Our dear friend Liza works for an aged care advocacy organisation in Brisbane. A part of Liza's job is to manage the production of an Over 55's monthly magazine called "Now That's Living". A few months ago Liza asked me to write a piece about Dave and I traveling to…
I have to admit to being a non-finisher. There, I've said it. Though this will not surprise those who know me well. I'm one of those people who has a brilliant idea, gets all excited about starting the ball rolling, then wishes someone would just come along and finish it…
So this is what brought us to China. Looks surreal doesn't it? All that long time ago when Dave sent an email to my work with a picture of the Great Wall of China, I immediately wrote back and said "Let's go to China". He came back with a yes,…
Tiananmen Square is the symbolic heart of China It's really difficult to imagine, standing here in Tiananmen Square, that around 24 years ago there were reports of many people killed during the June 4 1989 pro democracy demonstrations and riots. There are, of course, no official figures of the casualties…
Jing, our very beautiful and smart Intrepid leader told us that the Chinese word "jing" means capital, or important - as in Beijing being the modern day southern capital, and Shangjing being the ancient northern capital. Other ancient capitals were the western capital Xijing and Dongjing, the eastern capital. So…
There are many things we like about traveling with Intrepid, and a stand out for us is their commitment to sustainable & responsible travel as well as their support of local community organisations in destination countries. An included activity for us in Xian was a visit to the Xian Huiling.…
Of course the main event in Xian is a visit to see the Terracotta Warriors. And we were suitably awe-struck! What an incredible place, and fascinating to ponder the history here. It's really hard to believe that in 1974 a bunch of farmers were trying to dig a well in…
We now find ourselves in beautiful, charming Xian. Incredible to think that yet again we put our lives so willingly into the hands of random Chinese pilots and air traffic controllers (flying Northern China Airlines from Hangzhou). Willingly, blindly. With fingers crossed. Fortunately with the best possible outcome, and no…
Loving, loving, loving China. Did I mention how much we love China? Leaving Shanghai :( We've been treated to amazingly fantastic food (oh, the food the food), incredible scenery, beautiful friendly people, mega cities and amazingly fantastic food. Without wishing to sound like a broken record, this trip has exceeded…
After disembarking our Yangtze River boat, then a coach to the airport, another internal flight (phew), a mini bus through Shanghai crush hour traffic (7.30pm, it never stops apparently), we finally made it up to our hotel room to find this stunning view. Very special. The magnificent view from our…
