Brimming with chocolate, beer, diamond rings and beautiful churches, Flanders in the north of Belgium, is a lover's paradise.
Though the place is quite small and the six cities of Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, Mechelen and Leuven all sit within a 50 mile radius of each other, this is a place where couples can find medieval Flemish churches, sparkling diamond jewellery and a selection of beers as varied as the colours of the rainbow.
The charm of Flanders' cities is their cobblestone streets, beguiling gothic cathedrals and artistic treasures including paintings from the Flemish masters Breughel, Rubens and their modern contemporaries Permeke, Ensor and Magritte. And each city is brimming with quaint medieval squares, tree-lined canals, gorgeous architectural facades, world-class museums and friendly outdoor cafes.
In Brussels stands the classic sculpture of the naughty Manneken Pis and the Grand Place, which was built as a merchant's market in the 13th century. And in the canal city of Bruges, with the city centre closed off to cars, all the stunning beauty and culture of this unforgettable city can be easily explored on foot, by taking a boat ride along the quiet canals, or by horse-drawn carriages along cobblestone streets. Antwerp is home to an impressive range of architecture from medieval churches to Art Nouveau hotels. While in Ghent, tourists flood in to ogle the beautiful Adoration of the Mystic Lamb painted by the brothers Jan and Hubert van Eyck in 1432. Under the watchful eye of Gravensteen Castle, or Castle of the Counts, the city boasts an Opera House, 18 museums, 100 churches and over 400 historical buildings.
One of the best ways to spend a day in Mechelen is to sit outside at a caf sipping on local beer. And in Leuven, the home of one of the oldest universities in Europe, you may have the chance to sit in the 13th century stone Beguinage, a group of houses built around a small garden, which has been selected as a world heritage site by UNESCO.
But what attracts visitors to this part of Brussels is not just the scenery. The sweet smell of chocolate fills every street in Flanders. Dozens of chocolate shops crowd on both sides of the city streets, selling sculpted chocolate, each as refined as an artwork. Pralines are the most popular chocolates on sale here with chocolatiers making each one by hand. According to the Belgian tourism bureau, the country produces 172,000 tons of chocolate every year. There are more than 2,000 chocolate shops throughout Belgium, and even in small towns you will always be able to find chocolate stores selling luxury praline.
Around 80 per cent of the world's diamond trade also takes place in Flanders, making it one of the best places to snap up the expensive stones.
Flanders is now opening its doors to tourists from China, as the representative office of Flanders Travelling Bureau announced last week in Beijing. A Chinese website, www.visitflanders.com.cn , has also been set up to give more information about the region. And China's Hainan Airlines has opened a new direct route from Beijing to Brussels, with four flights between the two cities every week.
(Article published in China Daily 12/14/2006)
