Cuandixia Village It’s just a small village on the old road from Beijing west to Shanxi Province. A place where travelers would stop for a snack or to stay the night. Practically forgotten when the highways changed the western route, Cuandixia has embraced its heritage as a hospitality village to become a hot little tourist [...]
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Photo Friday #29 Harbin, China. 14 February 2010 Daytime Temp: -12°C (Warm!) China’s Dongbei, or northeast, has a long history of Russian “influence.” (Whether the locals wanted it or not.) This influence began with the construction of the China Eastern Railway, an extension of the famed Trans-Siberian Railway and can still be seen today in [...]
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Tucked away up in China’s frigid northeast is a small ski resort area called Yabuli. The name Yabuli comes from the Russian for “apple fields.” The Manchu nobles used the area as a hunting ground during the Qing dynasty. The DH and I spent two days at Yabuli over the Chinese New Year this past February. [...]
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Photo Friday #28 Not a photo and not taken by me, so technically I guess this is not really Photo Friday material. Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but share this vintage advertisement as it does combine two of my passions: travel and Spain. BTW, I think you’re more likely to encounter a redhead in Galicia or [...]
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How to write about a bad trip without sounding like a whiny, nincompoop expat with too-high expectations? I’ve always tried to present an accurate picture of our travels in China and elsewhere and for the most part our experiences have been positive. I don’t like to complain and denigrate, although I am sure I have [...]
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What a day, what a day. I don’t even really know where to start. The DH and I woke up at six this morning in order to try to get a train to Yabuli, China’s biggest ski resort, located about two hours southeast of Harbin. We did make the train, but with standing only seats. [...]
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Happy Valentine’s Day! Happy Chinese New Year! If only you could see me rolling my eyes… I hate to be a grump, but I’ve had a harrowing evening – way too much cold and dealing with evil taxi drivers. I can put a check mark next to Harbin in my China travel book. I’m done with [...]
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It’s seriously cold here in Harbin. Seriously cold! I think both the DH and I have second guessed our decision to come here over Spring Festival. Since the festival is a family holiday, restaurants and shops have all pretty much been shut. We’re hoping things will be open tomorrow. There are very few people in [...]
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Woken from my slumber entirely too early this morning, (I pretty much slept all weekend and am now accustomed to noon wakeup), the DH and I braved the cool and rainy Linyi morning for a quick flight to Beijing. Now we’re holed up in our hostel room, watching CCTV9 and feeling quite urbane. Parked airplanes [...]
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The Past Month Or So… In case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve neglected to write my weekly round-ups for the last month or so.Sorry about that. It’s now been one month since I returned from my holiday trip to the US and I have to admit it has been a difficult adjustment this time around. Linyi [...]
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I'm an American expat living on the fringe of Chinese society. Thanks to a lifetime spent moving around, I often feel like an outsider. This blog explores life in Beijing, China, the occasional aviation topic, expat issues, random travel experiences and interesting things I see, read and hear. If you want to know more about my latest hobby, visit Sewing on the Fringe, where I blog about learning to sew in Beijing. And for daily documentation of Beijing's ever changing air quality, visit My Beijing Window. And, yes, I do wear my santa hat year-round. ;)
