Well, it took me 2 years of living in the far East and 6 holidays, but I FINALLY made it down to China’s greatest treasure: The Great Wall. Getting around to writing about it, has been another thing entirely!! But here it goes!!
When we told my coworkers and friends that we were planning a trip to Beijing for the national holiday, we were met with a collective “WHAT?!?!?!?!?” accompanied with a look of confusion and general fear. Anyone who lives in China knows that the October holiday is probably the WORST time of the year to travel. Last year, we went to Xiamen, and we were blown away by the crowds! This year, we chose an even bigger tourist attraction and knowing that fact, most of my colleagues at SFLS figured they’d never see me again.
This is what we went to Xiamen to see last National Day…But THIS was our reality. If you missed that post, you can read it here
With careful planning and a little luck, our trip went off without a hitch. In a lot of ways we were far less stressed in the busy Chinese capital than we had been on the small island of Xiamen. With some thoughtful planning, I scheduled our trip to begin 3 days after the actual holiday had begun. Because we started late, we got cheaper flights and dealt with a less crowded airport. Win!!!
This was a train station in ZhengZhou (a city much less famous that Beijing) on National Day this year. Yeah…..we decided to avoid this!BaDaLing Great Wall during National Week. I am SO happy with the way I planned this trip!
I also booked tours on some of the more remote areas of the wall. Both sections that we saw were about 3 hours away from Beijing, so there were far fewer tourists around. And although my primary intentions were to stay away from the hoards of tourists, I am very glad we went to the more remote sections because areas like Badaling have been so ‘redone’ that it can hardly be considered an ancient wall anymore. After learning more about this Great Wonder, and after seeing pictures of Badaling during the holiday, I felt very glad that I planned the trip I did.
Hebei Province actually surrounds Beijing. Beijing is both a city and a province so it took over 2 and a half hours to get OUT of Beijing. Gubeikou Wall is just on the boarder of the two provinces.
Some History on the Great Wall of China
In the past, when I thought of the Great Wall of China, I thought of very few thing. I thought about how long it took to build (a long time?), why it was built (to keep out the Mongolians?) and I considered how effective a wall could really be (can’t you just climb over a wall?). But this trip definitely enlightened me in regards to the making of this grand structure, so I thought it would be good for me to pass along some of that information to you too.
I always kinda figured that if the nasty, stupid Orks from Lord of the Rings could get into Helm’s Deep, surely the Mongolians would have thought of using ladders to get over the Great Wall…
On our way to our first Great Wall stop, our guide, Oliver, gave us the low down on Great Wall History. Although China has 4000 years worth of written history, the country has changed a lot over the millennia. The territory that now makes up China was once many separate city-states that all defended their own lands and had their own rules and customs. Each of these city states was under the same threat though (usually the Mongolians…) and they all came up with similar ways to deal with this threat: they built walls,
The green lines were the original ‘walls’ that were built as early as the 7th century BCE. They were far apart and not in any way connected. I suppose back then though would have been referred to as “Series of Small Walls (with a similar purpose)” rather than “The Great Wall of China”
Eventually, China was conquered by the strongest Emperor in the area, and at the beginning of the Qin dynasty, all of the walls separating the different areas of this new empire were torn down, and the ones that ran along the northern part of the empire were connected. This is when the “Series of Small Walls” began to turn into a “Great Wall”.
But construction didn’t end there. All through the Han, Jin and Ming Dynasties, construction continued. Parts of the wall were torn down and rebuilt and some parts were fortified to make them higher and more difficult to break through. In total, the Great Wall of China has been under construction for nearly 3000 years!!
That is one OLD wall!! I didn’t take this picture…I wish I had. I just stumbled upon it and had to share!
We also learned how the wall was built. All the stones that were used to make this wall were brought from the bottom of the mountain and carried up on people’s backs. The reconstruction efforts have been easier, as the government has tried as much as possible to use the original stones to fortify the wall.
The stamp on this brick indicates when this section of the wall was built. You can find markings like this all along the Great Wall
The most interesting thing that we learned was in regards to the plaster that they used to hold the bricks together and to seal the wall. It turns out that the Chinese have more than just 1 use for rice!!! Yup! That white stuff between the bricks was a mixture of sticky rice and limestone! And, best of all, the men who built China’s national treasure never starved…there was always food around to eat!
Gubeiku Great Wall
Our first stop was the old ruins at Gubeiku Great Wall. It was in a remote area so there were no lifts to get us to the top, so it was a bit of a climb. Still, the view was worth it. We got to see several watch towers and we could see the wall lining the top of the mountain range for as far as our eyes would allow. That’s when it dawned on me why the wall worked…The whole thing is situated on top of mountains. Guards would see anyone coming up and stop them before they could get through. Plus, it’d be a tad rough dragging a ladder up the mountain!!!
The toilets left something to be desiredThe first watch tower we saw. It’s been partially restored
The inside of the watch tower. You can actually book camping trips here 🙂The second watch tower was much bigger and had recently (ish) been renovatedThe wall went on forever
There were some rather worn out paths to crossIt was so beautifully quiet and peaceful out thereWe had some gorgeous weather that day. I could have stayed out on that ledge forever….My view from that ledge…
The best thing our guide did was to give us free time to check out this area on our own. We wandered and rested whenever we felt like it and I feel like i really got to see the wall at its best: with clear skies and quiet landscapes.
Jinling Shan Wall
Too soon, we were on the road again, on the way to our second destination: JinlingShan Wall. We were able to enjoy the beautiful sunshine and scenery along the way but soon realized that Jinling Shan is not as remote as Gubeiku was, but in return, the view was somehow even more incredible!
These murals are found along the route to the top of the mountain. They depict the stages of the wall being built all the way from the beginning, when it was being used to protect the citizens of ChinaTo the end, where it’s used for tourism.
We actually saw this part of the wall 2 times…once at sunset and then again the following morning. The sunset was an incredible time of day to visit and I can’t stress enough how little these pictures do the visit justice!
I love the mountains in ChinaWe weren’t alone, but there were still relatively few tourists when compared to what we would have seen at BadalingThe wall glowed orange as the sun went down
The wall stretched as far as you could see
With the sun nearly gone for the day
We spent the night at a small town at the base of the wall. The accommodations weren’t the greatest we’ve seen, but they had real toilets (not just outhouses), so I wasn’t about to complain!
Riding the lift up to the top 🙂The little town where we stayed
Being at a busier destination can have its perks too…Because of the higher tourist volume, there is a lift going up to the top of the mountain, which saves a climb several kilometers up the side of the mountain. The weather was beautiful again and it felt great to be out of the city. Plus, we started a bit early so we got ahead of the crowds.
Our guide took this picture for us and then left us for some free time, which suited us perfectly!I felt lucky to get a picture with no one else in it. It’s a rare and beautiful thing in China
A shot of the wall from one of the watch towersThe view from one of the watch towers
After exploring the wall for a little longer, Dave and I head back down to meet our guide. We admired the beautiful gardens and enjoyed the quiet along the path down the mountain. I know I’ll be going back to the Great Wall some day…there’s still so much of it to see! Until then, I’ve got my pictures 🙂
It was a nice walk back 🙂
I will be back soon! We’ve been so busy settling into our new city that I’ve hardly been able to keep up with work, never mind blog! But there are still so many things to tell! I’ll be posting about the rest of our Beijing trip, our trip to Shanghai and our time in Hong Kong at some point in the near future!
Also, we made a video on Gubeiku. The wind was too bad to be able to keep most of the audio, but I hope you enjoy the soundtrack I replaced it with!
Guiyang is truly a city of extremes. Just yesterday, the temperature was 30 degrees Celsius, and I had the windows in my classroom open so I could enjoy the cool breeze and the sun’s rays. Today, the view that lies before me as I blog at our favorite hang out (I’ll give you 3 guesses…) couldn’t be more different. People are bundled up, with the arms around themselves trying to stay warm. There was a 20 degree drop over night and Guiyang is once more overcast and dreary. I’m grateful for the little bit of sun we did get, but I am a tad mournful that our two nicest days were the days that I spend inside, teaching back to back classes.
Here are some pictures from our lovely weekend:
People are planing vegetablesOur garden in Zhong Tian is green and beautiful once moreEven the buildings weren’t as drab this weekend. Everything was brighter when the sun was out.
And Guiyang now…
But whether isn’t the only way Guiyang likes to shock us with its extremes. For example:
“Is this a dump”, you might ask yourself.
Nope…not even close…
It’s the entrance to the school where I work
To be fair, the area isn’t usually THIS bad, but one of the businesses in the building is renovating and decided to dump all their garbage outside the back doors. I’m terrified a rat is going to jump out the garbage heap and attack me.
And if garbage heaps aren’t enough for you, there are also these open gutters to scare the bajeepers out of you. The local noodle place and many other little businesses (as well as pedestrians) throw their garbage in here and it’s developing quite the collection. This could be solved by putting a metal grate over the gutter, but that would probably be too much work, so instead I have to hop over this to get to the school daily. I’m not going to lie…the first time I saw it I gagged a little lol. Scooters sometimes drive over it and splash people as they walk by….when that happens, you have to walk around smelling like garbage water all day. Not fun…
But not all of Guiyang is open sewers and garbage piles…if you drive for 10 minutes to HuaGuoYuan, then you get this view:
Fountains and lit up buildings
Or 5 minutes away from the school, this area is also quite new and shiny:
And then of course, there’s the nicest building in Guiyang…Whiiiccchhhh caught fire the other night…
So yes, Guiyang is the city of contrast. But I suppose I should get on to writing about a place that has no contrast at all. The Grand Palace in Bangkok Thailand has one mode: Go Grand, or Go Home!!!
In addition to gorgeous architecture, the Palace is home to many gardens and carefully trimmed trees.
The Grand Palace has been home to Thailand’s Royalty since 1782. Today, the grounds are more of a tourist attraction than anything, but Royal ceremonies and State functions are still held there several times a year.
Despite the high fees to get into the palace, tourists flock here. Trip adviser probably has something to do with it, as the palace is considered Bangkok’s #1 attraction.
I was surprised to learn that The Grand Palace is not a singular giant structure, but really a large number of small buildings that vary in a great deal of ways. In the 200 years that the Palace has sat in Bangkok, pavilions, chapels and halls were erected, all reflecting the time period in which they were built. The resulting diversity within the grounds is fascinating.
For example…
Also worth noting is the sheer size of the Grand Palace. At 2,351,000 sq feet, it would take several hours to view the whole Palace, a feat neither Dave or myself were ready to take on. We arrived on February 19th, under a scorching Bangkok sun. Between the heat, the tourists and our long pants and shirts (there is a strict dress code at The Grand Palace), we weren’t up for seeing the grounds in their entirety. So we hit up the major attractions and took lots of breaks in any shaded areas we could find.
The perimeter walls were covered in elaborate murals. Seeing as how this was one of the few places where we could find shade, I spent a great deal of time admiring them.Most of the murals showed Buddhist mythology and war stories during different king’s reigns.
But if I were to tell you that the diversity of the buildings or the size of the place were the most remarkable things about The Grand Palace, I would be doing it a great disservice. No amount of photography could possible capture the elaborate detail here. Every inch of every building was designed to be beautiful and ornate. It was so Grand that if you didn’t stop and actually look at it, you might not even notice the level of detail at all. It is all THAT detailed!!!
You can easily see that this building is gorgeous without even having to look at it closely.But if you move closer, you can see that the colorful parts going up the building are actually elaborately designed flowers…
Similarly, this building is covered in small stones..it isn’t just paint that makes it look so ornate…This steeple is beautiful in of itself.But if you zoom in closer you see an insane level of detail on each of the mythological creaturesHere is a close up on one of the tours of one of the smaller buildings on the grounds
We walked around for about an hour, taking pictures of different halls and structures. We went into a few buildings as well, although we weren’t allowed having our cameras out in them. I understand the reasoning, to an extent. Having cameras flashing while Buddhists try and pray in front of the sacred Emerald Buddha would be incredibly disrespectful. Still, as a non-Buddhist I was a little sad I couldn’t get a shot or two in while in Wat Phra Kaew (The Temple of the Emerald Buddha). I did manage to get one decent shot from outside the building though, and I found a picture online of the different robes he wears, depending on the season.
He isn’t very big, but he is very beautiful.There are 3 distinct seasons in Thailand, so there are 3 robes for the Buddha to wear
We also saw some of the Throwns that former Kings used while living in the Grand Palace, which was sort of neat. We also weren’t able to take pictures in those buildings, but one of them had a massive fan where I was able to cool down! It was a highlight of the day for me!! haha!!
More of the beautiful buildings we sawThe cloud cover didn’t help very much with cooling us down.To understand the size of these buildings, look at the people in the front of the building for reference.A photographer’s heaven 🙂I love the style of this building
The guards at the front gateA close up of one of the guards
There are actual guards at the Palace too. Just like you’d see at Buckingham Palace, tourists were making faces and taking pictures with the guards, as they solemnly stood guard to some of the more important buildings on the grounds.
We couldn’t go into this building. I think this is one of the places where Government meetings are still held now.
So that is The Grand Palace. I’m not disappointed that we went, but I can hardly say that it was the highlight of our Bangkok experience. I suppose Dave and I tend to not like the really ‘touristy’ stuff, so that could be why I didn’t enjoy it more. But on the other hand, the history lover in me LOVED seeing the different buildings. It’s definitely worth a stop while you’re in Bangkok!!
My next post is going to be about night life in Thailand! I’ll be writing about the famous Bangla Road in Phuket, Kao San Road in Bangkok and of course, the famed Thai Lady-Boys!!
Spring has officially arrived in Guiyang! The trees are all in full bloom, the sun is out and the weather is gorgeous! After 3 long months of rain and feeling like my very bones were cold, I am warm, wearing a skirt and am not bundled in 3 layers of clothing! I couldn’t be happier!!!!
Everything is becoming greener again!The tree I posted last week has completely opened up and started shedding its flowers. I get to walk by this at least twice a day 🙂
The warm weather has inspired me to write about the highlight of our time in Phuket. Our incredible Hong By Starlight Tour had it all: breathtaking views, adorable animals and fantastic food! The trip TO the Hongs alone was impressive in of itself, but it all went uphill from here.
The karst landscape reminded us both of our Li River Cruise in Guilin.There were gorgeous cliffs and plenty of islands to see.
Now I suppose I should explain what a Hong actually is. We passed many islands during the hour and a half boat ride to the islands we’d be exploring.
Cute little islands like this 🙂
A small number of islands near Phuket are hollow inside, and those are called Hongs. They are only accessible by caves and those caves are only accessible at certain points in the day, dependent on tides. Our tour involved seeing three of these Hongs by Sea Canoe…an inflatable canoe, designed specifically to go through caves. They are very tough and can be deflated if the tide is too high and the squeeze is too tight getting in or out of a cave. They are also unflippable…which is always nice 🙂
Hongs are lagoons, located within an island. The only way to get into one is by going in through a natural cave. These caves can only be accessed when the tide is low.
Though there are several companies who do these tours, we booked ours through John Gray’s Sea Canoe, which has won many awards for eco-tourism and has rave reviews on Trip Advisor, as well as on their website. Of course, we had to experience the tour ourselves to really understand why they’d won these awards.
This is John Gray. He is a very interesting guy who has spent his life trying to save the earth by educating people about the damage we do to it on a daily basis
Talk about a top notch tour! Every aspect of our day exceeded our expectations. The food was fantastic. Not only was it delicious, but because John Gray is all about environmentalism, the fish was net caught (not farmed) and the chicken was free range. This means that everything you are served on this tour is cruelty free and chemical free. A nice touch.
Did I mention it was also delicious???
The staff were also incredible. Not only were they knowledgeable and friendly, but they seemed to really care about the company they work for. They asked us to speak quietly while in the Hongs, to not disturb the wildlife. No garbage was left behind and I actually saw our guide, Ole, pick up garbage that had been left behind by other groups.
Ole has worked for John Gray’s Sea Canoe for 16 years. He is fluent in English and is so incredibly informative! I felt like we were on a wildlife education tour!!
When you add up these elements of the tour, and add in a truly fascinating and beautiful tour destination, you’ve created quite the memorable day trip. So here it goes…I’ll go one cave at a time 🙂
Cave #1 – Diamond Cave and Lagoon
As we approached first island, I could see the small entrance while still in the canoe, and it made me a little nervous. I’m a tad claustrophobic, so the idea of going into that small opening made me quite scared. I made sure to get it on video so you can see what it was like going into that dark space.
I didn’t have zoom on at all through that video and a moment after I stopped making the video, the ceiling was so close that I would have cracked my head on it if I’d even tried to sit up a little. Quite the experience!!!
But then you make it to the end….
Suddenly there’s sky above!
Words fail me here…the inside of these islands is something I hope everyone in my life gets to experience at some point. It was worth every bit of claustrophobia I felt!! And although the scenery alone would have been enough to make my day, Ole had a lot to do with the way we experienced these 2 Hongs as well. He spoke softly so that the wildlife didn’t run away. He paddled softly and slowly so that we could enjoy the peaceful stillness of the Hong. He taught us about the area in a quiet voice and paddled a little behind the other guides so that we didn’t have to be around all the other loud tourists. These were perfect moments.
My first Mangrove Tree 🙂 This is the only tree in the world that can grow in saltwater. They are essential to the ecosystem as they act as a nursery and hiding spot for many many types of fish.We saw this guy crushing a clam up against the rocks. Monkeys, unlike apes, are excellent swimmers, and they will swim from island to island to find food.The entrance to the second HongSuch beauty!!!
The way out of the island was a tight squeeze, as the tide had risen a little. We were the last ones out of the Hong and at some points in the journey back to the boat, I thought we were going to get stuck in the cave and drown. I could hear our canoe rubbing against sharp rocks and kept envisioning it deflating. The cave ceiling was close to my nose even while I lay flat on my back, arms and legs tucked. But we made it through! I was happy to discover later one that our canoes are built with those rocks in mind and that it’s incredibly difficult to rupture one badly enough that it sinks. Still…my mind was racing on our trip out of that island!!
These are some of our fellow tour goers at the opening of the cave, where the ceiling was still high. It got much worse from here. Some of the other guides had actually had to deflate their canoes a little to get out of the cave!!!
Cave #2 – Mangrove Lagoon
After this first stop, I couldn’t wait to see my second Hong! In spite of my excitement, however, I was able to enjoy the moment and take some pictures of our journey to the second island.
This opening looks like a giant mouth 🙂Beautiful islands 🙂I miss the ocean already!!
Our second stop was in Mangrove Lagoon. I managed to get a video of our entrance into the Hong, although it is a little distracted as Dave was as excited as I was and wanted me to take videos of everything at once!! haha!!!!
This particular Hong didn’t have as much wildlife in it, but what it lacked in primates it made up for in foliage. There were over a dozen mangroves in the Hong, all different sizes and different shapes.
I officially love Mangroves!
And we did see SOME wild life!
Ole spotted a mudskipper 🙂 Can you find it??
The mangroves weren’t the only beauty this lagoon provided. The rocks were jacked and beautiful and as the afternoon turned to evening, the light in the lagoon made for some beautiful pictures.
The red rocks were a beautiful contrast to the blue waterOne of my favorite pictures of the entire trip
Our second island was as gorgeous as the first, and Ole proved to be consistent with his tours. He was wonderful yet again.
We were given a break at this point to swim in the ocean, paddle around in the canoes and take some pictures. We took advantage of all 3 options 🙂
Some neat rock formations coming out of the islandWe weren’t the only group there, but there was hardly a crowd. Much fewer people than in any of our other tours!!We enjoyed some swimming beside our boat 🙂 I left the water when a gigantic jelly fish decided to join us!!! Being stung by the little ones is bad enough!!!
Supper Break
Supper break gets it’s own section because it was that good. And no, for once I am not solely referring to the food! John Grey’s Sea Canoe aims to educate its customers and educate they did! Not only did we learn about the wildlife in the Hongs and see for ourselves what sort of habitats these lagoons provide, but we were also taught about Thai Culture.
The Thai Krathong: Proof that it isn’t just Thailand’s landscape that is beautiful
The Loi Krathong festival typically takes place in May. Buddists build these offerings and set them out to sea, both in gratitude for all that the sea provides and in remorse for the pollution they have caused it. Each Krathong is different from the next, but they all share commonalities. For examples, most Krathongs will have marigolds, which represent prosperity. The 3 sticks of incense represent the 3 major parts of Buddhism: The Buddha, The Monk and Scripture. Ole explains:
Ole told us that he has been making Krathongs every year since he was a child, so for him, this creation was no big deal. I was amazed at how so little could look so elaborate!! I took pictures as he worked.
The Thai use every part of the Banana Tree. The round part in the middle is Banana tree trunk. The green things surrounding the trunk are made of banana leavesHe let us help with this part 🙂 The sharper the corners, the nicer the Krathong. My OCD was thrilled at the challenge!!
Next, he placed orchids all around the trunk. Traditionally, they use toothpicks or pieces or wood to fasten them on, but because they take these Krathongs back every night, and don’t leave them out to sea, for our purposes, metal nails were used.Next came the marigolds and candles. We lit the candles once in the third Hong…but I’ll get to that!Every time I thought Ole had finished, he added more embellishments.A close up of the birds he made using prebloomed orchids. I got to keep one. I’ve pressed it and should be able to scrapbook it later!
Sending Krathongs afloat also has another purpose. As you let go, you are suppose to make a wish. As it floats away, the Krathong takes your bad luck with it. Within a few hours it becomes waterlogged and sinks into the ocean, where it provides food for fish and other sea life. I’d love to see this festival take place in November!! It was such a lovely addition to our already lovely day!!
Dave and I with our completed Krathong. I tried to get Ole to take a picture with it, seeing as how he did most of the work, but he was more concerned with our happiness than with taking credit for his work.
Once done making our Krathong, we had some free time before supper. During break, we had plenty of time for photo ops, which worked out well because this break was during sun set. Have you ever been on the ocean for sunset? I hadn’t until our Starlight tour, and wow is it an experience!!!
All the colours changed as the sun set. It was quite beautiful!!This boat was docked the whole evening. It made both Dave and I jealous of its owners. We’d love to retire on a boat and dock somewhere like this overnight!!The skies were clearing so we knew we’d have a nice view of the stars once the sun slipped away completelyTalk about a photo op!!
After eating, it was time to head into our last cave and our last hong.
Cave #3 – The Bat Cave!!
Unlike in China, where things are given names that make no sense, this cave was named perfectly. Yup! It was full of bats! I didn’t get many pictures because at this point our camera was dying, but some of these bats were as big as birds! We saw hundreds of them once in the cave, but don’t worry, they were sleeping!!
As the last bits of light disappeared with the setting sun, we head into the bat cave…
By the time we made it through the cave and reached the Hong, it was almost completely dark outside. We could see stars above and we were the only tour group left so it was quiet and peaceful moving slowly through the water in the dark.
On the canoe. Ready to set out Krathong into the water
Ole lit the candles of our Krathong and we set it in to the water where it floated calmly. The rest of our group were setting theirs into the water as well and when we looked around, we could see fire floating on water all around us. It was quite the scene.
Ole told us to make a wish as we let go of his piece of art, and we had a hard time thinking of anything more we could want in that moment. So we wished for a happy life for all 3 of us. What more could we want?
The tour was nearly over and it was time to make our way back out through the cave. It was completely dark now and the stars were shining above us brightly. We were able to stay sitting up while we slowly paddled through the Bat Cave; it has high ceilings and the tide was low. Ole had one more surprise for us, but it couldn’t be caught on camera so I’ll have to tell you about it instead.
For anyone who has seen Life of Pi…we got to see the real thing.
He told us to reach into the water and move our hands, and as we did, little specks in the water lit up. We were surrounded by Bio-luminescent Plankton, that light up when the water is disturbed. We put our feet and hands in the water and watched it light up! Then we splashed water onto the walls of the cave and watched THEM light up! This plankton can only be seen in the dark and I think it was so cool that we got to experience it while in Thailand!!!
Only special cameras can catch these creatures on camera. Here’s something I found on Google. It doesn’t come close to showing how cool it was, but you get the idea!
Before long we were back on the boat, on our back to Phuket. I felt sad that our Starlight Tour was done, but I comforted myself with the hope that some friends might come visit us next year, and we can all go see this together!! It’s an open invitation, so if you’ve been thinking of meeting us in Thailand…read this post again if you need more convincing!!!
I’ve only got one more post to write for Phuket, and that will be arriving on my page some time next week. Thanks for reading!!
Well, I’m back! I had no intention of taking this long a hiatus from my blog, but life is sometimes best spent living. Although I went to bed every night wishing I’d had the time to write, I knew that I had good reason not to. For most of our 2015 vacation, Dave and I were up at the crack of dawn and on the move until the early hours of the morning on a daily basis. Our adventures spanned a wide range of interests, from speedboats to spas and from palaces to pachyderms, and the result was probably the most interesting 3 weeks of my life! There’s far too much for me to describe in one day or even in one week, but I need to start somewhere, so here it is: an overview of our 3 week holiday. For now, I’m going to stick with a summary of each city where we spent time; a bit of a pros and cons list for each. From there, I’ll start writing about specific experiences we had during our Spring Festival vacation.
For anyone needing a reminder of why it isn’t wise to stay IN China for the holidays, this is a picture of the railway station in Shanghai, this 2015 Spring Festival! Yes…those are all people…
1st Stop: Kunming, Yunnan Province
As some of you may already know, we had a bonus week added to our holiday at the last minute. The winter classes that my school had planned to offer ended up not panning out, so we were given the option to take a week of unpaid holiday (in addition to the 2 weeks we WERE being paid for). The alternative was to spend that week at the school, doing next to nothing, so Dave and I jumped on the opportunity and decided to visit Kunming during our bonus holiday. Our flight to Thailand was departing from Kunming so it made sense for us logistically, and we’ve both always been very interested in living in Kunming, so there was really no reason to go anywhere else!
Kunming is the capital of Yunnan province, which sits to the south west of Guizhou, where we live. It’s known as ‘Spring City’ due to its beautiful weather and abundant floral displays
The Best of Kunming
Kunming is not only beautiful, but also clean and sunny. The temperature doesn’t dip as low as it does in Guiyang, which was a welcomed change after our last weeks before the holiday (we’d both begun to feel like we would never feel warm again). We spent as much time outdoors as possible, taking in the vitamin D and enjoying Kunming’s beautiful parks and clean streets.
Green lake was a beautiful stop. We spent quite a while walking around there, just enjoying the clean paths and the fresh airOne of the many flower displays in Kunming. All of down town looks like thisWest Lake was a gorgeous day trip! The red sign in the picture is actually a ‘no smoking’ warning, along with a phone number where you can report people who are lighting up. The government in Kunming is trying very hard to keep the West Hills clean and prevent any sort of destruction of the forest
One of the other perks of being in Yunnan, is that there are more Lao Wai than in Guizhou, and where there are foreigners, there are foreign comforts! We managed to find several wonderful things from back home, including western-style bread (bread in China is sweet) and avocado. I even saw root beer on a menu at Salvador’s Restaurant (but they were sold out :(). More than just the food though, the people are more western. There is so much less spitting, honking and smoking in Kunming and we were both grateful for the break.
I enjoyed this fantastic tuna sandwich and potato chips, along with a Chai Latte 🙂
Of course, that’s not to say that Kunming was all sunshine and roses…After all, we are still in China!!!
The Worst of Kunming
The reduced honking, spitting and pollution was a wonderful change, but not all of the things that annoy me where I live are solely ‘Guiyangian’. I was nearly peed on by a little boy who had decided that the middle of the sidewalk was a good place to take a pee, and Dave actually pointed out the washrooms to a couple who had decided that the garbage can just outside the bathrooms were an appropriate place to have their 3 year old relieve herself. The funny thing about the second story, is that this happened in a mall that has a Rolex store. China can be such a mixed bag!! Kunming is so much cleaner than Guiyang in so many ways, but still, I saw the most terrifying toilets of my life while in the West Hills:
Yup…this is a bathroom. When I first walked in, this is what I saw…and there was someone squatting in the second ‘stall’ at the time. Keep in mind that the next closest bathroom is at least 2 hours away when you factor in all the buses and getting down the hill…
Of course, this is just what it’s like living in China. You get used to this sort of stuff surprisingly quickly. This particular bathroom was all the way up a hill, in the middle of nowhere. It’s the Chinese version of an outhouse…and I’ve seen some pretty nasty outhouses in my time too! And believe me…the woman who was using the washroom when I walked in did not look very impressed with the situation either…and she was Chinese! So please don’t get the idea that all of Kunming was this gross, because it definitely was not!!!
One other exception to the ‘I LOVE KUNMING’ statement I made above, was the hostel where we stayed while we were visiting Spring City.
The Hump looked like it had it all: good prices, great location, private rooms with double beds…I booked without much hesitation, because most of our hostel experiences in China have been good ones. Of course, our experiences at The Hump have now made me a little more nervous about booking hostels, as the experience was a far cry from what I’d seen in Xiamen and Guilin.
Stains on the wall beside my bed. I’ll let your imagination figure out what they are from… I can forgive a lot of things in a hostel, but a lack of cleanliness isn’t one of them!!!Our mattresses were only about an inch and a half thick. They were so uncomfortable we wound up stacking both (we were put into a room with 2 twins instead of the double bed we’d booked) and sharing the tiny bed just so that we could get some sleep.This way to a terrible night sleep, terrible food and terrible staff!!
To anyone reading this blog for travel advice: I’d avoid this hostel. There are plenty of other options in Kunming that are much better, where you will get the room you paid for, where the staff will be willing to help you without first giving you a dirty look, and where, when the menu says ‘bacon’, you will be served bacon!!! (more on that in my Kunming post!!)
So that sums up Kunming! It was a great trip and I would highly recommend Yunnan Province to anyone who is interested in traveling China. Visiting Spring City just made both Dave and I even more determined to find a job there next year.
The Best of Patong Beach
Here is a map of Thailand. We were in Phuket, an island off the south west coast of Thailand. Patong Town is located on Phuket.
Our first stop in Thailand was on the island of Phuket. More specifically, we stayed at Sea Pearl Villas resort in Patong Beach. The weather here was beautiful: warm and sunny our entire stay! The food in Patong was probably a highlight for both of us (other than one tour which I will be dedicating an entire post to….stay tuned). Not only was there fantastic Thai food to enjoy, but because Phuket is such a popular destination for European tourists, there are many western food options available as well! While there, we enjoyed sushi, shwarma, samosas, burgers, curries, falafels and pasta! I LOVE Chinese food, don’t get me wrong! But I didn’t realize how much I missed variety in my diet until we got to Patong beach and discovered how many options there were!
Arabic Food. We also enjoyed a hooka! It made us think of some good friends back home and how much we’d love it if they visited!!A seafood display set up by a restaurant we never got around to trying. There were just way too many options!! These displays were common around Patong Beach, and the hosts would run over and encourage you to come if you stopped to take a look. Very good sales scheme!!Sushi Lunch! It tasted so good I could cry! Sushi in China isn’t very good, so this was the first time I’d had authentic stuff in 6 months!Street food crepes! Made fresh on the grill with mango and chocolate syrup!The breakfast buffet at our resort was incredible every day! Real bacon, proper bread and perfectly poached eggs!!!!
Our hotel was also a highlight for our stay on Patong Beach. I’ve mentioned in past posts that comfort isn’t really a ‘thing’ in China, but in Thailand, we experienced a comfortable bed for the first time since we were in Xiamen (and that had only been for 1 night!). Our king size pillow top was a thing of beauty and I truly felt sad when we said goodbye to it when our stay in Phuket was done.
Not only was our resort beautiful, but it was also very clean. There were 8 pools on the grounds to choose from, so none of them were ever full. The one time we did go down to the pool, we were the only ones there (most people prefer the beach)The hall leading to our roomA relaxing environment. The Koi fish were a lovely addition to the front lobbyWe spent a lot of time in the lobby, waiting for the resort’s complimentary shuttle bus, or waiting for tour drivers to pick us up. It was so nice having somewhere so beautiful (and comfortable!) to sit and wait 🙂The resort was clean, modern and very welcoming. I would absolutely stay at Sea Pearl Villas again!
The resort in general was very comfortable. Resorts in Thailand get a lot of flack because they aren’t all inclusive, like the ones in the Caribbean. While this is true, it also wouldn’t make much sense for resorts in Phuket to offer all inclusive packages, because people wouldn’t want to stay in the resort when there’s a chaotic little town to discover just down the hill! Still, Sea Pearl Villas was a fantastic place to relax after dealing with the mayhem in Patong Town, and we enjoyed the jacuzzi on our balcony on a daily basis, as a way to unwind and admire the city below.
The view from our balcony. The water you see is our cold jacuzzi. It was such a fantastic way to cool off after long days in the sun followed by busy nights in Patong townThe view was also beautiful at night. Patong town is in the distance and there were often fireworks to enjoy
Although the comforts and relaxing qualities of our resort were among one of our favorite parts of being in Phuket, it is not to say that Patong Town was a quiet, quaint place. Outside of the resort, Patong Town is the craziest place I have ever been. I won’t go into much detail now, because if I did this post would double in length, but the nights we had on Bangla Road and at the markets were anything but relaxing! I think it’s honestly the contrast between the two (the relaxation at the resort and the excitement of Patong Town) that made our stay in Phuket such a cool experience.
A street artist. We ended up tipping him way too much….we weren’t used to the currency yet! I’m glad we at least made that mistake with someone who wasn’t trying to rip us off!! (he was accepting tips…not charging a fee)
This was another street performer we met at the end of Bangla Road. He was pretty amusing. When he was done with the YMCA, he moved on to Gangnam Style.
The Worst of Patong Beach
There are two sides to every coin though, and although Phuket is somewhere I can’t regret visiting, it’s also somewhere I don’t know that I’ll visit again.
I worked in sales for a good chunk of my 20s, selling everything from natural cosmetics to cell phones to environmentally friendly cleaning products, but I can honestly say I’ve never seen sales like it’s done in Patong town. Everywhere you go, people are trying to sell you clothes, watches, DVDs, swimsuits, luggage and souvenirs. The worst of the worst are the Tuk Tuk drivers (who are trying to sell tours), the taylors (you want a custom suit? Very cheap!) and the massage parlors (You want a massssaaaa?????). Everywhere you go you are being sized up by hundreds of people who all want your money.
The look relaxed now, but as you walk by, they jump up and simultaneously ask if you’d like a ‘massaaaa’ and list all the services they offer (foot massaaaaa, oil massaaaa, thai massaaaaa….)These alleys are terrifying….they look relaxed but as you get closer, people start putting dresses, swim suits and watches into your hands to try and get you to come over to their store. They all start with exorbitantly high prices as well. We bought a piece of carry on and we got him down from 1700 bhat to 700 bhat….the mark up is ridiculous.Would you like a ride in my blinged up Tuk Tuk? These are the best way to get around the city and some of them have fantastic sound systems in them. During the day, they try and sell tours to monkey shows or pearl factories…when I was walking down the street on Valentines day, there was a line up of about 10 of them…and they all offered me a ride. One after another after another…
The prices were the other thing that really ground my gears in Phuket. This was our first stop in Thailand, so we didn’t know what the prices were like elsewhere, but even so…we knew they were high. Tuk Tuks charged 300 bhat ($11 Canadian) to take us on a 10 minute ride up the hill to our resort. That may not seem like a lot, but we had to pay it every night. And when you compare it to Bangkok, where we got all the way across town (about a 30-40 minute ride) for 200 bhat…
The real reason people in tourism based countries think all foreigners look alike: All they see us as is dollar signs!!!
Even our resort, which was for the most part fantastic, found the need to overcharge us for services that are a norm elsewhere. We asked about getting to the airport on our last night there, and we were told that it would be an insane 1200bhat to get there (we’d only paid 380bhat to get from the airport to the resort)!!! We found out later that most taxi drivers will charge 800bhat (still high, but quite a bit lower) and that the hotels pocket the difference for bringing the taxis the business. I was pretty fed up with this behavior by this point, so Dave and I found our own way to the airport…it didn’t go as well as I’d hoped…
We basically arrived at the airport in the back of a farmer’s truck…true story…
We did have several Thai people apologize to us for the behavior we saw in Phuket. The tuk tuk drivers are especially looked down upon by Thai people and I read several websites that were regretful that so many farang (people of European descent) leave Thailand with a bad taste in their mouth due to this gouging. Most Thais want you to feel welcomed and want you to enjoy your experience in their country and I’m very glad I experienced other areas of Thailand and that Patong Beach wasn’t my only view into Thai culture.
There is a reason photos like this are found in almost any travel brochure about Thailand. The people are incredibly polite and welcoming. You are greeted with a “Wai” (hands held in prayer pose) and a friendly greeting when you enter nearly any business in Thailand.
As usual, I have run out of time before I am done writing, so I will be posting part 2 tomorrow! Stay tuned to hear about Bangkok, Ancient Ruins and Thailand’s second largest city, Chiang Mai!
I’ve just returned from a gorgeous stroll around Zhong Tian Hua Yuan. My heart rate is still elevated, and my cheeks are still a little flush, and I feel like a million bucks! Over the past month, Dave and I have been upping the ante in maintaining a healthier lifestyle. This has, of course, been partially in anticipation for the inevitable bathing suits that we will wear in Thailand, but it’s also more than that. For the past 3 years of my life, I’ve been terribly unhealthy. I’ve picked up some nasty habits (both nutritionally and physically) that have resulted in gained weight, a weakened immune system and overall sentiments of discontent. My health fell low in my list of priorities while I juggled my university degree, a demanding job, home renovations and a variety of other factors. It was unfortunate, certainly, but as any university student can tell you…some times all you have time to eat (or can afford to eat!) is a burger!
I fell victim to McDonald’s Dollar menu more times than I’d like to admit. Seeing as how I was relying on their coffee a great deal to get through the long days at school, it was just so easy to pick up a burger with my Lg double double.
But since I finished my exams in April, I’ve bumped health back up to the top of my priority list, and I couldn’t be happier about that decision. In the last 8 months, I’ve lost 30 pounds and I’ve lost 4 inches around both my chest and my hips. But more than that, I have more confidence than I’ve had in ages. Not only because I’m looking better, but also because 30 pounds is a HUGE accomplishment. I feel like I can do anything!! It’s such a great feeling!
So far, I’ve lost as much weight as this cat weighs!! 30 pounds is also the weight of 240 eggs, a human head, or a flat tire!!
And in addition to all the fantastic endorphins my body releases while I take these long walks, I’m seeing more of Zhong Tian, and Guiyang is feeling more like home, as I explore the gardens here and begin recognizing the owners of the shops I pass by each night.
The view from our bedroom window. I’m looking forward to springtime when I can journal from inside that pagoda 🙂The night market where we go for bbq. I often go by this alley when I go for walks at nightThis was the view from the bedroom of our old apartment. The dome is Zhong Tian’s pool and the courtyard in front of the dome is where the neighbors excercise in the morning, dance at night and practice gong fu daily
If you’d like to see more of Zhong Tian Hua Yuan, please check out the video we made this week! We gave a mini tour of our garden and a bit of the community park. We’ll be posting many more like it and I’ll be sure to update you as I blog!
But living in Zhong Tian isn’t always a walk in the park. As I mentioned in my last post, our apartment does leave some things to be desired. The cockroaches and grease drenched walls definitely made me want to cry, but still…there are more things that have made me laugh (and shake my head) in Zhong Tian than have reduced me to tears.
See previous post for more information on how we broke these pipes by cleaning them!
Take, for example, our walls when we first move in. For us, it was a no-brainer to paint them, but clearly the apartment’s previous tenants hadn’t thought that way. Instead of patching holes in the walls, they stuffed Kleenex into the holes and then covered them in tape (that they covered with white out so that the colour sort of matched the rest of the wall). Another popular technique to hide stains and holes in the walls at our apartment was to cover them up with posters and calendars. We had several big bulky calendars in our living room (some of them for the wrong year) and many old, faded posters. When we took them down, it was easy to see why they’d been placed there, but we still didn’t want to put the smelly paper back onto the walls (the previous owners smoked so everything smelled). The worst thing about this form of ‘covering up’ issues though, wasn’t the posters themselves. It’s that all of these ‘quick fixes’ had been stuck onto the walls with scotch tape, which couldn’t actually be removed from the walls.
Our bedroom door. We took the red poster off, but the tape remains… Our whole living room and dining room looked like this prior to our painting…
We discovered soon that a wide variety of things here are remedied with tape (and I’m not talking about duct tape…it’s usually packing tape, scotch tape or two sided tape…). For example…we had water coming into our kitchen from an upstairs neighbor. The repair guy showed up to fix it, and decided that cutting a hole in our ceiling was the best way to figure out what was going on.
He did replace the missing chunk of ceiling though! Any guesses how??Yup…he taped it right back up there…
Unfortunately, not everything in our apartment is so easily fixed….before we moved in, the school had our fridge and our toilet replaced because they were in such bad shape. Those were two major things for Huang to replace for us, so we’ve let other things go unrepaired because there’s no point in trying to fix everything when we’re only living here for a year. Some examples…
The light above our dining room table is frustratingly non-functional. At first, we thought that it just needed a new light bulb, which was the case in nearly every other light socket in the apartment, but a new bulb didn’t do anything. Luckily, as we replaced the bulbs in the adjacent living room, the dining room also got brighter.The A/C is still a bit of a sore spot for us. Most apartments in Guiyang don’t have them, so when we found out this one did, we were thrilled and willing to overlook the cleaning we’d have to do as a trade off. We confirmed with the land lord that it worked (he said it did) but we never thought to check it ourselves. We did ask the landlord to fix it, but property owners in Zhong Tian don’t seem to like to invest money into fixing anything in their buildings…
My favorite ‘unfixable’ problem in our apartment though, is in the kitchen. We only discovered this particular issue after living in the apartment for 2 months. It took us so long to discover the problem because that particular light socket is an odd shape and it took ages to find a light bulb that would fit it. Even when we did find this odd light bulb (Naveed informed us that they are actually quite popular in England…), we could only find one that was far too long for the light fixture, so we had to leave it off.
The light bulb only comes in size ‘ridiculous’
The easiest way for me to explain what’s wrong with the lights in our kitchen is to show you, so we’ve made another video 🙂 I’m going to learn how to embed videos right into my blog soon, but as some of you know from my FB page, this week has been a little frustrating for me as I learn how to set up my blog in a more visually appealing way. So for now, just follow this link to see the silly way our lights act in the kitchen:
But it the entertainment (and headaches) our apartment provides for us doesn’t end with quick fixes and the unfixable. China hasn’t yet implemented much in the way of ‘safety standards’, and as a result, we have a phone line that runs through our shower, electrical sockets hanging out of the walls and flooring that has absolutely no texture, so if you are wearing socks, or are coming out of the shower, the likelihood of slipping is astronomical. Slippers or shoes are nearly always worn indoors.
I’m pretty clumsy as it is, so the fact that Dave hasn’t put these up around the apartment everywhere to remind me to be careful is a little surprising!
We have definitely refrained from complaining about all these small things to the school, because we know that this is just what life is like in China. Landlords don’t HAVE to fix things…your lights don’t ALL have to work…leaky ceilings are only a big deal if they’re causing damage in your apartment…things are just a little different here. But in spite of our attempts to complain as little as possible, the school’s accountant grew very tired of us in the weeks after we moved into the new place (she is in charge of fixing problems in the teachers’ apartments). The final straw was when I told her the washing machine didn’t work. Now, in all fairness, that’s sort of a big one…..without a washing machine, I can’t come to work in clean clothes. I’ve yet to see a laundrymat in Guiyang so it wasn’t something we could just live without. But, as it turns out, our washing machine wasn’t actually broken; we simply had no idea how it worked.
In our defense, everything is in Chinese, so we didn’t know that the middle dial needed to be turned all the way to the left for the machine to work…
We soon discovered that it would have been better if our washing machine actually WAS broken, because now that it works, we have to take the following 14 steps to doing our laundry every week. For your enjoyment, we photo-documented the process 🙂
Step 1: Face the beast…you will be dealing with her for the next hour or so….Step 2: Begin boiling water, because although our hot water tank is directly above the washing machine, it does not provide hot water FOR the washing machine. We can take water from the shower, but only if neither of us plan on showing for the evening…the tank isn’t big enough to do both laundry, and shower…Step 3: Remove the lid for the washing side (because it doesn’t stay upright on its own). The blue circle at the bottom of the washing machine is what does the work, by the way. It spins both clockwise and counterclockwise to clean your clothes…Step 4 : Round up your clothes and throw them in the washing machine. Make sure that the amount of clothing is exactly right because if there’s too much, the blue circle doesn’t spin, but if there isn’t enough, the spin section of the washing machine doesn’t work (yup…spin cycle is in a different part of the machine. We’ll get to that…Step 5: Add your first 2 kettles full of boiling water (make sure the drain valve is closed first…). Refill your kettles (yeah, we have 2) and get them boiling again.Step 6: Add some cold water (by hand, with a hose, because the hose kinks up and sprays water all over the kitchen if you don’t hold it just right…)Step 7: Roughly 20 minutes later, you have warm water to wash your clothes in. Turn the far left valve all the way counter clockwise and let the machine do it’s thing for 35 minutesStep 8: After 35 minutes (25 of which are spent just allowing the clothes to soak between clockwise or counterclockwise spins), your clothes have been ‘cleaned’. This is what the water looks like. China is very dusty by the way…Step 9: Get more hot water boiling and turn the middle valve all the way to the right, to let the dirty water drain out.Step 10: once the water is drained, turn the middle valve back to the left and fill the machine with cold water. Turn the far left dial about 1/3 around so that you get about 10 minutes of swishing to rinse the clothes.Step 11: This is what the water looks like after the first rinse. We rinse it a second time (using hot water) because I’m pretty sure the clothes still aren’t actually clean at this point.Step 12: Let the water drain out one final time. I should also mention that when the water drains, it goes down a pink plastic tube that leads into a drain in the floor of our kitchen. This pink tube has been knocked out of the drain before….it got messy…Step 13: The clothes are now ready to be moved over to the other side of the washing machine, where they are spin dried.I do have to admit that this feature works quite well, and probably saves us a day or two of drying time. Oh yeah…did I mention that they don’t have clothes dryers here? You hang dry it all… Oh…and the plastic piece you put on top of the clothes…it’s there so they don’t fly out while they spin!Step 14: Hang up your clothes to dry. We are lucky enough to have inherited a couple of dehumidifiers that speed up the process.The key is to spread out everything as far as you can. In winter, it can take 2-3 days for everything to dry, so you also do laundry with that in mind.
So that’s what it’s like living in a Chinese apartment. As I mentioned in my last post, we live in the poorest province in China, so it’s definitely different elsewhere in the country. The laundry was a pain at first, but once you get into a routine, it gets much easier. The worst is when Dave throws the clothes in the wash, because he hardly ever checks to make sure I have a pair of pants to wear while the clean ones dry. I came to China with 5 pairs but I now only have 2 that properly fit me (and they’re already pretty loose), so that’s always a bit of a struggle. He’s pretty happy though, because I’ve forbidden him to do this part of the laundry routine again….you’ve lucked out this time, Reimer…
We are only 20 days away from Thailand now, and we’re both getting VERY excited about the trip! Between now and then I hope to be writing some posts regarding what it’s like to be a teacher here. It’s the end of the semester, so as I do my progress reports and correct tests, I’m beaming with pride as I see how much my students have learned in the last 5 months. I think it’s a good time to write about the wonderful experience teaching can be!
This weekend was a little exhausting, but still managed to be a lot of fun! I think I’m FINALLY getting over my 4 week cold (the joys of teaching my little germ infested monkeys!), and I finally got to participate in the school’s cooking activity Sunday night! I made deviled eggs, Guiyang style. I substituted paprika for La Jiao and boy were they a hit! I had a couple of hecklers in the front row (kids can be so cruel!!) telling me they smelled bad and were going to be gross, but BOTH of them tried coming back for thirds, so I was pretty pleased with myself!!
The event involved all of the teachers cooking western dishes for the students; A brilliant marketing activity on the part of my boss! Not only did the kids learn some new words, but they got to taste western food they’d never heard of before. A full western experience!My sous-chef, Maggie, and I. She is a teacher at the JinYang branch, and she is lovely 🙂 Behind me, you can see a fellow Canadian Lao Wai…I keep telling him his face is going to get stuck that way….
As much as we would have loved to spend another weekend in another corner of Guizhou province, Dave and I opted to spend this Monday and Tuesday recovering our health and tackling the daunting task that is ‘cleaning our kitchen’. We still haven’t gotten around to cleaning it since we moved in a month and a half ago. It took nearly a week to get the rest of the place sanitized, and we needed some pretty heavy duty degreasers to get the layers of filth off the walls, so until now, we’ve just kept the door shut and avoided that room.
Of course, cooking on Sunday made me miss having a kitchen SO much that we’ve decided to make that our project tomorrow. So here I am, doing the next best thing to actually traveling: writing about traveling!
After a gorgeous and relaxing night in Zhenyuan Ancient town, we set off for our River Cruise Tuesday morning. A van picked us up at the hotel at 8:30am and we traveled to the Wuyang River dam with 2 other couples (both Chinese), which is located about an hour from the Ancient town. The road there was bumpy and pretty scary at some points, but we got there in one piece, perhaps thanks to our Chinese friends in the van, who continually told the driver to slow down because they didn’t want the Lao Wai to think badly of Chinese roads or drivers! One of them spoke English, which was great. I’m very proud of the amount of Mandarin I can speak (Dave told me about a month ago that he was SHOCKED when we got here…all of a sudden I could speak a 3rd language!), but it’s so nice getting a bit of a break now and then as well!
The dam where our cruise startedThe pagoda where our boat docked
We were the only La Wai on the cruise, which was both nice and a bit of a nuisance. It was nice being the only westerners because so many of the people we’ve met on cruises in China have been very closed minded and extremely judgmental of the Chinese. But on the other hand, because we were the only light skinned occupants on the boat, we became a tourist attraction ourselves. Although the views from the boat were terrific, people seemed to be more interested in snapping photos with US…instead of with the scenery. We obliged for a few people (the ones who had been in the van with us), but then hid away from the crowds, where it was warmer and where we could enjoy the views, just the two of us 🙂
The most famous rock formation near Zhenyuan.Beautiful Guizhou mountains, and our boat’s flag 🙂
Roughly 3 and a half hours after the van picked us up, we were dropped off at our hotel, where we had to check out. The hotel’s owner was kind enough to hold our luggage for us while we walked through the ancient town once more. This time, we viewed the south side of the Wuyang River during the day time, which turned out to be just as beautiful of an experience as it was at night!
The gorgeous pagoda we’d visited the day beforeSteps lead into the water all over the ancient townMy favorite shot of the whole trip. I nearly dropped my camera in the river while taking it…but it was worth the scare!This was the first time we’d felt sunshine in about a month. We were so excited that I quickly snapped a picture! The sun is a wonderful thing!!!We had supper on the other side of this bridge the night before. Like I said…just as beautiful as during the day 🙂
Eventually, we found the old city wall, that was built around 2000 years ago, and has since been restored. As the sun shone down on us, we walked along the clean path and enjoyed the gardens and the sounds of the river.
We took the north side of the river back to the hotel and enjoyed such a contrast in environment! After our serene walk along the old wall, we were met with the hustle and bustle of a Chinese city.
The archway leading back into old townA construction site. Notice the lack of any safety gear…Chickens…they’re everywhere. Today, in Guiyang, we saw a woman carrying a live on in a bag over her shoulder…oh China!There were children playing under this mess of wires. I can’t help but cringe, and wonder what the stats are on random electrocutions due to an insane lack of safety regulations in the country!
Squatter toilets for sale!! Get your squatters here! On discount, today only! Get your squatter toilets here, ladies and gentlemen, you won’t regret it!!
Still, as we wound our way down alleys and smaller streets during our final hour in Zhenyuan, we enjoyed unique sights and absorbed all the ‘new’ we could. There’s nothing quite like traveling, and I feel so incredibly lucky to be in a situation where I can just pack up for the weekend and experience something like Zhenyuan Ancient Village. I’m living the dream 🙂
Another one of my favorite shots from Tuesday. This was the view between two random buildings on the way back to the hotel. Just beautiful.An alleyway we explored, in search of a hostel we’d seen a sign for. We have every intention of returning to Zhenyuan (there’s so much we didn’t have time to do!), and although we’d love to stay at the same place again, a traveler knows that back up plans are a must!I can’t be certain…but I’m pretty sure Bowser is waiting to fight me on the other side of this door….unfortunately for him…he has NO IDEA how many hours I spent learning how to defeat him in my youth!!!
Thanks again for tuning in, and check back soon! I still have so many posts to write!
It’s a green-tea-drinking, guitar-music-playing and blogging type of night! After a fabulous day off spent scooting around Guiyang with Dave, I’ve decided to postpone my final piece of the National Holiday Saga for a night when I have less recent events that need telling. So today, I shall write about Guiyang, the city where I am living 365 days of my life.
Guizhou Province is the poorest province in all of China. People who know about Guizhou province don’t have very fond opinions of the place, and while we were on vacation we received quite a few negative reactions from Chinese people when we told them where we live. However, the majority of westerns have no idea where Guizhou even is. It’s sort of like Saskatchewan in Canada…internationally, it isn’t very well known, and within the country, nobody really wants to talk about it!
For the kind people who are following my blog, but who may not know of the lesser known prairie provinces in Canada, THIS is Saskatchwan. They are really only known for two things: flat, endless fields and an insane obsession with their CFL team, the Roughriders. We drove through there last summer and passed towns named “Elbow” and “Eyebrow”. We kept waiting to see if we’d find ‘armpit’ but we sort of already felt like we were there 😛 Just joking my Sask peeps! Your province in lovely!
We live in the capital of Guizhou province: Guiyang. And although it definitely has it’s flaws, we feel safe here and I most definitely never scoff at it’s scenery. Guizhou may not be as rich as Xiamen city , or as scenic as Guangxi province but the scenery here is so ruggedly beautiful.
A minority village nestled in the mountains of Guizhou province.This was the view from our living room window in our last apartment. Guiyang has basically been carved into the mountains. Today we scooted through 3 tunnels as we explored the city. If a mountain is in the way of progress…they carve a hole into it
Still, Guiyang does have its flaws.
It’s an up and coming city…In the last 6 months, there’s been a huge influx of western restaurants and stores. As of now, Guiyang has many KFC and Dairy Queen locations, a Burger King, a Starbucks, 3 Walmarts (with another being built), a Carrefour (a French Grocery store chain) and most recently, a Subway (it opened here last week). There are even western clothing stores in Guiyang, such as H&M and designer stores like Diesel and Calvin Klein. Guiyang is moving up in the world! The only problem is that many of the citizens of Guiyang haven’t caught up to their city’s progress!
Imagine living in a city where everybody is ‘new money’. They’ve gone from dog, to eating Beijing Kao Ya (Peking Duck) and gone from taking overfilled buses, to driving BMWs. It’s a pretty interesting place…
I know that Guiyang will eventually be fabulous in all ways, but the city is currently very lacking in the sanitation department. Parents allow their children to urinate in the streets (they sometimes hold them over sewers so they can relieve themselves…but often it’s done on the sidewalk), and people spit constantly. It’s not pleasant to hear, and it’s not pleasant to see on the ground. Walking in Guiyang is a fun little game…you need to watch where you’re going, but at the same time, you need to have your eyes on the sidewalk so that you can dodge spit, urine and loose or uneven tiles in the ground. How so many women here walk around in 3 inch heals is beyond me…the sidewalks are an obstacle course!!
A normal sight in Guiyang. I saw it in Xiamen too, but NEVER to the extent it’s done here. It also happens indoors. One of my coworkers scolded a mother for allowing her child to pee on the mall floor, when the bathrooms were within eyesight.Although spitting is banned in Hong Kong, it is commonplace in Guiyang. Littering is also a problem because trash cans were only set up around the city a few years ago. Many people aren’t used to having to throw their waste in bins and find it inconvenient to have to do so.
Surprisingly, there aren’t many cockroaches in Guiyang. When we first moved into our new apartment, they were a HUGE problem, but since we got the place cleaned up we haven’t seen a single one. Rats, on the other hand, are an issue. The school is infested. My desk often has poop in it, and I find myself constantly wiping everything down with sanitary wipes. We find chew marks in our books and we sometimes see them running along the pipes above the teacher’s office. Worst of all, I can often hear them moving around in the walls behind my desk. Lexie and I will just look over at one another and shudder at the sound.
If rats were all this cute, it wouldn’t be a problem. I can’t imagine Remy pooping on my notepad, or chewing threw the La Jia stash (the spicy condiment that has replaced my love for salt) that I keep in my desk.
And Guiyang’s lack of sanitation isn’t its only problem. The queue situation isn’t quite as bad as it was in 2006, (the main issue in Xiamen was that queues didn’t even exist…), but still, people often cut in line. Just today, I had a women cut in front of me at Carrefour. She had a cart full of items, and all I had was a bottle of MeiJiu in hand but still, as soon as I looked away, she pushed her way past me. The smug grin she gave me after made me so angry I wanted to backhanded her. But the Canadian in me took over and I just gave her a passive aggressive dirty look instead.
Annnnnd took a picture of the back of her head, so that I could blog about her later.
But there is something even worse than urine on the streets, or people cutting in front of me at Carrefour. Traffic in Guiyang is insanity. The infrastructure here is so bad that it makes Winnipeg’s streets look logical, but even THAT isn’t the worst of it! People here have absolutely no regard for other drivers on the road, to the point where signaling isn’t done (EVER!) and instead of doing shoulder checks, everyone just honks to let others know that they are there. Guiyang is a LOUD city!
Can you feel my road rage from across the ocean?
Just today, we saw someone make a U turn from the far right lane of a busy 6 lane road. I should add, that this U turn was NOT made at an intersection. We were driving in the lane to his left and had to swerve and slam on the breaks to avoid T boning him. Did he look scared or regretful, you might ask? Nope! He just kept driving. I’m not even sure he realized that there were other vehicles on the road, or that a beautiful white scooter had nearly been injured due to his insane expectations of what driving should be.
This is our scooter. She’s swell 🙂
So why, you might be wondering, am I still living in this city? Why do I continue to work in a rat infested building and continue to navigate horribly designed streets under fear of sudden insanity brought on by road rage? Well…that’s the thing. Amidst all this craziness, we both find ourselves happier than either of us have ever been.
These are two very happy people standing on the corner of a busy intersection, waiting for the light to turn green.This is Dave, happily holding up a statue of Chairman Mao.Me, happily hanging out on the back of the scooter, a few minutes before Mr. Brilliant did his world class moronic U turn
There are so many things here that contribute to this happiness. The food is a big one…everything here is flavored with an abundance of spice. The only bland food I’ve had has been when Chinese cooks try to prepare dishes for the western palette. Hot Pot is especially delicious and we’ve found several restaurants that have really made living here a tasty and fantastic experience.
Our favorite restaurant in Zhong Tian Hua Yuan (the closed community where we live) happens to be a Hot Pot restaurant near the bus loop. The dish is incredibly spicy and just gets tastier as you make your way through the mealThis is what it looks like when we are done. I’m planning a whole post on local food, so I’ll explain more about how Hot Pot is done then 🙂
Even better than the food at this restaurant, are the people who work there. Their restaurant is always clean and well maintained, and the staff work very hard. The owners, Kevin and LoMan, greet us by name every time we arrive. They are two of the nicest people we’ve met here and I hope our friendship grows. I always told everyone back home that the two things I missed the most about China were the People and the Food. At our hot pot place, we get the best of both 🙂
Kevin and Loman. They are so nice to each other! Most couples here aren’t overly romantic but these two are adorable.I believe that you can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat animals. This kitten strolled into their restaurant 4 days ago, looking for a home. They took him in and he’s already made himself very comfortable 🙂
But honestly, I think even more than the people and the food, what makes me so happy here is how much I LIVE!! Every day is an adventure…every adventure is a challenge. Whether we are trying to mail post cards or trying to find some western ingredient for a dish we are craving…every moment of our lives here is interesting. Seeing the way people drive here is interesting. The cultural norms here, that are so drastically different from our own….are interesting! We went to Walmart today to look for a Halloween Costume for Dave, and saw the funniest things. We saw strange meat, and asked what it was. The woman replied that it is rotisserie rabbit. You can also find stools at Walmart, that have the middle section cut out. These are built this way so that they can be placed over squatter toilets so that you can sit comfortable instead of crouching, while trying not to get pee on yourself!
Roasted ducks hanging at WalmartSmoked pork fat, sitting in a wooden crate.
So I suppose what I’m trying to say here, is that I love my life. I love that everything is difficult. I love that I’ve learned so many new words in the last 3 months. I love how exciting it is to say something in Mandarin and have the other person understand what I’m saying! I love how the people here can be so amazing! Our waitress at the hot pot place didn’t speak a word of English when we first started going there. Now, she has a friend teaching her so that she can ask us simple things in English, even though we know how to ask for them in Mandarin.
I love how I’m building meaningful friendships here. I’ll never be able to talk about those rats with anyone like I can with Lexie!! I’ll never be able to stand on a street corner in the rain and rant about work and students and craziness like I can with her, because she’s going through the same things I am!
I love what I’m discovering about myself, and what Dave and I are discovering about our relationship. We are learning what we are like under the most stressful circumstances, and I’ve gotta say…I am SO happy to be here with someone I love so much!!
It’s beginning to get colder here in Guiyang. Both Dave and I are wearing sweaters and slippers, and we’ve pulled out some extra blankets for the bedroom. The Chinese government doesn’t provide heating for anyone below a certain imaginary line they’ve drawn across the country, so in Guiyang, we don’t have indoor heating. We were lucky to find several space heaters that had been left behind by previous tenants of our old apartment, so when we moved this weekend, the heaters came with us. We were also smart, and brought along slippers with us. Mine are the nice fur-lined moccasins that my dad got for me for Christmas 2 years ago. Unfortunately, the fur on them has seen better days (life with cats!), but they’ll help a great deal with keeping my toes warm through the cold months. (Also, Dad, if you’re reading this…I could use a new pair :p Size 8!!!).
See…could totally use a new pair 😛 Also, this is our flooring. It’s basically stone tile, that’s laying on top of concrete. It gets chilly!!
Our final day and a half in Guilin was most definitely not ‘slipper weather’. We developed some well defined tan lines in Guangxi (they only got darker in Xiamen), and the sun was very welcomed, after 2 months of clouds in Guiyang.
Guiyang on an average day. In August, the city’s peek month for sunshine, roughly 41% of the the month sees sunshine. In January, Guiyang’s cloudiest month, the number dips down to 12%. For comparison, Winnipeg’s peak is around 62%, and it’s lowest average is 41%…we get a lot of clouds here!!!
After the Rice Terrace tour, Emily dropped us off downtown once more, where we said goodbye and hugged our wonderful tour guide. We exchanged phone numbers and WeChat IDs (WeChat is a little like BBM mixed with FB). Since then, she’s sent me several messages, telling us what a great job we did painting our apartment, and even sending me links to job postings in Guilin city. Oh, how I wish I could make that happen!!!
Yup! I could sure handle living here!
We spent our last evening in Guilin walking around downtown once more. This time, we walked down to the Sun and Moon Pagodas, one of Guilin’s most famous sites. They are located right on the river, and are lit up beautifully, so they were really worth seeing. The river path was gorgeous and clean. People don’t spit as much in Guilin (it’s bad for tourism; the city’s main source of income), and it seems like fewer people there smoke as well. We enjoyed our walk along the river, as the sun went down, talking about our day in the fields, and enjoying the view as the pagodas began to light up.
Beautiful paths leading to the river. The gardens are well kept here.Our first clear view of the pagodas. The one with the orange glow is the sun pagoda, and the slightly smaller one is the moon.A very neat shot of the Moon Pagoda that Dave captured 🙂
I love the contrast with the sky in this picture!A closer shot of the Moon Pagoda. It’s very elaborate
We spent a few more hours in the market after our walk along the river, buying a few more Christmas presents and enjoying some Guilin style bbq. There is more seafood available in Guilin than there is in Guiyang so we definitely took advantage of that! As we were leaving the restaurant, we noticed a strange looking meat, wrapped around a skewer. At first, I thought it might be snake, so we asked the waiter. He looked bashful and told us it was “Zhu Rou” (pork meat). I’d seen many pork parts at bbqs in the past, but I didn’t recognize this one, so I pointed to my stomach and said “from here?”. He looked at me bashfully once more, pointed at Dave’s mid section, and looked away very quickly. The Chinese believe that whatever part of the animal you eat, the better you will become in that area. They eat brain to be smarter. They eat eyeball to have better vision. They eat pork penis, because well…you know…We did not try it, as we were very full. I imagine Dave would have probably wanted to, but I’m not upset that we missed the chance!
This, my friends, is pig dick on a stick!!! (sorry moms…it was too perfect of a joke not to include!)
The next day, we head downtown once more, but the experience was very different from the previous nights’. It seemed that overnight, quiet and beautiful Guilin was invaded…by tourists! The buses were ‘standing room only’ and the streets were so full that it took ages to get anywhere. Everywhere we looked there were vendors selling food, drinks and cheap merchandise. It was all very overwhelming, so we found our way to Elephant Trunk Park, where we hoped there would be fewer people (the high admission price kept many tourists at bay).
A band playing in the middle of the sidewalk. We were able to snap a picture before the crowd got around them and made them impossible to see
Elephant Trunk Park, I must say, was a bit of a let down. It’s main attraction, a large rock formation that’s shaped like an elephant (I guess?) was really the coolest thing to see. Still, it is the most famous scene to see in Guilin, so I’m happy we went. And to be fair, I honestly think anything would have disappointed me after seeing the mountains along the Li River, followed by the LongJi Rice Terraces!
Elephant Trunk HillThe entrance to the park. These trees are actually made of concreteOne of the coolest sights to see there… a Lao Wei!!!! These guys asked for a picture with Dave, so I snapped one as well 😉
There were a few other things to see in the park. There were a large number of parade floats set up around certain areas of the park. Some of them were quite well done. Some of them were in some very strange positions. And a lot of them made no sense at all.
As I said…some were quite nice…Some were in questionable positions…And some were downright confusing…
And thus concludes my telling of our four day stay in Guangxi Province! Next time, I will be writing about our stay in Xiamen; my first home in China!!
We are all moved into our new apartment! It was a rough few days of scrubbing and painting and more scrubbing, but we’re here now, and very happy to be in our cozy new (mold-free) place! We are about half unpacked, and are emptying our suitcases by priority. First, I unpacked the tea 🙂 Tonight, it’s Oolong that we are enjoying. It was purchased at one of the many shops along ZhongShan Lu in Xiamen during our holiday. But before I can get to that, I must finish writing about Guilin!
We stocked up in Xiamen. Sadly, this will probably not last us the year! haha!!!
Our 3rd day in Guilin was spent at the LongJi Rice Terraces. Emily picked us up bright and early, and we took the 2.5 hour drive to one of the three minority villages there. Our wonderful tour guide paid great attention to our personalities, and brilliantly brought us to the most calm of the 3 minority villages. The village where Emily took us has only been open to the public for a year and a half, and (minus some satellite dishes) the people here are still living quite traditionally, nestled in these beautiful rice terraces.
Like the rice terraces, these houses are built on an incline
Intricate woodwork
As we walked through the village, we saw elderly women taking care of small children. Emily explained that nearly everyone who is physically capable of working is either in a rice field or selling goods to tourists,so the elderly stay at home and watch the children. Nearly everyone in town was dressed in their ethnic group’s traditional clothing. Both the colour of the fabric and the stitch work are unique to this minority group, and they still dress this way to honour their traditions (and probably because the tourists like it! haha…).
Traditional costumes
This picture I did take myself. We were far enough away that she couldn’t see us haha! She is picking chili peppers. They grow more than just rice in LongJi!
As we hiked through the village and up the mountain, we saw horses and dogs, and heard many roosters calling. The town was quaint and both Dave and I were so happy to be away from the city, in this quiet, simple atmosphere. The smell of cow manure was welcome and the cool mountain breeze was refreshing after the heat in Guilin city. This particular day was the highlight of our stay in Guangxi Province.
The first animal friend we made at Longji. He initially ‘grumped’ when Dave started to pet him, but then soon realized that he liked being pet haha! He was very cute 🙂There were roosters everywhere! This one was particularly beautifulThis group of dogs was terribly cute!
They followed us down a little ways, probably hoping for some food. They might have also just been interested in seeing what the Lao Wai were up to!
As we hiked, Emily told us all about the rice fields and rice. I’d never seen a rice plant before, so it was very neat to see how a food that sustains the better part of the world’s population is grown. She showed us the difference between long grain and sticky rice plants. She also explained that in the springtime, these fields fill with water. The way these fields are built to be cascading down a mountainside was not a mere coincidence. Gravity works as a brilliant irrigation tool, and seeing as how rice needs a great deal of water to grow, this method of growing the plant is very successful. We arrived in LongJi just days before the crops are harvested, so we got to see them in their golden splendor.
A close-up of riceA view of the fields as we hiked up the mountain
Eventually Emily lead us to a set of stone stairs, going up to the peak of the mountain. I was really able to appreciate the 11 flights of stairs I’ve been climbing daily to get to the apartment, because the trek wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been! The view was beautiful the whole way up, and I soaked in the quiet and the smells of nature. Living in a city is exciting, but nothing beats fresh air and silence.
Our first view of the stairs. At this point, I didn’t realize how many of these things I’d have to climb!The air was a bit thinner up here and we had to stop a few times on the way up to catch our breath!
I swear the stairs just got more beautiful a we continued the climb
The scene at the top of the mountain was amazing. The two hours it took us to get up there were worth every step. I took a video because no picture alone could do the scene justice, but the video is too large to upload 🙁 I’ll see if I can post it on facebook eventually. For now, here are some pictures of that incredible view…
No photo could possibly do this justice
The walk down was just as nice as the walk up, though it took a lot less time. We stopped for lunch in the village, and were treated to some herbal fruit tea, which I am now definitely addicted to. We were served a bamboo dish (because Emily overheard me say that I love bamboo), and a taro dish (because Dave had never tried Taro…Emily is SO thoughtful!!) and finally, a chicken and mushroom dish, which was made with white meat, so that we didn’t need to worry about bones! In China, chicken is chopped up, and you have to eat around shards of bone with your chopsticks. All westerners hated it. Emily knows her clients so well…I love that girl!!! Also served at lunch was a special rice that is roasted in bamboo, as well as pig blood soup. Emily originally ordered it for her and her husband (because she still hadn’t learned that we’ll eat anything), but was happy to share and let us have a try. It wasn’t something I’d necessarily order myself, but if it’s ever on a table in front of me, I’d try it again!!
A neat shot I got while coming down from the peak. Emily took a different route because she knows Dave hates seeing the same thing twice (it became an ongoing joke throughout the trip)
Dave had fallen behind after seeing a line of ants moving up the mountain. I turned around to see if he was coming and saw this incredible view. One of my favorite pics of the day.I’m officially addicted to this tea! I brought 20 of these fruit back with us, and I’m already looking to see where I can find it in Guiyang for when I run out!!Pig Blood Soup…the stuff floating in there is congealed blood…Roasted rice in bamboo 🙂
Well, I had originally intended to finish writing about Guangxi tonight, but it would appear I’ve already gone over my word count goal (I try to keep my posts around 1000 words so I don’t bore anyone), and I still have more to write, so I suppose there will be a part 4 to this part of the trip! I hope I haven’t lost any of you yet!! Thanks to everyone that’s been following me and especially to those of you who have written such nice and encouraging things in the comment section. This project means so much to me, and I’m so glad some of you are enjoying it as well 🙂
I am sitting here sipping green tea with Dave. It’s a little past midnight, and there are fireworks going off in the distance. Such a wonderfully “Chinese” moment for me to write about our trip to Guangxi 🙂
Our Tea Set. Chinese tea is all about ritual. You begin by rinsing the leaves, to kill any bacteria that might be in them. You also sanitize the cups this way. Then you fill the big cup with water, and let the tea sit for a few moments. With your index finger on the lid, and your middle finger and thumb along the rim, you use the lid as a strainer and pour tea into the small cups. It’s easy to appreciate the different flavors and tastes of the tea in these small amounts. It isn’t just about a caffeine fix…it’s about the time spent making tea, and drinking it with the ones you love 🙂
Guangxi is not technically a province, but a “Chinese Autonomous Region”, similar to Inner Mongolia and Tibet. Although Guilin was once Guangxi’s capital, it is now only its 3rd largest city. Still, it is a huge source of income for the autonomous region, as it is a very popular tourist spot. It’s easy to see why…
Guangxi borders the province where we live (Guizhou) to the South-East
We arrived in Guilin at around 8am on Sunday September 28th. We took a bus to the wrong end of the city, and then took a cab to the hostel (oh the joys of the language barrier!). At first glance, our hostel was a tad intimidating. We had to walk down a back alley to get there, and our cab driver just left us on the side of the road. But once we were inside, we were very pleasantly surprised at the cleanliness to price ratio! We paid roughly $11 Canadian per night, and had a room to ourselves, with a comfortable queen size bed, a shower with hot water, and a flat screen TV. It was small but very comfortable, and the staff were very helpful with directions and suggestions for things that we should do while in the city.
We had to walk down this alley to get to the hostel. It was a tad disheartening at first, and made us wonder about the hostel we’d booked…Our Tea Set. Chinese tea is all about ritual. You begin by rinsing the leaves, to kill any bacteria that might be in them. You also sanitize the cups this way. Then you fill the big cup with water, and let the tea sit for a few moments. With your index finger on the lid, and your middle finger and thumb along the rim, you use the lid as a strainer and pour tea into the small cups. It’s easy to appreciate the different flavors and tastes of the tea in these small amounts. It isn’t just about a caffeine fix…it’s about the time spent making tea, and drinking it with the ones you love 🙂When we arrived in our room, our minds had been made up: this is the greatest hostel in the world! For $11 a night, we slept in a bed much more comfortable than the one in our current apartment. And we had air conditioning(!!!), which was nice, because Guilin is actually quite a bit hotter than Guiyang!
After some lunch, we hopped on a bus, got a little lost, and then hopped onto another bus, to get to Reed Flute Cave. I’m no expert on caves (I’ve only ever seen one and it was this past summer), but Reed Flute Cave has to be one of the most beautiful caves in the world! The stalactites and stalagmites were enormous and took so many beautiful shapes. The Chinese are also very big on lighting up their caves, adding colour to the formations, so you can better see why certain areas are named as they are.
Our Tea Set. Chinese tea is all about ritual. You begin by rinsing the leaves, to kill any bacteria that might be in them. You also sanitize the cups this way. Then you fill the big cup with water, and let the tea sit for a few moments. With your index finger on the lid, and your middle finger and thumb along the rim, you use the lid as a strainer and pour tea into the small cups. It’s easy to appreciate the different flavors and tastes of the tea in these small amounts. It isn’t just about a caffeine fix…it’s about the time spent making tea, and drinking it with the ones you love 🙂Beautiful formations, lit up with red lights. These took thousands of years to form. Nature is so cool 🙂
After wandering in this enormous cavern for quite some time, we found our way to the gift shop, where we unexpectedly purchased a painting by an artist whose work is done solely with his hands and fingers. We typically try not to buy much at gift shops, because items tend to be greatly overpriced, but the painting was gorgeous and well worth what he was asking.
A description of the art we purchasedOur Tea Set. Chinese tea is all about ritual. You begin by rinsing the leaves, to kill any bacteria that might be in them. You also sanitize the cups this way. Then you fill the big cup with water, and let the tea sit for a few moments. With your index finger on the lid, and your middle finger and thumb along the rim, you use the lid as a strainer and pour tea into the small cups. It’s easy to appreciate the different flavors and tastes of the tea in these small amounts. It isn’t just about a caffeine fix…it’s about the time spent making tea, and drinking it with the ones you love 🙂Our Tea Set. Chinese tea is all about ritual. You begin by rinsing the leaves, to kill any bacteria that might be in them. You also sanitize the cups this way. Then you fill the big cup with water, and let the tea sit for a few moments. With your index finger on the lid, and your middle finger and thumb along the rim, you use the lid as a strainer and pour tea into the small cups. It’s easy to appreciate the different flavors and tastes of the tea in these small amounts. It isn’t just about a caffeine fix…it’s about the time spent making tea, and drinking it with the ones you love 🙂
The following two days of our trip were spent with a tour guide. Emily Cai met us at the hostel at 8:10 am Monday morning, and helped us order some Baozi (Chinese steam dumplings), before heading to the port where our Li River Cruise was set to depart.
These delicious steam dumplings can be filled with pork and mushroom (my favorite), a variety of vegetables, and even sesame paste. They are a cheap and delicious breakfast 🙂
We were put on the “Lao Wei” boat, which felt incredibly strange to both Dave and I. The occupants were mostly retired Europeans, who were all either shocked or horrified when we told them that we actually live in China. Some of them were so scared to try Chinese food (that had actually been heavily westernized for the sake of the western pallets on the boat), that they brought Wonderbread sandwiches along in little brown boxes. Among the snobby tourists, we did find a few like minded people. We actually sat at a table with some German retirees, who were taking a tour all throughout China. They spoke some English, and Dave had a chance to practice a little German, but they were very lighthearted, friendly people, who enjoyed the food and wanted to learn some Chinese to make their stay easier. We both enjoyed teaching them how to say “Binde” (cold) so they could stop miming the world ‘cold’ when they ask for beer at restaurants (Beer….brrrrrrrrrr….).
The sights were incredible on this tour! The mountains are rugged and take so many interesting shapes. The four and a half hour cruise made it easy to see why Guangxi is such a popular tourist destination. The beauty there is even on the Chinese 20rmb bill, and we passed the mountains that are on the currency 🙂
I don’t really feel that captions are necessary for the following pictures 🙂
There are 7 horses hidden in this mountain. Can you spot them? Dave and I found 4 🙂
Although I would love to finish writing about my Guangxi adventures tonight, it’s now 1:30am, and I need to get some sleep! Stay tuned for Part 2!!!
