Private Travel in the World (36 Must-Visit Places for Travelers)

Author: Editor-in-Chief of Ctrip Travel Network
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-12-01
Features:
As a child, I longed for the life of ancient scholars and knights, imagining one day I could "swing a sword to leave the country, bid farewell to family, and travel far south to Cangwu, or cross the vast sea to the east." Roaming across the land, with a bold and heroic spirit—how wonderful that would feel. Later, due to work, I had to travel between many different places every year. Without realizing it, travel became a part of my daily life, and my youthful yearning for travel gradually faded. In the fleeting moments between departures and arrivals, I often wondered: What is travel? Some say it is culture. And indeed, the pyramids were built by the Egyptians, the Forbidden City was constructed by the Chinese, and only France has Versailles, only the U.S. has Arlington National Cemetery. Others say travel is "life in elsewhere," where in foreign lands, one sings poems of the world as a transient journey, looking around with curiosity, perhaps even a touch of gossip. Some also say travel is freedom—starting from any random morning, walking aimlessly, without ulterior motives, and finding joy in wandering and satisfaction.
What I was more curious about was how so many "free-spirited" travelers, with their keen eyes and sincere hearts, could perceive the magic and charm of foreign lands. That’s how this book came to be. It’s a feast of travel. It includes well-known tourist destinations that many of us have already heard of, such as Wuyuan, known as "China’s most beautiful rural area," Yangshuo, "more beautiful than Guilin," and Chiang Mai, the "Rose of Northern Thailand." It also features relatively unfamiliar and mysterious places like Israel, Kenya, Egypt, and Finland.
This is a collective work by netizens. Over 30 netizens have contributed hundreds of exquisite color photos, hundreds of thousands of vivid words, and reasonably designed self-guided itineraries, combined with extensive detailed information, to take us on a journey through towns and villages around the world. The 36 travel destinations selected for this book were completely voted for by netizens online. All the travelogues are written by Ctrip netizens, recording the joys, sorrows, and emotions of their personal journeys.
We are living in a rapidly changing society—a time of "living in a rush, with no time to feel." Life is like a journey, a return after experiencing the seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. In this long voyage, the most precious thing is not anything else—it is precisely what we see and think about during our travels.