After the mountains of Yading it was time to head further East. We leave our hostel early to catch the bus that will take us to the highlands of inner Sichuan. Our final destination of the day: Tagong, the Buddhist center of the Sichuan province. But first a six-hour bus ride to Xinduqiao. On our […]
China
Holy Snow Mountains in Yading Nature Reserve
After spending a few days in Shangri-La we had the first taste of what Sichuan could be like. Compared to the rest of Yunnan, Shangri-La feels more like Sichuan. Unlike most people, we were going to travel Sichuan over land, instead of flying in from Chengdu. Before reaching our first destination we had to prepare […]
Tourist traps and the first Tibetan influences
When you read a travel guide on Yunnan, chances are that the list of recommended cities will contain Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-la. All played an important role as part of the Tea horse road and have an Old town that has been restored. These cities represent the success of the trade route and attract a […]
The Tiger Leaping Gorge, one of China’s finest trails
From the moment we read about something called the Tiger-leaping gorge, it was on No. 1 on our bucket list for China. This gorge, or canyon, is formed by the Jinsha river, which will go on and form the Yangtze/Yellow river, which is squeezed between two +5000 m snow-capped peaks. Over time, this has led […]
In the foot steps of the ancient tea horse road
When we decided on China as one of our destinations, we quickly knew that we would need a double entry visa, two times 30 days. A first period where we would explore the Beijing area and a second, more “adventurous”, period in the provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan. In between, there would be a quick […]
Peace and quiet at the Great Wall
There are many areas around Beijing where you can visit China’s majestic Wall. Some parts are fully restored while others are more authentic. The area around Gubeikou has both and it is famous for a stretch of “wild” Wall. After a great night of sleep and enjoying breakfast in the garden, it was time for […]
Beijing: more than crowds and palaces
After three fantastic weeks in Mongolia, we had a rough start in China. Arriving with food poisoning was not the kind of arrival in Beijing we imagined. All the airports in China have a health check and if your body temperature is too high, you will be placed in quarantine. Scary times for me, since […]