11 Apr – 18 Apr 2025 Back in 2020, during the first year of our China trip, we went to a small old town Shaxi (沙溪) in Yunnan and met a lovely young woman Hui Hui who ran a charming guesthouse. We stayed about 10 days at her place. At the time, she just sold […]
Meeting friends in Jingdezhen Read More »
25 Sept – 27 Sept 2024 We returned to the town centre of Zhangjiajie after a refreshing stay in the Baozijie Mountain (堡子界). As it was cloudy, we took it easy a few days and spent time at coffee shops reading and writing. When the weather finally cleared up, we drove to the National Forest
Zhangjiajie in Autumn Part Two Read More »
8 Sept – 24 Sept 2024 If you have followed our travel blog for some time, you probably know that Kin and I are not fans of popular tourist destinations. But it would be a huge regret even for us if we didn’t hike the world-renowned mountains of Zhangjiajie in Hunan province (湖南張家界). After leaving
Zhangjiajie in Autumn Part One Read More »
7 Aug – 21 Aug 2024 2024 was a year of celebrating friendships as we saw many friends. At the beginning of the year, two friends came to see us in Yunnan. This time we went to Wuhan to meet up with our friends Lisa and Steffen whom we have known since our Shanghai days
Hot Summer in Wuhan Read More »
11-19 Jul 2024 We met Zhuoma (卓瑪) again to behold an important occasion in her mother’s village – the division of its grassland. On the official record, the land was already divided among its 32 families over 20 years ago. But they share the land and herd livestock together until now. Zhuoma appointed a surveying
Big Grassland Wedding Read More »
July 6-10, 2024 Life is full of unexpected surprises. After almost a month in the charismatic Chengdu, we originally planned to drive to a small town in western Sichuan recommended by our Chengdu friend to escape the summer heat and experience rural life. But a few days before departure, Yangzhou friend Niu Niu (妞妞) said
Meeting the Tibetan Nomads Read More »
May 28 to Jul 3 2024 We took the scenic route and drove 130 kilometres from Leshan (樂山) to Chengdu (成都). By now, Kin is very good at finding quiet spots for our van and this time he located one in the outskirt of the city near a new office complex. It was raining when
Chengdu the City of Charm June 2024 Read More »
May 11-27, 2024 We have always wanted to visit Chengdu but Covid got in the way and we didn’t get the chance to go during our China travel Part one. So last year, when we left Yunnan province in mid May, we decided to head northward to Sichuan. We made two stops on the way
Yibin and Leshan 13-29 May 2024 Read More »
13 Jan – 19 Mar 2024 First impression is everything. The moment I arrived at Pu’er (普洱), I was struck by how warm and pleasant it was and we decided to take a longer break to enjoy the warmer climate. Many people from the northern China “migrate” to the southern part of Yunnan in winter
Date: 1 Jan – 7 Jan 2024 I said before the best way to travel is to have no plans and just follow the locals’ suggestions. So after a laid back Christmas and New Year in Kunming, we followed our Kunming friend Haiya’s suggestion and went to the Gudui Trail (谷堆山路線) about 60 kilometres south
Hiking near Lake Fuxian Read More »
Date: 20-31 Dec, 2023 After a very exuberant stay in Guizhou, we headed towards Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan. It’s amazing to see how the weather changed dramatically as we drove up the hill towards Yunnan – one minute it was misty and damp on the Guizhou side, then the mist disappeared and
Christmas in Kunming Read More »
Date: 14-17 Dec, 2023 After a rather action-packed six-week stay in Kaili immersing ourselves in the exotically rich culture and traditions of Miao people, it’s time to do some sightseeing. Guizhou is renowned for its waterfalls and natural scenaries. So we drove about 200 kilometres westward to Anshun (安順) to see the famous Huangguoshu Waterfall
After spending time in a small rural village Huanggang (黃崗), we went to a small city called Kaili (凱里). It has a population of only about six hundred and fifty thousand people. My first impression of the city was that it has many slopes and the roads are bumpy. I booked a two-bedroom apartment but
Colourful Guizhou – Joyful Festivities and People Read More »
We have always wanted to go to Guizhou (貴州) but did not get round to it during the pandemic time. Guizhou is a magnet for tourists – not only does it have a high concentration of ethnic minorities which makes it exotic, its mountainous landscape also offers breathtaking scenaries. After an eight-month hiatus in Hong
Colourful Guizhou – Huanggang(黃崗) Read More »
Life appeared normal in Hefei and we tried to go out as much as possible for groceries or lunch since we knew that we could be locked down any time. Then about a week later, we woke up one morning and it happened. We weren’t sure at first but we noticed the main road outside
The inevitable lockdown and we finally had Covid Read More »
We arrived at Hefei in late September 2022. Hefei’s economy has really taken off in the past ten years and become one of the fastest growing IT, electric vehicle and bio-pharmaceutical hubs in the country. We rented a two-bedroom apartment in the outskirt of the city next to the convention centre. It turned out to
White Nights 2 (Hefei) Read More »
We started travelling at the end of 2019 just before all the Covid madness began. We never thought that our trip around China would have lasted three years and never in our wildest dreams have foreseen that we would have to live with such a resilient virus throughout our journey. In the first two and
What was it like to travel in the pandemic? Read More »
Previously, I talked about our Yangzhou friend Niu Niu (妞妞) who runs a quaint coffee shop in the old part of the city. We have also become best buddies with her super friendly frenchie named Monkey. He is like a heavy breathing mini-me of Niu Niu – always full of sheer energy and bundle of
Why we love Yangzhou Read More »
Yangzhou is beautiful in springtime as the willows by the river and canal turn lushly green and various flowers pop up adding bright colours to the city. Plum blossom trees were in full bloom first and we could smell its delicate fragrance wherever we went. Soon after that the cherry blossoms and all kinds of
Beautiful friendship in Yangzhou Read More »
When the first wave of Covid hit China in the beginning of 2020, our travelling came to a halt and we stayed low in the small old town Jianshui in Yunnan (雲南建水). Now, two years later, our life is still dominated by the pandemic and we find ourselves yet again hiding – only this time
30 May – 16 Jun 2021 Originally, we did not plan to go to Ejin Banner (額濟納旗) in the most north western tip of Inner Mongolia. It is famous for the desert poplar trees (Euphrates poplar胡楊林) with the leaves turning into golden yellow only in a very short window of every October. In that single
Heartwarming Ejin Banner (額濟納旗) Read More »
7-12 May 2021 After lots of late night chats and loads of fun with our young friend Jovy, the four of us returned to our quiet life. We headed eastward to Alxa Left Banner (阿拉善左旗). We made a pitstop to see the Mandela Rock Paintings (曼特拉岩畫). It has nothing to do with the famous South
Exploring Western Inner Mongolia Read More »
Date: 7-12 May (Part 1) Jovy and the four of us continued our journey northward and cut through the narrow strip of Gansu Province to reach the western part of Inner Mongolia. We drove about 200 kilometres and saw familiar road signs of Zhangye (張掖) and nearby places in Gansu along the way before reaching
Exploring Western Inner Mongolia with Jovy Read More »
30 Apr – 6 May 2021 Friends have wanted to join our travel in China ever since we started but then COVID got in the way and all travelling plans have been postponed indefinitely. Out of the blue at the end of April 2021, a carefree young friend Jovy joined us. She was already in
Amazing Mati Temple and Qilianxian (馬蹄寺與祁連縣) Read More »
After spending months in Tibet followed by a whirlwind three-week tour in Qinghai over 3,000 kilometres, we were ready to take a long break from travelling and hibernate for the winter. We arrived in Dunhuang (敦煌) in the last month of 2020 and it was very quiet in winter. We were particularly impressed by how
Winter in Dunhuang Read More »
From Lhasa, we headed northeast to Qinghai (青海) via the Qingzang route (青藏公路). I was even more unfamiliar with Qinghai than Tibet as all I knew about the place is Lake Qinghai (青海湖). As I started reading up on Qinghai (青海), I found out that it is China’s fourth largest province in area. It is
In early September, we arrived in Lhasa and ended up staying for over a month. My first impression of Lhasa when we were approaching the city was that it appeared bigger than what I thought and from a distance, the Potala Palace stood on a pedestal but looked way smaller than I anticipated. As we
A Month in Lhasa (拉薩的一個月) Sept 2020 Read More »
Nineteen days into our Ngari (阿里) journey, we saw spectacular snow mountains and lakes of various shapes and sizes. We were deeply moved by stunning landscapes and clay forest. We went back in time exploring the ancient ruins and cave paintings. We saw the way of life of the locals. As we embarked on the
Ngari, Tibet (西藏阿里) 3 Read More »
Ngari, Tibet (西藏阿里) 3 Burang – Menshi (Tirthapuri Monastery) – Zanda – Guge Kingdom Ruins – Shiquanhe – Pangong Tso 普蘭 – 門士鄉 (直達布日寺) – 扎達 – 古格王朝遺址 – 獅泉河 – 班公措 Before I begin my part two of the journey, you probably notice that I have updated the title from Ali to Ngari. Ali
Ngari, Tibet (西藏阿里) 2 Read More »
Lhasa – Shigatse – Tingri – Gyirong – Saga – Lake Manasarovar – Mount Kailash 拉薩 – 日喀則市 – 定日 – 吉隆溝 – 薩嘎 – 瑪旁雍措 – 岡仁波齊 I wanna start our trip to Ngari (阿里) by introducing our young Cantonese friend Huang Li Shing (黃利成) whom we met in Shannan (山南) on our way
Ngari, Tibet (西藏阿里) 1 Read More »
