Dongjiao Coconut Grove
Sit back and scroll through the photographs I took in the Dongjiao Coconut Grove Scenic Area 东郊椰林风景区 in Weichang on Hainan Island. I explored the grove on a bicycle borrowed from the hostel I was staying in. It turned out to be a great idea. …
The art of peanut oil
From peanut to oil. Take a look at how it is done in a small workshop in Yáchéng town 崖城镇 (ancient Yázhōu 崖州古城) on Hainan Island. …
Zhenjiang: fragrant vinegar, suspicious oddities
cold cuts on a dish black gold emits sweet fragrance lid floats in the pot Aye, I decided to catch your attention with this odd haiku. Don’t worry, odds are that it will all be clear soon. Welcome to Zhenjiang, the city of Three Oddities… …
Visit Zhenjiang or you’ll eat vinegar
A detailed desciption of a visit to a vinegar museum in Zhenjiang. China loves vinegar. If I was asked to name two vinegar-related locations a foodie pilgrim should visit, one would be central Shanxi Province with Taiyuan and its vicinities and the other would be …
Kunshan’s stove mystery
Unless you’ve heard about Kunqu, an important form of Chinese opera, the name of the city of Kūnshān 昆山 might not ring a bell at all. Close to the mouth of the Yangtze and between Suzhou and Shanghai, its location is an undoubted advantage. Kunshan …
Sea of tea
Imagine 40,000 acres of tea. Imagine, or just go to Guizhou and see it yourself! At 25 km of lenght and 4 km of width, the “Tea Sea” in Meitan county is hailed as the largest contiguous area of tea plantation in the world. Directions: …
Of melons and deserts
Kasper embarks on the melon trail: Hami and Shanshan in Xinjiang. Hami melon waste container, hami melon bench, hami melon paintings, hami melon monuments. In Hami, melons are bigger than life. Everyone in China knows these melons, but not everyone knows the namesake town. Hami …
Cradle of writing (or the fate of king’s toothache)
Yīnxū 殷墟 in Anyang city is one of the world’s most important archeological sites. We are talking about very, very old times here: Tutankhamun-old and Trojan War-old; the times of Ancient Babylon, the times of Rigveda, the times of replacing bronze tools with iron ones. …
Guitar clangs, Beggar’s Chicken
Beggar’s Chicken 叫化鸡 is a simple yet brilliant concept: a whole chicken is covered in clay and baked, resulting in utterly succulent and fragrant meat. Today, clay is often replaced with dough or oven bags. We prepared it with friends beside a small stream that …
Beihai, Guangxi 北海
Old buildings and seafood. I was in Yunnan and my visa was going to expire soon. I still had about six days left, but there is many tempting destinations on the stretch of 400 kilometers between Yunnan and the border with Hong Kong – and …
