During the weekend, where is the busiest place? That is the railway station, because people would like to do some outdoor sports in the mountains. On Sunday evening, the railway stations are still the busiest place you'll find."
Switzerland's chocolates have earned an international reputation for high quality. But Switzerland is a small mountainous country with a climate that is anything but tropical. It may seem surprising that it has become one of the world's leading chocolate manufacturers.
"In fact chocolate is not originally from Switzerland, because in Switzerland we cannot find cocoa nut- the raw material of chocolate. In middle age in Europe, (they only have) hot chocolate drink. Only the rich people, like the empire, they could drink it, not for everybody. But when travelers traveled to Switzerland, they brought hot chocolate to Switzerland. Swiss people started to think, (to have chocolate), you have to take pot, take the coconut, you have to boil them, how can we make it from liquor to something (solid) that you can take with you. Gradually, they were thinking how to make it more taste (tasty). So they put milk into chocolate. Milk chocolate is really invented by Swiss people. And they put nuts into chocolate. So nowadays you see so many different chocolate."
The first chocolate makers in Switzerland were two Italians who set up around 1750 in a former paper mill near Bern. It was not a great success, because the locals didn't take to it, and the mill was soon given over to producing flour instead.
However, before the end of the century, other factories appeared in western Switzerland. The first chocolate shop in Switzerland opened in Bern in 1792.
"-For travelers, where do you recommend to buy chocolate?
-It depends on. For travelers, they provide service like chocolate DIY, which means you can make chocolate for yourself. So you can see everyone has different ideas, everyone will make different kinds of chocolate. If you'd like to have well-packed, very beautiful ones to present to friends, then I think you'd better go to the handmade chocolate, and that is really good. If you just want to bring back some for yourself, for daily, you can go to supermarket. You can get very good offer there."
There is a saying: nine out of ten people like chocolate. The tenth is lying.
All right, with that we come to the end of this edition of travel blog. Next week, we'll visit the capital of Switzerland, where you won't go long without hearing or reading the name UNESCO. And we will also take a closer look at the Olympic Museum in the hilly city of Lausanne. Our expert will let you know how to enjoy budget travel in Switzerland. I am Zhang Wan.