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Asia 2010 China

Adventures in Eating: Hot Pots and Beer

While in Yangshuo, I just had to try some of the local specialties. So last night after the show, I decided to dive into one of them…Beer Fish, which is an entire fish sauteed in beer, along with some veggies. Now, when I say whole fish, I mean whole fish, as the Chinese don’t go […]

Categories
Asia 2010 China

Final Thoughts on Yangshuo

As I prepare to leave Yangshuo, I realize just how awe struck I am with this place. The sheer natural beauty and laid back atmosphere are just spectacular and despite all the tourist touts, this place just has so much wonderful charm to it! I did think long and hard last night as to whether […]

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Arts Asia 2010 China

Spectacle in the Night

If you saw the awe inspiring Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, raise your hand. You may recall that the ceremony was directed by a well known Chinese film director named Zhang Yimou. In addition to the Opening Ceremony, he has directed 5 permanent “Impressions” shows in different parts of China, one of which is […]

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Asia 2010 China

Lantern Festival

Last night was the Lantern Festival, which is held 15 days into the [Chinese/Lunar] New Year and marks the official end of the Chinese New Year celebrations. It used to be that children carried lit up lanterns, though, from what I understand, this has largely been discontinued for safety purposes. Nowadays, large public lantern displays […]

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Asia 2010 China

Cycling to The Moon

As beautiful as the town of Yangshuo is (as evidenced by the plethora of photos populating my posts from here), the surrounding countryside is even prettier, dotted with caves and scenic landmarks. So, I set out today with the mission of obtaining a bicycle and getting out of town, neither of which were terribly complicated. […]

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Asia 2010 China

A Kingdom of Karsts

Greetings from Yangshuo, a small town nestled along the banks of the Li River in the Guangxi province. Nestled is certainly the key word here, as Yangshu0 is tightly surrounded by towering karsts. Many friends back home have asked me just what karsts are. Well this is not my first run in with them…Vietnam’s Ha […]

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Asia 2010 China

Tombs and Back Alleys

My one full day in Guangzhou was dedicated to two things: exploring and getting a bus ticket out of the city. The bus ticket was the difficult part as Guangzhou has something along the lines of 5 bus terminals, 4 of which are right next to each other! After navigating my way through three of […]

Categories
Asia 2010 China

Adventures in Eating

One of the huge advantages I found in CouchSurfing during my time in Hong Kong was getting a local’s experience of a town. And that wasn’t just limited to sightseeing and information, but to eating as well, particularly with a cuisine as foreign as Chinese! I ate dinner with my host, Roddy, all three nights […]