Chinese Cooking Lessons in Dali, China Taking a cooking class is a great way to enhance your short holiday or long-term travels. Almost every place that I travel to, I see cooking classes available—be it in Thailand or Italy, Argentina or Vietnam, Mexico or Morocco. I had been lingering in the laid back town of …
By Stephen Bugno Spend any amount of time in China and you’ll start noticing ridiculous signs like these. Usually it’s the English translations that make that it so odd or even unintelligible. I’m not sure why we’re protecting CircumStance or why that should begin with me. Chinese people are so obsessed with playing cards, that signs need …
About 45 minutes down the road southwest from Jianchuan, along the busy Lijiang-Dali road is a town where most travelers fail to stop. No one pays too much attention to Shaxi these days. Its heyday is long gone. Once it stood on the busy Tea Horse Road—a less famous trading route than the Silk Road, …
For some this is the quintessential China experience. I must admit, after countless bus rides, hotel check-ins, and big city headaches, this river’s foggy stillness came as a relief. It may be extremely popular and touristy, but there is no denying the beauty that this river and the Three Gorges possess. Choose your Cruise There …
By Stephen Bugno The Good The sights—Where else can you see the Great Wall of China, panda bears close up in their hometown, or a gorge the likes of Tiger Leaping Gorge? Nowhere. That’s why you come to China, for these heavy hitters. I won’t deny that I’ve seen some cool sights here. Climbing Emei …
Dali is one of those places that I really hoped I wouldn’t dislike. Its description in the guidebooks made it sound so pleasant a town—except for one thing—the growing number Chinese tourists. Well, there were tons of tourists, but Chinese tourists seem to stick together in group tours and don’t drift very far from the …
Dear GoMad Nomad, I am wondering if you can advise me on good places to visit in China, off the beaten path, where the prices are low, the people are friendly, the women are beautiful, and the scenery is breathtaking. Sincerely, Symour in Pasaic Dear Symour, Great timing on this one—I’m in the middle …
A Walk through Lijiang China It’s not easy to navigate the streets of Lijiang’s old town. Timeworn cobbled streets follow steams, bending over ancient stone bridges forming a centuries-old maze. Lijiang is the capital of the Naxi Kingdom, set beneath the spiky Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. The Naxi are an ethnic group descended from the …
Some specialties of Guangxi Province China is a foodie’s utopia—the regional diversity of offerings is outstanding. Although it can’t compete with the powerhouse food regions like Sichuan, Beijing, or Guangdong, Guangxi Province still had some interesting food culture to investigate. Guangxi Province is located in southern China, west of Hong Kong and Macau. It’s most …
A stroll around the Confucian Academy of Jianshui is a serene experience. I visited the day before the Chinese New Year, and the streets of the city were erupting in a constant state of exploding fire crackers. But at the Confucian academy, inside the giant walls that surround this 7.5 hectare complex, a state of …
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