Dr. Mark Nan Tu

I recently wrote an email to my Microsoft Research Asia (MSRA) friends about my experience of traveling in China.

Hello All:

Did Jim Rogers actually say that now is not a good time to travel in China? Wow, I can not believe that he said that. Jim Rogers is wrong about the traveling in China. He is definitely right about the investing in China. The Shanghai composite index raised nearly 100% last year. The real estate price raised about 80% in Beijing (in other words, the return on out of pocket investment in real estate in Beijing with 30% downpayment should be like 150% or more).

I personally traveled to all corners in China, North to HelongJiang, East to Shanghai, West to XingJiang and Tibet, South the Yunnan and Hainan. I also traveled extensively in Europe and North America. In my point of view, I say that China is one of the best (if not the best) tourist place in the world.

Compared with North America, China offers similar landscape but richer history. Compared with Europe, China offers similar history but richer landscapes. What’s more important, traveling in China is so cheap that I even at the local Chinese pay, I do not look at the price tag. Nothing is expensive. How about a soft sleeper from Beijing to GuangZhou for less than $100USD. How about a lavish dinner in LiJiang, Yunnan for less than $20 USD. I recently went to XiaChuan Island (a small island 35 min by speed boat from TaiShan Guangzhou). I had the whole hotel (5 floors) for myself. The beach front room cost me less than $12USD. A seafood dinner cooked on the spot cost me $12USD. The Karaoke girls were asking for $24USD overnight. The island is a smaller version of Hawaii (where I visited twice in the 90s, so I know). I walked on the 2km beach that has only about 10 people and most of them are local fishermen. I call it: the most romantic beach in China.

Cost of living in big cities such as Beijing is rising. But not nearly as high as in the Valleys. The trick is NOT to live like LaoWai (foreigner), but to live like Chinese. If the rooms are paid off, the cost of living can be as low as $250USD/month and the quality of live is as good as a white collared person in the Valleys

I took a guided tour to Northern China last summer. The scene reminded me of my days in Minnesota with the Pine trees and dark soil. My 7 day guided trip including the guide, transportation, lodging, entrance tickets, etc cost around $250USD. It is cheaper than most of the people staying in Beijing for a week. In other words, traveling around China in such tours would be better option for retired folks than ask them to stay in Beijing, cost wise.

I respect Jim Rogers. In fact, he is my hero. I read two of his three books. Investment Biker and Adventure Capitalist. However, I totally disagree with him that now is not a good time traveling in China. The real difference between his traveling and mine traveling is that he traveled in China in a custom-made Mercedes Benz and staying mostly in 5 star hotels. I traveled in China with a back pack, using various transportation means and staying in all local hotels. I can say that I enjoyed just as much if not more than he did. I for sure have seen more of the real China than he did.

There is an old Chinese saying: In a local town, behave like a local. So in China, behave like a Chinese. You will enjoy more.

Best Regards
Mark Tu

BaiShuiZai Water Fall

Lush green

Bamboo

Situated in HuiZhou, Guangdong province, NanKun Mountain is only 100 km from GuangZhou. The highest peak is called

NanAo IslandGoogle Map

YangMei Wan in the evening

DongChong beach and the surround mountains

The vacation cabines in DongChong

The beach is a popular wedding photo spots

The romantic XiChong beach

There are more than 10 beaches close to ShenZhen. All of them are located in the NanAo Island. With more than 10 million residents in ShenZhen, one can predict that the beaches are more than likely jammed with people. That, however, it not the case when I visited the island during the weekend.

Starting from ShenZhen, I drove to NanAo with my friend. We followed the direction of a GPS system. My friend has been in ShenZhen for over 15 years and is familiar with quite a few places close by. Even that, he has not been to all the beaches in NanAo. NanAo is connected with ShenZhen via expressway. We arrived in the center of the NanAo Island around lunch time. From there, we found a seafood market. We had a delicious seafood lunch there. We first ordered the seafood from the seafood sellers and then send the seafood to the restaurant to be cooked to our requirement. We were very impressed by a steamed sea fish.

After lunch, we followed the GPS and arrived in the DaPenShuoChen which is an ancient garrison. The GPS direction was perfect. When it told us to stop, we were at the south entrance of the DaPenShuoChen south gate. The entrance ticket was 20RMB/person. The city was built in Qing Dynasty. The purpose for this city is a garrison which housed solders to protect the China south sea. There were still ancient city walls and old canons. There were also remains of the grain storage rooms and the open air theater. Because of the city

The quite beach is the training ground for the Chinese National Sailing Team

Red Sea Bay is located in ShanWei, some 3 hour north of ShenZhen. It is the training ground for the Chinese National Sailing team. I have read good reviews of the sea beach online and decided to go there for a weekend getaway.

Today is the Dec. 31st, the last day of 2007. I took the GuangZhou -> ShenZhen express train and arrived at ShenZhen one hour later. I then took a subway and arrived HuaQiao city exit. I met my friend with his Mazda 6. We have been driving with a Hyundai Van for the past few weeks and the Mazda 6 sedan is a lot smaller. It is less comfortable riding in the sedan than in a van. The upside is of cause, sedan is more gas economic.

We followed the guidance of the GPS and took on the GuangShan express way. We arrived at the BiLang Peninsula. The tip of the Peninsula is a narrow half round sand beach that stretches into the sea. On one side of the beach, the water is very calm and perfect for the Chinese National Sailing team training. Ton the other side of the beach, the wave can reach as high as 5 meters. The water smashed on the rocks with such as force. The thunders can be heard miles away.

We arrive at the calm beach around 5pm, just before the Sunset. We walked on the beach and took the pictures of the quite beach and the sunset. It was a magnificent scene. We set on a rock on the high ground and watched the sun sets in from the horizon.

We checked in a hotel slightly after dark. We then unload our luggage. We then went out for a seafood dinner. We came back to our room and started watching TV. My friend brought a DuKang wine to celebrate the New Year. When we opened the box, we found a USD$1 bill inside. To most of the Chinese, finding a bill is considered good luck. We are very pleased with the find and appreciate the thoughtfulness from the wine manufacturer.

We had a light breakfast the second day. We then visited the beach with high waves. There was hardly any body on the beach. We only saw a few photographers. We walked alone the beach until the very end. We found a GuangYin temple. It was newly build, a sure tourist attraction.

We headed for the ShanWei County after the beach. We arrived there just in time for lunch. We ordered some fresh seafood. It was very tasty and we enjoyed it very much. We then headed for the Lotus Mountain which is about 60km east of ShanWei County. We droved all the way to the Cloud and Lotus Temple. We hiked to the top of the temple and can see the magnificent view of the whole Lotus Mountain and the Valleys.

We headed back to ShenZhen later in the afternoon. We arrived at ShenZhen just before 5pm and I took 5pm express train back to GuangZhou. There, in GuangZhou, I had my rice noodle in Fujian style for dinner, one my favorite dinner dishes. What a wonderful weekend!

Transportation:
I recommend driving there. There are scheduled buses run to ShanWei County from GuangZhou or ShenZhen. From ShanWei, there are local buses that run all the way to the Peninsula.

Food:
Most of the local food is seafood depending or food court style. It was reasonably priced. All the seafood is fresh.

Lodging:
The Peninsula is well developed and filled with the hotels and guest house. The price for a standard room in a three start hotel runs about 200RMB/night. Very good deal considers it is rather close to ShenZhen and GuangZhou.

Geographic Location:

BiLang Peninsula

Sun Set

DeShen hotel or guesthouse, one of the many on the Peninsula


$1 USD cash rebate?

The high wave on the other side of the Peninsula

Lotus Mountain and the temple

Location

The Island

A bar on the beach

The beach from my balcony

Local Fishermen and their boat

Chinese Waikiki beach?

FishingLady Sculpture

XiaChuan Island is located 14 km from the mainland China in GuangDong province. The island stretches 23km on the north and south, 12km from the east and west. The area size is 98.685 square km. The subtropical island is covered with dense forest and enjoys a year round heavy rain falls and mild weather.

I searched the internet for the route on Friday night. I discovered that it is actually rather simple. The tour guide on the internet calls it

Ru

Mother Buddha Statue

From the top of the hill, one can see the FoShan city line

The temple at the XiQiao Mountain

Located at the east side of GuangZhou, FoShan is very continent for GuangZhou visitors. I visited FoShan during the weekend. I enjoyed the two of the most famous attractions: XiQiao Mountain and The Temple of the Ancestors (ZuMiao) Temple. I also had fantastic the local cuisines.

XiQiao Mountain:
With its graceful peaks, caves, waterfalls, and springs, XiQiao Mountain is one of the four famous mountains in Guangdong Province. The major attractions include the giant Mother Buddha (GuanYin) statue. The Mother Buddha Statue is positioned at the peak of Daxian Hill at 290 meters above sea level. The statue, which is in a sitting posture, measures a 61.9-meter-high. It is made from copper. Beneath the Buddha is a lotus seat, which is 36-meters wide, 14.9-meters high and features 66 petals in three layers. From the top of the hill, one can see the FoShan city line in the horizon. However, the city is covered with a layer of haze, possibly polluted by the traffics and the industry smokes.

ZuMiao:
The Temple of the Ancestors (Foshan ZuMiao) is located inside the city. It dates originally from the second half of the 11th C, and was restored in 1372 following a fire. It is dedicated to the God of the North, Ruler of the Waters. Although the Chinese name ”ZuMiao” means ”Temple of the Ancestors”, this simply indicates that it is the oldest temple in town, “the ancestor of temples”. The rich ceiling decoration with many figures is its most interesting feature.

Local cuisines
Guangdong cuisine is well known in China and around the world. The food is mostly steamed which local people believe to preserve the nutrition most. I had the steamed chicken soap, some dim sum and steamed rise noodle with beef. Because of the proximity of Hunan and Guangdong province, there are many Hunan restaurants in Guangdong province. I also had a Hunan style dinner. It was one of the best prepared Hunan dinners that I have ever had for many years. I lived in Changsha, Hunan province during all my childhood. These dishes brought back my found memories.

Getting to FoShan is surprisingly easy. #1 subway connects to Kenkou which is on the suburb of both GuangZhou and FoShan. From Kenkou exit, there are many

Dr. Sun Yet-Sen

This is the hiking map for the Jiankou Great Wall

Our Group after reaching the ZhenBei Lou