The Chinese consider gardens a serious art form and as with painting, sculpture and poetry aim to attain in their design the balance, harmony, proportion and variety that are considered essential to life. In fact there is a saying which goes, 'the garden is an artistic recreation of nature; a landscape painting in three dimensions" . Through a combination of such natural elements as rock, water, trees and flowers and such artificial elements as architecture,  » Read more »

"Of the thirty-six West Lakes east or west, the West Lake in Hangzhou is the best." As this dictum reveals, China has thirty-six West Lakes – in Beijing, Fuzhou, Guilin, etc. – but none are reputed to be as magnificent as the one in Hangzhou. Originally no more than a shallow inlet, this section of the Qiantong River was dredged and dammed in the eighth century to form the lake that exists today.  » Read more »

As you stroll through the caves in Guangxi province, you might ponder on their formation and try to spot some of their intriguing features. Formation The life-span of a solution cave can be split into three phases: (i) Initiation phase: groundwater seeps slowly through cracks and fractures in the limestone bedding planes. Over 3,000 to 10,000 years are needed to turn one such fracture to a pencil-sized opening of 5 to 10 mm wide.  » Read more »

"They were the oddest hills in the world, and the most Chinese, because these are the hills that are depicted in every Chinese scroll. It is almost a sacred landscape – it is certainly an emblematic one." Paul Theroux, Riding the Iron Rooster, 1988 When looking at a Chinese painting, most visitors will remark upon the enormous differences from Western painting tradition. Foremost among the differences are the use of ink and silk paper as opposed to oil and canvas,  » Read more »

Day One  Arrive at the Hotel of Modern Art and enjoy a relaxing meal or a stroll through the tiny, pedestrian streets of Yangshuo village. (Hotel of Modern Art – Deluxe Room) (D)   Day Two  In the morning we will take a relaxing boat-ride along a rarely visited stretch of the Li River: fishermen use cormorants to fish, clumbs of bamboo trees line the shores,  » Read more »