Picnicking in the worlds most polluted cities – Lishi, Shanxi Province
16 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities are in China. The area between Lishi and Linfen in Shanxi Province is known as the world’s most polluted area.
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travel
Less common tips for first-time visitors to China
There seems to be a lot of outdated advice on the web, mostly about not putting chopsticks in rice, so here are a few tips you may not see in the guide book.
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Simple guide to choosing a VPN for China (and elsewhere!)
One of the problems with being in China is that the internet is heavily controlled to filter out information that might be detrimental to the harmonious society. A simple VPN can help bypass the Great Firewall of China.
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Faking it: Simple Phonetic Mandarin Chinese for Tourists
If you’re only coming for a couple of weeks it’s a bit unlikely you’ll learn Mandarin so here’s a very rough guide to making yourself understood, beyond just pointing at things.
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Hanging Monastery at Datong in China
The most famous attraction in Datong is the 51,000 Buddhist statues at the Yúngāng Grottoes, but by far my favourite is Xuánkōng Sì, the Hanging Monastery, 75m up the side of Mount Heng.
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The slowest person at Mutianyu Great Wall
There are three ways to get down from the Great Wall at Mutianyu. Walk the steep trail, take the cable car or the fun choice - the toboggan run.
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That was delicious, or Why I’ll never make it as a food blogger
I love to cook. I love to eat. I enthusiastically take badly composed photos. Sometimes I even take notes. Unfortunately, I can only remember to do one or two of these at any one time.
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Visiting the Great Hall of the People – Beijing, China
If you’ve ever seen Chinese news footage, it's often showing meetings in marble lined rooms. Most of these rooms are located in the Great Hall of the People that sits on the west of Tiananmen Square.
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Three days of gluttony in Chengdu
We supposedly went to Chengdu to look for a house, but in reality it was all about the amazing array of foods on offer in Sichuan's capital
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House hunting in China is more pleasant than in the UK
With all the pollution and congestion in Beijing, we’ve been contemplating a move and Chengdu is one of the candidates. Maybe I’ve been doing it wrong all these years, but house hunting in China is a far more pleasant experience than in the UK.
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