Destination: China

World Travel Watch: Protests in Nepal, Tensions in Nicaragua and More

Larry Habegger rounds up global travel news

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Photo You Must See: 32 Meters of Mao

Photo You Must See: 32 Meters of Mao REUTERS/China Daily
REUTERS/China Daily

A 32-meter (or 105-foot) statue of a youthful Chairman Mao is under construction in Hunan province, China.


Photo You Must See: Wedding on the Great Wall

Photo You Must See: Wedding on the Great Wall REUTERS/David Gray
REUTERS/David Gray

Actually, we’re not sure there was a wedding—but at the very least, a woman in a bridal gown poses for photos on a section of the Great Wall of China.


Fallows: ‘How I Survived China’

The Atlantic’s former China correspondent reflects on the health issues he faced as an expat amid the “ochre skies and suspect sanitation of China.” The air quality there can be so bad, one doctor told Fallows, “I encourage people with children not to consider extended tours in China. Those little lungs.”

What will future air quality be like in China? In Beijing, at least, it’s already improving.


Photo You Must See: Ice Restaurant in China

Photo You Must See: Ice Restaurant in China REUTERS/China Daily
REUTERS/China Daily

Diners sit at a table in an ice restaurant in Harbin, in north east China. The temperature in the restaurant is about 25 degrees.


Photo You Must See: A Forbidden View in Beijing

Photo You Must See: A Forbidden View in Beijing REUTERS/David Gray
REUTERS/David Gray

Tourists look south over the Forbidden City from Beijing’s Jingshan Park.


Photo You Must See: Flying Before the Shanghai Sun

Photo You Must See: Flying Before the Shanghai Sun REUTERS/Aly Song
REUTERS/Aly Song

A passenger jet cruises past the setting sun in Shanghai yesterday.


Video You Must See: China’s 60th Anniversary


Jan Wong: Looking Back at China’s Darker Days

Jan Wong: Looking Back at China’s Darker Days Photo by maxf via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Photo by maxf via Flickr (Creative Commons)

In a powerful column, Jan Wong, the author of Red China Blues: My Long March From Mao to Now looks back on her complicated love affair with China—from studying abroad in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution to covering the Tiananmen Square massacre from a hotel room uncomfortably nearby. As the country celebrates its 60th anniversary this week, it’s good to see some thoughtful reflection on the dark times in China’s past, too. (Via @DougSaunders)


China Closes Tibet to Foreign Travelers

Why, you ask?

According to the AP, the closure is designed to ensure stability during celebrations of the 60th anniversary of communist rule in China, which will be marked Oct. 1. The closure will remain in effect through Oct. 8.

Officials have also curtailed kite flying in Beijing.

Critics will shake their heads, but I can think of no better way to celebrate authoritarian rule. Nicely done, China.


China: 60 Years of the People’s Republic

The People’s Republic of China will celebrate its sixtieth anniversary on October 1. The Big Picture has yet another stellar photo essay of the elaborate preparations for the big day.


Americans Fight Tourist Kitsch in China

In China, “‘ancient’ villages are being redeveloped in a kitschy, gift-shop-heavy way,” James Fallows writes in the Atlantic. Americans Brian and Jeanee Linden are fighting the trend. They’ve “worked with party officials to secure something rarely accorded foreigners: the right to use a ‘Class A’ historical relic and restore it—its tiling, wooden arches and fretwork, painted murals.”


Yunnan’s ‘Treats’

In one of Kunming's finest restaurants, Jeffrey Tayler samples the dragonfly larvae, bamboo bugs and grasshoppers

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Photo We Love: Two Faiths, One Prayer

Dalai Lama REUTERS/Pichi Chuang
REUTERS/Pichi Chuang

The Dalai Lama listens to his interpreter as Cardinal Paul Shan Kuo-hsi of Taiwan’s Catholic church says a prayer during a religious dialogue in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.


McWorld Goes Local

Further evidence (not that we needed it) that a globalized McWorld does not necessarily mean global homogeneity: Increasingly—though it has been going on for years—fast food franchises around the world are rolling out menu items created for local tastes.

From Global Post:

Domino’s pizzas come topped with squid in Taiwan, black beans in Guatemala and feta cheese in Greece. In China, Kentucky Fried Chicken sells rice congee, while Col. Sanders in India woos vegetarians with offerings like the Chana Snacker, a chickpea burger topped with Thousand Island sauce.