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I am an American who came to China for a two month visit. That was over four years ago. I came, and couldn't leave. Of course it helps that I have been studying Chinese history for over 30 years. I have settled in Guilin, where I have a home, a wife, and a beautiful new baby girl. This truly is my home. I have never returned to the States, and I probably never will. I took a tour half a year ago with a company called China Odyssey Tours. I was really impressed with them and so applied for a job. I got it and now work for China Odyssey Tours. I truly love my job, and it gives me lots of chances to travel around this country that I have been in love with for so many years. I wanted to start a blog to share this amazing country with others. It's not an advertisement for my work, but it is my work that gives me the chance to do so much traveling. These are my personal blogs, thoughts and feelings and do not represent China Odyssey Tours.

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Joined on: February 22nd 2008
Last Login: September 29th 2009

Blog Entries: 76
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Blogs & Travel Journals

by Guilin, order by Date newest first.

By Guilin
March 17th 2009

Shanghai World Financial Center Asia

Shanghai World Financial Center

Shanghai World Financial Center The SWFC opened in August 2008. It is the largest building in the world from ground to rooftop. The building houses offices, a hotel, and observation floors. The building has three observation floors: the 94th floor Sky Arena, the 97th floor Skywalk, and the 100th floor Skywalk. Visitors enter the area and go directly to the basement to get their tickets and enter the elevators. Visitors are allowed to enter a room with a spinning model of the building covered in flashing lights before heading to the elevators. The elevators rush them to the 94th f [View Full Entry]

By Guilin
March 17th 2009

Guilin's Elephant Trunk Hill Asia » China » Guangxi » Guilin

Elephant Trunk Hill
Visitors to Elephant Trunk Hill can see the giant stone elephants dipping its trunk into the river for a drink.

Guilin's Elephant Trunk Hill Park This weekend, the weather was so nice, that my wife and I went to Guilin's Elephant Hill Park for a stroll. This park is not only the symbol of the city, but also a really beautiful place to get a way for a bit. Elephant Trunk Hill Park is located on the Li River. The entrance to the park is very beautiful, it features many small bamboo groves, and traditional buildings. There is a little stream there that can be crossed by a traditional Chinese bridge. The entire park is elephant themed. The little paths that [View Full Entry]

By Guilin
January 24th 2009

Tongli's Nanyuan Teahouse Asia » China » Jiangsu » Tongli

Tongli's Nanyuan Teahouse

Tongli's Nanyuan Teahouse The Nanyuan Teahouse is an ancient teahouse built during the Qing Dynasty. It is located in a corner of Tongli and overlooks the shopping street. I always pick a window seat overlooking the shopping street so I can people watch. The teahouse is a two storey building. The first floor has the counters, a few chairs and an old Tiger Kiln. A Tiger Kiln is used to boil water to make it drinkable. It is heated with a wood fire. In the past it was cheaper to go to a Tiger Kiln to buy the day's drinking water [View Full Entry]

By Guilin
January 24th 2009

Tongli's Chongben Hall Asia » China » Jiangsu » Tongli

Tongli's Chongben Hall

Tongli's Chongben Hall The Chongben Hall in Tongli was not too terribly interesting I felt. It is a Qing Dynasty mansion. A couple rooms have a few pieces of furniture, but far from enough to give an idea of what an ancient mansion was like inside. The architecture is beautiful and has beautiful woodwork, but it is not enough on its own to make it really interesting. Ticket Price: Free Time Needed: 15-20 minutes Hours of Operation: 10:00-6:00 Location: Located in the north of Tongli Village near Suzhou In September 2008 I was sent on an [View Full Entry]

By Guilin
January 23rd 2009

Tongli's Garden of Seclusion and Meditation Asia » China » Jiangsu » Tongli

Tongli's Garden of Seclusion and Meditation

Tongli's Garden of Seclusion and Meditation This is one of the many traditional Chinese gardens in Tongli. Although not built on the same scale as the ones in Suzhou, they are no less magnificent. They are free once you buy a ticket to the village. It is hard to imagine such beautiful gardens were once private property and part of someone's house. I like this garden very much. Visitors enter the garden at the living area of the house and can explore the ancient house. There are musicians there playing for visitors. Behind the living area is the garden which centers [View Full Entry]

By Guilin
January 23rd 2009

The Village of Tongli Asia » China » Jiangsu » Tongli

The Village of Tongli

Tongli Tongli is an amazing place. It is one of the Water Towns located near Suzhou. It has an many canals as it does streets and it is these canals that define the village. The village is thousands of years old and almost all of its buildings date from the Ming and Qing Dynasties and are in amazing condition. The area around Suzhou was famous for it's Hui Merchants. They were local people who traveled around China as businessmen and amassed huge fortunes. Some of them were actually richer than the emperor himself. They returned home and built magnificent gardens and [View Full Entry]

By Guilin
January 23rd 2009

Tongli's Pearl Pagoda Garden Asia » China » Jiangsu » Tongli

Tongli's Pearl Pagoda Garden

Tongli's Pearl Pagoda Garden Tongli's Pearl Pagoda Garden is the largest of Tongli's gardens. It is an amazing place. I have been there twice and each time I find a new area I missed. This time I found the living area. I don't know how I missed it because it is large. The living area is gorgeous!It is a courtyard style home and each room is its own building and has a courtyard in between it and the next building. The living area is beautifully laid out. The garden is huge and the architecture is really beautiful! There are so many [View Full Entry]

By Guilin
January 8th 2009

Suzhou's Humble Administrator's Garden Asia » China » Jiangsu » Suzhou

Suzhou's Humble Administrator's Garden

Suzhou's Humble Administrator's Garden The Humble Administrator's Garden was one of the three gardens I visited in Suzhou during my trip. I really wish I had the time to visit one garden on one day. They are so beautiful and so large. Their designs are so well thought out that even though there may be a large number of visitors, you always feel fairly alone. I would love to have been able to just sit in a pavilion for an hour or so before exploring some more and visiting another pavilion for a while. Suzhou's gardens are meant to mimic nature, [View Full Entry]

By Guilin
January 8th 2009

Suzhou's Grand Canal Asia » China » Jiangsu » Suzhou

Suzhou's Grand Canal

Suzhou's Grand Canal Suzhou's Grand Canal was a lovely excursion. I boarded my boat near one of Suzhou's two remaining ancient city walls. The area was nicely designed and had a nice atmosphere. The boat was fairly small and only held about fifteen people. The boat cruised down the canal at a leisurely pace and passed many ancient houses built along the banks. It was really nice. I loved looking at the building's architecture. Each house had stairs leading down to the water for washing their laundry and vegetables and the local people relaxing outside their house waved and smiled at [View Full Entry]

By Guilin
January 8th 2009

Suzhou Museum Asia » China » Jiangsu » Suzhou

Shanghai Museum

Suzhou Museum The Suzhou Museum is a unique museum. The exhibitions and artifacts are not the only draw. The architectural design of the museum draws many visitors from around the world. Designed by world famous architect Leoh Ming Pei, one of the foremost architects in the world, the museum’s architecture is as much of a draw as the artifacts they hold. Born in Suzhou, the architect wanted to blend modern and ancient Suzhou garden architecture in the museum's design. Every hall, windows and room was built to incorporate nature, and natural light. Since the museum does not have [View Full Entry]

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