Tag Archives: culture

A Short Introduction to Chinese Silk-Making

Posted on April 13, 2012 by

This post has been waiting in the wings for too long! On yet another detour en route to see the Terracotta Army outside of Xi’an, my tour group stopped at a small silk factory–well, more accurately, it was probably more … Continue reading →

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An Afternoon at the Hakone Open-Air Museum

Posted on November 10, 2011 by

Last week, I took a short trip to Hakone, a popular Japanese resort town located about 80 minutes outside of Tokyo by limited express train. I have a number of photos and stories to share with you, but I thought … Continue reading →

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Things I Like About Japan #6: Small Drinks Are Actually Small

Posted on August 31, 2011 by

Today we have another installment of my long-neglected “Things I Like About Japan” series. One thing I really like about Japan is that small drinks are actually small here. In the US, we’ve become sort of fixated with getting “more … Continue reading →

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Wordless Wednesday #21: Clocks

Posted on July 28, 2011 by

  From top to bottom: Minato Mirai Ferris Wheel (Yokohama, Japan); Asakusa (Tokyo, Japan); “Chariot of the Harvest,” Corcoran Gallery of the Art (Washington, DC); Hirata Folk Art Museum (Takayama, Japan); Citizen Clock (Okinawa, Japan); “Clock of the Vestals Carrying … Continue reading →

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Places in Japan: One Fantastic Day in Historic Takayama

Posted on July 21, 2011 by

Reesan from loneleeplanet has started up a new blogging festival called J-Festa to showcase the best of Japan, and this month’s theme is “Places in Japan.” I thought I would use the opportunity to feature a place that I visited … Continue reading →

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Banpo: A 6,000-Year-Old Chinese Neolithic Village

Posted on July 1, 2011 by

While en route to see the Terracotta Army outside of Xi’an, my guided tour stopped at a sight I’d never even heard of: the Banpo Neolithic Village. Discovered in 1953, the location contains the remains of several well-organized settlements dating … Continue reading →

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Muslim Quarter, Xi’an

Posted on June 30, 2011 by

The “flashback to China” continues! I spent the majority of my trip in Beijing, but I made one short trip to Xi’an, the one-time capital city of China, the starting point of the northern route of the Silk Road, and … Continue reading →

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Wordless Wednesday #18: Dumplings!

Posted on June 29, 2011 by

Continuing with the theme of food in China, I thought I’d use this week’s (relatively) Wordless Wednesday to showcase some of the dumplings we encountered. The first three photos feature the same set of “soup dumplings,” which you bite into … Continue reading →

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Pigging Out on Peking Duck

Posted on June 28, 2011 by

In China, we had two goals in mind. I wanted to see lots of historic buildings and sites, and my friend R wanted to “eat everything,” which turned out to be a pretty good combination of interests. We ate a … Continue reading →

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Inside the Forbidden City

Posted on June 26, 2011 by

I haven’t written much about my trip to China since I posted about Beijing’s 798 Art District back in May, but I’m determined to share some of my pictures and experiences with you before I forget them all! I’m hoping … Continue reading →

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