Near the public Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, I had an exciting chance to visit a beautiful, unrestored, mountainous area of the Great Wall. A few years ago the Chinese government made the “wild” areas of the wall off limits to the public. However, it is not enforced very well. There is a village …
Category Archives: Travel
Qinghai Province, China
Xining The capital city of the province. Here I got to try a buffet style hot-pot, which I’ve never seen anywhere else in China. You pay a flat price and then you can go look and carry back all the different foods you want to cook. Then you put them in the hot-pot for …
Gansu Province, China
Dunhuang The Mogao Caves were a at the end of a long overnight train ride. The caves are famous for its paintings and art, well preserved in the dry desert air for over 1000 years. Unfortunately, I have no photos to show since cameras and bags were not allowed inside the caves. I’m not sure …
Shaanxi Province, China
Two years ago I visited Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi Province. That time I was sick and I didn’t get to see everything, so I’m back for 2009. Han Yanling Museum I missed the tomb of Emperor JingDi (188BC-141BC) last time since it was a little too complicated to get to. I’m glad I went …
National Day in Beijing
October 1st is the National Day of the People’s Republic of China. It is the equivalent of July 4th in the US. This year, 2009 marks the 60th anniversary of the current government and the highlight is a military parade in Beijing. The only other times a big parade was performed was in 1984 and …
Travel Hardware Update
By far, the most useful device I brought on my trip this time has been the Nintendo DS. Of course, it has been modified so I can do more than play games on it. The most basic thing is text files. For example, I can copy a timetable of a train and reference that while …
China Notes
Traffic Every time I arrive here I’m shocked by the traffic and driving rules. I read a little about the Chinese driving rules (if you can call them that) and they explain right-of-way as “first is right.” So whoever gets to a part of a road first owns that part and other people must get …
Job? No. Travel? Yes.
When I left China in March 2009 and kept hearing how depressing the job market is back in Michigan, I bought a round trip ticket to get back to China for my Plan B. And on August 17, 2009, I used it. The reason for that date is because the last date I could enter …
Back home in Michigan
On March 23, I took a flight back to Detroit, Michigan from Beijing, China. Last time I flew out of Beijing in 2007 it was with Continental Airlines and I complained how old the 747 was. This time I also used Continental and I was happy because it was a 777. Everything was new, except …
Beijing Subway System
While construction has slowed down in Michigan, it was hard to notice any slowdown in Beijing. In addition to the countless apartment buildings and shopping malls being built, I was impressed with the subway system. There was a major upgrade to the subway last year for the Olympics, but that was just the start. There …