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 Mausoleum of Genghis Khan

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.

Summer in Berlin

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:

AtW Podcast, Episode 13: Fei and Tapani

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.

Northern Thailand Highlights

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:

AtW Podcast, Episode 12: Kade Mascarella

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.

Hiking on the Great 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.

Beijing's Summer Palace

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.

AtW Podcast, Episode 11: Wang Ye

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.

Beijing's Lantern Festival Fireworks

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: