Yangshuo: Day 2

Our day started off with a bike tour through the countryside of Yangshuo. We picked out the best mountain bikes (most of them were cruisers in need of heading straight back to their made-in-China factories). We rode a completely different path then the day before which was great. This bike path was built through the countryside; we passed rice paddys, women walking their water buffalo with ropes around their neck, and tons of gorgeous greenery. We pedaled to our first destination, which was bamboo rafting along the Yulong River. After negotiating our way through throngs of old women trying to sell us more flower crowns (I had already bought one for 1 yuan!), we hesitantly climbed onto our bamboo raft (about five pieces of long bamboo tied together with rope, mostly likely constructed by our driver). The raft had metal lawn chairs tied onto it as well for us to sit in-- what that doesn't sound safe?! The ride down the river was the first relaxing thing we did in awhile. It was calm and breezy. They created little dams on the river (to make it more of a ride?) which we would get to the top of, and then our dude would push really hard and we would tip down the dam, and pray that our metal chairs wouldn't fall off into the river (even though we had life jackets on :). The dam was only like 2 feet, but it felt like 10 on a little bamboo raft in lawn chairs. We would be motioned to lift our feet up as our raft would dip halfway under the water. It was great to just hang out with each other on the river and not dealing with loud noises and pushing crowds of people. : ) After the river raft we continued our bike ride to lunch at a home nearby.  We ate on their outdoor deck, which was definitely hand-made. It was a second story as well, when we walked up the steep stairs onto the deck it shook. So we all walked veryyy carefully. After a delicious lunch we rode our bikes to the pick-up stop for the Water Caves. After a slightly nauseating 20 minute bus ride we arrived at the entrance for the Water Caves. We climbed into a small wooden boat with our guide. The entrance to the cave was barely taller than the small boat we were in (think canoe-shaped). As we paddled through the opening in the cave we all were faceplanted to the floor of the boat. For safety reasons. As the cave ceiling slowly got taller and wider we were able to make our way off the floor and look around. The cave was massive; with huge cavernous halls and beautiful rock formations. We hopped out of our boat with our guide to start our walk through the cave. We had to walk slowly, and sometimes crawl under the long stalactites and stalagmites hanging close to the ground. Our guide would lead us through the cave pointing out different rock formations with his flashlight. It was just like when you look in the sky and say, "That cloud looks like a bunny rabbit. That cloud looks like a castle." Except his comments were, "This rock here is Buddha, this one is a dragon..." He would first say it all in Chinese, and then repeat it in English, so we would all try to guess what he was going to call the next rock next. I guessed that one rock formation was the rice terraces, and David guessed one was a turtle. Which was super crazy by the way because it looked absolutely nothing like a turtle. : ) Towards the end of the cave, we were able to change into our bathing suits and jump into some mud baths. It was a pretty weird feeling. Somewhat slimy and thick. We layed in the mud and took turns going down the mud slide. It was a super short distance from the slide to the bottom of the mud, so when we came off the slide not only did I hit the ground but David slammed into my back-- at least with a giant smile on his face! (See picture : ) Haha. After the mud baths we were able to rinse off and jump in some hot springs in a nearby rock formation. It was pretty relaxing. After the hot springs and mud bath we made our way out of the cave. We went out to dinner-- had to eat pizza because I was so over Chinese food. David had "lasagna." Later that night our whole tour group went out together for one last time (because David and I have to leave early for his new job which starts on Monday). We went to an American bar and we all sat at one long table and talked for a couple hours. It was one of our favorite days in China!

Zai-jian!

David and Kristen : )

China, Up Close and Personal

As we currently sit in a Chinese train station, we just came across an article online entitled, "Lots and Lots of Rocks – Guilin and Yangshuo, China" by Phillip Donnelly. David and I both laughed so hard we had tears streaming down our faces. You know those moments at a comedy show when you look at each other and say, "That's so true!" Well we both said that the entire time. Literally everything he wrote is exactly how we've felt. So here are a couple of my favorite snippets; warning to the family members he paints some vivid pictures and uses some choice words. :)

"There are few things in life more depressing than finding yourself in a Chinese bus station early in the morning. The sound of hawking phlegm; the hoards of barking Chinese tourists chaotically milling to and fro, as if war had just been declared and they only had 10 minutes to flee for their lives before the Japanese arrived; the indecipherable Chinese characters on notice boards that you can’t help looking at in the vain hope of finding where the ticket office is hidden, or suddenly and miraculously developing the ability to read them; the unhelpful staff who can’t or won’t understand your pigeon Chinese (“qing-mai piao-na li”/ please-buy ticket-where”); the innumerable dodgy characters who seem to have made a profession of hanging around bus stations eyeing up peoples’ bags, like vultures waiting for a moment of weakness; filthy begging bowls being stuffed in your face; scheming taxi drivers determined to get that fare of a lifetime by attempting to charge you ten times what they’d charge a Chinese. It’s all made worse by the hunger pangs in your stomach because you just can’t face another bowl of stir-fried vegetables covered in slime."

Though somewhat negative it is very accurate...And even better is his description of Chinese bathrooms, in which every single one we've had has a shower and a drain right next to or above the toilet. And everywhere you go there are squatter toilets (holes in the ground), very rarely were there "western" toilets. Sometimes even hotel rooms have squatters!

"They are best described as ‘functional’, in that they just about perform all the functions they were designed for. However, Chinese efficiency has led to the elimination of certain unnecessary features. Why bother with a toilet seat, for example, when you can just squat over a hole in the floor and drop your stool like a bombardier, and enjoy the innocent fun of listening to it come to a squelchy stop from a height? And to take things one step further, why bother separating the toilet from the shower when you can combine the two by simply placing a drain in the floor? In fact, if you really wanted to save time, you could conceivably poop, shave, brush your teeth and shower all at the same time! To think of all the time I’ve wasted in my life by not doing these things simultaneously. I could have saved at least 30 minutes a day. Some quick calculations show me that I’ve wasted about 1500 hours in my life to inefficiency. If only I had spent that time learning Chinese, I could thank them for their insight."

Couldn't have said it better if we tried.

Zai-jian!

David and Kristen

Yangshou: Day 1

Yangshou is popular for its beautiful mountains, rivers, caves, and temples. We decided to take full advantage of our free day from the tour and booked it to the closest bike shop. We rented sweet mountain bikes for $3 a day and rode along the main road to our destinations. Traffic is ridiculous everywhere in China so we just rode on the far right side of the road, trying to avoid the cars coming up behind us, as well as in front of us because they don't like to drive on just one side of the road.

Our first stop was a giant Banyan tree that has been there since 581 AD. Very old, like everything else that's good in China :) We walked around and talked to a lot of people who came up to take pictures with us. We even took some random photos on a bamboo raft with one girl. After the tree we rode even further to Moon Hill. This hill is famous in China because in the limestone hill is a circular arch near the top, resembling a moon. We locked up our bikes and started up the path of over 800 stairs. About thirty sweaty minutes later we reached the top of the mountain, walking directly through the archway. One of David's lifeguard friends told him that once you think you reach the top, keep going. So we saw a small footpath to the left that said, "no entry." So of course David wanted to try it :) We started making our way through dense brush and sticky mud. The winding footpath lead us up the the arch, to the very top of the mountain. The view of the surrounding villages, rivers, and rice terraces below us was stunning. Breaking the rules was definitely worth it. :)

 

That night we attended the world-famous (by world I mean China) Light Impression show. It was a lot better than it sounds. It was created by the same person who directed the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics. The performance utilized the natural surroundings to create a spectacular outdoor theatre which is the largest of its kind. The Li River itself is the stage and twelve mountains are the backdrop. He used lighting of the mountains combined with song and dance performances. One of my favorite parts was when the river was flooded red and fishermen on bamboo rafts suddenly appear throughout the river with torches. A few people commented on how it was scary to watch over 600 Chinese act in unison with one another (referring to the to the communist government, and how there wasn't one star performer- all were equal, etc). It didn't bother us at all though, to each his own! Plus if we say anything about the government we could get arrested. :)

Zai-jian!

David and Kristen

Planes, Trains, and Noodles

We set off around mid-day on a 26 hour train ride from Xitang to Yangshuo. With instant noodles, Oreos and multiple water bottles, we knew it would be a long one. There were six beds in each little bunk area which we shared with two locals whom of course managed to snore the entire way. We passed the time by playing uno, cards and reading our books (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Power of One). One of our group members, Mick from Australia, had "guess this TV theme show song" on his ipod that we all played together. I guessed Ducktales and Family Matters the quickest. David got Entourage and Survivor. That was really fun. After the train ride was over we were all so relieved to be on solid ground and without noodles. But we still had to spend another two more hours on a bus to finally arrive at our hotel. Phew, what a day! We walked around a bit and enjoyed the beauty of Yangshou before finally going to sleep in a private room! What a luxury!

Zai-jian!

David and Kristen

Xitang

We took a bus from Shanghai to the water city of Xitang which took about 2 hours. Xitang is over 1,000 years old and is like stepping into a postcard of older times. Red lanterns line the crumbling walkways and ceilinged corriders, while old wooden boats gently bob in the river. Small rustic bridges criss-cross the nine rivers making it easy to wander around the city.

Xitang is famous for Tom Cruise filming a scene here for Mission Impossible 3 (his photos are all over the city). We wandered the water town for most of the day, stopping in shops and watching the old men in boats paddle by with their bamboo poles. Many of the shops and houses in Xitang are built on the riversides. The lanes are paved with stone planks, polished by the feet of pedestrians as well as hundreds of years of weathering. Together with the black-tiled houses along the road they create the perfect postcard for a simpler time in China.

At night we went out to dinner with our tour group and they surprised him with a birthday cake. The candle on top was very flammable so we accidentally burned a small hole in the table. The candle also played a song as it burned! We went out to a local club in which we could write notes on the wall. We left a solid quote from Team America circa David's 2008 trip to Scandinavia.

Now we're off to Yangshuo, a beautiful scenic town with rock mountains dispersed throughout the city.

Zai-jian!

David and Kristen

Shanghai: Day Two

We were able to sleep in this morning which was great because we were exhausted and it is still pouring (it has only stopped raining once since we've been in China). We visited the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition, which was actually pretty interesting. The exhibition contained models of old and new developments as well as photographs of the old city of Shanghai, which was a small fishing village. The centerpiece of the exhibition is a huge scale model of the city of Shanghai, they even included buildings that hadn't been built such as a skyscraper next to the World Financial center that is sure to be either the first or second tallest building in the world. We went into a small theater room next to the model that seems like you're flying through the Shanghai of the future, from the airport to their world expo buildings to their skyscrapers.

After the exhibition we wandered through the tunnels underneath the People's Square (the site of Shanghai's municipal government headquarters/a large public square). There were hundreds of vendors and shops in these tunnels, we felt like ants, it went on for miles.

We ate lunch then wandered the city. We met up with our tour group to go to dinner at an older Asian couple's home. They led us up incredibly steep stairs to a self-made 2nd story where we ate dinner. Dinner was the best yet (most likely because our Chinese guide was able to order for us : ). We had vegetables, sweet and sour chicken, peanut chicken, etc. The ceilings were so low that David's head nearly touched the ceiling.

After dinner we took the metro with a couple other people to the Park Hyatt at the Shanghai World Financial Center, which is the tallest building in Shanghai and shaped like a bottle-opener. We found our way up to the 93rd floor for cocktails and the view. The bar was incredible. The definition of first-class according to David, mostly because of the toilets haha. As you walk through the stall door the toilet cover automatically opens. The seat is heated (sorry for the intimate details). Anything you could imagine a toilet doing - it did. Even wash and dry... So anyways, we ordered drinks and sat in the lounge overlooking the city. We were high above all the buildings and the lights were beautiful. Next time we are staying there! :)

Tomorrow morning we are heading to a small water town about a hour and a half away, Xitang.

Zai-jian!

Shanghai: Day One

We arrived in Shanghai after a 16 hour train ride from Xi'an. We went for a walk around the city and ended up in a beautiful Chinese garden- Yuyuan Gardens, which were built in the 1500's. We wandered the gardens and found a place to have dinner.

After dinner we watched a Shanghai acrobatic show. They did stunts on bicycles, motorcycles, and ropes. Girls spun plates and hula hooped with every part of their body. One part where a man and woman swung on ropes, they played a part of Titanic in the background. The first thing David whispered to me was, "They definitely don't have the rights to show this." During this acrobatic rope routine to "My Heart Will Go On" the girl swung by her neck a few times, which was scary. The acrobats also did the "ball of death" which is a round metal cage in which 4 guys ride motorcycles around each other.

After the show we walked along the Bund to go on a night cruise along the river. In the 1840s, the Bund was a muddy narrow lane with tall reeds. It initially became a British settlement. After Shanghai was established as the trading port in 1846, a street was paved there and the riversides were reinforced. Then, rows of commercial buildings were constructed. As the UK Concession, a building boom at the end of 19th century and beginning of 20th century led to the Bund becoming a major financial hub of East Asia. It was the center of Shanghai's politics, economy and culture more than a hundred years ago. Now the Bund is known for the beautiful buildings lining the waterfront, including buildings of various architectural styles such as Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Neo-Classical, Beaux-Arts, and Art Deco (Shanghai has one of the richest collections of Art Deco architectures in the world).

The night cruise along the Huangpu River was beautiful. All the buildings have different types and colors of lighting that lit up the whole skyline. It provides a great contrast between the old and the new- the old buildings and architecture along the Bund on one side of the river and the brand-new skyscrapers dominating the other side.

Zaijian!

D & K