I’ve edited the 750+ pictures I took in China down to a more manageable 200 or so, and they are now online HERE. Please enjoy! Comments are welcome here.

ALSO, a note about photographs on What-What dot com: I’ve added the Lightbox application to my blogging platform, so you can now see photos embedded in blog posts in a nice pop-up form without going to a separate web page. Click on the above image for a sample.

May 22, 2008

Our last day in Hong Kong started late, as we got up slow and puttered about with breakfast (hard boiled eggs, toast, waffles with peanut butter and chocolate) and such. I think we’ve realized that Hong Kong is much better is you have money. A lot of money. Bags and bags of it. Trying to be budget and underground will get you nowhere here, or at least nowhere very exciting as a foreigner/tourist.

Though it was only cloudy where we got up, by the time we left it had started a light rain, so we went to a cafe at the Eaton Hotel where we could use computers with internet. We checked email and news for the last time, and I read the papers, including the Village Voice-esque HK Magazine.

Eventually the rain broke and we got on the metro to Hong Kong island (the Bridal Tea House is in Kowloon), then a bus to do a short hike along the “Dragon’s Backbone”, a ridge that runs along the east side of the island. Though we were hoping for views of the sea, it was fogged in; nevertheless we had a good walk. After the rains the flower and plant life seemed so alive, and as the path wove through some very dense forest, it felt like being in a rainforest. We saw many large and pretty moths and butterflies, as well as countless shimmering spiderwebs.

The walk took a couple of hours before heading down into the lazy surfer town (and obvious expat enclave) of Shek O. We got some chips and a weird lemon chew thingy and hung out on the beach for awhile just watching the locals and some kids (and a few mangy stray dogs).

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May 21, 2008

Clouds but no rain when we woke up (slowly) at around 8:30. We packed up our things and went down to look for breakfast around 10am. Not much available, of course. There’s a buffet at the hotel, but it costs way too much, and we feel like we’re overspending here anyway. We got some bananas and sweet breads the night before, plus a bit of yogurt, so that tided us over for the morning.

We walked over to Mong Kok station and took the metro to Hong Kong island, Central. From here we walked over to the peak tram and rode up, hoping to get some views before the forecasted rain began. It ended up still being pretty cloudy, so the furthest we could see was the Central/Admiralty area of Hong Kong island. The temperatures were a bit cooler here, but still quite humid, so we walked around a bit at the top. (The “Sky Pavilion” or whatever they call the viewing platform costs extra money - a scam and a half when you consider that the same views can be had for free. But a sucker is born every minute, as I noted when watching some German tourists buying a cheesy print of the peak view from a vendor at the top. I’m sure the postcards move quick as well…) Soon we got back on the tram and went down.

From there we headed to the excellent botanical gardens, surely a highlight of Hong Kong. It’s free - an obvious benefit - but (thankfully) doesn’t therefore skimp on quality. Gorgeous flora, from flower trees to all kinds of varied bamboo, ferns, palms and flowers lined clean, well-kept pathways leading by aviaries and mammal cages. The amazing birds ranged from gray-necked and red-crowned cranes to stunning Macaws and Golden Pheasants, which look Egyptian with their casque of bright yellow-orange feathers. I’d never seen any like it.

There were several species of monkey in the mammal area, including a trio of large orangutans munching on fruit, some hyperactive ring-tailed lemurs, some of whom had babies hanging on their backs, and other apes swinging around by their arms only, eagerly anticipating lunch. Great stuff! We also saw a 9-meter-long boat and some Chinese alligators, which I believe they (also) eat.

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May 20, 2008

Fourteen [expletive] hours later, after no sleep due to the [expletive] roads they called “expressways” in a tiny bunk with one pee break, we finally arrived in Shenzhen, four [expletive] hours behind schedule. There was a flat tire in the middle somewhere, but I thought they’d fixed it pretty fast. The AC was either off (sub-tropical) or on (arctic). Our breakfast was cashew nuts.

Shenzhen is very industrial, and thus very forgettable. We had to take city bus 7 from the bus depot to Luhuo terminus and then walk across the border to Hong Kong. The differences were immediate and striking. Cleanliness. No spitting. Many people speak English, and many signs are in English. A huge metropolis. Electricity in the air. We had walked from communism to capitalism and ate vegetarian rice balls for brunch.

We were happy to have reserved a room two nights before, over the internet at the hotel in Yangshuo, as after the bus ride and lugging our increasingly heavy bags, things were getting tiring. We got to the hotel (the Metropark Kowloon, by far the swankiest join we’ve stayed in yet, with a pool on the roof that we unfortunately didn’t use due to the rain) without any problems. The metro system here works just like in Japan, with a distance-based fare system and turnstiles, and it’s clean and fast. We were a little taken aback by the eager bellboys, clearly hoping for tips. That’s something I know nothing about.

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May 19, 2008

When we woke up it was still raining. I felt a bit queasy from last night’s spicy food. We packed up our things and stowed the bags at the front desk, then wandered around and ate a couple of bananas and some bread before going to this bookshop/hostel that was mentioned in the L.P. Here we ordered a breakfast (they’re pretty much the same everywhere, for about the same price, but this one was significantly smaller than the one from M.C. Blues) and read up a bit about Hong Kong.

After waffling a bit about the bus tickets, and as the weather began to finally clear, we first went to the station, canceled the tickets minus a 10% fee and headed back towards the hotel, checking prices at a few tour operators along the way. While the bus station price to Shenzhen was over Y200, we’d been quoted Y130 from the lady at our hotel the night before, and used this as a starting point with the tour operators, whose prices generally started at about Y170. Apparently there are privately chartered buses in addition to the regular ones, which bring costs down. We found one place that could match the Y130 but not beat it, so we bought some ginger candies and returned to the hotel to think it over.

We asked Owen about tickets as well, and even though the lowest price we could find until then was Y130, he arranged for us to jump on the ESL student sleeper bus for Y100! What a guy. He had been so helpful the entire time, and now to do this really meant something to us, especially after all the other shady dealings we’d had. If you’re ever in Yangshuo, China, please go stay and/or eat at his place, the Cormorant Restaurant and Guest House, at the north end of West St (the main tourist drag).

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May 18, 2008

Woke up to strange dreams and pouring rain, which was actually a bit nice, as it gave us some time to relax and write.

We got going from the hotel at noon and wandered in the rain from restaurant to restaurant, comparing prices for breakfast meals, which all seemed about the same (some variation on eggs, toast, fruit, yogurt, bacon, etc). We had asked to borrow an umbrella from the hotel but they only wanted to sell us one, for Y20. We ended up eating at another place in the book, M.C. Blues, and were satisfied with the amount of food and fresh orange juice, though it was still a lot more (Y25) than we were used to paying.

After that we went to the bus station and bought sleeper tickets to Guangzhou for Y120 each, then hopped on the local shuttle for Xingping, a town a ways up the Li river where we could get a boat trip. Once there, we bargained down from Y150 to 40 for the two of us to go up to Yangdi and back on a “bamboo” boat, which was really just ‘boo-shaped metal tubes welded together. The trip was pleasant, with plenty of dramatic karst peaks, caves in the sheer cliff faces and bamboo sprays lining the banks. But when we arrived at what the boatman supposedly said was Yangdi, we just turned around and came back, and the trip was decidedly less than the hour and forty-five minutes it was promised to be. We were even dropped off at a different point than where we started from, necessitating a 15 minute walk or Y2 bus ride. Of course.

It is these types of bitter endings, such as the massage [our ignorance of local tipping practices notwithstanding] and the bus to Yuanyang, that have to some extent soured our experience of China. We have no idea if we’re getting ripped off to begin with, as in most transactions the prices for foreigners are wildly overvalued, but we sure as hell feel that way by the end of them, E especially so. I keep trying to put things in perspective, reasoning that $6 for two hour-long bus rides and a boat trip was worth it. Maybe - no, of course - it was, but does that change the way we felt cheated? Perhaps those penny-pinching Israelis back at the Gorge were right, and that you can’t compare things relatively, you have to shoot for as close to the actual Chinese price - the market rate, if you will, in a state economy - as you can.

Anyway, we finally got back to the hotel to learn that we could have gotten the sleeper bus tickets all the way to Shenzhen (which lies at the border with Hong Kong, an hour or two further along than Guangzhou) for Y130. Great. Cold, we took showers. E was in a bad mood (no surprise, with the rain and the ripoff). I went out to pick up the laundry and found a cheap noodle place that did some spicy veggie noodles and tofu with mushrooms for Y20. I got it to go. E bought some cold beers downstairs and we ate in - what a relief. The day ended as it began: relaxed.

May 17, 2008

Got up around 8:30am and walked in the morning mist and a light rain around the city. First we stopped to get some fruit and coffee smoothies that it seems ALL the Chinese kids were drinking, then E bought a pair of shoes from a discount shop. Not really interested in paying the steep entry fees for Guilin’s sights (mostly caves and faux parks), we wandered around a few of the man-made ponds, one of which has two pagodas - the “sun and moon” - which were quite atmospheric in the mist. We ate the mangosteins we’d gotten yesterday along the winding path.

Guilin seemed much cleaner than most of the cities we’ve been to so far, and we heard far less hocking and spitting than elsewhere. I suspect the reason is the area’s tourism potential during the Olympic games. What an interesting time to have come to China!

Eventually we ended up at the Buddhist vegetarian restaurant that we’d seen in the book. Despite the Chinese-only menu, the staff nicely tried to help us choose dishes based on the food types listed in the back of the Lonely Planet, and even told us the prices (especially of the more expensive ones) before taking our order. We ate a fried tofu and mushroom dish, a bowl of noodle soup and some sweet n’ sour eggplant, along with some deep fried peanuts as a snack. Funny thing: they brought us forks.

After lunch we poked through a street market trying to bargain for some so-so boxer briefs, then went to a massive department store called the Niko Niko Do Plaza (I think) and bought several kinds of tea and a bunch of snack-type things in the basement supermarket. Some of the teas were extremely cheap - about Y25 per 500 grams (which is a heckuva lot of tea) - but others were outrageously expensive, getting up above Y2000 for the same amount.

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May 16, 2008

We got up about 8am and took a taxi to the “Twin Dragons Bridge”, which, like many sights listed in the book, was mediocre - it barely went over a stream. We had more difficulties with the cab driver: when we tried to ask how much a return trip would be, he put up three fingers, and motioned back and forth. We took this to mean Y3 there and Y3 back. Suspecting that this might be a bit low, we even tried to confirm this when we got to the bridge. But he really meant Y30 - exorbitant for the maybe half hour the entire excursion took. We argued a bit, then just gave him Y15 and got out. I was looking over my shoulder for the next two hours, thinking he might have called some cabbie friends or the police to push us around. That didn’t happen, but I still felt like we’d left an impression as belligerent foreigners.

We we got back to town we did a little shopping, then checked out of the hotel and got on the bus to Kunming without difficulty. During the not-uncomfortable ride I watched some great kung-fu movies. I think Jianshui was the one place so far that we were a tiny bit sad to leave, thought I don’t know if there was much else to do there. Perhaps it was just the relaxed vibe. Once we got to Kunming we got a great hot bowl of silken tofu with spices, scallions and soybeans and a bag of mangosteins from a street vendor. I haven’t mentioned these delicious fruits until now, but they are one of the highlights of China by far. Sweet-sour, succulent and easy to open. We also had a bunch of lychees with us during our days in Yuanyang which were quite nice as well, though more sour. Now we’re finally on our flight from Kunming to Guilin, after catching an easy taxi ride to the airport. The meal sucked, but we were hungry enough to eat it.

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