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By: Ellie (Elena) Martinez 2023 I don’t have a picture of the murderer, though his eyes followed me and my ...

There is a saying in China that “Guilin has the best scenery under the heaven, but Yangshuo is even more ...

A city which many people outside of China would not be able to find on a map, Qingdao sits on ...

Beijing. The political and cultural center of China. Any visit to this country demands one to this ancient city that ...

Hoi An’s reputation as a must see stop in Central Vietnam preceded itself.  Tourist guides, blogs, and friends told of ...

It's odd that my memories of Vietnam will not be about the food. I love Vietnamese food and was eagerly ...

The ocean expanding out across the horizon was a welcome site for us all.  After weeks of our daily vista ...

One of the first things most people do after arriving in Shanghai is pay a visit to the most iconic ...

Our car was parked at the village as we waited inside for our guide to give us the signal we ...

On a recent visit to the Shanghai Museum we spent time looking over the many ancient stamps (also known as seals) that ...

We walked down the dusty road in the chill morning air. I looked to take in our surroundings and saw ...

Whatever comes to mind when you think of Cambodia, be it some vague connection the country had to the Vietnam ...

The pick-up truck bounced along the dirt road through the Thailand countryside. Riding open air in the bed of the ...

Though our tiny bungalow and its secluded beach gave us little reason to want to leave (unless we thought about ...

If you haven’t done so in a while, look at a map and notice how big Asia is. Flying across ...

Travel is at its best and worst an adventure. It's also hard work. Recently, we went to the largest Starbucks ...

One thing struck me last weekend. The inside of a high school gym looks the same wherever you are in ...

To learn a language is to have another window from which to look at the world.  - - Chinese Proverb ...

I don't know if it exists, but one could construct a tour of China that parallels much of the dramatic ...

Xīn nián kuài lè!  That’s happy new year in Mandarin and, yes, it is something that is said in China ...

It’s hard in some respects to believe we are celebrating Christmas literally on the other side of the world.  In ...

And now for something completely different. Last week we rode a train through a sightseeing tunnel connecting the Bund with the ...

The best quality tea must have the creases like the leather boots of Tartar horsemen, curl like the dewlap of ...

“It is without a doubt the finest and most splendid city in the world.” Marco Polo An hour away from Shanghai ...

“People who love to eat are always the best people.” Julia Child As we prepare for feasts and gatherings of ...

Last month, as part of our Golden Week vacation, we spent 3 days in Chongqing. Chongqing (pronounced chong ching) is ...

The metro system in Shanghai is vast, connecting all corners of the city. If you don’t mind walking a couple ...

The holiday season is a little different in China. The weather is crisper, there is a small sense of seasons ...

The Yangtze River Part III Writing to My Wife at a Rainy Night - Li Shang-yin (773-842/Tang Dynasty) I cannot ...

The Yangtze River Part II Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still.  Chinese Proverb We ...

The Yangtze River Part 1 An adventure is never an adventure when it happens. An adventure is simply physical and ...

We looked for a shirt this week with a map of China and the words “I survived Golden Week” imprinted ...

We live in the present, we dream of the future and we learn eternal truths from the past. Soong Mei-Ling ...

By night the skyscraper looms in the smoke and the stars and has a soul. Carl Sandburg Though we’ve shared ...

"Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these courageous couriers from the swift completion of their ...

There is a legend of how gardens came to be such a prized part of Chinese culture. As the legend ...

“First we eat, then we do everything else.” -M.F.K. Fisher I’m sure to write many posts on the experiences of ...

In every drop of water, there is a story of life. Leena Arif Shanghai is a water town. It is ...

“Home is the nicest word there is.” ― Laura Ingalls Wilder By Chinese standards our apartment is huge. That’s what everyone keeps ...

If you saw a heat wave, would you wave back?- Steven Wright It’s been a week since our plane, the ...