Camping Tips

If you work for a long time and want to have a relaxing, tent camping is one of the most relaxing and exciting ways to escape from the busy days in the city. Through camping, the campers can feel more relieved and close to nature. Several campgrounds are offering tent camping programs for small groups such as families and officemates. If you are planning to have one with you group or kids be sure that you prepare your things and plan the activities for your tent camping adventure. The following tent camping tips can serve as your guide on your camping trip. These tips can be of great help to campers especially the first time campers.

The first thing that you have to consider before any purchase is the budget. Make sure that you have allocated enough to purchase a high quality tent. This will ensure that you get a durable tent without overspending.

In shopping for a tent you have to think of your needs. Think of where you usually camp and during what season, this will help you get the appropriate tent. Tents are usually made specifically for a particular season. Your need for summer camping is different from winter camping.

Make A List And Check It
Making lists is something that works not only for Santa, but for parents planning out a camping trip. This is one of the most important camping tips, since it’s pretty awful to get out to your campsite and find that you’ve missed something crucial. Take time well before your camping trip to make up a list of the items that you need and check off each item as you pack.

Plan Plenty Of Activities
Another one of the best camping tips for families is to bring along plenty of things to do. This not only includes items for hiking and swimming, but activities for around your campsite as well, such as cards. It’s best to have a number of different activities, since if the weather is bad, you’ll need something to do around camp, other than watch the rain.

Get Separate Tents
Another one of the camping tips for families is to get separate tents for the kids and parents, particularly if your children are older. As kids get into their teen years, their desire for privacy increases. While your teenagers might still enjoy a camping trip with everyone, they’ll still appreciate a chance to have their privacy when sleeping. By following this and these other basic camping tips for families, you’ll have a solid foundation for planning your own family trip to the outdoors.

Beijing Hutong Tours

If you have enough time, besides the "Five Places You Must Travel in Beijing", I advise that you should stroll Beijing hutong.Because that the real culture of Beijing is "the culture of hutong" and "the culture of courtyard". How true that is. Often, it is Beijing's winding hutongs that attract tourists from home and abroad rather than the high-rise buildings and large mansions.The word "hutong" is Mongolian in origin, meaning a "water well". In the old time with the digging of new wells, came the new communities. Later it was referred to as narrow streets or lanes formed by quadrangles.

Like streets, hutongs have their names. Some have had only one name since their establishment and others have had a few names throughout their history. Beijing was once a consumer city. A lot of hutong names are linked to the names of food. Some are connected to the names of the places, the temples, daily necessities, trades, light industry, plants, people's names and even government's organs.
Food names, such as Miancha Hutong ( noodle and tea )
Temples, Baoguosi Hutong ( Baoguo Temple )
Daily necessities, Caomao Hutong ( straw hat )
Place names, as Inner Xizhimen Hutong
Plants, such as Liushu Hutong (Liushu means willow)
Light industry, as Damuchang Hutong ( big wood factory )
People's names, as Songguniang Hutong ( Ms Liu )
Government organs, as Jingcha Hutong ( Police Bureau )

Among the numerous hutongs in Beijing, Beixinqiao Hutong has the most turns. There are more than 20 in which you can easily get lost. The narrowest is Qian Shi Hutong (Money Market Hutong), measuring about 30 to 40 meters (32 to 44 yards), located in Zhubao Shi Street outside the Front Gate. The narrowest part is merely 40 centimeters (16 inches) wide, so when two people meet, they must turn sideways to pass each other. The longest one is Dong Jiaomin Hutong, with a total length of 6.5 kilometers (4 miles), lying between Chang'an Avenue and East Street and West Street of the Front Gate. The shortest one is Guantong Hutong measuring about 30 meters (33 yards).

When the new city of Yuan Dynasty was established, it is recorded that there were about 390 roads formed by the rows of quadrangles. Some of were called streets and lanes, and some "hutongs". There wre over 900 hutongs were listed in Qing Dynasty. The records increased to 1,330 by 1949. Now many of the old hutongs have been turned down and replaced by the high buildings and wide roads of today’s Beijing. Many citizens have to leave the narrow lanes where their families have lived there for generations, and residing in apartment buildings with modern facilities. However,some of Beijing’s ancient hutongs still survive, due to the local government's protection policy and people's request. Many have been listed as protected areas. So these ancient neighborhoods today provide a glimpse of the real life in the capital city as it has been for generations. Many hutongs are being restored and renovated.In Beijing, there are mainly two hutong areas well preserved - Shichahai area in Dongcheng District and Qianmen area in Xuanwu District. The hutongs in the area of the Bell Tower and Shichahai Lake are especially well preserved whch attract lots of tourists who travel the hutongs by pedicabs.

Five Places You Must Travel in Beijing

If you come to Beijing, and don't have enough time to travel all of the sight in Beijing, I advise that you must go to travel the five Places, or you may have a pity.


The first Place is Tiananmen Square.Located at the center of Beijing City is Tiananmen Square, where you can visit Tiananmen Tower, Monument to the People's Heroes, Great Hall of the People, Mao Zedong Memorial Hall and see the national flag raising ceremony. Thousands of people come to the Square every day. It is the must place to visit in Beijing City.Tiananmen Square is the geographical center of Beijing City. It is the largest city square in the world, occupying an area of 440,000 square meters (about 109 acres), and able to accommodate 10,000,000 people at one time. The square is a conglomeration of splendid and beautiful flowers and the red national flag which flutters in the wind.


The Second place is The Forbidden City.The Forbidden City, also named Palace Museum, is the most magnificent and splendid palace complex in China and one of the five world-famous palaces with the Palace of Versailles in France, Buckingham Palace in England, the White House in the U.S. and the Kremlin in Russia. it is to the north of Tiananmen Square. Rectangular in shape, it is the world's largest palace complex and covers 74 hectares. Surrounded by a six meter deep moat and a ten meter high wall are 9,999 rooms. The wall has a gate on each side. Opposite the Tiananmen Gate, to the north is the Gate of Divine Might (Shenwumen), which faces Jingshan Park. The distance between these two gates is 960 meters, while the distance between the gates in the east and west walls is 750 meters. There are unique and delicately structured towers on each of the four corners of the curtain wall. These afford views over both the palace and the city outside. The Forbidden City is divided into two parts. The southern section, or the Outer Court was where the emperor exercised his supreme power over the nation. The northern section, or the Inner Court was where he lived with his royal family. Until 1924 when the last emperor of China was driven from the Inner Court, fourteen emperors of the Ming dynasty and ten emperors of the Qing dynasty had reigned here. Having been the imperial palace for some five centuries, it houses numerous rare treasures and curiosities. Listed by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1987, the Palace Museum is now one of the most popular tourist attractions world-wide.


The third place is the Great Wall.A Chinese saying goes that He who has never been to the Great Wall is not a true man. The Great Wall, (Wanli Changcheng) literally means the Ten Thousand Mile Wall, is a great fortification in ancient China. The section at Badaling is the most famous of all due to its proximity to Beijing City and condition of restoration. The imposing Badaling Great Wall climbs up and down, twists and turns along the high mountain ridges. It fully shows the lofty quality of ancient Chinese labor people.Badaling Great Wall, with more than 1000 meters above sea level, occupies a commanding and strategic position. It is a defensive outpost of the Great Wall. It is called "Bada" as it stretches in all directions.


The fourth place is The Summer Palace.As its name implies, the Summer Palace was used as a summer residence by China's imperial rulers - as a retreat from the main imperial palace now known as the Palace Museum (or 'Forbidden City') - a pleasureground in the countryside, yet near to the city.The Summer Palace is virtually a museum of traditional Chinese gardening that uses rocks, plants, pavilions, ponds, cobble paths and other garden styles to create a poetic effect between different scenes. When you stroll around the Summer Palace, you will constantly find the area changing.


The fifth place is The Temple of Heaven.The Temple of Heaven in the southern part of Beijing is China's largest existing complex of ancient sacrificial buildings. Occupying an area of 273 hectares, it is three times the area of the Forbidden City. It was built in 1420 for emperors to worship Heaven. The principle buildings include the Altar of Prayer for Good Harvests, Imperial Vault of Heaven and Circular Mound Altar.The Altar of Prayer for Good Harvest, 38 meters in height and 30 meters in diameter, stands on a round foundation built with three levels of marble stones. This towering triple-eave hall is under a three-story, cone-shaped glaze-tile roof in blue color crowned with a gilded knob. A circular wall of polished bricks known as the Echo Wall encloses the Imperial Vault of Heaven. The Circular Mount Altar, south to the Imperial Vault of Heaven, is where the emperor prayed to heaven. At the center lies a round stone called the Center of Heaven Stone that echoes when a visitor speaks loudly when standing on the stone.

Besides these place to travel, you should have a rest and taste the beijing cuisine.According to a Chinese saying, no visit to Beijing is complete if you miss seeing the Great Wall or dining on Roast Duck. As a famous and delicious food with very long history, Beijing Roast Duck is an excellent choice if you want to understand more about Chinese cuisine, culture and customs.

A joyful travelling to Yuntai Moutain

Last week, My friends and I went to Yuntai Moutain for travelling.Yuntai Moutain, Which located at the south foot of the Taihang Mountain in Xiuwu County of Jiaozuo, Henan province. It mainly consists of the Yuntai Mountain Natural Scenic Area, Qinglong Mountain resort and other surrounding areas. The park is known for its massive gardening areas, overhanging high cliffs, flying waterfalls, secluded valleys and spring water.

We have gone to four sight of Yuntai Moutain, and spent 2 days to travel it. because it is so huge. There are many buses for visitors to go from one sight to another.

The First Day
The first sight we went to is The Red Stone Canyon. The Red Stone Canyon, which is a rare canyon sight in north China with waterfalls, lakes, pools and gullies, is highly acclaimed by gardening experts as a “natural gallery for mountain and river collections” because of its grand and exclusive landscapes. The most splendid waterfall in the canyon is the Bailong Waterfall, divided into three falls, measuring 30 meters in height. It looks as shiny as a huge silver dragon. A good place for waterfall watching is the Heilong (Black Dragon) Cave, which is as long as 30 meters with absolute darkness inside. Standing in the cave, you can not only see the marvelous falls dashing down into the deep pools but also the perilous high stiffs, narrowly separated from each other by fast-flowing gullies so that the sky is scarcely visible. The spring water flowing down the cliffs splashes into water drops that dazzle in the sunlight like colorful diamonds, looking like a unique picture hanging on the wall.


In the afternoon, we climbed the Zhuyu Mountain. Zhuyu is the main peak of Yuntai Moutain, it is 1,308 meters above the sea level. Mounting by the scaling ladder to the top, you can have a wonderful overview of everything at your feet. Looking north far into the Taihang Mountain, you can see the mountains and hills extending continuously. Looking south to the Huaichuan Plain, you can see the Yellow River winding its way like a belt and extending fields.

The Second Day

We went to the Tanpu Canyon and Quanpu Canyon. The water of Tanpu Canyon looks so clean that it looks just like a piece of pure jade set in the canyon. The Immortal Spring, which flows one meter above the ground from a funnel on the stone steps at the back of the pool, gushes all year round continuously. Another sight in the Tanpu Canyon is The well-known Yuntai Heaven Waterfall, with a falling head of 314 meters lies in the Laotan Valley scenic spot.
Quanpu Canyon is also called The Gurry Channel. There is a saying:"One spring three steps, One waterfall five steps, One pond ten steps".So, you can imagines that how beautiful it is!

The Yuntai mountain like a picture you see in the book, and it is worth traveling to Yuntai Moutain!