Macau’s Venetian Hotel is Venice on steroids

Macau’s Venetian Hotel isn’t your quiet little neighborhood Bed and Breakfast.
With its 40 stories, 3000 suites and 980 000 square meters, it’s the fourth largest building in the world by area.
According to the Venetian website, the hotel is large enough to hold ninety Boeing 747 jumbo jets.
And after having visited the Venetian myself, I think [...]

China’s first sex theme park sparks controvery

Usually, the English language China Daily newspaper makes pretty boring reading.
But this morning, I nearly choked on my buttered toast when I read a story in this paper about the first Chinese sex theme park.
Love Land is due to open in Chongqing in South-West China in October.
It will feature giant replicas of genitals, sculptures of [...]

Marry in Macau – but bring your own food

Most travel books and travel websites describe Macau as a gourmet’s paradise.
After having been here for a week, I can’t really agree.
And I suspect that all those rave review about the great Portuguese and Chinese food you can find in Macau must somehow have been masterminded by the Macau board of tourism.
Where’s the beef?
For the [...]

Life on the back streets of Beijing

Beijing bric à brac

When grandpa Zhang in Beijng cleans out his attic, he’s likely to find different stuff than grandpa Smith in Smalltown, USA.
No tacky 1950’s coffee pots, no freaky 1960’s hippy outfit, no funky 1970’s rugs.
Instead, your average Chinese might find propaganda pamphlets from the Cultural Revolution, some creaky old chairs that could have belonged to an [...]

Talking taxi in Beijing

Taking a taxi in Beijing is fascinating. I’ve never been to another city where all the taxi drivers listen to talk programs on their car radios. None of them has the radio tuned to a music station or is listening to a CD.
Enter any Beijing taxi, and you’ll most likely be catapulted into a Chinese [...]

Internet censorship and muted athletes in China

China’s internet censorship caused a storm in international media in recent days. Foreign journalists in Beijing were livid that they didn’t have unhindered access to the internet. China had blocked critical websites like Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders and the Chinese Services of the BBC or Germany’s Deutsche Welle. And this despite official assurances that [...]

What comes after the Olympic fever in China?

If you arrive at Beijing’s brand new Capital Airport these days, you’re immediately confronted with China’s enthusiasm about the Olympics.
And that feeling of excitement is going to stay with you every step that you take in China.
At the airport, you’re likely to see groups of young Chinese all decked out in blue and white track [...]

Sorry, we’re out of dog meat

There will be no dog meat in Beijing restaurants during the Olympics.
According to this weekend’s edition of China Daily (the country’s English language newspaper), the city’s 112 officially designated Olympic restaurants have been banned from selling dog meat during the Olympics.
The paper continues that non-designated restaurants have also been encouraged not to serve the meat.
“Dog [...]

Floored in Beijing

Beijing is fascinating in a million ways. Aside from all the ancient palaces and temples, the shopping and the great dining, there’s one “little” thing that absolutely amazed me during this visit.
It’s a gigantic LED video screen covering a downtown shopping street called The Place. Images of life underwater are projected onto the screen.

The deep [...]