forbidden city

Cathay Pacific's Private China Tours

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Art

There's a great option for traveling in China if you don't choose to be a groupie. Lots of people are used to traveling alone, but when it comes to China, they feel obliged to join a group. If you are a little intimidated by traveling in China on your own, Cathay Pacific's China Experience Tours could be the answer. Unlike many group tours, at each location you get to see the sites but a neat extra is that you will have special access to some sort of experience that's next to impossible to arrange on your own.

Tags: Beijing, china, China tours, china travel, Forbidden City, non-group travel, Xian

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Blancpain Donates A Watch To The Forbidden City

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

The Carousel Volant by Blancpain has become the first wristwatch displayed in the Forbidden City. The timepiece was first displayed in the Palace Museum in Beijing's Forbidden City during a unique donation ceremony. The Palace Museum has a Watch and Clock Hall that has a collection of over 1,000 mechanical timepieces from the 18th and 19th Century but this is the first modern timepiece in the collection.

The watch which is called the Blancpain Qiankun Carousel, is done in 18K gold and the half-worked opaline dial shows the Yin and Yang symbol.The 43.5 mm case has a special design on the back with the words "The Palace Museum" and "Piece Unique." Under the sapphire crystal you can see the oscillating weight which was specifically designed for this piece. The Carousel is similar to a tourbillon and completes a full rotation in 60 seconds. Close up pics of the watch front and back showing the intricate detail are in the gallery below.

Gallery: Blancpain in the Forbidden City