True North Strong

First off… yes, I know. It has been over a month since my last Asia adventure post. I’m alive. I’m doing great now. But shortly after this leg of the trip I got absolutely obliterated by what I can only describe as the Flu Boss Fight DLC. Fever, headaches, dehydration, chills, exhaustion… just an all-around terrible time for about 10 straight days. There were moments where my greatest ambition in life was successfully consuming half a piece of toast without collapsing into an

Hi Everyone! I had never even heard of Chongqing until it popped up while I was searching for visually insane places in China—somewhere with glowing skylines and that full-on cyberpunk vibe. Turns out, I had wildly underestimated what I was about to walk into. Chongqing isn’t just a big city—it’s one of the largest in the world. The municipality has a population of over 30 million people, making it more like a province-sized mega-region than a traditional city. The dense urba

Hi Everyone! Rolling into Xi’an by train, one thing immediately stood out—nuclear power plants… everywhere. I’m not exaggerating when I say it felt like I passed 20 of them on the way in and out. China is going all in on nuclear. They already have over 50 reactors operating and dozens more under construction, with plans to keep scaling hard over the next decade. The goal is to reduce reliance on coal and push toward long-term carbon neutrality. Whether you’re for it or agains

Hi Everyone. I arrived in Beijing from Gimpo International Airport (still sounds like a joke name to my ears…) and landed at Beijing Capital International Airport feeling prepared, confident… and immediately humbled. I had a Holafly eSIM that very clearly claimed it worked across 15+ Asian countries, including China. Spoiler: it did not. The second I landed—no data. Dead. Gone. Welcome to China. Now here’s where things got fun. I had done my homework. I had Alipay and WeCh