It's Better to Rest Here for A While

(Mark)

This has been such a long day that I BARELY even remember the morning, but fortunately I took a few notes that should help…

We had to wake up relatively early this morning, as we had to be in the lobby with our bags, ready to check out by 9 AM. I headed down to breakfast early, then went back down with Lianna when she was ready. Fortunately, I was feeling fully recovered from yesterday, but Lianna still wasn’t feeling her best, and thus didn’t eat much. Anyway, after breakfast, we headed out to meet Michael, and hopped in for the first of two hour-long drives. The drive took us out of the main city (which is quite nice, by the way), through a countryside of rolling fields and farmlands, to the small village of Yang Zong, named for the lake around which it is situated. The village actually boasts a variety of different things. For one thing, the soil is full of iron, which generally makes it hard to grow anything, but allows tobacco and tea to thrive. These two crops are thus the two biggest exports of the village (and I think the province as a whole). There was also what looked like a nuclear power plant on the outskirts of the village; it had two large reactor things that you always see in textbooks and such. Michael laughed at us when we asked if they were nuclear, saying “it would be dangerous to have them that close to the road.” He told us that it WAS a power plant, but that it produced power from the coal… not really sure what that means or how it works, but he didn’t seem able to explain any further. Michael also told us that the golf course renowned as the best in the province was nearby. He also told us that golf was actually once an abbreviation, standing for “Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden,” but that now it commonly referred to as “Grass, Oxygen, Light, Friendship.”

The main attraction of the village, for us at least, was an embroidery museum, where they made and displayed all kinds of things, including pictures, carpets, and clothing. It was actually quite amazing. We walked in and were greeted by a woman who was once an English teacher. She told us that everything in the museum was made by her family, and proceeded to take us around and tell us about the displays. The pictures were much like what we’d seen at the Chen Family House; completely silk embroidered, with amazing detail and color. As we walked through the gallery, she told us how long each picture took to make. Some took only one month, while some took up to eleven months. The longer ones were much more detailed, and often featured people. One human face alone takes about one month to embroider with detail. There were pictures of everything—ships, the Great Wall, and even a remake of the Mona Lisa. She then brought us to the carpet-making part of the museum. Some of the carpets (those meant for decoration, not for walking on) were even more detailed than the pictures. She told us these took up to two and a half years to make (can you imagine spending that long working on the SAME thing every day?). When we noticed a half-complete carpet featuring a dragon, we realized just how renowned the embroidery of this family must be, as it was specially ordered from Israel. After the carpets we headed to the gift shop, which featured shirts, shoes, and many other trinkets, which, she told us, were all made completely from hemp.

After that, we got back in the van for another hour-long drive to the stone forest. Attractions along the way included the China’s first-ever international railway. Funded by the French, engineered by the Italians, and built by the Chinese, the 865 km (1392 miles) railway snakes through the mountains from Kunming to the capital of Vietnam. Oh yeah, and there was also the minor inconvenience of a bridge being closed, and our driver clearly not knowing how to go around it. We ended up going through another small village, though this one was much worse off—it was completely filled with slum-like houses, and the roads were BARELY big enough for our van (much less two lanes of traffic). We made it through though, and continued to the stone forest. We stopped for lunch on the way, which was as delicious as ever (though much too big, especially as Lianna still wasn’t feeling up to eating much). We had our second experience with a whole fish being placed on the table, but just as last time, it was quite delicious.

After lunch, we made our way into the stone forest. At first, we didn’t really know what we were getting ourselves into. At the entrance, there was a small pond with a bunch of rocks sticking out of it. Apparently, the rocks were completely natural, but the water was added when Zhou Enlai toured the forest and said it would be more feng-shui with it (rocks are positive and water is negative. Or the other way around. Can’t remember which). We then proceeded up a staircase made of stone, which was very slippery, as it had been raining recently, to a small pagoda from which we could see all of the stone forest. We were shocked at what we saw.  The stone forest covers an area of 360 square kilometers. Within that area are some of the strangest, yet coolest, rock formations on Earth. A few years ago, a blogger described the forest as something out of Lord of the Rings; when we saw it, that was EXACTLY what Alex and I jumped to, particularly the scenes around Mordor, though without the volcano and black clouds and such. The stairs are comparable to the path up to Shilob’s lair, both in size and slipperiness. Anyway, the rocks are completely natural, and, if I understood a sign correctly, are made of limestone from corals over 200 million years ago. There are now pathways running all through the forest, though in some parts they were barely wide enough for us to fit through them. As we made our way through the forest, we felt like celebrities; at one point we were mauled by a crowd of eager Chinese, all of whom wanted pictures with us, one by one. After escaping that crowd, a pair of Chinese girls who wanted their own picture with him grabbed Alex, and Lianna was snatched up by a teen dressed in a pimp outfit. We FINALLY made it through that crowd, though not alone. We soon discovered that we were being followed by a pair of old Chinese women (we weren’t just being paranoid, they LITERALLY followed our every move…at one point, we had to turn around, and they were RIGHT behind us and turned around as soon as they saw us do so). So that all was a little funny. We thus made our way through the forest, doing all the things that Chinese tourists were doing—touching certain rock formations for health, luck, and safe travels, and sitting on one that’s supposed to make you immortal (hence the title of this blog).

By the end of that walk, we were all pretty tired, and didn’t notice much of the “small” stone forest, which was basically just the path to the park exit. We did encounter a group of minority people, however, who were having some kind of celebration that involved chanting, dancing, and playing a guitar-like instrument with only three strings, and drum as a body. After all that, we finally headed back to the van, which took us aaaaaall the way back to Kunming, and then to the airport. We arrived quite early, and ended up having an hour and a half just to chill. About 4 hours after we left the stone forest, we finally boarded the plane for a whopping 50 minute flight that took us to Lijiang. 

You will probably not be reading this until well after we’ve left Kunming, as the hotel here does not have internet in the rooms, and charges 150 RMB for one hour down in the entertainment center. Oh well. It is now almost midnight, and I think I’ve given enough detail to this entry (am I right dad?), so I shall say good night. 

Ducks ducks ducks ...

(Lianna)

Being the ambitious people we are, Mark and I decided to get up at 7 in order to go on a bamboo raft before leaving the hotel at 11. We went down for breakfast around 7:45. We left the hotel at 8:45, and headed down to the river. West Street was pretty much empty, except for the early-morning walkers and people setting up shops. On the way to the waterfront, we came across the CUTEST little puppy, playing with a twig or something. We wanted to play with it, but we couldn’t go near it in case it had rabies… it was sad. The dogs here are SO cute and there are so many but we have to stay away. It’s incredibly hard.

When we arrived at the waterfront, a lady came up to us and said “bamboo raft?” We figured we’d be safe to go with her, so we paid the 60 Yuan and boarded. When the engine fired up and we didn’t move, due to the incredibly strong current in the opposite direction, we became a little skeptical, and wondered if it was worth the amount we paid. After a few minutes, we realized that we had no idea what we’d gotten ourselves into; we didn’t know where we were going or how long it would take. We decided to just relax and enjoy the scenery. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, we saw people capturing ducks and I decided I am never going to eat duck again. The way they capture them is utterly cruel. They stuff tons of ducks piled on top of each other into tiny cages. I decided to call it the duckocaust. The ducks were so cute. Ducks ducks ducks

We passed a boat full of people whom we think were going to market to sell their products. It was confusing though because they were all dressed really well and one had an ipod. But they were kind of creepy because they started at us, and not in the way that most Chinese people stare at Westerners. It was a more intent and lengthy stare.

As we walked back to the hotel things were starting to liven up on West Street. We chilled in the hotel for a little while, then we drove to the Guilin airport… where I got sick… very sick... For 24 hours (but I didn’t feel the effects until we got to Kunming)… and it sucked… So we had dinner and went to the hotel, and that’s when my life spiraled into hell. I’m still getting over the sickness and I’m afraid of food, but I feel much better.

House of the Dragon

(Alex) 

Well, although it is not my day to blog, certain circumstances (i.e. a moderate bout of food poisoning) have left Mark and Lianna pretty much incapacitated, so I’m picking up the slack. Today was the first day full in Kunming, and, although only half of us experienced it, it was one of the best days of the trip so far. Leaving Mark and Li to sleep off their illness, Allison and I met up with our guide, Mike, and set off into the busy streets of Kunming City. 

The best way to describe the sprawling city is to recount a tasteful combination of advancement and of tradition, with skyscrapers and traditional Chinese architecture dispersed along the busy streets. I in particular was interested in visiting the city because of my personal connection to some of its history. My godmother’s mother was the daughter of Yunnan Province’s last governor general, Long  (Dragon) Wen, before the Cultural Revolution, a man who, as our guide told us, has garnered much praise amongst the locals of Yunnan for his many beneficial reforms and public projects, most importantly the Burma Road. His daughter had arranged for our group to be allowed to actually visit her family’s house, which has since been converted into an extremely exclusive hotel for visiting dignitaries, and was the first destination on our trip. 

To call it simply a house is an understatement.  This place was an entire compound, complete with its own beach front property, a theater, and “rest and relaxation” house that looked closer to a mansion. We were greeted by the head liaison of the hotel, and were led rather quickly around some of the more tranquil areas of the resort. However, this did not detract from either the beauty of the location or the personal resonance the location had for me. Envisioning  “Nai-Nai” and her family growing up in such amazing and lavish locale really gave me a new perspective and appreciation for the stories she has told us. We both certainly felt honored to have access to such an exclusive aspect of Kunming’s culture. Michael, however, didn’t seem to grasp the concept of a godparent, and constantly referred to Long Wen as “your ancestor”, and even took the opportunity to brag about me to the driver. After taking many photos, we continued on to an amazing Buddhist temple lodged in the heart of the city.

Seeing many different forms of traditional architecture and techniques, including one borrowed from the Japanese by which it is possible to build an entire temple without using a single nail, Allison and I both were entranced by the beauty and charm of the temples. We both took tons of pictures so be sure to keep an eye out for them soon! My personal favorite shrine was one that sat on a small pond only a few inches deep, housing a many-armed Goddess of Mercy. Seeing the devotion which the local Buddhists showed this and every other shrine was certainly an eye-opening experience. Michael was surprisingly knowledgeable about the various different sects of Buddhism and how they manifested themselves in this temple, much to Allison’s delight (ongoing joke here… Allison wants to become Buddhist). 

After a lot of wandering, we  left the temple and decided to break for lunch in a little restaurant right in the shadow of the Western Mountain. The food there was, in a word, AMAZING! It was by far the best food I have had on the trip so far, especially the restaurants specialty, a pork knee extremely reminiscent of the cuts of meat I have had at the Beer Gardens in Munich. While Mark and Li couldn’t experience it, I’m sure Allison and I ate enough to feed four people! After an extremely satisfying meal, we headed up the Western Mountain to view some of the most spectacularly position temples I have seen thus far. 

The Daoist temples in the Western Mountain are quite literally carved into the mountain side, making for some spectacular views and some extremely spiritually devout followers. Climbing up what seemed like hundreds of flights of stairs (with Michael having us count everyone, then stating the significance of the number to Daoist philosophy), we came to the highlight of the trip, the grottos. These grottos were carved into the face of the mountain by a single Daoist Priest and took over 3 years to complete! They consist of these intricate passageways periodically interrupted by shrines to Daoist gods. It’s astonishing to think the sheer force of will needed to complete such a formidable project! Again, look for photos soon! On the way down, Michael thought it would be fun to take the long way, descending not by car, but by stairs formally used by peasants wanting to show their devotion in the days before cars. Yea. Fun was had by all.

 Lastly, before heading to the hotel, Mike took us to the shore of the unpolluted half of the Dian Chi Lake (yes, they are separate bodies divided by a damn put in place by who else, Long Wen!), to see the migrating Russian seagulls. As it turns out, not such a good idea ‘cause Allison received a special “gift” from a passing gull, found on the drive back to the hotel on her backpack. A few more inches and we would have had a much more messy situation on our hands! Well, that pretty much sums up our day… we decided to forego dinner because Mark and Li are still out of it and Allison and I are dead tired. Will write again soon!

Bu Yao!

(Alex)

“Bu Yao!” A phrase that we have come to know, and frequently use, by our second day in Yangshuo, a beautiful resort town downriver from Guilin. It means “Don’t Want!”, and, as you can imagine, something we have said a lot to the swarms of local vendors who seem to latch onto us as soon as we make eye contact. Today, we had a “free day”, although we already had planned yesterday to find the fabled “Uncle Sam”, and view the surrounding area of Yangshuo by mo-ped. After a great sleep-in and a surprisingly tasty breakfast of eggs and bacon, we headed down the crowded West Street to find some hint of Uncle Sam’s shop. After some awkward questioning and about 20 minutes of hard searching, we found “Uncle Sam’s Travel” shop wedged between two much larger shops. 

A friendly middle aged man who identified himself as Sam warmly greeted us and asked us how he could help. Although we introduced ourselves as friends of Team China (last years group), Sam sadly did not remember last years group. He did, however, quickly run us through the options for the day trip, ranging from raft trips, bikes, mopeds, and, my favorite, hot air balloons. We ultimately decided, however, to do the traditional moped trip with a guide to Moon Hill and back.  After meandering for about an hour while Sam prepared the mo-peds, we returned to meet our tiny but extremely lively guide Annie. After what seemed like no time at all Sam was ushering us down West Street on these foreign vehicles to pick up my larger “Big-Westerner” moped. All of us were slightly apprehensive at the prospect of navigating Yangshuo’s wild traffic on these little electrical bikes, and neither Annie nor Sam seemed to be picking up on it. With a far-too-calm “Ready?”, Annie whisked away amongst the whizzing traffic, leaving us slightly at a loss. After a quick glance Mark, Li, Allison and I reluctantly followed. 

The city traffic was terrifying. Trucks, bikes, and cars in varying degrees of disrepair zoomed past us on both sides, the concept of street signs and laws seemingly lost to the Chinese drivers, who passed across the center of the road with complete disregard for their own safety and that of those around them. Honking was abundant. Finally, after many close calls, we navigated the hectic streets to come out into the main road leading to the country side, where the view was far more scenic, but the street no less dangerous. The white-knuckled ride to Moon Hill will be one I am sure I will never forget. 

Arriving at the impressive formation, some of us decided they weren’t up to the hike (I’ll give you a hint, they're dating.) Allison and I however, headed straight up the stairs provided to the summit. We did not count, however, on divergent paths, and after climbing up the wrong path on a very steep incline for the better part of 20 minutes, we came to realize that we had actually gone up the wrong path. Yeah. So after much frustration we made our way back to the bottom and hiked our way up to the summit of Moon Hill, only to discover that, had we continued down the “wrong way” we would have eventually came back around the right way anyhow. Much frustration and exasperation ensued. But, Allison and I both agree that the view from the summit was well worth any consternation that we endured. (Look for pictures when I find a fast enough connection!) 

On our return journey down the mountain, we ran into a very talkative but very friendly Brit who had been traveling out of his backpack in China since 2007 (!). He offered us loads of helpful information about most of the places we will be traveling, and was a great inspiration for us to experience China without any inhibitions. Meeting Annie, Li, and Mark at the bottom, we were informed that we would be taking a much more scenic trip back, going along many of the back roads instead. It was, quite simply, amazing. We took a road that led amongst many of the rice farms, passing farmers and small huts and houses along the way. It was an amazing eye-opener for me, especially in the sense that even amongst so much accelerated development that we had witnessed, there were still so many places in China in which its citizens lived in relative poverty. The sharp dichotomy between the overly developed and over-crowded city of Yangshuo and its surrounding rural community was simultaneously stunning and thought provoking. However, this lack of development did not seem to diminish the quality of life of these farmers, who wore ever-present smiles and cheerfully approached us and returned greetings of “Ni hao!” whenever we waved or pointed. I truly felt for the first time that I was experiencing the real China that only a trip such as this could provide. By being able to fully insert ourselves in the rural community in ways that the average tourist could not, we were able to get a small taste of what the true essence of China might be. The moped ride back was without question the highlight of the trip so far. 

Finally returning to Yang-shuo almost 5 hours after we had left, we were overcome by an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and exhaustion. Lianna, however, still had her heart set upon taking a bamboo raft up the Li River, and although we ultimately decided against it today, she still plans to wake up early with Mark and try her luck by the docks. After a little more wandering and haggling along West Street, we were completely spent and decided to take some personal time and meet back up at dinner. I wandered the streets some more and struck up a conversation with one of the street artists, who actually was an art teacher at the University of Beijing but was in Yangshuo for New Years to provide instruction to younger artists. We chatted for about an hour about the trip, China, Politics, and America. It was a very cool conversation and great night. Meeting the guys again by the hotel, we decided to try a quaint little restaurant off of West Street called Lucy’s, where we met Lucy and were served some of the best spicy beef I have ever had. 

And that brings us pretty much up to speed. It has been exactly a week since we left the States, which sometimes seems like an eternity, and yet the time has flown by. Even only a week into this trip, and I have had some of the greatest traveling experiences of my life. I miss you guys, and hope everything’s well. Shout out to Mr. Bourque, Mr. Kors, Mrs. Koppeis, and Mrs. Cheverie and all my classmates! Talk to you later.

“Use Your Noodle”

(Allison) 

Macy, our super cute and sweet tour guide, met us in the lobby of our Guilin hotel at 8:50 am.  We headed to a boat that would take us down the Lijiang or Li River (named after Lianna of course) to Yangshou. Guilin and Yangshou are two absolutely beautiful places. Their economies are based on tourism and they love westerners..

The weather – sunny, clear skies, 68 degrees – perfect! The Li River is majestic. The stone hills (not quite big enough to be called mountains) pop right out of the ground. (Please google a picture in order to understand how beautiful and unique they truly are). 

This is the dry season, so the river is very shallow and narrow. The cruise was quite lovely – it took us 5 hours…(during the flood season it only takes 2 )but it was so relaxing..it went by very fast.  I stayed outside on the upper deck for a while admiring the hills/mountains, the local people, and the water buffalo. Macy told us that we were very lucky because the water buffalo only come along the river when it is sunny and warm.

The Chinese people love to see objects in their rocks…they have very good imaginations.  Along the river there are various rock formations that people have identified as looking like different things such as a Buddha, a woman waiting for her husband, a fish tail…and Mark’s favorite – Jaba the Hut!  (very similar to the Old Man in the Mountain in NH..Can you see it Becky?) Macy kept telling us to “use your noodle”and our imaginations…

When we reached Yangshuo there was all sorts of commotion at the dock. People trying to sell us things and offering to take us out on the bamboo rafts… Macy had attempted to teach us how to barter before we got off the boat. We walked down West St. ( a tourist street lined with all sorts of shops and restaurants). Yangshuo is a very cool place. It is a very popular destination for backpackers. A large amount of westerners are here…and a large amount of people speak English.

We checked into the hotel and Macy left us for awhile… Our hotel is wonderful…there are courtyards and gardens, and it is a great location -- right at the end of West St. Enthusiastically, we headed right out – back in order to try out our bartering skills. Alex bartered for some sort of rope bracelet. I bartered for some playing cards with photographs of the scenery of Yangshuo.   I know that Lianna mentioned it - but there are babies everywhere in China..and they are ridiculously cute.. they are all bundled up in the poofy outfits! We love them.

We had dinner at this really cute place and sat on a balcony overlooking a side street of West St. We all ordered milkshakes and they were delicious! I had sweet and sour chicken, Lianna had some sort of egg and shrimp dish, Alex had a Chinese portion of steak, and Mark had duck (his favorite!). Oh yes, and lots of rice.  Trying to decipher restaurant bills in Chinese is always a challenge – so we had to work backwards from the menu to figure out what each of us owed – fortunately we were able to borrow a calculator – to our amusement it was a talking calculator (in Chinese of course..) so we were able to practice our numbers…yi, er, san…

Lianna and I made plans earlier to go to the “Realistic Performance with Landscape in Guilin” with Macy. We took an open air electric taxi to get to the show – the people in Guilin and Yangshuo are extremely environmentally conscious because there economy is primarily based on tourists coming to see the natural beauty of the area. 

Amongst a massive crowd, we arrived at the show.  Macy had Li and I stand next to a fence,  while she picked up our tickets. A very large Chinese family enthusiastically approached us…and started speaking to us..except the only person in the family who could speak English was their young daughter..She introduced us to her father and then introduced herself as Nancy! The Chinese are fascinated by us (and vice -versa).

The show is performed on the Li River with a natural landscape background..in Lianna’s words: “I was not expecting this to be so magnificent”.  It was fantastic. A portion of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics was modeled after the show…there are 680 performers (they are all cormorant fisherman or farmers from the local villages) and … 3,000 audience members…attended the show.

(back to my HK blog – I guess the bridge we walked over, at our first Buddhist temple, only added 3 days – not three years to our lives..but that is still pretty good!)

Guilin + Sun = Pure Awesomeness

(Mark)

Today we had sun for the first time this trip. It was awesome.

The day started at 7 AM, as we had to be picked up by Mingo at 7:30. Unfortunately, we were running a little late, partly because Alex lost his room key (50 RMB charge, but they found it for him). We then made our way to the airport, which we had been dreading since we first landed in Hong Kong. However, yesterday, Mingo told us that he would actually be ACCOMPANYING us through the airport and such, which would expedite things and make them much easier. He was basically our savior today, as he also helped us check our bags; Allison’s was the only one under 20 kg, but with Mingo’s help we were able to check everything without paying any extra charge. Yeah, Viz, we all got mad at you because there was no problem with the checked luggage, and they never even weighed our carry on. But don’t worry, we’re not mad at you anymore. We then made our way to security, where, after email address exchanges, “don’t forget me!”s, and hugs all around, we parted ways with Mingo. So yeah, we then went in shifts to get food; Lianna tried some orange-flavored Chinese muffins, but Alex and I just stuck with ham and egg sandwiches (hi viz- its lianna- I WAS MORE ADVENTUROUS THAN THE BOYS!!). The flight was SO short, barely even making it worth a flight… but it was certainly an experience—the Chinese are very loud on planes, and we saw a woman WAILING on her children. It was actually a little sad.

So, we soon touched down in Guilin, picked up our baggage, and found our guide: Ling, who calls herself Macy. As we stepped out of the airport, we were ecstatic to be able to see the sun for the first time since before we arrived in Hong Kong. Macy brought us to our hotel (which is SO awesome) so we could drop off our stuff, and then we headed out to the first of the day’s main attractions: lunch.

Lunch was amazing. They sat us down in a small room by ourselves, and brought us a bunch of preordered dishes. We took pictures and notes on what we were eating, and which dishes we liked. Our favorites were a beef and green peppers dish, and a pork with cucumber and peanuts dish. Allison’s favorite was the eggplant, but Lianna, Alex, and I didn’t even try it (unlike last year’s group, we HATE eggplant… it’s texture is just horrible. We tried everything else though. Alex and I took it a step further and tried Guilin’s renowned dishes: a special chili sauce (a pea-sized amount of which completely burned my mouth), and fermented tofu, which was just VERY salty.

After lunch, we headed to Fubo Hill. The hill was pretty cool, it was all decked out for the New Years celebrations and such. Traditional attractions included the giant iron bell (weighing about 200 kg), which was covered in Chinese characters, and the thousand-man bowl, which was a giant bowl big enough to make dinner for a thousand monks. The New Years stuff, however, included an AWESOME game: you stacked  7 thick disk-like things on top of each other, and used a mallet made of bamboo and cloth to knock the lowest disk out of the stack. If the tower falls, you lose. They were offering a prize if you could knock out five without the remaining two falling, but the most we could get was 3 or 4. We got some really good pictures though, and they gave us a prize, just for being westerners (we think). Then it was time to CLIMB Fubo! Lianna counted 316 steps along the winding path, but it was totally worth it. When we got to the top, we could see for MILES since it was so clear, basically including all of the city and most of the surrounding mountains. Speaking of which, I assume you’ve seen the traditional paintings of Chinese mountain ranges, in which they come to sharp peaks, one after another? Well, they’re completely accurate. The mountain ranges here are so amazing, and they completely surround the city.

After Fubo, we headed to Reed Flute Cave, renowned as the most beautiful cave in China. Words can’t do justice to its beauty, so just wait for the pictures (also, it’s a little late and I want to go to bed soon). Basically, it was full of stalactites and stalagmites, which were lit by multicolored lights from every angle. With a little imagination, the rock formations looked like lions, monkeys, feet, and many other objects and creatures. On the way into the cave, we were waylaid by hordes of street merchants, trying to sell everything from little whistles to books of pictures. A woman offered me two books of postcards for 10 RMB. I said no. She offered me three for the same price. I said maybe when we came back down. She offered me the fourth one she had, all for 10 RMB, so I went ahead and bought them. Turned out that ONE of the very same post card books would have cost 20 RMB at the gift shop, so I certainly got a good deal.

From the cave we went to Elephant trunk hill. It was basically a rock formation that looks kind of like an elephant with its trunk in the water. So we walked around there for a little bit, including walking right up into the hole between the “trunk” and “body.” There was also a Buddhist shrine (I forgot to mention the underground shrines at Fubo hill… they were pretty cool, they had live turtles and everything!). This shrine had a pool of water (where we saw the first LIVE fish), and a Buddhist statue that’s over 2000 years old. Yes. 2000. Older than Jesus. Owned. ANYWAY. After Elephant trunk, it was time to call it a day. We headed back to our hotel, trying to figure out what to do for dinner. Alex was disappointed when we got back, however, because the room’s internet wasn’t working. After calling the hotel’s head geek, he and Allison went out to get money from an ATM, and disaster struck. Alex and I have a vague memory of Viz telling us that “pins need to be four digits,” but at the time, she didn’t specify for debit cards, so we had no idea what she was talking about. Turns out, Chinese ATMs only accept pin numbers that are fewer than 6 digits. Mine is 7. Alex’s is 8. Guess what? WE CAN’T ACCESS OUR ACCOUNTS! So we can’t get money. We’ve resolved the issue by having our parents give Lianna a large amount of money that she will then give us. Or something. Hopefully.

So now it’s bedtime. Tomorrow we’re hoping for good weather as we’ll be cruising down the Li river, and we’re hoping to access money. For now, Wanan!

Guangzhou

(Lianna)

Hi all! We left Hong Kong today. It was a little scary. We could no longer count on people knowing English. We found our train okay at the HK station and got into Guangzhou. We all made it through customs in Guangzhou! It was very exciting! I was the first one through on this side, after being last in HK so I was very happy. Sorry I didn’t write much about the train ride, I slept through most of it.  But what I saw was really interesting. We saw people working in fields and some really nice apartments, and some crummy buildings. It was definitely interesting seeing the varying degrees of wealth. After getting to Guangzhou we met our guide, Mingo. He is very nice, we all love him.

First Mingo took us to see the Chen Family Temple/Folk Art Museum. That was really impressive. It was at one point a person’s house. It was so incredibly large (like a palace or castle, but better, because it had traditional Chinese style architecture, decorations,  and plants). We all imagined how awesome it would be to live in it, until Mingo pointed out that there would be no running water or heat. The artwork there was amazing. There were exhibits designated to bone carvings, silk “paintings”, and other really awesome things.

After the temple Mingo (our love) took us to Sun Yat Sen’s memorial hall. The building was incredibly large and colorful. Before going in we saw a huge statue of Sun Yat Sen. This was our first experience of the Chinese being amused by Westerners. People kept staring at us and taking our photos. It was quite amusing. We went into the memorial and there was history and photos and stuff.  I thought that was interesting. We saw someone doing hand paintings that look like brush paintings of Guilin. So impressive. I already knew this, but Mingo said the three most important people to China are Sun Yat Sen, Mao, and Deng Xiaoping. Hearing it from a Chinese person made me realize just how weird it is that the three most important men were so different; one being a nationalist, one a communist, and one a “communist” with capitalist ideas.

Mingo took us to see some really great sites. We went back to the hotel and parted with Mingo. He told us he would be taking us to the airport. We hadn’t realized this and were thus very happy to find out we wouldn’t have to deal with the airport by ourselves. None of us felt like going out for dinner, so we walked around the island. It was beautiful, with the French colonial influence. I thought it felt a lot like Florida. There were palm trees and pretty buildings. We ended up at a starbucks. And Italian guy was also at Starbucks, and I think we were the first Westerners he had seen in a long time (He is working in a small community outside of Shanghai).  So he joined us and we sat and talked for a long time, probably at least an hour. And that was pretty much the end of our night. 

I mean, these guys INVENTED gunpowder ... !

(Alex)

My first blog entry! This has been a long time coming, and I hope that all those who read it will enjoy! Quickly, just for those who care, I am having a great time! The guys are great and Hong Kong is amazing! Today we woke up a little earlier than anticipated. Although we had had what we thought to be an enormously physical day yesterday, few of us actually slept in. Li and I were the only two who were able to sleep the entire night without the aid of medication. Allison, who had had a rough night yesterday, took a couple of Tylenol, whereas Mark woke up at three, and just couldn’t get back to sleep. Various sleeping complications aside, we assembled rather sleepily in the dining room to plan our day before the firework display on the harbor that night. The food there was, as always, great, although the décor was a little gaudy. After settling on a plan for the day (and around four cups of tea on my part), we headed down to the subway, which never fails to amaze.  At present time I don’t really know how in depth the other guys have gotten concerning the subway system in Hong Kong, but the one thing that really stood out for me is the amazing accessibility and cleanliness of the subway. Also, they really, really are careful that you wont fall on to the tracks, with double-sliding doors and glass-lined stations. 

Anyways, we headed towards Hong Kong Island, hopped a connecting train to Lantau Island and exited at the Cable Car station to the infamous Big Buddha. Although we were initially afraid we had arrived to late to beat the crowds, we were pleasantly surprised to find the line relatively empty (no two hour waits here!). After paying around $100 HK each for tickets to the cable car (they jacked up the prices for Chinese New Year) we were off to view the city from the skies… with one slight hitch. Although it has been overcast since we arrived, we didn’t realize how foggy it was until we got above sea level. Roughly five minutes into the ride, the blue seas and impressive skyline faded away into oppressive, foggy, white mist. Literally fifteen of the twenty minutes we spent in the cable-car ride consisted of sitting in the car surrounded by fog. Depressed, we exited the car hoping for the best but fearing the worst. Entering Ngong Pong Village (the Buddhist village housing the temple and the giant statue), the mist lent certain mysticism to the atmosphere, simultaneously improving and detracting from the experience of our trip. Making our way through the village, people faded in and out of the mist, along with tranquil gardens and the occasional gift shop. Walking along a partially developed road, we arrive at the bottom of an imposing step of double stairs, with crowds of people moving up and down. The mist obscured our final destination, the Big Buddha. As we climbed up the stairs, we looked in vain for some hint of the famous statue. Finally, within a few feet of the top, this massive figure looms out of the missed, materializing in clarity before our very eyes. Although the finer details are lost in the mist, the size alone is enough to take your breath away. After a little waiting, the fog clears for long enough for us to take some pretty great pictures. After hanging around the top alcove with the Buddha above us, and even going inside the shrine to see some amazing Buddhist relics (including a shard of the Buddha which is apparently comparable to the Holy Grail in Buddhist mythology), we decided to hike back down to the monastery itself, where we had lunch. The initial confusion aside, we managed to redeem the lunch ticket we got at the top and had some great vegetarian noodles and sweets. The temple outside was also pretty sweet, with a ton of intricate carvings and gold inlays, and A LOT of incense and Buddha statues. Much of the temples more intricate details defy description, so keep an eye out for pictures to follow. The trip overall was a great success. 

After scrambling back to the hotel, we quickly changed for the night out on Hong Kong Harbor. Heading across the street to the Kowloon Hotel, we were told to wait for the tour guide Fred who would take us to the buffet we had planned and then to the dock for the boat cruise before the fireworks. But, Fred Ho never showed. Instead another guide, Ricky Martin (no joke), called out “Mr. Allison, group of four!” and we, in the words of Allison, “just went with the flow”. Feeling confused and slightly guilty, we boarded the tour bus heading to, we hoped, the restaurant. As it turns out, we were luckily right. The restaurant was great, with a ton of dishes to try, and some pretty interesting people to talk to. I can’t decide whether I’m embarrassed or annoyed that I ate far more than the other three combined (They’re all really slow and picky eaters). After leaving the restaurant, Ricky, who had by then become our personal hero, directed us to the docks where we would take the boat cruise around the harbor, culminating in the New Years fireworks display. Although Li and Allison were initially nervous about the rickety little boat that was moored when we arrived at the dock, it soon pulled away to reveal a far larger, more stable, boat in its place. We hopped on with the rest of the guests and were off taking pictures of the skyline at night for the last time. Then, the fireworks started. And when I say they were the best display I’ve ever seen, I mean it. I mean, the guys INVENTED gunpowder, so I would hope they where good with it, but this defied all explanation and description. So many boats flooded the small inlet where the fireworks were being lit that I was afraid on more than one occasion that we would collide with one and sink to the bottom before the show would end. I used up the remaining memory on my card taking a 8 minute video (to be posted on Facebook as soon as we have a reliable connection) of the beginning of the show, but apparently they ended up blowing up over 20,000 rockets and $5,000,000 HK worth of hardware. So yeah, the fireworks were epic. Taking the boat back, we said bye to Ricky and blearily stumbled back to the hotel. 

Which brings us pretty much up to date. OK. Now I am so ridiculously tired because I still haven’t fully adjusted to the time difference and feel that I have written way, way to much although Viz will be happy. Everyone is well, although also very tired. Sad to say bye to Hong Kong but excited for what’s to come next. Hope to write again soon, and hope for INTERNET at some point. Zai jian everybody, and hope to talk to you soon!!

World’s Happiest Party

(Allison)

Kung Hei Fat Choy! (Happy New Year)  Hong Kong is an amazing city…I love it here..We got an early start [Monday] and took the subway from Kowloon under the harbor to Hong Kong Island. The subway is so clean and easy to follow. We walked to the Peak Tram Station, there was no line and we got right on the tram and headed up to Victoria Peak. The weather was a bit cloudy – but the view was still very impressive. We decided to take our first official group photo..Oh, we have a team name…(with the help of Lianna’s father Greg  during our brainstorm at Logan) DS China Exchange 2009 will be officially called ObamaLAMA. Reasoning = every one in the group has a slight obsession to our new commander in chief…(Lianna did attend the Inauguration..) and the word lama is an acronym for all of our first names…and both words flow quite nicely together..to reinforce our name – there is also a large island just south of Hong Kong Island called Lamma Island..

Back to the peak..we wandered around the top in awe of the city…the contrasts between the lush green landscapes and the modern skyscrapers…Mark mentioned how it reminded him of Hawaii..There were adorable dogs everywhere!! Alex really wanted Haagen Das (spelling ?) but did not cave. We met this adorable tour guide named Arthur..he asked about our trip and was very impressed with our itinerary (thanks Becky!) As we were entering the gate to get back on the tram we came across a sign that said, to our amusement “Payments Accepted: Cash or Octopus” – Is octopus an actual currency in HK?   

At the bottom, there was a line for the tram that went around a corner and down the street—we beat the crowds!  We headed to H + M to meet my friends Geoff and Erica who live in HK. They both teach at an international school. They took us on a whirlwind tour of down town HK Island, desperately trying to find a restaurant that was open (everything is closed for the new year). We went up the world’s longest escalater system-- to an area called SOHO – with tons of great restaurants…any type of food you can imagine- italian, mexican, indian, american... We ended up going to this funky place that served everything from traditional  Chinese fare to pizza and breakfast!  At lunch Geoff and Erica ruined our joke by informing us that the “octopus” was the name of their subway card – like the Charlie Ticket or Metro Card (hi – and, dana, and mel ).

After lunch we took a double-decker bus (we sat at the top in the front = scary) to the south side of the island (where Geoff and Erica live). We strolled along a beautiful beach, and then along a promenade to Repulse Bay. Our first Buddhist temple!! Right on the water it was beautiful…and so colorful. We walked over a bridge that added three years to our lives. Then we headed to Stanley Market, an adorable waterfront shopping/restaurant area. Geoff, Mark and Alex went on an intense hunt for US to China adapter/converter but had no luck…Lianna was hungry so we sat down a water front snack bar type thing…everyone was getting tired..(we have not adjusted to the time change quite yet)..so we said good bye to Geoff and Erica and took a taxi to Star Ferry Pier!! I was very excited! I double checked that it was headed to Tsim Sha Tsui (thank you for the advice Terry and Rick).

It was 6:30 and we were not in the state of mind to conquer the crowds lined up 6 or 7 people deep for the New Year’s parade – otherwise known as the “World’s Happiest Party”. We headed back to the hotel with hopes to view the parade from the huge patio on the fourth floor of our hotel – but our hopes were quickly squashed by an evil security guard. We tried to go outside to watch it –but the route was blocked off to ticket holders only?? And we were all returning back to our jetlagged delirious stupor selves. So, we decided to watch from our hotel room (on the route but eight floors up)…it was kind of sad – but we had the television on so that we could hear it… It is the year of the OX!! – they are everywhere… Lianna and I really want to find some Ox ears! The parade ended and we went to bed…dreaming of small children dressed up as Ox on light up roller blades…

Hi Mom, Dad, Rachel, Becky and everyone else who is reading –including Periods 1,2,4,6, and 7!! 

love and miss you all,

Allison

 

Oxen on Blinking Rollerblades…? o_O

(Mark)

HELLO FROM HONG KONG!

So we touched down at the airport at 6:45 and made our way to baggage claim. The airport was so unnecessarily large…we had to walk for like ten minutes, then get on a subway type thingy that took us to baggage claim. Our bags came almost immediately (no, we didn’t lose any, despite Lianna’s fear), so we exchanged money and started heading out. As we got into the main airport, a random guy came up to us and asked us where we were headed. Turned out he was a taxi driver, and offered us a ride right to the hotel for 380 Hong Kong dollars (about 54 USD, divided amongst the four of us). So we went with him. And the ride was pretty cool. And he was really nice. When we got to the hotel, we tipped him an extra 40 Hong Kong dollars or so, later discovering that tips were supposed to be about 5. We certainly made his day.

After checking in, we headed to the night market (though we don’t think we went to the right one…?). Getting there was quite an experience, as we had to learn to ride the subway. You can only by a single trip ticket, and you need it to get OUT of the subway when you reach your destination. Allison thought she lost her ticket, it was bad… she’s still living in the subway. Like Charlie on the MTA. JK LOL, WE LOVE HER. The night market was actually kind of a let down (hence our doubts as to whether we went to the right place). It was pretty much just like any other market in any China Town. People were obsessed with remote control helicopters... one dropped and almost beheaded us. Except it was way too small. But I like dramatic effect.

ANYWAY. Then we were tired. So we tried to go back to the hotel. On the way, however, we encountered the rehearsal for the New Years Parade. We were pretty much in a delirious stupor, so we were just kinda wandering around when we stumbled upon it. It was pretty epic, with dancers, bands, large dragon thingys… When it began to get old, we headed out, but somehow ended up on the wrong side of the entrance gate, so that we could have just gone right into the stadium where everyone was performing. We decided not to though, which was an EXCELLENT decision, as we ran into “THE COOLEST THING I’VE EVER SEEN” (in Allison’s words). What was it? Little Chinese children, dressed as Oxen,* on flashing rollerblades. In Lianna’s words, it was “SOOO amazing!” Alex has a video of it that will hopefully be posted, and you can see the oxen and hear Allison and Lianna’s exclamations. You will laugh. A lot.

So then we went back to the hotel, and tried to get internet. It was quite annoying, there was a fifty dollah deposit, and we had to buy a minimum of fifteen minutes (at one dollah per minute). So Allison just checked her email, and sent the world’s worst and shortest message to our parents and Viz to say we were alive. You probably won’t see this post till we get to Guangzhou, as we don’t want to deal with that internet thing again, but OH WELL! So yeah, hi mom, dad, alex, steve, grammie, gramps, nana, anita and steve, pam, and anyone else who I may have missed due to my exhaustion. Mom, your brownies were awesome! Coming up next… to Hong Kong Island!

*It is now the year of the ox. The Chinese aren’t THAT weird. Usually.

Airports? Boring Blog entry

(Lianna) 

So we all got to the airport at 4 am… or should I say most of us got there at 4 am. I won’t name the late comer (I’ll give you a hint… he’s blonde). We were all extremely tired and the fact that we would soon be in CHINA hadn’t really kicked in yet. So we got on our plane and fell asleep… it was long. Unfortunately however, none of us slept very long. So Allison, Mark, and I played cards including an epic, hour-long, game of war. Alex, who chose to be separated by the aisle from us watched TV and listened to his ipod and did other such things. That flight was pretty bad: cramped, long, etc. First casualty of the trip? Allison left Twilight on the plane, good thing she wasn’t upset about it.

We got into San Francisco at 10am-ish. We found our gate, which happened to be 12 million miles away from the one we came into. Then we went by twos to get food. We could tell the plane was HUGE, but the gate was pretty empty. Bad sign about the economy? You could say that… but GREAT sign for us… I’ll skip the boring airport time.

We got on the plane and there was absolutely no one on it. Everyone on the plane, except those with babies and small children, got a whole row for themselves! Mark, Alex, and I each chose rows with 4 seats, which made seeping pretty comfortable (well, as comfortable as sleeping on a plane can be). Alex wanted to build a fort in his row, but he didn’t end up doing it, he was out for most of the flight. The flight attendants were SO nice and helpful and delightful and happy, unlike the mean ones going to San Francisco. We had asked for a meal to be left for mark if he was asleep and the flight attendants were so amazing that he got offered the same meal THREE times!! The food was actually pretty good for airline food. We had the choice of Chinese style chicken and rice or meatloaf, then they gave us Chinese noodles (very much like ramen noodles). Then for the “light snack” prior to landing we could have a soggy turkey sandwich or disgusting looking noodles… but the first two meals were good. The international flight, while 14 hours long was actually a pretty pleasant experience. We are all hoping that the flight going home will be just as good.

O and there were lots of really cute Asian babies on our plane, they amused us. One of the little boys had shoes that flashed bright colors! It was so exciting! You will see a trend in our blogs that we like blinking things, specifically blinking shoes. So, long story short… because I don’t know how I managed to make this blog about airplanes this long… we got here safe and, well… exhausted.

2009 Exchange Group has landed in Hong Kong!

The 2009 Exchange group departed from Logan airport at 6:15am Saturday morning, Jan 24.  Stay tuned for further postings!