The First Mid-Autumn I Spent in China (And the Mooncake I Almost Didn’t Buy)
I timed my entire China trip without knowing September 25 was Mid-Autumn Festival. The bakery queue in Suzhou, the mooncake by the canal, and the teahouse I almost missed.
Month June 2026
The Morning at Chengdu’s Panda Base With My Eight-Year-Old Niece
Seven days in China with my eight-year-old niece, day three at Chengdu's Panda Base. Early gates, baby pandas behind glass, and the 380-yuan photo I didn't buy.
I Tried to Visit the Forbidden City in August. I Lasted Two Hours.
I tried to do the Forbidden City on a Tuesday in August. I lasted two hours. Here's what August in Beijing actually looks like and how I rebuilt the rest of the trip around heat instead of attractions.
A Rainy Weekend in Hangzhou: West Lake at Dawn and the Noodles That Fixed Everything
The rain started before I did. I opened the curtains in my hotel room at 6:30am and West Lake was a grey sheet of water falling on water. The willows along the shore bent under it. A single umbrella moved…
Lijiang at 5am Before the Tour Groups Arrived
I set my alarm for 4:50am because a Chinese friend told me that Lijiang Old Town was worth seeing before the tourists arrived. “Before 6am,” she said, like it was obvious. I did not believe her. I set the alarm…
The DiDi Ride That Went to the Wrong Station and What I Learned About Getting Around China
I needed to get from my hotel near the Bell Tower to the train station in forty minutes. The subway would take twenty-five if I walked fast and caught the right line. A taxi would take fifteen if traffic cooperated.…
A Chinese Pharmacy, Sign Language, and the Cough That Would Not Quit
The cough started on the train from Chengdu to Kunming. A tickle at first, then a full rattle in my chest by the time I checked into my hotel. By the second morning in Kunming, I was coughing hard enough…
24 Hours in Xi’an: The Terracotta Warriors Were Impressive but the Noodles Changed Everything
I had 24 hours in Xi’an because the train from Chengdu got me in at 6:47pm and the one to Beijing left at 7:12pm the next evening. That was the plan, anyway. Twenty-four hours, the Terracotta Warriors, the city wall,…
The Park Mahjong Game I Wasn’t Supposed to Join
The Table Had Three Players and a Gap I wasn’t looking for a game. I was cutting through People’s Park in Chengdu — the same park where I’d spent an afternoon doing nothing a few days earlier, as described in…
My Friend’s Uncle Let Me Win at Mahjong and I Didn’t Realize Until Later
The Table Was Set Before Dinner Was Finished We were still eating when the uncle started clearing dishes from one end of the table. Not stacking them in the kitchen — pushing them to the side, making room, wiping the…
I Showed Up for Dragon Boat Festival With No Plan and the Zongzi Was the Best Part
6am and the River Was Already Loud I could hear the drums from the hotel room. Not a steady rhythm — more like someone testing a heartbeat, inconsistent, stopping, starting again. It was 6:10am and I hadn’t planned to be…
Zhangjiajie in the Rain: The Fog Ate My View and I’m Glad It Did
The Forecast Said 60% Chance of Rain I should have checked the 40%. That was the part without rain, and it lasted exactly until I got off the cable car at the top of Tianzi Mountain. Then the clouds came…