INSPIRATION

Visit the stunning world of Wulingyuan and bring the amazing scenery of Pandora to life. 

This landscape inspirationally set the visual form for the fictional digital world in the film Avatar, and the reality is unbelievably breathtaking, supremely majestic and unutterably beautiful. 

No one who loves scenery should depart this world without seeing this awesome spectacle of natural wonder.

Enter the dreamscape of Huangshan Mountain, and be transported to a world that looks and feels like an impossibly beautiful work of nature’s imagination. You’ll have to pinch yourself to believe the reality of this amazing trancelike vision, so long the pilgrimage site of China’s most revered poets and artists.

It is hard to imagine a structure more quintessentially Chinese that the Great Wall. Begun by China’s first Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the many sections of the Great Wall evolved over centuries, and the most highly prized and best surviving sections are the Ming Dynasty structures and their iconic watchtowers.

A hiking tour of the wall introduces you to the various structural remains of this fantastic human achievement and travels through the spectacular views of the landscapes over which the mighty defensive structures snake.

Explore the treasures of the Forbidden City.

The very name conjures the enigmatic secretive world of ancient Imperial China, its sanctity protected by the certain death of interlopers. The awesome scale of the gates, great halls, bridges Imperial carriageway and assembly courtyards are a testament to the enormous power wielded by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The thought of visiting Beijing without a wander round the largest palace in the world is unthinkable.

Watch the cormorant fishermen on the Li River. 

The breathtaking scenery of the beautiful Guilin and Yangshuo hills are the backdrop to this marvellous scene of ingenuity, as fishermen float through the evening sunset aboard their gas lit bamboo rafts guiding their trained cormorants to fish the river for the catch of the day. A great opportunity to board a boat and enjoy their amazing skill close at hand.

If you are an aficionado of tea drinking and travelling in Fujian province, don’t miss the opportunity to imbibe some of the splendid Oolong rock teas of the Red Robe Valley.

These special teas, regarded as the best of all teas, grow in craggy outcrops and some varieties are extremely rare, including the famous Da Hong Pao and Tieguanyin teas, which weight for weight exceed the price of gold on the global market.

Don’t worry if you are not a millionaire though, as there are many varieties of fine locally grown Oolong and Bohea rock teas in the valley’s teahouses.

Visit the nine UNESCO World Heritage gardens of Suzhou, which together reflect the poetic expression of the perfection of the Chinese Garden for over a millennia.

Arrestingly beautiful, it is easy to see the enormous influence these ancient gardens have had on gardening across the globe, and they are a true inspiration for anyone seeking to enhance their living spaces with beautiful planting and exotic features.