While Beijing will never be my favourite city in China, it does hold a few saving graces. Tiananmen Square is a great place to relax, Beijing is the gateway to the Trans Siberian Railway and also for our recent trip to North Korea plus there’s Peking Duck!! On Friday’s Featured Food I was initially going…
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I’ve now been to China officially 18 times, and it was only recently on my 17th visit that I decided to travel without a visa in advance and check out the system for getting a visa on arrival. My first trip to China in 2007 was to Beijing and I had my visa in advance.…
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Believe it or not, but until recently I had never done tandem cycling before! You might have read my adventures cycling in places like Montevideo, Soweto and Taiwan, but China was the place where my girlfriend and I first hopped on a tandem bicycle! We were backpacking in the Guangxi Province of China and staying…
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A recent travel highlight was being in Chongqing during the Chinese “Dragon Boat Festival” this year. It was mid June. I stayed in the excellent, highly recommended Green Forest Hostel and they were having a rice leaf dumplings night in the hostel so I joined in of course. It was great fun. First of all…
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On my recent Jiangxi Villages Tour, after visiting Jiangling we headed to one of the small villages in the Jiangxi Province to walk around. The historic village of Xiaoqi is worth a look, it’s totally tranquil. By the way Xiaoqi is pronounced “Chjshau Quee” (that’s the best I can do!). This village is split into…
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My recent China adventures continued as we veered south of the city of Guilin in China’s Guangxi Province. We based ourselves in the dreamy town of Yangshuo. A town itself which is pretty enough to keep your wandering eyes glaring in awe and your camera snapping away as you marvel at its enchantment. As you…
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If you follow my stories on here you will know that I am a tight assed cheapskate backpacker. Monday’s Money Saving Tips are all about that. In terms of places to stay, friends flats, tents, hostel dorms and sleeping on airport benches are my forte as I backpack round the world. But the travel lifestyle…
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You’ll hear a lot more about Chongqing. Often dubbed (rightly or wrongly is anyone’s guess) the biggest city in the world, this colossal place was somewhere I had longed to visit and was anticipating it for a long time. Chongqing is a fantastic city and it lived up to all expectations. Completely! After getting the…
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While staying in the Green Forest hostel in Chongqing in China, I heard from a fellow hostel mate Richard, that Chongqing lays claim to the world’s largest toilet complex. Over 1,000 toilets in one building. Well I just had to go there to take a piss… Where is the world’s largest toilet? It’s on Foreigner…
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“Well there’s a small boat made of China that’s going nowhere on the mantelpiece” – Neil Finn. When I was young we used to hear about “China” and there was even a phrase that went “he’s like a bull in a China shop”. I’m talking about China. Not the country. But the ceramic, porcelain, material…
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