On Chinese Street Food

by Adrienne Wilson on

Go World Travel features a fine culinary travel piece by Larry Jer who after spending months in China decides to risk everything to sample – Chinese street food. We’ve all been tempted on one journey or another to give into the aromas drifting off the grill or pan from some street chef looking to tantalize your taste buds, fuel your stomach as well as make an honest living. Sometimes trying those delicious smelling street treats isn’t as easy as one might think. For Larry having Chinese street food was much like a trip to the circus. I can understand that, but it wasn’t until Larry found he needed to get the weight he’d lost by avoiding most foods in China that he gave in to the street vendors. In addition to developing balls or courage to try the food for weight concerns, he also found gobbling down silkworm added dimension to his stay in China. How about that? Dimension in silkworms? Mmm…

Read the rest for yourself. Foodies can surely appreciate Larry Jer’s very nicely written travel tale.

World’s 10 Most Polluted Places 2006

by Adrienne Wilson on

Make sure you include a respirator or some type of breathing mechanism on your packing list if heading to any of the destinations found on the Blacksmith Institute’s World’s Worst Polluted Places list. Keep in mind there will be no smelling of roses as you stroll the contaminated paths in Haina, Dominican Republic; Kabwe, Zambia; La Oroya, Peru; or Linfen, China. Instead, imagine whiffing the scents of sulfur dioxide, lead, Strontium-90, cobalt and Caesium-137.

On a very serious note the list is very disheartening and if you take an opportunity to read site descriptions in full it gets even worse. Numbers of the potentially affected population are included as well as types of pollutants (some longer than most), site description and cleanup activity. If you’re unable to connect with the dangers of what unusually high levels of any of the toxins noted can do — the pictures make it quite real. I mean, we’re talking some 3,500,000 people in Ranipet, India who could potentially be affected by disgusting, life-threatening toxins found in Tannery waste. This certainly won’t be the kind of information you find in tourism brochures or places your might ever consider for a holiday unless you’re into nuclear power plants, like Ukraine’s ever-so-popular Chernobyl. Chernobyl travel has most certainly been done before, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Then again, I’m just another sucker for fresh water and clean air.

via Gridskipper

Blogging from Remote China

by Neil Woodburn on

It always warms my cockles when someone quits their 9-5 to travel the world.

Most recently, a buddy I used to work with did just that. Lorrin left the corporate jungle and sallied forth into the great unknown in search of far greater adventures than that which could be found within his cubicle.

Lorrin headed to China and, like all good travelers, has started his own blog to document his time abroad. Fortunately Lorrin has proven to be an able writer and has avoided the run-on sentences, poor grammar, and the “then I did this, and then this, and saw that” style of narrative which plagues so many travel blogs out there.

Most importantly, Lorrin has chosen the less traveled road and has written some remarkable posts about his recent journeys to Xinjiang, Urumqi, Kashgar, and the Karakoram highway. He has also peppered some amazing photographs throughout the site, including the one featured above.

I’m sure that after reading what Lorrin has written, you will all join me in hating him. Not only does his blog make me jealous, but it also makes me think about quiting the 9-5 and traveling the world.

Damn you Lorrin!

Chinese Travelers Bad-Mannered?

by Adrienne Wilson on

Before you go bashing the messenger, please read what I’m referring to over at Canada.com. According to their short news piece, China’s tourism authority claims Chinese travelers are uncouth. Of the semi-gross or uncouth habits demonstrated by Chinese travelers, littering would be the one that bothers me more than anything, if true. (Litter bugs are not cool at all!) Spitting, smoking in nonsmoking areas, line-jumping, poor hygiene (not flushing the toilet or covering one’s mouth when sneezing) and walking around shirtless and shoeless in hotels were all common complaints from an online survey on Chinese tourists. Ouch! I’d be pretty hurt with poll results like that and curious to know who took this survey. Up to 100 million Chinese travelers are expected to travel abroad annually by 2020. The survey was carried out in August and plans to improve the manners of Chinese travelers. Whatever that involves I’d hate to be apart of that course.

(P.S. The three individuals in the picture by no means reflect the type of tourist at question. I do not know them. I know not if they sneeze without covering their mouth or litter without a care, but I’m sure they don’t.)

Photo of the Day (October 16, 2006)

by Iva Skoch on

Step right up! Get your daily news here. This is a typical street scene from rural China (here: Guilin). Every morning, copies of the state-controlled newspapers are tacked up to boards around the cities. They draw a crowd. We never got a satisfactory answer as to why folks didn’t just buy the paper, rather than queuing up to read. I guess they like the company.