Travel

January 2023, and a visit to Harbin, in China’s frozen north, to see the snow and ice festival and hunt for a laowai who ghosted my friend.

The chance of a lifetime: to see the “roof of the world”, learn about Tibetan Buddhism and try out different types of cucumbers with my cellmates on a 35-hour train journey.

The ancient city of Xi’an is now a thriving modern metropolis, but carries reminders of its significant history in its Pagodas and the famous Terracotta Army

The Yellow Mountain area is the quintessential “chocolate box” China with its famous pines and gorgeous views over the sea of clouds

The ancient city of Luoyang, former capital of China, boasts some ancient Buddhist art, the Shaolin Temple, and some good places to make TikToks while dressed up in Han Fu.

China’s famous capital has some sights that you’d kick yourself if you ever came here and didn’t see: The Great Wall, The Forbidden City and its Temple of Heaven.

Tianjin is not a city that Westerners tend to know about, but has an interesting, cosmopolitan character and an abundance of cute knitted objects.

Hua Shan, not far from Xi’an is a spectacular mountain filled with lush forests, sheer white cliffs and Taoist shrines.

The home of Angkor Wat and the floating village of Tonle Sap, in Cambodia. I was lucky enough to visit post-Covid, when tourism hadn’t fully returned, so I was able to enjoy more of its mystical charm…

A whistlestop tour to Tokyo, where I failed to see Mount Fuji but accidentally managed to glimpse Godzilla.