In April this year you were invited to take part in a new contest dedicated to one of the most beautiful areas of Romania. The grand prize was an eight-day trip, full accommodation, between September 15 and 30, 2016 for two RRI listeners, in Bistrita-Nasaud county. The winners were Liu Fajian and his wife Huang Lingping of Shenzhen, Guangzhou Province, China. They ended their trip to Romania on September 23. They reached Bucharest on September 16, leaving right away to Bistrita, with short stopovers and visits on the way. The two guests visited first the city of Bistrita, where they admired the Evangelical church, which offers a great view of the city with its belfry. They then visited the oldest Orthodox church there, and also the synagogue, which is now a cultural center. They also strolled through the park, admiring the fishpond, and then took a rest at an open-air restaurant in the center of town.
While visiting Bistrita City Hall, the winners were told about the countys ties to China, about the cement factory in China where Romanian engineers worked before 1989, about the special relations with Hunan province, and the present stage of cooperation. At the same time, they talked about their relationship with Romania, which started, for them and several friends, with a 1959 movie called Waves of the Danube, directed by Liviu Ciulei. RRI was another thing that contributed to developing this relationship, as Liu Fajian told journalists in Bistrita, due to the Chinese language broadcasts which RRI started in October 1999. They were delighted by the opportunity to see personally the areas they heard about, on the radio.
Here is Liu Fajian about the visit to Bistrita-Nasaud: “On the first evening, we were very warmly received at the Golden Crown Hotel in Bistrita. The following day, we went to City Hall, where we were welcomed by the Mayor Cretu, which was an honor. City Hall provided us with a guide, who told us about the history of the city. The guide showed us the Christian Orthodox Church, the Evangelical Church, and the synagogue; we visited an art gallery and memorial houses. The following day we went to the Comparative Art Museum in Sangeorz-Bai. We felt as if we had stepped into a palace of the arts. The art works there were made by over 800 artists, and most of the basic materials were farming tools from villages. We visited the ruins of an old fortification, Rodna. It used to be mostly wood. We felt it had something special back when it was still standing.”
Placed at an altitude of 900 meters, Colibita is the gateway to Calimani Mountains. Starting in 1923, Cobilita worked as a spa until 1975. The stories told by people about getting their tuberculosis cured thanks to the air in the area were confirmed in a study financed by Bistrita-Nasaud County Council, meant to verify the special properties of the air. Most tourists come here for relaxation, and have the opportunity to go trekking, ride horses, or take rides in horse-drawn carriages and, in the winter, sleighs. The tourist offer is very rich, and Cobilita has something to offer even to adrenaline seekers. The adventure tourist offer is wide too, with kayaking, rafting, paragliding, climbing and hunting.
Here is Liu Fajian, the winner of RRIs contest “Holidays in Bistrita-Nasaud”: “We stayed at Colibita Lake three days and two nights. The lake has wonderful scenery, the air was very good, very clean. It was also very quiet, very relaxing. We felt like we had taken a holiday at the seaside.”
Bistrita-Nasaud boasts many areas where the scenery inspired legends. However, most tourists are going to the Bargau Mountains. They have scenery of a rare beauty, with excellent accommodation conditions, for everyone who wants to spend a vacation in the middle of nature. A famous place in these mountains is the Bargau Pass, linking Transylvania to Moldavia. The Castle Dracula Hotel is located here. Also here is Count Draculas crypt and the newly built Count Dracula tunnel.
Liu Fajian: “In the third part of the trip we stayed at the Castle Dracula Hotel, and visited the underground crypt. When we got there, my wife got a bit scared during the show there, when a demon popped out of the tomb.”
The winners of RRIs contest “Holidays in Bistrita-Nasaud” visited many more attractions in the area. Also here, at the border between Transylvania and Bukovina, at an altitude of 1,200 meters, they visited a beautiful Orthodox monastery.
Liu Fajian: “We visited the monastery dedicated to the birth of the Virgin Mary. The monastery was built in 1928, and during WWII it served as an infirmary. Then we visited the paved Roman road near Piatra Fantanele. We hope this is a road to the future, showing the way to a special destiny for Romania.”
Radio Romania International thanks all the listeners who are faithfully listening to our broadcasts, while preparing new contests offering as prizes trips to tourist areas in Romania.
