Author name: Akie

Big Grassland Wedding

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 »

Meeting the Tibetan Nomads

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 »

Hiking near Lake Fuxian

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 »

Friends in Pu’er

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

Friends in Pu’er Read More »

Christmas in Kunming

  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 »

Scenic Guizhou

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

Scenic Guizhou Read More »

White Nights 2 (Hefei)

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 »

Monkey and the cherry bloomson

Why we love Yangzhou

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 »

Beautiful friendship in Yangzhou

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 »

Life in Yangzhou

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

Life in Yangzhou Read More »

Exploring Western Inner Mongolia

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 »

Winter in Dunhuang

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 »

Qinghai (青海)

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

Qinghai (青海) Read More »

Ngari, Tibet (西藏阿里) 3

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) 2

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 »

Ngari, Tibet (西藏阿里) 1

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 »

Travelling with new friends in Tibet (日客則,羊卓雍措) 17-20 Sept

We met Harmony and Catherine, two bubbly women from Guangzhou on our last morning at the guesthouse near Linzhi, Tibet (西藏林芝山南) but already sensed their super outgoing vibe. Little did we know that we would meet up again in Lhasa. About an hour into our drive to Shannan (山南), the guesthouse owner Mr. Wu (吳濤)

Travelling with new friends in Tibet (日客則,羊卓雍措) 17-20 Sept Read More »

Genie (格聶)

Our drive to Genie (格聶) from Litang (理塘) was adventurous to say the least as it was totally off the digital map and the road condition was rough. But it was totally worth it as the Genie Sacred Mountain range is simply spectacular. When we were in Litang, we asked around about the road condition

Genie (格聶) Read More »

Ta Gong (塔公) 25 – 29 Jul

The longer we travel around China, the more we realize that we cannot make plans and expect to stick to them. Life is not about planning but more about accepting changes and being open to opportunities. We need goals but only to embrace them as a general guide. The best thing is to be prepared

Ta Gong (塔公) 25 – 29 Jul Read More »

Scroll to Top