Potala Palace, The Highest Palace in The World

Overview:  
Potala Palace, the highest palace in the world, located at on the Red Hill of central Lhasa, at 3,700 meters(12,139 feet) above sea level. It is a grand blend of Tibetan and Han architecture, was first built by Tibet King Songtsen Gampo to greet his bride Princess Wen Cheng of the Tang Dynasty of China. After the reconstruction of the 17th century, the Potala was used as a winter palace and the chief residence of the Dalai Lama. 

                                                       (Source: Tibet Tour)
 
Major Structures of Potala Palace:
Potala Palace consists of two parts, the Red Palace as the center plus the White Palace as two wings. The Red Palace is the highest part in the center, which is wholly dedicated to religious study and Buddhist prayer. It was painted to red to represent stateliness and power. The White Palace once served as the office building of Tibet local government makes up the living quarters of Dalai Lama. Its wall was painted to white expressing peace and quiet.

Red Palace

White Palace

A Few Notes When Visiting Potala Palace:
Here have strict travel route at Potala Palace, all of the visitors should enter from east main entrance. And you have only 1 hour to complete the visiting. One another thing you should notice is that there is no rest room during the route since the toilet was set at the right side of the White Palace Square.

                                                 Interior of Potala Palace

Best Time to Visit Guilin

There is an ancient Chinese saying “East or west, Guilin scenery is the best”.  Guilin, China’s most picturesque City, has been a popular destination for travelers and an inspiration for poets and artists for a long history.

The most important thing before you travel to Guilin, is that you should know about the weather there.It might get pretty hot, humid, and it rains a lot!  The average temperature for the year is 19.3 celcius with a July average temperature of 28.3 degrees. The average rainfall for the year is 192.6 cm per month.

Guilin Landscape

There are various views in diverse season. Spring in Guilin is warm with some rain. It is a sea of flowers. On rainy days, the rivers, pinnacles and the city itself would be shrouded in mist, which is particularly charming. Summer in Guilin is hot and humid, however the beauty to be found outdoors is very sufficient compensation. Guilin is a place surrounded by limpid rivers and lakes. You will find a lot of exiting activity to do in Guilin throughout the entire summer and most of them are connected with water. Autumn in Guilin is beautiful. The Guilin Climate in autumn is very present for traveling. Winter is fairly a low season for tourism in Guilin. However it is still very lovely during the season. More than that, it will cost you less in winter than other seasons to visit Guilin in winter.

 

Longji Rice Terraces

                                                               Li River

2013 Hong Kong New Year Fireworks and Countdown Celebration

2013 Hong Kong New Year Fireworks and Countdown Celebration - The eight-minute show, the largest ever in the event's history, which was launched from both the skyscrapers and the harbour barges surrounding the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center (HKCEC).

Highlighting Hong Kong's night vistas, the show was dubbed as the first of the world's top 10 destinations for new year countdown celebrations. Nearly 400,000 Hong Kong residents and tourists watched the show on both sides of the Victoria Harbor.

Starting from 11 p.m. on the new year eve, fireworks were launched from the rooftops of participating buildings in Wan Chai every 15 minutes, lighting up the sky with "shooting stars" in four different colors to symbolise good wishes in career, health, fortune and love. In the final 10 seconds of 2012, fireworks in the shape of the numbers 10 to one shot from five buildings in Wan Chai. As the clock strikes midnight, fireworks were fired in three layers first from Victoria Harbor, then from the rooftop of HKCEC, and finally from five other buildings in Wan Chai.

 

  Recommended Spots to Watch The Show:
The Tsim Sha Tsui side. All along the Avenue of the Stars from the Star Ferry Terminal to the New World Centre in the East, anywhere where the Convention Center is within view would be preferable as it is this year's focal point of the extravaganza.

Another popular vantage point for fireworks is the Hung Hom Bypass which is closed to traffic between Salisbury Road and Hung Hom Road

If staying in the Hong Kong Island side, consider the area around the Ferry Piers and in Wanchai around the Convention Centre and Bauhinia Square, although this might be too close. Hong Kong Tours