A look around the Forbidden City 紫禁城 in BeiJing

7,000 kilometers of backpacking to 14 locations ...

The beautiful blue-sky city ...

Scenes around the central lakes area ...

A film by kinabaloo.com and BeijingBuzzz.com ...

The three lakes here - XiHai, HouHai and QianHai - were where boats from HangZhou would dock after travelling the Grand Canal. There are still some hutongs in this area, just north of BeiHai Park, which has become a lively destination, especially in the evenings around the lakes.

A fascinating, hour plus documentary by CCTV's Travelogue (from the English language CCTV9 channel). Dali is a four and a half hours drive from KunMing, the provincial capital of YunNan in south China, or forty minutes by air. By rail it is also connected to nearby LiJiang. We haven't posted a Travelogue for a couple of years, but are very happy to say that it is back to its best - intelligent presenter and beautiful cinematography.

Provincial capital of FuJian ... Bonus film - fast forward FuJian province ...

YunNan province.

Happy New Year ! The preview image is blurred, but the video is sharp. Get a taste of being there in Victoria Harbor that night ...

Special memories ...

Filmed in March 2011 ...