Until two weeks ago, I had never heard of Quzhou but, when summer boredom began settling in, I started rummaging around in my slightly dated Zhejiang Guide and discovered there were a couple of cities I had never been to, including Jinhua and Quzhou. A few days later, my boyfriend and I bid our dusty top floor apartment farewell and hopped on a train. Read the rest of this entry »

Our train, a line of brown carriages and barred windows, approached the platform. It slowed – men ran at it, grabbed hold – and stopped. The carriage entrances, wide, divided by a single, much clutched pole, were a mess of brown skin and hard packed, wiry limbs. Men shouted. Forced between bodies, the individual shouts echoed and merged. Men pushed and came out, narrow, ragged, luggage swaying above their bent heads.

I wavered, but Claire, my girlfriend, moved, past one, two, then three carriages. All, she said, were impassably full. The shouts stopped, the echoes faded, and, behind us, new cries were assumed. Again, men pushed. I was caught in their momentum and, at the gap between carriage and platform, was forced to leap into a squash of bodies, a somehow penetrable space. Read the rest of this entry »

Sunset at the new Park Hyatt in Beijing

Beijing in the spring time, with the Hyatt Group as my base, allowed me a perfect vacation. Upon arriving in Beijing from Shanghai, one gets the sense that this is a city that has been preparing to host the world. A sense of order and cleanliness has descended on the city that did not exist until recently. Taxis are newer and larger, the avenues wider, and one begins to feel an air of confidence among the crowds, visible in the buildings that have sprung up in recent years. Read the rest of this entry »

Any trip to China’s capital warrants at least one trip to feast on the city’s greatest contribution to Chinese cuisine, Peking Duck. But Beijing has got a lot more going for it than the duck. Being the cultural and political capital of the Middle Kingdom for over 1500 years, Beijing has been home to some of the greatest chefs from all over China. For those who want to dive in, we’ve done the heavy lifting for you. Below are some of the best  China’s regional cuisines that Beijing has to offer.

Hot Pot

”What kind of restaurant makes you cook your own food?” Bill Murray asked in Lost in Translation. Only the kind that always has a waiting list of devotees. At Haidilao, customers dip raw vegetables, meats and seafood in boiling broth and add sesame and spice sauce before chowing down. We love the hand-pulled noodles (拉面) and other goodies like enoki and shitake mushrooms (金针菇and 香菇, respectively). Expect a wait, but it’s hard to complain when plied with tea, snacks and free manicures (no kidding!).

Haidilao 海底捞 A2 Naijiazhuang Lu, Sanlitun, West of Beijing No. 80 Middle School 白家庄路甲二号，80中学西侧 6595-0079

Sichuan

Sichuan cuisine is known for its copious use of chili peppers, and for spicy food lovers it’s definitely a must-try. Chuan Ban, nearly universally acknowledged by locals and food experts alike, whips up the city’s tastiest examples of the fiery hot dishes. Small wonder, as it’s located in the same building as Sichuan province’s Beijing representative office. You’ll be pleased to find Kungpao Chicken, (宫爆鸡丁), on the menu, as well as the popular Mapo Tofu (麻婆豆腐).

Chuan Ban 川办餐厅 5 Gongyuan Toutiao, Jianguomennei Dajie 建国门内贡院头条5号 6512-2277 ext. 6101

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This is a brief guide to spending a weekend seeing the sights of Taipei. Recommendations come courtesy Lauren Mack, an American expat in Taipei.

Start with a Friday afternoon visit to National Taipei Democracy Memorial Hall (21 Zhongshan South Road, Zhongzheng district, 2343-1100 ext. 3) honoring Chiang Kai-Shek and National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (505 Renai Road, Xinyi district, Section 4, 2758-8008 ext. 546) honoring modern China’s national father. Then, before sunset, ascend Taipei 101, the world’s tallest building (508m) to watch the sunset. Reminiscent of a bamboo stalk, it has the world’s heaviest exposed wind damper and the world’s fastest elevators (7 Xinyi Road, Xinyi district, Section 5, 8101-8899, NT$400/adult, NT$370/child).

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