Maria Xue

Chinese Name: Xue Yuan

Maria at Chengdu Panda Breeding Center  Go to Maria's Album

I have joined TravelChinaGuide after graduating from college in 2007. In the past years, I have learnt much about tourism and now have a better understanding about travel.

When I was a little girl, at around 5 years old, I traveled with my parents to Shanghai and some other nearby cities. At that time, travel meant little to me, and I have no impression for each city. The only rather clear memory is about taking trains and boats, for I can remember nothing of the attractions in each city. So, now, I think for little kids, the most interesting and exciting thing could be the transfer from one place to another place.

In recent years, I have traveled to some other provinces like Yunnan, Sichuan, and Hong Kong. Now, travel is a way to learn the world and enrich my own experience.

Yunnan is a land of various ethnic groups, natural scenery, creatures where one could see the most aspects of our planet. From Lijiang in the north to Xishuangbanna in the south, we have sampled different landscapes from snowy mountains to tropical forests. Since is it a long trip to several cities, joining a tour group is a good choice, you don’t need to prepare too much in advance, when the flight lands the destination, the guide will meet you and you just need to follow your guide and enjoy the holiday.

If you are interested in Chinese food, Chengdu is one of the best cities to visit. I have been to Chengdu twice, with my good friends, we didn’t take a guided tour, but explored the city by ourselves, which leaves us a lot of free time to search for delicious local foods. The most impressing thing was that our hostel is just above a famous hot-pot restaurant, we had our first and last meals there to celebrate the beginning and ending of our Chengdu trip. If Chengdu is one stop for your trip to China, leaving one free day to taste the local food, which will surely leave a special memory for your China trip.

Hong Kong has been an absorbing place to me for a long time, so we have chosen this exciting city for our honeymoon trip. We prepared a long time to learn the transportation, attractions and travel tips, and we have also made detailed travel plan for each day. Then, the preparations we did in advance made our trip much easier. Besides the important attractions like the Peak, Victoria Bay, Ocean Park, we have also spend some time to explore the small lanes, where the travelers could taste some real vision of the local people’s daily life and culture, which is quite difference experience than going to the famous attractions. The most interesting experience was that we have found a whole lane with fortunetelling stalls, one side of the road are all Tarot Cards readers and the other side are all traditional Chinese Zhouyi theory fortune-tellers.

China is a vast country with beautiful natural scenery, long history and rich cultures, if you love travel, please don’t hesitate to follow us, you will be impressed by the magnificent spectacle, time-honored history, splendid culture and the hospitable people, which could be the treasured memories in your lifetime.