My favorite food of China travel to look at, giggle at, and photograph… but never, ever actually EAT, is the popular snack of chicken feet.
And duck feet.
Really, any edible poultry tootsies at all send me into gales of laughter. I’m never sure which foot belongs to which bird, but they all remind me of witches and tickles.
During our visit to Gareth’s Peace Corps site in Yunyang, Central China, we took a trip [...Read More!]
You’ve read my account of the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City, and other China tourist attractions, but now let’s get into the darker side of my 17 days in the most populous country on Earth.
The reality is that China is the most intense country that I have ever traveled to, and I have traveled to over 30 countries across the globe!
Now, the intensity of China travel is actually good news, [...Read More!]
One of the best nights of sleep I’ve had in my entire time in China has been… on a 16-hour fast train from Beijing to Chongqing!
Who knew that the key to a restful slumber was sticking yourself in a metal box hurtling hundreds of miles per hour through the most populous country on Earth?
For those of you who sometimes forget this, China is larger in area than the United States, so [...Read More!]
“Be careful at zee Forbidden City,” our French hostel roommate warned. “Eet eez so big and so beautiful, that after a while you say: too much!”
“But look at that tiny rectangle on the Beijing map,” I protested, pointing to the box labeled “Forbidden City.” “I could walk that in like five minutes.”
The French lass guffawed heartily, said, “Well, just arrive as early as possible in zee day!” and headed off on [...Read More!]
When I think of China, I don’t exactly think “yogurt.” Great Wall + China? Yes. Dairy products + China? No.
How wrong I was!
“I’m gonna feed you something that’ll change your life,” proclaimed Gareth the day Colin and I arrived in Beijing.
Gareth has been a Peace Corps volunteer in China for a year, now, so we figured she might know what she was talking about. We followed her through the hot back [...Read More!]
We had been in China for less than 24 hours, the moment we found ourselves high atop the Great Wall of China, giddy with happiness.
At somewhere between 3,800 and 5,500 miles in total, depending how you measure its parts, the Great Wall of China stretches longer than the entire border between the United States and Canada.
This fact not only boggles the mind, but it also makes it tough for a tourist [...Read More!]
Hello from China, all the way across the world from where I was last week!
In the five days since I arrived here, I’ve already hiked the Great Wall, reunited with my dear friend Gareth who is teaching here through Peace Corps, toured the Forbidden City and Tienanmen Square, taken a 15 hour sleeper train to the center of the country, and (continuously) stuffed myself silly on mouth-watering Chinese food. In short, life is [...Read More!]
Do you dream of extended travel?
Well, wait no more. The time is NOW to make those career-break travel dreams a reality, because the ticket to finally planning and booking your travel tickets is HERE!
How? Where? The Meet, Plan, Go! Career-Break Travel Conference is coming to 17 North American cities on October 18, and tickets are on sale as of TODAY!
The concept of MPG is simple, but deeply powerful.
On October 18, you will MEET expert [...Read More!]
Tears poured down my cheeks and into my gourmet hot dog as I sat across from my friend Meg, less than a week before my flight to Beijing and the subsequent 50-something hours of trains and buses I will take through Chongqing, Yunyang, and Shanghai.
“I’m sorry,” I choked out, “but I’m always a complete mess before international travel. Every little thing makes me freak out: an offhand remark from a friend… a [...Read More!]