China travel guide

When you finally get a glimpse of the tallest peak in the world, all the hours spent winding through the Tibetan mountain ranges coupled with endless permit checks and of course altitude sickness, will immediately feel insignificant.

This is Mt Everest.

The himalaya ranges contain 14 mountains that are above 8,000 metres of which Mt. Everest is the highest, peaking at an awe-inspiring 8,848 metres above sea level. From the main lookout in the Qomolangma (Tibetan name for Mt Everest) National Park you can actually see not only Mt Everest but the entire range. It is reassuring to know that from the Tibetan side, Mt Everest appears as a perfect peak and is clearly the highest amongst its peers. Apparently, the view from the Nepalese side is slightly less impressive.

Many pilgrimages to the lookout have ended in disappointment due to the presence of clouds. Early May and early October are your best chances of clear skies.

Nanjing is the old capital of China and whilst like many east coast Chinese cities there are shopping malls, and KFCs abound, Nanjings real draw is its history. The massacre of Nanjing by the Japanese in the second Sino-Japanese war is still fresh in many residents minds and monuments and reminders are everywhere within the old walls of the city. The somewhat hazy view from purple mountain is well worth the trek up (or the cable car). Little visited by tourists, Nanjing feels super Chinese; loads of unique streetfood and a crazy Chinese nightlife make it a great place to stop inbetween Beijing and Shanghai.

Normally, we don't do zoos here at GlobeSpots, but this is one of a kind (especially in China, where animal wellness concern is as rare as the Panda). They only do pandas here, where the Giant is the main attraction (the other one is the smaller and less famous Red Panda). The pandas are enclosed based on age and the younger ones are clearly the most active. In the nursery (officially named the Jungle Gym), it's possible in autumn to see the newly born and they are not just cute, but super cute. Throughout the garden, well-meant signs state odd slogans such as "Wildlife is not food". But it's all part of the Panda experience.

The Potala Palace is Lhasa's special landmark towering high on a hill overlooking the entire city and with mountains in the background. Lhasa, and in particular the palace, is for Buddhists what Mecca is for Muslims. 14 Dalai Lamas have inhabited and ruled the palace, and besides a lot of religious figures, you can see several Lamas' coffins plated with gold- and precious stones on site. The palace is now a museum, and although the current Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959, when China invaded Tibet, there is still a sacred presence of history when visiting the site. You have to climb quite a few stairs (and 180 meters) to reach the hallowed halls, and time is limited once inside the chambers of the Lamas.

Serxu monastery (Serxu Gompa) lies 30 km outside the drab town of Serxu (Serxu Xian), in the most northwestern part of Sichuan. It is a big Tibetan monastery surrounded by rows of prayer wheels and a maze of adobe houses for the red cloaked monks, who count to more than a thousand. Across the river, a small cluster of dusty shops makes out the rest of the monastery town. Here, weather beaten Tibetans with gold teeth swag down the street (for there is only one street) in wide brim hats and homemade sunglasses. It is a fascinating place full of character and edge.

To boost it's tourist potential, the small Tibetan village of Zhongdian changed its name to more fame-sounding Shangri-la (and got a new airport). The old town is surprisingly charming with real flavours of Tibet with traditional Tibetan houses, prayer flags hanging down from stupas and town squares with group dance in the evening. Everywhere you go, you will be offered yak butter tea. There are elaborated Buddhist temples in and around Shangri-la, including the biggest prayer wheel in the world and the huge temple complex of Gandan Sumtseling Gompa. Shangri-la does draw a fair amount of tourists just as the authorities had planned, but is nothing compared to Lijiang and Dali.

Sumtseling Monastery is the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Yunnan province. Initiated more than 300 years ago by the fifth Dalai Lama, it is sometimes referred to as the Little Potala Palace. It was heavily damaged during the Culture Revolution, but subsequently rebuilt in the 1980s. Today it's again a massive Buddhism complex with more than 600 monks living and studying there. In the morning you can sometimes catch the debating lessons outside on the square, where the novices in lotus position are tested in their ability to answer philosophical questions delivered in a clapping manner by their friends. It's not in the province of Tibet (TAR), so no special permission is needed to go here.

Taishan is the most glorified of China's five sacred mountains and has been a place of worship for more than 3000 years. Emperors ascended to the top to get divine approval and it was also from the top that Chairman Mao declared that "The East is Red". Today, the mountain holds no fewer than 22 temples, 11 gates and about 6500 steps up to the peak. The strenuous walk to the top is 7,5 km one-way and is high on many Chinese's to-do-list, so join the millions that climb the stairs (or ride the cable cars) every year. The whole mountain is littered with view points, pavilions, famous calligraphy and natural sights like rock formations and ancient cypresses. When walking around the different temples, keep in mind that everything has been carried up on human backs, even today.

A must sight for any traveller coming this way. Three pits filled with clay warriors (or the remains of) which were put into the ground around 210 BC to protect the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, in his afterlife. They were accidentally found by some farmers in 1974, while digging for a new well. The pits are still not fully excavated, but the estimated numbers of warriors are over 8000. The warriors were grouped into army units like soldier, chariots and cavalry, and all are made in full size. While the bodies of the all soldiers are made from same mold, all of them have different faces. So while the exhibition is good, the story behind is even better. Keep in mind that the Chinese consider this an "Eighth Wonder of the World" and have turned the place into a souvenir black hole, that only Chinese can be fond of.

In Dege, the last town before Tibet province, lies the red-walled printing monastery Bakong. It is a sacred place where pilgrims supposedly circle the outer walls a thousand times. Inside, Tibetan scriptures are printed by hand and put to dry, as they have been done for centuries. The store rooms are filled from floor to ceiling with almost 300,000 engraved woodblocks with Tibetan texts. You can watch the printing process in the printing hall, where printers in almost trance turn out pages at an incredible speed. The majority of the Tibetan monasteries still get their textbooks from this printing monastery, and it is considered as one of the most important cultural center for Tibetans along with Potala Palads and Sakya monastery, both in Tibet.