Traveling around China, I noticed something: in a country filled with spectacular natural scenery, domestic tourists have found numerous methods to limit their exposure to the abundance of nature. They had to, really. Can you imagine if they simply accepted nature as it is? Neither can I—the prospect is simply too horrible to fathom. It is not surprising that nature … [Read more...]
Climbing the Great Wall of China Is Not For Drunkards
Every visitor to Beijing makes a trip the Great Wall of China and all but a few choose between two sections: Badaling and Mutianyu. The first is the most popular and naturally, the most crowded; the second gets all those visitors who want to avoid the crowds of the first. Since more and more travelers seem to be trying to get off the standard tourist trail a bit, I imagine … [Read more...]
This Bad English Sign Has Saved Many Lives
...and all of those lives were able to read Chinese. This sign was found at Karakul Lake in China's Xinjiang Province and if you're curious what the blind four-year old who was hired to translate it into bad English was actually trying to say, here's the gist of it: "Beware of altitude sickness. Please take it easy." Karakul Lake is beautiful and well worth a visit. This guide … [Read more...]
Warning: Picture of a Disgusting Chinese Toilet
In hindsight, I don't know what more I could want—it has both a divider for a little privacy and select reading materials strewn about. I found this lovely squat toilet at one of the rest stops our bus made on the way from Lijiang to the Tiger Leaping Gorge in China's Yunnan Province. You'll find useful information on traveling in this area in my guide for Lijiang and … [Read more...]
Fat Man on a Little Bus
I started this series on annoying tourists a while back, figuring I would pull from my virtually endless supply of material and add to it from time to time. It's been a while since the first post, so I've decided to add a second and write about a Chinese guy I got stuck next to on the 22 hour bus ride from Lanzhou to Dunhuang in China's Gansu Province. I've also decided … [Read more...]