Hwa Shan...

We visited one of the 5 sacred peaks in China in Hwa Shan. When we arrived at the peaks there are two ways to get to the top, the gondola or a 3 hour walk up to where the gondola drops you off. We chose the gondola and then went up many steep steps to two different peaks. On several of the peaks there are Buddhist temples (I kept thinking while I was hiking why anyone would want to carry the supplies up these mountains to build the temples is beyond me) However they did and was great to spend a day hiking around these beautiful tree covered peaks with steps carved into the rock our built. We just never get that in Colorado. Maybe we need more Buddhists willing to do that kind of work. We did have to hike this with thousands of people though. One interesting thing is there are many locks with red ribbons along the trail. This is a symbol for couples to "lock" their love. It is also done on the great wall.

Xian...

While in Xian we visited the tourist must see, the Terra Cotta Warriors. There are over 8,000 warriors each with their own facial expression. The warriors were created to guard the tomb of an emperor. Currently there are three pits to visit. Archaeologists have restored many of the warriors in Pit 1, the largest and they stand as an army. This is by far the most awe inspiring site, both because of the immensity of the place, the work it must have taken just to build it in general and the fact they army has had to have been restored. Shortly after the army was buried a warring faction set fire to the tomb. Many of the warriors survived, but the wood beams above them did not. As they burned they fell sending many of the terra cotta warriors to pieces. Pit 2 and 3 are the next ones you visit and shows how the pits were laid out, but with less of the warriors exposed and put back together. None the less the size of the place is incredible and it is amazing that the warriors were built in the first place. Unfortunately, the workers building the statues were also killed upon completion so as to not let out the secret.

Xian is a very historic city in China. It is one of the few cities that still has the original wall standing. We rented bikes and were able to ride our bikes around the entire wall. I can't think of any place in the world I would be able to do that. The nice thing is it gave a great view of the city and we didn't have to contend with the traffic of regular Chinese roads.

The Yang Tze...

Currently the mighty Yang Tze, China's largest river, is home to the construction project that will ultimately be the largest dam in the world. The project itself is an engineering marvel as well as the social costs. Over a million people up river from the dam have had to be relocated to higher ground. Homes have been dismantled, historic buildings have been moved to higher ground, and fields have been lost in the name of progress and energy demand. The dam is mostly completed and by the end of next year the river will rise to a depth of 175 meters. It currently is at about 140. We took a boat cruise down the river. Interesting as the tour guide sold it as the foreigners cruise, but there were about 6 foreigners on the cruise. The rest were Chinese. I had ample opportunity to practice my Chinese and many were patient with helping me learn and understand. We definitely had and opportunity to learn more about Chinese culture as well. While on the cruise we chose to partake in three side trips, two of which included Chinese performances of music and dancing. These were interesting, but the music was way to loud. It is interesting to see the costumes of various time periods of Chinese history. The other side trip and most stunning was a cruise through the Lesser of Three Gorges. It was beautiful with touring cliffs on both sides of the small boat were were in. I can only imagine how much larger the cliffs must have felt before some of the water has risen.

Guilin...

So, to update you on our travels:

So far it has rained every day on our trip, but two days. It is raining today again. We have been to Hong Kong and Macau, which you have already seen on the blog. I have been doing a lot of barginning for Laura in Chinese and obviously been getting to practice.



We flew from Hong Kong to Guilin. Guilin is a town of about 1 million people. A small town for China. The Li River is carves its way around the city and karst formations. The large rounded rock formations that seem to grow out from the ground. They really are stunning. The weather is warm and humid and there has been a lot of rain. Many things are flooded. The river is very high as well. We took a boat down the river and enjoyed a Chinese tour. The food wasn't bad. We then headed into the town of Yangshoa for a night. A much smaller town than Guilin, but still busy and flashy like most Chinese cities. It is a major tourist haven and a lot of foreigners are found around there. It is also surrounded by the karst peaks. We were able to spend an afternoon renting and riding bikes around the countryside, which was by far my favorite thing to do so far. The villages are so different than what we are used to seeing. The pace of life a lot slower and calmer than the cities. Although life is changing. Most villages have electricity and those power lines were always getting in the way of my photos. What was fun was watching chickens and ducks freely roam the streets. People tending to water buffalo or other cattle would lead them down the road to an open grassy patch to feed. It wasn't uncommon to see the animals grazing near the road side. They were often only tied up near busy roads.




We road back into town with sore bums (not very comfortable bike seats), planning to ride the next day. This was not going to happen as the rain started pouring down that evening and didn't seem to stop. We took to the bus to back to Guilin. We tried to book a tour to the Dragon's Back Terraces (Long Ji). But found this difficult with the rain our hostel said it was too dangerous. We ended up taking the bus from the bus station, transfering busses to the terraces and spending the day hiking around. This part of the trip was rather beautiful and it did rain off and on. We met a fluent Chinese speaker from Vancover on the bus and he was able to negotiate a faster way back to Guilin. We decided to go have the local specialty of beer fish (pi jiou u). This was fantastic, fish cooked in beer and spices and when you are done with the fish they give you noodles and vegtables to mop up the sauce, for desert we had my favourite, pearl milk tea.



The next day we headed for Chong Quing. A city the Chinese government is investing a lot of money for development. It is working and many people are moving here for work. The city itself isn't great, but we did try the local specialty here as well and that was hot pot (how gwo). We were completely clueless how to eat it, but it worked out great. We had a Chinese person write down what we wanted, took it to the restaurant, and they showed us how to cook it. This was different than Taiwan. They had two pots, one on the outside and one on the inside. The inside was spicy with a lot of chilis and the outside had vegatables. The waiter then put the meat and vegatables we ordered into both pots. While they were cooking we prepared a bowl of seaseme oil, garlic and spices. We were told to take the things cooking in the spicy part out and place them in the oil mixture and then eat it. This was fantastic. We finished eating the things in the spicy side and then ate the vegatables and meat. This was fantastic as well. I do have to say I love many things about Chinese food.




On the whole, China is a fascinating place. The people have been great. Aside from all the hawkers in tourist places constantly asking if you want to buy things and we constantly hear hello from almost everyone. This was no different than Taiwan. It must be because we obviously stand out. So far we are enjoying the trip!

So today we head off for the boat and of course it is raining. I wonder how long it will do this for.

Macau

Macau has been very quickly and is the Las Vegas of Aisa. Lots of casinos and some very large ones at that. All within the last 15 years. The Venetian of Las Vegas has and continues to build an extremely large building here that replicates Venice. It is said to be one of the largest buildings in the world. Definitely a lot of excess. We did visit the first casino here, Casino Lisboa and tried our hands at the slots unsuccessfully, simply for the sake of saying we did gamble in Macau.

However there is so much more to the city of Macau. Historically it was once controlled by the Portuguese. In 1999 they handed it back to China. Signs are in Portuguese and English and it is somewhat easy to get around in English. The streets have a distinctly European and Chinese feel. I most enjoyed the smaller fishing village we visited and had Macanese food by the ocean. The areas is steeped in history and unfortunately we did not get to visit the history museum to learn more. I guess I will have to add another book to the list to read about the history now that I have visited. Macau is also a nice change from the busy streets of Hong Kong.

Dragon Boat Races

Last time I went to Dragon Boat Races I was in Taiwan. I had some chance to watch them, but was also a participant. It was fun to attend the races again and be a spectator. I did forgot how hot it got though. Hearing the drum beat as the the participants on the boat tried to paddle in unison was a lot of fun. The festival is commemorates the ancient Chinese poet Qu Yuan. It traditionally falls on the fifth day of the fifth month on the Chinese calendar, which was June 8th this year and we were lucky enough to be here. The Chinese traditionally prepare and "zongzi", (the z's are pronounced like ts as in "cats") a pyramid- shaped dumpling made of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves, and racing dragon boats. I have had them in past and recommend trying them, but wouldn't eat them regularly. The wikipedia article in the link attached does an excellent job of explaining the history the boat and the race: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonboat What I found really fascinating is the history in Chinese culture and the stories. It is said, the poet, Qu Yuan, The poet is said to have committed suicide by wading into the river with a rock. The people, devastated tried to save him in their boats. They beat drums and paddles to scare away fish and evil spirits (sounds like the dragon boats). They dropped in rice and dumplings to prevent the fish from eating the body (possibly one the reasons the traditional food, zong zi.

Views of the City

Hong Kong is a rather densely populated city for some more information on exactly how populated type in this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_Island to the browser. The architecture is fantastic and especially across when you can view the buildings across the harbor. A light show is also performed at night to music as the buildings have different light patterns and colors. I am not sure if the electricity used is good for global warming, but definitely interesting to watch.

In Hong Kong

We left Colorado in rain, arrived in Vancover in rain and arrived in Hong Kong in rain. It hasn't stopped and doesn't look like it will tomorrow either. I don't just mean light rain. This is a nice constant down pour. We have rain jackets, but the wetness still seems to penetrate. But I must remember we are in a tropical area in the summer and it is bound to rain! One just does not want is on their vacation. Pictures will be added when I can get my camera out.

Back in Colorado...

Happy New Year! Kim and I are finally back home in Denver, Colorado and starting to adjust to life back home. What a great year we have had traveling in Australia and a wonderful experience. Kim starts back at school tomorrow and I am looking for work as we speak. Well the near year brings exciting possibilities and Kim and I look forward to what's ahead for us. For now though it is off to the mountains to snowboard as a huge snowstorm has left plenty of fresh powder to enjoy...