A short drive away from Beijing, you can reach the city of Datong, Shanxi. Our drive took us through the mountains northwest of the city past amazing scenes of Great Wall climbing them into coal country. A small city by … Continued
Beijing gets a bad rap for bad air. It is true that the air is bad many days and unbearable on some, but it is not solely the city’s fault. Part of the blame should go to those who first … Continued
When you enter the Forbidden City from the front gate under the magnitudinous portrait of Mao, you are still half a city away. On either side of this first section, which is a series of gates, before reaching the actual … Continued
As I mentioned in my Senso-ji post, I wrote a few of my own haiku while in Japan. It seemed fitting. I shared one before about the beautiful orb weavers I saw throughout my time in Japan. That one was … Continued
With their backs up to the mountains and a stream in their front, the Ming Tombs just outside of Beijing offer the quintessential Chinese protection based on geomancy or feng shui. Thirteen of the Ming Dynasty’s emperors were interred in … Continued
The highlight of the Beijing Zoo is the pandas. The rest is full of highs and lows. Other members of the bear family have excellent enclosures, aside from the polar bear, but many of the touted animals simply aren’t there. … Continued
The highlights of architecture in Tianjin for me were the churches scattered through the city. As interesting as it can be to visit Chinese temples of either the Buddhist or Daoist faiths, the architecture is so similar that some would … Continued
Beijing World Heritage Of the 48 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in China, seven are in Beijing. They include the obvious like the Forbidden City and Great Wall, but they also include the Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Ming Tombs, Peking Man … Continued
One of my all-time favorite buildings is the Chinese National Center for the Performing Arts. Floating on a reflection pool and looking like an egg or a globe or an ear of corn or a yin and yang swirl, this … Continued
