Temporarily Lost

There exists the ancient, historical China of years past, the elaborate and extensive China we think with our mind’s eye, the rustic and rural China we expect to see when we first visit, and the modern and mechanized China we actually experience; and then there is Shanghai — so different from the rest of China that it can scarcely be said […]

Traveling around the world isn’t an easy thing to do — in fact, it requires quite a few skills and talents outside those we would normally utilize on a daily basis.  Beyond the more apparent qualities that first come to mind — adventurous spirit, ability to improvise when plans fall apart, high tolerance for discomfort, etc. — it is […]

Over two thousand years ago, after having braved the dangerous roads, windswept plains, and isolated deserts of Northern Africa, the Middle East, and Western Asia, the sight that would finally greet the eyes of the weary traders looking to earn their fortunes along the newly completed trade route was that of the city of Chang’an […]

The images of an ancient China that many search for, those we commonly see depicted in novels and films – that of peaceful, open courtyards with delicately tiled roofs, narrow, lantern-lit alleyways that snake through the heart of a city, hidden temples and shrines identifiable by the fragrant trail of incense smoke, the simplicity of […]