The Wandering Chocoholic

The city so great, they named it twice Hi from Kashgar, or if you prefer, from Kashi. This city, known as Kashgar in the local Uyghur language or as Kashi in Chinese, is the westernmost point in China, near the…

Today was a travel day, pretty much. We started off with another lazy lie-in until check-out at noon, which was much appreciated by all the people on our tour battling this cold. The day was, shockingly, chilly and rainy. Just…

Welcome to Xinjiang Province Hi from Turpan! This ancient Silk Road city of just over half a million people is notable for being the lowest point in China, at 192m below sea level. That makes it the second-lowest place on…

Hello again from Dunhuang, where the desert surrounds us on all sides. Ancient Silk Road travellers would form caravans to head across the desert by camel. The hundreds of miles of hot, hostile territory would be laden with dangers —…

Hi from Dunhuang! I’ve arrived in Gansu province, my third province of China so far. We got here this morning after a 23-hour train journey from Xi’an. I did manage a bit more sleep on the train this time, so…

As I write this, I’m on a 23-hour long sleeper train from Xi’an to Dunhuang, in Gansu province. We’re speeding west along the ancient Silk Routes, watching trees and people and towns and farms go by, playing endless card games,…

Hi again from Xi’an! Another hot and smoggy day — is there any other kind here? — spent exploring the city and its sights. Cycling tour of the city walls First stop after breakfast, we headed up to the old…

Hi from Xi’an. This city, the capital of Shaanxi province, is the official eastern starting point of the Silk Road. So I’m officially on this journey now, I guess. Beijing was a bonus. Xi’an is a “small city” by Chinese…

So, I climbed the Great Wall of China today. What did you do? Traffic jam, Chinese-style After breakfast, we packed the bags into our private van to head out of the city towards the Great Wall. After yesterday’s thunderstorm, today…

This morning I woke up fairly well rested and only slightly jetlagged. The day loomed hot, humid, sticky and what the locals call “foggy” — in other words, so smoggy that you can’t see much through the haze. Fairly typical…