Shanghai, China III (11/07/2013-11/09/2013)

I found myself back in Shanghai not really to sightsee, but more to retrace my better half's steps during the time she lived here. To tell the truth, I never really gave Shanghai much of a chance, since I've never spent more than 2 days here, nor with anyone who actually knows it well. Aside from the record-setting pollution on the final days (even worse than Beijing, and actually made international headlines), it struck me as a highly liveable and cosmopolitan city.  Not very surprising considering its GDP per capita is now surpassing many Western nations. 

Things to call out - strolling the narrow pedestrian streets and art galleries of Tianzifang, pushing through crowds in the Yu Yuan Garden and neighbouring bazaar, revisiting Heping Rd (much cleaner now), and catching river crabs while in season.

Beijing, China V (11/03/2013-11/07/2013)

Wow - the fifth time Beijing has appeared in my blog. While there are cities I go to quite often, few change as rapidly as this one.  I am continuously amazed and a little terrified of the rapid change I see each time I visit China, and looking at the skies and listening to the people this time around, I wonder how sustainable it is.

In any case, to avoid becoming repetitive, here's a few new places (and a few old but changed). Notable mentions are eating dinner in a Mongolian yurt, Qianmen (where we had some legendary shumai), Tiananmen, visiting Houhai Lake, and taking a high speed train over 1,300 km to Shanghai in just over 4 hours!

Northern Coast, Taiwan (02/16/2013-02/18/2013; 03/13/2013-03/15/2013)

Taiwan was our second base of travel during this trip, and while there were many things we had to prepare while here, we had a chance to slip away to do some travelling around the Northern Coast.

Most notably, we went to Sanxia Old Street, enjoyed fresh seafood and the night market in Keelung, visited the Yehliu Geopark. Also below are a few photos of Miaoli, where we fulfilled the Taiwanese right of passage of taking fancy wedding photos.