Sign In
Travel Blog Posts
April 5th 2010
With a few weeks of holiday at my disposal I decided to return to Yunnan, the destination of my first travel blog 3 1/2 years ago. Kunming, Dali, Lijiang and Tiger Leaping Gorge were once again on the agenda. The plan was to make the mountaineous route into Sichuan, but the route is closed because of the snow. To avoid boring myself I've summarised this in to one blog, with just a few highlights and thoughts:- - Tiger Leaping Gorge is still gorgeous and remains the most beautiful and impressive place I've visited. Made all the nicer by not being overrun with Chinese Tour Groups (they take the bus along the lower road, missing the best bit). There are rumours the government are going to build a dam nearby and flood the area - a real ... read more
July 14th 2009
Following a bit of procrastination, I decided to head North from Songpan through Gansu province up to its capital Lanzhou. I'm not sure what attracted me to Gansu. I think it was the desire to get off the tourist trail somewhat, and also the opportunity to visit "Tibet" without having to go to the hassle of actually visiting Tibet - Southwest Gansu being comprised of Tibetan grasslands and monasteries. It may also have been not wanting to face the arduous trip back to Chengdu. The journey was very bus-dependent, but the scenery was unlike I've seen before - grasslands bordered by mountains, yaks blocking the road, masked nomads riding horseback across the grasslands. All coupled with the assorted medley of objects that accompany you on bus journeys here - a 10 foot bamboo pole, baby ducks, ... read more
July 12th 2009
Apologies for another Blog so soon, but this place deserves a space of its own. Jiu Zhai Gou is a National Park in Northern Sichuan where glaciers have created a series of emerald coloured lakes, all surrounded by misty peaks. It was raining the day I went which was unfortunate. However, it was still an amazing place, especially since the rain meant I had the place to myself for hours at a time. I really want to come back one day and see the place in Autumn. These photos don't do the place justice. See the following link:- Jiu Zhai Gou ... read more
July 12th 2009
Chengdu Chengdu and around Sichuan are also places that I've been wanting to visit for a while. One of my colleagues and his wife were also traveling in the area, so this gave me an opportunity to stop having to pretend to have friends! Chengdu was a fairly relaxed and laid back city, but with all the amenities you would need. However, it did surprise me just how loud the Sichuan people speak - it seems that the local dialect is one that needs to be shouted to be understood. The food in Chengdu was fantastic - pizza, curry, coffee. It's been a while since I've had decent western food so it was nice to indulge and satisfy my craving. Sichuan food is as notoriously spicy as Hunan food, and my stomach isn't quite right ... read more
June 29th 2009
Yangshuo First stop was Yangshuo - visitors to China will no doubt know this place, and it's a place I've been wanting to visit since I got to China. Located near Guilin, it's home to karst mountains and beautiful scenery, often seen in postcards and books of China back home. I'd heard it was mainly visited by foreigners, and so was surprised to see so many Chinese tourists there. Apparantly, Yangshuo has started to appeal to the Chinese tour group, resulting in more tourist shops and chinese nightclubs. However, there are still many quiet parts of town. I'd love to regale you with tales of adventure from Yangshuo. But, I spent a week here just relaxing and enjoying the environment. It's a pretty laid back place, and once you get out of town on bike, ... read more
June 15th 2009
So once again my Littlest Hobo moment has come and it's time to move on. Exams and marking finished last week so even though my contract is up at the end of July, I'm free to go. I have a Visa until mid-August so I'm planning a couple of months traveling around China. Then it's back to UK for a PGCE. Changsha So, Changsha eh? For those of you planning a visit, here are some Pro's and Con's Pro's - Known as the party capital of China, the street I live on has about 30 or 40 bars. Two new bar-littered streets have popped up since I've been here. They don't exactly offer a lot of diversity, but they're there. - Street food. You're peckish at 5am in the morning? No problem. Watch out for your ... read more
April 9th 2009
Just a few pictures from a BBQ we had a few weeks back. Our students on the Australian programme finished their exams, so we went to the Botanical Gardens to have a BBQ and see the cherry blossom. Most of my teaching this year, especially Maths teaching, has been centred around these students, so it was nice to see them off. The teaching load has reduced since then which has also been a relief. Seeing the chinese version of a BBQ was interesting. Rather than the organised manner of a western BBQ, this was is more of a complete free-for-all. Skewers everywhere, things getting burned (food or fingers) - generally complete carnage. All good fun but they're going to have to practise their BBQing skills for Oz. Only a few more weeks left of actual teaching ... read more
February 6th 2009
I wrote a Blog entry last weekend, but my computer seemed to think it was rubbish and deleted it. Here then are the 'highlights' along with a picture story. After Vang Vieng I headed north to Luang Prabang. - The bus journey from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang through the mountains was slow but quite fun. I've always enjoyed being thrown around in the bus as it goes around the hair pins, but I'm not sure the stern-faced German guy sitting next to me enjoyed the forced intimacy. - Another attack from my ginger stomach which put me out of action for 3 days. Was hoping to head north from Luang Prabang, but didn't want to risk it. - Hiring a boat on the Mekong for sunset and then getting invited for dinner by the boatman. ... read more
January 29th 2009
Kunming Once Again Two years later and my path once again wound its way to Kunming. Direct flights anywhere notable don't exist from Changsha so to get anywhere you have fly via somewhere. Given Rodney's presence in Kunming, there seemed a decent choice. I remember Kunming as a nice place, fairly attractive but nothing special. Perhaps living in a dump like Changsha alters one's perspective, but I spent my time walking around Kunming saying 'This place is gorgeous!' Tree-lined streets, parks and lakes and relaxing cafes made me feel like it was a European city. I changed my itinerary from last time by spending my time in the Prague cafe rather than the French cafe. I was brought back to China upon my visit to the bank. After the Bank of China cashier told me ... read more
September 26th 2008
(written a while ago) I've been meaning to write a Travelblog from Changsha for the past 4 months, but haven't gotten around to it. however, I've decided to finally pull my finger out and brighten up everyone's Xmas. As you may or may not know, I'm currently living in Changsha in Central China. Changsha is one of those 'small' Chinese cities, which contains over 6 million people. It is one of the four 'furnaces' of China which, whilst aptly describing the summer situation, doesn't accurately reflect the current temperature. It's not that it's that cold (think UK Winter), it's just that the Chinese Government decided that cities south of Shanghai don't need central heating. I would love to invite one of those Cadres to enjoy winter teaching at the school. 'Furnace' could also be used to ... read more
Tot: 0.163s; Tpl: 0.007s; cc: 13; qc: 78; dbt: 0.0674s; 1; s:apollo w:www (50.28.60.10); sld: 2; ; mem: 6.5mb
© 2013 TravelBlog.org & Bloggers