China Tours

Hong Kong is a largely self-governing territory of China , facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south. Hong Kong is a global metropolitan and international financial centre, and has a highly developed capitalist economy.

Beginning as a trading port, on a single, strategically located island, Hong Kong became a crown colony of the United Kingdom in 1842, reclassified as a British dependent territory in 1983, and remained so until the transfer of its sovereignty to China in 1997. Under the "one country, two systems" policy, Hong Kong enjoys a high degree of autonomy in all areas with the exception of foreign affairs and defense. As part of this arrangement, Hong Kong continues to maintain its own currency, legal system, political system, immigration control, rule of the road and other aspects that concern its way of life, many of which are distinct from those of mainland China.

Boasting one of the most spectacular city skylines in the world amid a natural setting, its identity as a cosmopolitan centre where East meets West is reflected in its cuisine, cinema, music and traditions. The city's population is 95% Chinese and 5% people of other ethnicities. With a population of 7 million people but land area of 1,108 square kilometers, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.

Tulou, the earth building, is a unique and mysterious Hakka architecture with a thick earth wall enclosure found only in the mountainous areas in southwestern Fujian province bordering Guangdong in Southern China . Tulou is usually an enclosed building, mostly square or circular in configuration, with a very thick earth wall which is up to 6 feet thick, topped with wooden structures from three to five stories high, housing up to 80 families. These earth buildings have only one entrance, guarded by 4-5 inch thick wooden doors reinforced with an outer shell of iron plate. The top levels of these buildings have gun holes for defense against bandits. What is remarkable about these buildings is the fact that, in spite of the earth wall, some of them are more than 700 years old, surviving through centuries of natural elements, including earth quakes, yet still standing solid.

Tianluokeng/Snail Pit Tulou Cluster is a tulou quintet cluster located at Zhangzhou City , Nanjing County , Shuyang Township , about four hours drive by motor coach from Xiamen , through winding and bumpy narrow mountain roads.

It consists of five tulous with a square Buyunlou at the center, surrounded by three rotunda tulous and an oval tulou, forming a pattern of "four dishes and a soup". The five are: The square Buyunlou (Reaching the Cloud Building ) is at the center of the quincunx. It was the first tulou at this site, built in 1796. It is three-storied high; each storey has 26 rooms, four sets of stairs, and a go around corridor in front of the rooms at each level. Buyunlou was burnt down by bandits in 1936, and rebuilt in1953 according to the original plan. The Hechanglou, is a three-storied high round earth building. Zhenchang Building is three storied with round shape, 26 rooms per storey, built in 1930. Ruiyun Building , built in 1936, is 3-storied, 26 rooms per floor. The oval shape Wenchang building of 1966, is 3-storied, 32 rooms per floor.

After Haikou , Sanya is the second most populous city of the island. It is renowned for its tropical climate as a popular tourist destination. Sanya is roughly on the same latitude as Hawaii , with very warm weather all year around. It is one of the important trade ports and transportation and communication centers of China . The daily average temperature is 25.4 °C and annual rainfall is 1,279 mm. The city serves as the training site for the Chinese national beach volleyball team.

The ancient name of Sanya is Yazhou, literally translated to ‘cliff state'. Its history can be dated back to Qin Dynasty more than 2,200 years ago. Since then, it has always been within the territory of the succeeding dynasties of China . Sanya is so remote from the capital of China , therefore it is always called Tianyahaijiao, which means the end of the sky and ocean in Chinese.  Prime ministers and lesser officials from various dynasties were exiled here and an enlightened monk named Jiangzhen accidentally sailed here and used this place as one of his harbors for his long Buddhism-missionary journey to Japan .