Hong Kong Botanical Gardens and Zoo On our last day in Hong Kong, the China Horizons group was headed to the museum, so we decided to go over and explore Hong Kong Island a bit more mainly focusing our adventures … Continued
Hong Kong was traditionally made up a fishing villages around its various islands. On this trip, we visited two Hong Kong fishing villages, Aberdeen and Tai O. Tai O is a fantastic adventure while Aberdeen was a bit disappointing. Aberdeen … Continued
After Xi’an we made our way back to Hong Kong via Guangzhou and the Shenzhen border crossing for a reprise to our October adventure. I don’t know exactly what it is, but I really like Hong Kong. It is unlike … Continued
Muslim Quarter and the Xian Great Mosque Just behind the Drum Tower is the Muslim Quarter of Xi’an. Over its history, many Muslims have found a home there; I’m sure in part because of the end of the Silk Road. … Continued
Big Wild Goose Pagoda After taking a bus back to town from the warriors, we walked down to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, one of my favorite sights since I’ve been in China. This tower dates back to the Tang … Continued
Whenever I told people that I was going to Xi’an their first response was “Xi’an is an ancient city,” or something to that effect. I always just imagined it was because the most famous site near Xi’an is the archeological … Continued
The next day we found the river that serves as a moat to the center part of the city and explored the parks along it. This included many interesting bridges including one that reminisces of a mini Golden Gate Bridge. … Continued
The next day Ann and John left for the airport and Aaron and I set out to explore a bit of Guilin. It ended up raining on us for two days, but we still visited some of the signature sights … Continued
My final day with Rong, Ann and John was a trip to the mystical rice terraces of Longsheng. A few hours’ drive from Yangshuo took us through small towns, past dozens of pomelo vendors on the side of the street … Continued
The next day we went biking through the countryside of Yangshuo through the Yu Long River valley. We didn’t just stick to the roads but took many paths right through farmers’ fields and through back alleys of the local settlements. … Continued