Matt and Tara Banker packed it in, or in reality, packed it up and moved to Beijing, China. After spending the last few years living/working there, they have created The Middle Kingdom to write about their experiences and help others who are choosing the same path. As Tara states: “Not in Kansas Anymore”.

© Gretchen for TravelBlogs, 2011. | The Middle Kingdom | No comment |
Post categories: Blogs
Post tags: China, couples, cultural experiences, expat blog, expat life, living abroad

Stan Diamond was an educator for most of his working life. But, it was his explorations and travels of the world that made his style of teaching unique. Now retired, he has begun to document his experiences – leading others down exciting paths they may not have chosen without his inspiration to guide them.

© Gretchen for TravelBlogs, 2011. | Off the Beaten Path | No comment |
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Post tags: Africa, Asia, Central America, China, couples, cultural experiences, education, travel writer

What happens when you decide to move from Los Angeles, California to Shanghai, China? According to Tiffany and Mike: ‘an experience of a lifetime’! They relate their trials, tribulations and joys in a ‘week in review’ manner. They also include a Picture of the Day to bring it all together.

© Gretchen for TravelBlogs, 2011. | Shanghai Shangrila | One comment |
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Post tags: China, couples, cultural experiences, living abroad, photography, United States, working abroad

Chinese Pyramids in the Rain by The Longest Way Home

This book caught my attention because it was on a list of the best non-fiction books of 2010 by the Christian Science Monitor. I found it to be a fascinating read and worthy of being on the best books list.

About the Author

Peter Hessler was a journalist for the New Yorker magazine based in Beijing. In the period from 2001 to 2007, he frequently drove around China and wrote about the changes in the local culture. An American who spoke Mandarin, he was able to interact with the locals in ways a tourist cannot.

The Review

The book is actually three short books in one. The first book describes his journeys by car along the Great Wall. It is an amusing and interesting commentary on the emerging car culture in China, as well as providing some historical context for the Great Wall.

The second book describes Hessler’s extended visits to a remote village, next to the Great Wall, two hours outside of Beijing. Hessler rents a house to visit on weekends to work on his writing. Over time he develops close relationships with the peasants of the village. In particular, he narrates the changes that take place in one family that are exemplary of the changes taking place in many of the Chinese. The transition from an agricultural peasant life to a modern business focused life is difficult for many of the people.

The officials literally move mountains to build a new factory town overnight.

The third book describes Hessler’s visits to a new factory town in the south. He tells the story of two businessmen who start a new factory to make brassiere parts. The interactions between the bosses, the migrant workers they hire, and the local officials is very educational in an entertaining way. The officials literally move mountains to build a new factory town overnight. The businessmen push hard to maintain their profits in a competitive field. It looks like the teenaged workers are exploited at 40 to 80 cents per hour, until one sees that the wage is better than what they could make on a farm. For all of us who have ever shopped at Walmart, it becomes clear after reading this book how cheap goods are produced and dominate the retail sector.

For those interested in travel to China, this book provides insight into the attitudes and motivations behind the changing Chinese culture.

Buy now: Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory on Amazon.

Editor’s notes: This article contains affiliate links.

© Gretchen for TravelBlogs, 2011. | Country Driving: A Journey through China from Farm to Factory – Book Review | 2 comments |
Post categories: Book Reviews
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Mary Anne Oxendale has lived as an ex-pat for most of her adult life. She’s gone from backpacker to EFL teacher and has been blogging for quite a long time. Not only are her sites (yes, more than one) filled with wisdom and wit -emphasis on wisdom and wit – she still finds time to… TRAVEL! Oh, and pose with a bronze statue.

© Gretchen for TravelBlogs, 2010. | A Totally Impractical Guide to Living in Shanghai | One comment |
Post categories: Blogs
Post tags: China, cultural experiences, expat blog, expat life, female travellers, long-term travel, teaching, travel writing, Turkey

Life in a Sack chronicles the travels of Paul Duan. Though currently “locked down” in a day job (money pays for travel), he has been writing about his past experiences and recent explorations. Paul’s not a self-professed “adrenaline junkie” but he has done his share of “adrenaline-producing” fun stuff – like biking Bolivia’s “Death Road”.

© Gretchen for TravelBlogs, 2010. | Life in a Sack | No comment |
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Post tags: Asia, China, cultural experiences, Europe, South America, study abroad, United States

Fabian in Shanghai is really about Fabian in Shanghai. (No, really.) While on a one year stint as a language student, Fabian Haverbeke has also set out to discover the cultural and societal aspects that are uniquely China. His observations are truly surprising.

© Gretchen for TravelBlogs, 2010. | Fabian in Shanghai | No comment |
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© Gretchen Wilson-Kalav for TravelBlogs, 2009. | Another F***ing Travel Blog | 3 comments |
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Post tags: Asia, China, couples, couples on the road, India, Nepal, Round the world

© Gretchen Wilson-Kalav for TravelBlogs, 2009. | My life in Shanghai | One comment |
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Post tags: Asia, China, Seoul, Shanghai, South Korea

Megan Lewis is on an 8,000 kilometre horse ride from Beijing to London. After the culmination of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she set out on what is to be a four year trek, arriving in London in time for the 2012 Olympics.

The ride is designed to carry a goodwill message from Beijing to London, as well as raise funds for disadvantaged children through the work of Schoolchildren for Children.

Just before she was about to set out on the second stage of her journey, I exchanged emails with Megan about the inspiration behind this trip, and her experiences so far.

You’ve actually already finished the first leg of the trip, which went from the eastern end of the Great Wall to Badaling. That was last October. How was that experience? 
 
It was a fantastic experience in spite of all the inevitable setbacks. The main downside was the terrible road traffic, as Chinese drivers tend to treat all horses like vehicles – the only reason they ever slowed down was to stare at the crazy foreigners, and more often than not they klaxoned to warn us they were coming!   Luckily the horses were absolutely bombproof, but it could be unnerving at times.   On the other hand we saw parts of China we would never have otherwise had a chance to see, and rode through through some lovely rural backwaters beneath the Great Wall, causing a certain amount of consternation among the local populace. We mainly stayed in local hotels and farmhouses, (as well as a fish restaurant and a chicken farm!),  and ate wonderful Chinese food en route, so experienced the real China.  When not overcome with astonishment, the Chinese were very welcoming.

Had you been to China before then? 
 
I spent a month in autumn 2007 and 2 weeks in spring 2008 in Beijing and Gansu researching feasibilty and building up contacts for the ride, as well as a month preparing before we actually started.

Apart from that I have been to Hong Kong a couple of times – once as a child in the 1950s and then in the 1990s when I also spent a few days travelling on the mainland.

Is this trip something you’ve dreamed of doing for a long time? 

Megan Lewis.

I have always dreamed of doing a long ride since I was a teenager and read books such as Tschiffeley’s Ride, and Canada Ride by Mary Bosanquet. I also longed to travel in China, Mongolia and Central Asia, areas which were at that time off limits. My horseback trips were thus confined to Wales, and it is only since my children have left home that I have had the opportunity to fulfil this larger ambition.

Through this trip, you’re raising money for Schoolchildren for Children, a charity that encourages young people in the UK to exercise more and also distributes money to schools in poorer countries. Why did you decide to use your trip to support this charity? 

I suppose the main decider was that it was founded by my husand Iestyn Thomas!   However it also means I know it is a charity that is well worth supporting for several reasons.

Firstly ALL the money that is donated goes directly to the specified projects - unlike a majority of charities, NO money is siphoned off for administration, as that is covered by separate sponsorship.

Secondly I know that all the projects we support have been personally vetted, so we are as sure as we can possibly be that  donations are used properly and no funds go astray.  The charity has built up trustworthy contacts on the ground who ensure the money reaches its intended targets, and this is followed up. I personally inspected a selection of schools for migrant children in Beijing before the charity donated to the chosen Dandelion school. They supplied a detailed budget of how the money would be allocated, and this had to be approved by the charity before any money was donated.

Thirdly, the charity really does make a huge difference to the lives of severely disadvantaged children.   I have seen this for myself, not only in China, but also when I visited Schoolchildrenforchildren projects in the poverty stricken slums of Nairobi. 

Have a look at their website for details of projects it supports.
 
It is also a charity which encourages children (and adults) in the developed world to get out and raise money through physical activity,  a very relevant and worthwhile campaign in our over-indulgent modern world.

Since you’re travelling by horse, do you tend to avoid cities and stick with rural areas? 

As far as we can we intend to avoid industrial and built up areas. On the first leg we were travelling through a fairly densely populated part of China, so this was not always possible.  As the maps which the Chinese authorities make available to the public are pretty poor, it was often difficult to find small back roads, and we relied heavily on word of mouth – mainly our guide Mr Ren asking directions from locals!  Further west it should be easier to keep to rural areas.

As you’re about to start this second stage, what are you feeling? Excitement? Any fear? 

My main worries with China have been bureaucracy and budget, the latter because of the need  to have a Chinese guide, and back up vehicle to carry fodder for the horses. As a result of this I have had a quite a few sleepless nights, but recent developments have eased the situation.   The Chinese Equestrian Association have worked hard to get official endorsement, which should smooth out potential bureaucratic problems. Also I have now also joined forces with Li Jing, a dashing Chinese horseman who has just ridden from western Russia to Beijing and can act as a guide. More good news is that we have just been sponsored a trailer by the Chinese, so I now ‘only’ need to finance a towing vehicle.  As a result  I feel much more confident and am eagerly anticipating the start of  the second stage, and looking forward to meeting up again with my other co-rider Peng Wenchao, who is now an old friend!

For those who are interested in supporting or sponsoring you, how do they do that?
 
We are offering commercial sponsorship packages to companies who would like to support the ride in cash or kind. Depending on the level of sponsorship, this includes the unique chance to participate in this groundbreaking venture as well as the usual promotional advantages. . The costs of running an epic expedition on this scale are considerable, and every bit of support really helps. If you would like to get involved, contact me. I am massively grateful to those whose backing  has already enabled the expedition to get off the ground.
 
For charity sponsorship, there is a Justgiving facility. As I have said before, this is an extremely worthwhile cause which really does make an incredible difference to the lives of severely disadvantaged children worldwide.  We have already raised nearly three and a half thousand pounds even before the start of the main ride, and hope to raise a lot more. 

But please don’t feel you have to donate a large amount.   Although larger donations are of course most welcome, the minimum donation is only £2, and every penny counts!
 
We will also occasionally be making one or two places available to join the ride as a paying participant - the money will go towards both covering ride costs and charity donation. Contact me if interested.

Follow Megan on her horse ride on her blog, or learn more about the trip on the website.

© Gretchen Wilson-Kalav for TravelBlogs, 2009. | The Long Horse Ride: Interview with Megan Lewis | 2 comments |
Post categories: Interviews
Post tags: Asia, China, Europe, horse ride, horse travel, London, Megan Lewis, Olympics