On 4 May 2022, the Annual Review of Environment and Resources published an advance version of a paper titled “State of the World’s Birds” by nine authors including Alex Lees, who was kind enough to email me a copy (as when I…
Since early in the pandemic, I’ve been seeing scientists arguing Covid is airborne, even with hashtag #covidisairborne – including to counter notions it is spread by droplets [short range], which seem to be based on very old notions. Important if…
While deaths from Covid have proven most newsworthy, evidence is snowballing that Long Covid is also a serious issue, even affecting people in whom the disease initially appeared mild. Here, a few snippets from related articles and Twitter threads, links…
Though I’ve read on travel websites that Weizhou Island is volcanic, and seen maps showing a headland curling partway around the main bay, in the south, it’s only when on arriving at a hilltop vantage that I realise: this is no…
Though its setting is unusual – nestled in a forested ravine, deep within Shanxi province, Sheng Shou Temple mainly appears like many temple complexes I’ve visited in China. There are buildings with brick walls, topped with curved, tiled roofs. Doorways lead…
Though physically similar to Po Toi, and little more than 10km south of Cheung Chau, Wailingding has a thriving village with a unique character, and a visit makes for an entertaining, out of Hong Kong experience Even if you’re familiar…
With a broad river surging through a valley that’s in places like a canyon, hemmed in by sandstone cliffs on either side, and little vegetation but swarthy conifers, shrubs and grass, the landscape we’re driving through might be in a…
On a fine day, the Eluanbi Lighthouse is a peaceful place. A few tourists stroll into the compound with low, white-painted buildings and the lighthouse that’s a classic round tower with high balcony, and also painted white. It’s in a…
There are resorts that might be described as “Away from it all” when, truth be told, they’re little more than just around a corner from the nearest highway or airport. Yet the Oanain Munina really is in the back of…
Though China’s bullet train network is yet to reach Hong Kong, lines start just across the border, in Shenzhen, and shorten travel times to places that are otherwise just a tad distant for a weekend trip. These include parts of…
With its new-city-on-the-block brashness, and gleaming skyscrapers along Hong Kong’s northern fringe, Shenzhen might seem an unlikely place for a weekend away to admire old Chinese architecture, and head to a beach backed by wooded hills. Yet go east, and…
