Author Archives: Dan Perry

About Dan Perry

Dan created this blog to document his South America trip, which covered every country on the continent and lasted over two years. He currently lives in Madison, WI.

A Stroll Through Yinchuan

After seeing the Genghis Khan Mausoleum, I left Inner Mongolia for Ninxia Hui, a small autonomous region in north-central China. My first stop was Yinchuan, Ninxia Hui's small capital, with a population of 800,000. Being a Chinese city, everything there seemed interesting to me, from a lake on the city's northwest side, to a smallish mosque, to a pedestrian shopping street. Here are a few photos from my stroll through Yinchuan:

The Yinchuan train station.

The things you see when you ride trains. In this case, a giant statue in the middle of nowhere.

First stop in Yinchuan: A tribute to the Roman Coliseum.

Aloha, my new Taiwanese friend. That's his name; I'm not just saying hello.

A sexy lumberjack.

Yinchuan's ancient Bell Tower.

This friendly street sweeper gave us directions to the Nanguan Mosque. But first, we had a long street to walk down.

Proud parents of the coolest kid in the world.

An old man playing a traditional Chinese instrument.

This guy was selling hand-cut pop-up cards on the street.

This man had no arms, yet he was painting beautiful calligraphy with his feet. What an inspiration he was.

This sketch artist had a whole crowd of people captivated.

Sweet potatoes have to be one of the best bargain foods available in Chinese cities. For less than one dollar, you can get a large, delicious and nutritious meal.

This guy cooked us some “Chinese hamburgers” over an open flame.

Learning to ride with training wheels, under the watchful gaze of Chairman Mao.

A ring toss game. You could win a rabbit, a chipmunk, a small bird or even a goldfish. Test your luck!

After a lot of walking, we reached the Nanguan Mosque.

My new friends and tour guides.

The ornate interior of the mosque.

The mosque after sunset.

And here are some more photos from Ningxia Hui.

The Mausoleum of Genghis Khan

Tibetan Buddhist Stupas

During my first few months in China, I traveled with Katie to northern Inner Mongolia, where we learned a lot about Genghis Khan and his legacy. I couldn't get enough, so a year later, when I heard about a giant memorial to Genghis Khan in the middle of nowhere, I decided that I couldn't miss out on the opportunity to see it.

For the first leg of my journey, I hopped on a train from Beijing to Hohhot, capital of Inner Mongolia. Despite it being fall, the weather was hot and sunny, and I spent a couple of days checking out this interesting city.

Fall colors in Hohhot.

This guy was working on his calligraphy skills in the park. He used water for “paint”, so all of that effort would soon evaporate.

A beautiful park in Hohhot.

The river that runs through the park.

Hands down, the best mutton stew I have had in China. It would be worth traveling back to Hohhot just to get another bowl.

Nuts and grains for sale.

Lots of people were walking and cycling around Hohhot's Muslim district. Here are a few of them:

One of the city's main Muslim markets.

The Great Mosque has mini-palms outside, despite the fact that it is in a cold part of China.

This is your gateway to fun.

This woman is carving wooden beads for a necklace.

After Hohhot, I went for the highlight of this short journey: Genghis Khan's mausoleum. It was in the middle of nowhere in Inner Mongolia, so it was kind of hard to get to. And it rained all day. And this was a cenotaph, where there is a coffin but no actual body, because nobody knows where the Great Khan is buried. It's said that in order to keep the location a secret, all of the priests who participated in the burial were killed by guards, and then those guards were killed by another set of guards. But even lacking Khan's actual remains, the compound was interesting, with lots of ancient(-ish) artifacts.

This is the main building. No photography was allowed inside. The walls were painted with giant murals depicting Mongolian history, and there was a large altar dedicated to the Great Kahn himself.

Here is one of the memorial mounds outside of the main building.

I'm the one in the back, with the red jacket.

Ancient Mongolian kid's shirt.

A dragon chalice.

A bronze dog from the Yuan dynasty.

A figure wall painting from the Qing dynasty.

A modern ger for the modern Mongolian family.

Dongsheng, the nearest city to the mausoleum, had some interesting sculptures in its parks.

Genghis Kahn's legacy is inescapable in this region.

To be honest, the mausoleum left me feeling a bit underwhelmed. Not that it wasn't impressive, because it was. I think what kept me from loving it was the crappy weather, the lack of public transportation and the high entrance fee. I spent a lot of money going there, and I think that unless you're an absolute Mongolian buff, it's probably not worth the long journey.

Has anyone else out there been to this mausoleum? What did you think?

Here are some more of my pictures from Inner Mongolia.

Summer in Berlin

Berlin's Holocaust Memorial is full of symbolism.

Last summer, Katie and I traveled to Berlin, where she lived for two years. Katie was a great tour guide, taking me to her old haunts and to the city's many parks and tourism attractions. I had a great time getting to know this world-class city for two full weeks. Many thanks to Maor, Christina and Liese for hosting us. I hope to see you again in the next few years.

Here are a few of my pictures from our trip:

You can swing in front of the Berlin Wall.

Can you spot him?

Did you know I recorded a podcast with Liese, who grew up in West Berlin before the wall came down? You can listen to her story here.

The places where the wall was torn down are clearly marked.

These spikes used to sit between the walls to discourage jumpers.

There were actually two Berlin Walls, controlled by opposing forces.

There's more to Berlin than the wall. For example, you can see where Michael Jackson dangled his baby outside a hotel window.

And there's the famous Brandenburg Gate.

Grunewald is a giant forest park, west of Berlin.

Couples secure these locks to symbolize their everlasting love.

Berlin serves as a living monument to the ravages of war. Kaiser Vilhelm church was partly destroyed in World War II.

A new church is next to it, with blue stained glass windows lining the interior.

The U-Bahn is Berlin's utilitarian subway system.

The cars are clean and you can usually find a seat.

At Winterfeldplatz market, foodies can find lots of great deals.

There's always plenty of fruit for sale.

This guy was selling natural pillows, stuffed with grains.

Hanging out.

Berlin is known for its festivals. This one was in remembrance of the 2010 Love Parade disaster, during which 21 people died from suffocation.

You can drink alcohol freely on the street in Berlin.

A common sight in Berlin.

Checkpoint Charlie, the former division between East and West, is now a tourist attraction.

There are many Turkish markets in the city.

Train tracks, abandoned buildings, graffiti.

Tempelhof Field used to be the airport. It has been decommissioned and is currently a giant park.

Barbed wire still exists in many places.

The Reichstag is the futuristic building where the federal government meets.

The main building is old.

Old friends reunited: Dan, Katie and Kevin.

Did you know I recorded a podcast with Kevin? He talked about bicycling across America, in the shape of a mustache. You can listen to it here.

Thanks to Maor, Christina and Liese for hosting us!

Click here for more of my photos from Berlin.

AtW Podcast, Episode 13: Fei and Tapani

Tapani, Fei, Dan

Fei (菲) is from China. Tapani is from Finland. They met in New Zealand. They almost lived together in England. How did they end up in getting married and moving to Beijing? I got their story for this podcast.

Here's where you can download it, or listen directly:

Download this Episode (right-click and choose “save as”)

Show notes:

Tapani mentioned Japanese Manga and I didn't know what it was. Here's an article explaining it.
Tapani also talked about Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a classic of Chinese literature. You can buy Part I and Part II from Amazon, but unfortunately they are quite expensive ($31.54 for the Kindle editions). My own book, 1000 Days Between, isn't quite a classic yet. It's not even Chinese. But it is substantially cheaper. And that alone makes it work buying.

Northern Thailand Highlights

Katie stands over Chiang Mai.

As many of you know, last year Katie tore her Achilles' tendon while playing frisbee in China. During her lengthy recovery, we managed to squeeze in a trip to northern Thailand. Chiang Mai and Pai were beautiful places; I'd love to go back some day. For us, one of the highlights of Chiang Mai was renting a scooter and driving to a temple above the city. Here are some photos:

Katie is the coolest crutch-wielding scooter rider in town.

The stairs leading to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep.

You can ring my bell.

Golden Buddhas.

Mean and green.

A golden umbrella.

A line of golden Buddhas.

Even the back of the Wat Phra That Doi Suthep temple is beautiful.

Love tags.

The serpentine stairs to the bottom.

A meditating dude.

Later, we went to the small town of Pai, which had another temple with an amazing view. Crutch-walking up the stairs was a huge accomplishment in Katie's recovery. Here's a little video I made:

Wat Phra That Mae Yen

Behind every great Buddha, there's great scaffolding.

Katie looks out over Pai.

The Pai River runs through – you guessed it – Pai!

The Great Wall of Yunnan.

We also made a journey to a re-creation of the Great Wall:

The courtyard of the Great Wall (complete with ying-yang).

Behold the Wall!

Those are Beijing palms.

Finally, we caught the train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. The journey was long, but once again beautiful.

The train to Bangkok (don't miss it!).

During the train to Bangkok.

I would recommend Thailand for travelers with any level of experience. It's laid-back and safe, and the scenery is gorgeous. I can't wait to get back and explore the southern half of the country!

AtW Podcast, Episode 12: Kade Mascarella

Dan, Taliesin and Kade.

For this episode of the podcast, I talked with Kade Mascarella. He and his wife Stacie have lived in Beijing for the last eight years. They traveled extensively before they had kids, and they made a conscious decision to continue traveling after their kids were born. Kade and I talked about many parts of the world, but the focus of our discussion was on traveling with children. I learned that not only is it possible to travel to exotic places with your kids, but in some cases, you'll actually open doors to more genuine interactions.

Kade's advice is simple: plan more, go slower.

Are you excited yet? Here's our discussion:

Download this Episode (right-click and choose “save as”)

Show notes:

I mentioned the book Freakonomics, specifically the chapter that talks about how our childrens' names can affect their lives. Here's a Freakonomics podcast episode where they discuss a similar topic.
I also mentioned an episode of the Radiolab podcast that talks about music. Part of the episode mentions that speakers of tonal languages, such as Mandarin, are much more likely to have perfect pitch than speakers of non-tonal languages, such as English.

Kade told a story about his visit to the DMZ in North Korea. Here's a picture that I took from the building he was in (the Panmungak building), facing south. The center of the blue buildings marks the border between North and South Korea. The military in this picture are all North Korean.

Here's Katie sitting at the table where the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed on July 27, 1953.

And finally, here's a picture of the North Korean military guarding the Joint Security Area. Technically, they are standing in South Korea.

Have you ever traveled internationally with your kids? Let me know in the comment section below.

Hiking on the Great Wall

Katie and I at the wall.

The Great Wall is a highlight of any visit to China. What a lot of people don't know is that the wall doesn't exist in one continuous stretch. Instead, the Great Wall has many sections, some totally restored, others original. In many sections, you can walk for hours without seeing anyone. You can even camp on the wall. Beijing (my current home) is less than two hours from the wall, so I've had many chances to go, to different sections and in different seasons.

The Jiankou section.

Parts of the wall are crumbling.

Some of the down-climbs are dodgy.

One of the famous guard towers.

Hiking the Jiankou section.

The wall tends to follow the top of hills and mountain passes.

Katie is making her way down an unrestored section.

Humpty Dumpty.

The scenery is spectacular.

A particularly hilly section.

On another weekend, we went to a different section.

Our goal is to get somewhere back there.

A really nice guard tower.

From a tower overlooking the valley.

Sometimes it's good to take it all in.

We camped on top of the wall.

Find a nice spot and stop for the night.

The wall seems to go on forever. You can't see it from space, though.

Relax.

I went back in the winter with my mom.

Looking out over the wall.

From inside a tower after getting a few inches of snow.

Climb to the top... if you dare!

The wild wall in winter.

Click for my complete photo set from the Great Wall.

Beijing's Summer Palace

Lake Kunming, with the Summer Palace in the background.

The Summer Palace undoubtedly is one of Beijing's highlights. It has nearly 900 years of history, during which many emperors have used the park and its fabulous pagodas as a summer retreat. I've been to this UNESCO World Heritage Site a few times, and have always found something new to see. Now that spring is here, I'm sure to return for another visit. Until then, here are some of my photos from the Summer Palace:

The Hall of Virtuous Splendor.

Guardian lions protect the palace.

Calligraphy is on display.

If you're lucky, you might get to see a musical performance.

Beautiful forests surround the palace.

Trees must be important. They are held up with these chains and poles.

Never mind the construction.

The palace sits on a 20-meter foundation.

These traditional buildings are at the top of the hill.

The Tower of Buddhist Incense.

These ornately decorated halls surround the Buddhist temple.

The roofs have intricate designs.

Kunming Lake is next to the palace.

You can rent one of these boats to drive around the lake.

Perfect for trolling around by yourself.

You can also ride in these cool boats.

And meet the friendly locals.

17 Arches Bridge takes you to Nanhu Island.

Avoid public holidays, when the crowds are overwhelming.

Want more?
More Summer Palace photos
Still more Summer Palace photos

AtW Podcast, Episode 11: Wang Ye

Wang Ye and Dan.

In this episode of the Around The World Podcast, I talk with Wang Ye. Originally from Xian, China, Wang Ye moved to California and went to school at Berkeley, before dropping everything to take
on the life of a digital nomad. We sat on my balcony in Beijing to discuss his life story and his future plans.

Download this Episode (right-click and choose “save as”)

During the podcast, we talked about the Terracotta Warriors.

One of the Terracotta Warriors.

Another warrior.

Click for more of my Terracotta Warriors photos.

We also discussed the Xian's Muslim Quarter.

They blow on the meat to cool it off.

A candy maker. He's stretching his candy on a hook.

Click for more of my Muslim Quarter photos.

Beijing's Lantern Festival Fireworks

Sunset in Beijing.

January 22, 2016
Day 585

The New Year fireworks in China make the largest Fourth of July displays in the US look like child's play. And rather than just one or two nights, the festivities continue for over two weeks. The fifteenth day of the new year marks the Lantern Festival. Supposedly this is a traditional holiday where people carried red lanterns to temples, symbolically letting go of their past selves. But this year in Beijing, all I saw were fireworks. Lots of them, spread all over the city. The rumbles and explosions echoed off of buildings for six hours straight. Here's a short video to give you an idea of what it was like:

This year's New Year festivities definitely went out with a bang. Ever traveled to China for Chinese New Year? Tell me about it in the comment section below.