| Photojournalist Tom Carter goes inside the | | | | synonymous with world travel. From the |
| craziest youth hostel in Communist China. | | | | Medieval Latin hospitium, it has been |
| | | | co-opted by over 80 different countries, |
| The Stir-Fry, China's Wildest Youth Hostel! | | | | beginning in 1912 Germany whence originated |
| by Tom Carter | | | | the idea of the modern youth hostel. Yet in |
| | | | spite of its global popularity, hostelling |
| As a veteran backpacker of both hemispheres | | | | has continued to remain a relatively |
| currently traveling extensively throughout | | | | underground experience. |
| all 32 provinces of the People's Republic of | | | | |
| China, this writer has come to depend heavily | | | | Budget backpackers, considered at once |
| on hostels. Without them I could not | | | | hipsters and hobos, rely on hostels for their |
| financially (or emotionally) last the 10 | | | | comparatively affordable accommodations. But |
| months I'm expected to be on the road. As | | | | youth hostels are also a retreat from the |
| such, I've brooded on the etymology of the | | | | road; a refugee camp for foreigners |
| word.Hostel: a term that has become | | | | journeying abroad. |