Posts in the category 'Travel in China'

Two Days on the Sea of Japan

This is the second of three posts on traveling in Japan on a budget. Yesterday, I wrote about the overall costs of a Japan trip. Come back tomorrow for part three, on the cost-effectiveness of the Japan Rail Pass.
To be honest, when I began thinking about where I would go this winter, Japan was pretty [...]

Long-Term Travel and Why It’s (Probably) Not For Me

After more than two months on the road, I am officially back in Changsha and staying put for awhile. When I left in December, I wasn’t sure how I would feel about such a long stint of traveling. Reading about others’ round-the-world trip plans was exciting, but I wasn’t sure it would suit me. Wouldn’t [...]

Q&A: A Month in China

Earlier today, I received the following inquiry from another travel blogger via Twitter:
@chinaandbeyond have you got a ny recommendations for a months stay in china. leaving hk nxt week
This got me thinking. A month is long enough that you can really see a range of what China has to offer, but you still have to [...]

PSA: The Laos-China Bus Connection

Earlier this week, a friend and I took the bus from Luang Prabang in Laos across the border to Kunming, China. Information about the trip is scarce in guidebooks and online, and even in Luang Prabang there is plenty of misinformation. So this post is in the nature of a public service announcement:
There is a [...]

Slideshow: Youning Si

At Youning Si monastery outside Xining, small temples are perched precariously on the face of a mountain. They seem almost to cling to the rock, as if afraid they could at any moment slip and slide down to the road below. As you ascend from one temple to the next, you leave behind the fresh [...]

China to Vietnam, By Land

I rang in the New Year onboard the train from Nanning, China, to Hanoi, hopefully setting an appropriately adventurous tone for 2010.
The train turned out to be a very easy and economical way to get between the two countries. You can arrive in Nanning (the capital of Guangxi Province) without your Vietnamese visa and be [...]

My Favorite Places of 2009

2009 was a busy year for travel in the To China… and Beyond! household-of-one. As I embark on myfirst big trip of 2010, I’ve been thinking about the best trips I took in 2009.

5. Xi’an: My December trip to Xi’an was actually my second visit to the city. I went there on my first trip [...]

New destinations, itineraries and more

 
In between the Christmas festivities and gearing up for my next big trip, I’ve been busy putting finishing touches on a few new additions to To China… and Beyond! Check them out:

Revamped “Basics” Section: A more user-friendly introduction to China travel
New Itineraries: New itinerary suggestions for first-time visitors and regional travel within China.
Xi’an Travel Guide: [...]

Dinner Out: Changsha’s Huogongdian

The Huogongdian (火宫殿) restaurant is one of Changsha’s most famous eateries, but it took me more than a year to find a reason to go there. But on Saturday night, we braved the cold and headed over to the east side of the river to check it out.
We were surprised to find that it is [...]

Slideshow: Terracotta Warriors

When I first came to China in 2007, Xi’an’s Terracotta Warriors were the thing I was most excited to see. And by most excited, I mean “jumping up and down squealing from the moment I saw that they were on the itinerary.” I had wanted to visit the site ever since I first read about [...]