After my first trip to Beijing, I made another trip in 2002 but this time it was for leisure. There were a lot of changes to the city back then. Cars were now the kings of the road and the humble bicycles were slowly but surely disappearing from sight, while skyscrapers were sprouting out of the ground everywhere. As the modernization of Beijing progressed, I took some time to see some of the disappearing sights.
There is a Chinese saying, 不到长城非好汉 which literally translates into “He who has not been to the Great Wall is not a true man”. How did this come about? Read on to find out. So during my weekend in Beijing, I had the Sunday to visit one of China’s, and also mankind’s greatest engineering achievements, to see and climb the Great Wall of China.
My first trip behind the bamboo curtain was a business trip in 1997. It was a trip to give technical training to one of our Chinese customers who had bought our equipment. Normally, such training sessions are not stressful. But as this customer was in China, I had to give my training in Mandarin. As an indifferent student of the Chinese language, and attaining just a bare minimum passing grade in school, I was beginning to wonder if I should had been paying more attention in Chinese language classes.
Continue reading “Beijing’s Imperial Past”
Another one of my favorite cities, Vienna is the capital of Austria and has a rich history dating all the way back to 500BC. Often known as the City of Music due to it’s musical heritage, Vienna is also known for it’s quality of life and is ranked amongst the top most livable cities in the world. Continue reading “A Viennese Fall”
Rounding up my series of blogs on Switzerland is Zurich. Most people think that Zurich is the capital of Switzerland, but it is not. The capital city is actually Bern. However, Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and is the center of finance and industry in the country. It is also the gateway to Switzerland as the international airport is located here and linked to Zurich main train station which forms the central node of the entire rail network in Switzerland. Continue reading “Zurich”
Most people may not know it, but Bern is actually the capital city of Switzerland. Like most people, I would associate Zurich as the capital city due to it’s size and financial status, plus the country’s main airport is also near Zurich. When you talk to people about visiting major Swiss cities, Bern doesn’t come up often. Continue reading “Bern”
Neuchâtel, another out of the way city that I visited in Switzerland in 1997, although for this case, I went to Neuchâtel because I had this crazy idea to check out the manufacturer’s address of a Zodiac brand mechanical Swiss watch that I had bought previously. Neuchâtel is renowned for it’s watch industry (although I didn’t know that back then). Continue reading “Neuchâtel”
Continuing with my series on Switzerland, I had passed by Locarno previously when I was travelling to Milan during my stay in Switzerland. Reminding myself to see this city again, I found myself back here for a weekend visit. Located on the northern shore of Lake Maggiore and enjoying a warm southern climate, Locarno makes for a perfect vacation spot to get away from the colder weather up north. Continue reading “Locarno In A Day”
I just came across this blog and having been to some of the places mentioned in the blog, I can … Continue reading When Reality Bites
Thun where? You might be asking. This is one of those out of the way towns that I visited in Switzerland. Until now I can’t recall exactly what brought me to this town. It must have been a stop to change trains and I decided to explore the town instead. I had bought the rail pass which lets me travel free on the Swiss trains on second class seats, so if you staying long term in Switzerland, this rail pass is a pretty handy thing to carry. Continue reading “Thun”
Beyond the Little Red Dot 