I travel to China several times a year mainly for fun but also to check out hotels and new tourist attractions for my book.
The following information is not in my 2002 book.  

The following items are dated with the month the information was obtained. Everything is subject to change but this should give you a good idea of what to expect. Please also look at our collection of photos from some of these places.

Vertical Layout Slides - Landscape Layout Slides

The last update for this page was 12/31/08

Destinations

Haikou
This, the capital of Hainan province, is more a business than tourist city. With its large number of unfinished and empty buildings, it is obvious that many investors in the past were not successful. But the city is lively, tropical and interesting. With no heavy industries and bounded by the ocean, the air is clean.

Haikou now has air links with 46 other Chinese cities. Next year, you should be able to go from Zhanjiang in Guangdong province by bus with the bus riding on the ferry directly into Haikou. Next year, you should also be able to go by boat train from Haian to Haikou, without having to get off the train. Passenger ships sail between Haikou, Sanya and Vietnam and should be going between Hong Kong, Haikou and Vietnam soon.

A month long Entertainment Festival will take place mainly in Haikou and Sanya in November, 2000 for 28 days, from the first weekend to the fourth weekend. This should become an annual event.

Taxis here start at Y12 for an air-conditioned Santana VW, while cheaper taxis start at Y10.

Where to Stay: (page 626). The best hotel for English-speakers is the Mandarin, with the Huandao Tide second. The Golden Coast is no longer tops for English-speakers. It has gone downhill but its lobby is still the most beautiful in town.

The Mandarin's e-mail has been changed to mandarin.hmh@meritus-hotels.com. Its web-site is: www.meritus-hotels.com. (English). The fax is now 8540453. It is not yet officially rated five stars but should be soon. The airport is now 22-25 km away, and the Mandarin Hotel meets all Hong Kong and Macau flights with transportation. It has a good quiet location, and it's only a quick ten-minute trip by car on a six-lane highway to a main shopping area (with a decent internet bar). It is five kms in the other direction to Holiday Beach, Haikou's best. It is also five minutes from the Financial Center, and 15 minutes from the Hainan provincial government building.

Published prices have not substantially changed (page 626) and it's been giving 50% discounts. It has executive club rooms with their own lounge and buffet breakfast. Each room has a computer port, a separate shower stall and tub. Its business center subscribes to the International Herald Tribune and South China Morning Post. Its business center charges Y40 an hour or Y30 a half hour for e-mail. It has the only indoor hotel pool, and claims the largest outdoor pool. Its ballroom is over 700 square meters.

The Huandao Tide Hotel (page 627) lists its e-mail as hotel@huandaotide.com but that address doesn't work. Its web-site is: http://www.huandaotide.com (English, but very slow) .
Its North American 1-800-number reaches its reservation system but its prices are not loaded on it. Its huge glass ceiling was dirty. These say something about its desire for discriminating foreign customers.

It is a 20-25 minute drive from the Mandarin Hotel in an area of restaurants and shops popular with foreigners. A taxi costs about Y40 to Y70 to the airport depending on the size of the taxi. This hotel is not as classy looking as the Mandarin or the Golden Coast. The service however is the second best in town but don't expect too much. Its e-mail service is about Y40 an hour.

Published room prices have not changed since my book. It has however been giving 30% and sometimes 50% discounts. Its standard rooms are 36 square meters and all have in-room safes. I stayed in a spacious corner room with its own terrace and little garden. The wall paper was peeling, the grouting poor, and a spot was on the carpet. Its gym had only five machines. (Biofit)

But no mind. Renovations to all guest rooms were due to start in April and continue until September. The Huandao was also going to get a new conference hall and function hall. So don't write this hotel off. Things are looking up. Besides, guests of the Huandao Tide Hotel can do a downtown check-in for Hainan Airlines flights.

The Golden Coast Lawton's .e-mail is: coast@public.hk.hi.cn. Web-site is: www.golden.com.cn (English). It is 30 km from the airport and still beautiful, but standards appear to be deteriorating. The staff no longer greet guests with a smiling "good morning," it no longer has a Japanese restaurant, nor does it offer ABN. It seems to be aiming at Chinese tourists and business people. But it is currently renovating. Its published rates are Y1100-1500 for rooms, and Y1900-13800 for suites. It has been giving a 30% discount.

Prices and telephone numbers at the Bao Hua Harbour View (Hai Jin Da Jiudian) haven't changed (page 627). The fax is also 8535358. It has been giving discounts of 40%. It is still acceptable, offers CNN, and is close to a commercial area. Its e-mail address is: baohua@public.hk.hi.cn. Its web-site is : www.baohuaharbourviewhtl.com.cn but I couldn't open it. It has no in-room safes and is talking about upgrading to five stars.

Where to Eat: One of Hainan's specialties is steamboat, where you cook your own food in a pot of steaming hot water. You can get a pot divided in two with one soup bland, and one soup spicy hot; you can share one pot with friends who have different tastes. After you finish cooking, you can add a bowl of vegetable and sesame oil, and garlic for a wonderful broth.

Jin Long Road, relatively close to the Mandarin Hotel, has several good restaurants almost side by side. Among them are the Aiwan Ting, Beijing Kao Rou, and Xinjiang Restaurant (Moslem).

Food in the hotels is well worth trying, especially the Mandarin and the Huandao Tide. The Mandarin has wonderful all-you-can eat dim sum for about Y32 with a choice of 60 varieties. There's an international buffet for Y68. (lunch or dinner) where it has offered a good spread including pizza, turkey, lamb, fresh salmon, oysters, carrot juice, noodle soup, fish and vegetables. I especially enjoyed its tender and juicy chicken rice. The breakfast buffet is also Y68.

The Huandao Tide Hotel serves crocodile, yes, crocodile among other delights. Its cheaper Food Garden has dumplings six pieces for Y8, Sichuan noodles for Y8, and Thai fried rice for Y28. Not bad at all.

The reasonably-priced Li Wan Hot Pot Restaurant near the volcano in Ho Shan Ko District specializes in only goat. Tel. 5469388. A taxi costs about Y50 one way from the Mandarin Hotel. You need someone who speaks Chinese to go with you. It has no menu in English but we liked the rice dumpling in bamboo leaves (peanuts, sugar, and coconut). I found the goat/mutton too bony. It has an ethnic variety show starting at 6:45pm with a performer playing tunes on a leaf, popular songs, and ethnic dances. Don't go if it's raining; it's an outdoor restaurant. It is usually very crowded but makes for a pleasant diverting evening.

The Hot Pot was better at the modest Lao Sichuan Huo Guo Cheng, the Old Sichuan Steamboat Restaurant. This has two branches: 13-5 Third Road, Tel. 6250076; and 3 Yu Sha Lu, Haidian Dao Commercial Center, Tel. 8538025.

Recreation and Night Life: the Flower Fairy (Hua Xian Zi Mei Rong Ji Tuan)
on Jin Long Road near the grain market (Nong Mao Shi Chang Pang)
is a beauty salon where you can get a wonderful foot massage, Y25 for 45 minutes.
This one's name is "Hua Xian Zi Mei Rong Ji Tuan" (meaning "Flower Fairy
Beauty Salon Group").

For night clubs, there's the Da Shanghai in the Kingsley Hotel which has a Y40 cover charge (one drink) and a two-hour show that starts at 9:30pm. Here you can pay extra for a female escort.

Practical Information:
A large internet bar with thirty computers at Y8 an hour is on the third floor of the Hua Bao Bldg., Tel 6754802 at 356 Da Ying Road. It is open 24 hours, but clerks said it was best for foreigners to arrive after 8am when there were people to help in English. Sometimes, the entrance has two young women in mini-skirts luring customers in. This is behind the First Department Store at 8 Haixiu Road, Tel. 6787624 (open 9am-10:30pm.).

Tourist complaints and requests for brochures should go to Mr. Chen Chuan Min, Director, Hainan Provincial Tourism Administration, Jichang Road, 570203, Tel. 5358526, fax 5353074. E-mail: slyjgh@public.hk.hi.cn; Web-site: www.ctrs.com.cn (English). You can make hotel and flight reservations through this web-site.

Travel agents:
CYTS Hainan Co., Ltd., 6/F Wenlong Mansion, 25 Wenming Dong Road, 570203. Tel. 5375158, 5337793; fax 5337004. E-mail: hncyts@public.hk.hi.cn. Web-site: www.hncyts.com (Chinese only).
    Haikou China Youth Travel Service, Inside Teenagers' Palace, Guangchang Road, 570102, Tel. 6236273, Fax 6239291. Ask for Carol Guo, Manager for Europe.
    Haikou Hiwin International Travel Agency, Overseas Chinese Hotel, 3 Huashin Road, Binghai Avenue, 570105. Tel. 6795763, Fax 6765555, e-mail: hiwin@public.hk.hi.cn. Ask for Jackson, Reception Department Manager.
   
Excursions: (see also Sanya and Xinglong)
Xisha (Paracel) Islands (page 631) now has a small museum and airport. Flights from Haikou to the biggest island 2.2 square kilometer Yong Xing Island take about 30 minutes and are irregularly scheduled. This island has a 100 room air-conditioned hotel. The government is looking for investors and is concerned about the environment. Beijing still has to approve general tourism to this island but look for an announcement in 2000.

Chen Chuan Min, Director of the Hainan Provincial Tourism Administration, says:
Hainan has 64 beaches of which only four have been developed. It has tropical forests and its minority nationalities are one seventh of the population. It has 18 Hot Springs but only 10 have been developed . 18 golf courses have been approved but it only has 11 now. Best are in Kangle and Yalong Bay. A new 27-hole resort at Xiang Cun in Yalong Bay should open the end of 2000, and will be the best in China. Of the minority villages, Tongzi village is best. Date: April, 2000, RLM.

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Hangzhou
Greetings from beautiful Hangzhou where there is just a hint of spring in the air. The Hangzhou-Suzhou expressway is open. It basically consists of an hour's drive on the Hangzhou-Shanghai highway and then a three quarters of an hour's drive on the Suzhou highway. Traffic is quite heavy on the Shanghai section but light on the Suzhou part. -- Michael Monks, Shangri-La Hangzhou Hotel, DATE, February, 2004. 

The big change this year is Nanshan Road (Hangzhou's Xintiandi), where there are many parks, garden, nice restaurants, coffee shops and bars. Leifeng Pagoda will be opened in early November. It is on the south side of West Lake, the best location to view the lake. 

The best hotel in Hangzhou is still the Shangri-La Hotel. The Radisson Plaza is probably second, and the third is the World Trade Center Grand Hotel. Nobody knows when the Grand Hyatt will open.

We charge for an airport/hotel transfer:
-USD15 per person for a private van
-USD30 per person for a private car (Audi)
-USD50 per person for a lomousine (Mecedez-Benz 300)

- Daniel Xu, OTC (page 342, 2002 edition), DATE: October, 2002. 
* * *
My sister and I stayed at the SHANGRI-LA HOTEL HANGZHOU for one night, both of us wishing we could spend more time there. It was beautiful as usual. I had to complain to the hotel that one of the taxi's we ordered from there to take us to the Silk Market, took us instead to a silk store. It was not a mistake in translation. When I complained, the driver said he wouldn't charge us and would wait to take us back. When I said I was going to tell the Shangri-La and wrote down his license number, he got frightened and said he wouldn't charge us for the trip back either - as long as we promised not to tell the hotel. By that time we had taken a look at the store and actually bought some things. I wondered if he got a fee. The clothes and textiles were good and of the quality of the No. 2 Silk Factory in Suzhou with lots of variety. But we didn't have much time for the silk market. 

The Shangri-La has probably changed taxi companies now, but you should watch out for these tricks. 

Next morning we walked out the front door of the Shangri-La, out onto the nearby causeway, and this time kept walking almost to the other side of the lake - until we found a boat dock with a large boat taking on passengers. It was something like Y10 each and it took us back to the Shangri-La. It was much cheaper than taking one of the more romantic little boats. -- RLM, DATE, August, 2002. 

The train from Shanghai to Hangzhou took a little over two hours. We started out with people standing in the aisles from Suzhou, but after Shanghai, they all left, a mystery since we were traveling soft class. The air pollution seems to be much less in Hangzhou than in other Chinese cities, and the atmosphere is more relaxed. 

Still, a lot is happening. The city government offices will be moving to the south of the Qiantang River to Binjiang Street in a couple of years. About four department stores will be opened at one of the main shopping areas between West Lake Avenue and Yan'an Road South, not far from Wushan Square, the main city square. A pedestrian street is being constructed on Hefang Street near the Medicine Museum in Ming and Qing dynasty architecture. The new tower on top of the hill within sight of its entrance is on the site of the old Song dynasty palace. 

The new Hyatt Regency Hangzhou is due to open mid-2002 with the one of the best locations for business people and tourists along the east side of the lake. The city plans to rebuild Hubin Road beside the lake and make it also a pedestrian street. The Overseas Chinese Hotel is constructing a new building and tearing down its old one in two years. A pedestrian street will be constructed there too and the road will go underground. 

Where to Stay:
All hotels add a 10 or 15% service charge and tax, and accept credit cards. They can change travelers checks for their own guests. An up-to-date list of major hotels is in my next book along with a lot more travel information. 

A limo from the SHANGRI-LA HOTEL (Page 334) met me at the station, one of the luxuries you can enjoy for free if you pay the full published room rate. The view of West Lake from the hotel's new executive lounge in the seventh floor of its East Building was positively stunning, especially in the changing light of early evening. I kept taking just one more photo of it, but each change was an improvement. The different colors and the mist made the modern city beyond look like it belonged to the classical landscape in front, really something out of a Chinese painting in spite of the modern touches. The lounge has an open balcony that is wonderful for photographers. Later, in my room, I kept my curtains open so I wouldn't miss a minute of it as the lights came on in the city. 

I was fortunate to be assigned a room on the executive floor below the lounge. The view is so great honeymooners should consider it. The East Building itself is now very beautiful. Room ceilings are high and its pictures have gold frames. The lobby here is small for a five star, but it's decorated with a lot of class. Rooms now range from $180 to $360, and suites from $330 to $1000. Look at its web-site for discounts: www.shangri-la.com  . It is a pity that the lake view is blocked from most of the other rooms by historic trees. 

Rooms generally range from 33 to 58 square meters. They have smoke hoods. The address is the same but the telephone is now 87977951, Fax 87073545. The e-mail is now: slh@mail.hz.zj.cn  . The Shangri-La is 7km from the new Railway Station and 45 km from the airport. 

Breakfast next morning was also special - poached eggs perfectly done. It also had dim sum, wonderful pastry, bacon, meat paddies, noodles, pepitas, sunflower seeds, yogurt, fresh and canned fruit, dry cereal and congee. (See also below.)

The business center has now been upgraded and promoted to one side of the lobby and you can read the International Herald Tribune and the South China Morning Post there in comfort. Its e-mail service costs Y10 for the first five minutes, then Y1 a minute. It has broadband internet access. 

I didn't realize that this hotel has a 500-seat theatre on its 40 acres of land. Zhou En-lai held revolutionary meetings here so it is a heritage building. Zhou En-lai used to also stay here. The grounds have 300 year old camphor trees. You can rent a tandem bicycle for Y30 an hour, or a mountain bike for Y20 an hour. The garden bar sometimes has a jazz band of the Louis Armstrong type. The breakfast buffet costs Y152, lunch buffet from Y98 to Y158, and dinner from Y150 to Y180. Its well air-conditioned gym now has 20 machines, some with heart monitors. Its new 33 meter-long pool is narrow but very pretty, with lounge chairs. 

On my third night, I stayed at the four-star Holiday Inn - a comedown after the more expensive Shangri-la, but a good hotel as well. It is now 10km from the airport and 4km from the new railway station

This hotel is in a residential area, not far from some stock exchange companies, the Silk Market (800 meters), and several antique stores. Rooms at the HOLIDAY INN HANGZHOU (page 335) now range from Y900 to Y1500 and suites from Y2300 to Y6688. It has been discounting 20 to 50%. Rooms are 28 square meters and have data ports and handy electrical outlets by the desk. It is at 289 Jianguo Bei Road (at Fengqi), 310003, Tel. 85271188, Fax 85271199. The e-mail is: hihz@mail.hz.zj.cn.  The web-site is: www.holiday-inn.com  . 

The eight lamps plus night light in my room were more than ample. Each room had a kettle, iron. flashlight, in-room safe, local telephone book, hair drier, and make-up mirror. It has HBO, CNN and CNBC. Its 8 X 15 meter pool is open year-round and its 23-piece gym is good (but no heart monitors and no one there speaks English.). Its business center offers the International Herald Tribune, and internet for Y15 for the first 15 minutes then Y1 a minute after that. It has a play area for children. Its lobby has Ming-style chairs and reproductions of ancient bronzes. 

The breakfast buffet has a good selection including sushi, and great crispy pastry. It expects to have an Asian barbecue and new deli in December. Its largest banquet room can seat 180 at tables. Live snakes and turtles on display are among the special dishes in its Chinese restaurant. At The Oak, steaks range from Y140 to Y180, soup Y30, and grilled beef burgers Y78. 

What to See: 
I had forgotten how beautiful West Lake really is. I found as I walked onto the causeway outside the Shangri-La Hotel, that the bay here was full of lotus, giant leaves forming a huge solid green carpet dotted with globes of pink, a moon bridge in the background. The flowers are there from late June through August, a reward for people who visit in the summer. Those who come in the spring and autumn however can enjoy the mist off the water. And oh yes, the fire works in October. 

The seniors were still there too, cheerful and healthy. I also climbed the hill above the hotel to find several hundred people enjoying the fresh air. The view from there was also breathtaking though the tai chi people seemed too busy to notice. You go out the main door of the Shangri-La and make a right. After the Yue Fei Temple, make another right and go up the stairs to the right. 

Ruangongdun Island is no longer recommended. 

Shopping:

See also the Hangzhou Silk Store at 1 Hubin Road, Tel. 87020733. The Du Jin Sheng Silk Factory has now moved to No. 519 Feng Qi Road, 310006. Telephone 87064420 to let them know you are coming. 

Where to Eat: 
Dinner in Peppino's was up to Shangri-La's usual good standards. The lamb and goose liver were superb. Its executive chef is French and it has visiting Italian chefs. Every month, it introduces a different wine and it has a good supply of Cuban cigars. On a tour of this hotel, Director of Marketing Wai Leong pointed out the very special dining table in the wine cellar. Any wine lover would be in heaven eating there. 

The menu in Peppino's at the Shangri-La is changed at least four times a year but this will give you an idea of what's available. The goose liver came with puff pastry, black truffle, mushrooms, parsley and wine sauce and cost Y75. Cream of mushroom soup had a poached egg, two kinds of mushrooms, onions, and pesto for Y35. The double lamb chops has a choice of sauces and garnish and cost Y170. A T-Bone Steak cost Y160. A create-your-own pasta (main course) was Y70, and pasta as an appetizer was Y50. For dessert there was tiramisu made of cream cheese, egg, coffee, and chocolate for Y55, and apple tart for Y45. "There's no MSG in this hotel," said General Manager Michael Monks. "and we use real Italian ingredients."

The Food Street at the Wang Hu Caf‚ served Hangzhou, Guangdong and Sichuan food and wasn't bad. Its deep-fried duck was Y36, custard with minced pork Y16, fried pork liver with leek Y15, fried asparagus with garlic sauce Y18, baked beggar's chicken Y88. The won ton was Y7, soft drinks Y8, and beer Y8 to Y25. I didn't have a chance to try its well-reputed top floor restaurant. 

Forget about the pizza restaurant on Wushan Road, which used to be the only place where you could get one. The new Pizza Hut by the lake at 15 Hubin Road is much better, and has people lining up outside. The telephone is 87016029. A nine inch costs Y45-Y55, and a 12 inch Y65-Y85.

The Lou Wai Lou Restaurant (page 336) is still famous and recommended...

Practical Information:
-- Add 8 in front of all the Hangzhou telephone numbers in my book. 

-- Warning: Shangri-La's Director of Marketing Wai Leong fortunately caught a mistake on my train ticket back to Shanghai. There are four stations in that city, and I had been given a ticket that would have landed me in South Shanghai, a long way from any taxi stand and my hotel. Make sure your ticket goes to the main Shanghai station, and insist on an "Express" and "new station to new station." Hangzhou has two railway stations: the new Hangzhou station is a terminal and most trains end here. The old station Hangzhou East is for trains that are passing through. 

--Forget about the Zhejiang Overseas Tourism Corp. Helpful was the China Hangzhou Overseas Tourist Co., with offices at 3/F Yaojiang Tower, 239 West Lake Road, Tel. 87709821, 87709770 (operator), Fax 87709772, 87709771. E-mail: otchzfjp@mail.hz.zj.cn  and otctravel@mail.china.com . Ask for Daniel Xu, Manager, Incoming Tours Dept. Tel. 13606500335. This agency charges Y200 a day for a guide plus expenses, US$5 to book a hotel room or flight. 

--CITS Zhejiang's telephone number has changed to 85157361, 85215526, and fax 85156576. E-mail: zjcitsat@mail.hz.zj.cn  . Ask for Lin Shu Sen, Director, English Department Sales who was also helpful. It charges US$10 to book a flight or hotel. For a guide in Hangzhou for two to five people, it charges US$30 for eight hours. Outside of Hangzhou, it's the same plus expenses. It has 20 English-speaking guides on staff. 
-- RLM, DATE, August, 2001.

Note: more information on Hangzhou will be in Ruth's next China Guide book due out in Spring, 2002. 

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Harbin
Harbin and Hezhen people
My friend Joan Ahrens and I were back in this north-eastern Chinese city 1 ½ hours by air from Beijing to update tourism information and to find the results of a US$1500 gamble I had taken. The weather in June and early July ranged from a very comfortable 14 to 26 C.

The beautiful Siberian tigers were still there. On a previous trip, we had seen them pounce on terrified ducks and chickens and this experience now cost tourists Y100 for each live victim. No thank you. Polarland aquarium had opened on Sun Island (Y90 for adults, Y45 for children. 9am to 4pm. Tel. (451) 8819-0909.) It had comical beluga whales, cheerful penguins and a very healthy-looking polar bear. This place was a treat especially for children, but we enjoyed it too. St. Sophia Russian orthodox church was interesting. It was built for Russian troops sent to protect the railway in 1932. It looked like St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow.

We couldn’t enter the Grand Mosque (Shi Si Dao Jie in Dao Wai District) because of a funeral inside. From the outside it was huge and fascinating. We did see a plaque on a building with a Star of David on top. It used to be a Jewish synagogue but it’s now a coffee shop. A former Jewish middle school was next door on Tongjiang Street. Harbin still oozes with such interesting history.

Harbin seemed to be a good place to buy fur but the antique market had little for the serious collector I was traveling with. The Confucius Temple at Nantong and Xuanhua Street housed a small museum of ethnic artifacts, including some about the Hezhen people we had come to see. We didn’t have time to visit the zoo, the science museum, nor the provincial museum with its mammoth.

I looked at the five-star Shangri-La Hotel, the four-star Holiday Inn and the three-star Gloria Inn– and recommend them all for each price range. The Shangri-la was near the Songhua River Road Bridge to Sun Island, a 10-minute taxi ride to the Ice Sculpture festival which you should be able to see from some of its windows. (Bring binoculars.) From Christmas to the end of February, it had its own ice restaurant where it served hot pot of course. It’s at 555 You Yi Road, Dao Li District, 150018. Tel. (451) 8485 8888, fax 8462-1777. E-mail: shar@shangri-la.com . Website: www.shangri-la.com  .Rooms average about US$127 plus 15%.

The 346-room Shangri-La had a good location also for business people. It had a 20 meter-long pool, and 26-piece gym, and an executive floor with one smoking and one non-smoking lounge. This floor offered the usual lavish Shangri-La breakfast with almost as much variety as breakfast in its coffee shop downstairs. In addition to the customary Western choices and crispy pastries, it served sushi, cooked tomatoes, steamed spare ribs, carrot juice, muesli, and stir-fried vegetables.

Every Shangri-La Hotel now also has a vegetarian low-fat a la carte menu. We sampled northeast cuisine in its Shang Palace restaurant and loved it. We learned later that it was much less oily than food in local restaurants.

The atmosphere was restful, its staff friendly. Our twin room 1527 was a bit too small for two people but it was beautiful. Unlike other Shangri-La’s, we could find no free coffee in the morning in the lobby. One day, a Guest Relations officer told me to use the house phone when I went to her desk to telephone a staff member. In other Shangri-La’s, reception staff have been more helpful. But I quibble. This was a very good hotel.

Outside, we could join taiji people on the neighbouring waterfront walkway every morning. In the summer, a night market was in the square outside from 6pm to midnight. A few restaurants and shops are close by. It was about a two kilometre walk along the river from the downtown Central Walking Street.

This kilometre-long downtown shopping street had Lane Crawford and New World department stores, a cinema, Pizza Hut, Sorobal Korean restaurant, and dumpling restaurants. A Walmart was five minutes drive away.

The Holiday Inn Harbin was at one end at 90 Jingwei Street, Daoli District, 150010. Tel. (451) 4226666. Fax 4221661. E-mail: holiday@public.hr.hl.cn  . It looked clean and good. It had a pub called the Red Lion, BBC, HBO and National Geographic television channels, and Y15 an hour internet service. Rooms had small safes and cost Y428 plus 15% for a double with two breakfasts. Its reservation hotline was (451) 8488-7205. Its web-site was www.holiday-inn.com/harbin.cn .

With 295 rooms and apartments, the Songhuajiang Gloria Inn was at the other end of the pedestrian street. It had a more interesting location than the Holiday Inn as it was almost on the water front, but the quality was not as good. Double rooms with two breakfasts started at Y298 plus surcharge and offered BBC television, but no in-room safes. We found a little mold in its bathrooms. Next door was the fancy new five-star Gloria Plaza with 83 rooms which looked good, but not as good as the Shangri-La. Doubles there started at Y478. From there we walked a kilometre towards the Shangri-La to a fascinating local market.

Northeastern food is traditionally very oily and salty with heavy sauces but the move, though far from complete, is away from that now. Food is usually stewed together and served in huge portions. The dumplings in the northeast are famous. Look for Dongfang Jiao Zi Wang, one of the most popular such restaurants here. It is a modest place in the Bai Lian Harbour shopping centre near the Shangri-La.

From Harbin, we took a train to Jiamusi, a city of 700,000. It is about 400 km. and three hours northeast (no announcements in English). During the Cultural Revolution, many Communist cadres were exiled to this agricultural area to “learn from the peasants.” Four kilometres away on the river at Sanjiangkou Scenic Spot, we found a modernistic monument with five circles on top, at the northern end of the 5000 km. superhighway that extended from there to south China. Across the Heilongjiang and Songhua Rivers, we could see Siberia. We were near Khabarovsk but saw only trees. Nearby was a good museum (Y30) dedicated to the Hezhen people, one of China’s 55 ethnic minorities. The Hezhen used to travel by dog sled and skis in winter, and wore fish skin or deer fur clothing. A stuffed 800-pound emperor fish caught nearby was on display.

A car took us from Jiamusi 230 km. to Tongjiang, a town of 70,000 people with a few store signs in Russian. The hotel there was the common small town variety. Our room was on the fourth floor and it had no elevator. We moved to a second room because the air-conditioner in the first wasn’t working. The next day, breakfast was a wide selection of fried vegetables, dumplings, and salted eggs which only I enjoyed. Joan, my companion, was sick. We asked our guide to tell the cooks to use less grease on our food. Joan became a vegetarian from then on.

Jie Jin Kou, the Hezhen minority village in Hezhen township, was another 35 minutes by car away. Hezhen was the only place in China where tailors still made fish skin clothing in the traditional way. They made it primarily for museums because the people themselves no longer wear it. I was anxious. I had ordered two sets for two Canadian museums. I had done so rashly based solely on the recommendation of a museum curator in Beijing and they weren’t cheap. If they were flimsy and badly made and the museums didn’t like them, I would lose the $1500 I had to pay in advance.

The village was poor. A few houses made of tamped earth with thatched roofs stood among the more substantial one- and two- story brick buildings. Some of the roads were not paved.

I had ordered clothes to fit the grandchildren of the tailor so I could have real people model them for my pictures. Children’s clothes were cheaper than adults’, and less of a risk. But when Ms. You Wenfeng brought out the clothes and put them on the little boy and girl, I almost cried with relief. They looked so cute. The patterns were skilfully placed. The sewing was great (with cotton thread not deer sinew, but no matter). I knew then the museums would be happy with them, and they were.

55-year old Ms. You, who learned the art from her grandmother, showed me how she softened the dried salmon skins (with corn flour), mashed them, and then cut out the pieces by hand with no patterns. She said the clothes usually lasted ten years of wear. And the fish smell would go away in a month. (It didn’t.)

She interrupted her demonstration to dance in a fish-skin mini-skirt she made in modern western style for a group of Chinese tourists. I didn’t think what this village had to offer tourists merited a long trip – but if you too are a collector or interested in cultural anthropology, it’s great. A set of clothes takes about a month to make and should be ordered and paid for at least a month in advance. You can find museums with this clothing in Beijing, Japan, and Canada’s Edmonton and Toronto. Of course, you can buy modern fish skin shoes, and fish bone and skin souvenirs in a shop in Jie Jin Kou.

But if you’re interested in studying what has happened to a hunting-gathering culture, this is it. There are only 4300 or 14000 Hezhen people left in the world depending on sources. In any case, there are very few. They are an endangered species too and you might want to find out more about them before it is too late.

You can however take a short cut and fly directly from Beijing to Jiamusi and back.

Our trip including the orders for fish-skin clothing was arranged through Ms. Zhang of the Heilongjiang Overseas Tourist Company, 11F Hushi Palace, no. 182 Haiguan Street, Nangang District, Harbin. Tel. (451) 5365-2600, 130 0980 6180. Fax 5366-1991. Our guide was Mr. Lu Yong of CITS in Harbin, whose mobile phone is 138 0451 4525 and fax (451) 82338358. Both are recommended.

For a picture of the fish-skin clothing, click on: http://www.china-travel-guide.com/museums.htm  . – RLM, DATE, June, 2006.

* * *

The Ice Sculpture Festival here is usually January 5 to February 5. Do take a look at the following web-site with some stunning photos by Todd King of some of the amazing sculptures. Do however be aware that the temperature can range from minus 30 to minus 20 Centigrade.  http://www.rtoddking.com/chinawin2003_hb_if.htm   .  DATE: December, 2004. 



Hefei (page 348)
This city is 100 km from the Yangtze River and was not at all affected by the summer floods. Hefei was once famous for its tea and silk. About 26 buses a day arrive from Nanjing at the Mingguan Road bus station, one of many bus stations. The fare is about Y55. About 15 buses arrive from Shanghai daily with fares from Y120-Y145.

The population in the city center is 800,000, the total two million. The province has 15 nationalities.

All the hotels (page 349) are close to the park and the river around the old city downtown, all well located for pleasant walks and exercise. The tourism office says that the Holiday Inn is best, then the Anhui Hotel, and then the Novotel or Peace International Hotel. The Peace is new and glitzy but doesn't seem geared for foreigners. I preferred the Holiday Inn and Novotel. Their service and English, while not generally great, was better. I saw more foreigners eating at the Novotel than any other hotel but its rooms tended to be smaller than the Holiday Inn's. The Anhui Hotel looked older and rundown in comparison.

The Chinese name for the 28-story Holiday Inn is Gujing Jia Ri Jiu Dian. It should have four-star status in 2000. Its e-mail address has been changed to: hihfe@mail.hf.ah.cn. Its store sells real butterflies mounted and framed from Y80. But it is next to a department store so you have lots more shopping choices, and it's close to a bowling alley.

The prices listed have not changed but a 50% discount plus surcharge is given until the end of 1999 and includes the buffet breakfast which otherwise costs Y57.50 nett. The international buffet lunch costs Y66.70 nett and the buffet dinner costs Y78.20 nett. Its restaurant was good, the air- conditioning comfortable, and the staff friendly. Its breakfast buffet offered yogurt, cereals, toast, waffles, donuts, congee, two varieties of dim sum, ham, bacon, sausages, and four juices not bad. Its free airport shuttle is for most but not all flights. It has three executive floors and in-room safes.

The Holiday Inn had a talented piano player Ba Tian in its coffee shop playing popular western- style Chinese songs, a refreshing change from the usual western pop music. It served Sheng Quan draft beer for Y32 per jug, or Y15 per mug.

The Novotel Hotel also has a new e-mail: novotel@mail.hf.ah.cn. Taxi drivers should know it as Ya Gao Qi Yun Shan Zhuang. It is a 15-minute walk to shopping and very close to a huge park. It has snooker and darts, steam bath, gym and Jacuzzi, and rooms with kitchenettes. It is next to a sports complex with volleyball, basketball, soccer and tennis. The pizza is worth going for. It serves bread and butter with its wonton soup! The published prices until the end of 1999 have gone down to $60-$85 for rooms and $115-$195 for suites, but you can still haggle for a discount. The dinner buffet costs Y58, and it hosts a monthly dinner for expatriates. Its internet services are reasonable and it can also arrange for golfers to play in Nanjing. It has in-room safes.

Published room prices at the Anhui Hotel now range from Y660-Y980, suites Y930-Y5880. But in July, you could get a twin bed room from Y338-Y450 including breakfast which usually sells for Y30. Rooms have safes, 40-watt light bulbs, limited closet space, and hair dryers. North rooms in summer had a view of an island with 1000 egrets.

The Friendship restaurant outside the gate of the Anhui Hotel seems to be better than the restaurant inside. We had the Hui style Taoguo Tang duck and pork soup in an earthen pot (slowly cooked on a wood fire, and good for what ails you). We also had a northeastern vegetarian dish (Dongbei susijing) with glass noodles. Both were delicious and moderately priced. The Friendship Culture and Recreation Co. (Youyi Wenhua Yule Youxian) is on Meishan Road, Tel. 281707-1107, 1108. It has this sign in English over its door, but not much English inside.

Also recommended is the Jin Man Lou Restaurant, Da Fu Hao, at 18 Meishan Road. It has Cantonese and Anhui food, and a reputation for excellent service. The Huishang Restaurant is no longer recommended.

The Tomb of Lord Bao (999-1062) was rebuilt in 1985. In a quiet garden in the center of the city between the Holiday Inn and the Novotel, it is open 8am-6pm daily, Tel. 2887011. An exhibition hall with wax figures in beautiful period costumes has signs in English outlining his honesty which included condemning the husband of the emperor's daughter. In another case, he ruled against the emperor's mother. Signs, however, neglect to mention if he kept his job. The tomb itself is entered through a dark tunnel below, which was full of mosquitos in June.

The Mingjiao Temple on Huaihe Road is close to the Holiday Inn, and open daily from 7am-6pm. The telephone number is 2656284. You can have eight monks pray for you for 1« hours for Y600, or all day for Y1500. They regularly chant at 4am and 6am every day.

The Anhui Provincial Museum has the most complete 200,000-300,000 year old skeleton of homo erectus hexianensis, and 4000-5000 year old jadeware, both the oldest found so far in China. You might recall that China announced in summer 1999 that it had found evidence of the ancestors of humans older than Richard Leakey's in Africa. These were in the southern part of Anhui. The museum does not have these yet, but do keep looking for them. Skeptical local archaeologists said that China is always making such claims, but I'm keeping an open mind.

This museum also has a reproduced Eastern Han Tomb, real early porcelains and celadons, and titles in English. It is on 268 Anqing Road, Tel. 7826402, and open 8:30-10:30am, 3-5pm, daily except Mondays and Saturday afternoons.

There's also shopping for the more adventurous at the day-time Nian Nian Tian Temple Market beyond the pagoda and flower market on Mengcheng Road. Anhui produces a pine resin similar to amber that is worth considering. I bought a little electronic Chinese-English dictionary in the computer store at the top of the escalator, top floor, Kejiao Shudian (Hefei Scientific and Educational bookstore), Sanxiao Street, Tel. 2829311, open 8:30am-7pm daily.

E-mail service at the Anhui Hotel costs Y1 a minute. It's Y9 an hour on the second floor of the main post office (You Zhen Building), on Changjiang Road, open 8am-7pm. The Anhui Overseas Tourist Corporation has a new telephone number 2821418. Ask for Ms. Wang Shu Hua.--RLM, June, 1999.
    * * *
Published rates at the Holiday Inn Hefei, Page 348, remain the same, but you can get a 50% discount including international buffet breakfast until the policy changes. Currently, the breakfast costs Y57.50, lunch Y66.70, and dinner Y78.20, all nett. The inn is in the "midst of finalizing a contract with CNN. However, we do have CNBC and BBC channels right now."-- Holiday Inn Hefei, October, 1999.

See also Bozhou, Fengyang, Jiuhuashan

Hohhot (Huhehaote or Huhaote)

Note: prices are subject to change. Hotel prices are also subject to a 15% surcharge.

This past summer, we flew on a modern Fokker-50 on Mongolian Airlines from Ulaan Baatar in Mongolia to Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia in China. It was my first trip there in about 15 years. I had hoped to include Hailar in eastern Inner Mongolia on this trip, but information on travel to that remote city had arrived too late. Holiday Inn’s invitation encouraged us go to Hohhot instead.

I had expected an old Russian plane, but we found ourselves on a new one made in the Netherlands. The flight took a little over two hours with Chinese Customs officers boarding and inspecting our aircraft before they allowed us to disembark. No one told us the local time was one hour later than Ulaan Baatar’s.

Driving into the city, we were startled by the contrast between the two Mongolian capitals. Hohhot is 400 kilometres west and slightly north of Beijing and you can drive from there in over four hours. A relatively good road is also between Hohhot and Ulaan Baatar. At 1500 meters, the summer weather is a lot more comfortable than that in Beijing.

Hohhot is like many other Chinese cities, and not Mongolian at all. If you are looking for Mongolian culture, you have to drive out into the countryside for at least three hours, travel agents later told us. Or go to Ulaan Baatar which is over 80% Mongolian. In terms of development, Hohhot is decades ahead of Ulaan Baatar.

Hohhot is modern with high rise buildings placed in neat rows alongside the six-lane highway from the airport into the city. Trees and flowers in beautifully landscaped parks with musical fountains grow between rows of hotels, offices, apartment buildings, and stores.

My friend and I stayed for three nights in the new, well-polished four-star HOLIDAY INN, the only international hotel there. The Chinese name is Jia Rui Dajiudian and it’s at 185 Zhongshan West Road, 010030. Tel. 471-6351888, fax 6350888. Web-site: http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/home  . The published rate for a room was Y900 but in the summer high tourist season, this was discounted to Y430.

This 198-room hotel is downtown near shops and other hotels, about three kilometres from the train station and 16 kilometres from the airport. A large park is across the street. It is relatively near the provincial museum and the two main temples. An evening market on a pedestrian mall operates beside it with many dumpy Moslem restaurants and stores. A guide said, “It’s safe to walk the streets after dark, but don’t take a lot of money – in case.” The guide took me to one of the restaurants. The food was good but I wondered about the hygiene.

Staff English was not perfect but it was understandable and much appreciated. It took three tries to get the telephone operator to respond to one of my questions. Service was eager but inexperienced and should get better with time and training. (A smoker at a buffet table was bending over with a half-inch of ash about to fall into the food. No one said or did anything. ) Waitresses were not quick to fill up coffee cups at breakfast but the breakfast buffet was great for a four-star, with Chinese and western food, yogurt, etc. Its television offered CNN, BBC and a French fashion channel. An ATM was in the lobby. It had an attractive spa and a gym with 10 good machines, but no swimming pool. It has published its own map of the city, the best map we saw.

The buffet breakfast was Y58, the lunch Y99, and dinner Y88. Sunday brunch was Y98. Its 24-hour Room Service menu listed a green salad for Y35, cream of mushroom soup Y22, sandwiches Y32-Y38, baked pork spareribs Y38, U.S. T-bone steak Y148, and 10 dumplings Y18. A continental breakfast was Y48.

Our twin room was spacious with lots of drawer space and electrical outlets, a mini-bar, desk, and a shower stall but no tub. The shower was strong. Pillows were goose down and linens had a 320 thread count. The two of us sharing a twin room had a total of three sets of fluffy towels that were changed during the day. The in-room safe was big enough for a lap top. It also had an iron and ironing board. A window between the bathroom and the bedroom was covered with a Venetian blind. My room-mate liked it because it allowed natural light into the bathroom. I don’t like it because I get up very early and read in the bathroom. The light could bother a roommate.

General Manager Enzo Di Mambro treated us to a lavish Italian dinner. We had fresh asparagus with Béarnaise sauce, fresh mushroom soup, a very tender beef steak, salad, and fruit in a crystal basket. The wine was French. It was a preview of the menu in his Italian restaurant which will open shortly. It was so good, we want to return later for more.

Other Hotels:
The four-star PHOENIX HOTEL (Guohang Da Xia) seemed to be the second best hotel in town after the Holiday Inn. It was opened in 2000, had 280 rooms, some of which were non-smoking. Twin rooms had a luxurious two pillows on each bed and you could request an ultra violet light. It offered free broadband, kettle and mini-bar and the room key opened its room safe. It also had bathrobes, hair dryer and bathroom scales in each room but its grouting showed signs of mould.

A shoe polishing machine was near the elevator. A 17-meter swimming pool, sauna and gym were in the basement. It had an Air China ticket office. The buffet breakfast was Y38 and it offered a choice of four fruits, fried vegetables, steamed pumpkin, grilled tomatoes, bean curd, pastries, sushi, cereals, three juices, yogurt and bean curd. You could order noodle soup, toast, and eggs on the spot. Rooms were Y798 to Y1098 less 30 to 40% discount.

The five-star INNER MONGOLIA HOTEL was used by European adventure groups and domestic visitors, said a travel agent. I found the English poor to non-existent and it’s only English-language television channel was HBO. Rooms had safes large enough for a laptop, high speed internet, and a coffee maker. A single with a king-size bed had four pillows. Bathrooms were tiny and there was not much cupboard space. It had a 20-meter swimming pool and a gym. An airport shuttle went four times a day. The published rate for a standard room was $104, and it was giving 20% discounts. It charged Y30 an hour for the Internet.

The four-star ZHAOJUN HOTEL (Zhaojun Dajiudian) had 258 rooms. It was half a kilometre from the railway station and 15 kilometres from the airport at 53 Xinhua Street, 010050. Tel. 6668888. The e-mail was: zjininte@public.hh.nm.cn and the web-site www.zhaojunhotel.com.cn . It had a swimming pool and looked old, but okay if you’re not fussy. It charged about Y280-Y420 for a room and was run by a Hong Kong company. It has an Hainan airlines ticket office, an ATM, and bowling. Its Y20 breakfast consisted of fried vegetables, tea eggs, fried eggs, and instant coffee with hot water in a thermos placed 25 feet away. It also had Chinese steamed buns, a couple choices of fresh fruit, and one juice. It had a travel service in the building also with no English. The price for a twin was Y280, a double Y320 and a single Y420.

Standards were not international. I found a man who looked like a staff person sleeping in the lobby bar at 6:50am. No one spoke English at the Reception Desk and there was no television in English. The room safe was too small for a large lap top and the bathroom grouting was mouldy. Towels were thin.

The three-star PEARL INNER MONGOLIA was 12 kilometres from the airport and two kilometres from railway station. Wulanchabu W. Road, 010010. Tel. 6938888. Fax 6952288. Web-site: http://www.nmghotel.com  (but it didn’t work for me.) For a three-star, it wasn’t bad.

Shopping
Mr. Di Mambro, the perfect host, drove us to the area of “antique” and art shops near the Dazhou Temple. He is a collector of fine paintings. There, in one store full of beautiful old saddles, Mr. Wang, the shopkeeper offered a pair of antique boots that he said were deer skin and had belonged to a eunuch in Qing Emperor Kangxi’s court. This would have made them 18th century. It was an intriguing story but his boots were machine stitched so we doubted his reliability. Sewing machines are a 19th century invention. If you want to shop here, just don’t believe all he says. The telephone number is: 13947128947 or 6304052. We found no traditional old coral jewellery anywhere, not even reproductions, but a shop nearby made relatively cheap exotic boots for about Y180.

Di Mambro said the cashmere industry here uses Italian technology. I suspect the sweaters here are better quality but they are more expensive than those sold in Outer Mongolia. You can shop for cashmere, swords, and costumes at the Cashmere Sweater factory.

A Foreign Languages book store is at 46 Xin Hua Da Jie, Second Floor, near the Holiday Inn. Normally open 9am to 8pm, it was closed during our visit. Tel. 6924985, 6966778.

Hohhot has a nine-hole golf course and Baotou, 2 ½ hours drive away, has a beautiful 18-hole course, said Mr. Di Mambro.

Restaurants
Aside from the hotels, we found no international-standard restaurants. But the Little Fat Sheep hot pot restaurant near the Dazhou Temple was recommended. We did eat in the tasty Mai Yiang Chun, 44 Dabei Jie, Tel. 6315068, 6305290 with its pleasing dumplings, mapo dofu, pork kidneys, egg plant and noodles made from oats. It is also near this temple. We found no Starbucks, McDonald’s, or any other foreign restaurant chains.

Sightseeing
Dazhou Monastery is historically famous but travel agents say they take tourists to the nearby Xilitu Zhao temple.

The Provincial Museum is at 2 Xinhua Street. Tel. 6918761 and is open daily 9am-5pm except maybe Tuesdays. Its exhibits start from 700,000 years ago. Look for the gold Mongolian saddle from the Yuan dynasty and a collection of great costumes and shoes.
A new museum should open here before 2008.

Travel agents can take tourists to visit the ruins of the Great Wall 100-150 km. away. Ask about the 200 meter-long cable car ride on the Gobi Desert.

Services
Across the street from the Holiday Inn was the “best photo shop” in town. It can make CDs from memory cards but it has never processed slides nor any films other than 100 ASA. In the pedestrian mall beside this hotel is an internet café and on the other side of the hotel is a big department store with a supermarket in the basement. I found another Internet bar just by showing a taxi driver the Chinese characters for Internet. The price was less than Y10 an hour.

Travel agents here offer a four-day tour that includes the grasslands, the Kubuqi desert 200 kilometres away, a visit to the Genghis Khan Mausoleum and a city tour of Hohhot. But they can also arrange visits to families and wrestlers, courtyard homes, self-drive jeeps for desert sightseeing and camping overnights in the Gobi (no toilet tents), though one said it was too cold to spend the night in the desert. Some can arrange treks of four to seven days along the remains of the Great Wall.

Ms. Liang Ming took us to lunch and to a cashmere factory. She was a good guide but I couldn’t make my future needs understood. It would be better to write to her. She is manager of the America and Oceania Department, Inner Mongolia China International Travel Service, Travel Building, 95, Art Hall St. South, 010010. Tel. 6200775, 5841656. Mobile: 13947158043. E-mail: liangming838@sina.com  or liangming838@yahoo.com.cn. 

Mr. Lu Fei is General Manager, Inner Mongolia Peace Tourism Co., 5th Floor, Jin Sha Mansion, Xin Hua Avenue, 010050. Tel. 6913712, 2337012. Mobile 13804715990. E-mail: lvfei990@hotmail.com . This company charged 360Y for a twin room at the Zhaojun Hotel, 100Y a day for a one day guide, and 500Y for a car and driver (one day tour in Hohhot). He speaks German and English. DATE: RLM, July, 2005.


 

 

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