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The first time I visited Beijing Beihai Park, it was a gray Wednesday in early November. I had already done the Forbidden City the day before and was suffering from…

Most visitors to Beijing tick the Great Wall and the Forbidden City off their list and head home thinking they’ve seen imperial China. I made that mistake on my first…

Written by Karl · Updated July 2026 I’ll be honest: before my first trip I rolled my eyes at the idea of a Disney park in China. I’d done California…

I’ll be honest: the first time I went to Beijing 798, I almost turned back at the entrance. A gray factory gate, a smell of machine oil, and a wall…

I almost skipped Zhujiajiao. After five days of Shanghai’s glass towers, the Bund’s neon, and line 2 sardine-can commutes, the last thing I wanted was another “ancient town” sold to…

The first time I really understood the Shanghai French Concession, I wasn’t looking at a map or a museum — I was lost. It was a damp April evening, I’d…

I still remember the moment I stepped through the moon-gate entrance of Shanghai Yu Garden on a foggy spring morning. One second I was in the chaos of the Old…

I’ll be honest: the first time I walked into Nanluoguxiang, I thought I’d made a mistake. It was a Saturday afternoon, the main alley was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with tour groups…

I almost skipped the Beijing Lama Temple. It wasn’t on my original list — I’d come for the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, the obvious hits — and a…

The first time I got properly lost in Beijing, it wasn’t in a museum or subway — it was down a grey-brick alley barely wide enough for two bicycles. A…