I love the internet. Got a $250 room for $55. This mansion, in the middle of the French concession of Shanghai, belonged to I.M. Pei’s father in the 1930’s and was recently converted into a boutique hotel. The only thing that was not completely 1930’s art deco was a modern toilet that did everything except talk to me. It even somehow knew whether I did #1 or #2 and adjusted its flush size accordingly.
Here’s the rather M.C. Escher-esque the staircase. Luckily there was also an elevator.
The Karakorum highway crosses the backbone of Asia, connecting Chinese Turkestan and Pakistan. The Kunjerab Pass, at 15397ft, is probably the highest border crossing in the world. This shows the highway as it leaves Kashgar headed for the Pamir Plateau.
Those sunglasses are large enough that I can see myself in the reflection. And why did she pose for me, anyhow?
At the Forbidden City, Beijing
If you think English grafitti is difficult, try doing it in Chinese characters, in cursive! Now that takes some skill…
Actually I’m pretty sure this fellow was actually spraying white paint to remove the graffiti. Still…
Funny, what you can see without even leaving the hotel. Taken at the Shangri-la Hotel, Beijing.
It’s not fast, but it’s high. Tops out at 17,000ft on the way from Chinese Turkestan over the “Roof of the World” to Pakistan. This place here is called the Gez Defile. It’s a gnarly gash that drops down from the Pamir Plateau into the Takla Makan desert, which means “you go in but you don’t come out.” The peak is Kongur, somewhere north of 25,000ft up.
