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Around The World in (Substantially Less Than) Eighty Days

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May 29th 2010
The train from Xian to Shanghai was a good welcome back to solo travel. I was sharing my compartment with three generations of a family from Inner Mongolia and a Buddhist monk. Who, for the next 10 hectic hours managed to make me the talking point of the carriage. Using my basic mandarin, a phrase book, a rubbish dictionary and notes from my mandarin lessons we quizzed each other. On their own ... read more

Asia » China » Shanghai

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For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. A... ... read more