So apparently I've fallen a little behind on my blogging - sorry. Initially I stopped updating regularly because my brother, Matt, arrived in Shanghai for a month of travel with me. Rather than spend my evenings typing away on my computer, I chose to enjoy having family here. We had an incredible month together. We went from Shanghai to Hangzhou to Suzhou to Chongqing. Then we boarded an interesting "cruise ship" down the Yangze river where we arrived in Yichang after 2 days and 2 nights. From Yichang we hopped a flight to Chengdu. In Chengdu we made a day trip to Leshan to see the world's largest buddha. From Chendgu we headed to Xi'an for a few days. Relaxed and were lazy in Qufu for another few, and then headed to Beijing for 4 nights before saying goodbye. Having family here was great. Having family leave was a bit sad, and I have to admit that when I said goodbye to Matt at the airport I was a bit jealous. I love China, I really do, but I miss my friends and family back home immensely. I also miss the comforts of speaking the language, knowing the customs, and enjoying the variety of food.
Life in Qufu is moving quickly by though, and soon enough I'll be saying goodbye to all the things I loved about my year here. So now I'm hoping to jump start the blog again. Once a month goes by it's hard to start up again - too much has happened to record here. It's a bit like laundry. If you're doing it at least once a week, you don't mind it. But when it piles up, the pile just keeps growing. So now I've decided to skip past the past few weeks - they were wonderful and exciting and then rather boring - and perhaps along the way I'll write about the last of my travels. But for now, I'm back, hoping to stay on top of this pile of laundry.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Goodbye Friends, Hello Family
So it's been a few weeks since I last checked in here. A lot & not very much have happened. After an incredible few days in Hong Kong I said goodbye to Karrin, Carrie & Travis and headed to Guangxi Provence - specifically Guilin and Yangshuo - for a week of travel by myself. The scenery was beautiful, the week relaxing but really nothing specific was memorable. For most of the week it was cold and grey - sometimes damp - and activities in these areas mostly involve exploring the landscape. I took a boat down the Li River from Guilin to Yangshuo and saw some of the country's most famed scenery. The boat itself was crowded with Chinese tourists, but I enjoyed the 4 hour journey and managed to fill my camera with pictures.
Guangxi provence is renowned throughout China and the world for it's Karst landscape - cliff like hills rising quickly from the land. It is much like what I saw in Zhangjiajie/Wulingyuan but on a shorter scale. In Guilin I wandered about a number of Gardens, one of which had an incredible cave within one of the Karst mountains. I also enjoyed walking around the two main lakes in the center of the city at night. They were wonderfully lit up and included two pagodas and a number of stone bridges.
Yangshuo was a strange place. A small town, the area has been completely transformed into a tourist area. All restaurants have English menus and many are "western" themed. English is easily heard and vendors are aggressive in selling their goods. Though most of my time there was wet I managed to get one wonderful day in the countryside, biking along the Yulong river. It was great to get away from the cities and tourist centers - though vendors still pop up at intersections. During the week I also developed a cold. Without the others I felt comfortable in being lazy and though there was more that I wished I had scene the cool, grey days were not entirely unwelcome.
After the week by myself, I flew to Shanghai where I met up with my brother Matt at the Pudong Airport. For the past week we have been traveling together and we have another three weeks more. It was been both wonderful, strange, and difficult to have him here. These five months have been the longest I have gone without seeing any family- at school it would usually be about three or four weeks. Its exciting to have him here, to be able to share the country in which I have lived for five months and will continue to live for another five. Yet, at the strange time it is strange to connect people from home with my life and world here. I also feel a great amount of responsibility to ensure that Matt has a good trip. Though I have only been in China a few months and will be visiting mostly new places with him, I feel that I must play the part of "host." I know (some of) the language, he doesn't. I know (some of) the culture, he doesn't. I live here, he doesn't. When traveling with Karrin, Carrie, and Travis it was easier in someways because we all new what to expect, we all spoke some language, and we all were in a similar situation. After a week of travel and 3 cities - Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Suzhou - I've introduced him the chaos of travel here. Train and bus stations are loud, crowded and unorganized and taxi drivers will do their best to take advantage of you. Once you get away from that though, China really has some beautiful spots, interesting people, and endearing habits.
In Shanghai, we did essentially what I did in my last trip in October, but this time with more Museums. Our day and a half in Hangzhou - just an hour by fast train from Shanghai - was filled with enjoyable activities. We visited a silk museum, wandered about the famed West Lake, and ate a nice dinner our first day. The next we eventually managed to rent bicycles after some confusion and spent the day exploring Longjing village. Longjing village is known for its green tea and is among the most highly regarded an expensive tea in China. After peddling - sometimes walking - up hill we made it to the village where we were greeted by an older woman who asked us (in Chinese) if we wanted to have some tea. She seemed friendly enough and the price she offered was fair, so we followed her to her home from which her family runs a small tea house. The tea was delicious and we bought some to take home to friends and family. The tea came directly from the bag - the same from which we sampled - and she was kind and helpful in serving us the tea and showing us the area. Later that day we went to Linying Temple. Though we never actually made it into the temple (we explored the surrounding area a bit to thoroughly) the afternoon was really a wonderful experience. Leading to the temple are some 340 odd carvings of various Buddhist figures in the walls of the mountains. They have been there for centuries and many of the stones are highly polished from the thousands of hands that have used the rocks for support in climbing or touched the figures in religious acts.
After a full day, we woke early today to head to Suzhou, another city near Shanghai. Where Hangzhou is known for it's West Lake, Suzhou is known for its canals and gardens. Our hostel is on a beautiful, but quite pedestrian street that runs along one canal. We spent the afternoon visiting a Suzhou Opera museum and saw a Pingyin performance that included some singing and musical instrument playing and some "who's on first" type comedy. Though it was all in Chinese and we understood little, we enjoyed the show which at 4 yuan each including a few cups of tea was a steal. It was also nice because those at the show were all old retired Chinese men and women with no (or no noticeable) tourists.
After the show we walked to Humble Ambassador Garden, the largest of the gardens in Suzhou. It is a spectacularly constructed garden including a number of beautiful buildings. Like most gardens in China it included a large amount of stone sculptures and winding paths. We wandered about for a few hours, enjoy the beautiful weather - sunny and low 70s. For dinner we wandered the canal streets, picking up street for along the way. Tomorrow we are looking forward to visiting another few gardens and enjoying a lazy and relaxing day.
Guangxi provence is renowned throughout China and the world for it's Karst landscape - cliff like hills rising quickly from the land. It is much like what I saw in Zhangjiajie/Wulingyuan but on a shorter scale. In Guilin I wandered about a number of Gardens, one of which had an incredible cave within one of the Karst mountains. I also enjoyed walking around the two main lakes in the center of the city at night. They were wonderfully lit up and included two pagodas and a number of stone bridges.
Yangshuo was a strange place. A small town, the area has been completely transformed into a tourist area. All restaurants have English menus and many are "western" themed. English is easily heard and vendors are aggressive in selling their goods. Though most of my time there was wet I managed to get one wonderful day in the countryside, biking along the Yulong river. It was great to get away from the cities and tourist centers - though vendors still pop up at intersections. During the week I also developed a cold. Without the others I felt comfortable in being lazy and though there was more that I wished I had scene the cool, grey days were not entirely unwelcome.
After the week by myself, I flew to Shanghai where I met up with my brother Matt at the Pudong Airport. For the past week we have been traveling together and we have another three weeks more. It was been both wonderful, strange, and difficult to have him here. These five months have been the longest I have gone without seeing any family- at school it would usually be about three or four weeks. Its exciting to have him here, to be able to share the country in which I have lived for five months and will continue to live for another five. Yet, at the strange time it is strange to connect people from home with my life and world here. I also feel a great amount of responsibility to ensure that Matt has a good trip. Though I have only been in China a few months and will be visiting mostly new places with him, I feel that I must play the part of "host." I know (some of) the language, he doesn't. I know (some of) the culture, he doesn't. I live here, he doesn't. When traveling with Karrin, Carrie, and Travis it was easier in someways because we all new what to expect, we all spoke some language, and we all were in a similar situation. After a week of travel and 3 cities - Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Suzhou - I've introduced him the chaos of travel here. Train and bus stations are loud, crowded and unorganized and taxi drivers will do their best to take advantage of you. Once you get away from that though, China really has some beautiful spots, interesting people, and endearing habits.
In Shanghai, we did essentially what I did in my last trip in October, but this time with more Museums. Our day and a half in Hangzhou - just an hour by fast train from Shanghai - was filled with enjoyable activities. We visited a silk museum, wandered about the famed West Lake, and ate a nice dinner our first day. The next we eventually managed to rent bicycles after some confusion and spent the day exploring Longjing village. Longjing village is known for its green tea and is among the most highly regarded an expensive tea in China. After peddling - sometimes walking - up hill we made it to the village where we were greeted by an older woman who asked us (in Chinese) if we wanted to have some tea. She seemed friendly enough and the price she offered was fair, so we followed her to her home from which her family runs a small tea house. The tea was delicious and we bought some to take home to friends and family. The tea came directly from the bag - the same from which we sampled - and she was kind and helpful in serving us the tea and showing us the area. Later that day we went to Linying Temple. Though we never actually made it into the temple (we explored the surrounding area a bit to thoroughly) the afternoon was really a wonderful experience. Leading to the temple are some 340 odd carvings of various Buddhist figures in the walls of the mountains. They have been there for centuries and many of the stones are highly polished from the thousands of hands that have used the rocks for support in climbing or touched the figures in religious acts.
After a full day, we woke early today to head to Suzhou, another city near Shanghai. Where Hangzhou is known for it's West Lake, Suzhou is known for its canals and gardens. Our hostel is on a beautiful, but quite pedestrian street that runs along one canal. We spent the afternoon visiting a Suzhou Opera museum and saw a Pingyin performance that included some singing and musical instrument playing and some "who's on first" type comedy. Though it was all in Chinese and we understood little, we enjoyed the show which at 4 yuan each including a few cups of tea was a steal. It was also nice because those at the show were all old retired Chinese men and women with no (or no noticeable) tourists.
After the show we walked to Humble Ambassador Garden, the largest of the gardens in Suzhou. It is a spectacularly constructed garden including a number of beautiful buildings. Like most gardens in China it included a large amount of stone sculptures and winding paths. We wandered about for a few hours, enjoy the beautiful weather - sunny and low 70s. For dinner we wandered the canal streets, picking up street for along the way. Tomorrow we are looking forward to visiting another few gardens and enjoying a lazy and relaxing day.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Hong Kong
Hong Kong was a fantastic experience. After having been in China for 5 months, it was fantastic to escape for a little bit. Though technically part of China, Hong Kong felt a world away. It was a treat to hear English spoken and understood by many, to see other westerners and not be stared at. The presence of western bathrooms though was most welcome. Also enjoyable was the ability to take a break from the common sightseeing of China.
We arrived in Hong Kong on the January 26th, also the lunar New Year, to find a quiet Hong Kong. Because of the Holiday, most shops and restaurants were closed. I have to say though, that it was nice to find a calmer Hong Kong than normal – it me to familiarize myself with the metro and layout of the city with out the millions of people normally bustling about. So, after making our way from the ferry terminal – we took an hour and a half ferry from Zhuhai – to our hostel we spent the afternoon walking about the SoHo/NoHo area. First we visited a temple.
Though I have visited many temples during my travels in China, visiting this one was different. Normally, the temples are quite, calm and nearly empty. This day, however, they were swarmed with people visiting because the New Year. We didn’t stay long, however, because being there not as religious visitors felt a little intrusive. Also, we didn’t stay long because of the overpowering incense smoke – my eyes actually began to burn after being inside for less than 5 minutes. Walking about SoHo I fell in love with Hong Kong. SoHo is a mixture of boutiques, restaurants and art galleries set among narrow, winding and steep roads. Most places were closed, but Carrie and I enjoyed ourselves, surveying menus and deciding how we would support ourselves living there.
The next day, we all set out for the Botanical and Zoological Gardens. The hike up to the gardens was quite strenuous and a bit unexpected but the garden itself was a pleasant reward. Though it was a cloudy day, the gardens were colorful and wonderful to walk about. Besides fountains and plants outside, the garden also included a number of aviaries and cages with monkeys in addition to a green house filled with orchids. The variety of orchids was incredible.
After spending the morning there we found our way to Mid-Way to walk down along the world’s longest escalator (it only goes up). Along our walk down we ran into Andy and Phred, two fellow Skidmore graduates teaching in Dongying, who were riding the escalator up. They hopped off to join us for a drink while we ate lunch. We had hoped to eat at a Vietnamese restaurant that Carrie and Travis had been to on a previous visit but found it closed because of the holiday (Spring Festival technically lasts 15 days, beginning on the New Year, and the public Holiday is usually for the 1st 3 days). Instead we went to a small noodle restaurant without Andy and Phred, promising to email to set up a time to meet. After lunch we headed across the water to Kowloon to visit a few markets and walk about. We wondered through the “Lady’s Market” looking at bags, jewelry and Chinese trinkets, before making our way to what our book told us was a Goldfish Market. Really, it was a street with a number aquarium shops, though bags of goldfish did dangle racks outside the doors. We then returned to the hostel for a quick rest before making our way to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner. Hong Kong was putting on a large fireworks display that night in honor of the Spring Festival. Knowing that it would be over the water between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, we decided to treat ourselves to a night out at CPK for some western food and also a great view of the Show – the restaurant is right on the water and the perfect spot for watching the fireworks. While we waited for our reservation, we again ran into the teachers from Dongying, this time all of them. They had also gone to the California Pizza Kitchen for dinner, though they didn’t have the foresight to make a reservation for the time of the fireworks. We spoke to them quickly before they ran off into the crowds in hopes of seeing the show. Just moments before it began, however, Erin and Dana appeared at our table. Phred and Andy had refused to slow down for them, so the two girls had returned. They sat with us while we ate and enjoyed the spectacular view.
On our 3rd day, Karrin and I made our way to Vivienne Westwood exhibit at ArtisTree which was co-produced by the Victoria & Albert in London. It was nice, after 5 months of sight seeing, to do see and do something that had nothing to do with China. The show was well done and made me wish that I had the money and the attitude to wear her clothes. After the museum, Karrin took a rest and I wandered about Central for a few hours. At 3pm we met up again with Carrie and Travis and decided to go to Stanley beach. Unfortunately the bus there runs very infrequently and we had just missed one. Instead, we decided to head to Aberdeen to see the harbor. Riding there on the double-decker bus in the top front seats was quite the adventure itself. Once at Aberdeen we took a Sampan boat through the harbor. The harbor itself was a strange collection of fishing boats in one area and then larger speedboats and private cruise ships in another. The view was beautiful and puttering about the harbor was wonderful. After the harbor we went to Central for a drink before a Sushi dinner. The next day was Karrin’s birthday, but she was leaving to go to Thailand to meet her aunt, so a birthday dinner on her actual birthday was not possible. We splurged that night on dinner, but had a great meal and celebrated Karrin.
We spent the morning of our 4th day standing –waiting of the bus, in line for the peak tram. We had decided that Karrin could not leave Hong Kong without taking the peak tram up to Victoria Peak. We were a little slow in getting out that morning and didn’t make it to the tram until almost 11am. Because it was still the holiday, many Chinese and their families were also visiting the peak so the wait in line was a little over an hour and half. Finally, we boarded the tram and made the steep journey up. The angle at which we traveled was truly remarkable. At the top we found a fairly good view. It was a cloudy day and a bit hazy as well but we still managed to get some good pictures of Hong Kong. We spent only a matter of minutes at the top because Karrin had to get back to make her flight.
We returned to the hostel, hugged her goodbye as she boarded her bus and then went to Stanley beach. The view from the bus there was wonderful as we wound our way around twisting roads. Stanley beach was beautiful. Thought it is only 30 minutes or so from downtown Hong Kong, it was a complete escape from the skyscrapers and chaos of the city. We ate a wonderful Indian lunch along the water and then went to the market in search of warmer clothes for Travis and Carrie who were heading a bit north next in their trip. We then returned home to the hostel for a quiet evening. 
The next day was our day of departure. Carrie and Travis were both feeling a bit under the weather so decided to head back to Zhuhai a bit early that day, and I myself had a flight in Shenzhen to catch that evening. I walked about a bit by myself but decided to simply head to the airport early. I made it there with little trouble and curled myself up in Starbucks with a cup of coffee and a book for a few hours to pass the time before my flight. Over all, Hong Kong was a great trip, and I would be happy to return.
We arrived in Hong Kong on the January 26th, also the lunar New Year, to find a quiet Hong Kong. Because of the Holiday, most shops and restaurants were closed. I have to say though, that it was nice to find a calmer Hong Kong than normal – it me to familiarize myself with the metro and layout of the city with out the millions of people normally bustling about. So, after making our way from the ferry terminal – we took an hour and a half ferry from Zhuhai – to our hostel we spent the afternoon walking about the SoHo/NoHo area. First we visited a temple.
Though I have visited many temples during my travels in China, visiting this one was different. Normally, the temples are quite, calm and nearly empty. This day, however, they were swarmed with people visiting because the New Year. We didn’t stay long, however, because being there not as religious visitors felt a little intrusive. Also, we didn’t stay long because of the overpowering incense smoke – my eyes actually began to burn after being inside for less than 5 minutes. Walking about SoHo I fell in love with Hong Kong. SoHo is a mixture of boutiques, restaurants and art galleries set among narrow, winding and steep roads. Most places were closed, but Carrie and I enjoyed ourselves, surveying menus and deciding how we would support ourselves living there.The next day, we all set out for the Botanical and Zoological Gardens. The hike up to the gardens was quite strenuous and a bit unexpected but the garden itself was a pleasant reward. Though it was a cloudy day, the gardens were colorful and wonderful to walk about. Besides fountains and plants outside, the garden also included a number of aviaries and cages with monkeys in addition to a green house filled with orchids. The variety of orchids was incredible.
After spending the morning there we found our way to Mid-Way to walk down along the world’s longest escalator (it only goes up). Along our walk down we ran into Andy and Phred, two fellow Skidmore graduates teaching in Dongying, who were riding the escalator up. They hopped off to join us for a drink while we ate lunch. We had hoped to eat at a Vietnamese restaurant that Carrie and Travis had been to on a previous visit but found it closed because of the holiday (Spring Festival technically lasts 15 days, beginning on the New Year, and the public Holiday is usually for the 1st 3 days). Instead we went to a small noodle restaurant without Andy and Phred, promising to email to set up a time to meet. After lunch we headed across the water to Kowloon to visit a few markets and walk about. We wondered through the “Lady’s Market” looking at bags, jewelry and Chinese trinkets, before making our way to what our book told us was a Goldfish Market. Really, it was a street with a number aquarium shops, though bags of goldfish did dangle racks outside the doors. We then returned to the hostel for a quick rest before making our way to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner. Hong Kong was putting on a large fireworks display that night in honor of the Spring Festival. Knowing that it would be over the water between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, we decided to treat ourselves to a night out at CPK for some western food and also a great view of the Show – the restaurant is right on the water and the perfect spot for watching the fireworks. While we waited for our reservation, we again ran into the teachers from Dongying, this time all of them. They had also gone to the California Pizza Kitchen for dinner, though they didn’t have the foresight to make a reservation for the time of the fireworks. We spoke to them quickly before they ran off into the crowds in hopes of seeing the show. Just moments before it began, however, Erin and Dana appeared at our table. Phred and Andy had refused to slow down for them, so the two girls had returned. They sat with us while we ate and enjoyed the spectacular view.On our 3rd day, Karrin and I made our way to Vivienne Westwood exhibit at ArtisTree which was co-produced by the Victoria & Albert in London. It was nice, after 5 months of sight seeing, to do see and do something that had nothing to do with China. The show was well done and made me wish that I had the money and the attitude to wear her clothes. After the museum, Karrin took a rest and I wandered about Central for a few hours. At 3pm we met up again with Carrie and Travis and decided to go to Stanley beach. Unfortunately the bus there runs very infrequently and we had just missed one. Instead, we decided to head to Aberdeen to see the harbor. Riding there on the double-decker bus in the top front seats was quite the adventure itself. Once at Aberdeen we took a Sampan boat through the harbor. The harbor itself was a strange collection of fishing boats in one area and then larger speedboats and private cruise ships in another. The view was beautiful and puttering about the harbor was wonderful. After the harbor we went to Central for a drink before a Sushi dinner. The next day was Karrin’s birthday, but she was leaving to go to Thailand to meet her aunt, so a birthday dinner on her actual birthday was not possible. We splurged that night on dinner, but had a great meal and celebrated Karrin.
We spent the morning of our 4th day standing –waiting of the bus, in line for the peak tram. We had decided that Karrin could not leave Hong Kong without taking the peak tram up to Victoria Peak. We were a little slow in getting out that morning and didn’t make it to the tram until almost 11am. Because it was still the holiday, many Chinese and their families were also visiting the peak so the wait in line was a little over an hour and half. Finally, we boarded the tram and made the steep journey up. The angle at which we traveled was truly remarkable. At the top we found a fairly good view. It was a cloudy day and a bit hazy as well but we still managed to get some good pictures of Hong Kong. We spent only a matter of minutes at the top because Karrin had to get back to make her flight.
We returned to the hostel, hugged her goodbye as she boarded her bus and then went to Stanley beach. The view from the bus there was wonderful as we wound our way around twisting roads. Stanley beach was beautiful. Thought it is only 30 minutes or so from downtown Hong Kong, it was a complete escape from the skyscrapers and chaos of the city. We ate a wonderful Indian lunch along the water and then went to the market in search of warmer clothes for Travis and Carrie who were heading a bit north next in their trip. We then returned home to the hostel for a quiet evening. 
The next day was our day of departure. Carrie and Travis were both feeling a bit under the weather so decided to head back to Zhuhai a bit early that day, and I myself had a flight in Shenzhen to catch that evening. I walked about a bit by myself but decided to simply head to the airport early. I made it there with little trouble and curled myself up in Starbucks with a cup of coffee and a book for a few hours to pass the time before my flight. Over all, Hong Kong was a great trip, and I would be happy to return.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Spring Festival
Yesterday, January 26th, was the first day of the first month of the Lunar year. The most important holiday of the year in China, the new year and Spring Festival have a number of traditions involved. Unfortunately, I haven't really been able to participate in any of these traditions, but I have observed some different behavior and scenes. On the 25th, Carrie, Travis, Karrin and I were in Guangzhou after flying back from Sanya late the night before. That day we went to a wonderful dim sum breakfast with one of Carrie's freshman and she then showed us around the city for a bit. The main visit of the day was to the main flower market near Beijing Lu. During spring festival families decorate their houses with flowers and bring flowers to others when they visit. Their is one specific flower having to do with 5 generations in a family that is one of the most common flowers during this time of year. I had never seen it before, and it is a strange sort of flower in that it doesn't blossom and you can't eat it. The flower market was filled with these, though orchids, lilies, gladiolus, and others were also there. 
Also being sold along the market were pin-wheel type toys, bought and carried about by both children and adults. Decorations for Spring Festival also include red and gold posters of traditional phrases or images of plump children, and also never-ending knots. Red and gold-or yellow-are unavoidable during this time or year. 
Also unavoidable this time of year are images of the Ox. This new year's animal, the ox is everywhere and everyone wants a picture in front of it-or rather all of them. I particularly enjoyed these grandparents and grandson posing in front of an Ox with winnie the pooh at the entrance to the flower market.
Yesterday, the new year, we arrived in Hong Kong. Most shops, restaurants, and business had closed for the holiday-usually new years and the following 2 days-but though much of the city was closed, the streets were still alive with activity. That, I think, is what I've enjoyed most about the New Year and Spring Festival-seeing families together. It is a common sight to see grandparents toting children around and spoiling them, but rarely do you see both parents-mother and father-walking leisurely with their child (or children). Tonight, the 27th we went to California Pizza Kitchen for a western treat and got to watch a spectacular fireworks show over the water. The feeling, the crowds were calm and quiet. No drunkenness, no rushing about, but rather families sharing the spectacle together. It is this sense of togetherness and the enjoyment in simply being together that has stood out most for me. The lunar new year and spring festival really are about family-being with your own and visiting others-and so as a foreigner here I have really only experienced the festivities from the outside, but I've enjoyed observing nonetheless.
Also being sold along the market were pin-wheel type toys, bought and carried about by both children and adults. Decorations for Spring Festival also include red and gold posters of traditional phrases or images of plump children, and also never-ending knots. Red and gold-or yellow-are unavoidable during this time or year. 
Also unavoidable this time of year are images of the Ox. This new year's animal, the ox is everywhere and everyone wants a picture in front of it-or rather all of them. I particularly enjoyed these grandparents and grandson posing in front of an Ox with winnie the pooh at the entrance to the flower market.
Yesterday, the new year, we arrived in Hong Kong. Most shops, restaurants, and business had closed for the holiday-usually new years and the following 2 days-but though much of the city was closed, the streets were still alive with activity. That, I think, is what I've enjoyed most about the New Year and Spring Festival-seeing families together. It is a common sight to see grandparents toting children around and spoiling them, but rarely do you see both parents-mother and father-walking leisurely with their child (or children). Tonight, the 27th we went to California Pizza Kitchen for a western treat and got to watch a spectacular fireworks show over the water. The feeling, the crowds were calm and quiet. No drunkenness, no rushing about, but rather families sharing the spectacle together. It is this sense of togetherness and the enjoyment in simply being together that has stood out most for me. The lunar new year and spring festival really are about family-being with your own and visiting others-and so as a foreigner here I have really only experienced the festivities from the outside, but I've enjoyed observing nonetheless.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Relaxing
Over the course of the past 10 days or so, I have done little more than relax. I arrived in Zhuhai on the 14th after a bumpy, but uneventful train ride to Guangzhou and then a short one hour bus trip. Karrin and I were warmly greeted by Carrie and Travis, two fellow graduates of Skidmore College who are also teaching in China this year. Zhuhai is a modern Chinese in every sense. Built in really just the past 15 to 20 years, this southern coastal city is a series of high rise buildings that boarders Macau. Zhuhai itself is also a special economic zone. Thus, the China experience that Carrie and Travis are having is entirely different from my own. Looking at the city and campus in which they live, it's easy to complain about Qufu - I mean they have butter in their campus store and don't need to go two and a half hours for cheese. In many ways though I am happier with the experience I am having. Though both are real "China experiences," living in Qufu, becoming part of provincial China is much harder to do. Any time I want the "modern" experience I can travel to bigger city and have a similar experience.
Another interesting sight was the facade of St. Paul's Cathedral.
All that remains of the structure build in the late 16th and early 17th centuries is the front wall. Despite being destroy by fire during a typhoon in the 1835 and years of wear, the remaining wall includes and incredible amount of decoration and detailed ornaments. Along the street leading up the St. Paul's were a number of shops selling (an allowing you to sample) some specialties of Macau, among these dry almond cookies-very tasty-and beef jerky type flattened meat-also very tasty but strange. Really the best part of the day was walking about, enjoying the escape from mainland China.
Here are some more pictures of Macau:
The above picture is of the Street of Happiness - a street seen in the second Indiana Jones movie.
After Macau we returned to Zhuhai for another few days of relaxation. We slept in, ate well, and enjoyed getting to know Carrie and Travis's lives in China. We walked along the coast, got massages, went to a bar with outdoor seating, and simply relaxed in the warmer weather.
We also went to a fish market one night for an incredible dinner. On the left of the street are a few dozen fish vendors selling all variety of seafood, much of it still splashing about. After buying the seafood on the left you take it to one of a dozen or so restaurants on the right for them to cook. It was a great meal and I ate more seafood that night than in all my time in China so far.
On the 20th of January we woke up at 4:30 in the morning to pack and walk to a 6:15 bus to the airport in Guangzhou from where we would fly to Hainan. Considered to be the Hawaii of China, Hainan is a newly developing resort destination for Chinese Nationals and Russians. We stayed on the southern most part of the island in Sanya at a comfortable hostel. The weather couldn't have been better - mid-seventies and sunny each day. We lay on the beach, walked about looking at vendors selling fruit and pearls, ate cheaply and, again, relaxed.
We arrived on the 20th early enough to enjoy almost a full day and lay on the beach for a few hours. It felt strange to be in a vacation setting in which westerners were the minority. Leisure and money to be spent on leisure activities are relatively new the the Chinese, and it is interesting to watch the way in which they show they vacation. Whole families-dad, mom, children, grandma and grandpa- will stroll about dressed head to toe in identical hawaiian print outfits. I was tempted more than once to get an outfit of my own.
Our hostel was located in Dadong Hai, known for its beautiful but very crowded beaches. On our second full day we took our guide book's advice, therefore, and headed east on a small bus to Yalong Bay. This area is home to quiet pristine beaches and the most expensive resorts on all of Hainan, including the Ritz Carlton and Hilton. Normally you need to pay a 50 yuan fee to enter the Yalong Bay beaches, but we, again following the guidebook, walked in through the Marriott Hotel and to their beach. We then spent the afternoon wishing that someone would pay for us to stay. We returned here again the next day and headed instead for the pool
On our last full day in Sanya, we decided to do some actual sight seeing and headed to Monkey Island. A fairly remote place, Monkey Island is located near Lingshui County about 1 /2 hours away from Sanya. Going through our hostel, we hired a taxi to take us there and back, making the trip easy and worth it. To get to the island, a reserve for endangered macaque, we took a cable car over an interesting bay and fishing village. Once on the island we were immediately surrounded by dozens of monkeys. I must have seen hundreds of monkeys that day. They were incredibly interactive and comfortable around the many visitors and tour groups. Thought the monkeys seemed to have their freedom, in someways, like with the siberian tigers, it was sad to see them lose some of themselves and rely so heavily on humans.
Our trip to Sanya was fantastic. Though we did rather little, it was great to get to the warmer weather and really lounge for a few days. Three weeks into my travels, I'm still enjoying China and am looking forward to seeing even more.
Spending time in Zhuhai was a fantastic change of pace and temperature. Besides visiting Macau one day, we mostly just lazed about Carries apartment and sunned ourselves on her balcony. The weather each day was clear and in the low to mid seventies.
On our second day we went to the former Portuguese city of Macau. Perhaps the strangest part of the day was that we walked there and filled up an entire passport page with stamps in less than 12 hours. Macau is a beautiful city and a pleasant escape from "China." We were lucky to have Florence, one of Carrie's students and a resident of Macau, show us about. We saw a number of beautiful churches, ate egg tarts, visited the Macau museum and fortress, stood beside St. Paul's facade, and even attempted to gamble in the Grand Lisboa - though we discovered that it is very difficult when you can read the buttons.
Macau is very much a European city. The streets are narrow and twisting, the architecture is beautiful, and people don't stare at me. 
We visited three churches, though all were very similar in style and color. It was the first time in 5 months that I had entered a church and felt a bit strange but also very familiar. Each of the churches had interesting details and the colors used were beautiful.
We visited three churches, though all were very similar in style and color. It was the first time in 5 months that I had entered a church and felt a bit strange but also very familiar. Each of the churches had interesting details and the colors used were beautiful. 
Another interesting sight was the facade of St. Paul's Cathedral.
All that remains of the structure build in the late 16th and early 17th centuries is the front wall. Despite being destroy by fire during a typhoon in the 1835 and years of wear, the remaining wall includes and incredible amount of decoration and detailed ornaments. Along the street leading up the St. Paul's were a number of shops selling (an allowing you to sample) some specialties of Macau, among these dry almond cookies-very tasty-and beef jerky type flattened meat-also very tasty but strange. Really the best part of the day was walking about, enjoying the escape from mainland China.Here are some more pictures of Macau:
The above picture is of the Street of Happiness - a street seen in the second Indiana Jones movie. 
After Macau we returned to Zhuhai for another few days of relaxation. We slept in, ate well, and enjoyed getting to know Carrie and Travis's lives in China. We walked along the coast, got massages, went to a bar with outdoor seating, and simply relaxed in the warmer weather.
We also went to a fish market one night for an incredible dinner. On the left of the street are a few dozen fish vendors selling all variety of seafood, much of it still splashing about. After buying the seafood on the left you take it to one of a dozen or so restaurants on the right for them to cook. It was a great meal and I ate more seafood that night than in all my time in China so far.
On the 20th of January we woke up at 4:30 in the morning to pack and walk to a 6:15 bus to the airport in Guangzhou from where we would fly to Hainan. Considered to be the Hawaii of China, Hainan is a newly developing resort destination for Chinese Nationals and Russians. We stayed on the southern most part of the island in Sanya at a comfortable hostel. The weather couldn't have been better - mid-seventies and sunny each day. We lay on the beach, walked about looking at vendors selling fruit and pearls, ate cheaply and, again, relaxed.
We arrived on the 20th early enough to enjoy almost a full day and lay on the beach for a few hours. It felt strange to be in a vacation setting in which westerners were the minority. Leisure and money to be spent on leisure activities are relatively new the the Chinese, and it is interesting to watch the way in which they show they vacation. Whole families-dad, mom, children, grandma and grandpa- will stroll about dressed head to toe in identical hawaiian print outfits. I was tempted more than once to get an outfit of my own.
Our hostel was located in Dadong Hai, known for its beautiful but very crowded beaches. On our second full day we took our guide book's advice, therefore, and headed east on a small bus to Yalong Bay. This area is home to quiet pristine beaches and the most expensive resorts on all of Hainan, including the Ritz Carlton and Hilton. Normally you need to pay a 50 yuan fee to enter the Yalong Bay beaches, but we, again following the guidebook, walked in through the Marriott Hotel and to their beach. We then spent the afternoon wishing that someone would pay for us to stay. We returned here again the next day and headed instead for the pool
On our last full day in Sanya, we decided to do some actual sight seeing and headed to Monkey Island. A fairly remote place, Monkey Island is located near Lingshui County about 1 /2 hours away from Sanya. Going through our hostel, we hired a taxi to take us there and back, making the trip easy and worth it. To get to the island, a reserve for endangered macaque, we took a cable car over an interesting bay and fishing village. Once on the island we were immediately surrounded by dozens of monkeys. I must have seen hundreds of monkeys that day. They were incredibly interactive and comfortable around the many visitors and tour groups. Thought the monkeys seemed to have their freedom, in someways, like with the siberian tigers, it was sad to see them lose some of themselves and rely so heavily on humans.
Our trip to Sanya was fantastic. Though we did rather little, it was great to get to the warmer weather and really lounge for a few days. Three weeks into my travels, I'm still enjoying China and am looking forward to seeing even more.
Monday, January 12, 2009
On Top of the World
I arrived in Zhangjiajie two night ago (Sunday the 11th) after a pleasant and relatively uneventful day of travel. Saturday I spent the morning blogging - a more productive form of procrastination - instead of packing, went to lunch at my favorite restaurant in Qufu one last time, finally packed, and then headed off at 7:30pm by taxi with Karrin, my travel companion for the next 4 weeks or so, to the train station about 45 minutes away in Jining. We were about and hour and a half early because we wanted to be sure not to miss the train. In the station one of our Chinese friends, Mike, came to visit. He lives in Jining and as a senior at QuShiDa he is free to spend his time studying just about wherever he pleases. He spent about 30 minutes entertaining us with anecdotes about his own travels in China and helped us kill sometime. Though I have only spent a few weeks total traveling in China, I have discovered that "killing time" is a large part of it. Trains usually leave in the evening or at night, so you have to truck your bags around with you for half the day visiting tourist spots or get to the train station, bus station, or airport early and just sit. If its only an hour or so it's not bad, if you have good company it's better.
So finally, after sitting for an hour and a half our train arrived at 9:55pm and we boarded. For a few minutes we made, or attempted to make, small talk with the man and his wife also in our compartment. He was kind enough to help me get my heavy backpack up on the rack and so I rewarded him with the few words of Chinese that I know. "We are English teachers in Qufu." "We go to Changsha. Then fly to Zhanjiajie." "I'm sorry, I don't understand." "Goodnight." And I decided to go to bed. We had hard sleepers again which were comfortable enough as usual. However, this time we had the upper (of 3) berths. In some ways I really like the top bunk; it's out of sight as you are about 10 feet above the ground and therefore quite above eye level; because of this height, I also feel a bit more secure with my belongings. However, it only has about 2 1/2 feet of space between the bed and the ceiling so maneuvering is difficult while sitting up is impossible. 
The lights go off at about 10:30 on trains anyway so we quickly, and comfortably, went to bed.
The lights go off at about 10:30 on trains anyway so we quickly, and comfortably, went to bed. The next morning, I woke up refreshed at about 7:30am and climbed down from my bunk. It is impossible to get down gracefully as there is only one small handrail and a very long way to fall if you miss a step on the ladder. With as little humiliation as possible, I made it down and sat on one of the fold down chairs next to the window for some muffins and nescafe that I brought along. All trains, like most every other place in China, have boiled water machines from which you can make tea and ramen noodles or simply get safe drinking water. I made instant coffee, which drew some curiosity from my Chinese friend on the bottom bunk, especially as I attempted to pour my nescafe/coffeemate concoction into a small water bottle. Eating my breakfast, I happily gazed out the window at the passing landscape, completely different from anything I had yet seen in China, and exactly what I had expected China to look like before my arrival. Rolling hills and mountains of neatly spaced rows of green crops, red, clay like soil, and antique houses with terracotta roofs next to small streams and ponds blurred by.
At about 9:30am on Sunday we arrived in Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province, with - you guessed it - lots of time to kill before flying to Zhangjiajie. Hunan was the home of Mao, his home only a hundred kilometers away in Shaoshan. Throughout the province, therefore, statues of the leader still rise above plazas and gift shops sell miniatures for high prices, though feelings towards him are now ambivalent. In our loney planet I read that a colossal statue of Mao was outside the Changsha Museum and also that, on weekends, a small antiques fair formed outside its gates. We wandered for about 30 minutes with our bags looking for 480 Wuli lu and became frustrated when we were at 520 and still hadn't found it. We sat for a moment, deciding what to do, catching our breath, and resting ourselves from the weight of our luggage. We decided to go the corner to check that we were in fact on the correct street. To the left we saw a small street filled with vendors selling jade jewelry, delicate pottery, bronze figures, and old stamps. Wandering down it, we drew some attention but were allowed to pass through looking without too many "Hallos" and very little hassling. From there we found a small garden, quite garden in the center of the city with grandmas doting on their grandchildren. One of my favorite things about winter in China is that the toddlers are bundled so warmly that they really are just little round bodies of fluff and fleece.
We sat there for a while before discovering that the park was actually part of the entrance to the museum and Mao was just a few meters away.
After the park, we looked to our Lonely Planet guide for Lunch and found a dim sum restaurant. It was nice to eat something different after 4 months in China. We got a number of small plates from the carts that rolled around and relaxed with a pot of tea for a while. We then made our way to the Civil Aviation Hotel and took a shuttle to the airport. We picked up and paid for our tickets, which we had reserved online, and checked in-Only 3 1/2 hours to kill. So we wandered the airport, napped on uncomfortable chairs, and eventually boarded the plane for a quick and easy flight.
Arriving in Zhangjiajie, we were tired and anxious to finally get to your hostel and settle in for the night. Doing so would not be as easy as we had hopped. We lugged our bags to an area filled with wait taxis and men waiting to take or money. "100 kuai, 100 kuai," 100 bucks, they shouted at us. "Tai gui le," too expensive, I responded, surprising them with my ability to speak some Chinese. The information we had gotten online from our hostel told us that a taxi should only be about 20 kuai. Eventually we were able to haggle them down to 40, they would take nothing less, or we were just too tired to keep trying. We had to call the hostel for the drive to figure out directions and we sped off, over paying for a 5km death ride. Drivers in China are reckless, they run lights, go to fast, cut through on coming traffic in the opposite lane. I've become almost immune to this type of driving, and I fear what type of driver I will be when I finally get behind the wheel again this summer. This taxi driver was so reckless that I was actually worried by his driving. Spinning around corners, darting into on coming traffic to pass cars already going fast, the horn never stopped. We quickly got to our Hostel and made our way in. Warn out and a little pissed off at China and its eagerness to rip off westerns. "Can I really do this for another 7 weeks?" I wondered to myself.
The hostel was not everything we had hopped it to be. We were visiting Wulingyuan in the dead season, so the hostel was almost empty except for a few old men drinking and smoking at a table in the lobby by the tv. We went to our room and dropped our bags, only to discover that the electricity for the room could not handle both the lights and the heat to be on a the same time. We locked the door and wandered through the halls, down the elevator, through halls again, and back to the lobby from our remote room to see if the receptionist could fix the problem for us. He didn't speak much English, so we motioned for him to come upstairs. He tried exactly what we had tried, inserting the key card that allows the electricity to go on in the room, and then turning the heat back on every 30 seconds after it shorted out. He indicated that we should wait there for a moment and he would be back. 20 minutes later we went back down to find that he had "forgotten" about us in hopes that we would forget about the problem. Eventually, after trying to let us into a number of rooms for which the key cards weren't working, we found ourselves in a bigger room with TV, private bath, and working lights and heats. The upgrade, we decided was enough, though our opinions of this Hostel are still very low.
Finally we went to bed early, not feeling very secure as the memory of the old men laughing at us downstairs fill our heads, but eager to go out an explore the next day. At about 1am, however, we were woken by the banging of and on doors and the loud voices of women. I should mention that the hostel begins on the 4th floor of the building. From the poster in the elevator, it appears that the 3rd floor is occupied by a business of less than reputable practices. Lets call it a "massage parlor." So at 1 in the morning, Karrin and I both tucked in our beds, tried our best to not think that the prostitutes were going to come banging on our door. They didn't, but our sleep was less than perfect that night.
The next morning, we woke, showered, dressed and prepared for our day. We left our hostel early because we had yet to buy train tickets for our next destination, and as I have mentioned before, traveling in China is a nightmare. This time of year is especially bad as all 1.3 billion people in China move throughout the country returning home for Spring Festival and the Chinese New Year, this year on the 26th of January. The festival is about 3 or 4 weeks long, and so traveling during this time is especially difficult as tickets are quickly sold out.
With that in mind, we took the bus to the train station early, hoping to get tickets without too much hassle. We went to the main entrance of the hall where I said to the guard, "Women yao mai piao." We want to buy tickets. Remarkably he understood me and pointed to the next entrance over. Buying the tickets was easy, almost too easy. They had them available, and hard sleepers no less. Hopefully when we leave this afternoon, everything will go as planned. After getting our tickets we were hungry, having not eaten breakfast yet. We saw a row of tent like huts down the street we had come from and returned to search for some breakfast. We saw some steaming bamboo baskets, asked what they were, "Shenme?" and got two bags full of baozi, steamed buns filled with pork, garlic, and ginger. Our next stop for the day was Wulingyaun Park, the real purpose for our visit, but we really had no idea how to get there. Over head we saw gondolas or cable cars disappearing up the mountain. That must be it, so we followed the cable, eating our steaming baozi, and, as we walked, surprising people that westerns don't just eat KFC and MacDonalds. There are times when I really hate being a foreigner in China, and other times when I enjoy it. This was one of those times. I find my position here in China important, not just because I am a teacher, but because I have the opportunity to shape peoples view of Westerners and Americans specifically. I can show them that we are not that different, and that we have a genuine interest in China and its culture.
We found the building from which the cable cars emerged, and entered, happy to see that this was a way to our destination. Signs were in English but we still had some questions because the tickets to the park were expensive, 225 yuan. To put this into perspective, we each paying 40 yuan a night for our rooms, and had just paid 4 yuan each for our bag of baozi. Luckily, the women working the counter was able to call for an English speaker to come down from the offices to help us and soon we were stepping into the Gondola. The pictures that we had seen of Wulingyuan were magical and we hoped that our adventure would live up to expectations.
The gondola ride took about 30-40 minutes, and I'm pretty sure that my jaw was dropped for just about the entire trip, the entire day really.
I kept repeating, "This is incredible. This is amazing. Oh my god, this is unreal." Wulingyuan is a large area of land that until recently was relatively unexplored and remote. These mountains or cliffs, I'm not sure which to call them, rise thousands of feet in the air, offering the most spectacular landscape I have every seen. It is like something out of a fantasy movie. No where on earth could really look like this. Taking the gondola to the top, we passed over small rustic houses, saw a woman washing clothes against the rocks in a stream, a man walking beside a horse. 
It was if we were on some sort of amusement park ride through the "old" China. After each peak we crossed, we couldn't believe that we would go over another, higher one.
Finally we made it to the top. Because we were so high up and because we were going in the morning, the air was still filled with fog or clouds - who knows which. Views were slightly obstructed, but it was incredible nonetheless. A number of walking trails traverse the peaks allowing for even more breathtaking views and once in a lifetime experience. Because it was winter, ice and snow covered much of the paths and steps. China has a thing for steps. Where in America we would just leave the path cleared and a bit rugged, in China they build steps. In someways it makes climbing easier- the path is paved and smooth, less opportunity to turn an ankle, but it also make hiking a bit more painful. The uniform, repetitive motion quickly causes your thighs to start burning. The paths here were, however, a nice combination of each and not to difficult to maneuver.
Walking around the top of the mountain, each turn in the path, each clearing of trees offered another photo opportunity, another spectacular vista. We found our way to a temple at the top. Bright red against the grays and blues of the mountains and sky. Besides the views, what I enjoyed most was the quiet. Few people were there that day and so frequently we were entirely by ourselves. Above all the honking, shouting, and bustle of the streets below, for the first time in a while there was real silence. The air was fresh and crisp, the environment serene. It truly was like being in another world.
We had not anticipated how cold it would be at the top. Every picture had been taken during warm, lush seasons, and we found it nearly impossible in our preparations to find any sort of information on average climates, let alone a weather forecast. We moved quickly, therefore, hopping to stay warm. For the most part we were successful, especially as the day progressed. We also found the air to be thinner - though perhaps we imagined some of this. Hiking about we quickly lost our breaths, but stopping meant cooling down so we did our best to find a happy medium.
Perhaps the most spectacular part of trip was the Plank Road Alongside Guigu Cliffs. This "road" was really nothing more than a cement walkway about 3 feet wide. And when they say "alongside cliffs," the mean alongside cliffs.
The paths is literally build along the cliff, nothing above, nothing below - except a long, long fall. Walking this path was both exhilarating and absolutely terrifying. "Was I really doing this? Was this precariously secured "road" all that kept me from a free fall.
I spent the 20 minute walk daring myself to steal quick glances over the edge before retreating to the relative safety of the wall. Along the path, however, the views were some of the best, and I kept reminding myself that in all probability I would never do or see anything like this again.
Throughout the walk, I also had to coach Karrin through. "You're not going to die - and even if you did, this would be a pretty cool way to go." For a fear of heights, this path was probably not the best choice, but it was why we were here and so together we made it through. Walking along, the path wound along the many bends of the cliff, When I couldn't see too far ahead, I felt safest. It was when the path stretched clearly before me that my heart beat began to quicken. 
The small concrete path with open railing seemingly levitated beside beside the cliff - 50 feet of cliff above, a whole lot more below. These parts were where the reality of what I was doing and where I was really set in. "What on earth - or rather above it- was I doing? This image returned to both Karrin and I later that day when we went to bed. "every time I close my eyes, I fall off the cliff," she said in the dark. "I know, I'm falling too."
At about 9:30am on Sunday we arrived in Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province, with - you guessed it - lots of time to kill before flying to Zhangjiajie. Hunan was the home of Mao, his home only a hundred kilometers away in Shaoshan. Throughout the province, therefore, statues of the leader still rise above plazas and gift shops sell miniatures for high prices, though feelings towards him are now ambivalent. In our loney planet I read that a colossal statue of Mao was outside the Changsha Museum and also that, on weekends, a small antiques fair formed outside its gates. We wandered for about 30 minutes with our bags looking for 480 Wuli lu and became frustrated when we were at 520 and still hadn't found it. We sat for a moment, deciding what to do, catching our breath, and resting ourselves from the weight of our luggage. We decided to go the corner to check that we were in fact on the correct street. To the left we saw a small street filled with vendors selling jade jewelry, delicate pottery, bronze figures, and old stamps. Wandering down it, we drew some attention but were allowed to pass through looking without too many "Hallos" and very little hassling. From there we found a small garden, quite garden in the center of the city with grandmas doting on their grandchildren. One of my favorite things about winter in China is that the toddlers are bundled so warmly that they really are just little round bodies of fluff and fleece.
We sat there for a while before discovering that the park was actually part of the entrance to the museum and Mao was just a few meters away.
After the park, we looked to our Lonely Planet guide for Lunch and found a dim sum restaurant. It was nice to eat something different after 4 months in China. We got a number of small plates from the carts that rolled around and relaxed with a pot of tea for a while. We then made our way to the Civil Aviation Hotel and took a shuttle to the airport. We picked up and paid for our tickets, which we had reserved online, and checked in-Only 3 1/2 hours to kill. So we wandered the airport, napped on uncomfortable chairs, and eventually boarded the plane for a quick and easy flight.
Arriving in Zhangjiajie, we were tired and anxious to finally get to your hostel and settle in for the night. Doing so would not be as easy as we had hopped. We lugged our bags to an area filled with wait taxis and men waiting to take or money. "100 kuai, 100 kuai," 100 bucks, they shouted at us. "Tai gui le," too expensive, I responded, surprising them with my ability to speak some Chinese. The information we had gotten online from our hostel told us that a taxi should only be about 20 kuai. Eventually we were able to haggle them down to 40, they would take nothing less, or we were just too tired to keep trying. We had to call the hostel for the drive to figure out directions and we sped off, over paying for a 5km death ride. Drivers in China are reckless, they run lights, go to fast, cut through on coming traffic in the opposite lane. I've become almost immune to this type of driving, and I fear what type of driver I will be when I finally get behind the wheel again this summer. This taxi driver was so reckless that I was actually worried by his driving. Spinning around corners, darting into on coming traffic to pass cars already going fast, the horn never stopped. We quickly got to our Hostel and made our way in. Warn out and a little pissed off at China and its eagerness to rip off westerns. "Can I really do this for another 7 weeks?" I wondered to myself.
The hostel was not everything we had hopped it to be. We were visiting Wulingyuan in the dead season, so the hostel was almost empty except for a few old men drinking and smoking at a table in the lobby by the tv. We went to our room and dropped our bags, only to discover that the electricity for the room could not handle both the lights and the heat to be on a the same time. We locked the door and wandered through the halls, down the elevator, through halls again, and back to the lobby from our remote room to see if the receptionist could fix the problem for us. He didn't speak much English, so we motioned for him to come upstairs. He tried exactly what we had tried, inserting the key card that allows the electricity to go on in the room, and then turning the heat back on every 30 seconds after it shorted out. He indicated that we should wait there for a moment and he would be back. 20 minutes later we went back down to find that he had "forgotten" about us in hopes that we would forget about the problem. Eventually, after trying to let us into a number of rooms for which the key cards weren't working, we found ourselves in a bigger room with TV, private bath, and working lights and heats. The upgrade, we decided was enough, though our opinions of this Hostel are still very low.
Finally we went to bed early, not feeling very secure as the memory of the old men laughing at us downstairs fill our heads, but eager to go out an explore the next day. At about 1am, however, we were woken by the banging of and on doors and the loud voices of women. I should mention that the hostel begins on the 4th floor of the building. From the poster in the elevator, it appears that the 3rd floor is occupied by a business of less than reputable practices. Lets call it a "massage parlor." So at 1 in the morning, Karrin and I both tucked in our beds, tried our best to not think that the prostitutes were going to come banging on our door. They didn't, but our sleep was less than perfect that night.
The next morning, we woke, showered, dressed and prepared for our day. We left our hostel early because we had yet to buy train tickets for our next destination, and as I have mentioned before, traveling in China is a nightmare. This time of year is especially bad as all 1.3 billion people in China move throughout the country returning home for Spring Festival and the Chinese New Year, this year on the 26th of January. The festival is about 3 or 4 weeks long, and so traveling during this time is especially difficult as tickets are quickly sold out.
With that in mind, we took the bus to the train station early, hoping to get tickets without too much hassle. We went to the main entrance of the hall where I said to the guard, "Women yao mai piao." We want to buy tickets. Remarkably he understood me and pointed to the next entrance over. Buying the tickets was easy, almost too easy. They had them available, and hard sleepers no less. Hopefully when we leave this afternoon, everything will go as planned. After getting our tickets we were hungry, having not eaten breakfast yet. We saw a row of tent like huts down the street we had come from and returned to search for some breakfast. We saw some steaming bamboo baskets, asked what they were, "Shenme?" and got two bags full of baozi, steamed buns filled with pork, garlic, and ginger. Our next stop for the day was Wulingyaun Park, the real purpose for our visit, but we really had no idea how to get there. Over head we saw gondolas or cable cars disappearing up the mountain. That must be it, so we followed the cable, eating our steaming baozi, and, as we walked, surprising people that westerns don't just eat KFC and MacDonalds. There are times when I really hate being a foreigner in China, and other times when I enjoy it. This was one of those times. I find my position here in China important, not just because I am a teacher, but because I have the opportunity to shape peoples view of Westerners and Americans specifically. I can show them that we are not that different, and that we have a genuine interest in China and its culture.
We found the building from which the cable cars emerged, and entered, happy to see that this was a way to our destination. Signs were in English but we still had some questions because the tickets to the park were expensive, 225 yuan. To put this into perspective, we each paying 40 yuan a night for our rooms, and had just paid 4 yuan each for our bag of baozi. Luckily, the women working the counter was able to call for an English speaker to come down from the offices to help us and soon we were stepping into the Gondola. The pictures that we had seen of Wulingyuan were magical and we hoped that our adventure would live up to expectations.
The gondola ride took about 30-40 minutes, and I'm pretty sure that my jaw was dropped for just about the entire trip, the entire day really.
I kept repeating, "This is incredible. This is amazing. Oh my god, this is unreal." Wulingyuan is a large area of land that until recently was relatively unexplored and remote. These mountains or cliffs, I'm not sure which to call them, rise thousands of feet in the air, offering the most spectacular landscape I have every seen. It is like something out of a fantasy movie. No where on earth could really look like this. Taking the gondola to the top, we passed over small rustic houses, saw a woman washing clothes against the rocks in a stream, a man walking beside a horse. 
It was if we were on some sort of amusement park ride through the "old" China. After each peak we crossed, we couldn't believe that we would go over another, higher one.
Finally we made it to the top. Because we were so high up and because we were going in the morning, the air was still filled with fog or clouds - who knows which. Views were slightly obstructed, but it was incredible nonetheless. A number of walking trails traverse the peaks allowing for even more breathtaking views and once in a lifetime experience. Because it was winter, ice and snow covered much of the paths and steps. China has a thing for steps. Where in America we would just leave the path cleared and a bit rugged, in China they build steps. In someways it makes climbing easier- the path is paved and smooth, less opportunity to turn an ankle, but it also make hiking a bit more painful. The uniform, repetitive motion quickly causes your thighs to start burning. The paths here were, however, a nice combination of each and not to difficult to maneuver.
Walking around the top of the mountain, each turn in the path, each clearing of trees offered another photo opportunity, another spectacular vista. We found our way to a temple at the top. Bright red against the grays and blues of the mountains and sky. Besides the views, what I enjoyed most was the quiet. Few people were there that day and so frequently we were entirely by ourselves. Above all the honking, shouting, and bustle of the streets below, for the first time in a while there was real silence. The air was fresh and crisp, the environment serene. It truly was like being in another world.
We had not anticipated how cold it would be at the top. Every picture had been taken during warm, lush seasons, and we found it nearly impossible in our preparations to find any sort of information on average climates, let alone a weather forecast. We moved quickly, therefore, hopping to stay warm. For the most part we were successful, especially as the day progressed. We also found the air to be thinner - though perhaps we imagined some of this. Hiking about we quickly lost our breaths, but stopping meant cooling down so we did our best to find a happy medium.
Perhaps the most spectacular part of trip was the Plank Road Alongside Guigu Cliffs. This "road" was really nothing more than a cement walkway about 3 feet wide. And when they say "alongside cliffs," the mean alongside cliffs.
The paths is literally build along the cliff, nothing above, nothing below - except a long, long fall. Walking this path was both exhilarating and absolutely terrifying. "Was I really doing this? Was this precariously secured "road" all that kept me from a free fall.
I spent the 20 minute walk daring myself to steal quick glances over the edge before retreating to the relative safety of the wall. Along the path, however, the views were some of the best, and I kept reminding myself that in all probability I would never do or see anything like this again.
Throughout the walk, I also had to coach Karrin through. "You're not going to die - and even if you did, this would be a pretty cool way to go." For a fear of heights, this path was probably not the best choice, but it was why we were here and so together we made it through. Walking along, the path wound along the many bends of the cliff, When I couldn't see too far ahead, I felt safest. It was when the path stretched clearly before me that my heart beat began to quicken. 
The small concrete path with open railing seemingly levitated beside beside the cliff - 50 feet of cliff above, a whole lot more below. These parts were where the reality of what I was doing and where I was really set in. "What on earth - or rather above it- was I doing? This image returned to both Karrin and I later that day when we went to bed. "every time I close my eyes, I fall off the cliff," she said in the dark. "I know, I'm falling too."
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