China Holiday Guide for Dragon Boat Festival

Many people around China are anticipating the upcoming Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on Thursday this year, to chill out a bit by indulging in a short getaway. The three-day holiday is not long, but still, if you plan well and know exactly what you want from a trip, a fulfilling getaway is achievable. Since it is early summer, what you have in mind must be somewhere cool and special. Here we recommend a wide selection of destinations, hoping at least one of them will suit your discerning taste.


Beach resorts
As the country enters summer, beach tourism starts gaining momentum among tourists. Qingdao is one of many favorable coastal destinations in China. Although it can sometimes get foggy because of the hot weather, visitors still swarm to the seaside to seek some cool pleasure brought by the sea. There is just so much fun near the beach - sunbathing, swimming, snorkeling and diving, or you can just lie on the powdery white sand and enjoy doing nothing. Apart from Qingdao, there are a bunch of other beach resorts in China, such as Dalian, Sanya and Xiamen. They are all as good, just pick the nearest option.


G20 Summit travel route--Hangzhou and its surrounding area
The G20 summit will be held in Hangzhou on Sept 4-5 this year. The capital city of Zhejiang province is renowned for its natural scenery and Hangzhou has long been one of the most popular travel destinations in the country. Now, with G20 coming, a well-prepared Hangzhou is even more worthy of a visit.


For those who are interested in sightseeing near Hangzhou, here are our recommendations:
To the east of Hangzhou: Xikou scenic spot in Fenghua, Ningbo, about 40 km southwest of Ningbo. In recent history, it was home to Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo, making it a treasure house for research into the history of the Republic of China (1912-1949). The scenic area of Xikou is 85 sq km and mainly comprises four attractions - the former residence of the Chiang family, the tomb of Chiang's mother, Xuedou Hill and Tingxia Lake.

To the northeast of Hangzhou: Wuzhen in Jiaxing. Wuzhen is a beautiful area that is representative of Jiangnan (the area south of the Yangtze River) and its old towns. It was established more than 1,300 years ago and is seen as the "last site of waterside households in China". It has also been home to many famous people and is rich in culture and folk customs. It is surrounded by a canal and is crisscrossed by rivers, with an East Gate, South Gate, West Gate and North Gate. It has maintained a number of unique Jiang-nan-style residences that date back to the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.

To the north of Hangzhou: the Historical Cultural City Attractions of Huzhou. The attractions boast a Lotus Village, the Chinese Hu Writing Brush Museum, the Home of Chen Yingshi, Feiying Park, the Feiying Tower and the Temple of the Iron Buddha. It has a long and rich history with profound cultural connotations.

To the southeast of Hangzhou: the former residence of the great writer Lu Xun in Shaoxing. In January 1953, the Shaoxing Lu Xun Memorial Hall was established. It was the first museum to commemorate a celebrity in Zhejiang province to be founded after 1949. Today, the former residence of Lu Xun has become a historic street that possesses the unique Southern Yangtze cultural glamour and is a place where people can interpret the authentic meaning of the writer's works. Visitors can also experience the scenery depicted in writings and feel something of life in Lu's era.

To the west of Hangzhou: the Confucius Family Temple of Nanzong in Quzhou. As one of only two family temples for Confucius in China, the Nanzong family temple has a history that can be traced back more than 800 years. It is a National Historical and Cultural Site under State Protection, and has been praised as the "holy land of Confucius in the southern area" and as the "Southeast Ancestral Home". There are two priceless treasures in the temple: a wooden portrait of Confucius with his wife Qiguan.

To the south of Hangzhou: the Xiandu scenic spot in Jinyun, Lishui. Located at Jinyun county in Lishui, the Xiandu scenic spot gets its name from the writings of Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) emperor Li Longji. The attraction consists of four main scenic areas, and its curving stream, elegant landscape, gauzy mist, rural scenery and rustic charm complement each other.


Grasslands: Barkol grasslands in Xinjiang and Xilingol Grassland in Inner Mongolia
Even though summer has come to most parts of China, the rolling Barkol grasslands of Xinjiang have only just entered spring. The blooming Malan flower, the golden edged Mingsha Mountain, and the white snowy Tianshan Mountain look like scenes out of a fairy-tale.Barkol, which means "living place of God" in Kazakh, has various geographical features including mountains, plateaus, basins, deserts, and lakes.

Xilingol Grassland, which means "rivers on the highlands", is located in Xilinhot city, center of Inner Mongolia. Covering more than 10,786 square kilometers, the grassland is considered one of the most representative grasslands in a temperate climate zone in China. It consists of marshlands, grasslands, sand dunes, and wetlands, with over 1,200 plants growing on the grasslands. Among them, 671 plant varieties are edible, over 400 are herbs, and over 50 are oil bearing corps. The grassland is also home to many animals, including fine-wool sheep, Mongolian oxen, prairie red cows, Ujumuchin sheep, Xilinguole camels and horses, as well as 76 species of birds including swans and larks. When summer comes, it is a wonderful resort for sightseeing and avoiding heat.



Guizhou
If you reside in Southwest China, then Guizhou is the perfect option.It's famous for its ecological and geological richness and if you are into wild fun and adventure, this is your best bet. It is one of the ideal places for summer too. For example, Guizhou’s Bijie offers respite from the summer heat. The city's deputy mayor, Wang Yimin, says Bijie is a perfect place to escape summer heat and enjoy the ethnic group's culture. The authorities are also upgrading facilities in some scenic spots to improve the visitor experience.

In summer, the average temperature in the city is 21 C because it is surrounded by mountains and has a lot of greenery.

Since 2013, Feixiong Airport in the city has flights to 16 Chinese cities including Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing. It takes two and a half hours to fly to Bijie from Beijing, with a flight every day except Saturday. It takes about eight hours from Beijing to the provincial capital, Guiyang, by high-speed train, which is about 230 kilometers from Bijie.