i hear siberia is nice this time of year
i’ll keep this short … because i still need to pack. i leave tomorrow — really later today — for a national day (oct. 1) holiday trip to xinjiang, the huge territory that occupies the northwest corner of china. and then i’m heading to the very, very top of it, a lake called kanas that sits close to khazakstan, russia and mongolia.
we’re doing a week-long hiking/camping trip through the altay mountains (a chinese guidebook to the area features the english words “asian switzerland,” so i’m expecting lots of blondes, banks, chocolate and clocks) and eventually ending up at the remote kanas lake. (actually, it’s not that remote. it’s also accessible by a very long bus ride, which no doubt is what almost all of the chinese tourists will opt for. so, i’m expecting this lake in the middle of nowhere to be crowded, noisy and smoky, like everywhere else in china during a holiday.)
09.29.2003, 3:34 AM · Xinjiang · Comments (3)
christmas is only 87 days away!
now available at the online store … 2004 calendars featuring some of your favorite photos from this site! click here to get yours now. other new products coming soon!
09.29.2003, 2:25 AM · Site News
Up in Smoke: Shanghai is all tied up in the tobacco
NOTE: Versions of this story appeared in the South China Morning Post (subscription only) and that’s Shanghai magazine.
by DAN WASHBURN
SHANGHAI — Song Hai Pei’s front teeth are stained brown from smoking cigarettes. A pack of Red Double Happiness rests at the ready in his breast pocket. He often offers smokes to the patrons of the small restaurant he owns in northern Shanghai. Song, 47, has been a smoker for 25 years. Not once has he thought about quitting. No reason to, he claims, as long as he feels healthy and can afford the financial burden of his habit. When asked whether he believes cigarettes are addictive, he responds: “No. I can go without smoking for one whole day without feeling a thing.”
09.29.2003, 12:26 AM · Politics, Stories · Comments (2)