I just finished a fantastic snowboarding trip with my friend Ran and his father Ami.
No time for stories at the moment, unfortunately, but you can find photos of my Banff trip here.
You'll find beautiful scenery from Lake Louise, Sunshine, and Norquay.
At long last, I have finally named, resized, and uploaded my remaining photos from China. Here's a breakdown of the trip:
Hong Kong -- Same photos as before.
Train to Guilin -- Same photos as before.
Yangshuo -- There are some new ones here.
Three Gorges -- These are all new.
Hangzhou -- These are all new.
Putuoshan -- These are all new.
Shanghai -- These are all new.
On October 8, 2005, Arturo, Silvia, Alphonso, Mary and I went to Harrison Hot Springs to see the town's annual sand sculpture exhibition. The weather may not have been very nice, but the sculptures sure were!! There are certainly some very talented sand sculptors out there.
Photos here.
After months of preparation (and anticipation!), I'm finally leaving for China in the wee hours of the morning this Sunday, August 14. Officially I'm going for the IEEE's EMBS conference (Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society) from September 1-4 in Shanghai. I figured I'd take the opportunity to see more than just Shanghai, however, since it's not very often I receive a free plane ticket to China!!
Though I will be travelling through many rural areas of the country, I hope to periodically locate internet access points and upload my photos and stories to this website. Check in periodically for updates (below).
It's been awhile since I've had the chance to sit down and write; there's been a lot going on and I haven't really had internet access. Here's a recap of what's happened to date.
Last Wednesday we spent the afternoon on a river boat on the Li River. The river winds its way through thousands of limestone karsts (tall, steep, mountain-like formations), which makes for incredible scenery. No two karsts are quite the same. Water buffalo graze in the river, and fishermen stand at the banks with catching nets. We had beautiful weather for the entire cruise, and just as we were disembarking it started pouring rain. Lucky!
Later that night, we took a small boat on the river to watch cormorant fishermen in action. They release cormorants into the water, and these catch fish and keep them in their throat. Then, the fishermen retrieve the cormorants and make them spit up the fish into a basket. It was an interesting sight, but I get the impression that it's more for show than function. After half an hour of fishing they barely had anything big enough to eat, and there are much more efficient ways of fishing. Still interesting though!
The next day, we rose early and took a bike ride up to one of the karsts called Moon Hill, and then hiked to the peak. A group of local women followed us to the top, fanning us off as we went to help us cool down. They wanted to sell us drinks when we reached the peak, and although the prices were outrageous (at least 10x the local going rate), we couldn't really refuse after they spent an hour hiking with us. The scenery at the peak was amazing; it overlooked many other karsts in the area, as well as the small villages between. The karst is called Moon Hill because there is a rock formation at the peak that looks like a crescent moon. It's a rock arch that curves over the trail, with stalactites hanging below. Essentially it's a cave that cuts right through the mountain...it's hard to describe, but you can see it in my Yangshuo photos.
After Moon Hill, we biked into one of the nearby villages and had lunch at a local farmhouse. The farmer had us help with the cooking, so I can now say that I'm a "master" of Chinese cuisine. ;-) After we filled up on delicious meat & veggies, we biked through the countryside for a few hours.
Later that night, we watched an outdoor light show produced by the director of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, and House of Flying Daggers. We didn't know what to expect, but we were all pleasantly surprised. The show involved hundreds (if not thousands) of synchronized Chinese dancers set to music and lit up on a backdrop of the local scenery. It was a great show, and apparently it's similar to the opening show that will be produced for the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
At mid-day on Friday, we left Yangshuo for nearby Guilin, and from there caught another hard sleeper train to Yichang, on the Yangtze river. The tracks seemed far bumpier in this part of China, and I barely slept at all because of the noise and jostling.
Photo links can be found in the previous update.
There's been too much going on to write, but tonight we'll be taking an overnight train to Three Gorges so I'll probably have more time.
Photos of the train journey here, and photos of Yangshuo here.
Tuesday was dedicated to travel from Hong Kong to Yangshuo. First we boarded a bus from Kowloon to the mainland, then we had to disembark, pass through Chinese customs, and then board another bus into Shenzhen. I was very surprised by Shenzhen; it is a bustling metropolis of over 10 million people (one of the largest cities in the world), and yet I had never even heard of it. We had a couple of hours to eat lunch, and then we boarded yet another bus to the train station. The train station was unbelievable; I have never seen anything like it. Thousands of people crowded outside, trying to get into the building through a few small doorways. People used just about every means necessary to get in front, including crowding against you, pushing, shoving, and elbowing. At first I was letting people in front of me (being the polite Canadian I am), but soon I learned that unless I joined in on the rough behaviour I was never going to get inside. So, against all my nature I started pushing and shoving back, and eventually passed through the doorway. Inside was stifling hot and stale; temperatures of 40C, no open windows, and thousands of people squished up against each other made for a very uncomfortable wait. Soon we had to shove our way into another room (the departure queue), and then shove our way outside onto the departure platforms. We finally got on the train. The irony of it is that all the pushing and shoving wasn't even necessary; the train tickets are for reserved seating, so everybody could have filed onto the train in an orderly fashion and nobody would have been left behind. I guess orderliness is not exactly the Chinese way. :-)
The train was a "hard sleeper", which means that we each have a bed to sleep on, but there is no privacy. The beds are bunk-style, stacked three high, and run the length of the train without any doors separating them. It was a very interesting experience. Throughout the ride, vendors pushed carts up and down the aisle selling everything imaginable. Our guide instructed us not to eat the hot food, as it is apparently not very sanitary and likely to make us ill. We did buy a lot of fruit, however, and they had some really exotic stuff that I'd never seen before (but very tasty). I slept well on the train that night, but apparently everyone else in our group was in great discomfort. It's not that my bed was any more comfortable; more likely it's that by comparison to the air mattress I sleep on at home, this was first class luxury. ;-) The train arrived in Guilin at around 6am, and from there we caught a bus to Yangshuo, arriving at around 8am. Finally, after 20 hours of travel, we had reached our destination!
Yangshuo (technically part of the city of Guilin) is one of the smaller centres in China, home to a mere 300,000 people. We are staying in a really cool hotel, with traditional Chinese decorations and layout. The rooms are arranged in a square, with an open centre. Stairs circle the centre, and at the bottom are trees and plants that catch rain falling from above. We have a free day today, meaning there are no organized group activities. I'm going to catch a bus to the Li River and take a boat tour this afternoon. In the evening I'll watch the cormorant fishermen on the river. Apparently these fellows train cormorants to catch fish and return with them; then, all the fishermen have to do is pluck the fish from the cormorant's beak.
For those who just want the photos, you can find them here. I haven't had the chance to touch them up or weed them out yet, but you'll get the idea.
I made it! In spite of a delayed flight departure I arrived in Hong Kong a few minutes early. I was able to sleep through much of the flight, so I'm not even jetlagged this morning! The airport is quite far from town, but they have a fast railway line to connect to the city. The railway is nice because you get to see some of HK's outlying areas. I was surprised at how green parts of the city are, and at how many mountains are in the immediate area.
Unfortunately the weather hasn't been great; it rained off and on all day, sometimes pouring harder than I've ever seen in Canada. It is still the rainy season here. On the other hand, it's been nice and cool by HK standards: temperatures in the high 20s and lots of humidity. Though the humidity makes you feel like you're always wet, the temperature was cool enough that you're not actually dripping with sweat. People told me that it was much hotter a few days ago, however, so I guess I got lucky!
I was surprised at how modern and advanced the city is. The subway system (called the MTR) is better than I've seen anywhere; it's fast, easy to understand and use, and all computerized. Everything that can be computerized is; even doors remind you to open your umbrella upon leaving a store. :-) Oh, and absolutely everything is air conditioned, so if you're uncomfortably hot outside you simply have to step into a store for a few minutes to cool down. Both the subway and the subway terminals are air conditioned, and the tracks are separated from the terminal by sets of sliding doors to keep the cool air in. Many stores are not so concerned about keeping the cool air inside, however; they leave their front doors open and blast the street with cool air. It's not very energy efficient, but it sure makes it nice to walk through the shopping district. :-)
In the afternoon I went down to Tsim Sha Tsui (the touristy shopping district). On one stretch I was repeatedly accosted by East Indian men (over a dozen in total) telling me that I need more business suits and that they can custom tailor a high quality suit for me at a low price. They start off by asking your name and where you're from, and when you tell them to bugger off they act hurt and insulted. I quickly found the best technique is to avoid eye contact and ignore them.
Later, I took a ferry tour through Victoria Harbour. It leaves from Tsim Sha Tsui, and travels all along the waterfront. At night I went up to Victoria Peak to see the city lights from above. The city is incredibly beautiful at night. All the buildings are lit up, and the lights "move" in patterns or slowly change colours. It's the best skyline I've ever seen.
I think that HK was the perfect place to start my China tour. Not only should it offer a striking contrast between the developed city and the rural countryside, but it's also extremely accessible to the English speaking world. The city is apparently officially bilingual, and all signs are written both in Chinese and in English. All verbal announcements (such as on the MTR) are done in Cantonese, English, and Mandarin. Amazingly, I had a much easier time getting around HK than I did Germany a few years back! I'm sure it won't be like that on the mainland, however, especially in the rural areas. But I have my trusty Mandarin phrase book, so hopefully I'll be fine. :-)
My flight has been delayed by a bit, so I have some time to kill at YVR. Apparently the flight is massively overbooked and Cathay is desperate to offload some travellers to a later flight. They just about begged me to take the next one (12 hrs later), and even offered me $400 (almost 1/3 of my ticket price) to do it. Though the offer is generous, taking it would cut my visit to HK drastically short, so I'm still on my regular schedule. HK here I come!
The trip, as planned, will take me from Hong Kong to Shanghai mostly through China's southeastern regions. The map below shows the general path I will be taking.
Days 1-2: Hong Kong
I will be arriving in Hong Kong at 8am Aug. 15 China time (Aug. 14 Canada time). I'll spend the first day touring Hong Kong, and the second day in Guangzhou, which is just across from HK on the mainland. Next I'll catch a sleeper train to Guilin (Guangzi province), arriving early the next morning.
Days 3-5: Yangshuo
I'll be touring Guilin and the nearby countryside town of Yangshuo. This region is one of the best known tourist attractions in China, with the Li River winding its way around thousands of limestone karst mountains. This should be quite an experience of rural China! On the last day I'll take an overnight train to Yichang (on the Yangzi River).
Days 6-8: Three Gorges
I'll be spending two days aboard a traditional Chinese boat travelling down the Yangzi River. Along the way I'll be visiting the Three Gorges Dam (the world's largest hydroelectric dam, currently half-finished), as well as several small riverside towns. I'll also take a brief side trip down a Yangzi tributary called the Lesser Three Gorges in a smaller boat.
Days 9-10: Hangzhou
In the morning I'll disembark near Hangzhou to visit the West Lake. The lake is surrounded by hills and gardens, temples and pavilions. The city is known for its food and traditional teahouses; I'll be checking out all of these!
Days 11-12: Putuoshan
A short bus trip will take me to the scenic island of Putuoshan. The island is known for its impressive bridge architecture, temples, artisans, and monks.
Days 13-25: Shanghai
My tour ends after two days in Shanghai, but I will remain here afterwards for the EMBS conference (oh yeah, I forgot...I actually have to do some work on this trip!). The city is supposed to be very impressive, and an interesting mix of Eastern and Western culture. I return to Vancouver on Sept. 8.
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