ZhaoQing肇庆

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhaoqing
The history of Zhaoqing : http://en.visitgd.com/overview/history/202871.shtml

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22nd November 2010 Monday 1st Day in China

深圳
Shenzhen City

Kota Kinabalu Vs Shenzhen
12:10PM From the air I can see Shenzhen City below. Shenzhen natural environment is such a contrast with Kota Kinabalu City. It just like traveling from a green jungle to concrete forest in just 3 hours. It is an excitement for me not because seeing such a big city but that this city is connected closely with our family history.

This morning 7:00AM we started to congregate at Kota Kinabalu International Airport Terminal 2 (AirAsia Terminal).

Our tour group consist 16 members plus 1 tour leader make a total of 17 passengers in AirAsia flight AK 6412 from Kota Kinabalu International Airport Terminal 2 to Shenzhen International Airport. We are on a 8D7N Shenzhen-Guilin Packaged Tour on AirAsia's Air Bus A320-200

The tour is according to scheduled - the hotel we stay, the places to be visited, foods for the meal. Except one thing that we did not expected after arriving China and not prepared for : the "VIP Purchasing" Scheduled by China side and which the Malaysian travel agent in written agreement claim "NOT RESPONSIBLE for the schedule"

More about Guilin 8D7N Tour Package of Air World Company 深圳-桂林旅游路线
More about VIP Purchasing Schedule of Guilin Tour Operator
Here are some aerial view of Shenzhen if you are interested in aerial watch like me.

Arial view of Kota Kinabalu City.

22-11-2010 MON 12:10PM

1) Shenzhen Airport Golf Resort Tel (Blue Roof)
: (0755) 2777 9996 ex-101. Fax: (0755) 2777 6699.
2) Shenzhen Huang Tian Airport. this course since its opening in 2000. The course is situated right next to Shenzhen airport & it's only half & hour away from Huanggang & around 110-120 RMB away. Lo Wu to the club will be a little longer at around 40'.
Tel (0755) 7776333-101
(North of Shenzhen )
(Bihaiwan)

Shenzhen International Airport
12:44PM The 3 of us already collected our 3 luggages and out of the arrival hall and into the lobby. From the moment the plan touch down and out to the reception area in less them 30 minutes for such a huge airport is fast and efficient for me as I experienced longer time in other small airports.

In the lobby waiting for us is the China tour guide Da Jiang in pink T-shirt holding the yellow tour-leader flag. She would be our China tour guide for the next 8 days 7 night in this Guilin trip.

The tall young man in black t-shirt standing next to her is the Malaysian tour leader Ferderic.
By 12:56PM We are lead to our tour bus that travel us for 3 days to reach Guilin.

　

The Tour Service Agent in China
This tour bus service operating company is 桂林市金普盛客运有限责任公司. A new company started service only in 2008 with license to provide charted service 道路运输经营许可within Guilin City and Inter-Province 市际、省际包车客运

I have not being to China for more then ten years. And 10 years ago my visit to Guangzhou was a very brief few days tour seeing on the roads mostly cargo trucks and bicycles. Today I witness yet another revolution in China - the revolution of transportation and traveling witness by its newly completed highways and large variety vehicles for passengers.
This first vehicle our group lead to became our first experiment with the progress of China modern transport. C17093, the bus plate number, brand is Golden Dragon manufactured by Xiamen Golden Dragon Van Co. Ltd.

The manufacturer of our coach :
Xiamen Golden Dragon Van Co. Ltd
Founded in 1992 in joint venture between Xiamen Automobile Co. Ltd and foreign investors. The company has premises area of 30 hectares, of which 150,000 square metres is workshop, and assets of 1.5 billion RMB and a staff of 1600.

Golden Dragon produces 8 series of vans and coaches, ranging from 4 to 12 meters in length and seating from 5 to 55 passengers. Since 1992 Golden Dragon has won a number of awards.

The company's sales revenues in 2003 came to USD400million. In overall competitive terms, Golden Dragon ranked second in China in 2002.

http://www.goldendragonbus.com/

　

Airport Hakka Restaurant

First meal in China - a Hakka Meal

1:10PM Just near by Shenzhen International Airport is a row of shop houses with several family style restaurants. This is the Airport Hakka Restaurant we had our first meal in China. Hakka dishes.

Journey from here onward, the tour guide Da Jiang did all the talking giving us some time peace of mind for a short nape.

What did she talked all the time? One of the many regular Chinese terms she used is "解毒". This "解毒" seem every where in China. Even the dumpling which we will visit later.

About the Hakka people : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakka_people

3:28PM Our couch stopped for refilling at one of the Shell petrol station before Shansui Town.

There is serious infrastructure construction taking place all over major cities in China. An development in China that the news media I read regularly have obviously under estimate and under report. Thus, when traveling on these newly completed highways is an eye opening to me then visiting those tourist places.

Our journey from Shenzhen to Guilin passes through freeways, bridges, subways, and numerous public works projects are evident even small village town.

Guangzhou-Zhaoqing Expressway is an economic cooperation between Guangzhou, Zhaoqing and Foshan.

Phase II of the Expressway open to traffic as scheduled by the end of 2010 and we are among the early batch of travellers on this expressway.

This of the Guangzhou-Zhaoqing Expressway (Phase II), is a national project of China and supported with relevant funds from central government. Running between Nanhai and Sanshui, Phase II of the Guangzhou - Zhaoqing Expressway is 5.386 kilometer long project with six traffic lanes.

The expressway we traveled on is only a tiny section of the new expressway construction in modern China.

Guangzhou has economic cooperation program with Foshan and Zhaoqing. The cooperation attached great importance to construction of traffic infrastructures. This resulted in several construction on expressways such as : Guangzhao (Guangzhou-Zhaoqing) expressway, the Erguang (Erlianhaote-Guangzhou) expressway, the Zhaohua (Zhaoqing-Huadu) expressway and the expressway that goes 'round the Pearl River Delta.

All these construction aiming at speed-up connection of major cities in China. What we saw is only a tinny tip of an iceberge. The full plans presented 13 highways, 4 railway lines, 1 light rail facility, 3 waterways and 7 ports that join Zhaoqing with Guangzhou and Foshan.

Our first hotel is in Zhaoqing. A half day journey from Shenzhen City passing by Guangzhou City to Zhaoqing City. Alone the expressway are several towns and numorous farms villages beside the expressway. If non stop, the whole journey takes only one and half hour.

This Expressway is a new project completed this century in two phases.

The 1st phase 47Km completed in 2002 and 2nd phase 5Km completed in 30 September 2010 that is 2 months ago.

广肇高速公路二期工程建成通车

日前，广肇高速公路二期工程正式建成通车。经广东省物价局审批，广肇高速小车全程收费25元。

据了解，

广肇高速公路起点为南海（大涡塘），终点为高要（马安），全长51.938公里，整个项目分两期建设。

一期工程三水至高要段全长46.552公里，已于2002年8月建成通车。

二期工程南海丹灶至五村互通立交与一期工程相接，全长5.386公里. 於2010年9月30日建成通車

，为双向六车道。据悉，广肇高速二期工程通车之后，从广州到肇庆可实现全程高速。从广州市中心出发，车主只要上内环进入机场高速，再由机场高速转入西二环，从西二环就可以上广肇高速。此外，车主还可选择华南快速干线，然后转入西二环再进入广肇高速。而在通车以前，从广州到肇庆，必须要先行广三高速，到达三水后绕行三水大桥前往肇庆，全程行车时间两个多小时。通车后，按照其设计时速，从广州市中心出发，到达肇庆市区只需一个半小时。幸琦昕

肇庆到广州一个小时

　　广东省高速公路重点项目———广肇高速公路第一期工程，经建历时3年多，2002年8月31日建成通车。今后从肇庆到广州只需大约1个小时。
　　广肇高速公路第一期工程，起于三水市上官员，与广三高速公路和三水大桥南引道相接，止于高要市区西南的马安镇，并与国道324县相接。总投资17亿多元，为双向4车道，设计行车速度120公里/小时。

　　它的建成，结束了粤西肇庆没有高速公路的历史。对提高粤西地区道路的运输能力，促进肇庆市和粤西的经济和社会发展，加强广东省与广西、云南、贵州等大西南地区的沟通与联络具有十分重大的意义。据悉，该高速公路未来将与广梧高速公路连接，并直接沟通珠江三角洲高速公路网。
《人民日报 . 华南新闻》 (2002年09月04日第一版)

廣肇高速公路

Guangzhao (Guangzhou-Zhaoqing) expressway

The coach travelling along Guangzhou-Zhaoqing expressway

廣肇高速公路第一期工程起於佛山市三水區上官員與廣三高速相連，途經金本鎮至肇慶高要市金利鎮、蜆崗鎮、白土鎮、蓮塘鎮，止於高要市馬安鎮，全長48.01公里.

廣肇高速公路全線雙向四車道，設計時速為120公里，沿途共設4個出入口，分別是三水西、金利、蜆崗、白土和馬安。工程於1999年6月動工，於2002年8月竣工。

廣肇高速公路第二期工程起於佛山市南海區丹灶鎮橫江與廣州西二環高速相連，經洲北村，終三水區上官村，接已建成的一期工程，於2008年6月開工，2010年9月30日建成通車

http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw

More about our : Expressway journey from Shenzhen City to Zhaoqing City

肇慶“裹香皇”裹蒸棕廠
Rice Dumpling of China

5:03PM Visited this rice dumpling factory's sales room. From here to our next destination Star Lake is 20 minutes drive.

裹蒸是肇慶的特產,肇慶非物質文化遺產
粽子- 是端午節為了紀念屈原而製作的食品，裹蒸- 是肇慶群眾過春節時的節慶食品。

裹蒸-肇慶人幾乎無人不曉。它以傳統的包裹方式及獨特的風味，聞名於粵、港澳和海外，深受市民及中外遊客喜愛。
每逢春節前，端州家家戶戶門前包裹蒸、煮裹蒸的情景依然讓不少老肇慶記憶猶新，春節包裹蒸是肇慶獨有的風俗文化。而裹蒸製作工藝，也被列入市首批非物質文化遺產項目。

葉：肇慶裹蒸用本地特有的冬葉包裹、水草包紮，呈金字塔形。冬葉不僅清香，還能保鮮，有清熱解毒、降火的作用。 (一般的粽子多用芒葉包裹，呈扭身四角形或長條形)

餡料：裹蒸是傳統的民間食品，以前每家都用自己的秘方來調製，所以肇慶有“裹蒸世家，秘方無價”的說法。裹蒸主要以糯米、去殼綠豆、豬肉為原料。或配以鹹蛋黃、冬菇、雞鴨肉再加入適量的五香粉等配料製作而成。居住在肇慶的回民也有包裹蒸的習俗，他們則以牛肉作餡，稱作“清真裹蒸”；佛教新教徒則以花生、白果、冬菇作餡料，稱作“上素裹蒸”。

歷史：曾是古代皇帝貢品
裹蒸歷史悠久，南北朝包裹蒸已成地域風俗，很多史書、古詩都對它有所記載或描述。
《南史》就曾記載南北朝齊明帝吃裹蒸趣事：“太宮進禦食。有裹蒸，帝十字畫之，曰：'可片破之，餘充晚食'。”這表明裹蒸在當時已經成為“貢品”、“禦食”，而皇帝對它的喜愛和珍惜，也說明裹蒸在當時已經頗為名貴。

現狀：企業、家庭作坊並存裹蒸製作工藝在民間一直流傳，現進入專業生產階段。目前，市面上的肇慶裹蒸品牌有
1) “肥仔偉”
2) “裹香皇”
3) “皇上皇”
4) “巧心裹蒸”等
肇慶市肥仔偉食品有限公司被譽為傳統裹蒸行業的一匹“黑馬”。早在2001年，公司獲得ISO9001:2000質量管理認證、產品質量國際認證以及其生產的黑糯米裹蒸棕獲國家專利曾轟動一時，而該公司設立的裹蒸粽作坊也作為旅遊亮點。

肇慶
高要麗晶大酒店
Gaoyao Regent Hotel

We stayed in Room 1407

Star Lake

5:30PM The tour guide brought us to have a boat tour of this Star Lake. On the trip schedule, the visit of this lake is scheduled to be tomorrow morning. It is evening time and the scenery is fedding into darkness, why should the tour guide wanted to cover this event in darkness while it is scheduled to be in the next morning when it is bright with sunshine to enjoy the scenery?
Darkness came so fast, not only the eyes could not see the beauty of the lake, the camera also captured blur images being lack of light. see images below. This is one of the most meaningless and useless visit.

There was no Color Music Fountain.

Zhaoqing Qixingyan scenic Lake has seven rocks, eight caves, covering an area of 8.23 square kilometers.
Also called Star Lake, the Seven-Star Crag Scenic Area consists of seven rocks, eight caves, five lakes and six hillocks, having a total area of 7.6 square kilometers and more than 80 scenic spots. It has been designated a national park. It is often described as the "Number One Wonder in South China". The picturesque landscape wins it the reputation of "Owning both limestone peaks in Guilin and the water of West Lake in Hangzhou".

The lakeside Crags overgrown on their southern sides with dense evergreen sub-tropical plants are typical of the South China landscape. The Seven-Star Crags is famous for its "lush mountain, exquisite waters, perilous cliffs and fascinating caves".

Each of the caves has its own different characteristics: some are deep, tortuous and pitch-dark; some brightly-lit with their entrances located at the halfway down from the crag tops, and others filled with clear waters and cold draughts. Among them the most famous are Heiyan Cave and the Shuangyuan Cave, formed by erosion of limestone by ground waters which are interlinked with outside lake waters and never dry up. The Shuangyuan Cave, 320 meters deep, has northern and southern exits, and is gifted with stalactites of various shapes. Tourists are able to visit the Cave scenery in a boat.

The Star Lake is partitioned into five lakes of different sizes by the winding green embankment. The inner lake encircling the crags is the smallest one, with lower water level as compared with the other four lakes. Within its perimeter, there are small gardens, a pavilion, a pond where the fish can be seen swimming, lotus boats, an iron-chain bridge etc. The four outer lakes linked with one another in water are as clear and smooth as a mirror with the embankments covered with flowers in full bloom, brilliant as brocade.

There are many scenic spots in the Star Lake area, which has been considered a natural attraction since the Tang Dynasty.

Stone Cabinet Rock: Inside tourists will find the largest stalactite cave among the Seven Star Crags. Tourists can also explore the lake area by rowboat. Inscriptions by notables throughout the ages can be found inside the cave.

The Water Moon Palace adjacent to the Rock was built in 1636 and is the largest temple in the area. On the top of the Rock stands the Embracing-the-Moon Pavilion, and in front are the Five Dragons Pavilion and Seven Stars Bridge.

Heavenly Pillar Rock: The highest peak of the Seven Star Crags. In the middle of the hill is the Heavenly Pillar Pavilion, which is below the Shooting Star Pavilion and where you can overlook the beautiful scenery of Star Lake below.

Oriental Buddhist Forest: A newly-developed tourist area. In the middle of a lake full of lotus flowers in blossom, there is a round stone altar with statues of five hundred Buddhist notables. In the middle of the altar is a marble statue of a sleeping Buddha. There are many other statues of the Buddha in this area.

FIRST SPIDER FOUND IN CHINA TRIP
5:23AM Xing's first spider found in China. He has an own nature study project to find some spiders and insects during this Guilin Trip.

Though Seven-Star Crag Scenic Area disappointed us because we can see the beauty scenic in the darkling evening but rewarded with this interesting find to update our home insects catalogue.
　

22-11-2010 MON 5:32PM

肇慶七星岩/肇慶七星岩牌坊
肇慶地圖：肇慶七星岩景區旅遊線路地圖

地理位置：七星岩位於肇慶城區中心，因七座奇峰列峙如北斗七星而得名，被人為集集“桂林之山，杭州之水”。

景區看點：七星岩的名勝有“五湖六崗七岩八洞”之說，位於七星岩東面的仙女湖風景優美，每當太陽西下的時候可以觀賞到臥佛吞日的自然奇觀；岩峰和岩洞是星湖的精髓，龍巖洞最奇，洞中有洞，有雙龍戲水，有千年詩廊，令人稱奇。

當地特色：七星岩景區保存著唐代以來的石刻489題，歷史上的李紳、包拯、周敦頤、張居正等名人和現代的朱德、葉劍英、陳毅、郭沫若、周揚等都在這裡留下過題刻，具有重要藝術價值和科研價值。

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