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An overview of my travels to China and other countries in Asia.

Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波 03/10/2026

Mark Twain wrote: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”

He was right. Travel dissolves the walls we mistake for horizons. Across thousands of journeys and dozens of countries, I have watched dawn break over deserts, heard languages braid like rivers, and learnt that every map is only a rumour until your feet believe it. I have stood where Rudyard Kipling’s Road to Mandalay shimmered in verse and found a living city. Each border crossed was a small death to certainty; each stranger’s kindness, a rebirth of wonder. Such views are not inherited. They are gathered mile by mile, until the world ceases to be a distant notion and becomes part of you. This is not a record of places. It is the story of a mind widened by going. So let these pages be a path: not a boast of miles, but an invitation to see further and broader.

Intro

My home country is Flanders, the Northern part of belgium. I’m a native Fleming; my anchestors came from Leuven. As far as I can trace back my paternal anchestors, they have all the time lived in the same Leuven area for more than 1200 years.
I am traveling to Asia since 1996, when I went to Thailand for the first time. That’s 30 years of Asia travels.
Before I discovered Asia, I went to many other countries for business and leisure:
Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain (England, Wales, Midlands, Schotland, …) France, Monaco, Andorra, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, San Marino, Vatican City, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Turkey, USA, Canada, …

Overview of my China & Asia travel history

September 1996 | Thailand
Went to Bangkok, Kanchanaburi, Sukhothai, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Ban Sop Ruak, …
A few dozen of non-digital photo’s

November 1997 | First visit to China (Beijing)
My very first trip to China, spent roughly one week in Beijing. I visited all the classic landmark sites: the Palace Museum (Forbidden City), Tiananmen Square, the Confucius Temple, the Great Wall, the Bell and Drum Towers, the Temple of Heaven, attended a Beijing Opera performance, and toured the Summer Palace, among other destinations.
I took many photographs during this introductory visit.

October 2002 | Extended China mainland tour
A broad‑ranging tour across multiple Chinese cities and historical sites: Beijing, Datong, Pingyao, Xi’an, Chengdu, Leshan, Dazu, Chongqing, Fengdu (visited prior to the completion of the Three Gorges Dam), Yichang (traveled there just one week before the dam’s water closure), Longcheng, Ping’an Zhuang Red village, Jinkeng Red Yao, Guilin, Lijiang, Guangzhou and more.
Total of 554 photos captured on this journey, most of them digitalised.

October 2003 | Myanmar journey
Extensive travel throughout Myanmar, covering Yangon, Bagan, Mount Popa, Meiktila, Kalaw, Inle Lake, Mandalay, Pyin Oo Lwin, Kengtung, Pin Tauk Waterfall, Naung Tong Lake; Tachileik; Rakhine‑state locations including Sittwe and Mrauk‑U; Bago in the Bago Region; Kyaikto in Mon State; and Myitkyina in Kachin State.
I have 440 digital photos from this Myanmar trip.

July 2004 | China: combined business & leisure travel
Mixed business‑private trip centred on Hong Kong, Shanghai and Suzhou. I shot some 300 photos during this stay.

The atrium of the Jin Mao tower in Pudong

September 2006 | Long‑term residency & work in Shanghai
I resided on Dong’an Road in Shanghai for an extended period. My professional assignments included working for Lifan, Great Wall Motor Company, TGI and CMS. This role required frequent business travel to many locations: Beijing, Baoding, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Dongguan, Shenzhen, Wenzhou, Kunshan, Suzhou, Ningbo, Nanjing, Qingdao, Yantai, Weihai and other cities. I also held a teaching position at Qingdao University. Business travels to Ireland, France, Germany, Denmark.
Some 9900 photos were accumulated across this multi‑city working chapter.
On 06/01/2012, I moved back to Europe.

January 2012 to September 2014 | Europe
Assignment for MAGNA at Mercedes-Benz in Sindelfingen (Stuttgart) Resided in Belgium, weekly travels to Sindelfingen (Germany) and Langres (France). Occasional business travels to Bremen (Germany), Kocaeli (Turkey), Michigan and Illlinois (USA)

December 2014 to July 2015 | Assignment in Wuxi
Resided in Suzhou 现代大道 (Xiàndài Dàdào), at the border of Jinji Lake (金鸡湖). Worked in Wuxi at IRO.
612 photos

May 2023 | China domestic tour
Visited Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing, and Hefei before concluding the trip in Beijing.
I took over 2000 photographs for this trip; this material has not yet been published to my website.

September 2024 | Asia Trip 2024

September‑October 2025 | Asia Trip 2025
This multi‑leg Asian journey is documented across several published blog instalments:

April 2026 | China Trip 2026 (Shanghai‑focused stay)
Blog entries for this spring 2026 China visit:

September 2026 | Follow‑up China Trip 2026
Later‑year 2026 Shanghai‑based travel write‑ups: