A Chinese Family’s Duty : Gluttony
gluttony \ˈglət-nē, ˈglə-tə-nē\ – the act or habit of eating and drinking too much It took about 45 minutes from when we stepped off the train for the feeding frenzy to begin. And it continued, full speed ahead, for the rest of our 30-hour stay in Liu Bo 寮步. We had taken the train from Hong […]
China…Through The Funnel
China is the fourth in our series – “…Through the Funnel”. You can read our previous one on Uzbekistan here. It is a way for us to share 12 aspects that stood out to us in our experience of the country and its people. Did we miss something that stood out to you in China? #1 Spitting is the […]
Along the Tea Horse Trade Route in Shaxi 沙溪
“冬日暖阳 – winter days with warm sun.” – Chinese saying The white sun burns my skin against the brisk air. It is early morning in Shaxi. All is quiet save for the sound of a set of old wooden wheels rolling over lose stones. It smells clean in that winter weather kind of way. I […]
Lunch at a Tibetan “Castle” in Daocheng 稻城
The autumn leaves crackle as they are crushed under the wheels of our bicycles. The rest of them hold onto their tall trees for as long as possible, not willing to let go and fall into their long winter graves. We let out short puffs of breath, cycling the 10 km to the red grasslands […]
Slurp n’ Gobble – the Noodles & Dumplings of North-West China 西北
“民以食为天 – food is the peoples’ heaven – hunger breeds discontentment“ – Chinese Proverb China lives for food. Life here revolves around food. After the culinary barrenness of Central Asia, China is a continuous feast, for the eyes, for the nose, for our palates. If you crave something in China, it is rare you will have […]
Village Retreat in Jiaju 甲居
The driver drops us off at the entrance to the village. We are on foot from here on. The dust puffs out from under our steps as we walk towards the sloping hills, terrace upon terrace of fields descend steeply towards the deep canyon below. The Tibetan architecture pops out from the green background, little […]
What lies behind the gorge in Langmusi
Nature, always inartistic, takes pleasure in creating the impossible. – Jerome K. Jerome I can no longer tell if the white smoke is from my own breath or the million chimneys that surround us. Billowing fumes fight against the frosty air and warm patches of wet grass seem to be steaming from the ground up. […]
Underground Tibetan Amdo Dumplings
These are not momos. The well-known Tibetan and Nepalese dumplings go very well with images of high Himalayan mountains and icy winds, hot succulent gems to warm your soul from the inside out. These dumplings however go by a different name; these little bursts of juicy meat wrapped in pockets of dough accomplish the job […]
In the Footsteps of Tibetan Pilgrims at Labrang
It smells like Tibet. Of yak butter melting in candle flames and dark-pine branches smoking through layers of heated stones. The scent jolts me back to my time in Lhasa, a combination of ingredients that is uniquely Tibetan. Prayer beads, small and large, sombre and bright, adorn the wrists and necks of passersby. Colourful sashes, […]
The Handbook to Civilised Sightseeing in Gansu 甘肅
“There is one secret to successful sightseeing in Gansu and most of China. When visiting a relatively famous sight, expect to see a thousand tourists gathered around, that way when there are only two hundred of them before you, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.” – The Handbook to Civilised Sightseeing in Gansu (Unknown Author) Last year, the […]
