Go on a Theme Trip

I always like to give myself a reason to travel, like picking a theme for the journey. Why does it matter? Traveling with a theme makes me want to explore the city more thoroughly. I would pay more attention on things related to my theme. It might be sounding like the procedure of doing a research paper, but I promise you it's not boring as it sounds. Take my experience for example, I wanted to learn more about ancient Chinese history, so last summer I made a trip to Xi'an (capital of many dynasties in Chinese history) and Beijing (capital of China and political center for the past seven centuries). I visited the Banpo archeology site and saw the life style of people in the beginning of civilization.

King of the Qin State

 

After that, I went to the palace of the King of the Qin State and his cemetery. The city and its architectures made me feel like I was back to his time. When I arrived in Beijing, I visited the Forbidden City, palace of kings for the last Dynasty in the Chinese history.

The Forbidden City

 

 

So plan your trip with a theme that you are interested in can really help you understand the city/country more. You will easily remember what you have seen and experienced. So I have came up with another theme that I want to explore, which is cities with best street arts.

 



       Museums and art galleries are often on travelers' top visiting list. Art reflects culture of the city. besides art galleries, street art is also an interesting form of expressing feelings and showing creativities. Looking at still life oil-on-canvases isn't for everyone. But the good news is that some of the coolest art in the world isn't locked away in stuffy art galleries or museums; there are plenty of creative paintings and murals on the sides of buildings, along fences and across public walls. Here are 5 cities with the best street art in the world.

Valparaiso, Chile

  

This city located close to the Chilean capital is famous for the colorful houses and murals, which line its steeply hilled streets. Graffiti took off in this city back in the '70s as a way to protest the Pinochet regime and was initially frowned upon but as the years progressed, the city decided to let the street art flourish. As a visitor to Valparaiso, you cannot only wander the colorful laneways, you can get your hands dirty too. The city runs tours where you can actually hit the streets and create some graffiti with the aid of local artists who help you design your own unique stencils.

 

London, England

 

 

 

London might be home to some of the most celebrated art galleries in the world, but the city is quickly making a name for itself as a street art hub as well. Parts of the city that were once rundown and off the tourist radar have now been regenerated and have become prime places to view colorful murals. East End is one of the off-the-beaten-track neighborhoods where many street artists have flocked.

 

Berlin, Germany

 

 

 Berlin is a street art lover's paradise with both historical graffiti and a thriving present-day art scene to take in. Graffiti really took off here in the '80s with those on the west side of the Berlin Wall expressing their beliefs and frustrations with the aid of spray cans. After the fall of the wall, graffiti spread throughout Berlin, and although large chunks of the wall are now gone, you can still see many murals left over from times past.

 

Melbourne, Australia

 

  

Melbourne has long been Australia's artistic capital and there's as much to see out on the streets as there is in the galleries. Graffiti got its start here in the '70s and '80s and there has always been a heavy focus on what's known as "stencil art."

In more recent years, the street art has evolved to include other techniques, including street installations, wood blocking and reverse graffiti – a method, which involves carving an image out of dirt (like you might do on a car window). Over the past decade, Melbourne has also held a number of stencil festivals where the public can watch live demonstrations, listen to debate about graffiti, take part in workshops and more.

 

Philadelphia, USA

 

Lastly, don't forget the city so close to us, Philly. The Association for Public Art estimates the city has thousands of public artworks; the Smithsonian lists more than 700. Since 1959 nearly 400 works of public art have been created as part of the city's Percent for Art program, the first such program in the U.S. Depending on my financial situation, but if I can't make it to those cities above, I can still drive down to Philly to get the feeling of good street arts!

There are many themes you can chose from, and the best way to do this is to find out what you are interested in. Like I mentioned in another blog post, How to Plan for a Interesting Vacation, it is important to go with what you enjoy doing. I love art and I want to experience different forms of art works and that's why I chose the theme of "Cities with Good Street Arts." But if you have zero interest in art, then go for something else! You can be a fan of opera and visit Italy for the experience of the best opera festival, or you may love Lord of the Rings and go to New Zealand to see the where it was filmed. Any theme can be fun! You just need to do your research before going.

Summer is only few months away, so start planning your trip for the summer now and you will have an amazing experience!

 

 

 





 

How to fold a T-Shirt in 5 seconds

Hey guys I'm writing this blog post in Philadelphia. I just thought that it would be meaningful to post an entry while traveling; it makes me feel like those world travel writers, although Philadelphia is not that far from New Jersey. I left around noon today but I didn't start packing until 11 am. So I want to write a How-to blog to people who leave packing to the last minute!

Folding a T-Shirt only takes 5 seconds or even less after some practice.

1. Place the T-Shirt on a flat surface. Lay the T-Shirt facing up and with the neck to your right and bottom to your left.
2. Imagine a line going across in the middle of the T-Shirt. This line should be parallel to the bottom of the T-Shirt.  
3. Imagine another line going from the middle of shoulder to the bottom. This line is usually longer than the line mentioned in No.2. This line is parallel to the side of the T-Shirt.
4. Pinch the starting point of line mentioned in No.3. It should be located in the middle of one shoulder.
5. Pinch the fabric of which the two lines cross each other. Pinch with your thumb and index finger and make sure that you have both front and back of the T-shirt.
6. Bring the pinched shoulder seam to the bottom. While keeping the first pinch in the same place, bring your shoulder pinch hand to the bottom from behind the first pinch, and pinch the bottom seam of the line mentioned in No.3 with the same hand.
7. Uncross your hands and lift the T-Shirt up. Right now your arms are crossed. Uncross them and lift the T-Shirt from the surface. The T-Shirt should be hanging down from your hands with a loose sleeve dangling at the bottom.
8. Fold the loose sleeve under. 
9. And you are done!

Just in case you want to see how it is done visually, here is a video tutorial from YouTube. Last but not least, practice practice and more practice because practice makes perfect! Hope this How-to post can speed up your last-minute packing!

How to Plan for an Interesting Vacation

I love vacations, and I don’t think anyone doesn't  But planning is very essential in making the vacation interesting to you. Let me share my planning procedure with you all!

• Choose a destination. 

     Choosing the right destination can make your trip more enjoyable and     memorable. There aren't many rules in how to choose it; you choose wherever you feel like going! For instance, I like to go to tropical places during winter because I can escape from the cold weather and wear pretty summer clothes, and also most tropical places’ winter is more comfortable than summer; summer can be unbearably hot and humid but winter is warm and dry. But this is not always the case, sometimes I feel like to go to somewhere that’s covered in snow and go for skiing and see ice sculptures. You can have millions of reasons of why you want to go somewhere, but be sure that you know that is the place you want to go.

• Do I have enough money? 

     Ask yourself this question before going. This can be a factor that you choose your destinations. Maybe you want to go for a place that’s cheap airfare. Although people say that money isn't everything, it does get on people’s nerves sometimes. You don’t want to go to a place and find out that your money can only pays half of the trip. My parents always say to me that I should never be cheap on myself when traveling. It’s hard to avoid money spending during vacation so it’s really important to plan ahead and make sure that you can afford this trip. If you are going to another country, calculate the currency and exchange some money for that.

• Find out your interests. 

     Everyone has different interests and hobbies. It would make more sense to visit somewhere that interests you. Despite that some people find museums boring, they still visits museums only because that they think they should go to museums if they visit Europe. It wouldn't be fun to visit somewhere that doesn't meet your interest, so why force yourself; after all you pay to have a good time. 

Hope these tips are useful to you. Enjoy your week guys!