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[Flight Review] China Eastern Airlines

March 30, 2019

China Eastern Airlines is a major Chinese airline that is based in Shanghai. It flies to 217 destinations, within China and internationally. Its main hubs are at Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport,[ with secondary hubs at Beijing Capital International Airport, Kunming Changshui International Airport and Xi’an Xianyang International Airport. China Eastern …
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Coming Full Circle

November 29, 2018

In December 2015, the West Line of Hainan’s much-publicised high-speed railway looped with the East Line in Haikou, creating the world’s first round-island high-speed railway. Departing from Haikou station, we pick a few intriguing spots that prove Hainan is so much more than beaches and pool bars. Wenchang Station/ Eastern Ring With half of the …
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Boat ride along the Yangshuo

April 23, 2018

Perhaps you may have heard Yangshuo being a very touristic place but it all depends on how you explore it. Places where genuinely friendly and welcoming villagers offer you an insight into the local culture and customs. To little local family-run restaurants with character with true local foods and to beautiful isolated spots you can …
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Longji Rice terraces

March 28, 2018

One of the highlights of visiting Guilin is to head to the rice terraces in the countryside. Longji, which literally translates to ‘Dragon Backbone’, is home to one of the most amazing rice terraces in China. Construction of the terraces began in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), and continued until the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) when …
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Guilin, China

March 19, 2018

Guilin (桂林) was China’s first city to develop tourism after 1949. For decades, children’s textbooks proclaimed ‘Guilin’s landscape is the best under heaven’ (桂林山水甲天下). It was the darling of Chinese politicians, the star city proudly presented to visiting dignitaries. Today Guilin’s natural endowments still amaze, yet, thanks to imperfect urban planning, there is a pervasive …
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How to cross the China-Kazakhstan border at Khorgos

May 21, 2015

The process of getting from Urumqi, China to Almaty, Kazakhstan is simple because there is a direct bus. The Northern Long-Distance Bus Station is at Heilongjiang Road. Almaty, Kazakhstan (via Korgas) – takes about 24 hours and ¥440, tickets can be bought at the international bus station at Nianzigou (碾子沟国际客运站 +86-0991-587-8637, mandarin speaking). The international …
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Urumqi understatement

May 19, 2015

Urumqi is the capital city of Xinjiang province in China. This autonomous region has received negative media publicity due to separatists carrying out bomb attacks and instigating riots in recent years, but during our stay in the city we felt perfectly safe as there was a strong police presence. We had originally wanted to visit …
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How to get from Beijing to Ulanbaatar the cheap way

May 8, 2015

From Beijing stadium (subway station exit C) take bus 407 alight at Jian xiang qiao dong (健翔桥东) bus stop then change to bus 658 to Xi jia huo zi (郗家豁子) which is opposite Bei jiao ( 北郊) bus station. The ticket from Beijing to Erlian cost 200Y, and the guy told us he usually charges …
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Wonder of the World – Great Wall of China

May 7, 2015

What’s a visit to Beijing without seeing the Great Wall of China? There is a Chinese saying that 不到长城非好汉 which means those who have not been to the great wall are not good guys. So today I fulfilled this saying by visiting and climbing the many steps of the Great Wall. The wall is so …
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Tiananmen square and around

May 6, 2015

On day two in Beijing, we romped the seemingly endless courtyards of the Forbidden City and stood in the centre of the Chinese universe Tiananmen square. I used to confuse those two because they are found in the same area. However, after reading the guide book for the explanation, I finally manged to differentiate the …
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Welcome to Beijing

May 5, 2015

Beijing is a massive capital city with a population of 11 million residents. Its subway system is the third largest in the world and makes it really convenient to get around the city. However, the distances between stations are big so be careful not to miss your stop. Beijing feels like an international city brimming …
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