Most travel journeys begin with a destination.
Ours began with curiosity.
ChinaTravelBug is a father-daughter journey across China — exploring not only famous attractions, but the stories behind China’s history, culture, people and civilisation.
It started with a simple family trip.
In 2013, I brought my daughter Elaine to Beijing for the first time.
She was only eight years old.
We walked along the Great Wall of China, explored the Forbidden City (紫禁城), experienced the energy of Wangfujing (王府井), and visited Beijing Zoo — where a little Panda joined Elaine’s journey.
At that time, we did not know this would become the beginning of something much bigger.
A journey across China.
A journey through history.
And a journey of learning.
I have always been curious about the world.
Why do countries develop differently?
How do history, culture, people and ideas shape societies?
My interest in understanding the world eventually led me to study at the National University of Singapore (NUS), where I majored in Political Science and Psychology, with studies in Economics and Malay Studies.
That curiosity never really stopped.
Over the years, I became especially interested in UNDERSTANDING China.
Not only modern China — its rapid development, transformation and changes in recent decades.
But also the deeper question:
How did thousands of years of Chinese history and culture shape the China we see today?
And how will China’s past continue influencing its future?
Over the years, travelling around the world shaped the way I see places.
When I visited cities such as London, Paris, Amsterdam and Istanbul, I realised that the places I remembered most were rarely just beautiful buildings or famous landmarks.
They were places where I could feel the stories behind them.
Walking through London was not only seeing an old city — it was understanding centuries of monarchy, empire, trade and change.
Paris was not only beautiful architecture — it was layers of art, revolution, culture and ideas.
Amsterdam told stories of exploration, commerce and a society shaped by water.
After my European cities visits, I changed the way I travelled.
I stopped trying only to collect photos of famous attractions.
I started trying to capture the stories behind them.
Photography became part of that discovery.
A photo is not only proof that:
“I was here.”
The photos I love most are the ones that remind us:
“What happened here?”
“Who walked here before us?”
“What story does this place tell?”
That is why, when Elaine and I travel across China, I often photograph not only famous landmarks, but also:
small details,
museum objects,
old streets,
ordinary moments,
and the connections between places.
Because sometimes the smallest details tell the biggest stories.
“Whether exploring Chinese history or building her own computer, Elaine has always learned best by asking questions and figuring things out.”
Elaine has always been a curious child.
But she also learned differently.
The traditional school system was not the best fit for the way she explored and understood the world.
At age eleven, Elaine began a SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING journey.
As Dad, I realised Elaine learned best when something captured her curiosity. Instead of simply giving her answers, I tried to create projects and experiences where she could discover, explore, and learn by doing.
Sometimes that meant challenging her to build something with her own hands — including assembling her own desktop computer from individual parts.
It was never just about building a PC.
It was about learning how things work, solving problems, gaining confidence, and discovering that she could figure things out herself.
The same approach later shaped our China journeys.
Since young, one interest always stayed with Elaine:
Chinese language, history and culture.
Much of Elaine’s Chinese learning came naturally from her own curiosity — watching Chinese dramas and programmes, searching online, reading stories, and slowly discovering more.
Chinese became more than just a language.
It became a doorway into understanding thousands of years of stories.
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One of the travel experiences that changed the way I looked at travelling happened far away from China.
It happened in Istanbul.
Istanbul is one of the world’s unique & great historical cities — a place where different civilisations, religions and cultures met for thousands of years.
But during my first visit, I made a MISTAKE.
I arrived without understanding enough of its story.
I saw beautiful buildings.
I walked through amazing historical places.
I took many photographs.
But I did not fully appreciate what I was seeing.
Only later, after reading more about Istanbul’s history, did I realise what I had MISSED.
Those were not just old buildings.
They were places that carried stories of empires, cultures, beliefs and people across centuries.
That experience taught me an important LESSON.
The more we understand before we travel,
the more meaningful the journey becomes.
Years later, when I started bringing Elaine to China, I remembered that lesson.
I did not want China to become just a collection of photographs:
“Here is the Great Wall.”
“Here is the Forbidden City.”
“Here are the Terracotta Warriors.”
China has thousands of years of stories behind these places.
So before and during our travels, I encouraged Elaine to ask questions:
Who lived here?
Why was this place important?
How does this connect to China’s story?
Her Chinese emperor timeline was part of that journey.
It was not about memorising history.
It was about giving meaning to the places we would eventually stand in.
Because when you UNDERSTAND the story…
you don’t just visit a place.
You EXPERIENCE it.
As a father, I realised something important about Elaine.
She learns deeply when something captures her imagination.
My role was not to force her curiosity.
It was to protect it.
To give it direction.
Since Elaine was interested in Chinese language and stories, I encouraged her to explore Chinese history more deeply.
One PROJECT I gave her was:
“Why not compile your own Chinese EMPEROR TIMELINE?”
What started as a simple learning challenge slowly became much bigger.
She began connecting:
Chinese dynasties (朝代)
emperors (皇帝)
historical figures
important events
and places.
But names on a timeline were only the beginning.
The next step was to see where those stories happened.
After our first Beijing journey, we continued exploring China.
At age eleven, Elaine returned to China again when we visited Shenzhen.
Later came more journeys:
Beijing.
Xi’an.
And eventually many places beyond the usual tourist routes.
We travelled beyond famous attractions into smaller cities with important stories:
Baoji (宝鸡), connected to early Chinese civilisation
Zhouyuan (周原), the birthplace of Zhou culture
Hancheng (韩城), home of historian Sima Qian (司马迁)
Yuncheng (运城), connected with legendary figures and ancient Chinese stories
These were not just sightseeing trips.
They became real-life learning journeys.
The Forbidden City was no longer just a palace.
Xi’an was no longer only the Terracotta Warriors (兵马俑).
A museum was no longer just a building full of old objects.
Every place had a question:
Who lived here?
What happened here?
Why does this place matter?
This became the heart of ChinaTravelBug.
Finding the stories behind the places.
Along the way came Cheers.
Cheers represents curiosity — the little voice asking:
“Wait… why is this interesting?”
Because many travellers feel history can be complicated.
Too many names.
Too many dates.
Too many dynasties.
Cheers reminds us that discovery often starts with simple questions.
Some companions joined our journey through special memories.
Panda came from Elaine’s first Beijing trip.
A little souvenir from Beijing Zoo became a reminder of where this whole journey started.
BingMaZai represents Xi’an — China’s ancient capital and our doorway into the stories of Qin (秦), Han (汉), and Tang (唐).
Many travellers know China’s famous places:
The Great Wall.
Forbidden City.
Shanghai.
Terracotta Warriors.
But China is much more than a checklist of attractions.
Behind famous landmarks are stories.
Beyond famous cities are hidden places connected to thousands of years of history.
ChinaTravelBug is our journey to discover them.
A father asking why.
A daughter discovering how.
And a little travel bug reminding us to stay curious.
Welcome to our journey.
— KC & Elaine
ChinaTravelBug
