红酒·绿茶 / Red Wine & Green Tea / Vin Rouge et Thé Vert

It was easy to decide which day I should spend visiting Vaticano among the three days I had for Roma: The day when the Pope appears! (In case you haven't known, the Pope speaks in public every Wednesday and Sunday, when he is not traveling.) Piazza di San Pietro Originally uploaded by yisu9 Vaticano was easy to reach by metro. After you got off, simply follow the crowd to get to the grand Piazza di San Pietro . Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano Originally uploaded by yisu9 The Basilica di San Pietro was an exquisite piece of art. Statue of Jesus Originally uploaded by yisu9 In the center of the Basilica was a statue of Jesus Christ, as it should. Pope's Balcony Originally uploaded by yisu9 This was the famous balcony where the newly elected pope would greet his people. Statues Originally uploaded by yisu9 Hundreds, if not thousands, of fine statues decorated the Piazza and the Basilica. People Waiting for the Pope Or

For several times I have tried to recount the stories of my first serious backpacking trip but failed: The memory just slipped away, as time flies by. But that only makes what's left all too precious to let go. It was the summer of 2000. We had a rather ambitious plan for our limited travel experience: Dunhuang and Tibet, two relatively less traveled places in China. The following was my itinerary: Beijing | Lanzhou | Liuyuan <--> Dunhuang | Jiayuguan | Xining <--> Qinghai Lake | Golmud | Lhasa <--> Xigazê | Chengdu | Mianyang Our main means of transportation was the train. When the train was not available, we traveled by bus or by air. The hardest leg was a grueling 36-hour coach ride from Golmud to Lhasa; the easiest, a 2-hour flight from Lhasa to Chengdu. Now I'll write down the pieces I remember about each places. Lanzhou: The first city we saw in the west changed our view. It reminded us that Beijing was not the real China, in the sense that New York Ci