China Travel Blogs

Under the Waterfall and Back Again
Feb 9, 2008 (41 photos)

... headdresses and elaborate Miao are novelty items shrewdly rented to the hordes of tourists who come to Huang Guo Shu-China's, maybe Asia's, largest waterfall.   The Miao, the largest local minority, have beautiful traditional dress, but the woven ...

Cheater!
Sep 29, 2004

... or what your book says, it's a quiz to see what YOU remember." And even after saying this, I still catch people cheating in EVERY class! I think it must go back to the whole group mentality thing here...apparently this is very common all over China!

Food for the Fishes
Aug 26, 2008 (11 photos)

I lower myself into the warm water gingerly. First, the feet. A school of small fish swimming aimlessly in the pool scatter when I disturb the water's surface with my toes.  These fish aren't shy though. In a few seconds, a fish detaches ...

Guests of the Aini
Feb 26, 2007 (28 photos)

... and insect repellent and chew on individually-wrapped snacks. Dan and I can no longer count ourselves the fastest hikers in China. That title must go to our Abu, the local guide we picked up in Menghun, a smaller market city in Xishuangbanna. ...

Just a little one
Oct 21, 2008 (18 photos)

... ... but the Indian food and cheap wine was worth it :) We also took a trip to the observation level in the bank of China building for some pretty nice views....and took the star ferry to hong Kong island to get to the peak tram.... the tram taking you ...

Final Thoughts
Feb 24, 2005

... travels. {hopefully no one takes this personally as it wasnt written about anyone specific, but more as a general observation} Hong Kong & China: Technically, HK is part of China, but as anyone who's ever been there can testify, Hong Kong is NOT part ...

I love the bus!
Sep 11, 2004

I took the bus back from Beijing to Taiyuan. The bus is full and I end up next to this Chinese guy, who speaks no English and cannot eat without smacking his gums and lips and cannot drink without slurping and who, with every movement I make, must stare ...

River Cruisin'
Jul 6, 2005 (7 photos)

... so famous that it's the scene on the back of the Chinese 20 RMB. This is the famed Li River (Lijiang) in southern China, where you can take river cruises and enjoy the magical scenery recognized in many places around the world. On our boat were an older ...

Golden Leaves and Mongolian Cheese
Oct 2, 2008 (44 photos)

... go shopping when hungry. I also got a bottle of hard alcohol shaped like a rocket ship that was commemorating the Shenzhou 7-China's first spacewalk mission-that had that week taken off in Gansu and landed in Inner Mongolia.  We didn't stay out ...

The earthquake
May 17, 2008

    I'm used to bizarre events happening daily in China.  Whitney Houston blaring throughout campus during lunch time, Old Man Tank Top fashioning his garden plants into Olympic rings or elderly people flocking to a stand to receive ...

No permission
Jun 22, 2007

I continued for the next day, only to after a midday stop in larger military town called Miling to discover the next piece of road was being rebuilt. It was so bad that I my rear tyre that was pumped up to maximum pressure and laiden with the ...

SWEAT!
Jul 8, 2005 (10 photos)

Stifling heat! Yangshuo was heavenly compared to this place...the news stated, and I really don't understand how this even works, but its 110% humidity here!! I don't know if that's really possible, but it's really unbelievable - Houston and Austin and ...

Macao
Nov 14, 2006 (2 photos)

... blocked off for that, and we heard racing crews talking in the customs and immigration lines while leaving to go back to China proper. Macao is famous for its gambling as well, trying to style itself an Asian Las Vegas. We didn't go casino- ...

The Earth Still Quakes
May 21, 2008 (6 photos)

... us: Their bulletins gave scant information as to the exact location of the magnitude 7 to 8 earthquake, saying only "Southwest China"   "Hell," I thought. "That's where we live."  The news report's map image scared us even more, showing a map ...

Fame and Fortune in Foshan
Sep 1, 2006 (4 photos)

Day One in Foshan, China "China is famous for - people," our director states with a giggle. Dan and I are goggle-eyed, staring out the side windows of the school van at our new home and trying to maintain a conversation with our new coworkers at the ...

Sunday morning Shanghai
Feb 26, 2006 (1 photos)

My host and interpreter on this trip, Yang Kai, is a very thoughtful young man. He's done a lot to spruce up the Shanghai office to make it comfortable. He purchased a very nice duvet for me to sleep in, set the heater to 30 celcius, even bought a box of ...

getting kicked when you're down.
Oct 29, 2007

... to myself.  Now, I know that it seems from my travel blog that I spend most of my days blissfully cavorting around China the Red, but really, most days are spent inside of my apartment trying to decipher my students' handwriting.  There is no ...

Cloud Ridge Caves
May 2, 2005 (13 photos)

... This happened to be the wrong bus station and I don't really care but I find it pretty amazing that I'm able to travel around China much easier than Chinese people can! WE end up taking a taxi to the Yungang Caves, Cloud Ridge Caves in English, which was ...

Wutai Day 2
May 4, 2005 (15 photos)

... Wutai Shan and its history and I spurt off some random answer because they never allow you to prepare for these questions in China...I mean every time I go somewhere some group asks me for some random advice or to say something to their group and I have ...

Wild Elephants Couldn't Drag Us
Feb 24, 2007 (18 photos)

For once, I'm excited to be woken up. It's 2:30 in the morning and the quiet flashlight-wielding man outside our tree house has just made my heart beat fast: "Da xiang," he says. "Da xiang." Dan and I put on our shoes and coats and tiptoe ...

Mud-brick Mosques in Kashgar's Old City
May 4, 2009 (31 photos)

... at the far end of the hill complex, and public-service graffiti in Arabic writing was scratched into some of the walls. China as I've never seen it before. The main streets were wide enough to ride a three-wheeled cart thorough, though alleys only ...

Adventures at Tetanus Playground, chapter 2
Sep 21, 2007 (8 photos)

... with Peng's family, they can teach us.      They also solved one of the bigger mysteries I've had about China for the past month - as I've been walking around or eating at the Noodle Shop, I know that I've heard people say " ...

A week in Shigatse
Jun 6, 2007 (10 photos)

This was to prove an interesting week! Most traveller's spend the night in this town, which is the old capital of Tibet. Not a lot of people know that! There was actually a lot to see, and I was fortunate to have the companionship of Lopsang and ...

Hainan Five-O
Feb 10, 2007 (16 photos)

... played guitar. For ambiance, this was my favorite night. The third day we made it to Sanya, the southernmost city in China. The vegetation on the way down was decidedly jungly, and the scenery classically Asian. I about snapped my own neck trying to ...

A Journey East--In Search of the Hakka
Feb 16, 2007 (2 photos)

... was a diversion of our original plan. We had planned to go to Yunnan province, the farthest southwest province of China. Our guide book paints beautiful imagery of wild elephants, steep mountains, and matriarchal societies. Dan and I had planned it ...

To Market, To Market
Jan 21, 2009 (46 photos)

... in Zunyi, this region is full of Miao and Dong minority villages. We plan to visit a few markets and see some festivals as China gets ready to celebrate the beginning of the next lunar year, the year of the Ox. * * * WHAT IT COST: Driver for ...

Matang Takes its Toll
Aug 21, 2008 (35 photos)

... harvested watermelons and the side room was occupied by several children watching the Olympic women's gymnastics competition on a shiny new TV. China does have a one-child policy, but as I understand it, minority groups are allowed more. Also, it may not ...

The Iron Pagoda
Sep 11, 2007 (11 photos)

... pathway, I paid my ten kuai to climb to the top of the Iron Pagoda.  This is the scariest thing I've done in China.  Entering through a small doorway that is no taller than three and a half feet tall, I stood in the small entranceway to let my ...

Market Days
Jan 24, 2009 (24 photos)

... counterweight to the heavy necklaces in the front. On their feet, most women seemed to wear the choice of farmers all over China--army-green canvas shoes with rubber toes, reminiscent of the Converse brand. A few women we saw were barefoot, despite the ...

The Father of Mountains
May 1, 2009 (46 photos)

... . After more bread and tea, and more displays of the Kyrgyz handiwork, we left for Tashkurgan, the westernmost city in China and the closest one to Pakistan, along the Karakorum Highway. Tashkurgan's people are mostly Tajik, the driver explained to us ...