The fifth Disney theme park in the world, Hong Kong Disneyland is located in Penny’s Bay on Lantau Island.

Built with Chinese customs and culture in mind, Disneyland in Hong Kong is a rich mix of the flair of the orient with the traditional outlay of the Disney parks you’ve come to know and love.

If you are traveling to China with your family, or even if you are just a kid at heart, a sidetrip to the Disneyland in Hong Kong will be well worth your time.

There’s a reason Disney theme parks have been one of the world’s most popular destinations for decades. And if you really want to splurge, make sure to stay at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel, so you can be surrounded by Disney Magic at all times.

Like its famous American counterpart, Hong Kong Disneyland is divided into four different themed lands – Main Street U.S.A., Adventureland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. Each one features whirling rides, affable characters roaming the paths, and other Disney-themed excitement.

Main Street is a whirl of lights at nighttime, like Christmas all year round. During the day it’s where you’ll find the parade of characters, and in the evening all heads turn towards Cinderella’s Castle, where a nightly fireworks display draws oohs and aahs from the crowd. Adventureland is outfitted with the Jungle River Cruise and the popular Tarzan’s Island.

Feel the Gs when you get on the fan-favorite Space Mountain, as you are sent twisting and twirling into the darkness in Tomorrowland. This is also where you”ll come across the Orbitron and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters and various other space-related attractions. Fantasyland is the park’s largest section and features signature rides like the Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups.

And children young and old always love the Winnie the Pooh ride, as you take a journey through the many adventures of the lovable bear. Here you’ll also find a slightly altered version of the It’s A Small World ride, tailored to include scenes from Chinese culture, along with other scenes unique to Disneyland in Hong Kong.

For those looking to make the park a focal point of their trip, the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel is one of the best places you’ll find to stay, and is an essential part of any vacation package to Disneyland Hong Kong. Built to resemble a tropical cotton plantation and was its construction was inspired by the many other Disneyland hotels operating throughout the world.

No matter where you are, you can always take a trip back to your childhood by visiting one of the Disney theme parks. But none of them match the exotic flavor of Hong Kong Disneyland – so get a room at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel and see why the park is one of the finest Disney exports in the world.

From here the Chinese Communist Party rules over its enormous empire while further to the south, you will find more and more free trading with new capitalists, having contributed to form the new face of China over the last decades.

Beijing has come a long way from the dusty communist capital of the seventies and eighties to a modern city with the usual high rising buildings and shopping malls. At the same time, hotel and restaurant standards have improved enormously. It may not yet be able to compete with Hong Kong or Shanghai, but in its runup to the 2008 Olympics, it is trying real hard.

Naturally, Beijing has some of the most superb examples of Chinese architecture. No other place in China offers such a large number of old buildings as Bejing. On top of that, Beijing is one of the more convenient starting points for visiting The Great Wall.

One of the most popular facets of a Chinese vacation is a side-trip to Hong Kong for a couple days. With all of the Hong Kong hotels available, lodging will be the least of your worries. Bright and eager to please, Hong Kong China is a unique and fascinating glimpse at the collision of Western and Eastern cultures, of capitalism and communism, of ancient values mixed with the mores of the modern world.

At first glance, Hong Kong China can put more than a few people off—it can appear like some kind of post-apocalyptic shopping mall, especially at night. But Hong Kong travel continues to be such a well-liked option because of the varied options you have within the tiny region.

While shopping and dining out at a Hong Kong restaurant are still the are still the pillars for any great experience here, often overlooked are the burgeoning arts scene and the many natural wonders that expand a Hong Kong China vacation into a well-rounded trip that has something for just about everyone.

One of the nicest things for many looking into Hong Kong travel is the inclusion of the English language into most aspects of life. Everywhere on menus and street signs, a large portion of the population here (though 95% Chinese) speak impeccable English. And while Hong Kong tourism can provide plenty of culture shock, much of it won’t be due to the inability to communicate.

Hong Kong itself is divided into four main areas— Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, the New Territories and the Outlying Islands. Though each have a vital and long-standing role in Hong Kong tourism, most visitors spend the majority of their time in the densely populated area of Kowloon. This is where the action is. Hundreds of bars and clubs, Hong Kong restaurants and hotels line the crowded streets, remaining active well into the early hours of the morning.

But savvy visitors know that Kowloon is not the entirety of Hong Kong travel. Though the bright lights and frenetic pace will appeal to most, those looking for a more nature-specific vacation will not be disappointed by what the islands have to offer. If you’re traveling around for the first time, you’ll want to grab a map of Hong Kong so you’ll have a better idea of the area.

First and foremost is Hong Kong Island, which is home to the majestic Victoria Peak. But if you venture even further from the main areas, these is even more natural splendor to enjoy. The Outlying Islands number well past 200, and hold a majestic array of beaches, ranging anywhere from resort-like to hidden stretches of sand where you’ll be hard pressed to find another tourist (at least during the week).

Throughout the hundreds of islands, however, only four of them offer easy access and enough attractions to entertain most tourists. Easily approached by ferry from Kowloon or Hong Kong Island, these islands also offer some of the best hiking in all of China – most of the trails can be found in the sparsely populated Lantau Island, while the rest are on Lamma Island.

Lamma is the closest to central Hong Kong China in both proximity and cultural landscape. It has a smaller scale version of the excitement of the big city, an urban atmosphere immediately surrounded by all the natural beauty that Hong Kong has to offer.

But many travelers never leave Kowloon—it’s not the center of Hong Kong tourism for nothing. For less than $50 a day, you can see everything the city has to offer, plus eat world-renowned seafood at any decent Hong Kong restaurant – as long as you don’t mind staying in a budget hotel. But with all the sights and sounds the city has to offer, who cares where you stay?

There is little that can be said about the Great Wall of China that has not been stated over and over again throughout the wall”s 2000 year history. Construction of the Great Wall started in 221 BC to defend the Middle Kingdom from Mongol soldiers. But many of the sections were already in place, built by a series of independent kingdoms stretched across the land, from Shanhaiguan on the east coast to Jiayuguan in the Gobi Desert – Emperor Qin Shihuang merely oversaw the joining of these walls.

The first chapter in the history of the Great Wall of China ended in 207 BC, when the last of the over 6 billion cubic feet of compacted earth was set into place. The Great Wall was only moderately effective in carrying out its purpose, even after it was faced with bricks and stones. It”s real value came in the way it eased transportation throughout the land – acting as a kind of elevated thruway, equipment, goods and passengers could more easily traverse the arduous mountainous wilderness that enveloped the Great Wall.

As strange as it seems now, before a Great Wall of China tour was a prerequisite on any trip to the country, many of the sections fell into disrepair as time passed and the import of the towering structure lessened as marauding nomads dispersed into the annals of time. The history of the Great Wall of China, and its return to significance was actually the work of the tourist industry – now there are plenty of popular sites where the day tripper can behold one of the most famous landmarks in the world.

Badaling, Mutianyu, and Simatai are the most popular spots to being a Great Wall of China tour. The closest to Beijing, where most travelers are approaching from is Badaling, about 40 miles northwest of the capital. Here is certainly the most popular spot for tour guides and those giving the Great Wall a cursory glance. Here you will find a glut of souvenir shops, cheesy restaurants and any number of other tourist traps, but for those who want to keep their transportation simple and convenient, this is the best place to learn the history of the Great Wall of China – the Great Wall Museum is also here.

Mutianyu is not much better. Over 50 miles from Beijing, you will find a similar tourist-driven atmosphere at Mutianyu, though the wall is far more complex than in Badaling, as you will find a number of fascinating guard towers and some of the best views along any section of the wall.

Experienced travelers know that near the small town of Gubeikou, the remains at Simatai are one of the best places to get an unfettered and more authentic look at the Great Wall of China. Watchtowers line the walls, haphazardly winging their way across the landscape. The only problem with Simatai is that it is a much more rigorous hike to view the Wall – the terrain ranges from sharp inclines to steep dropoffs almost without warning, so it is certainly not for the beginning hiker. But those that make the trip to Simatai are sure to be rewarded with the best views in all of China..

Of course, there are plenty of different places to start your own Great Wall of China tour. Other significant places are Juyong Pass and Jinshanling and Huanghua, the last one long considered to be the best preserved section of the wall in the vicinity of Beijing.

Occupying most of East Asia, it is the fourth largest country in area (after Russia, Canada, and the U.S.). China’s geography is highly diverse, with hills, plains, and river deltas in the east and deserts, high plateaus, and mountains in the west. Climate is equally varied, ranging from tropical in the south (Hainan) to subarctic in northeastern China (Manchuria).

China’s geography causes an uneven population distribution; 94 percent live in the eastern third of the country. Shandong province, with its mild coastal climate, has more than 90 million people, but Tibet, with its harsh mountain plateau climate, has less than 3 million.

The coastal regions are the most economically developed—acting as a magnet for an estimated 150 million Chinese migrants from the poor rural interior. This figure, from 2008, grows by an estimated 10 million Chinese each year.

China has perhaps the world’s longest continuous civilization; for more than 40 centuries its people created a culture with strong philosophies, traditions, and values. The start of the Han dynasty 2,200 years ago marked the rise of military power that created an empire—one that provided a golden age in art, politics, and technology. Ethnic Chinese still refer to themselves as the “People of Han,” and Han Chinese constitute 92 percent of the country’s population.

Successive dynasties developed a system of bureaucratic control that gave agrarian-based China an advantage over rivals. By 2030 it’s estimated that some 60 percent of the country’s citizens will live in urban areas.

The first half of the 20th century saw the fall of the last Chinese emperor, Japanese invasion, World War II, and civil war between Chinese Communist and Nationalist forces—ending with the retreat of the Nationalists to Taiwan. The People’s Republic of China from 1949 to 1976 imposed state control on the economy. Since 1979, China has reformed its economy and allowed competition, and today it has one of the world’s highest rates of growth, averaging nearly 10 percent since the late 1970s.

Rapid industrial development has increased pollution—with China having four of the world’s ten most polluted cities when it comes to air quality. The largest producer and consumer of coal, the country is turning away from coal toward clean hydroelectric resources, such as the Three Gorges Dam.

Politically China still maintains strict control over its people. Chinese rule over Tibet remains controversial, fighting with Muslim separatists in Xinjiang continues, and political issues with Taiwan remain unresolved. China regained Hong Kong from Britain in 1997 and Macau from Portugal in 1999.

In 2003 China became only the third nation (after Russia and the U.S.) to launch a manned spaceflight. The country launched a lunar orbiter in 2007 with the possibility of a manned mission to the moon by 2020.

A devastating earthquake hit Sichuan province in May 2008, leaving some 87,000 people dead or missing, injuring hundreds of thousands, and causing millions of people to lose their homes.

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