Author Archives: John Rose
Muslim Quarter
Xian is a pure dichotomy experience. It was once the terminus for the Silk Road and had historically hosted poets, monks, courtesans, emperors and warriors of varying nations. Now however it is a modern city gripped by smog. Walking South from our Hostel we encountered the familiar sight of the Drum and Bell Towers. No […]
Heavenly Temples
It wouldn’t be a JKRoaming certified city visit without some Temples being included. Beijing has some answers for that… First up was the Lama Temple located near the Hutongs of Dongsi District. This Buddhist Temple was very impressive with riveting roofs, amazing arches and some fine architecture. On entry everyone got free incense. What made […]
La Cité Interdite
1215 AD – Beijing (Northern Capital) Slowly he walks through the city. The other soldiers are too busy looting and torching the surrounding buildings to acknowledge his presence. It doesn’t enrage him, his mind is a blur with grand plans of future conquests that lay ahead. With the Great Wall breached by his array of […]
25 years on…
This one is a bit wordy so put the kettle on and if reading at work – block out your calendar for the next hour. We arrived at our courtyard guesthouse deep in one of the renowned hutongs (alleyways) in Beijing. It was too late to really enjoy one of the pay-for sights so to […]
Faster Than A Speeding Bullet!
Not exactly the Bullet Trains that link Osaka and Tokyo (Thanks for that one Raul Julia) but really fast nonetheless. Ladies and Gentlemen I give you the Maglev Trains of China. The stations were state of the art. Looking more like airport terminals than their national railway counterparts. They had bars and restaurants, newsagents and […]
Crosstown Traffic
What do you get with a population of 19+ Million citizens? Integrated Transportation Here’s a fact: Shanghai has the largest bus system in the world! There is an incredible 1,424 bus lines! Shanghai has a bigger population and probably just as big a footprint as London. That’s where the comparisons end I’m afraid. Are you […]
Shop til you Drop!
5 monthes in….Clothes looking tired…God do I have to wear that t-shirt again?…Uh-oh my Jeans have ripped at the knees. It was time for some shopping, but where will we go? In Shanghai you can go anywhere. Walking to the Bund on our first night we passed Forever 21, H&M and GAP. In the […]
China?
“Toto. I don’t think we are in Kansas anymore?” Our next destination has had a powerful hand in shaping Chinese history. The scene of the founding if the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) a frontline theatre of the Opium Wars and the operations of Chiang Kai-Sek. Up until recently it was the hotbed for the leading […]
The Krypton Factor
After showing the taxi driver the bus tickets we were on our way to the station to catch the bus to the yellow mountains. Navigating the station was fun, every sign in Chinese and our tickets, purchased using our translator app at the post office were also in Chinese. We stood aimlessly staring at the […]
LĂngyĂ®n merrily on high…
Built in AD 326, LĂngyĂ®n Temple is Hangzhou’s most famous temple. To get here we had to take a taxi. This involved pointing and the map and smiling. When we arrived we realised that there were even more temples and a whole park that they were contained within. Being in China there was a pricy […]
It’s Showtime!!
The bus back from Xingping was uneventful except for the end destination. It was the correct town but wrong station (aagh!)and we had to trudge back 5km to the centre of Yangshuo. Lunch was dumplings in a local place where you washed your hands from a hose out the back. Earlier in the day Steve […]
Smoke On The Water
On the back of a ÂĄ20 note there is a great scene from China – the Li River cutting a path through the wonderful Karst scenery of Yangshuo County. Today’s mission was to find that scene. We got on our mountain bikes and headed for the bus station about 10km away. Steve – the owner […]
Last Stop
“Knock Knock” It was the door to our cabin. Karen opened it to he greeted by a guard saying that we were here. It was half an hour too early and as we scrambled to pack our bags up we realised our cabin was the last occupants on the train along with our room mate. […]
In the Red Corner
So it begins…. We packed up our belongings and bade farewell to Hong Kong, with the promise of a return one day. Jumping on the MTR we headed for Wo Lu – the border station with China in General and Shenzen in particular.Customs took a while as it was busy but within the hour we […]
Peak Fitness
Today would be dominated by one major activity – climbing Victioria Peak. Before that there was the slightly challenging task of booking some onward travel in China. We found the Mongkok branch of CTS Agency and helped ourselves to a ticket from the automated queue system. It wasn’t long until our number was called and […]
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