The Ice Sculptures & Siberian Tigers of Harbin. Last week I published my article Exploring the Chinese City of Harbin. While it wasn’t the city itself that had initially drawn me, I found myself enjoying the charms of Zhongyang Street, with its historic cobblestones and lively atmosphere. I also soaked up Harbin’s curious Russian influences, […]
Read MoreExploring the Chinese City of Harbin. February 2010. After six months of living and teaching in Beijing, I was more than ready for a break from work—and for an adventure. Life in the capital had been eventful, often chaotic and stressful, as I’ve detailed in my short story collection Challenged in China! Indeed, that grand, […]
Read MoreMemories from Lama Temple in Beijing. April 2010. I fell for Chinese temples in that first year in China — my first year in Asia — when everything about them felt fresh, fascinating, and almost magical. The riot of colours, the intricate art, the manicured gardens, the sudden hush of hidden courtyards, and that drifting […]
Read MoreIndustrial Dreams: Inside Beijing’s 798 Art District. March 2010 & July 2014. No matter where I am in the world, I always enjoy diving into a city’s street art. Indeed long-term readers may recall my guides to the street art of Malaga, the murals of Belgrade and the local artists of Siem Reap. Back in […]
Read MoreBeijing’s Summer Palace: January Silence, May Heat. January 2010. May 2010. January 2015. Cover photo courtesy of xiquinhosilva. I’ll always look back on my two years in the Chinese capital as an unqualified privilege. Over time, I was able to peel back the city’s many layers—meeting its people, ticking off the major sights, unearthing hidden […]
Read MoreBeijing’s Forbidden City: Where Emperors Walked. April 2010. Sorry to tear you away from Montenegro folks, but as I reach the halfway point of that series I figure it might be a good time to hit the pause button and return to my China (2009-2010) files. Time flies, faster and faster as we get older, […]
Read MoreWalking Kotor’s Promenade to Dobrota. September 2021. Having spent a month based in nearby Tivat, Sladja and I were lucky to have ample time to get to know the neighbouring town of Kotor. In fact, we made several visits, allowing ourselves to take things slowly and soak it all in. One of those outings saw […]
Read MoreHiking to Kotor Fortress in Montenegro. September 2021. After a couple of days fine-combing the characterful streets of Kotor Old Town, it was finally time for Sladja and I to put on our hiking boots. It had been lovely sauntering Kotor’s maze-like lanes and alleys, but now we were looking forward to the challenge of […]
Read MoreExploring the Old Town of Kotor, in Montenegro. September 2021. Visitors to Montenegro’s stunning Adriatic coast truly are spoilt for choice when it comes to incredibly picturesque towns and villages. After spending a month in the up-and-coming town of Tivat—with memorable field trips to the hilltop settlement of Gornja Lastva and the island-dotted beauty of […]
Read MoreThe Charming Churches of Perast, Montenegro. September 2021. It was late afternoon in the gorgeous Montenegrin town of Perast, with just a few hours of sunlight remaining. We had already taken a cruise across the bay to visit Our Lady of the Rocks, the historic island and church. Moreover, we’d wiled away ninety minutes at […]
Read MorePerast Museum, Perast Montenegro. September 2021. Cover photo courtesy of Richard Mortel. The boat taxi dropped us back at Perast’s elegant stone promenade. We’d thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Our Lady of the Rocks, the town’s striking island and its richly adorned historic church. Now, we were ready to dive deeper into Perast’s story as […]
Read MoreOur Lady of the Rocks, Perast, Montenegro. September 2021. Cover photo courtesy of Diego Delso. It was a warm, gentle September morning on the Montenegrin coast. The sky-a-blue, the clouds-a-fluff as Sladja and I boarded the bus in Tivat. Much to my delight, the driver issued our tickets from a vintage setright machine, a fabulous […]
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