Yesterday we were invited to an event by the Chinese Tourism Administration of Henan at the Sheraton Hotel in Stockholm. The province of Henan was presented, and it was really interesting. China is one of those huge countries that we know far too little about. Suddenly a province is mentioned that you don't really know about, and then it turns out that 100 million people live there ...!
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SharePresentation of the province of Henan
As soon as we stepped into the conference room at the Sheraton, we felt like we had entered a different culture. The room was full of Chinese men in ties, handing out business cards and gifts and flashing their mobile phones. When the presentation started, it was in singing Chinese, which was translated by an interpreter into English with a Chinese accent. The introduction, when all the Chinese participants in the room were politely introduced, took some time, but in the end it was time to find out more about Henan!
Where is the province of Henan?
It is not uncommon for Swedes to visit China, but they have usually been in Beijing or Shanghai, or perhaps doing business in a megacity like Chongqing. I myself have been to Beijing, Xian (the terracotta army) and Guilin (the Sugarloaf mountains). But there is so much more to see in the huge country of China - like the province of Henan, for example! If you, like me until yesterday afternoon, are not familiar with this province, we will show you on a map where it is located.
Why should you visit Henan province?
Henan is sometimes called 'the cradle of Chinese civilisation' and here you can visit cultural world heritage sites so many centuries old that it's dizzying. How about cities founded more than 3200 years ago? One fascinating historical site that caught my eye is the Longmen Caves, a mountainous area with over 2000 caves, 40 pagodas and 100,000 Buddhist images, dating back to the 3rd century.
But there is not only history in Henan. We also heard a lot about Kung Fu (which originated here) and local food culture. The area is known for dumplings and noodle dishes, but perhaps above all for the "Water banquet", a buffet with lots of soups. China is a huge country with so much to see and experience! Have you been to Henan or elsewhere in China, or would you like to go there?
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Lina says:
Spanning!!!! Too bad I missed 🙁 hugs
08 March 2016 - 9:49
Åsa says:
And you think it's strange when non-Europeans mix up Switzerland and Sweden! No, I've never been to China but to a Chinese restaurant? ; )
08 March 2016 - 10:08
Yvonne says:
Nature is amazing! Try to fill in your blog address Hugs!
08 March 2016 - 10:51
Steve says:
Exciting. Of course I would like to go there. I guess I'll have to do what I usually do when I "travel" these days. Hang on to you because I guess you're going there anyway.
08 March 2016 - 10:12
Monica o Jacob says:
Sounds like an exciting place;-)
08 March 2016 - 10:48
BP says:
The English for Chinese is not so easy I see, not professional on a business card if you say so;-)
Ditte has lived in China and has even learnt the language.
Strangely, I am not attracted to the country, the sights okay, but not the rest.
08 March 2016 - 11:51
Marina says:
China is a white spot on my travel map so far, so we'll see. Certainly it sounds exciting, but if I were to get there, it is probably still doubtful that Henan would get priority one. But you never know ...
08 March 2016 - 12:31
Lennart says:
China is a black and exciting country!
Been to many places but not Henan.
A bit to the south is the "Workshop Floor" where I have been.
08 March 2016 - 14:06
Mita says:
No, I have never been to China and nothing that appeals to me either.
Hugs/
08 March 2016 - 13:57
Biggeros says:
I have not been to China, but Hennan sounded very interesting!!! Thank you:)
08 March 2016 - 15:26
admin says:
Lina, we looked for you, but realised that you were unable to attend. See you another time!
Åsa, haha, yeah right? We live in a rather small part of the world, good with perspective sometimes 😉.
Steve, no idea if we will ever go there, but it sounded interesting so you never know! 😉
Monica and Jakob, that's it! I like to find exciting places that you haven't thought of before 🙂.
Yvonne, I tried that (too) this morning, but I don't think it worked... Will try again next time!
BP, the bottom picture is the introduction PowerPoint slide. Considering that it was their slogan, you would think they would be able to spell it right... 😉 I actually like China, not least the wonderful food (far from Chinese restaurants in Sweden).
Marina, there are so many places to see in the world...! 😉
Mita, thank you for your comment and good thing you get to choose! 🙂
Lennart, yes China is really both a huge and an exciting country! And there are also a lot of workshops 😉.
Biggeros, we thought it sounded interesting too! 🙂
08 March 2016 - 16:29
Ditte says:
How nice with a presentation of Henan province. I have not been here, but who knows when it will happen.
China is very close to my heart in many ways and there will certainly be more trips there. Absolutely there will be.
The country is like a continent and takes time to see and experience. I was busy during the years we lived there, but with work there was not much time left for travelling. But we managed to do a lot.
And China is close to my heart in many different ways.
08 March 2016 - 16:56
Cassandra says:
Hope you had a nice day 🙂
08 March 2016 - 17:15
admin says:
Ditte, what fun that you, who know a lot about China, comment on this post! Certainly it is like a continent, absolutely huge and in that way a little difficult to grasp, but interesting!
Cassandra, thank you for your comment and you too!
08 March 2016 - 19:37
Alexandra says:
It is interesting that so many here in the comments write that they have no great interest in China... It's a bit the same for me, I do not feel any direct desire to go there. Wonder why that is so?! I don't think there are so many destinations that people say they don't want to go to....
08 March 2016 - 22:38
Veiken says:
Interestingly worse. It is a huge country with many different cultures. We have been to China, but only in Beijing, Shangahai and Xian. That's just scratching the surface!
Answer: Of course I saw your interview with Ditte. Incredibly bar done! 🙂
09 March 2016 - 6:12
admin says:
Alexandra, interesting comment! I do not know... because it is not a sun & bath destination and because it is also far away perhaps? I myself think that China is an interesting country, but there are of course many countries to see in the world... 😉.
Veiken, interesting with visits to Beijing, Shanghai and Xian! Yes, China is so huge that it is difficult to grasp... 😉.
09 March 2016 - 8:47
Ama de casa says:
Sounds exciting!
We have only been to Beijing and Hong Kong. But the latter was not part of China when we were there. Took a trip to China "just because" ... 🙂 ....
09 March 2016 - 9:54
Dryden - Traveler's Edition says:
"Suddenly a province is mentioned that you don't really know about, and it turns out that 100 million people live there...!" - but yes, a bit like that, right? Not heard of it either and even though it was a quick visit for me, China suddenly felt a little more attractive. 🙂 Nice to see you again by the way!
09 March 2016 - 11:15
admin says:
Ama de casa, it's not so "just" iofs 😉 Hong Kong sounds exciting!
Dryden, haha yes it was like that when we travelled by train through Russia too. You stop in one city after another with a lot of millions of people, but you have never heard the name...! Great fun to see you! How was it in Paris???
09 March 2016 - 12:11
Dryden - Traveler's Edition says:
Paris was really really nice! 🙂
09 March 2016 - 16:30
admin says:
Dryden, good to hear! I saw on FB that it was a thing that suited you perfectly ðŸ™'
09 March 2016 - 18:57
Marie says:
Hehe, it looks like the presentation was very Chinese! I've heard that Henan is very beautiful, maybe we'll go there sometime. Were you keen to go there after the presentation? We met a man in China once who was so happy and satisfied that he lived in a small town and avoided the stress of the Chinese cities. It turned out that he lived in Ningbo, a city with about 6 million inhabitants... it's all relative 🙂.
09 March 2016 - 21:24
Elisabeth says:
Really exciting. Wow, there is so much to discover. How can we keep up with all the things we want to do and see?
12 March 2016 - 21:50
Krister i Beijing says:
A post to my liking - though I'm a little late to the party. ;-(
I have only just passed through Henan, and would love to spend a week there as there is a lot of history to see:
It was at Anyang that the oldest Chinese writing was unearthed ('oracle bone writing'). The city of Luoyang has been the capital of many dynasties, and Kaifeng was the southern capital of the Song Dynasty. You mentioned kung-fu in the post, which probably refers to the Shaolin Temple.
Regards
29 March 2016 - 10:22
admin says:
Marie, yes we were a little curious about Henan, I must say! It seems interesting and there is a lot to see! (But then, of course, you are curious about many different destinations, so whether it will happen or not I do not know.) Haha, what fun that with "small town", things are really relative 😉.
Elisabeth, you will never be able to do everything, but it's a bit fun to have places to look forward to and dream about 🙂.
Krister in Beijing, glad you found this post! 🙂 There seemed to be a lot to see in Henan and we would love to go there sometime!
29 March 2016 - 17:09
Jacob says:
It is extremely difficult to keep track of all the provinces, even mixing up some of the ones we visited. What about Shanxi and Shaanxi which are two neighbouring provinces. It's important to keep your tongue in your mouth so you don't get lost sometimes. We were actually in Henan this summer when we cycled from Xian to Huangzhou. Visited the caves and it was clearly interesting with the thousands of statues carved in all large and small caves. Their food was absolutely amazing! They had a dry noodle dish with tahini sauce that was absolutely wonderful.
07 April 2016 - 16:31