Post coming! I'm finishing it and updating the links to the pictures that aren't working. I posted the video in the Phuket section for those of you interested. More very soon!
Mike
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Friday, June 15, 2007
June 14, Phuket: Canoeing Day-Trip
We woke up early this morning, around 7:15, and grabbed a quick breakfast in the hotel. A small van, already packed with about 4 people, picked us up around 8:10, then drove into Patong. It picked up two more people before the tour guide, who introduced himself as “T,” told us to sit back for the 1.5 hour drive north to the bay from which the canoes would be dispatched.
What followed was one of the most beautiful days involving nature that I’ve ever been involved in. We boarded a rickety ship about 6-8 feet longer than a pontune boat, packed with bottled water and a few more tour employees (mostly locals) and headed out.
There’s really no excuse for this next statement – we didn’t bring a single camera. We should have, but were worried about water. One of the other groups of people touring with us – a German couple – are e-mailing pictures soon, and I will post ASAP.
Basically, however, this day-long excursion worked in the following manner:
- Large boat drives near small island
- In groups of one’s and two’s, board air-filled rubber canoe along with “paddler” (one of the locals)
- Canoe takes you near small island, past vegetation, near cave
- Double-take as you realize that your canoe is, in fact, going in that cave, the entrance to which is no more than one head’s length above your canoe high.
- Paddler says “duck” and hands you a flashlight.
- You duck, and hold your breath.
Entering the caves was not for the clostrophobic. But what often happened was that after a narrow passage, the cave would give way to what the locals called a “hong,” or a large, open lake fed only by the cave’s entrance. Sometimes the stone and vegetation would extend up to 1,000 feet or more into the air, leaving one with the impression that they were on a lake.
The guides timed the trip carefully; if the tide came in, we would have been trapped. But the local animal population was incredible; we saw iguanas, odd lizards, bats, small crabs that scaled vertical walls, strange birds, and more. (It was everything our friend Gian would have loved)
We stopped at several places, including the aptly-named “James Bond Island,” where a scene from The Man With The Golden Gun was filmed. Along the way, we were fed lunch, given wet towels, and swam in the water. All this for 1,800 bhat – about 50 bucks.
We roasted. I fell asleep on top of the ship between destinations, and despite heavy sunscreen, my stomach is white and my back could stop traffic – just not in Thailand!
I’m writing this post while it’s still fresh in our minds – we’re going to grab a dinner here at the hotel and head back to Patong for the night – hope all is well to our worldwide group of readers. Thanks for reading!
Mike, Alex, and Chris
What followed was one of the most beautiful days involving nature that I’ve ever been involved in. We boarded a rickety ship about 6-8 feet longer than a pontune boat, packed with bottled water and a few more tour employees (mostly locals) and headed out.
There’s really no excuse for this next statement – we didn’t bring a single camera. We should have, but were worried about water. One of the other groups of people touring with us – a German couple – are e-mailing pictures soon, and I will post ASAP.
Basically, however, this day-long excursion worked in the following manner:
- Large boat drives near small island
- In groups of one’s and two’s, board air-filled rubber canoe along with “paddler” (one of the locals)
- Canoe takes you near small island, past vegetation, near cave
- Double-take as you realize that your canoe is, in fact, going in that cave, the entrance to which is no more than one head’s length above your canoe high.
- Paddler says “duck” and hands you a flashlight.
- You duck, and hold your breath.
Entering the caves was not for the clostrophobic. But what often happened was that after a narrow passage, the cave would give way to what the locals called a “hong,” or a large, open lake fed only by the cave’s entrance. Sometimes the stone and vegetation would extend up to 1,000 feet or more into the air, leaving one with the impression that they were on a lake.
The guides timed the trip carefully; if the tide came in, we would have been trapped. But the local animal population was incredible; we saw iguanas, odd lizards, bats, small crabs that scaled vertical walls, strange birds, and more. (It was everything our friend Gian would have loved)
We stopped at several places, including the aptly-named “James Bond Island,” where a scene from The Man With The Golden Gun was filmed. Along the way, we were fed lunch, given wet towels, and swam in the water. All this for 1,800 bhat – about 50 bucks.
We roasted. I fell asleep on top of the ship between destinations, and despite heavy sunscreen, my stomach is white and my back could stop traffic – just not in Thailand!
I’m writing this post while it’s still fresh in our minds – we’re going to grab a dinner here at the hotel and head back to Patong for the night – hope all is well to our worldwide group of readers. Thanks for reading!
Mike, Alex, and Chris
June 13, Phuket: Mom and Dad, Sorry in Advance (Signed, Alex and Mike)
With a decent night’s sleep behind us, we were feeling a little adventurous. Well, sort of. This requires explaining. There’s a lot to do on Phuket – nature tours, fishing charters, boat rides, etc., and we’ve signed up for some of that – like a canoe trip through some caves on the 14th. But the common way of getting around here – other than a tuk-tuk, which is like a small taxi – is on a moto. And Alex and I decided to bite the bullet and rent a moto or two and check out the rest of Phuket Island that’s not Karon Beach. Chris wisely chose to spend the day catching up on a book beachside and poolside.
We had several obstacles to successfully obeying traffic laws:
1. Driving here occurs on the LEFT side of the road.
2. Many road signs are completely in Thai, which is entirely unreadable.
3. The prevailing traffic pattern makes Chinese drivers look sane – passing into blind hairpin turns on a tree-covered hill with nothing but the ocean below is the norm, along with there-are-only-two-lanes-but-the-traffic-is-four-cars-wide driving.
4. We had driven a moto a collective three, maybe four times.
5. Spontaneous rainforest-like downpours rendering roads wet and dangerous.
6. And, perhaps a catch-all category, my continuous propensity to find the absolute worst-case scenario involving law enforcement/other authority figures.
However, despite what we may call overwhelming odds, we made it. And how. There was only one breakdown, and it was my bike’s inability to exceed 50 km/h. (We remedied that problem pretty quickly.) Anyway, I don’t have a map of Phuket handy, but if you do a quick search on Google, you can see that Karon Beach is on the western side of the island. We drove south, to the southern-most point, and then rounded the corner to Rawai beach, which offered incredible lookouts. We stopped for lunch in Rawai; here’s a couple of pictures:
Tough living, as you can see. Anyway, we continued along the eastern side of the island and reached a lookout near Cape Panwa, which was almost exactly across the island from Karon (on the opposite side), and climbed a “lookout tower.”
This place offered absolutely stunning views. Hopefully this works – I took a video there, and I’m going to try and post it here:
We got back from our bike adventures (returned the bikes unharmed, parents), and re-joined Chris on the beach. It was raining around sunset time, which made it tough to take photos, but we took in the sunset through the rain and then had a couple of cocktails at the swim-up bar before dinner. One round was made out of a coconut, and the other out of a pineapple. Pretty impressive stuff.
We showered, and then climbed into a tuk-tuk and took the short (3-5 kilmeters) trip to Patong, which is the main beach town of Phuket. What followed was absolute mayhem. Basically, on bar-filled streets, Westerners and Thais alike pack the streets like this:
Each bar has its own phalanx of Thai women whose job, rather, duty, it is to get you to fill empty seats at these places. In some cases, they can be quite forceful. Murph was tag-teamed by about three Thai girls in the picture below:
I won’t say too much more, other than to add that there is definitely a seedy side of this town that we thankfully haven’t explored. It’s not uncommon to see 50-something Western men and young Thai girls walking around hand-in-hand. And some of the bars are definitely fronts. But we stayed in the well-lit areas, enjoyed the night in Patong, met some new people, and made it back around 12:30 or so. We’ve got a canoe trip tomorrow to some of the caves found on the smaller islands off the coasts to the north of the island – so we’ll get more up here soon.
Thanks for reading!
Mike
We had several obstacles to successfully obeying traffic laws:
1. Driving here occurs on the LEFT side of the road.
2. Many road signs are completely in Thai, which is entirely unreadable.
3. The prevailing traffic pattern makes Chinese drivers look sane – passing into blind hairpin turns on a tree-covered hill with nothing but the ocean below is the norm, along with there-are-only-two-lanes-but-the-traffic-is-four-cars-wide driving.
4. We had driven a moto a collective three, maybe four times.
5. Spontaneous rainforest-like downpours rendering roads wet and dangerous.
6. And, perhaps a catch-all category, my continuous propensity to find the absolute worst-case scenario involving law enforcement/other authority figures.
However, despite what we may call overwhelming odds, we made it. And how. There was only one breakdown, and it was my bike’s inability to exceed 50 km/h. (We remedied that problem pretty quickly.) Anyway, I don’t have a map of Phuket handy, but if you do a quick search on Google, you can see that Karon Beach is on the western side of the island. We drove south, to the southern-most point, and then rounded the corner to Rawai beach, which offered incredible lookouts. We stopped for lunch in Rawai; here’s a couple of pictures:
Tough living, as you can see. Anyway, we continued along the eastern side of the island and reached a lookout near Cape Panwa, which was almost exactly across the island from Karon (on the opposite side), and climbed a “lookout tower.”
This place offered absolutely stunning views. Hopefully this works – I took a video there, and I’m going to try and post it here:
We got back from our bike adventures (returned the bikes unharmed, parents), and re-joined Chris on the beach. It was raining around sunset time, which made it tough to take photos, but we took in the sunset through the rain and then had a couple of cocktails at the swim-up bar before dinner. One round was made out of a coconut, and the other out of a pineapple. Pretty impressive stuff.
We showered, and then climbed into a tuk-tuk and took the short (3-5 kilmeters) trip to Patong, which is the main beach town of Phuket. What followed was absolute mayhem. Basically, on bar-filled streets, Westerners and Thais alike pack the streets like this:
Each bar has its own phalanx of Thai women whose job, rather, duty, it is to get you to fill empty seats at these places. In some cases, they can be quite forceful. Murph was tag-teamed by about three Thai girls in the picture below:
I won’t say too much more, other than to add that there is definitely a seedy side of this town that we thankfully haven’t explored. It’s not uncommon to see 50-something Western men and young Thai girls walking around hand-in-hand. And some of the bars are definitely fronts. But we stayed in the well-lit areas, enjoyed the night in Patong, met some new people, and made it back around 12:30 or so. We’ve got a canoe trip tomorrow to some of the caves found on the smaller islands off the coasts to the north of the island – so we’ll get more up here soon.
Thanks for reading!
Mike
Thursday, June 14, 2007
June 12, Phuket: Paradise Also Starts With a P
We got into the area we’re staying in Phuket, Karon Beach, late on the evening of the 12th. Our, um, resort, is absolutely incredible. We’re in a small room right on the beach, separated only by a set of three swimming pools with swim-up bar and a tiki-bar style restaurant. Because it was so late, we just grabbed a late dinner and called it a night pretty early – but not before walking the beach a little bit and dipping our feet in the Indian Ocean. Not only was this the first time I’ve seen it, but I was really surprised at its warmth; easily the warmest ocean water I’ve felt. It wasn’t bathwater-y like Devil’s Lake after a heat wave, but just very warm. It must have to do with being a little less than 7 degrees north of the equator! It’s very humid, but beautiful as anything I’ve ever seen. We’ll get some pictures up tomorrow after a day in the sun. Anyway, here’s a picture or two from dinner last night:
More soon!
Mike
More soon!
Mike
Monday, June 11, 2007
June 10-11, Hong Kong: Exploring an Asian Metropolis
We did our best to see Hong Kong in our short time here. Our first full day was spent seeing some of the more touristy sites. Causeway Bay, for example, where Alex and Chris picked up a sportcoat each, and some shoes to boot, and the busy Mong Kok, known for its discount cell-phone markets, where Alex and I perused the selection. Here’s Alex in the busy electronic sdistrict:
By far, however, the biggest negative of Hong Kong has been the heat – a stifling, humid temperature that marks this season in this tropical area. It’s rained pretty consistently and kept us from taking in the best views of the city. For example, we took a tram up to Victoria’s Peak, an area that overlooks the city Skyline. But it was too foggy at the top to see anything!
We have, however, made the most of things. The food has been nothing short of outstanding; we splurged at the Shangri-La hotel one night for a dinner buffet similar to our brunch in Shanghai, and had a great dim-sum lunch at a place recommended by the New York Times. Here’s Chris, hard at work on a dim-sum platter:
This city’s skyline is by far the most impressive of any I’ve ever seen, especially at night. Its location, on the water and built into a mountain, along with its shape (the city is very long horizontally as you look at it, but barely a mile deep) means that the long skyline is bolstered by buildings rising up behind buildings, in a condensed, well-lit hodgepodge of colored lights and modern designs.
We also did the touristy things, taking the Star Ferry across the harbor for a daytime view from a boat of the center of Hong Kong. Here's one photo:
But some of the things that were the most enjoyable, or funny, or downright ridiculous don't really fit into the narrative. For example, we had a lot of fun talking about this haircut during our dim-sum lunch:
I'm sorry, any way you cut it, that is just ridiculous. I believe it was Alex who said that we could remove that cut from the girl and put it on any cross-country trucker and it would be more appropriate. (I added: or anywhere in Russia)
We spent a couple of great nights out in various bar districts, and met some terrific people - from a couple of nice Japanese 20-somethings from Okinowa, to Avery and her friends at Insomnia. Like New York, HK is a city that seems to never shut down as long as you're in the right area - and from our 5 AM nights to our 6 AM mornings, we certainly we able to view this firsthand.
We're in the airport here - it's now the morning of the 12th - and our flight to Bangkok is boarding now. Hong Kong international is by far the nicest airport I've ever flown through; clean, free wireless, good restaurants, and just well planned. We're getting on a double-decker plane (the first Alex and I have ever flown on) and headed through Bangkok to Phuket. More from our next country!
Mike
By far, however, the biggest negative of Hong Kong has been the heat – a stifling, humid temperature that marks this season in this tropical area. It’s rained pretty consistently and kept us from taking in the best views of the city. For example, we took a tram up to Victoria’s Peak, an area that overlooks the city Skyline. But it was too foggy at the top to see anything!
We have, however, made the most of things. The food has been nothing short of outstanding; we splurged at the Shangri-La hotel one night for a dinner buffet similar to our brunch in Shanghai, and had a great dim-sum lunch at a place recommended by the New York Times. Here’s Chris, hard at work on a dim-sum platter:
This city’s skyline is by far the most impressive of any I’ve ever seen, especially at night. Its location, on the water and built into a mountain, along with its shape (the city is very long horizontally as you look at it, but barely a mile deep) means that the long skyline is bolstered by buildings rising up behind buildings, in a condensed, well-lit hodgepodge of colored lights and modern designs.
We also did the touristy things, taking the Star Ferry across the harbor for a daytime view from a boat of the center of Hong Kong. Here's one photo:
But some of the things that were the most enjoyable, or funny, or downright ridiculous don't really fit into the narrative. For example, we had a lot of fun talking about this haircut during our dim-sum lunch:
I'm sorry, any way you cut it, that is just ridiculous. I believe it was Alex who said that we could remove that cut from the girl and put it on any cross-country trucker and it would be more appropriate. (I added: or anywhere in Russia)
We spent a couple of great nights out in various bar districts, and met some terrific people - from a couple of nice Japanese 20-somethings from Okinowa, to Avery and her friends at Insomnia. Like New York, HK is a city that seems to never shut down as long as you're in the right area - and from our 5 AM nights to our 6 AM mornings, we certainly we able to view this firsthand.
We're in the airport here - it's now the morning of the 12th - and our flight to Bangkok is boarding now. Hong Kong international is by far the nicest airport I've ever flown through; clean, free wireless, good restaurants, and just well planned. We're getting on a double-decker plane (the first Alex and I have ever flown on) and headed through Bangkok to Phuket. More from our next country!
Mike
June 8-9, Lijiang and Lijiang -> Hong Kong: Operation Spend Yuan
For the next two posts, I’m going to condense them into two-day periods each, as this post will cover the end of Lijiang and getting into Hong Kong, and the next post will cover Hong Kong more broadly, as I think I’ll be able to have a better understanding of the important stuff after having spent two full days in the city. Anyway, onto the story:
With a little more than one day left in Lijiang, we headed out into the old town with a purpose: unload our remaining Chinese currency before getting to Hong Kong. In Japan, we had a similar day, and called it “operation spend yen.” Catchy, I know. While “operation spend yuan” does not have the same caché, we were much more successful.
We went through the streets of the old town between spurts of rain – it was the only time we’ve seen rain in Lijiang – and perused tapestries, wood carvings, paintings, and more. I can’t go into too much detail, because internet here at the posting site is spotty, but we filled our suitcases to the brim and packed for our trip to Hong Kong.
But before the trip, we had one last night out in this mountain town. The local residents are known to fill both floors of the restaurants and bars in Lijiang’s main drag and then from the windows, taunt the other side – at a group of girls, or an empty bar, or whatever. Each cheer is following by the phrase that is pronounced phonetically like this: yah-so, yah-so, yah-yah-so, which is basically the equivalent of “come on!” (it actually means “add oil, add oil, add add oil”).
Here’s a couple of pictures from our night out:
We got up early in the morning, and spent the day traveling almost in its entirety – a connecting flight in Kunming from Lijiang got us into Shenzhen, which is located a short distance from Hong Kong’s limits. Getting into HK, however, was quite an ordeal. With our arms filled of bags and suitcases, we had to transfer busses three times – once from the airport to the Chinese border, once from the Chinese border to the HK border, and finally once from HK into downtown Hong Kong city. At each point, there were lines, lines, and more lines. It was quite an ordeal to say the least.
In any case, we got into the hotel, grabbed a bite, and headed out for a bit. I was exhausted from the travel and called it a night early; Chris and Alex spent a little more time out in the area, called Lan Kwai Fung, famous for its ex-pat bars and touristy attractions, then crashed pretty early as well. More soon!
Mike
With a little more than one day left in Lijiang, we headed out into the old town with a purpose: unload our remaining Chinese currency before getting to Hong Kong. In Japan, we had a similar day, and called it “operation spend yen.” Catchy, I know. While “operation spend yuan” does not have the same caché, we were much more successful.
We went through the streets of the old town between spurts of rain – it was the only time we’ve seen rain in Lijiang – and perused tapestries, wood carvings, paintings, and more. I can’t go into too much detail, because internet here at the posting site is spotty, but we filled our suitcases to the brim and packed for our trip to Hong Kong.
But before the trip, we had one last night out in this mountain town. The local residents are known to fill both floors of the restaurants and bars in Lijiang’s main drag and then from the windows, taunt the other side – at a group of girls, or an empty bar, or whatever. Each cheer is following by the phrase that is pronounced phonetically like this: yah-so, yah-so, yah-yah-so, which is basically the equivalent of “come on!” (it actually means “add oil, add oil, add add oil”).
Here’s a couple of pictures from our night out:
We got up early in the morning, and spent the day traveling almost in its entirety – a connecting flight in Kunming from Lijiang got us into Shenzhen, which is located a short distance from Hong Kong’s limits. Getting into HK, however, was quite an ordeal. With our arms filled of bags and suitcases, we had to transfer busses three times – once from the airport to the Chinese border, once from the Chinese border to the HK border, and finally once from HK into downtown Hong Kong city. At each point, there were lines, lines, and more lines. It was quite an ordeal to say the least.
In any case, we got into the hotel, grabbed a bite, and headed out for a bit. I was exhausted from the travel and called it a night early; Chris and Alex spent a little more time out in the area, called Lan Kwai Fung, famous for its ex-pat bars and touristy attractions, then crashed pretty early as well. More soon!
Mike
Saturday, June 9, 2007
June 7, Lijiang: Playing the longest and highest course in the world
Today’s objective was to get a round of golf in at Lijiang Snow Mountain, which from the back tees measures 8,548 yards. That’s not a typo; the altitude at which the course is played (10,500 feet or so) means the ball flies a bit further in the thin air. In any case, it’s the longest course in the world, played at the highest altitude as well.
Actually getting there was a bit of a trek. The course is located near the base camp from the day before, but without a tour group and in a taxi instead, there were a few more hoops to jump through – getting passes into the area from an office in town, etc.
In any case, we finally made it up there around lunchtime and had a meal up in the clubhouse, with the mountain range and the course providing a scenic backdrop:
We rented clubs, bought some golf balls, and hit the links.
It was quite an experience, to say the least. Caddies and carts are required in Asia while golfing. They run to the ball, and quote you measurements in yards taking into the wind and green elevation, which, as one may assume, was at times severe – we were playing on the side of a mountain, after all.
The difficulty came in the fact that outside of the numbers and the occasional “right” or “left,” Alex and I had absolutely no clue what we were being told. It was a hilarious experience, however… the caddies jump on the back of the cart, which has a foot ledge, and say “okay,” and off we go. The course is cart path only, meaning that you cannot drive on the fairways, so one would drive the cart until the caddie said “okay” again, meaning something along the lines of, “alllllright buddy, go hit it again.”
The mountain air really helped distances off the tee, but made it difficult to club coming into greens. The greens were heavily sanded, and were impossible to read. The additional burden of borrowed clubs was, um, interesting. If it sounds like I’m making a bunch of excuses for how I played, you would be right. I shot 50 on the front, with a couple of horrific holes that involved, um, well, a mountain and water. 46 on the back made things a little more bearable.
We were unable to play the course at record length – it’s reserved for tournaments, so we played the next set of tees. Even there, the course played almost 7800 yards, and featured several par-4’s longer than 475 and 2 par fives bigger than 600 yards. Chris is really long off the tee – not always straight, but long, and must have had 3-4 drives approach the 360+ distance. I crushed one drive on this shot here:
I think I hit it about 320 or so, which was a nice experience – until I still had 295 into the green on a par-5 and pull-hooked a 3 iron into the water. Good times.
In any case, Alex played well considering that he doesn’t play much, especially in the latter holes, where he drained a few there’s-no-way-that’s-going-in but it did putts. Chris had a couple of eagle putts, and like me, struggled with distances coming into greens. But we all had a great time, and it really was one of the more enjoyable golfing experiences I’ve ever had. See the picture below:
More soon!
Mike
Actually getting there was a bit of a trek. The course is located near the base camp from the day before, but without a tour group and in a taxi instead, there were a few more hoops to jump through – getting passes into the area from an office in town, etc.
In any case, we finally made it up there around lunchtime and had a meal up in the clubhouse, with the mountain range and the course providing a scenic backdrop:
We rented clubs, bought some golf balls, and hit the links.
It was quite an experience, to say the least. Caddies and carts are required in Asia while golfing. They run to the ball, and quote you measurements in yards taking into the wind and green elevation, which, as one may assume, was at times severe – we were playing on the side of a mountain, after all.
The difficulty came in the fact that outside of the numbers and the occasional “right” or “left,” Alex and I had absolutely no clue what we were being told. It was a hilarious experience, however… the caddies jump on the back of the cart, which has a foot ledge, and say “okay,” and off we go. The course is cart path only, meaning that you cannot drive on the fairways, so one would drive the cart until the caddie said “okay” again, meaning something along the lines of, “alllllright buddy, go hit it again.”
The mountain air really helped distances off the tee, but made it difficult to club coming into greens. The greens were heavily sanded, and were impossible to read. The additional burden of borrowed clubs was, um, interesting. If it sounds like I’m making a bunch of excuses for how I played, you would be right. I shot 50 on the front, with a couple of horrific holes that involved, um, well, a mountain and water. 46 on the back made things a little more bearable.
We were unable to play the course at record length – it’s reserved for tournaments, so we played the next set of tees. Even there, the course played almost 7800 yards, and featured several par-4’s longer than 475 and 2 par fives bigger than 600 yards. Chris is really long off the tee – not always straight, but long, and must have had 3-4 drives approach the 360+ distance. I crushed one drive on this shot here:
I think I hit it about 320 or so, which was a nice experience – until I still had 295 into the green on a par-5 and pull-hooked a 3 iron into the water. Good times.
In any case, Alex played well considering that he doesn’t play much, especially in the latter holes, where he drained a few there’s-no-way-that’s-going-in but it did putts. Chris had a couple of eagle putts, and like me, struggled with distances coming into greens. But we all had a great time, and it really was one of the more enjoyable golfing experiences I’ve ever had. See the picture below:
More soon!
Mike
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
June 6, Lijiang: Snow Mountain and other villages
June 6 will stand out as one of the best days of our trip to Western China. Our day began early again, with an 8 AM departure to the van for the ride up to the mountain. Along the way, as with other tours, there were several stops. Instead of "factories" however, which often sold highly overpriced items, this tour had better stops - including the holiest site of the local religion of the Naxi people, who inhabit this part of the province. Below you can see their most important statue of a Buddha, with the belief that the ground on which it rests is protected from earthquakes and other natural disasters. In 1996, an earthquake hit the area (much like last week, but not an hour away, right near the site), killing 300 or so people in the village surrounding the area. But the statue was unharmed, furthering the belief. We were not allowed to take pictures, so I snuck one from a bit far away. See below.
After that stop, we made one more in an old village, much like a tour of the West would stop in an Indian village. In this small town, all of the old cultural traditions had been kept, including the hand carving of special characters into wood. Below is a picture of one of the artisans, who kept a small kitten in her lap the whole time!
We then made the trip to the base camp of Snow Mountain, which was at about 3100 meters, or 10,010 feet:
A cable car system took us to about 4000m, and it was up to us - Chris, Alex, our new friend Justin, and myself, to hike the last 2,000 feet or so to the scalable peak at 4680 meters, or about 16,000 feet. The actual mountain tops out at 5,596 meters, or 18,790 feet, but unlike the Rockies, for example, there is much more of a jagged edge to the top of these mountains, and it was not scaleable:
We returned back to the hotel around 7 PM, to a pre-arranged dinner cooked by the proprietor's wife, who has taken a liking to the three of us. (It might have something to do with spending 5 nights here, buying tours through them, etc.) But in any case, she cooked a full meal characteristic of the northeastern provinces where she and her husband hail from. I'll get the picture up as soon as I can, but we'll just say that the endless dishes of cooked sprouts and veggies, marinated pork, potato-like starches, boiled tomato and egg, cucumbers and garlic, and tasty rice put us under for quite a while:
After dinner, we walked the busy night streets of the old town until about 12, and then called it a night. After all, we are scheduled to play the world's longest golf course tomorrow - set at the highest altitude in the world as well - 8548 yards at 10,200 feet!
Please enjoy the pictures. Thanks to all for comments, e-mails, facebook messages, wall posts, and more - it's really kept me going on this end with all of the poor internet!
Mike
P.S. Despite my Pistons loyalty, I promised Chris that I would post this quote from him: "Go Cavs!"
After that stop, we made one more in an old village, much like a tour of the West would stop in an Indian village. In this small town, all of the old cultural traditions had been kept, including the hand carving of special characters into wood. Below is a picture of one of the artisans, who kept a small kitten in her lap the whole time!
We then made the trip to the base camp of Snow Mountain, which was at about 3100 meters, or 10,010 feet:
A cable car system took us to about 4000m, and it was up to us - Chris, Alex, our new friend Justin, and myself, to hike the last 2,000 feet or so to the scalable peak at 4680 meters, or about 16,000 feet. The actual mountain tops out at 5,596 meters, or 18,790 feet, but unlike the Rockies, for example, there is much more of a jagged edge to the top of these mountains, and it was not scaleable:
We returned back to the hotel around 7 PM, to a pre-arranged dinner cooked by the proprietor's wife, who has taken a liking to the three of us. (It might have something to do with spending 5 nights here, buying tours through them, etc.) But in any case, she cooked a full meal characteristic of the northeastern provinces where she and her husband hail from. I'll get the picture up as soon as I can, but we'll just say that the endless dishes of cooked sprouts and veggies, marinated pork, potato-like starches, boiled tomato and egg, cucumbers and garlic, and tasty rice put us under for quite a while:
After dinner, we walked the busy night streets of the old town until about 12, and then called it a night. After all, we are scheduled to play the world's longest golf course tomorrow - set at the highest altitude in the world as well - 8548 yards at 10,200 feet!
Please enjoy the pictures. Thanks to all for comments, e-mails, facebook messages, wall posts, and more - it's really kept me going on this end with all of the poor internet!
Mike
P.S. Despite my Pistons loyalty, I promised Chris that I would post this quote from him: "Go Cavs!"
June 5, Lijiang: Hiking the Tiger Leaping Gorge
Our day today started early with an 8 AM bus departure in the direction of the world’s largest valley, called Tiger Leaping Gorge in English. We've read that the government plans to dam the river flowing through the gorge to harness its potential electric power, and thus the opportunity to see this natural wonder before its demise was too compelling to ignore.
We paid 120 yuan (about 15 bucks) each for transportation in a rickety van:
It was filled with random Chinese tourists and two people we met at our hotel; a multi-lingual kid about our age named Justin (born in China, currently working in Congo for a telecom company – spoke English, Chinese, French, and several local dialects in varying degrees of fluency) and his girlfriend of a few months. Like many Chinese my age, they met over a facebook-like social networking site.
The trip out reminded me of a drive through Bozeman, Montana, except without the careful driving of my father (happy early father's day, Dad). The Chinese drivers passed each other on blind turns, into mountains, as we climbed higher and then decended.
We made several stops. Some were great, affording a lookout of the mountains:
Some were not, however – we were dragged into various tourist traps hawking overpriced goods. In any case, we eventually made it to the gorge – absolutely incredible views! See the pictures below, taken throughout the 3.5 mile hike:
We returned about 6 PM, and ducked into a random British bar that we found for a early-dinner/snack. We had been served food (lunch) during the day, but it was not… um, quite what we were looking for. We chatted to the proprietor, a well-travelled Brit with a Chinese wife, who was enjoying life in Lijiang since opening his bar 2 years ago. He offered suggestions about things to do and where to go, including a change to our itinerary which we plan to do – skip Dali entirely (as we have a great set-up here) and get into Hong Kong early. We talked about playing poker sometime during the week and bid au revoir.
We returned to the hotel, and took care of some bookings – moved our flight, booked more nights here in Lijiang, and began to prepare for tomorrow – a trip to the top of the highest mountain in the province. It's more than 15,000 feet high, and from there we will be able to see quite far on a clear day. Pray for good weather!
Thanks again for reading!
Mike
We paid 120 yuan (about 15 bucks) each for transportation in a rickety van:
It was filled with random Chinese tourists and two people we met at our hotel; a multi-lingual kid about our age named Justin (born in China, currently working in Congo for a telecom company – spoke English, Chinese, French, and several local dialects in varying degrees of fluency) and his girlfriend of a few months. Like many Chinese my age, they met over a facebook-like social networking site.
The trip out reminded me of a drive through Bozeman, Montana, except without the careful driving of my father (happy early father's day, Dad). The Chinese drivers passed each other on blind turns, into mountains, as we climbed higher and then decended.
We made several stops. Some were great, affording a lookout of the mountains:
Some were not, however – we were dragged into various tourist traps hawking overpriced goods. In any case, we eventually made it to the gorge – absolutely incredible views! See the pictures below, taken throughout the 3.5 mile hike:
We returned about 6 PM, and ducked into a random British bar that we found for a early-dinner/snack. We had been served food (lunch) during the day, but it was not… um, quite what we were looking for. We chatted to the proprietor, a well-travelled Brit with a Chinese wife, who was enjoying life in Lijiang since opening his bar 2 years ago. He offered suggestions about things to do and where to go, including a change to our itinerary which we plan to do – skip Dali entirely (as we have a great set-up here) and get into Hong Kong early. We talked about playing poker sometime during the week and bid au revoir.
We returned to the hotel, and took care of some bookings – moved our flight, booked more nights here in Lijiang, and began to prepare for tomorrow – a trip to the top of the highest mountain in the province. It's more than 15,000 feet high, and from there we will be able to see quite far on a clear day. Pray for good weather!
Thanks again for reading!
Mike
June 4, Lijiang: A Quick Note
I want to thank Alex for the guest post – I thought that it was well-written and right on point. A future author in the making, no doubt… anyway, on to a quick note here in Lijiang:
We arrived into Lijiang very late, and so much of our day was described in Alex’s post above. Just a word on our hotel, however- we got into our cab after arriving to a bus station via a shuttle from the airport. When we told him our destination, he told us that our hotel was fine, but that he knew of a place in the old town – the main destination of the town itself – that had just opened. We were skeptical at first, but he insisted, saying that one of us could go check it out and he would turn off the meter. It turns out to have been among the most fortunate turns of the entire trip.
The driver's girlfriend, in fact, worked at the hotel, and for two huge rooms with comfortable beds in an open-air hotel in this mountainous paradise, we paid a whopping 200 yuan a night, total. That's about 25 bucks. The hotel's proprietors are a young man of about 30-35 years, with a strong Beijing accent – I'm actually able to pick up on these now – and his wife, along with their young daughter. They have been nothing short of exceptional – setting us up on tours at prices normally for locals, serving tea in the afternoon, doing laundry, etc. When we were finally settled around 11 PM, the man even found us a place still serving food for us to grab dinner before an early bedtime.Here’s a few pictures of the hotel – which is right in the center of Old Town Lijiang, a gorgeous and tranquil mountain town (we're at about 8,200 feet up in this village):
I have to run – we're getting up early for a ride out to Tiger Leaping Gorge, the largest valley in the world – so more tomorrow!
Mike
P.S. One more thing – we're struggling with getting photos up, as the internet is weak – thanks for your patience.
P.P.S. Largely due to some of our previous comments (Forbidden City and Xi’an), we can no longer view the post ourselves until we get to Hong Kong on Saturday – but please don't let that deter you – we'll catch up soon!
We arrived into Lijiang very late, and so much of our day was described in Alex’s post above. Just a word on our hotel, however- we got into our cab after arriving to a bus station via a shuttle from the airport. When we told him our destination, he told us that our hotel was fine, but that he knew of a place in the old town – the main destination of the town itself – that had just opened. We were skeptical at first, but he insisted, saying that one of us could go check it out and he would turn off the meter. It turns out to have been among the most fortunate turns of the entire trip.
The driver's girlfriend, in fact, worked at the hotel, and for two huge rooms with comfortable beds in an open-air hotel in this mountainous paradise, we paid a whopping 200 yuan a night, total. That's about 25 bucks. The hotel's proprietors are a young man of about 30-35 years, with a strong Beijing accent – I'm actually able to pick up on these now – and his wife, along with their young daughter. They have been nothing short of exceptional – setting us up on tours at prices normally for locals, serving tea in the afternoon, doing laundry, etc. When we were finally settled around 11 PM, the man even found us a place still serving food for us to grab dinner before an early bedtime.Here’s a few pictures of the hotel – which is right in the center of Old Town Lijiang, a gorgeous and tranquil mountain town (we're at about 8,200 feet up in this village):
I have to run – we're getting up early for a ride out to Tiger Leaping Gorge, the largest valley in the world – so more tomorrow!
Mike
P.S. One more thing – we're struggling with getting photos up, as the internet is weak – thanks for your patience.
P.P.S. Largely due to some of our previous comments (Forbidden City and Xi’an), we can no longer view the post ourselves until we get to Hong Kong on Saturday – but please don't let that deter you – we'll catch up soon!
Monday, June 4, 2007
June 2 - 3, Shanghai -> Xi'an -> Lijiang (Alex's post)
First of all, this is Alex here writing – we thought we would switch up the perspectives and have somebody else write an entry.
he last few days have been kind of a whirlwind. On Sunday morning, Chris went to pick up the suits that we had “special-ordered” from the tailors in the somewhat-shady part of Shanghai we went to on the first day. Let's just say that if we all put on the sport coats together and went out at night, we might be mistaken for a trio of jugglers from a traveling circus – yea, they don't fit so well. However, the pants look fine and will be wearable with minimal adjustments.
The last and perhaps most notable thing to mention about our time in Shanghai is that we went to the Shangri-La for their Sunday brunch on Chris’ recommendation. The hour we spent there was without question the most diverse, delicious, and impressive culinary experience of my life. The room is set up in ultra-modern style and has around 15 different buffet stations, including Indian, traditional Chinese, Chinese brunch (dim sum), Western, Sushi, other Japanese, Pan-Asian, European, Fruit, Desserts, etc… It was absolutely incredible.
We decided to leave Shanghai a day early (read: we weren't yet running at full mental capacity from the night before, forgot the date of our flight, and mistakenly went to the airport a day early… yea, I know). We went to the airport via train – but not just any train. We traveled on the fastest train in the world (top speed 431 km/hr or 260 mph), which was very special.
Here's Mike on the train pointing to the speedometer:
When we arrived in Xi'an a day early, we had to find a hotel on the fly in the airport, which was not a problem. As soon as we walked out of the terminal, it was clear that Xi'an was a much different city than any in China that we (Mike and I, that is) had been to. Xi'an is a city of 7.2 million people (mid-sized by China standards) that lies due west of Shanghai (3.5 hr flight). It's basically one huge industrial complex, the main industry being power production – and in China, that means coal.
The pollution was absolutely suffocating. It was the kind of smog that you can literally feel when you breathe the air. On the highway into the city, I would say that the visibility ranged in the 200-300 yard range – past that, anything was almost entirely obscured by the thick, mustard gray haze that was probably a combination of dust and pollution. Chris asked the cab driver whether today was a typical day air quality-wise, and he replied that it was close to the norm. We had to bargain aggressively with him on the price because he would not turn on the meter for the drive into town. We had been warned that Xi'an was somewhat of a sketchy place and to be aware that this might happen.
I can't really begin to convey what it looked/felt like, but it was kind of like driving through an endless fog bank that smelled like diesel exhaust. Yea, not so nice. Though it sounds unpleasant (and believe me, it was), I was glad that we were able to see a part of China that many tourists forgo due to its remoteness and, well, unaesthetic setup. But at least in my mind it was eye-opening to see the true underbelly of development. Places like this have to exist for places like Shanghai to exist the way they do. It was pretty grounding.
I'm going to wrap this up here pretty quickly because I don't want to turn this into a novel. Our next day in Xi'an was spent exploring the underground preserved museums of Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses, the real (and only) reason we went to Xi'an in the first place. Simply put, the attraction is a series of three underground tombs (the largest being roughly the size of a football field) with rows upon rows and underground rooms upon rooms of life-sized soldiers and horses constructed out of clay and earth dating back to around 2300 years ago during the Qin dynasty. It was amazing… lots of culture and history behind it that I don't really have space to go on about, but it was well worth the trip to Xi'an to see them.
Here's just one picture of the place - we will get more up soon - even the teeth on this horse have been molded (the horse weighs almost 500 pounds!):
When we get to Hong Kong and have better internet, we'll update this with more pictures.
We walked out of the museum at 1:45pm. Sitting on the curb waiting for our driver to come pick us up, we looked at one another and came to the realization that we didn't really have anything left to do in that city. So after we called Chris' Chinese friend for the phone number for China Eastern Airways, Chris changed the date of our flight to this afternoon on the fly. Meanwhile, we convinced our driver to just take us directly to the airport, and we barely made the last flight out to Lijiang. So the end result is that we cut out a day in Shanghai (inadvertently) and then a day in Xi'an (intentionally) and we are in Lijiang a day early.
Lijiang is absolutely incredible, but you'll have to wait until the next post, because it's time to grab a shower and head out for the night. Hope all is well with friends and family, and please know that we are happy, safe, and having a wonderful time. Alex
he last few days have been kind of a whirlwind. On Sunday morning, Chris went to pick up the suits that we had “special-ordered” from the tailors in the somewhat-shady part of Shanghai we went to on the first day. Let's just say that if we all put on the sport coats together and went out at night, we might be mistaken for a trio of jugglers from a traveling circus – yea, they don't fit so well. However, the pants look fine and will be wearable with minimal adjustments.
The last and perhaps most notable thing to mention about our time in Shanghai is that we went to the Shangri-La for their Sunday brunch on Chris’ recommendation. The hour we spent there was without question the most diverse, delicious, and impressive culinary experience of my life. The room is set up in ultra-modern style and has around 15 different buffet stations, including Indian, traditional Chinese, Chinese brunch (dim sum), Western, Sushi, other Japanese, Pan-Asian, European, Fruit, Desserts, etc… It was absolutely incredible.
We decided to leave Shanghai a day early (read: we weren't yet running at full mental capacity from the night before, forgot the date of our flight, and mistakenly went to the airport a day early… yea, I know). We went to the airport via train – but not just any train. We traveled on the fastest train in the world (top speed 431 km/hr or 260 mph), which was very special.
Here's Mike on the train pointing to the speedometer:
When we arrived in Xi'an a day early, we had to find a hotel on the fly in the airport, which was not a problem. As soon as we walked out of the terminal, it was clear that Xi'an was a much different city than any in China that we (Mike and I, that is) had been to. Xi'an is a city of 7.2 million people (mid-sized by China standards) that lies due west of Shanghai (3.5 hr flight). It's basically one huge industrial complex, the main industry being power production – and in China, that means coal.
The pollution was absolutely suffocating. It was the kind of smog that you can literally feel when you breathe the air. On the highway into the city, I would say that the visibility ranged in the 200-300 yard range – past that, anything was almost entirely obscured by the thick, mustard gray haze that was probably a combination of dust and pollution. Chris asked the cab driver whether today was a typical day air quality-wise, and he replied that it was close to the norm. We had to bargain aggressively with him on the price because he would not turn on the meter for the drive into town. We had been warned that Xi'an was somewhat of a sketchy place and to be aware that this might happen.
I can't really begin to convey what it looked/felt like, but it was kind of like driving through an endless fog bank that smelled like diesel exhaust. Yea, not so nice. Though it sounds unpleasant (and believe me, it was), I was glad that we were able to see a part of China that many tourists forgo due to its remoteness and, well, unaesthetic setup. But at least in my mind it was eye-opening to see the true underbelly of development. Places like this have to exist for places like Shanghai to exist the way they do. It was pretty grounding.
I'm going to wrap this up here pretty quickly because I don't want to turn this into a novel. Our next day in Xi'an was spent exploring the underground preserved museums of Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses, the real (and only) reason we went to Xi'an in the first place. Simply put, the attraction is a series of three underground tombs (the largest being roughly the size of a football field) with rows upon rows and underground rooms upon rooms of life-sized soldiers and horses constructed out of clay and earth dating back to around 2300 years ago during the Qin dynasty. It was amazing… lots of culture and history behind it that I don't really have space to go on about, but it was well worth the trip to Xi'an to see them.
Here's just one picture of the place - we will get more up soon - even the teeth on this horse have been molded (the horse weighs almost 500 pounds!):
When we get to Hong Kong and have better internet, we'll update this with more pictures.
We walked out of the museum at 1:45pm. Sitting on the curb waiting for our driver to come pick us up, we looked at one another and came to the realization that we didn't really have anything left to do in that city. So after we called Chris' Chinese friend for the phone number for China Eastern Airways, Chris changed the date of our flight to this afternoon on the fly. Meanwhile, we convinced our driver to just take us directly to the airport, and we barely made the last flight out to Lijiang. So the end result is that we cut out a day in Shanghai (inadvertently) and then a day in Xi'an (intentionally) and we are in Lijiang a day early.
Lijiang is absolutely incredible, but you'll have to wait until the next post, because it's time to grab a shower and head out for the night. Hope all is well with friends and family, and please know that we are happy, safe, and having a wonderful time. Alex
Main clocktower in Xi'an
Sunday, June 3, 2007
June 2, Shanghai - A Day Trip
Phil (Chris’ old boss) and his wife picked us up at the hotel at 9:30 AM. We drove about an hour due west (away from the river and water – while it looks on a map as if Shanghai is on a river just miles from feeding into the sea, it’s actually sort of like Baltimore, where some of the city is on the water, but most of the development is not anywhere near the water.)
Anyway, we drove to a very old village (about 750 years in many places) that had been preserved, much like Eze in southern France, as it had been then. People still live in the city – in very primitive dwellings. See below:
This was much like the homes of those living in the villages in the countryside that we had passed on our way out to the Great Wall.
Anyway, it was a great day trip. We walked through the old town’s narrow streets and markets, selling everything from modern goods to local jewelry to food that had to me the scent and appeal of, ahem, s**t. See below:
The old town was split in two by a canal – this canal was actually used to shoot the scene in China in Mission Impossible III for those of you that have seen the film – with several bridges, some nearly 200 years old – spanning the canal.:
We stopped in a restaurant located in a section of the narrow street-market. It had a second floor overlooking the canal, as you can see here (I took this picture from the ground looking up):
As with dinner the previous night, Phil’s wife handled the ordering of food for the table. We started with fried rice and vegetables and tea, and then moved onto more adventurous foods: bean curd and mushrooms in a sweet sauce, lotus root in a molasses-like sauce, a local cooked pork dish, the broth and meat-filled dumplings from our first day in Shanghai, and perhaps most spectacularly, a chicken broth that included a whole chicken – raised right on site in the area. It was incredibly fresh, and the broth was absolutely one of the best soups I have ever had – and as some of you know, I love soup. Here’s a picture from lunch:
What was most interesting is that Phil’s wife went right for the chicken’s foot when the dish was served. Phil explained that it is considered one of the best parts of the chicken once cooked, and that, interestingly enough, the US exports to China most of the chicken feet it consumes, as they are usually discarded in the preparation of poultry in the states.
This time, Chris and Alex and I paid for lunch – for all of the food and several pots of tea, the bill was 300 yuan (less than 40 dollars) for all 5 of us to eat local delicacies and enjoy the breeze and views of the old town. Shanghai’s weather has been more temperate than in Beijing (although it has rained in the evenings), but Phil said that in 2 weeks, the hot season will begin and it will be over 90 and humid for 2 straight months. It seems our timing was opportune.
After lunch, we rented a small boat that was paddled by a local man, and took in the views along the canal. Here’s a photo or two:
We headed back to the city around 2 PM or so, arriving about 3:30. We stopped at a market for a little bit and poked around for a t-shirt or two. Chris bought a belt. We then set off on a quest for a good tea shop – Alex and I had enjoyed the green tea at lunch that day and were going to purchase some to bring back. Chris had been to a good place near his old office with sit-down service and an explanation, and thus we decided to hike it up to this district, which was about a 35-minute walk from the Nanjing Road area where we had been.
We walked through vegetable markets, tech areas selling stereos and cell phones, and a small bird market where ducks were being processed in the open street. Don’t worry – we kept our distance, and there was actually gov’t monitoring of the situation, which was comforting.
We finally made it to the hotel containing the tea shop. Our legs tired from a day of walking and a 35-minute hike had us excited and ready for the experience. But it was not to be. Not only had the stores in the hotel closed (it was almost 6 PM), but the tea shop had been replaced by a conference room. (In Chris’ defense, it looked like a nice conference room.). It’s just one more example of Shanghai is changing – as we take the elevator up to the 14th floor of our hotel, our vista is of high rises melting into a district marked by a square mile of what we called “hooverville” shanties. In 5 years, someone taking the same ride won’t see a single building there that is not a high-rise. It’s amazing to consider, even if it takes a closed tea shop to poorly illustrate the point.
We headed to a local pub for dinner (food was average) and then briefly met up with a few of the girls at a karaoke bar. It was getting late, and I was tiring of singing in English and listening in Chinese, so we gave up and headed home to get some rest. It had been, after all, quite a day!
Tomorrow will be quite an adventure - we're taking the world's fastest train to the airport for our trip to Shanghai. Tomorrow will also feature a guest writer - Alex is going to author tomorrow's post. More soon!
Mike
Anyway, we drove to a very old village (about 750 years in many places) that had been preserved, much like Eze in southern France, as it had been then. People still live in the city – in very primitive dwellings. See below:
This was much like the homes of those living in the villages in the countryside that we had passed on our way out to the Great Wall.
Anyway, it was a great day trip. We walked through the old town’s narrow streets and markets, selling everything from modern goods to local jewelry to food that had to me the scent and appeal of, ahem, s**t. See below:
The old town was split in two by a canal – this canal was actually used to shoot the scene in China in Mission Impossible III for those of you that have seen the film – with several bridges, some nearly 200 years old – spanning the canal.:
We stopped in a restaurant located in a section of the narrow street-market. It had a second floor overlooking the canal, as you can see here (I took this picture from the ground looking up):
As with dinner the previous night, Phil’s wife handled the ordering of food for the table. We started with fried rice and vegetables and tea, and then moved onto more adventurous foods: bean curd and mushrooms in a sweet sauce, lotus root in a molasses-like sauce, a local cooked pork dish, the broth and meat-filled dumplings from our first day in Shanghai, and perhaps most spectacularly, a chicken broth that included a whole chicken – raised right on site in the area. It was incredibly fresh, and the broth was absolutely one of the best soups I have ever had – and as some of you know, I love soup. Here’s a picture from lunch:
What was most interesting is that Phil’s wife went right for the chicken’s foot when the dish was served. Phil explained that it is considered one of the best parts of the chicken once cooked, and that, interestingly enough, the US exports to China most of the chicken feet it consumes, as they are usually discarded in the preparation of poultry in the states.
This time, Chris and Alex and I paid for lunch – for all of the food and several pots of tea, the bill was 300 yuan (less than 40 dollars) for all 5 of us to eat local delicacies and enjoy the breeze and views of the old town. Shanghai’s weather has been more temperate than in Beijing (although it has rained in the evenings), but Phil said that in 2 weeks, the hot season will begin and it will be over 90 and humid for 2 straight months. It seems our timing was opportune.
After lunch, we rented a small boat that was paddled by a local man, and took in the views along the canal. Here’s a photo or two:
We headed back to the city around 2 PM or so, arriving about 3:30. We stopped at a market for a little bit and poked around for a t-shirt or two. Chris bought a belt. We then set off on a quest for a good tea shop – Alex and I had enjoyed the green tea at lunch that day and were going to purchase some to bring back. Chris had been to a good place near his old office with sit-down service and an explanation, and thus we decided to hike it up to this district, which was about a 35-minute walk from the Nanjing Road area where we had been.
We walked through vegetable markets, tech areas selling stereos and cell phones, and a small bird market where ducks were being processed in the open street. Don’t worry – we kept our distance, and there was actually gov’t monitoring of the situation, which was comforting.
We finally made it to the hotel containing the tea shop. Our legs tired from a day of walking and a 35-minute hike had us excited and ready for the experience. But it was not to be. Not only had the stores in the hotel closed (it was almost 6 PM), but the tea shop had been replaced by a conference room. (In Chris’ defense, it looked like a nice conference room.). It’s just one more example of Shanghai is changing – as we take the elevator up to the 14th floor of our hotel, our vista is of high rises melting into a district marked by a square mile of what we called “hooverville” shanties. In 5 years, someone taking the same ride won’t see a single building there that is not a high-rise. It’s amazing to consider, even if it takes a closed tea shop to poorly illustrate the point.
We headed to a local pub for dinner (food was average) and then briefly met up with a few of the girls at a karaoke bar. It was getting late, and I was tiring of singing in English and listening in Chinese, so we gave up and headed home to get some rest. It had been, after all, quite a day!
Tomorrow will be quite an adventure - we're taking the world's fastest train to the airport for our trip to Shanghai. Tomorrow will also feature a guest writer - Alex is going to author tomorrow's post. More soon!
Mike
Saturday, June 2, 2007
June 1, Shanghai - Yes, I Have Yellow Fever
Chris spent the morning and early afternoon touring the new facilities of his employer from last summer. This left Alex and I on our own. So we headed out to the main pedestrian district and poked around for a few souvenirs. We ended up in the middle of a 12-story mall with shops and people everywhere. It was about 1 PM, and luckily there was a great café on the 4th floor, in which we were able to grab some delicious fried rice and soup. See below:
I should note that in Shanghai, it is quite common (it seems) for GREAT restaurants to be located in the middle or on top of shopping malls. While we might consider this to be a sign of something tacky in the US, it is not the case here in China, as we discovered at dinner in the evening – which I’ll discuss in a second.
Alex and I headed back to the hotel and got in touch with Chris – his old boss, Phil, had invited the three of us out to dinner along with Phil’s wife and another senior employee, William. We got in a cab and headed out to the restaurant, which was on the other side of the river separating Shanghai in two.
Dinner was terrific – absolutely and without question one of the best three meals I have ever had. (P.S., the other two were in the South of France and D.C.). The custom here is for one person to order all of the food for the table. In this case, Phil’s wife (who was the only one at the table not speaking English) ordered all of the dishes. Food came in piles – there was special Szechwan duck, beef, and chicken, as well as bacon-wrapped Chinese seafood and asparagus. There was boiled bok choy, or cabbage, or something green and tasty. There was lightly cooked shrimp, and ribs, and a very traditional fruit-like desert.
I couldn’t take pictures. Sorry to the readers here, but this place was just too nice. Phil picked up the tab – Alex and I promised him a 5-star dinner should he make it to New York. After dinner the six of us walked along the riverside and took in the views of the Shanghai skyline:
We bid adieu to Phil, his wife, and William and headed out to meet up with some of Chris’ friends from the previous summer in Shanghai. We arrived to a bar/restaurant called Barbarosa – one of the coolest venues I’ve ever been to. The drinks were a little pricey, but the location was unbelievable – set on a small island surrounded by a lake of lily pads. It was raining, so the picture is a little blurry, but here’s one photo:
Chris’ friends included Max, a Columbia student, and several Shanghaiese girls – Ping-Ping, Christie, Queenie, and Joanna joined Alex, Chris, and I for a few hours. It was a great time. Here’s a couple of pictures:
We eventually headed home, with the hope of getting a decent night’s rest of, ahem, well, 4 hours, as Phil planned to pick us up at the hotel at 9:30 AM for a day trip to a village outside of Shanghai. More to come tomorrow…
Thanks for reading – safe travel to those of you traveling this weekend.
Mike
I should note that in Shanghai, it is quite common (it seems) for GREAT restaurants to be located in the middle or on top of shopping malls. While we might consider this to be a sign of something tacky in the US, it is not the case here in China, as we discovered at dinner in the evening – which I’ll discuss in a second.
Alex and I headed back to the hotel and got in touch with Chris – his old boss, Phil, had invited the three of us out to dinner along with Phil’s wife and another senior employee, William. We got in a cab and headed out to the restaurant, which was on the other side of the river separating Shanghai in two.
Dinner was terrific – absolutely and without question one of the best three meals I have ever had. (P.S., the other two were in the South of France and D.C.). The custom here is for one person to order all of the food for the table. In this case, Phil’s wife (who was the only one at the table not speaking English) ordered all of the dishes. Food came in piles – there was special Szechwan duck, beef, and chicken, as well as bacon-wrapped Chinese seafood and asparagus. There was boiled bok choy, or cabbage, or something green and tasty. There was lightly cooked shrimp, and ribs, and a very traditional fruit-like desert.
I couldn’t take pictures. Sorry to the readers here, but this place was just too nice. Phil picked up the tab – Alex and I promised him a 5-star dinner should he make it to New York. After dinner the six of us walked along the riverside and took in the views of the Shanghai skyline:
We bid adieu to Phil, his wife, and William and headed out to meet up with some of Chris’ friends from the previous summer in Shanghai. We arrived to a bar/restaurant called Barbarosa – one of the coolest venues I’ve ever been to. The drinks were a little pricey, but the location was unbelievable – set on a small island surrounded by a lake of lily pads. It was raining, so the picture is a little blurry, but here’s one photo:
Chris’ friends included Max, a Columbia student, and several Shanghaiese girls – Ping-Ping, Christie, Queenie, and Joanna joined Alex, Chris, and I for a few hours. It was a great time. Here’s a couple of pictures:
We eventually headed home, with the hope of getting a decent night’s rest of, ahem, well, 4 hours, as Phil planned to pick us up at the hotel at 9:30 AM for a day trip to a village outside of Shanghai. More to come tomorrow…Thanks for reading – safe travel to those of you traveling this weekend.
Mike
Bonus Post - June 1, Shanghai - And Now, Some Toilet Humor
I'm going to be posting twice today. Bonus post! Actually, just wanted to separate out this "toilet humor" story.
I haven’t touched on one important part of the journey that I feel must be addressed at this point. While Western-style sitting toilets can be found in many upscale hotels and restaurants, a significant majority of the facilities look like this:
Yeah, that’s right. Both sexes. Thank god camping prepared Alex and I, and previous Chinese experiences for Chris.
Regular June 1 post coming in a bit.
MJS
I haven’t touched on one important part of the journey that I feel must be addressed at this point. While Western-style sitting toilets can be found in many upscale hotels and restaurants, a significant majority of the facilities look like this:
Yeah, that’s right. Both sexes. Thank god camping prepared Alex and I, and previous Chinese experiences for Chris.
Regular June 1 post coming in a bit.
MJS
Friday, June 1, 2007
May 31, Shanghai: Welcome to a (half) European city
Update: Sorry if there was an incomplete post - I had some problems earlier today.
We arrived into Shanghai at 7:45 AM, right on time. Our night's sleep was fitful, but we made it.
Shanghai is, from the get-go, a much more cultured and in many ways Western city than Beijing seemed. The air quality is a little better, although not so nice (apparently) in recent weeks. The location on the water means that the haze seems worse. I'll get some pictures up tomorrow.
(Update: here's a picture of the haze:)
I'll also be posting in the coming days about the other side of Shanghai - the shantytowns and 1930's USA-esque shanties that are being ripped down at a ridiculous pace to pave the way for high-rises and an ever-growing population.
Here's just one picture from our arrival into one of the new, Western-like developments in the city where we had lunch:
Lunch was xiao long bao - a sort of local dumpling with a broth and meat inside. We ordered the crab, mushroom, pork, and veggie varieties - they were delicious. See below:
After lunch, we walked through the Yu gardens (Jane, if you're reading this... gotta get a picture of Miss Yu in the Yu Gardens), which was a very cool area of shops set around a nice lake. Here's a picture:
We then headed back to the hotel took a badly-needed nap. After our nap, we headed into a more, ahem, pedestrian district to an area where fabric merchants had stalls hawking fabric - which would be turned into suits and slacks. See below:
We bargained our best and settled for relatively good prices - Alex had a suit and 2 slacks, I had a suit and 3 slacks, and Chris got 2 suits - all for a total of 2750 yuan - about 325 dollars for 5 custom-tailored suits and 5 pairs of slacks. We're picking them up here in Shanghai on our last day - Sunday - so Sunday's post will tell the story.
To recover from not sleeping well on the train, we then headed out to dinner and a massage. The 90-minute massage was 100 yuan (13 bucks). What a deal.
I saved talking about dinner for last because it was one of the top 5 meals I have ever had. Our restaurant was called Hazara, and it serves world-class Indian food for reasonable prices on a US scale (very expensive in China). I balked at spending 35 dollars on a meal in China, but Chris guarenteed the quality - and could not have been more right. MY meal of chicken korma, a cucumber-youghurt dip, and garlic bread was, indeed, the best Indian food I've ever had. I ate it so quickly that I forgot to take a picture, and settled for a shot of Alex's chicken tandori instead:
After the massage it was already 1:40 AM, so we headed to bed for the next day of adventures.
More soon!
Mike
We arrived into Shanghai at 7:45 AM, right on time. Our night's sleep was fitful, but we made it.
Shanghai is, from the get-go, a much more cultured and in many ways Western city than Beijing seemed. The air quality is a little better, although not so nice (apparently) in recent weeks. The location on the water means that the haze seems worse. I'll get some pictures up tomorrow.
(Update: here's a picture of the haze:)
I'll also be posting in the coming days about the other side of Shanghai - the shantytowns and 1930's USA-esque shanties that are being ripped down at a ridiculous pace to pave the way for high-rises and an ever-growing population.
Here's just one picture from our arrival into one of the new, Western-like developments in the city where we had lunch:
Lunch was xiao long bao - a sort of local dumpling with a broth and meat inside. We ordered the crab, mushroom, pork, and veggie varieties - they were delicious. See below:
After lunch, we walked through the Yu gardens (Jane, if you're reading this... gotta get a picture of Miss Yu in the Yu Gardens), which was a very cool area of shops set around a nice lake. Here's a picture:
We then headed back to the hotel took a badly-needed nap. After our nap, we headed into a more, ahem, pedestrian district to an area where fabric merchants had stalls hawking fabric - which would be turned into suits and slacks. See below:
We bargained our best and settled for relatively good prices - Alex had a suit and 2 slacks, I had a suit and 3 slacks, and Chris got 2 suits - all for a total of 2750 yuan - about 325 dollars for 5 custom-tailored suits and 5 pairs of slacks. We're picking them up here in Shanghai on our last day - Sunday - so Sunday's post will tell the story.
To recover from not sleeping well on the train, we then headed out to dinner and a massage. The 90-minute massage was 100 yuan (13 bucks). What a deal.
I saved talking about dinner for last because it was one of the top 5 meals I have ever had. Our restaurant was called Hazara, and it serves world-class Indian food for reasonable prices on a US scale (very expensive in China). I balked at spending 35 dollars on a meal in China, but Chris guarenteed the quality - and could not have been more right. MY meal of chicken korma, a cucumber-youghurt dip, and garlic bread was, indeed, the best Indian food I've ever had. I ate it so quickly that I forgot to take a picture, and settled for a shot of Alex's chicken tandori instead:
After the massage it was already 1:40 AM, so we headed to bed for the next day of adventures.
More soon!
Mike
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