China
China
China travel
Hiking in Xingping, Guangxi
I often think back to more “innocent” times, such as when I used to travel in China. Several years ago when I was working in Hong Kong, I decided to go to Guangxi for Christmas. Guangxi’s karst mountains and rivers are some of […]
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China
China travel
Hikes
Travel
Hiking Huangshan, one of China’s most beautiful mountains
Back when I lived in Beijing, I made a spontaneous decision one week before Chinese New Year to travel to Huangshan, one of China’s most famous mountains. In hindsight, it was a foolish decision and I learned my lesson not to travel to places at the exact same time as multitudes of Chinese. Besides Huangshan, […]
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China
China travel
Travel
Visiting Jinan’s Baotu Spring in China
Jinan is the capital of Shandong Province and well-known in China for its natural springs but a modest tourist destination, even in its own province which also boasts the coastal city of Qingdao and Taishan, one of China’s most famous mountains. Shandong is also where the philosopher Confucius was born; his hometown Qufu is also […]
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China
China travel
Museums
Travel
Visiting Beijing’s National Museum of China
The National Museum of China is the country’s main history museum, located right in the center of Beijing. Given China’s significant history that spans over 3,000 years and over 8 major dynasties, it takes a massive museum to cover all of this. The National Museum of China is indeed a giant, covering over 3,000 square […]
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China
China travel
Travel
Visiting the ancient village of Hongcun in Anhui
One of two old UNESCO World Heritage Site villages near Huangshan, Hongcun is the most attractive Chinese village I’ve ever been to (not that I’ve been to that many, but trust me, it is beautiful). Situated next to a stream, with a small lake in front of it, Hongcun is also where scenes from the […]
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China
China travel
Museums
Visiting Beijing’s Capital Museum
Beijing’s Capital Museum is in a large gray, unattractive building that doesn’t give much indication about the historical treasures and fantastic displays inside. It’s a museum about Beijing’s history, but with more interactivity than most Chinese museums. Inside the museum’s large open interior, on one side are the main exhibits on several floors. On the other corner […]
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Book reviews
Books
China
Book review- The Horse That Leaps Through Clouds
In the early 20th century, a Swedish-Finnish nobleman by the name of Baron Gustaf Mannerheim undertook a secret mission for the Russian Tsar to spy on China. Starting from Moscow, Mannerheim crossed Russia, traveled through Central Asia and across China to collect information on the country’s reforms and development. 100 years later, in 2006, Canadian […]
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