Tuk Tuk in Thailand

Greetings from Bangkok, Thailand.

This is my 3rd day here and it's been a pretty wild experience so far.

First impressions of Thailand? The people here are extremely friendly. It truly is the Land of Smiles. People are extremely helpful and a good portion of them speak a bit or more of English. It is way easier to get around Thailand than in China. I can see why a lot of foreigners come here. My friend, Phil and I have received a lot of help from strangers. Naturally, my guard is up though and I suspect any friendly person of scamming us. I'm quite suspicious and anything that sounds too good to be true probably is too good to be true.

The coolest thing that happened though was when upon leaving one of the Wats, we walked by this Thai man and his son. He just started chatting with us and asking us where we were from. He started asking if we had been to this wat or that wat (wat = temple) and we said no. He asked me if I had a map and when I pulled out his map, he started circling all these locations on my map saying that we should go to all these different temples b/c they were free and really cool. He told us that we should get a tuk tuk driver to take us to all these locations and wait for us at each one for 40 baht (= $1.33 CND).

Then a tuk tuk driver pulled up and we started negotiating a price. The tuk tuk driver wanted 60 baht but the man was like, "these are my friends. Come on, you can do it for 40 baht." There were some problems w/ the tuk tuk engine so the father and son had to give us a push start in the tuk tuk. It was so crazy and funny. So we started running around in Bangkok in a little tuk tuk - which has an amazing turn radius. When the driver said that he had engine problems and had to stop to get it fixed, I thought to myslef "yep, he's just gonna dump us off somewhere or bring us to some gem shop, isn't he?" But it was actually legit. We had the engine fixed and we were on our way to the first wat where we got an amazing 360 degree view of Bangkok from up high. We had lunch and invited our driver to join us. He didn't want lunch but we offered him a drink and he wanted a beer. I wasn't sure if that was the wisest decision... but he said it was okay. And it was okay (Thank God).

A lot of people in Thailand where yellow poloshirts with the king's crest on Mondays to commemorate the King's 60th anniversary this year. And EVERYWHERE there are pictures of the king. like EVERYWHERE. On the street, every 2nd person was wearing a yellow shirt. Now that's national pride.

Then Phil and I went to this suit manufacturing factory outlet. Apparently, it's only open 7 days a year to the general public. So we went in and we each dropped a ton of money on tailor made clothes. I have a lovely navy blue cashmere pair of pants being made.... ;) Sweet. At the end of the day - we ended up giving our taxi driver 100 baht (- 3.33 CND). It was totally worth it. What a crazy adventure. My throat still feels gross 2 days later b/c I think I took in a lot of diesel fumes that day. Traffic is INSANE in Bangkok.

Yesterday's highlight was visiting the Floating Markets. Some of you may have seen those iconic pictures w/ the floating boats w/ produce in them. So we took a short ride through the canals and bought fruits from vendors selling them from their boats. It was pretty cool. Upon our return to Bangkok, we were ushered into a Gem Factory before being sent back to our hotel. It's sort of what happens here in Thailand. You inevitably end up in a gem store. Even yesterday at one point - our tuk tuk driver took us to a gem store and said that he had to "gas up" for 10 minutes, wihch made no sense at all, b/c right after we left the gem store, we visited a gas station. So it seems like all an elaborate set up. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the gem factory directly that was organizing these "day trips." In order to get us out of the gem store a bit more quickly - I pretended to be sick and said that I really need to go back to the hotel. Sure enough, our sales person took us through the store VERY quickly and we were on our way back to the hotel.

Anyway, I think that this is probably getting lengthy. Tonight, we leave for Chiangmai. We're going trekking this weekend. Sleeping in huts, etc. which will be in contrast to the 4 STAR HOTEL we've been staying at in Bangkok. I LOOOOOOOVE the breakfast buffet. And the room itself is massive. phil and I decided to splurge and we even got executive suite rooms. Flowers on the pillow, fruit basket upon arrival, and daily privileges in the exec lounge each night. Sweetness! My bathroom at my previous guesthouse in Hong Kong is about the size of our bathtub at this hotel.

Alright, that's it for now.

Final pictures of China

Description-
1) Me being carried around in the Jade Valley
2) Flying over rock - a special attraction at Yellow Mountain
3) Scene at Yellow Mountain
4) Shanghai Acrobatics - they didn't drop any plates
5) View of Shanghai from Jin Mao tower
6) Beautiful Suzhou

Coming full circle

So later that afternoon, we did visit the area where parts of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was filmed. It was alright - no big deal. The coolest thing though was splurging on being carried around in a sedan chair for a bit. I got carried around in a chair by two men (who were huffing and puffing as they went up the stairs... sorry, I knew I shouldn't have eaten that extra spring roll). It was pretty sweet. I'll try to post some pictures before I leave HK.

The next day I left from Shanghai. I got to ride the Maglev train to the airport. You know - those magnetic levitation ones... apparently they don't touch the tracks or something. Highest speed on that train was 430km/h - holy cow... we got to the airport in about 6 minutes. My flight was delayed so I had a bit of time to hang out in Shanghai's new airport. In the bookstore, I stumbled across English language magazines (Time, Newsweek) - the first time in a month that I had laid eyes on an English magazine.

Here I am in HK again. I've come a full circle. It's been exactly a month since I left Vancouver. It feels like so much longer. This last month has been AMAZING. I feel bolder and more daring in my ability to travel. I feel more well-rounded. Flying into HK this time - same night views, same arrival time actually - 7:45pm. I didn't feel any anxiety. It was so amazing. It actually felt a bit like coming home. Mainly b/c my Cantonese is better than my Mandarin.

It's weird seeing HK after being in China for a month. I didn't realise that there was such a difference. For one thing - everything in China is about 1/2 the price of things in HK - actually, less than half. Even the most expensive beers in the bar areas of Shanghai are about average price here in HK. The people in HK are far more trendier, more sophisticated and it's a lot more glamorous here - again, compared to even Shanghai. HK is very different from the rest of China. I also don't have to really worry about getting hit by a bike or a motorbike in HK - there aren't too many of that. That and the sound of spitting isn't as frequent. Oh, and the biggest difference...? Guess who just visited Krispy Kreme this morning. OH YEAH BABY! It's about a 5 minute walk from my guesthouse. ;)

I'm not doing too many touristy things in HK this time around. Went for Dim sum w/ the family just now and got a haircut. I loved the hair/shampoo massage thing - I could've fallen asleep in the chair. Although, the guy didn't really cut my hair the way that I"m used to and wanted. It's so much more poofier - you know - that Asian style - lots of hair... do you know what I"m talking about? It was more of a trim.

Anyway, just chilling until Sunday when I take off for Thailand.

Some people have asked if I'm homesick. To be honest - not really. I"m still really digging this travel thing. It's just so amazing. The thought of going home actually turns me off. Heck, I'm even toying with the idea of extending my trip................ we'll see about that one.

Hope you're all doing well. I do think of you guys from time to time. *HUG*

Mountain Marathon

Hey folks,
So the internet guy is not going to let me use the computer w/ the CD-rom today. Booooo... cause I have so many cool pics to show you.

Yesterday we visited Huangshan (Yellow Mountain). It is one big freakin' mountain. If I was still at work at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society -it'd be the Nike Women's Marathon weekend. That's okay - because I got to walk my own mountain half marathon. I decided to opt out the cable car ride up. So I trudged up 7.5km of stairs... not all stairs, but a lot of stairs. I didn't know that the route that I was taking was the porter's route so there were these guys going up all the way with tons of stuff on their back. You know - the suspension kind when you have two loads on each side. So going up the stairs was also an obstacle course esp. when you tried to pass them. They might swing around (not on purpose) and take you out with a massive bag of rice, or towels, or a few cases of beer. The ones to really watch out for were the guys w/ massive bamboo sticks or a metal pipe on their back. I nearly lost my head a few times.

Anyway, the bold and courageous (and crazy) ones finally made it to the top for amazing views. Mist rises up the mountains so sometimes it looks like you're on top of the world - just sitting on the mountain peaks. Again, pictures would do much more justice at this point. We hiked around the top taking in various peaks. We went high enough that my bag of chips that I had was about to explode when I pulled it out of my bag. Like other major Chinese tourist destinations, we had to push our way through tour groups with matching ball caps. If you wandered far enough though - there wouldn't be too many tourists. It was absolutely gorgeous at some of those peaks.

Chinese people seem to have a fascination with what look like life size bonsai trees. In fact, one tree was highlighted as a national treasure b/c apparently two immortals had played chess their once before. They also like taking pictures of rocks that look like things. Turtles, monkeys, and something else that well... looked very much like a... well.... I'll wait until I have a picture and then you can decide for yourself what it looks like... ;)

I was dumb enough to hike down as well. So all in all, I think I must've hiked 25km yesterday. It was beautiful and brutal. I moaned and complained most of the way down.

So today is my 2nd last day in China. We're going to visit one more valley area - our tour guide promised that it'd be flat. Apparently it's where parts of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon were filmed. Then it's one last overnight train back to Shanghai. I fly back to Hong Kong on Wed afternoon.

I've really enjoyed my trip to China all in all. The sights were amazing. Highlights - Great Wall, Pandas, Yellow Mountain... but also the people and just being able to interact with them. I've eaten much more red bean flavoured food than I ever have before. And I've never had to bargain so much before. I'm getting a bit tired though of it so I let them rip me off b/c I know that in the bigger picture it's only worth 10-25 cents to me. China is impressive and phenomenal. And this country is totally on the rise. From all the construction, to the preparations for Beijing 2008 which I imagine will be absolutely amazing, the hardworking people, the sheer size and magnitude of everything... it truly is something to behold. I hope all of you will have the opportunity to visit China - especially before it becomes too Westernized.

That's it for now. Tune in next time for John's Greatest Adventure Ever.

Yet More Pictures

Description-
1)A little Mah Jong on the boat cruise to kill time at night
2 and 3) The Great Wall
4) Listening to locals sing in the park
5) One of the coolest buildings in China- The Temple of Heaven

Back to Shanghai -

So like I said, Shanghai is massive. The next day in Shanghai - I visited the Urban Planning Exhibition which displays the future direction of Shanghai. It seems that the Chinese government is determined to make Shanghai into a major world city. Construction is already under way to build a building taller than the JinMao tower which will be 100 stories high. The coolest thing about the Jinmao tower is that inside you can look down into the reception of the Hyatt Hotel which is on the 56th floor. So that's an atrium that is more than 30 stories high... WOW! The city continues to expand. It's building an eco-friendly city on an islandjust outside of Shanghai. There are plans to reduce pollution, expand transportation facilities, etc. To get to the airport, I plan on riding the "Maglev" train which apparently runs at 350km/h. It's pretty crazy... they are essentially rebuilding this city from scratch. It's amazing consideringthat it was a tiny fishing village in the mid 1800's. SHanghai is only just over150 years old. We saw a fair bit of poverty as well in Shanghai. Lots of beggars- lots of missing limbs as well, that I wonder if are a result of factory accidents. I imagine that there is no Worker's Compensation to speak much of in China.

At night, we went to see the Shanghai acrobatics which were awesome. All theusual acts- spinning plates on sticks, contortionists, and other breath taking acts. The last act was 6 motorcyclists riding around inside of a big metal spherical cage. CRAZINESS!!!! Afterwards, we went for drinks in Xintiandi - which looks like a street remodeled out of Europe with lots of cafes, bars, and restaurants. It also sells the most expensive beer - about 40 Yuan for a Budweiser. That's expensive b/c you can buy beers for about 5 Yuan in cornerstores sometimes. That's the future of China for you.

It becomes quite glaringly obvious that the gap between rich and poor is growing. You have a growing rich elite in China and then there are the farmers...

After Shanghai - we headed to Hangzhou - supposedly the most beautiful city in China. To be honest, it's alright. It's beautiful by China standards... but... Kerrisdale or the NOrth Shore is probably nicer... Lots of trees and big houses... I even saw a Ferrari dealership. Apparently 80% of Nike shoes are made in that region which is probably why I was approachedby so many street vendors w/ little pictures of shoes that they were trying to sell to me.

China is very entrepreneurial. Everyone is selling stuff. I went into the pharmacy the other day to get cough drops and the woman behind the counter pulled out a little piece of paper with a list of symptoms in English. She seemed to be pointing at "sexual dysfunction" and pushed a little red box towards me. I politely declined.... I'm not quite sure what gave her the idea that I had "that problem." Anyway... needless to say, there are vendors everywhere.

Hangzhou was a nice pit stop. And now, I'm at Yellow Mountain. Our tour ends on Wednesday and then I'm headed back to HK. I really like China. I don't find the people particularly friendly. Not a lot of smiles - at least not in the cities. I'vegrown accustomed to pushing in crowded areas. But I think they have a tough life andthey are resilient. They are tough, and innovative, and creative, very hardworking, and I admire that.

That's it for now. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

More Pictures and Shanghai

I'm now in a small town at the foot of Huangshan (Yellow mountain) typing away in an internet bar. The bar owner is walking around w/ a fly swatter. I'd give him that electric one that they sell at the RIchmond Night Market ifI had one. The flies are a bit annoying right now. *thwap, thwap* He just hit the back of my chair just now. I wouldn't be surprised if he hits me next. Oh well....

So from Suzhou, we caught a train to Shanghai. The city is freakin' massive. An estimated population of 20 million people. It's pretty overwhelming. The first thing I like to do is go to the top of a city. And in Shanghai- you go to the top of the Jinmao Tower. 88 stories high. It's the third tallest building in the world (the CN Tower is the tallest structure still I think but buildingwise- Jinmao is No. 3). Looking out at the top was pretty phenomenal - buildings and more buildings as far as the eye can see. It's like New York but bigger.

To be continued...

Picture Descriptions -
1) Yummy insects on skewers at the food stalls in Beijing
2) Flying my kite inTianneman Square
3) In front of the North Gate at Forbidden City
4) A very typical sight in China- the squatting that is, not the foreigners
5) The concubine waiting room in the Forbidden City
6) Another very common sight in China. All the tour groups are distinguishable (sp?) by their coloured hats. I'm glad we don't have coloured hats for our tour group.
7) Another palace inside the Forbidden City

Picture Time!!!!

Description:

1 and 2) - Xi'an - pictures of the Terra Cotta figures. They stand about 6 feet tall in real life

3) The Tang Dynasty show after the tacky dumpling banquet. The show was really good.

4) Xi'an- the Chinese mosque

5) PANDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

6) A really big Buddha in Leshan. It stands about 71m tall. Holy Buddha.....

7) The pedestrian square in Chongqing. Sort of looks like New York,eh? The area is only 5 years old. Here's to a Modern China!

8) My boat cruise along the Yangtze river at sunset. The boat actually looks more impressive in the picture than in real life. It was decent though. :D

Beijing Baby!

Hey everyone,
So a lot of these internet bars that I go to are all gamer's bars so there's no CD-rom... grrrr.... I need to find a real computer so I can upload photos. That and all these computers are in Chinese so that doesn't help either... Alas, I'll have to continue with these text only blogs.

I left you guys in Xi'an. So my cold got worse and worse. I had a pretty rough overnight train ride and I felt pretty much like crap the next day. My nose was running and I couldn't stop coughing, but could I pass up on visiting the Forbidden City the next day? Nope - I was in Beijing for less than 72 hours and I couldn't miss anything.

We arrived in Beijing early Sunday morning and we went on a tour of the city. First stop was the Drum Tower for lovely views of Beijing... sort of.... you can't really see much when the city is covered in haze. I asked the tour guide if there was ever blue sky in Beijing. He joked that he hadn't seen blue sky since the 70's... haha... we eventually did see blue sky the next day.

We visited the Hutong area. It's an area that is centuries old where people live. Pretty tight quarters and lots of narrow alleys. We went on a rickshaw tour of the area. Then we visited the Forbidden City which is awesome. It's about 1km from North to South and 750m across. Our tour guide told us all about the Emperor and his 3000 concubines...

She kept asking us questions like - "guess how many people live here?" "guess how long it took to build the palace?" We would guess and then she would say "why you say that?" The way she talked and asked questions - she made it sound like we were much of a morons, but I don't think that was what she intended. Some things get lost in translation I reckon'. It was rather funny b/c the next day when a group of us visited the Summer Palace on our own - and we made up our own commentary and asked each other questions facetiously.

I can't imagine living in the Forbidden City and being Emperor... it would be so lonely and miserable. Except that the tour guide kept looking at me when she told us about teh concubines and how he would have waiting rooms and the girls would line up for him. She would look at me: "Mmmm... very good to be a man at that time, huh? Very lucky, eh? What you think?" I wanted to say - "Uh... I believe in the empowerment of women" but I didn't really get the chance.

After the Forbidden City, we headed to Tiananmen Square. It's just a really big square that aparently can hold a half million people. I will always have fond memories b/c I decided to splurge - 15 Yuan (2 dollars CND) and fly a kite! :D It was SO AWESOME running around the square flying my kite. If only I could post pictures.... I got such a kick out of it.

In the evening, a few of us ventured out to the central district to have dinner. We passed by a series of food stalls selling everything under the sun on skewers. And when I say everything... I mean everything. Again, I wish I could post pictures of the lamb testicles on a stick... the scorpions on the stick... the centipedes on a stick... the small deep fried birds on sticks... EWWWWWW.....

The next day, we visited the Summer Palace and went shopping at the Pearl Market. I also visited the Temple of Heaven which is a stunningly beautiful building. We also had Peking Duck for dinner that night. Yummy!

Tuesday was the BIG DAY! It was GREAT WALL day. We drove 3 hours out to visit a part of the wall that is much more remote. The part of the wall closest to Beijing is overrun with tourists. We were pretty much the only group at Simatai when we arrived there are 9:15am. We also had amazing blue sky. It was so picturesque. I had a blast walking along the Great Wall. It wasn't as bad of a hike as I had imagined. Again, it pales in comparison to the Grouse Grind. But it was pretty freakin' awesome. And naturally, we had a series of vendors i.e. "guides" follow us along the way selling us stuff. I succumbed and bought a tacky "I Climbed the great wall" Tshirt but then my guide kept saying that all my other friends were buying more stuff - e.g. books, postcards, etc. Good grief woman! I already bought an overpriced T-shirt. Oh well....

Last night on the overnight train, I had a nice long chat w/ our tour guide about all sorts of things. Chinese history, politics, philosophy, religion. It was a really good conversation. I gained a lot of perspective. It was good in short. I'm really proud to say that I am half Chinese. It's such an amazingly rich culture.

Today, we're in Suzhou - the city of gardens. I visited a garden this morning. It was alright. You can visit the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Garden in Chinatown for a similar experience. it's about the same. So I'm just taking it slow today b/c I'm pretty pooped. Tomorrow, we leave for Shanghai.

That's it for now. I think I need a nap.... Zzzzzzz.............

A bit under the weather...

Hey folks,
I know that I promised pictures. I came to the internet cafe prepared w/ the CD-rom and all but then none of the computers have CD drives. It's mainly a gamer's internet cafe.... Alas, you'll have to wait. I'm currently in Xi'an right now. I'm feeling a bit under the weather. My body has finally said "enough" after 2.5 weeks of traveling. I got the sniffles, coughs... and I have to somehow get rested up on tonight's overnight train to Beijing. I am SO excited about going to Beijing.

From Chengdu we caught the overnight train to Xi'an two nights ago. It was a good overnight train ride except for the occasional cockroach running up and down the walls.... ewwwwwww......

We arrived in Xi'an to see a nice grey sky again. I keep asking why the sky is grey here. I can't remember the last time I saw blue sky... It's weird b/c the sun is a nice red colour and you can look at it b/c it's hidden behind thick haze. Welcome to China..... and apparently, there's not even major industrial plants around this city. So w/ the haze, it sort of makes it pointless to climb any sort of pagoda, or tower to look out at the city, because you can barely see out in front of you.

When we arrived in Xi'an, I took off on my own for a bit. The thing about being on a tour is that there's always people to hang out with and help you take pictures, but it gets tiring after awhile. Those of you who have travelled with me know that I like to get my personal space. And if I don't - I can get cranky. It's doubly worse today b/c I feel sick and I want people to just leave me alone. Anyway, I wandered to the Muslim Quarter yesterday of Xi'an. It was really interesting. B/c I'm so used to seeing a middle eastern face or arabic face when I see the head coverings, etc. (sorry, I don't know the technical term) - but here are all these Chinese people w/ head coverings. I also visited the Great Mosque of Xi'an, which was sort of weird. I mean, I'm walking through a Chinese garden, and when I get to the mosque - it's a big building built in traditional Chinese architecture. But lo and behold, there's arabic writing on the wall and I can see all the mats in the great hall where people pray regularly. It was just a neat experience.

Last night, we went to a Dumpling Banquet which frankly was really really tacky. I mean, it's cool to eat dumplings in the shape of the animal that you're eating. I mean, the duck really did look like duck. And the fish looked like fish. It was wrapped to look like abalone, walnuts, flowers, pumpkins, pigs, etc. Very creative except that it was one of those package dinners with all the big bus coaches outside w/ all the white tourists... You know you're in a tourist trap when you look around and there are no locals. The Tang Dynasty concert afterwards was very cool though. Again, I promise to post pictures as soon as I can.

The highlight today though - TERRACOTA WARRIORS!

Emperor Qin who lived over 2200 years ago, who was known for uniting the seven different states of China at that time, had a bit of a complex to say the least. He was forty when he started building his mausoleum. He wanted to take EVERYTHING into the Netherlands... I mean, netherworld after he died, and so he built himself a replica of everything that he owned, including his army. They've only uncovered 7,000 warriors so far, but they think there are probably 100,000 pieces - cavalary, chariots, infantry, etc. They also think that Emperor Qin built an underground palace as well. Nobody knew that this even existed b/c everyone working on the project was buried along w/ the mausoleum. They only discovered this area in 1976 when a couple of farmers were digging a well. Pretty amazing stuff. It blows my mind. The detail on them is amazing. Each face is different and they're all individuall painted. APparently you can even figure out the age of the horses by looking at the way their teeth were carved.

So that's my update from Xi'an. Next stop: Beijing!

A few other observations -

1) People cover their mouth to pick their teeth here with toothpicks, but they don't cover their nose when they pick that.
2) The spitting and smoking isn't as bad as I thought it would be.
3) People don't ever sit on the ground (who can blame them when everyone's spitting) - so the official Chinese position is squatting, which also makes sense b/c there's squat toilets everywhere.
4) There's a strange fascination with the Happy Birthday song here. The little spinning top toys that they sell on the train, play that song. The street cleaning car played that song as it went by. KFC was blaring it on the speakers as we walked by... I don't really understand....

Personal reflections -

I can't believe it hasn't even been 3 weeks since leaving home. It feels like so much longer than that. I'm not homesick yet. I'm really enjoying China. I have a huge advantage in that I do speak the language, poorly, but still, I'm able to communicate (and bargain). And I don't mind eating Chinese food everyday. Although, I am craving a big ole burger from Red Robin and bottomless steak fries.... mmmmm..... savour with me for a moment... fries.......

*pause*

The other big thing is the absence of American culture on my daily life. I barely catch the headlines. Most hotels don't have the one National channel that is in English. Besides, who wants to watch documentaries on dynasties and Mozart anyway... Apparently, you can't access BBC from the internet in China. But the main headlines are things happening in Asia, as opposed to America. No celebrity gossip, no Bush this or that, no Hollywood - I hear more Chinese music and karaoke. To be honest, it's sort of nice break. No offense to America. That's not what I mean. But it's like - wow - there's billions of people out in the rest of the world who live with a perspective that is not entirely influenced by American media. THey have a different outlook on life and that informs their way of living, politics, etc.

Talking to our tour guide about Chinese politics - just a bit - it's been interesting getting his perspective. I can sort of appreciate where he's coming from. It makes sense. It'd make more sense if I grew up in this culture. And I don't think it's very black and white. Not too many things are, are they?

I'm still getting my dose of home though by listening to music on my MP3 players and it's been great listening to downloaded sermons - (Props to Mars Hill church and Rob Bell). The hour long sermons certainly help on the long bus rides. THat's the other thing - there isn't much of a "Christian" outlet for me. No one to really talk to about things. No church or bible study, etc. So I have my own little CHurch w/ my MP3 player. It's interesting being in a culture again where Christianity is not just a given and in the majority.

Alright, that's it for now. I gotta go take a shower before our overnight train ride tonight...

p.s. for those of you who are curious, NO, I didn't get drunk on my birthday. ;)

China's National Treasure

So I last left you in a place called the White Emperor City - a brand new city created for displaced people as a result of the Three Gorges Dam project. I did a very dumb thing shortly after that. I was trying to see how much of my memory disk had been used and I accidentally ended up reformatting my disk - effectively erasing nearly 200 pictures. AAAAAHHHH!!! Thankfully, the beauty of being on a tour is that there are 14 other people with nearly the exact same pictures so I've managed to recuperate most of my pics since then. I will try posting my pictures in the next city. I've already packed away my CD-rom b/c we are leaving for our 3rd overnight train tonight. Boooo......

We arrived in Chongqing - which is the most important city in Western China. It is a huge city with nearly 9 million people. It's pretty smoggy. Most of the cities in the Sichuan basin are always clouded over b/c the basin area is surrounded by mountains and the clouds don't really move. It doesn't help that there are TONS of manufacturing plants in the area as well which add lots of smog. It looked like freakin' LA as we drove in on the bridge. Interesting enough, an aerial shot of Chongqing looks a lot like Manhatten Island, b/c it's on a peninsula with two rivers beside it.

Chongqing is an important city history wise. It was the site of the capital of China during Japanese occupation. I visited Chiang Kai Shek's former house, which has been turned into a lovely gift shop now with lots of antiques for sale. The Central Business District is pretty impressive - a pedestrian area completely closed off w/ tons of shops. Who shops at all these stores - I asked the tour guide? Burberry... Max Mara... Anything and everything. You wouldn't even imagine that you were in China. Appaerntly, there's a lot of rich people in China. Even if 10% of the population is rich - that's a potential market of 140 million people.

We headed up to Chengdu 2 days ago. I will talk more about the sights I visited once I post the pictures. The highlight of today though was visiting China's National Treasure - PANDAS!!!!!!!!!!! I splurged and spent 400 Yuan (approx 60 CND) to get a picture upclose with one of the pandas. It was so worth it! I loved it! The pandas are pretty amazing. It was interesting learning a lot about them. They eat A LOT of bamboo, and apparently they aren't very good at reproducing, so thanks to researchers and invitro fertilization, the panda population in teh world currently sits at about 1000. Most of them are located in China, particularly in the Sichuan province. We also saw the Panda bear that will be the mascot for the 2008 Beijing olympics. He was a bit grumpy today so he stayed in his tree even when the trainer poked and prodded him with a bamboo stick.

Last night, we also had an awesome night out on the town. We went to a little street that has been renovated to look like an old Chinese street. Complete with a Starbucks coffee of course. Imagine this - a Chinese version of Gastown for those of you living in Vancouver. It was pretty swank and there was a woman playing a Chinese mandolin (or some equivalent) there while we had dinner. And then afterwards, we went inside the bar to have a few drinks. Then we headed to a disco for some dancing and to celebrate my 24th birthday at midnight. It was rockin'. They played Top 40's, and even a Bhangra music sounding mix, and then even some Tarkhan... are we even in China anymore? Every once in awhile, I find myself in a place where i wonder if I'm even in China. You can go from one extreme to the other very quickly. ONe minute, you're driving past rice paddies and farmers, and the next minute - you're surrounded by skyscrapers and name brand stores.

Seriously - China is really something. It's not Communist by any stretch of the imagination. It's pretty much capitalist through and through. I could never imagine sitting in a bar listening to "Western music" and drinking German beer, with lots of locals around. Of course they stared at us but whatever, we had a good time. That was probably the rowdiest birthday I've ever had.

Anyway, I gotta get going, I think the group got me a cake - so I better show up for my own surprise party. ;)

I can't wait to post some pictures.

I LOVE CHINA!

Fresh Off Boat (FOB)

Hey folks,
So I'm sitting in a busy internet cafe in a brand new city here along the Yangtze river. The internet cafe is jammed w/ people from the rest of the tour group and Chinese teens playing internet games. I reckon' there isn't a whole lot to do around here, so they play computer war games all day long.

To pick up where I left off... I think I left you guys in Yangshuo.

Yangshuo is a backpacker's paradise. Absolutely amazing. I hope you enjoyed the pics. Later that morning, I was having brekkie w/ some of the tour group members and a little boy wandered into the restaurant. It's not uncommon for hawkers to wander into restaurants selling you stuff while you eat. He spoke perfect English though and sat with us for quite awhile talking to us. Joe (the 8 yrs old) and I ended up playing a game of Chinese chess. I WON! Hahaha... victory... even though he tried cheating a few times.

That night we hopped on our 2nd overnight train to Wuhan, which was pretty brutal. It was followed up by another 5 hours bus ride to Yichang. I was pretty exhausted and drifting in and out of consciousness b/c I hadn't slept well on the train. I woke up to someone slurping their noodles really loudly and Chinese music playing over the speakers early in the morning.

China is increasingly becoming layered with Super Highways and Expressways, which ironically enough are privatized and you pay a toll each time. They were pretty much empty which made for an efficient ride to Yichang.

Yichang is a relatively small city by China standards - only 4 million people. There were no tourist attractions to speak of and very few foreigners so we sort of stood out when we walked around. Yichang is a city located on the Yangtze river (the 3rd longest river in the world and the most important river in China). Lots of people would stare at us as we walked by but at least there weren't many hawkers.

A group of us wandered in the area around the railway station and stumbled across an old amusement park which was pretty much empty. And it was a Saturday too. It was pretty much abandoned except for a few vendors running the ride, which didn't look particularly safe. What possessed us to ride the ferris wheel.... I'm not quite sure but we did get some nice views of the overall city. We left one person behind to go run for help in case the ferris wheel broke down or we got stuck. I think we were the only customers in the park. One old fighter jet had been transformed into a little obstacle course / trampoline for kids. So yeah, we survived the ferris wheel...

Afterwards we took a bus to the Three Gorges Dam project - also called the Second Great Wall of China. In short, it is a massive undertaking. It was started in 1994 to help produce hydroelectricity (the equivalent of 18 nuclear power reactors), help w/ transportation (a number of ship locks are built to transport big barges right into western china), and to help control flooding. It's suppose to cost $24 billion USD, but I think it'll probably be more. And it involves the displacement of 15-20 million people as the area surrounding the river is flooded.

In fact, the water has risen dramatically over the last few years. Now to approximately 135m deep, and will continue to rise to 175m by 2008 when the project is suppose to be completed. Hence the "new city" that I"m currently visiting. It's amazing how the Chinese government has undertaken this massive project. Literally constructing brand new cities along the Yangtze. Super highways and bridges criss-cross the Yangtze. It's pretty insane and bold.

After visiting the Three Gorges dam (and getting an interesting commentary on Taiwan from the tour guide....), we boarded our Yangtze river cruise for 2 nights. It actually wasn't as "rustic" as I had imagined it to be. It was quite good. Today we got off the boat to visit some villages and areas that will be submerged in the next 2 years. I guess you could call me a FOB. ;) It's so weird cruising on a boat, - almost at the top of all these mountains. It just boggles my mind what mankind is capable of doing. And then later today, I sat on the front deck of the boat, and just read, and listened to my MP3 player while the world drifted by. I personally think that some of the countryside looks something like a scene out of Tuscany - little houses and trees, and rice fields dot the countryside. It was very picturesque.

I'll try to post some pictures sometime. It's not too often that I stumble across an "english" computer. I have difficulty navigating through the various screens in Chinese.

China as a country really blows my mind. It is so overwhelming in size. The people here work incredibly hard and seem to keep their head down and just keep pressing on. A bit different from the "comfort" that I'm used to in Canada. Anyway, that's it for now. Take care. Tomorrow we head for Chongqing in Sichuan province. I'm looking forward to some authentic Sichuan (Szechuan) food. :D

More stories in Yangshuo

Description:
1) The train car - I actually had my best sleep on that overnight train ride
2) From the top of Moon Hill - Moon Hill is a joke compared to the Grouse Grind
3) There seems to be endless drinking with tour groups. here are a few fellow backpackers drinking cheap local beer. Only 10Yuan for those big bottles (630 mL) - which is equivalent to $1.50 CND
4) "West Street" in Yangshuo. It's totally geared towards foreigners and tourists. It borders on tacky...
5) We rode one of those boats down the Li River at sunset. The region is known for its limestone formations. Absolutely gorgeous.

Highlights from the last few days -

1) Bike riding in the region. Some of you know that I can't ride a bike. Thank you Darrell for trying to reteach me 2 years ago before Europe. Fortunately, they did have handbrakes here but I still didn't feel comfortable enough riding through the streets of Yangshuo and countryside on my own - so I rode a tandem bike w/ the tour guide. Pretty sweet. We got to see little villages along the way. Lots of dogs and chickens running around.
2) Bamboo rafting down a river. A nice leisure ride down the river checking out the limestone formations. Sort of like "punting" in England, although I've never been.
3) Climbing Moon Hill for fabulous views at the top. Veronica, I hear you on the comment... but what can I say...? I enjoy interacting w/ the locals. It just happens that everytime I interact w/ them - they tell me their life story, and it just sounds so hard... I like to think that I'm paying for a lesson in Mandarin.

Yesterday, we were warned that there would be vendors who would follow us on the hike up Moon Hill. They would offer to sell us postcards and drinks and fan us from time to time - in the hopes that we would eventually buy something from them. Anyway, I was no exception. I had a woman follow me but I took the opportunity to talk to her and hear her story. How much of it was true, I don't know. But it was good. I really enjoyed it. I even offered to fan her at one point. ;) I eventually bought an overpriced Coke from her at the Peak and then she fanned me all the way down. So I guess it was worth it. We had a nice chat, lots of laughs.

We have another overnight train tonight...

Description:
1) A busy intersection in Causeway Bay - there's a lot of people in Hong Kong
2) A remote beach on the island of Cheung Chau - a perfect getaway from the craziness of HK
3) A view of HK from the Peak
4) The mascots of the Beijing 2008 Olympics - their names are Bei Bei, Jing Jing, Huan Huan, Ying Ying, Ni Ni - if you put all those words together - you get Beijing Huanying Ni - which means Beijing, welcomes you
5) Hanging out w/ Grace and Kerby and having "Chinese" desserts. It was really good!
6) A view of the HK Island side from the "Avenue of the Stars" in TST
7) A view of HK from the Peak with Cheryl who I hung out w/ for four days in a row. We didn't kill each other and even had fun.

Two ducks for $5

So I'm now in Yangshuo - a small town just outside of Guilin in the Guanxi province in China. We left Hong Kong early on Monday morning and took the hydrofoil up to Guangzhou.

Guangzhou is the 3rd largest city in China after Beijing and Shanghai. A tremendous amount of commerce and business occurs in this city. We just stopped in for lunch in this city before taking the overnight train to Guilin.

I had my first encounter with a bathroom in China... OMIGOSH....

So it's mid-Autumn festival week in China so many Chinese people are on holidays. The trains are especially busy at this time. The Guangzhou station was no exception. I am in full support of China's one child policy if the craziness and the sheer amount of people at the station is any indication of what China is like and the amazing pressures it must exert on resources: water, food, energy. It is INSANE! Personal space? what personal space?

At first I was being polite but now I've learned to push and move your way through lines esp. when getting on trains. It's not being impolite - it's just about survival.

But yeah = back to the washroom. So I've been warned what the washrooms are like - but nothing prepared me for this. The urinals were overflowing, men were standing 2-3 feet back from the urinals, pretty much peeing on the floor. It was a small lake in there. And I caught a quick glimpse at the No. 2 stalls if you know what I mean... Again, because of the sheer number of people - it was literally a mound of sh*t. The squat hole was overflowing... Did I mention that all the pipes for the sinks were sitting on top of the sinks? Thank God for hand sanitizer and towelettes....

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that story.

The train was interesting. Six little beds - three on top of each other in an open compartment. Oddly enough, I had my best sleep on the overnight train last night of all the nights that I've been overseas. I think just b/c I'm so tired. But yeah, we just chatted late into the night, getting to know the group (who are VERY awesome), and the lights go out at 10pm.

We arrived in Guilin at 6:30am and then transferred by bus to Yangshuo, which is a beautiful town. So beautiful. It reminds me of a Chinese version of the English city of Chester. The tourist section in particular is immaculate. Cobble stone roads, the slanted roofs, lanterns hanging everywhere. And hawkers everywhere! As you walk by - they call out to you - "Hello, Tshirt" "Hello banana" Not because they think you're a banana or t-shirt" but because they're selling things to you.

It really is dirt cheap. I think you can get any imitation name brand you want here. It's amazing once you get to places like China - you start getting really cheap and scrooge like. People have told me this before but I didn't really believe them. But I find myself bargaining to save even 1 Yuan, which is the equivalent of like 10-15cents.

My mandarin is actually coming along quite nicely so far. I managed to get into short conversations w/ people here. It's sort of ironic. The woman selling copies of Mao's book hasn't even read it. So this little poor girl comes up to me selling these little wooden ducks.

I look beyond her and see an old woman did buck teeth in a straw hat. I start to talk to her and ask if the little girl is her daughter. She says that it's her granddaughter. I ask her how old she is - she's 5 yrs old. The granddaughter starts pleading w/ me to buy the ducks. But I refuse. "But it's to help her to go to school, to get books..." My heart is melting of course but I dunno - I say no. No thanks. I don't need a pair of little wooden ducks.

I walk away and I've only gone a few metres when the little girl comes chasing after me. I've caught up now w/ the rest of my friends from the group but she keeps begging me to buy these litlte ducks. Pulling on my shirt. I must've said "Bu yao" a million times which means I don't want it.

I'm now a reluctant owner of a pair of ducks, which I paid 5 yuan for - not even $1 CND. It didn't exactly break my wallet. The grandmother looked quite happy. I'm happy for them.

Sigh...

Anyway, I better go now. We're going on a cruise of the Li River shortly. From the pictures - it looks amazing...

I will try to get some pictures posted next time. Promise.

Thanks to everyone for your comments. It's great reading them and hearing from you. I think of you guys from time to time. Take care ! :D