Author: karl

I still remember the first time I stepped off the MTR and saw the pink-and-blue castle rising above Lantau Island. There is something quietly special about Hong Kong Disneyland in…

I still remember the first time I stepped off the bus at Yalong Bay. After two weeks of temples, train stations, and city smog, I suddenly stood on a stretch…

I have stood in a lot of famous temples across Asia, but nothing prepared me for the first time I stepped into the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, Tibet, China. The…

I first saw the Flaming Mountains in Turpan, Xinjiang, China from the window of a slowly crawling train, and I understood the name immediately. The ridgeline glowed like a coal…

The first time I heard the name, I assumed “Xiaoqikong” was some minor roadside stop. It isn’t. When I finally rode the shuttle bus deep into the hills of southern…

I still remember the first time I walked through the red gates of Wuhou Shrine on a humid Chengdu afternoon. The cicadas were loud, the incense was thick, and for…

I still remember the first time I stepped off the bus at Huaqing Palace, about 30 kilometers east of Xi’an’s city wall. Steam was drifting off the warm pools, cypress…

When I first climbed Purple Mountain (Zijin Shan) on the eastern edge of Nanjing, I expected another quiet imperial tomb. What I found instead was one of the most atmospheric…

I still remember the moment I stepped through the narrow entrance of the Lingering Garden (Liu Yuan) and the city noise of Suzhou simply vanished. One small doorway, then a…

When I first arrived in Shanghai, everyone told me the same thing: “You have to walk Nanjing Road.” So one humid evening in May, I stepped out of People’s Square…