When you travel in a city for more than a day it is almost always worth getting a local subway card. They are usually nominal in price and they make traveling around so much more convenient. The simple fact you don’t have to stand in line at the ticket machine
Summer Holiday Time Again
A few blog posts ago I was talking about the semester beginning, and now here I am talking about the ending. For the past month I have been free, with more than 2 months left in my holiday. (Usually my holiday is 2 months but this summer it’s freakishly long.)
The Art of Taking Pictures of Yourself While Traveling Alone
For the past four years now, I have traveled almost entirely alone. In fact, I insist on it, refusing any invitations or requests to travel from other people. (I’m kinda bitchy like that.) On my own I’ve been to several countries, and all parts of China and I have never
The Sunburn Chronicles: Heavenly Lake
Now you have seen from my pictures that the northwest region of China has some shocking beauty. A stark, desert beauty of rainbow mountains with no vegetation, or towering sand dunes in all directions. But what you haven’t seen a lot of is trees and lush forests. That’s because Xinjiang
The Sunburn Chronicles: Turpan, the Second Lowest Point on Earth
Given my very public aversion to heat you think I’d avoid going to the hottest spot in China. A place that is the second lowest point on earth (after the Dead Sea) and below sea level. Just my luck, in the days leading up to my stop, they had a
Big Ass Buddahs!
You live in asia for awhile you see a lot of temples. And in these temples you see a lot of Buddhas. When you live in China, a country that believes bigger is better, you are bound to see not only Buddha’s but some of the biggest Buddha’s in all the
The Breathtaking Danxia Rainbow Rocks of Zhangye
I’m human, and even though I get annoyed at “listicles” I can’t help but click on any list called “25 Truly Amazing Places You Must Visit Before you Die,” or “27 Surreal Places to Visit Before you Die!” On almost all those lists is the Danxia Rainbow Rocks of Zhangye.
Summer Break Can’t Come Soon Enough!
So remember when I said I hate Xiamen? I hate it even more now. It’s SOOOOOOOOOO friggin hot. I walk around wearing a sweat band, and I don’t do it in an ironic Wes Anderson-type way. I wear it because my face sweats so much that if I try to
High Speed Trains in China
4 years ago (has it been that long?!) I wrote two very long, detailed posts about train travel in China. It explained what a train station was like, how to get a ticket, the different classes of seats etc, etc. And at the time it was quite useful. Now? It’s
Summer's Officially Over
School starts on monday and I can’t say I’m totally psyched about it. Summer seemed to be gearing up instead of winding down when I had to leave my temporary home in the city of Hangzhou and come back to Lin’an. I know I seem to be saying this after