August 29, 2009

Before fall officially comes, Mason and I took a short trip to Canada to enjoy the nice weather on  August 29. Early in the morning, we took Sushi to a boarding clinic and then hit the road. We drove three hours to get to the Canadian border from where I live. It was the longest road trip I have ever had. Surprisingly, it was not as boring and tiring as I expected, maybe because I was not the driver. Mason and I ate McDonald, listened rock music, chatted and enjoyed the scenery along the drive. The ride was actually fun. 

We visited two cities, Richmond and Vancouver, during this trip. I like Richmond better because it felt like being home. Before the trip I had already heard that the majority of residences in Richmond are Chinese, but I was still surprised to see how many Chinese were around when I arrived in the city. If you are a Chinese person who wants to live in a western country but doesn’t  want to give up your language and custom, Richmond is definitely the city for you to move to. In Richmond, I felt like I was in Hong Kong. Chinese people were everywhere. I couldn’t tell how many people were speaking Chinese around me. Banners on the stores, road signs, and even menus in the restaurants were written in Chinese. The rhythms of the city was just like that of Hong Kong too. Stores and roads were always busy. Parking lots were always full and free parking was only available for three hours. Drivers were impatient and very rude. You will feel the pressure when parking on the street in Richmond.

Asian food is another thing that made me feel Richmond was like home. Mason and I ate a lot of delicious Asian food during the trip, like Singapore Hainanese Chicken Rice, traditional Dragon Candies, Japanese Car wheel Bread with Red Bean, Korean Deep Fried Twist-Potato, Mongolian Sheep Grill, Thai Sweet Soup etc. If you are a fan of Asian food, you should go to Richmond in summer, because the night market, which is famous for Asian street foods, only opens during summer. Even though we arrived to the night market quite late, the market was super crowded. Every stall had a long line of people waiting. Everyone was holding food in their hands. People couldn’t wait to eat; they were eating before they could find a seat. You will see everybody was eating while waiting in line or walking to another stall. We filled our stomachs with a lot of special street foods, some of which can’t even be founded in Hong Kong anymore.

Mason and I have gained a few pounds after the trip, but both of us think that gaining weight for such delicious food is worth it. Why did I find this city so late? I wouldn’t have been so homesick if I had travelled to the city earlier.

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June 26, 2009

Early in the morning on June 26, 2009, we left Wuhan to Shanghai by high-speed train and it took us 5 hours to arrive at Shanghai. I was extremely excited because I have been wanting to travel to Shanghai for a very long time now. Shanghai is a must-go city when you travel to China, because it is the center of economics, culture, and design of the country. In case you are not familiar with this city, here is a brief introduction:  Shanghai is the largest city and trading center of China. It is also the center of commerce between the East and the West starting from early 19th century. During the First Opium War, the British forced China to open Shanghai for international trade, leading the start of foreign concessions, and most of which, like the French Concession, still exist as a popular attraction to this day.

 There was a count down for the Shanghai EXPO 2010 in the subway station

We arrived at Shanghai at 2PM and it took us sometime to figure out which MTR to take at the subway station to our hotel, which was near the famous Nanjing Road. I couldn’t wait to dump my baggage at the hotel and go check out the famous Nanjing Road.

Nanjing Road at night

  A “giant” dummy of N97 at Nokia’s store window; The Fancl House building was “huge”; Cartier’s store at the Bund

Nike store owns a whole building at Nanjng Road

Nike has  a huge advertising banner hung on the roof a building in Nanjing Rd. Kobe Bryant became Nike’s spokesman right after Lakers won the NBA payoffs 2009.The slogan was “determination will never die, determination will never die, determination will never die, determination will never die...”

Nanjing Road has been a landmark for Shanghai for a long time. It is also known as the  “Number 1 Commercial Street in China.” On the street, you will see hundreds of stores sitting along both sides of the road, ranging from little local souvenir stores to world famous stores. My eyes were on the appealing store windows and showcases as we continued to make our way to  the Bund (外灘) through crowds of people.

It was just 20-minute-walk to go to the Bund from Nanjing Road

We arrived at the Bund after a refreshing rain shower. In front of us were dozens of historical buildings lined along the Huangpu River, and on the other side of the river were the famous Podong skyline.  I was amazed by the artistic architecture of the historical buildings in the Bund. Unfortunately the area was under construction, so we were unable to get a perfect view of the Bund and the Pudong skyline.   The  street was all wet and packed with people. I was a bit disappointed but still managed to take as many pictures as I could.  By the time we were prepared to leave,  the buildings in front of us magically lit up one by one. We didn’t realized that we it was already seven o’clock at night. All of the buildings in the Bund and Pudong shimmered on the river and the wet floor with their neon. I was speechless watching the buildings turned into a crystal palace. It was an enchanting moment that I will never forget.

The Bund became a crystal palace at night 

Shanghai is a dynamic city and it is well-known for its nightlife.  Nanjing Road was still crowded with people at night. Stores and subways lit up and were opened until midnight. We didn’t want to go back to the hotel even though we were already exhausted. After recharging ourselves through a delicious dinner at a fancy restaurant, we made our way to Xintiandi, the most  fashionable place for nightlife in Shanghai.

Nanjing Rd was still packed with people at night 

We spent the following two days exploring the underground(subway) malls and the famous Shanghai Old Streets, and then flew back to Macau from Shanghai on June 29. I wish I could have spent some more days visiting different parts of the city, like the Shanghai Museum, Water Town, Qibao Ancient Town, and Shanghai History Museum. Shanghai is definitely a city I will travel to again.

Below are some pictures of Shanghai Old Streets

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June 22, 2009

Wuhan is the capital and in the central part of Hubei province of China

After arriving in Macau for only two days, my parents and I went to Zhuhai and then flew over to Wuhan on June 22nd. Bobo, Elizabeth’s friend, picked us up at the airport in Wuhan and took us to an apartment that has been arranged for us.

The apartment was only a few blocks away from downtown, which saved us a lot of timewhen we went out for shopping and dining, because there was a lot of traffic. We left the apartment and started checking out the city right after unpacking our luggage.

The city contained a mixture of old and new buildings. Construction and renovation were everywhere. As the fifth most populous city in China, Wuhan’s streets and roads were always crowded with people, bikes, and cars all hours of the day. However, people never follow the rules of the road, so crossing the streets in the city was extremely terrifying. If you are going to Wuhan, never ever assume that you are safe to cross the road, even when the green pedestrian light is on!

Wuhan is known as one of the Three Furnaces of China because of its oppressively humid and hot weather. In the summer, its temperature always exceeds 40°C , which is 104°F . During noon time, I could barely walk on the street without wearing my lightest outfit and using a sun umbrella. I even had to put my favorite sport shoes aside and wear sandals during the whole trip, because the weather was so hot.

The good news is that the cost of living in Wuhan is very inexpensive. We ate like a celebrity, went shopping and had foot massages almost every day. Transportation is very low in price too. In order to hide from the heat, we took a taxi to everywhere we went. The taxi ride was usually RMB 3.00 – 12.00, which is around USD 0.38 – 1.50, depending on the duration of each trip. But cab drivers don’t like dealing with short rides; a few of them gave us a bad attitude.

On the second day, we headed off to the Wuhan University to take graduation pictures for Elizabeth. I was impressed by how big and beautiful the university was. The campus was featured with hills, lakes, trees, flowers and historical buildings, which date back to the 80’s.

Student residential building

Doggie glyphs on the roof

The university’s famous blue roof tiles

The university’s library

We spent another two days exploring the Wuhan city and then headed to Shanghai via high-speed railway.

Stay tuned for our next stop - Shanghai.

Seattle – Honolulu – Hong Kong – Macau – Zhuhai – Wuhan

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June 17, 2009

Seattle - Honolulu

On the early morning of June 17, 2009, I went to the Renton Airport to kick off my 19-day China Trip. I was full of happiness and excitement, because literally it was the first time I have ever travelled alone. Unfortunately, Northwest Airline tore out the joy in my soul as soon as I checked in my baggage. I waited 20 minutes just to learn that the agent was actually not literate enough to handle their computer system, and another 15 minutes to learn that the flight path had been altered because of the volcano eruption in the North Pacific Ocean. Worst of all, I was eventually forced to stay one night at Honolulu, which added an extra day to the trip and caused me to lose a day in Asia.

My flight was originally from Seattle to Hong Kong, flying over Toronto. However, because of volcanic activities on a mountain between East Asia and North America, my flight was rerouted to fly over Hawaii instead. I tried to figure out the flight hours immediately, but nobody from Northwest Airline was able to answer any of my questions. So I boarded the plane, then I was informed that the plane wouldn’t be able to take off before some operational problems were settled. Then, all the passengers were held in the aircraft with very bad ventilation for one hour before the plane eventually took off, when the caption of the aircraft promised that it would only take 15 minutes. This delay added another hour to the trip, which made my flight exceed the legal daily flight6 hours for pilots, hence my plane was not allowed to connect to Toronto from Honolulu. Therefore, all the passengers ended up staying at Honolulu for one night.

“Are you kidding me? I flew five hours and then you tell me that I am not going to Hong Kong today? I don’t want to sleep at Honolulu. I want to go home and fly tomorrow if you have some operational issues today.” I wondered why Northwest Airline didn’t simply delay the flight to the following day after knowing that they were not able to bring the passengers any closer to the destination. Who would want to take a five-hour flight to another city within the same country just for a sleep? And why did Northwest Airline still ask their passengers to board the plane while they had operational issues?

I was extremely upset even though Northwest Airline was willing to provide hotel accommodation and meal vouchers at Honolulu, because the delay and the rerouting means it is going to take me 24 hours to arrive at Hong Kong, when it would have only taken 14 hours. To a passenger, time is the most valuable thing, not to mention the inconvenience in claiming, loading, transferring and re-checking in baggage at the airports, buses and hotel.

I have always wanted to go to Hawaii, but I never expected to go there under this kind of circumstances. I closed my eyes, exhaled deeply and thought, “Well, staying one night at Hawaii for free could be a good thing.” I convinced myself that this trip is supposed to be fun. I couldn’t let the flight delay spoil my trip.

I finally landed. I could tell the hot and humid weather of Hawaii as soon as I stepped out of the airport. An airline agent was already standing there waiting for us. She showed us the way to a bus, which was painted all over with tropical flowers, and took us to the Ala Moana Hotel. Honolulu is more urban than I expected. Aside from harbors, yachts, beaches and palm trees, you will also see high buildings and shopping malls all over the city.

The sun was setting by the time I checked in the hotel. I made a snap decision to walk to the beach while there was still a little sun light. Palm trees were sitting along the beach. The sun in the pink sky descended into the sea and sparkled on the water. I took a deep breath as I felt the breeze. It was so beautiful and peaceful. Maybe my first trip on my own meant to be unusual and unforgettable.

An hour passed and the nighttime finally came. So, I walked back to the hotel, had a quick bite to eat and went back to my room. “Good night and sleep tight, Edith” I started telling myself, “there is another 12-hour flight to come tomorrow.”

  Buses on the street were painted all over with tropical flowers

The sun was setting by the time I arrived at the hotel

My room was kind of neat, only that I didn’t have much time to enjoy it. I have kept a business card of the hotel and decided to go back there next time when I visit Honolulu.

The night view from balcony

Stay tuned for my next stop to Wuhan.

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This White Tiger is one of my favourite animals in the Zoo. I would hardly move my eyes away from its beautiful blue eyes and amazing pattern of vertical brown stripes overlaying its snowy white fur.

This baby deer is as adorable and as gentle as the deers in the "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" cartoon. I can't believe that I could pet a baby deer. I have already started missing her.

Crown Cranes earn its name by its yellowish feathers on the back of their heads.

I was amazed to see how well the parrots spoke to me, and they also performed tricks well.

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