Exploring Longji terraced rice fields
On our final day before flying our of Guilin back to Hong Kong, we had caught the boat back and then a car to the Longji (translating to Dragon's Backbone) terraced rice fields roughly 80kms north of Guilin. They are 650 year old of agricultural heritage, spanning elevations of up to 1,100 meters. C...
Exploring Yangshuo area
Whilst the boat journeys' were a highlight, Yangshuo was my favourite stop off. It has a magic vibe and being able to cycle around the area was a lot of fun. We stayed at Lisa's cafe and Hostel, on West Street back in 1996 (see in photo below). It had originally opened late 1985 and has since grown...
Exploring Xingping area
Xingping is one of the crown jewels of the Li River in Yangshuo area. It is a 1,700 year old ancient town which developed through the Ming and Qing dynasties. It has been preserved as small and well-preserved with traditional architecture, cobble-stone streets now courting local coffee shops, craft...
Travelling along the Li River
In writing this segment for the trip Mum and I made to Guilin area in 1996 and looking at what information and photos are available online I have a strong sense of the true nature of the region being missed by most tourists. Key tourism elements are now set up for the perfect photo or city-like food...
Guilin city
Mum and I flew in from Hong Kong and stayed the first night in Guilin city. Guilin is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Within the Guilin prefecture is the area along the Li River down to and including Yangshuo to the south and the Longji rice terr...
Exploring Beijing's Hutongs
Hutongs are narrow streets or alleys formed by lines of siheyuan, traditional courtyard residences. They are typically found in northern Chinese cities, especially Beijing. Many neighbourhoods were formed by joining one siheyuan to another to form a hutong, and then joining one hutong to another. Th...
Exploring The great Wall of China at Simatai
The Great Wall of China at Simatai is located in Beijing's Miyun District, 120km northeast of downtown Beijing. Adjoining the Gubei water town, it is unique as the only section of the wall preserved in its original Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) condition without modern restoration. As a result, Simatai f...
Exploring The Summer Palace, Ming Tombs and Temple of Heaven
The Summer Palace is the largest and best-preserved imperial garden in China, often called the “Museum of Royal Gardens.” Built in 1750 during the Qing Dynasty, it was most famously used as Empress Dowager Cixi’s summer retreat between 1888 until her death in 1908. It is a vast ensemble of lakes, ga...
Exploring Tiananmen Square & The Forbidden City
Tiananmen Square and The Forbidden City are the central point of Beijing and the launch pad for exploring the city. Most photos below are mine, 1996. Tiananmen Square is a massive public plaza, originally designed in 1651 and then significantly expanded in the 1950s. On any given day, it is truely a...
Walking Taipa and Cotai areas of Macau
This post will follow the route on the Wandering Sprocket map and highlight key points of interest in order of the walk. To walk from Macau Peninsula to Taipa, you walk across the Governor Nobre de Carvalho Bridge (Macau-Taipa Bridge). This was opened in 1974, is 2.5kms long and is often likened to...
Walking Macau Peninsula
This post will follow the route (loosely an anti-clockwise loop) on the Wandering Sprocket map and highlight key points of interest in order of the walk. https://thewanderingsprocket.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Tourist-Map-of-Macau-Peninsula.webp The beginning of walking the Macau Peninsula was a...
Cafe Nga Tim & Chapel of St. Francis Xavier
On the first night we ate at Cafe Nga Tim located (foreground left in photo below) in the cobblestone piazza by the St. Francis Xavier Chapel in the Coloane Village. It has a great old Macau vibe with Portuguese wine and outdoor dining. The Chapel of St. Francis Xavier is a charming Baroque-style c...
Hotel Lisboa Casino
The original Casino Lisboa and the 12-storey round hotel tower were built in 1970 by Stanley Ho, the godfather of the modern day Macau casino precinct. A 270-room extension was added in 1991 for a total of 927 rooms. In 2006, another extension, the Grand Lisboa, was built next to the current complex...
Flying the TurboJet way
In 1996, Turbojet was operated by Far East Hydrofoil and the high-speed ferry service between Hong Kong and Macau, covering the ~70kms in roughly 60 minutes.