Jan 20th, 2012 at 12:00PM:
Chinese New Year occurs in the early months of our calendar year, typically January or February and this year falls on January 23rd. This is the first of 15 days of celebration and the start of the Year of the Dragon.
Chinese New Year (also called the Lunar New Year) is the longest and most important festivity in the Chinese calendar and a time to welcome longevity, wealth and prosperity ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
China posts
10 places to celebrate Chinese New Year
Jan 20th, 2012 at 12:00PM:
Chinese New Year occurs in the early months of our calendar year, typically January or February and this year falls on January 23rd. This is the first of 15 days of celebration and the start of the Year of the Dragon.
Chinese New Year (also called the Lunar New Year) is the longest and most important festivity in the Chinese calendar and a time to welcome longevity, wealth and prosperity ...Photographs of the people of China via Erin Drewitz
Jan 10th, 2012 at 2:00PM:
Our dear graphic designer and occasional photographer Erin Drewitz had a busy 2011, romping between San Francisco, Dallas, China and the far reaches of the planet. Her most recent series, collected between Hong Kong, Shenzen, Changsha and Zhangjiajie captures some of the everyday life experienced among the country's working class, from the street workers in the central provinces to the ...Ivory poaching on the rise thanks to Asian demand and a legal loophole
Jan 2nd, 2012 at 4:00PM: The poaching of elephant tusks is a growing problem due to increased demand from Asian nations, the Kenyan newspaper Business Daily reports.
A loophole in the UN law regulating the ivory trade allows Japan and China to legally purchase some ivory from selected nations under tightly controlled contracts. This has encouraged poachers to smuggle their illegal goods to Asia. Once there, it's much ...Uniquely designed luxury hotel and office complex in China resembles ocean waves
Dec 30th, 2011 at 5:00PM: It's truly amazing what architects can do nowadays in terms of innovative design, and the Hangzhou Waves, a new luxury hotel and office complex proposed in China, is a perfect example of this. While the structure is a 5 star accommodation, it is also a work of art, as it actually resembles the natural waves of the ocean.
Hangzhou Waves is a project of JDS Architects, a firm known for its unique ...Chinese tourists chart a new European Grand Tour
Dec 24th, 2011 at 11:00AM: According to BBC Travel and the China Daily, approximately 70 million Chinese nationals traveled abroad in 2011, up from 10 million in 1999. A chunk of this new crop of Chinese tourists is traveling to Europe, but their itinerary veers a little off the trodden path.
BBC Travel outlined some of the historical highlights of the "new" European Grand Tour: cities like Trier, Germany, the birthplace ...Traveling to Beijing? Beware the pollution
Dec 13th, 2011 at 1:00PM:
A street in downtown Beijing. Posted on YouKu.
That blanket over Bejing? Despite what the government wants to tell you, it isn't just inclement weather. A new report from the US Embassy air monitor rates the air in ...
Enter to win a $3,000 grant toward responsible, off-the-beaten path travel in China
Oct 26th, 2011 at 11:00AM: WildChina is offering the chance for travelers to win a grant of $3,000 towards pushing the limits of responsible, off-the-beaten path travel in China. The aim of the WildChina Explorer grant is to help people find authentic, life-changing experiences in their travels while also working to protect and sustain local cultures and environments.
The previous winner of the WildChina Explorer grant ...Frommer's reveals top destinations for 2012
Oct 25th, 2011 at 2:00PM:
What destination are you dreaming of for 2012? The staff at Frommer's have just unveiled their list of top travel destinations for the coming year. Included in the list is a little something for everyone: large metropolises, secluded beach towns, colorful riverside villas, and more.
But Frommer's didn't just rely on their expert editors and author's for this years list--they also polled ...Destination spotlight: Chengyang Village in southern China
Oct 18th, 2011 at 1:00PM: For those looking to get out of big cities of China and explore some of the smaller villages, the Chengyang Village in southern China should not be overlooked. This wooden village has a lot to offer visitors in terms of hiking, history, and culture.
Getting There
Located in the province of Guangxi, the village can be reached by bus from many of the bigger cities, including Longsheng (2-3 ...5 best fast food chains around the world
Oct 14th, 2011 at 1:00PM: While fast food often gets a bad rep, you can't expect to eat all of your meals sitting in down in slow food restaurants. And, when traveling abroad, you will sometimes find that fast food doesn't always necessarily mean greasy fries and fattening burgers. Travelers can make their quick dining experiences worthwhile by visiting these five delicious and budget-friendly fast food restaurants, ...Man sets out on 5,000 mile hike throughout Asia to raise money for charity
Oct 13th, 2011 at 3:30PM: Winston Fiore, a 26 year old Marine from Bloomington, Indiana, has set out on a 5,000 mile journey, by foot, throughout Southeast Asia and China. Fiore arrived in Southeast Asia on September 25, 2011, for what is called "Smile Trek", and is projecting it will take him a year to walk the entire route, which begins and ends in Singapore.
The goal of the journey is to raise $50,000 or more for the ...Video of the Day - Hong Kong Honey
Sep 20th, 2011 at 5:00PM:
Having spent six months in Hong Kong in 2009, I thought I knew the city fairly well at the end of my stay. I could navigate the night markets, had committed the sleek metro system to memory and even attended a few local weddings. But there was one facet of the city that I was completely oblivious to; Hong Kong's beekeepers.
Hidden among the thousands of rooftops that comprise Hong Kong's ...
The Great Walls of China
Sep 10th, 2011 at 11:00AM:
There was more than one Great Wall of China, a Chinese archaeology team has discovered.
Several portions of the wall are actually double, triple, or quadruple walls running closely parallel to one another. This was a common feature in many ancient fortifications because it made the position harder to take. Often the troops would be garrisoned between the walls for protection against surprise ...Photo of the day - Red lantern in China
Sep 8th, 2011 at 6:00PM:
Sometimes it's the simplest images that reach out and grab the viewer. Take today's Photo of the Day, snapped by Flickr user Bernard-SD, of a red lantern snapped in Yunnan Province, China. The lantern's glow is almost magical. Though Bernard-SD took this photograph in July, the image's deep warmth strikes me as particularly appropriate for early September, as summer's slow turn into fall ...Photo of the day - Butcher at work
Sep 2nd, 2011 at 5:00PM:
Today kicks off Labor Day weekend, the last long weekend of summer. Maybe you have plans for one last getaway or at least plan to explore your own backyard. However you spend the next three days, we hope it doesn't involve real work, er, labor. This fellow photographed by Flickr user Bernard-SD in Lijiang, China is working diligently on stripping the meat from this sheep carcass. While we may ...Pyramids and monasteries among the many ancient monuments under restoration
Aug 10th, 2011 at 1:00PM:
Around the world, ancient monuments are crumbling. As our heritage wears away through neglect, "development", or simply the harsh treatment of time, some countries are doing something about it.
The pyramid of Djoser, the oldest of the pyramids of Egypt, will be the object of a major restoration effort. The government recently announced that funding has been earmarked for restoration after the ...Traveler Q & A: Pavia Rosati
Aug 2nd, 2011 at 9:30AM: Pavia Rosati is the founder of Fathom, a recently debuted travel website. Fathom is smart and beautifully designed. It's full of exciting short briefs about various destinations across the globe.
Rosati, as you'll see from her answers below, is an experienced editor and an avid traveler. Her enthusiasm for Fathom's subject matter is palpable and infectious. We love Fathom and can't wait to see ...Not everybody wants a cruise ship in their back yard
Jun 28th, 2011 at 9:00AM: When cruise ships come to town it means big business for local merchants. Just ask Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, both on the blacklist of one cruise line or another. Either city would love to have cruise ships calling regularly but concern over the safety of passengers has some lines skipping the ports. Contrast that with Charleston, South Carolina where a group of local residents along ...VIDEO: Chinese popcorn cannon
May 10th, 2011 at 1:30PM:
Don't have 5 minutes (cooking times may vary, wait until you hear 2-3 seconds between pops) to wait for microwave popcorn? Perhaps this Chinese popcorn cannon from the streets of Shanghai is fast enough for you - it just takes a few seconds, provided you have a serious pressure cooker. This ingenious contraption can also be used for puffed rice or other grains, though we wonder how clean the ...
Ode to the expat newspaper
May 3rd, 2011 at 3:00PM: One of my favorite things about traveling, in addition to foreign supermarkets, oddball museums, and miniature toiletries, is the local English-language expat newspaper. When I'm home in New York, I tend to get all my news online, either directly from news websites through specific searches or curated from friends' links on social media (one of the best sources for news from US newspapers is ...
