Kruger National Park

Kruger National Park is Africa's oldest established wildlife park.Kruger National Park covers 18,989 square km and extends 350 km from north to south and 60 km from east to west.It is situated north of Johannesburg.Kruger National Park atmosphere is so unique. Most of the park is situated in the Lowveld. To the west and south of the Kruger National Park are the two South African provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga.In the north is Zimbabwe, and to the east is Mozambique. It is now part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, that links Kruger National Park with the Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe, and with the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique. It is the largest game reserve in South Africa.The park boasts a fabulous variety of game and birdlife in its various habitats.The Kruger National Park is home to number of species: 336 trees, 49 fish, 34 amphibians, 114 reptiles, 507 birds and 147 mammals. The park has 8 main gates that allow entrance to the different camps.The names of these gates are Paul Kruger, Numbi, Malelane, Punda Maria, Crocodile Bridge, Orpen,Phalaborwa , Phabeni and Pafuri.The Kruger National Park is divided into six ecosystems - baobab sandveld, Lebombo knobthorn-marula bushveld, mixed acacia thicket, combretun-silver clusterleaf, woodland on granite, and riverine forest. It boasts the highest variety of wildlife in Africa which inlcudes the "Big Five", hippos, crocodiles, giraffe, cheetah etc.Kruger National Park is divided into 4 regions so visitors could understand easily which region they want to explore first.The regions are :-
The central region :- The central region supports nearly half the park’s lion population as well as numbers of leopard,hyena and cheetah. Possibly the main reason for this is the quantity of sweet grasses and abundant browsing trees found in this area that support a large group of antelope, giraffe, buffalo, zebra and wildebeest.

The northern region :- The Letaba and Olifants rivers contain as much as 60% of the Kruger park’s hippo population, and bird life here abounds. There are plenty of bushpig in the undergrowth of the Luvuvhu River and on most of the river banks you can hope to see sizeable herds of elephant buffalo,bushbuck,and Kudu concentrated near a water supply.

The far north region :-This is a rather fascinating part of the Kruger National Park. Sightings of rare birdlife and major areas of sand formed by river flood plains, combined with sandstone formations of the Mozambique coastal plain, make it attractive to visitors. A picnic site on the river bank provides hours of splendid bird viewing.

The southern region :- The valleys are home to trees rarely found in other parts of the Kruger park, such as the Cape chestnut, coral tree and lavender fever-berry; and granite lies beneath most of the region, producing distinctive smoothed koppies at irregular intervals, which are typically surrounded by rock figs and form ideal locations for rock dassies or hyrax, baboon and klipspringer, not to mention the odd leopard. This is the region where you’re almost sure of seeing a white rhino as most of them occur here.

Safari tours :- You can also enjoy Safari tours.Hence the Kruger National Park is one of South Africa`s premier tourist attractions. Safari tours are mostly common here.During safari you can view Big Five,Elephant,Lion,Rhino,Buffalo and Leopard.You should also see Zebras, Wildebeest,Bush pig,Impala,Giraffes and baboons which are all quite easily spotted. The best time to see game in the Kruger National Park is during the winter months of April to September.November and December are the calving months, this is a fantastic time for a safari.

Water and Bush Birds in the Kruger :- There are over 600 species of water and bush birds in South Africa’s top reserve.Great egrets, reed cormorants and white-faced ducks are found by the water alongside giant kingfishers, grey and green-backed herons,plovers and black-winged stilts.You can spoteasily hornbills as well as eagles, hooded vultures and other birds of prey. Among the most colourful birds are Carmine bee eaters and lilac-breasted rollers.

Bush walks :- It is one of the most incredible ways to learn about the fragility of the ecosystems of the Kruger Park and to see the smaller, animals and insects of the park like termites, spiders, snakes and plants. Bush walks can last up to four hours.

Wilderness trails :- There are many trails offer in the Kruger National Park.Some of them are Metsi-Metsi, Napi, Massingir and the Sweni Wilderness.

Dian Chi Lake

Kunming is famous for its multitudinous scenic spots and places of interests from ancient times, while the West Mountain & the Dian Chi Lake are the outstanding places among them. They are located in the southwest of Kunming in Yunnan Province. The West Mountain is 15 km away from Kunming, standing straight in the lakeside of the Dian Chi Lake and on the foot of the mountain is just the Dian Chi Lake.

The Dian Chi Lake, also called "Kunming Lake", "Kunming Pond", and "Southern Lake of Yunnan" in ancient times, is a plateau lake with beautiful scenery, the lake is 40 by 8 kilometers and is 1,886 meters above sea level. The lake water and the sky seem joining mutually like a city sea, dense mist and rolling water are on the surface of the lake, and sails are strolling above the water. It claims to be "a pearl on the Yungui Plateau" for a long time.Being the largest lake in Kunming and the sixth largest fresh water lake in China, Dian Chi Lake is 300 square kilometers (116 square miles) in surface area, 1,885 meters (6,185 feet) in altitude and about 40 kilometers (25 miles) in length (from north to south).The west side of Dian Chi Lake is the mountain forest, while on the east side are lands dotted with the fisheries and agribusinesses. Traditional fishing boats still sail on the lake, hooking and netting. Taking a boat to voyage between the blue sky and the green water, breathing the fresh air and viewing the birds flying just at your side, what an enjoyable, light-hearted and free moment it is!.When the weather is fine, there are white flocculent or massive clouds floating in the cerulean sky, the cyan water waves under the golden sunshine and the surrounding mountains reflect their silhouettes on the water. If you take a walk on the lake shore you will feel intoxicated by the beautiful landscape.The most beautiful view of Dian Chi Lake appears at dawn and sunset, the refraction of the ethereal rays glitter on the water surface just like thousands of silver fishes swimming and playing. At night, when the breeze is fleeting over the water and the world is brimming over with hazy moonlight, Dian Chi Lake lies in silence and breathes in peace like a sleeping beauty.The ocean-like Dian Chi Lake is the best place to go for those people who wish to get away from the bustling city and be close to the nature. Facing such a beautiful and capacious place, one may forget everything even himself, the only thing left is the amazing scenery before you.On the West Mountain, you can overlook the crossed green fields and the vast green Dian Chi Lake, the high and low peaks ranged at random at distance and emerald forests and elegant meditation rooms closely.Having the advantages of beautiful scenery and rich plants on the mountain, the West Mountain has already become a large-scale forest park after the transformation by Kunming City Government. Nearly 3,000 kinds of woody plants are growing on the mountain and the Ginkgo, Yulan magnolia and epiphyllum are unique in Kunming. The sago cycas, metasequoia, yew podocarpus and peacock China fir handed over in the geology history and the rare plants in the Dianzhong Plateau such as moss, alangium and Yunnan camphor tree are in addition to the above.The Longmen is the most beautiful scenic spot on the West Mountain. If climbing the Longmen and overlooking the endless Dian Chi Lake, you will see the green wave ripples and the pretty scenes of the lake. If enjoying the Dian Chi Lake on the close Grand View Pavilion, you will see that the waving water is running to your eyes and the sails are strolling in the light mist on the lake.

Yunnan Ethnic Villages:
The village acts as a good shortcut to understand the social customs of the ethnic groups in Yunnan. It has a natural sun-bathing area where you can escape from the heat of summer. Twenty-five ethnic nationalities have their respective villages and conduct many activities to present their unique folkways and beautiful clothes. Also you can enjoy the water screen movie and an elephant performance, have a taste of the local dishes and buy pretty handicrafts.

Daguan Park:
Daguan Park is vibrant with rock gardens, pavilions, bridges and murmuring water. It is famous for the longest couplets in China on the Daguan Pavilion. The Daguan Pavilion was built in the year 1828. It commands a lovely view. The couplet written in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), contains 180 characters brimming with literary grace. During festival evenings, gatherings take place here.

Baiyukou Park:
Baiyukou Park is on the west bank of Dianchi Lake. Here a small hill looks like a white fish opening its mouth to Dianchi Lake. Near the Irregular shore line, beautiful gardens are hidden among green trees. In spring, the cherry trees are in blossom, adding luster to this serene place. Overlooking Dianchi Lake, you can see white sails of boats on the glistening lake and gulls skimming over the waves.

Haigeng Bank:
Haigeng Bank is about four kilometers (2.5 miles) long while ranging in width from forty meters (131 feet) to three hundred meters (984 feet). The bank, like a floating jade belt, is in fact a watershed of the Dianchi Lake. Slender willow twigs sweep the lake in the gentle breeze. In the south is a wonderful natural swimming pool which is always crammed with people in midsummer.

Kwan-yin Hill:
Kwan-yin Hill is bordered by the vast lake and has an altitude of 2,040 meters (6,693 feet). Lofty peaks on this hill seem to thrust themselves straight towards the sky. A Kwan-yin Temple built here in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) was once a popular resort of Buddhism. Remaining are a seven-tier brick pagoda, houses, and a gate to the Kwan-yin Temple.

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Spring Festival

The Spring Festival is the largest and most important festival in China. It is the first day of the lunar calendar and usually occurs somewhere between January 30 and February 20, heralding the beginning of spring, thus it is known as Spring Festival. This traditional festival is also a festival of reunion; no matter how far away people are from their homes, they will try their best to get back to have the Reunion Dinner.

The Chinese meaning of this festival is Guo Nian. Guo means "pass over" and Nian means "year." The origin of the Chinese New Year Festival can be traced back thousands of years through a continually evolving series of colorful legends and traditions. According to one of the most famous legends, in ancient China there lived a horned monster named Nian who was extremely ferocious. Nian lived deep at the bottom of the sea all the year round and climbed up to the shore only on New Year's Eve to devour the cattle and kill people.Thereupon on the day of every New Year's Eve people from all villages would flee, bringing along the old and the young, to the remote mountains so as to avoid the calamity caused by the monster Nian. Then, one New Year's Eve, the people of Peach Blossom village were getting ready to hide when there came from outside the village an old beggar with a stick in his hand and a bag hanging upon his arm. His eyes twinkled like stars and his beard was silver.Seized with panic, the villagers were in a great hurry to run away. Some were closing the windows and locking the doors, some were packing, and others were urging the cattle and driving the sheep. At a time when the people were shouting and the horses were neighing no one was in the mood to care for the beggar.Only a grandmother living in the east end of the village gave the old man some food and advised him to flee to the mountains to avoid the monster. But the old man stroked his beard and said with a smile, "If you allow me to stay at your home for the night, I'm sure to drive away the monster Nian.The old woman was surprised to hear this. She looked at him unbelievingly only to find that, with white hair and ruddy complexion, the old man had a bearing out of the ordinary. She went on to persuade him to take flight. But he only smiled without reply. Thereupon the grandmother could not help but leave her home and flee to the mountains.Around midnight the monster Nian rushed into the villages. He found the atmosphere was quite different from that of the previous year. The house of the grandmother in the east end of the village was brilliantly illuminated, with bright red paper stuck on the doors. Greatly shocked, the monster gave a strange loud cry.The monster Nian stared angrily at the house for a moment then, howling furiously, made a charge at it. As he approached the door, there suddenly came the sounds of explosions. Trembling all over, the monster dared not take a step forward.It turned out that the color red, flames, and explosions were what Nian feared the most. And when the door of the grandmother's house was thrown open and an old man in a red robe burst out laughing in the courtyard, the monster Nian was scared out of his wits and fled helter-skelter.The next day was the 1st of the first lunar month. When people came back from their hideouts and found everything safe and sound, they were quite surprised. The old woman suddenly realized what had happened and told the villagers about the old beggar's promise.The villagers swarmed into the grandmother's house, only to find that the doors were covered with red paper, the embers from a pile of bamboo were still giving out exploding sounds in the courtyard, and a few candles were still glowing in the room.The story was soon spread far and wide and everybody was talking about it. They concluded in the end that the old beggar was surely the celestial being who came to expel the calamities and bless the people, and that red paper, red cloth, red candles, and the exploding firecracker were certainly the magic weapons to drive out the monster Nian.To celebrate the arrival of such good luck, the elated villagers put on their clothes and new hats and went one after another to their relatives and friends to send their regards and congratulations. This was soon spread to the surrounding villages, and people all got to know the way to drive away the monster Nian.

From then on, on each New Year's Eve, each family sticks on their doors antithetical couplets written on red paper, blows up firecrackers, keeps their houses brilliantly illuminated and stays up late into the night. Early in the morning of the 1st of the first lunar month they go to their relatives and friends' homes to send their regards and congratulations. These customs have been passed down through the generations, making it the most ceremonious traditional festival of the Chinese people.Spring Festival which is also called Chinese New Year falls on January, 1st, according to the Chinese lunar calendar. It is usually called as Yinlinian. This is the most important festival in China. It originated in Shang DynastyWhen Spring Festival comes, spring comes as well. Everything comes to life and plants are prosperous. Just having experienced a cold winter, people are so excited to welcome a new spring.The warm atmosphere is not only in the houses, but also in the streets. In many places, lion dances and dragon lantern show are performed during Spring Festival. In some places, people kept the customs of Shehuo performance, visiting flower market, going to the temple fair. During this period, the cities are full of lanterns and the streets are crowded with people. Activities last to the 15th of January, this can be an end of Spring Festival.People in different places celebrate Spring Festival in different ways. Generally speaking, a Chinese family will hold a Spring Festival feast, light firecracker and give lucky money to children during Spring Festival. See details of Chinese New Year Celebration (Spring Festival).

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