Weather: Rain 75F
Time: 7:35am Monday
The last 10 days have been a good time. Hanging out with my brother in China was surely a unique experience. We are heading towards the airport this morning and begin our long trip in the afternoon.
We will be leaving the dorms at 9:30 to head for the airport. We will be leaving 1 pm China time to South Korea. All posted times below are local times.
http://www.flightstats.com/go/FlightStatus/flightStatusByFlight.do?airline=(OZ)+Asiana+Airlines&flightNumber=364&departureDate=2010-05-17&x=28&y=11
http://www.flightstats.com/go/FlightStatus/flightStatusByFlight.do?airline=(OZ)+Asiana+Airlines&flightNumber=236&departureDate=2010-05-17&x=37&y=8
I have to get back to packing.
Jon
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Flight Information
I'd like to write more information on this tomorrow.
Depart 1:05pm
Arrive 3:50pm
Asiana Airlines (OZ) - 364
PVG to ICN
Depart: 6:50 pm
Arrive: 5:35 pm (6:35pm EST)
Asiana Airlines (OZ) - 236 (Terminal 5.. maybe)
ICN to ORD
Depart 1:05pm
Arrive 3:50pm
Asiana Airlines (OZ) - 364
PVG to ICN
Depart: 6:50 pm
Arrive: 5:35 pm (6:35pm EST)
Asiana Airlines (OZ) - 236 (Terminal 5.. maybe)
ICN to ORD
Friday, May 14, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Seeing Shanghai
Weather: 70F Sunny
Time: 9:20am
My brother arrived not long ago and now we've been seeing the city as much as we can. Today we're heading to Beijing for a few days to enjoy a more traditional China scene.
So Far, Day 1
We saw a lot of the town, moving quickly though the fabric market - we headed to lunch at People's Square. Saw the future of Shanghai in the Urban planning museum and headed out shopping after that to the Nanjing Road pedestrian street. We walked to the Bund and also crossed the river to have dinner near the Oriental Pearl.
9th
We spent a lot of time getting places and got a few menial tasks done and got to old town for most of the day. The time was split between the traditional Chinese garden, Yu Yuan, and seeing what small shop vendors had for sale.
10th
World Expo all day.
Beijing
Today we're heading to Beijing in the early afternoon. Every night has been very short because of the long days, we're taking this opportunity to get ready for some more long days. We're flying out of PVG at 2:10pm and landing back in Shanghai on Friday at 9:15pm. Planning on seeing the sights! Great Wall, Summer Palace, etc etc etc.
Heading Home
I am looking forward to being back in the United States. Some of the friends on this trip left on the same flight I am taking, one week early. They touched down in Chicago at 6:35pm EST and it was the first thing I thought of when I woke up today. I am really looking forward 7 days from now.
Biber
Time: 9:20am
My brother arrived not long ago and now we've been seeing the city as much as we can. Today we're heading to Beijing for a few days to enjoy a more traditional China scene.
So Far, Day 1
We saw a lot of the town, moving quickly though the fabric market - we headed to lunch at People's Square. Saw the future of Shanghai in the Urban planning museum and headed out shopping after that to the Nanjing Road pedestrian street. We walked to the Bund and also crossed the river to have dinner near the Oriental Pearl.
9th
We spent a lot of time getting places and got a few menial tasks done and got to old town for most of the day. The time was split between the traditional Chinese garden, Yu Yuan, and seeing what small shop vendors had for sale.
10th
World Expo all day.
Beijing
Today we're heading to Beijing in the early afternoon. Every night has been very short because of the long days, we're taking this opportunity to get ready for some more long days. We're flying out of PVG at 2:10pm and landing back in Shanghai on Friday at 9:15pm. Planning on seeing the sights! Great Wall, Summer Palace, etc etc etc.
Heading Home
I am looking forward to being back in the United States. Some of the friends on this trip left on the same flight I am taking, one week early. They touched down in Chicago at 6:35pm EST and it was the first thing I thought of when I woke up today. I am really looking forward 7 days from now.
Biber
Friday, May 7, 2010
Adventure to the End
Weather 64F and Sunny
Time 845am Saturday
This week is finally over, I am happy to be finished with school. I am officially no longer a student and I am only a short term tourist. Thankfully, so is everyone else on the trip. I will now also be able to go see some sites with my brother - who arrived yesterday afternoon.
End of School
This week we all had to sit down and finish school with some finals. I thankfully only had two finals, one from the distance Purdue course and another final for the local Purdue Students Only Thermodynamics II course. I had studied plenty for the Purdue course and I believe it strongly paid off. The Thermo test could have gone much better. I am very excited that school has finally come to a close here in China. It marks the beginning of the end.
The end coming around is a big deal because I am looking for to coming home. I recognize that I will likely not be able to come back to China for quite sometime. I am looking forward to coming back and speaking more Chinese than I do now. It is very exciting to be a tourist again, very little responsibility and staying active each day with a goal of seeing everything there is to see. School and homework no longer are in the way!
World Expo 2010 Visit 1
On Thursday May 6th, I visited the Expo for the first time. I made my way to plenty of the pavilions and it was a bit of a scouting mission for the rest of the folks on the trip. Since I only had the two finals, I was able to go out while many students had a final on Thursday evening. The top pavilions I saw on Thursday were, Italy, Netherlands, Canada, United States, Sweden, Germany, Spain. For more details click "Read More" The other pavilions were either not worth visiting or not worth mentioning. It was a pretty cool experience. It is along the lines of what I was expecting.
Arrival of Brother
Surprise! My brother has come as a surprise to many people, friends and family. He is here for a ten day blitz of China until we leave on the 17th. We are planning on going to see the sites of Shanghai and have flights booked for a short trip to Beijing during the middle of the coming week! I am happy to have be able to share some of this with someone so close to me. It also is a great conclusion for my trip because I have become accustom to the happenings in China. Dropping in a fresh perspective that is seeing all of these differences for the first time is a very interesting contrast.
Biber
Time 845am Saturday
This week is finally over, I am happy to be finished with school. I am officially no longer a student and I am only a short term tourist. Thankfully, so is everyone else on the trip. I will now also be able to go see some sites with my brother - who arrived yesterday afternoon.
End of School
This week we all had to sit down and finish school with some finals. I thankfully only had two finals, one from the distance Purdue course and another final for the local Purdue Students Only Thermodynamics II course. I had studied plenty for the Purdue course and I believe it strongly paid off. The Thermo test could have gone much better. I am very excited that school has finally come to a close here in China. It marks the beginning of the end.
The end coming around is a big deal because I am looking for to coming home. I recognize that I will likely not be able to come back to China for quite sometime. I am looking forward to coming back and speaking more Chinese than I do now. It is very exciting to be a tourist again, very little responsibility and staying active each day with a goal of seeing everything there is to see. School and homework no longer are in the way!
World Expo 2010 Visit 1
On Thursday May 6th, I visited the Expo for the first time. I made my way to plenty of the pavilions and it was a bit of a scouting mission for the rest of the folks on the trip. Since I only had the two finals, I was able to go out while many students had a final on Thursday evening. The top pavilions I saw on Thursday were, Italy, Netherlands, Canada, United States, Sweden, Germany, Spain. For more details click "Read More" The other pavilions were either not worth visiting or not worth mentioning. It was a pretty cool experience. It is along the lines of what I was expecting.
Arrival of Brother
Surprise! My brother has come as a surprise to many people, friends and family. He is here for a ten day blitz of China until we leave on the 17th. We are planning on going to see the sites of Shanghai and have flights booked for a short trip to Beijing during the middle of the coming week! I am happy to have be able to share some of this with someone so close to me. It also is a great conclusion for my trip because I have become accustom to the happenings in China. Dropping in a fresh perspective that is seeing all of these differences for the first time is a very interesting contrast.
Biber
Thursday, April 29, 2010
April Comes to an End
Weather: 60F
Time: 10pm Thursday
This is a general post of life in Shanghai now that it the expo is about to kick off and April is coming to an end.
Expo Tickets
I know I have mentioned it before, but students are having trouble finding tickets to the Expo. The stores who should be selling them all claim to not have any tickets remaining. It makes me glad that I have a some tickets already lined up. It is hard to believe how little publicity the expo has had on a global level when I have been living through the expo publicity for the last five months. The World Expo 2010 is a continuation of what Americans have come to know as the World's Fair. The same idea as the world's fair that built the Eiffel Tower. Expo 2010 is the largest expo in the history of the event. There have been articles here and there online that I have come across but nothing that has gone into as much of a love fest as the local media. This expo is expected to attract seventy million people from May first to the end of October. I hope it is as grand as the local media has made it out to be!
Bird Crap
There happens to be a road that connects the dorm to the cafeteria that is lined with plenty of overhanging trees. As the title suggests, the road is covered with small white splatters to the point where it appears to have been the target of a shotgun style paintball gun. It has become quite a game to avoid getting crapped on when going to and from lunch. Everyone in the group gets to play, the rules are simple if you get pooped on you get a point. The person with the least points wins. Today, I left the leaders column. I was having a bad day, so I bought myself some ice cream when leaving the dining hall. Sadly, I was unable to finish my ice cream because not only did I get crapped on but so did my delicious treat. Thankfully, the splatter damage was not like someone launched a taco bell burrito at me but much closer to having a gigantic non-delicious ice cream cone melt above my shoulder. I missed the blunt force of it, just down my arm and shirt. Nothing life ending, just sad that it ruined my ice cream bar.
Exams & Homework
I spent a large part of this afternoon working on my final homework assignment. I am happy that school is coming to an end. I look forward to traveling around China a bit and seeing some thing in Shanghai after school ends. I have two exams early next week. I do plan on spending quite a bit of time this weekend studying. After this weekend and the first few days of the next week - I will finally be available about to go out and see Shanghai again. I am really looking forward to seeing all the things that HAVE changed since January. Many buildings have been torn down, walls have been built, buildings have been finished and tourist attractions will be 100% ready for prime time.
Google Voice
The Google Voice experiment has been quite well. Throughout the trip, I have been able to use text messaging to stay in contact with people back at home. I would currently label it as a success. I am planning on keeping my GV phone number when I return to the states. I am working on figuring out what I will be doing about a new cellphone. I am looking into Boost Mobile, if anyone has good or bad review on Boost let me know. If anyone knows of a BETTER pre-paid option, I am in the market. I am looking for a cheap phone that will get me by until the Christmas season when the new phones will be out on the market with new features.
American Food List
It is only a dream at this point, but there is growing whispers among our group of the delicious food we are missing at home. There is such excitement surrounding this issue for many of the students on the trip that it is a topic that comes up almost daily. We never talk about it for more than just a few words here and there because of how much we miss it. It is usually a few words like, "I really miss grilled cheese" "I want real milk" "I want beef that doesn't taste like grass." It is an easy talking point for me, but I try to avoid it as much as I can. I won't lie, the last four months have not been full of the most scrumptious meals I have ever been dealt. That is not to say I have not enjoyed some of the meals, but it clearly is not my first choice of foods. I am truly looking forward to many American staples that are often imitated but never EVER duplicated. If it is served at a Fourth of July lunch, it is on the list. Burgers, Steak, Milk, Chips, MacNCheese, Pasta, Pizza, Garlic Bread, Apples, etc etc etc. I am really looking forward to being home.
If anyone knows of a good motorcycle deal, I am considering it. I am looking for a nice cruiser style bike for about 3500 and 750cc or more. Something comparable to a VTX 1300cc would be right up my alley.
I look forward to seeing all of my friends and family. I hope we can see each other throughout this summer.
Biber
Time: 10pm Thursday
This is a general post of life in Shanghai now that it the expo is about to kick off and April is coming to an end.
Expo Tickets
I know I have mentioned it before, but students are having trouble finding tickets to the Expo. The stores who should be selling them all claim to not have any tickets remaining. It makes me glad that I have a some tickets already lined up. It is hard to believe how little publicity the expo has had on a global level when I have been living through the expo publicity for the last five months. The World Expo 2010 is a continuation of what Americans have come to know as the World's Fair. The same idea as the world's fair that built the Eiffel Tower. Expo 2010 is the largest expo in the history of the event. There have been articles here and there online that I have come across but nothing that has gone into as much of a love fest as the local media. This expo is expected to attract seventy million people from May first to the end of October. I hope it is as grand as the local media has made it out to be!
Bird Crap
There happens to be a road that connects the dorm to the cafeteria that is lined with plenty of overhanging trees. As the title suggests, the road is covered with small white splatters to the point where it appears to have been the target of a shotgun style paintball gun. It has become quite a game to avoid getting crapped on when going to and from lunch. Everyone in the group gets to play, the rules are simple if you get pooped on you get a point. The person with the least points wins. Today, I left the leaders column. I was having a bad day, so I bought myself some ice cream when leaving the dining hall. Sadly, I was unable to finish my ice cream because not only did I get crapped on but so did my delicious treat. Thankfully, the splatter damage was not like someone launched a taco bell burrito at me but much closer to having a gigantic non-delicious ice cream cone melt above my shoulder. I missed the blunt force of it, just down my arm and shirt. Nothing life ending, just sad that it ruined my ice cream bar.
Exams & Homework
I spent a large part of this afternoon working on my final homework assignment. I am happy that school is coming to an end. I look forward to traveling around China a bit and seeing some thing in Shanghai after school ends. I have two exams early next week. I do plan on spending quite a bit of time this weekend studying. After this weekend and the first few days of the next week - I will finally be available about to go out and see Shanghai again. I am really looking forward to seeing all the things that HAVE changed since January. Many buildings have been torn down, walls have been built, buildings have been finished and tourist attractions will be 100% ready for prime time.
Google Voice
The Google Voice experiment has been quite well. Throughout the trip, I have been able to use text messaging to stay in contact with people back at home. I would currently label it as a success. I am planning on keeping my GV phone number when I return to the states. I am working on figuring out what I will be doing about a new cellphone. I am looking into Boost Mobile, if anyone has good or bad review on Boost let me know. If anyone knows of a BETTER pre-paid option, I am in the market. I am looking for a cheap phone that will get me by until the Christmas season when the new phones will be out on the market with new features.
American Food List
It is only a dream at this point, but there is growing whispers among our group of the delicious food we are missing at home. There is such excitement surrounding this issue for many of the students on the trip that it is a topic that comes up almost daily. We never talk about it for more than just a few words here and there because of how much we miss it. It is usually a few words like, "I really miss grilled cheese" "I want real milk" "I want beef that doesn't taste like grass." It is an easy talking point for me, but I try to avoid it as much as I can. I won't lie, the last four months have not been full of the most scrumptious meals I have ever been dealt. That is not to say I have not enjoyed some of the meals, but it clearly is not my first choice of foods. I am truly looking forward to many American staples that are often imitated but never EVER duplicated. If it is served at a Fourth of July lunch, it is on the list. Burgers, Steak, Milk, Chips, MacNCheese, Pasta, Pizza, Garlic Bread, Apples, etc etc etc. I am really looking forward to being home.
If anyone knows of a good motorcycle deal, I am considering it. I am looking for a nice cruiser style bike for about 3500 and 750cc or more. Something comparable to a VTX 1300cc would be right up my alley.
I look forward to seeing all of my friends and family. I hope we can see each other throughout this summer.
Biber
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Guilin / Yangshuo / Shanghai Pictures
Some Photos from the Guilin + Yangshuo trip.
Slideshow from Hike in Yangshuo and some Guilin photos *unsorted*
Pano with Water Buffalo
Pano from Dragon Bridge
Showbiz Rooftop Bar (Hostel)
Shanghai Riverfront (from Pearl TV Tower)
Biber
 |
| From Guilin Skydrive |
Slideshow from Hike in Yangshuo and some Guilin photos *unsorted*
Pano with Water Buffalo
Pano from Dragon Bridge
Showbiz Rooftop Bar (Hostel)
Shanghai Riverfront (from Pearl TV Tower)
Biber
Trip Recap (2 of 2) Yangshuo: The China Experience
Weather: 54F
Time: 12:25AM
I was “just along for the ride.” In short, this was a fantastic leg of the trip. A group of five total visited many beautiful outdoor locations and finally got to see the China countryside. I left America hoping to this China. Something so different that it felt like I was an alien. We went for a hike and only saw locals for the entire day. While the hike was the highlight, we also met some new friends and rode a boat on the Li River from Guilin to Yanghshuo.
Yangshuo
This town is not a very large place. It has a tourist area about the size of two large city blocks which serves at the home base for travelers going into the real countryside. It offers many amenities found in large cities but all of that is gone after five minutes on a bicycle. Surrounded by mountains that were naturally eroded, every street corner offers a unique view. This area of China seemed to be the least fake place I had been to yet.
Li River Cruise
The cost of the cruise was $55 / person. It costs more for foreigners to take the cruise because the cruise boats have to have a different license to carry foreign people. The boat was 100 to 120 feet long and 3 decks tall. Two dining decks and an observation deck. The cruise lasted about 3 hours and went past many famous cliffs and scenic picturesque areas. One of the more famous areas can be found on the back of the 20 yuan bill. It was a nice peaceful way to get from Guilin to Yangshuo and a unique way to see the Chinese countryside.
Small Village Tour
On our boat, we had heard from our tour guide there would be an opportunity that afternoon to see the four items listed above for what seemed like a good price considering travel was included. We registered and went to see these things for the afternoon. We later found out that all of these things were at the same location, but it was still an okay price.
The highlights from this trip were seeing how the village was built, the fantastic views, hanging out with some water buffalo and riding a bamboo raft. The village was made mostly from mud bricks and wood. Almost none of the buildings had glass windows but rather a large opening in the wall where windows should be. This is due to the fluxes in funding the farmers experience.
The bamboo rafts were interesting water going vehicles, the pictures will do a better job explaining this than I can. We floated out to see some water buffalo, that was pretty neat – but the experience was the fantastic scenery.
The last experience on this tour was watching the Chinese technique of Commodore fishing. The commodore is a duck with a long neck and apparently is quite good a fishing. The technique is to tie a rope around the duck's neck loose enough that it can breath but tight enough it can not swallow the fish it catches. While it is incredibly cruel, it is also highly effective. This duck can catch up to 50kg a day of fish. Any to make it less cruel, it was said they they give 1 of 7 fishes caught to the duck to keep it happy. I have some video of this – it is interesting if nothing else.
New Friends / Dinner
After the trip ended we bumped into some students that study in Beijing. The group was a very nice set of students who are studying from American University at the number one university in China. It was a real pleasure to meet these people and we ended hanging out with them a few more times the rest of the trip. We all enjoyed a dinner together and had a few drinks on the roof of our hostel.
Day Hike
The next morning, we had read about a nice hike in the countryside. We got on a local commuter bus and went an hour into the fields. When we got out we were at a river and on the other side of it started at 20 km hike. Unfortunately, the local bamboo boat owners knew that we had no other choice than to pay them to cross the river. They thought a fair price was 100 RMB and we had no room to negotiate. Considering the traveling distance and time it takes to cross the river, 15 RMB would more reasonable. This is a practice I will refer to as “getting bamboozled.” We paid and started our hike on the other side, knowing that the hike would cross the river two more times made us a bit unhappy. The hike from here on is fairly indescribable. We spent the rest of the afternoon, walking through farmer’s fields, climbing on rocks, and being surrounded by nothing western at all. Surprisingly, it was not upsetting to the farmers to have us wandering around on the land they farm. I wonder if this has anything to do with the farmers not actually owning the land, since the government owns it all.
We again got bamboozled on the next river crossing and sadly we had nothing we could do about that. We continued hiking and taking lots of pictures of anything that was interesting. I captured plenty of video of some of the small towns we visited, but it is very shaky since I was walking the whole time.
At one point during the hike there was a man sitting by a creek. The creek had no easy way to get across and he had a bamboo raft. His deal was 1 yuan per person as a toll to cross without getting wet. He even looked like a troll, so rather than trying my luck – I paid the $0.13. It was just odd that there was a man waiting all day for someone to pay him to cross this small creek.
We came across many other things during our walk. We climbed through fields to get to a water fall, visited an orange grove built on the hill, and encountered water buffalo on the trip. Our trip concluded with a bamboo raft to our destination city. We completed around half the hike because we spent so much time off trail looking at things. We got a raft at the end of the day for forty yuan, this raft ride lasted nearly twenty minutes. As we had read, the man would not drop us off in the actual city – instead he chose to drop us off right by his friend’s motorcycle-bus. I cannot describe this better than the pictures, so be sure to look at those. Twenty more yuan to get to town and it was still much cheaper than both of the previous river crossings. It was a great trip and really a unique China experience.
Moon Hill
Sunday morning we rented some bicycles and rode out into the country to find a famous rock, reminiscent of Arches National Park in Utah – just only one arch. We rode for thirty minutes and found the entrance but due to time constraints could not go in and hike up it. We tried to view it from the ground, but it was very cloudy and difficult to get a good picture.
Traveling to Shanghai
We hired a private car from Yangshuo to Guilin Airport, a nice leather interior van. Arrived a bit early so did some studying for my exam the next day and then flew home. Thankfully, we were able to find a cab driver that was willing to take 5 passengers in his cab from Shanghai’s Pudong to school. It saved quite a bit of money by doing this.. despite being super uncomfortable.
Biber
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Trip Recap (1 of 2 ) Guilin: Another Tourist Town
Weather: 68F sunny in Shanghai
Time: 220pm
As we left on Wednesday afternoon I had no expectations for this trip. I was “just along for the ride.” In short, this trip was a fantastic experience. A group of five total visited many beautiful outdoor locations. The train was alright. Guilin is a larger town with many things available to do and see. We had a condensed Guilin schedule because we had heard that Yangshuo was a better place to visit – less touristy. This is a very long series of blog posts, I hope the detail is appreciated.
Guilin
As an overview of Guilin, this town is like many of the places I have seen before in China. There are plenty of things to buy and places that exist for tourism only. We were told that over fifteen million people visit Guilin each year. It was a clean town and was very much an modern place. The only relics were are now tourist sites.
Train
The train left Shanghai just after 5pm Wednesday. My expectations were set very low from the last train ride to and from Xi'an. I had decided that trains take a long time, tend not to be on schedule, and could feel very crowded very quickly. We had soft sleepers, four to a room. Thankfully, I was not the odd man out – though the fifth man only was not in our room when he was sleeping. I studied a little for my exam on the following Monday. We played cards for a while before going to the food car. Watching a movie and drinking beer with friends on the train was a good time.
The next day we killed time by plays cards and discussing things we could do in Guilin and Yangshuo, since we had not yet hammered out an agenda. The discussion drifted from locations to pick pockets and other bad deals. One of the books had written about pick pocketing being especially bad in the Guilin area because of the high volume of tourists. Another article discussed a common scheme that I had seen in Sanya. A little girl (less than five years old) approaches with flowers and uses aggressive sales techniques into pressure the target to buying a flower. If the sale is unsuccessful, the parents who are usually nearby and watching report the tourist to the police for abuse, then you have to explain to the police what happened. Explaining that to the police can be very difficult if the police do not know English. In Sanya the little girl was leaning and begging for the target to buy a flower from her and despite attempts could not get away. I had shouted that a spin move would be the key to success, but it was not attempted at the time. Another warned of Bamboo Rafts on the Li River not dropping passengers off at requested destinations as well as outrageous prices. At the end of the train ride, I was happy to leave the train station just about 23 hrs after I had left Shanghai.
Pagodas
After checking into the hostel and eating a delicious Chinese restaurant, we walked around Guilin. We came across the twin pagodas built in one of the lakes there. As night fell, we took many pictures. The picture taking and posing was drawing the attention of the Chinese tourists, particularly the college aged girls. As we were taking pictures I noticed one of the girls was taking pictures of a fellow in the group with blonde hair and blue eyes. I walked up behind her and called her out on it by inviting her to join the gentleman who was being candidly photographed. She was very embarrassed and insistently said no thank you. Her friends however, took up my offer eagerly. I tried to get the girl in the photo, but she was adamant about not being in the picture.
It seems to be that once the picture with a foreigner practice starts it does not come to an end until everyone there has had a chance to get a picture with a foreigner. After the first group of girls went through and had their picture taken, another group of five or six girls also wanted their picture taken with all of their cameras. Following that, another group of many girls asked for the picture. It concluded with a group picture of all five Americans being squeezed into a picture with a few of the Chinese girls that started it all. As the excitement started to die down from the group pictures, the first flower kid was spotted.
Flower Child
One friend of mine and I both spotted this five or six year old girl approaching with a hand full of roses. He and I made our exit quickly and apparently without the other Americans noticing. The little girls are very persistent that you buy the flowers they were selling. Her golden tactic here was to take a flower and stuck it in to the opening on a half zipped jacket. She was selling the flowers for only five yuan, but still – there was no need for a flower. The guy who got flowered tried to hand it back and say he did not want it. I realized she was being stubborn and started shouting from a distance “no want!” in Chinese. My thought was if we made a scene out of it there was a smaller chance of this guy having to deal with an abuse / assault charge from the police. It is difficult to be rude to these children because they are very cute and do not know that what they are doing is considered socially unacceptable. Eventually he tried to set the flower down and that ended the sale. This event made us come up with a keyword to avoid this situation again.
Soon after, I spotted another child and yelled the keyword. The group began moving quickly but for one guy it was just too late. He was engaged by the child and I started to suggest, more specifically yell, “Spin move!” The guy performed the spin move very well, like the ex-high school football player he is. This spin move leaned on the kid a bit and almost toppled the child over. It was a fantastic sight because – as noted in previous posts Chinese do not know much about American football and these techniques are fantastic evasion tools.
Bus Driver
The next morning we had ordered a tour package to ride a boat on the Li River. A bus came to pick us up and this driver clearly learned his English by watching movies and MTV. Every sentence he said was cliché. It partly entertainment value and also quite literally his lack of knowledge of the English language. As we parted ways with him we got the, “Hasta la vista, baby!” style goodbye. I have some video of this man speaking in the car, hopefully you will get to hear it when I return home.
Part 1 of 2
Biber
Time: 220pm
As we left on Wednesday afternoon I had no expectations for this trip. I was “just along for the ride.” In short, this trip was a fantastic experience. A group of five total visited many beautiful outdoor locations. The train was alright. Guilin is a larger town with many things available to do and see. We had a condensed Guilin schedule because we had heard that Yangshuo was a better place to visit – less touristy. This is a very long series of blog posts, I hope the detail is appreciated.
Guilin
As an overview of Guilin, this town is like many of the places I have seen before in China. There are plenty of things to buy and places that exist for tourism only. We were told that over fifteen million people visit Guilin each year. It was a clean town and was very much an modern place. The only relics were are now tourist sites.
Train
The train left Shanghai just after 5pm Wednesday. My expectations were set very low from the last train ride to and from Xi'an. I had decided that trains take a long time, tend not to be on schedule, and could feel very crowded very quickly. We had soft sleepers, four to a room. Thankfully, I was not the odd man out – though the fifth man only was not in our room when he was sleeping. I studied a little for my exam on the following Monday. We played cards for a while before going to the food car. Watching a movie and drinking beer with friends on the train was a good time.
The next day we killed time by plays cards and discussing things we could do in Guilin and Yangshuo, since we had not yet hammered out an agenda. The discussion drifted from locations to pick pockets and other bad deals. One of the books had written about pick pocketing being especially bad in the Guilin area because of the high volume of tourists. Another article discussed a common scheme that I had seen in Sanya. A little girl (less than five years old) approaches with flowers and uses aggressive sales techniques into pressure the target to buying a flower. If the sale is unsuccessful, the parents who are usually nearby and watching report the tourist to the police for abuse, then you have to explain to the police what happened. Explaining that to the police can be very difficult if the police do not know English. In Sanya the little girl was leaning and begging for the target to buy a flower from her and despite attempts could not get away. I had shouted that a spin move would be the key to success, but it was not attempted at the time. Another warned of Bamboo Rafts on the Li River not dropping passengers off at requested destinations as well as outrageous prices. At the end of the train ride, I was happy to leave the train station just about 23 hrs after I had left Shanghai.
Pagodas
After checking into the hostel and eating a delicious Chinese restaurant, we walked around Guilin. We came across the twin pagodas built in one of the lakes there. As night fell, we took many pictures. The picture taking and posing was drawing the attention of the Chinese tourists, particularly the college aged girls. As we were taking pictures I noticed one of the girls was taking pictures of a fellow in the group with blonde hair and blue eyes. I walked up behind her and called her out on it by inviting her to join the gentleman who was being candidly photographed. She was very embarrassed and insistently said no thank you. Her friends however, took up my offer eagerly. I tried to get the girl in the photo, but she was adamant about not being in the picture.
It seems to be that once the picture with a foreigner practice starts it does not come to an end until everyone there has had a chance to get a picture with a foreigner. After the first group of girls went through and had their picture taken, another group of five or six girls also wanted their picture taken with all of their cameras. Following that, another group of many girls asked for the picture. It concluded with a group picture of all five Americans being squeezed into a picture with a few of the Chinese girls that started it all. As the excitement started to die down from the group pictures, the first flower kid was spotted.
Flower Child
One friend of mine and I both spotted this five or six year old girl approaching with a hand full of roses. He and I made our exit quickly and apparently without the other Americans noticing. The little girls are very persistent that you buy the flowers they were selling. Her golden tactic here was to take a flower and stuck it in to the opening on a half zipped jacket. She was selling the flowers for only five yuan, but still – there was no need for a flower. The guy who got flowered tried to hand it back and say he did not want it. I realized she was being stubborn and started shouting from a distance “no want!” in Chinese. My thought was if we made a scene out of it there was a smaller chance of this guy having to deal with an abuse / assault charge from the police. It is difficult to be rude to these children because they are very cute and do not know that what they are doing is considered socially unacceptable. Eventually he tried to set the flower down and that ended the sale. This event made us come up with a keyword to avoid this situation again.
Soon after, I spotted another child and yelled the keyword. The group began moving quickly but for one guy it was just too late. He was engaged by the child and I started to suggest, more specifically yell, “Spin move!” The guy performed the spin move very well, like the ex-high school football player he is. This spin move leaned on the kid a bit and almost toppled the child over. It was a fantastic sight because – as noted in previous posts Chinese do not know much about American football and these techniques are fantastic evasion tools.
Bus Driver
The next morning we had ordered a tour package to ride a boat on the Li River. A bus came to pick us up and this driver clearly learned his English by watching movies and MTV. Every sentence he said was cliché. It partly entertainment value and also quite literally his lack of knowledge of the English language. As we parted ways with him we got the, “Hasta la vista, baby!” style goodbye. I have some video of this man speaking in the car, hopefully you will get to hear it when I return home.
Part 1 of 2
Biber
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Guilin Departure
Weather: 64F
Time: 130pm Wednesday
Today I will be boarding a train and heading to Guilin. I believe we leave at 5pm and arrive tomorrow at 3pm. I am not looking forward to the train ride.
Exam
The exam that I stayed from the F1 race to study for has been moved to Thursday. I will be on a train at that point. My professor has been generous and pushed the exam back for some of us until Monday. This means I have a couple homework assignments and plenty of studying I can do during the long train ride.
Guilin / Yangshuo Info
I am not really sure what these two cities have to offer. There are some really great outdoor activities that are available and I am hoping to grab a few good pictures during the trip. I will be packing lightly because we will be moving from hostel to hostel. I do not know what to expect, but it is something to do! I am hoping for good weather despite the rainy forecast.
Shanghai
Our group of 5 will arrive back in Shanghai via a 2 hr plane ride. We arrive Sunday at 8pm at Pudong airport, I hope to be back early enough to get some studying done and catch up with my friends, family, and girlfriend a bit. I do not expect to have much contact over the next few days, but if I get a chance - I'll post here first.
Biber
Time: 130pm Wednesday
Today I will be boarding a train and heading to Guilin. I believe we leave at 5pm and arrive tomorrow at 3pm. I am not looking forward to the train ride.
Exam
The exam that I stayed from the F1 race to study for has been moved to Thursday. I will be on a train at that point. My professor has been generous and pushed the exam back for some of us until Monday. This means I have a couple homework assignments and plenty of studying I can do during the long train ride.
Guilin / Yangshuo Info
I am not really sure what these two cities have to offer. There are some really great outdoor activities that are available and I am hoping to grab a few good pictures during the trip. I will be packing lightly because we will be moving from hostel to hostel. I do not know what to expect, but it is something to do! I am hoping for good weather despite the rainy forecast.
Shanghai
Our group of 5 will arrive back in Shanghai via a 2 hr plane ride. We arrive Sunday at 8pm at Pudong airport, I hope to be back early enough to get some studying done and catch up with my friends, family, and girlfriend a bit. I do not expect to have much contact over the next few days, but if I get a chance - I'll post here first.
Biber
Monday, April 19, 2010
Formula 1 Photos
A few photos from practice and the race.
Also - check out the first few photos from things I saw on the road.
Also - check out the first few photos from things I saw on the road.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
F1, Exams, Guilin
Weather: 63F & Rain
Time: 1130pm Sunday
This weekend I spent sometime collecting things for my trip this coming week. I went to see the F1 practice. I studied hard for my exams.
Exams
This coming week I have two exams. It was originally scheduled for Monday and Wednesday with Monday being the more important exam. It has since been pushed back to Thursday, which conflicts with a trip to Guilin I have already scheduled. We are working with the professor to resolve this issue.
Formula 1
This weekend I finally got to go out to the Shanghai Circuit. I have come to a few conclusions; sports where the viewer can not see everything that is going on at one time do not interest me, HD television programming not only gets your closer to the action - but will save time and money, and it is difficult to travel around shanghai sometimes.
Time Table; Depart Dorm at 8am - by 10am look for a bus to take us to the track from downtown - take a taxi 180RMB and arrive at 11:40 - Eat non-american hot dog for 40RMB - Watch racing til 4pm - Stand in line for subway until 5pm - Arrive downtown at 6:30pm - Followed someone who didn't know where they were going til 7:30 - Ate Papa Johns and then got back to the dorm at 9pm
The day took longer than I wanted it to. I was very tired and went to bed at 9:30pm and I did not get to study when I arrived home like I was hoping. The next morning (today, race day) I decided that I could not go to the race today because of my exam on Monday. It was a difficult decision, but I think it was the right choice. I spent over 120USD on that ticket, but if I do not perform well on these exams I may put my summer job in question. I stayed home when people left and sent my ticket away with my roommate to be sold on location. I later received and email saying the exam was delayed until Thursday. I did not feel too cheated because of the travel time to and from the track. I got to see some of the race on local TV stations (in Chinese). I did get a lot of studying done, though more will definitely help!
Guilin
This week I will be going to Guilin, China. It is a scenic area that is pictured on the back of the 20RMB bill. Water and Rocks... perhaps some good places to hike and adventure. Sadly, it is 21 hours by train. I will be departing on Wednesday evening at 5pm and I hope I can make it. The last train ride was a bit more than I was wanting and it was only 18 hours. Though, it is good practice for the trip home - I think it will take about 22 hrs to get home. The weather is not looking very good for the trip, lots of rain during the end of the week. We will be flying back to Shanghai at least.
Expo Gearing Up
It is very apparent that the Expo is starting on May 1st. The videos in the subway have news and public announcements (in Chinese). The news almost exclusively is showing video from the expo and that is broken into segments by commercials that indicate good behavior in public spaces. Don't run backwards on escalators! Carry your children on stairs! Report suspicious activities! Things of that sort.
Volcano Disrupts Air Traffic
There is currently a volcano in Iceland spewing ash into the sky that is covering the better part of the northern European countries. I hope that this volcano stops soon and air traffic can resume! I am currently operating under the theory that nothing will stop me from going home on May 17th. I hope there are no natural disasters that ruin my trip back to the USA.
Graduation
I want to make it abundantly clear to my friend who will be graduating this May that I regret missing your graduation. Many of you I have known for six and more years and I congratulate you on your upcoming accomplishment. I thank my friends who have been in the military for the last few years while we have been in school. I thank my friends who are still in the military and wish for the best for those who will be entering the military after graduation. I am lucky to have smart and honorable friends who have gone through college and the military. Good luck to those who will soon be entering the real world and graduate schools around the country. I wish you all the best in your upcoming adventures!
Biber
Time: 1130pm Sunday
This weekend I spent sometime collecting things for my trip this coming week. I went to see the F1 practice. I studied hard for my exams.
Exams
This coming week I have two exams. It was originally scheduled for Monday and Wednesday with Monday being the more important exam. It has since been pushed back to Thursday, which conflicts with a trip to Guilin I have already scheduled. We are working with the professor to resolve this issue.
Formula 1
This weekend I finally got to go out to the Shanghai Circuit. I have come to a few conclusions; sports where the viewer can not see everything that is going on at one time do not interest me, HD television programming not only gets your closer to the action - but will save time and money, and it is difficult to travel around shanghai sometimes.
Time Table; Depart Dorm at 8am - by 10am look for a bus to take us to the track from downtown - take a taxi 180RMB and arrive at 11:40 - Eat non-american hot dog for 40RMB - Watch racing til 4pm - Stand in line for subway until 5pm - Arrive downtown at 6:30pm - Followed someone who didn't know where they were going til 7:30 - Ate Papa Johns and then got back to the dorm at 9pm
The day took longer than I wanted it to. I was very tired and went to bed at 9:30pm and I did not get to study when I arrived home like I was hoping. The next morning (today, race day) I decided that I could not go to the race today because of my exam on Monday. It was a difficult decision, but I think it was the right choice. I spent over 120USD on that ticket, but if I do not perform well on these exams I may put my summer job in question. I stayed home when people left and sent my ticket away with my roommate to be sold on location. I later received and email saying the exam was delayed until Thursday. I did not feel too cheated because of the travel time to and from the track. I got to see some of the race on local TV stations (in Chinese). I did get a lot of studying done, though more will definitely help!
Guilin
This week I will be going to Guilin, China. It is a scenic area that is pictured on the back of the 20RMB bill. Water and Rocks... perhaps some good places to hike and adventure. Sadly, it is 21 hours by train. I will be departing on Wednesday evening at 5pm and I hope I can make it. The last train ride was a bit more than I was wanting and it was only 18 hours. Though, it is good practice for the trip home - I think it will take about 22 hrs to get home. The weather is not looking very good for the trip, lots of rain during the end of the week. We will be flying back to Shanghai at least.
Expo Gearing Up
It is very apparent that the Expo is starting on May 1st. The videos in the subway have news and public announcements (in Chinese). The news almost exclusively is showing video from the expo and that is broken into segments by commercials that indicate good behavior in public spaces. Don't run backwards on escalators! Carry your children on stairs! Report suspicious activities! Things of that sort.
Volcano Disrupts Air Traffic
There is currently a volcano in Iceland spewing ash into the sky that is covering the better part of the northern European countries. I hope that this volcano stops soon and air traffic can resume! I am currently operating under the theory that nothing will stop me from going home on May 17th. I hope there are no natural disasters that ruin my trip back to the USA.
Graduation
I want to make it abundantly clear to my friend who will be graduating this May that I regret missing your graduation. Many of you I have known for six and more years and I congratulate you on your upcoming accomplishment. I thank my friends who have been in the military for the last few years while we have been in school. I thank my friends who are still in the military and wish for the best for those who will be entering the military after graduation. I am lucky to have smart and honorable friends who have gone through college and the military. Good luck to those who will soon be entering the real world and graduate schools around the country. I wish you all the best in your upcoming adventures!
Biber
Thursday, April 15, 2010
About One Month til Departure
Weather: 45F, Sunny
Time: 7:45am Friday
This week has been a relatively good one. Got one exam back and if it weren't for having a Chinese professor grading it (stubborn and inflexible grading) I would have done very well. The rest of the week I have filled with hanging out with friends. I should be doing homework and studying for my exam, but I did not want to start that today, yet.
Local vs Home Weather
In the last week, the weather at home has been unseasonably warm. Weather at Purdue has been in the lower 80s which is generally not the case for this time of year. I have been living through mid to upper 50s with regular rain and clouds and sunlight being the exception. This has been a bit of a disappointment because the average temperature almanac says that it should be around 66°F over the course of the month. Also, the group of us had an expectation of warmer weather because we are farther south, landing between Montgomery, AL and Jacksonville, FL in terms of latitude. All in all, just another reason to look forward to being at home!
Expo Tickets
I spent sometime downtown yesterday walking around and seeing the sights. While I was out I was determined to find Shanghai 2010 Expo tickets. I bought them at a China Mobile store. I was excited to see there was an English speaking expo associate there to help for that reason! I am happy to have bought my tickets, there were many people saying the tickets were selling out quickly and despite being in China for two weeks while the Expo was happening, we may not have been able to go. Hopefully there is not some crowd control policy I do not know about, only letting in 300,000 per day or something. The tickets are not for specific days, just a ticket for admittance between May 4th and September 29th. More on this later.
F1 Weekend
This weekend is the Shanghai Formula 1 race. I have a grandstand seat in turn 1, 2. I have an exam on Monday and homework due Monday as well! Not the best time for a weekend adventure, but hopefully it all balances out well! I will have to balance going to the race with homework and studying!
Silverlight
I was not thinking about it, but I suppose many of the items I have posted on the blog (photosynth) requires Silverlight. Silverlight is a competitor to Flash, a different web language. I understand why you may not want to install another piece of software. I will keep this in mind when posting Silverlight enabled items.
Donations
This summer I will be needing some furnishings for my apartment. I am looking for a full size bed + frame, a table for dining, a few chairs, maybe some living room style furniture. I also will need some good cooking equipment - pans and utensils, as well as devices like skillet, crock-pot, gas grill, etc. The real challenge is that I try to move to Cincinnati in a single CAR load. If you have anything I can borrow / keep let me know. Last year I lived on an air mattress for 3 months - I could do it again, but I really would rather not.
Looking forward to being home,
Biber
Time: 7:45am Friday
This week has been a relatively good one. Got one exam back and if it weren't for having a Chinese professor grading it (stubborn and inflexible grading) I would have done very well. The rest of the week I have filled with hanging out with friends. I should be doing homework and studying for my exam, but I did not want to start that today, yet.
Local vs Home Weather
In the last week, the weather at home has been unseasonably warm. Weather at Purdue has been in the lower 80s which is generally not the case for this time of year. I have been living through mid to upper 50s with regular rain and clouds and sunlight being the exception. This has been a bit of a disappointment because the average temperature almanac says that it should be around 66°F over the course of the month. Also, the group of us had an expectation of warmer weather because we are farther south, landing between Montgomery, AL and Jacksonville, FL in terms of latitude. All in all, just another reason to look forward to being at home!
Expo Tickets
I spent sometime downtown yesterday walking around and seeing the sights. While I was out I was determined to find Shanghai 2010 Expo tickets. I bought them at a China Mobile store. I was excited to see there was an English speaking expo associate there to help for that reason! I am happy to have bought my tickets, there were many people saying the tickets were selling out quickly and despite being in China for two weeks while the Expo was happening, we may not have been able to go. Hopefully there is not some crowd control policy I do not know about, only letting in 300,000 per day or something. The tickets are not for specific days, just a ticket for admittance between May 4th and September 29th. More on this later.
F1 Weekend
This weekend is the Shanghai Formula 1 race. I have a grandstand seat in turn 1, 2. I have an exam on Monday and homework due Monday as well! Not the best time for a weekend adventure, but hopefully it all balances out well! I will have to balance going to the race with homework and studying!
 |
| From J Biber |
Silverlight
I was not thinking about it, but I suppose many of the items I have posted on the blog (photosynth) requires Silverlight. Silverlight is a competitor to Flash, a different web language. I understand why you may not want to install another piece of software. I will keep this in mind when posting Silverlight enabled items.
Donations
This summer I will be needing some furnishings for my apartment. I am looking for a full size bed + frame, a table for dining, a few chairs, maybe some living room style furniture. I also will need some good cooking equipment - pans and utensils, as well as devices like skillet, crock-pot, gas grill, etc. The real challenge is that I try to move to Cincinnati in a single CAR load. If you have anything I can borrow / keep let me know. Last year I lived on an air mattress for 3 months - I could do it again, but I really would rather not.
Looking forward to being home,
Biber
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Xi'an Photos
Just wanted to share a few photos from Xi'an. This is as opposed to using the slide show feature, let me know if you like it better. Read More to see the pictures.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Return from Xi'an
Weather: 52F and overcast
Time: 11am
It was a short trip that felt long a long time. A group of four of us got out there and did as much as we could with the 29 hours we had to work with. We visiting the terracotta warriors and went to Mt Huashan. The train rides were longer than expected. We are back in Shanghai and working at school til this weekend's F1 race.
Train to Xi'an
I was hoping for a very nice train ride to Xi'an and in retrospect, it was a rather nice ride there. We left at Friday at 8pm and were scheduled to get in at 10am Saturday. The train car was a private four bed "soft sleeper." I would not really call it soft, but maybe they mean nice amenities. It had a door and four televisions (that did not work). There were two bathrooms per car, each car holding 36 people. Small but somewhat comfortable. Probably a lot of room of a Chinese person and kind of small for an American person, in terms of comfort space. We did not arrive until noon, which hurt our time table a bit, but really hurt morale more. I did not enjoy the extra time on the train. My roommate's Kindle (from Amazon) has some internet access so I tried using that without killing the battery.
Private Driver
Getting off the train, we were approached by a broken English speaking man trying to drive us to see the warriors. Our plan was to see the warriors and continue to the mountain, so we needed a special driver not just a bus. We eventually hired him for 700RMB for the whole day. He drove us 30 minutes to TerraWar and then another 2.5 hrs to Mt Huashan. He was the brother of the broken English character and unfortunately spoke little English. One of the four of us spoke enough Chinese to get us where we needed to go, that was not me.
Terracotta Warriors
An interesting exhibit. The idea here was to protect the emperor in his after life. They built many pits and put roofs over all the clay soldiers at the time of construction. As many people know, each one is actually based of a real solider. Each was hand painted and colored. Over time, the roof collapsed and crush ALL of the warriors in all of the pits. They started in pit 1 and they've been restoring the originals by gluing them back together. The paints that were used have faded in all of the pit 1 soldiers. Since this has happened, they did not uncover pit 2, which is over 6000 m^2 of soldiers. They will not unearth these statues until they have found a way to keep the paint from fading.
Pit 2 from Terracotta Warriors Panorama
Mt Huashan
We arrived 15 minutes before the Gondola closed. We arrived at the top with no map and one flashlight. We asked a man where to get a map and he gave us his. Then we started walking to the east peak. We wanted to see the sunrise and get some hiking in, so we did. It was getting dark quickly and it was more than a two hour hike. We ended up hiking one of the more dangerous mountains in China with just a headlamp and no idea where to go. This is not because we can not read a map, this is because it a map in chinese and more of an artistic rendition of where to go rather than a typically american trail map.
We eventually made it to the East Peak and found a hostel/hotel to sleep at. It was a bit expensive, but it was a four bed; room. I hope to post the pictures in the future to explain this. There was no way to call home and internet on the Kindle did not work either. The wind was gusting beyond 50mph with 30mph sustained. The door faced the wind and leaked air around it. With the windows closed, the curtains still moved around and blew in with the wind leaking around the window. Air temp was just over 40F and it was a cold night sleeping in bed.
Sunrise
We guessed the sun would rise about 545 so we woke at 530 and moved out. We climbed up to the viewing platform less than 5 minutes away. There were thick clouds but it was still very beautiful. We never saw the sun come over the peaks, but the sky got light enough to takes some cool pictures. We continued moving because of our tight time schedule.
Climbing
There was a small stone temple like shelter that was only reachable via a series of rock climbs. Kyle and I rented some equipment and set out to get some pictures. It was not easy to capture the angles and footholds on camera because it was fairly vertical and curvy. It was a good warm up for the planks that would come later in the morning.
Planks of Mt. Huashan
A fun find and my main reason for going to Xi'an. I am always looking for a thrill like this and for $4.38 it is hard to beat this. It was really too bad the clouds were too thick to see the bottom. This is a plank walk that leads to a small temple carved into the mountain side. It is 1000 meters from the bottom of the mountain on a vertical rock face. I recorded some video and posted it to youtube. I am slightly embarrassed by my comments, but since mostly my friends and family will watch it - there is no secret that I say stupid stuff all the time.
I did not do any editing, so it is REALLY shaky.
Train to Shanghai
This was a hard sleeper. It is a smaller compartment with six beds. I had a top bunk which gave me about 2 feet of vertical room. It was really really boring. I did not enjoy this 16 hr stint of my life. I would not wish to travel by hard sleeper too many more times, especially not knowing other people in the train car. There was no door for security or anything. Loud people up early in the morning and only the other Americans spoke English.
This week
The Forumla 1 race is this weekend. It will be nice not to be out of town for awhile. I am eagerly looking forward to coming home. I also look forward to seeing all my friends who haven't left Purdue for the summer and seeing all my GE friends too.
Biber
Time: 11am
It was a short trip that felt long a long time. A group of four of us got out there and did as much as we could with the 29 hours we had to work with. We visiting the terracotta warriors and went to Mt Huashan. The train rides were longer than expected. We are back in Shanghai and working at school til this weekend's F1 race.
Train to Xi'an
I was hoping for a very nice train ride to Xi'an and in retrospect, it was a rather nice ride there. We left at Friday at 8pm and were scheduled to get in at 10am Saturday. The train car was a private four bed "soft sleeper." I would not really call it soft, but maybe they mean nice amenities. It had a door and four televisions (that did not work). There were two bathrooms per car, each car holding 36 people. Small but somewhat comfortable. Probably a lot of room of a Chinese person and kind of small for an American person, in terms of comfort space. We did not arrive until noon, which hurt our time table a bit, but really hurt morale more. I did not enjoy the extra time on the train. My roommate's Kindle (from Amazon) has some internet access so I tried using that without killing the battery.
Private Driver
Getting off the train, we were approached by a broken English speaking man trying to drive us to see the warriors. Our plan was to see the warriors and continue to the mountain, so we needed a special driver not just a bus. We eventually hired him for 700RMB for the whole day. He drove us 30 minutes to TerraWar and then another 2.5 hrs to Mt Huashan. He was the brother of the broken English character and unfortunately spoke little English. One of the four of us spoke enough Chinese to get us where we needed to go, that was not me.
Terracotta Warriors
An interesting exhibit. The idea here was to protect the emperor in his after life. They built many pits and put roofs over all the clay soldiers at the time of construction. As many people know, each one is actually based of a real solider. Each was hand painted and colored. Over time, the roof collapsed and crush ALL of the warriors in all of the pits. They started in pit 1 and they've been restoring the originals by gluing them back together. The paints that were used have faded in all of the pit 1 soldiers. Since this has happened, they did not uncover pit 2, which is over 6000 m^2 of soldiers. They will not unearth these statues until they have found a way to keep the paint from fading.
Pit 2 from Terracotta Warriors Panorama
Mt Huashan
We arrived 15 minutes before the Gondola closed. We arrived at the top with no map and one flashlight. We asked a man where to get a map and he gave us his. Then we started walking to the east peak. We wanted to see the sunrise and get some hiking in, so we did. It was getting dark quickly and it was more than a two hour hike. We ended up hiking one of the more dangerous mountains in China with just a headlamp and no idea where to go. This is not because we can not read a map, this is because it a map in chinese and more of an artistic rendition of where to go rather than a typically american trail map.
We eventually made it to the East Peak and found a hostel/hotel to sleep at. It was a bit expensive, but it was a four bed; room. I hope to post the pictures in the future to explain this. There was no way to call home and internet on the Kindle did not work either. The wind was gusting beyond 50mph with 30mph sustained. The door faced the wind and leaked air around it. With the windows closed, the curtains still moved around and blew in with the wind leaking around the window. Air temp was just over 40F and it was a cold night sleeping in bed.
Sunrise
We guessed the sun would rise about 545 so we woke at 530 and moved out. We climbed up to the viewing platform less than 5 minutes away. There were thick clouds but it was still very beautiful. We never saw the sun come over the peaks, but the sky got light enough to takes some cool pictures. We continued moving because of our tight time schedule.
Climbing
There was a small stone temple like shelter that was only reachable via a series of rock climbs. Kyle and I rented some equipment and set out to get some pictures. It was not easy to capture the angles and footholds on camera because it was fairly vertical and curvy. It was a good warm up for the planks that would come later in the morning.
Planks of Mt. Huashan
A fun find and my main reason for going to Xi'an. I am always looking for a thrill like this and for $4.38 it is hard to beat this. It was really too bad the clouds were too thick to see the bottom. This is a plank walk that leads to a small temple carved into the mountain side. It is 1000 meters from the bottom of the mountain on a vertical rock face. I recorded some video and posted it to youtube. I am slightly embarrassed by my comments, but since mostly my friends and family will watch it - there is no secret that I say stupid stuff all the time.
I did not do any editing, so it is REALLY shaky.
Train to Shanghai
This was a hard sleeper. It is a smaller compartment with six beds. I had a top bunk which gave me about 2 feet of vertical room. It was really really boring. I did not enjoy this 16 hr stint of my life. I would not wish to travel by hard sleeper too many more times, especially not knowing other people in the train car. There was no door for security or anything. Loud people up early in the morning and only the other Americans spoke English.
This week
The Forumla 1 race is this weekend. It will be nice not to be out of town for awhile. I am eagerly looking forward to coming home. I also look forward to seeing all my friends who haven't left Purdue for the summer and seeing all my GE friends too.
Biber
Friday, April 9, 2010
Leaving for Xian
Weather: 55F and cloudy
Time: 4:45pm Friday
I am in my final hour before leaving for Xian. I have packed my bag for a short weekend trip. We are leaving tonight by train at 8pm local time and will arrive at 10am Saturday. The plan is to do as much as we can before leaving 5pm Sunday. We hopefully will get to Mt. Huashan and get to walk the plank path.
I really do want to hike that path, but I am not sure we have enough time to get there. It will remain my goal and hopefully someone else will be crazy enough to come with me.
Best wishes, I will return to Shanghai on Monday morning after sleeping on the train for 14 hrs.
Biber
While surfing the net before leaving, I came across a gizmodo posting an article that had the plank path in it, and I enjoyed known that I may be doing just that this weekend. Whether there is a restaurant up there or not... I'll let you know.
http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/the_worlds_most_remote_restaurant_16355.asp
http://gizmodo.com/5512636/worlds-remotest-restaurant-only-reachable-via-scariest-walking-path-ever
Time: 4:45pm Friday
I am in my final hour before leaving for Xian. I have packed my bag for a short weekend trip. We are leaving tonight by train at 8pm local time and will arrive at 10am Saturday. The plan is to do as much as we can before leaving 5pm Sunday. We hopefully will get to Mt. Huashan and get to walk the plank path.
I really do want to hike that path, but I am not sure we have enough time to get there. It will remain my goal and hopefully someone else will be crazy enough to come with me.
Best wishes, I will return to Shanghai on Monday morning after sleeping on the train for 14 hrs.
Biber
While surfing the net before leaving, I came across a gizmodo posting an article that had the plank path in it, and I enjoyed known that I may be doing just that this weekend. Whether there is a restaurant up there or not... I'll let you know.
http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/the_worlds_most_remote_restaurant_16355.asp
http://gizmodo.com/5512636/worlds-remotest-restaurant-only-reachable-via-scariest-walking-path-ever
Thursday, April 8, 2010
3 Month Summary
Weather: Overcast + 50F
Time: 330pm
The last three months have been a great experience. I have enjoyed seeing and living in a different culture. It is a fantastic contrast to the United States. I am not opposed to living abroad in the future, but I will always call the USA my home. I am very happy to have been raised in the USA. All of this taken into consideration, I am trying extra hard to really experience China from many angles and get some cool pictures in the process. I will be very happy to be home with my family, friends, and girlfriend and working for a great company.
General Electric
People really light up in China when I tell them I work for GE. My thermodynamics professor enjoys talking
about GE engines and Boeing airplanes. I am happy to be returning to a great job in Cincinnati this summer with a lot of friends with whom I have worked with before. I also look forward to traveling a little bit this summer going to see friends in other cities and weekend trips.
Sanya
I enjoyed the trip to the southern part of China. I made some new friends from Hong Kong and enjoyed the very warm weather. There was plenty of good conversation and good company. In the below post, you can see it is part of China most people do not think about when China is mentioned. It is a vacation destination for Russians and Chinese tourists. We saw a lot of Russian people and restaurants. It was very similar to visiting the Bahamas in some respects like the weather and sun intensity. The prices were lower and it was generally safer. There were resorts that had expensive price tags, but we opted to stay in a cheap hostel / bed and breakfast for about $25 a night per person. The whole trip was a vacation and I spent more than I am used to. It was a fantastic break from the usual. Many of the Chinese characteristics of the culture existed down there.
Xian
I was sitting in my room this morning when I got a call from my roommate at the train station. He asked if I wanted go to go see the Terracotta Warriors. I said sure, so I am going to head on a train tomorrow night up to Xian to check that out this weekend. It was not too much money, about $115 for round trip and sleeping cars both ways. Sadly, this is just about the price it costs to send a small package home my friends said. It is also more than a suit, which makes it very tempting to not spending the money. It seems like the right choice though, get a couple of cool photos and maybe see some Pandas or go hiking.
Other Upcoming
The next few weekends are going to be busy for me as I prepare to have the semester coming to an end. I will be going to Xian this weekend. The following weekend I will go to the F1 race on the north side of Shanghai, 1.5 hrs by subway + bus. I will also be traveling to Guilin the weekend after that. I will study for finals and then I'll be ready for my last couple weekends and the World Expo.
10-APR-2010: Xian
17-APR-2010: F1 Race
24-APR-2010: Guilin
01-MAY-2010: Study for Finals
08-MAY-2010: World Expo + inner city travel
17-MAY-2010: Exit China
Look forward to seeing everyone when I return home! Please keep in touch - keep writing emails!
Biber
Time: 330pm
The last three months have been a great experience. I have enjoyed seeing and living in a different culture. It is a fantastic contrast to the United States. I am not opposed to living abroad in the future, but I will always call the USA my home. I am very happy to have been raised in the USA. All of this taken into consideration, I am trying extra hard to really experience China from many angles and get some cool pictures in the process. I will be very happy to be home with my family, friends, and girlfriend and working for a great company.
General Electric
People really light up in China when I tell them I work for GE. My thermodynamics professor enjoys talking
about GE engines and Boeing airplanes. I am happy to be returning to a great job in Cincinnati this summer with a lot of friends with whom I have worked with before. I also look forward to traveling a little bit this summer going to see friends in other cities and weekend trips.
Sanya
I enjoyed the trip to the southern part of China. I made some new friends from Hong Kong and enjoyed the very warm weather. There was plenty of good conversation and good company. In the below post, you can see it is part of China most people do not think about when China is mentioned. It is a vacation destination for Russians and Chinese tourists. We saw a lot of Russian people and restaurants. It was very similar to visiting the Bahamas in some respects like the weather and sun intensity. The prices were lower and it was generally safer. There were resorts that had expensive price tags, but we opted to stay in a cheap hostel / bed and breakfast for about $25 a night per person. The whole trip was a vacation and I spent more than I am used to. It was a fantastic break from the usual. Many of the Chinese characteristics of the culture existed down there.
Xian
I was sitting in my room this morning when I got a call from my roommate at the train station. He asked if I wanted go to go see the Terracotta Warriors. I said sure, so I am going to head on a train tomorrow night up to Xian to check that out this weekend. It was not too much money, about $115 for round trip and sleeping cars both ways. Sadly, this is just about the price it costs to send a small package home my friends said. It is also more than a suit, which makes it very tempting to not spending the money. It seems like the right choice though, get a couple of cool photos and maybe see some Pandas or go hiking.
Other Upcoming
The next few weekends are going to be busy for me as I prepare to have the semester coming to an end. I will be going to Xian this weekend. The following weekend I will go to the F1 race on the north side of Shanghai, 1.5 hrs by subway + bus. I will also be traveling to Guilin the weekend after that. I will study for finals and then I'll be ready for my last couple weekends and the World Expo.
10-APR-2010: Xian
17-APR-2010: F1 Race
24-APR-2010: Guilin
01-MAY-2010: Study for Finals
08-MAY-2010: World Expo + inner city travel
17-MAY-2010: Exit China
Look forward to seeing everyone when I return home! Please keep in touch - keep writing emails!
 |
| From Great Wall |
Biber
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Some Pictures
Some Sanya panoramic photos. They are good representations of where I was that week.
Room View (Garden)
Dadong Hai Beach
Room at the hostel
Slide Show
Room View (Garden)
Dadong Hai Beach
Room at the hostel
Slide Show
Monday, April 5, 2010
Modern China in Pictures
Just wanted to share this article.
Modern China in Pictures by MSNBC
I thought it did a decent job describing the troubles from 1900 to 2008, briefly touching on large events.
Biber
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Break In Sanya
Weather: Hot & Humid 31C
Local Time: 10am
This has been a really fun break from school. Today (Monday) is the Qing Ming holiday. It is called "Tomb Sweeping Day," in English.
We have spent a lot of time on the beach down here. The first day, I did not ask for help applying sun screen and it resulted in an embarrassing sunburn on my upper back. I apparently can not reach a certain part of my back because of my inflexibility. It was kinda painful, but it was also pretty cool.
We also made some new friends. There were a few folks from Hong Kong who were international business people staying in our hostel. We met them and told them a nice place to grab dinner and met them there. We hung out the next day and went around town as a large group of nine people. We ended up visiting some of their friends at a resort across the island.
So far, the beach has been lots of fun. We have seen how the Chinese and Russian people vacation and it is quite a bit different than the style I am accustom to. The adventures of this trip like backpacking and trail riding that I was hoping to go on were squashed by the malaria carrying mosquitoes.
I will be leaving the Sanya airport in just over a day, and until then I will likely be out on the sand.
Biber
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