My first introduction to Shanghai was similar to that of Beijing, another taxi driver that sees a foreigner as dollar signs. As I walked out of the Shanghai Station I walked straight up to the cab rank and was fortunate to find a couple of drivers who spoke English. I told…
This was my second trip on a train in China and again it’s an overnight train with the trip taking just over 10 hours. I would be travelling on the D305 which leaves Beijing South station an 9.40PM and arrives in Shanghai at 7.52AM. The train leaves from Beijing South…
It started from the minute I walked out of the Beijing train station, as soon as my foreigner’s face was hit by the Beijing sunshine or lack of, there was someone hustling for access to my wallet. ‘Hellooo, taxi…taxi, sir’. where do you want to go?’ said the suspiciously casually…
The Lama Temple in Beijing is a functioning lamasery for Tibetan and Mongolian monks practicing Tibetan Buddhism. It’s open to visitors, and is a very popular tourist attraction featuring well preserved ancient architecture and artifacts, along with friendly monks roaming the grounds! As a primer, the word lama is another name for a Buddhist priest, and a…
This was my first trip to the Badaling section of the Great Wall and went with a tour group and I’m going to tell you why that’s a really bad idea from the first-hand experience. After that, I tell you what you should really do. Jump to: How to Get…
The Ming Tombs in Beijing is a massive area featuring mausoleums for 13 of the 16 Ming Dynasty Emperors, also buried at the site are empresses and concubines of the era. Only a couple of the tombs have been excavated, many are still sealed awaiting the progress of technology to…
The Summer Palace is an imperial garden built by Emperor Qianlong in 1750 to celebrate his mothers birthday, it was later used as a garden where emperors and empresses would escape the heat of Beijing’s summers. The palace covers a staggering 290 hectares featuring a massive lake, temples, halls, pavilions,…
Tian’anmen Square has had its moments in history, but in front of me today I see a massive public space, full of people enjoying themselves in what is the heart of Beijing. It’s the largest outdoor square in the world and contains the Meridian Gate (southern entrance to the Forbidden…
The Forbidden City was once the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties and was originally constructed in the early 1400s. The city was once off-limits to the general public and home to 24 successive emperors. Now, it is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world…
Beihai Park in Beijing is over 1000 years old and covers an area of 690,000 square meters featuring a large peaceful lake, ancient temples, and an islet featuring a 36m high Buddhist shrine in the form of a Tibetan Dagoba. The ‘White Dagoba’ (also referred to as the White Pagoda)…
After nearly one month on the road things had started to catch up with me, I was tired. Apart from being on your feet 12 hours a day, walking up things, down things, getting lost then more lost, there’s also the mental load as you never stop thinking. Even simple tasks become…
Jingshan Park in Beijing is located in front of the north gate of the Forbidden City and is well worth a visit if only for the view of the city that it offers. Entry to the park is only 2RMB and the site, which covers 230,000 square meters, features a…
Sanlitun Village Beijing is a recently built sleek shopping complex packed with luxury brand names. I didn’t spend too long here as I was more interested in the Ya Show Clothing Market which is just next door. I did have a coffee at the Starbucks and used there free wi-fi! Brand name…
Well known and well visited by tourists, the Silk Market is seven floors of clothing, shoes, bags, fashion accessories, leather goods, traditional Chinese crafts, calligraphy, carpets, home fabrics, paintings, hand-knitted dresses, toys, trinkets and souvenirs, fine jewelry and more. There are also plenty of custom tailors for suits etc.etc. Most…
UPDATE: this market is no longer Sanlitun Yashou Clothing Market is five floors of clothing and fashion (notice its name can sometimes be translated as Ya Show or Yashou or even Yaxui!). Including men’s and women’s clothes, suits, women’s bags, luggage bags, leather goods, shoes and more. It’s located right…
Wangfujing Street is one of the largest and most well-known shopping streets in Beijing. Featuring a mix of large modern department stores, luxury brand name outlets, small retail shops, and markets. What’s interesting is that this has been an active commercial street for over 700 years! The street is pedestrian only for…
There is no shortage of places to go shopping in Beijing, if that’s what you’re into, you can find markets, retail department stores, mega-malls and the quirky side streets packed with all sorts of odd goods. You can haggle a great price on souvenirs, no-name, and copy goods at the…
The first thing that struck me about the Redwall Hotel was the incredible service provided by the concierge team. As soon as I put my foot on the steps of the hotel there was someone bounding out the front door to help with my luggage and escort me to the…
My first time on a train in China was on the overnight trip from Xian to Beijing. China has many different classes of train and this one was the ‘Z’ train. This Z train (the Z20) was no old rattler, it was near new modern, clean and very comfortable train!…
It’s a crazy name that just peaks the imagination and leaves you wondering exactly what you are in for, but the Big Wild Goose Pagoda is a must visit on the Xi’an tour. So what is it exactly? A pagoda is a tiered temple commonly used throughout Asia as places…
The Terracotta Warriors and Horses really is one of the wonders of the world (actually, it’s officially the 8th world wonder). You couldn’t say that this site was a must visit on a trip to Xi’an as it possible the reason that many people come to China in the first place. …
Built during the Qing dynasty, it remains the largest mosque in China covering over 12,000 sqm. While it is a popular tourist attraction it is also still a place of worship particularly for Chinese Hui Muslims. Also, see my Intro to Xi’an and the top ten attractions and where to…
It’s such a fascinating city that not only holds the very birthplace of the Chinese civilization and having a continuous history of over 3000 years, it also holds a long-running co-existence of Hui Muslim culture and Han Chinese culture. It was the first city in China to be introduced to…
Stupidly, I hadn’t booked a hotel when I went to Xi’an and by the time I got on the bus from the airport I was starting to get a little nervous. Fortunately, as I got off the bus in the center of Xi’an it stops right out the front of…
Look at any half-serious planned tour of China and the city of Xi’an will be on the list of destinations, and for good reason. It’s a city that has a depth of historical attractions rivaling that of Beijing, and many believe the jewel in Xi’an’s list of attractions is still…
I really wanted to make this trip via train, but it seemed difficult to book a ticket on short notice, plus the extremely helpfull staff at the Traffic Hotel in Chengdu where pretty keen to suggest the plane was going to be the best option. So the flight was booked, with…
One of the main reasons for cvoming to this region is to go to Tibet, in particular Lhasa. Where I’m currently staying, at the Traffic Hotel Chengdu, has a couple of tour agencies located within it’s walls, there is one right out the front of the building and also one inside…
Mt. Emei or Emei Shan (Shan meaning mountain) is located in Leshan City of Sichuan Province. It’s one of China’s Sacred Mountains featuring Buddhist temples and amazing scenery. In 1996 it was given World Heritage status by UNESCO. Standing at over 3000 meters the mountain features four scenic regions being: Baoguo Temple, Wannian…
Leshan is a city located about two hours drive from Chengdu in Sichuan Province China. The star attraction of the city is the amazing Giant Buddha that’s been carved out from the rock face siding the river. It’s actually where three rivers meet being the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers.…
The Traffic Hotel is located south of central Chengdu alongside the Nanhe River. Right next door to the hotel is the Xinnanmen Bus Station (Tourism Passenger Transport Centre) which is the Chengdu’s main bus station with services to many long distance destinations like Emei, Leshan, Jiuzhaigou and many more places in Sichuan…