North China Travel Guide

Choosing a tour operator in Beijing can be tricky. There are more scams than real operators, and there seem to always be hidden costs and at-the-end add on costs. This adds a frustrating element to travel in China, and is an ongoing problem with tourism in the Middle Kingdom. Still, there are a few ways to protect yourself. Sadly, many fake, rip-off agencies target foreigners in the false belief that all foreigners are rich and don’t mind spending more... Read More

Beijing has a few great Irish pubs where you’ll find endless Erin Go Bragh signs and green felt banners touting the Leprechaun nationalism. Paddy O’Shea’s Irish Pub is one of the most popular Irish hang out spots in the city. You’ll find the Irish owner behind the bar shouting good naturedly at the rowdy drinkers and whenever a sporting event hits the airways you can be sure to find other fans screaming at the dozens of TVs in the room. You can’t find much... Read More

For an experience that’s exclusively Tianjin, your best option for nighttime entertainment is xiangsheng, also known as “comic dialogue” or “crosstalk”. This is one of the quyi, or traditional forms of Chinese entertainment. Usually with two people on stage (although sometimes one or several), xiangsheng is the quyi art that largely originated in Tianjin several hundred years ago. In xiangsheng, the performers engage in a... Read More