Jiuzhaigou/ Huanglong revisited

One of the few bonuses of work finally surfaced in the form of an expense-paid client summit our company organized in Sichuan – yayyy! Compared to the freezing cold and desolation in winter 2008 (and not to mention 20RMB hostel beds with little or no heating!), this time, we were in a 5 star hotel and after a one-day mind-numbing conference, we were rewarded with two days of sightseeing – we even got a cable-car ride up to the top of Huanglong (as opposed to a 4 hour hike) nope, can’t complain about it.

Crystal Clear waters

Huanglong is very desolate in winter. It’s cold and completely devoid of tourists. The cable-car is off-service and we almost walked into the park unchecked (the ticket officer sprang out from a little hut, no doubt hiding from the cold)
This time the colours were much more vivid because of the lush verdant forests and numerous waterfalls. I also got to see several more sights and walking trails that were sealed of in winter. Of course, the payoff was are a lot more tourists in summer and that means endless queuing and jostling!

Spring/ early summer in Jing

Spring blossoms in Beijing. Peach, cherry blossoms, almond flowers in bloom makes for a pleasant trip to the park. this one is taken @ Yuyuantan. I snuck out during lunch time on a weekday so as to avoid the hordes of people and not to mention those spoilt, screaming kids that plague public places on weekends.

If you wanna show that YOUR multi-coloured plastic flowers are the best, you gotta walk the talk and wear them, esp the pink ones. Even if you're a man. yes.

Sandy Lam concert in Beijing. Thoroughly enjoyed her concert even though i'd never really consider myself a super-fan of hers. Still, i remember several of her hits back in the 90s and had fun singing along.

It's been a weird summer. Usually it's a sauna by May but this time, its been relatively cool with lots of rainfall. in the meantime, Beau was in his element with the internet shopping and stocking up on camping gear and gadgets - foldable chairs (with pockets that keep your beer cold!), bbq pit, taupaulin sheets, cooler box, etc. He then decided a camping trip was in order to test-drive all that gear!

We drove to Miyun and camped by the Bai river for the weekend. I'm proud to announce we've reached new heights with our camp-dinner standards - korean flavoured bbq pork (marinated at home) and veggie salad washed down with beer! It's no michelin of course, but getting there ;-)

The next morning, we climbed up to a waterfall, did some rock-climbing and then cycling.

Exhausting but fun!

Roadtrip to Datong, Shanxi

I've been wanting to go to Datong since my 2006 China backpacking trip. But with the sudden detour to Hangzhou for the interview and all back then, i had to change my plans and head south instead. After Hangzhou, I was suddenly employed and i had to rush back to Singapore to prepare.

Fast forward 3.5years later, I finally made it there. We took a road trip to Datong with Beau and a couple of friends over Qingming.

Visited the Hanging monastery, the Yungang Grottoes, Wooden pagoda of Yingxian, crumbly bits of the Great Wall, as well as some ancient volcanoes. all in all a really pleasant trip to the "countryside" and managed to check off a few more UNESCO World Heritage Sites off my list.

Shanxi's not so idyllic countryside. some of these villages look downright wretched. Dry, arid, rundown..and empty.

View of a villager's house standing on the GW.

Showed my mum photos of the Yungang grottoes and she was really impressed. Someday i would love to take her to see the real thing. This particular statue is 60+m tall, and the mini statue under the Buddha's arm is already 1.8m. Impressive indeed. Now that i've seen Yungang and Longmen, i MUST make a trip to Mogao in Dunhuang to finish the entire series of "Greatest Grottoes in China"

Elaborate carvings in the Yungang grottoes. Some of the colours are still very well-preserved.

Xuankong temple (Hanging monastery) - tramped to death. Disappointing because its been over-developed commercially and concrete reinforcements had to be put in - which kinda destroys the whole point of it all. Thousands of people stampede their way through this delicate wooden structure and have no qualms about sitting on it, touching it, and just eroding this structure. Of course i'm guilty since I've also paid for a ticket to go in. I guess it might not be there in 5 years time. or, chances are, they'd tear it down and rebuild a replica so they can milk even more $ out of this.

Making up for more lost time...

Guess i'll just speak with pictures instead of words.

New Year's 2010 was spent in Dongbei again, it seems we do like to torture ourselves. Beau convinced me the rime trees in Jilin would be worth the cold. Well, as "tropical peoples", -35deg C was definitely a novel experience. Snce i didn't bring a down jacket (silly me), i wore about 5 layers on top (1 cotton long-sleeve, 2 fleeces, 1 pullover and 1 ski jacket), and 3 layers of pants - 1 pair of leggings, 1 fleece pants, knee-high socks, ankle-length socks, and padded ski trousers. oh, and undies of course. but that amount of fabric was immaterial compared to the layers outside. and a hat, and the hoodies from the pullover and the ski-jacket. and i was STILL COLD.

For the record, the above amount of clothing keeps you warm for about an hour or so.. then the condensation from your breath cools so quickly that icicles form on your eyebrows, eyelashes and hair. Snot just runs down your nose non-stop.. brrrrr... yip. not a pleasant experience.

Skiing also takes more than the usual effort if you're so cold your limbs are frozen and you have so many layers of clothing on you can't move, or see very much.

But don't let this post discourage you from experiencing it for yourself! ;-)

Making up for lost time

Didn't get a chance to post pix when i was behind the friggin GFW so here are some of the highlights from 2009, or posterity's sake.

i've been thinking about switching blogs but i'm kinda attached to this one since i started my travelling in 2006 and have had 130+ posts to date. Nyeah. i'll be loyal.

Longmen Grottoes, south of Luoyang city, Henan province. Awe-inspiring collection of statues carved 1500 years ago.

There you go.. i took the plunge.

Sunset in Uluwatu, Bali

Great Wall revisited

Spring fever

Each time spring comes along, I always have the irresistable urge to go hiking. I joined a hiking club on one of their trips to the great wall near the Miyun reservoir. Along the way, we walked past some watchtowers



Sunshine, clear blue skies with no clouds.



This is my first hiking trip for the season and hopefully there are many more to come.

View of the roundtower from the other cliff

Miyun Reservoir thru the watchtower

Yunmeng gorge

Long overdue - Part II - Yabuli

From Harbin, we departed on a train south-east towards Yabuli, about 2hr 30mins away. Yabuli touts itself as the winter-sports hub of China, where there are a number of ski-grounds, including the training facilities for the national team. It touts itself as an affordable alternative to Europe or Japan for skiing, and this year, Yabuli is hosting the winter universiade, where a myriad of students from various countries will compete in a variety of events like ice-hockey and skiing. No chance of any representation from Singapore then!

Yabuli train station

The resorts offer beginner to advanced slopes, and for as low as 100yuan (approx. US$15), you can ski for 2 hours, and it even comes with snowboard/ski and piste rentals and ski-lift rides to the intermediate or advance slopes. Hire a coach if you can’t ski to save your life.

While I was there, struggling not to fall down the bunny slope, I saw little kids from the national team repeatedly whizzing past me (running uphill in their skis) and then racing down at top-speed N times– so much for thinking I’m athletically-inclined! However, I saw just as many beginners crashing into the fence. My excuse for my poor form - I was born in a tropical country!

At Yabuli, the ever-resourceful beau found us a homestay in one of the nearby villages for an "authentic” dongbei experience for only 50yuan a person.

Dongbei people traditionally in-build brick stoves into their brick houses. The locals burn wood-fire to cook and warm the house. The heat from the stove is channeled into various parts of the house, including the walls, and the bedrooms which have a platform about 1 m high (thus eliminating the need for a bed-frame) where you can lay mattresses and bedding. This keeps the house incredibly warm and toasty during the long, harsh winter.

However, for whatever reason, i couldn't sleep well that night. Maybe the platform was too hard and i was used to sleeping on a thicker mattress. Or, maybe it was because the heat coming through the mattress was so strong that i felt like i was a pizza being cooked over a fire.

Anyhow, our homestay was very pleasant and relaxed- we felt enveloped in warmth inside the house (even though it was minus 20 deg C outside) and the very nice hostess also served us hearty home-cooked meals.

The next day, Beau and I embarked on an ambitious plan to hike from the village to the top of the mountain. It didn't seem very far (from where we could see) and it appeared to be a half-day job - just had to walk past the lake, and into the forests and cut through a couple of hills to get to the top - or so it seemed. Everybody we enquired said it could "possibly be done" although they had never tried. Needless to say, we lost our directions since we didn't have a topo map or a compass.

After walking past the lake, we entered the forest and meandered our way through. the trees There were no visible trails and the ski-slope was obscured from view. I grumbled at Beau while we trudged in knee-deep snow and fought the branches in our face. The snow in my shoes were making my toes frosty!

Suddenly, we became aware that someone else was amongst the woods, watching us as we walked through. We turned and saw some wild-looking man in a tatty army jacket and a dead deer lying by his feet. He sat there motionless, staring at us until we said hello and ask for directions to the ski-slope but he seemed very sinister and unfriendly. He pointed us in the opposite direction of where we were heading, and without saying much else, dragged the deer into the forest and disappeared. We were sufficiently spooked-out when he appeared behind us just as silently 15 minutes later without the deer. We let him past and again, he melted into the forest in a matter of minutes. We decided to turn back - there was no way we could make it on to the ski-slope by our targetted time, and this guy spooked us out. Did he shoot the deer? it looked like a bullet went through its body but we didn't hear any gunshots.

On our way back out of the forest, we saw drops of blood along the trail and we figured out that he had dragged thie animal down the hill to store it somewhere and came back up again. How on earth did he drag this load down and return so quickly?!

Beau and I had a field day speculating various theories about this guy - he didn't seem like a farmer from the nearby villages. Our most plausible theory being he was a convicted criminal on the run, hiding in the woods and living off the land. Was he alone or did he have some fellow hunters?

Anyway, that was how we ended of our little hike and in the end, we had to hop on a bus to get to the ski-grounds -an unglamorous conclusion to our little Siberian wilderness adventure.

By the lake

I love the wilderness and the stark landscape -pristine white snow that glisten in the sun and the desolate forests. In the distance, spires of smoke rise from the farmhouses. There is an overwhelming silence except for the crunch of snow under your feet (or in your shoes!).

This is what i imagine Siberia looks like.

I didn't take that many photos because my fingers were frozen beyond mobility. Plus, my camera battery went flat frequently because of the cold and i couldn't be bothered to take my hands out of my pockets to warm them up!

Long overdue -Part I - Harbin

Long overdue photos of my winter trip up to the north-east

Spent the first few days of 2009 in Heilongjiang in the north-east or “dongbei” as Chinese call it. First stop was Harbin, where it was a mind-numbing minus 15 deg celcius.

Heilongjiang has strong Russian and Japanese influences, and it was ruled by the Manchus since the beginning of the 17th century right until 1911. The Russians came in the early 20th century after the Harbin-Vladivostok railway line was built and essentially built a miniature Russian city in the heart of Manchuria. From a dusty middle-of-nowhere northern outpost, Harbin was transformed into a modern city. In its heyday, Harbin was the playground for Russians, and boasted the first movie theatres, bath-houses, and a brewery (that still churns out Harbin Beer today) in the whole of China. During summer, they swam in the Songhua river, and in winter, played/invented sports such as women’s swimsuit snow-tubing (really).

The Japanese invaded Manchuria in the 30s and Inner manchuria was then known as "Manchukuo" and became a puppet state of Japan until WW2.

In the early 50s, Harbin, together with the rest of “dongbei” became the industrial base of China. Heilongjiang became a major producer of heavy industrial machinery and vehicles. Coal-mines established, and even oil was discovered. HLJ became synonymous with smog and pollution.

Today, it still retains some of its Russian flavour, with its stately architecture and cuisine and has an exotic look and feel to it. Coming into town via the airport bus, Harbin, at first impression seemed an old, gritty city. Several of the residential buildings were dilapidated and neglected.

Here, majority of the laowais are tourists from Russia, who hope over the border from a little town called Black River via train. How do you identify Russians? They wear fur and leather - loads of it. So much so that PETA would have a field day here. Even the locals here look different – a mixture of Han, Manchu, Japanese, and perhaps Siberian. The girls have round faces, straight midnight-black hair with a short fringe, large black eyes, and double-eyelids -very pretty. They all look like they are named “Irina” for some reason.

On the whole, Harbin’s infrastructure looks like it badly needs modernizing to catch up with the rest of the 2nd tier cities. The city buses were old and sluggish and bus-stops had graffiti all over. Beau commented that even the beggars here seemed much worse-off.

We visited the provincial museum and while it boasted an array of historical artifacts and relics (including some massive dinosaur skeletons), the displays were old-school and looked like they haven’t been updated since the 80s.

“Zhongyang dajie” or “Central street” is the showcase of its “Russian-ness”. Zhongyang dajie is a pedastrianized shopping street that has been spruced up and proudly proudly shows off its stately European-style buildings. There are a multitude of shops selling 红肠 or literally “red sausages” (a Russian tradition, apparently), Russian goods (think matryoshka dolls), and fur coats.

2 bears walked past me. I had to resist the urge to hug them - they looked so warm while i froze.

Another 2 Russians looking at the St Sophia Church

The highlight of my Harbin trip was definitely the annual ice-sculpture festival. Every winter, temperatures drop well below 0 degree Celcius, and huge blocks of ice are harvested from the frozen Songhua river and transported north of the city onto Taiyang Island, where they are transformed into a themepark wonderland. Even the park itself is ringed with a 1.5m tall wall entirely made of ice.

The scale of the sculptures were, frankly beyond my imagination and one can’t help but just gawk at all the magnificence of it all. . There are 40m high castles that change colours every 20 seconds, a huge Buddha sculpture, Chinese temples, churches, etc, all cleverly in-built with flashing neon light circuitry. In addition, it also has a miniature skating rink, snack stalls that peddle bintang hulu, souvenirs and little tents where you can escape from the cold for a steaming hot drink. There was also a big tent featuring Russian cabaret dancers.

This is the 10th year the festival is held and it's the ultimate crowd pleaser for adults and children alike but for the love of god, do wear warm clothes!!





A log of what I wore (and yet still felt frost-bitten) while i was up north:

• Thermal long-sleeved top


• Fleece top


• Thick pullover


• Ski jacket


• Leggings


• Fleece trousers


• Ski pants


• Socks x 2 pairs


• Neck-warmer


• Gloves


• Hiking boots

Hello Spring, goodbye woolly thermal underwear

Spring has finally sprung in Beijing and i've ditched the woolly thermals - nothing like sunshine to improve one's mood. my feet are absolutely itching to go hiking. i NEED to go outdoors Now.

Meanwhile, I've been playing tourguide for the past few days to an assortment of visitors and this week, dad arrives (with $10 worth of newton carrot cake!!) and i brought him out for a little jaunt downtown Beijing. Amongst the many common traits we have, serious caffeine addiction is one of them. A coffee stop is de rigeur as part of afternoon sightseeing.

looking out of the cafe @ Nan luo gu xiang hutong

the domey National Theatre - i like

Tiananmen - sparse crowds since its a weekday

post-olympics

Went to the Olympic park today for another look at the stadium/cube, and to admire the vastness of it all. The crowds have since come and gone. Now, the touts peddling instant photos, Olympic mascot keychains and other kitschy souvenirs outnumber the tourists who come to gawk at these new symbols of Beijing. Amazingly, I managed to snap this where there was nobody else in the square except the uniformed personnel. They look terribly disinterested, even from the back.

Snow in Beijing -the first for the year

Beijing has been relatively snow-less this winter.. until today. Apparently its global warming. Thats the explanation for any freakish weather anyway. From the warmth and comfort of the apartment,i can see lots of excited kids (and their parents) playing outside amidst the flurries.

Brr... i don't want to be outside, especially when i've just came back from 30deg C weather. Just as well i'm stuck at home job-hunting eh?

This reminds me, i've yet to post my Harbin /Heilongjiang photos from new year's day... I suppose i'll get it out soon.

Huanglong

Personally, I enjoyed Huanglong a lot more than Jiuzhaigou. Despite hearing conflicting rumours about whether Huanglong was open to visitors in the off-peak season, we decided to risk it anyway. To our delight, the park was near-empty upon our arrival – I counted less than 15 visitors I saw in the 4 hours we were there.

My travel companions and I took a leisurely walk (not as easy as it sounds since i get really breathless at higher altitude!) up to the highest point (3600m above sea-level), stopping to take in the numerous shimmering multi-coloured ponds, lakes, a completely frozen waterfall, and of course its famed travertine formations.

The calcium carbonate in the pools give off different hues in the sunshine

A waterfall completely frozen in motion - surreal!

Travertine (i learnt a new word!) formations formed by calcium and other mineral deposits

Tibetan temple near the top of the park

If you listened carefully enough, you could hear gurgling sounds of water rushing beneath the frozen surface.

Jiuzhaigou

Well-known amongst local and foreign visitors for its captivating scenery, Jiuzhaigou (literally means “Nine-Stockade Valley”) in the Aba county of Sichuan boasts several scenic lakes, waterfalls and peaks. Bestowed with a UNESCO World Heritage Site title as well as designated a China AAAA class scenic spot title also means, unfortunately that this area has became vastly commercialized and crass.

Since the early 1980s (or was it the 70s?), the Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area has been developed rapidly, and ticket prices reflect its status as a top tourist destination Entry tickets are a whopping 200RMB during peak season and that’s excluding the bus that runs within the park (that costs another 90RMB).

Historically, Jiuzhaigou was mainly occupied by Tibetans and Qiang ethnic minorities but that is probably no longer the case. The villages leading to the gates of the national park are swamped with countless insipid hotels, souvenir stores, restaurants, amenities etc, in uniform concrete buildings (painted to look Tibetan-style) catering to the masses, and these are run mostly by Han Chinese. There are also performance theatres promising “authentic” Tibetan singing and dancing performances.

During the off-peak season, which is when I visited, this area is a dismal ghost-town with most of the restaurants, theatres and shops shut. The relative peace and quiet was much welcomed though. Less visitors meant I didn’t have to book transport or accommodation in advance. The bus-station and vast coach-parks built to cope with peak season crowds are deserted, taxis cruise empty, honking desperately at tourists and the Sheraton glows eerily, with its shiny Christmas lights and tinsel. Not that I stayed there of course –I was merely passing by. In fact, I probably stayed in the opposite extreme of a 5 star luxury hotel – a 20RMB per night dorm bed in a youth hostel. The only heating we had in this sub-zero weather was an electric blanket!

I met some fellow travelers en-route to Jiuzhaigou - we hunkered down in the same dorm and spent an amiable few days together. During the day, we visited Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong national parks, and during the evenings, we gathered round the coal-fired stove to play cards, drink tea and chat.

My take on Jiuzhaigou – Well, it was indeed beautiful, with its alpine forests, snow-capped mountains, waterfalls and aquamarine lakes. But, I couldn’t help but think that I saw all this pristine beauty in Norway couple years back, sans gated entry, constant signs and reminders not to smoke, litter or feed the fishes,and &*@# touts!! At every scenic spot that the bus off-loaded us, touts peddled jewelry, souvenirs, “1-minute instant photos” that came complete with slip-on Tibetan costumes so you can really look the part. I know they are just trying to make a living but we were hassled incessantly and that just killed it for me.

Also, it was annoying that the park closed off several scenic spots and walkways due to some dubious reason of “high danger of fire hazards”. This meant effectively that a) we couldn’t see ALL the stuff we wanted to see and b) we were forced to pay extra for the bus, get off, snap a picture, and board the bus repeatedly in order to tour the park. I had come to Jiuzhaigou prepared to walk and take in the scenery quietly over a couple of days, but now I was forced to see the park with bus-loads of other tourists in such a restricted mode. Cramping my style! I shudder to think what this place must be like in peak-season.

Sichuan Revisited [2008]

My first visit to Sichuan was in Nov 2006, as a somewhat carefree backpacker. From Zhongdian (Yunnan), my travel companions Will, Hazel and myself crossed over to west Sichuan into a little town called Daocheng, and thereafter taking long bus rides to Litang and Kangding on the way to Chengdu. Even though i complained inccessantly then about those colourful, long bus rides in freezing weather, they were, in fact one of the most memorable parts of my trip!

Looking back at my posts from 2 years ago, I am no doubt amused by the stuff I used to be amused about. I can sense a different mood in my writing then and now - I was definitely more carefree and adventurous before! Back then, I was new to China, and new to the country’s culture, language, and ‘the way things worked”. Everything was a lot more fresh and exciting and I discovered new things everyday.

Admittedly, this novelty has since waned significantly now that I’ve spent 2 years now in China, and I’m familiar with “the system”. (Or perhaps growing older makes you more cynical generally?) I don’t think so hard about eating in hole-in-the-walls and wondering whether I’ll get food poisoning, my Mandarin and bargaining skills have significantly improved and allowed me to research a lot more local information, travel more inconspicuously ( not a blatant laowai), and navigate my way around like any other seasoned Chinese traveller.

I remember Yingtze and I chanced upon a lamian shop in Yunnan and excitedly watched the guy shave slivers of dough into a pot of boiling water – my very first Lanzhou daoxiao mian experience! We gawked and even took pictures. Later on, I realized that Lanzhou lamian stalls were so ubiquitous they were in every other street corner in every city in every province!!

I don’t want to lose this sense of adventure and joie de vivre – Life would be so bland if one became blasé and jaded about everything, no? Although my trip this time was short, it was, in many ways, a timely reminder for me to “rediscover my sense of discovery” so to speak.

While living in Hangzhou, I took short trips here and there, but nothing beats going on a long trip on your own. It’s been awhile since I’ve travelled solo – and I missed that feeling (and perhaps I might not have many more chances to do so in future!), being on the road, taking in new scenery and meeting people. So with about 10 days to spare, once again, I stuffed my rucksack with warm clothing, and “just-in-case supplies”, and boarded a plane for Chengdu with a vague plan to explore North Sichuan.

Leaving Hangzhou, next stop: Beijing

I had a busy 2-3 months prior to leaving Hangzhou for good. In between work, my weekly schedule of yoga, running and drinking, my parents visited China and i spent some time with them. Then there was a decadent Shanghai weekend trip squeezed in, visits to Beijing, the HZ mountain race, HZ marathon, a raucous Halloween party and countless other reasons i was in the bar - birthdays, farewells and such.

It goes without saying that by now i have developed a strong attachment to the city, not least because of my friends here that have made me feel at home in Hangzhou. But at the same time, towards the last 6 months, i had a growing restlessness and a niggly feeling that it was time for me to move on. Perhaps my only regret is I could have achieved more work-wise. It was hard to prise myself away from my friends and my life in Hangzhou. To relocate to a new city, find a new job, new friends, and have a new life would mean scrapping the rythym and stability i had acquired and starting from zero all over again.

But hey, this is what life is all about - There's much more to be done and experienced elsewhere!Change is the only constant, as the cliche goes. Keep on dancing!

"The wheels of the bus go round and round.. "

So goes the tune of the children's song...

My favourite bus in Hangzhou is the tourist bus Y4. Here's why - for a start, it goes past 2 of my favourite bars - Seven and Maya. Then it goes down leafy, tree-lined Shuguang lu and swings west into the countryside - passing through the Hangzhou botanical gardens, rows of picturesque teahouses, the "new" west lake, and some new-ancient Buddhist temples. Then it chugs into the Meiling tunnel and emerges on to the winding road leading to Meijiawu and Yunxi bamboo forest, where both have excellent trails leading up to the hills. Best of all, it costs next to nothing, and its a joy when you get the window seat and get to snap photos of the scenes passing by.

Evidence presented below :-)

Huang-ni-ling （黄泥岭）

Meijiawu valley

Cute - its a toy-boat by the way.

Mao Jia Bu (茅家埠）

Opposite Yunxi bamboo trail (云栖竹径）