Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.misc From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Treasure cities of China worth discovering Date: Sun, 15 Nov 92 16:56:27 EST Message-ID: \SE E;TRAVEL;THE TIMES TRAVELER \HD Treasure cities of China worth discovering \BY Victor Block \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES First-time travelers to China usually confine their visit to the largest cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Xian. By doing so, they miss many of the most intriguing treasures that vast country has to offer. A good way to sample these riches is to venture outside the major urban centers. For example, a few days spent exploring the countryside around Shanghai introduces visitors to fascinating ancient towns, magnificent natural settings and historical relics that themselves make the trip worthwhile. Hangzhou, about 150 miles southwest of Shanghai, long ago appealed to a world traveler who dropped by during the 13th century. Marco Polo described it as "the finest and most splendid city in the world." A sleepy fishing village founded around 200 B.C., Hangzhou evolved into a bustling commercial center during the sixth century A.D. That was when the Grand Canal, which stretched 1,100 miles from Beijing, was extended into the town. During much of the 12th and 13th centuries, Hangzhou served as capital of the Southern Song Dynasty. Today's visitor finds first-class museums that trace the life and history of the area. The Museum of Traditional Medicine is housed in a 19th-century pharmacy building. Young women dressed in white uniforms dispense herbs, dried snakes and sea horses and popular potions that are made there. The Silk Museum of China demonstrates development of the silk industry in the seventh century. The region produces much of the country's finest quality silk. Another well-known product is made at the West Lake People's Commune. Green Longjing (Dragon Well) tea is considered one of the best in a country where tea is a favorite beverage. West Lake itself is reason enough to visit. The placid body of water is surrounded by pleasant teahouses, exquisite gardens and, in the surrounding hills, lavishly designed temples, pagodas and monasteries. Flowers bloom throughout the year, including plum blossoms during winter. Dikes divide the lake into three parts, and four islands offer gardens, ponds and pavilions to people who venture out in rowboats. Water also is a major attraction of Shaoxing. The 2,500-year-old town is bisected by canals that are spanned by an estimated 6,000 stone bridges. The best way to enjoy Shaoxing is to stroll along streets that have changed little over the centuries. Along the way, you pass well-worn houses and cross narrow canals on arched bridges whose pavements have been worn smooth by hundreds of years of footsteps. The waterways are alive with boats of all descriptions, including distinctive footboats that are propelled by oars that are worked by the feet. Visitors may board a barge and ride along a stretch of canal, pulled by men walking on a stone footpath built more than 1,000 years ago. Along the way, they enjoy a brief local opera over a cup of Shaoxing rice wine. That is the best-known ceremonial beverage of China, which is offered to guests during official banquets in Beijing. This canal ride can serve as a prelude to a longer excursion on the Lake of 1,000 Isles (1,078, by actual count). The drive from Shaoxing to the lake is like immersion in a traditional Chinese painting. The gravel road follows a valley between towering mountains. Crops grow in terraces carved into the hillsides, overlooking rice paddies on the valley floor. Men wearing cone-shaped woven grass hats stoop to pick rice at the foot of waterfalls that tumble out of the uplands. The five-hour boat trip, which few Americans have discovered, includes stops at three small landfalls, which are named Snake, Monkey and Deer Island, after their inhabitants. The vessel passes verdant fields and tiny lakeside villages. Narrow trails wind up to towns perched near the top of occasional mountains. Keen-eyed passengers spot people near the peaks, balancing shoulder yokes and buckets in which they deposit tea leaves picked from plants that blanket the hills. Very different mountain beauty awaits at Huangshan (Yellow Mountains), a 72-peak range that covers nearly 60 square miles. Lotus Flower Peak, highest in the range, reaches only 6,147 feet, yet Huangshan has been immortalized by centuries of Chinese poets and painters for its "four ultimate beauties." These are the fancifully shaped granite rocks, the sea of clouds that swirls around the peaks, ancient pines that cling tenaciously to rock surfaces and nearby hot springs. Hardy visitors may clamber up thousands of steps cut into 80-degree cliffs, but most opt for a bus ride halfway up the mountain. From there, it's a leisurely three-hour climb to the top, including time to rest at pavilions that overlook ponds and waterfalls along the way. Less ambitious sightseers fork over $8.50 (round-trip) for the eight-minute cable car ride to the mountain peak. Those who prefer to ascend in a more traditional way may haggle over price with porters who carry passengers in a chair slung between bamboo poles. No matter how one ascends, the view defies description. Pine trees grow out of crevices in rocks, their roots and branches gnarled by the effort and elements. The snow-white clouds open to reveal mountaintops that resemble islands in the sea, then quickly close to envelope them. In the Chinese way, works of nature have been given names as lovely as the setting. Growing Downwards Pine and Loving Pair Pine are two of countless trees. Rock formations include Hatching Goose, Castle Peak and Golden Rooster Crowing at Heaven's Gate. At no time of year is Huangshan more beautiful than in winter. Blanketed by snow and encrusted with ice, the landscape glimmers with the glow of a crystal palace. For information about the treasures surrounding Shanghai, write to the China National Tourist Office at 60 E. 42nd St., New York, N.Y. 10165; or call 212/867-0271. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM