SOME foreigners chose to find some excitement outside Shenzhen during the holidays.

　　American, Eleanor Jones, director of the Shekou International School, spent the week visiting Yinchuan, the capital city of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in northwestern China.

　　She said a travel magazine motivated her visit. A hired taxi drove her through almost the entire Ningxia region. At the Tenegger Desert, the fourth largest in China, she saw how the local people had tried hard to plant shrubs to hold back the desert. Jones said she was most impressed by the kindness of the local people. She cited the taxi driver for his patience and his invitation to visit his extended family. She described her Ningxia experience as exhilarating.

　　Louis Lingard, 27, of the U. K., wants to see more of China after his National Day holidays.

　　"So far, I've been living in Shenzhen for a whole year. Whenever I had holidays during the past year, I usually went to Hong Kong," said Lingard, who is now working at the Com.Com English training center.

　　"However, I took advantage of this week-long holiday and visited Nanhai, Foshan and Guangzhou with several Chinese friends. The trip really changed my conceptions of China," Lingard said.

　　"After this trip, I realized there are some interesting and beautiful places in the Peal River Delta area and I hope I'll be able to visit more cities in future," Lingard said.