China Travel 2.0

Met Maggie on twitter, her insight in sports and Travel impressived me, she is an editor in China Sports Today(the only one English website reports china Sports world wide). She is bilingule.Goto her Chinese column- a twice weekly column in Chinese for the 21st Century Business Herald. I was so lucky can catch her between her busy schedule for a brief talk and Yanjing Beer drink. She told me more about the Shaxi village, but unfortunitely she only allow me to release little of it. wanna know more about Kunming and Shaxi? Read her quick but gold interview here.

1 Please tell us your name,where are you come from, where are you living now? and your work.
My name is Maggie Rauch and I grew up in Michigan, but New York City feels more like home to me. I currently live in Beijing, but Kunming is my Chinese hometown, my first stop in China.

2 when was your 1st China trip? did you think your first touching of China is the same as your imagine before? tell us more about your China image and real experience. the difference and beyond.
My first trip to China was in May of 2007, when I moved to Kunming. I had never been to China before. I really don’t carry many expectations with me when I travel to new places. Why would you assume that you know something about a place you have never been to?

3 would you recommend one of the best destinations according to your China trip experience? when did it happen? with your friend or by yourself? where is it? how did the place touch you?
My favorite place that I have visited in China would have to be Shaxi, a township in Yunnan province a few hours from Kunming and Dali. The villages that My friend and I hiked with a guide up into the mountains there and spent the night in family’s home up there. The home-cooked food was amazing and the views were incredible. The villages that make up Shaxi are charming, and the Bai people are great hosts. Shaxi hardly gets any tourist traffic, and I hope it stays that way (shoot–are you publishing this? Just tell everyone to go to Lijiang and I’ll just send my friends to Shaxi)(I won’t tell them the details,no worry, and it is difficult to reach such a beautiful place).

 4 please share some trave tips to our readers if they want to come to China for the first time, if they cant read and speak any Chinese, if they want to buy some coffee in a rural area, if they want to visit the washroom in a strang city, if they want to find a budget hotel,etc,
 There are so many little tips to share, but I’ll just have to pick one. Understand that you’re not going to see it all, so just relax and go with the flow.
5 well,you work in Beijing and live in Beijing, tell us some of your stories in Beijing, before the Olympics and after the Olympics, and the old Hutongs and the transportations, where is the best place you like in Beijing? and why?
My favorite place in Beijing is the top of the hill in Jingshan park. Walking around Beijing, you can start to feel like you’re just surrounded by cement and people. You would never guess that there is such a beautiful and peaceful place in the city.

Follow Maggie on Twitter.

Tags: China travel, dali, shaxi, twitter, Yunnan