Chris Ashmore - Managing Editor

Like most backpackers, I find it more fascinating discovering places that the typical tourist doesn't go. There's nothing worse than arriving at an out-of-the-way village or mountain and finding half a dozen tourists clicking away with their cameras. It's like one of those explorers in the 18th century embarking on an expedition to the top of a mountain or across a desert, then discovering the evidence of a previous party. The nostalgia seems to be spoiled. It's traveling's greatest irony - other travelers. What makes traveling enjoyable is not so much the goal, like the Eiffel Tower, or the Sydney Opera House, or the Great Wall, but the journey to that goal. The people you meet, the heat, the quirky mannerisms of the locals, the food. That's what keeps us sane. Sure, it's terrific meeting other backpackers and sharing company with someone other than your traveling partner. But, as the tourism bug hits an ever-increasing middleclass world, local traders capitalize on the industry, which sends out a different vibe to a region's previous authenticity. Having recently returned from Tibet, I was disappointed with the obvious "front" the Chinese hotel owners presented. They hired supposed Tibetan dancers that entertained the Westerners with big bucks. Although the tourism industry makes life just a little easier sometimes, it also takes us away from the "real" world.

FEATURES

The Tibetan Side of Everest

In 1921 British mountaineer, George Mallory, led a mission to explore a passage to the world's highest peak. It gave us our first insight to the culture of Tibetan Buddhists around the base of the mountain. Eighty years - and a Chinese invasion - later, Chris Ashmore arrives to see what has changed at the foot of Mount Everest.

Tibet, the Internet and Chinese Security Fears

Fifty years ago Radio Lhasa broadcast counter-Revolutionary information to Tibetans throughout the capital. Today, the Internet serves to keep Tibetans across the world together. So what is China doing about it? asks Chris Ashmore.

POSTCARD

CHENGDU: What to do?

Chengdu has transformed into a modern, chic metropolis selling Hong Kong fashion. Makeup-tarred teenage girls wear dangerously high platform shoes while gabbling into their space-age mobile phones. Chris Ashmore uncovers what this exciting city offers to travelers.

CHENGDU: Paul's Oasis

There's never a lack of things to do in those far-away cities, and Chengdu is no exception. You can join the throngs of locals at Renmin Park or at the grounds of the Panda Breeding Research Base. But, sometimes you just want to sit and talk to someone who speaks your own language or shares your taste in music. Well, there is one place you can go. Next to the placid River Jin hang two red lanterns mark the entrance to Paul's Oasis.

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