There’s no getting around it: my campus is one of the most beautiful in China. The college is nestled in the foothills of Lin’an, and while we have a dirty, fast moving city to the south of the college, the north is entirely wild with mountains, footpaths, hidden lakes and
Baked Green Pea Tea
This blog is called “Writer.Traveler. Tea Drinker” and I’ve talked a lot about writing (and our new book), traveling (and living in China) but I have been remiss lately in writing much about tea. Today, I want to change that. A student told us that her hometown had a special
Chinese Graffiti is Cool
When I see a tree with someone’s initial’s carved into it, I get really mad. Carving a tree trunk is a good way to kill a tree, it’s rude, and it looks really stupid and junky. But I don’t mind when I see someone carving words into bamboo. Maybe it
Chengdu's Giant Pandas
One of the main reasons for going to Chengdu was to see the giant pandas up close and personal. So we made it a priority and on the second day of our trip we went to the Chengdu Research Base for the Giant Panda. This is where almost all of