Difference between revisions of "North China"

Revision as of 09:10, 29 November 2009

Northern Central Region of China.

Regions

• Henan Province — birthplace of the nation and ancient home to more than 200 emperors from more than 20 dynasties
• Shanxi Province — Yellow River, mountains, ancient cities and tourist areas.
• Shandong Province
• Hebei Province
• Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
• Tianjin
• Beijing

Cities

• Beijing — capital of the country.
• Hohhot
• Jinan
• Qingdao
• Shijiazhuang
• Taiyuan — industrial city with a long history, capital of Shanxi Province.
• Tianjin
• Zhengzhou — on the south bank of the Yellow River, capital of Henan Province.

Other destinations

• Kaifeng — former capital during the Northern Song dynasty.
• Longmen National Park — home to the Longmen Grottoes, close to Luoyang in Henan Province.
• Mount Tai — in Shandong.
• Pingyao — ancient city.
• Shanxi merchant family compounds — near Pingyao.

The itineraries Along the Yellow River and Along the Grand Canal cover some routes through the region.

Understand

This is one of the areas where Chinese civilisation first developed, along the Yellow River.

Talk

As anywhere in China, Mandarin is the lingua franca; nearly everyone can speak it. The Mandarin spoken in this region, especially around Beijing, is the standard dialect. Inner Mongolia naturally has many speakers of Mongolian, but many of them speak Mandarin as well. Russian is fairly common as a second language. As elsewhere in China, English is not widespread but some people speak it quite well.

Get in

Get around

As elsewhere in China, there is an extensive rail network. Rail is the main means of inter-city travel for the Chinese themselves, and many visitors travel that way as well. The system now includes fast bullet trains on most major routes; unless your budget is very tight, these are the best way to go — fast, clean and comfortable.

All the major cities have airports with good domestic connections; some have international connections as well. See the individual city articles for details.

There is also an extensive highway network, much of it very good. Busses go almost anywhere, somewhat cheaper than the trains. See the China article for more. Driving yourself is also possible, but often problematic; see Driving in China.

See

Landmarks and buildings

Parks and nature

Museums and exhibitions

Do

Eat

Drink

Stay safe

Get out