A journey through Inner Mongolia

by Jerry Guo on

Inner Mongolia is Myrtle Beach. What I mean is, if you have the time and budget, you’ll probably go to the real-deal: Mongolia and Tahiti (or somewhere else more exotic than Florida).

That’s not to say Inner Mongolia is not worth your time. I just feel it’s not as authentic as Mongolia since it’s within the borders of China, and hence, there are lots of Han Chinese farmers who aren’t actually nomadic Mongols.

My time in Inner Mongolia was a lot of fun: spent a night in a yurt, horse-backed, visited a couple Tibetan temples (which you wouldn’t find in Mongolia), and sand-surfed on the fringes of the Gobi Desert.

Basically, if you’re taking the grand tour of China and want to get a glimpse of Mongolia, or want something to do that’s close to Beijing (it’s six hours away by bus or car, and a short one hour flight away), Inner Mongolia is a good bet.

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World Heritage and the Gadling connection

by Jamie Rhein on

In November, Grant, Catherine and I had a grand time participating in a conference call with various folks interested in travel and preserving those things that make the world a wonderful place to be. Friends of World Heritage, an initiative in partnership with the United Nations Foundation, Expedia.com and World Heritage Center at UNESCO, orchestrated the call to promote a dialog among us and create a network that fosters public interest and involvement in the work of Friends of World Heritage. The aim of the organization is to ensure UNESCO’s World Heritage sites continue to gain public recognition and support as valuable places worthy of honor and preservation. TurtlefeetSurfersBeat, Intelligent Travel (blog for National Geographic Traveler) and National Parks Traveler joined in on the chat.

Catherine, Grant and I were happy to be included among the group of knowledgeable and engaged folks who are interested in the world and preserving its natural and cultural heritage. (All Gadling bloggers are included in those interested in the world. Catherine, Grant and I are the ones who were able to participate in the call.) Since World Heritage sites are among those places that ensure that our natural world and cultural history stay intact, this conversation was a perfect interaction of interests.

We’ve continued to stay engaged with Friends of World Heritage since then. Our hope is that we can further the cause of Friends of World Heritage by letting Gadling readers know about the latest happenings in the World Heritage arena and highlighting those must see places that are must see because of their distinctive characteristics.

One of the latest happenings in the World Heritage arena is that 14 places in the United States have been named as contenders for the distinction of becoming an official World Heritage site. These 14 are on the new “Tentative List.” We are using February as a month to highlight the bounty. In the month of love, these are places to love.

Naming the sites on this “Tentative List” is the end of the beginning of the process. These 14 sites, the first to be considered in the U.S. in 12 years, have been picked by the Department of the Interior (in conjunction with the National Park Service) for consideration. The places on the Tentative List won’t be able to be considered as official World Heritage Sites until 2009. The rules state that a place has to be on a list for a year. A site can be on a list for a long, long time as there is a lot of competition. This is my understanding from the press release we received from the U.S. Department of Interior via Friends of World Heritage.

Stay tuned for a post on the “Tentative List” this afternoon and Gadling’s coverage of the 14 sites throughout this month. You can help us decide who we think should win an official spot as a World Heritage Site. The photo is of the map of World Heritage sites. We’ll let you in on how to get one of those too.

Photo of the Day 2-3-2008

by Catherine Bodry on


On my first trip to Asia I couldn’t believe how casually gas was sold there — often, someone sits at a stand on a corner with recycled 2-liter soda bottles filled with petrol. Here, LadyExpat captures a slightly-more-professional operation in Northern Thailand.

Have any photos of your travels to share? Upload them to Gadling’s Flickr pool and we’ll consider them for our Photo of the Day feature.

Forget Times Square, Go Jazz at Lincoln Center

by Iva Skoch on

For all the time I spend in NYC, last night was the very first time I’ve seen Jazz at Lincoln Center, at it’s “new” $128M home, the Time Warner building, at Columbus Circle.

The center moved here in 2004 from its digs a little further north, and, let me tell you, it is a terrific venue for music. Definitely worth the trip for tourists visiting Times Square for a show.

The mid-sized Allen Room is an intimate venue (less than 500 seats) where the audience faces a four-story wall of glass that gives you a 6th floor view out into the city, overlooking Central Park. It’s one of the most amazing backdrops for a concert you’ll ever see. Last night, the city lights lit up a bank of fog sitting up near the tops of the buildings. The reflected lights of the cars on Central Park South looked like raindrops cascading down the glass. And the big CNN neon sign cast red light down onto the stage. Wow.

And, and insider tip: get yourself a seat in row C, which puts you eye-level with the musicians. And sit back and enjoy.

Chicago’s thoughtful guide for folks who have disabilities

by Jamie Rhein on

Over this past year, each time I’ve gone to the Columbus Zoo, I’ve looked at the hopefully temporary location of handicapped parking and thought, “This is not very handicapped friendly.” It’s too far from the main gate. By the time a person hoofs it to the main gate, it’s been a hike already. The main gate, to be fair, is going to be located elsewhere once the water park is finished, and the details for connecting the zoo to the new water park are completed. I’m assuming the gate will once more be closer to the parking lot. In the meantime, there’s a bit of a long walk. Possibly, the walk seems long because before the renovations started, handicapped parking was right at the gate.

For anyone who has a disability, or who travels with people who have disabilities–where accessibility to attractions is a concern, Chicago has developed a guide to help folks find the easy places to visit. “Easy Access Chicago” highlights all those spots that are handicapped accessible and provides details about visiting those places.

As people get older, but still have a desire to get out and enjoy travel, this type of guide is a great idea. I hope other cities follow suit if they haven’t already. It seems this guide would be useful for folks packing a stroller as well. You can download the guide at http://easyaccesschicago.org/ or call 1-800-226-6632 to order one. The guide is free.