Yeah, have had a lot of similar experiences(lived over here since 2011). Once school starts back up, tourist sites start to empty out. For the terracotta warriors, best advice I have is do things in reverse order, saving the main pit for last. Doing the big pit first, the rest seems like a bit of a let down.

Most of China is lovely this time of year, as generally the worst of the summer heat and humidity is over, but it doesn’t get that cold in most places til November. Big caveat is t0 skip around the first week of October(National week holiday, biggest holiday period here after Chinese New Year), and relatively cheap if…

Set up a small NAS(Network Attached Storage) device on your home network. There are tons out there, and usually include software for syncing files with other computers on the network. Or, simply create a folder on your laptop and desktop where all your synced files will be. Map the laptop folder as a network drive on…

Some of this sounds decent, but in 10+ years of flying trans pacific flights in economy on multiple airlines, I can never remember NOT getting a blanket and pillow. Usually, they are sitting in the seat when you board, the couple times they weren’t all I had to do was ask. And bringing a winter jacket is ridiculous…

Look at maps.me for the navigation, Hiking Project for guide/trail research.

So, basically its maps.me but they make you pay unless you want a limited feature set? Maps.me uses openstreetmap as its source(which includes tons of trails), lets you download offline maps, and has the whole world. Have used it for hiking in several different countries (Thailand, China, Japan, South Korea, USA...).…

Have to say, most recent trip there(a few weeks ago and last minute), didn’t find airbnb to offer better value than booking through regular hotel/hostel websites. If traveling in Asia, highly reccomend trip.com(is the same as Ctrip, but they rebranded their English service recently). It’s a Chinese based site, but has…

As much as I love Google maps, maps.me is often better for traveling. It’s offline options are better than Google’s, as some countries do not allow you to download offline maps in Google maps(China for example), but you can still get high quality maps on maps.me(sourced from open street map). Also,the maps tend to…

Calling BS on the mainland china description. Compared to typical local drinks you would buy, a “Brewed Coffee” or “Brewed Cafe” in starbucks is more (say, 12rmb for a milk tea, 17rmb for a small coffee, a difference of less than a dollar and you can save 2rmb with your own cup), and comparted to the US only slightly…

This is the second time I’ve seen this referenced. Been doing this same thing for over 10 years. Or you know, just asking for a second key....

yeah, this is in china. at train staitions(and subway stations connected to them and airports) they have giant floor size x-ray machines because you put your own full size bag through them, not just your carry on size things. This has been making the rounds here for a few days on wechat.

Actually, do some research based on where you are traveling. If you are only taking a couple trains, the JR pass isn’t cheaper than just buying train tickets by themselves, and can never compete with the cost of the sleeper busses. If you do go the pass route, do some research as their are multiple passes that cover…

Awesome. Wish I remembered more helpful hints from Tokyo, but its been a few years since I was there. Can help more with other East Asian Mega-cites.

Make sure you pay attention which subway operator runs the stations you want to go to, there are 2 different ones and while you can transfer between them you need to make sure you have the right ticket/pass before you board. If you are going elsewhere outside of Tokyo, compare prices of the various rail passes for…

Any chance we will see one of these that is about a non-Anglophone city outside of Japan?