Author Archives: Lon

I made plans to visit the city of Tangshan to visit some people. Tangshan is the city where a massive earthquake hit in 1976, killing over 200,000 people. Outside the city, I was able to visit a village and get a tour of a factory that makes a sweet specialty snack. The box says the …

Continue reading “Day 63-66 – Beijing & Tangshan, China”

I’m here in Guangzhou with the intention of going to Myanmar next. However, this did not happen since I have a connection in Bangkok, Thailand. The Suvarnbhumi Airport has been closed down for a week because anti-government protesters took over the entire airport, which is the 18th most busy in the world, blocked off the …

Continue reading “Day 61-62 – Guangzhou, China”

Using high-speed rail, Shanghai is only 40 minutes away from Suzhou. Arriving in Shanghai was a much better experience compared to the first time I arrived here (my first day in mainland China). Maybe it was the time of day I arrived (1:30PM), but the ticket office was not very full and the subway did …

Continue reading “Day 58-60 – Shanghai, China”

From Nanjing, I took the train 1.5 hours to Suzhou. This city is known for gardens and canals. I decided to visit the biggest and best garden, the Humble Administrator’s Garden. Filled with lakes, pavilions, bridges, big collection of bonsai trees, this city is the prototype for many Chinese gardens everywhere. (photos) The next day …

Continue reading “Day 56-57 – Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China”

I spent today at the Zhongshan Scenic Area. This included Linggu Temple, Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum, and Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum. It is a nice forested park home to all these tombs and winding paths. The Ming tomb had a burial mound 400m in diameter, but too bad I couldn’t get too close to it since …

Continue reading “Day 55 – Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China”

This morning I changed hostels. The last one I stayed at had only two toilets for the entire building and everything was so cramped. The new one has a new location directly on one of the canals in the city and you can see traditional style buildings on both sides of the canal. Today I …

Continue reading “Day 54 – Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China”

After 15 hours, I arrived in Nanjing. Starting to get into southern China now and the weather is getting nicer. After getting checked into my hostel, I returned to the train station to find out how to get to the Yangshan Stone Tablet. This place isn’t mentioned in any guidebooks, and it was difficult to …

Continue reading “Day 53 – Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China”

I’ve been able to try some cooking here in Beijing. I’ve been able to cook some French toast (soy milk and eggs), but there isn’t any syrup around here to put on top. Then I was able to cook spaghetti using some imported sauce from the US (costs $3 for one can here). I also …

Continue reading “Day 49-52 – Beijing”

The first stop this morning was at the Hebei Provincial Museum, which was unfortunately undergoing renovation. They just had a few photo galleries open, including one about the “truth” behind the Lhasa riots in Tibet earlier this year. Then it was a trip to Mt. Cangyang. I found out this was where they filmed the …

Continue reading “Day 47-48 – Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China”

Back north, I prepared to visit a couple more places in Hebei province. I’ve noticed around Asia that more often than not speedometers are disconnected on vehicles. I suspect most people do this so the odometer number does not increase. Just another example of how there are few rules here.