After seven weeks in China, my VISA had all but expired, so I head for a small city called Kaifeng, a four hour bus-ride from Luoyang, in hopes of getting an extension.
Unfortunately, because of the Olympics, 2008 is China's 'Special Year' and VISAs are hard to come by. In Kaifeng they could only give me a 10 day extension from that day - not much point when I still had 13 days left on the current one.

via travelblog.org

Oh how the fresh smell of sweat dripping from your body mixed with humidity and pollution attracts the mosquitos.
We first went to our hotel, Xinlong, to take a nice, cold shower. Our room was on the 4th floor, facing the Suzhou River. We watched the barges float by and the construction on nearby buildings, as well as senior citizens practicing the age old Tai Chi. The hotel was $10, and we could only stay because Jon spoke Chinese - no English here.

via travelblog.org

Hong Kong y Macao fueron las ultimas dos colonias europeas ubicadas en territorio Chino, entregadas a China en 1997 por Inglaterra y en 1999 por Portugal respectivamente, estas dos islas en la costa sur-este de China, son hoy en día un centro de desarrollo turístico, empresarial y comercial para China. Ambas son regiones de administración especial (SAR), lo que traduce que aproximadamente por los próximos 50 años tendrán autonomia política.

via travelblog.org

Istana Negare est le Buckingham Palace malais ( La malaisie a ete autrefois une colonie anglaise) et la residence officielle de Sa Majeste Le Roi de Malaisie. La vue est agrementee de tres beaux jardins et surveillee par les gardes. Istana Negare is the official residence of His Majesty The King of Malaysia, reminding of Buckingham Palace, London, as Malaysia used ot be a Bristish colony.

via travelblog.org

Those who visit Las Vegas in the middle of June are there for one of three reasons: one, work-related convention or conference; two, a special occasion; or three, for the sheer heck of it. Unabashedly, I fall in the last category. I LOVE hot, especially dry weather.
Being outdoors too long certainly didn't make any sense. At Mandalay Beach, I spent more time in the pool (20 minutes) than I did in the water at any other point this year.

via travelblog.org

Last Night we had this insanely freaky storm the thunder was rumbling loudly waking everyone up and the lightening was flashing so much lighting up the whole town! It was like the paparazzi were outside taking pictures with enormous cameras! The rain was lashing down so much bit scary as the town has been evacuated quite a few times.

via travelblog.org

Future flights of China’s Shenzhou spaceship will include space walks - a prelude to rendezvous and docking in Earth orbit. Image Credit: China National Space Administration. China launches its second manned spacecraft Shenzhou-6 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu Province at 9:00 a.m. local time Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2005. Credit: AP Photo/Xinhua,Zhao Jianwei.

via travelblog.org

We were ditched unceremoniously on the outskirts of Dali new town with no idea as to where we were. A girl on the bus made some effort to help us by talking at us in Chinese and pointing at Chinese signs. The bus driver revved his engine and eventually shouted at her to get back on the bus.

via travelblog.org

The government is offering apologies to at least 40 guests for not being able to help when they were thrown out of the Tatami-Hampton Hotel on Wednesday night due to legal action action and a closure order. Speaking after an emergency meeting with industry leaders, Tourism Commissioner Au King-chi said communication between the judiciary and his commission should be enhanced through a priority notification mechanism. "It was an unprecedented incident," he said.

via thestandard.com.hk

The Olympic Games in August were supposed to make 2008 a banner year for travel to China, not only transforming Beijing into a magnet for international visitors but also sharpening the tourist appeal of other Chinese destinations.But the pre-Games scenario now playing out is quite the opposite. The massive earthquake in Sichuan province, ethnic unrest in Tibet, new visa restrictions, rising inflation.

via online.wsj.com

Tak for jeres mails, det er dejligt at horer hvordan det gaar derhjemme. Nu har vi vaeret paa farten i lidt over to uger, og vil lige fortaelle lidt om hvad vi gaar og laver :-) Vi tog fra Beijing d. 5 juni med nattog mod Gullin, vi kom i en kupe sammen med to kinesere hvor den ene kunne lidt engelsk, hvilket var hyggeligt da vi fik snakket lidt sammen paa den 22 timers togtur. Da vi stod ud af toget var der 34 grader, saa vi kunne tydelig maerke vi var kommet syd paa.

via travelblog.org

Chiang Mai is recognized as the capital of Northern Thailand. The city itself has a lot to offer but it is also a major hub for a variety of trips that include hiking in the mountains, visiting hilltribe people, elephant and bamboo raft rides and handicraft villages. The city is about 700 kms north of Bangkok and if you drive straight here it will take you at least 10 hours.

via thaitravelblogs.com

The claim comes amid souring relations between the two countries after the Paris leg of the Olympic torch relay.
Thousands of pro-Tibet protesters disrupted the event last month, and managed to extinguish the flame. However Beijing said that it had "simply reminded Chinese tourists to be careful about their security." Estimates suggest that about 700,000 tourists from mainland China visited France last year.

via news.bbc.co.uk

Please note that we have struggled at times to keep up with our blog entries either due to unavailable or Chinese sloooooooooow internet access and our busy travel schedule. Please look back beyond the current date to be sure you catch up on anything we may have entered for an earlier date. Thanks for taking the time to read our news.

via travelblog.org

Once upon a time, we decided to treat our students to an American cultural experience outside of the classroom. We decided to throw them a prom. After watching Back to the Future one night, we settled on “Enchantment Under the Sea” as our theme and we went from there. Alexes painted a backdrop, Dan put together a kickin’ playlist and we had a student help us book a large room on campus. Everything fell into place.

via travelblog.org