25 juin 2015

Top 3 Unusual World Heritage Sites In China

By Jonny Blair


China is just immense - the world's most populated country and it offers endless opportunities. World Heritage Sites wise, China offers a lot. However I am going to talk about some of the lesser known ones, off the beaten track world heritage sites in China. Fasten your seatbelts, this isn't a lecture about Tiananmen Square and the Terracotta Warriors as I go well off the beaten track.

1. Fujian Tulou Buildings in Fujian Province, China - situated is deep countryside with valleys and mountains all around, this is a splendid set of old style buildings known as Tulou. There are hundreds of them and they were built to house full families and Chinese clans back in the day. You can go inside most of them and they are not too busy or touristic, especially for those non-Chinese. This makes your visit seem so special and amazing. A great heritage site! []

Quick Guide - Get to the city of Yongding in Fujian Province. Once you're there you will realise that there are many bus tours out to these buildings and numerous drivers offering them. If you're a foreign tourist, they will probably come to you. However be aware of rip offs and drivers cutting special buildings off your trip.

2. The Mountains at Danxiashan in the Guangdong Province of China: These are a spectacular range of remote mountains hidden deep in the north of Guangdong - well worth a trip and best to do it yourself. A splendid range of mountains, hikes, climbs and rock formations make for a marvellous few days. Do the sunset and the sunrise hikes for some amazing views and scenery.

Quick Steps - Arrive in the city of Shaoguan first and then get a bus from the main bus station there out to these epic mountains. The bus will drop you off at the Danxia entrance and you can stay overnight in a village called Jin Jiang or Yao Tang. From there it becomes easy to organise the hikes - one at sunset is good and passes by penis rock, the other one is a sunrise hike and has incredible views!

3. Dialou at Kaiping in Guangdong Province, China: On the outskirts of the bustling city of Kaiping, sits hundreds of upright special buildings known as Dialou. These are amazing to look at, climb and relax while you enjoy the countryside around you. What's more surprising is that they are not even that well known or busy, despite clearly being an excellent tourist attraction. []

A Quick Guide - to see the excellent Dialou Buildings, you firstly need to stay in the city of Kaiping. There are a few hotels in the city centre, we stayed in the Milan Hotel and organised things from there. Pick up a leaflet and enqire abut tours or hire your own driver and get out there!

That's my rundown on these 3 excellent unknown World Heritage Sites in China - head out and check them out!




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