Travel

Exploring China’s “Wild Wall”

Peering from atop of the ruined stone ramparts that once marked the edge of known civilization for the Han Chinese through the morning haze out across the vast and intimidating mountains to the north, one could not help but imagine life in the Chinese dynasties and the harrowing experiences imperial soldiers must have faced defending the Middle Kingdom against the savage marauding warrior trips of the Xiongnu sweeping down from the hinterlands of the Eurasian Steppe to visit havoc and destruction on the cultivated and ordered Han society.

Free of the thick, jaundiced air, congested streets, oppressive heat, and clogged tourist attractions of Beijing, rugged highlands to the north of China’s capital lend themselves to an unfettered exploration of the Great Wall of China and its ancient ruined ramparts ensconced atop of forbidding mountain ridges blocking hostile encroachment from the north.

Prizing authenticity over the highly commercialized “Disneyland” experience the more popular and overcrowded tourist destination Badaling has to offer, one can hire a car and head for the lesser traveled sections of the Great Wall that stand above the village of Mutianyu located about 70 some odd kilometers north of Beijing.

Escape the thickening jaundiced air, congested streets, oppressive heat, and clogged tourist attractions of Beijing. Search the ruined ramparts atop of forbidding mountains blocking the Eurasian Steppe to the north. Clamber among the scattered stones of the “wild walls” of the Changcheng or the Long Wall as the Chinese know it. [Read more…] about Exploring China’s “Wild Wall”

An Old Soldier Remembers: Life and the Making of Modern China

by Johnny Isaak ·

Twice Wounded in Battle

Searing hot shrapnel from a Chinese Nationalist bomb lodged itself deep in my back next to my spine. The blast killed our battalion commander, who was standing next to me. I was 17 years old.

I was the commander’s personal radioman and communicator in a battalion of about 500 men as part the 4th New Army of the People’s Liberization Army (PLA). We were engaged in ground combat with Guomindang (Kuomintang) ground forces fighting for the high ground on a ridge line to our front when Nationalist airplanes bombed our position killing and wounding soldiers around me.

Fortunately for me the commander was killed in the blast, otherwise the evacuating soldiers would have taken him instead and left me for dead as we were getting overrun by the advancing enemy forces.

A Window with a View

by Johnny Isaak ·

One of the simple pleasures of living in Shanghai is taking a shower in the pre-dawn hours and gazing through the wide open bathroom window from our 22nd-floor apartment to the city streets below. Standing under the stream of hot water with the cool breeze blowing in from a tall narrow window, it’s almost like showering outdoors in the warm rain under an urban banyan tree situated deep in the vast expanse of an enormous concrete jungle.

Awake before in the fading darkness while the megalopolis still sleeps, I am able to peer through my little portal to the world and catch a clear view of deserted city streets trailing off into the myriad of high-rise buildings and skyscrapers that is Shanghai. A gentle wind whispers through the window. The misty scent of fresh rain touches my nose.

[Read more…] about A Window with a View

Coffee Outside: If You Brew It, They Will Come

by Johnny Isaak ·

I’ve spent a lifetime traveling the world and perhaps more than taking in the beautiful exotic landscapes, I love to meet the people. Experiences and interaction with genuine locals are one of the greatest rewards travel has to offer and I relish the most.

Want to meet people? Just start brewing a cup of handcrafted espresso or Turkish coffee on a park bench or along the edge of a flower bed in a village square, and soon a steady stream of people will gravitate to you for about as long as you care to hang around and talk to them. Most locals are naturally curious of foreigners and have an intrinsic desire to see what you are up to, especially in China. And what better way to break the ice with your new acquaintances than over a cup of Joe?

The Ultimate Urban Exploration Tool

by Johnny Isaak ·

“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” — James Michener

While waiting to begin my cycle trek along The Ancient Tea Horse Road through western China, I’ve spent the past several mornings rolling out on my trusty Salsa Fargo to explore the side streets and back alleys of Shanghai, an ultra modern international metropolis with all the latest fashion, but also a city rich in history, still bustling with daily rituals and ways of life thousands of years old. Exploring urban areas by bicycle is an excellent means to access authentic local color in a quiet, unobtrusive way, and to delve into the unseen nooks and crannies of the regional cultural fabric, so often overlooked smart phone clad, image obsessed world of today. Exploring by bike, enables me to cover more ground in a morning than I could in days on foot. [Read more…] about The Ultimate Urban Exploration Tool

Why I Ride

by Johnny Isaak ·

“It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of the country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them.” — Ernest Hemingway

To kick off this blog, I would like to set the stage by putting up a three-part series of short pieces on why I ride and what brought about my transition to cycle trekking as my primary form of independent travel, both short and long distance.

PART I: IN SEARCH OF A BETTER WAY

“All things living are in search of a better world.” — Karl Raimund Popper

Seeking a Purer Experience

As an avid, life-long traveler, I’ve always sought a purer, more genuine travel experience. Traversing several continents and a numerous countries, I’ve always looked to experience the environment and people in the most authentic way possible. Trekking through the Himalayas, across the Rock Mountains, along the High Sierra Nevada’s, and in the backstreets and neighborhoods off the beaten paths of over-exposed tourist meccas such as Paris, Kathmandu, Beijing, and Tangier, I’ve found being mobile and moving slowly on the land yielded much more engaging experiences, allowing me to more fully immerse myself and wade deeply into the environment, and to more closely engage locals and other travels along my way in the locations I was visiting, which is not possible when traveling by planes, trains, or automobiles, where one tends to encounter other tourists, travelers, touts, and street hustlers. [Read more…] about Why I Ride