Autumn days. The sun pulls up short. The light bends. The days shorten. We exchange the coming of winter for the changing of the leaves.

Today, in the midst of Mother Nature’s machinations, a double rainbow appeared outside the window overlooking the Church of St. Teresa in Vilnius, Lithuania. Continue Reading »

Xinjiang Cuisine (Uighur Cuisine) - Not-So-Chinese Food
We begin our Chinese food series in the same place we entered China: in the city of Kashgar in China’s western frontier province of Xinjiang. Like the native Uighur people and their culture, food in Xinjiang province resembles Central Asian and Turkic cuisine more than stereotypical Chinese food. Continue Reading »

When we talk to people about our travels in China, we sense their fear.

No, not political or economic fear:

Didn’t you have trouble with the language? How about the food? Chinese food in China is terrible, isn’t it? Don’t they eat a lot of dog?”

All fair questions and sentiments, particularly if you’ve never been to China. We have a real story to tell about food in China. Armed with frighteningly limited Mandarin language skills and a sincere disinterest in dining on dog or innards, we managed to eat like kings on a pauper’s pence during the three months we traveled across China.

Continue Reading »

Welcome to the view inside the Shanghai Maglev (magnetic levitation) train once it reaches its maximum speed of 431 kilometers per hour. No typo there - that’s 268 miles per hour for the conversionally challenged. The trip from the center of Shanghai to the airport takes a cool 8 minutes and costs an even cooler 50 Y ($7.00).

Wonder what 260+ mph looks like in full motion? Check out the short video below and experience the Shanghai Maglev train from the comfort of your own home. This is modern Chinese development at its best. Continue Reading »

In zoos all over the world, crowds battle to catch a peek of one of the world’s most recognizable and rarest animals, the giant panda. During our visit to the Chendgu Panda Breeding Research Center, tourists were so few that the pandas actually invited us to join them and granted us an interview. Here’s what Jing-Jing, their spokesperson, had to say: Continue Reading »

drumroll…us. OK, so the award is only virtual, but it’s always nice to be noticed.

Karen from Rambling Spoon passed the Brillante Weblog Award to us earlier in the week. As the Asia correspondent for Gourmet magazine, Karen knows a thing or two about food. Her blog conveys the wonderful intersection of food and travel, something we understand well.

Similar to a chain letter (meme in blog-speak), the award stipulates that winners pass the award on to seven other blogs. While there’s no threat of doomsday if we don’t, I thought I’d use the opportunity to highlight a few blogs I’ve been reading recently. Continue Reading »

Friendly people, delicious food, green parks, active temples - even pandas. Why Chendgu doesn’t get more coverage in the tourist press, we don’t know. It quickly became our favorite big city (population over 10 million) in China. Although Chengdu is not stocked with high-profile tourist sights like Beijing and Xi’an, to quote another tourist: “There’s something that just feels right about the place.”

We arrived in Chengdu, the capital of China’s Sichuan province, in early June 2008, not long after the devastating May 12th earthquake. Many questioned our judgment to visit so soon, but guest houses assured us the city was safe. Our flight there from Nepal via Tibet carried around 20 passengers. It was clear most people were staying away. Continue Reading »

On Friday, I had my first recording gig in Vilnius, Lithuania. I played “a typical American woman abroad” in a local radio advertisement.

“So what does a typical American woman abroad sound like?” you ask. Continue Reading »

Some instincts are universal. That virtually all parents want a better life for their children is one of them. Our journey continually bears this out irrespective of the cultural and socioeconomic context of the regions we visit.

But in China, something extraordinary has happened. Two decades of economic growth, an exceptional cultural emphasis on family, and the one-child policy have all conspired to yield a generation of only children accustomed to the full focus of their family’s emotional and financial resources. Continue Reading »

Once you get past the mounds of chili-marinated chicken feet and the rows of village dogmeat vendors, Chinese food in China is terrific.

Regional Chinese cuisines and ethnic minority specialties deliver a diversity of flavors and texture. The vast array of peppers, spices and sauces ensure that taste buds rarely grow tired. Continue Reading »