Yangshuo is labeled “sleepy little backpackers’ town” with “views that have inspired Chinese artists for centuries.”  While the scenery is breathtaking, the pollution is killer and the town has lost a lot of its quaintness in its mad dash to commercialize.  The highlight of the weekend was an early kayak trip down the Lijiang river Saturday morning.  We got dropped off upstream and paddled for about 3 hours.  We had no guide, the morning was fresh, and there were very few tourists out – just fishermen and locals.   note:  pictures were “depollutionized” in photoshop   karen kayaking   view on the …

Had a great week wandering around Beijing. Saw Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, and yesterday, the Great Wall (which was my favorite). Off today to Yangshuo for the weekend. Backposts soon!

After the hoards of folks at the Summer Palace & the Forbidden City, I was concerned about tour groups and a mob scene at the wall.  I decided to try Simatai, as it was supposed to be one of the less “restored” public portions of the Great Wall. I got lucky – the Great Wall at Simatai was beautiful and empty. It took about 3 hours to get out there, which is past the travel time tolerance of most tour groups.  This meant that Thursday morning, there were probably only 50 other folks out on the wall total.  It took me about two …

After finding local bus 375, I was on my way to the Summer Palace — which it turns out is several hours out of the city.  My favorite part of the Summer Palace was “Longevity Hill,” which I wandered around first.  It was incredibly pleasant, climbing over rocks and having small temples and pagodas around each corner.  I sat and finished Kite Runner; there were 3 women playing a card game just over the way from me. card games   temple in longevity hill   famous summer palace bridge   lions on the summer palace bridge     in the distance

starbucks inside the forbidden city