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China’s best new outdoor attractions | CNN

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China’s best new outdoor attractions | CNN



CNN
 — 

With regards to vacationer sights, quite a bit has occurred in China over the previous couple of years.

From cruises alongside the world’s longest canal to a post-earthquake fairyland, varied out of doors sights have opened or undergone dramatic makeovers, giving vacationers extra causes than ever to go to China.

Now that the nation has introduced it’s reopening its borders to overseas vacationers and resumed issuing vacationer visas, worldwide guests can lastly take a look at a few of these widespread new choices which have been successful the hearts of home vacationers in the course of the pandemic.

Listed here are a number of of our favorites.

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Stretching 1,782 kilometers (1,107 miles) – about 9 occasions the size of the Suez Canal, China’s Grand Canal is the world’s longest human-made river.

Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Web site in 2014, the Grand Canal – often known as Jing-Hold Canal – runs from Beijing within the north to Hangzhou within the south and connects to a number of waterways, together with the Yellow River and the Yangtze River.

It was constructed in sections over 2,500 years in the past and unified all through the centuries.

Within the final century, some sections dried out or had been overrun by air pollution. Nonetheless, in 2022, a authorities initiative noticed your entire Grand Canal cleaned up and reconnected.

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Among the many prime locations to expertise it’s Cangzhou, a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Beijing. The commercial port metropolis has upgraded the vacationer choices alongside its part of the canal, which now options 15 cruise ships, 12 vacationer piers and 6 new bridges.

Nanjing's Garden Expo Park Scenic Spot showcases the region's famous Jiangsu-style gardens.

Jiangsu province, on China’s jap coast, is known for its exquisitely designed Chinese language gardens that date again greater than 2,000 years.

Right now, the custom continues however with a singular twist. In 2021, Nanjing, the province’s capital metropolis, remodeled an deserted quarry into the Jiangsu Backyard Expo Park.

The three.45-square-kilometer area is residence to stunning, traditional Jiangsu-style gardens and different sights, together with a water botanical backyard, a theater and a pedestrian procuring avenue.

Among the many highlights is Suzhou Backyard, which was impressed by the Canglang Pavilion – a UNESCO World Heritage Web site in close by Suzhou.

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All of the constructions contained in the Suzhou Backyard are made from stable wooden jointed by mortise and tenon joints (two items of wooden are locked collectively with out nails). In truth, it’s mentioned not a single nail has been used within the backyard.

Universal Beijing Resort is the fifth and largest Universal Studios theme park in the world.

Opened in September 2021, the 169-hectare Common Beijing Resort is the world’s fifth and largest Common Studios theme park.

There are seven themed lands providing dozens of reveals and rides, lots of them open air: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter; Transformers Metrobase; Hollywood; WaterWorld; Minion Land; Jurassic World Isla Nubla; and King Fu Panda Land of Awesomeness.

It additionally has the world’s first Common-themed lodging – the Common Studios Grand Lodge – and NUO Resort Lodge, a Qing Dynasty-themed resort lodge.

Ningxia's Desert Star Hotel.

Neighboring northern China’s Interior Mongolia area, the semi-arid Ningxia Hui Autonomous Area experiences little rainfall and enjoys round 300 days of clear skies yearly, making it among the best locations to take pleasure in China’s dramatic desert landscapes and have interaction in some critical stargazing.

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The area has capitalized on this energy in recent times and is witnessing a tourism enhance.

The annual China (Ningxia) Starry Sky Tourism Convention first kicked off in 2021, combining stargazing with a sequence of occasions, together with a desert digital music competition and an excessive automotive race.

One of many prime methods to expertise Ningxia is by checking into the Desert Star Lodge in Ningxia’s Zhongwei Metropolis.

Positioned in the course of Shapotou District, a scenic tourism space, the lodge options 176 rooms in the course of the desert. Choices embody desert-view balcony rooms and tent-style huts for many who fancy a little bit of glamping motion.

The complicated provides indoor and out of doors eating choices, a swimming pool, an astronomy-themed theater and family-friendly sand actions.

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The lodge solely has an official WeChat account, however vacationers may also guide via varied lodge platforms or native journey businesses. Room charges begin from round RMB2300, or $320 per evening.

Coming soon: Rissai Valley, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve.

In 2017, a strong and lethal earthquake struck Jiuzhaigou County in China’s southwestern Sichuan Province, leaving the area devastated.

Lately, the federal government and the vacationer trade have been working exhausting to revive the realm, together with the famed Jiuzhaigou Nationwide Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Web site.

The scenic space absolutely reopened in September 2021 and now provides 12 upgraded sights. These embody the Shenxian Chi (Fairy Ponds), which function terraced white and pale blue travertine swimming pools, and the Dalu Historic Village, which is over 1,000 years previous.

There’s additionally the brand new Jiawuhai Big Panda Conservation and Analysis Park. 4 large pandas are cared for inside the middle, whereas the realm surrounding it’s residence to round 30 wild pandas.

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The place to remain? Luxurious seekers will need to verify into China’s first Ritz-Carlton Reserve, which is able to open within the space later this 12 months.

Some quarter-hour from the Jiuzhaigou Nationwide Park, the 87-villa Rissai Valley, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, will function a 2,500 square-meter spa in addition to eating and occasion areas with out of doors seating overlooking the mountains.

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Read the Letter to the Inspectors General

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Read the Letter to the Inspectors General

Your investigation of these allegations is consistent with the IG’s mission to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse in federal agencies, and can help determine if politically connected crypto interests are undermining our national security. As Congress considers legislation on the market structure for digital assets, we must ensure that cryptocurrencies like USD1 are not providing the President and senior officials with the ability to line their pockets at the expense of the public interest.

The following facts have been reported in multiple outlets regarding Mr. Witkoff:

• Mr. Witkoff’s son Zach Witkoff is the CEO of World Liberty Financial (WLF), which the President’s family owns a majority stake in.³
• Beginning in January, one of Sheikh Tahnoon’s employees, Fiacc Larkin, joined WLF as the “chief strategic advisor” while continuing to work at G42, an AI investment firm owned by Sheikh Tahnoon that, according to the U.S. intelligence community, works closely with Chinese military companies.4



On May 1, 2025, Zach Witkoff announced that MGX, a state-owned investment firm controlled by Sheikh Tahnoon, had agreed to use a WLF-issued stablecoin, USD1, to make a $2 billion investment in Binance. As a result of this deal, WLF stands to reap hundreds of millions of dollars in transaction fees from MGX, and more from the returns on any investments it makes with the $2 billion deposit.³
As of August, Mr. Witkoff maintained a financial interest in WLF and thus stands to personally benefit from his son’s business dealings with the UAE.6 Nevertheless, he did not recuse himself from deliberations regarding the UAE, which may violate federal ethics law.

The following facts have been reported about Mr. Sacks:







He is a special government employee who continues to serve as a “general partner” at his venture capital fund, Craft Ventures.

8

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, an Emirati sovereign wealth fund controlled by Sheikh Tahnoon, was an early investor in Craft Ventures and continues to hold an investment in the fund.
In addition, Craft Ventures is invested in BitGo, which has partnered with WLF to provide the technical infrastructure for USD1. If BitGo’s valuation grows, based on the UAE’s investment into USD1, Mr. Sacks and his firm stand to benefit.

3 Yahoo Finance, “Trump family reportedly has a 60% stake in the World Liberty Financial,” Anand Sinha, March 31, 2025,
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-family-reportedly-60-stake-172742661.html.
4 New York Times, “Inside U.S. Efforts to Untangle an A.I. Giant’s Ties to China,” Mark Mazzetti and Edward
Wong, Nov. 27, 2023, www.nytimes.com/2023/11/27/us/politics/ai-us-uae-china-security-g42.html.
5 New York Times, “At a Dubai Conference, Trump’s Conflicts Take Center Stage,” David Yaffe-Bellany, May 1, 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/01/us/politics/trump-cryptocurrency-usd1-dubai-conference-

announcement.html.

6U.S Office of Government Ethics, Form 278e for Steven C. Witkoff, August 13, 2025, p. 23, https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/090d0de07e1d2fdf/bbf02867-full.pdf.

18 U.S.C. § 208.

8 White House, “Limited Waiver Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 208(b)(1) Regarding A.I. Assets,” June 2025,
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/David-Sacks.pdf.

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Farage refuses to criticise Trump over paracetamol despite health experts dismissing autism claims

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Farage refuses to criticise Trump over paracetamol despite health experts dismissing autism claims

Nigel Farage has refused to criticise Donald Trump’s claims that paracetamol, sold in the US as Tylenol, could cause autism, insisting “science is never settled” and he would never “side with” medical experts.

The Reform UK leader said he had “no idea” if the US president was right to tell pregnant women to avoid taking acetaminophen, also known as Tylenol and paracetamol, and suggesting that those who could not “tough it out” should limit their intake.

Scientists and global health agencies including the World Health Organization have strongly dismissed Trump’s false claims, calling them misguided and saying the evidence linking paracetamol use in pregnancy and autism was “inconsistent”.

The UK’s health secretary, Wes Streeting, told the British public they should not “pay any attention whatsoever to what Donald Trump says about medicine”, adding: “I trust doctors over President Trump frankly, on this.”

But in a wide-ranging interview with LBC’s Nick Ferrari, Farage was asked directly if Trump was right to share those unproven claims. He said: “I have no idea, I’ve no idea. You know we were told thalidomide was a very safe drug and it wasn’t. Who knows Nick, I don’t know.

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“He [Trump] has a particular thing about autism. I think because there’s been some in his family, he feels it very personally. I’ve no idea.”

When Farage was asked if he would side with medical experts who say it is dangerous to make the link, he added: “I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t. When it comes to science, I don’t side with anybody, right? You know? I don’t side with anybody, because science is never settled. We should remember that.”

Yet when challenged over whether it was irresponsible for Trump to make such an unproven claim, Farage said: “That’s an opinion he’s [Trump’s] got. It’s not one that I necessarily share.”

Farage’s refusal to condemn Trump’s claims comes weeks after a controversial doctor, Aseem Malhotra, was given top billing at Reform UK’s party conference and used his main-stage speech to claim the Covid vaccine caused cancer in the royal family. Malhotra is an adviser to Trump’s health secretary, Robert F Kennedy.

In the same interview, Farage said Trump was “right to say” that sharia law “is an issue in London”.

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“Never take what he [Trump] says literally, ever on anything. But always take everything he says seriously,” Farage said, adding: Trump “has a point.”

“So is he right to say that sharia is an issue in London? Yes. Is it an overwhelming issue at this stage? No. Has the mayor of London directly linked himself to it? No.”

Labour MPs have urged Keir Starmer to reprimand Trump’s administration after the US president falsely claimed in a speech to the United Nations: “I look at London, where you have a terrible mayor, terrible, terrible mayor, and it’s been changed, it’s been so changed.

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“Now they want to go to sharia law. But you are in a different country, you can’t do that.”

Trump has been publicly attacking the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, since 2015 when the Labour politician criticised Trump, the then presidential candidate, for suggesting that Muslims should be banned from travelling to the US.

A spokesperson for Khan said: “We are not going to dignify his appalling and bigoted comments with a response. London is the greatest city in the world, safer than major US cities and we’re delighted to welcome the record number of US citizens moving here.”

During the LBC phone-in, Farage also said Reform’s plan to ban anyone who was not a UK citizen from claiming benefits would not apply to Ukrainians and Hongkongers.

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“No, because they come for different reasons,” Farage said, adding those who had lived in the UK on indefinite leave to remain and had not worked or paid into the system would be told their benefits would be cut.

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Alphabet market value exceeds $3tn

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Alphabet market value exceeds tn

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Alphabet’s market capitalisation surged above $3tn for the first time on Monday on the back of a sharp rally for the search giant’s shares over the past few weeks.

Shares in Google’s parent company have climbed more than 30 per cent to a record high of $252 since the group posted double-digit growth in revenue and profit in quarterly results out in late July.

The rally means Alphabet joins Nvidia, Microsoft and Apple as the only US companies valued above $3tn. Chipmaker Nvidia in July became the first company to hit a $4tn market value.

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