Will Travel My Beijing

"Four short stories set in a hutong, or residential alleyway, of Beijing, China. Yu'er, her grandfather, and their eccentric neighbors experience the magic of everyday life."--

This is a story about a boy who was told if he kept digging he would end up in China. Because of his sister's fearlessness and some fantastic friends, he finds himself in Beijing. In this comical retelling, the group meets in Beijing to support the boy's sister, who is running The Great Wall Marathon. The run is a great excuse to extend the trip into an experience of a lifetime: enjoying local cuisine, checking out shopping hot spots, dispelling myths and pre-conceived notions, and putting the T back into tea--all the while laughing at themselves along the way.

This is a story about a boy who was told if he kept digging he would end up in China. Because of his sister's fearlessness and some fantastic friends, he finds himself in Beijing. In this comical retelling, the group meets in Beijing to support the boys sister, who is running The Great Wall Marathon. The run is a great excuse to extend the trip into an experience of a lifetime: enjoying local cuisine, checking out shopping hot spots, dispelling myths and pre-conceived notions, and putting the T back into tea--all the while laughing at themselves along the way.

Great Wall hiking tips & guide to local cuisine Forbidden City in 3D Full-colour pull-out map of Beijing

Journalist Michael Meyer has spent his adult life in China, first in a small village as a Peace Corps volunteer, the last decade in Beijing--where he has witnessed the extraordinary transformation the country has experienced in that time. For the past two years he has been completely immersed in the ancient city, living on one of its famed hutong in a century-old courtyard home he shares with several families, teaching English at a local elementary school--while all around him "progress" closes in as the neighborhood is methodically destroyed to make way for high-rise buildings, shopping malls, and other symbols of modern, urban life. The city, he shows, has been demolished many times before; however, he writes, "the epitaph for Beijing will read: born 1280, died 2008...what emperors, warlords, Japanese invaders, and Communist planners couldn't eradicate, the market economy can." The Last Days of Old Beijing tells the story of this historic city from the inside out-through the eyes of those whose lives are in the balance: the Widow who takes care of Meyer; his students and fellow teachers, the first-ever description of what goes on in a Chinese public school; the local historian who rallies against the government. The tension of preservation vs. modernization--the question of what, in an ancient civilization, counts as heritage, and what happens when a billion people want to live the way Americans do--suffuse Meyer's story.

Lonely Planet Beijing is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Scale the Great Wall, sip a cocktail in an historic alleyway, or go ice skating with the locals in Houhai; all with your trusted travel companion.

Following her celebrated Nothing to Declare: Memoirs of a Woman Traveling Alone, Mary Morris, still alone, still graced with her extraordinary gifts of narrative and observation, presents an unforgettable account of her 1986 trip through China, Russia, and Eastern Europe. As in Nothing to Declare, she combines vivid portrayals of people and places with a more personal journey—in this case a search for roots, family, and her ancestral home in the Ukraine. Traveling across China and Mongolia to Russia on the Trans-Siberian Express and finally on to Berlin, Morris views the changing landscapes of nations and history. She encounters and converses with a colorful assortment of people from party-liners to dissidents, from ordinary men and women to the Moscow elite. Her journey, however, occurs against the backdrop of the nuclear accident at Chernobyl. On the train and in Russia, Morris hears terrifying, contradictory reports of the condition of the region so near her intended destination outside of Kiev. In midst of this anxious situation, she is forced to make a momentous decision a continent away from family and loved ones, adding a complex inner counterpoint to the public crises unfolding around her. Bringing her skills with foreign languages and her facility with people to this journey, Mary Morris once again proves that she is, in the words of Times magazine, “a fascinating guide, with an eye for the brutal, the garish, the silly and the bizarre.” Wall to Wall is a powerful travel memoir illuminated by the unique sensibility of one of our finest writers.

If you've ever dreamed of casting off your worldly possessions and traveling to your heart's content, this story about two intrepid seniors will inspire you no matter your age. Michael and Debbie Campbell felt they had one more adventure in them before considering retirement in the traditional sense, so they filled two rolling duffel bags with life's essentials (including their own pillows) and hit the road. Three years later, having sold their home in Seattle, their "Senior Nomad" lifestyle has no end in sight. Ride along as they share tales of living full-time in Airbnbs in over 50 countries and pay tribute to the many hosts who not only helped them live daily life, but also offered unique opportunities to experience their cities. From the barber's chair in Dublin and the dentist's chair in Split, to a wild motorcycle ride in Athens, a peek behind the Soviet Curtain in Transnistria, and the demise of a chicken for dinner in Marrakech, hosts made the Campbell's dream of adventure come true. Discover how Debbie and Michael find their next Airbnb, how they get there, and the many ways they enjoy their new city just as the locals do. Learn their tips and tricks for using Airbnb and how they get the most out of each stay, all while spending little more than they would have spent settled into their rocking chairs in Seattle.