The Shanghai city to Pudong International Airport Magnetic Levitation (Mag-Lev) train opened to the public over six years ago. Since then, over a million passengers have  ridden the train.

The 30 kilometer (19 mile) elevated rail line takes just over 7 minutes to traverse at the cruising speed of 431 kph (268 mph). The experience is near frictionless, since the train floats above the rail on a magnetic field.

Several of Access China Tours such as the Tang and Shan Shui packages include the Maglev train experience. The train is expected to see record ridership in 2010 as the World Expo runs in Shanghai from May through October.

To find out more about maglev trains, click to read Wikipedia’s content.

Beijing Airport

In 2009 Beijing’s Capital airport surpassed Chicago O’Hare to become the third busiest in the world, serving 65.3 million international and domestic passengers.  The airport, which uses the international code PEK, served only 700,000 passengers fewer than London Heathrow, the world’s second busiest airport. With a 16% increase in traffic from 2008 ton 2009, it is projected that PEK will become the world’s 2^nd busiest in  2010, but it is unlikely the 88 million passengers Atlanta Hartsfield airport serves will be surpassed anytime soon.

Beijing Capital airport completed a dramatic expansion in time for 2008 Olympics, the vast Terminal 3. Over a half mile long, this terminal is filled with modern retail and eating amenities as well as traditional Chinese decorative elements. Despite the huge volume of traffic, security and baggage service at the airport run swiftly and efficiently. A convenient and inexpensive high speed train connects the suburban airport with the center city.

Access China’s tours make extensive use of the excellent facilities at PEK

Huang Shan, UNESCO World Heritage Site

Of China’s dozens of scenic and sacred mountains, Huangshan (“the Yellow Mountain”) is perhaps the most picturesque and aesthetically pleasing. It has been designated UNESCO World heritage site since 1990. Located in the Yellow Mountain range of Eastern China’s Anhui province, Huang Shan receives over a million tourists and pilgrims every year. They come to climb the summit and to appreciate the unique natural beauty of this mountain of misty rocky summits and gnarled pine trees.

The rocks and trees have been the focus of poets and artists for millennia, by end of the  Qing Dynasty over 20,000 poems survive  describing the natural beauty. The Taoist poet Li Bai  wrote some of the most famous odes to Huang Shan around 740 AD.

Although only 1,864 meters (6,115 feet) tall, the mountain  contains three distinct climatic and vegetation zones giving the visitor diverse topography to savor. One can climb the thousands of steps to the summit or use the cable cars.

The humid lower elevations are ideal for tea plant production and are the home to several troops of macaque monkeys.

A highlight on a visit to the Yellow Mountain is to spend the night at one of the summit hotels and view the sunrise over the “sea of clouds” that form each morning below the summit.
Access China Tours offers trips to Huang Shan and the nearby timeless villages of Anhui Province.

The Fortune Cookie didn’t come from China



One of the signature items of Chinese restaurants, the beloved fortune cookie, did not originate in China. In fact, the cookies and paper fortunes are almost completely unknown in mainland China.


The iconic crunchy cookie with words of wisdom inside actually originated in the United States in the early 20th century. Japanese cookies made of sesame and wasabi wrapped in paper fortunes are thought to be the inspiration of the vanilla and sugar flavored hollow “Chinese” fortune cookies with the fortune inside. The modified fortune cookies were being made by hand in San Francisco and Los Angeles bakeries in the early 20th century. The cookies took off in popularity after World War 2 when the automatic cookie making machine was perfected in Oakland, dramatically dropping the production price and allowing Chinese restaurants to offer them as a complimentary desert novelty.


Today, over 3 billion fortune cookies are produced annually, the vast majority of which are consumed in the United States.


Access China Tours provides clients with delicious Chinese cuisine, just don’t expect any fortune cookies.

While many are celebrating Valentine’s day, on February 14 over a billion Chinese people worldwide will celebrate the Lunar New Year. Chun Jie, or Spring Festival is a weeklong celebration where families get together to celebrate with feasts, fireworks and marathon games of mahjong.

Chinese New year falls on the second new moon after the Winter Solstice, which can vary from late January to late February.

2010 is the year of the iron tiger, people born in these years are considered to be courageous, passionate, impulsive and generous. Famous Tigers include Karl Marx, Ho Chi Minh, Agatha Christie and Queen Elizabeth II.

We’re in the process of launching our new website. We’re excited about the changes and our offices remain open to arrange tours and answer any questions that you may have.

We have been in the China travel tour business for over 14 years. We love what we do and would be honored to be your host in the Middle Kingdom.

Please feel free to give us a call at 1 (800) 788-1399 or email us at info@accesschinatours.com

We have two offices to better serve the North American traveling audience, with an office in the United States and one in Canada.  Access China Tours offers excursions to the 2008 Beijing Olympics venues in most of our tour itineraries.

Access China Tours
100 Fillmore Street, Suite 518
Denver, CO 80206

Access China Tours
555 Sixth Street, Suite 345
New Westminster, BC, V3L 5H1 Canada