Tonight I was at a Chinese New Year celebration at the Chinese Embassy in Canberra, Australia. They had a raffle where the main prize was a pair of return business class tickets to Beijing from Sydney. Winning that was one way to get a cheap flight to Beijing.

The other way is to read my tips in the flight to Beijing article on the website. Having recently been watching Survivor China and visiting the embassy tonight my desire to visit China is really strong.

In the embassy itself there are many items that showcase China. They have some Terracotta Warriors, a room decorated as if it is out of the Forbidden City in Beijing. There is a bamboo garden and also in the main garden they have several pavilions built in the traditional Chinese style.

Going to the embassy was just like visiting China. Inside one of the halls of the embassy they had Chinese tea tasting. Outside on the main stage a fantastic show was put on to entertain the hundreds of guests. It started with some lion dancing, followed by dancers from Shaanxi which is home of the Terracotta Warriors. Later came some tai chi, followed by more dancing.

Also at the embassy there was a travel information stand operated by Helen Wong’s tours. I grabbed a couple of brochures about some of the places I am interested in visiting. Lucky for me I am off to Beijing for the Olympics in August.

When not attending the Olympics I would like to visit Shanghai and Guilin. Some of the photos I have seen of Guilin are truly spectacular.

If you have visited China I would love to hear about your favorite spots and not so favorite places.

Check back here in a few days and I will have some video from tonights performance.