Urumqi – Turpan – Urumqi, China Turpan is boat-shaped basin located in the southeast of Xinjiang. It is the centre of a fertile oasis and was historically a part of the Silk Road’s northern route. The weather condition is harsh, as Turpan is situated in a […]
Category Archives: 28. China
Day 368: An Actual Solid Itinerary For the Week
Beijing – Urumqi, China Despite my constant refusal, my cousin Xiaoyun in the Xinjiang province booked me a flight ticket from Beijing to Urumqi. I’ve had wanted to visit them in Xinjiang since I’ve never met this part of my relatives before. However, I couldn’t […]
Day 366: The Wall
Beijing – Mutianyu – Beijing, China There are numerous places one can access the Great Wall. After all the Great Wall is called “Wanlizhangzhen”, meaning “Ten Thousand Li Long Wall.” One Li being 0.5 kilometer. So the Great Wall spans roughly 5000km. The popular access […]
Day 364: The Three Amigas
Beijing, China My Beijing CS host, Ruoz, guest-wrote the entry for today: Since both Elys and I have already been to the key tourist sites in Beijing, we decided to chill on this beautiful day and revisit the 798 Art District. Both of us have […]
Day 363: An Observation
Beijing, China Beijing’s public transportation is cheap and convenient. Yet, it still does take an hour+ of commute time to get to any major tourist sites. Reason being that Beijing is ginormous and there are way too many people. I went to the Summer Palace […]
Day 362: Heros and Villains
Beijing, China I knew that the Emperor of China and His concubines used to live in the Forbidden City and hardly ever went out the palace ground. I had thought life sucked for them, being confined that way. After visiting the palace, I just realized […]
Day 361: 306KM/H Baby!
Shanghai – Beijing, China A warning to those travelling China during summer: book your train tickets at least a week in advance. I had wanted to ride a cheaper, slower overnight train from Shanghai to Beijing but had to settle for the more expensive high-speed […]
Day 360: Such and Such
Huangshanshi – Shanghai, China So I hung out with a 11 year-old kid all day long. Little Yiyi took quite a liking on me that he kept me company the whole day and gave me a present. Ironically, I’m closer to his mom’s age than […]
Day 359: The Rising Sun
Huangshan – Huangshanshi, China A friend told me that it’s impossible to take a photo without a person in it in China. China is simply too populated. I learnt this morning how bad the extent of that statement. Our tour group woke up at 4am […]
Day 358: Mellow Yellow
Shanghai – Huangshan, China Huangshan literally translates as “Yellow Mountain.” A week ago when chatting with a local, I asked whereabout in China I would be able to see the steep mountains with pines on them like the ones so typical in Chinese paintings. I […]
Day 357: 穷游 = “Budget Travel”
Shanghai, China What did I do today? Nada! Si, nada! Not true. I did go to Yanchen’s house to hang out. Then to a Couchsurfing meet-up at a Starbucks. Some 30 people attended. The whole 2nd floor was taken by Couchsurfers. Met a few interesting […]
Day 370: Skywalker
Urumqi – Tianshan – Urumqi, China With the private car and driver, I visited Tianshan Tianchi for the day. Located high in the mountain (“Tianshan” being “Sky Mountain”), the area has an entire different feel compared to the Turpan basin. I suppose that’s what Xinjiang […]