Celebrating the 40 year old young city The immense crowd, the technicolor buildings, and the labyrinthine markets. No, we are not in Tokyo — this is Shenzhen. This sprawling megalopolis is often touted as China’s Silicon Valley, but this city offers far more than tech campuses and hipsters’ joints. On…

Living in Beijing, one naturally feels the urge to venture down south once in a while. Even the northern Manchu rulers of Qing Dynasty, Kangxi and his grandson, Qianlong performed tours of inspection to the south’ (nanxun) down the Grand Canal. …

Why do so many Chinese feel so much pressure to get married, but less so in staying married? One of the things that I was relieved about when I left Indonesia for China was to finally stop hearing my relatives’ push for marriage. In Indonesia where the mean age for…

The Qinghai ring road: endless sea rape flowers, lush grasslands, Tibetan temples, and more. Route 1 (10 days): Qinghai — Gansu — Qinghai Day 1: Xining 西宁 — Kanbula National Forest Park 坎布拉丹霞 — Guide 贵德县

Step-by-step guide on legalising document in Indonesia Like every bureaucracy in Indonesia, legalising your documents is a headache. Granted, the government is trying to make this process easier with an online application. …

A step-by-step breakdown of my Chinese work visa application Congratulations on your new job in China! You are in for long haul — both in visa/permit application and the content of this post. …

Social distancing is a privilege not everyone can afford When I came across this video on a friend’s page, I cringed at the title he gave “Why Collective Stupidity Can Be Dangerous”. For those that don’t speak Indonesian, the video above basically shows an activist investigating the opinions from…

A comprehensive guide to absorbing the rich history and local cultures of Xi’an Due to its central, strategic location, Xi An 西安 was not only the cultural and economic centre of ancient China but was also the terminus of the Silk Road. What draws most people to this city though…

Just like there are many roads that lead to Rome, there are plenty of ways to reach and conquer Hua Shan. Here’s mine Hua Shan 华山 is a sacred Taoist site, infamously known as the most dangerous out of the Five Great Mountains of China. While it is now mostly…