Hong Kong - written Dec. 11

I would like the Curry Mansion Please

An easy sleeper train dropped me off in Hong Kong and for a week I was free. Free from the cold, free from the language barriers, and even free from the silly China censor. Ah freedom, how I missed thee. What am I saying, I'm back in China now, where it's chilly, still Chinese and I'm without my blog. Shackled, yet happy. I'm not exactly sure what Hong Kong is. It's not really China. It's certainly no longer a British colony. It's the financial hub of the region. Doesn't Jackie Chan live here or something?

To answer some of these questions, I started my HK adventure in the Chongking Mansions. I've heard much about this place and I was hoping it would leave me shaking my head and screaming for mommy. It didn't exactly happen that way, but it was still bizarre. The Mansions are a set of buildings located right in the smack center of downtown Kowloon (think Brooklyn to NY's Manhattan, which is HK Island). Real estate here is at a super premium. Down the street is a Four Seasons, right next to a fancy Marriot, attached to more fancy hotels and bars. You would almost think you were in an upper class neighborhood, except for the Mansions. Not only are these buildings an eyesore, but they really do their best to offend all your senses. They're ugly, soon to get a facelift though, but as they say, 'you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig'. It smells, mostly like curry from the numerous Indian restaurants located in it's bowels- some find the smell of curry offensive, but I rather like it (we'll see if I'm still saying this a couple months from now when I'm in India). It is damn noisy- from cell phone vendors during the day, prostitutes at night and room hawkers in between. It tastes pretty strange- I licked the building....not tasty. And it can be uncomfortable to say the best- my room was about seven feet by four feet, more like a cell than a room actually. So why in the world would I stay in such a place? It's a real mix of the not so hidden underbelly of HK. From the illegal black market electronic sales, to trafficking in drugs. I would never expect to see so many Indians and Africans concentrated in such a small area...and I got a taste of that. I didn't see anything too strange, but I did get a thoroughly weird vibe from the place. This was augmented by a visit to the local park one late afternoon. What I saw there was a colorful dance party (at five in the afternoon). Normally I shrug, but in this case, it seemed like the participants were prostitutes of multiple nationalities being admired by pimps and would be customers. Wait, I was watching.... Let's just say I got out of there fairly quickly and I was more than happy to stay with a friend of mine on the good side of the river.

Stuck in the Middle

HK isn't China, but it's no longer part of the UK either. It has a strange colonial vibe, yet there's no colonist. We went out one night in a district filled with white people. In Chicago this is normal. In China, not so much. I take it back, there were Asian ladies about, in fact they were out at night, which would make them Asian Night Ladies, which is exactly what they were. Aside from the prostitutes and the service employees you could have mistaken the place for being a part of the West. This was even more apparent when I went to the track. The arcades and stands were filled with Westerners having a couple of brews, laughing at the idea of betting on races and in general having a great time. Inside, actually gambling, you would see the Cantonese. Silly gamblers. Actually, I put down a bet. I picked the long shot in the second to last race, I heard he was due. He wasn't, I was out $20 hk dollars. To think, that's three ice-creams, oh how foolish I was.

The whole colonial dynamic is interesting. More interesting is the way that HK is or isn't assimilating into China. This is of particular concern to Hong Kongers, who unlike their track-watching Western tourists, have a life to lead. It should be great considering that HK is a really cool city, but they have a real struggle on their hands. With China doing it's best to promote Shanghai in the hopes that it overtakes HK as a financial center, will HK lose it's edge? How can Hong Kongers compete on cost with mainland China located just over the Delta? We're all experiencing this outsourcing problem, but it's not at our doorstep. Imagine if Northern Mexico spoke English, had skills good enough to send high paying jobs there and would be willing to work for one fourth of our cost. We would not be happy. Well this is just the dilemma for a Hong Konger. A Shenzen person can do the same work (not as well) for a fourth of the cost. Anything that's really sophisticated runs the risk of being relocated to Shanghai. I don't expect that banks will be relocating out of the area any time soon, but all the back office work that was here, certainly won't be as English improves in the mainland.

Island Hopping

Politics and history aside, the place is just beautiful. How many world-class cities have tropical parks located off subway lines? Or islands begging to be hopped? It's vibrate, active, steamy, there's great shopping (not that I care), awesome food (probably my favorite in China so far), you can get by with English (I felt a bit guilty) and people with funny hats (ok I made that up). The first island that I visited was Lamma island, known for it's stock of Western tourists that never left (think hippies). With a chilly port and some nice beaches, this little island has everything you need to sit back and forget life for the next forty years. In the event you're an I-banker, no worries you can take the local ferry to HK Island to do your deeds. I chose to spend my day hiking along one of the island trails with a destination of a beach. It's not that I wanted to go to the beach, I simply had to. The thing is, I hadn't used my bathing suit yet, and it's a travesty to be traveling for three months out of a little bag and have an article of clothing that hasn't been used. No problem, had a little beach to myself for an hour (check!), then on to more interesting things. Like walking back to the port, not along the trail but along the cliffs. I figured, I bought the tevas for a reason and my mom wasn't around to tell me not to climb the rock walls, so I did it. It was great, but I think all the rock hopping tweaked my ankle a bit.

On my second island tour, I went to Cheung Chao, Long Island. Unfortunately, by this time my ankle started to hurt and blisters were forming. Luckily, like most islands, Cheung Chao had beaches, so that's where I spent my afternoon reading and relaxing. That was until a gaggle of kids (I would guess from some international school) broke my peace. In no time a group of boys were constructing castles in the sand. Actually in this case, they were building a graveyard. After I inquired why, they said it was so they could kill and bury Nazi's. I didn't have a huge issue with that, but it was odd seeing an eight year old drawing swastikas in the sand, even if there were for the purpose of tricking the Nazi's to their death. I found this all a bit morbid, so I asked if they knew about Godzilla. They didn't, so I happily shared with them the essentials of the city smashing lizard. In no time the graveyard was forgotten and instead the focus was on constructing and smashing little cities (much more appropriate for little boys, IMHO). My ankle began to ache so I figured it was time to go back. During this trip, whenever I'm down, or have a bit of adversity, or otherwise bored, I try to treat myself, in many cases with ice-cream. And that's exactly what I did on this occasion, enjoying a double chocolate bar on the boat ride home. Mmmm chocolate.

Back in China

It would be very easy to allow HK to suck you in. It has both the intensity and grandeur of a true international city with the proximity of islands and tropical forests. But I was not to be enchanted. Plus I don't own a hunting riffle, pipe or safari hat, gear requisite for a true colonial experience. There are more adventures to be had, and I still hadn't seen the south. I am planning to use my next thirty day visa to explore this area a bit (I say a bit since Southern China is roughly the same size as Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Burma, places I expect to visit over a series months), and then leave China (for the time being at least). Naturally this was to begin with a series of buses and trains that ended up getting me to my next destination at four thirty in the morning. Boo hoo. Then again, I found myself in backpacker paradise, the Southern China city of Yangshou. More about that next time (depending on computer accessibility). But now it's time for bed. So I'll say goodnight from the autonomous Dong minority region in NW Guagxi province, which coincidentally is also colloquially known as ADMRN WGP.

Shanghai - written Dec. 6

Shanghai

The plan was to take a sleeper to Shanghai, but I found a cheaper ticket to Hangzhou and it was a flight. Same price, ten hours faster, yes please! A quick hour plus flight was not without entertainment. Several of the passengers looked totally confused on the plane. Many of them needing personal assistance to find their seats. An old man in front of me struggled for ten minutes trying to figure out how to use is headphones before a flight attendant spent an additional five minutes instructing him. I'm not trying to laugh at my fellow passengers as taking occasion for many. Certainly familiarity with air travel is something I take for granted. A flight must have been a special

Going south, I was hopeful that I would avoid the snow and be in a more comfortable climate. This was only partially the case. The temperature was barely enough that there was no snow. Instead I had the pleasure of freezing rain for a couple of days. Out of self pity, I checked the temp in Chicago, where I thought for sure it would be colder, but I was wrong.

As I've mentioned on several occasions, my super time in Beijing was a direct result of the great people I was spending time with. As I went south, I was worried that I would be completely on my own again. It took me all of two minutes in the Hangzhou hostel before I met Ofer. We were quickly drawn to each other and spent the next week together. I tend to have warm feeling to the Israelis that I've met. Fortunately China is not plagued with the hordes of Sabras known to haunt India and other cheap parts of the backpacker world. Plus Ofer was extremely patient with my Hebrew and our Chinese was on a similar level. We had a great time laughing at newly created sayings in Chinglish, Hebrish, and Ivru. It was nice to work a bit on my very rusty and limited Hebrew skills. Now that I've checked the Great Wall off the list, I'm thinking it can be replaced with studying yoga at an Indian Ashram either filled with Israelis or conducted in Hebrew. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Hangzhou is famous for West Lake, which is surrounded by gardens and hills. This city, with over six million people was a former retreat for royalty and aristocracy. The west, leisure and scenery sprouted an artistic tradition that still thrives today. Despite the superlatives, it is very pretty. Unfortunately this fact is hard to appreciate when huddled under an umbrella and shivering from the cold. The area is also known for it's teas, which is properly sampled and enjoyed in a traditional teahouse.

I'm not sure if this concept exists in the states, but if it doesn't someone needs to import it. Imagine an elegant restaurant or country club where you can spend the morning or afternoon/evening sitting back enjoying tea while munching on a never ending supply of food. Sounds heavenly right? Initially, Ofer and I were resistant on whether to stay. The listed price was about ten dollars and it appeared that it would double if we stayed for longer than an hour, which seemed pricey to us. How foolish we were. After some confusion, we determined the price was actually $10 and the food, atmosphere and company was so pleasant, we stayed there almost four hours. The teahouse's buffet was filled with at least twenty dishes, mostly delicious, and others (like chicken feet) not. In no time we had a table filled with small plates of everything. Our favorites were the fresh fruit. We happily spent the evening munching kumquats Asian pears, lychee while sipping our various teas out of cups that would not have looked out of place in a dollhouse. I think if they had a hot tub and massages, we would still be there. Alas they didn't, so we went to Shanghai the next day.

What's an Expo?

Did you know that the next world expo is taking place in about six month in Shanghai? Neither did I until I came here. The city/country is making such a big deal of the event, it's impossible not to be excited. They claim it will be attended by seventy million people. I still don't really understand what the Expo is. I have no idea which cities have hosted in previous year.s If you told me that the last expo occurred whichever year Edison unveiled the lightbulb, I would have had no reason not to believe you. As a result, much of the City is experiencing a face lift. Too bad for anyone planning to visit in the next six months, great for visitors after.

The city has a major chip on it's shoulder. It's competing with Beijing for political importance, fighting Hong Kong to be the financial hub of the East, and want to challenge the likes of New York and others for the title of World's Greatest City. All the outward focus seems to have created a soulless, commercial hub, albeit a populous one with some nice infrastructure. I'm not exactly sure what I mean when I say the city has no soul, but it doesn' t have the synergy of some of the other places I visited. It maybe a result of the population running after money, but I think you can say the same thing about Hong Kong and that city's just great. Whatever the reason is, foreigners really enjoy it and you can see the Western influence here like no other city in China (HK doesn't count). I get the appeal. Shanghia is definitely Chinese, there's the people, the food, etc, but it's not in your face China. It's clean, there are Western places, great shopping. I can picture a Western tourist coming here and no where else and regaling their friends back home about how different the East is. All the while never having to learn a lick of the language or straying too far from their four style hotel and lifestyle.

For it's size Shanghia doesn't have the types of sights one might expect. It is home to one of the coolest museums that I've been to- the urban planning museum, and some pretty interesting Jewish history. That being said, I had a great time in Shanghai, again it was because of meeting Ofer and I. We had a 'meeting' at least once a day for almost a week. We crashed a surprise birthday party, had our first KTY/Kareoke experience, and practiced our minimal Arabic with a shockingly fluent Chinese gal. It was all great. Who knew we were so popular? We were also entertained by the strange people we kept meeting in the hostels. Hostels have some bizarre people, and for sure these are some of the most interesting sights to see when traveling. We shared a room with a Frenchman who would spend his days drinking baijo (think rice vodka) and playing arcade games and in the evening at clubs cavorting with Chinese ladies. A recent college grad who was trying to establish himself as a club promoter from the hostel. A Chinese guy named Lyon who spoke excellent English but with a bizarre British-Australian accent (for the record his teachers were either Chinese or American) who was writing a book about his personal wacky philosophy/spiritualism, which I believe centered around him being a prophet. Ofer and I had numerous discussion trying to psycho-analyze the local patients.

OREO SHAKE PLEASE

Oreo Shake Please

Yangshuo was the first true backpacker town that I stayed at. I rolled in around four thirty in the morning and was whisked away to an IHA hostel, that was really more like a hotel. The price seemed reasonable and I had no qualms stealing a few hours of sleep before I started my day. When the sun came up I learned that contrary to my hawkers proclamation, I was not in the center of town and in an effort to save money on electricity the heater in my room was turned off. When I complained to the owner, he said I should find a girl to keep me warm. Black girls are the best, and he could help me meet a Chinese girl. I was tempted, but I thought he would likely set me up with a prostitute. I passed and moved locations the next day. The next place was staffed by underground Christians, they were nice.

Aside from the cheap rooms, ample eating options, and many loud bars, Yangshuo has a lot to offer. Let me rephrase. Even in if you don't want to indulge in the backpacker lifestyle, it's still worth visiting. Mainly because the scenery is amazing. Giant Karst mounds pop right out of the valley and the city is located by two very picturesque rivers. The area is so pretty, it's been enshrined on the back of the 20 kuai bill. I did my best to sample the scenery.

I spent a day floating down the river, another biking by the mountains and a third wandering through neighboring villages. Each had their own special highlights/memories. On the river cruise I won't forget stopping at a little island where villagers had pairs of very sick looking birds. I'm still not sure why someone would pay to have their picture taken with them. While biking, I had to cross the river several times via bamboo rafts. On one occasion, I slipped and stepped right into the river, whoops. Later that day while trying to stop before a rock, I fell over in what must have been the slowest crash in mountain bike history. Laughter was had on both occasions. After wandering for a couple hours, I decided to stop for a nap by a river. I was accidentally awoken by three local twenty somethings. Apparently, I had stumbled upon their spot. Naturally, I was obligated to share a small feast with them including more than a few beers.

Being in a backpacker town, I got access to some backpacker amenities, like fun courses or ways to test your adventureness. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go rock climbing-too wet, but I did take a coking course. Five dishes and half a day later, here's what I've learned. Use lots of oil, put oyster sauce in everything and water is your friend. The food was yummy. In fact, the local dish we made was better than when I ordered it several days prior.

A Walk in the Clouds

Staying in backpacker central was fun, but after several days in the touristy part of town, I was ready to get back on the road. How many interesting discussions can you have with travelers who are completely lost and staying here because it's cheap? The solution was to go north and west traveling through minority areas in the less visited spots of NW Guangxi and Guizhou.

A quick word about minorities in China. Ethnically, China is pretty homogeneous, boasting a Han population of around 90%. Of the remaining ten, I think the Uigher, Hui and Tibetans make up the balance and those folk are mostly out west. Here in the South, there are some twenty to thirty minorities. I've visited towns of the Dong and Yao, two of the larger groups consisting of three to four million people. In recent years, China has showcased their minorities to a greater extent. There's currently a touristification of many of these groups. Chinese will pay good money to see bizarre cultural shows ( think traditional dances with a disco bent) and many minority towns are living museums where after paying an admission fee you get to look at the locals. Which is pretty much what I've been doing, although hopefully less obtrusively. Plus the scenery is gorgeous and it allows me the opportunity to get my fill of ass massaging bus rides.

The first stop was Pingan and the Dragon Backbone Rice Terraces. I'm not sure how much you know about rice, but apparently, this is not the time of year to see 'jaw-dropping' (LP's words, not mine) views. What exactly does 'jaw dropping' mean anyway? Talk about hyperbole. Could you imagine going somewhere so intense it actually caused you seizures? I wouldn't want that. I saw Raider of the Lost Ark. I know my limits. I'll stick with amazing, beautiful, lovely, pleasant, austere, moving, special, etc. Anyplace 'jaw-dropping' I want nothing to do with. Where was I?

I like terraces, I think they're fun to look at. Small villages can be cool too, especially when they're filled with women who never cut their hair. Apparently the Yao believe beauty has much to do with the length of a woman's hair. So from teenage years onwards they don't cut it. Incidentally the men have no such prohibitions and just look like poor villages. Surely there are some special hair washing festivals when the women let their hair down (normally it's wrapped and covered), but as a balding man, I can't say this does much to pique my interest.

Right off the bus I was harassed (followed) by a woman offering me room accommodations. After strolling and bargaining, we finally reached a price for a room plus dinner. I thought I made a good deal. Little did I know that her place was at the top of the village, normally a positive, but with daytime visibility at 100 feet, not so important. I probably needed the exercise walking up... Her room was freezing and she stiffed me on dinner. By the time this fact became apparent it was pitch black outside and with visibility down to ten feet, I was convinced I would never find my room again. I buckled down and supped on Chinese Twinkies and sunflower seed.

Sleep came easily and after a hearty breakfast, I embarked on a half day hike that more than compensated for the poor hospitality. In the five hour hike between two villages, I was walking above and through rice terraces. Unfortunately, visibility was pretty poor and the terraces were just dry remains of the previous harvest. Not exactly the glistening rice fields in the pictures. I'm not complaining, i do still have my jaw.

Dong Da Dong Dong

From there it was onwards to several Dong villages, first Chenyang and then Zhaoxing. Getting around the villages was pretty tough because of the very poor condition of the roads. The one bright side is that many were in the process of (re)construction. So at some point getting around out here will be easier. For now, it can be a back-breaking, butt-bouncing affair. I do not have fond memories of the road between Conjiang and Kaili. Supposedly separated by 120 km, the ride took almost eight hours. Visibility in these parts has been pretty poor. So while there are many pretty mountains and terraces, most cannot be viewed. Boo. On country roads, there are usually country travelers. This is fine except some get motion sickness and end up spending the majority of the bus ride, pucking. Lovely.

The Lonely Planet mentions that several of these places are overrun with tourists and lost their rustic charm. I didn't find this to be the case at all and I haven't seen a white face for over a week. I'm sure it's partially because of the time of the year. I don't mind travelers that much. Without them(us) it's harder to find places to stay, where to eat, find companionship, etc. In China, this is not to be belittled, especially since hotels here need a special permit to house foreigners. In less visited areas it's often very tough to find budget accommodations. The other day I wandered around needlessly for two hours before I found a suitable (not crazy expensive) place. I've spent the past week with a Korean fellow, and I've been very happy to have the company, plus he can read a little Chinese.

Dong villages have two primary characteristics. They're dirty, filled with muck and mud and they are under constant construction. They also tend to have lots of drum towers and naturally are filled with Dong people. The amazing thing about Dong construction is that they don't use any nails or bolts. All the pieces fit together like giant log legos. Part of me is amazed by the quality as they build three and four story buildings this way. The other part of me, wants to encourage them to get into the twenty first century. Their architects and woodsman must be real craftsmen. But spending hours planning wood, or figuring out exactly how many divots to fit into a particular log seems like a very inefficient use of time. I can only imagine what would happen if a woodworker found himself in a Home Depot. He would faint for sure, with sudden death being a remote possibility.

The past couple of days have been spent walking and biking in these random villages. Basically, we wander around hiking in the surrounding mountainsides, bike where we can ogle at villagers and sit down inside the drum towers. Drum towers seem to be where the older men of the village congregate so it's generally fun to hang out with the old timers for a bit. Usually they just sit around a fire, burning anything to keep warm. When I say anything I mean it. Wood, trash, clothing, animals (ok I didn't see that), even random mechanical equipment. The guys are quite a sight. The Dong people are small and the old men are always smoking. Often then don't bother to deal with matches or lighters and simply stick their pipes or most often their whole hands in the fire. I've seen enough charred hands and fingers for the time being. In one little mountain village we were pleasantly sitting, minding our own business, when a popping noise starts coming from the fire. Next thing we know a large metal projectile flies out of the fire. It was at that point that we decided to leave. It was great strolling around the country side. The weather didn't exactly cooperate since it's been cloudy, misty and rainy most of the past week. I saw the largest waterfall in Asia. I'm not sure I believe it's the biggest fall since while it's nice, it wasn't overpoweringly large. Yesterday we tried to visit one of the largest caves in China. Five hours into our three hour bus ride we realized we didn't have time to actually go to the cave. Instead we stopped at a Chinese version of a KFC, Home Cooked Chicken and turned right around. The food was surprisingly good. I'm not that upset about missing the cave, I would have been pissed if I missed my train that night, which I didn't.

I'm currently in Kunming, the capital of Yunan and home to many exciting outdoor adventures. Hopefully winter won't blow me away and I'll spend the next couple weeks enjoying the interesting scenery. Plus I'll be joined by my good friend Charles who is visiting from the states for a couple of weeks. Should be great!

Way Behind

I'm way behind in updating this and for that I apologize. I'm not trying to make excuses, but I have a couple good reasons for the delay, (1) I haven't had/sought consistent computer access, (2) I'm having too much fun to take the time and (3) for the better part of the past month, I've been traveling or staying with people and they're much more interesting for me to interact with than a silly computer.

Here's a quick update of where I've been. I spend a week plus in Beijing, flew down to Hangzhou, spent a week in Shanghai and now I'm in Hong Kong. And it's finally warm, woohoo! I even went to the beach today. There's no way I'm going to do justice to my experiences of the past couple weeks, but I'll try to give some highlights/impressions.

Beijing
Did I mention how much I enjoyed this city? I think I did, in any case, let me say it again. This place is teeming with life, past present, future, it's all here. Xian is the ancient capital and it's got some great history, but I think the sites are way more compelling in Beijing. In a similar way that the elegance and beauty of the temples in Kyoto draw you in, the magnitude and grandeur of the Forbidden City and the Great Wall blow you away. Beijing was pretty close (it's not the north capital for no reason) hovering around freezing the whole time and snowing on multiple occasions. The one positive being that there were less travelers and I didn't get hastled too much, oh and I got to throw snowballs at random Beijingers from time to time. I was fortunate to walk the 10k on the Greet Wall on a crisp, clear, yet cold day. I must have been one amount fifteen tourists that morning. We all got a good workout and I was fortunate not having been more sore from the previously mentioned exercise routines.

I also really enjoyed the 798 art district, admittedly as much for the real estate as for the art. Several years ago the government decided to transform a district of old warehouse building into galleries and a walking area. I'm not sure if this area is economically viable, meaning is enough art being sold to allow the galleries to afford the rent that must be required to justify the cost of rehabilitating the area? And in general is the art at a reasonably high quality or are the galleries fishing for tourist dollars (i went back and forth on this one)? From a public works/space perspective, I just love the idea. I know my Chicago peeps are still smarting from last months' Olympic rejection. But imagine if the City invested the cost of just one of the temporary stadiums (let's say $400 mil) into an area like this. What would you rather have, a stadium for three weeks or a lasting area for creativity and tourism? Seems like an obvious choice to me.

The one disappointing attraction I experience was going to Chaoyang Theatre to see some acrobats. I'm clearly spoiled, since I was left unastounded by the show. Let's just say that I was impressed but hoping for jaw-dropping stuff, which I didn't see. Plus there was no narrative and little artistry. Just gals and dudes in ugly leotards.

The food on the other had was very good. The night we went out for duck was probably the best meal of my trip. Since it was only $20, I'm' craving it again just thinking about it. Wait, Cantonese food is delicious....mmmm Chinese food. The duck was awesome, the best part being the crisply skin, which would melt in your moth after the application of some sugar. The show stopper though were sauteed bamboo shoots, with a great soy marinade and a satisfying crispiness.

Aside from the pollution, the City was totally great...sites, food and best of all the people.