New Years Eve in Hong Kong

New Year's Eve in Hong Kong! This is the day!

Alise woke up early and took the subway nearly to China to meet a British retiree who gave her a five hour bird watching tour. The rest of us slept in and on the concierge's recommendation set out for the escalator that goes halfway up Victoria Peak. It is the longest series of escalators in the world and is used primarily for commuters! 

After getting to the top, we walked through some windy overpasses and into the botanical gardens which was also a zoo. We immediately came upon some Orangutans and Gibbons. The gibbons started vocalizing loudly to mark their territory and their yells and hollers echoed throughout the park. We spent quite a while looking at the primates and then found our way out of the park.

We went to the entrance to the tram way but the was a two hour wait! By this time we were all starving and a bit frustrated that we couldn't get on the tram (bad tip by the concierge), so we headed back towards the hotel to find somewhere to eat. We all got a bit grumpy and our group scattered for lunch with Bobby, Billy and Anna going to watch the new Hobbit movie, Cathy and Joe heading to the hotel cafe and after much exploration, Dave, Bill and I settled on burgers and fries...not very Chinese but tasted great, especially with the bottle of Cabernet!

The three of us decided we needed to walk our lunch off so we walked toward "central", a busy part of HK island. We wanted to see if it was feasible to walk to dinner since we figured the metro would be even more crowded on NYE. In Hong Kong, just because from the map it appears you can walk down the street to reach your destination, that is not always the case. The highways create a web of complicated configurations with highways going right through the middle of town, often above or below you. There is an extensive network of elevated sidewalks, submerged sidewalks and regular ones. ANYWAYS, we did find the restaurant, a simple 15 minute walk. We also happened upon a wine store which was fortuitous as we needed wine for later as we were going to camp out in the executive lounge after dinner to claim our spot to watch the fireworks.

We had dinner at Island Tang...had pigs feet, pigeon, prawns, lamb belly, Chinese kale and papaya/snap peas...another delicious meal! Afterwards we claimed our spot in the Executive lounge and watched the fireworks!

Once we leave for Guangzhou tomorrow (a 1:11pm train), we won't be able to blog again until we fly home through Japan on Friday. Some of us are getting up early to try reaching Victoria Peak tomorrow, then on Guangzhou, Billy's home away from home!

Happy New Years from Hong Kong everyone!

Taipan

The shower on the first morning in Hong Kong ranks among the best in history. High water pressure, full lather shampoo and soaps, and luxurious towels washed the country grime from our weary bodies. 

After a dreamless slumber and showers we were ready to conquer the world. 

Bobby, Dave and Joe found a bistro showing the Eagles game (they won!). Alise browsed through Hong Kong Park looking for new bird species.  And Lee, Bill, Billy, Anna and I took the subway to Causeway Bay and Victoria Park where we had lunch at a German restaurant. 

In Victoria Park we saw quite a few people practicing Tai Ch'i. 

Everyone enjoyed their morning and after meeting back at the hotel we headed out again to the Star Ferry and on to Kowloon for some shopping and dinner.  

The Star Ferry was established in 1888 and takes tourists and commuters between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. To get to the ferry we took a subway one stop and then walked a skyway over to the pier. 

Arriving in Kowloon we wandered the streets windowing shopping and finding some bargains.   

On the way to the restaurant we discovered a bar named "The Piss Bar" and couldn't resist going in for beers. We asked the waitress why the interesting name and she replied that her boss had a weird sense of humor. 

After enjoying our beers we made our way to a dim sum restaurant "Din Tai Fung" where we enjoyed duck tongue and chicken feet among other dumplings and noodles. 

After dinner we returned to the hotel via subway, went up to the VIP lounge and enjoyed drinks and dessert before falling into bed for another wonderful snooze. 

Traveling to Hong Kong

Our visit to rural China drew to a close on Sunday. We shook the dust off our clothes and shoes and packed up for Hong Kong. Our flight wasn't leaving until 6:25pm, so we had a leisurely morning, as they shooed us out of our rooms to check out. The day was gorgeous so some of us went for a leisurely walk and stopped at a little tourist stand, Lei's, and picked up some Chinese paintings and trinkets. Then we lounged around in the sun a bit before our ride came to pick us up.

Since we had so much time, we decided to stop in Yangshou, the touristy town near by and on our way to the airport. We walked the streets a bit and then settled on a restaurant. The area that the restaurant was located in was kind of a Chinese version of Paris's Latin quarter. Restaurant after restaurant, with outdoor cafés, though there was also a canal going through the area as well. Lunch was the usual dumplings, greens, noodles and rice, plus tea. We made our way back to our van for the  75 minute ride to the Guilin airport. 

We had hours to wait, but fortunately there was a pleasant tea room we could spread out in and relax. If this had been the States, they probably would have kicked us out for not ordering enough, but this was China and a few pots of tea and some dumplings was enough to hold our space for several hours!

We flew Hong Kong Air and what a great airline! The seats were wider and there was more leg room than any US airline I've been on. We landed in Hong Kong in under an hour and after a quick stop at baggage claim, we found our driver and zipped through the incredible HK airport and onto our bus.

The ride into the city was amazing, especially having come from the countryside. Hong Kong is an enormous port and the highway went right over the shipping container area...it was staggering. Then we spot the city with gigantic skyscrapers, some lit with full portraits of animals and advertisements.

We pulled into the JW Marriott and after checking in, tumbled into our rooms. They all had incredible views of the city. We were on the 22nd and 31st floors! Bill went to bed, Cathy, Joe and Alise ran down to the cafe and after Billy and Anna dropped their stuff off at their Airbnb, just 10 minutes from the hotel, Dave & Bobby & I met them in the lobby bar for cocktails, and snacks. What a great way to end the day of travel.

 

It felt so nice fall into the Marriott bed that night. The beds throughout Asia have been on the hard side, which hasn't bothered me but isn't great for Dave's back. So we felt like we were in a down cocoon falling into these beds! 

I Dreamed I Sailed Down the Li in my...

We made arrangements through the hotel to take a two hour boat ride down the Li River to view the mountains. We all woke up late and after a leisurely breakfast we caught a van at noon to take us to the beginning of the boat trip.  Bill decided not to go with us so after a quick lunch we boarded two small pontoon boats carrying four each. What gorgeous scenery! We wove in and out of the mountains, sometimes they rose in steep cliffs right from the water. At other times there was a little beach. Frequently we saw people (usually a man and woman) working together sifting the dirt and pebbles from the beach. We believe they were gathering clay to make bricks. In other locations there were brightly colored tents where trinkets and snacks were being sold. We could often see caves in the mountains as we passed them. 

It was a famous area and we kept looking for the vista pictured on the 20 yuan note but did not see it until the very end of the trip. 

Returning back to the hotel we again stayed in and ate at the hotel's restaurant. After too much wine, a little Bai Jiu (Chinese firewater) and a game of Bananagrams we again turned in early looking forward to going to Hong Kong on Sunday. 

Beijing to Guilin

Our flight was at 7:15 am so we awoke at 4:30 to dress and get down the hutong in time to meet Mr. Ping at 5:15. This time walking down the alley in the dark did not feel as sinister as our first trip. Traffic was light and we made it to the airport in record time.  We enjoyed Beijing but were happy to leave the bitterly cold weather and sensory overload for warmer, quieter Guilin.  Landing in the airport we saw the first of the Karst Mountains distinguishable by their cone shapes. 

We were met at the airport with a large van. Here the driving was consistently crazy but traffic was only bad in the towns so it was a not quite as nerve racking. We did marvel at the very many modes of travel, many of them quite ingenious. We saw little scooters toting three passengers with a merry sun umbrella, trucks with uncovered diesel tractor motors, bicycles and tricycles of all descriptions, and motor cycles outfitted to pull carts. 

We arrived at our hotel, The Giggling Tree, at about 1 pm. The Giggling Tree was an old assortment of traditional country homes renovated by a Dutch couple set in the middle of the Karst Mountains.  It had a central courtyard with 23 rooms on one side and reception, the lounge, kitchen, and dining room on the other. One end had a round blue door leading to the pool and additional terraces with chairs to enjoy the view. It was very rustic but clean and the staff was friendly. Hot water and heat were a bit of a challenge but manageable. 

The weather was sunny and about 50 so after settling into our rooms we had a relaxing lunch in the courtyard while planning what we wanted to do. 

Dave wanted a therapeutic massage and I wanted a foot massage and facial so we went into town to Dr. Lilly Li's and Alise, Billy, and Anne came with us to explore Yangshou. The rest of the group took naps and relaxed. 

When checking in to the spa they asked Dave and I if we were family. Realizing they were asking if we wanted to share a room we said, "No!"  My spa therapist, Anna, started my facial first. A wonderful facial massage with soft lotions was followed by a mask. While the mask was doing its magic she moved me to a reclining chair and brought in a large wooden tub filled with warm brownish liquid with floating herbs. After soaking my feet for a few minutes she started to massage them.  Ah! It was heavenly! We had been walking an average of ten miles each day for the past ten days and my poor feet felt every one of those 100 miles. Once when I winced she asked if she was pushing too hard, "No, just a little sore," I said. " No pain, no gain" she giggled and then added "but not too much pain, I think."  She worked on my feet for 60 blissful minutes and I was sorry when she finished. But my mask was cracking and she gently washed it off and then gave my face another quick massage and some lotion and I was done. 

Coming into the reception area I heard them tell Dave "Now go into the next room for your bath" looking up I saw Dave scurry out of his room and into the room I had been in where there was a wooden bathtub. He looked up and blushed since he was only wearing his briefs. Ah, family!  Too bad I do didn't have my camera handy!

Soon Dave was finished and the kids returned. They enjoyed wandering the town and found some great scarves during their exploration. 

Returning to The Giggling Tree refreshed we found the others just waking from their naps. 

We decided to take it easy and have dinner at the hotel.  It was an eclectic menu, a mixture of Chinese, Italian, American and a few other dishes such as wiener schneizel thrown in. We all ordered what we wanted and washed it all down with a South African merlot. It was an early night and thankfully the heat had kicked in by the time we headed to beds.    

Boxing Day, second day in Beijing.

We slept in a little later since we had an early day before. The plan was to explore Beijing this day. Our first stop was Tianamen Square. We had to stand in a long security line as it was Mao's birthday. They didn't seem as concerned about us, waving us through and not checking our bags or identification as they were the Chinese.

We didn't stay too long in the square and soon made our way over to the Forbidden City which is directly across the street. There was a second security line, though it moved quickly. We went into the outer courtyard but instead of going all the way through, decided to walk around the outside near the moat.

We walked to the north end and into Jingshan Park, which had a lovely shrine at the top of the hill and great views of the Forbidden City. It was a healthy, steep walk to the shrine, so afterwards, we were all ready for lunch. Billy had a specific restaurant he wanted to take us to, so we hopped on a city bus and went to eat. This restaurant specialized in dumplings and we sampled a ton. Fillings included lamb, pork and chive, vegetable.

After lunch we explored some hutongs for shopping. The first one we went through was so unexpected, full of hipster bars and very upscale clothing stores…with lovely Chinese designer clothes, but beyond our planned budget!

The second hutong was had more bars (not quite so trendy) and shops with more touristy items. We had fun picking up cloisonné, silk scarves and ceramics.

Hutongs are unique to Beijing. They are the tiny alley neighborhoods that used to fill the city but are now being ripped down to make way for development. By tiny, I mean the width of the streets, as the length of the Hutongs is long. An average Beijing block is probably at least 4 to 5 times a US city block!

We used the subways a lot while in Beijing. They were very efficient, if a bit chaotic…there is no waiting for passengers to disembark before crowding on. Everyone just surges in whatever direction they are going. We got quite adept at agressively pushing our way off the train. Nine people pushing and saying “Go! Go! Go” are tough to ignore!

The city itself is a bit of a sensory overload: noisy, crowded, and overflowing with cars.

For dinner, we met Billy's Luce compatriots and friends and family at Man Fu Lou, a hot pot restaurant, a Chinese spin on Shabu Shabu. All the meat was varieties of lamb cuts, enoki mushrooms, dumplings, weird bamboo mushrooms, noodles, spinach and other greens, sweet potatoes and radish. Unlike Shabu Shabu, each person had their own pot, which was a picturesque metal pot, with a center chamber that heated the broth.

After dinner, the boys joined Billy's friends at a bar while the rest do us returned to the hotel to turn in earlier as we had to leave for the airport at 5:15am.

Christmas Day in Beijing

We woke up bright (well almost, pollution index was near 400!) and early for our 8am pick up by Mr Ping. The breakfast at our hotel, Cote Cours, was wonderful: a Chinese omelet, with egg, and potatoes mixed together, great espresso, huge pieces of toast, bacon and yogurt. This hotel is lovely, a traditional Chinese house laid out around a courtyard.

We started off, each wearing our particulate masks, and our first stop was the Summer Palace, created as the summer residence of the last empress of China. It was on the outskirts of present day Beijing, but when it was built, it was in the countryside and built as a respite from the heat and bustle of the city. It is a huge place, built around a giant man made lake, with the dredging of the lake used to create a mountain on which sat one of the buildings. This place was huge, we could easily have spent an entire day there.

Chinese architecture is similar to Japanese (actually the other way around), but it is much more elaborately painted. Billy suggested this may be because at the time, they could have had more money or resources, though I'm not sure it isn't because of the Japanese ascetic.

After the Summer Palace, we had a stop at a jade factory where they explained how jade is carved and how to distinguish real jade, and higher quality and of course, they sold it, which Dave and I couldn't resist.

Next a lunch stop on our way to the Great Wall. The roads started to get windier and Mr Ping's speed picked up. Finally, Cathy shouted from the back, “please stop the car!” and a group of us plowed out of the car to recover from queasy stomachs, from car sickness. Fortunately we were within walking distance from the restaurant, so the queasy ones followed the bus into the parking lot of our lunch stop. For lunch Billy ordered dry fried green beans, egg and tomato, cumin lamb, sweet and sour pork short ribs, chicken and chestnuts, soup noodles, and cold sweet-bitter cucumber.

Next stop, the Great Wall! After much discussion as to whether we should take the cable car or the chair lift up, the cable car was agreed upon (which the height phobic among us greatly appreciated). The wind picked up and blew out the clouds and smog and we had a beautifully clear day at the top of the Wall. Half of the gang, those without height issues, went hiking along the wall, while the rest of us, took pictures and enjoyed the views from a nice tower at the top.

After about 45 minutes at the top of the wall, we returned down to find Mr Ping, as we made our way through thickets of vendors, selling tee shirts, bronze knockers, chops, among other souvenirs.

I had told Mr. Ping that we wanted to be back at the hotel by 5:30 and it was a very exciting ride home, weaving in and out of traffic at breakneck speed.

For dinner, we went to a famous Beijing duck restaurant called DaDong. It was a wonderful experience…we had a ton of appetizers: dumplings, vegetables, noodles, foie gras and two of the ducks! We left completely satisfied and full and took the subway back to the hotel, while Billy & Anna went off to meet some Oberlin friends.

Organized Chaos

We are now in Hong Kong and can resume posting. Our blog was not available to us while in China so we'll catch up now. 

Christmas Eve was a travel day.  We didn't have time to do much that morning, but a few of us ventured across the street to the huge Buddhist temple that was under renovation. We went into the main hall.

It was so serene, it felt like a church Ina way but evoked a greater sense of peacefulness. After breakfast Alise went out to do a little more bird watching and missed the great photo of us with the staff.  

We felt like we were leaving old friends as we said good by to our wonderful hosts at the ryokan. They made us feel like they were truly sorry to see us go. 

Let me explain in more detail what this ryokan, Hokkaikan Ohanabo was like. When we walked in on the first day, we were greeted enthusiastically by several of the women who worked there. They showed us how to remove our shoes, and where they would be stored and they whisked our bags away to our room. Each room had a small entry way with a lovely ikebana arrangement of live flowers, a full, though tiny bath and toilet room and a separate sink room. The bedroom had a Japanese style table and every afternoon the futon beds with bean pillows would be laid out for us. In the morning, while we ate breakfast, the futon bedding would be put away. The futons were on the floor, which was a bit too firm for Dave, so they added 2 extra futons (kind of a prince and the pea setup!). I thought the bean pillows would be uncomfortable but I found them very comfortable as did the majority of our group. There was a common area with another table and pillows and extra bathrooms and even an extra shower room. There were also the traditional communal baths, one for each sex. These had an outer changing area and then you stepped into the bathing area, where you wash before going into the common bath (think large tiled hot tub), which was paneled in wood and had a view of a huge and lovely flower arrangement. In each of the rooms were yukatas, the cotton robes, with an over vest to be used when wearing the yukata to breakfast. When you go down to the bath, you wear the yukata only…no under garments…going “commando”, so to speak.

The whole atmosphere was homey, calming and welcoming. The best thing about it was the people. The women who worked here really took wonderful care of us. They were funny, sweet, and charming and really seemed to enjoy their work. So as you can tell it was hard to say farewell. As we left, they stood outside waving goodbye…and as we looked back, from 2 blocks away, they were still waving so long!

We made our way once again to the Kyoto train station and bought tickets for an express train to the new Kansai airport in Osaka.  

And what an airport!  Brand new and set on the water in Osaka Bay it seemed futuristic. We found the ultimate in toilets - not only heated seats, music, bidet functions but also a  handy fragrance spritzer and a tv! After a quick lunch we got our boarding passes, spent the last of our yen on snacks and got ready for our next adventure! 

We flew China Eastern to Beijing with a quick stop in Yantai.  What a difference from US flights, lunch and a snack was served, and the beer was free!  Landing in Yantai we needed to get off the plane for immigration. This didn't faze Alise, Billy and Bobby but the serious Chinese officials in the green military uniforms made the older generation a little uneasy. The terminal was dimly lit and echoed with subdued voices. I held my breath as the official checking my passport called over his supervisor. There was a tiny spot on my passport at the end of my middle name, "Is this a period?", he inquired after studying it closely. "What is you real name?"  After explaining that the spot was a smudge and not indicating an abbreviation he waved me through with a grumble. 

We were led though a corridor into an austere waiting area. We were happy to find a western toilet even though there was no toilet paper - and, of course, no music, bidet or spritzer!  We were only there a few minutes before we were re-boarding and on our way to Beijing!

As we started to descend I looked for city lights. The lights were very dim and had an orange glow. My eyes started to water and my throat started to feel scratchy. I knew Beijing has a pollution problem but I had never imagined it could be this bad.  Landing I could see it was true; the smog was so thick it was as if a thick orangish fog was settled over the airport. It was impossible to see more than maybe 50 feet.  We deplaned into waiting buses and were driven to baggage claim  and customs. 

Our bags made it out quickly and it was a good thing because Billy was very anxious to get through customs to see his girlfriend, Anna, who had flown in from St Louis on an earlier flight and was joining us for the rest of the trip. Anna was waiting and they had a happy reunion. Soon our driver, Mr. Ping arrived and apologizing for the smog we were on our way. 

The traffic was amazingly chaotic. Lane markings and traffic lights were merely suggestions and the rule of thumb seemed to be the biggest vehicle won the lane. However, bikes and three wheeled taxis courageously buzzed around larger vehicles and pedestrians danced between the moving vehicles at the thoroughly disregarded crosswalks. Arriving at a large thoroughfare Mr. Ping made a phone call and then a u-turn. We were a little confused until he told us he had called the hotel. The hotel was down a small alley and our large van was too wide to negotiate it. The hotel was sending someone with a bicycle rickshaw to carry our bags and guide us down the alley. After two more u-turns we found the alley and unpacked and found our way behind the rickshaw. 

By this time it was about10 at night and the alley felt very creepy in an exotic way. We could hear voices from the buildings around us and the smog was still thick so when we came upon other walkers or bikes they suddenly appeared a few feet in front or behind us. Red lanterns indicated small restaurants and bars and it was difficult to imagine what was going on behind the doors as we passed.

Arriving at our hotel, Cote Cour Hotel we were warmly greeted and shown to our rooms. The restaurant was still open so we quickly washed up and rejoined upstairs at the restaurant. 

We were thoroughly charmed by the hotel. It was modeled after a traditional Chinese home with a courtyard surrounded by the rooms. It was decorated for Christmas with blue lights and traditional Chinese red lanterns marking each room. 

The rooms were lovely as well; carved doors and furnishings and bathrooms with stunning fixtures. The restaurant was equally impressive, beautifully appointed with a full bar and the chef standing ready. We quickly ordered dumplings and noodles, each room had a complementary bottle of wine so we opened several and were thoroughly satisfied. We all stumbled off to bed, we were meeting Mr. Ping early and needed our sleep!