Pandas at the ChengDu 成都 Panda Research Center

An hour north from BeiJing city center ...

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.

RiYue Bay, WanNing, 2012.

Provincial capital of HeNan province. Fit for life ...

ShānXī province lies to the west / south-west of HeBei and BeiJing. The capital is TaiYuan. This film focuses on the plethora of impressive ancient sites and natural wonders; these include : * JinCi Temple 25 kilometers (16 miles) south west of TaiYuan, noted for its Song dynasty paintings and architecture. Founded about 1,400 years ago and expanded during the following centuries, this site has a diverse collection of more than 100 sculptures, buildings, terraces and bridges.

South China.

An enchanting water town on the outskirts of Shanghai, ZhuJiaJiao retains it's ancient charm ... The name literally translates as 'Zhu Family home/corner', reflecting its earliest origins. The town lies on the south side of the YangTse River and has many picturesque canals crossed by hundreds of original Ming and Qing dynasty bridges.

A Flickr meet-up ...

GuangXi province

QuanZhou was once one of China's major ports for foreign traders. It was visited by Marco Polo who praised it as one of the most prosperous and glorious cities in the world. As its harbor is not suitable for larger ships, its significance as a port has reduced but retains abundant cultural heritage.