Top Travel Leads

Close to the Forbidden City, the Peninsula Hotel is the best of what luxury hotel can offer anywhere, no exception here in Beijing. Rated among the best hotels of the world, its suites filled with antiques, seek no more for lodging in Beijing. If you belong to the kind wanting to enjoy the top mix of China’s art, French food and wines, spa and marble, Peninsula Hotel has it all – include Peninsula Hotel in your Beijing and China itinerary, book here!

Last year Business Week brought a fine article, Olympic PR Challenge, regarding the rage the summer games sponors face over issues ranging from the Dalai Lama to Darfur. It narrated well how activists concerned about the environment, conditions in Chinese factories, political prisoners, and the fate of Tibet have all said they will use the Games as a forum for their grievances, calling on sponsors to take action as well. Olympic Watch, a group that’s monitoring China’s human-rights record ahead of the Games, noted that if human rights in China don’t improve, sponsoring the games could be a big problem for the image of Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Kodak, Samsung, Visa and other multinationals. The jest of the message was “You cannot as a large multinational trumpet your corporate responsibility credentials, while at the same time indulging China and refusing to criticize it.” The sponsors of course react by stressing that the Olympics should be about promoting global excellence in sport and not a forum for political issues. Well, what else could they say in their own defense… Bottom line is that while in China you can witness creations of one of the oldest civilizations on Earth, learn about nearly all religious and philosophical mainstreams of the Orient, and visit endless historical sites, monuments and ethnic minorities, it pays even for the sophisticated travelers, that contemplate China tour and plan to journey China in high numbers this coming summer, to keep in mind that despite the showpiece of grand achievements that the Olympics promise to portray the host country as, China still has many challenges and ills to overcome most of which are deeprooted precisely in its social experiment of combining communism and capitalism, a combination which although allowing for economic freedom has nothing to do with freedom of the mind.

China’s bustling financial capital offers futuristic skyline that makes New York almost feel like a village. Make a point to visit Shanghai’s Urban Planning Exhibition Hall to check out the architectural wonders expected to be completed over the next decade.  But aside the Bund, Shanghai’s famed colonial-era street and tour of emporium-lined Nanjing or Huai Hai Roads, make sure you navigate the small roads and alleys that teem with antique shops and art galleries, namely the likes of Dongtai and Moganshan Roads. Following are samples of Shanghai City tours and short tours out of Shanghai.

Varanasi known to the devout Hindu as Kashi, is said to have been founded by Shiva, Lord of the Universe, and destructor of the Evil. Its one of the oldest living cities in the world, as also one of the most important pilgrimage sites in India. Its principal attraction is the long string of ghats (riverside settlements) which line the west bank of the Ganges. Ghats are steps which lead down to the river where devout pilgrims take a dip every day in the morning on the river Ganges and offer their morning prayers. Whatever your passions, India offers an overwhelming variety of experiences and visiting the ancient cultures and temples of Varanasi are a memorable part of this historic land.