Nov 13th, 2009 at 5:30PM: Happy Friday the 13th! Tributed to being an unlucky day thanks to wives tales, religion and mythology, this is a day when people might think about altering their travel plans. The thought is, why push your luck? Franklin D. Roosevelt was one such person. He never traveled on the 13th. He even died on April 12, 1945. That, my friends, was on a Thursday. That is kind of strange, no?
In honor of a ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
beijing posts
Gadling's 13 stranger than strange sites for Friday the 13th
Nov 13th, 2009 at 5:30PM: Happy Friday the 13th! Tributed to being an unlucky day thanks to wives tales, religion and mythology, this is a day when people might think about altering their travel plans. The thought is, why push your luck? Franklin D. Roosevelt was one such person. He never traveled on the 13th. He even died on April 12, 1945. That, my friends, was on a Thursday. That is kind of strange, no?
In honor of a ...Start the new year in China for $888
Oct 12th, 2009 at 5:00PM:
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In the year that I've been writing for Gadling I've not once promoted a package tour -- until now. China Spree, an agency that offers affordable trips to China, has a new 10-day Golden Triangle Tour starting at just $888, a lucky number in China, that's a bit too hard to pass ...Communist China celebrates 60th anniversary
Oct 1st, 2009 at 8:30PM:
Today, October 1st, marks the 60th anniversary of communist rule in China - an era that has been defined with great success and development for the country. Leaders in Beijing and 30,000 specially invited guests observed the day with an epic celebration that was reported to be larger in scale than the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games. Visitors and residents of Beijing had limited access ...Dive the Great Wall of China with Urbane Nomads
Sep 21st, 2009 at 11:30AM: Did you know that parts of the Great Wall of China are underwater? Yeah, me neither. But according to Urban Daddy, one particular section of the wall has been submerged under a lake since the 1980's. And now a luxury tour company called Urbane Nomads is offering the first-ever guided diving trips to the hard-to-reach spot.
Guides will carry your gear to the submerged portion of the Wall and ...Spend a weekend in Pyongyang
Aug 27th, 2009 at 2:00PM: If you didn't get a shot at the last short trip that Koryo Tours organized into North Korea, you have another chance coming. This rare breed of travel company – which brings westerners into the most isolated country on earth – is planning an excursion for September 24 – 26, which will include the sights of Pyongyang and the opportunity to witness the Arirang Mass Games spectacle. ...One night in Beijing
Amazing Race 14, Recap finale: Maui, Hawaii where pigs are heavy
May 11th, 2009 at 4:30PM: After after a quick video clip refresher course of the various legs of Amazing Race 14, the three remaining teams bid adieu to Bejing and headed to Maui, Hawaii on the same Air China flight. Admittedly, several times during this episode, I felt the end of the trip feel--a bit of a sigh that the bulk of the excitment and surprise is over and home is near.
I felt sad to say goodbye to China since ...Visitor gets lost, corpses found, visitor still lost
May 10th, 2009 at 12:00PM: A Beijing tourist got lost around Taishan Mountain in Shandong province. So, in accordance with common sense, a rescue team was sent out to find this person. While searching the rugged terrain, the crew found something completely different – seven corpses. That's all we know about the newly found bodies. We don't even know when they died, who they were or how it happened.
Suspiciously, ...Amazing Race 14, recap 11: Beijing, China's food is awesome--- and awful
May 5th, 2009 at 11:00AM: After last week's cliffhanger of Amazing Race 14 when Jaime and Cara arrived first at the Pit Stop to only find Phil pulling another yellow envelope behind his back, I thought that Jaime might throw a hissy fit, but no, she handled Phil's news like a trouper. Instead of winning a nifty trip to some exotic location, off this former cheerleader duo went in the dark of Beijing to Bai Hai Dong Men and ...Amazing Race 14, recap 10: Swimming like Michael Phelps isn't easy
Apr 27th, 2009 at 6:30PM: If there was one episode of Amazing Race14 that could get your sympathy genes going, this was it. Certain parts were downright pitiful. "You poor, poor thing," I kept saying to Jen. I could have cried myself. I was even rooting for Jaime in this episode, even though she has not been my fave from the beginning. And Victor and Tammy, well, they are just stellar people.
Kisha & Jen did have me ...Unfinished Mandarin Oriental hotel in Beijing is on fire
Feb 9th, 2009 at 12:30PM: What was supposed to be the flagship hotel of the Mandarin Oriental chain in China, has turned into a 40 story inferno. The fire has lit up the Beijing skyline, and took place in the final hours of the Chinese Lunar New Year - when many people are setting off fireworks. The Mandarin Oriental Beijing is located next to the new headquarters of China Central Television, but that building is said to ...Beijing's treasures endangered from modern development
Jan 23rd, 2009 at 11:00AM: During China's Cultural Revolution, one of Mao's bright ideas, people burned, broke, buried and threw out loads of items connected to the arts and intellectual pursuits. Lately, due to economic development, the treasures found in Beijing's old neighborhoods are being removed in the name of development. Old houses along alleyways that date back to the imperial city are being torn down and modern ...Note to readers - a Panda is not always a cute and cuddly animal
Jan 10th, 2009 at 3:00PM: Panda news pops up all the time here on Gadling, but I don't recall us ever warning you about the dangers of the oh-so-cute looking creatures. 28 year old Zhang Jiao can tell you all about it. When trying to recover a childrens toy dropped into the panda pen at Beijing Zoo, Mr. Jiao was attacked by Gu Gu. The article then confirms just how much the Chinese love their panda, as Mr. Jiao told ...Flight attendant foils kidnappers with flight attendant training skills
Jan 8th, 2009 at 4:00PM: Heather Poole, Gadling's very own flight attendant who knows the moves to take care of herself and everyone else on a loaded plane, brought this China Daily article to our attention. In China, a flight attendant who two guys had kidnapped, got away by using the anti-hijacking techniques she learned in flight attendant training.
The attendant, an employee of Shanghai Airlines, learned -- in ...Went to Beijing without your condoms? Buy a bus card
Dec 22nd, 2008 at 11:30AM: Safe sex is going high-tech in Beijing. The old, bright yellow coin-operated condom dispensers were finally ditched by the city's authorities. They will be replaced by state of the art vending machines that look more like touch screen ATMs than the final stop for those who are about to get their naughty on. The government has installed 411 of the machines already. thousand's more will be popping ...Travel read: Around the Bloc
Dec 21st, 2008 at 11:00AM: I stumbled upon Stephanie Elizondo Griest's writing on a stopover in New York City. She was reading from her third and most recent travel-related book, Mexican Enough: My Life Between the Borderlines, at Book Culture near Columbia University. I was immediately struck by her engaging use of language and her savvy presence. It's a pleasant sight to behold a young, female traveler and writer who is ...Sex and the City: Beijing edition
Gadling Take Five : Week of August 30-September 5
Sep 5th, 2008 at 7:00PM: This week, as the Olympics ended, we welcomed blogger David Breisch to the Gadling fold. This was a busy week of diverse travel options, breakthroughs and oddities.
Jerry tuned us into what travel to a volcanic island is like with two separate posts. The first post, of his two part series "The Krakatau Journal: An island paradise that can kill you,' and the second post, offer Jerry's personal ...Hooters in Beijing: Short Shorts and Moral Righteousness
Sep 3rd, 2008 at 11:00AM: Hooters is all about saving fabric. The minimalistic uniforms and the comely staff members who fill them are aimed at drawing mostly male customers. As the Georgia-based restaurant chain goes global, one would probably expect more of the same. But, the Hooters in Beijing is not all about buxom waitresses hawking chicken wings and fries. How can that be? The very name "Hooters" suggests nothing ...The Olympics finale: A great big Beijing inspired hugfest and might
Aug 25th, 2008 at 1:30PM: Hugs all around. If you're near someone give him or her a hug. If you're by yourself, just wrap your arms around yourself and squeeze. MMMMmmmm.
By the end of the closing ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing, when the credits rolled in the U.S.'s broadcast version, I was once more feeling warm and fuzzy, just like I did at the end of the opening of the games. Again, I'm a real Pollyanna sometimes. ...
