The city of Hangzhou is nestled in the thriving Yangtze River Delta and provides a relaxing escape from bustling Shanghai.

Hangzhou’s magnificent West Lake (the inspiration for a man-made version in Beijing’s Summer Palace) provides amazing daytime views and boasts an equally impressive nightlife. The West Lake Scenic Area is definitely the best place to stay in Hangzhou and here are our favorite hotels in the area.

Best Hotels in Hangzhou – The Four Seasons

This famous luxury brand is well represented by its Hangzhou version – five-star elegance with 78 guest rooms and suites, 11 private dining rooms and three pagoda style villas with indoor pools. The hotel sits on the North-West corner of the lake and most rooms have views of traditional Chinese gardens. Enjoy boating on the lake easily from the hotel or, further afield, go tea picking in the Long Jing Rice Terraces.

The Four Seasons is AsiaTravel’s preferred partner in Hangzhou and we find that its the best fit for most of our clients. It is right near West Lake, so transportation is a breeze and the stunning scenery is complemented by exceptional service from the staff.

Best Hotels in Hangzhou –  The Hyatt Regency

Another large 5-star hotel with 390 rooms, the Hyatt Regency provides modern decor and amenities, overlooking the West Lake. It is located in the new lakeside pedestrian zone giving easy access to shopping and entertainment near the Broken Bridge. Signature features are a health spa with indoor pool and top quality restaurants – including 28 Hubin Road offering authentic Hangzhou cuisine. Walk further along the lake towards downtown and you will see many locals dancing in the open air in the evening.

The Hyatt Regency is another hotel recommended by AsiaTravel for its location right on the edge of West Lake. Talk to a AsiaTravel travel designer and we’ll help you decide if The Hyatt Regency is the perfect choice for your own tastes and itinerary. 

Best Hotels in Hangzhou – The Amanfayun

This is a luxurious resort hotel, considered as a spiritual sanctuary reflecting Buddhist monastic traditions. It consists of 46 rooms, suites and villas with distinctive touches set in a former tea-plantation village. Among its relaxing features is a spa spread across five pavilions with seasonal treatments to relax you alongside traditional massage and reflexology. As would be expected in this location, the resort includes teahouses to relax and reflect in and some fine dining restaurants.

The Amanfayun has a totally different ambience than the Four Seasons or Hyatt Regency. Close to the Lingyin Temple, the Amanfayun feels like a luxury resort that is the essence of the Aman Brand. The atmosphere is quieter, so it’s a great fit for clients who prefer a resort style accommodation away from the main action. 

Spending a luxurious weekend in Hangzhou is a great getaway in and of itself, or it can be added to any itinerary that stops in Shanghai. AsiaTravel can arrange a private boat for on West Lake, which can include a picnic and live music from a pipa player.  Other must-sees are the Ling Yin Temple, a huge Buddhist Temple set in the park of Fei Lai Peak in North West Hangzhou and the Ancient Cultural Street- a pedestrian street and a mecca for souvenir hunting and for finding two of Hangzhou’s most sought after products – tea and silk.

We love summer, and who doesn’t? Long days, festive atmosphere and always something going on. Yet sometimes, that sweltering summer heat can get just a little too much, especially in some of China’s hotter cities.

Our solution? A city break in China’s ice city, Harbin. This once-part-of-Russia city witnesses winters like no other in China, making it a much more comfortable city to visit when the warmer months do (finally!) arrive. There’s also plenty to see, do and eat in Harbin, meaning it should not be overlooked as a top Chinese destination.

RELATED READING: The 4 Best Cities for Jewish History in China

Harbin – What to See

Harbin is a unique Chinese city in the way that it is peppered with Russian and European influence. Its architecture, culture, customs and music are the result of a vibrant mix of different origins. Take a stroll down Zhongyang Street where you’ll be met with a façade of European style buildings, Russian bakeries and French fashion; you may even end up doubting whether you’re still in China.

Harbin’s Jewish heritage is equally rich with over 20,000 Jewish immigrants settling there during the 1920s. What’s more, you’ll have plenty of time to fit in all these sights with long daylight hours thanks to its far north positioning.

RELATED READING: Top 4 Things to Do in Harbin

Harbin – Festivals

Much the same as many cities, Harbin’s summer is great for a spot of festive fun.

If it’s beer that tickles your fancy, then you’re in luck. The Harbin International Beer Festival is held at the start of every July and lasts for ten days. During these ten days, there are a whole host of activities, including singing, dancing, beer tasting (obviously!), as well as trade fairs and exhibitions.

If you are planning to visit Harbin in August instead, you’ll be treated to the Harbin Summer Music Concert which also spans over ten days, starting on August 6th every other year. The opening ceremony alone is often a feat in itself. Over the years, this concert has showcased some phenomenal performances; notably, a 1001-piano concert in Flood Memorial Square which made it into the Guinness World Book of Records.

RELATED READING: Insider’s Guide to the Harbin Ice Festival

Harbin – What to Eat

As with its architecture and heritage, Harbin’s gastronomy is also heavily influenced by Russian, Korean, Mongolian and North Chinese cuisine. Dishes are served large and salty, but definitely worth giving a try. Highlights include night market seafood dishes such as garlic oysters and grilled squid, as well as our personal favorite, guobaorou. Guobaorou can otherwise be described as Sweet and Sour Pork but with a unique Harbin twist thanks to the addition of ketchup or orange juice to the sauce.

Harbin – How to Get There

Harbin is easily reachable from almost anywhere in China. With growing international importance, Harbin has also recently opened up connections with a number of other Asian nations as well as Russia. If the bullet train is more your style, it will take you seven hours from Beijing.   

Shanghai is a showstopper. Magnificent architecture, fascinating history, glitzy shopping malls, and every cuisine you could possibly imagine. But after a few days rushing around to see the best of what the ‘Paris of the East’ has to offer, you might be in need of a little break. Whether you’re looking to extend your AsiaTravel journey, or are a Shanghai resident simply looking for the perfect getaway, we’ve put together our top reasons for escaping the city and where to find them.  

RELATED READING: How to Make the Most of a Trip to China’s Yellow Mountain

Escape Shanghai for Beautiful Natural Scenery…

Arriving from Shanghai, The Yellow Mountain‘s (Huangshan) landscape of jagged peaks and rock-hugging clouds will leave you breathless – or maybe it was just that trek up? Whether you decide to tackle the mountains physically, or slightly more gently with the help of the cable car, you’re sure to be rewarded with stunning natural views and a sense of amazement. With hikes that will take you past the likes of Xihai Grand Canyon and Lotus Peak, escaping from Shanghai for a weekend to Huangshan will give you that refreshing and needed break (as well as some sci-fi-esque snaps to take home). Less than 5 hours away from Shanghai by bullet train, this is a great add-on to any trip.

On a AsiaTravel journey to Huangshan, your local guide will also help you to discover UNESCO-listed villages once home to prosperous tea and salt merchants who developed an elaborately decorative architectural style unique to this region.

RELATED READING: The Best Classical Gardens in Suzhou

Escape Shanghai for Chinese Imperialism at its Finest…

The cities of Suzhou and Hangzhou are just a short bullet-train ride away from Shanghai. With traditional Chinese gardens at every corner, Suzhou is the perfect place to unwind and lose yourself in a green oasis unheard of in Shanghai. Alternatively, enjoy the calmness afforded by the shores of Hangzhou’s West Lake. In both cities, you’ll find space to unwind in beautiful surroundings while living and breathing the remnants of a China past.

Soak it all in and relax whilst sampling some of the emperor’s favorite tea or stroll along the canals of Suzhou and learn how wealthy merchants, officials and scholars commissioned gardens where rocks, trees, ponds and pavilions convene harmoniously to depict an idealized China in miniature.

Escape Shanghai for Delicate Artistry…

Looking for something a little bit different? Escape Shanghai to Jingdezhen, the home of Chinese porcelain. This city is simply ceramics mad, with workshops, studios and markets aplenty. It’s the place to indulge in your creative side.

In Jingdezhen, the tradition of fine porcelain goes back over 1,700 years. Jingdezhen ceramics are famous for being “as thin as paper, as white as jade, as bright as a mirror, and as sound as a bell.” On top of watching and learning how to create delicate porcelain, on a AsiaTravel journey you’ll discover more about its past. Jingdezhen provided ancient Chinese emperors with exquisite palatial ornaments, as well as supplying a clandestine trade route of porcelain to Europe. Just a short one-hour flight from Shanghai, this trip will leave you the expert in all things ‘china.’ 

So, whether you have a few days to spare after visiting Shanghai, or are looking for a weekend getaway, consider leaving the bustling metropolis for some excellent destinations in the surrounding area. What’s more, with improved transport links it’s even possible to tie a few of these options into the same trip. Get in touch with one of our experienced travel designers to find out how.   

Slightly more laid back than China’s megacities to the East and North, the capital city of Sichuan Province boasts a relaxed atmosphere where life is savored and nature admired. With great transport links and amazing natural areas of beauty not too far away, Chengdu is a great addition to any China trip. We’ve put together our 4 must-dos in Chengdu that will make any trip to this steamy city one to remember.

See a face-changing opera

A popular form of entertainment throughout China, traditional opera has been a featuring element of Chinese culture dating as far back as the Zhao Dynasty (319-315). Naturally, in a country as vast and diverse as China, numerous regional styles have developed that vary in sound, rhythm, dance as well as acrobatics and costumes. Sichuan Opera, in particular, is famous for its face-changing element. Prepare to be amazed at the speed at which performers change their facial appearance with sly and unnoticeable strokes of hand, as well as repainting faces in the blink of an eye. Face-changing is done in order to reflect the emotions and events of the opera, keeping audiences on their seats and offering up an unusual alternative to the Beijing and Shanghai Operas.

Get your ears-cleaned in the kuan zhai alleyways

For a more unusual experience, we have just the thing! Chengdu’s kuan zhai alleyways, literally meaning ‘wide and narrow alleys’, are a series of ancient alleyways and courtyards lined with authentic tea houses, and stalls selling Sichuanese delicacies and arts and crafts. Whilst meandering through these interesting little streets, we recommend taking a load off and getting your ears-cleaned by the professionals. It’s a perfect opportunity for some people watching and will make sure everything is as clear as a whistle at the Chengdu Opera later on!

Play mahjong with the locals in People’s Park

There’s no better way to end a trip to Chengdu than with a relaxing afternoon in People’s Park, found in the centre of the city. Strolling around, it’s possible to test the waters with some rowboats, get your ears cleaned (again!), or enjoy a cup of green tea at one of the traditional tea houses. Our personal favorite experiences, however, is learning the art of mahjong. Mahjong originated in China and is a game of tiles that relies on strategic ability and of course a bit of luck. Observe as the locals play game after game and then try it out for yourself.

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Volunteer for the day as a panda keeper

Escape the city to the verdant regions that encircle Chengdu and get up close and personal with the giant panda. Only 34 miles from the city, Dujiangyan Panda Base is a great day out that you simply cannot miss while visiting Chengdu. The base is the largest of its kind in China (and the world!) and features a panda rescue area, panda research area, panda training area…the sweetest panda-monium you’ll ever experience! After all that cuteness, a nice spicy bowl of Sichuan hotpot upon your return to the city will be just what’s needed.

There are so many great things to do in Chengdu – and we didn’t even get round to talking much about the great (spicy) cuisine! Chengdu’s slow pace of life will leave you with a calm appreciation for Chinese culture and on a AsiaTravel journey, we’ll help you make incredible memories to take home. 

National Geographic Traveler has named our ‘Travels Through Dali with Mei Zhang‘ journey as a 2018 Asia Tour of a Lifetime! Traveler chose only ’20 guided trips, from Uzbekistan to Indonesia, that uncover hidden depths, secluded shrines, and idyllic islands’ to include on the list. We’re truly honored to be a part of it.

The AsiaTravel journey Traveler selected was inspired by AsiaTravel Founder Mei Zhang’s first book Travels through Dali: with a leg of ham. Chronicling Mei’s return to her hometown in southwest China in search of the region’s specialty cuisine, the book has become a globally recognized and critically acclaimed insight into the importance of cultural preservation and cultivation in a rapidly urbanizing China.

On this once-in-a-lifetime journey, you can embark on the same adventure of cultural and culinary discovery that Mei Zhang took for her book research – with Mei herself as your guide. You’ll veer off the highway into forgotten villages and into the kitchens of Dali’s culinary artists. You’ll enjoy meaningful engagement with the region’s diverse traditions and cultures, and be inspired by the artisanal innovations that have become an important feature of modern-day Dali. 

This is an opportunity to join Mei as she goes back and says ‘thank you’ to the villagers who welcomed her into their lives. And if we know Mei Zhang, there will be plenty of serendipitous discovery too! 

Start planning your ‘Tour of a Lifetime’ today by getting in touch with one of our experienced travel designers.

All photos by Elizabeth Phung for Travels Through Dali: with a leg of ham

Seeing the Great Wall of China is on many travelers’ ‘to-do’ list and it’s certainly high on our list of recommendations for Beijing.  But which section of the wall should you visit? And what should you do there? Read on for our top suggestions.

(Spoiler Alert: where possible we always avoid Badaling, a famous and over-crowded section of the wall. We recommend you do too!)

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The Great Wall from Beijing: For the Wild at Heart

If you’re an avid hiker looking for a lesser-visited section of the wall, then Huanghuacheng, the “Yellow Flower Wall” might be the  place for you. The Huanghuacheng section of the Great Wall is further away from the city of Beijing than Mutianyu or Badaling so, if you get there early, you’ll likely have it entirely to yourself.

Huanghuacheng’s unique mountain and lake scenery is breathtaking and the area has recently undergone a five-month repair project – meaning it’s open to visitors once again. Hiking at Huanghuacheng is mid-to-high on the difficulty scale. Your AsiaTravel guide will show you the safest route and will bring a picnic along for when you get peckish. Apart from the natural scenery, this part of the wall is also known as the “First Pass” for its strategic importance.

For a little adrenaline and an even more challenging hike, the Great Wall at Jiankou covers the steepest, most varied terrain of the Great Wall. Another example of the “Wild Wall”, Jiankou remains largely unrestored. The Jiankou section of the Great Wall was built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) out of white dolomite stone from the surrounding area; set boldly against the tall, jagged mountains, this section of the wall is a photographer’s paradise.

The Great Wall from Beijing: For the Thrill Seeker

For families or travelers looking for a different perspective on the Great Wall, why not choose a helicopter ride over the Mutianyu section? Two hours outside Beijing proper, the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall affords views of the stone structure snaking over precipitous mountain ridges on the horizon. It’s one thing to stand atop the wall, looking down onto the mountains below, and its’ another entirely to look down, even on those who have performed the climb, to see the grandeur of the wall itself from a birds-eye view. 

If you’re a thrill seeker hoping to keep your feet closer to the ground, the toboggan ride down the wall at Mutianyu won’t disappoint. If you want to skip the whole climb, you can opt for the gondola ride up to the top, followed by a toboggan ride along a metal track all the way back down, along a scenic route that’ll make you more familiar with the surrounding area.

The Great Wall from Beijing: For a Special Occasion

What better way to celebrate a birthday or anniversary than by asking us to arrange a romantic champagne picnic on your own, private Great Wall turret – it could even be a surprise for your loved one. We’ll arrange everything, so you can enjoy the day too!

After you’ve watched the sun go down, a glass of bubbly in hand, we recommend staying at the luxurious new Dhawa Jinshanling Hotel. Here, the wild sections of the Great Wall take over from the restored as it stretches ever further west. The hotel itself is a serene, contemporary collection of “cocoons” just steps from Jinshanling, one of the most photogenic, idyllically uncrowded sections of the Great Wall. 

There are many ways to experience the Great Wall from Beijing, how will you choose to define your experience?

Flying relatively under-the-radar on an international level (so far!), Yunnan Province is not as widely known for its landscapes as Guangxi to the east, nor famed for spicy delicacies such as Sichuan to the north. In this article, we shine a light on why Yunnan is our top pick for a getaway this winter.    

4. Visit Yunnan in Winter: Temperate Weather

With such a varied landscape, Yunnan’s weather can differ dramatically across the province. Traveling in winter you’ll avoid the rainy season, making it the perfect time to get active and enjoy the diverse nature on offer. Hiking is a particular favorite activity of ours because it gives our guests access to remote local minority villages and stunning rice terraces. Do bring layers because during winter, temperatures drop quite dramatically at night.

3.Visit Yunnan in Winter: The Joys of Festivals

Do you often suffer from post-Christmas blues? Well, this could be the year to avoid them. In Yunnan, as well as celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year, there are numerous smaller festivals that happen in accordance with local minority traditions. These can start as early as February and last well into spring.

If watching men jump into a sea of fire is your thing, try the Sword Pole Festival which is one of the earliest of the season. Experiencing the festivals themselves, or even helping with the preparations, is a great way to understand the ethnic minority cultures that inhabit so much of this diverse province. With our team of experienced travel designers, we’ll be sure to sniff out the most festive of festivals to make your journey even more special.

2. Visit Yunnan in Winter: Fewer people, better guides, cheaper accommodation

Another thing to consider is how busy Yunnan’s major tourist spots can get during popular travel seasons. While you’re unlikely to see hordes of tourists on hiking routes between remote villages, the ancient towns of Lijiang and Dali can become crowded. Winter is a good time to appreciate these beautiful towns at your own pace.

Outside of the main holiday periods, accommodation costs drop significantly and it’ll be easier to secure one of our top local AsiaTravel guides.

1. Visit Yunnan in Winter: Travels Through Dali with Mei Zhang

Of course, our list of top reasons to visit Yunnan this winter would not be complete without a mention of our very own AsiaTravel Founder Mei Zhang and the expert-led tour she’ll be guiding in December.

This trip skips the cities found on your average tour of China and immerses travelers in the culture and cuisine of Dali, Mei Zhang’s hometown. In 2016, Penguin published Mei’s first book Travels through Dali: with a leg of ham. Chronicling Mei’s return to southwest China in search of the region’s specialty cuisine, the book has become a globally recognized and critically acclaimed insight into the importance of cultural preservation and cultivation in a rapidly urbanizing China.

On this journey, you’ll embark on the same adventure of cultural and culinary discovery that Mei Zhang took for her book research. Accompanied by Mei herself at every turn, you’ll veer off the highway into forgotten villages and into the kitchens of Dali’s culinary artists. You’ll experience cheese making in Shaxi and get to wander through the beautiful town of Dali. With Yunnan cuisine growing in popularity across the US, this is the perfect opportunity to discover its roots and take home some top-secret recipes.

Whether it’s for a chance to whet your appetite with a new cuisine, or the need to get out and active in some beautiful surroundings, Yunnan really does have a bit of everything for everyone. To us, it’s the perfect solution for an outdoorsy, yet cultural travel experience, all while escaping that bitter cold of a northern winter!

You might not know the name Guangxi, but you’ll almost certainly recognize the karst peaks and meandering river the province has become famous for. Guilin (a city you might have heard of) and Yangshuo (the town you’re likely to visit) have grown exponentially in terms of tourist popularity over the last decade. Nowadays, if you visit this area without a AsiaTravel fairy godmother (or father) it’s easy to get lost in a sea of domestic visitors. However, Guangxi is so stunning that we’d hate to recommend not visiting.

That’s why we’ve put together this list of highlights from a AsiaTravel Guilin journey – to give you a taste of how to make the most of your trip.

Photo courtesy of Li’an Lodge

Things to do in Guilin: Rice Terrace Hiking

 

 RELATED READING: 3 Best Hotels in Guilin

Things to do in Guilin: Landscape Painting Class

Here at AsiaTravel, we are passionate about helping clients to deep dive into an area of interest. To do this, we work with a number of experts in their fields to create specialized trips and guided lectures. One such expert is Dvir Bar-Gal, the leading authority on Shanghai Jewish history.

2018 marks the 20th anniversary of the Shanghai Jewish History Tour, a project Dvir has been guiding the growth of for the past 15 years. We caught up with him to learn more about how he became involved with Shanghai Jewish history and what he hopes to share with visitors to Shanghai in the future.

Dvir Bar-Gal 

RELATED READING: The 4 Best Cities for Jewish History in China

China Jewish History Tour – Dvir Bar-Gal

What made you want to take part in this project?

I actually came to Shanghai hoping to be a freelance television journalist. Before working here, I used to work in Israeli television as a cameraman and then director. From about 2000, 2001, there was no representative of electronic media for Israel in China, and I already realized then what was going to become of China in the coming decades. I was interested in the untold stories of the people who live here.

Unfortunately, the time I came was around September 11th. After September 11th, 2001, there wasn’t much interest in stories from China, so I started doing a lot of other things.

One of the things I started was a big research project, finding the lost Jewish cemeteries of Shanghai. I was working with the woman who gave the tours before me. She actually brought me the story about the cemeteries that had disappeared and the news that people were looking for them. We found a lead from a teacher who saw some Jewish gravestones and from there we started our research. This was my first involvement with Jewish research and I learned so much. The story is pretty much unknown so I learned a lot by doing the historical research and looking at it from a journalistic point of view. It was about a year and a half later that the previous person in charge went back to Israel and she asked me if I would like to help out with the tours. I have been doing it ever since.

Sculpture Commemorating Shanghai’s Jewish Community

RELATED READING: 5 (Alternative) Must-Sees in Shanghai

China Jewish History Tour – Dvir Bar-Gal

How many tombstones have you been able to locate up to now?

I located about 105 out of over 3000 that used to be in Shanghai in the past. Most of them I collected, and all of them I documented on video and film. I’m still hoping to do a long documentary about the whole story. Still photography, text, and so on. Currently, there are about 90 that I know the whereabouts of and most of them are in my possession. Many others we have lost forever, unfortunately.

Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum

RELATED READING: Fascinating Sites of World War II History in China

China Jewish History Tour – Dvir Bar-Gal

What can people expect on a Jewish tour of Shanghai?

The tour is a half-day tour, and it’s different from many other tours that one can think about. We mostly learn and hears stories that nobody else can provide.

We explore mysteries that are infrequently seen in daily life today, as many were destroyed or the people left, and so on. But the stories that they left behind and the legacy are what I’m trying to revive through images and the stories that I tell to people. My tours are almost a four-hour long lecture that happens in different places around the city.

We normally begin with the first Jewish community, the Baghdadi Jews, who came to Shanghai in the 19th century. Although they were a very small group of people, they became so influential and wealthy that, basically, one can not underestimate their influence on the development of the city of Shanghai and the legacy that they left behind. Almost an hour into my tour I’ll still be talking about the Baghdadi Jews. That happens mostly on the Bund, the Shanghai riverfront. Many of the landmark buildings from the past were built by the Baghdadi Jews.

Street View of Old Jewish Ghetto

Then we often travel to the area called the Hongkou District. At this point, I’m talking about going from luxury and wealth to the poorer neighborhoods of the city. These neighborhoods hosted two different Jewish communities. The first, in the early 20th century, were Russian Jews who escaped persecution in Russia and made it to Shanghai. They were a bigger group than the Baghdadi Jews and since they were running from persecution, they settled in the cheaper areas of the city.

That happened at the beginning of the century and lasted until around the time of the communist revolution. The Hongkou area was basically immigration neighborhoods like the Lower East Side in New York or the East End in London. A place that saw immigrants coming to begin their new life. When they were able to make it, they moved to the French Concession, most of them. You can see it clearly there like it happened in those other places. People coming and starting their lives, many times at the bottom, and working their way up.

A third group of Jewish people then came and flooded the area, who were the Jews escaping the holocaust. They were a massive group of people, about 20,000 of them. During the tour, people often ask why Shanghai was the one city in the world that remained an open port for people throughout most of the Second World War. In that area of the city, there is a monument that the government directed to have built; we walk through the old lanes where the people used to live, and we go to the museum. It’s a government museum; it’s not run by Jewish people, but the Hongkou district is in charge it.

I take them inside one of the dwelling houses that used to be owned by Jewish refugees – now a Chinese family is living there. We’ll see the poverty in which the Jews used to live, and also see the Chinese experience today. For many people, it is a very powerful, emotional kind of visit to see how people actually live in those kinds of places. So, you can say that the tour is going from ultra luxury to deep poverty.

There must be a lot of interesting stories along that tour. Is the clientele mostly Jewish?

The nature of the tour is Jewish, so naturally most would be Jews, but probably between 25-30% are non-Jewish. That group are usually history buffs. Many times the most heartwarming feedback I’ve received is from non-Jews. I heard maybe 3 years ago, a lawyer from America said that she thought the greatest things she did in China was take the Jewish tour.

Replica of White Horse Inn 

On your tours, what is something you hope travelers will leave with?

A sense that there was a great story into the unknown, and that they’ve discovered something that they will not get anywhere else. We try to show and to tell something that one might otherwise miss if they were not looking for the story.

What is your vision for the tour? Where do you want to take it?

I would like to keep going with more people. I hope that more students come along for the story, and maybe also locals who can’t speak English. The world is very big and has a lot of people. More and more people come, learn the story, and appreciate the historical connection between Jewish people and Chinese people, and the fact that this city has a marked lack of anti-semitism that others can learn from. I am hoping that people will learn from that and remember the day that they had this experience in Shanghai.

–

Thanks, Dvir! If you’re interested in taking a Jewish history tour of Shanghai with Dvir, AsiaTravel can arrange it for you. You can dive deep into the Jewish history of all of China on our Jewish History Tour.

We also work with a number of other experts in Shanghai. Jade Ma can guide you through the city’s contemporary art exhibitions and Shanghai history expert Patrick Cranley can take you on a walk down one of China’s most historic riversides. No matter what your interest, we’ll find the best experts to help you make the most out of your trip.

From the intricate paintings of classical China to revolutionary propaganda of the 20^th century, art in China has both enjoyed and suffered from its intrinsic relationship with the country’s politics. With a tumultuous century now behind us, art in China is in renaissance once again, especially in Beijing. The epicenter of this grand nation, Beijing is home to a flourishing art scene. The city boasts alternative and contemporary districts, as well as traditional architecture and antiques. We’ve put together this Beijing guide so art lovers can get the most out of this diverse destination.

An Art Lovers’ Guide to Beijing: Wuyong Gallery

For those with an interest in fashion, we grant you private access to the concept store and gallery of Ma Ke’s fashion house, Wuyong. With the aim of steering away from mass-produced, foreign-label clothing, Ma Ke bases her collections on the concept of preserving tradition, with influences from China’s rich cultural heritage and natural beauty. Having made appearances at both Paris Fashion Week and London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, Ma Ke’s work has attracted international attention and succeeds in blurring the line between art and fashion. With this exclusive behind the scenes access, you can experience the collection coming to life in all its powerful silence, while learning more about China’s traditional practices and craftsmanship.

Photo by Kyle Obermann

RECOMMENDED READING: Meet Wai Wai, Our New Art Expert

An Art Lovers’ Guide to Beijing: 798 with an Expert

For art lovers, no trip to Beijing would be complete without exploring the 798-art district. 798 is home to an eclectic mix of contemporary work, showing off everything from large sculptures to urban graffiti; the setting, an industrial area of disused military factories. To really get the most out of this artsy district, we recommend calling on the expertise of our knowledgeable contemporary art expert, Wai Wai. With Wai Wai, you’ll gain an insider’s perspective on Beijing’s flourishing art scene and discover the meaning behind some of the art on show. The architecture itself is worth the trip!

RECOMMENDED READING: 5 Alternative Must-Sees in Beijing

An Art Lovers’ Guide to Beijing: Chaochangdi

Just around the corner from the 798-art district is Caochangdi, an artists’ village designed by Ai Wei Wei himself. This village mixes contemporary-style art exhibitions with fresh produce markets and livestock, a real nod to its former purpose as home to a mix of migrant workers, farmers, students, and artists. Set up around a series of low buildings and alleyways, we can arrange an exploration of this district with exclusive meetings with the artists themselves. With government plans putting the future of Caochangdi at risk, this is definitely an area of Beijing’s booming art scene that needs to be discovered before it’s too late.

An Art Lovers’ Guide to Beijing: Liulichang Market Street

To step back in time and appreciate some of Beijing’s more traditional art forms, we recommend a visit to Liulichang Market Street, known for the ancient stone dwellings that line the streets and the craftwork shops and museums found within. A meander down these streets with a local AsiaTravel guide will give you insight into China’s proud history of craftsmanship; from glazing palatial tiles, to picking up a brush and ink for some traditional Chinese calligraphy. 

Photo courtesy of The Opposite House, Beijing

An Art Lovers’ Guide to Beijing: The Opposite House

As an art aficionado, it makes sense to stay somewhere with an emphasis on design and culture too. That’s why we recommend topping off this artsy Beijing getaway with a stay at The Opposite House. Centrally situated in Beijing’s Sanlitun shopping area, The Opposite House blends striking contemporary design with Chinese aesthetics, both inside and out. Lighting, form and space are all taken into consideration in this boutique hotel to create both a pleasurable and calming effect on the senses. After a long day seeing the sights, take a soak in the hotel’s show-stopping stainless steel swimming pool; now that’s we call fine art.    

On top of the areas we’ve already mentioned, Beijing truly is in the midst of booming development, celebrating a burgeoning art scene. Wherever you go, Beijing is visually provocative, from traditional hutongs to the glitzy and futuristic architecture of CBD. With a large number of smaller art galleries dotted around the city (Red Brick Art Museum is one of our current favorites), our experts will be sure to fill your trip with more art than you can shake a paintbrush at.