World Adventurers Celebrates 1,000 Posts

Dear Reader,

World Adventurers hit a major milestone today — 1,000 published posts! A thousand articles and updates later, this blog is still going strong.

I started World Adventurers in December 2004, as a way to update family and friends about life overseas. It has evolved in ways I never imagined when I wrote my first “Hello, World” post. Since then I’ve written about my books, writing, news and politics, humor, sports, finance, culture, thoughts and sayings, updates from around the world, and other topics. My travelogues have been by far this site’s most popular feature.

The early blog hosted by the now-defunct MSN Spaces Live had more than 350,000 hits and was featured regularly by Microsoft on its “What’s Your Story” page. At a time when blogging was far less ubiquitous, World Adventurers was — and remains — on the frontiers of digital media.

Readership declined when Spaces Live folded and I took a breather from blogging in 2008-09. World Adventurers moved to WordPress in late 2010, and made a roaring comeback since then with another 300,000 hits. Earlier this year the site moved to its new and permanent home on my website, www.mgedwards.com, and was rebranded as World Adventurers Magazine. This site hosted by WordPress and featured on Freshly Pressed has remained so popular that I haven’t shut it down; it’s still going strong and complements the new e-zine. All told, World Adventurers has had about 700,000 unique hits and tens of thousands of visitors since its inception.

Here are the 20 most popular and memorable posts published on World Adventurers:

• Top Ten Things to Do in Korea (with Photos)
• I Am No Longer A Foreign Service Officer
• Top Ten Things to See in Zambia (with Photos)
• Top Ten Things to Savor in Macau
• Palio Khao Yai, the Italy of Thailand
• The Plant Life of Kilimanjaro
• What is a Foreign Service officer?
• Damnoen Saduak Floating Market in Thailand
• The Kilimanjaro Sign–Old and New
• Iguazu Falls vs. Victoria Falls (with Photos)
• “The House of Dancing Water” Show in Macau
• 100-day Birthday Celebration
• Bangkok Flooding Update with Photos
• I Survived Eating Pufferfish
• Kayan Lahwi, the “Long-Neck” People
• Top Ten Things to See in Zambia
• Night Market in Hua Hin, Thailand
• The Hallyu Effect
• Filadelfia, Paraguay
• Farm Chokchai – The Old West in Thailand

Thanks for visiting World Adventurers. Here’s to 1,000 posts and many more!

China

Click here to read the original article on MG Edwards. Visit MG Edwards for more great travelogues, photos, and videos from around the world.

How does one describe a country like China? Facts and figures do not adequately measure the immensity of the world’s most populous nation, its third largest by size, and one of its most ancient. Grandiose statistics do not do China justice. China is perhaps best described as “China.” The name itself conjures images of the Great Wall, megapolises, Zodiac calendars and complicated characters, sumptuous cuisine, exotic scenery, manufacturing might, exquisite artisanship, and many more. From the Middle Kingdom to a People’s Republic, China is a dragon both awe-inspiring and fire-breathing that has reawakened from its slumber and is now stretching its wings to reassert itself in the world. Like the 21,196-kilometer (13,171 mile) Great Wall stretching from the Yellow Sea in the east to the far western interior, the breadth of this land is difficult for anyone to fathom. An ever-growing number of foreign tourists flock to popular destinations like Shanghai, Beijing, Xi’an, or Guilin to immerse themselves in the Far East – or so they think – but they have only begun to discover what is truly China. Few ever will, for this dynamic land is always on the move, heading into the future and out of reach of full comprehension.

More About China

• Happy Chinese New Year
• Celebrating New Year of the Dragon in China!
• Zhujiajiao, the Venice of China
• Temple of the Town God in Shanghai, China
• Fireworks in Shanghai, China – Happy Year of the Dragon!
• Happy Year of the Golden Fire on Water Pig
• Xinjingshan
• Another Fish Head on the Table?
• Greetings from Shanghai
• Xin Nian Kuai Le!
• Change of Scenery
• Other articles

The Great Wall

Pudong District, Shanghai

Forbidden City, Beijing

Terracotta Warrior, Xi’an

Celebrating New Year of the Dragon in China!

My wife Jing, son, and I spent the 2012 Chinese New Year with Jing’s family in Shanghai, China. It was a special New Year’s for us, not only because it ushered in the auspicious Year of the Dragon but also because it marked a first for our family—the first time we had been together with Jing’s family in China for the holiday. My wife had not spent New Year’s with her family in almost two decades, and it would be the first time my son and I joined them. The happy hearts and big smiles of my in-laws when we arrived January 21 foretold a joyous reunion.

Click here to read the original article on MG Edwards. Visit MG Edwards for more great travelogues, photos, and videos from around the world.