Yesterday I got my nails done for a buck fifty in Shanghai, and I chose a fancy glittery color to match the town’s vibrancy. I thought it was my first time in a big city, the way I admired Shanghai’s shapely skyline. We were on the west side of the Huangpu River which divides the sprawling metropolis and we were staring at a curved string of modern architectural development. The focal point was undoubtedly the Oriental Pearl Tower, a modern product of ancient influence that convinced me I was still across the world in a city with BC history. On our side of the river was a strip of European-style buildings that if not for peripheral vision, you’d think you were along France’s Seine river. Then, of course, sprinkled on both sides of the river were ultra-modern buildings that reminded me I was in one of the world’s most advanced and technological metropolitans. The blend of cross-features made the city exude such uniqueness. Where as some cities seem so replicated that I could easily confuse one with the other, Shanghai’s unmistakeable and eclectic horizon is what I admired most. Today, our second day in Shanghai, was equally as eclectic, energy-full
Oh The Places You’ll Go! (Travel)
Almost a world wonder…
China’s Terracotta Warriors, like a ton of other things (including myself), claim to be the world’s 8th wonder. Now after visiting the warriors in Xi’an, a middle province of China, I give them the OK to bump me in line for the honor. The simple storyline behind them is fascinating, and so satisfying that I found myself having unusually little inquisition for below the surface, pun intended, details. So it goes during a very recent 1974, a few peasant farmers, with no further agenda than to drill a simple well, punctured one of the world’s ever most famous archeological discoveries. They hit an underground collection of life-size warrior statues, existing in great numbers above 7,000 and remaining far absent from anyone’s knowledge for an unbelievable 2,000 years. The soldiers’ creation was instructed by China’s self-declared first emperor, who began his reign at the short age of 13. In his accomplishments, Qin Shi Huang centralized long divided regions and states of China under one unified and standardized government, and his establishments served as a model for subsequent dynasties. He instituted substantial public projects, though he enslaved hundreds of thousands of his people in a cruel and tyrannical way to complete them.
Back to the climbing..
I thought our uphill days were over in Nepal, but so our thighs continued the beating starting earlier this morning. Our bus from Xi’an left at 7 am and parked below Hua Shan mountain at 9. From there you can take a gondola to the mountain’s center or just walk up yourself. We chose to walk because heck we’d just hiked 10 days straight, we were hiking kings and queens. Plus it saved us 10 bucks, so that hands down made a backpacker’s day. Three things about today, aside from the panoramic pleasure, were notably incredible. First, the ascent was steep, if never-ending, and called for thrifty footwork. There were steps under feet to make the way more accessible, but there were still some incline angles that looked only a touch under 90 degrees. Second, the “gaggles of geriatrics” (an alliteration by Greg) were surprising in their strong count on these imposingly vertical stairways. We young bucks, Greg and I, were trucking alongside wooden-caned grand folk who were forging the shared road with some crazy grace. Surely there is some secret recipe in Chinese tea that red bull or even cocaine would kill for. I’ll preface the third incredible thing
So handsome and so strange
In Chongqing, we have no idea where we are ever going. We ask directions a thousand times along the way to somewhere and then each person gives us an entirely new route to get there. We’ve accepted we might never get to any of the to-do sights here and have just kept walking all over nowhere. Today on this estranged path, we ran into a street market pet shop. There were dogs and turtles and cats for sale. Birds and pigeons too, and the pigeons we later found out are used for gambling. There is a whole betting world around these marked pigeons who “race” to a human-determined finish line. Lord knows how a bird can find its way around this town and we can’t even get to the first street corner. All the other animals were so adorable at the street market pet store, just as cute as the ones back West, go figure. We saw a few of them being inspected for purchase and then one kitten actually being bought. The new owner walked away with the tiny white kitty in a pink plastic bag, like what the gas station would put your cheap wine and gum in.
Pictures from China
Pictures from the mud cave, eating pig brain, Everest from the plane, the bicycle built for two, the Li River boat and our drunk Chinese train-mates! Share: Share on Facebook Tweet This E-mail
Snake is next.
I keep needing to write about this and that and before yesterday and two days before that and all these other things. Doing it in sequential order would make most sense but tonight’s dinner jumps to the front of the line, though I didn’t eat even a chopstick-full of it. Greg, on the other side of the short round table, was sweating from every gland as he crushed five plates of the dinner. We are in steaming Chongqing, a city with over 37 million people in its municipality. It’s steaming because it’s not uncommon for temperatures to be in the 100′s, and even locals bead up with sweat and complaint. There is a traditional Chinese meal, prepared most famously in this city called “hotpot”. It’s a spicy, spicy, spicy broth that sizzles on top of a burner on each table. It seems fondue-esque but I assure you it’s not fancy one bit, in fact, two handfuls of men across the restaurant were half-naked for the entire meal. They sit shirtless because of how grossly sweaty the spice and heat makes them. Exposed sweat helps them cool off (like a lot of things in China, it makes perfect sense, though it
Fancy Nancy
From Hong Kong to mainland China, you must go through customs in an otherwise pointless-for-travelers city called Shenzhen. We had a 6-hour layover from when our train arrived there until our overnight bus to Yangzhou left at 7pm. I was enthused to find something in town to occupy time, but Greg felt it was a lost cause and decided to sit in the waiting rooms. Feeling safe in the small area around the station, I decided to take off on my own search. Twenty minutes into my hunt, I settled on the fact that there really truly was absolutely nothing to do in this business-center-type town. I could shop through fake labels, of course anywhere if I wanted, but I was already over that an hour into China. Out of the deep darkness of my despair, however, a woman on the corner of one of the hopeless streets proposed a massage, and she was very enticing. Okay, creeps, it was broad daylight and she dressed like a first grade teacher, the spa owner was not the happy ending kind. Plus, she had all sorts of business women being pampered by pedicures in her simple, yet prim spa. They were all
Hong Kong ding dong!
For all of today’s gawking, I deserve to be stepped on, shit on and slapped by every New York City tourist that I’ve ever cursed at for getting in my hardly urgent way. This city, Hong Kong, is bursting with modernism, efficiency and tidiness. It is so technologically-excelled and energetic with bright lights, flirty advertisements and of course rolling human traffic- all of which opens the jaw and widens the eyes, no pun intended. We flew here from Nepal and stepped off the plane to a large and pristine airport. Coming from a country untouched by time, I felt so crazed and stunned by the immediate opposition. Nepal lives in B.C. time, and I’d liken the airport here to a 15-years-in-the-future America with how digitally lit all the directions and designs were. The bus that shuttled us into the city had free wifi and continued the same spotless and flashy style from the terminals. We grabbed dinner last night at a traditional Chinese restaurant. Greg got noodle soup topped with pork belly. I got noodle soup topped with nothing- or so I thought I conveyed in my order to the waiter. Pointing to my self, waving my hands sideways then
More pictures!
So slow to upload, but here are some!! more to come Share: Share on Facebook Tweet This E-mail
