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Visiting the Kuang Si Waterfall in Luang Prabang Luang Prabang is without a doubt one of the jewels South East Asia’s travelling crown; spectacular scenery, beautiful temples and great food. Surrounded by rolling hills and winding country roads Luang Prabang is a place where you can easily spend a little more time than you intended. Kuang Si falls is one of many fantastic day trips from the Unesco World Heritage listed town. As its around 30km away you will need to arrange your own transport. This gives you two choices, hire a tuk tuk with a bunch of other people or hire your own scooter (motorbikes are more expensive and harder to come by in the town) and drive there yourself. Bear in mind that the tuk tuks in Laos a larger than any others in South East Asia, so you can cram quite a few people in making the…

With China’s rapid economic ascension over the last 3 decades, the number of foreigners learning the language has increased dramatically. As China’s economic miracle continues, the world is beginning to understand more about this complex culture and more people are being enticed by its fascinating and frustrating language. Before I began my love affair with this fascinating language back in 2009 I did quite a bit of research. You see I’d come back from 6 ½ months of travelling and I was amazed by the amount of people who were bilingual. It seemed everyone could speak my language, and I couldn’t speak anyone else’s. After spending a month in China I resolved that this would not happen again; I decided to learn to Mandarin Chinese. Upon returning to sunny old England my research confirmed my worst initial fears, that Mandarin Chinese would be an incredibly tough. However there was a…

Chinas turbulent past has seen numerous cities take up the role of the capital, from Chang’an (present day Xi’an), the city that marked the beginning of the silk road, to Nanjing and finally present day capital Beijing. One could be forgiven for overlooking little known Luoyang, capital of 13 dynasties in a reign lasting until the 10th century when the capital moved to nearby Kaifeng. The glory of the city’s history may have faded, but a visit to Luoyang will give you the opportunity to experience and discover one of ancient Chinas most important cities. Located in central Henan, one of Chinas poorest provinces, it may look like any other sprawling Chinese city, but dig a little deeper and you will be rewarded with a unique and memorable experience. As with most Chinese cities, Luoyang has its mandatory old town, where you can spend the day wandering through narrow, cobbled…

Situated along Chinas coal belt and filled with socialist-era architecture, Datong is a destination skipped over by travellers as the head from Pingyao to Beijing, or vice versa. Granted the town itself doesn’t have a huge number of sights, but it makes a great base to explore the many attractions on the outskirts. As in the majority of Chinese cities Datong boasts its own old town. However what makes Datongs old town especially unique is that it is not particularly old. The majority of it has been restored and rebuilt over the last few years. With plenty of alleys to explore and meander through as you play avoid the tourists, this is the perfect place to find a quite table to relax and plan the next few days of travelling. Just 30 minutes from the city centre, the Yungang caves stands proudly as one of Chinas most important historical sites.…

Nestled in the northeastern corner of picturesque Guangxi province is Longjitian a little piece of paradise away from the tourist mecca that is Yangshuo. Please don’t take this to mean that Yangshuo is a place to be avoided, on the contrary, it is one of the most beautiful places in China and should be on the bucket list of every traveller coming to China. However I am fairly certain that after a few days, you will be seeking a more tranquil location. An amazing feat of engineering, the rice terraces rise over 1000m affording stunning views over the paddies and villages below. Transport to the rice terraces ends at the foot of the trail that leads to the summit, providing you take the correct turns. When I was here they were constructing a cable car that would make this trail a thing of the past, but thankfully it appears be…

Yangshuo, with its limestone karsts jutting out of the earth and scenic riverside location, is one of Chinas most famous travel destinations. Pictures and paintings of the spectacular scenery adorn everything from books and blogs to government offices and hotels. Safe to say Yangshuo is on most peoples “must visit” list when planning a trip to China. However, now that the cat is out of the bag it can be hard to find your own piece of tranquility in this ever popular location. However just remember the golden rule of travel: 80% of the travellers will be in 20% of the places. Upon arrival in Yangshuo most people will immediately head off to organise a cruise along the Li river. These are pretty easy to arrange as the boat drivers will probably find you before you find them. When booking these boat trips, bargaining is completely…

China is a country where food is central to everything; the culture, daily life and any important holiday. When you consider that almost every town has its own local dish, it leaves an almost unimaginable number of culinary delicacies to sample. Obviously there are the so called ‘classic dishes,’ that most foreigners know; roast duck, sweet and sour, hot pot, noodles, dumplings, steamed buns, the list goes on and on. However there is one dish that most tourists seem to overlook or just miss altogether; Chuan (pronounced chwar). Chuan is skewered meat cooked to perfection over an open fire, washed down with whatever cold beer the restaurant has in stock. It can be found almost anywhere in China, with many restaurants spilling onto the street during the summer. Restaurants serving chuan can easily identified by a bright neon character, 串,  dangling outside Although almost unknown amongst foreign tourists, this is…

Hiking in Hong Kong? Hong Kong isn’t just all skyscrapers and neon lights, it is also home to some pretty spectacular scenery and some awesome hiking trails. The hike to Lantau Peak, part of the Lantau trail, is one of the jewels in Hong Kong’s hiking crown. We have another article focusing on stages 1 and 2 of the maclehose trail Getting there and away Head to Tung Chung subway station, then from exit B take bus 11 or 23 and get off at Pak Au Chung. The hike finishes at the Ngong Ping, so you can take the opportunity to explore the Tian Tan Big Buddha and the Po Lin Monastery. From the Ngong Ping you can take bus 23 back to Tung Chung or head down to Mui Wo and take the boat back to Hong Kong Island. Is it a difficult hike? The walk took us about…

Throughout our lives we are told how important first impressions are, that we can only make one, that a good first impression can be the difference between success and failure. First impressions shape our view of another individual, a place, a company a restaurant and in our increasingly globalised world, a country. I’m in the rather peculiar situation where I have the opportunity to have 2 first impressions of China. The first as a tourist in 2008 and the second in 2011 upon moving my life to the other side of the world. Coming to a country to live and work will naturally give a very different first impression than if you were to come to that same country as a tourist. My first impression of China came in Hong Kong from the man who would be our tour guide for the next month. After meeting him and the rest…

In the last 30 years China has lifted 200 million people out of poverty and taken the average GDP per capita from $249 in 1987 to $6807 in 2013. On top of that it has raised its overall GDP from $270.4 billion in 1987 to $11 trillion dollars in 2015. This GDP value represents 17.75% of the world economy. Economically this kind of rapid development has never been witnessed. In the space of a generation the Chinese economy has changed beyond recognition. People have opportunities that would never have even been possible 30 years ago. China has gone through the kind of industrial revolution that took many developed nations close to 100 years to achieve. However culture and society cannot change and develop at the same rate as this economy. As a result China now has older (born before 1980 give or take) and younger (born after 1980…