beautiful Hangzhou

i spent 45 minutes earlier this afternoon writing a post, and then somehow lost it. i think i wrote some interesting stuff about Hangzhou, its beauty and its sights - links and all. but alas, all gone!

i'm staying at the lovely West Lake Youth Hostel right on West Lake, the major attraction in this gorgeous city. it's across the boulevard from Leifeng Pagoda, which has a long history - both real and mythological. a famous legend/opera about White Snake Lady takes place in Hangzhou/West Lake/Leifeng Pagoda. Elaine and i saw a scene from this legend at Beijing Opera a couple weeks ago.

this morning, i rented a bicycle from the hostel to explore the scenic area - lake, pagodas, tree-lined boulevards, arched bridges, ponds, temples... (yes, a very romantic city). i had intended to go out for the entire day (weather forecast: sunny and 70 high), but it was foggy and chilly the entire time - visibility close to nothing. then it began to rain around noon.


after trying to ride it out (pun intended) for a couple of hours, i gave up and returned soaking wet to the hostel in the early afternoon. i had intended to leave Hangzhou tomorrow for an mountain island, Putuoshan in the East China Sea (about five hours away by bus & boat), but i've decided to stay here another day instead. the forecast tomorrow is supposed to be warm and partly cloudy. one can only hope that the weather will be better than today.

interesting sight of the day: an italian olive oil specialty store & hair salon. i kid you not.

this hostel is clean, comfortable and has a lot of character. it, however, does not have good food. after a bland and disappointing dinner last night (cheese sandwich with fries) and an equally bland and disappointing breakfast this morning (congee and fried egg), i was in search of FLAVOR. so lunch today was a McDonald's cheeseburger and fries (salty goodness), which almost hit the spot. but i must've not totally sated my desire for flavor because this evening, as i was wandering around, my eyes fell upon an Indian restaurant and i made a beeline for it.

i don't know if it was an appetite borne out of the biking/hiking i did today or if it was just that good, but i ate the entire order of naan and chicken tikka masala. it felt like the most delicious meal i've ever had in my life. i was in gastronomic heaven!

sadly, i've not been totally in love with the Chinese food i've had in China. so far, nothing in my travels has come even close to the delicious, spicy food i had in Thailand - of which i still remember and dream. food in Vietnam and Cambodia was okay; food in China has been okay. tonight's Indian food (in Hangzhou, CN) was fantastic.

there's a VERY cute little resident black puppy in the hostel. cute and little (about 9 inches long) are the operative words. when i was on the internet this morning, he stole one of my slippers.

i'm heading to Shaoxing in a couple of days to visit Joel & Sarah. we actually got a chance to hang out a bit this weekend in Shanghai; as it turned out, we were visiting the city at the same time! we got a chance to ooh-and-aah over the dazzling and strange Shanghai lights at night. somehow beautiful in an eerie way... J & S, after reading about my hot pot woes in Chongqing, have promised me a hot pot night in Shaoxing! i'm very excited... i think some tasty hot pot will make a positive dent in my Chinese gastronomic experience.

i have just nine days left in China. my last significant stop is Hong Kong out of which i'll be flying on November 8. i'm feeling sad about leaving because i've so loved being here and exploring the country, but i'm also excited about starting the next phase of my sojourn in freezing cold Seoul.

they don't use that word anymore

i am back on land after a very foggy, three-day cruise on the Yangtze River through the Three Gorges. i had hmm-ed and haw-ed about spending the money for this excursion. it cost me about $400 for three nights & three days by the time gratuities and expenses were factored in. this was not a "backpacker's" expense...

but in reading about the trip through my trusty (not-so-much) Lonely Planet, i couldn't pass the opportunity by - and to do it comfortably. so i bit the bullet, forked over the dough and booked the trip.

let me tell you, it was SO worth it! if you get a chance to go to China before 2009, DO THE YANGTZE RIVER CRUISE. there are less expensive options, like passenger boats and Chinese tour boats - but for me, paying extra for the convenience of having everything organized/prepared (including English-speaking guides, shore excursions, and full-on delicious Chinese spreads) made the trip relaxing and enjoyable. don't get me wrong - i also enjoy trying to figure local things out (refer to previous post re: taxis), but well anyway, do this trip.

the three gorges in between Chongqing and Yicheng are famous not only for their beauty and mystique, but also for their endangerment. with the construction of a dam in the 80s, the water level rose significantly - displacing villages, towns and people. it also shortened the height of the three gorges. in 2009, a bigger more powerful dam is set to be completed (it will be the largest, by capacity, hydroelectric station in the world), raising the water level another 20 meters. 1.2 million more people have been or will be displaced/relocated. i was able to capture some pictures wherein you can see the old village - and the new village being built on top of it.

oh, so the title of my post...

i bought a half-cabin, which meant that the cruise company matched me with another single female passenger. fortunately, my cabin mate was English-speaking - and a lot of fun! she was a Chinese tour guide for a group of 35 older Australians, so i ended up hanging around the Australians a lot, which was also a lot of fun. three of them were celebrating anniversaries during the 3-day cruise: 43 years, 49 years and 50 years! wow! (picture: Three Gorges dam)

anyway, one of these older Australian ladies asked me at one point in the trip what i did for a living. for simplicity's sake, i always say that i'm a social worker. (i am, of course - but for most people that conjurs images of welfare workers, case managers or the like. rarely does someone think of a community advocate, a non-profit administrator, a researcher or a public policy analyst. but anyhow...) she responded in a genuinely curious voice, "so do you work with Negroes? or with Asians?"

ten years ago, this would've sent me in a tirade about something or other. five years ago, i would've turned red but not said anything. i think i'm getting to the point where i'm better able to distinguish someone's intention and respond appropriately. seeing as i was from a different country and a fellow tourist like her, i didn't want to embarrass her; she obviously didn't mean any wrong. so i smiled and said that i worked with immigrants and refugees.

but i was secretly thankful when one of her fellow Aussie tour mates gently said, "they don't use that word anymore..."

traveling alone in China

today is the first day that i have not enjoyed being in China. Chongqing has not been as easy to navigate as Beijing or Xi'An, leading to some frustrations inherent in traveling to a place wherein one doesn't know the language. i wished earlier to have a travel mate with whom i could share my confusion.

so i'm sort of an obstinate traveler. well, actually i'm sort of obstinate, which bleeds into my traveling habits. i refuse taking taxis when i think public transportation is just as good. unfortunately, i don't know the language or the cities i'm visiting, so it requires a great deal of energy to find the right bus (if i do find it).

this morning, i could not find the right bus from the train station to the bus dock. i walked around, waited, got approached by a zillion "drivers". in a huff, i even thought about walking (which i discovered, after finally getting into a taxi, would've been a HUGE mistake). needless to say, there was no way i could've navigated the city to find the boat dock. to drive the point home, however, the taxi driver did try to convince me that i owed her double the fare.

Chongqing's air is bad. i thought Beijing's was bad, but Xi'An's was worse. i thought Xi'An's was bad, but Chongqing's is worse. visibility here is about 100 feet. there's no skyline because the smog completely obscures the view. i blew my nose a couple hours ago, and well - it was bad.

Chongqing is famous for Hot Pot. Mmm... HOT POT. unfortunately, this is a dish best experienced in a group (skewers of veggies and meat simmering in spicy broth, much in the fashion of shabu-shabu). i had planned to have hot pot while here, but honestly it doesn't seem that fun having it alone - even in the city from whence it came.

tonight i board the "Three Kingdoms" boat for a three-day cruise down the Yangtze River. internet access is available on the boat, for a whopping $11/hr. needless to say, i won't be writing again until the weekend after i reach Shanghai.

cheers from China!

Xi'An and beyond

Xi'An is a wonderful city wherein the old city walls are still intact and in use. it's geographically logical - centered around the Bell Tower and extending north to the North Gate on North Street, east to the East Gate on East Street, etc. my hostel, Xiang Zi Men Youth Hostel, is right on the South City Wall - about 2 minutes' walk to the South Gate.

it was a wonderful place to stay. when i changed my reservations from dorm room to private room (because i got sick), they put me on the third floor where there were the least number of guests. it was very peaceful for someone who unexpectedly stayed longer than hoped in her room.

the building itself is gorgeous. when i get a chance, i'll post pictures of my hostel. yes - my hostel was picture-worthy...

i got to see the Terracotta Warriors earlier this afternoon. actually, i almost went yesterday - trying to take the city bus. i wasn't feeling all that great and after a number of taxi drivers harrassed me while i was waiting for the city bus, i decided to go back to the hostel and try again today via arranged tour. i was feeling rather tuckered.

i'm quite glad i did because it was much less crowded today (Monday) than it would've been yesterday (weekend). anyway, i was feeling more energetic and even met some nice fellow travellers on the tour: three guys traveling from Sweden (via the Trans-Mongolian Railway), two women from Scotland (also traveling via the T-M R), two women who studied in Manchester together (one from Norway; the other from Mexico City), an Australian woman who's on her 8th month of travel (just one more to go) and an older Pakistani couple.

so this emperor who commanded 720,000 workers to build an army of Terracotta Warriors (complete with weapons, chariots, etc.) was a bit crazy. he not only spent 40 years of his living years creating a whole other kingdom to rule in his death (his mausoleum is the largest in the world), he also "protected" his mausoleum with a zillion booby-traps including a lake of mercury - which is why his mausoleum is yet to be excavated. it is said that he drank mercury with the belief that it would give him long life; historians believe it's what contributed to his madness. that being said, Emperor Qinshihuang also conquered six nations and is responsible for unifying China and starting the Qin dynasty. numerous people cruelly died during his rule - either as subject or as foe.

i'm disappointed that i didn't get to visit Mt. Huashuan while i was here. illness kept me close to my room. but i'm looking forward to my next leg. the overnight train to Chongqing (aka Chungking Express) leaves here at 10:26 p.m. i will arrive in the morning, will check out the city for a few hours, have famous Chongqing hot pot and board a small cruise boat in the evening. then i'll spend the next few days traveling through the gorges on the Yangtze River. i have heard it will be a sight to be seen, and unforunately soon to be destroyed once the Three Gorges Dam is complete and the entire area is flooded out.

speechless

as i go throughout the day absorbing Beijing, there are a million things i want to blog about. i think to myself: oh, i can't forget to blog about this; i should share that. but when i get myself in front of a computer, i find i haven't the interest to write. perhaps it is an urge to just inhale...

what i can say is that i'm thoroughly enjoying my time in Beijing. it is both ancient and modern; communist and capitalist. it reminds me a lot of Seoul - with a much sloooooower relaxed pace, which i appreciate.

meanwhile, more photos at the previous posts' link and here:


Pictures: 1. Forbidden City; 2. Hall of Embracing the Universe (Summer Palace); 3. Sunset at the Summer Palace