A Swimming Date in China
The lesser spotted tween, and its larger relative, the greater spotted teen, are elusive creatures in urban China. You might glimpse one between 6 and...
Tagged: culture
What is Ubud Like? A Few Perspectives
Embarrassingly for someone who writes for a living and has spent months in Ubud, I spectacularly failed the other night to answer the question “What...
I F*cking Love Beirut
As a child of the 70s, who grew up in the 80s, Beirut has all the magical allure of the forbidden that China did. And,...
On the Politics of Museums
The more time we spend in museums around the world, the more I come to realise how very, very political they are. Take the National...
9 Life Lessons Children Learn From Travel
After almost two years on the road, I have to say that if I’d known how much children learn from travel, I’d have started travelling...
Learning Mandarin: Week 4
“If you finish this book,” Sophie reiterates, “You’ll be able to get all around China with no problems.” I wouldn’t have thought it possible when...
The Friday Photo: Heavenly Palace
Yesterday we wandered through the skyscrapers of downtown Kunming to gawp at this ninth-century pagoda, set in a quiet garden where grandmothers take their grandchildren...
Anyone for Chicken Claw?
Wandering around Kunming, our “home” for the past week, I sometimes feel a little like those British journalists inspecting America during the Gilded Age, marvelling...
House-hunting in China — Easier than it Seems
This morning, I woke up on the 32nd floor, looked out of my bedroom window, across the smog that clouds the rising sun, across the...