Nearby my small city is the famous city of Hangzhou. Hangzhou is one of the most famous cities in China and there is an ancient saying regarding it’s beauty: Above there is heaven, below there are Hangzhou and Suzhou. But there
Mooncake Madness
Today is Mid-Autumn Festival in China, an official government holiday. (Which means no classes today. Yay!) I wrote about the meaning of the holiday my first year here, but I want to mention one thing this year: mooncakes. Mooncakes to
Tea Parties, Handmade Books and More!
So I have successfully completed my first full week of the new semester. And what a week it’s been. This semester is one of my busiest, with class everyday (last semester I had class only 3 days a week) and
Eating History: Peking Duck and Liqun Restaurant
Even for budget travelers like ourselves, you can’t go toBeijing without tasting a little of the local specialty: Peking duck. A good restaurant can set you back several hundred kuai (a small fortune to us) but it’s totally worth
Street Food of Pingyao
You can’t go far in the tiny ancient city of Pingyao without hearing the street cry of a food vendor, and more often then not, Ryan and I would answer that call. Pingyao had some of the most unique street
The Ancient City of Pingyao, China
Tiny cobbled streets, ancient brick wall, UNESCO world heritage site, puppies and kittens roaming the streets: Pingyao had all the markers of a great place to visit. Often called ‘the best preserved city in China’ Pingyao, located about 700 km
School Bells a Clangin'
With 4 months of freedom year, sometimes it’s hard to remember that I came to China to do a job. But the school bells a ringin’ and class started up today. My schedule this year isn’t bad, I requested teaching
Another, smaller, Goby
This is unrelated to China, or traveling, or writing or tea drinking, but as I was writing the Gobi desert post, I kept thinking of my former high school science teacher Mr. Goby. It might come as no surprise to
Digging Your Toes into the Gobi Desert
The Gobi Desert. The fifth largest desert in the world is not a place I ever thought I would visit in my life. But when I found out it was a mere three hours away from our location in Inner
The Blue Skies of the Grasslands of Inner Mongolia
Where I live in China, the pollution isn’t so bad. I’m not in a major city and the campus is surrounded by green, tree-filled mountains which helps to clean the air. Sometimes, I can even see stars at night. But