Tag Archives: China

Return to Canton
It had been three and a half years after our last trip to Hong Kong. Then it was a gateway to China where we stayed a month. This time it would be a stop-over on the way to Japan for Easter. The last trip involved meeting up with friends who were passing through. This time we […]

Hello From The Other Side!!
There used to be small flags on the tables in this room – but each side kept knocking the other side’s flags down. So we then removed the flags! On hearing those words Karen and I realized the enormity of our situation, standing about 6 feet deep inside North Korea and surrounded by armed soldiers. How […]

Weekly Photo Challenge:Broken
In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Broken.” For centuries a chain of fortifications kept the inhabitants of Greater China safe from attack from the Mongol Hordes. Today it lies mostly in ruins – scavenged to almost nothing. This was one of the towers at a section of the Great Wall at Jinshangling.

Sydney Diaries: Year of The Sheep
So the Horse has bolted and we are left standing alone. Alone that is, until we felt something licking at our boots. Looking down we see a big white wooly jumper with 4 black legs and a curious look in it’s eyes! Aha.. it is a Sheep and this is it’s year! Outside of China […]

Weekly Photo Challenge: Dreamy
This week’s Photo Challenge is Dreamy. Based on this I thought of somewhere we had been on this trip that felt like we were in a dream. Everywhere has been a wee bit surreal but the closest place to a dreamscape is the Huangshan Mountains in Southern China. (These were the mountains as shown in […]

7 Months in Asia
As we board the flight to Perth we have realised that it is just over 7 months travel in Asia that has just been completed. To commemorate this here is some Top 7 lists of our incredible journey so far. (n.b Each item has a link to that post!) Written by John AND Karen! […]

Weekly Photo Challenge: Zigzag
This weeks Photo Challenge was ZigZag. This was a tough one but inspiration eventually came… A tree growing in the Chi Lin Nunnery in Hong Kong is this week’s choice. This place is really awesome if you are ever in Hong Kong. It’s also fairly quiet as you have to travel to get here.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Relic
Until 1974 no one knew what was buried near the Emperor Qin Shì Huang’s Mausoleum outside Xi’an. Then peasant farmers came along and tried to dig a well and in lieu of water they discovered the 8th Wonder of the World… the Terracotta Army.   And like the gift that keeps on giving, there […]

Highlights of China
China was a place we had been curious about for some time. We thought it would be a little different from anywhere we had visited before. Hearing so many people tell us it would be impossible without a guide or joining a tour group, intrigued us more. In true JK roaming style we ditched the […]

Exit Strategy
We made it to Kunming. All those weeks ago we booked our exit flight not knowing what China would do to us. To begin with, it restored our faith in humanity after meeting such great people. We appreciated nature more after the spectacular sights we witnessed and most importantly,on a few occasions, it completely validated […]

In Salvador’s Town
Dali was the chilled out haven we had been longing for after a very hectic month in China. It’s biggest appeal was the array of good cafĂ©s and restaurants with English menus. We ate our way around the cute little town. Our favourite being the French bakery which offered a cheese and meat platter. The […]

Leaping Tiger Hidden Gorge
We wanted to go see Tiger Leaping Gorge but we didn’t want to do all the dangerous trekking that’s involved- we have done enough of that on this trip. As a compromise we decided to just get a driver and go see the Gorge from the southern bank at the waters edge. In the end […]

…In the Country!
It was late when we arrived to our guesthouse so it was straight to bed after the driver dropped us off. The owner Bruce and his wife Bella stayed up to welcome us and the next morning made us a great breakfast while they filled us in on the surrounding area and what to do.We […]

Pandas
Very excited today as we would be going to see the Pandas at the Chengdu Panda Breeding Centre. Our driver arrived and our minivan looked like it ran on sheer willpower! As we shuddered through traffic (the suspension was completely gone!) we read through some of the Lonely Planet China to get excited. Arriving at […]