BeiJing 北京 ricksaw ride

The first film is from the CCTV Spring Festival Gala 2013, with singer Na Ying. The song : [Because of You, My Life is] A Warm Spring With Blooming Flowers. In 2015, the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) runs from the 19th to the 25th February. The second is from China's National Games Opening Ceremony in 2009. The song is Like A Dream.

GuiZhou is a mountainous province in south China, known for its awesome scenery, ancient rural villages and diverse ethnic cultures. GuiZhou borders SiChuan and ChongQing to the north, YunNan to the west, GuangXi to the south and HuNan to the east. The provincial capital is GuiYang. Many Chinese ethnic minorities have been living in this region for many centuries; these include the Miao, Yao, Yi, Qiang, Dong, Zhuang, BouYei, Bai, TuJia, GeLao and Sui.

A song from rock band SHIN that pays homage to Chinese Opera and has become quite a well known anthem. Sung here superbly by the beautiful Angela. My translation of the key verse : I don't care where you came from I don't know if you'll return But with you in my arms now Gonna hold you Just as long as I can Bonus film - "Nine million bicycles in BeiJing" True beauty is a pure heart.

Views of the Palace Museum ...

All restaurants will have dishes to cater for vegans and vegetarians but to be certain there's no trace of meat or meat oil or egg in your food, head to a specialized vegetarian restaurant. There are quite a few in all major cities but you'll need to look them up on the net. Some of these are run by devotees, some exist to cater to Buddhist people.

HuangShan is well known for its beautiful scenery, sunsets and sunrises, unusually shaped granite peaks, ancient pine trees, hot springs, winter snow, and views of the clouds from above. Some of the peaks rise more than 1,800 meters (6,000 feet). HuangShan is a frequent subject in traditional Chinese paintings and literature.

Good scenes from around BeiJing ...

Xi'An is the provincial capital of ShaanXi, central China. August 13th 2016 : high heat alert - over 40C is seriously hot so take plenty of water (and some salty food). Xi'An is one of the oldest cities in China and was known as Chang'An prior to the Ming dynasty. Indeed, Xi'An is the oldest of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, having held this position under several of the most important dynasties in Chinese history, including the Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui and Tang.

A selection of the songs and fireworks ...