Author: bamboocompass
From Budget Beach Hostels to 5-star Stays, There’s Something for Everyone in Sanya
I counted 10 vacations in 2012, making it a pretty good year adventure-wise. It also explains why I only have $0.8 in my savings account and a not-so-smart Nokia phone from 2009. Despite this, I couldn’t resist going on one more adventure over Christmas to take the edge off the Shanghai winter. At the beginning…
Everest Base Camp: 19 Days Trekking Through the Himalayas
The 20 weeks of preparation (read: fear) leading up to our Everest trek finally dwindled down toward “game time”. We (over)packed—everything from emergency blankets and whistles to about 25 Snickers bars—and were off to Nepal. Everest Base Camp was a milestone to mark the big 30 and it did just that! We took a flight…
A weekend in Xiamen with the boys
The islands and coastline that make up the city of Xiamen, once known as Amoy, make for a more relaxed and cleaner escape from China’s bigger cities. While there’s plenty to do in and around the city to fill in a week-long-or-more holiday in Xiamen, with just a two hour-and-45-minute weekend trip. So during the…
Photo: Winter at the Summer Palace
What’s that you say? Why is the photo of the week one of wintry characteristics during a summer of sunshine and lollipops? Well, I think they generally call it wishful thinking. This week in Shanghai, the temperature is—technically speaking—hotter than an angry goat’s hoof in the noonday Tennessee sun. You might be wondering what I…
Strange China: The Most Bizarre Attractions in China
Most tourists to China try to get themselves to the Great Wall or the Forbidden City and with good reason. Since China opened up to the foreign travel market in the 1980s, people haven’t limited themselves to the most well known spots and traveled to the grasslands of Inner Mongolia and the more remote towns…
Photo: On the shores of Xinjiang’s Tian Chi
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Can you feel it? The cool breeze, the sunshine? The old brick walkway under your feet, the grass ambling upwards between the cracks and in between your toes? You must be on the shores of Heavenly Lake, or Tian Chi, breathing deep under the whitewashed clouds and reveling in the beauty of the world.…
Tibet to reopen to foreigners beginning April 2012
The Tibetan travel permits are currently only being issued to foreign groups of three or more travelers, and every member of the tour group must be either of the same nationality or part of one family. As traveling in Tibet can be an expensive trip (all foreigners are required to travel by private vehicle, with…
Escape to Hainan by plane, train, bus or boat
Spring Festival is just around the corner, and from east to west, north to south, folks all over China are checking their calenders and making travel plans. Whether it be to visit the homestead or sink into some body of tropical water, Chinese New Year is a time to get away from the day-to-day, and…
Qin Shi Huang: The Man and His Legacy
While King of the Qin State, Ying Zheng rained hellfire on the opposition and united China under a single imperial banner for the first time in history. Emerging from the Warring States Period with six notches in his imperial belt, the State of Qin King proclaimed himself Qin Shi Huang Di which translates to something…
China Border Crossings: Traveling to Laos from China
One of the benefits of living in China is that despite the country’s megalithic size, it borders a number of other countries making for some interesting travel in those regions—so why not take advantage of some of China’s border crossings and make the leap into the rest of Asia? But make sure you have your…
