Tulufan City, Xinjiang "Autonomous" Region ​新疆维吾尔自治区， 吐鲁番市 On a train en route across the vast Silk Road 丝绸之路, slowly but surely escaping...

Jiayuguan Fort, Gansu Province ​甘肃省，嘉峪关城 A close look at the map shows the strategic location of this fort. This is the end of the Great...

Zhangye City, Gansu Province ​甘肃省，张掖市 A typical Chinese sleeper train. After Xi'an 西安, I was trying to run away from the smog as fast as...

Xi'an City 西安市, Shaanxi Province ​陕西省 The Silk Road trip had a few objectives. Among them was to see some of the obvious tourist...

Pingyao City 平遥市, Shanxi Province ​山西省，平遥 Pingyao 平遥 is one of the last remaining "ancient" towns, meaning it still has its walls that...

Hutongs and Summer Palace 胡同， 颐和园 Some of these photos are rather uneventful, so for the sake of vibrancy and my fondness for romance,...

Beijing Municipality ​长城，北京市, Jiankou & Mutianyu Sections 箭扣,慕田峪 This was the perfect way to start my trip. First of all, I love Beijing....

2014 SW China trip in blue, 2015 Silk Road trip in red. Each approx 6 weeks. "Straight" lines indicate flights, all other transport...

Qingdao, Shandong Province 山东省， 青岛市 As the sun slowly set this evening, the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 began. My friend and Chinese...

Shiji Park, Qingdao, Shandong Province 山东省，青岛市， 世纪公园 My daily walk to work started out through Shiji Park 世纪公园. It is a beautiful park by...

Emei Mountain, Sichuan 四川省，峨眉山 Emei Shan 峨眉山, or loosly translated, 'High Mountain,' is located south of Chengdu 成都市, in central Sichuan...

Dali, Yunnan 云南省，大理 I spent my last week in Yunnan visiting the hipster town of Dali 大理. Dali has western breakfast joints scattered...

Yangshuo, Guangxi 广西壮族自治区， 阳朔 One of my favorite places on planet earth is Yangshuo 阳朔. Actually, it is the karst peaks and Li river 漓江...

Yuanyang, Yunnan 云南省，元阳 Two days and 16 hours of busses from Xishuangbanna brought me to beautiful Yuanyang 元阳. The rice terraces 梯田...

Xishuangbanna, Yunnan 云南省，西双版纳 A cheap airline ticket led to an impulse buy, commonly referred to as "pulling a Griff," and I wound up in...

Lugu Hu 泸沽湖 From Lijiang, I took a relatively grueling, 9-hour, one-way, two-bus commute up to Lugu Lake 泸沽湖, which sits at 2,690m...

Tiger Leaping Gorge, Yunnan Province 虎跳峡 About 75 km north of Lijiang 丽江 and 50 km south of Shangri-la 香格里拉 lies the massive Tiger...

Lijiang, Yunnan 云南省，丽江 P eace and quiet is the best way to start the day. This is a tourist trap at night. On the hunt for coffee this...

Deqin, Yunnan 云南省， 德钦 Shennu Mountain 神女山 is just south of Kawa Karpo 卡瓦胳膊峰 (a few pictures later). The mountain is 6,054 m (19,862 ft)...