This evening, I will be en route to Malaysia for China’s eight-day National Day holiday. But the trip didn’t come together without difficulty, thanks to Air Asia’s obscure ticketing rules. The following is a cautionary tale for the southeast-Asia bound:
I began shopping for flights in August, and my first stop was the Air Asia web [...]
The Internets have provided an almost embarrassing bounty of China- and Asia-related travel stories and news in the past week, now rounded up here for your convenience. Don’t miss the latest on the mess that is traveling in China during the October holiday.
Bound for China?
Don’t go to Tibet: Tibet will be closed to foreigners [...]
I know, I know, you’ve had enough of Guangxi. And I promise, this is it for awhile. But if Wednesday’s rave review wasn’t enough to convince to add a stop in Dazhai to your trip to Guilin, these photos should do the trick. As we walked through the Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces, it was hard [...]
For part one of this trip report, see yesterday’s post on the Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces.
When we arrived in Sanjiang, a smallish town in northeast Guangxi, we found that we had missed the last bus to the Chengyang Wind and Rain Bridge. Lonely Planet’s description of Sanjiang — a “bog-standard town” — was both incomprehensible [...]
Last Friday night, I found myself once again on train 2513 bound for Guilin. Avid readers of the blog may remember that I am no fan of Guilin, and I happily spent just a few hours there on my return trip to Guangxi Province. The real aims were the Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces and the [...]
Almost a year later, the Shanghai Museum remains one of my favorite museums in China. It has vast collections of every form of traditional Chinese art: porcelain, bronzes, sculpture, jade, calligraphy and painting, among others. What makes it stand out is the curation. The galleries are arranged by medium (ie, a sculpture gallery, a jade [...]
Yes, that Taj Mahal is insanely beautiful. You’re not too cool to go there, and you definitely should. But before you leave Delhi for Agra, be sure to visit Humayun’s Tomb as a sort of prequel to the Taj itself. The building of Humayun’s Tomb preceded the Taj by 50+ years and initiated a new [...]
Thanks to Ashley for the tweet that inspired this post:
@ashleyindallas Women who have traveled solo in China: I need your advice, inspiration, and tips! @ashleyindallas me! Thank you
I think China is probably one of the easiest countries for women traveling alone. For one thing, there are almost always people around! Even when I go [...]
Every September, military uniforms become a common sight at university campuses around China. It’s not a sudden influx of soldiers — though there are some of those around, too. The military-clad teenagers are actually China’s newest university students. Before starting classes, all college freshmen in China must undergo a few weeks of military training.
At Huda, [...]
Last month, I spent most of a short work-related trip to Hong Kong in bed, sick with what might have been swine flu. But happily, I recovered in time for a final “mystery activity,” which turned out to be a private tram tour of Hong Kong. Trams have been ferrying passengers around the city since [...]
