Field notes
The journal
What we've learned walking this city — written when there's something worth saying, not on a schedule.
Anhui3 min read
Huangshan — The Mountain That Invented Chinese Landscape Painting
Huangshan is the most painted mountain in China and it deserves the reputation. It's also relentlessly crowded, and the difference between a great visit and a miserable one is entirely about timing.
Anhui2 min read
Getting Into China During Covid — A Retrospective
For nearly three years, entering China meant a testing regime, a sealed bus and two or three weeks of hotel quarantine. It's all gone now — but it's worth remembering what it took.
Anhui3 min read
A Road Trip Through Southern Anhui
Southern Anhui is the best week of driving in eastern China: UNESCO villages, tea hills, a Taoist mountain and a porcelain town, all within a couple of hours of each other.
Anhui2 min read
Guangde — An Ordinary County, Which Is the Point
Guangde is a county town in eastern Anhui with no famous sight and no tourist industry. It is exactly the kind of place most travellers in China never stop in, and it's a better day than most of the ones they do.
Anhui3 min read
Lucun — New Year in an Anhui Village
Rural New Year isn't a scaled-down city version. It's the one time of year the village is full — children back from the coast, grandparents cooking for twelve, and firecrackers from every doorway at midnight.
Anhui3 min read
Being a Guest at a Chinese New Year
If a Chinese family invites you home for New Year, say yes. Here's what the two days involve, what every dish is doing on the table, and how not to be a burden.