china travel

Trek to K2 China Base Camp

K2, the second highest peak on the planet (28,268’) is a lonely place right now. It straddles the border between Pakistan and the Xinjian Uygur Autonomous Region in China, both fraught with riots, ethnic upheavals and terrorist attacks. Nonetheless it’s as beautiful from China as it was from Pakistan where I first saw it in […]

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Yunnan Music – Bai Temple Festival, Erhai Lake, Dali, Yunnan Travel, China

bai temple erahi lake

Wondering the narrow alleyways of Erhai lakeside villages near Dali in Yunnan Province of southwestern China one can get lucky and stumble upon a genuine Bai village temple fest. Tourists who prefer to keep to Dali guidebooks most recommended sites seldom visit the smallest of these villages. Yet it is here at a typical village

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Ancient Wooden Architecture of Zhaoxing, Dong Village, Guizhou, China

Guizhou is one of lesser-visited provinces of China. This is largely due to its remote mountainous character and bad roads, especially in its southeastern corner, where a number of fascinating ethnic minorities such as Bouyei, Sui, Hui, Zhuang, Miao and Dong are found. Although much of these ethnic groups live in poverty, Dong relatively prosper

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Yunnan Shangri La, China Travel

If you’re searching for the mythical Himalayan Shangri La, akin to what James Hilton described in his novel Lost Paradise, you have to journey up to Zhongdian in northern Yunnan, at the crossroads leading to Sichuan and Tibet. But Zhongdian’s Tibetan-style old town and local market is only part of the highlights of Yunnan. Before

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China’s Urban Explosion, Tranquil Guizhou Villages

With the Beijing Olympics only months away, a massive wave of protests is sweeping the country over government landgrabs (Portfolio.com, January 2008). As hyperurbanization is fueling China’s land disputes, that much more one can appreciate a visit to China’s pastoral villages. Although the Olympic Games are certainly China’s drawing card in the coming summer, one should

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