When I originally put Qingdao on my itinerary, there was one real draw. It had been a German colony during the Age of Imperialism in China and represented one of the best examples of foreign influence during the tumultuous time when the last Chinese Dynasty was crumbling under the pressure of internal divisions, foreign [...]
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Peking Duck or KFC?
I am not much of a food connoisseur and rarely care what I eat, but being in a different country is, well, different. One of the things I always try to do is go to an “authentic” restaurant in each country I visit (instead of normal street food or food cooked by [...]
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#1 The Hair Cuts
One of the things you may have noticed about me from my pictures or knowing me is that I like to keep my hair short. It’s not that I’m bald, I just don’t want to “do a comb-over”. Additional benefits include using at least 10 minutes a day more usefully than most [...]
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So, I get this e-mail from one of my biggest blog fans (I won’t tell you that it was my mom), and she suggests that I put a few more quirky stories in my next blog entry. Like you, I’m sure, she likes to hear some of the awkward situations I’ve gotten myself into, or [...]
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For my train trip to Xian, I reserved a “soft sleeper”, which is one of four soft beds in a “private” compartment. I shared the room with three Chinese business men who spoke very little English. Needless to say, we smiled a lot, but didn’t say much. The best thing about taking sleeper trains is [...]
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With such a long history, China is a country that has experienced many extremes: long periods of peace interrupted by brutal civil wars or foreign invasion, enlightened or megalomaniac rulers, national unity or regional independence. China is a nation were people from different regions cannot understand each other’s spoken word, but everyone uses and understands [...]
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Censorship
As my first post from China, I figured it would be appropriate to explain how I’m accomplishing the task. In India and Israel, I was able to find internet cafes or wi-fi spots relatively and post my viewpoints and experiences with no problem. The freedom and availability of the internet was never in doubt. China, [...]
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I have finally scheduled my trip to China. The flight is scheduled, the visa application is in the mail, and I have a general idea of where I am going. As far as I know, the earthquake in China that hit a few days ago will not have a severe impact on my trip. My [...]
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I wrote this post soon after arriving home, but never posted it because it needed a second reading. Here it is, though much delayed:
Well, Flat Kat and I arrived home without incident and we’re happy to be back. In all, it was about 24 hours of travel, so we are still adjusting to [...]
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Having arrived home over six weeks ago, it seems odd to sit down to write about my experiences in the West Bank. However, after looking at the pictures I have finally developed, I knew that I had to post them (remember that I broke my digital camera 5 days before the end of [...]
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