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The Shaolin Temple 100 years later: Photo comparison

How wonderful is it when you stumble upon old photos of your grandparents or your hometown, and you can recognise details in them to connect them to your experiences and memories? The same thing happened in 1991 when Abbot Shi Yongxin of the Shaolin Temple paid a visit to Dharma Temple in Japan and discovered photos of the temple and the surrounding area taken in 1920!

Read on to see some of those pictures and see how the locations photographed look almost a century later!

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Events and Offers in May from Beijing’s Best Culture Companies!

See that date? It’s May 1st! Even if you’ve been self-isolating for the past 90 days in a cave, you still know that with the start of May, summer (un)officially begins! But with Beijing (as with the rest of China) slowly waking from its pandemic-induced slumber, it can be a bit difficult to know what is on offer to you to learn, explore, taste and engage with in terms of culture.

To address that, Cultural Keys has asked some of the city’s best activity providers what they have in store for everyone. Read on to find out the best ways to culturally immerse yourself this month!

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Current Entry Restrictions for Scenic Spots in and Around Beijing

As we may have mentioned once or twice over the past few weeks, now is the best time of year to see Beijing at its most beautiful!  Having said that, it would be irresponsible of us to suggest people get out and about right now, both because we’re in the middle of the Labour Day holiday and because of the current coronavirus situation.

While China and especially Beijing have managed to control the situation very well, it is only through continued vigilance and caution that we can avoid a second wave and keep ourselves and our loved ones safe and sound.

Of course, once the holidays end (officially May 6th) and the crowds thin, it would be a great time to get out and start taking in the sights and sounds again! And if that’s something you plan on doing, this list of entry requirements for Beijing’s top scenic spots, compiled by the experts at Amber Travel in conjunction with Cultural Keys, will be invaluable!

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Best of Beijing: The Best Places for Actively Exploring the Capital City!

It’s often said that spring is the best time to visit Beijing and see everything the city has to offer. While getting out and about and experiencing everything isn’t exactly possible at the moment, that doesn’t mean you can’t start to make plans!

To that end, we have started our Best of Beijing series, in association with some of the best companies that help you experience Beijing, and the rest of China, better. Each week, our partners will introduce you to the best that the Chinese capital has to offer, from food to flowers and from classical architecture to useful words and phrases especially for Beijing! 

Today we bring you part 2 of our series: the most interesting places to actively explore around Beijing, brought to you by the travel gurus at Expats Holidays!

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