On my trip to China last month, I joined a 3 days Beijing tour which brought us travelled the downtown. First of all, it was easy to book this online travel reservation on the website. Soon enough they replied or confirm our tour reservation. But for make sure our tour had been confirmed, we did call personally the agency. It was nice and reliable service.

Of course, during 3 days in Beijing, we could have visit plenty historical and cultural attractions around. They are for example Great Wall, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Beijing zoo, etc and even the small courtyard of Beijing called Hutong. Might be for travelers who does not come to Beijing yet, they will not know or heard about this place. But till I explored it personally I could tell you how special the spot it is.

Hutong Alley View

One of the unique features of Beijing, due to its long history as a cultural center of China, is Beijing's long and winding neighborhoods of hutongs. This network of narrow alleys covers a big part of the city centre and is in many ways the most intriguing thing about it. We could learn and understand about local Beijing life style and culture. The complex has still its own Beijing old life characteristic where tourists could personally feel about atmosphere of the old Beijing. Many houses in these hutongs have brilliant red doors with statues of lions and red lanterns and other traditional designs. Discovering those unique hutongs is a great way to spend days or even weeks in Beijing.

Drum Tower around Old Hutong

So many ways that we could choose for explore the narrow alleys of Hutongs, including by bike, side car, rickshaws or just walk. During this Beijing tour, a rickshaw ride is included, so it means we did explore the complex by taking the rickshaw (pedicab). Rickshaw is a unique vehicle which might be only founded in the area around Beijing hutong. It allows 2 people ride on the same rickshaw then will be one locals Beijing people as the driver. We saw ordinary people doing ordinary things - chatting, eating, sleeping, playing, washing, buying, selling and many more. Wandered the narrow alleyways with old houses and buildings is one of the highlights of our tour in Beijing. The experience was wonderful and nice since we could have a chance to explore peaceful and calm old neighborhood in Beijing.

Everyone should know about adorable Chinese panda in Chengdu right? Yes, Chengdu is the best destination for tourists who want get a whole and complete experience view this adorable creature. Same reason of me come to China visited Chengdu famous Breeding Center and saw the life habit of pandas. And after that, our tour in China did not end there. We also decided got this 5 days China giant panda tour which also included the itinerary to Leshan Giant Buddha and Mount Emei as well as the downtown of Chengdu.

Giant Buddha of Leshan Close Look

Overall, all my experiences visited those places were so priceless and memorable. Took so many photos as memories as well as saw lots of interesting things along the journey. My journey to the Leshan Buddha for example, we did visit this Giant Buddha statue which located at Leshan town, about 2 hours driving from Chengdu. Leshan Giant Buddha can be said as the largest Buddha statues on earth, so that was unimaginable. Actually, there are two ways of viewing the Big Buddha at Leshan. The first option is going into the Buddha site and walking the stairways around the monument or another option by taking a boat, from the town side of the river, and viewing the whole statue from the water. The biggest differences with the two methods of viewing are quality of view, time span, and convenience.

View From The Ship

For some recommendation, avoid visit the Giant Buddha at weekend or National holidays. It will be very crowded with visitors. Have a close look to the statue from the park surroundings was a nice experience. Climbed up the steep stairs till the top where we could see a great view of the river and surroundings views. It was a fantastic experience and really worth to try.

When sailing, we could have close enough view to see all the details but far enough to easily see the detail of the Buddha statue. Although the cruise was very short - the whole boat ride only takes about 20 minutes with around 10 minutes directly in front of the Buddha but that was amazing to see the whole figure of that Buddha statue. The guardian statues that flank Big Buddha also can only be seen from the river. Overall, I love a trip to the great Leshan Giant Buddha. Seriously wonderful!

After my 3 days tour in Beijing, we continue to have a quick and best trip to Chengdu. This is also the main reason why I did come to China last vacation. Chengdu as the best place to see China's black-and-white icons actually offers lots of interesting spots to explore. But because my time was limited then we cannot make a tour to see the detail of the town.

After arrived at Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, we had a good night sleep. In the early morning after one night rest, the tour guide picked us up right in front of our hotel then directly transferred us to the breeding center. A long way to go but the journey was nice with comfortable van and friendly English speaking tour guide. She gave lots of information and tips while we are in Breeding Center. Speak of this one day Chengdu tour, we got this tour line online, booked it online and get the confirmation soon. So it was nice and reliable.

Chinese Giant Panda Playing with Others

This day we spent only on Chengdu Breeding Panda Center. Yes, full day view of looking those adorable creatures Chinese pandas. Chengdu Panda Breeding Center is a non-profit research and breeding facility for giant pandas and other rare animals that strives to simulate a natural environment for these creatures. All the animals here lived and stay happily like in their nature habitat.

Tour guide first took us through the center to get a full overview of a panda’s development. Everyone must know about how pandas life right? They live so relax, just eat and sleep. During one day tour in Chengdu Panda Breeding Center, we could see different ages and sizes of Chinese pandas. Admire the actions of these small and delicate creatures as well as took so many pictures of these endangered species eating bamboo, sleeping and playing with one another. You cannot even begin to imagine how many photos we have of pandas now!

Cute Poses of Giant Pandas

The tour was excellent as it meant I was able to ask lots of questions and get more time to do exactly what I wanted. I recommend go to the centre in early morning (to see the Pandas get their breakfast) - later in the morning they fall asleep! In winter, we also could take excellent photo with less crowded. I did not hold the Pandas because that was very expensive, but overall I have a great time for the whole day!