Mama Naxi is not a figure of backpacker folklore nor a myth of ancient China.  She is as real as you or I and, amongst backpackers from every nation the world over who have been to Yunnan, Mama Naxi is the Mother of China, the Patron Saint of Backpackers. (more…)

You’ve done shopping, you’re tired and you have a few hours to kill before your train from Beijing train station leaves. What do you do?

You could sit and wait in the train station? You could go into the MacDonald’s and nurse a coffee? What you should do is go into the backpackers hostel directly opposite the train station on the corner where, (more…)

For those of you who want to experience pristine Shanxi family courtyard homes of the wealthy then a day-trip from Pingyao to Qiao Jia Da Yuan 乔家大院 – The Qiao Family Estate.  For those heading to Pingyao, Qiao Jia Da Yuan is well-worth a visit: Take the bus from the train station but don’t pay more than 15元. Bargain well and you’ll get it for 10元.

OK, so we’re at a tourist attraction, a big one at that but all the Chinese are pointing at us and uttering the standard waiguoren which basically means ‘foreigner’. Why? Because you simply do not visit this place unless you know the popular Chinese film ‘Raise the Red Lantern’. (more…)

Heilongjiang – 黑龙江 which translates into English as Black Dragon River is famous around the world for just one thing; the annual Harbin Ice and Snow festival that is magnificent. It’s famous throughout China because of the Daqing (大庆) Oil Fields, its rice and its beer. (more…)

飞机场 Take II
It’s 8.40p.m. and in a little over three hours my resident status will be void. There is a grace period but I’m safe in the airport.
I’ve checked my bags into left luggage for the next 24 hours. With the possibility of my being here for 4 days, there is no rush to explore. It’s not like it is my first time here! First job is to find a comfortable place to get my head down. Near McDonalds on the second floor is the quietest but there is no internet connection. (more…)

The Bohai Bay is not known for it’s surf but thanks to a shift in wind direction on Friday, I looked out of my window, saw the breakers and knew that it was a beach day.

The weather has cooled (due to the wind direction) and so the beach was almost empty; the water is still very warm. The waves were coming in at between 2 and 3 feet high. Big enough to get knocked about if you don’t dive under them and perfect to body-surf all the way back to the beach. I was having a hoot. Groups of students stopped to watch (more…)

Once again the weather hasn’t been conducive to spending time down at the beach so, I’ve spent time learning more about my computer. I’ve managed to work out how my speech recognition software works and I’m loving it!
I’m not using the keyboard to write this article and at the same time I’m teaching the software to recognise my voice and all the little nuances that go with such software. The noise of passing trucks doesn’t help. My mircophone settings must be too sensitive.
More on that later, back to the beach. (more…)

Coming face to waist with the world’s tallest man is not something one is going to forget in a hurry. We were minding our own in Beijing’s Terminal 3 when all of a sudden the light dimmed as the shadow of the tallest man in the world was cast over us. (more…)

I was walking down a small road in KeYi 珂溢, ShanXi province and quite possibly I’m the first foreigner  to visit this place .  Three teenagers were following me and talking about me.  From nowhere, one of them piped up..

“Welcome to Beijing”

Two important things that you should be aware of right now if you are planning to arrive in Beijing any time soon: The Beijing underground and your Chinese visa:

The underground station at the Beijing Railway Station is closed for renovations.
(more…)