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Citizen Khan
Travel / Intrnational Travel
Written by : Citizen Khan
Mar 11, 2008
Tags :
art
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| An Inner Mongolian milk mogul builds his own Xanadu
Somewhere outside the city limits of Ordos, far from the coal piles that dot the plains of Inner Mongolia, a freshly-paved road leads the eye across the tall grass of the Gobi desert towards a faded blue sky. This is a picture postcard view of Genghis Khan's fabled frontier, a placid scene of dunes that stretches so far it's easy to see why the Mongolian conqueror kept pushing forward, first across ancient China, then into Persia, and on to the gates of Vienna.
Today, however, piles of freshly dug earth along the highway speak of an altogether different frontier. Past the dunes, the modern granite and glass façade of the 2,700 sqm Ordos Art Museum rises into view, like an unused set piece in an Orson Welles film. What makes it even more striking is that it's practically the only building visible on the windswept steppe.
But not for long. If all goes according to plan, within a decade the museum will be surrounded ... ... |
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Another planet just next door
Travel / Regional Travel
Written by : Elyse Singleton
Mar 11, 2008
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| Head to Gansu Province for an otherworldly experience
Northern China is a wealth of sights and history, and if getting to Tibet is too hard or too expensive, then head to Xiahe, Gansu Province, for your monk and monastery fix. Fly to Lanzhou, capital city of Gansu, and one of the most polluted cities in the world. It is also home of lamian – hand-pulled noodles. A dispiriting city in general, buses out of here are plentiful and the station is a microcosm of Northern Chinese society, with Tibetans swaggering, women in white caps with black velvet lace veils, and Hui men in white fez.
On the road, corn dries on rooftops and market towns are awash with white hats, and carcasses. There is no squeamishness here about dead animals. Carcasses are strung up outside stores, thrown into the back of trucks, or trussed up on the back of a bicycle. In Linxia, an old woman had a bike basket full of goat heads for sale.
Linxia is a medium-sized town with a few ... ... |
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24 hours in . . . Mongkok
Travel / Local Travel
Written by : Christian Edwards
Mar 11, 2008
Tags :
travel
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| It's totally crazy, but we love it to bits
Crashing in from Guangzhou, it's easy to just accept Hong Kong as a finely-tuned slipstream of brands, banks and expatriate enclaves dominating the island from Central to Causeway Bay. But it doesn't have to be this way.
These days, when thinking of Hong Kong, it's best to think of Mongkok instead. And not just because of what Hong Kong has become and what Mongkok has not. Mongkok encapsulates all that's best and funky about Hong Kong. The name suggests hustle and bustle and that's because it's the real-deal: a postcard Hong Kong of John Woo's neon lights, steamy baths and dim sum hotspots all within spitting distance of the five star luxury of Langham Place. Here's how I spent the time there . . .
9am
Enjoy the personalized check-in at Langham Place Hotel's Club-L while the concierge organizes the airport pick-up for a degenerate brother
flying in from Singapore.
11am
Deliver 'best behavior' lecture to said b ... ... |
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Fasting in paradise
Travel / Intrnational Travel
Written by : Elyse Singleton
Feb 4, 2008
Tags :
travel
paradise
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| While not exactly Gandhi, a special spa in tropical Thailand is offering to purge your toxic ills.
Although the New Year has only just begun, I am sure many "dietary" resolutions have already been forgotten. I have always been very fond of my food, but after years of drinking, smoking and exercise that can only be described as sporadic, my body deserves a break. And so what better way to do it than to sign up for a fast?
I was recommended the health spa, The Sanctuary, on Koh Phangan, Thailand, by two friends who had taken different
programmes there. If I was going to stop eating for a week, at least I could do it in a beautiful location. So, in a brave move, I decided to go for the seven day fast and, in order to get the full benefit, I booked a package with fast, yoga classes and spa
treatments plus accommodation and steam room use.
Accommodation at the spa includes a range of options with the mid-range choice being a Thai-style room on st ... ... |
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Fear ye not the forbidden kingdom
Travel / Regional Travel
Written by : Matthew Niederhauser
Feb 4, 2008
Tags :
travel
valley
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| The remote beauty of a hidden Himalayan valley.
Spending a few weeks amid the vaulted peaks of the Himalayas is a requisitepilgrimage for any serious travel trekker or nature enthusiast. Isolated valleys girdled by snowcapped mountains engender a sublime trepidation, as if one were trespassing upon an inhuman landscape fit only for the gods and demons adorning the walls of local temples. Each time one returns one feels humbled by the sheer immensity of these natural marvels. Here, heaven touches the earth and gives the Himalayas its undisputed title as the roof of the world.
The heart of the Himalayas straddles the border between Tibet and Nepal. An extended string of massifs – including Dhaulagiri, Annapurna, Manaslu, Cho Oyo, Qomolangma (Mount Everest), Makalu, and Kochenjunga – form an
imposing wall of 8,000-meters-plus peaks that draw some of the most intrepid (and some say slightly insane) climbing teams in the world.
The best views of a mountain ... ... |
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24 hours in . . . Da Qi Tou
Travel / Local Travel
Written by : Ginger
Feb 4, 2008
Tags :
travel
ancient
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| A ancient site that transports you back in time.
First-time travelers to Da Qi Tou invariably return with tales of historical awe: famous ocean generals, quaint villages and grand homes filled with well-preserved artifacts. And it's true, all this is here and waiting. But for those who like to mix a
little history with a holiday jaunt, Da Qi Tou in Sanshui Foshan could also be a superb weekend break.
"It's one of the best-preserved Qing Dynasty constructions in southern China," said Senior Zheng, a lifelong resident of the village, who added that it was also home to Guangdong's marine general Zheng Zhao Zhong, who used to be Empress Dowager Cixi's beloved official. On Zheng's sixtieth birthday, Empress Dowager Cixi even granted a stone, carved in the "Shou" characters, in honor of the man, which can still be found in the village today.
Being an illiterate military official, Zhao planned the layout of the area as a homage to the art of writing. ... ... |
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Lose yourself inside Japan
Travel / Intrnational Travel
Written by : Elyse Singleton
Jan 28, 2008
Tags :
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| A walk around the land of the rising sun can be a life-changing experience.
Fly into Osaka and marvel at the efficiency of Japanese life. From the man who shows you where to queue when changing money to the white-gloved attendants who mark your luggage and load it on the bus, everything runs like clockwork.
Scratch the surface a little more, however, and you will discover some oddness - from the tiny bathroom in the hotel with a singing toilet to prevent others hearing your ablutions, to the TV programme with young semi-undressed women goofing about with a couple of nerdy guys.
But if you take the train to Kyoto you will find Japan in its true traditional state. Walking is a great way to get around as it helps you to exercise off the great Japanese beers and the green tea ice cream (both impossible to resist) and it also means you can head off down forgotten side streets. The ice cream is made from powdered green tea, called match ... ... |
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Looking for the lost city of Yangshuo
Travel / Regional Travel
Written by : Elliot Brenchley
Jan 28, 2008
Tags :
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| Three young men, a fake map, and no language skills whatsoever £ what could possibly go wrong?
So Frank asked me to meet him at the L'Amour café in Dongshankou. He was waiting and visibly excited when I arrived. "How was the traffic?" he asked anxiously. I could see that Frank had a rolled-up yellow piece of paper in his hand. He asked me if I knew what it was and then unraveled the knot and laid the paper out on the table. My eyes widened when I realized what Frank had just set before me. "Is this the map to...?" Frank nodded before I could even finish my sentence.
He had in his possession an ¡®authentic' map outlining, in great detail, the whereabouts of the ancient lost city of Yangshuo, previously thought to have been ransacked and razed in some religious attack many centuries ago. I sat back and sipped my campari, adding: "You understand we're go ... ... |
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24 hours in . . . Qiannian Yaozhai
Travel / Local Travel
Written by : texts and pictures by Tom Carter
Jan 28, 2008
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| A long day's journey into Liannan Yao Autonomous County
Eclipsed by the neon blaze of Guangzhou and lost in the lovely limestone peaks of northern Guangdong is the 1,000-year-old Qiannian Yaozhai, the oldest Yao minority village in China.
Over 7,000 Yao people once occupied the mountain community but harsh poverty has dramatically thinned the population, leaving Qiannian Yaozhai in its perfectly preserved state. Here's what to do when you get there:
6am: Rise and shine in Liannan County for a long day of exploring bucolic North Guangdong. Unlike steel-and-glass PRD, the north is a poem-inspiring swath of farmland and karst summits.
7am: Ask the locals for directions, but expect each person to point in a different direction. Them's the brakes.
8am: Well-informed bengbeng taxi drivers will take you about 20-25kms southwest up a lush green mountainside to "Nangang Thousand Year Yao Zu Village." Crowning the 800m crest y ... ... |
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