Chaka Salt Lake Guide: Qinghai’s Mirror of the Sky
Chaka Salt Lake sits at 3,100 meters in Qinghai province, about 300 km west of Xining. Locals call it “Mirror of the Sky” because on a calm, clear day the…
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Wuyuan Travel Guide: Jiangxi’s Painted Rapeseed Villages
This Wuyuan travel guide is built from my own trips through Jiangxi’s northeast corner, where pale-green Hui-style villages sit in seas of yellow rapeseed flowers. If you want a China…
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Changsha Travel Guide: Hunan’s Spicy Capital of Youth Culture
If you want a Chinese city that runs on street food, late nights, and electric energy, this Changsha travel guide is for you. Changsha is the capital of Hunan Province…
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Nyingchi Peach Blossom, Tibet, China: Spring in the Himalayas
Wild peach blossoms blanketing a Nyingchi valley with snow peaks behind I still remember the morning I first stepped out of the car near the Yarlung Tsangpo river in Nyingchi,…
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Pamir Plateau and Kashgar, Xinjiang, China: Where the Mountains Meet
I still remember the first morning I woke up in Kashgar. I had arrived on the overnight train from Urumqi, groggy and unsure what to expect, and stepped out into…
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Hulunbuir Grassland, Inner Mongolia: Endless Meadows Up North
The first time I stood on the Hulunbuir Grassland, I stopped talking. There was simply nothing to say. A wind rolled in from somewhere past the horizon, bent the grass…
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Western Xia Tombs, Ningxia: The Pyramids of the Steppes
I still remember the first time I stood at the foot of the Helan Mountains, squinting into the low northern sun. I had come to Ningxia expecting little more than…
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Maijishan Grottoes, Gansu: Buddhas on a Cliff Face
I still remember the moment the bus rounded the last bend and the mountain simply appeared. There it was — a solitary, rounded peak rising out of the green folds…
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Jiayuguan Fort, Gansu: The Western End of the Great Wall
The towering west gate tower of Jiayuguan Fort against a vast blue Gobi sky I still remember the moment I first stepped through the arched gateway of Jiayuguan Fort. The…
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Tsingtao Beer Museum, Qingdao: A Pint of History
I still remember the first time I stepped off the train in Qingdao. The sea air smelled of salt and something else—something malty and warm that I couldn’t quite place….
