Located off the north coast of mainland Scotland, the Orkney Islands offer some of the best preserved ancient sites in all of the U.K. From 5,000-year-old villages to World War Two era sunken ships poking out of the lochs, Orkney is like stepping back in time. Orkney is a place of constant discovery, with archaeologists are flocking here every summer to discover some new Neolithic period artifacts.
We arrived in China almost two weeks ago. The country has made a good impression so far. This is actually our second trip to China, our first being five years ago to the south (from Hong Kong to the Yunnan). After five years, this behemoth of a country is advancing in leaps and bounds. Economic growth can be witnessed everywhere. At the same time, ancient culture and personal experiences await around every corner. After arriving in Beijing late in the evening, we found our hotel down one of Beijing’s many Hutong alleyways. These microcosms of Chinese culture, where locals live in close proximity to one another and share a tight-knit neighborhood, are slowly being torn apart and replaced with towering skyscrapers. Beijing as a whole is impressive. It’s huge and modern in some parts, but ancient and cultural in others. We visited Beihai park, where crowds perform Tai Chi in unison along the shore of an ancient lake with a modern skyline as a backdrop.