Destination: China
Interview With Ted Conover: Traveling ‘The Routes of Man’
by Frank Bures | 03.02.10 | 11:39 AM ET
Frank Bures asks the author about the role of roads in the world -- from Ladakh and the Peruvian Andes to the West Bank
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Yahoo! BuzzFrom Beijing to Vancouver: A Very Different Olympics
by Eva Holland | 02.22.10 | 2:22 PM ET
REUTERS/Shaun Best It’s been nearly two years since I blogged from the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, and—as I thought I might—I now find myself on the Olympic travel trail again, in Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Games. I’ll be honest: The two host cities couldn’t feel more different.
I stepped off the train from the airport and surfaced in downtown Vancouver this weekend, expecting, perhaps, to feel some uniquely Olympic vibe in the air, familiar to me from my brief time in Beijing. But the scene on Vancouver’s streets has almost nothing in common with the one I encountered two years ago. My memories of Beijing are all broad boulevards, empty except for uniformed Chinese volunteers offering directions to clusters of wandering foreigners, and subdued subway cars full of commuters. Vancouver, in contrast, is a non-stop maple-leaf-painted street party—flag-draped young people careen through the streets, impromptu break dancing circles pop up on corners, and buskers work the crowds. The brightly-dressed foreigners that I remember from Beijing are here, too, but they’re wildly outnumbered by the revelers in red and white.
I suppose there are plenty of economic reasons for the contrast. The 2008 Games probably weren’t as accessible to the average Chinese citizen as these Games are to most Vancouverites, while the expense and difficulty of visiting China could explain why the many young Olympics visitors here were absent in Beijing. (The local high school students I rode the bus home with last night, for instance, weren’t likely to make a transcontinental Olympic trek.) But economics aside, I still feel like there’s a fundamental difference at work: Beijing’s Games, to me, were clearly aimed outward, at the world, while Vancouver’s, so far, feel more like an essentially Canadian party to which everyone else has also been invited.
How I Got My Chinese Driver’s License
by Peter Hessler | 02.18.10 | 11:23 AM ET
In an excerpt from his new book, "Country Driving," Peter Hessler -- aka Ho Wei -- recalls his Beijing driving exam
Interview With Peter Hessler: Behind the Wheel in China
by Frank Bures | 02.18.10 | 10:23 AM ET
Photo by Darryl Kennedy Frank Bures asks the New Yorker writer about his new book, "Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory"
Photo You Must See: Dancing the Fire Dragon Dance in China
by World Hum | 02.16.10 | 11:36 AM ET
REUTERS/Christina Hu Chinese men perform a fire dragon dance in Beijing in celebration of the Chinese New Year.
Photo You Must See: Operatic Eyes in Guangzhou, China
by World Hum | 02.08.10 | 11:41 AM ET
REUTERS/Joe Tan A passenger walks in front of a giant poster featuring Chinese opera near a railway station in Guangzhou, China.
New Travel Book: ‘China: Museums’
by Eva Holland | 02.05.10 | 12:21 PM ET
This illustrated guide to China’s many lesser-known museums is due out in April. The New Yorker’s Evan Osnos has a thoughtful Q&A with co-author Miriam Clifford, on her favorite spots and the way China presents itself, to visitors and to its own citizens.
Must I Get ‘Off the Beaten Path’ When I Travel?
by Rolf Potts | 02.01.10 | 11:15 AM ET
Vagabonding traveler Rolf Potts answers your questions about travel and the world
New ‘World’s Highest Airport’ Planned for Tibet
by Eva Holland | 01.21.10 | 12:32 PM ET
The AFP reports that the new facility will be built in the Nagqu prefecture, at 4,436 meters (14,554 feet) above sea level—102 meters, or 335 feet, higher than the current record holder, also in Tibet. (Via @alisonbrick)
Reviewed: The Matteo Ricci World Map
by Michael Yessis | 01.20.10 | 3:39 PM ET
Commissioned in 1602, the Matteo Ricci World Map is the first written in Chinese to show the Americas. It’s currently on display at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Edward Rothstein reviews the exhibition:
Ricci created two earlier versions, beginning in 1584, drawing on atlases and materials he took with him on his journey from Italy. But this third version is the earliest to survive and the first to have combined information from both eastern and western cartography. It is also the oldest surviving map to have given the Chinese a larger vision of the earth.
Even the sturdiest of wall maps tend to have limited life spans, but this large, segmented map is so rare that for centuries it was uncertain if this copy even existed, which is why it has been nicknamed the “impossible black tulip” of maps. It is one of six known copies.
World Travel Watch: Elections in Sri Lanka, Shark Attack in Cape Town and More
by Larry Habegger | 01.20.10 | 12:59 PM ET
Larry Habegger rounds up global travel news
Happily Adrift in Airworld
by Eric Weiner | 01.19.10 | 11:57 AM ET
On his love for the places so many hate, from Amsterdam's Schiphol to Doha International
Slideshow: The Uighurs of Xinjiang
by Michael Yessis | 01.14.10 | 3:56 PM ET
Some compelling black and white images at burn. by David Denger, who traveled to Xinjiang, China, before the Beijing Olympics to chronicle the plight of the Uighurs.
World Travel Watch: Major Earthquake in Haiti, Road Blocks in Greece and More
by Larry Habegger | 01.13.10 | 12:25 PM ET
Larry Habegger rounds up global travel news
World Travel Watch: Smog in Hong Kong, Heavy UK Snowfall and More
by Larry Habegger | 01.06.10 | 11:25 AM ET
Larry Habegger rounds up global travel news