Buddhism in SiChuan 四川, including EMeiShan and LeShan Giant Buddha

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.

Lotus Lane is a charming place to wander and a lively place in the evening to dine and listen to live music ... Often mis-named as HouHai, which is actually another lake immediately to the north, these lakes form part of ShiChaHai, once the docks at the northern end of the Grand Canal from HangZhou. To the south lies BeiHai and JingShan Parks and to the north, the Drum and Bell Towers; east from there lies NanLuoGuXiang, a largely pedestrianized hutong filled with craft and speciality shops and cafes.

Beautiful nature, hair-down relaxation; only 10,000 steps (just kidding - it's much, much more than that ;) but just look at those views !

Intrepid Italians live more ...

Nestled on a remote hillside in JiangXi province, it is part of the natural landscape and a haven of a simpler life ... Bonus films ...

The film 'My Beijing', plus one from Sticker Travel ...

Look out over Hong Kong as Typhoon NangKa passes by and the city lights up into the evening ...

Not the rise of, just the return. A talk by Australian Malcolm Turnbull ... A comment re defense spending - per capita (person), China is not even in the top 15 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditure_per_capita Defense spending is in fact very small considering the size of the country.

With HowToChinese and Fluenz ...

JiangSu province. Near SuZhou; not far from Shanghai. Along the HangZhou to Beijing ancient Grand Canal (still the world's longest, by far).