Jaunted

Tags: Chocolate Travel / Food Travel / China Travel / Beijing Travel / Amusement Park Travel / → All Tags

A Chocolate Theme Park Will Hatch In Beijing's Bird's Nest Stadium Next Year

Important statistical news just in: the number of chocoholics found in China is rising. This could be bad news if we think of having to share the world's supply of chocolate with an increasing number of people, but the flipside is positive stuff—China's going to open a "world chocolate dream park" in Beijing next year.

The theme park will be housed in the Olympic Green (where the famous Olympics "Bird's Nest" stadium is) and will include five indoor pavilions and two outdoor sites full of chocolate-themed exhibits. They say this will include life-size, edible chocolate versions of the Great Wall of China and the Terracotta Army.

more ›

Tags: Beijing Field Trip / Olympic Park / Olympics Travel / 2008 Olympics Venues / → All Tags

The Party's Over at Olympic Park

With the 60th anniversary of China becoming a communist republic approaching October 1, Claire Duffett took a jaunt around the country for the month of September, starting with Beijing. Nowhere does old and new China collide than in its Capital, and for the next five days, we'll share with you the most up-to-date tidbits on what to see and do, and how many yuan it will set you back.

The Olympic Park, with the unmistakable design of its main stadium, the Bird’s Nest, is perhaps the best example of Beijing’s frenetic but seemingly misguided development. With a sparklingly-new subway connecting it to the rest of the city, the area is a quiet amusement park where nothing really happens.

Walking around the grounds gave us the feeling that we were wandering through a cluttered living room after the last guest has departed from a really awesome party. The leftover confetti is just a tad depressing. There’s a ferris wheel and some snack vendors, but otherwise, activities in the area involve marveling at the strands of steel on the nest or the fake blue bubbles of the watersports complex. Even the tower, used only to display the rings and elevate people to the top for a veiw of Beijing, is now cordoned off.

more ›

Tags: Beijing Field Trip / Forbidden City / Tourist Traps / → All Tags

Seizing the Forbidden City

With the 60th anniversary of China becoming a communist republic approaching October 1, Claire Duffett took a jaunt around the country for the month of September, starting with Beijing. Nowhere does old and new China collide than in its Capital, and for the next five days, we'll share with you the most up-to-date tidbits on what to see and do, and how many yuan it will set you back.

The Forbidden City shows that Chinese penchant for the grandiose began centuries ago. From 1420 to 1624, 24 successive emperors surrounded themselves with concubines and eunuchs, thus populating the grounds of what is really a city in and unto itself with 980 buildings still standing.

On first inspection, it becomes evident how the Ming Dynasty got wrapped up in its self-made cocoon and lost track of what was going on outside those 26-foot-high, red walls, allowing enemy forces to eventually seize power in the 17th century.

more ›

Tags: Beijing Field Trip / Tiananmen Square / Communist Travel / Mao Tse Tung / → All Tags

Mao Groupies Flock to Tiananmen Square

With the 60th anniversary of China becoming a communist republic approaching October 1, Claire Duffett took a jaunt around the country for the month of September, starting with Beijing. Nowhere does old and new China collide than in its Capital, and for the next five days, we'll share with you the most up-to-date tidbits on what to see and do, and how many yuan it will set you back.

Tiananmen Square. For most in the West, it evokes images of a peace-loving student offering a daisy to oncoming tanks. For Chinese, at least outwardly, it’s a combo of Trafalgar Square and the Lincoln Memorial.

Every morning, thousands of pilgrims line up, white carnations in hand, to see the body of Chairman Mao Tse Tung, which lies in preservation in a mausoleum in the center of the cement-tile square, the largest of its kind in the world. The atmosphere is austere though a bit frantic, with armed police monitoring the seemingly-endless line and kicking out cutters.

more ›

Tags: Beijing Field Trip / Smog / Forbidden Palaces / The Great Wall / Basketball Travel / → All Tags

Visiting The Land of Brown Smoke and Basketball Lovers

With the 60th anniversary of China becoming a communist republic approaching October 1, Claire Duffett took a jaunt around the country for the month of September, starting with Beijing. Nowhere does old and new China collide than in its Capital, and for the next five days, we'll share with you the most up-to-date tidbits on what to see and do, and how many yuan it will set you back.

Post-Olympics Beijing vaguely resembles its former self. Subways are modern, pristine marvels, with train floors cleaner than our own kitchen’s. The cheapness of transportation emphasized its superiority over American and European cities, with subway rides costing about 30 cents in US money and taxi rides up to two kilometers costing less than a dollar.

more ›

Tags: Amazing-Race-14 / Amazing Race 14 / Chasing Racers / Television Travel / TV Travel / → All Tags

He Made Me Look Like Alice Cooper

Chasing Racers is back, with a brand new Amazing Race 14 mashup. This map will update the morning after every new episode. Send along tips, rumors, gossip, locations and spoilers to our map editors, become a member and comment on the stories below and add to the Jaunted- Flickr photo pool to get in on the fray.

Remember to zoom in, out and around on the map--with so much happening in each episode, it's easy to miss a map point.

With some of the best racing in recent memory, these last few episodes have us amped up for the finish line. Last week, teams ran headlong into a continuation. Jaime and Cara made it first to the checkpoint and were told to keep racing. Margie and Luke were second with Tammy and Victor in third. Kisha and Jen brought up the rear, and instead of being eliminated, were told to keep racing. This week, there's another U- Turn in play, with a spot in the final three at stake. All four remaining teams are strong, competitive and want to win. Who can tough it out long enough to secure a coveted spot racing in the finale?

LET'S FIND OUT!

more ›

Tags: Amazing-Race-14 / Amazing Race 14 / Chasing Racers / Television Travel / TV Travel / → All Tags

Having a Baby's Gotta Be Easier Than This

Chasing Racers is back, with a brand new Amazing Race 14 mashup. This map will update the morning after every new episode. Send along tips, rumors, gossip, locations and spoilers to our map editors, become a member and comment on the stories below and add to the Jaunted- Flickr photo pool to get in on the fray.

Remember to zoom in, out and around on the map--with so much happening in each episode, it's easy to miss a map point.

We are down to only four teams as we edge nearer to the big finish. After last week's conflict between Luke and Jen, will both teams be able to focus and get beyond it, or with their distrust fuel more ill will? Tammy and Victor have a language advantage, but will their verbal skills be able to help them stay ahead when it comes down to some very physical challenges? It's getting down to the wire and the stakes are getting higher and higher. Which team has what it takes to make it all the way to the finish line to win one million dollars?

LET'S FIND OUT!

more ›

Tags: Travel Deals / China Travel / Beijing / Beijing Travel / → All Tags

Beijing's Tourism Woes Get the Deals Rolling

Have our Hong Kong tales been driving you to hunger for dim sum and pork floss pastries while your (lack of) hefty paycheck has been keeping you down? Well, we may have found a happy medium in a "China Spree" deal if you're ok with visiting Beijing and devouring peking duck.

If you can fly out of San Francisco next winter on selected dates and book the trip by March 31, then a week in Beijing inclusive of hotel, breakfast, airfare and transfers is only $588. We're sure we don't have to stress how awesome this price is, but really, why so cheap? With a combination of advance booking, winter travel (Beijing gets cold like Chicago), and general stress over tourism levels in the city post-Olympics, deals with low prices like this should be popping up here and there throughout the year.

Adding to the discount is that this is a package without the structure and added expense of a tour group. Daytrips to the Great Wall or visits to temples and palaces can be arranged as you like and as your budget allows. We'd be tempted to take it if we hadn't just stepped off of a 15-hour flight from China.

All the details on the package can be found here. Be sure to let us know if you do jump on the deal or find any other budget Asia excursions we've been missing.

Related Stories
· Beijing Free-Style Travel Deal [China Spree]
· Hong Kong Field Trip [Jaunted]
· China Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: xiaming]

Tags: Geeky Travel / World of Warcraft / Video Games / Restaurants / → All Tags

Just What China Needed: A World of Warcraft Restaurant

We've never played, but the 1 million World of Warcraft gamers in China are sure to be booking tickets to Beijing right now: A new restaurant in the capital features screens playing animations from the game, a full-sized suit of armor, fantasy-inspired murals, menu items named after characters from Azeroth and, obviously, a place to get online and play.

And this isn't the only gamer-friendly venue you'll want to put on your Chinese itinerary. You'll also want to check out Universal Digital Carnival Valley in Changzhou, set to open in 2010:

Featuring nine digital culture and e-sports experience sectors such as Hero Gate, Taobao Street, QQ Fantasy, Mir World, Star World, Warcraft Land, Secret Island, Happy Harbor and World Digital Culture Temple.

Just remember: If you do go, don't talk about the trip in your next job interview.

Related Stories:
· WoW Restaurant in Beijing [Shanghaiist, via]
· Guitar Heroes in Manila [Jaunted]

[Photo: Dianping]

Tags: Art / Art Galleries / China Travel / → All Tags

Our Mother Told Us Not to Play With Our Vegetables

While we spent our childhood being told to sit still and eat all our vegetables, the upbringing in Chinese artist Ju Duoqi's house was obviously different. She's making a living out of exhibiting vegetables that she's turned into art.

Clearly unsatisfied with using the traditional paint or pastels or even getting creative with tin cans, Ju's gone the route of pickling, drying and boiling vegetables to use in recreating famous paintings like the Mona Lisa or Andy Warhol's version of Marilyn Monroe.

Curious travelers can find the vegetable works in the Vegetable Museum exhibition running now in Beijing; perhaps it's the only art gallery exhibition where you can have you art and eat it too.

Related Stories:
· Woman Recreates Art With Veggies [UPI]
· Yes We Can Edition [Jaunted]
· Beijing Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: Ananova]

Tags: WiFi / China Travel / Internet Cafes / Great Firewall / → All Tags

Prevention of Vice Travel: Beijing Putting Further Restrictions on Internet Cafes

We already heard that Beijing's cabs are stocked with spy equipment, and now it seems we'll have to be extra careful when entering or leaving an internet cafe in the city. Starting in 2009, not only will we have to show ID to get online, we'll be photographed and have our personal info "placed in a file," according to Xinhua.

Tech blog Ars Technica puts the further restrictions in perspective:

China's latest surveillance move comes just months after the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing closed, taking the only-slightly-more-open Internet with them. China had originally promised that the Internet connection in parts of Beijing would be unrestricted in order for the press to be able to report on the games as they do elsewhere, although that ended up being not quite true.

In the end, China agreed to lighten up its heavy filtering and censorship a little bit, but wouldn't lift it all the way in the name of protecting citizens from "unhealthy" and unapproved online content.

If you're headed to China and would rather not have the government all up in your business, we have some advice on circumventing internet filters.

Related Stories:
· Smile, You're on Internet Cafe Camera! [AT]
· Beijing: Cab Driver... Or Spy? [Jaunted]

[Photo: jon crel]

Tags: China Travel / Olympics / Pollution / → All Tags

Heavy Breathing Travel: Beijing Clearing the Air Again

Hey, remember China? Even though the Olympics are over, it's still there--and the air quality in Beijing is back to absolutely horrible.

To try to alleviate the pollution, the city government has reinstated restrictions on driving. Cars will only be allowed on the roads six days a week, with license plate numbers deciding who gets to drive when. Officials say the plan will keep 800,000 private vehicles off the capital's clogged streets every day.

The scheme, which began today, will be in place until at least April, and if pollution continues to worsen, the government says it may order as many as half of the city's 3.4 million cars off the road daily.

Related Stories:
· Beijing Reintroduces Car Rules [BBC]
· Our Olympics Air Quality Obsession Continues [Jaunted]

[Photo of the Pangu Plaza on August 10, 2008: xiaming]