![Coming Home...](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/dscf2791-470x140.jpg)
So after nine months, nine countries and 29 things on a list, I’m heading home to do number 30 with my favourite people in the…
![#24 See a panda bear in China](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/dscf2208-470x140.jpg)
I’m not sure Jenny’s suggestion that I should see a panda bear wasn’t planned to coincide with her trip to see me in China, although…
![#23 See the Terracotta Warriors](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/dscf2193-470x140.jpg)
There are some sights that no matter how many photos of them you’ve seen, it still absolutely takes your breath away when you see them…
![P is for Ping Yao (continuing with the alphabet challenge)](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/dscf2083-470x140.jpg)
There were many, many, things we loved about the ancient city of Ping Yao. From it’s oldy-worldy streets packed with Chinese tourists to its crazy…
![A Birthday Wish](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/dscf2968-470x140.jpg)
The one thing I think most travellers would agree on is that visiting different countries makes you appreciate the life you have. Whenever I travel…
![Things I love about China](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/dscf20901-470x140.jpg)
There are many traditional sights in China that can sum up the country in a snapshot for me: red lanterns lining streets filled with restaurants;…
![#22 Walk On The Great Wall in China](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/dscf1817-470x140.jpg)
I spent a week waiting in Beijing for two friends from home to arrive. Every day groups from the hostel went off to the Great…
![N and O (Continuing wiith the alphabet challenge)](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/dscf1664-470x140.jpg)
N is for the National Centre for the Performing Arts Like it or loath it, the egg-shaped NCPA is an example of Beijing’s more modern…
![The Real China](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/dscf2081-470x140.jpg)
Before coming to China I was really worried. The stories I’d heard about it from other travellers had not been promising. One girl summed it…
![M is for Myanmar (continuing with the alphabet challenge)](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_470,h_140/https://thegrown-upgapyear.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/dscf1552-470x140.jpg)
Myanmar, Burma? Burma, Myanmar? Even its name is confusing. Should you call the country Burma, its former name which Aung San Suu Kyi believes it…