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Manhattan, as seen through the Brooklyn Bridge |
Continue reading “New York in Pictures: Where to Eat, What to Read, Where to Stay”
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Manhattan, as seen through the Brooklyn Bridge |
Continue reading “New York in Pictures: Where to Eat, What to Read, Where to Stay”
Continue reading “Nanchang Lu Abroad: The Most Macabre Place in Paris”
Continue reading “Nanchang Lu Abroad: Swooning for Macarons at Ladurée, Paris”
What I like so much about the French is that they are unapologetic about the past.
Take hunting. Three hundred years ago every French aristocrat hunted, for sport. They glorified hunting. Famous artists painted portraits of them standing over their quarry, puffed with pride and lace cravats. They collected hunting horns and muskets and the heads of their prey, mounted on walls.
That was then. But rather than bow to modern social mores and pretend it was an embarrassing aspect of their history best forgotten, they have built a shrine to hunting and its glorious past in Paris.
It’s one of the best small museums in the world, and if you’re in Paris, make sure you go. Continue reading “Nanchang Lu Abroad: The Museum of Hunting and Nature, Paris”
Continue reading “Nanchang Lu Abroad in Hong Kong: An Eating Tour of Sheung Wan”
What I love about Guizhou just as much as its jade rivers, green mountains and beautiful people is the serendipity of the place. Surprising things seem to happen in Guizhou constantly, and if you travel through it for an hour, or better still, a day, you’ll be certain to happen across something extraordinary just by chance.
When travelling I try to stay open to the possibility of a random encounter, even if it means changing my schedule, or missing something else.
I live by one travel rule: When the travel gods throw a crumb in your path, you need to pick it up and follow the trail. Don’t step over the crumb. Don’t ignore it.
These serendipitous experiences have formed some of my richest travel memories, like the time we met Chinese National Geographic photographer Big Mountain (his real name) and accompanied him to a Miao village ancestor’s feast; or the time we visited cave-dwelling paper-makers, and the time I was invited to an impromptu house-warming feast for four hundred people.
So on my visit to Guizhou last month we drove past a group of men huddled by the banks of a green, green river, on our way to Shidong Market.
“I think they’re maybe building a dragon boat there…” said Billy, our guide. “Want to have a look?” Continue reading “Serendipity in Travel: Building a Dragon Boat”