Last year I worked in Nepal for three months. When I had a few days off, I decided to go into the jungle (丛林). I asked a Nepalese guide, Kamal Rai to go with me.

We started our trip at six in the morning with two elephants carrying our things. It was hot, but Kamal made me wear shoes and trousers to protect me from snakes. In the jungle there was a lot of wildlife, but we were trying to find tigers. We climbed onto the elephants’ backs to see better. However, it is unusual to find tigers in the afternoon because they sleep in the daytime.

Then, in the distance, we saw a tiger, and Kamal told me to be very quiet. We moved nearer and found a dead deer. This was the tiger’s lunch! Suddenly, I started to feel very frightened,

Then a huge tiger jumped out suddenly. It caught Kamal’s leg between its teeth, but I managed to pull Kamal away. One of our elephants ran at the tiger and made it go back into the grass, so we quickly ran away to let the tiger eat its lunch. That night it was impossible to sleep!

Tourism probably started in Roman times, Rich Romans visited friends and family who were working in another part of the Roman Empire. But when the Empire broke down, this kind of tourism stopped.

In the early 17th century, the idea of the “Grand Tour” was born. Rich young English people sailed across the English Channel. They visited the most beautiful and important European cities of the time, including Paris in France, and Rome and Venice in Italy. Their tours lasted for two to four years, and the tourists stayed a few weeks or months in each city. The “Grand Tour” was an important part of young people’s education—but only for the rich.

In the 18th century, tourism began to change. For example, people in the UK started to visit some towns, such as Bath to “take the waters”. They believed that the water there was good for their health. So large and expensive hotels were built in these towns.

In the 19th century, travel became much more popular and faster. When the first railways were built in the 1820s, it was easier for people to travel between towns, so they started to go for holidays by the sea. And some started to have holidays in the countryside as cities became larger, noisier and dirtier.

Traveling by sea also became faster and safer when the first steamships were built. People began to travel more to far-away countries.

The 20th century saw cars become more and more popular among ordinary people. Planes were made larger, so ticket prices dropped and more people used them. Thus tourism grew. In 1949, Russian journalist Vladimir Raitz started a company called Horizon Holidays. The company organizes everything—plane tickets, hotel rooms, even food—and tourists pay for it all before they leave home. The package tour and modern tourist industry was born.

The first travel agency in China was set up as early as 1949. But tourism did not take off until 1978. In 2002, the industry was worth 500 billion yuan and became an important part of China’s social development.

Go behind the scenes in the high-tech world of California’s well-known Silicon Valley. See what it’s like inside a super-clean and highly automated silicon chip(硅片) factory, and connect with technologies that give us new ways to work, learn, play, and communicate. The Intel Museum is 10,000 square feet providing lots of fun and interactive learning for children and adults.

Getting Here

The museum is conveniently located near the Montague Expressway exit off Highway 101 in Santa Clara, CA 95054.

Visiting Hours

Monday - Friday, 9 am to 6 pm

Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm

Note: Please call in advance to ensure that we are open, as we close for having a social gathering limited to members of a family, organization, or club from time to time.

Tour Information