| Sunday, December 31, 2006 |
| Hangzhou - 杭州 |
 
December 30.
Almost done the updates but only five months late...haha.
Ok...short and sweet (because I want to finish this off and I forgot a lot of stuff.)
Hangzhou (杭州). "上有天堂，下有苏杭" --> Above there is heaven, below there are Suzhou and Hangzhou. A beautiful city, personally I think more pretty than Suzhou. Only one hour away from Shanghai, this city is a must visit for those who are in the area. This is one city that I would not mind visiting again.
Above: West Lake (西湖), the main tourist area.
 
More pictures of West Lake.
 
 
Yeah, as you can see we spent most of our time around West Lake. Such beautiful scenery calls for great companions--Song Ai and Jin Du made the trip all the better. Thank guys...I really miss you guys and the times we were bumming around Suzhou.
 
The hostel we stayed in was very accommodating and friendly--they let us stay without presenting our travel permits while the our original hostel refused us. In China, you must present your ID and visa to stay at hotels and such--well, I had mine which should be enough but sometimes they don't like bending the rules. Anyhoo, lucky the original place kicked us out because this hostel was so much nicer and it came with a cute kitty cat.
 
Nice to see some Yunnan trinkets so far East...
 
The area around Hefang Jie (河坊街.) Lot of stores and food. The food here was quite interesting and good. Oh, Hangzhou is very famous for their food--we did not have stomachs big enough for the variety of foods that this area had to offer.Labels: China |
| posted by Y> @ 11:00 PM |
|
|
|
| MTB race@Suzhou， Qionglong mtn (穹隆山) |
 December 17. First race in over a year but it really wasn't much of a mountain bike race. It was a 4.5km climb up one of the few "mountains" in Suzhou on paved roads. Boy am I out of shape! I came in 23 out of 30 something which is a total disappointment for me considering I've done much better in the past.
The race was separated between road bike and MTB with a total of about 100 riders. One thing that surprised me was the number of female riders present--I never would have imagined that this kind of sport would be popular among Asian females--rarely do I see Asian females in MTB races back home. The weather couldn't have been more perfect (Suzhou tend to rain a lot in the winter)--clear skies but just a little on the nippy side at -4C.
Although there are a billion bikes in China, the actual biking scene is still fairly young. Road and MTB bikers are rare but the numbers are increasing rapidly. As well, those who are real bikers, are quite hardcore and actually ride their bikes (unlike back home where many purchase fancy bikes for show.)  Brand names like Trek, Cervelo, Specialized, and Giant (very popular in China) are quite expensive compared to Canada so this sport will be depressed until the country gets wealthier.
Big thanks goes to my class rep, Li Zheng Tai, who loves bicycles more than I do and who got me into this race. He also convinced the Trek store by Ganjiang lu to lend me a Giant bicycle for the race.  Thank you Trek dian! If you ever need bicycle equipment, they have a good selection of Trek stuff. As well, Silverbikes on Shizi jie has a very good selection of many brands of bikes and parts. They are both very helpful and very friendly.
谢谢大家！Labels: China |
| posted by Y> @ 9:45 AM |
|
|
|
| Xian: More of |
 
Unlike many cities who decided to tear down their walls for progress, Xi'an decided to restore their wall to its past glory. The 14km long wall complete with a moat circles around the city. A leisure stroll will take approximately 3 hours to complete or it will take one hour to bike around it (bike rentals are available on the wall.) The view from the wall ain't the best due to the constant construction and the perpetual fog/smog/dust/* in the air.
Top Left: North Gate.
Top Right: Southeast tower.
 
Left: Train station by the North wall
Right: The foggy wall.
 
View of Chang'an Lu (长安路) by the South Gate.
Right: A big ass drum at the Drum Tower (鼓楼). Every hour there is a smallish performance on the drums.
 
Huaqing Hot Springs (华清池). Huaqing has been enjoyed by a large succession of emperors and other important figures. It was made famous when Yang Guifei, one of the four legendary beauties of China and Emperor Xuanzong's concubine, was allowed to bathe here.
 
Left: Lotus Flower Pool, aka Imperial Nine-dragon Bathing Palace built for Emperor Xuanzong.
Right: For 5mao (7cents), you too can wash your hands or drink from the same water Yang Guifei bathe in.
 
Left: In 1936, Chiang Kaishek as well, bathe here and in the process set up his headquaters at huaqing against the CCP; however, he was captured in a coup known as the renown Xi'an Incident (Yang xiaojie wasn't overly fond of him.)
Right: The royal (public) bathroom. One of the prettiest washrooms I ever saw, not to mention one of the cleanest in China.
 
Mt Lishan (骊山). Nothing much of a climb (1-2 hours) and nothing much of a scenery due to the thick blanket of fog/smog; however, since there were nobody, it was a peaceful climb.
Xi'an was a wonderful trip, made better with some good company. Too bad we didn't have time for Huashan (华山). Next time I will organize a Chinese Mountain tour and visit the great Huashan.
Thank you Amy, Vivian and Nana. 多谢.Labels: China |
| posted by Y> @ 9:09 AM |
|
|
|
| Xian - 西安 |
 
December 1.
Once the capital city during a long procession of dynasties up to the Tang Dynasty, the city was one of the world's wealthiest, largest and most sophisticated until it was sacked by Tibetans in 783. The East terminus of the Silk Road is here. Under the grime that has plagued many Chinese cities, one will find much history and artifacts that this once glorious city has to offer.
 
Left: Lamb and mutton (羊肉泡膜) at Old Sun and Family Restaurant (老孙家饭庄), a Xi'an speciality. First you have to spend a good 10 minutes breaking down the bun into small tiny pieces. Afterwards, you add the soup/meat of your choice. Not bad but there are many other foods in Xi'an which are much better, like the 西安肉夹馍 bun.
Right: Xi'an is home to a thriving Muslim culture. The little tents is located in the Muslim Quarter. Good and cheap food located in there. For the first two days all we ate was lamb. Eventually we had to find some pork and beef.
 
Big Goose Pagoda (大雁塔). Contains a huge collection of Buddhist scriptures brought to China from India by Xuanzang whom travelled great distances along the Silk Road.
 
No rain but these ladies decided to dance in the morning with umbrellas. Occurs frequently.
Right: View from the Bell Tower (钟楼) located in the center of a major intersection.
 
Left: The Drum Tower (鼓楼) illuminated at night.
Right: City Wall, a fully restored 14km wall that runs around the city.
The 17 hour train ride on a hard seat. Rough night, felt like lopping my legs off after 5 hours. However, those who don't have seats have to stand for the 17 hours, sit on their luggage or do as one guy did, laid a bunch of newspapers in a corner and slept on the floor.Labels: China |
| posted by Y> @ 8:34 AM |
|
|
|
| Macau - 澳门 |
 
October 31.
The Las Vegas of Asia. There are more casinos in Macau than there are 7-11's--every corner, ever street you will find some sort of machine to donate to the local triad (governments included.) The city has turned into an entertainment resort sporting everything and anything, including F1 races, go cart races, extreme adventures, gambling (of course)--basically anything you want to do whether it be relaxing or it involving adrenaline. Macau has definitely done a excellent job at attracting tourists.
Above: The Ruins of St Paul's. Burnt down in 1595, 1601 and again in 1835, only the front facade stands today. (Anything to do with the city's offerings?)
 
Portuguese-style egg tarts. I must have ate six or more of these babies in one sitting--I could have ate more easily...easily.
The Macau Tower at night. Some of the things one can do: can climb the mast, bungy jump, sky walk around its outer perimeter, and of course gamble.
 
Casinos...money...casinos. I came out ahead in the end but I'm not a big gambler.
 
The old city or the shopping district. Awarded the third most beautiful city districts of China by the Chinese National Geographic.
Chinese without firecrackers? We decided to buy a strip for good luck.Labels: China |
| posted by Y> @ 1:15 AM |
|
|
| Saturday, December 30, 2006 |
| Hong Kong, again. |
 October 29th. Back to Hong Kong to attend my cousin's wedding and to act as tourguide/translator for (another) cousin's American husband. If you never experienced Chinese wedding rituals before, you will find it a treat--although I have seen it many times on TV, it was my first time participating in one.  To make a long story short (cuz I'm lazy)...In the morning the groom and co picks up the bride; however, it isn't as easy as knocking on the door. The bridesmaid and co try their hardest to prevent you from picking her up.  Usually it involves large sums of money and services--kind of like bargaining for that fake LV bag in Shanghai:P I don't know how much my cousin had to shell out but I do know we had to wear a bra (haha, no pictures there:P) and parade around the block; drink their special cocktail which made me feel sick for a couple of hours; and eat their specially prepared buns. After what felt like hours of bargaining, we finally got in to see the bride and shortly afterwards, the tea ceremony. The reception is of a typical banquet; however, there were less games than I was accustomed to with other receptions.
 
Tian Tan Buddha (天壇大佛). The world's tallest seated bronze Buddha in the world sits on top of the hill in Lantau Island. 
The Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens. Everytime I visit Hong Kong, I come here to visit the cranes and the flowers. It is also a nice place to relax and to get away from the HK ruckus.
 
Fresh seafood just fished in. Choose what you like and they'll pack it for you. No need to explain how tasty it was.
 
Monkeys in Kam Shan Country Park . Beware, these hissing little critters will gang up and attack you for your food, no kidding. Right: Temple of 10000 Buddha's--continuously being watched by Buddha as you climb the 431 steps to the peak for a glass of soya milk.Labels: China |
| posted by Y> @ 10:27 PM |
|
|
|
| Nanjing - 南京 |
 October 3rd: Said my goodbyes to Mikey. National Holidays. Like any long holidays in China, train tickets are hard to come by so I had to settle for the slow, stuffy, smokey, crowded, dirty, litter-filled hard seat train to Nanjing. A ride that should have taken three hours from Shanghai, took almost six hours. Hung out in Nanjing for four days with my cousin, his girlfriend and her family. Great to be able to chill with the cos before school starts.
One of the capitals of ancient China, it was the first and only city south of the Yangzi River to preside over a united China. In the early half of the 20th century, the city ruled a fragmented Republic of China led by Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek.  The city has moved on but has not forgotten its turbulent past. Nanjing, also known as Nanking, houses scores of historic sites. Nanjing was also made famous in the West after the WWII atrocities came to light. Too many stories and too much history for me to handle.
Zhongshanling (中山陵). The grand mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen resides here. Dr. Sun and his revolutionary cause is widely respected by all Chinese so a mausoleum befit for a king was built in memory of him. The site has become a pilgrimage site for thousands of Chinese--it is said that every Chinese must visit him at least once in their lifetime.
 
The area around Fuzimiao (Confucius) Temple (夫子庙). The street is closed off to vehicular traffic and turned into a shopping district. The riverbanks are lit up like so many riverbanks in China are.
 
Zhonghua Gate (中华门). A very well preserved piece of the old Nanjing wall built during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. The gate is grand and smartly built, one of the more magnificent gates I've seen during my travels in China. The observation platform provides a panoramic view of the city.
 The Yangzi River Bridge (南京长江大桥). This would be the second bridge built to cross the great Yangzi. The first one was built with the help of Soviet engineers. When this bridge was to be built, Soviet and Chinese relationship was cooled off, so this would be the first fully Chinese built bridge across the Yangzi. The top level is for cars and the lower level for the trains--when you take a train to Beijing, Xi'an and anywhere West along this route, you will cross this bridge.
 
Left: Wangji dan (旺鸡蛋). A Nanjing speciality. I don't need to explain but it was cooked, not alive. The eye kept on staring at me while I chucked this thing back. It tastes a little like a salty yolk. I didn't find it any special.
Right: Hairy crab (大闸蟹). The famous Shanghai hairy crab (actually, it's a speciality from Suzhou but who's counting.) This was good. Good. Very good.
Big thanks goes to my cousin and his girlfriend's family for showing us around. It was great seeing my cousin again--who knows when we'll meet again. Well, back to school.Labels: China |
| posted by Y> @ 2:44 PM |
|
|
| Friday, December 29, 2006 |
| Sichuan (四川): Jiuzhaigou (九寨沟) |
 
September 25th.
Above Left: Long Lake (长海)
Above Right: Five Flower Lake (五花海) Famous for the sunken trees.
One of the most famous attractions in China set against a picturesque backdrop of waterfalls, snow-capped peaks, and forests.  Located in the Minshan Mountain Range, the park is famous for their iridescent turquoise lakes caused by the refraction of the minerals it contains. The Y-shaped park can only be discovered by foot or by using their "low emission" buses--this is their attempt at trying to keep the park clean, beautiful, and easily accessible. The entrance price is quite expensive, as well as the hotels and restaurants in the area--your typical tourist trap.
 The park is beautiful; however, we believe it is a little over-hyped. We had really high expectations after looking at postcard photographs and hearing of what others had to say. As Mike would put it after getting off at Long Lake, 'it's like a mini-Banff.' We initially planned for two days at the park but instead stayed for only one--it took us around six hours to visit all famous areas. I am sure hiking through the park would be much better but as they close the park at sunset, one must leave the park by then.
One of the most exhilarating plane rides of my life. The flightpath to the airport flies between snow-capped mountain ranges--I never seen a mountain so close to the airplane before! Sichuan Air, it's the only way to fly.
 
Left: Primeval forest (Old growth forest)
Right: Five Colour Pool (五彩池) This pool has five distinct shades of blue. It is the most colourful of the lakes but it's the size of football field.
 
Nuorilang Falls (诺日朗瀑布): The falls is over 30m tall and 320m wide. Not the most thundering of falls. The blueish taint is of my doing.
 
Pearl Shoals (珍珠滩): The most famous attraction of JZG. The waterfall rushes between trees and flowering bushes. It is certainly an attractive sight.
 
On our bumpy 12 hour bus ride to Chengdu, we encountered a Yak and some guys hauling pipes.
 Jiuzhaigou is beautiful but I can think of many other places which are much more unique and beautiful. By all means, visit if you have the chance but don't go there with huge expectations, and expect to fork out a pretty penny.
We decided to pass up on huanglong (黄龙), located two hours away, simply because we were a little disappointed with the JZG hype. They say that some think huanglong is more beautiful, while others disagree. We decided not to risk it and instead check out the pandas.Labels: China |
| posted by Y> @ 3:04 AM |
|
|
|
| Shanghai, once more |
 
September 19. Who better to be arrested with other than Mikey, in Shanghai. Or at least confused at where to meet up. After some hours of waiting at the airport for him due to some awesome planning of ours, we finally met up with a couple bottles of Tsingdao at the 'bros.' Every night a bottle of Tsingdao in hand to numb us to sleep after a day's worth of playing frogger--great to be able to buy beer at the corner store for 50 CAD cents a large bottle. Mikey's buddy, coincidentally was in town too and boy did we painted the town.  What a guy. Too many moments to count and too many moments we should forget. Shanghai with Mikey.
We broke the bank on these couple of beers ($6 CAD) when we went to Suzhou for a visit--actually, so I can finally register for school, one month late.
The ancient city, Yuyuan Gardens (豫园)
 
Yuyuan's famous Steamed buns at Nanxiang (南翔馒头店). The place is always crowded. There are different levels of pricing, the cheapest being waiting in line outside at the take-out window to the more expensive seating rooms upstairs. The xiaolong bao's were delicious, some of the best I ever had. Two thumbs up. Although the crabmeat baos were a little more pricey, they are so worth it.
Happy National Holidays! Zhongshan Dong Lu in the Bund was closed off to vehicles for the days long celebration. It felt like all of China was here. You should have seen Nanjing Lu--elbows to elbows.
The Shanghai subway system. Their system is very similar to the subways in HK: the trains are more or less the same, terminals, turnstile, and even the character fonts are the same.
The world's fastest production train: Maglev. Made by Germans, the train will whisk you to the airport from Longyang Lu station in less than 8 minutes at a blistering speed of up to 431 km/hr. It was damn fast but too short--they plan on extending this train to the train station (smart move) and building similar trains to Hangzhou and Beijing. To attain such speeds, the train runs on electromagnets so it's near frictionless.
 
As tourists we will always find some things a little off-the wall. For example, the spidermen cleaning the windows on this highrise. I believe there are better and safer methods to accomplish this task.
Bicycles are everywhere, people use them to commute, to carry their groceries home, and to climb mountains; however, these guys decided to carry bags load of Styrofoam. I've grown accustomed to these kind of sights but sometimes it is still mindblowing at what a bicycle can do.
Thanks Mike for your wisdom. Thank you for your bro and family for taking us in for the two weeks. And cannot forget big thanks to the nanny.Labels: China |
| posted by Y> @ 2:19 AM |
|
|
|
| Kyoto |
 Didn't stay long this time around as it was a stopover before heading to Nagoya the next day. Met up with Sae who treated me to a typical izakaya bar (Japanese bar.) The food and beer was good but the company better. Met some new friends there.  Thank you Sae!
 <--The temple where Sae's brother works at as a priest/monk (don't know how they call it over there.) 
A fountain to wash your hands.Labels: China, Japan |
| posted by Y> @ 3:43 AM |
|
|
| Monday, December 25, 2006 |
| Nara |
 
Once the capital of Japan in 710 A.D., the city was modeled after Chang'an (known today as Xi'an.) The city is filled with temples, shrines and large parks which can all be visited on foot in a day. Hooked up with Miki, my tourguide for the day, whom travelled all the way from Gifu.
Deers are allowed to run amuck in the parks, walkways and outside the temple. Feed them and a flock will surround and chase after you. If you don't have food, they ignore you but watch out for the landmines.
Todaiji Temple: The world's largest wooden structure which houses the great bronze Buddha.
 I found this statue a little freaky; however, rub his body part where you require healing and you shall recover from your illness. For example, rub his head and you will recover from your Alzheimer's?
<--Big bronze Buddha.
This huge wooden pillar has a little hole at the bottom. Crawl through it and good luck will be bestowed upon you. Lucky I lost that beer belly.
<--Kasugataisha-taisha, I think.
Sake!! -->
Big thanks to Miki who guided me around her future city. And Congratulations;)Labels: China, Japan |
| posted by Y> @ 10:34 AM |
|
|
|
| Fukuoka & Yame |
 August 25. My next stop would be Kyushu in Japan to visit Satoko. I always believed that she lived near Fukuoka but little did I that "Yame" was a good 1 1/2 hours away and there are no trains to this area--unheard of in Japan!
We stayed in Fukuoka for a couple of days. It's a nice city and a little different from the other major cities in Japan. People act a little differently, look at little different and dress differently. It's less busy in Fukuoka compared to Osaka and Tokyo--more relaxing here. Once in Japan I had to visit a shrine so we went to the shrine located in Daizafu, the area's largest temple. Like most shrines one have to wash their hands before entering. The little signs are of people wishes, good luck and what not.
 
 Yame. It's a small town. The action is all in the pachinko parlours, the local department store (Youme Town), and a teenage store that sells videos, games, toys, and other paraphernalia. I never understood why small towns have a billion pachinko parlours; must be the fact there ain't much to do in the countryside. Yame is famous for their tea--it's one of their tourist attractions.
Satoko doesn't live in Yame, she lives another 1/2 hour away. Her house is located between a mountain and a river. There are rice patties and farms surrounding the area. The local bus if you manage to catch it comes twice a day (I only saw it twice in the two weeks I was there.)  In order to ease my boredom while Satoko was at work, her family lend me their bicycle. Sometimes I would ride to Yame (1 hour or so ride) or I ride around the country side looking for something, anything. It was quite relaxing. Knowing I'm not local, the locals usually say a friendly hello and I return konnichiwa myself. One time an old lady stopped me and started a conversation with me--well, it was more like a one-way conversation.
 I decided to ride up the mountain rode with the 3-speeder. Outta shape. All that hiking didn't help at all--maybe I should lay off the cigs. The road ended at a dirt trail where I'm sure my 14" wheeler would not survive--how I wished I had my mountain bike at the time.
If you ever watch anime, you must have seen giant evil spiders at least once. Biking though Yame's Star attraction park,  I came across this spider. It was the size of my hand--largest wild spider I ever saw and so colourful.
It's a well known fact that there is much bowing in Japan. While riding my bike I saw a little girl crossing the street. After crossing, she turned around and facing the cars bowed. How surprisingly polite. What a difference to the push and shove I experience everyday in China.
 Food. I love Japanese food. This is Fukuoka's famous ramen noodles. It was good, best ramen noodles I ever had.
One strange dish I had was sashimi horse meat. The left is the raw meat, middle raw tongue and right is raw horse liver. Sounds sick, eh? But it was good. Another strange dish was the sashimi chicken--yah, sounds really weird and although good, not as good as the horse. Labels: China, Japan |
| posted by Y> @ 2:56 AM |
|
|
|
| Hong Kong - 香港 |
 
One word: Typhoon. Got stuck at Shanghai Pudong airport for a good five hours. When we got the go ahead to fly, we had to take a detour to Xiamen to wait out the storm in Shenzhen. When Shenzhen gave us the okay, Xiamen was experiencing a large thunderstorm so no go. We finally took off and arrived in Shenzhen at 11pm, a good 12 hours late. Lucky I flew to Shenzhen because no flights were landing in HK airport that night. Anyway, found my way to HK and lucky for me Lilo and her family took me in for the night. Thank you:D
Hong Kong. Been here enough times. This would be my home away from home for three weeks during my summer holidays in August. Attitudes appears to have been improved from the last time I was here. This could be due to many factors; for example, the booming economy and as my cousin would put it, humbled by the rich mainlanders. However, ignorance is not totally lost yet. There were some who, when I told them I was studying in Suzhou, asked me: 'they have TVs there, computers, cars...etc.' And yes, not all Chinese are farmers. Modern China is catching up fast so better watch your back.
Hong Kong famous skyline. Above, the street filled with the neon lights and the streets cluttered with the double decker buses.
 
I spent a lot of time wandering, visiting museums and such. To the right are shoes made from real human hair. It's art ok. The right picture is of typical Hakka people farming. Although the Chinese government considers us as Han people and not of a minority group, my family and I will still consider ourselves as Hakka.
 
The HK Wetland Park is a newly opened attraction. It is the the government's attempt at preserving the green space in HK and to educate citizens the importance of marshes and other waterways. Right is the train to the magical land. I didn't enter the park for many a obvious reasons.
 
Many believe HK is simply a concrete jungle but HK offers much green space and hiking opportunities. This is Lion Rock named because from afar the peak looks like a lion. It really does, believe me. The hike was a piece of cake compared to Tiger.
 Seven years ago, Lilo and I wanted to hike up Lantau Peak but it was way too hot and humid. This time around we were more prepared. We started the hike at 12 midnight and arrived at the peak around 3am so we can catch the sunrise in the morning. When we arrived at the peak, there were only like 10 of us; however, by morning there must have been over 100 people--it was like a circus up there.
Big thanks again for Lilo in organizing the hike. She must have been agitated after all these weeks of me bothering her.
  Labels: China, Hiking |
| posted by Y> @ 6:49 AM |
|
|
|
| Shanghai - 上海 |
 August 4th. HOT and HUMID. Temperatures must have broke 40C easily. Back to civilization...Chinese civilization. The two weeks in Yunnan was a blast and certainly unforgettable...until the day I suffer from Alzheimer's. Met up with Satoko in Shanghai. She wanted to get a taste of China. If one would ask her about her thoughts, she would first talk about the wonderful washrooms here. Frankly, I haven't got accustomed to it too so when I know I'm taking a long distance train or bus, I don't eat nor drink beforehand. This would be my first time in Shanghai for a prolonged period of time, even though Suzhou is located only one hour away.
Shanghai is your typical modern city in the construction phase. There is a new building rising every day. Personally, I don't find it that much of an interest unless you plan on shopping or partying. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice city but I prefer chilling in the back country.
The Bund. If you ever look at a picture of Shanghai, this is the street. The above skyline picture is taken from here too. The 1.5 km waterfront allows for a good panoramic view of the New Pudong area (where the TV tower is located) and Zhongshan Dong Lu.  Really pretty at night.
Nanjing road. This is their shopping street; hence, the gazillion wandering people. Seems like every city in China has a shopping street devoted of cars, bikes and other vehicles--Suzhou has one, so does Kunming, Qingdao, Beijing etc...
 Having an interest in aquatic animals, we sauntered over to Shanghai Aquarium. Nice exhibitions and very informative. The underwater aquarium walkway is really cool with sharks, tortoise, fish and water. What I like was how they try to educate patrons on the cruelty and the unsustainablity of shark fining--a dish highly loved by the Chinese. As well, they educate the environmental damage done to China's waterways from overfishing, habitat destruction, and large-scale hydroelectric dams. Too bad the petting shark tank was closed that day;) Being a SpongBob fan, I had to get a picture of one of his favourite hobbies: Jellyfishing.
Not all of Shanghai is of skyscrapers. There is the Old Chinese City that is a favourite for tourists and Shanghai'ers alike. Hmm..Starbucks. Guess they needed their mochachino fix back in the day too. 
Suzhou. Had to show Satoko the place I currently reside in. We went over to Zhouzhuang (周庄), one of the four ancient cities of Suzhou (one is Tongli which I mentioned earlier, another is xitang (西塘) where MI3 was filmed.) Personally, I think Tongli was much better.
Minus the washroom horror, Satoko had a good time in Shanghai and I'm sure many will too, including Mikey. Right? ;)Labels: China |
| posted by Y> @ 1:31 AM |
|
|
| Saturday, December 23, 2006 |
| Yunnan: Zhongdian (中甸), Shangri-La (香格里拉) |
 Paradise. Utopia. Made famous by James Hilton with his book 'Lost Horizon.' The Chinese government officially declared Deqin Prefecture, including Zhongdian as the lost Eden--they even changed the name of the city from Zhongdian to Shangrila. Lots'o controversy surrounding this move of which I won't go into.
Peaceful city. I imagined that it would be a city surrounded by mountains with an awesome scenery. What we found was a city under renovations (like every other city in China) for the mass tourists. The old city is being rebuilt and it is newer than the "new" city. However, it's a peaceful city filled with many friendly faces. We had to get out of the centre to discover this utopia.
As tourists goes, Zhongdian was not as touristy or busy as Lijiang but I'm sure they are lining up. Above, is the Songzanlin Monastery (松赞林寺), a miniature version of Potala Palace--it's really not that small. One of the more beautiful monastery I ever visited.
The day we arrived, we were lucky to catch the Yi Torch Festival. Kids running around the city with flaming torches doesn't sound safe but it was sure fun. One grandma gave  us one of their torches so we too can pounce around dangerously with torches in hand. After the procession, they all throw their torches into a big bonfire. Where's the marshmallows? Afterwards, we had to drink water from the temple's fountain--something I do not fully understand.
 Where there are minority to be found, find a square and you find them dancing. Such a carefree and free spirited group. Youse gotta love them.
The lakes and other places of interests were too far for us to visit--partly due the fact that public transportation is scarce around these parts. We travelled to a place near Napa Lake (纳帕海) for some horse riding. My first time so I may look a little uneasy.
The  scenery wasn't as spectacular as some other areas but it was a tranquil, peaceful couple of days here in Shangrila. Afterwards did I realize why this was "utopia"...it was a very relaxing, carefree, enjoyable time I had there.Labels: China |
| posted by Y> @ 7:33 PM |
|
|
|
| Yunnan: Tiger Leaping Gorge (虎跳峡) |
 
The highlight of the trip. Legend has it that a hunted tiger leapt across the stone abyss to escape its pursuer. The gorge lies where Haba Snow Peak (哈巴雪山) and Jade Dragon meets, divided by the great Yangzi River. This would be a two day hike--a real hike unlike the endless stairs yo u see in typical Chinese mountains. Also, the trail will mostly be untouched by Chinese tourism--the tourists stays near the base while the foreigners/backpackers travel the high route. The highest of the peaks rises up 5600m but our hike will only take us up to around 3000m.
The hike they say would be extremely challenging but it wasn't until we got to the lower gorge was it a real challenge and treacherous. On our way up we met a couple from Norway who would be our companions for the two days. The scenery is simply amazing, period. I'll let the pictures tell it to ya.
On our way there it was raining heavily so we thought we may not be able to hike it since every report is against hiking up the gorge in the rain. Even the bus had some  issues-- bus breakdowns are very common in China. The rain subsided during the hike and Sean's wife told us it was safe enough--She and Sean knows everything about the gorge.
The high path was tough, hiking up almost one kilometre was strenuous especially for me who don't do much hiking. However, there are no rewards for doing nothing.
The horse must be used to waiguo ren because it moved out of the way to let us pass before heading off to his/her merry way.
We stayed overnight at Halfway Guesthouse who, albeit a daughter who was having an episode, were very accommodating and friendly.
When we reached Tina's Guesthouse by the road, we kind of took a wrong turn and headed down the lower river trek. The river trek is a must go as you see first hand at the ferociousness of the Yangzi River. The scenery is as spectacular as the river itself. However, the river trek is in my opinion the more dangerous of the trail--one slip  and you will be floating to Shanghai. Furthermore, there are many "toll gates" to keep the trail clean and for improvements--a real piss off if you ask me.
 This place is a must if you love to hike and to get away from the Chinese tourists. Apart from Huangshan this is the place to visit. They plan on building a hydro dam here but resistance has been tough. Nevertheless, the Chinese may push through with their master plan so visit it before it disappears.
  Labels: China, Hiking |
| posted by Y> @ 9:16 AM |
|
|
|
| Yunnan: Lugu Lake (泸沽湖) |
 
Situated by the Yunnan-Sichuan border, sits a lake with many villages consisting of Tibetan, Yi, Pumi, and Mosuo people. The villages, we were told from our outdated tourbooks, were suppose to be traditional and nearly untouched by the Chinese tourism factory.
However,  most of the old villages has been torn down to make way for development and progress. Nevertheless, it was a nice quiet getaway. What makes this place interesting are the Mosuo people who practice in "walking marriages" in which husband and wife stays in their respective maternal homes and often have more than one partner.
A family roasting a pig on an open fire. Looks good. We tried their other bbq stuff from chicken to beef intestines. Good shit.
The bus ride from Lijiang was long but breathtaking. The mountain scenery is gorgeous but the roads not so because frequent landslides, bad drivers and bad road conditions makes it treacherous trip sometimes. The twisty 18 turns was a wonder in itself, nevertheless.
  Labels: China |
| posted by Y> @ 8:46 AM |
|
|
|
| Yunnan: Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (玉龙雪山) |
 Still in Lijiang (well to be exact, we came back to Lijiang during the last leg of our trip.) Jade Dragon can be seen from almost anywhere from the town--it is their famous mountain afterall. Well, we didn't go up it because we thought it was too expensive so we instead went to the mountain next to it in order to get a better view of the Dragon. Jade Dragon is over 5500m high and even with global warming, the caps are snowy year round. At that height many will experience AMS or acute mountain sickness--for me it was minor but you can see many tourists sucking canned air like it was free or something...air that's free, what a concept.
 On our way back we asked the driver to stop to check out the limestone water terraces or what I would call mini-Baishui tai (白水台) because I missed it when I was in Shangri-La. Labels: China |
| posted by Y> @ 8:26 AM |
|
|
|
| Yunnan (云南), Kunming (昆明) |
 I haven't updated this blog for months but to me it seem like years. Travelling around China tired me out a bit so I'll keep my posts short but with (hopefully) more pictures.  Lets start off with Yunnan, well known for its eternal spring because the weather is spring-like all year round. Nice place. Pretty place. A must go in my opinion.
Yunnan (south of the clouds) is located in the SouthWest bordering with Tibet, Vietnam and Myanmar. It has many wonders from snowcapped mountains to dormant volcanoes to rainforests. Sadly, we won't have enough time to visit the latter two. It is also where many of China's minority people call home. We will follow the NorthWest path to Deqin, a city next to the Tibetan border.
Started in Kunming (昆明) and went to the Stone Forest--a little overhyped but my friendly companion from Japan who I just met made it a pleasant day. These limestone pillars jut out everywhere in every which direction. As with any rock in China, many are supposed to resemble something--whether the formation resemble an animal or...a rock, let your imagination go wild.
 The Jiuxiang Scenic Area (九乡风景区)is not as well known and it should stay that way. Pretty looking caves but there were so much human interference that it might as well be an amusement park. The one directional path you must take does not allow for exploring.Labels: China |
| posted by Y> @ 2:52 AM |
|
|
|
| about me |
|
|
| Previous Posts |
|
| Archives |
|
|
| Links |
|
|
