It has been a year since we began this blog!!! We have traveled, written, photographed and even started a business to help fund this adventure–more on that one day soon. It has been amazing and we love China even more than we did when we started.

We have had a rough few weeks for a number of reasons. The toughest thing to recover from was a spam hack of the site. I think we are OK again, but we lost a lot of pages to a security flaw in Wordpress. We are still working to get everything back.

You have helped immensely and we are asking you to give us a few minutes one more time!

At the bottom of tis post please comment and tell us why YOU love China. And help us reach the goal of becoming one of the longest comment threads on the net.

About us for those who are new:

For a year has been a place where we have posted positive stories, pictures, travel adventures and announcements about ways to help where help is needed.

All ad proceeds from the site are immediately donated to the Library Project which now has an earthquake rebuild fund.

The Dreamblogue is one long-term solution to this tragedy and any others that may come our way. It is also a way to support positive projects in China like the Library Project’s commitment to orphanages and rural communities.

We don’t ask for donations ever. We do ask that you send us original photos that we can post, keep us informed about great stories and do five simple things:

1. Favorite the blog on Technorati by going here:

TECHNORATI

We want The China Dreamblogue to be the #1 favorited blog on the planet. How great would that be?? It will take about 10,000 favorites to make that happen.

2.Comment on our “Why I Love China” post. We want to set a world record for longest comment thread in cyber-space.

3. Link to us on your own blogs. We will have badges later on, but for now a text link will do it.

4. Invite your friends here to ILC! so we can have a place to announce when other groups, like now, need your support. And feel free to post any needs and connections that fit with this goal!

5. Add this post to your favorite Social network: Facebook, Digg, Stumble….

We are already #1 in many key words on Google and Baidu for China Travel, China Pics and such. As we get bigger and stronger we will expand the site, so people can find only engaging and positive information about the country we all love.

Help us get to #1 and we’ll try to help people for years to come in China….

<h1>UPDATE </h1>

You can also help us by joining our group on Facebook: A Million People who Love China.

It has been a short two years since I first encountered David DeGeest. I met him shortly after he came to an exchange program’s rescue by traveling to China to replace a teaching fellow who could not accept the annual honor. The volunteers from Grinnell College, one of America’s top liberal arts schools, are competitively selected by Grinnell’s office of Social Commitment and spend one to two years in cultural education pursuits around the world. In order to come, David had to first surrender admission to a law school in America and then join Grinnell’s long tradition of International humanitarian service–unequaled in numbers by any college of any size.

Within a few months of his arrival David was forced by local immigration laws to leave his duties because host and parent institutions had failed to make the proper arrangements for his visa. He spent four months of uncomfortable nights on my sofa in Guangzhou waiting to return and finish what he had started. During his layoff David made use of his time in ways that would soon change him, and those around him, forever.

“Dawei ” as he fast became known by his admiring students, fervently studied Chinese, gave freely of his time to help an insecure translation student edit several hundred pages in a world-class set of books on Chinese Penjing (the parent art of Bonsai), served as an administrative assistant for the interim CEO of China’s top corporate leadership training company, studied Taekwondo with Macau’s Olympic Team players, wrote articles on his experiences in China for the Blogger News Network and became the beloved “American Son” of the Unsinkable Ms Yue, the cancer survivor who, along with The League of Extraordinary Chinese Women, would become the inspiration for this blog.

During his stay in Guangzhou his association with Ms Yue inspired his voluntary, and uncompensated, co-teaching of college classes on blogging, SEO and International e-Business. It was in in concert with his students that he co-developed the Dreamblogue and helped write and promote the Onemanbandwidth blog that won the Best Blog in Asia prize at the annual Weblog Awards in 2006.

By the time he returned to Guangzhou, after finishing his fellowship assignment, he had a deep and abiding love for China, one that permeated his personal and professional aspirations.

Within a few months David, once again sleeping on the sofa, had written more than 50,000 words in support of the Dreamblogue in the form of: grant proposals to Global Voices Online, and the Knight and MacArthur Foundations. He drafted sponsorship support proposals for colleges in the UK and the US; authored PR Web releases about our mission; sent out hundreds of e-mails to potential supporters (not donors as we decided never to accept funds directly); developed project profiles on social networking sites; created several successful groups on Facebook; corresponded and coordinated activities with intended recipients of our charity; edited and revised over 22 articles about the mainland provinces we intended to visit; and trained handicapped and able-bodied interns in the subtleties of SEO and online networking.

David helped transformed my apartment into a two-man hermitage where he literally spent 15 to 20 hours a day, carpals to the keyboard, in preparation for dreamblogue adventures. The only breaks he took were to watch reruns of House, M.D. (while he kept editing and planning) and to play an occasional round of online Scrabble. Chinese studies continued and Mr. DeGeest devoured dozens of books on Chinese history, business, language and culture while learning podcasting, photography, HTML coding and more. He spent a few weekends traveling the roads running through rural China and wrote beautifully of the magical work of the Library Project, the Volunteer English Program and the US-China Medical Foundation.

David made his spending and food money by teaching corporate communication classes for one of China’s top companies. Later, the generous support of students and staff of the best pound-for-pound MBA program on the planet, Cal Poly, kept us traveling, writing and promoting…

…until David realized that a more sustainable income was needed. Being in a country where non-governmental charities cannot be officially sanctioned, David pointed us toward creating money the old-fashioned way: earning our keep by giving something for something and then turning any profits into good works. He suspended travel in hopes of bringing in much needed funds.

We started offering SEO services to SMEs and Multi-nationals. It was during this time that David learned that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has a long maturation period ahead of it and is not always born of true good will or altruistic intentions. David was lied to, cheated and humiliated by some of the most high-profile advocates of engagement and good on the Internet. It was enough, at times, to make a saint doubt his world-view. But, he always looked for the good that came of his efforts and the fantastic people he met along the Internet Superhighway

Years ago, there was talk of a self-perpetuating machine…If he could have figured out a way to not take a food break daily he would have.

After we were contacted last year by a Fortune 100 company in Silicon Valley, David was certain that we would have the money we needed to help our interns and continue this blog’s original goal to promote rural education, literacy, charity and a positive understanding of China through travel and blogging.

The call I mentioned, and subsequent promises from Silicon Valley, were cleverly crafted lies that cost both of us hundreds of hours of labor and all of our savings. Culture Fish Media was born to accommodate the wishes of a company that we now know never meant to follow through with assistance. But, David learned much from the ordeal and undaunted, kept right on writing the blog, managing the photo group on Facebook (it now has amateurs and professionals lending him their work), writing business plans and teaching 20 hours a week at a college as a China certified foreign expert in education and culture –did I also mention he filled in for free when graduate professors in South China’s best University needed a replacement in Literary Studies?And he tirelessly campaigned for a chance to carry the torch in the Olympic relay (a glitch in the Lenovo voting software cost him a slot) as a tribute to the cancer victims to whom he had dedicated so much time (his essay is still in the top five results that come up on Baidu for “Olympic Torch Dream”)… He did all of this while negotiating with respected country and international marketing managers, answering digital marketing request for proposals, and optimizing small and formidable websites with only two, 3-day vacation breaks the entire time: one was to Yangshuo where he spent half of his time working on the computer and the other half in playful contemplation…

David went from reticent, inquisitive new graduate to passionate liaison engaged in negotiations with world renowned companies, service providers, Internet luminaries and educational institutions. He practiced and succeeded at tasks, with a BA in Math and English, that MBA students only dream of tackling….No, it wasn’t all work and no play–almost–and yes, there were cherished moments of complete frivolity:

There is more, but I will save that for future posts and maybe even a book. Many of his well-researched proposals are still making their way through the digestive tracks of various commercial and organizational enterprises–and anything that is achieved by the BOD, or its soon to be retired offspring, is directly due to David’s perseverance and dedication.

I’ve read several stories on the Internet this week bemoaning the lack of medical care in China, the widening gap between rich and poor, and descriptions of the continuing disasters in north and the south that have devastated China. We have a “surviverthon” scheduled for October that will aid the blog’s regular charities and contribute to cancer and disaster survivors. While some people may think the fforts are new others know that David started work two years ago trying to make life better for those challenged by cancer, flooding, poverty, earthquakes and lack of educational opportunities. Just ask Thomas Stader of the Library project what part David’s viral marketing gifts played in the building of numerous libraries this year in orphanages and rural communities throughout China. The first 400 members of the Facebook group devoted to their project were in some way connected to David and the BOD. And he has never asked for credit.

David has been my colleague, student, family member, friend and valued counsel. The only thing he has ever wanted in return for his efforts is that people would socially network his honest requests, give a few minutes of time and space on blogs (which he knows are valuable), and share when and where they could of their time and talents.

And before he sounds a little too altruistic to be true, you need to know what has been in this for him: He has selfishly wanted Ms Yue and the League of Extraordinary Chinese Women to live longer, he has wanted a new prosthetic leg for “Coffee” and he has wanted Chinese students to be able to achieve dreams of a better life.

He is off now to graduate school in pursuit of an MBA en route to a finance/Business PhD so he can teach at the University level. Some farsighted college needs to be putting in an early bid for his services.

Thanks David.

Post Script:

One of my favorite stories of the year was David’s first short return to the US after the visa issues. It involved his bewly learned ability to communicate with his adopted Chinese mom, Ms Yue, and her unique language. It seems appropriate to end with it here:
(more…)

Some examples:

These first photos come from the China Photo Contest group on Facebook and were posted by Robert DaBoss.

These next photos come from our Facebook group A Million People Who Love China and were posted by Elisabeth Rowley Mitchell.

To see your photos here, post your photos first on the Blog of Dreams’ associated groups on Facebook: China Photo Contest and A Million People Who Love China.  We will feature weekly photos on the blog from each group and from any part of China and its autonomous regions.   Stories, anecdotes, notes about context, and information about the location where the photo was taken are more than welcome.

All money raised as a result of views of these photos and click-throughs on ads for these sites go directly to the Library Project and the Library Project Earthquake Relief Fund, a China charity now leading a campaign focused on helping to rebuild libraries and schools.

I wanted to feature Tom on the Blog of Dreams because of the intense passion and deep commitment his photos and writing seem to commit to understanding China. He does not seem to be content with the metropolises of Beijing or Shanghai, but has a deep interest in looking at parts of China that are often forgotten about or little-known to foreigners who have spent a short amount of time here. Most of us know that we need to go to Sichuan to see pandas, but how many of us are familiar with the Yao Minority people or Guizhou’s minority village of Zengchong? Tom’s articlulate stories and photos on both of these places are worth a thoughtful read.

More of Tom’s photos and articles can be seen on his China photo website, http://tomcarter.org.

This photo from Robert DaBoss was taken in Guangzhou.

And this photo from Joew Huang was taken in Guangdong Province.

We’ll announce more photos and contest winners in the next couple of days.

One of the things I love and admire most about the Library Project is the huge amount of good that can be done with such a small amount of money. Take a close look at the resources available in this rural community, the dedication of the children and the looks on the faces of the children that signify success for this endeavor.

Only a $1,000 will equip a rural classroom/orphanage with much needed literacy tools.

It doesn’t get any or easier to make a difference than this. Head over to The Library Project to make a one-time recurring donation.

After a year of interviews and research we have started to compile our lists of top business schools and Executive MBA (E-MBA) programs for Chinese students looking for study opportunities in America, Australia, Canada, UK, Singapore and New Zealand.

We will be listing the top five schools in each country in no particular order. The criteria used to evaluate schools differs greatly from that used by US News and World Report and others. We queried parents and prospective students during our travels about those issues that most concerned them and most affected their choices before and after admission. The rankings displayed are unbiased and were not affected by our affinity for any program despite one of the schools being a strong supporter of the Blog of Dreams.

Criteria:

• Openness Toward Foreign Students/Ethnic Diversity
• Financial Assistance
• Post Graduation Placement Assistance
• Faculty to Student Ratio
• Overall Reputation of Graduate School
• Campus Safety
• Ease of Application/Admission Office Attitude
• Affordability: Living Costs, Tuition
• Curriculum
• Student Life
• Internship Options
• Salary After Graduation
• Alumni Network

Top Five Business Schools in no particular order:

• Purdue: Scored highest in Ethic diversity (Chinese students make up 2nd largest population), Alumni Network, Graduate School Reputation, and Curriculum

• Ohio State: Scored highest in Student Life, Ease of Application and Financial Assistance

• Cal Poly: Scored highest in Affordability, Campus Safety, Faculty to Student Ratio, Graduate School Reputation (Top Overall Masters Degree Granting Institution in the West) and Post Graduate Placement

• Harvard: Scored Highest in Reputation, Alumni Network, Salary After Graduation, Faculty to Student Ratio, Ethnic Diversity, and Internship Options

• University of Minnesota: Scored highest in Ethnic Diversity, Curriculum, Campus Safety, Ease of Application

Other schools close to making the cut: University of Arizona, Columbia University, UCLA, University of California at Berkeley, University of Pennsylvania and the University of Iowa…

We will publish results of other surveys intermittently throughout the next few weeks.

An ancient Buddhist holy site built in 537 AD, during the Liang Dynasty in Guangzhou, the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees (六榕寺) was originally called the Baozhuangyan Temple, which probably means means something like . During the Northern Song Dynasty, a writer called Su Shi wrote the inscription Liu Rong (Six Banyan Trees) because of the six banyan trees he saw there. (The Chinese for “Captain Obvious” has escaped me). Ever since, the place has since been called the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees.

Just as dynasties in China rise and fall, so did the Temple. One of the dynasties burned the temple down, and it was rebuilt in the Northern Song Dynasty (989 AD). The Flower Pagoda, the main structure of the temple, was built in 1097, and was named for its colorful exterior. Though its original base was square, it was given an octagonal base during the rebuild in 1097. It was rebuilt again in 1373 AD after another fire in the early Ming Dynasty period, and finally restored in 1900. In all, this temple has over 1,400 years of history.

After entering the main gate, Tianwang Hall is the first major area, and The Laughing Buddha is there to welcome visitors. Next comes Weituo Hall. An old Chinese legends tells of a general Weituo who recaptured the Buddhist relics which had been stolen. In contrast to the laughing Buddha, Weituo keeps a straight face–apparently getting the relics back didn’t do all that much for his mood.
The piece of architecture that most often catches a visitor’s eyes is the Six Banyan Pagoda, where the Buddhist relics are placed. Its roofs curve upward and appear to be dark red flower petals, while the tip of the pagoda is like stamens. The whole construction looks like a huge stigma high in the air. Therefore, people like to call it the Flower Pagoda. The pagoda not only is architecturally elegant, but also provides visitors a good place to overlook enchanting scenery around.

To the west of the Six Banyan Pagoda is Daxiong Baodian Hall - the main hall of the temple. The three biggest copper Buddhist statues placed there are among the biggest and most ancient Buddhist statues in Guangdong. In the center is Sakyamuni; to the left, the Amitabha; and to the right, the Apothecary. Together, they represent for present, past, and future.

Burning incense sticks is a major part of visiting the temple and paying respect. Thus, every year on the night before the Chinese traditional Spring Festival and Lantern Festival, the temple swarms with people. Masses queue to light and burn the first joss sticks so that they are blessed with good fortune in the coming year.

Nowadays, the temple’s proximity to foreign consulates in Guangzou has made it a regular destination for families participating in the international adoption of children from China. Typically families receive blessings for their newly adopted children at this temple in front of the statue of Kuan Yin.

Thanks to Steve Rodger and Kooltree productions for putting this together.

Photo of Xihu by Brad Reid.

And you thought M. Butterfly was confusing:
Zhejiang is the home of Yueju (越劇), one of the most common forms of Chinese opera. The art, which originated in Shengzhou, is traditionally performed by actresses only, in both male and female roles.

And in between is…zh?
A common saying in China is “上有天堂，下有苏杭:” Above there is Heaven, below there is Suzhou and Hangzhou, two of the most prosperous cities in the province.

New fruit or old?
The kiwifruit, now well-known in New Zealand, is native to the Yangtze River valley of northern China and Zhejiang Province on the coast of eastern China. The first seeds were brought out of China by missionaries to New Zealand at the turn of this century.

Photo of Liuhe Pagoda by Catty Lee.

Literary sneeze?:
Lu Xun (鲁迅), who is claimed as the founder of modern Chinese literature, was from Zhejiang Province. His most famous stories include “The True Story of Ah Q” (阿Q正传) and “A Madman’s Diary” (狂人日記).

It’s in their blood:
In 2004, The Zhejiang Blood Center found 2 strange blood specimens from a set of 2000 donated blood samples. Further genetic sequencing of the two strange blood specimens in revealed that each sample contained an unknown HLA gene. The center then sent the new findings to the WHO’s HLA gene bank. WHO confirmed the two new genes as two new alleles.

Shouldn’t it be Middlefoot?
The yeren, a Chinese version of bigfoot, is rumored to live in the uninhabited areas of southern China. One was supposedly found on May 23, 1957, near the village of Zhuanxian in Zhejiang province. A biology teacher had the presence of mind to preserve the hands and feet. After studying the body, a scientist concluded that they “belonged to a kind of large stump-tailed monkey unknown to science.” Subsequently he identified the animal as a stump-tailed macaque, and later study of the body confirmed the animal to be a member of an endangered species known as the Golden Monkey.

Photo of Zhejiang from Ling Fu.666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666
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Photo from Ken L.

This photo of the Lily Tower in the World Horticultural Expo is from Catty Lee.

Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning Province, is one of the largest cities in Northeast China and one of the most important cities in the nation. Historically, this is where the Manchu people built their capital before assuming political control of China and forming the Qing Dynasty in 1644. Since then, the city has retained its heritage as the center of Manchurian culture.

Even with its considerable historical legacy, Shenyang today is a bustling city. A massive city of over seven million, Shenyang has visible ethnic communities of Manchu, Mongol, and Hui peoples operating business and restaurants throughout the city, including a Korean influence. Modern, wide boulevards and international shopping centers only form a small part of picture: old hutong districts also cohabit the main downtown districts. These areas, filled with merchants and street vendors, give the city a festive atmosphere, while ancient trees provide shade for many of these places of ancient brick and lantern.

This photo of the Expo Garden in Shenyang is from Donicia Habiling.

The Horticulture Exposition Garden in Shenyang was recently chosen by the China National Tourism Administration as one of 66 high-profile scenic spots in China out of over 3,000 potential candidates.

This photo of one of the exhibits in Ocean World is from Donicia Habiling.

Shenyang’s Ocean World, actually located a little outside of Shenyang, opened in 2006–around the same time as the World Horticultural Exhibition. Ocean World features a large “walk-through” aquarium with a variety of fish, sharks, turtles, and rays, among other attractions of the sea. The aquarium includes a sea lion show, a small reptile garden, a beluga whale, and what it claims as its most amazing attraction…a “mermaid show.” Tickets cost around 80 Yuan/person.

This is a picture of Shenyang Imperial Palace. Photo from Catty Lee.

Liaoning, also known as the “Golden Triangle,” consists of an area of more than 145,900 square kilometers with borders including the Yellow Sea and the Bo Hai Sea. While the area now known as Liaoning has always been significant to China because of its strategic position near these seas and Korea, the province was only created in 1954 by merging the provinces of Liaodong and Liaoxi with five other municipalities.
Liaoning can be divided into three geographical areas. The highlands, consisting of low hills including the Nulu’erhu Mountains, are located in the western portion of Liaoning. In the middle of Liaoning, flatlands with rivers such as the Liao, dominate. The eastern portion of Liaoning is mountainous and includes Mt. Huabozi, the highest point in the province. The climate of Liaoning is cold during the winter months and warm and rainy during the summer months. Windy spring and fall seasons are short in comparison to summer and winter. The economy of Liaoning has historically focused on heavy industry. The city of Anshan, known for its steel and iron production, is known as the steel capital of China. Liaoning also provides petroleum, natural gas, and salt to China. In addition, Liaoning has iron, diamond, and boron deposits that are mined. Most of the apples and peaches that China exports are grown around Dalian. In addition to apples and peaches, Liaoning is known for producing maize, soybeans, peanuts, traditional Chinese medicine, and cotton.

Dalian, a city located on the Liaodong Peninsula, is a heavily developed city that is one of China’s major ports. Other ports in Liaoning include Yingkou and Dandong. Dalian was host to the

Photo from Kendy Li.

The majority of the population of the approximately 40 million people who live in Liaoning are Han Chinese. Minorities include Manchu, Koreans, Hui, Mongols, and Xianbei. Liaoning ranks 14th in population in China as of 2004.

Liaoning’s history is turbulant but deeply connected to the development of contemporary China. During the early 1600s, the Manchu used Shenyang, the contemporary capital of Liaoning, as their dynasty’s capital. They went on to conquer the rest of China and establish the Qing Dynasty, which lasted until 1911. The 20th century was a turbulent time for Liaoning and China as a whole. Many of the important battles of the 1905 Russo-Japanese War were fought in Liaoning. The Japanese invaded the area in 1931 and would occupy Liaoning until the end of World War II in 1945.

Liaoning also features a number of places of contemporary interest. The Shenyang Imperial Palace, located in Shenyang, is a smaller version of the Forbidden City. Completed in 1636, the Shenyang Imperial Palace is more intact than is the Forbidden City today. The Benxi Water Cave National Park hosts the largest water cave in Asia. The Benxi Water Cave National Park, consisting of 45 square kilometers, includes Mt. Tiecha, the Spa Temple, and Tanggou Valley. Mt. Tiecha, also known as Jui Ding, or Nine Peaks, is thought to be where Taoism originated in northeast China. In addition to being an important trade and manufacturing city, Dalian has beaches and hosts the Dalian Spring Fireworks Festival.

Photo from Thalia Kwok.

Chongqing is unique in China: it is one of only for municipalities, or cities located in provinces that reports to the national, not the local, government. The others includes Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai; however, Chongqing is the only one not on the east cost. It is also the newest municipality, incorporated in 1997, and the municipality with the greatest population: over 30 million people were counted there in a 2005 census.

The name Chongquing comes from the Jialing River that runs through the city into the nearby Yangtze River. Supposedly Chongqing was established around the eleventh century BCE by the Ba people and by 316 BCE, the State of Quin had overrun the city.

This photo of Liberation Tower is from Thalia Kwok.

Chongqing’s climate and geography are typical of areas in central China. The land surrounding Chongqing is very rough and full of many hills, making agricultural development there difficult. Chongqing has a semi-tropical climate with two seasonal monsoon variations. The annual average temperature in Chongqing is 18°C, but the summers are quite hot: temperatures reaching 45°C have been recorded in summer. The area is also known for its severe fog, which was a great tool used during the World War II for protection. In addition, the great amounts of coal burning without any controls on pollution, air pollution is a large problem.

Photo from Thalia Kwok.
Chongqing has been known historically for its large trading inland ports. However, during the mid twentieth-century Chongqing was transformed into a major industrial city. Many military industrial plants and factories began there, though recently these Chongqing’s industry has been under reform, ending production of military items and increasing production of materials for the development of the average civilian.

Photo from Thalia Kwok.

Many natural resources are available in an abundance, including coal, natural gas, and strontium. Nearly 4.8 billion tonnes of coal reserves, among the highest amounts of reserves available in China, are estimated to be in Chongqing. The city is also home to the worlds second largest strontium reserve. With all of these resources at its disposal, Chongqing is growing at a rate even higher than China’s national growth, with its economy growing at just over 12% on a yearly basis. The nominal GDP in 2005 $38.75 billion US dollars.

In addition to its strong industrial economy, Chongqing also has a powerful tourism industry, making nearly $26 million USD in this industry annually. Among the most famous tourist destinations is the Three Gorges, a breathtaking area located upon the Yangtze river and the most frequently visited canyon in China. A high number of historic landmarks cites are in the metropolitan area due to Chongqing’s role as a political and administrative center in World War II.

Chongqing also has a few quirky achievements. The worlds largest public bathroom was created in July 2007. The bathroom is a four story building with 1,000 toilets uniquely shaped. Several urinals have the look of an open crocodile mouth or a woman resembling the Virgin Mary showing her bust.

This photo of a Jiangsu city skyline was taken by Daryl Snow.

Jiangsu Province runs along the eastern edge of China, just north of Shanghai. The province is bordered on the north by Shandong, on the west by Anhui, and on the east by the Yellow Sea. Additionally, Jiangsu’s proximity to the Yellow Sea means the province is home to many waterways and lakes. Major cities in the Jiangsu province (or “Shu” for short) include Xuzhou, Zenjiang, Changzhou, and Yancheng.

Despite its relatively small size (Jiangsu represents less than two percent of China’s total land mass), the province is home to over 70 million people (a little over five percent of the population), many of whom live in sizable cities. The vast majority of the population is of the Han ethnic majority, with ethnic minorities representing less than one half of one percent of the population. The level of education is generally fairly high: over 99 percent of school-aged children have easy access to primary schooling. Additionally, the province is home to 94 colleges and universities.

This photo of a farmer in Jiangsu was taken by Tom Carter.

Because Jiangsu is home to the fertile Yangtze River delta as well as the Taihu and Hongze lakes (two of China’s largest freshwater lakes), Jiangsu’s land is also extremely fertile and is sometimes called “the land of rivers and lakes.” Like its neighboring provinces, much of Jiangsu Province lies within a monsoon climate zone that results in heavy summer rains. In the southern areas of the province, temperatures tend to be quite high, while the northern areas enjoy more temperate conditions. Jiangsu’s terrain is quite flat, owing to its proximity to the ocean, and because of its geography, much of the province’s land is developed for agriculture and industry. Major agricultural products include rice, cotton, and pigs, though freshwater fishing is also a major player in the area’s economy. Major industries include machinery, textiles, paper-making, and cement due to available deposits of coal, phosphorus, and pottery-quality clay.The densely populated Jiangsu Province is easy to navigate due to its well developed railway and highway systems and access to convenient water transport. The Asia-Europe Continental Bridge railway network, for example, begins in Lianyung and stretches all the way to Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and the city of Nanjing serves as an important highway hub that helps to connect over 100 towns and cities.

This development means travelers have convenient access to the region’s many sites of cultural and historical interest. In Nanjing, for example, visitors are drawn to Dr. Yat-Sun’s tomb, while Lianyungang draws fans of Xuanwu Lake and Yuntai Mountain. Other major points of interest include the Suzhou Garden (recently designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site), Yixing’s Three Caves, Wuxi’s Tai Lake, and Yangzhou’s West Lake. Specialty products of the area include Taihu Biluochun tea, Wuxi clay figurines, Yixing pottery, Yangzhou lacquer-ware, and pressed salted duck from Nanjing. All told, the Jiansu Province is home to 416 sites that have been designated as historically and culturally significant by either the national or local government, making this province a top destination for history-seeking tourists of all types.

This photo was taken by Daryl Snow.

Yunnan is located in the southwestern part of China, and borders Burma, Laos and Vietnam. Though the province is seated at the headwaters of half a dozen major river systems, including the Mekong, the Irrawaddy and Yangtze, only a small portion of Yunnan’s rivers are navigable. The landscape is varied, ranging from the mountains of the Tibetan plateau to semi-tropical lowlands, and attracts visitors and photographers from around the world. The provincial capitol, Kunnming is renowned for its “eternal spring” and mild winter weather. Yunnan is connected by air flights to domestic and regional international destinations through Kunmings’ Wujiaba Airport, although a newer airport is expected to be completed around 2015.

The rich and varied mineral and natural resources of the area was and is a magnet for human occupation and trade from the earliest times. Indeed, the oldest hominid fossil in China, the “Yuanmo Man” was discovered there in the 1960s. The trade route between China and India which passed through Yunnan was known as the “Southern Silk Road”.

The province is the most ethnically diverse in China, and is home to a large minority of ethnic Thais who once had their own kingdom of Nanchao. The Naxi people, a sub-group of the Tibetans who live around the town of Lijiang, are famous for having preserved a matriarchal society into the present day. The Xishuangbanna people, whose communities are located along the Mekong, hold a “Water Splashing Festival” over the Lunar New Year, very like Thailand’s “Songkan” festival, during which everyone must be doused with water. The popular tourist destination of Dali is renowned for the Erhai Lake, where fishermen work with “fishing bird” assistants. Dali is also famous for local horse fairs and the Pagodas of Saintly Worship, three towers that are part of a ruined temple complex over a thousand years old.

This photo was taken by Craig Leslie Hodges.

Another popular tourist destination is the Stone Forest, an area near Kunming where spectacular limestone stalagmites grow among a number of lakes. The noted geological wonder known as the “Jade Dragon Mountains,” which are said to look like a gigantic jade dragon holding up the sky, is also located in Yunnan. Tourism has developed into one of Yunnan’s major industries, aside from tobacco farming, mining of copper and other metals, and the collection of botanical and herbal samples. Traveling to Lijiang will lead you to Tiger Leaping Gorge, a long range of mountains with a amazing scenic view including a massive river and a long hiking trail with dozens of small, cozy guest houses along the way.

Cuisine tends to be rather spicy, a fact often attributed to the presence of so many ethnic cultures. A curious habits in food here are the use of flowers as food, and certain local dishes feature such things as pineapple or goat cheese. Marinated and roasted duck is also extremely popular.

Although relatively undeveloped, Yunnan is self-sufficient in agricultural production. Tobacco and rubber are among the cash crops grown there, as well as tea, its most famous product. The custom of drinking tea is supposed to have begun in the high plateaus of Yunnan. Of all the plant species found in China, over half of them can be found in Yunnan alone, ranging across the province’s four different growing zones.