Category Archives: Travel with kids
Sakunami Onsen and Yamadera
In between the cities of Sendai and Yamagata, accessed by the local Senzan train line, sits a modest village known for its waters, infused with legendary healing power, so clear and so pure that it contributes to a famed Japanese … Continue reading
Tsuru-no-yu, Tazawako and Kakunodate
Fancy bathing in ‘milk’? The silky turquoise waters at the famed inn of Tsuru-no-yu will help any aspiring Cleopatra to at least pretend to bathe in some milk for a night or two, possibly with much better outcomes for the … Continue reading
The ancient city of Pingyao
On Pingyao’s impressive city walls, surveying the grey rooftops of the town below, a lone rickshaw rider takes a break. The imposing wall is probably one of China’s last Ming city walls still mostly intact, encircling a cityscape that has … Continue reading
Pingyao’s backyard
Pingyao has received so many glowing reviews that we had to put it on our list of places to see in China. The town is believed to be more than 2,700 years old and its city walls are said to … Continue reading
The Tunnels of Zhangbi Village
From this perspective, it looks like any other village in the Chinese countryside – crumbling in a slow decay, its population reduced and largely elderly. This could be anywhere in China. Yet Zhangbi is unique. Beneath its dusty cobbled lanes … Continue reading
Breakfast around the world!
When I’m traveling, that one indispensable meal of the day for me is always breakfast. From the traditional soft-boiled egg in a cup with iced white coffee (Ipoh, Malaysia) to the continental European fare of simple warm croissants with butter, … Continue reading
Around Pingyao: Wang Family Courtyard
While Pingyao is well-known as one of China’s best-preserved ancient towns, there are also gems in the Shanxi countryside around Pingyao such as this: the huge sprawling complex of the Wang family courtyard. This place gives the term multi-generational living … Continue reading
Rebuilding the old in Datong
I don’t have a good impression of Datong. I found it to have a slightly sullen, seedy air. It felt depressing, chaotic and grimy. There was a layer of dust on everything. And the reason for that soon became clear … Continue reading
Hanging on a prayer
It only gets 3 hours of sunlight a day. That’s one reason why the Hanging Monastery of Hengshan or in Chinese, Xuankong Si (悬空寺) is still in relatively good shape today despite its 1,500-year history. The faded paintwork aside, one … Continue reading
Yungang Grottoes: Home of the Buddhas big and small
I have mixed feelings about this place. On the one hand, the thousands of Buddhas (51,000 to be exact) huge and tiny, carved from the sandstone hills leave me slack-jawed with awe. The thought that these have withstood the ravages … Continue reading
Big On Trips 