UNESCO World Heritage Site
-
Québec City
May 12, 2019 to May 17, 2019Among all places we covered in this 12-day trip, Québec City — or more precisely, Old Québec — was by far our most highly anticipated travel destination. Inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1985, Old Québec was characterized as “the cradle of the French civilization in America”. This city was the capital of New […] Read more…
-
Fuzhou
Oct 22, 2018 to Oct 24, 2018Unlike other cities we visited in China, our guided tour didn’t cover Fuzhou. Rather, we were there to visit our long-distance relatives. While some of the elders from our group have met them in the past, it was our first time meeting them. Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian province, is one of the world’s fastest […] Read more…
-
Hangzhou
Oct 20, 2018 to Oct 21, 2018From Suzhou, we traveled 2 hours to Hangzhou. Hangzhou was the capital of China during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127–1279) and it is one of China’s 7 ancient capitals (the rest are Beijing, Xian, Nanjin, Luoyang, Kaifeng and Anyang). In Hangzhou, we had the opportunity to taste and buy Longjing (Dragon Well) Tea, the most […] Read more…
-
Xitang & Suzhou
Oct 18, 2018 to Oct 19, 2018From Shanghai, we traveled 2 hours west to Xitang, an ancient water town with more than a thousand years of history. Known as the “Venice of the East”, Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou form a triangle consisting of ancient towns that mostly built around the complex canal systems, rivers and lakes. Xitang, together with with Zhouzhuang, […] Read more…
-
Beijing
Oct 12, 2018 to Oct 16, 2018We finally made it to China! It all began with Angelina’s dad wanting to revisit China. After taking a few months to plan this intricate 13-day trip, we were able to make it a reality. There were 13 of us: parents, San Gu and San Gu Zhang, Yien Gu and Yien Gu Zhang, Eng Gu, […] Read more…
-
Jasper National Park
Jun 24, 2018 to Jun 28, 2018From Banff, we departed early in the morning and headed to Jasper. We stopped by at the Columbia Icefield along the way. Although the drive from Banff to the icefield took about 2.5 hours and an additional 1.5 hours to reach Jasper from the icefield, we made several wonderful stops along the Icefields Parkway, considered […] Read more…
-
Yoho NP & Kootenay NP
Jun 22, 2018 to Jun 23, 2018During our 6-night stay in Banff, we spent the last 2 days covering the less visited neighboring national parks: Yoho National Park and Kootenay National Park. Although they are located in British Columbia, these 2 national parks still observe Mountain Time Zone instead of Pacific Time Zone. So, we did not gain an additional hour […] Read more…
-
Banff National Park
Jun 18, 2018 to Jun 21, 2018This trip that took us more than a year to plan… has finally come to fruition. The Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, recognized into the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites for its “exceptional national beauty” and “striking mountain landscape” in 1984, comprises 4 national parks (Banff, Jasper, Yoho and Kootenay) and 3 provincial parks (Mt […] Read more…
-
New York
Oct 30, 2017 to Nov 4, 2017We arrived in New York a few hours after a major coastal storm had passed, which caused more than 1 million power outages in the Northeast. The strong wind from the turbulence was so severe that the LaGuardia Airport had opened only one runway that morning. That said, that was the only bad weather we […] Read more…