*Warning: This isn't going to be sunshiny and happy.Background history:In the early 1930s, the Japanese empire wanted to grow, and invaded a weakened…

It's raining, it's pouring... You get the point.  I went out early in the afternoon to do some sightseeing, only to find it was raining.  I…

Nanjing Grand Hotel (on Guangzhoulu) isn't near any of the major attractions, but taxis are relatively cheap here in Nanjing. The hotel caters to mo…

I got into Qingdao yesterday afternoon... and I had the window seat!  *waaaaahhhh*  I don't like window seats, but as the flight was pret…

Using CTrip.com, I booked a room in this hotel for two nights. I know that getting a lower rate with CTrip when the board at the front desk quotes r…

One of the main reasons I came to Qingdao was to tour the brewery. Tickets cost 50 RMB a person, and there was no guide-led tour offered. From what…

Houhai is known for the lake, bars and teahouses. Down a winding hutong lies Cocoa Ballet, where chocoholics can rejoice in deliciousness. It isn't…

Houhai is the name of the lake and bar/tea street area of Beijing.  I'd been there once at night, but decided that I wanted to go again during…

Last week, Leo and Vivi were talking about how they'd been to Annie's Italian Restaurant.  This place has supposedly won awards for best Italian…

Studying and talking about Germany had created a craving for German food and beer like nothing else.  So when Jan getting together on Friday, I …

TravBuddy Nalie (TravellinChic) and I exchanged a few messages about Beijing, and agreed that we should definitely meet up.  So our TB meet-up…

Organized tours!  Noooooooo!  But unfortunately, to go to the DMZ and Panmunjom, you have to go with a tour.  This is not a DIY thin…

Yup, Fork village.  Said so on a sign on the bus that we were taking to Suwon station, as Jon so kindly pointed out.  But no, we weren't ac…

First, a temple.  Then, another palace- but this one was really nice.  Walking on sand and stone around the yards, the only grass was out…

After lunch, I headed to the Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon while Christina and Jon napped.  I would bore you again with the history of the fortress…

I lounged in today since Jon and Christina both had to teach summer camp in the morning.  So in the afternoon, I got my first intro to the Suw…

There's nothing like three hours of sitting in your economy-class airplane seat... while the plane sits on the tarmac.  That was my fate for Sat…

When we had reserved the tour, we were told that pick-up would be between 9-9:30.  So as we were going down to breakfast at 8:35, I was surprise…

It wasn't exactly an early morning, but I didn't get to sleep in either.  We headed to the airport early-ish, erring on the side of caution.&n…

Overall, I was quite pleased with this hotel. I had booked it for two friends and me on Ctrip.com. We had gotten our rooms for 298 RMB per room, an…

Well, Jon and Christina wanted to explore this part of Beijing just south of Tiananmen Square called Qianmen (pronounced CHEE-on-men).  Of cou…

I wasn't really planning on going to the Great Wall again after seeing SiMaTai twice last year, but when two friends came to town and said they w…

"All good things must come to an end."And that held true for my time in Shanghai.  I had a great time, great views, mostly great food, and lots …

Breakfast was easy- a bakery a couple blocks from the hotel.  I read while I ate.  I know, but you should know me well enough by now. …

After a really late start, it was off for more exploring… after lunch.  I went to the hotel’s Chinese restaurant to celebrate Dragon Boat Fe…

I’d decided long ago (Krakow- February ’06) that I’d had enough of hostels. That didn’t mean I wanted to spend a ton of cash on a hotel. Th…

Another early morning in order to travel.  But with the duffel bag with wheels, it was much easier.  Same trip to the Shuangjing subway sta…

Friday was a good day- I slept until 11am.  Too bad I was woken up at 8am by construction, but that's why I have earplugs.  So after I stum…

The alarm was set for 7am, and that's when it went off.  I managed to get up about 15 minutes later, stumbled my way around the room- even with …

For Americans, we know Travelocity, Orbitz, etc. In China, there is Ctrip.com. They offer domestic flights that include cities even some native Chi…

6:00 am.  That is a horrible, no- better yet- absolutely terrible time to get up in the morning.  Nevermind I was allowing myself plenty of…

I'm offically all Beijing-Templed out.  After Temple of Heaven (Tiantan), YongHeGong and Confucius, I'm done.  They're all great and wonder…

I love zoos!  So when I was asked (by a student) if I wanted to go, of course I said yes.  We met at the subway station near my apartment, …

Like it's said in the Wizard of Oz, "There's no place like home."  And after 15 months in China, I was ready for some time a casa.   T…

Linguistically confused?  Welcome to my life.  And add a dash of Spanish to the mix... I've really got language problems.  But that's …

*Lots of pictures!!!! And two videos!* Starting from September 29th, I have a week off... a whole 7 days of no EF!  Unfortunately, that's a ver…

I was a little weary of Ethiopian, having had an unpleasant meal at an Ethiopian restaurant in the US (New Haven, Connecticut), but I was in for a pl…

Sizzler is an American chain restaurant that serves Western style foods. It's convenient to Jianguomen area (SciTech, Friendship Store and the St Re…

As anyone in Beijing would tell you, Western food is expensive. So with that in mind, I wandered my way into Bravo with a hunger for Italian. It's co…

I got an email from my mom about there being an LL Bean in Beijing, and so of course, I had to find it.  After looking on the internet, I found …

It was a decent Saturday in Beijing (and my decent I mean not overly hot).  We finally left the apartment and went to Wangfujing to the bookstor…

I've been to other Hard Rock's before, and Beijing (newly renovated) wasn't that different. The food was pretty good, the prices expensive, the musi…

This is the last holiday for a while, as there's nothing over the summer 'til September.  I had Friday off due to it being my day of naturally (…

Ok, so nothing exciting on the school (or life) front.  The most exciting thing that's happened to me is receiving a care package from Mom and D…

At about 2:30, I was sitting in the teachers' room at school, working on something when I suddenly felt really dizzy and just plain real sick.  …

Since Librette and Jan had visitors coming, and they were taking vacation at the same time, they wanted to go the Wall.  Since they were going o…

Rain!  And not just a little.  It was coming down pretty hard.  My parents last full day in Beijing and we couldn’t do much of anyth…

I know, Chaoyang Park isn’t a major tourist attraction in Beijing.  We’d already done the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, the Zoo is plan…

This isn't one of those chain hot pot restaurants, and it isn't far away from Sanlitun and Yueshow Fashion Market. They have a good selection of bro…

While making an itinerary for my parents' visit, I scoured my guidebooks and the Web for information about going to the Great Wall.  And after a…

Having been by this restaurant more times than I can count, I finally tried it when my parents visited. Since we don't have Mexican in the town we'r…

Another leisurely morning, no reason to get up really early.  So after a homecooked breakfast, we were off to Tiantan (Temple of Heaven).  …

Tuesday, April 15th- I found that a 16RMB ticket from the Airport Shuttle booth near Jianwai Soho was a much better deal than a taxi to the airport.&…

Of the foods I wanted to make sure my guests (my parents) had when they visited, Beijing Roast Duck was at the top of the list. So walking along the…

It was a nice train ride back to Bejing.  The four of us were together, and we ate dinner on the train.  Then we got cozy in our room, wher…

西安  -Xi'An in chinese characters.  Our first stop in our last day in Xi'An was the Palace of the Eight Immortals.  It's a Taoist…

It costs 25 yuan to enter the grounds, but another 20 to go up top. Since the views of the city weren't that spectular, we didn't go up. The ground…

Another day begun bright and early.  Breakfast at 7, bus at 8...and we went to Banpo Village, somewhere NOT on the intinerary.  Cost an ext…

There are three "pits" to the Terracotta Warriors. I was impressed by all of the exhibits and there's information in English as well. The area arou…

Being a country girl who loves the mountains, I've gotten antsy in flat Beijing. So when a friend suggested the tour to Huashan, I was all over it. …

Okay, so not the whole thing.  We'll get to that later. It was an early start since the bus was supposed to leave at 8am.  Breakfast start…

Before we get started, you'll notice a lack of pictures.  My evil camera ate them all and I haven't figured out how to get them back, nor have I…

City Hotel Xi'An is in a great location. It's a five minute walk from the Bell Tower, and a 10 minute walk from the Muslim Quarter/Great Mosque and …

In the weeks and days before leaving for Xi'An, I filled my head with images of what I thought it'd be like.  After all, pagodas, towers, a Musl…

I know this isn't the most exciting topic for a blog entry, especially on a travel website.  But either at home or abroad, reading has always be…

The Den has been an institution in Beijing for quite some time, and it was one of the first places I'd heard about since arriving. For me, it did no…

I was looking forward to this for quite a while.  At first Librette and I were going to get the 600 yuan VIP tickets which were up on a balcony,…

Tiantan Park (Temple of Heaven) and the Ming Wall Another “beautiful” Monday in Beijing, and it was time to head outdoors.  I put beautiful…

For a city the size of Beijing, there are quite a few parks. Tiantan Park and the Temple of Heaven are a must visit on the list of things to do/see …

Wow!  I haven't been here for six months and there's already 15 blogs (including this one)!  Well, last week in some of the classes we talk…

Sunday was spent catching up on Twin Peaks (only one disc to go, and that disc doesn’t work *is sad*) and started on Criminal Minds.  I got th…

Warning- there be a few pictures of food herein. Spring Festival started on Monday for me, though for EF it technically started on Tuesday.  Bu…

Today was the EF teachers day trip to ski!!  A bus picked us up from my school bright and early at 7:30am.  It took about an hour to get to…

I know I haven’t posted a blog in a long time, so here goes with the updates.  Well, in the last blog I told you about my first trip to IKEA.&…

Tuesday- 2nd of two days off.  So when my throat started to hurt that night, I was a little cranky.  The next day was rainy and cool, and I…

In my last blog I told you about a Halloween party that I was going to.  Well, it was tonight.  I picked up the dress yesterday, bought a r…

Quite the ominous title, huh?  Okay, I didn’t spend more money than God…but then again, does He even have money??? I’ll start at the begi…

The Beijing Foreign Languages Bookstore is easy enough to find and get to, it's right off of the Wangfujing metro stop outside of the mall. Yes, the…

Today I put in a hard day's work...and I wasn't teaching!!!  Late (LATE) last night I thought of a game for the students to play.  It's a v…

I left the price at average because you can get decent prices if you're willing to bargain and bargain HARD. The sales people are pushy and have not…

Vacation is over, and the work begins.  But before, there was another trip across town…further across town where Librette used to live.  …

I realize it’s been a while, and a lot’s happened.  Last Sunday I moved out of the hotel I’d been staying in since my arrival a little mor…

I'm grouping yesterday and today together just because I can.  Tuesday night I found out that the HR orientation that I was told was canceled wa…

Well, the guidebooks warned me about walking in Beijing, especially crossing streets.  Walking can be fun because of various obstacles (and I ne…

Well, it's been interesting so far...dealing with culture shock, homesickness and an inability to communicate.  I haven't been able to see any o…

Thirteen and a half hours.  This moderately claustrophobic girl was stuck in a plane for close to 14 hours.  Can ya tell that wasn't my ide…