As a retirement and relocation destination Belize has a lot of positive attributes. Belize is everything Costa Rica is purported to be. For people looking for a young unspoiled nation, Belize has to be one of the choicest expatriate destinations imaginable. The language is English. The people are friendly. The government is an absolute anomaly for Central America. It is a true democracy, operating under the parliamentary system it adopted from Great Britain (which until 1981 upheld Belize in colonial status.) There is absolute freedom of the press. Little, if any serious corruption. An intelligent attitude towards business and an absolutely astounding respect for ecology. It is in our opinion a world leader in its efforts to create a balance between tourism and sound principals of ecology.
There are few countries towards whom we feel a greater degree of respect. Its tiny population is numerically less than many of the world's cities. (Note that while the country of El Salvador consists of approximately the same land area as Belize, El Salvador contains thirty times as many people; with an overall population of almost six million people compared with Belize's 310,000. , including 10,000 Chinese from PRC and 100+ from Taiwan - Chinese has 100 year of history as Belize local residence with valuable contribution to the economies.) Yet despite its small population Belize manages to attract the worlds attention for its modern attitudes, stable government and respectful treatment of its indigenous peoples.
Good telecommunications, a great environment, real estate prices that are significantly lower than that of Costa Rica, the best diving in the world, the second biggest barrier reef in the world, a growing offshore tax haven sector, offshore corporate services, developing offshore banking practices, a soon to be established airport free trade zone, an international airport, an established free trade zone at the border-city of Chetumal, close proximity to Cancun, an archeological storehouse of Mayan Ruins (some still not totally explored), a polyglot culture that lives in harmony, proximity to Mexico and the United States, (the fact that we can actually drive from Belize to the United States has some positive values,) a series of Cayes (islands) some of which are available for purchase at prices that are so reasonable they make you want to pack your bags and catch the next plane.
It is difficult to think of a better destination for the expatriate seeking a new home in an unspoiled land.
Parts of Belize are so surreal they evoke Hollywood film sets. That explains why Hollywood movie producer-director Francis Ford Coppola bought the country's oldest jungle lodge and redecorated in a seductive Mayan style. You can easily envision Tarzan and Jane vacationing in Coppola's 30-acre Mountain Pine Ridge spread with a roaring mountain stream that fuels a hydroelectric plant. This means you don't have to make do with kerosene lamps that provide light in much of the outlying areas. Not far away are five waterfalls that cascade through in an orchid-clad rain forest. The orchids evoke images of comic-strip character Brenda Starr looking for the endangered and protected black orchid (Encyclia cochleatum) which is the country's national flower. Black orchids were the ingredients for the bush medicine that kept Starr's fictional one-eyed boyfriend otherwise healthy. The jungle has a wide range of non-fictional magical cures, some used by the ancient Mayas, and now bearing such names as: Belly Be Good, Flu Away and Jackass Bitters Tea.
Belize sports the world's only jaguar preserve as well as a home for other cats, including ocelots, margays, jaguarundis and pumas. The latter is also known as a cougar or mountain lion. Ancient Maya aborigines worshipped jaguars and today still revere and fear the creatures. During your jungle wanderings, you might come across the rather scary tapir, or the mountain cow, Belize's national animal, resembling a cross between a pig and cow weighing up to 650 pounds. If you visit the Community Baboon Sanctuary, don't expect to see baboons. That's what the locals call their black howler monkeys.
The country's largest city, Belize City, is also referred to as Belize. While the nightlife is unremarkable in Belize, there are some fun names for places to hang out - like the Pickled Parrot.
The No 1 tourist draw in Belize is the hundreds of offshore islands, islets and atolls. Of the five atolls in the New World, Belize has four. An atoll is a group of coconut tree-fringed islets that sprout from the rim of a long-dead underwater volcano. Atolls are commonly associated with the South Seas, the perfect example being Marlon Brando's French Polynesian atoll called Tetiaroa. The largest of the Belize diving and fishing islands is Ambergris Caye - pronounced Key. Ambergris is the name for whale vomit, once used as an expensive preservative of perfume scents. Today there is a much cheaper chemical substitute.
The largest town in the Bay Islands is San Pedro, appropriately named for the patron saint of fishermen. San Pedro is the gathering point for exploring the Belize Barrier Reef, largest and longest in the Western Hemisphere. Jacques Cousteau was one of the first men of fame to put the Belize Bay Islands at the top of the list for those seeking romance and underwater adventure. The islands' history is straight out of the film: Pirates of the Caribbean. Some historians believe Pirate Captain Peter Wallace (pronounced WaLEEZE) provided the roots for the nation's name and that of a river where the pirate based his ship and Brethren of theCoast crew.
And then there are the ruins of ancient Mayan cities. More and more, scientists are learning that the Maya High Culture could produce structures that would put the ancient Greeks to shame. Belize claims to have more Mayan ruins than any other Central American country.
中國深圳三門島指南-深圳海島風情指南
Light Helicopter tour in Belize
【国名】伯利兹（Belize）
