I've got myself a bit of a dilemma here. And rather than figure it out myself, I thought I have myself a little poll. I'm getting on a boat here in a few hours to cruise down the Yangtze. It drops me off in either Wuhan or Yichang. As you can tell, I don't really know what is going on. The dilemma part is what to do next. I've got to be in Hong Kong on the 10th to meet up with a friend. From there, I head back to Bangkok on the 13th. That leaves me with approximately 4.5 days to kill between, let's say, Wuhan and Hong Kong.
That is where you come in. I'm leaving it up to you, dear readers, as to what I should do. Being that I only have a dinky little book with hardly info besides history on the various possibilities, everyone of you is as qualified to lend a suggestion as I am. A brief look at a map reveals these possibilies: A) HANGZHOU - Known for its famous West Lake B) SHANGHAI - Modern City with a mix of cultures C) GUILIN - Beautiful Scenery on the Li River D) NANJING - Old capital built to rival Beijing E) GUANGZHOU - Cultural city with some good eats So hop to it. Do your research. Support your choice with helpful info for the would-be tourist. Place your vote in the comments or in an e-mail to me. Extra credit for any not listed suggestions. Remember, I don't have a ton of time, so ease of accesibilty should be considered. Thanks for your help. I look forward to the results. |
Friday November 3 2006 | File under: poll, China |
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So I went walking. Chongquin is set up kind of like, dare I say it, NYC. There is the downtown area that is quite similar to Manhattan. It is seperated from the rest of the town by two huge rivers. This little plot of land, however, is quite hilly. Atop the biggest hill, there is quite a nice little park. People were out in droves dancing, gambling, and playing mahjong. It also offered quite the views, not that there is much to see through all the smog. The evening found me at a Time Square of sorts. The lights and people reminded me that this is the biggest city I've never heard of. Oh, and for those of you who have been digging on the food info: here's the skinny. For lunch, I had a bowl full of potstickers (again). This time, they were made right before my eyes (wontons rolled on site and everything). For dinner, it was fried rice noodles with beef and a McDonald's ice cream cone for dessert. |
Thursday November 2 2006 | File under: China, travel |
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Besides the must-sees the city has to offer (Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Tienamen square), I also got to do a little less touristy stuff. Yesterday, I hopped on the subway to head out west of town in search of a few geocaches (mission accomplished, BTW). The subway stopped right outside the international sculpture garden, so I thought, "Why not?". Well, I'm so glad because it was a great time. The weather was perfect for just strolling through the beautifully kept grounds looking at the sculpture collection (most of which was hardly international). I am sorry to say that I leave Beijing this afternoon. I trust that I will visit again someday. There is still so much to see, and with the way the city is changing, there will be that much more to see next time. I recommend that if you are ever thinking of a travel destination, don't rule out Beijing. "Next?", you ask. Well, I board a 25 hour train bound for Chongqing. I've got a couple of good books and am ready for some relax time, albeit forced relaxation. Chongqing is the typical launching spot for a cruise boat trip down the Yangtze River. We'll see what I can find on a last minute basis. |
Tuesday October 31 2006 | File under: China, travel |
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My visit to Tumen ended appropriately: with another scheduled power outage, so I couldn't make a final post from the cozy, non-time constrained, free internet at Trista's. But here I am, waiting up late at the Beijing hostel for my turn at the internet to bring you, dear readers, this:
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Saturday October 28 2006 | File under: travel, China |
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Besides the local cuisine (I am told hot pot is the most expensive meal in Tumen at a whopping $10.00 to [over]feed 3 people), I'm also getting a taste of the local transportation. |
Thursday October 26 2006 | File under: China, travel |
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Here at BdW, we are using this week to get caught up and betterifying the site. Latest addition: a favicon Anyhoo, the real reason for this post: I finally got a few Thailand pictures in order and have them ready for viewing. Again, no fancy slideshow (well fancy in a different sort of way), but it gets the job done. Please excuse the random order and only sometimes relevant captions. But enough already. On with the show (no need to sign up. Just click the "View photos now" link under the elephant. |
Wednesday October 25 2006 | File under: Thailand, travel |
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While it was quite a haul getting here, I love seeing this other side of China. Not only is the town much smaller than Beijing, it is somewhat of a border town, with much Korean influence. Anyway, getting to hike on real mountain and go more than an hour with out hearing a taxi honk has been awesome. (Things are so po dunk here that the electricity was out all day today.) Anyway, another bonus about being here is free internet (courtesy of Trista) and lots of down time. So, as saxtor so observantly pointed out, I've added a few features to the blog (ability to see old posts, and real-time comment tracking). I also threw together a little slide show. Now it isn't a BrothesrRoot worthy slideshow with autoplay, music, etc., but it will have to do. Mine does have captions though. Zing! Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. |
Tuesday October 24 2006 | File under: travel, China |
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There are a couple different places you can go on the wall, each with its own assets. I chose to visit Mutianya, because it was supposed to be less touristy. "Less touristy" is a relative term, I guess. There was still a cable car to take visitors to the top and a tobogon slide to take them down. I did neither although the tobogon was pretty tempting. But because of the weather and time of the year, there weren't too many people. I got it in my mind to hike and hike and hike, so that is exactly what I did. Beyond about 3 towers from the ski lift, there were very few people, so that I could get some decent pictures. I made the 3 or so kilometers to the end of the reconstructed part, enjoying some of the best views and best hiking of my life. (Walking on such a huge part of history just seems to have that effect, I guess.) By the time I got to the end, I realized that I had to get back to the bus ASAP. So it was an almost-jog the rest of the way back, which, considering the terrain, was quite a feat. All in all, I must have hiked 5 miles and my body is feeling it, esp. on top of all the walking I've been doing here in Beijing (Forbidden City, Tienamen Square, etc. etc.) I think today shall be a rest day. |
Saturday October 21 2006 | File under: China, travel |
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6:31-8:00 - Get horribly lost. Feel lonely and depressed. 8:01 - Meet local. Exchange English practice for directions to hotel. 8:30-10:30 - Roam around downtown Beijing with new friend, again with the English practice. Marvel at Forbidden City from afar. 10:31-11:30 - Get situated in hostel. 11:30 - Eat 16 potstickers. Rethink badmouthing of chinese chinese food. 12:30-2:30 - Meet new locals, again for the English practice. Roam old town with new friends. 2:30-3:00 - Spend 2 weeks' budget on tea. 3:00-4:00 - Write postcards in beautiful Beijing park. Rethink tea purchase. 4:00-dusk - Smile about the happy first day in Beijing. |
Wednesday October 18 2006 | File under: travel, China |
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The big thing to see here in Xi'an is Emperor Qin's Terra Cotta Army. If you've never heard of it, any explanation I give will sound dumb, so I suggest you go learn about it. Sufficive to say, it was pretty cool. They've built a great museum around the whole thing and showed the whole process of excavating them. Yesterday, I went to see the Small Wild Goose Pagoda. It was built in 709 or something, way way back. Around the pagoda, there are beautiful grounds an other buildings in the traditional style. It was a great place to sit and soak up the traditional China-ness of everything. ![]() The whole time that I have been in Xi'an, it has been foggy(/smoggy?) and it rained pretty good yesterday, so I haven't been too inclined to go adventuring. But that has allowed me to catch up on a few movies here in the hostel and also catch up on my reading. Tonite, I leave on a sleeper train to Beijing, which I am greatly looking forward to. I hope to see some of the country side that is the China in my mind. Just as long as we get out of this fog(/smog?), I think I'll be fine. |
Tuesday October 17 2006 | File under: travel, China |
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