Yangshuo Winter
Last week Lily and I were able to take make a quick weekend trip to Yangshuo with a few friends. A world renowned travel destination, Yangshuo is an unapologetic tourist trap bordered by stunning karst mountains on one side and the Li River on the other. Sometimes a tourist trap is just what the doctor ordered. [...]
Yangshuo Weekend
Yangshou is a picturesque tourist trap of a small town located in Guangxi Province about two hours south of Guilin. I’ve been a few times now and despite the touristy thing it still works for me on many levels. The scenery is the big draw. The rivers flowing though Avatar-looking karst mountains have enticed artists [...]
Three Hours In Sheung Wan
I had a meeting in Hong Kong this past Saturday and had a few hours to walk around Sheung Wan and Central before catching the ferry back to the mainland. I’ve never managed to spend enough time in Hong Kong to really shoot all I want. I’d like to go back and actually have a [...]
Two Nights In Boao
During our short visit to Hainan we were able to get out a couple of nights and mingle with the Boao locals as we scoured about looking for dinner. We were usualy welcomed with big grins with an occasional curious stare now and then. As I mentioned yesterday, this place is friendly. The sidewalks were full [...]
10 Minutes – The Pineapple Lady of Nan Qiang Village
Lily and I were able to jet away to Hainan Island for the holiday weekend. It was a last minute decision, as we seldom manage to wrangle time off at the same time so we figured we should take advantage of that. We definitely needed a break. We’d been struggling with some major decisions and [...]
Natalie & Nick In China (Day IV Xi’an) – The Terra-cotta Warriors & Tang Dynasty Show
Day 4, our 2nd day in Xi’an, may have been my favorite day of our tour. We were well-rested and the weather was once again remarkable. We met our guide Melissa at the hostel at 9 and then headed out to see The Terra-cotta Warriors. During the drive Melissa regaled us with stories about Emperor [...]
Natty & Nick In China (Day III Xi’an) – The Muslim Quarter
On Saturday morning we said goodbye to Jia and Beijing and headed to Xi’an. Packing, the taxi to the airport, check-in and security were all uneventful, as was the 2 hour flight. I’ve had a few folks ask about where we stayed, as well as more specific travel questions about transportation and the like. I [...]
Natty & Nick In China (Day II Beijing) – The Wall, The Acrobats & The Olympic Village
I forgot to mention that our first day together in China was actually Thanksgiving. After our walk through Tiananmen and The Forbidden City, Natalie, Nick, Jia and I wrapped up the day with a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner at The Union Bar and Grill in Sanlitun. Brother, did I ever have a lot to be thankful [...]
Natalie & Nick In China (Day I Beijing) – Tiananmen Square & The Forbidden City
The kids arrived safely very early last Wednesday morning and we’ve been going at it pretty hard since. Everything has been going fairly well, with just a minor hitch or two. We’ve made it *home* to Liuzhou, after touring Beijing, The Great Wall, Xi’an & The Terra-Cotta Warriors and Guilin. Our accommodations have run the [...]
The Derriere Affair – Drama on the MTR
Day 4 (continued): Hong Kong to Tai O to Hong Kong Our Hong Kong adventure continued on Sunday afternoon with an unplanned and subsequently not very well thought out trip to Tai O. Tai O is a small fishing village popular with tourists and photographers on the far western side of Lanatu Island. It’s an [...]
Hot Hong Kong
Day 4 : Hong Kong Sunday morning dawned and a very hot, humid day was developing in Hong Kong. Able to stay in our hotel room until noon, we pushed that envelope to the limit. We stayed at the Wharney Guangdong Hotel in Wanchai and I’d say that while it was not a stellar hotel [...]
Hong Kong Baby!
Day 3 – Shenzhen to Hong Kong The plan was to take the 11:30 ferry from Shekou to Hong Kong which would put us in the city around 12:30, more than enough time to get settled into the hotel before meeting friends for a three o’clock photo walk. Already hot and humid when we left [...]
Starbucks & Burritos
Day 2 – Shenzhen We’d arranged with Robert Lio and his lovely wife Xiao to stay at their apartment in the Nanshan section of Shenzhen for a few days. They are in Montreal for the summer and assured us that we were more than welcome to use their place . After the long ride we [...]
14 Hours – Riding The Train In China
Day 1 – Liuzhou to Shenzhen With summer fading fast and the new school term about to start, Lily and I decided to get out of town for a week. Much as I love Liuzhou, it can wear on you and bother I was worn proper. The only objectives… take photographs, see friends, and eat [...]
Dule Caves – Tourist In Da House
As I begin year four in my adopted hometown of Liuzhou, I thought it might be time to check out arguably the only real tourist attraction in the area. The Dule Caves are located about 20 kilometers south of the city. The guided walk through three separate grottos doesn’t take long and the caves are [...]
Seen in a Rice Paddy
I am still plowing through memory cards from the recent trip to Rongshui County, trying to get at least a few shots processed before I am forced into overdrive trying to finish up the piece on the retired opera performers. I am sharing some more shots today from the rice paddy and then tomorrow I’ll [...]
Traveling With Bob
Last week I was able to spend the day with Robert Lio and his wife Xiao up in Rongshui County. Rongshui is just north of Liuzhou and is a predominantly rural farming area dotted throughout with minority villages. Robert, Xiao and their two youngest kids were making a whirlwind tour of China so we only [...]
春運 – Chunyun
The annual human migration know as Chunyun is well underway. All across China, much of Asia and parts of the rest of the world, folks are returning home to celebrate Chinese New Year. The Ministry of Railways estimates that 340 million passengers will take trains during the 2009 Chunyun period. With the average daily [...]
China Is Like Gwen
Living and working in China is an adventure. There is so much to learn and there are so many cultural differences it can sometimes be a bit overwhelming. I am sure the same would be true for anyone moving to any new place, at least to an extent. At first being here was often “in [...]
A Fun, Quirky Old Broad
My trip to the south China coast was enlightening. I got to see a different face of China in Shenzhen, in many ways it was like traveling to a different country. If Shenzhen is like a different country, then Hong Kong is like a different planet. Of course there were a lot of the same [...]
Planes, Trains, Automobiles (and a Sleeper Bus)
A couple of months ago I was able to spend a little time in the south China metropolises of Shenzhen and Hong Kong. One of the things I most regret about my time in China is that I haven’t really had much time to travel. China is vast, and similar to the US, in that [...]
Belated Thanksgiving
I have been without a reliable internet connection for nearly two weeks so I am just now getting around to posting my best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving. Living in China, I see less-fortunate souls everyday. It is one of the things I am thankful for this holiday season. Being exposed to the harshness of [...]
Up & Running – Fingers Crossed!
So, thanks to a friend, I have access to a computer once again, at least for a while anyway. It’s nice to be “connected”, as I was going through some fairly serious withdrawal and battling a bit of depression as well! I haven’t touched my camera for a couple of weeks and there was no [...]
