China Girl, China Child

2006-11-09T14:34:00.000+08:00

A Little Bit of Luxury Every Day: Shanghai to Hong Kong

We were living up the city life as our trip came to a close. Since we weren't spending money on a hostel, we splurged a bit on French bistro lunches, sushi, happy hours, and a wee bit of shopping.

In Shanghai, we visited the old "Jewish" neighborhood. Strangely enough, there was a big settlement of Jews here during World War II, and a whole area was designated for them, complete with delis and a synagogue. We still don't understand why Shanghai, it's a long way to come. Nowadays, these old tenements house working class Chinese, though we swear we could smell gefilte fish somewhere.

At a visit to the Museum of Contemporary Art in People's Square, we stumbled upon a performance of the Fringe Festival. A really cool modern dance troupe from Beijing emerged from different spots in the park, telling stories and splashing around a makeshift pool.

We spent a fair amount of time doing this:

In places like this:

As for eating, we tried the traditional Shanghai steamed pork buns.
Hey! What do ya guys want? We got milk, purple stuff, Sunny-D, hot pork juice...yeah~!

We treated our kind hosts to the biggest f-in bacon cheeseburger we've ever seen. It weighed 1 kg (35oz) and was the almost the size of a pizza. The restaurant will buy it for you if you can finish it by yourself in an hour. We had trouble even with the 4 of us. Apparently only one person has accomplished this feat: a 55kg Chinese girl. Fancy that.

Of course, it's still China, and we still found plenty of chances to go the cheap route and take a break from the luxury. How could you resist the sheer brilliance of a nice cold reeb.

Sniffle, sniffle, our last stop, Hong Kong. Our longest train yet, 26 hours, though by now it felt like a piece of pie.

Hong Kong is the ritziest of all, for now at least. Fancy cars, swank townhouses by the beach, and posh restaurants that we avoided. And they actually have fines for littering, smoking, and spitting! It must be rough for the mainland businessmen who go there and have to put on the best manners. Even Aaron found it difficult after all this time to hold back his snot-rockets.

After 9 1/2 weeks going west to north to east to south, covering somewhere around 14,000 kilometers, we've arrived safely back in Taiwan. Things seem kind of strange: the taxi cabs look different, the food's not as diverse, and everything is oddly cleaner than before. We've been lucky, coming back in one piece without ever getting really sick. And we have confidence that when the poo hits the fan, we can now use any bathroom on the planet! (By the way, Aaron opposes that last exclamation point, but Julia is indeed quite fond of them)

We'll try to put some more pics on some Kodak website after we sort through them. In the meantime, winding things up in Taiwan, and thinking about when we'll head back to "home" home.

Zaijian, cyber biatches!

2006-11-09T12:03:00.000+08:00

Shanghai, Part I: The Return of Western Toilets

Booming metropolis, never-ending construction, constantly changing. We were pretty happy to settle in with Jordan, an old buddy from Taiwan, who gave us shelter on his couch for a week.

As strange as it is though, we sorta missed the squat toilets. There's just something about em. (sigh)

After laying around watching movies and catching up with long-lost Western cuisine, we ventured out into the city. Shanghai has a huge aquarium, with the longest underwater pedestrian tunnel in the world.

Shanghai's skyline is pretty spectacular, you can walk along the Huangpu river and pass by the most modern, sexily designed skyscrapers in China. Here's Aaron next to the famous Pearl Tower.

Bet you've never walked on a waterfront and seen commercials floating by on a 25m screen. Look at that thick layer of smog that, unfortunately, blankets the city every day.

On the opposite bank (the West siiiide), lies the older part of the city. Lots of Art Deco...very Euro-style. Even cooler, the original banks and clubs have opened patio bars on the top floors for excellent night views of the city.
Here's the ever-famous Bund at night. What does "bund" mean? We still don't know...something German.

You can still find some spots in the city that haven't been developed (though not for long: they're surrounded by demolished buildings and construction zones). Here you can see some original architecture from the 1920s, but since the people here are pretty poor the city doesn't do much to keep it up. Or worry about where the displaced people will go. The disparity between rich and poor in Shanghai is pretty stark, more than we've seen in any city.

And finally...we know you've been waiting for it. Back by popular demand, there's just simply never enough...

2006-10-31T11:44:00.000+08:00

til the Sweat Drips Down That Wall! skeet skeet skeet
Beijing things part deux

Over 2000 years ago, a Qin emperor decided to start the construction of a massive wall to keep out the big barbarians up north. It turned out to be one of the most asinine, ineffective undertakings in history (what? ridiculous expenditures? lack of foresight? no...not China...). There's a legend that the bones of thousands of dead laborers are buried within the bricks. And wouldn't you know it, that damn Genghis Khan supposedly bribed the guards and waltzed through with his Mongol crew.

Ah well, what are you gonna do? It's really f-in cool to see today. At least something good came out of it. Who knows? Maybe in a thousand years people will be venturing out to see the Great Nuclear Shield of America.

We went out to Simatai, a bit further than the usual tourist hub, and had an afternoon climb (literally) with the Great Wall almost all to ourselves.

Yeah! The wall, I totally rocked it man! Eh Eh!

At the top, we came across some soldiers preventing people from climbing farther and doing stupid things (the wall rests along the crest of a mountain). They were hard at work drinking beers, but we shared some oranges and had a good chat about Taiwan.

At Simatai, you can even zip line down from the Wall (to the parking lot). At $4.50, how could we refuse?

Later, we went to the heart of the heart of China, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Of course, Mao, along with hundred of soldiers, watches over to make sure everything's in strict communist order.

Hence, we got yelled at for taking the above pic (and some other goofy ones).

The Forbidden City is a essentially a huge maze of red walls dividing intricately decorated courtyards: a pleasure palace for the emperor to stroll about and "enjoy the moonlight" with his bevy of concubines.

But step out from the gates of the Palace and witness the juxtaposition of ornate imperialism with grey, rigid Communism.

We also had the chance to chill with a Taipei bloke, Ed, who took us out on the town. Frenchmen football-player antics, ladies on the bar in black leather hot pants, and Suzie Wong. Thanks for the good times, Edmundo!

Our last sight-seeing venture in Beijing was the Summer Palace, yet another playground for royalty. You can never have too many places for imperial debauchery with no commoners allowed.

These sights are beautiful, but they do help to explain the nationwide poverty that lasts through today. Up through the early 20th century, emperors/-presses squandered every yuan on marble boats and unworldly feasts while most everybody starved in the streets.

Nice sunset though.

2006-10-27T17:20:00.000+08:00

Duckin' Out the Desert

Crossing over 3000 kilometers from West to East, we've hit "China" China. Writing from smack in the middle of Beijing, where we've been touristing to the max. We're jackasses and missed our train last night, so we have some time at the internet cafe.

So to back up a little (a lot)... a week and a half ago, we were in Hotan, southern ancient Silk Road hub. The Sunday Bazaar was wild and lived up to our expectations of erotica, we mean, exotica.

unless you like heavy petting zoos....

...in which case, we clearly mean both. The above sight at the livestock market was a tad disturbing at first: hoards of sheep being bound by the legs and having their nether regions (the Chinese would say "Wangs" and "Poons") crudely examined during presale. However, we figured it's probably no better than the caged and hormoned cows that we Americans eat but never have to see.

This 15 year-old spunky chick showed us donkey tourism at it's finest: taking us by cart through a desert to "ancient city ruins" (read: some rocks in the sand). At least the ride was fun.

From Hotan, we crossed 500 km over the harsh Taklamakan Desert--on foot.

No, just kidding, it was yet another million-hour sleeper bus for us.

Next stop: Turpan, lowest point in China that reaches 48 degrees Celsius in summer. Thank god for breezy October. Turpan is home to lots and lots of grape vines, more ancient ruins (this time a bit more intricate), and picturesque scenery surrounding the Flaming Mountains.

Back in Urumqi (the capital of Xinjiang province), we reveled in our last mutton kebab dinner. Pomegranate juice is a nice new discovery: great for the urinary tract too!

Weeeeee....flew to Beijing. Time for some history. Despite the hustle, bustle, rudeness, and smog, the sights have been damn nice and surpassed our expectations. It's hard not to be impressed when you're in front of massive structures that are hundreds of years old, huge, and incredibly ornate.

Here's a shot of the Temple of Heaven, where the emperor went to pray for good harvests on the winter solstices. Julia, on the other hand, was praying for a nice dinner.

Ooh ooh ooh...I think I smell duck.

And voila! A juicy, crispy Beijing duck sliced right at our table.

Mmm...so good, we had it twice in 3 days.

There's so much more to show from Beijing, and we'll have it up soon. Can't afford to miss a second train.

2006-10-14T20:49:00.000+08:00

Rock the Kashgar!
Karakul, Kites, Kyrgz, and Camels

We flew from ChengDu to Kashgar, a city in Xinjiang Province all the way in the northwest. We immediately realized this was only China by name and military presence. Most people here are Muslim, speak Uighur (or some other Central Asian language), have body hair, and don't look "Chinese" at all. It's excellent.

Kashgar was a major trading center on the Silk Road for centuries, and it's still pretty happening today, donkey carts and all. It's essential to note, however, that we are not "donkey tourists", even though a douchebag frenchman insinuated that we were such.

When we went out for our first Uighur snack, we realized that, um, it's Ramadan! Well as salaam aleykum to ya'll too. Actually it's pretty cool being Jews surrounded by Muslim culture, and seeing how many similarities there are, straight down to the ritual hand washing. Still, when the sun went down, there was food galore: lamb kebabs, fresh out of the oven nan bread, and amazing melon (canteloupe is native to Xinjiang). No beer though, except guiltily guzzled down in Han Chinese restaurants. And how can we forget the bagels!! Here is Julia in New York Jew bliss:

From Kashgar we took a 3 day trip along the Karakoram Highway which links China to all the "-stan" countries. Spectacular glacier mountain views (we know, we know, so many mountains) juxtaposed with shifting desert hills. We were joined by a new Aussie mate, Scott, who happens to live 5 minutes away from us in Taipei--funny we should meet in Kashgar of all places.

Our first stop was Tashkorgan, an "autonomous Tajik region" (whatever that means to the CCP) and also home to an ancient stone city.

The local Tajik people are stunning--Elle magazine would give their left leg for this exotic new look.

We discovered en route that Tashkorgan was temporarily overrun by the cast and crew of "Kite Runner". Apparently the scenery in northwest China bears a striking resemblance to that of Afghanistan (where the story takes place). So we got to chat up the young Afghani stars-to-be while they practiced their kite skills in the sunset. The movie should be out some time late next year.

The next morning we woke up early to head to the border, armed by young Chinese soldiers who must be bored out of their minds in isolation at 5000m. Their excitement for the day must have been shouting at us when we crossed a few steps too far into the Khunjerab Pass.

And here was this Chinese guy's idea of excitement:

On the way back, we visited a traditional Tajik village. Despite all we had heard and read, we were instantly taken aback by the blazing red-haired, freckle-faced kids that greeted us. They could have been straight out of Ireland, but there they were in China. Amazing. We don't have a picture, so maybe you'll have to go see it to believe it.

Later we headed to our home for the night, a Kyrgz yurt village on the bank of sparkling Karakul Lake. We huddled around the yak-dung powered stove and drank bowl after steaming bowl of salty yak butter tea.

At one point Aaron got real hungry and tried to eat our friendly companion.

We're not trying to be braggy punks, but pictures don't even do it justice. And the starry night skies may have been the best we've ever seen.

We've just arrived in Hotan, another dusty spot with Silk Road history. Tomorrow heading to a massive bazaar. How much for this camel again?... Hao bazaar, how bizarre.

2006-10-08T16:57:00.000+08:00

Spice, Ice, & Horsies

From ChengDu, we headed north to a small city called SongPan that serves as a basecamp for horse treks into the mountains. We and some new friends from Atlanta & Canada signed up for a three-day trip to "Ice Mountain." Somehow, Julia managed to wind up with the biggest horse, and Aaron got something that looked more like a donkey. However, we did manage to be the only ones that didn't fall/get tossed off their horse at least once.

These aren't the droids you're looking for...

Shiiit, fried dough sticks agin? What tasted tasty on the morning of Day 2 didn't taste so great as lunch and then breakfast and lunch again on Day 3. Though the guides kept telling us "Eat! Get full! Eat!" and shoving more dough sticks in our hands, so we couldn't refuse.

As we ascended the mountain, it got uber cold. Snow started to blow sideways and the horses feet were sliding all over the place. We also saw a girl collapse into a face plant from altitude sickness. At this point, we decided to turn around and walk down. With our pants caked in wet mud, we returned to camp to start a massive bonfire (one of our crew was a former boy scout) and drink bai jiu (national liquor that smells and tastes of paint thinner) out of a squeeze bottle, and then snuggle into our pine branch beds wearing every article of clothing we could find. Sleep tight!
Boy from mountain village posing chic in Julia's hipster glasses.

Overall, beautiful views, but lots of cold-muddy foistness.

Back in ChengDu, the weather is balmy so we took to exploring by bicycle.

Chairman Mao...still got it.

Aaron decided to go for his first done-by-another shave. Price: $0.75

Went to the amusement park and did the Chengdu roller coaster, as well as captured this pic from the top of the (very) squeaky ferris wheel. Had an excellent KTV session with our horsing Hotlanta/Canuck buddies.

Woke up grumpy early this morning but had our moods brightened by the pandas at the research and breeding center. These guys have their priorities straight: wake up, sit on your ass and knaw on a pile of bamboo on your belly, then back to sleep. We even got to see the panda nursery, when born, these guys can fit into the palm of your hand! Pretty damn cute.

We're off to some Ma Po Tofu, one of Sichuan's fiery favorites. Yeah, the food here rocks...And we rock the squat toilets!

2006-10-02T19:38:00.000+08:00

Who Needs Fat Camp?...

...when there's EMei Mountain.

Though our calves are still hurtin', we've survived our 3 day trek on EMei Shan, a sacred Buddhist mountain in Sichuan province. Most "pilgrims" take the bus, cable car, or even get carried up on the sore shoulders of 2 porters. And yet for some reason, we decided to walk the whole way up and down.

Julia parading with her bamboo cane (before she used it to fend off vicious monkeys and hobble down the mountain like a geriatric).

A few hours later, it was raining, damp, and cold. Aaron discovered that the raingear he'd bought in Bangkok was child-sized.

At about 7pm, as the sun was setting, everything was foist (def. f-ing moist), and we were weepy and dragging ourselves up the last few steps. We passed some money through a gate to a monk, and got our shelter for the evening.

The next morning, we summitted to the Golden Summit!

(And Aaron developed a mild case of high-altitude Downs). Then we set off for the pretty views on the way down.

And a shitload of temples.

This was one of the few nice monkeys.

We realized at the bottom that we had hiked over 50 km and climbed up and down 66,000 stairs. This mountain definitely kicked our ass, albeit in a Buddhist spiritual way.

Was it worth it? Yeah.

Would we recommend it? Hmm....maybe.

Would we do it again? Hells no.

Next stop, ChengDu, capital of Sichuan. We arrived just in time for National Day, with hoards of Chinese roaming the streets eating snacks off sticks. We headed to the park, for paddle boats, tea, and Mahjang.

In the park, we came across a friendly family who fully approved of our Jewishness. In China, Jews are pretty popular: our big noses (which they find beautiful) represent a brainful of genius intuition. The father explained to us how Hitler killed 6 million (no response), and how Einstein, Beethoven AND Da Vinci were all Jewish. Then they gave us an orange and a big thumbs up. We didn't tell him it was Yom Kippur and were supposed to be fasting.

2006-09-26T18:07:00.000+08:00

Yak Attack! The Backdoor Route to Sichuan

Well, the 6-day trip along the Sichuan-Tibet "Highway" (if having landslides, no road barriers, yak and sheep crossing, and more than a few bumps qualifies as such) is over. Above, you can see the rolling green hills with Hollywood-style Tibetan writing. The blurry black dots are yaks grazing (on a side note, yak jerky = good).

Our first stop was Daocheng, where we were convinced to take a side trip to a scenic area known as Yading. As with everywhere in China, there was a lofty entrance fee (often jacked up for whities like us)...so our shady driver pushed us into the back compartment of a logging truck where we hid behind a pink curtain and were smuggled into the national park for half price. Well worth it: snow-capped mountains and fresh air hiking. For some reason, the Chinese tourists refuse to walk anywhere-- they rode by with confused smiles on their miserable-looking, hired ponies.

The yaks followed us to our next stop, Litang (4000 m), a small Tibetan town with a strange yet cool atmosphere.

Went to another prayer-wheel spinning place, where people spin around this temple spinning hand-held chanting tools and other spinning cylinders. Overall lots of spinning. Tibetan Buddhists believe in the circular cycle of life.

Our last stop on the Tibetan trail was Kangding, a happenin' place where we met some Taiwanese friends and took an excursion to "7-Color" Lake (we only saw 2, unless you count reflections and garbage, hmm). They tried to get us to eat half-raw eggs cooked in the hot springs but we politely refused.

Unfortunately, this was the end of the road for the yaks.

The long hair, the open blue skies, the cowboy hats, the rolled balls of barley flour, the yaks (and skulls): this bit of Tibetan culture is really a different kind of China. Something of a wild-west feel to it all and very cool to experience.

Now we're at the base of Emei Mountain. We'll begin our trek up it tomorrow where many stairs, monasteries, monkeys, (and a sunrise if we're lucky) await.

2006-09-19T16:03:00.000+08:00

3km High and Rising...

Our last few days in Zhongdian...

On Sunday, we visited a monastery up on the hill, the biggest in Yunnan province, with lots of monks wandering about taking care of business, such as gardening.

This big carnival ride looking thing is actually a Buddhist prayer wheel, where people walk around at the bottom spinning it while chanting for hours on end.
We made it about 3 laps, and then the sun set and it got freezing. So we went to go eat some boiled yak meat set forth to us in big hunks on the bone with cold potatoes on the side. Not the best meal, but hey, when in Rome...uh, you have to eat some yak.

Yesterday we did a mini-homestay in the countryside. After a bumpy ride around Napa Lake, we arrived at the hand-built, 2 story home of Teacher Gui-Qing. In the afternoon, we went with him to "school", where the kids had been patiently waiting pretending to write their Chinese homework. The lesson consisted of the lone teacher going back and forth between 2 classrooms, smoking cigs while telling the kids to repeat after him. We attempted to speak to them in Chinese, but with little avail.

We went home to a massive dinner of potatoes, pig feet soup, and fatty pork (the last being a part of every meal we ate there). Our host insisted that we eat to the point of full-stuffage, and then pushed over a plate of sour sheep cheese "for digestion." The evening consisted of the teacher, his wife, two daughters, and granddaughter sitting around the fire sucking sour apple lollipops. Oh, and did we mention that there's no bathroom? But beautiful starry sky at 5am when squatting over the fields.

Here's our breakfast on the hearth, complete freshly squeezed warm milk (and fatty pork, obv):

We spent the morning wandering goofily around the farm; we say NO to manual labor! This yak-driver stopped to take a break, and see what our lazy asses were writing.

Thanks again to our host family...we swear the little granddaughter at the bottom isn't a spawn of Satan!

Tomorrow morning we're off on a crazy bus ride passing 4000m and eventually winding up in Sichuan province. Should be pretty spectacular.

2006-09-16T21:45:00.000+08:00

The Dalai Lama Tribal Breakfast Slam!
Dali > Lijiang > Tiger Leaping Gorge >Zhongdian

We've jumped through a bunch of cities since the last post, actually hiked miles and miles...yesterday it was basically nonstop for almost 10 hours...aren't you impressed? Sore and tired (what's new), but beautiful and well worth it.

A recap of this past week:

We spent our last day in Dali near Erhai Lake, sneaking around the overpriced entrance fees (omnipresent in China) and walking through a little village.

There were loads of these spiders, we've never seen so many in our lives.

The next morning we pounded down a "Tribal Slam" breakfast (think I- Hop with a Tibetan Twist), only to realize that the road from Dali to Lijiang was closed. We wound up hitching a ride with a tour guide heading north. Had to take the old route, which added on 2 hours and a lot of bumps, but super nice scenery. Sometimes being on the road is the best part.

We arrived in tourist-laden Lijiang and dying to get out asap, I only took one picture:

This is just fantastic, no need to explain more.

From there we headed to Qiaotou, a small village at the beginning of Tiger Leaping Gorge, where we started our hike. Lucky for us, we got lost on the first day (despite all assurances of the maps, guides, and books), and a non-Chinese speaking man with a pipe had to lead us through the woods back toward our destination, the Naxi Guesthouse (Naxi=ethnic minority in China, to all the Jews, don't worry).

Early the next morning we started out again, happy to see trail markers and awed by the scenery. Some of the cliffs were scary as hell, with no barriers, crossing waterfalls and slippery rocks...this would never jive in the US...too many lawsuits waiting to happen.

At the end we actually hiked down into the steep gorge, next to whitewater rapids and the famous "leaping tiger" sculpture. After crawling up out of the gorge and onto the road, we were spent and are still spent, but very proud of our hardcore selves.

Today we arrived in Zhongdian, pretty close to the Tibetan border and definitely with a different feel. Just had a traditional nomad dinner which involved some kind of mashed meat, barley and capsicum which looked like a brown paste...hmm. The weather is great, beautiful skies and clouds, so we're off to bed to enjoy it in the morning!

2006-09-11T21:04:00.000+08:00

Guangxi to Yunnan

So after finishing our time in Guilin, we mounted the 22-hour train to Kunming, no A.C., hot as balls, crammed into the bunks where you can't sit up, and within minutes the floor is covered with nutshells (as if it were some kind of texas saloon) but still fun...we made some friends with our neighbors, including one Mr. Shu from Guangzhou who treated us to a fancy pants meal in the dining car. We tried to refuse, but he moved his numerous dishes to our table and insisted that he'd look us up when he came to New York (when? where? with no last name and no phone number? hmm...). Guess that's just the way things work with this whole 'face' thing. We think it probably made him look super cool to be down with the foreigners.

Kunming was the first real city we've seen, CROWDED as, and with the 10 degree temperature drop a nice break in the weather (though now Julia is huddling in her fleece praying for the sun).

We went for the traditional "Across the Bridge Noodles" where a steaming bowl of soup is set in front of you along with plates of raw meat (and spongy, textured stuff that must have been intestines, etc) that you dump all in and chow down. Note again the tendency for Chinese to drop their trash anywhere they please: we realized as we ate that our feet were resting on the half-chewed bones piled up so far that day. But all worth it for a $1 meal.

Now we've arrived in Dali, an ancient capital that is fairly touristy but still nice. Today we crammed into the local bus (where the fare seems to change at any given time) and headed to the market.

this guy loved the camera

Bai minority ladies trying on headwear

our lunchtime snack, freshly baked before our eyes

The Three Pagodas: date back to 1100 years ago, still standing strong (though all leaning in different directions)

2006-09-07T21:35:00.000+08:00

Yangshuo > DaZhai > Guilin

A pretty busy few days, and now we're pausing for a moment before heading to Yunnan Province on a 22 hour train ride (short in China standards). We spent one last day biking and hiking around Yangshuo, up moon hill (sorry no mooning pics), and some hard core spelunking, here's Aaron crawling through a teeny tiny hole where we had to slide through on our bellies...

Some fun mud bath pics...

Then we headed up to rice terrace country in northern Guangxi, where lots of ethnic minorities live, specifically the long-haired Yao ladies that follow you around trying to sell embroidery. Also lots of farms, everyone working on the land, and animals clucking and snorting all around.

Awesome views from our teeny hotel, where we were the only guests and the wooden floors creaked unstably with every small motion. The family there was real nice, and we have managed to capture an assless chaps picture for you!

the face of the assless chaps

Number of steps climbed so far: 37,592

Today we walked 4 hours through the terraces from the small village of DaZhai to Ping-An, I think our legs will fall off eventually.

2006-09-04T15:16:00.000+08:00

Assless Chaps

Remember those assless chaps that Prince used to wear? Yeah, you know you do.
Chinese babies are sporting the same style. Not only is it fashionable, but it's incredibly functional attire. And when the 3-month-olds need to let it rip, they let it rip. No messy diapers to clean. Just brillance, and very patient mothers.

Now, let's move on to what Aaron found interesting.

Just experienced a torrential downpour, so a few moments to write. Our backs are aching from yesterday's 18 km bike ride around the bella countryside. 1-foot wide rocky dirt paths trying not to fall into rice paddies on either side = sore asses. See, everything leads back to asses somehow.

Estimated tofu consumption so far = 3 pounds

We have a cell phone...not gonna post the number for all those blog-hacking psychos out there, but email us if you want the number.

And here, some photos for yous ...

Julia riding on bicycle

Aaron with the montagne in the background

She's laughing at Julia's ridiculousness

Anyone wanna puff tweeds?

2006-09-02T22:19:00.000+08:00

Yangshuo, Guang-Xi Province

After a super crazy eventful day in Hong Kong, from the airport to the visa office to the travel agent to the visa office to the mainland border to the bus station and onto the sleeper bus...we have finally arrived in Yangshuo, a town close to Guilin.

Two (kind of 3) countries in one day is a lot, and we're pretty pooped, though managed to take a boatride up the river this afternoon and watch the sunset. Massive pointy stone mountains protruding from the ground, pretty spectacular (pics to come).

This area is fairly touristy, so tomorrow we plan to do a little solo exploring in the countryside. Point in case: The guy waiting for the computer next to me is singing along to Alanis Morrisette's "Head Over Feet". Ai yo...

Just want to shout out some thanks to people who helped us get started on this trip: Rich for the pack, Matthieu for the money belt, Hsiang Ray for the phone, Jason for the inspiration, and Adam for the creative pressure.

Here's a China Map if ya'll wanna check out where we are. Our planned itinerary from here is to head north a bit in Guangxi, then west to Yunnan province, then head up through rural Sichuan to Chengdu. From there we're gonna try to make it up to Xinjiang, and then head across northern China through Xi-an to Beijing and then heading south to Shanghai, our final destination. But...it's only day 2.

2006-08-30T22:59:00.000+08:00

Less than 48 hours until me and Aaron plunge into the mainland. For those of you who don't know, which seems to be all too many, we're setting off for 2 months making a big circle around China...though spending most of our time in the west. We're not so much the blog type kinda people, so don't get super high expectations, basically this is so moms and dads know where we are (though my mom did say to me the other day "jul-yah, you have to explain to me this whole 'blog' thing", so I'm hoping she'll actually manage to access it).

When you're living in Taiwan, you get a lot of precautionary advisories before heading to the Da Lu. Folks, please, no more of this negative stuff. I know, I know, the food is too salty, too oily, too spicy, and will make us run to the loo to squat over a stinky hole with other people watching and no toilet paper, and on the way there we'll get robbed by a crew of Tibetan guerrillas then have a 400-hour ride on a hard seat crowded train, get robbed again by someone slicing off our money belt, and when we try to speak to the unfriendly communist police they will ignore us and speak in Shanghainese or some other such dialect. Oh did I mention that we'll freeze in the cold, boil in the heat and get ripped off for 20 times the amount of a bottle of water and then get dysentery from it, our passports will be stolen, Aaron will find a second wife, and I will be kidnapped into the sex trade.

Hmm, I guess somehow me and Aaron will try to squeeze in the remarkable mountains, deserts, lakes, plethora of culture, and multi-thousand year old history. Wish us luck.