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Unless a tidal wave washes you away or an earthquake swallows you up, your country’s embassy or consul in China is about as useful as an expired passport in an emergency. If you get into any trouble that is even remotely your fault while traveling in China, do not expect your friendly neighborhood embassy to [...]
I have never paid more than 20 USD for a hotel room throughout all of my travels in China. Somehow, I’ve almost always managed to avoid the dark, damp, dirty, and rat infested rooms that are the stuff of legend amongst travelers in China. For under 20 USD, I have usually been able to secure a private room [...]
I recently received the following email from a teacher who has been in China for a very short time. I will call him Daniel.
Dear Mr. Vance,
I am non-native English teacher completing my third day in
China working at ***, the **** based ***** company.
Even though I have only spent three days here, it feels like three months or more, [...]
My first train ride in China was very pleasant indeed; maybe a little too pleasant in fact. I had spent my first few days in China visiting the major attractions in Beijing and getting a feel for the land and the people. A lady from Singapore had befriended me on the Great Wall tour and in [...]
While I did not climb Mount Everest when I arrived at its base in 2006, my journey to the world’s tallest mountain left me feeling a little bit like I had scaled its heights. In fact, there were different times during my journey that I almost gave up on going to see it. Traveling alone in Tibet as [...]
I purchased my first GPS off Ebay for $50 when I was 17 years old. It was an old Magellan model with a small screen and few features but it introduced me to the world of GPS navigation. Back then,of course, Selective Availability(SA) was still a factor and you could count on the fact that [...]
I had never ridden a motorcyle until I came to China in 2006. This is probably why I crashed into a shop door within three days of buying my first motorcycle. I survived but the door did not. I had to pay 300 RMB to have it repaired. This early negative experience, however, did not dampen my enthusiasm [...]
Even though I was in a daze, I will never forget my first night in China. I remember the deep excitement that welled up inside me as my airplane’s wheels met the runway at Beijing International Airport. I snapped my first picture in Asia with my ultra mini Sony camera as the plane taxied into [...]
It was a snowy, foggy day in Central China as I traveled on a minibus back to my hometown from the capital of the province. I had just dozed off when the bus slowed to a halt and a passenger disembarked. There would have been nothing unusual about his exit if it weren’t for the [...]
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