8:15 am Danba, high in the mountains of Sichuan Province in southwestern China. We ready our packs, go downstairs to the hostel’s common area and cross the town’s one street…

Danba County is a 12 hour, very bumpy bus ride from Chengdu. The roads are narrow and dusty, and many sections are either being upgraded or repaired from damage from…

Chengdu Chengdu is a comfortable, easy-to-navigate city and a good jumping off point for many of Sichuan’s sights. Within reach are beautiful national parks, mountains and valleys, and the Tibetan…

Enticed by the views in Guilin, but wanting to get far away from the city, we set our sights on Yangshuo. Since we hadn’t yet gotten onto the Li River,…

Language is an occasional barrier to getting the best eats in China, but we refuse to be deterred. We’ve developed some good strategies, and have been greatly enjoying the results….

Guanxi Province is known for its stunning natural beauty: green rivers meandering by lofty, tree-covered hills and jagged, gray karst spires that reach into the sky. There’s a national forest,…

Twenty-four years after visiting Hong Kong with my family, I wondered how things may have changed. I was a teenager then, and had been living in Japan as an exchange…

Suzhou (Sūzhōu) is a quick, half-hour high speed train ride north of Shanghai. Once home to over 100 gardens, now there are about a dozen. It’s still known as Garden…

Shanghai: A Great Place to Refuel After a month or so of wandering China, Shanghai was a wonderful place to rest up. It’s very much a modern city, with all…

Provincial capital Nanjing was an enjoyable stop, greener than most, with a definite university feel. Unfortunately most-known for the 1937 massacre and violence (Rape of Nanking) following the Japanese capture…