Justine Shapiro

Andrew Margetson

South West China

Beautiful Country Ready For Big Changes

This is a two-tour DVD, both segments almost an hour long each, so you get a lot for your money if you buy or rent this &quot;travel&quot; disc. Both tours are interesting and show the magnificent scenery of China. Personally, I think this is one of the prettiest countries in the world, maybe the best. However, both hosts here - Megan McCormick and Justine Shapiro - predict it won&apos;t be as pretty in the future.

McCormick bases her assumption on the huge new dam that will be ready by 2012 and will destroy a lot of beautiful villages and scenery. Shapiro did not say why she had concerns but she must know some things, too, that are about to happen in this country. With the Yengzi River, the biggest in the country, overflowing here and there with horrible floods, the Chinese thought the dam was a necessity, so one can&apos;t blame them if some of the scenery is lost. 

McCormick takes us through central China, beginning with Shanghai, one of the largest- growing cities in the world. It has gone from almost nothing a huge city in a matter of a decade and is hoped to be &quot;the next Hong Kong&quot; by 2010. Megan takes us through the biggest bazaar in the country - three straight miles of retail &quot;shops!&quot; - to a plant that produces silk - which is huge in China - to a school for acrobats, medicine shops, an opera and other interesting places, capped off by a place with hundreds of centuries-old statues in tombs. 

Other notable facts: the Yengzi River runs 4,000 miles across China and is the third-longest river in the world. The dam being constructed will cost over 24 billion dollars.

Shapiro takes us to Northwest. She, too, describes how big China is, stating that one-fifth of the entire world&apos;s population lives here!

She takes us to the top of &quot;Moon Hill,&quot; where the locals claim &quot;is the prettiest spot in the world.&quot; What they mean is the prettiest in China, Shapiro notes. It IS spectacular. I can&apos;t get over how beautiful these limestone mountains are in China - just unbelievable!

We also go the largest waterfalls in Asia in Liuzhi and then Justin takes a 24-hour bus trip to her next destination. The bus did have sleepers, however, which was kind of cool. A fellow American traveler told her to advise tourists, &quot;If you are on a strict schedule where you only have a certain time to be some places, don&apos;t come to China&quot; meaning it&apos;s almost impossible there to go anywhere in a hurry.

We visit another city of over 10 million - Chengdu, the most modern city in the area. There, our host, who has been ill for almost two weeks, gets an acupuncture treatment. We also get a tour of a huge market. Most Chinese eat fresh - many things still alive and wiggling - food because most of them don&apos;t own refrigerators.

It&apos;s an incredibly beautiful country but I wouldn&apos;t want to experience some of things Shapiro and McCormick did on their trips here. The culture - and language-barrier - is so different than ours, it would be a tough adjustment.

Globe Trekker: Central Asia

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNmQ5NmFlYmQtNDQ5ZS00MDBhLWIxMWUtMDYyMDQzNTYxNzc5XkEyXkFqcGdeQXRyYW5zY29kZS13b3JrZmxvdw@@._V1_.jpg

This is a two-tour DVD, both segments almost an hour long each, so you get a lot for your money if you buy or rent this "travel" disc. Both tours are interesting and show the magnificent scenery of China. Personally, I think this is one of the prettiest countries in the world, maybe the best. However, both hosts here - Megan McCormick and Justine Shapiro - predict it won't be as pretty in the future.

McCormick bases her assumption on the huge new dam that will be ready by 2012 and will destroy a lot of beautiful villages and scenery. Shapiro did not say why she had concerns but she must know some things, too, that are about to happen in this country. With the Yengzi River, the biggest in the country, overflowing here and there with horrible floods, the Chinese thought the dam was a necessity, so one can't blame them if some of the scenery is lost. 

McCormick takes us through central China, beginning with Shanghai, one of the largest- growing cities in the world. It has gone from almost nothing a huge city in a matter of a decade and is hoped to be "the next Hong Kong" by 2010. Megan takes us through the biggest bazaar in the country - three straight miles of retail "shops!" - to a plant that produces silk - which is huge in China - to a school for acrobats, medicine shops, an opera and other interesting places, capped off by a place with hundreds of centuries-old statues in tombs. 

Other notable facts: the Yengzi River runs 4,000 miles across China and is the third-longest river in the world. The dam being constructed will cost over 24 billion dollars.

Shapiro takes us to Northwest. She, too, describes how big China is, stating that one-fifth of the entire world's population lives here!

She takes us to the top of "Moon Hill," where the locals claim "is the prettiest spot in the world." What they mean is the prettiest in China, Shapiro notes. It IS spectacular. I can't get over how beautiful these limestone mountains are in China - just unbelievable!

We also go the largest waterfalls in Asia in Liuzhi and then Justin takes a 24-hour bus trip to her next destination. The bus did have sleepers, however, which was kind of cool. A fellow American traveler told her to advise tourists, "If you are on a strict schedule where you only have a certain time to be some places, don't come to China" meaning it's almost impossible there to go anywhere in a hurry.

We visit another city of over 10 million - Chengdu, the most modern city in the area. There, our host, who has been ill for almost two weeks, gets an acupuncture treatment. We also get a tour of a huge market. Most Chinese eat fresh - many things still alive and wiggling - food because most of them don't own refrigerators.

It's an incredibly beautiful country but I wouldn't want to experience some of things Shapiro and McCormick did on their trips here. The culture - and language-barrier - is so different than ours, it would be a tough adjustment.

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