As my Shanghai trip end and we had lots of free time after that, then we decided to have a short excursion to Hangzhou, a calm city beside Shanghai. Since my friends live and stay in Shanghai, so I was great to travel Hangzhou with people who familiar with the transportation and Chinese. I reached Hangzhou from Shanghai by took high speed train. It is a 45-minute to 1 hours ride for about 82RMB (13USD) one way. Train runs every 30 minutes from Shanghai Hongqiao train station a high speed train in China.

West Lake in Hangzhou

Of course a visit to Hangzhou cannot be complete without a visit to Westlake or known as Xihu in Chinese. Surrounded by mountains and stunning foliage, and one of the newest UNESCO World Heritage Sites (it received the designation in 2011), the lake grounds are speckled with temples, pagodas and gardens renowned throughout the world. Visitors who come to West Lake should catch the best attractions, as well as other worthwhile discoveries that many guides and most visitors miss, one of them is Leifeng Pagoda.

Leifeng Pagoda in West Lake

Besides enjoy stunning views around the lake, gardens and other sightseeing in surroundings, visitors also could take a boat across the lake. As I did experience, this is the best way to capture the whole view of the lake. Come to West Lake would not complete without take a boat. Moreover, another highlight in West Lake is Leifeng Pagoda. Our first stop is the five-story, octagonal emblem of West Lake. Built in 975 of brick and wood, Leifeng Pagoda is known throughout China as the location of the folk tale of "The Legend of the White Snake", a love story about a snake who is transformed into a woman and then locked up beneath Leifeng Pagoda by a monk. Inside the pagoda is a recently excavated mausoleum, with treasures including Buddhist silk scriptures, hand-carved, wooden dioramas of an epic West Lake myth, and, of course, sweeping views of the lake. I did climb to the top of the pagoda and view the stunning and peaceful West Lake from above.

A full day we spent walked around West Lake scenic area. We did stay overnight in Hangzhou in a nice hotel with affordable price and nice environment. The accommodation in Hangzhou is cheaper than Shanghai. I got a memorable excursion from the modern Shanghai to admire iconic views of Hangzhou West Lake.

Hey guys, this was my first time visit Beijing, the capital city of China. My first time in Beijing with my family comes to China and I was very happy to have a nice and memorable trip in Beijing. What the most favorite thing we had in Beijing? For me, join a local trip in Beijing is an ideal choice. We did not only get impressive experience but also great service from each tour guide guided us during that time.

Autumn on Mutianyu Great Wall

From Shanghai, we got a flight ticket to Beijing then arrived at Beijing, we did see the tour staff who already waiting for us right at the exit gate of the airport. At that time, from the early morning, we did start our trip. A short excursion to the Great Wall surely was unforgettable and interesting. We did take a cable car ride to above on Mutianyu. For save energy and time, took the cable car was a nice option. Our guide gave us only 2 hours time to hike on Mutianyu. The view around Mutianyu was stunning and impressive. I could not believe how the ancient people of China could think about built this feature of Wall.

Large Courtyard of Forbidden City

Not only Great Wall, the highlight of our trip in Beijing from Shanghai I think when we were in Forbidden City. It was used as the living and administrative area of emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties. As one of the World Heritage Sites listed by UNESCO, Forbidden City offers a breathtaking ancient architectural style. From our guide, we could know that the palace was separated into two big parts of that including Inner Court and Outer Court. During the trip, our guide brought us to explore numerous important halls and buildings which hidden lots of stories and histories behind it. All of them were seriously impressive and had a remarkable historical importance for China.

Not only visited both of those famous places in Beijing, there we also could have a short visit to the large Tiananmen Square, learnt lot about sacrificial altar of Temple of Heaven, etc. From this tour, we got much from what I can imagined before, experience more than I thought, and saw lots of new things about China. Thank you for such an organized trip from Shanghai to Beijing which was really accommodating and priceless.

My personal experience to Chengdu was amazing. My family and I, after visit Beijing for the third time, we decided to explore more China to Chengdu. My mom and I, both of us are interest with holding a panda then here we go, we just visit Chengdu for a week. Of course, travelling Chengdu, there are a lot of places that we should not missed including Leshan Giant Buddha, Mount Emei, even a short trip to Jiuzhaigou if your time allowed. Luckily, we have lots time for travelling in Chengdu, so that was easy and not too rushed for organized our trip. One the most highlight of our trip is hold a panda in Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Base. Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Centre is 18km outside of the city, and because we did reserve the trip so we could just wait the pick-up service in front of our hotel. The drive distance here from the city (our hotel) takes about an hour and you better get early and arrive at the breeding research earlier.

Adorable Pandas

The park is open year-round from 8 am to 6 pm and admission costs 58 RMB. In addition to the giant pandas, red pandas, golden monkeys and other endangered species live and breed on the 106 hectares. We took on the service shuttle that cost us about 10-15 RMB per person. Lts of tourists took this option to cut more time.

From our trip to panda breeding research center in Chengdu, I could learn the life habits of this loveable creature. They eat all the time, played all along and enjoy their time live happily in their nature habitat. At the end of the tour, I finally could hold and took pictures with adorable panda. There are two time periods which you can hold a panda – 10:30am and 2:30pm. Visitors can start signing up to hold the panda at 10am and 2pm and pay the 2000 RMB as the "donation fee" in cash.

Panda in Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Base

I was very excited about my visit and it did not disappoint, especially with my experience holding a panda which is a very unforgettable moment. I sat down on a designated bench. I could not help but break into a huge smile as I first set eyes on the baby, a little ball of black and white fur about 7 months old and truly beautiful. As the staff placed him into my arms, it was a natural, maternal instinct for me to hold him close and cuddle. When the time came to hand him back to his keepers, I will be honest and let you know it was difficult. This was an experience and moment that you want to last forever.