The Tibetan Buddhist Monastery named Songzanlin is the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Yunnan and one of the most famous in the region. The monastery was constructed in 1679 and looks like a Kasbah – with houses stacked on top of each other on a hillside. Approximately 700 monks live in those houses in this [...]

Twist and Turn – the Great Wall, China November is quickly coming to an end – and so the cold winter is beginning.  However I have fond memories of my fall in 2007 spent in China traveling with my father.  We explored this section of the Jinshanling Wall.  It undulates through the steep mountaintops, and [...]

Xi’an China Home of the Terra Cotta Army.  This one was protected and encased in glass.  I thought it would be really interesting to see the scene through his eyes. View more Xi’an photogrpahy View other Travel photography at Delicious Baby’s Photo Friday

I’m neutral on China. Some of it was better than expected and some worse. Then there were some things that met my expectations exactly such as the amount of people and the smog. Don’t let my neutrality fool you though, I am happy that I spent 4 weeks there, observing the largest populated country in [...]

For all photos of Deqin and the Snow Mountain – click here! For the 4 days we spent in and around Shangri-la we had the unique opportunity to experience the 4 seasons…one each day. The bad news is that my suitcase wasn’t really outfitted to experience the 4 seasons, and the Chinese concept of heating [...]

For all photos of the Shangri-la area – click here! Before coming to Southwest China, my sister and I were out one night with some of her Singapore friends and they wanted to know where we were going on our pending trip to Yunnan. We rattled off a few places including Shangri-la. There was an [...]

Sunrays kissing Tiger Leaping Gorge Photo: Sun rays kissing Tiger Leaping Gorge For the ‘best of’ Yunnan, China Photography – click here! For all snapshots of the Tiger Leaping Gorge hike – click here! One of the main reasons why Cyndi and I decided to come to Yunnan was to hike in the Tiger Leaping [...]

When you go out for Chinese food in the US (and I’m willing to bet, most of North America) – what is the one thing that you are always guaranteed at the end of the dinner – fortune cookies. It’s a symbol of Chinese cuisine – not to mention the source of a lot of [...]