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China,
The Southern Provinces
The Southern Provinces: -
Fuzhou: Situated in Fujian Province on the southeast coast opposite Taiwan, this beautiful city lies on the banks of the Min River. Dating back some 1400 years (to the Tang Dynasty), the city has numerous parks and temples, including the White Pagoda and Black Pagoda, and maritime reminders of its past as a colonial Treaty Port. Fuzhou also has hot springs dotted throughout the city. Further south, Mount Wuyi is an outstanding area of natural beauty and the cradle of neo-Confucianism.
Guangzhou (Canton): Sometimes known as the ‘City of Flowers’, Guangzhou is a subtropical metropolis on the south coast. As a Special Economic Zone only 182km (113 miles) from Hong Kong, Guangzhou is developing at breakneck speed, but it has more established attractions, since it dates back to 221 BC and first welcomed European traders in 1516. Parks, museums, temples, hot springs and colonial architecture – especially on Shamian Island – are the main attractions. The Chenhai Tower, a 15th-century observation tower overlooking the Pearl River, the Huaisheng Mosque built by Arab merchants in AD 650, and the Tomb of the King of Southern Yue, a 2000-year-old relic of one of the region’s short-lived splinter kingdoms, are also worth visiting. Other attractions for those drawn by the gold rush mentality of Shenzhen include theme parks such as the World of Splendid China
(with miniatures of Chinese heritage sites), and the China Folk Culture Villages.
Changsha: The capital of Hunan Province is close to the birthplace of Mao Zedong at Shaoshan. Most attractions revolve around Mao’s early life and there are museums and schools dedicated to him. One notable exception is the Han Tomb whose contents – including the 2000-year-old remains of a woman – are now in the Hunan Provincial Museum.
Lushan Mountain: Lying approximately 150km southeast of Wuhan, this is a well-known scenic area and summer resort with tranquil scenery and a comfortable climate. The mountain has been a haven for poets and hermits for centuries, and more recently for Chiang Kaishek, Mao Zedong, Harry Truman and other dignitaries. At its centre is Guling Town, at an altitude of 1167m.
Guilin: Located to the northwest of Guangzhou (Canton), Guilin is famous for its spectacular landscape of bizarre limestone formations, echoed so evocatively in the paintings and wall-hangings well known in the area. Steep monolithic mountains rise dramatically from a flat landscape of meandering rivers and paddy fields. Visitors can climb the hills, take river trips and visit the parks, lakes and caves. Further north is the Wulingyuan basin, centred on the town of Zhangjiajie, which contains dense primeval forest and several thousand steep mountain peaks, as well as Yellow Dragon Cave, Asia’s largest, with gnarled stalactites.
Kunming: The capital of Yunnan Province, which borders Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos, has its own distinctive identity as a newer, showcase city with some temples and very pretty lakeside parks. It is known as the ‘City of Eternal Spring’ or the ‘Geneva of the Orient’ because of the pleasant alpine climate. Outside of Kunming are the major attractions of Xi Shan, the holy mountain, and the petrified limestone forest called Shilin, 120km (75 miles) southeast of Kunming. The ancient city of Lijiang, further west in Yunnan Province, is dominated by the Naxi ethnic people, and was the subject of the celebrated documentary Beyond The Clouds.
Hainan Island: This tropical island off the south coast of Guangdong Province has some fine beaches, palm groves, fresh seafood and coconuts. In 1989, Hainan Island became a separate province in its own right, and is now one of several Special Economic Zones, although it is not yet the ‘Hawaii of China’ it aspires to be.
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