China

China next on your destination radar? Check out the advice, stories and tips I can offer after living there for almost a year and visiting the cities of Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai and Xi’an and important tourist destinations like The Great Wall of China, Terracotta Warrior and Shanghai World Financial Center.

Hong Kong: Special Administrative Region

The moment you cross from busy, industrial Shenzhen into Hong Kong’s vast and untapped “New Terroitories,” which completely conceal the existence of an incredible city of the future less than an hour in the distance, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.

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Sichuan’s Qing Cheng Shan Mountain

If you make it to China’s Sichuan province, head to the back mountain of Qing Cheng Shan. Although the 2008 earthquake left the region difficult to navigate, making a trip there exposes you to scenery and vantage points few other foreign tourists see.

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Is All Social Media Blocked in China?

Officially, you can’t access your Facebook or Twitter accounts, YouTube or most free blogging platforms from within China, but there are ways to work around this annoyance.

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Shanghai’s Sort-of-Hidden Treasures

While the rest of your traveling brethren make a beeline to the Huangpu River to check out the skyscrapers of Pudong, enjoy the more understated wonders I discovered during my eight months living in Shanghai.

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China Travel Photos: Behind the Wall

Over the course of the eight months I spent in China, I curated my own personal experiences and observations, rather than preconceived notions or media propaganda, to assemble what I consider to be an accurate picture of life behind the Great Wall.

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EF China: A Serious Warning

Although EF China is far from the worst place I’ve ever worked, little about the company — save for the clean, modern Swedish design sensibilities of its centers — separates it from any of its multinational competitors.

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Finding Your Way Around Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s extensive transportation infrastructure — and the fact that nearly all its friendly locals speak and understand English — make getting around the city incredibly easy, whether you’re bound for a different neighborhood, the airport or even mainland China.

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