travel

National Grand Theater of China which is sometimes referred to as Beijing Opera House, but is nicknamed “The Egg” is actually officially called - National Centre for Performing Arts (国家大剧院). It is one of the new landmarks of the city which is located in the very heart of it, right next to Great Hall [...]

Imagethief has been leading a glamorous life of international travel this week. If you've never done it, you should know that by-and-large it sucks. Last week I flew to the US for a series of media training sessions with a client. They generously sprang for business class on United Airlines, which was nice (Imagethief's business class flying experiences can be counted on one hand if you include the thumb). But the return leg took me from San Diego to San Francisco on Friday, from San Francisco to Beijing on Saturday (arriving Sunday) and from Beijing to Singapore on Monday.
read more »

“So tell me, do they really eat dog in China?”
I probably get asked this question at least once a week when I am back in the United States. To shed some light on this inquiry, here’s a short anecdote from my recent trip to the town of Yanji (延吉) in Northeastern China’s Jilin province. [...]
read more »

I spent the better part of my day today getting this;

This is my “Certificate of Health Examination for International Traveller”
It all started with a phone call on Monday saying that I had to have my “Health Exam” done before the University could move forward with preparing the documents I need to process our family’s work [...]
read more »

In anticipation for that particular event which will be coming upon in Beijing on 8/8/08, the new transit line connecting Beijing Capital Airport with the city subway system was opened on Saturday. On Monday I had to catch a flight to Wenzhou and decided to check it out first hand.
Please excuse the quality of [...]
read more »

I knew it couldn’t last forever.  What was five days of spot-on seamless travel, turned into virtual disaster.  Maybe disaster is too harsh a word, since I’m back in Beijing in one piece, but nonetheless, the final three days on my Dongbei trip have to go down as my least successful Chinese travel experience ever.
It [...]
read more »

My Gawd! Look at that lens! It even has a nick name, zui-jian, whatever that means in Japanese. I saw these man taking pictures at the Narita Airport in Tokyo, Japan. He was at the viewing area at the airport around evening time when the light is not so harsh, snapping pictures of air planes [...]

I found a Jojo look-alike! In a garden in Tokyo, Japan. The old man was resting in the shade, away from the fierce summer heat. Actually, it’s not really that hot. Maybe just that the Japanese cannot tahan(bear) the summer heat like us South-east Asians.
About Jojo: I known Jojo about three years ago, he is [...]

Air New Zealand is starting a direct flight service to Beijing in time for the Beijing summer Olympics. They will be using a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft on the route.
They also have eyes on the expanding Chinese tourism market.
“Our Shanghai service has been very successful since we launched it in November 2006 and we’re looking [...]
read more »

After several days in Yanji, I am now on my way to Dalian.  In Yanji I met two students who were on “torch tour,” traveling the country, following the Olympic torch, and selling T-shirts.  They invited me to come along with them to Dalian and Shandong, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to get a train [...]
read more »