December 4th, 2011 | by admin | published in featured, remembering..., things to do & see
How fantastic was this Tibetan nomad festival in Langmusi, China on International Children’s Day, 2002.
I was incredibly fortunate to experience this event with one of my groups and it was definitely worth arriving after 2am in the morning for. We had broken down on the grasslands in the middle of Sichuan the previous day and [...]
December 4th, 2011 | by admin | published in other stuff
If you are a regular visitor you might have noticed I have introduced a new category of blog post called “remembering…”.
I have spent the past few days delving back into my huge archive of film images, many of which have been locked away for the past 9 or 10 years. Of course this has set [...]
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 [...]
September 3rd, 2011 | by admin | published in remembering...
An ancient town with a history of some 2000 years sitting at the entrance of the stunning Qutang Gorge on the northern banks of the Yangzte River, China, Fengjie was one of the first to be destroyed to make way for the Three Gorges Dam project.
This series of images was taken in July 2002 mere [...]
September 3rd, 2011 | by admin | published in eating & drinking
If there is one thing you may have noticed about me and food is that I love Dim Sum! Of course there are so many fantastic Chinese dishes that I miss now that I am back in Melbourne for a while but I can say without a doubt that the Shark Fin House has sensational [...]
August 31st, 2011 | by admin | published in where am i
Have been a little tardy with the updates this year! Or perhaps just getting really lazy
After a few months back in the Middle Kingdom earlier this year, in both Yangshuo and Guangzhou, am back in Melbourne for a while copywriting up a storm with Intrepid Travel.
Am trying to get a bit more balance [...]
August 15th, 2011 | by admin | published in things to do & see
Branded a fool over his decision some 13 years ago to create a large scale art park amongst the ethereal landscape of Guilin, Rhy Chang Tsao’s pet project, affectionately named “Fools Paradise”, now boasts more than 200 magnificently sculptured artworks that dot manicured grounds like rare species of flowers.
Whilst it may be somewhat difficult to [...]
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 [...]
