Chinese Army Heads to London. You Can Hang With Them!

by Willy Volk on

Though you might be thinking about heading to China to check out the Great Wall, dozens of Chinese soldiers are heading to London. Okay, so the soldiers are part of the famed Terracotta Army, and their destination is the British Museum, but they’re still coming.

For those who don’t know, the Terracotta Army was discovered in 1974 by farmers seeking water. Imagine their surprise when they overturned the soil, and the face of an ancient warrior glowered back at them. So far, about 1000 terracotta figures have been unearthed; experts believe there may be 7000 more buried under ground. (Can’t picture what thousands of clay warriors look like? Check out this pano of them in an exhibition hall.)

The army attacks London in September, and in addition to the warriors, the exhibition will include bureaucrats, musicians, and acrobats. Wait — bureaucrats?! According to Jane Portal, the museum’s curator, “Since China is famous for inventing bureaucracy, it is appropriate that the First Emperor felt the need for officials in his afterlife.” Apparently, the figures are thought to be bureaucrats because they wear no armor, and because they carry knives and knife-sharpeners for scraping off and erasing mistakes. Despite thousands of years, it appears the role of the bureaucrat hasn’t changed much.

Banff Mountain Film Festival – New York City

by Erik Olsen on

Although I’ve only been once…to the one in Santa Monica, CA…I think that the Banff Mountain Film festival is one of those must-do events for outdoors enthusiasts. The event tours the country and Canada, showing off the best independent climbing, skiing and adventure films made today. Of course, the best one to go to is the one in Banff itself, where you can hobnob with the filmmakers and adventurers…which I suppose you can still probably do at some of the more local showings. But you won’t be in Banff.

Anyway, I was very pleased to see that the festival is coming to New York City and I will do my best, dear gadling readers, to attend. The festival will take place in NYC on Tuesday, March 6 and Wednesday March 7, 2007 at the Peter Norton Symphony Space Peter Jay Sharp Theater at 2537 Broadway at 95th Street, New York.

The film schedule can be found here. Most interesting to me are the films Asiemut, a film about a 2005 cycling expedition 8000 kilometers across Asia by Olivier Higgins and Mélanie Carrier and Patagonia – A Travel to the End of the World, a film with Børge Ousland about the first unsupported traverse of the Southern Patagonia Icecap. Gotta love anything about Patagonia.

If you’re curious whether there will be a showing near you, here is the Banff Calender

Researchers to Measure The Great Wall

by Willy Volk on

The Great Wall of China, built to protect the northern border of the Chinese Empire, is an amazing spectacle. In fact, the Great Wall — known to the Chinese as the “Long Wall of 10,000 Li” — is actually a series of walls and earthen works begun in the 5th Century BC and connected centuries later. Since it’s so old, it seems odd that no one really knows the precise dimensions of the iconic structure. Didn’t anybody bother to measure it when they were building it? Or when David Copperfield penetrated it? So weird.

In any event, researchers with both the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping are planning to undertake a detailed survey to establish just how long the ancient barricade is. In addition, they also plan to map the wall’s exact route and check its fortification. After all, a wall over 2000 years old probably needs some patching.

Though you can’t really tag along on the 4-year project, you can walk the Wall yourself with a tour company like China Hiking Adventures or the Adventure Center. Alternatively, you can arrange for the permits and try to tackle it yourself, like Eddie Davis and Beau Bacevicius did in 1997. It took them 109 days, and they clocked it at a paltry 1800 miles. Curiosity piqued? Brendan Fletcher and Emma Nicholas are walking the Wall right now — and blogging their adventure!

Laos: Tough Bus Rides, Beautiful Scenery

by Willy Volk on

Laos is a long, skinny, landlocked country in southeast Asia, often overlooked by tourist-friendly, coastline-owning Thailand. However, with its centuries-old temples at Luang Prabang, 4000 islands at Si Phan Don, and easily-reachable (depending on your definition of easy) Army of Buddhas at Pak Ou, Laos may be one of the most overlooked travel destinations on the planet. While your travel dollars can go far in this beautiful, mountainous country, your memories may be hard-won — especially if you’re a high-maintenance traveler. To see what I mean, check out this excellent 2-minute video of portions of Al Brenner’s bus ride through Laos. Gorgeous…but by no means first class.


If I were heading to Laos, I would have to add the enigmatic Plain of Jars to my list of things to do. Don’t know what the Plain of Jars is? Check out this excellent trip report, and it’ll be on your short list, too.

Worldmapper

by Erik Olsen on

A very cool use of technology, geography and demographics can be found over at the site Worldmapper. They have developed a really amazing algorithm that allows you to see the world and the various sizes of the country therein, through various statistics. Countries look skinny or fat according to their share of wealth or trade or population or education or whatever gets plugged in, but they maintain their familiar boundaries and shapes. Some of the results make the countries look silly (i.e. a Chile-shaped USA), but they are scientifically precise.

For example, the map here shows the break down for tourism. Now this is fascinating, right? It seems that Western Europe is the most popular destination for international tourists, receiving 46% of world tourist trips, while on the other end 0.1% of world tourist trips are made to Central African territories. Hmmm, I guess that’s not too surprising, though. More interesting perhaps is the map here that shows countries that receive more international tourist visits than international visits are made by their residents. Anyway, that’s just a sampling. There are a lot more fascinating maps to see at the site.

Worldmapper was created by geographers from the University of Sheffield’s Social and Spatial Inequalities Research Group (There’s an innovative college major!) and by Mark Newman, a physicist at the University of Michigan. Really neat.