Category: China adventures
Job Hunting in Beijing, China
Since we finally had an apartment we were free to start looking for jobs. We set about looking in the obvious places for expats living...
Apartment Hunting in Beijing, China
Having decided to stay in Beijing for a while, we set bout organizing ourselves to look for an apartment. We were determined to stay in the...
Exploring New Beijing
Arriving as we did in the middle of the night we had an epic sense of adventure attached to our return to China. Adding to that feeling was...
Should We Stay or Should We Go?
The euphoria at being back in a land where we could speak the language, knew the customs and food, and already felt comfortable was beyond...
Where To Go From Here
With the 2010 Mongol Rally behind us, we found ourselves sitting at a restaurant in Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia, wondering where we should go....
Marketing Versus Bashing People on the Head
Traveling for the past year has been quite an enlightening experience. We left our home in Shanghai on May 1st, 2009 and are still on the...
Book Review: Lost on Planet China: One man’s attempt to understand the world’s most mystifying nation, by Maarten Troost
If you have ever been to China, then Lost on Planet China will be full of inside jokes only you and other China travelers will understand....
China versus America: a Conversational Comparison
Many folks in very important acronym-named think tanks spend their days thinking about the China versus America issue. I wish they would...
The Movie Transsiberian
From the Beijing Train Station to the corrupt police on the far Eastern route of the Russian Trans-Siberian Railroad, the 2008 movie...
The Re-Packed Packing List
As you know, we’ve spent the last two months in Turkmenistan putting back on some of the weight we lost in Kazakhstan, and relaxing...
Statistics from Shanghai to Ashgabat
Originally, the trip was planned as a Shanghai to Ashgabat adventure. Well, we have an announcement to make—we have decided to keep on...
Yarkand and the Southern Silk Road
Although our time was limited, I did not want to leave out our day trip from Kashgar to Yarkand. Albeit a late entry, Yarkand was a...
Funding the Escape
Naturally, some of you are wondering how we can afford to be unemployed and yet pay for train tickets all over the continent. Here is how I...
Doing the Math
The Statistics Are In 7 Cities 4 Trains 3 Countries 2 Buses 2 broken backpacks 1 Car $ 464 USD Per person (3,175 RMB)* 11,896 miles...
“Excuse me, do you have the swine flu?”
We took the 11:58pm train from Urumqi to Almaty, a 36 hour adventure across the Chinese border to Kazakhstan. Arriving early (as is my...
Kashgar to Urumqi: The World’s Longest Backtrack
Having decided months ago to avoid going through Kyrgyzstan because of reported troubles foreigners were having at the Chinese-Kyrgyz...
The Hostel Reviews
The Best and the Worst – so far. Here are a list of the best places along the route and their contact information, we highly recommend...
Tashkurgan’s Stone Village and the Epic Glacier Adventure
At the end of a tree-lined street, we stopped at an old clay fortress. We discovered that it was over 1300 years old. Middle Eastern /...
From Lake Karakul to Tashkurgan
Sleeping at around 3500 meters was an interesting, if not involved exercise. The Kyrgyz woman bundled blankets and furs together to create...
Kashgar’s Sunday Market and Bazaars
This morning, after a bout of food poisoning which rendered us useless and hostel-bound yesterday, we decided to check out the famous...
Into the Mosque
In central Old Town there rests an ancient mosque (build in 1442) that has been repaired countless times and currently remains one of the...
Kashgar to Lake Karakul
Lake Karakul, situated along the breathtaking Tian Shan Tajik-China border, is one of the most stunning and awe-inspiring spots on the...
Kashgar Old Town
We spent the day today walking around the Old Town districts of Kashgar. Around the mosque, one of the largest in China, were rows of...
Kashgar and the Silk Road
As our night train rolled in from Urumqi today (24 hour sleeper train), we came upon a very Chinese station platform. Although I had not...
Arrived Safely In Urumqi
We arrived in Urumqi, Xinjiang,at exactly 4:10pm today (right on time) after a 48 hour train ride across China. From here we have purchased...
