Things You Should Know About Chinese New Year

New Year is very important for Chinese people, it's like Christmas to Western countries. You can experience it by yourself through this Chinese New Year tour package 2015.

Chinese New Year is also known as "Spring Festival", since the spring season in Chinese calendar starts with lichun, the first solar term in a Chinese calendar year. It marks the end of the winter season, analogous to the Western Carnival. The festival begins on the first day of the first month in the traditional Chinese calendar and ends with Lantern Festival which is on the 15th day.
Decorated in Red

streets decorated in red

Within China, regional customs and traditions concerning the celebration of the Chinese New Year vary widely. People will pour out their money to buy presents, decoration, material, food, and clothing.
It is also traditional for every family to thoroughly cleanse the house, in order to sweep away any ill-fortune and to make way for good incoming luck. Windows and doors will be decorated with red color paper-cuts and couplets with popular themes of "good fortune" or "happiness", "wealth", and "longevity". And the streets are decked out with all kinds of lanterns, and vendors were selling all kinds of couplets and blessing pastes.
New Year's Eve Dinner

spring festival dinner

Chinese New Year's Eve, a day where Chinese families gather for their annual reunion dinner, is known as Chúxī. Because the Chinese calendar is lunisolar, the Chinese New Year is often referred to as the "Lunar New Year".
On the Eve of Chinese New Year, supper is a feast with families. Food has a very important role in Chinese New Year! Food will include such items as Nian Gao, fish, dumplings, pigs, ducks, chicken and sweet delicacies, etc. The simple dishes served as each has its hidden meanings!
For an ultimate kick start to the New Year you definitely need to eat some Nian Gao (New Year Cake). The omen behind this little sweet dish is that each year will be more prosperous than the previous.
Although fish is eaten all year round in China, it is still a very important dish on Chinese New Year. The meaning behind the fish is that you will have a surplus each year, so you definitely want to be eating more fish if you want to be raking in the money for 2015!
In the north of China dumplings are eaten throughout the year, but during the Chinese New Year these delicious little parcels represent fortune and wealth due to its appearance resembling that of golden ingots. If you're lucky you might even find a golden coin in one of your dumplings! The family will end the night with firecrackers.
Red Envelopes

red envelopes

Early in the next morning, children will greet their parents by wishing them a healthy and happy new year, and receive money in red paper envelopes. The Chinese New Year tradition is to reconcile, forget all grudges and sincerely wish peace and happiness for everyone.
Temple Fair
Visiting the temple is also the traditional activities a celebration for the Chinese New Year. After the New Year's Eve, people generally stroll temples, eat snacks, and see juggling and the traditional folk performances together, reveling in the warm and peaceful festive atmosphere, enjoyable.

People in Guangzhou Know Food Well

When travelling to Guangzhou, the food there is must not to be missed. No matter its morning tea culture or the Guangzhou specialties, all will leave you deep impression in your Guangzhou tourist.
Morning Tea in Guangzhou


In Guangzhou, many Cantonese start a new day with drinking morning tea. When the old Guangzhou people met each other in the morning, they always greet to each other by asking whether have morning tea or not. Guangzhou style morning tea is not just tea, but a special breakfast with various snacks included. There are lots of different tastes, of all are really very delicious.
Drinking morning tea is a very popular life style and social activity for most of Cantonese. No matter young and old, men and women, business men or common people like to drink morning tea almost without exception. The famous snacks in morning tea are shrimp dumplings, rice noodle rolls, phoenix talons, steamed meatballs, lotus leaf rice, soup, egg tart and so on which are very well known by Guangdong people.
Guangzhou Specialties

Most delicious and authentic Guangzhou Specialties are concentrated in the old city (Yuexiu District Liwan District, Haizhu District), Panfu Road, Jiangnan West Road, Huifu East Road, Shang Xia Jiu Pedestrian Street and other places. Common Guangzhou Specialties dishes include Baiyun trotter, Tingzai Porridge, Eight Treasures Melon Soup, Claypot Rice, Roast Goose, Pork tripe stew chicken, Beef Offal, Double-skin Pudding.
Baiyun trotter

Baiyun trotter is one of Guangzhou traditional dishes, fat but not greasy, crisp, and fresh. This dish is available in general restaurants in Guangzhou, and Baiyun trotter in the restaurant on the peak of Baiyun Mountain is the most delicious.
Tingzai Porridge

Tingzai Porridge is a kind of Cantonese porridge, and is made with fish, fried peanuts and other ingredients. This dish was original made on the river of Lichee Bay. The porridge taste creamy and sweet, suitable for all tastes.
Eight Treasures Melon Soup

Eight Treasures Melon Soup is a kind of soup in summer. The melon is used as the container when making the soup, so the soup got its name, when eating the dish, slowly scraped the fresh melon with a spoon, don't put soy sauce. This dish is aesthetically pleasing, light and delicious, so is good to eat in the hot summertime.
Claypot Rice



Claypot cooking is a technique of cooking food, and the Guangdong's traditional cuisine. There are totally 20 kinds of Cantonese-style claypot flavor cooking, such as sausages, mushrooms slippery chicken, tempeh ribs, liver, roast duck, plain chicken and so on. Claypot Rice is the food in an unglazed clay pot which has been soaked in water so as to release steam during the cooking process. Typically, an unglazed clay pot is submerged for 15 to 30 minutes to absorb water before cooking, then filled with the food and placed into an oven. The walls of the pot help to diffuse the heat, and as the pot warms it releases the water as steam.
Roast Goose

Roast goose is a traditional grill roast meat in Guangzhou. Derived from roast duck, roast goose is in golden red color, and delicious taste. There are many roast goose shops in the markets.
Pork tripe stew chicken

Pork tripe stew chicken, or Pork bellies chicken pot, is an essential soup before the banquet for Hakka people in Guangzhou region, with a rich aroma of herbs and pepper.
Beef Offal

Beef offal is one kind of food stew with beef, cow offal and other offal for several hours. You can eat the beef offal in many ways, such as offal hotpot, offal seafood, offal string offal etc.
Double-skin Pudding

Double-skin pudding is also known as Shuangpinai, and as its name, contains double-skin made from milk and egg white and sugar. This snack is one of Guangzhou people's favorite.

Discover Night Snack in Guangzhou

Night Snack is commonly seen in many cities of China, especially in Canton province. You can deeply experience it through Guangzhou tour.
People often go out to have their late night snacks. But unlike the brunch at some fancy hotels or nicely decorated restaurants, we have our late night snacks at cooked food stalls on the streets. Cooked food stalls have indoor space like normal restaurants, but they usually put tables on the pedestrian zone in front of their storefront, under a tent. Unless it is in very bad weather, people always sit outdoor. Stalls like that are not fancy. The tables are not clean; the chairs are not clean; the sidewalks are not clean and chaotic. It is the opposite of the brunch we have in the morning. What's more, late night snack at cooked food stalls are more of a friend activity than a family one.

We often order chow mien (stir-fried noodles), beef chow fun (fried rice noodles with slice beef), baked cabbage with garlic, fried river snails, and roasted chicken wings. They are all greasy and have nothing to do with delicate or healthy. But they are tasty and go extremely well with beer. Canton is crossed by the northern tropic so it can be really hot in summer. At night around 10 or 11 o'clock, after the heat of the scorching sun from the day time is gone completely, me and my friends will hit the cooked food stall. Nothing is better than sitting on the sidewalk, feeling the breeze, drinking cold beer, eating snacks, and chatting with your friends in a pleasant summer evening, and Of course, playing drinking game.

Over the years I played a lot of drinking games, from absolute no-brainers to strategic-required games. My all-time favorite is the liar's dice which I think is of perfect balance of luck and strategic. Although liar's dice's origin is somewhere in South America, it somehow made its way to China and became a very popular drinking game in many parts of the country. This game is not very well-known in Western country as far as I know. The rule is a bit hard to comprehend at first and it involves numbers and math (very simple one). I know how westerners handle number (JK, JK). In fact, it is not daunting at all. Once you get the hang of it, you can play it even when you are really drunk. Due to my laziness I am not going to articulate the rule of the game here. You may search it on the internet but please ignore the math equation on the Wikipedia page. You don't need that. For those of you who already know the rule, please noted that it varies from country to country.
If you are intrigued by cooked food stalls and liar's dice, remember to experience them at your next trip to Guangzhou.
Reference, Cooked Food Stall and Liar's Dice in Guangzhou from China Tour Advisors.

Package Tour Changbaishan Ski Resort This Winter

Fly to Changbaishan from Beijing this winter to see the wonders of Tianchi, mountains, pristine forests, waterfalls and hot springs at Changbaishan Nature Reserve at its most beautiful season. Also enjoy skiing at Changbaishan Ski Resort. More Changbaishan ski package offered by muslim2china.

Highlights
- Private tranfer during the whole tour
- Well-trained English Speaking tour guide
- Special journey with snow sking
- Charming sightseeing
Day 01, Arrive Beijing
Seleted Hotels:
Hotel Ibis Beijing Capital Airport or similar    ***Tourist
Kaisheng Xingfeng International Hotel or similar    ****Deluxe
Langham Place Beijing Capital Airport or similar   *****Luxury
Attractions & Activities:
Arrival in Beijing, check in hotel near airport.
Detailed Itinerary:
You will be warmly welcomed at the airport by our guide. Then our guide will transfer you directly to the hotel near the airport for check in. Have a good rest today.
Day 02, Beijing to Changbaishan
Seleted Hotels:
Ibis Styles ChangBaiShan Wanda    ***Tourist
Holiday Inn Changbaishan Suite    ****Deluxe
The Westin Changbaishan Resort     *****Luxury
Attractions & Activities:
Changbaishan
Meals:
Hotel Buffet Breakfast
Detailed Itinerary:
After breakfast at the hotel, our guide will pick you up and bring you to the airport for flight to Changbaishan Airport. You will be met at the airport by our Changbaishan local guide and transferred to the hotel for check in. Feel free for leisure for the rest of the day.
Day 03, Changbaishan
Seleted Hotels:
Ibis Styles ChangBaiShan Wanda   ***Tourist
Holiday Inn Changbaishan Suite     ****Deluxe
The Westin Changbaishan Resort    *****Luxury
Attractions & Activities:
Changbaishan
Meals:
Hotel Buffet Breakfast, Lunch
Detailed Itinerary:
Today we will enjoy the alluring natural scenery of Changbaishan Nature Reserve. After breakfast, our guide will bring you to the northern slop of Changbaishan.
Changbaishan National Reserve is a large natural flora and fauna nature reserve. As a huge dormant volcano, Changbai Mountain has formed spectaculars of volcanic landforms and typical ice and snow landscapes because of its unique geographical location and geologic structure. Featured with pristine forests, rare animals, stunning lakes, amazing hot springs and fascinating waterfalls, Changbaishan Nature Reserve really brings a lot to see and enjoy. Its extraordinary splendid scenery in winter is especially beautiful and makes it a hot tourist destination.
Your exploration at Changbaishan will start with Changbai Mountain Natural Museum. You will benefit a lot by visiting this museum as it will give you a general idea of the geography, landscapes, natural resources, its history and development of Changbai Mountain. This would help you for a better understanding of the beauty of Changbai Mountain.
Then we will visit Tianchi, the most popular site among this nature reserve. We will take shuttle bus to Tianchi and it will cost 80 RMB but the cost is at your own expense. Tianchi is also known as Heavenly Lake. Formed in the crater of the mountain, Tianchi lies in the top of Changbai Mountain like a clear jade in the sky. Its misty and mystery charming scenery is always a delight to tourists traveling to Changbai Mountain.
After lunch, we will proceed to the site Lvyuantan in Changbai Mountain. Lvyuantan is a pool of clear green water formed by waterfalls from the mountain. Hidden in thick forest, Lvyuantan resembles an emerald lying there quietly and peacefully. But its ultra-green and transparent water with small fishes freely swimming inside, especially when Lvyuantan is clustered with mist, its enchanting scenery brings you into a fairy world.
Our guide will bring you back to the hotel for a good rest.
Day 04, Changbaishan to Beijing
Seleted Hotels:
Hotel Ibis Beijing Capital Airport or similar     ***Tourist
Kaisheng Xingfeng International Hotel or similar    ****Deluxe
Langham Place Beijing Capital Airport or similar    *****Luxury
Attractions & Activities:
Changbaishan
Meals:
Hotel Buffet Breakfast
Detailed Itinerary:
Today we will enjoy skiing in Changbaishan Ski Resort. After breakfast, our guide will transfer you to Changbaishan Ski Resort. We will provide cable car and ski outfit services.
Changbaishan Ski Resort is located in Changbaishan National Nature Reserve. Surrounded by dense forests of Changbai Mountain, this ski resort has charming scenery to view. With good-quality snow, well-groomed pistes and trails, advanced facilities and professional services, Changbaishan Ski Resort is a primary choice for skiing in Northeast China.
After skiing, our guide will bring you to the airport to flight back to Beijing.
Day 05, Depart from Beijing
Attractions & Activities:
Take flight back to warm home.
Meals:
Hotel Buffet Breakfast
Detailed Itinerary:
After breakfast at the hotel, our guide will escort you to the airport for your homebound flight. Thanks for choosing our service!
More detailed information here http://www.muslim2china.com/muslim-tour/Changbaishan-Ski-Resort-5-Days-Tour-1067.html