Hong Kong - Day 5

I got to call my parents. The hostel sold cheap long distance cards so I talked to my parents and chatted for awhile before heading out. For $7 Cdn, I could talk to them for 200 minutes!

We went to go see the Big Buddha. Because of the storm the day before and the possibility that the water was still stormy, we opted to take the subway / train to Lantau Island. We took a local bus that gave us the best tour yet for next to nothing. The route up was winding with lots of incredibly narrow roads with 2 way traffic and switchbacks. The terrain on the island was lush and natural, with homes dotted here and there. A huge difference from the skyscrapers in HK.

The Tian Tan Buddha statue is the world’s largest outdoor seated bronze Buddha statue. We climbed the 260 steps to the top and took in the serenity up there. With the occasional mist rolling by, it was just the right ambience.

On our way back though, I had to check out the outlet mall that was at the subway station. It felt sort of wrong to go from the Buddha to outlet mall shopping but I had to take advantage. I had to laugh at lunch. The food court was filled with different types of good Chinese food. It was funny cause in Canada, there’s always that one or two Chinese food option and here the whole court was Chinese :)

Hong Kong - Day 4

We woke up to a quiet downtown. Earlier, there had been heavy rain and winds but that had died down. We were puzzled by the lack of people and buses on the street. When we walked out around 11 a.m., the stores were closed. We wandered to a nearby mall and found out that there was a typhoon signal no.8 hoisted. Serious stuff. Apparently while we slept, there had been some wind damage and now people were being asked to stay indoors for protection.

So what do the tourists do? I was at the largest mall in HK with over 700 stores but couldn’t shop! This is the busiest closed mall I’ve ever seen. We managed to find food cause the restaurants didn’t close and enjoyed a couple of dry hours in a Starbucks near our hostel thanks to a nice lady at the 7 Eleven.

We found out later that winds of 227 km had been recorded at the monastery we were planning on visiting that day.

Hong Kong - Day 3

We took the subway to my old neighbourhood. Sadly, I didn't recognize any landmarks. It has been 35 years! We checked out some street markets nearby. There was the flower market, the goldfish market, the ladies’ market (sold stuff of interest to women) and then we went to the temple where I remembered going with my grandmother, the Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple. When we got there, I didn’t remember it after all just the name. I have vague memories of fortune tellers and incense but no great details.

While I checked out yet another mall, Don read the paper at Starbucks. We followed that up with more shopping at the Temple Street Night Market. It was raining and people were still setting up but we still heard lots of vendors calling out “copy watch-ee”. We, of course, had to buy a couple for about $5 Cdn. Nice CK watches!

There was a Typhoon Warning Level 1 today, hope it doesn’t get much worse tomorrow since we want to go to Lantau Island. We found out later that they hoisted the No. 3 Tropical Cyclone signal that evening and the Symphony of Lights was suspended. Good thing we saw it when we did.

Hong Kong - Day 2

With our Lonely Planet and all the tourist info spread out in front of us, we set out to see as much of HK as we could. This city is renown for its shopping opportunities. I’d like to say that it sucks to be here and not really be able to take advantage of all this shopping. For many years, when people asked whether I had returned to my birthplace yet, I would answer “No, not until I had enough money for all the shopping I would do.” I never ever thought that I would return here and not feel the compulsion to shop. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I would be here and not want or need anything. In the last few years, I have learned that I needed less and less to be happy. There was a time when I might have been frantic at the number of stores I needed to visit in such a short time. That doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate the beautiful things here though. And it certainly didn’t mean that I didn’t drag Don, a decidedly hesitant shopper, along with me.

One of our first missions was to find the bookstores since finding English books in Jinan was so rare. We almost cried tears of joy as we wandered amongst the rows and rows of English books, both current and classic.

Getting around is tremendously easy and such a relief in light of the challenges we’ve been facing. The official languages here are English and Chinese. The spoken Chinese is mainly Cantonese, my dialect. I am proud to say that I have a “survival” level (I basically stopped learning when I arrived in Canada so I have an 8 year olds’ vocabulary but it served us just fine, thank you very much). All the street signs are in English (with English names and not just translated names). The public transit system is super convenient and their subway system is said to the best on earth.

We rounded out our day with a ride on the Star Ferry across to HK, took a double decker bus up to the Peak, checked out the fabulous view, took the tram back down the hill. HK is lush. My childhood memories don’t include much details of the landscape and so I was pleasantly surprised by the green space and the palm trees. It made us think of Mexico.

We also checked out another mall. Yup, Don has never been to so many shopping venues in one day! We finished our day with A Symphony of Light. It’s the world’s largest permanent light show and is projected from the tops of buildings on the HK side. Check out our video.

Hong Kong - Day 1

It seems unreal that we’re finally here. I’ve been looking forward to this day for so long. Now that we’re here, looking across at the very famous HK skyline and I am inhaling the scent of the harbour, I feel immediately at home. It’s good to feel this connectedness. I have not felt this particular feeling anywhere else we’ve been. I couldn't be happier that I got to share this with Don.

Our travel day here was stressful but remarkably smooth. We got up early, walked 2 minutes (our hotel was attached to the airport), arrived in Shenzhen, got on a coach bus that took us through customs and drove us into Kowloon. The only big hitch was that we thought that we would be able to exchange some $ at the airport but we couldn’t so when we landed in Kowloon, we were worried we couldn’t get to our hostel. Fortunately, I was finally able to communicate in Cantonese and found our where we could take a taxi and asked the driver if she took RMB for payment.

Our hostel was another lesson. Appearances are deceptive. This hostel was smack in the middle of everything on Nathan Road, one of the main streets in Kowloon, but was located in a very ugly building that we could easily call a tenement. Our room was very small but typical of HK. It was very reasonable for HK prices. Still, it looked bigger and better on the Internet. The hostel was really a bunch of rooms on different floors in this building. Amongst your neighbours, there are families, small businesses / aka sweatshops and other hostels. There was laundry drying on poles above our heads in the hallways or extended into the open space in the middle of the building. The literature in our room says this gives visitors a real HK experience since we get an idea of what it might feel like actually living here. It certainly was a different style of accommodation and not suitable for everyone. We found it perfect since it give us a clean comfortable place to sleep and we were steps away from everything.

The first meal we had was dim sum. In the northern part of China where we are, the food is very different from what we’ve been used to. So our plan here in HK was to eat as much as we could. We got a recommendation from the hostel and found our way to the restaurant easily and ordered easily, something we can’t do easily where we’ve been so far in China. Ahhhhh, food for our souls!

We couldn’t wait to start exploring. With our map in hand, we walked a short distance to the harbour, checked out the Avenue of the Stars and got oriented.

Nanjing Trip - July 29 to Aug 2

We tagged along with Kathy when she visited Nanjing. To get there, we took our first sleeper train. Train travel is very common in China. The system is extensive and widely used. Our Lonely Planet says “At any given time it is estimated that over 10 million Chinese are traveling on a train in China, except during Chinese New Year when most of China seems to be on the railway.”

There are different classes of seats / sleepers. We opted for the soft sleeper because there were fewer bunks and a bit more privacy. There are 4 bunks in the compartment and a door to shut out the noise. The adventure for us came from our bunkmates who were complete strangers. You don't have much choice since the tickets are only available for purchase only 5 days before the departure date, and they go fast. My impression of the train system is that while it may be efficient, the ticketing leaves a lot to be desired. Tickets are hard to get and you have to wait till the last minute to buy them so it’s hard to plan.

We had 2 different sets of compartment mates in our 9 hour journey to Nanjing. Even though we got sleepers, we slept little. We got on the train at 6 p.m. and arrived at our compartment to find 2 tiny old men in worn clothing. We spent a few silent hours with them. While I read on the upper bunk, they offered Don tea. Trying to climb to the upper bunk on a moving train was fun for me. The guys had one visitor during that time. I’ve made up a story for them. They are “experts” at some trade that warrants them traveling in “style”. The visitor was their boss. Their luggage consisted of a small cloth bag and a bucket of belongings for one man and a big black cloth bag for the other. They left after a few hours.

Our next compartment mates were more talkative. The first one was very curious about us and the language barrier didn’t slow him down. When the other man arrived, his first question to him was “Do you speak Cantonese?” He didn’t so man #1 filled him in on what he was able to find out about us. Then we settled down in the lower bunks and had a conversation with the help of all of our resources (phrase books, Lonely Planet and electronic translator). Surprisingly, we were able to find out a little about each other. We found out where they were from and what they did for a living. Being true Chinese, they quickly asked our salary and why we didn’t have children. Amazing how you can get to those topics without a common language!

We checked into our hostel at 2 a.m. and was a bit disappointed. It was located in the middle of a very historic area, the Fuzi temple, the centre of Confucian study for more than 1500 years. Now, the area surrounding the temple is a pedestrian zone filled with shops, restaurants and night life. We found this place on the Internet and while it was extremely convenient, we learned a very important on how photos can be deceptive. Things can appear much larger than they are.

Touring Nanjing

Nanjing is the capital of Jiangsu province. It's one of the furnaces of China but we experience a very wet Nanjing thanks to the tail end of a tropical storm. Even in the rain, we saw that it was a very scenic city with its wide tree-lined streets. It is also very historic. It was China’s capital twice and was the site of the worst war atrocity Chinese civilians suffered under Japanese occupation.

Sun Yatsen Mausoleum – It's set in the middle of the mountain in a national park, a sanctuary from the heat and humidity. Dr. Sun is acknowledged by many as the father of modern China and is a popular tourist site. The mausoleum is at the top of a stone stairway and 392 steps!

This is the path leading up to the tomb of the only Ming emperor buried outside of Beijing. It is lined with stone statues of lions, camels, elephants, horses, mythical creatures and soldiers.

Since it was raining constantly, we weren’t really able to enjoy the natural beauty of Nanjing. We had to look for inside activities. The memorial hall of the Nanjing massacre is one of the most disturbing places we’ve visited. We saw exhibit after exhibit documenting what the people of Nanjing suffered at the hands of the Japanese soldiers in 1937. The photos too vividly told the personal stories. It seemed very appropriate that we exited that memorial to pouring rain, like the tears we shed for the 300,000 victims.

Kathy was a great travel companion since she speaks Mandarin. Everything was easier. We tried local specialties such as river fish and duck head. She got us around by taxi. This would have been impossible for us to accomplish since we didn’t have any of the tourist attraction names or addresses in Chinese.

Our travel plans were fluid and was going to depend on the weather. Since the rain did not let up much, we decided not to check out any nearby towns. She got us seat sales to Hong Kong while she headed back to Jinan. Since she got us cheap flights, we escaped a 28 hour train ride. Thank you Kathy!

We took the train to Shanghai so that we could catch a flight to Shenzhen, Guangdong. From there, it would be a short bus or train ride to Kowloon. We chose this option over flying straight into HK because the fares were much more reasonable.

When we arrived in Shanghai, we almost got scammed at the train station. This man approached us and asked if we needed a taxi. We must have looked like the perfect marks. Two people who were clearly tourists, carrying knapsacks, and were disoriented. I had asked Kathy to write our hotel name in Chinese so that it would make it easier to get a taxi. This guy said he could take us there for 300 Yuan. At that point, we were willing to go along with it even though it seemed steep. It was 36 C and very hot. It seemed like a good option but as we got led a bit too far from the station, we started feeling like it wasn’t such a good idea. When we saw the minivan, we knew it was a bad idea. We said no and started walking back towards the station. Then the guy followed and flagged down a real taxi but when he tried to get into the front seat, the taxi driver said no. Guess he was going to try to get something out of us still. We managed to lose him and find our own taxi and it only cost us 47 Yuan. We had booked a hotel at the airport since we were leaving early the next morning and had hoped to see more of Shanghai in the afternoon. Since we were far from the main tourist area and the temperature was too uncomfortable, we decided to rest up for HK instead.

Qingdao Trial Run

Happy belated Canada Day! Here we are in Qingdao on the rooftop of our hostel. Hoping to travel by ourselves this summer, we decided to go to nearby Qingdao as a trial run. Since the Olympic sailing events will take place here and so they’ve been preparing for an international crowd, we thought this city would be a nice transition for the rest of China.

Getting around - We’ve rarely taken taxis by ourselves here but had to rely on it in Qingdao. We have discovered that it can be a bit of an adventure. Even when we had the address of our destination, it wasn’t straightforward. For instance, the hostel gave us a taxi card to make it easier to get back but we quickly discovered that this didn’t easily guarantee success. Some drivers found the typeface hard to read. One time we got in and though the taxi driver wasn’t sure where he was going, he started driving anyway. Luckily, I was able to copy the Chinese characters out in a larger size in the back of the moving cab.

Day 1 – We took our first cab in Jinan by ourselves and got to the train station. We pushed our way through security and found the waiting
area. So far so good. We took a super fast train that reached a top speed of 247 km and arrived in Qingdao in 2 ½ hours. It was comfortable and convenient. There was a snack cart and free hot water. Chinese people love plain hot water.

We got to the hostel by taxi and even had a “conversation” with the driver. Mainly she wondered where we were from, why we came by train and why I looked Chinese. We checked in and spent the rest of the day walking around the old city. We saw quickly that it is much cleaner than Jinan and much more tourist centered. There were souvenirs (coral, sea shells and dried shrimp) everywhere.

Day 2 – We walked along the sea on the boardwalk. The drizzly day didn’t stop us or the many Chinese tour groups with their matching hats.

Day 3 – We walked out the pier with lots of other tourists and saw the algae problem

that the city is struggling with. Touristy note: For those of you who enjoy Tsingtao beer (this is the old translation of the city name), the brewery was first established by Germans in 1903. The beer is made with mineral water from nearby Lao Shan. The pagoda at the end of the pier is on every Tsingtao beer label.

We hailed a cab to go to a temple but when we showed the driver the spot on the map, he waved his hand and told us no. Huh? Since we couldn’t figure out how to ask him why not, we agreed to his suggestion for the alternative, the tv tower. So we ended up paying more than we wanted to in order to ride up to an observation deck to check out a foggy Qingdao from a higher vantage point.

After that, we tried to go to a restaurant that is recommended in our Lonely Planet guide. Unfortunately, the taxi driver did not understand my pronunciation, I didn’t have the Chinese characters for the name and she quickly gave up trying to understand me. I was able to make myself understood when I asked to be taken to the nearest landmark, the Crowne Plaza. Funny enough, I had to use the Chinese name which is much longer than the English name and she understood that!

A word about pinyin - The Chinese were thinking of doing away with characters so they started teaching the younger generation pinyin. It’s a system that uses the Roman alphabet but is not pronounced like English. What we learned during this trial run was that if you’re older (like most of the taxi drivers we met), you may not have studied pinyin and so having the address written out in pinyin does not help one bit.

We liked Qingdao. It has an international flair and has a few western style malls with merchandize we recognize. There’s something to be said about the familiar. There are lots of western style restaurants too that we hadn’t begun to investigate. Before we left Jinan, I was excited that there were Starbucks there but in the end, I preferred to enjoy the coffee on the rooftop of our hostel. The only negative thing I have to say is that the taxi service was a bit disappointing, considering that they are gearing up for lots of foreign visitors. We will definitely be back to enjoy the clean sea air.