China 
China: Beijing’s Song Tang Zhai Museum, a taste of hutong history(3)
Everywhere, including Beijing, the saying “one man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure” is true. Li Songtang, now in his 60s, started collecting architectural details of houses being torn down mainly during the 70s modernisation push. He now has a collection of over 10,000 items of carved lintels, gates, screens, garden statuary, etc., of which about [...]
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China: Life in Beijing
One of the great megalopolis of this world, Beijing never ceases to surprise me. Even though the number of skyscrapers has easily quadrupled since the first time I visited in 1995, you can still find quiet corners where it seems as if time has stood still. But believe me, it hasn’t. Not here. If anything, [...]
China: The eternal Forbidden City
As disenchanted as I was with the visit to the Great Wall, the thrill of visiting the Forbidden City for the umpteenth time is always there. For all its vastness, there is always a nook or cranny that can be discovered anew; always an around-the-corner detail that enchants the eye. Especially this time, after the [...]
China: Great crowds at the Great Wall
No matter what one is going to say about the Great Wall, it all sounds like a cliché and the facts are so easily researched that it would be stating the obvious. So what is there left to say? At Badaling, the most popular of the Great Wall stretches for tourists, there is a gondola [...]