China Travel Archives - Page 4 of 9

Murder in the Hood

Murders in the news are as common as the weather report, and are rarely read with any greater attention. It is not often that they touch your life in some way, even if just remotely. Unfortunately, such is not the case with Suzhou’s most recent homicide, as it happened only a couple hundred metres from …

May 10, 2009

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My ChinaTravel.net Feature on Suzhou

A while back I was approached by the fine folks at ChinaTravel.net, an English-language travel site about China that is “editorially independent” but strongly affiliated with Ctrip.com — one of China’s largest online travel booking Web sites. The site’s editors wanted me to put together a summary article on “my Suzhou”, and as of last …

May 4, 2009

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WTF, Suzhou 14th worst place in the world to work? Sissies!

A recent article in BusinessWeek featured a slideshow displaying 20 of the World’s Worst Places to Work. Unsurprisingly some Chinese cities made the list – surprisingly Suzhou was among them. The list, compiled by New York-based human resources company ORC Worldwide, states the major reasons for giving Suzhou the thumbs down are pollution and a …

March 20, 2009

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In Sanya – Final Thoughts

Alright, I could pretend like the week and a half since we returned from Sanya was used to properly reflect on the vacation before I post final thoughts about China’s only tropical destination. But that would be a lie. Every time I go on vacation I think to myself, “Hey, why the hell am I …

March 2, 2009

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In Sanya – Da Dong Hai Sucks

As I mentioned in my previous post, Mags and I are down in Sanya for a vacation and to celebrate our 2nd anniversary. Yesterday we finally managed to get off our asses and go further than the beach across the road. We headed down to Da Dong Hai – a beach we had heard was …

February 15, 2009

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In Sanya – Holiday… celebrate…

There’s something entirely appealing about blogging while looking out over a sunny palm-lined beach and the sea beyond. It has a quality I could definitely get used to. Mags and I are down in Sanya, Hainan, for a week-long sun and fun vacation to celebrate our second anniversary. Long-time readers will remember that we got …

February 12, 2009

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Karmatic Moment of the Week: Snake Rescue

I got an early phone call from my friend and neighbour Kevin today. It’s not odd that he called, he often calls, but it did seem weird it was only 9 a.m. “Ryan, can you come outside for a minute, I need a hand.” In slippers and pajamas I wander out into the apartment building’s …

November 17, 2008

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‘Best Band in Beijing’ coming to Suzhou

Just got word that Woodie Alan, the band City Weekend calls the “Best Band in Beijing”, is coming to Suzhou for a one show performance on Friday night. The show’s taking place at J&J Restaurant (No.5, Block 11, Horizon Resort II, SIP) and runs from 9 until 11. Tickets will set you back 60 RMB …

October 27, 2008

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A Son of Dalian

I’ve just returned from 5 days offline and out of Suzhou – two things I’m generally quite adverse to subjecting myself to. It was rather refreshing. As the last time I got my visa in Suzhou the woman told us in no uncertain terms not to come back, Mags and I knew we’d be heading …

October 14, 2008

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Yoga lessons in Suzhou’s SIP – Maggie gets a Web site

About a week and a half ago Maggie told me she was a bit worried because there was an unprecidented meeting of a large group of “business people” at her yoga studio when she arrived to teach her class. Turns out her fears were not unfounded, and last week the whole business closed (it was …

September 17, 2008

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A weekend in Hangzhou

Last weekend Maggie and I finally got down to Hangzhou. We’d been meaning to visit the place (a mere 2 hour bus ride from Suzhou) since moving here two years ago, but it always seemed to fall by the wayside. With work keeping us both insanely busy, it’s been a little too easy to forget …

August 7, 2008

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Frigin’ cool interactive Chinese city maps – including Suzhou

Mags and I are heading for a rare vacation down to Hangzhou this weekend, and as such have been trolling around the travelweb looking for sights to see, hotels to stay at and maps of the area. It was this last item that lead me to revisit EDuShi (E-City). A few weeks back Rich (All …

August 1, 2008

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