December 22nd, 2011 | by admin | published in latest posts, places, remembering...
With a name that translates to literally mean “five plateau mountain” Wutaishan is one of the 4 sacred Buddhist peaks in China. Home to more than 50 temples and monasteries, Wutaishan was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009.
With some of the temples dating back to the Yuan dynasty and a few of the [...]
December 4th, 2011 | by admin | published in latest posts, places, remembering...
Yan’an in China’s northwest gains its fame for being near to the end point for Mao Zedong’s Long March, with the town serving as the Communist capital in the revolution.
For me it was definitely one of the more interesting stops on the tours I led in China, resulting in what was generally a very bizarre [...]
December 3rd, 2011 | by admin | published in featured, latest posts, remembering..., things to do & see
Jiuzhaigou is scenically one of the most spectacular landscapes I have ever seen, however I have realised I need to qualify this a little. I grew up in an area that was very flat and dry, so in a way I find mountains, snow and the whole alpine scenery thing to be all quite exotic.
Jiuzhaigou [...]
December 2nd, 2011 | by admin | published in featured, latest posts, places
Straddling the Sichuan / Gansu border is the simply wonderful little village of Langmusi.
The first time I visited this remote outpost was back in 1997. The location is simply stunning, located up on the sweeping grasslands of the Tibetan plateau.
There have been big changes since I first visited, apparently the roads in town have now [...]
July 28th, 2011 | by admin | published in latest posts, things to do & see
Nanning is a vibrant, dynamic modern city with some 40% of its land mass dedicated to green spaces thus earning its reputation as China’s premier “green city”. Getting a genuine taste of this relaxed and friendly destination is simply a matter of venturing into one of the many parks or gardens.
Qingxiu Mountain is affectionately known [...]
July 15th, 2011 | by admin | published in latest posts, things to do & see
Imagine strolling through a verdant, well maintained garden and being wowed by the range of uses each plant has in traditional healing methods.
The meticulously maintained Guangxi Medicinal Herb Botanical Garden is the largest facility of its type in Asia and is the place to see around 4,000 varieties of plants. The garden is arranged [...]
June 28th, 2011 | by admin | published in latest posts, things to do & see
A lion appeared at the opposite end of the courtyard. Standing for a few moments then dramatically jumping up onto the first set of poles which looked to be around a metre high. Within moments he had bounded a further two or three times in perfect unison to the beating drum. This initial burst of [...]
June 5th, 2011 | by admin | published in latest posts, things to do & see
You don’t often find many “special” temples in the more populated cities of China anymore. Most are over-touristed and lack any authentic atmosphere. The Hualin temple in Guangzhou’s old Liwan district definitely managed to impress me. To be more accurate, the 500 Arhat Hall was the standout for this entire ancient complex.
Walking inside the hall [...]
June 4th, 2011 | by admin | published in latest posts, other stuff
My latest published article has just been released in the June 2011 issue of Qatar Airways inflight magazine – Oryx.
It is a short introduction to one of my favorite areas in Guangzhou.
To read the full piece, My Favourite Street, Guangzhou – click here.
May 23rd, 2011 | by admin | published in latest posts, middle kingdom life
Having been in China for quite some time now I think I might have become almost immune to the unexpected or unusual sights. One afternoon recently when strolling across a bridge over the Pearl River, duly accompanied by cars and buses whizzing past I saw this guy pushing his fully laden bicycle along the far [...]
