An early rise and off we went by 6:00 am. The flight was nice, serving such choice snacks as dried squid morsels. I saved some, so ask me for some if you are craving such delicacies late at night. Arriving in Beijing the first thing we noticed was the cloud of smog that engulfed the city. We took a cab and somehow navigated our way to our hotel, The Far East Youth Hostel. Which is actually a really nice hostel, more like a 3 star hotel. We really like it here and settled right into our room. The hostel is located south west of Tiananmen square in the heart of a hutong neighborhood (a hutong is a very close quarter living arrangement neighborhoods where each family has their own quad-shaped courtyard surrounded by rooms: kitchen, childrens' room, parents' room, grandparents' room, and guest room). These are very old neighborhoods and if you want to see how the chinese live, you need not look further than the hutongs. Our hotel is like an oasis within the hutong land.
Our first adventure in Beijing was the silk market just south of Tiananmen Square. There was quite a bit of silk, but most of it was traditional chinese patterns. After some shopping around Kate and I decided to make some silk clothes. I picked out a black and gold bamboo leaf pattern to make into pyjamma pants and kate chose a lovely pink and silver material from which to create a dress. (after haggling over price, I got them to trow in a headband and I was sold.
Then Kate and I headed to a famous duck restaraunt for some roasted peking duck. It was a delicious meal, and surprisingly the first time I had the meal. Afterwards we wandered around some more in the markets and found ourselves turned around and a bit lost. My savvy navagation skills turned sour, and apparently so have my barganing skills. Hmmm, maybe my bowstaff skills are on the move upward?
Saturday, June 18, 2005
Friday, June 17, 2005
Good Bye Shanghai
Our last day in Shanghai was great. We caught the train back... again it was a near miss with a bit of running. I really must admit we have done a great job communicating in every way possible other than Chinese with these people, but it seems like although we do get by, sometimes it is just barely.
Back in Shanghai we checked back into the YMCA... we had a reservation elsewhere but for simplicity sake we stayed where it's fun to stay. After wandering for about 45 min on Nanjing Donglu (blvd.) for a Dim Sum place we quieted our rumbling stomaches with some pretty good dim sum. This we called dinner #1 as it was a very late lunch. We walked down the Nanjing and window shopped as we went. Kate bought be some great Baleno polo shirts in pink, blue, and green (Baleno is a chinese brand with a really cool whale for an emblem).
We made it all the way to the Bund, which is a long riverside walk looking out to the financial district of Pudong with huge sky scrapers and the Pearl Orient TV Tower. On the walk back we had dinner #2 at Ramen Soup shop (its a Chinese chain).
We then hopped on the metro and made it to Circus world just in time for our 7:30 show. It was an amazing sight and we were captivated the whole time, ooohing and aaaweing uncontrollably with the feats of the chinese acrobats, tumblers, contortionists, and magicians. It was a great show with a finale of 7 motorcyclists entering a huge metal sphere and doing elaborate high-speed manouvers while nearly missing eachother. Hard to explain, most likely even harder to execute.
Back in Shanghai we checked back into the YMCA... we had a reservation elsewhere but for simplicity sake we stayed where it's fun to stay. After wandering for about 45 min on Nanjing Donglu (blvd.) for a Dim Sum place we quieted our rumbling stomaches with some pretty good dim sum. This we called dinner #1 as it was a very late lunch. We walked down the Nanjing and window shopped as we went. Kate bought be some great Baleno polo shirts in pink, blue, and green (Baleno is a chinese brand with a really cool whale for an emblem).
We made it all the way to the Bund, which is a long riverside walk looking out to the financial district of Pudong with huge sky scrapers and the Pearl Orient TV Tower. On the walk back we had dinner #2 at Ramen Soup shop (its a Chinese chain).
We then hopped on the metro and made it to Circus world just in time for our 7:30 show. It was an amazing sight and we were captivated the whole time, ooohing and aaaweing uncontrollably with the feats of the chinese acrobats, tumblers, contortionists, and magicians. It was a great show with a finale of 7 motorcyclists entering a huge metal sphere and doing elaborate high-speed manouvers while nearly missing eachother. Hard to explain, most likely even harder to execute.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Hangzhou and Xi Hu
After an early rise, some crowd darting techniques, and even a bit of running we managed to catch our train to Hangzhou. We sat near some delightful chinese that taught me a few things in chinese and how to write a bit (really not much, just bathroom--Tse Tsua, Water, Rice, Hello--Ni Hao, and a few others).
Reaching Hangzhou, Kate remarked it is a bit remniscent of going to Hawaii for an American. We decided to save time we wouldn't check into the hotel until we explored the city and kept our backpacks on all day. We began with a luch at La Luna... for what its worth the food was good (western food-- we had a club sandwich and spaghetti) but it was weird considering we were the only ones there and although there were 8 staff on duty everyone pretty much ignored us and pulled out their cell phones to play tetris on them. They also elaborately unwrapped a napkin onto my lap revealing a fork and gave Kate nothing at all. Plus people passing by took pictures of us.
Anyway, Kate and I made our way to the Lingyin Temple area in the hills above the West Lake (Xi Hu). Entering the park we encountered ancient buddhist stone carvings in the rocky walls the lined the river. There must have been hundreds and it seemed like you stumbled upon them every 50 feet or so. Kate and I made our way off the beaten tourist path up the hill and then decended back down right overhead the prized "Laughing Buddha." After soaking it all in we went to the temple and were greeted by sounds of chanting and the smell of insence. We sat mesmorized as people lit 50 or so insence sticks at a time and religiously bowed towards each direction of the temples. Looking inside the temple there were arround 100 monks walking in a large circle around a golden Sidharta. Later Kate and I wandered through a maze of a temple with 4 corridors lined on both sides with hundreds of lifesize bronze statues of monks that served in the temple over the ages. It was a glorious retreat.
We caught a taxi back and stopped at the Gu Shan island on the lake for dinner at Louwailou restaurant and ate the most delicious "beggars chicken" (clay covered chicken cooked in a fire) as well as West Lake Soup (a sea weed-like soup from Xi Hu).
Stuffed and statisfied we took a beautiful boat ride in the moon light back to our hostel. I wouldn't believe it until I saw it, but the Hangzhou hostel actually had a 50 ft. climbing wall inside it! The beds were pretty much rock hard, but we managed and aside from kate's huge mosquito bites, we slept like the hardness of our beds.
Reaching Hangzhou, Kate remarked it is a bit remniscent of going to Hawaii for an American. We decided to save time we wouldn't check into the hotel until we explored the city and kept our backpacks on all day. We began with a luch at La Luna... for what its worth the food was good (western food-- we had a club sandwich and spaghetti) but it was weird considering we were the only ones there and although there were 8 staff on duty everyone pretty much ignored us and pulled out their cell phones to play tetris on them. They also elaborately unwrapped a napkin onto my lap revealing a fork and gave Kate nothing at all. Plus people passing by took pictures of us.
Anyway, Kate and I made our way to the Lingyin Temple area in the hills above the West Lake (Xi Hu). Entering the park we encountered ancient buddhist stone carvings in the rocky walls the lined the river. There must have been hundreds and it seemed like you stumbled upon them every 50 feet or so. Kate and I made our way off the beaten tourist path up the hill and then decended back down right overhead the prized "Laughing Buddha." After soaking it all in we went to the temple and were greeted by sounds of chanting and the smell of insence. We sat mesmorized as people lit 50 or so insence sticks at a time and religiously bowed towards each direction of the temples. Looking inside the temple there were arround 100 monks walking in a large circle around a golden Sidharta. Later Kate and I wandered through a maze of a temple with 4 corridors lined on both sides with hundreds of lifesize bronze statues of monks that served in the temple over the ages. It was a glorious retreat.
We caught a taxi back and stopped at the Gu Shan island on the lake for dinner at Louwailou restaurant and ate the most delicious "beggars chicken" (clay covered chicken cooked in a fire) as well as West Lake Soup (a sea weed-like soup from Xi Hu).
Stuffed and statisfied we took a beautiful boat ride in the moon light back to our hostel. I wouldn't believe it until I saw it, but the Hangzhou hostel actually had a 50 ft. climbing wall inside it! The beds were pretty much rock hard, but we managed and aside from kate's huge mosquito bites, we slept like the hardness of our beds.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Dumpling Craze and High Fashion, Low Price
This morning our jet lag did catch up with us as we slept in until we couldn't bear missing out on the city for the day and got up. Our first stop was Yuyan Gardens and Bazaar. Our taxi dropped us off 1 block from the entrance, which was lucky because we walked into a jewlery store and oogled at the stones for a while, then went upstairs to the jade gallery. I bought kate a jade necklace which we spent a good amount of time finding just the right size and color.
Walking into the bazaar I got side tracked several times by stall after stall of interesting trinkets. Kate (and her stomach) kept us on track and we found the famous dumpling restaraunt, Nanxiang Mantoudian, located right on the little lake in Yuyan. We waited in a line for about 20 min before I saw chinese bypassing the line and walking upstairs. We followed suit and waited until four nice people offered us to sit with them. Our stomachs were eager for our Xia Longbao (crab meat dumpling) even though we didn't know what it was or how it would tast. Nonetheless, if it is called the most famous dumpling in Shanghai, and Shanghai is famous for dumpling... well it will be worth it. And it was. I can't tell you how great it tasted and how I am wanting one right now as I type this. The crab is caught 2 hours away in a freshwater lake called Xi Hua (West Lake) in the city of Hangzhou (more on that tomorrow) and shelled fresh in the restaraunt. The people we were sitting with also reffered us to a Japanese restaruant (which we tried that night... it was great!) and a shopping district in the French Concession that is fun.
After our meal we enjoyed the peaceful Yuyan gardens and wandered around the old style Chinese buildings, pagodas, and gazebos. Water and stone shaped the gardens and made them compartmentalized like a maze, not to mention very beautiful. On the way to catch a cab I decided I would buy a few choice silk ties and soon we were driving to the French Concession.
We arrived at Xiangyang market and the first thing we heard was, "hello, Rolex watch... hello... hello, Rolex watch." We heard that about 500 times more over the course of our shopping in the market. This market was littered with fake purses, ties, shoes, clothes, watches... you name it. It was actually really fun checking things out and we did buy a bit of fake fashion and felt fashionable doing so. Kate bought some Prada shoes... then bought me a pair to match, well at least the male version without the extreemly pointy toe that hers boastfully displayed. After a few hours we were exausted with the barganing and ran out gasping for fresh air on the main road.
From there we walked towards our hotel and made it to the Japanese restaraunt the people in the dumpling place recommended. It was great, possibly some of the best sushi I've had, and it was a perfect end to the night for us.
Walking into the bazaar I got side tracked several times by stall after stall of interesting trinkets. Kate (and her stomach) kept us on track and we found the famous dumpling restaraunt, Nanxiang Mantoudian, located right on the little lake in Yuyan. We waited in a line for about 20 min before I saw chinese bypassing the line and walking upstairs. We followed suit and waited until four nice people offered us to sit with them. Our stomachs were eager for our Xia Longbao (crab meat dumpling) even though we didn't know what it was or how it would tast. Nonetheless, if it is called the most famous dumpling in Shanghai, and Shanghai is famous for dumpling... well it will be worth it. And it was. I can't tell you how great it tasted and how I am wanting one right now as I type this. The crab is caught 2 hours away in a freshwater lake called Xi Hua (West Lake) in the city of Hangzhou (more on that tomorrow) and shelled fresh in the restaraunt. The people we were sitting with also reffered us to a Japanese restaruant (which we tried that night... it was great!) and a shopping district in the French Concession that is fun.
After our meal we enjoyed the peaceful Yuyan gardens and wandered around the old style Chinese buildings, pagodas, and gazebos. Water and stone shaped the gardens and made them compartmentalized like a maze, not to mention very beautiful. On the way to catch a cab I decided I would buy a few choice silk ties and soon we were driving to the French Concession.
We arrived at Xiangyang market and the first thing we heard was, "hello, Rolex watch... hello... hello, Rolex watch." We heard that about 500 times more over the course of our shopping in the market. This market was littered with fake purses, ties, shoes, clothes, watches... you name it. It was actually really fun checking things out and we did buy a bit of fake fashion and felt fashionable doing so. Kate bought some Prada shoes... then bought me a pair to match, well at least the male version without the extreemly pointy toe that hers boastfully displayed. After a few hours we were exausted with the barganing and ran out gasping for fresh air on the main road.
From there we walked towards our hotel and made it to the Japanese restaraunt the people in the dumpling place recommended. It was great, possibly some of the best sushi I've had, and it was a perfect end to the night for us.
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Renmin (People's) Park
6/14/05
Our first full day in Shanghai we jumped out of bed at 6am and began our exploration. Our first stop was Renmin Park. Traveling by foot we stumbled upon a pearl milk tea shop and slurped down two tea concoctions as we made our way through the bustling of people at the park. Once there we made a b-line for the Shanghai Museum, and what a treat it was. With exhibits on Jade, ceramics, bronze sculptures, caligraphy, and traditional clothing to name a few, we were mesmorized for until our stomachs told us it was enough.
Wandering out of the museum and into the park we found a huge flock of white pidgeons that made an awesome sight when by some unknown impetus they all took flight at once and circled the somewhat awestruck somewhat afraid onlookers. Sitting down to lunch on the second floor of what can only be described as a mall (but not exactly) we ate at a seemingly elegant restaraunt and feared we were going to be paying dearly for choosing such a nice place. Then came the check with a total of 3.75 USD for our meal... not too bad huh?
We wandered through a maze of streets getting back to the hotel, passing the bird and flower market and antique market on the way. They sold just about every kind of turtle and fish you could want (as a pet im guessing / hoping). Of course Kate was the proud owner of my first purchase in Shanghai... a pink rose that made her blush the same color when I gave it to her. The antique market was, well, junky. Antique = old junk... thinking otherwise = dumb. But we wandered around the shops nonetheless and eventually found some hand painted scrolls we were happy with.
After a bit of a nap we made reservations at Yang's Kitchen and headed to the French Concession district for the traditional Shanghaiese meal. We ordered an eggplant and minced meat meal with fried rice and washed it down with Tiger beer. Walking back home kate found a beautiful necklace. One metro stop away and we were back home...
Our first full day in Shanghai we jumped out of bed at 6am and began our exploration. Our first stop was Renmin Park. Traveling by foot we stumbled upon a pearl milk tea shop and slurped down two tea concoctions as we made our way through the bustling of people at the park. Once there we made a b-line for the Shanghai Museum, and what a treat it was. With exhibits on Jade, ceramics, bronze sculptures, caligraphy, and traditional clothing to name a few, we were mesmorized for until our stomachs told us it was enough.
Wandering out of the museum and into the park we found a huge flock of white pidgeons that made an awesome sight when by some unknown impetus they all took flight at once and circled the somewhat awestruck somewhat afraid onlookers. Sitting down to lunch on the second floor of what can only be described as a mall (but not exactly) we ate at a seemingly elegant restaraunt and feared we were going to be paying dearly for choosing such a nice place. Then came the check with a total of 3.75 USD for our meal... not too bad huh?
We wandered through a maze of streets getting back to the hotel, passing the bird and flower market and antique market on the way. They sold just about every kind of turtle and fish you could want (as a pet im guessing / hoping). Of course Kate was the proud owner of my first purchase in Shanghai... a pink rose that made her blush the same color when I gave it to her. The antique market was, well, junky. Antique = old junk... thinking otherwise = dumb. But we wandered around the shops nonetheless and eventually found some hand painted scrolls we were happy with.
After a bit of a nap we made reservations at Yang's Kitchen and headed to the French Concession district for the traditional Shanghaiese meal. We ordered an eggplant and minced meat meal with fried rice and washed it down with Tiger beer. Walking back home kate found a beautiful necklace. One metro stop away and we were back home...
Monday, June 13, 2005
Shanghai At Last
Well I officially can't read a scrap of Chinese, and it seems that all the words on the computers, all the folders, all the buttons (everything) is written in chinese... meaning if I go to this webpage... one that I created in english... I cannot read anything other than the words I wrote... so understandibly, last time I was trying to publish something I wrote, I deleted a few entries thinking the delete button was the publish button. yikes. Wont make that mistake again.
Unable to recover the lost post I am going to try and recreate it:
The start of our trip began with the most plesant 14 hour plane flight you could ever ask for... I mean we literally had seats that automatically reclined into beds! Thank you so much Mr. and Mrs. Checchi. We were pampered in first class, given an arsenal of food, drinks, snacks, etc. and plenty of movies (Robots and Million Dollar baby were the two we settled on). With a short layover in Tokoyo and another 4 hours to Shanghai our first leg of travel was completed with ease.
At first glance Shanghai is an impressive city with skyscrapers littering the skyline like densely packed porcupine quills. Kate describes it as a fusion of New York and Paris dropped conveniently in the middle of China, giving it an oriental twist. There is more shopping in Shanghai that I've seen in LA and SF combined, and they have it all. If you can't find a particular brand, style, or item in Shanghai you didn't look hard enough, or it doesn't exist. In relation to the rest of China, Shanghai boasts the highest per capita income at just around the equivalent of $1,500 USD / year, and although a seemingly low amount, their comparative wealth shows in their buildings, architecturel, and parks, and permiates into other aspects of their lives (or at least the tourist areas).
We took a cab straght to our place, the YMCA hotel, and yes it is fun to stay at the YMCA. and slept the night away.
Unable to recover the lost post I am going to try and recreate it:
The start of our trip began with the most plesant 14 hour plane flight you could ever ask for... I mean we literally had seats that automatically reclined into beds! Thank you so much Mr. and Mrs. Checchi. We were pampered in first class, given an arsenal of food, drinks, snacks, etc. and plenty of movies (Robots and Million Dollar baby were the two we settled on). With a short layover in Tokoyo and another 4 hours to Shanghai our first leg of travel was completed with ease.
At first glance Shanghai is an impressive city with skyscrapers littering the skyline like densely packed porcupine quills. Kate describes it as a fusion of New York and Paris dropped conveniently in the middle of China, giving it an oriental twist. There is more shopping in Shanghai that I've seen in LA and SF combined, and they have it all. If you can't find a particular brand, style, or item in Shanghai you didn't look hard enough, or it doesn't exist. In relation to the rest of China, Shanghai boasts the highest per capita income at just around the equivalent of $1,500 USD / year, and although a seemingly low amount, their comparative wealth shows in their buildings, architecturel, and parks, and permiates into other aspects of their lives (or at least the tourist areas).
We took a cab straght to our place, the YMCA hotel, and yes it is fun to stay at the YMCA. and slept the night away.
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Photos from 'Round The World
Just as promised I created a website to post photos from my trip... you can access the site at
photos.yahoo.com/kanaan2
Unfortunately I don't believe I will be able to upload photos as often as I can write, but I will try as to as often as possible.
Enjoy!
~NK
photos.yahoo.com/kanaan2
Unfortunately I don't believe I will be able to upload photos as often as I can write, but I will try as to as often as possible.
Enjoy!
~NK
Welcome
Welcome to my travels... Its about 12:30 in the morning... exactly 12 hours before the flight and I have yet to pack. Well, I better get to it, but I hope you enjoy following me on my trip. Don't be a stranger and feel free to email me throughout kanaan2@gmail.com. If you want to see the pictures from the trip i will post a page and upload to it along the way. Until then, bon voyage!
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