Apr 1
Kowloon Star Ferry Pier
On a remote island in the South China Sea, there once stood a fishing village that occupied the head of a small, sheltered inlet. Along the inlet stacks of incense, grown and harvested in the nearby countryside, were stored before being shipped out for sale. Passing fishermen reported that the aroma could be smelled many leagues out to sea, and so it was named Heung Gong, or “Fragrant Harbour”. Read more
Mar 31
The café owner looks at me long and hard, his eyes almost piercing beneath a full head of silver hair.
“I remember you. Didn’t you come here as a young boy?”
Astonished, I manage a simple “yes”, wondering how he could have recognised me after all these years. Read more
Mar 24
Calligraphy
Above the crowds of Causeway Bay, the late afternoon sunlight floods onto oversized billboards and stacks of grimy air conditioner units. The traffic light is ticking red as a mass of pedestrians swarm noiselessly across the intersection. Read more
Mar 21
Headlights on and engine roaring, the bus devours the morning silence. “Is this going to Jinshanling?” Nodding, the driver waves me aboard and I take my place, sleepy-eyed, in the second row. Our tour guide looks like he could use a strong cup of coffee.
Not many things merit a 5:00 a.m. start and an uncomfortable four-hour bus ride with terrible leg room. But it is my last day in Beijing and I have booked myself a trip to see the final item on my checklist: the Great Wall of China. Read more
Mar 20
Cloister, Convento de San Esteban
In Spanish the expression for “handwritten” is “de mi puño y letra” – of my fist and handwriting. Today I was flipping through my Spanish notebook when I came across a page scribbled with several verses, an early attempt to write a poem on Salamanca. Read more
Mar 15
Late afternoon shadows
After a day of exploring the hutong I was on the way back to my hotel when I came across a mesmerizing sight at Jingshan Park. The smog of the previous day had disappeared, and the rays of the late afternoon sun were sparkling off the gold leaf adorning its west gate. Intrigued, I paid the 2 yuan entrance fee and went in to take a look. Read more
Mar 13
Winter scene at the Summer Palace
Even in the smog, the lake is undeniably beautiful. Nearby the vendors offer bags of freshly grilled corn on the cob and skewers of candied Chinese hawthorns. I am observing the frozen waters from the Pavilion of Heralding Spring, where the weeping willows are the first to bud and the ice already broken. Read more
Feb 28
Beijing traffic
It is just after midday and a band of hungry window shoppers are congregating around a pile of sizzling lamb skewers. Like a lunch signal the steam wafts off the grill and into the cold winter air, alerting the crowd of potential buyers to its presence. Read more
Feb 25
A Beijing icon
On a frigid Saturday morning, Niki is waiting on the main road outside my hotel. She has hailed a taxi, and as we climb in I can hear her utter the name of our destination. “Tiantan nan-mer.” We are heading to the Temple of Heaven. “If you don’t speak with a Beijing accent,” Niki says, referring to the pirate-like ‘r’s, “the taxi drivers won’t understand you.” It’s been barely two days since my arrival, but I can already feel the city’s tones creeping gently into my Mandarin. Read more
Feb 20
Unlocked – inside the palace garden
When a Chinese dynasty is overthrown, tradition dictates that the old palace must be razed to make way for a new one in its place. But in the summer of 1644 the Manchus broke with the age-old habit, sparing the already fire-damaged residence of their predecessors a similar fate. Instead the new rulers would set about restoring the 15th-century marvel to its former glory. Read more
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