Asia

Road to Tagong on the Eastern Tibetan Plateau

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…

Jiaju

Beauty Valley

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…

Giant Pandas

Giant Pandas, Walking, and Eating Chengdu

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…

Yangshuo Dream

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,…

Back to School

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….

Sun and Moon Pagoda

Guilin: Forest of Sweet Osmanthus

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,…

Hong Kong Skyline

No Spitting Allowed

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…

Lotus Blossum

Suzhou: How Does Your Garden Grow

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…

The Bund at Night

Shanghai-ed

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…

Xiaoling Tomb Carved Animal

Nanjing

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…