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The Forbidden City, located at the center of Beijing municipality, was the seat of power for 24 emperors from 1406 to 1911. It took thousands of artisans and 14 years to complete the colossal complex spread over 720.000 square meters with 9.000 bays of halls and rooms which become a symbol of China’s monarchial grandeur built on the blood and sweat of its toiling peasantry. Significantly, however, the main entrance to the imperial city, Tiananmen or the Gate of Heavenly Peace, connects the past with the present in a curiously fatalistic manner.

And the Forbidden City is not so forbidden anymore. It is one of China’s major tourists’ attractions where hundreds of hawkers accost visitors and shove tourist books in their faces, quoting prices with huge margins for bargain. China is waking up from decades of slumber.

So, what we have in China today is tremendous economic freedom without political empowerment of the citizenry. Corruption and nepotism are logical outcomes of this situation. And the middle class is too tiny to influence the system. According to one estimate, middle-class groups with income ranging from 2,500 dollars to 10,000 dollars per year constitute less than five percent of the population. By contrast, lower income groups even in wealthier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou do not earn more than 900 dollars a year. About 60 percent of China’s population still lives in the countryside, with per capita income less than 300 dollars per year.

Having said that, one cannot ignore China’s huge population base of 1.3 billion people. Even at five percent, the country’s middle-income segment numbers at 65 million people. These people are the architects of the future China which, many observers predict, will be the major economic powerhouse of the world by the end of the decade. A glimpse of this can be had in Beijing’s scores of multi-storey shopping malls where customers literally trip over each other to move ahead. Its huge and fashionable hotels are crawling with guests, as are its eating houses, bars and discotheques.

The main geographical feature of the city is the River Thames. The central area and the most important sights, theatres and restaurants are on the north bank of the river. The trendy and tourist-ridden West includes Soho, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square and Regent St. The East End lies east of the Circle Line; it used to be the exclusive preserve of the Cockney but is now a cultural melting pot. Accommodation in London is expensive and in short supply in July and August.

City of London: it’s only one square mile in area and contains the Bank of England, The Stock Exchange, the share dealing and finance companies, and the international banks.

Trafalgar Square: It’s the heart of visitors’ London, beating with tour buses, cameras and flocks of persistent pigeons. On the square’s northern edge is the National Gallery.
Houses of Parliament: The building includes the House of Commons and the House of Lords. There’s restricted access to the chambers when they’re in session, but a visit around 6pm will avoid the worst of the crowds

Buckingham Palace: The Queen opened Buckingham Palace to the public for the first time in 1993 to raise money for repairs to Windsor Castle.

Tower Bridge was completed in 1894, after 8 years of construction. It is one of the world’s most famous bridges. 150,000 vehicles cross it every day. Over 900 times a year the roadway parts and lifts to let tall ships, cruise liners and other large craft pass through.

Amsterdam is also known to be a haven for hippies. It has moved since then to be a bigger economy and a successful cosmopolitan business centre. The hippie era was the 60’s and 70’s when Amsterdam got its name of hippie haven from free for all culture. Most people visualize this expired idea even today.

The new economy has brought prosperity all around evident from growing business zones and transformation of the general landscape surrounding ancient town houses and canals.

Today’s Amsterdam does not welcome the hippie youth that thinks getting high on hash is a part of the city’s culture but prefers youth that have a spending capacity. It’s not that one can’t smoke hash but Amsterdam has slowly transformed itself into a city where you can smoke hash and enjoy the city without a big damage to the pocket.

Amsterdam historically has been a major trading post during the colonial times, the reason why you will find scattered town houses around the otherwise neatly aligned canals. These were made by the then wealthy tradesmen. Today these houses mostly house smoke shops, exotic night life and a string of brothels. This historical irony has been taken in stride by the local populace and by a collective decision licensed the brothels and the sale of hash in licensed coffee shops. These are a major tourist attraction today.

It would be wrong to think that the locals are addicted or are always high on marijuana. They are busy planning and remodeling a few town houses into various centers of innovative business, they are busy biking around or tasting ethnic food or just relaxing watching life from the sidelines reading newspapers on a sidewalk café. Read the rest of this entry »

Tropical beaches and tropical islands are located within 23 1/2 degrees either north or south of the equator. They enjoy warm weather year round with plenty of sunshine and warmth. Depending on where you are headed, there are many tropical destinations around the world, including Hawaii, Fiji, the Caribbean, and Bora Bora.

Hawaii
The Aloho State of Hawaii offers you several different islands and beaches. Oahu Island is the most popular, home to the infamous Waikiki Beach and Honolulu, the state’s capital. Maui offers you several luxury resorts, 16 golf courses, and a 10,023 foot volcano. Molokai and Lanai can both be reached by ferry from Maui, or you can simply fly there from Honolulu.

Hawaii’s Big Island is the largest of all islands, featuring Volcanoes National Park, with amazing
waterfalls and breathtaking beaches. Kauai is known for it’s tropical vegetation and has even been used for setting of many Hollywood movies. Read the rest of this entry »

Japan is the country in the North Pacific Ocean which have four main islands: Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku. Tokyo is the largest city and the country’s capital. Japans’s landscape is dominated by mountains. Most people live on the coast and along the rivers.

Japan is an important economic power in the world. They produce electronic goods, cars and other HiTech goods.
Osaka is One of the largest cities and a major port on Honshu Island. Industrial, Financial and commercial center.
Kyoto was Former capital of Japan (794 -1868). It has many important historical sites.
Many city in Japan became an industrial manufacturing town which have global brands.

There’s an alternative standard of road trip adventure that road trip planners might consider for summer is to utilize the train system for the long stretches of highway between destination cities and then renting car to explore the area. This way becomes an adventure trip, especially if your trip includes an overnight stay aboard the train!

There’s something a railway road trip that beckons the pioneer spirit within us. And granted which is sleeping cabins aren’t as roomy as regular hotel rooms, but it moves you towards your destination while allowing you to sleep, something you couldn’t do with a car or RV unless you alternated driving shifts. And the sleeping cabins are definitely roomier than airline seats!

Explore the train, revel in the changing scenery buzzing by your view, curl up with a good book and maybe take in a catnap. Trains allow you to slow your pace and relax and isn’t that one of the main goals of going on a vacation? Your road trip planner will still be filled with things to do, hotels, car rental and restaurants once you reach your destination.

France city has the crowd is attracted to sparkling ski slopes of the Alps, sunlit vineyards and sun-baked beaches of this beautiful country. France is a country which draws more tourists than any other country. It is easy to see why this is the case given France’s great reputation for fine wines, good food, high fashion and relaxed lifestyle. But while France is undoubtedly a place to eat and drink till your heart is content, there’s much more to this fascinating country than only cutting-edge cuisines. Spring is the best time to be here, and those interested in winter sports can drop at the Alps and Pyrenees with some polar gear. The summers are very hot and winters are moderate. An all-weather coat and pair of comfortable shoes are a must. Women, especially, should carry cocktail dresses as some of the restaurants ask for it. When visiting any religious site, refrain from wearing sleeveless shirt and shorts, as they are disliked at such places.

French has some unique habits. Handshaking is customary greeting and women should be kissed on both cheeks and should be addressed as Monsieur or Madame. French people are popularly known for their like for stylish sportswear and of course perfumes. Nudism is allowed on some beaches only. Social functions, fine restaurants, and clubs call for more formal dressing. When at a formal dinner, wait till the host gestures to start the dinner. Smoking is banned in public places. Read the rest of this entry »

Mention Switzerland, most people inevitably think of cheese. The Swiss themselves think a lot about cheese, too. These days, the Swiss attitude to cheese seems to have become slightly more satirical : “There’s no wife can prepare a fondue like any good Swiss.”

Fondue had something of a vogue overseas in the 1970’s, but it is dtill going to strong in Switzerland, where it is practically the national dish. It’s made with melted cheese in a pot that has been rubbed with garlic. White wine matbe a dash of kirsch ai also added.

The  recipe for fondue and much more can find at the local dairy in Gruyere north of the Lake of Geneva in western Switzerland, where the famous cheese of (almost) the same name is made. The village dairy its name, is open for visitors who want to see the highlight technical side of the cheese making procees, and gleams with steel and white tiles. Silver pipes and tubes wind themselves from one big industrial vat to another, and everything is washed down from  blue host by a man in white wellington boots, a long white apron and a sterile cap. The dairy looks like an operating theater in the hospital, encased in glass as if to seal it off from the very mountain air on which the cows thrive.

Milk is brought in from the surrounding farms, where it is place in huge vats and heated until curdled. The curdled milk is then cut with a harp. Visitors can buy cheese aplenty at the dairy.

Cheese isn’t the only reason to visit Gruyeres, this is also one of the fines remaining examples of a fortified medieval village in all Europe. A small market town grew up here in the thirteenth century, and many of the medieval buildings remain, surrounded almost entirely by walls and others fortifications. In the village square, you can see stone blocks carved with hollows, used as grain measures for the medieval markets that once took place here every Sunday. Read the rest of this entry »