In addition to the gorgeous scenery, pampering spa, exotic cultures, I believe it’s also because of the fresh feeling of “suspending my life” for just a few days.

Last night, I heard a good writer David Ignatius articulate the situation in Egypt. That, strangely enough, reminded me of travel.

“In January, there was a feeling of euphoria.  All of a sudden, the common people felt that they were living a different life; it was exhilarating in Tahrir Square. You could now take risks that you normally wouldn’t; everything was possible. Two months later, the square was littered with trash. The euphoria was gone.  Life returned to normal. I am still jobless, and there is no police, crime’s going up.”

It struck me that travel was just like a mini version of the Egyptian revolution in January 2011, regardless of where I go.

One of my favorite things to do back in China was to go back to Yunnan, find a little village like Shaxi. Check into a little lodge, take my camera and wander around.  Take a walk along the beautiful stream running through the village; roll up my sleeves and offer to help the farmer planting rice in the paddy fields; sit down for a cup of tea in an old horseman’s house and learn about the traditions of the tea and horse caravan road; hike up the mountain to examine the fine figurines of Jianchuan Shibaoshan Grottoes.

In doing so, I relax, I smile, I get into a zone of “travel high”.

The question is why? Yes fresh air helps. More importantly, it’s because I put my daily duties of running a business, being a mom on hold. I forgot to fuss over how many people commented on my facebook posting. I stop to worry whether I weighed half a pound more or less than yesterday.

It was my mini-revolution. I could now, at this very moment, imagine being a photographer, a historian, a writer, an anthropologist, an explorer, an artist. Basically being in all the professions that I’ve always wanted to be, but couldn’t be.  Oh, there are many reasons why I couldn’t. I don’t have the talent; these professions don’t make money; or because I went to Harvard Business School.

So, I return to my normal life after a week, return to the routine of school pickups/dropoffs, running business, savoring the euphoria of travel.

A few weeks later, I take off again, for another mini revolution. This time with kids and family.  This time, I would suspend my daily life as a “do-your-homework-now” mom, and change for a week, into a loving, all-attentive, let-mommy-rub-some-sunblock-on-you-sweetie mom.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my daily routine, I have a great family and a great job. Travel is simply additive.

A disk of compressed Pu-erh tea for sale at a tea market in Yunnan

It’s not often that one encounters a tourist souvenir that lowers cholesterol, promotes weight loss and protects against cancer, vascular disease, cognitive degeneration and aging – not to mention providing important nutrients like amino acids.

But tea is believed to have these virtues and recent research shows that certain types of Pu-erh tea from China’s Yunnan province have particularly potent levels of beneficial chemical compounds.

WildChina visits Pu-erh production areas in Yunnan on its trip ‘The Ancient Tea & Horse Caravan Road: An Expedition with Jeff Fuchs.’ Learning about the fascinating history of the ancient trade routes along which Pu-erh tea once traveled by horseback to Tibet is a highlight of many clients’ trips.

Another highlight is trekking in Yunnan through tea agro-forests and wild tea gardens where members of exotic ethnic minorities like the Bulang, Lahu and Akha have tended organic tea gardens for generations in the general area from which tea is believed to have first emerged.

In fact, it is believed to be these small-scale, natural growing practices which impart the best Pu-erh tea with heightened health benefits. Most tea in the world these days is produced in sprawling plantations, planted in neat rows in direct sunlight and often treated with chemical fertilizers, pesticides and other agricultural chemicals.

Not so with the finest Yunnan Pu-erh tea. To start with, it is not all produced from a genetically uniform crop. As we learned recently from the excellent book Tea Horse Road, Pu-erh is produced from a dozen wild cousins and hundreds of landraces of the Camellia sinensis plant – each particularly adapted to the climate of the particular hillside, or even grove, where it has traditionally been grown.

And instead of being grown in a tea monoculture, these trees (many reach an age of a few hundred years and a height of 50 or more feet) grow shaded from harsh sunlight in a natural ecosystem with hundreds of other plant, animal and insect species.

Thriving in their natural environment, agro-forest and tea garden trees produce higher levels of the beneficial compounds that first drew humans to start drinking tea, likely as a medical elixir, some three thousand or more years ago.

A study published last year in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology¹ compared Pu-erh from both terrace plantations and ecologically friendly agro-forests, measuring levels of tea catechins, flavonoid compounds that are thought to be beneficial to human health and are present to varying degrees in most non-herbal tea. The authors found that tea from the agro-forests had average catechin levels several times higher than the plantation tea.

So if you find yourself in southern Yunnan, relaxing after a day of trekking through ancient tea gardens and sipping on a cup of Pu-erh, you can feel good about the fact that a hike isn’t the only good thing you’re doing for your health that day. And don’t forget that a compressed cake packs great for the trip home.

1: See: Ahmed, et al “Pu-erh tea tasting in Yunnan, China: Correlation of drinkers’ perceptions to phytochemistry“, Journal of Ethnopharmacology 132 (2010) 176–185

I know I have become too American, as I allowed my dinner guests to order for themselves.

Back in Beijing, I lead a different life. Unlike the steady pace of office/school pickup/homework/dinner/bed routine, Beijing trips often are filled with a frenzy of meetings, lunch and dinner appointments.  This seems to be fitting with the pace of America and China, serves me just fine.

One day, I had lunch with a Chinese government-official-turned-businessman, and then dinner with a couple who loved traveling around the world.

Usually, when setting up the appointment, it’s somewhat indicated who 请 whom.  That means who is inviting whom. The Inviting party picks the restaurant and is usually expected to pick up the bill afterwards. It’s considered extremely embarrassing for Chinese to work on splitting the bill after a meal.

My lunch date made it very clear that he’s 请ing me.  So, he picked me up from my office, with a black Audi A6. I had no idea where we were going. He drove a short distance to Shunfeng, a hugely expensive Chinese seafood restaurant frequented by government officials and traditional businessmen.

The small parking lot in front was already packed with black Audis or Bentz. A young man was attentive directing us to the back parking lot, and escorted us into the restaurant. All the waitresses wear light makeup, bright yellow or red Chinese dresses, hairs put up high in a bun, with 3 chopsticks sticking out of their hair buns. They reminded me of peacocks.

My friend ordered for both of us, as I wasn’t even presented a menu.

“Could you please do not order any Abalone for me? I honestly don’t like it.” Knowing my friend, I had to speak up.

“What about sea urchins?” my friend asked.

“No, I don’t like sea urchins either. I am actually really happy with some good vegetable.” I insisted. Truthfully, I grew up in the mountains of Yunnan and never had much of a taste for exotic seafood.

“I ordered plenty of vegetable, but you should have some Abalone. It’s good, particularly baby ones cooked in a porridge.” My friend insisted, and pushed ahead with two orders.

The dishes came. Excellent plain boilded shrimp, and outstanding vegetable and fish. The only dish I didn’t like – Abalone Porridge. The worst of all, I drank the porridge and left the baby abalones in the bowl.  Thinking back, I probably insulted my host to an unbelievable degree. The abalones I left in my bowl probably cost a migrant worker’s monthly salary! And I just left them for the sewer.

I never saw the bill, and vaguely remember we talked about high-tech investments.

Learning from my plight at lunch, when my guest took charge of the dinner menu, and said, he knew what his wife liked, I let it be.

This time, it was more or less understood that I would pay.  I chose the Chinese restaurant at the Peninsula Hotel because I was staying there.  I met them at the hotel lobby.

He picked a few dishes, a plate of tea-smoked chicken, a serving of pig ear salad (yes, real pig ears, marinated, and slow cooked, and sliced so they didn’t look like ears anymore), a green vege dish, and something else I don’t remember.  The only thing I remember was that the chicken wasn’t very good.  But, we were too busy talking; I didn’t pay any attention to the food.

They just returned from their skiing trip to northern Japan. So, I wanted to know all the details of how they survived the earthquake. They said they didn’t feel a thing, and the flights were normal as well. Conversation went on to how to find the hidden lodge in Chile, or scheming a time to go skiing in Vale.

Whenever we talk about travel, I can’t stop talking. Never did it occur to me that maybe I should have ordered more dishes or ordered some fancy dishes.

Late at night, I picked up the tab, RMB 585 (USD 90).  (That in Beijing is considered a fairly small amount for treating guests.) This couple bundled up and walked home.

Only later did I realize what my dinner guests had done. They knew that I wouldn’t let them pay, so they took charge of the ordering and kept the dishes to a few simple dishes. If I were a true Chinese hostess, I should not have allowed that to happen. I should have taken charge and ordered exotic and expensive items to show my respect for them.

I didn’t. The dinner guests knew me well enough to know how much I respect them.   I know they eat simple meals everyday. I also know they read with a ferocious appetite, and know every piece of classical music intimately well. They often walk, leaving their expensive Volvo SUV at home.

They are one of the very few wealthy Chinese who would do so.

Nobody likes to be hurried, but if you’ve been putting off deciding whether you’re going to travel to China later this year, now is an ideal time to make those plans.

As this recent travel story in the New York Times reminds us all, travel to and within Asia is booming this year – especially here in China.

Bookings this year at WildChina and many travel agencies serving destination in China are up significantly from last year, making 2011 look like it could be the biggest China travel year since the Beijing Olympics.

It’s hard to believe that the first quarter of 2011 is nearly finished, but that doesn’t mean that it’s too late to book an unforgettable China experience for this year. Here’s a short list of some of the journeys we’re offering in the second half of 2011:

The Ancient Tea and Horse Caravan Route with Jeff Fuchs

Departs: September 13

Book by: June 13

What you’ll do: Experience Yunnan’s timeless landscapes and cultures as you follow tea’s journey from the plantations of Xishuangbanna to teapots in Shangri-la

China Treasures: Beijing, Xi’an, Yunnan and Shanghai

Departs: October 26

Book by: July 26

What you’ll do: Take in classic sights while getting a crash course in today’s China: urban and rural, old and new, north and south

Suzhou to Hangzhou – The Grand Canal

Departs: Whenever you decide

Book by: Three months prior to your departure

What you’ll do: See the depth and breadth of China’s beautiful watertowns, ancient sanctuary to Imperial elite

To learn more about WildChina journeys, or to tailor your own, contact us today.

Eden Project, one of the more interesting ecologically minded projects of recent years, says it has plans to come to China.

Eden Project founder Tim Smit told the BBC that the popular ecopark in Cornwall, UK is planning to work with the Chinese government to develop a mainland version.

Ten years have passed since the opening of the original Eden Project in an old clay mine – since then it has received more than 13 million visitors. The park features three biomes: an uncovered outdoor biome plus covered Mediterranean and tropical biomes.

The covered biomes are located within enclosures made of geodesic domes requiring no inner support. Both enclosures display a surprising diversity of plantlife, whose native climates are reproduced within the domes.

In addition to the role it has played in raising environmental awareness, especially among children, the Eden Project also hosts cultural events and is constantly striving to minimize its environmental impact.

Smit did not disclose where China’s Eden Project would be located or when work would start on the project, but he said building could begin as soon as 18 months from now.

We admire the Eden Project’s fun and effective approach to environmental education and wish them all the best in bringing their vision to China!

To the thousands affected by the earthquake and nuclear disaster in Japan, we at WildChina send our deepest condolences. We can only imagine the devastating effects that this is having and hope that relief will come as quickly as possible.

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We have received several calls and e-mails asking if the situation in Japan has affected China.  It has to some degree. A few clients have cancelled their trips to Asia, but our Beijing office remains fully functional, albeit the possibility of slower communication as the internet connection is currently a bit spotty.  We will monitor the situation closely and keep all informed about the situation’s effects on China travel.

Image: Wallcoo

For many travelers, one of the difficult aspects of setting aside the time and money for a trip to China is that it’s hard to know what you’re getting yourself in for until you’re stepping off the plane — unlike buying a car there is no ‘test drive’ option.

We frequently receive enquiries about our Tea Horse Road journey, an exploration of ancient trade routes in Yunnan from the jungles of Xishuangbanna to the breathtaking Tibetan highlands of Shangri-la.

For 13 centuries, the Tea and Horse Caravan Road was a network of rugged paths linking China with Tibet, Southeast Asia and India through Yunnan. Its name comes from the exchange of Chinese tea for Tibetan horses that formed the backbone of this commercial network connected by fearless caravans. These caravans facilitated the exchange of customs and culture between dozens of different ethnic groups scattered across some of Asia’s wildest terrain.

A virtual trip back in time peppered with some of Yunnan – and China’s – most spectacular scenery, our journey is led by Jeff Fuchs, the first Westerner to travel the entirety of the Tea Horse Road.

It is not easy to fully convey how special places such as Mangang Village or Shaxi are over the phone or in an email. Many places along the old route are simply too unique for words.

That’s why we were excited to happen upon the book Tea Horse Road, an amazing introduction to one of the world’s most beautiful and diverse regions. A joint effort between photographer Michael Freeman and ethnobotanist Selena Ahmed, this incredibly thorough book is the result of years of travel, photography and research.

This attractive 340-page book published by River Books is big enough and has enough photos (more than 270!) to call a “coffee table book”, but that wouldn’t do it justice.

Freeman, who makes great photography seem easy, spent two years on the route getting to know the places and people of the old route through his lens.

Ahmed’s writing – which comes from four years of doctoral research – allows the reader to understand the route as a whole while appreciating the unique role each individual town or ethnic group played within this fascinating trade network.

This September we will travel the Tea Horse Road once again with the incomparable Jeff Fuchs. If you are considering joining us on this unforgettable journey, we highly recommend that you give it a test drive with Freeman and Ahmed’s excellent book.