Francesca and Henk-Jan's Backpacking Trip!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Impressions Of China
The 29th of June certainly got off to a slow start. Francesca and I mulled over our decision to stay in Yangshuo for another day, since the Impressions show had been canceled the previous night due to high water levels in the Li River. We ended up staying and found out the show was definitely on for that evening. We still had to figure out the best way to leave Yangshuo the next day, so that was our first goal for the morning. We ended up finding out it would be easiest to just go to the bus station and ask around, since buses would leave regularly for Guilin.
As we were walking down the main street Francesca and I were halted by a few Chinese high school students that wanted to ask us a few questions and practice their English. Since we hadn't done our good deed for the day we sat down with them and told them what we thought of the area. They were very excited to actually have someone to talk to and naturally wanted their picture taken with us.
This amusing experience was followed by food. I'd seen a recommended restaurant called 'Cloud 9' in the Lonely Planet and took Francesca there. When we walked into the restaurant it was entirely empty, which felt like ultimate bliss in ever-crowded China. I felt adventurous and ordered the braised dog meat in garlic pot (hope that doesn't offend anyone!), which happened to be a local dish. Francesca got a sweet and sour chicken, along with some dumplings to share. The dog didn't taste bad at all, kind of similar to chewy mutton, but I mainly ate it for the novelty of it. Francesca's chicken was great and she was really happy with her choice. During our meal another couple came in, with a camera crew following them. We wondered what was going on, and figured out that they were shooting a promo for the restaurant's cooking courses. Sounded like a pretty cool job!
Francesca wanted to explore the city more, since she noticed it had changed so much since her last visit. We walked down the entirely new streets, loaded with souvenirs and restaurants and felt sad that Yangshuo was losing its charm. Once we reached the river and looked out over the awe inspiring horizon we instantly felt better. The peaks in the distance just looked majestic, and the reflections in the water only added to the surrealism of the whole situation. We were rudely awakened by the incessant hawkers, offering tours and food in their broken Chinglish. We eventually fell for their words and the heat, and purchased some ice creams and water. Then we made our way back down the main street, popping into some of the weirder looking stores. One stood out in particular: a shop selling matches. The whole place was selling matches in boxes in all shapes and sizes. The boxes had the strangest and most shocking pictures on them! One I found particularly disturbing is the one listed below. I don't think you have to be able to read Dutch to understand this is still culturally a no-no.
We returned to the hotel, relaxed for a bit and got ready for 'Impressions,' the show Francesca had raved about since the beginning of the trip. We were picked up and brought to the show grounds, where we joined a bunch of Chinese people and stood around for a long time, aimlessly waiting for something that could not be explained to us in English. Francesca took the time to buy some snacks, whilst I rented us a pair of binoculars to watch the show with. After a while we finally got moving and went inside. We were handed some raincoats (just in case) and guided to our seats. Francesca was surprised to see the grass previously used as a seating area had been replaced by a concrete seating area. We were very happy with our seats and anticipated the show eagerly.
The Yangshuo Impressions Light Show definitely turned out to be 'something else.' The performance utilizes the natural surroundings to create a spectacular outdoor theater which is the largest of its kind. The Li River itself is the stage and twelve mountains serve as the backdrop. The theater is designed to blend, merge and work with the natural environment. The crowd sits in the dark as the mountains light up, creating a gorgeous display of light and sound.
Francesca and I watched in awe as the 600 (!!!) actors played out different scenes from daily life in and around the Li River. The story was hard to follow, since it was all in Chinese, but the visual aspect alone was more than enough to become fully engaged. For a good 90 minutes we watched the lights and fires flicker in the distance, always surrounded by the ever-present peaks. I hope the pictures give you an inkling of what it was like to be there...
After the show Francesca and I made our way back through the crowds and found our van's driver. We were taken back to the hotel and packed up our bags for departure the next morning.
On the 30th Francesca and I caught the 9:30 AM bus to Guilin. We'd read the trip would take us roughly one hour, but we ended up in a 'slow bus,' which means it stops for everyone, to the point where the isle is crowded entirely as well. Luckily we had good seats in the front, so the two hour drive wasn't that bad. When we arrived in Guilin we were a little unsure about our location. I tried to figure it out, but were soon enticed by a little place that said 'hotel bookings.' We were hoping they'd be able to help us out. The employee unfortunately spoke no English (why!), but managed to call someone to pick us up. We didn't mind walking with this guy to his hostel, which was part of the Youth Hostel International chain. The room was spacious, and for $15 a steal.
The bags were quickly left behind in the room, as we made our way to Yiyuan, a restaurant just across the river that had been recommended to us. I first tried to order the 'beer fish,' a local delicacy, but after I'd been led to the back where the fish was still swimming, and I heard the rather steep price I opted for something else. The 'pong dua' (spicy chicken) and sweet and sour chicken were both delectable, so we were perfectly fine with our choices.
A little walk away we found the only tourist site worthy of our time in Guilin: the Sun & Moon Pagoda. Set in the middle of the city in the middle of a park in the middle of a lake, the two pagodas seem very out of place in an otherwise grey and dreary city. We bought entrance tickets and headed for the first of the two Pagodas. The octagonal, seven-storey Moon Pagoda is the more traditional of the two pagodas, and decorations looked more ancient. We climbed all the way to the top for a nice view of the surroundings and headed back down to the basement, to cross through the underground tunnel to the 41 meter high Sun Pagoda, the world's tallest copper pagoda and one of the few pagodas in the world with an elevator. Since we are lazy people, and the climb of the first pagoda had already drained our energy we took the elevator to the 7th floor. We still had to climb a few steps to the top, but found the view well worth it once again.
On our way out of the park Francesca and I crept behind a little waterfall and some rocks for some cool pictures. We took one last look at the twin pagodas. We were
sad we couldn't go see them at night, since they're lit up in yellow and white light during the evenings. Instead, we headed back to the hostel to do some research for Xiamen, our next stop and Shanghai, our destination after that. We had found out finding a hostel was nearly impossible and hoped couch-surfing would be possible. We were very happy to be accepted by some cool-sounding people! We even found a host in Xiamen and were all set for the following days.
In the evening I headed out for food for Francesca and got her a meal from KFC. On the way back I also picked up a noodle soup, some steamed buns and a slice of watermelon for myself. All of that cost me no more than $2. Ah, gotta love these prices! The evening ended calmly with a movie and some bag-packing, before arranging a taxi to the airport the next morning.
As we were walking down the main street Francesca and I were halted by a few Chinese high school students that wanted to ask us a few questions and practice their English. Since we hadn't done our good deed for the day we sat down with them and told them what we thought of the area. They were very excited to actually have someone to talk to and naturally wanted their picture taken with us.
This amusing experience was followed by food. I'd seen a recommended restaurant called 'Cloud 9' in the Lonely Planet and took Francesca there. When we walked into the restaurant it was entirely empty, which felt like ultimate bliss in ever-crowded China. I felt adventurous and ordered the braised dog meat in garlic pot (hope that doesn't offend anyone!), which happened to be a local dish. Francesca got a sweet and sour chicken, along with some dumplings to share. The dog didn't taste bad at all, kind of similar to chewy mutton, but I mainly ate it for the novelty of it. Francesca's chicken was great and she was really happy with her choice. During our meal another couple came in, with a camera crew following them. We wondered what was going on, and figured out that they were shooting a promo for the restaurant's cooking courses. Sounded like a pretty cool job!
Francesca wanted to explore the city more, since she noticed it had changed so much since her last visit. We walked down the entirely new streets, loaded with souvenirs and restaurants and felt sad that Yangshuo was losing its charm. Once we reached the river and looked out over the awe inspiring horizon we instantly felt better. The peaks in the distance just looked majestic, and the reflections in the water only added to the surrealism of the whole situation. We were rudely awakened by the incessant hawkers, offering tours and food in their broken Chinglish. We eventually fell for their words and the heat, and purchased some ice creams and water. Then we made our way back down the main street, popping into some of the weirder looking stores. One stood out in particular: a shop selling matches. The whole place was selling matches in boxes in all shapes and sizes. The boxes had the strangest and most shocking pictures on them! One I found particularly disturbing is the one listed below. I don't think you have to be able to read Dutch to understand this is still culturally a no-no.
We returned to the hotel, relaxed for a bit and got ready for 'Impressions,' the show Francesca had raved about since the beginning of the trip. We were picked up and brought to the show grounds, where we joined a bunch of Chinese people and stood around for a long time, aimlessly waiting for something that could not be explained to us in English. Francesca took the time to buy some snacks, whilst I rented us a pair of binoculars to watch the show with. After a while we finally got moving and went inside. We were handed some raincoats (just in case) and guided to our seats. Francesca was surprised to see the grass previously used as a seating area had been replaced by a concrete seating area. We were very happy with our seats and anticipated the show eagerly.
The Yangshuo Impressions Light Show definitely turned out to be 'something else.' The performance utilizes the natural surroundings to create a spectacular outdoor theater which is the largest of its kind. The Li River itself is the stage and twelve mountains serve as the backdrop. The theater is designed to blend, merge and work with the natural environment. The crowd sits in the dark as the mountains light up, creating a gorgeous display of light and sound.
Francesca and I watched in awe as the 600 (!!!) actors played out different scenes from daily life in and around the Li River. The story was hard to follow, since it was all in Chinese, but the visual aspect alone was more than enough to become fully engaged. For a good 90 minutes we watched the lights and fires flicker in the distance, always surrounded by the ever-present peaks. I hope the pictures give you an inkling of what it was like to be there...
After the show Francesca and I made our way back through the crowds and found our van's driver. We were taken back to the hotel and packed up our bags for departure the next morning.
On the 30th Francesca and I caught the 9:30 AM bus to Guilin. We'd read the trip would take us roughly one hour, but we ended up in a 'slow bus,' which means it stops for everyone, to the point where the isle is crowded entirely as well. Luckily we had good seats in the front, so the two hour drive wasn't that bad. When we arrived in Guilin we were a little unsure about our location. I tried to figure it out, but were soon enticed by a little place that said 'hotel bookings.' We were hoping they'd be able to help us out. The employee unfortunately spoke no English (why!), but managed to call someone to pick us up. We didn't mind walking with this guy to his hostel, which was part of the Youth Hostel International chain. The room was spacious, and for $15 a steal.
The bags were quickly left behind in the room, as we made our way to Yiyuan, a restaurant just across the river that had been recommended to us. I first tried to order the 'beer fish,' a local delicacy, but after I'd been led to the back where the fish was still swimming, and I heard the rather steep price I opted for something else. The 'pong dua' (spicy chicken) and sweet and sour chicken were both delectable, so we were perfectly fine with our choices.
A little walk away we found the only tourist site worthy of our time in Guilin: the Sun & Moon Pagoda. Set in the middle of the city in the middle of a park in the middle of a lake, the two pagodas seem very out of place in an otherwise grey and dreary city. We bought entrance tickets and headed for the first of the two Pagodas. The octagonal, seven-storey Moon Pagoda is the more traditional of the two pagodas, and decorations looked more ancient. We climbed all the way to the top for a nice view of the surroundings and headed back down to the basement, to cross through the underground tunnel to the 41 meter high Sun Pagoda, the world's tallest copper pagoda and one of the few pagodas in the world with an elevator. Since we are lazy people, and the climb of the first pagoda had already drained our energy we took the elevator to the 7th floor. We still had to climb a few steps to the top, but found the view well worth it once again.
On our way out of the park Francesca and I crept behind a little waterfall and some rocks for some cool pictures. We took one last look at the twin pagodas. We were
sad we couldn't go see them at night, since they're lit up in yellow and white light during the evenings. Instead, we headed back to the hostel to do some research for Xiamen, our next stop and Shanghai, our destination after that. We had found out finding a hostel was nearly impossible and hoped couch-surfing would be possible. We were very happy to be accepted by some cool-sounding people! We even found a host in Xiamen and were all set for the following days.
In the evening I headed out for food for Francesca and got her a meal from KFC. On the way back I also picked up a noodle soup, some steamed buns and a slice of watermelon for myself. All of that cost me no more than $2. Ah, gotta love these prices! The evening ended calmly with a movie and some bag-packing, before arranging a taxi to the airport the next morning.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Jade Suits And Dead Pigs
We got a little bit of a late start leaving Hong Kong, but thankfully everything went pretty smooth getting into China. We took a taxi to the train station and took the train to Shenzhen. I’ve been to Shenzhen before for a research project for school doing consulting for Kingway Brewery. While we were in Hong Kong, I had Henk try some of their beer… which has gotten dirt cheap! Wonder how they are doing financially… Anyways we didn’t spend much time in Shenzhen since there isn’t much to do, but we got a decent view of the city from the next train we jumped on.
This time we were on our way to Guangzhou – a popular city just an hour or so away from Shenzhen. We were considering staying overnight there, but since there wasn’t too much to do in the city (and Henk really wanted to see the Dutch play their game the next evening… and we’d be on a bus that evening otherwise) we decided to see one museum instead and take a sleeper bus that evening to Yangshuo.
So! Guangzhou! We headed to the mausoleum of the Nanyue King Zhao Mo of Nanyue State of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 24 CE), who we learned about earlier in the Hong Kong History Museum. Later on we’d go into the museum which held both reconstructions of artifacts buried in the rooms and amazingly preserved examples of the artifacts themselves. For simplicity, I’ll put the pictures of the artifacts we saw within my descriptions of the different chambers. That way you’ll know exactly what was where!
The tomb was a narrow burial chamber with multiple ‘rooms,’ each of which had a different purpose. The tomb had been flooded with water a few times so much of the goodies left inside have melted away. We learned from the signs around the tomb that it had been blocked by earth to prevent robbery. Furthermore, there were large jars placed around containing foods and fruit along with funeral ornaments. The antechamber further in the tomb had – get this – painted walls and ceiling in red and black cloud patterns. There was also a body found in this chamber which had been sacrificed… probably a servant or eunuch.
Next we walked to the east and west side chambers. The east side chamber used to have an awesome set of engraved bells used as part of an Ancient Yue musical instrument known as a “goudiao” to entertain the King. This chamber was also a storeroom for ritual objects and dining room objects such as wine containers or tableware. Before getting to the west chamber, we poked our heads into the main coffin room. In this room was a large lacquered screen and two coffins, an inner and outer coffin that contained the remains of the King. The base and top decorations of the screen remained preserved but the wood on the screen had rotted away. Through high powered microscopes researchers were able to see the color and pattern that had been painted on the wood. Thus they were able to reconstruct the screen itself.
We later found out that the King was buried in a jade and silk thread garment and his head was resting on a pearl pillow. Jade was believed by the Han people to be a powerful ornament which could preserve dead bodies. Many layers of jade disks and jade jewelry were found around/on the King as well. There was also a weapons collection in here. Preserved armor and swords have been found, and the armor has been reconstructed to its original design. The west side chamber was another storage room for personal objects of the King. Mirrors, medicines, (medicinal stones such as amethyst, sulphur, and turquoise) silver boxes, silk fabrics, and iron tools were all found in this area. It was absolutely shocking to me that silk fabrics were found, mostly decayed but STILL after more than 2000 years present in their form. While the silk pieces just look like lumps to the eye, high powered microscopes again were used to detect the color and pattern of the original material.
In the west side room (different from the chambers) there were a bunch of corpses found, seven in total. Found with them was the Seal of the Leading Chef, along with the remains of sacrificed animals, indicating that the people were probably the King’s chefs and servants. The east side room had four concubines in lacquered coffins that each had various funeral objects and their personal seals buried with them as well. The most important concubine was “Lady Right” who had the most beautiful burial artifacts with her. The seals of the concubines were preserved in the museum as well.
After our educating experience in the museum, Henk and I went back to the bus station to settle our tickets for that evening. In the time remaining we chilled out in the air-conditioned KFC, and then later in the bus terminal, getting something to eat and working on this blog! The next time I write to you all it will be about one of the most beautiful cities in all of China…
The “sleeper” bus ride to Yangshou wasn’t very comfortable. In fact, the seats weren’t beds and didn’t even recline one bit. We both attempted to get some sleep and surprisingly arrived relatively rested the next morning in Yangshou around 9:00 AM. Trying to carry my heavy backpack on the extremely wet and slippery tiles (our flip-flops are not the best shoes for this weather) I fell (but was OK!) and Henk and some locals helped me into a dumpling shop on the corner. I vowed to get some new shoes while we ordered soup and dumplings for breakfast. After breakfast Henk went to check out a hostel some tout had been pushing us to see (actually turns out it was a nice place for a very decent price) while I waited in the dumpling shop. We were getting a little worried at this point – all we had seen was rain and more rain since we got into the city! Henk came back with his approval of the place and we set off there with our bags. Once we settled into the room we went out to explore the city.
We had booked our Li River trip and show for the evening (Impressions, it is awesome!) quite quickly since I knew from my previous visit to the area that those were the two main attractions. We were put on a bus and driven out to about halfway between Yangshou and Guilin to start our tour. But I was a bit surprised when we went for our Li River adventure… we had our own private little boat! Well, fancy motorized raft. But still, that’s even cooler! We sailed down the river admiring the amazing limestone cliffs all around us. I pointed out things I remembered from my last time on the Li River to Henk – the shape of a bunch of horses in the rock face, and other shapes they told us about back then.
Very soon we thought we were seeing things. Something was floating, legs straight up in the water, looked large, pink, and quite bloated. Is it… it was! A dead pig belly up, floating with us down the river. As we continued our trip we found this to be a pattern. It became a game of ‘spot the next dead pig.’ We must have seen almost a dozen dead pigs at various points floating around! Yikes. Later on when we drove to Guilin I discovered the source: there was the ‘Guilin Pig Breeding’ facility situated along roadside near the river. Could it be true that they are dumping their dead pigs into the river? I looked up some articles on this subject and found out that yes, it is a big problem in China that companies and farmers dump their dead animals into the river to get rid of them.
By 3:30 PM our river adventure came to an end. We had someone pick us up from our ending point and bring us back to the bus drop off area where we drove back to Yangshou. Later while relaxing in the room we found out that the evening show of Impressions had been canceled due to the high water level (it had been raining all day) and we would have to go the following evening. No problem as long as we’d get to see it! Instead we went out for an Indian food dinner and saw the city of Yangshou at night. Man, has that area changed in just a few years. Everywhere I looked I swore to Henk that I didn’t remember seeing ‘that building’ or ‘that entire walking street and wall of buildings!’ At first he questioned my memory, but when we asked inside the Indian restaurant we had it confirmed to us that the whole area (including that restaurant) had been built up over just the last 2 years. WOW!
That evening was the soccer game Henk really wanted to watch, the Netherlands vs. Slovakia. I worked on some of our plans for Tibet using the WiFi in the bar while Henk cheered along as his team won the night’s game. All of the commentary was in Mandarin, so it made it a bit difficult to follow what was going on! (At least, their opinions of it. Raising your voice and shouting when there is almost a goal is universal for all languages.) Oh! One thing I have to warn you all about that we witnessed that day/night – they do smoke in the bars, on the buses, everywhere in China and don’t care at all that you are inhaling their second hand smoke. So make sure to stay away from the people who blatantly light up! (If you can.) I’ll let Henk take over now and tell you about our next few days and his impression of Impressions!
This time we were on our way to Guangzhou – a popular city just an hour or so away from Shenzhen. We were considering staying overnight there, but since there wasn’t too much to do in the city (and Henk really wanted to see the Dutch play their game the next evening… and we’d be on a bus that evening otherwise) we decided to see one museum instead and take a sleeper bus that evening to Yangshuo.
So! Guangzhou! We headed to the mausoleum of the Nanyue King Zhao Mo of Nanyue State of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 24 CE), who we learned about earlier in the Hong Kong History Museum. Later on we’d go into the museum which held both reconstructions of artifacts buried in the rooms and amazingly preserved examples of the artifacts themselves. For simplicity, I’ll put the pictures of the artifacts we saw within my descriptions of the different chambers. That way you’ll know exactly what was where!
The tomb was a narrow burial chamber with multiple ‘rooms,’ each of which had a different purpose. The tomb had been flooded with water a few times so much of the goodies left inside have melted away. We learned from the signs around the tomb that it had been blocked by earth to prevent robbery. Furthermore, there were large jars placed around containing foods and fruit along with funeral ornaments. The antechamber further in the tomb had – get this – painted walls and ceiling in red and black cloud patterns. There was also a body found in this chamber which had been sacrificed… probably a servant or eunuch.
Next we walked to the east and west side chambers. The east side chamber used to have an awesome set of engraved bells used as part of an Ancient Yue musical instrument known as a “goudiao” to entertain the King. This chamber was also a storeroom for ritual objects and dining room objects such as wine containers or tableware. Before getting to the west chamber, we poked our heads into the main coffin room. In this room was a large lacquered screen and two coffins, an inner and outer coffin that contained the remains of the King. The base and top decorations of the screen remained preserved but the wood on the screen had rotted away. Through high powered microscopes researchers were able to see the color and pattern that had been painted on the wood. Thus they were able to reconstruct the screen itself.
We later found out that the King was buried in a jade and silk thread garment and his head was resting on a pearl pillow. Jade was believed by the Han people to be a powerful ornament which could preserve dead bodies. Many layers of jade disks and jade jewelry were found around/on the King as well. There was also a weapons collection in here. Preserved armor and swords have been found, and the armor has been reconstructed to its original design. The west side chamber was another storage room for personal objects of the King. Mirrors, medicines, (medicinal stones such as amethyst, sulphur, and turquoise) silver boxes, silk fabrics, and iron tools were all found in this area. It was absolutely shocking to me that silk fabrics were found, mostly decayed but STILL after more than 2000 years present in their form. While the silk pieces just look like lumps to the eye, high powered microscopes again were used to detect the color and pattern of the original material.
In the west side room (different from the chambers) there were a bunch of corpses found, seven in total. Found with them was the Seal of the Leading Chef, along with the remains of sacrificed animals, indicating that the people were probably the King’s chefs and servants. The east side room had four concubines in lacquered coffins that each had various funeral objects and their personal seals buried with them as well. The most important concubine was “Lady Right” who had the most beautiful burial artifacts with her. The seals of the concubines were preserved in the museum as well.
After our educating experience in the museum, Henk and I went back to the bus station to settle our tickets for that evening. In the time remaining we chilled out in the air-conditioned KFC, and then later in the bus terminal, getting something to eat and working on this blog! The next time I write to you all it will be about one of the most beautiful cities in all of China…
The “sleeper” bus ride to Yangshou wasn’t very comfortable. In fact, the seats weren’t beds and didn’t even recline one bit. We both attempted to get some sleep and surprisingly arrived relatively rested the next morning in Yangshou around 9:00 AM. Trying to carry my heavy backpack on the extremely wet and slippery tiles (our flip-flops are not the best shoes for this weather) I fell (but was OK!) and Henk and some locals helped me into a dumpling shop on the corner. I vowed to get some new shoes while we ordered soup and dumplings for breakfast. After breakfast Henk went to check out a hostel some tout had been pushing us to see (actually turns out it was a nice place for a very decent price) while I waited in the dumpling shop. We were getting a little worried at this point – all we had seen was rain and more rain since we got into the city! Henk came back with his approval of the place and we set off there with our bags. Once we settled into the room we went out to explore the city.
We had booked our Li River trip and show for the evening (Impressions, it is awesome!) quite quickly since I knew from my previous visit to the area that those were the two main attractions. We were put on a bus and driven out to about halfway between Yangshou and Guilin to start our tour. But I was a bit surprised when we went for our Li River adventure… we had our own private little boat! Well, fancy motorized raft. But still, that’s even cooler! We sailed down the river admiring the amazing limestone cliffs all around us. I pointed out things I remembered from my last time on the Li River to Henk – the shape of a bunch of horses in the rock face, and other shapes they told us about back then.
Very soon we thought we were seeing things. Something was floating, legs straight up in the water, looked large, pink, and quite bloated. Is it… it was! A dead pig belly up, floating with us down the river. As we continued our trip we found this to be a pattern. It became a game of ‘spot the next dead pig.’ We must have seen almost a dozen dead pigs at various points floating around! Yikes. Later on when we drove to Guilin I discovered the source: there was the ‘Guilin Pig Breeding’ facility situated along roadside near the river. Could it be true that they are dumping their dead pigs into the river? I looked up some articles on this subject and found out that yes, it is a big problem in China that companies and farmers dump their dead animals into the river to get rid of them.
By 3:30 PM our river adventure came to an end. We had someone pick us up from our ending point and bring us back to the bus drop off area where we drove back to Yangshou. Later while relaxing in the room we found out that the evening show of Impressions had been canceled due to the high water level (it had been raining all day) and we would have to go the following evening. No problem as long as we’d get to see it! Instead we went out for an Indian food dinner and saw the city of Yangshou at night. Man, has that area changed in just a few years. Everywhere I looked I swore to Henk that I didn’t remember seeing ‘that building’ or ‘that entire walking street and wall of buildings!’ At first he questioned my memory, but when we asked inside the Indian restaurant we had it confirmed to us that the whole area (including that restaurant) had been built up over just the last 2 years. WOW!
That evening was the soccer game Henk really wanted to watch, the Netherlands vs. Slovakia. I worked on some of our plans for Tibet using the WiFi in the bar while Henk cheered along as his team won the night’s game. All of the commentary was in Mandarin, so it made it a bit difficult to follow what was going on! (At least, their opinions of it. Raising your voice and shouting when there is almost a goal is universal for all languages.) Oh! One thing I have to warn you all about that we witnessed that day/night – they do smoke in the bars, on the buses, everywhere in China and don’t care at all that you are inhaling their second hand smoke. So make sure to stay away from the people who blatantly light up! (If you can.) I’ll let Henk take over now and tell you about our next few days and his impression of Impressions!
