Chow Fun Tours Travel Blog - Chow Fun Tours, LLC

Moon Hill

10/18/2019

The climb up Moon Hill in Yangshuo is exhilarating. It takes about 30 minutes to climb the stairs to the top. In the picture above, there is a group of students with whom I traveled to Yangshuo, along with some teachers and an equal number of "porter" women. These women hover around the bottom of the hill and offer to help travelers navigate the well-traveled route. The day we hiked was rainy, so it was helpful to have these lovely ladies on our arms, assisting our ascent and descent. I paid each of them for their services. Some might call me a sucker, but I love to support the locals. These women offered a service and I agreed. Plus, this picture was worth whatever I paid.

Moon Hill is a hill with a natural arch which looks like a hole through the hill. It is a popular spot for rock climbers, who flock to Yangshuo (in China's southern Guangxi Province) for its unusual limestone karst peaks.

Xian City Wall

10/11/2019

If you say "Xian," everyone thinks "Terra-cotta Warriors." But there's a lot more to Xian than the warriors. One of the many attractions is the Xian City Wall. I like to bring visitors to the wall because it's the only place I feel safe bike riding with China travelers. The wall is about 50 feet high and about 30 feet wide and the only vehicles on the wall are bikes and a few golf carts. It's a nine-mile loop all the way around and it is a lovely way to spend an afternoon, plus it's good exercise!

The wall is the last intact city wall in a major Chinese city. The rest have been razed in order to pave highways for easier access to city centers. So the Xian City Wall is special! Join me for a spin on the wall!

Green Tea

10/4/2019

Most people do not realize that green and black tea come from the same plant. For black tea, the leaves are withered and oxidized, unlike green tea which is dried immediately upon picking. The plants are pruned so that the new shoots will come up regularly. This is imperative because the best green tea leaves come from the youngest shoots. The leaves are harvested about three times per year. Once picked, they are dried in the sun or in a wok over a fire.

Some of the most popular green teas from China are Longjing and Huangshan Maofeng. Longjing is translated as "Dragon Well." This is probably the most famous Chinese green tea, possibly due to the fact that it grows in close proximity to Shanghai so it is easy to procure. Huangshan Maofeng is a special kind of Maofeng tea grown in the Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) part of the country, in Anhui Province.

Song Mountaim

9/27/2019

One of the five sacred Taoist mountains in China is Song Mountain. At the base of the mountain is the Shaolin Temple and Monastery, a tranquil Buddhist retreat. I love visiting Shaolin and Song Mountain and I can't wait until spring 2020 for the ChiNamaste adventure (see "Upcoming Trips" tab at the top of the page) because we will visit Shaolin and hike around Song Mountain.

Like most other Chinese mountains, there is a cable car going up to walking paths near the top of the mountain. I love how the Chinese do this because it allows us to spend all of our walking/hiking time in the most scenic spots, as opposed to spending hours trying to get to those spots. There is a two hour walk from the cable car to Sanhuangzhai Monastery which is on the mountain. The walk takes us along beautiful cliffside paths (see picture at right), well-paved with safety railings and spectacular views. Join me on ChiNamaste 2020 (May 20, 2020 - June 3, 2020) and take this incredible walk with me!

Oodles of Noodles

9/20/2019

I'm sick of gluten free. I'm tired of limiting carbs. I know that they are bad for me, but carbs make me so happy!

In China, carbs are not the devil. In fact, the norm is rice, noodles or dumplings with every meal. The starch we eat depends on the part of China. It's geography. In Xian, dumplings are famous and are eaten instead of rice. The area is also famous for hand-pulled noodles. in Beijing and the north, rice is more prevalent.

Don't worry, celiacs! Just because I love gluten doesn't mean you have to eat it when you come to China. In fact, I think it's easier to avoid gluten in China than most places. Rice is king, even in places where dumplings and noodles are preferred. And the myth that they douse their food in soy sauce, just because it's China, is false. WE douse food in soy sauce. They don't use soy sauce.

So whether you are "oodles of noodles" or gluten-free, China has lots of delicious cuisine for you.

ChiNamaste

9/13/2019

Imagine waking up and stretching to the sunrise in the picture to the left. This is one of the moments that participants in ChiNamaste 2020 will experience! Namaste literally means "I bow to you," but it means so much more than that. From Rita Geno: "Namaste allows two individuals to come together energetically to a place of connection and timelessness (www.yogajournal.com/practice/the-meaning-of-quot-namaste-quot)." Connection to the people, places and practices of China, that's our goal.

We will be on two of the sacred mountains in China, Song and Huang (Yellow). Go at your pace. Conquer hours of the mountains or walk leisurely and observe the magnificent surroundings.

.We will walk on the Great Wall. Tami Reilly, a yoga, fitness and mindfulness expert, will come along with us on our journey and lead a few sun salutations on the wall, if you choose to practice a little yoga. Every day, Tami will lead one or two yoga sessions that you may join...or not!

We will visit quaint, countryside villages and spectacular gardens and lakes. We will witness the enormity and magnificence of the Terra-cotta Warriors in Xian. The dates of the trip are May 20, 2020 - June 3, 2020. Take a look at the brochure for this amazing journey and sign up asap. Limited spaces! Check out the "Upcoming Tours" tab on this site or call/email for information.

ChiNamaste 2020

9/13/2019

Imagine waking up and stretching to the sunrise in the picture to the right. This is one of the moments that participants in ChiNamaste 2020 will experience! Namaste literally means "I bow to you," but it means so much more than that. From Rita Geno: "Namaste allows two individuals to come together energetically to a place of connection and timelessness (www.yogajournal.com/practice/the-meaning-of-quot-namaste-quot)." Connection to the people, places and practices of China, that's our goal.

We will be on two of the sacred mountains in China, Song and Huang (Yellow). Go at your pace. Conquer hours of the mountains or walk leisurely and observe the magnificent surroundings.

We will walk on the Great Wall. Tami Reilly, a yoga, fitness and mindfulness expert, will come along with us on our journey and lead a few sun salutations on the wall, if you choose to practice a little yoga. Every day, Tami will lead one or two yoga sessions that you may join...or not!

We will visit quaint, countryside villages and spectacular gardens and lakes. We will witness the enormity and magnificence of the Terra-cotta Warriors in Xian. The dates of the trip are May 20, 2020 - June 3, 2020. Take a look at the brochure for this amazing journey and sign up asap. Limited spaces! Check out the "Upcoming Tours" tab on this site or call/email for information.

Bamboo Rafting on the Yulong River

9/6/2019

When traveling in Guilin, the common way to see the breathtaking karst peaks that line the rivers is on a large boat. This is still the travel method of choice for most, but I have come to appreciate and love the slower and more peaceful method of the bamboo raft. The one and one half hour ride goes in one direction downriver, with a local farmer poling travelers like a gondola. The farmers get to be gondalier only once per day. Because of the tips, rafting is a lucrative job. The government wants all to benefit from this industry, so each farmer is limited to one trip per day, in order to give the opportunity to as many farmers as possible.

In order to make the rafts, the bamboo is heated in order to bend it to the right shape. The bamboo is lashed together and two bamboo chairs are lashed to the raft. The result is a safe, buoyant and fun method of travel.

Join me on a Chow Fun Tour and experience life on the river.

Bird & Flower (and Cricket!) Market

8/30/2019

In the US, gone are the days of butchers for meat, bakers for bread and farmers for produce. Although cities in China also house supermarkets, butchers, bakers and farmers still exist. One of my favorite markets is the Bird and Flower Market, where locals go to purchase plants and pets. The most fascinating pet to us Americans is the cricket. The cricket market is huge in China, both in terms of the number of crickets bought and sold, as well as the size of the crickets themselves. Just check out the pictures below!

Crickets and birds are popular because of the noises they make. Their owners love the chirping. I find the sound incredibly annoying, but the cricket culture is fascinating. There is also a cricket fighting culture, which allows the owners to compete, but also gives those attending the matches an opportunity to bet on the fights. I have not had the pleasure of attending a cricket bout, but I'm not sure that I would want to.

Come to China with Chow Fun Tours and check out the local markets!

The Local Industry

8/23/2019

The locals who offer to carry bags up the endless stairs through Ping'an Village should be the young men. However, the 60-90 year old grandmothers, carrying basket backpacks, lug our bags to our mountainside hotel. The Americans with whom I travel initially reject the notion of handing over their bags for a variety of reasons. Americans' first instinct is concern that their bags will be stolen...that these little old ladies will run up the side of the hill, into the woods, with our bags, never to return. Once assuaged, the second concern is for the well-being of the old women who will surely pass out if they walk up the hill, let alone carry our heavy bags. But this is part of their livelihood. The tips they receive is how they make money to survive. They could not be happier that we have chosen to visit their village and utilize their services.

Lauren Drazen

I have traveled all over the world, including adventures in China, Taiwan, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Israel, Jordan, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, France, Switzerland, England, Denmark, Russia, Costa Rica, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Dominican Republic, Canada and Mexico. My greatest love is introducing Americans to the sites, traditions and people of China. My hope is to give travelers a new lens through which to see the world.

Archives

September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017

Categories