My trip to China, part 3: I learn about 20th-century Chinese history

Over the past century, China has experienced some tumultuous history, and the city of Shanghai has been at the center of much of it. Yesterday, I went and visited some important sites in the history of Shanghai in order to learn more about modern Chinese history.

Before 1911, China was an empire ruled by an emperor in Beijing. The country was very weak. Its economy was terrible, most of the people got no education at all, and the country lost a lot of wars. Many people thought that the only way to make China strong again was to overthrow the empire. One such man was Sun Yat-sen.

My trip to China, part 2: I visit the gardens of Suzhou

A few days ago, I hopped on a very fast Chinese train and rode 25 minutes out of Shanghai to the city of Suzhou. Suzhou is a beautiful city that was built on a series of canals. In fact, it was the third city I have ever visited that is famous for its canals – can you name the other two? Here's a hint: both of those cities are in Europe.

Suzhou has long been a commercial center in China. In fact, it was the center of trade in east central China up until 1860. Before that time, Shanghai was just a sleepy little backwater farther down the river. After that, however, Shanghai grew rapidly in size and dwarfed nearby Suzhou.

Suzhou is most famous for its beautiful gardens. Back when China was an empire, some of the people who reached high positions in China's civil service built very nice houses for themselves. Since Suzhou gets quite hot during the summer, several of these people built elaborate gardens next to their houses so that they could relax in the shade of the cool trees. Loyal readers of this blog will remember that I visited one Chinese garden and one Japanese garden on my trip to Singapore. The gardens of Suzhou represent a very particular style of Chinese garden. One might even say that these gardens are some of the most famous in the entire world!

My trip to China, part 1: I visit the Bund in Shanghai

Hello from China! I have recently arrived in Shanghai, the most populous city in China. Shanghai is located on the east coast of China, near the mouth of China's longest river, the Yangtze. The city is a very important port, and it is also a financial hub for the entire world. With a population of more than 14 million people (and growing), Shanghai is a booming metropolis. It's quite an intimidating place for a little bear!

My trip to Warsaw

Greetings from Warsaw, Poland! I traveled here with my friend Kara, who also took me to Hong Kong and Kansas. Poland is a big country to the east of Germany, and Warsaw is its capital city. Warsaw is a beautiful city with many old buildings, and I enjoyed my trip there very much. Can you find Warsaw on a map? What other cities in Poland might I want to visit in the future?

My trip to Kansas

On my way back to Seattle from Hong Kong, I stopped for a few days in Kansas. I know I don't blog much about the United States, but I got some great photos at my friend's farm, so I wanted you to see them. The next time you eat a loaf of bread, you should stop for a minute and think about how that bread may have started out as wheat in a field in Kansas.

Bobbe's trip to Morocco, part 9: the Roman ruins at Volubilis

Here is another post from Bobbe's trip to Morocco.

Like all countries that border the Mediterranean Sea, Morocco was once part of the Roman Empire. As you may remember, I have previously visited impressive Roman ruins in Italy and Turkey (and Benny has blogged about a Roman amphitheater in Jordan). Today, I'm going to tell you about my trip to see the remains of Volubilis, which was once the most important city in Roman Morocco.

Bobbe's trip to Morocco, part 8: the Sahara Desert

Here is the eighth part of Bobbe's report on her trip to Morocco.

From Marrakech, I headed out on a long expedition into the Sahara Desert. The Sahara is the largest desert in the world. It stretches all the way from Morocco and Mauritania near the Atlantic Ocean to Egypt and Sudan on the east side of Africa. Along the way, it contains some of the driest, hottest, most barren, most inhospitable places in the entire world. But the desert is also a really beautiful place.

My trip to Hong Kong, part 3: Cheung Chau

Hello from Hong Kong, where my friend Kara took me on a boat ride to the island of Cheung Chau. Cheung Chau is in the southwestern part of Hong Kong, and you have to take a ferry to get to it. Cheung Chau is most famous for its annual Bun Festival, when people on the island make and eat a lot of really yummy buns. I loved visiting the Bun Festival on Cheung Chau!

Bobbe's trip to Morocco, part 7: Marrakech

This is the seventh post in Bobbe's series about her trip to Morocco.

Remember how, in my posts about Fez and Meknes, I wrote that those were two of Morocco's three great imperial capitals? I recently visited the third city in this group: Marrakech. Marrakech is quite a ways south of the part of Morocco where I usually live, so I had to take a long train ride to get there. Marrakech is actually the most popular destination for tourists to Morocco because it has such a lively town center with so much going on. I certainly had a great time there!

Bobbe's trip to Morocco, part 6: Bobbe hits the beach

Here is part 6 of Bobbe's report from Morocco:

Last weekend, I decided to relax by going to the beach. Morocco has a very long coastline, so it has lots of beaches. If you look at a map, you will see that it borders two different bodies of water: the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic coastline is longer, but both are very nice. Looking at a map, can you find the name of the strait that connects the Mediterranean and the Atlantic? That strait separates Morocco from Spain, but the bit of land on the Spanish side is actually owned by the United Kingdom. That bit of land has the same name as the strait. Can you find it?

My trip to Hong Kong, part 2: I visit the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple

As in Singapore, it is possible to find beautiful, relaxing places in Hong Kong where you can get away from the hustle and bustle of the big city. One good way to do this is to go to a Buddhist temple. Lots of people in Hong Kong, as in other parts of East and Southeast Asia, are Buddhists. Buddhists follow the teachings of a man named the Buddha, who reached what is called "Enlightenment" in northern India more than 6,000 years ago. Buddhist temples often have lots of statues of the Buddha, generally in lots of different poses. The temple I visited, known as the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple, has a particularly large number of statues. In fact, the name of the temple is a misnomer; there are at least 13,000 Buddha statues on display inside it. I lost count very quickly of how many I had seen, so I just went around taking pictures of as many as I could.

My trip to Hong Kong, part 1: I learn about the city

In the past month, I have been to three very small, very urban places on the continent of Asia: Singapore, Kuwait, and now Hong Kong. Unlike Singapore and Kuwait, however, Hong Kong is not an independent country. It is actually part of China. It is located partly on a peninsula and partly on several islands in southern China next to the South China Sea. Can you find Hong Kong on a map?

My trip to Kuwait, part 2: Kuwaiti society and culture

When I first got to Kuwait, I was expecting to see all the men wearing keffiyehs and agals like I showed you in my last post. I like to discover as much traditional local culture as possible when I travel. But what I found was that not as many men wear keffiyehs as I had anticipated. It turns out that only about half of Kuwait's population is actually from Kuwait. The other half is made up of migrants from all over the world who have come to live and work in Kuwait, especially in the oil industry. Often, these migrants are men who travel to Kuwait without their families and only intend to stay for a short period of time. In some other Persian Gulf countries (such as Bahrain), the number of foreign migrants greatly exceeds the local population. In Kuwait, the foreign population is about 50%. The greatest number of migrants come from poor countries in South Asia such as Pakistan and Bangladesh. Their presence, along with Kuwait's traditional cultural and economic links to other parts of the world, make Kuwait a very diverse place.

Bobbe's trip to Morocco, part 5: eating Moroccan breakfast

Bobbe tells us about what she eats for breakfast in Morocco:

Living in Morocco has been wonderful so far. One of my favorite parts is getting to eat the Moroccan food. In my previous posts, I showed you my lunch of chicken with couscous and vegetables as well as another lunch I had of pastilla. But rather than just tell you about what I have eaten for lunch and dinner, I think you might be interested to know what I usually eat for breakfast. So here are some pictures of my Moroccan breakfast!

My trip to Kuwait, part 1: the Persian Gulf

In March, I had an opportunity to head to Kuwait. Kuwait is a very small country on the Persian Gulf. Those of you who are keeping track of all my adventures will know that Kuwait is the fourth Arab country I have blogged about (after Tunisia, Jordan, and Lebanon, plus Bobbe is in Morocco). It is also the seventh predominately Muslim country I have visited (after Tunisia, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Pakistan, and Malaysia).

One thing you need to know about Kuwait is that it is a very rich country. The Persian Gulf, as you might know, is a place where lots of oil can be found. All of the eight countries that border the Persian Gulf (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman) have very important oil industries. The Persian Gulf, however, is important for more than just oil. For hundreds of years, Kuwait's economy and culture have been based on the exchange of goods and ideas throughout the Persian Gulf and beyond into the Indian Ocean.

Bobbe's trip to Morocco, part 4: Meknes

Here is the fourth installment of Bobbe's narrative of her trip to Morocco.

As I said in one of my previous posts, Fez is one of three traditional Moroccan capital cities. Today, I'm going to tell you about Meknes, which is one of the others. Meknes was made the capital of Morocco by a ruler named Moulay Ismail, who reigned from 1672 until 1727. Moulay Ismail was very powerful, but he was also kind of cruel. His patronage transformed the city of Meknes; today, everywhere you go in Meknes, you hear all about Moulay Ismail.

My trip to Thailand

If you continue up the Malay Peninsula from Malaysia, the next country you get to is Thailand. Do you see where Thailand gets very narrow? The land connects the Malay Peninsula with the rest of Southeast Asia. It also separates the Gulf of Thailand from the Andaman Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Indian Ocean. A narrow piece of land that connects two larger landmasses is known as an "isthmus." Isthmus is very hard word to pronounce. This particular isthmus is known as the Isthmus of Kra.

Off the west side of the Isthmus of Kra is a little island known as Phuket. Phuket has beautiful beaches, so it has gotten very touristy. Fortunately, I was traveling with Nick, who spent an entire year living on a remote Thai island, so he was able to take me by ferry to a much more rural island nearby. What an adventure!

Bobbe's trip to Morocco, part 3: around the Fez medina

Bobbe continues telling us about her trip to Fez.

In my last post, I told you about Al-Karaouine University and its associated mosque, two buildings which are right at the heart of the old city in Fez. Today, I'm going to tell you about the other parts of the Fez medina that I enjoyed on my trip to Fez.

My trip to Malaysia

The last destination I told you about was Singapore, which I said was a very tiny country. Singapore sits on an island at the very southern tip of a peninsula known as the Malay Peninsula. Most of that peninsula is taken up by a country called Malaysia, which is the next country I'm going to tell you about. In addition to the land on the peninsula, Malaysia also contains two provinces on an island called Borneo, but I didn't go there. I just traveled up and down the main part of the Malay Peninsula. Before you keep reading, you should see if you can find the Malay Peninsula, Singapore, and Borneo on a map.

Bobbe's trip to Morocco, part 2: Al-Karaouine University in Fez

Here is Bobbe's second post about Morocco.

Hello again from Morocco! I want to tell you about a fantastic trip I took to the city of Fez. Fez is one of three great imperial capitals of Morocco, along with Meknes and Marrakesh. The heart of Fez is a wonderful thousand-year-old walled old city (called a "medina" in Arabic). The city has lots of narrow walkways that twist and turn and wind about. If you don't know your way around, you can get lost really fast. I'll tell you more about the medina in my next post, but in this one I want to focus on the building at the heart of the city of Fez: Al-Karaouine University.