travel

Your guide to visit the Everest Base Camp

May 23, 2013 by Harley Greenberg Leave a Comment

Everest Base Camp

This article, a complete guide to visit the Everest North Base Camp, was written by Harley Greenberg, who arrived in China in 2008 as a Peace Corps Volunteer. When not teaching he would always crisscross the country and his first visit to Tibet was in 2009. Today Harley is a manager at WindHorseTour.

The guide will cover the following topics:

Can you visit Tibet on your own?

When to visit the Everest.

How many days do you need to visit Everest Base Camp?

Should you join a private or a group tour?

How to get to Mount Everest.

The most popular route: Lhasa to Kathmandu via Everest Base Camp.

Food and Guest Houses at Base Camp.

What to do at Everest Base Camp?

[Read more...]

Filed Under: survival tips, travel Tagged With: Everest, Lhasa, Shigatse, Tibet, travel in China

Travel to China: Tips and Resources

May 20, 2013 by Furio Fu 4 Comments

Travel to China

This guide contains pretty much all the info that you’ll need to prepare your trip to China: VISA requirements, travel insurances, vaccinations, guidebooks, planes and trains, hotels, internet and phone cards.

Also, you’ll find tips on where to eat, what to bring to China, when to travel to China, how to avoid the most common scams and how to bargain.

p.s. At the bottom of this post you can download a Travel Phrase Book Chinese/English in PDF format. You’ll find the most common greetings, the most common food and drinks, numbers, how to ask for help or directions, as well as some useful sentences for taking a taxi and shopping. You can print the PDF e-book and use it during your trip to China ; )

Hotel and hostel booking in China

April 29, 2013 by Furio Fu 3 Comments

hotel in china

The purpose of this guide is to show you how and where to book an hotel (or an hostel) in China, especially if you are traveling on a budget.

If you can afford it then just book at the Hilton or at the Marriot and you will find everything you need : P

First at all, keep in mind that Chinese hotels must register all the customers at the police station. Thus you will always need to show your passport when you arrive at the hotel.

Which type of hotel should you choose?

[Read more...]

Filed Under: survival tips, travel Tagged With: Hotel Review, survive in China, travel in China

Chinese VISA application: a complete guide

April 15, 2013 by Furio Fu 10 Comments

Chinese VISA

This article is a complete guide for getting a Chinese VISA. You will discover:

The requirements and how long it takes for obtaining any type of Chinese VISA.

Where to get a Chinese VISA (either in your country or abroad).

The different kind of Chinese VISAs (Tourist, Business, Student and Work VISA).

How much it costs to obtain a Chinese VISA.

How to convert a Student or Work VISA in a Resident Permit (it’s compulsory).

[Read more...]

Filed Under: survival tips, travel, work in china Tagged With: Business with China, survive in China, travel in China

Impressions from Mongolia

April 1, 2013 by Furio Fu Leave a Comment

Mongolia

This story is a present from Pietro Acquistapace, the author of the blog Butterflies and Foxholes (sorry, the website is in Italian language).

Uchka’s point of view

My travel in China began in Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia. The Mongolian capital was the arrival point of a trip in Fiat Panda through East Europe, Iran and Central Asia.

Once arrived to my destination the goal was to meet up with my friend Alfredo, who lives in Mongolia since a couple of years, let him my Panda and then… who knows. [Read more...]

Filed Under: travel Tagged With: Mongolia, travel in China

Ode to slow travel. And to the reasons you could do it too

February 25, 2013 by Furio Fu Leave a Comment

Slow Travel

“Instead of wonder WHEN your next vacation is, maybe you need to setup a life you don’t need to escape from,” Seth Godin

February is the best month to visit Bangkok. Forget the forty Celsius degree and the tropical storms. In winter the sky is clear and there are thirty degree at most.

I go out, sit in in a bar just in front of a pedestrian street, order a breakfast with eggs, mango juice and coffee. I plug in my Vaio 11.3 inches, switch it on and start to work.

I get lost among the web of Gothic tattoos of the Norwegian tourists and the screams of the waitresses wrapped up on succinct dresses that unveil small breasts and a backside that will never know the taste of cellulite.

I reckon I arrived ten days ago and I almost know nothing about this town. I spend most of my time on this terrace, writing and programming a website that will soon be [Read more...]

Filed Under: stories, travel Tagged With: Bangkok, travel in China

What there is on my backpack when I travel around Asia?

January 21, 2013 by Furio Fu 3 Comments

my backpack My luggage during my three weeks in Xinjang.

One of the questions that I receive from the readers that are coming to China is:

“What the hell should I put on my backpack?”

My answer usually is:

“Unless you are planning to climb the Everest, the same things that you would bring to any other place. Just remember that the Chinese winter is cold, so bring a couple of warm clothes.”

Today I want to share what I bring when I travel around China or South East Asia and how I organize my stuff.

p.s. This is also what I would bring to America, Africa or Oceania.

How do I travel?

I always travel with a 70 liters Ferrino backpack ( the grand-parent of this one) that I bought in 2000 (yes, it’s indestructible!) and a smaller backpack North Face that I bought in 2011.

In the sequel I will call [Read more...]

Filed Under: survival tips, travel Tagged With: survive in China, travel in China

From Italy to Mongolia in a Fiat Panda (Part 2)

October 26, 2012 by Furio Fu 1 Comment

From Italy to Mongolia A wading in Mongolia.

Today we continue the interview to Pietro, which in 2011 crossed in a Fiat Panda the sixteen thousand kilometers that divide Italy from Mongolia. Here you find the first part of the interview.

Mongolia and China

Mongolia is often described as a “very poor” country. What’s your take on this subject?

The word “poor” has a western connotation. The Mongolian population that doesn’t live in Ulaan Baator (the capital of the country) is simply nomad. We think that they are poor because their difficult life conditions are completely out our standards.

Poverty as we intend it is increasing because of all the people that are moving to Ulaan Baator giving life to whole neighborhoods of gher (the nomad tenths). Now that the nomads left their natural environment we can define them as “poor,” but only in a urban context. [Read more...]

Filed Under: interviews, Italy-China, travel Tagged With: Interview, Iran, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Panda 4x4

From Italy to Mongolia in a Fiat Panda

October 25, 2012 by Furio Fu 4 Comments

From Italy to Mongolia The heroine of this adventure.

Pietro contacted me a couple of weeks ago because he’s playing with the idea of moving to China. In one of the emails that we exchanged he told me that last year he traveled from Italy to Mongolia by Fiat Panda.

Wait, wait…

…in Mongolia with a Panda?

I got curious and asked him some more questions. He even wrote a short book about its adventure (you can download the pdf of the book here but is only in Italian).

This interview is the result of our discussion (don’t blame Pietro for the English, I translated from Italian both my question and his answers).

Organizing a travel to Mongolia

[Read more...]

Filed Under: interviews, Italy-China, travel Tagged With: Interview, Iran, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Panda 4x4

How to get poisoned and die of asphyxia in Xinjiang

October 18, 2012 by Furio Fu 10 Comments

Hemu, Altai Mountains The eggs and tomatoes we ate in Kashgar, Xinjiang.

“I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night,” Galileo Galilei.

I wake up, jump from the bed and try to open the door of the hotel room. But it’s blocked. I panic and destroy the lock of the door with an elegant kick. I run to the small bathroom at the end of the courtyard, open the door and…

…diarrhea.

I watch the sky. The sunrise cannot be too far.

But let’s start from the beginning. [Read more...]

Filed Under: stories, survival tips, travel Tagged With: Altai Mountains, Hemu, survive in China, Xinjiang

Your guide to visit the Everest Base Camp

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Travel to China: Tips and Resources

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