Home to nearly 37 million people, Tokyo is the largest metropolitan area in the world. This megacity is packed with so many interesting attractions and fun things to do that you’d need several weeks to tick everything off the list. But for many travelers, especially those coming from far away, Tokyo is one stop of […]
Shopping Guide
China Couture: Having Clothes Made in Shanghai
Shopping in Shanghai can be surprisingly limited for those with a mid-range budget and Western tastes and sizes. Chinese boutiques are plentiful but are often stocked with a dizzying array of animal prints and sequins, not to mention the petite non-Western sizes. High-end global brands such as Prada and Gucci are well-represented and the city […]
Dali, China: A Place You’ll Want to Dally
Dali, China is an ancient city in the country’s western Yunnan Province, a couple hours south of Lijiang. The area was settled by the Bai people, a tenacious Tibetan-Burmese folk who established the Nanzhou Kingdom in the 8th century after successfully defeating invading Tang dynasty forces. A Bai chief minister staged a coup at the beginning of the 10th […]
Shangri-la: Dining and Shopping Guide
With Shangri-la so close to the border with Tibet, we had expected to eat a fair amount Tibetan food, which we first sampled in Chengdu and were eager to try again. Fortunately, Shangri-la delivered in a big way. Our third night in town, we enjoyed the best meal of our two-week Yunnan trip at Arro Khampa: […]
Enter the Year of the Snake
It’s time to bid farewell to the Dragon, as the Year of the Snake comes slithering in. One of the 12 years of the Chinese Zodiac, which follows a lunar calendar, Snake years are said be a period of great change. It’s a time for shedding your old skin, shaking off what was slowing you […]