Just a quick update: I spent the last few days in Kunming, a nice city with only 6 million people....writing that seems crazy but it's much less than most of the other cities I've been in. Today I'm taking a bus 20 hours south to the China/Laos border. There I can buy a visa and exchange my RMB for Lao KIP which is worth about 15,000 to 1 USD. Wow. I will spend the next 1 1/2 - 2 weeks in Laos before heading back up to Beijing for my flight home. I'm not sure where I'll have internet, but I [View Full Entry]

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Its been a long time since I've written anything. I guess the last time was in Yinchuan? That seems like ages ago. from Yinchuan I went to Chengdu, a big city with some great areas (most famously the Panda breeding center). I spent about five days in Chengdu before heading south to Mt. Emei, the tallest of the four sacred Buddhist mountains of China. It was probably the most difficult hikes I've ever done, and it took a good 12 hours. The summit has a monestary, temple, and a huge golden Buddha pagoda that has a four-faced/bodied Buddha riding four badass [View Full Entry]

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The last time I wrote I was in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. Today I'm in Yinchuan, the capitol of the Ningxia autonomous region in northern central China, and home to China's Muslim minority, the Hui. I arrived two nights ago after a ten+ hour train ride and found my way to Ningxia's only hostel. I befriended a 27 year old Chinese man named "Tony" who was traveling with his wife "Sandy", Tony's younger sister, and both their mothers and fathers. Sandy had two masters dagrees relating to international relations and communications and both of them were about to start their Phd. work [View Full Entry]

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I traveled by train 12 hours northwest to Hohhot, the capitol of Inner Mongolia (claimed by China) and home to 4 million people. I needed to escape Beijing, so Hohhot was a gamble being that I didn't know much about it. It's not as hot as Beijing's humid weather, but I don't think I'll be staying for more than a couple days. I went to Hohhot's meuseum with an Australian woman who's doing field work for her Phd. in Outer Mongolia (not claimed by China). We both agreed that Hohhot is nice, but there's not a whole lot to do, it's [View Full Entry]

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I have a game: Anyone who can guess what city I'm going to next will win something awesome. I'm not sure where it will be yet, but I'm deciding today, and it will be somewhere west of Beijing. Best of luck! Oh, and because China is so big you get three guesses. Yesterday I went and saw Transformers 2 in Chinese . . . with Chinese subtitles. I coulnd't understand much of anything they were saying, but my guess is it didn't really matter anyways cause the visual effects were amazing. The Olympic Forest Park is beautiful, and after walking around [View Full Entry]

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But not TOO hot that I would stay inside even though we're supposedly in a heat wave. The last few days have been filled to the brim. The first full day I was here I did the tourist thing and went to Tienamen square and the Forbidden City. Well it's not "forbidden" anymore (IF YOU PAY). There were thousands of Chinese tourists - and a few others - that roamed the grounds with cameras and umbrellas to block the sun (which you see everywhere). Before entering the not-so-Forbidden-City I was sitting in Tienamen Square and a group of five Chinese primary [View Full Entry]

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Wow, talk about a long commute. After a 9 1/2 hour plane ride to Tokyo, a 3 hour layover followed by a 3 1/2 hour ride to Beijing, and three different check points serviced by employees with masks and eye goggles I finally . . . got out of the airport at 12am (it was a brisk 80 degrees). Next I bargained for a taxi that turned out to be sketchy as hell, but no worries, after a half hour ride around Beijing's 4th circle, we finally made it through the narrow alleyways of Xuanwu District and found the hostel. [View Full Entry]

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This is what I have heard: Just making sure my travel journal is working. I'm witing from Hostel International in Boston, just under 8 days from my takeoff to Beijing. Apparently I can map my trip, add photos and video, and anyone may leave comments if they'd like. You can also subscribe to my blog, and every time I post a new entry you'll be notified by email. If you'd rather write me by email please feel free, it would be great to read emails from familiar voices: danklovedharma@gmail.com. Until next time. Peace & Love, -Harrison [View Full Entry]

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