy Beijing. The Hanging Temple in Datongis situated more than 50 meters above the ground and is a unique piece of architecture. It was built in 491 by half-inserting the crossbeams of the foundations into the side of a mountain, and for Westerners it may have seemed a miracle but this system of inserting crossbeams into rocks was developed in other parts of China especially on the Yangzte River – when sailors couldn’t use the river for transferring goods they would build wooden rails along the gorge sides and use them to transfer the goods up and down the river when water levels were too high. Today you can only see square holes in some of the gorges and the only remaining building constructed like this is the so-called ‘Hanging Temple’ in Datong – and it is a masterpiece.
The temple was built by a monk who travelled all over China and needed somewhere to rest and pray, and the location he chose was sheltered from flood, snow, rain or sunshine. It’s full of inscriptions, poems and statues of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism made of copper, iron, clay and stone, which are valuable cultural craftworks. Shanxi Province where the Hanging Temple is situated has many others and if you have time you should visit Jinci Temple in Taiyuan, better known as an ‘ancestral temple’ where Chinese people pay tribute to their ancestors. Another worth mentioning in Shanxi Province is the Guandi Temple in Yuncheng. One very popular temple is the Shaolin Monasteryfounded in the 5th century, long famous for its association with Chinese martial arts and particularly with Shaolin Kung Fu. It’s situated in Denfang in Henan Province. The temple takes students from all around the world for courses in marital arts, and as a result you find monks sitting under trees and having debates next to students having their training. The most impressive part is the Shanmen Hall above which hangs a tablet simply saying ‘Shaolin Temple’. What impressed me were the stones worn away by Kung Fu teachers sitting and meditating. Another impressive part of Shaolin Temple is the Pagoda Forest where old Kung Fu teachers are buried, and the higher the pagoda, the more important was their status within the temple. The school observes strict rules based on training, training and even more training. They have different levels of students who can easily be recognised by the different colours of their track suits. It’s a memorable scene in the training hall when hundreds of students make the same move at the exactly the same time! During the day you can watch performances of Kung Fu students which are punctuated by cries of “Oh my God, UH, Ouch, NOOOOOOOOOO” from the excited audience. At the end you can spend some money in the shop on swords or knives, even bows and spears. But be careful when you buy them – you might not be able to get them into your own country!
The Dazu rock carvings, one of China’s most impressive UNESCO World Heritage Sites, are situated between Chengdu and Chongqing in the southern part of China, in Sichuan Province, and they are as famous as the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, the Yungang Grottoes and Longmen Grottoes.
There are two ways to reach Dazu, either from Chengdu or from Chongqing. The route is much longer from Chengdu, about 271 km which takes around 5 hours but if you are travelling from Chongqing then it’s only around 3 hours.
The carvings at Dazu are a most beautiful form of rock art and symbolise the integration of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, the 3 main religions of China. Besides images of the Buddha, the carvings show different people including ministers, military officers, executioners, monks, rich and poor people, and performers. The carvings date from the 9th to 13th centuries.
There are four places to see Dazu rock carvings – the most popular is atBaodingshan, but you can also see them at Beishan, Nanshan and Shizhuanshuan.
Baodingshan is the most visited grotto in Dazu. At the entrance there are nine Dharmapalas (Protectors of the Law) which guard the entrance, carrying swords, spears and fans. To the left you will come across servants with human bodies and animal heads, and they represent humans who have been reincrinated as animals in order to pay off a karmic debt. The most significant carving is the wheel of reincarnation which summarises the Buddhist teaching of reincarnation. The demon Mara who personifies existance holds the wheel in his jaws and arms, and the wheel is also supported by the personification of greed, (an official), evil (a solider), foolishness (a monkey), and lust (a woman). Six Buddha-rays on the wheel illustrate that enlightenment, the goal of all Buddhist practice, will allow the seeker to escape from the eternal cycle of birth and death.
Among other rock carvings, the most imposing one is the Parinirvana, a 31m long reclining statue which illustrates the death of Shakyamuni.
Did you know that London and Beijing are at the same latitude but the climate of these two cities differ wildly. London is an all year round destination but the best time to visit Beijing is in the spring or autumn, the summers in Beijing being very humid and the winters very cold .
China is a vast country almost the same size as the whole of Europe and it’s very important to choose a good time to visit it. Most of the travel guide books suggest travelling either in April, May or September, October when hotel prices are usually high. This rule is valid if you are going for longer than three weeks and if your tour starts in Beijing and finishes in Hong Kong. Most people plan to go to China only once in their lifetime and they tend to choose longer tours to keep costs down. But from my experience I would suggest you go for a shorter time, say up to 10 days. This way you can go during November and early December or February and March when the prices are lower and the weather conditions still acceptable. Yes it may get cold but not unbearable. If you wear warm clothes which you can buy cheaply at the local market in any city in China then you will get nice crispy days which are fantastic for taking good photos plus most of the sights are empty and you can enjoy them on your own away from other people. If you are going to the south of China the winters are usually mild and make traveling a pleasure in the southern part of China between the months of November and February.
Whenever you decide to travel to China try to avoid 1-8 May (Labour holidays) or 1- 8 October (Liberation Day) when hard - working Chinese get a one week holiday. Most of the sightseeing spots during this time get swamped with large groups of Chinese people who have a different way of exploring - you can recognize them very easily – they are all dressed in the same color clothes for easy recognition and led by a tour guide with a megaphone whose strength is strong enough to seriously damage your ears. Not to mention that you won’t be able to get close to any of the sights and you won’t be able to hear your own guide.
If you are going to stay in big cities try to book hotels during the weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) as most Chinese try to escape from the city to the countryside during weekends.
Also check if there are any big exhibitions taking place, these usually increase the cost of your hotel stay. This year Horticulturla EXPO takes place in Xian from May to October so hotel prices are going to be higher. F1 is also taking place in April in Shanghai and the same will apply.
UNESCO has included the following sites in Bosnia and Herzegovina on its World Heritage List:
The Old Mostar Bridge (Stari Most)commissioned in 1557 by Suleiman the Magnificent, the tenth and longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Construction began in 1557 and took nine years. Charged under pain of death to construct a bridge, the architect reportedly prepared for his own funeral on the day the scaffolding was finally removed from the completed structure. Upon its completion it was the widest man-made arch in the world. The Old Bridge stood for 427 years, until it was destroyed on 9 November 1993 during the Bosnian War. After the end of the war, plans were raised to reconstruct the bride and on the 23 July 2004 bridge was inaugurated.
Mehmed Pasha Sokolovic Bridge in Visegrad is a bridge over the Drina River in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was completed in 1577 by the Ottoman court architect Sinan on the order of the Grand Vizier Mehmed Pasa Sokolovich, who was of Serbian origin. The bridge is now widely known because of the book The Bridge on the Drina written by the Serbian Nobel prize-winning author, Ivo Andric.
We are at Viminacium, one of many Roman towns and fortress in Serbia, not far from the capital city Belgrade. It covers a huge area and some of it is still undiscovered due to the presence of the nearby power plant which produces 20% of Serbia’s energy. The government is trying to buy land still owned by the local people to stop the theft of artefacts that are uncovered after heavy rain.
The tourist board has put together a project to combine visits to all the major Roman excavations on Serbian soil, called Itinerarium Romanum Serbiae. It will incorporate Sirmium, today known as Sremska Mitrovica, Singindunum which is Belgrade, Viminacium or Stari Kostolac, combined with visits to the forts of Nis, Kostol and Karats. The itinerary also includes visits to the imperial residences at Gamzigrad and the UNESCO site, Šarkamen, Mediana and Iustiniana Prima .
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