Destination: China

Spring Festival - Chinese Coal Country Style

Fri, 8 Feb 2008 | By bundynbeaches | Views [1954] | Comments [2] | Video

Everywhere you look in this area you see either coal, coal dust or coal smoke. Shanxi Province is one of the main coal producing regions in China and everything from the power stations to the stove in the earth house on the outside of the city is fueled ... Read more >

Tags: Culture

Spicey food and pandas

Thu, 7 Feb 2008 | By avant-garde_chauvintist | Views [730] | Comments [1]

A little more planning went into the visit to Chengdu. We were aware of the relatively large size of this city. Mario sniffed out the best couch surfer to stay with for the new year. All I wanted for the Chinese New Year was to be in China. My ... Read more >

Tags: On the Road

Year of the Rat

Thu, 7 Feb 2008 | By jojo2go | Views [701]

Happy New Year! To all those gracious rats and mice out there, this is your year. Although, it's been advised in many articles that I've read that I (being a 'horse'), do not get on with rats. So my dear brother, if you're reading this (if you didn't ... Read more >

Tags: Party time

Trying to get to Tibet

Wed, 6 Feb 2008 | By jojo2go | Views [961]

So we finally booked our way to Tibet with Sim's Cozy Travel, which is a travel agency within the hostel I'm staying at - Sim's Cosy Garden Hostel, but more on the hostel in a moment. The service lady was actually Tibetan and asked her about travelling ... Read more >

Tags: the planning phase, tibet

Cleanliness is next to godliness?

Wed, 6 Feb 2008 | By jojo2go | Views [645] | Comments [1]

If that's the case, then I was stuck in the aisle of a train carriage for 13 hours with hundreds of Satan's offspring. Ok, that's a bit harsh but let me enlighten you in this rich tapestry of my travels. As you're aware I was in Panzihua buying my time ... Read more >

Tags: On the Road

Two fighting Pandas and a Giant Buddha

Wed, 6 Feb 2008 | By nomadnorrie | Views [2151]

The giant Pandas in Chengdu are my favorite attraction in China so far. I stayed in Chengdu for 5 days thinking I could climb the nearby Emei mountain, the smaller Qingcheng mountain and visit the Giant Panda research base. The Pandas ... Read more >

Tags: Sightseeing

Gallery: Up the Mountai

Mon, 4 Feb 2008 | By nnmsat | Photo Gallery

Stuck at an internet cafe

Mon, 4 Feb 2008 | By jojo2go | Views [391]

I'm sat at this internet cafe waiting for my 6pm train to Chengdu, in a town called Panzihua. Actually I arrived in Panzihua 2 days ago, with no intention of staying here, but all sleeper train tickets to Chengdu were sold out, due to the Spring Festival.... Read more >

Tags: On the Road

Gallery: China

Sat, 2 Feb 2008 | By tim_and_sam | Photo Gallery

Welcome to Heilongjiang -- the cool province and a ski paradise

Sat, 2 Feb 2008 | By avant-garde_chauvintist | Views [964]

My trip around the China paradises began in the Russian winter. Harbin, renowned for its Ice Festival and ridiculous climate, is closer to Russia than Beijing. Closer to Russia than almost any other place in China. Basically close to the freezing ... Read more >

Tags: On the Road

South West Whistlestop Tour

Fri, 1 Feb 2008 | By tim_and_sam | Views [2983] | Comments [1]

The time we could spend in south China was always going to be a little constrained. At one end we had the need to wait for visas in Hong Kong and at the other the need to escape to Tibet before Chinese New Year, a notoriously difficult time to be travelling in ... Read more >

Tags: Sightseeing

soothing my soul....

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 | By audi_jo | Views [500] | Comments [3]

How magical it is to be a woman.  It is as if being a woman allows you a place in an unspoken sisterhood with all women.  Though the connections may vary, the potential for that female source of intimacy is always present.  Many times throughout this ... Read more >

Tags: Friends

Chairman Mao

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 | By avant-garde_chauvintist | Views [1073] | Comments [2]

My sister has called him the "pickled historical figure". Some people worship him. Others liken him to Hitler and Stalin. And still others wait in line to see his corpse. In the middle of Tian'anmen Square there is a shrine to Mao Zedong.... Read more >

Tags: Culture

Gallery: Sichuan province

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 | By nomadnorrie | Photo Gallery

Pop, bang, boom

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 | By avant-garde_chauvintist | Views [582] | Comments [2]

I don't think there is any way to express the way in which Chinese people appreciate fireworks. Rarely a night goes by during which I cannot hear the wonderful pop, BANG, B-O-O-M!!! of the gunpower covered in colorful...stuff outside my window. ... Read more >

Tags: Culture