Posts from the “Travel” Category

One Night in Hong Kong

Posted on November 2nd, 2009

This post should really be title “One Day in Hong Kong” but it didn’t match the above photo (a junk sailboat which was cruising along Victoria Harbour at night) so nicely. It’s not a wonderful photo but I like the red colour of the sails against the skyscraper shoreline. Of all the skylines in the world HK is hard to beat… anyway, I digress… I hadn’t been to HK for a few months so on Saturday I crossed over the border for a day trip to explore the southern half of Lamma Island (southwest of Hong Kong Island proper). Starting from Shenzhen Bay I took the bus down to Kowloon and then a ferry from the central piers to the island, a trip of about…

Wuzhen – Ancient Canal Town

Posted on October 25th, 2009

My third port of call on my journey around Zhejian province was the ancient water town of Wuzhen. Located a little off the usual tourist trail Wuzhen is famed for its Venice-like canals, ancient stone bridges, wooden buildings, and delicate carvings. It’s said to be over 1000 years old and while its roots may lie in trade and agriculture the town is almost completely focused on tourism today. China and tourism usually equates to ultra-tacky souvenir stands and bus loads of noisy tour parties but in stark contrast this was surprisingly tasteful with the restoration not being over-done and enough room for the crowds to mingle in relative tranquility. You’ll notice in the slide show some pictures of silk being made – I’ll be writing more…

Suzhou – Master of Gardens

Posted on October 21st, 2009

The second stop on my travels during the mid-autumn festival was Suzhou. The ancient city is renowned for its beautiful stone bridges, pagodas, and meticulously designed gardens. Because the trains from Shanghai were so packed the earliest we could get there was mid-afternoon by which time a lot of the gardens were beginning to close (my friend even tried to bribe a guard to get in one but he wasn’t having any of it!). Instead we contented ourselves with wandering around the tree-lined streets in search of somewhere nice to eat. After some delicious hot-pot the night before we spent the morning exploring the Master of the Nets Garden (top) and Blue Wave Pavilion (above and below). The former is considered among the finest gardens in China…

People Mountain, People Sea

Posted on October 16th, 2009

There’s an old saying in China “People Mountain, People Sea” (人山人海 – ren shan ren hai) and if you’ve been in China for any period of time you’ll know exactly what this means. I had the (dis) pleasure of experiencing this up-close and personal during the recent mid-autumn national holidays when I visited a number of cities and towns around Shanghai. Photo by Szymon Kochański In an absurd act of communist planning all Chinese have to take holiday at exactly the same time each year during two main national holidays (and a couple of smaller ones). This means that just about every man, woman and child descend on each and every tourist hot spot in the country to enjoy the little free time they get…

Seoul Streets: Neon Fantasy

Posted on October 9th, 2009

Walking along the streets of Seoul can sometimes feel a little overwhelming, such is the visual noise generated by a million neon signs all screaming for your attention. Combined with the massive hordes of crowds at certain hours and it can be quite a disorienting, if not an exciting experience all the same. There’s something about neon lights which never cease to allure my eyes and from my travels I’ve found three main places where they shine brightest in Seoul: Gangnam, Sincheon (above) and Myeongdong (below). Cheonggyecheon stream is also beautifully lit up at night but with a more relaxed romantic atmosphere. Myeongdong is mainly full of trendy clothes shops for young people while Sincheon is more focused on bars and restaurants (and dodgy looking motels). Gangnam…

Seoul Streets: Happy Feet

Posted on October 5th, 2009

Each time I go travelling my feet clock up a fair number of miles which for the most part I can’t complain about (even if they do). Seoul is way too big to traverse entirely by foot but luckily has an extensive MRT system which I consider to be one of the best in the world with passengers who are mostly polite and courteous (save for the one time a girl tried to kill me). If only the same could be said for the London underground… Parking space in Seoul is pretty restricted so clever contraptions like these are not uncommon. The cars which go inside them are tiny and identical – I think it might be part of a car sharing scheme(?). I’m not…

Mid-Autumn Holiday

Posted on October 1st, 2009

The mid-autumn national holidays are upon us in China with most people taking 8 days off work (but working weekends either end to compensate). I’m about to embark on a trip to explore some of China’s most beautiful smaller cities and villages around Shanghai in Jiangnan. In order I’ll be visiting: Shanghai (1 night) -> Suzhou (1 day) -> Wuzhen (1 day) -> Hangzhou (3 days) -> Ningbo (1 day) …before returning to Shenzhen late next week. Known at “the Venice of the east” with many beautiful canals and lakes I’m looking forward to exploring the area and hoping that it’s not as busy as everyone is telling me its going to be! As ever I’ll be updating on Twitter where possible and have…

Jeju Island

Posted on October 1st, 2009

During my trip to South Korea I spent four days on the picturesque island of Jeju (제주도) which is a famous holiday destination throughout Asia as it operates a “no visa” policy meaning Chinese can freely visit also. It’s quite a big island with over half a million inhabitants and a culture and language that are distinct from those of mainland Korea. Whilst I spent two of those days in the Lift Asia conference I did manage to squeeze in a little sight seeing. Jeju island was created entirely from volcanic eruptions approximately 2 million years ago and is dominated by Halla-san: an inactive volcano 1,950 metres high and the highest mountain in South Korea. I didn’t have time to climb the main peak but instead I…

W Seoul WOW

Posted on September 22nd, 2009

For the first weekend I was in South Korea I was lucky enough to be about to stay in the extremely cool “W Seoul” boutique hotel, in Walkerhill, courtesy of a very generous friends enormous accumulation of loyalty points (usual cost from approx. 250,000 KRW per night). Described as the “hippest joint in town“ expectations were high… After a rather tortuous two hour trip from Incheon Airport I finally reached the W and upon entering my first impressions were that I’d set foot on the set of a James Bond film! Instead of a standard hotel entrance the lobby was a combined with a multi-level lounge / bar complete with cool lighting, egg-pod shaped seats, a DJ playing techno music and expensively-dressed people floating around (not to mention…

Going to Lift Asia 09

Posted on September 10th, 2009

I’m very excited to be returning to South Korea tomorrow for the fourth time in three years. As well as catching up with friends in Seoul I’ll be attending the Lift Asia 09 conference next week which focuses on new opportunities and challenges that are arising from areas such as social networks, online games, robots, and communicating objects on the theme of ”Serious Fun!“. It can be loosely compared as a European version of TED. Photo by Don Lee Even better is that it’s being held on the beautiful Jeju island which is a short way off the south coast (not far from Busan) and only a 1 hour flight from Seoul. The conference lasts for two days but I’ll be there for 4 which should be…

随线放矢 Randomwire

Exploring asian culture, travel and technology

Posts from the “Travel” Category

One Night in Hong Kong

Posted on November 2nd, 2009

Wuzhen – Ancient Canal Town

Posted on October 25th, 2009

Suzhou – Master of Gardens

Posted on October 21st, 2009

People Mountain, People Sea

Posted on October 16th, 2009

Seoul Streets: Neon Fantasy

Posted on October 9th, 2009

Seoul Streets: Happy Feet

Posted on October 5th, 2009

Mid-Autumn Holiday

Posted on October 1st, 2009

Jeju Island

Posted on October 1st, 2009

W Seoul WOW

Posted on September 22nd, 2009

Going to Lift Asia 09

Posted on September 10th, 2009