Northern Taipei
Good morning, Taiwan! Getting to Taipei was relatively simple. It was the first time I flew from the US to Asia without having to make any connections. Nonstop, SFO to TPE. I took the subway from the [Read more…]
How to Get the Most out of Chinatown
Some locals will tell you to skip San Francisco’s Chinatown. It’s just full of cheap trinket shops and mediocre Chinese restaurants, they say. As usual, I say that you can get a lot out of Chinatown if you do Chinatown right.
To me, it only makes sense to start your day in Chinatown by passing through the Dragon Gate. It spans Grant Avenue at the southern entrance to Chinatown, just a few blocks northeast of Union Square. A block further north, veer off to the right to take a quick stroll through St. Mary’s Square. St. Mary’s Square permanent resident is an impressive granite and steel sculpture of [Read more…]
China 2015, Day 9: Tianjin
I will admit right off the bat that Tianjin was not the most exciting place I went on my trip to China. But it’s a major city just a short high-speed train ride from Beijing, so how could I resist spending a day [Read more…]
China 2015, Day 4: Shanghai, Day 2
Central Shanghai
It was such a relief to stay in Shanghai for the day rather than taking another day trip. Because my arrival in Shanghai was delayed a day and I was departing for Beijing the next afternoon, this was my [Read more…]
China, A Little History, Part 1
Ancient China Through Song Dynasty
Understanding the (quite long) history of China is helpful in appreciating its fascinating sights. Every week while I’m sending out the pictures of my trip to China, I’ll add a post on Chinese history. In a perfect world, I’d match up the history with the sights for that week. But I don’t think I could quite get that to work, so I’ll just go chronologically. Chinese civilization goes back about 10,000 years. I’ll cover the first [Read more…]