Weekend in the city by the sea (Qingdao)

As a present for Michis birthday, we spent a relax weekend in Qingdao. Relax meaning nice hotel, nice food, limited sightseeing.  The weekend started in a rush, because it took me 3h to drive (be driven) 30km from the western outskirts of Shanghai to People Square. Actually, I had planned to go home and go to the airport from there, but after the driver managed to miss the tunnel entrance, I decided to get out and meet Michi in the Subway. Continue reading “Weekend in the city by the sea (Qingdao)”

Ordos Kangbashi 

On Monday and Tuesday I was lucky to have a business trip to Ordos Kangbashi New Area, the famous ghost town in Inner Mongolia.

The region is extremely rich because of their coal reserves. So they decided to build a new town, roughly 25km away from Ordos’ central district Dongsheng. Cost for this new Kangbashi District was apparently around 150 billion USD(!).  Continue reading “Ordos Kangbashi “

Tale of Two Cities

There are so many things going on, that I did not have time, to write this longer blog entry. Good that wordpress allows me to date back, so nobody will know that this was posted only in April.

My parents came to visit us in Shanghai and went with us on the big tour of Shanghai and Hong Kong. We had a full program, so here is the summary. Continue reading “Tale of Two Cities”

North Korea – The full story

It all started with an article in a German magazine on the developing tourism in North Korea that I read in early January. The article made me realize that it is actually possible to travel to this closed of country Only 4 weeks later, we boarded a plane to Pyongyang (see our departure pictures here). We spent 8 days traveling North Korea on what was truly lifetime experiences. Here is our story. Continue reading “North Korea – The full story”

Back from DPRK

We just arrived in Bejing on our flight back from Pyongyang and we are well.

Full report will follow later.

Events to be reported include dancing into the new lunar year with the locals on Kim Il Sung Square, flying with a helicopter over Pyongyang, dog meat delicassies, shooting a russion pistol and me passing out on the flight out of Pyongyang.

Stay tuned.