Storm clouds rolling through Inner Mongolia's Big Sky Country. Photo taken on Hulunbeir Grasslands, [...]
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The village of Cuandixia, located about 60 miles from Beijing, is well-known for its accidental architectural preservation and dusty mountain scenery. It's becoming a little too touristy over the past few years, but is still a nice getaway from [...] We’re away this weekend (not in Chengde!) and so I’m turning the blog over to a guest host…kind of like the old Mike Douglas show but not nearly as hip. This is a guest post from my former student Matthew “Maxiu” Bruzzese, who I will always remember fondly for his short film starring a Zombie Mao [...] Sunset on the Hulunbeir Grasslands, [...] Nine Dragons Waterfall (Dehang, Hunan) Dehang was one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited in China. After taking this picture we hiked up and underneath the falls – a very wet but rewarding experience. And yes, that is your correspondent standing in the foreground. Picture taken [...] Prayer wheels outside of a monastery near Daocheng, Sichuan. The monastery belongs to the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism and was almost completely destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. In recent years, the monks have managed to restore many of the original structures and halls. Photo taken in [...] Our campsite during a recent IES student trek near Yading, Sichuan. The site is located on the shoulder of Xiannairi at about 4800 meters in elevation. This was taken during our circumambulation of the mountain, considered to be a physical manifestation of the Goddess of Mercy, in [...] A fortuitous trip into “town” (in this case Zhongdian) means a quick stop in a local Internet Cafe. We’ve been spending the last few days in Napa Village, a small Tibetan (with a dash of Naxi) settlement not too far outside of Zhongdian. The village is on the edge of Napa Hai which in wetter weather [...] If my posting seems even more sporadic than usual, it’s because I’m starting a two-week trip in Northwestern Yunnan/Southwestern Sichuan this week. It’s part of a course on Tibetan Studies offered by IES. We have seven students who will be trekking in the area; taking classes on Tibetan culture, history and Buddhism; and living the majority [...] 45 minutes on this particular trail and we realized that there was absolutely nobody else around. It was an odd sensation for two residents of urban China where every space has eyes and the flow of humanity is a ceaseless feature of the cityscape. YJ and I were in Western Hunan taking our bi-annual vacation, and the first [...] It’s that time of the year. Or decade. Or something. The stars have finally aligned and YJ and I actually have time off at the same time,* so we’re packing our bags and heading to the birthplace of Chairman Mao, Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, and really freaking spicy food…Hunan. No offense to Hunan’s most famous fat [...] I’m on the road right now, which means that posting will be in-frequent for the next week or so. I’ll also be moderating the comments only occasionally so if you post a comment and it doesn’t show up immediately, be patient, I’ll get to it when I can. I’m Looking forward to a nice trek through [...] I’ll be on the road starting this week leading a group of students on a study tour of Yunnan. I’m flying down on Wednesday morning and will be staying in Kunming on Wednesday night. Our group will then be spending some time near Zhongdian, at a place called Napa Village, before heading south next week to [...] |
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