Gannan is somewhere I've always wanted to visit. Last year, I was wondering what to do over the National Day holiday when I suddenly thought, why not go to Gannan? The whole trip took about five days, starting in Xi'an, winding through Gannan, and finishing in Lanzhou before heading home. Here's our full route. After a quick bowl of noodles in Xi'an, we set off on our Gannan adventure. Our first stop was…
Half a year later, I’m finally wrapping up my return trip to Xinjiang. Honestly, I’ve dragged this out a bit too long. Xinjiang Revisited—The Border Crossing Xinjiang Revisited—Tacheng After a day of rest, we set off for Sayram Lake early the next morning. With the distant mountains as a backdrop, the border crossing had a charm all its own in the early morning. After a simple breakfast, we headed toward…
After resting up for a night in Tacheng, we set off for the Bakhtu border crossing the next day. One of the main goals of this trip was to visit some of Xinjiang’s border crossings and broaden our horizons a little. Before heading to Bakhtu, we tried the distinctive local Russian-style ice cream and sour plum drink in Tacheng. The ice cream had a slightly grainy texture and, overall, felt fairly…
Ever since experiencing summer in Xinjiang last year, I’d had one thought stuck in my head: I absolutely had to come back and experience winter here too. With the New Year holiday upon us, it was time to make it happen. Here are the places we passed through on this trip. Having finished the whole journey, I personally think it was well worth it. One stretch of road followed the border the entire way—an incredible experience, and…
First: wishing everyone good luck in 2025 in the Year of the Snake. Second: this Xinjiang update is long overdue, so you can revisit the first post, Let's Go to Xinjiang. Finally: let's begin part two of Let's Go to Xinjiang. Picking up where we left off, after taking in Sayram Lake, we started getting ready to head to a road-trip paradise—the Duku Highway. It runs across the Tianshan Mountains from north to south, and if you're lucky, in a single day you can experience…
Before I begin: As I was writing this, I realized it was turning into a bit of a running log. I thought about it and figured, no central thread? So be it. I'll just treat it as a record. There are loads of photos throughout, so you can browse it as a little digital side dish. At the beginning of 20, while wandering around Beijing on my own, I made a special trip to Xiaomi Science and Technology Park, changing subway lines to get there. I remember it must have been around noon, …
A Leisurely Wander Around Changsha. Changsha is a city I’m relatively unfamiliar with. I remember only learning about it when a classmate went there for work after we graduated from university. I vaguely remember them bringing some soy-braised pressed duck back to our dorm, and everyone smacking their lips as they ate it. Hahaha, another lovely memory. Orange Isle. Having landed in Changsha, how could we not go straight to see the great man…
After watching countless travel videos about Xinjiang, I’d been itching to go for ages. Now that I had some time free, why not make a trip of it❕ To get the full experience, we drove ourselves. Over the course of a week, Sayram Lake was basically the only scenic area we visited. It’s a must-see—the scenery is beyond words. If you have enough time, I’d recommend spending a night inside the scenic area…
After work on Friday, I suddenly got a call from a friend saying, “Let's explore Beijing at night.” I figured it would be a pretty novel experience, so at ten that night, off we went. Our first stop had to be Tiananmen. Before, I'd always walked right up to it, but this time we drove past. Hahaha, a whole different feeling. Compared with the daytime, Tiananmen at night…
Looking back, I’ve spent every National Day holiday at home, mostly because traveling during the holiday just isn’t worth it: an endless sea of the backs of people’s heads, plus the mental load of buying tickets, traffic jams, finding somewhere to stay, and all the rest. Just thinking about it feels suffocating, so every year I spend the long break lounging at home and binge-watching shows. Isn’t that the good life? And of course, being back home means indulging in some great food…
