As promised from my last post- here are pictures!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14179315@N05/?saved=1
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
DUI BU QI!
Firstly, I'd like to really appologize to anyone of you who were keeping tabs on my blog and started getting disgruntled when I didn't update. I got a bit busy after I last posted and then I fell ill and quite honestly... I found I was telling people on facebook and in my emails about my adventures more than anything (so I grew lazy and didn't want to repeat it. : P) Oh well! We often plan things and then those plans fall through...
HOWEVER, I will make up for these past... oh, three or so months? It is currenly early evening here in Hangzhou, so I will not be able to upload pictures. However, later tonight when my internet shapes up I will upload a bunch of pictures and then make another entry posting them for you to see! In the meantime, PREPARE FOR A MEGA BLOG UPDATE!!
HERE WE GO...
September:
During the month of September we explored Hangzhou all over the place.
We did a lot of walking up hills and venturing into forested areas with no clear destination other than, "Well, there was a sign saying something was over here!" It was a lot of fun, even if I was sweating profusely and swatting away very buzz-happy bugs. One thing about China I noticed is that there are no "normal" sized bugs. Either they are very large and quite frightening or they are very small and extremely annoying. HOWEVER I have survived thus far, so they haven't gotten to me yet!
Despite the humidity and the heat of the September, the exploration of Hangzhou was a lot of fun. We visited a lot of old temples- including a very neat Buddhist temple with a very large tourist attraction. Not only did it hold over a hundred statues of famous monks, but it also had VERY LARGE statues of Buddha and a "1000 buddha" mural. Outside of the temple gates were a series of rocks and mini caves where stone depictions of various Buddhist figures were carved into the walls. It was a very unique experience, even if the place was crawling with people.
There were more little exploration journeys consisting of temples, pagodas, West Lake and various markets as well! All of them some-what similar and yet having their individual flair.
OCTOBER:
My talk of October will be dominated by Beijing.
We took a sleeper train up to Beijing which lasted about 12-16 hours, but lost track of time. That was an experience in itself! I've never been on a train like that before and my experience with trains in general are really lacking. It was neat though- three beds bunked on each side of a compartment with a tiny metal tray in the middle with warm water and a garbage can. I was lucky enough to be surrounded by friends from my study abroad group AND be on the bottom bunk both to and from Beijing. There were so many people everywhere! The bathrooms were sort of gross... it was rather odd to go into a squatter bathroom on a train and to be able to see the tracks racing below!!
BUT YES, BEIJING!
To simply put it, Beijing was fantastic! The temperature was nice and cool, to the point where the majority of the people in my group wore long sleeves and such. Beijing often had the haze from the pollution, but it didn't effect my travel or my perception of Beijing as much as I thought it would actually. We were lucky and had a few really beautiful days there! My favorite was when we journeyed out to the Great Wall. It was a few hours drive and we drove through very small towns and the country side- and I think that part alone was perhaps my favorite part. It sounds odd, I know but I just loved looking out the window and taking in all the natural beauty that China had to offer. It was interesting to pass by farms and see the fall leaves on all the trees and in a way it really reminded me of fall back home.
The Great Wall itself was just as amazing as I expected it to be. It's really a humbling feeling to climb the wall up a great big hill and then look around to see the wall snaking over the mountains and hills as far as the eye can see. It's just crazy to think of how people built that wall so long ago and the symbolic representation of it for all of China. It was also fun because when we were going back down, I took a zip line to the bottom! THAT was cool!
In Beijing we also visited the Forbidden Kingdom, Tiananmen Square and a really big shopping market. It's really fun going into those to see all the bartering, but I found I'm not that good at it. I do enjoy watching others barter away though! A lot of the people in our group bought shoes, shirts and various other things. The two girls and myself in the group bought new purses! Although mine is more of a satchel, as I needed something bigger to store things in without lugging my obnoxious backpack.
Beijing had some absolutely delicious restaurants to eat at as well. My favorite was a famous mushroom restuarant where you order a bunch of mushrooms and sit around a table with a big pot in the middle of it. Then they slowly add ingredients to this boiling pot, starting with duck. The duck is raw and slowly cooks as all the ingredients are added at particular intervals. They instruct you when to drink the broth and then after a while (and several ingredients later) the duck is ready to eat. By then you've ate a bunch of mushrooms, broth and various other meat they added in (like lamb). The duck at this point is extremely delicious- having simmered in the pot so long with the mushroom broth makes the taste excellent! My favorite part though was the broth! Hah, I'm so boring!
Restuarants aside, we did visit some lesser known things in Beijing (well, in comparision with the Forbidden Kingdom). We went to a museum, the Confucian temple, a few interesting streets and the like. It was really proud because a friend and I navigated using the Subway to meet at the Confucian temple from the market. We had to ask for directions and it was cool to be able to get our meaning across! (We had to look up how to say "Confucian Temple" though!)
So yes, my trip in Beijing was really excellent! It definitely was the highlight of my October. After Beijing however I fell sick and eventually went to the hospital. THAT was an experience too. It was completely different than any hospital that I've been in back in the States. It felt more like an old middle school than a hospital! Anyway, the sickness that I had... I technically still have, since the drugs and such they gave me didn't help. However I'm feeling a lot better than I did, but I look forward to going to the states to hopefully get it treated or at least recover away from the location where I developed it!
NOVEMBER:
November's highlight was my trip to Suzhou! We took a weekend where we hopped on busses and drove about two hours south to the city of Suzhou. Honestly I had never heard of Suzhou until we traveled down there, but now I'm really glad I went!
We stayed at a really nice hostile that had AMAZING fluffy blankets! (Seriously, they were amazing and warm and just destroyed the blankets we have here at the dorms). The hostile itself was in the old part of town, which was really cool. All the buildings looked aged but their age gave them a great deal of character. The roofs had the rounded, linked tiling like many of the older buildings back in Hangzhou did- but those buildings were usually tourist attractions and this was just a place where people lived! Our hostile was also right next a canal which was really pretty and a lot of girls getting married were dressed up in traditional gowns and getting their pictures taken.
We went to the Suzhou museum, which is well-known for being really well put together. ARRGH, I forget the designer's name but apparently the architect who designs the Louvre also designed this museum! (I'd look it up by my internet would take a day and a half. :( ) I got lost eventually when I wandered over out of the display area of the museum and into a preserved house of a prince that was linked to the museum. That place was HUGE! It was so cool! Any house where if you wander around you get lost, is AMAZING in my book. There was even a large opera room where they used to watch operas perform! It's really hard to describe the place... but it had a lot of mini courtyards and various rooms hidden in nooks and crannies. It was just neat because I could go virtually anywhere and I wasn't blocked off like back in the house we visited in Hangzhou.
We then visited the "Humble Ambassador's Garden" and spent the rest of our daylight there. Things were a bit wet since it had been raining on and off, but my friend Amy and I explored the whole place quite thoroughly and had a lot of fun! It was just like walking in a really old and beautiful park with coy fish ponds and even a bonsai tree garden!
We then walked around all night looking for dinner in the new part of Suzhou where there were a great deal of flashy lights and TONS of KFC advertisements. There were so many signs for that chicken place that it was a little bit creepy. We did eventually find a place to eat however!
The next day we were allowed to go off and do whatever we want and so a group of us just spent the day wandering around Suzhou. (Well, we had a destination but we failed to find it so we ended up wandering around forever!) We ate lunch at this delicious baozi and jiaozi joint and then met up with everyone once again! From there we went and watched an opera! It was SO neat! It had three different plays that were each thirty minutes long. The costumes were GORGEOUS and while there was no background that was intricate at all, the costumes alone were just amazing. And even though I couldn't really understand all what they were saying, the message got across pretty well with the acting. It was just so neat!
After the opera, we hopped on a bus and went back to Hangzhou!
I'll also note that in November we celebrated Thanksgiving by making our own jiaozi, eating fruit and playing monopoly! We eventually gave up with monopoly though, because it was getting late but I totally would have won!
DECEMBER:
And now we are to the present! For December I'll be going shopping again this Sunday. Amy and I went shopping last weekend and bought a few christmas presents and also ordered hand-made shirts for ourselves made out of silk! I figure it'd be something really neat to have! I was originally going to buy a silk blanket because they're amazingly soft, but they're SO expensive! @_@
So next sunday we pick up our shirts and I go shopping yet AGAIN to try to put another big dent in my christmas present list!
I'm also planning the weekend before I go to China, to perhaps take a bus to Nanjing and spend a day or so there. I really wanted to do that since I've come to China and now I have a card that tells me where I can stay and I know a few people who say the museum there is great. PLUS I've studied a lot of history surrounding Nanjing, so it'd be really interesting to actually visit the place.
Who knows!
SO YES, that is a very brief summary of my time here thus far! Sorry I only highlighted one thing really in each month, because otherwise I'd be writing pages! In my next entry later I'll include some pictures! :3
Zai jian!
HOWEVER, I will make up for these past... oh, three or so months? It is currenly early evening here in Hangzhou, so I will not be able to upload pictures. However, later tonight when my internet shapes up I will upload a bunch of pictures and then make another entry posting them for you to see! In the meantime, PREPARE FOR A MEGA BLOG UPDATE!!
HERE WE GO...
September:
During the month of September we explored Hangzhou all over the place.
We did a lot of walking up hills and venturing into forested areas with no clear destination other than, "Well, there was a sign saying something was over here!" It was a lot of fun, even if I was sweating profusely and swatting away very buzz-happy bugs. One thing about China I noticed is that there are no "normal" sized bugs. Either they are very large and quite frightening or they are very small and extremely annoying. HOWEVER I have survived thus far, so they haven't gotten to me yet!
Despite the humidity and the heat of the September, the exploration of Hangzhou was a lot of fun. We visited a lot of old temples- including a very neat Buddhist temple with a very large tourist attraction. Not only did it hold over a hundred statues of famous monks, but it also had VERY LARGE statues of Buddha and a "1000 buddha" mural. Outside of the temple gates were a series of rocks and mini caves where stone depictions of various Buddhist figures were carved into the walls. It was a very unique experience, even if the place was crawling with people.
There were more little exploration journeys consisting of temples, pagodas, West Lake and various markets as well! All of them some-what similar and yet having their individual flair.
OCTOBER:
My talk of October will be dominated by Beijing.
We took a sleeper train up to Beijing which lasted about 12-16 hours, but lost track of time. That was an experience in itself! I've never been on a train like that before and my experience with trains in general are really lacking. It was neat though- three beds bunked on each side of a compartment with a tiny metal tray in the middle with warm water and a garbage can. I was lucky enough to be surrounded by friends from my study abroad group AND be on the bottom bunk both to and from Beijing. There were so many people everywhere! The bathrooms were sort of gross... it was rather odd to go into a squatter bathroom on a train and to be able to see the tracks racing below!!
BUT YES, BEIJING!
To simply put it, Beijing was fantastic! The temperature was nice and cool, to the point where the majority of the people in my group wore long sleeves and such. Beijing often had the haze from the pollution, but it didn't effect my travel or my perception of Beijing as much as I thought it would actually. We were lucky and had a few really beautiful days there! My favorite was when we journeyed out to the Great Wall. It was a few hours drive and we drove through very small towns and the country side- and I think that part alone was perhaps my favorite part. It sounds odd, I know but I just loved looking out the window and taking in all the natural beauty that China had to offer. It was interesting to pass by farms and see the fall leaves on all the trees and in a way it really reminded me of fall back home.
The Great Wall itself was just as amazing as I expected it to be. It's really a humbling feeling to climb the wall up a great big hill and then look around to see the wall snaking over the mountains and hills as far as the eye can see. It's just crazy to think of how people built that wall so long ago and the symbolic representation of it for all of China. It was also fun because when we were going back down, I took a zip line to the bottom! THAT was cool!
In Beijing we also visited the Forbidden Kingdom, Tiananmen Square and a really big shopping market. It's really fun going into those to see all the bartering, but I found I'm not that good at it. I do enjoy watching others barter away though! A lot of the people in our group bought shoes, shirts and various other things. The two girls and myself in the group bought new purses! Although mine is more of a satchel, as I needed something bigger to store things in without lugging my obnoxious backpack.
Beijing had some absolutely delicious restaurants to eat at as well. My favorite was a famous mushroom restuarant where you order a bunch of mushrooms and sit around a table with a big pot in the middle of it. Then they slowly add ingredients to this boiling pot, starting with duck. The duck is raw and slowly cooks as all the ingredients are added at particular intervals. They instruct you when to drink the broth and then after a while (and several ingredients later) the duck is ready to eat. By then you've ate a bunch of mushrooms, broth and various other meat they added in (like lamb). The duck at this point is extremely delicious- having simmered in the pot so long with the mushroom broth makes the taste excellent! My favorite part though was the broth! Hah, I'm so boring!
Restuarants aside, we did visit some lesser known things in Beijing (well, in comparision with the Forbidden Kingdom). We went to a museum, the Confucian temple, a few interesting streets and the like. It was really proud because a friend and I navigated using the Subway to meet at the Confucian temple from the market. We had to ask for directions and it was cool to be able to get our meaning across! (We had to look up how to say "Confucian Temple" though!)
So yes, my trip in Beijing was really excellent! It definitely was the highlight of my October. After Beijing however I fell sick and eventually went to the hospital. THAT was an experience too. It was completely different than any hospital that I've been in back in the States. It felt more like an old middle school than a hospital! Anyway, the sickness that I had... I technically still have, since the drugs and such they gave me didn't help. However I'm feeling a lot better than I did, but I look forward to going to the states to hopefully get it treated or at least recover away from the location where I developed it!
NOVEMBER:
November's highlight was my trip to Suzhou! We took a weekend where we hopped on busses and drove about two hours south to the city of Suzhou. Honestly I had never heard of Suzhou until we traveled down there, but now I'm really glad I went!
We stayed at a really nice hostile that had AMAZING fluffy blankets! (Seriously, they were amazing and warm and just destroyed the blankets we have here at the dorms). The hostile itself was in the old part of town, which was really cool. All the buildings looked aged but their age gave them a great deal of character. The roofs had the rounded, linked tiling like many of the older buildings back in Hangzhou did- but those buildings were usually tourist attractions and this was just a place where people lived! Our hostile was also right next a canal which was really pretty and a lot of girls getting married were dressed up in traditional gowns and getting their pictures taken.
We went to the Suzhou museum, which is well-known for being really well put together. ARRGH, I forget the designer's name but apparently the architect who designs the Louvre also designed this museum! (I'd look it up by my internet would take a day and a half. :( ) I got lost eventually when I wandered over out of the display area of the museum and into a preserved house of a prince that was linked to the museum. That place was HUGE! It was so cool! Any house where if you wander around you get lost, is AMAZING in my book. There was even a large opera room where they used to watch operas perform! It's really hard to describe the place... but it had a lot of mini courtyards and various rooms hidden in nooks and crannies. It was just neat because I could go virtually anywhere and I wasn't blocked off like back in the house we visited in Hangzhou.
We then visited the "Humble Ambassador's Garden" and spent the rest of our daylight there. Things were a bit wet since it had been raining on and off, but my friend Amy and I explored the whole place quite thoroughly and had a lot of fun! It was just like walking in a really old and beautiful park with coy fish ponds and even a bonsai tree garden!
We then walked around all night looking for dinner in the new part of Suzhou where there were a great deal of flashy lights and TONS of KFC advertisements. There were so many signs for that chicken place that it was a little bit creepy. We did eventually find a place to eat however!
The next day we were allowed to go off and do whatever we want and so a group of us just spent the day wandering around Suzhou. (Well, we had a destination but we failed to find it so we ended up wandering around forever!) We ate lunch at this delicious baozi and jiaozi joint and then met up with everyone once again! From there we went and watched an opera! It was SO neat! It had three different plays that were each thirty minutes long. The costumes were GORGEOUS and while there was no background that was intricate at all, the costumes alone were just amazing. And even though I couldn't really understand all what they were saying, the message got across pretty well with the acting. It was just so neat!
After the opera, we hopped on a bus and went back to Hangzhou!
I'll also note that in November we celebrated Thanksgiving by making our own jiaozi, eating fruit and playing monopoly! We eventually gave up with monopoly though, because it was getting late but I totally would have won!
DECEMBER:
And now we are to the present! For December I'll be going shopping again this Sunday. Amy and I went shopping last weekend and bought a few christmas presents and also ordered hand-made shirts for ourselves made out of silk! I figure it'd be something really neat to have! I was originally going to buy a silk blanket because they're amazingly soft, but they're SO expensive! @_@
So next sunday we pick up our shirts and I go shopping yet AGAIN to try to put another big dent in my christmas present list!
I'm also planning the weekend before I go to China, to perhaps take a bus to Nanjing and spend a day or so there. I really wanted to do that since I've come to China and now I have a card that tells me where I can stay and I know a few people who say the museum there is great. PLUS I've studied a lot of history surrounding Nanjing, so it'd be really interesting to actually visit the place.
Who knows!
SO YES, that is a very brief summary of my time here thus far! Sorry I only highlighted one thing really in each month, because otherwise I'd be writing pages! In my next entry later I'll include some pictures! :3
Zai jian!
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Dragon Whiskers and Ducks
你好!
Today seemed to be a renewed day in Hangzhou. It rained the past few days and while it dampened our walks, it certainly did not dampen my spirits! It was nice to experience my first rain in about, oh, four months or so! During the past few days I haven't done a huge amount of historical traveling as I had before with Purnell 教授 (Jiaoshou= professor). Instead, yesturday we made trips to the markets! There was one very, very large market where they sold many 'fake brand' clothes and other things such as packs, cups, pillows and a variety of other misc. goods. I wasn't too fond of the area, being that it smelled rather foul and offered little room to walk.
However, afterwards we went to the infamous Silk Street in Hangzhou. Despite the gentle mist, the shops were underneath their own structures and the trees in the street blocked a great deal of any misty rain. In fact, the trees themselves grew in the 'way' of the structured buildings, so they tiled their roofs around the trees! It basically looks like the trees grew into the buildings and popped out clean through the roof! It made me appreciate them even more, just because in America the poor trees would have been chopped down or butchered heavily. In anycase, Silk Street was interesting to see and I'm thinking that as my own gift (heh, to myself!) later on I might go make a purchase of a big, silken blanket. The blankets are actually comforters, but they're not filled with cotten, feathers or anything like that... but rather pieces of silk! It's something you really don't find in the US and David (his full name is David Purnell, so don't be confused when I say "purnell 教授") claims that they're warmer and lighter than the usual comforters in the US. They're expensive though, around 200-500 kuai (136 kuai = 20 US dollars). I found a few nice things I'd like to buy people for Christmas!! (They have reeeally nice purses, Mom!)
That night we went out to a bar called "The Maya". It wasn't anything special other than for the fact that a lot of International Students went there. You could tell the owners were used to it, because their English was better than most that I've found. Although, their "Strawberry Daquiris" were labeled "The Strawberry-est in town!" and I failed to taste ANY strawberry and all the rum! I suppose I got what I paid for though, given that the more alcohol= the more your drink is worth! After that a few of the people in my group went to a club called S.O.S. I decided not to go since I had already paid for my night's worth of alcohol and it seemed silly to pay 60 kuai to get into an "all you can drink' club when I was pretty much done drinking for the night.
HOWEVER, two nights before yesturday (got that? =) ) I did go to that club with a few people in our group earlier. 60 kuai is less than 10 dollars, and so paying that and getting an open bar, music and dancing in return is pretty nice. The music is loud and there are so many glistening lights everywhere! It's a little overwhelming at first, but it was a lot of fun to go dancing. The club has two sides: a hip-hop side and a techno side. The techno side is filled a LOT of locals so we generally don't go into there, so we don't suffocate from the madness!
Onto today! Today we went to the east side of West Lake and visited a very large market area, yet again. This is probably my favorite area, because the shops sell many different things. Unlike Silk Street (where all they sell is silk-related products), this street sells tons of different stuff! Anything from your basic trinkets and gifts, to traditional medicine shops (with herbs, roots), to caligraphy sets and restuarants. I found a lot, and I mean a LOT of stuff I wanted to buy but I'm forcing myself not to. I want to wait to shop for people until November when I can see my budget AND, because if I bought the stuff now... I'd want to tell everyone what I got them! I already bought Bryan a present, but it was a smaller gift that I thought was really cute. I'm actually using it as a decoration in my room right now.
It's a paper design, hand-cut by a Chinese man. Now a days a lot of these papercuts are made by factories and not hand-made, so finding this is a bit of a treat! The lady who was selling them was really nice and told us a lot about many of the different kinds of meanings behind many of the cuts. The one I have is of a phoenix and a dragon, which is a very common theme for weddings where the females are represented by the phoenix and the males by the dragon.
After exploring the markets, we then journied into this renovated mansion that was built during the Qing Dynasty. The place was... HUGE!!! The biggest mansion I've ever seen! The mansion had so many rooms, beautiful hallways and a very large pond and garden. I can't even describe it or begin to think of how to describe it... the place is so beautiful, large and wonderous... it is something you really have to see for yourself. I could get lost in the mansion for hours and enjoy the peace and serenity of teh design. Everything- from the window latches to the gorgeous wooden door frames- was just intricate and filled with fine details.
Finally, we ended the day going to a well-known 100 year old lamb and fish resturant. We met with a few friends of David and had many different dishes before us. The way we eat group meals here is by ordering many large dishes and placing them on sort of a 'lazy susan' wheel. You then spin the wheel to whatever dishes you'd like to sample and just grab it with your chopsticks! (And by the time I get home, I'll be a chopstick expert because I have yet to touch a fork here.) I ate well although my lack of appetite for some of the more exotic veggies and meats had me running to the grocery store tonight. I had to buy more supplies anyway, so I bought some more noodle cups and some snacks! I also finally bought a large cup for tea and a bag of Dragon Well tea. The tea comes in many different grades and years, which determines the price. The newer tea is more expensive, along with the "S" grade. Their grades range from S - 5, and I bought the grade 3 tea because it jumps from 25 kuai to 45 kuai! (grade 4 is 24 kuai).
The nice thing I like here is I can get a decent meal for about two dollars or less. There is a noodle place where I can eat for 5 kuai, which is less than a dollar. Usually my meals range from 8 - 25 kuai, depending on if I eat in a group or not.
Now I am simply relaxing in my room! Tomorrow I register as a student here 'officially' and get my language courses figured out. :3
Zaijian!
Today seemed to be a renewed day in Hangzhou. It rained the past few days and while it dampened our walks, it certainly did not dampen my spirits! It was nice to experience my first rain in about, oh, four months or so! During the past few days I haven't done a huge amount of historical traveling as I had before with Purnell 教授 (Jiaoshou= professor). Instead, yesturday we made trips to the markets! There was one very, very large market where they sold many 'fake brand' clothes and other things such as packs, cups, pillows and a variety of other misc. goods. I wasn't too fond of the area, being that it smelled rather foul and offered little room to walk.
However, afterwards we went to the infamous Silk Street in Hangzhou. Despite the gentle mist, the shops were underneath their own structures and the trees in the street blocked a great deal of any misty rain. In fact, the trees themselves grew in the 'way' of the structured buildings, so they tiled their roofs around the trees! It basically looks like the trees grew into the buildings and popped out clean through the roof! It made me appreciate them even more, just because in America the poor trees would have been chopped down or butchered heavily. In anycase, Silk Street was interesting to see and I'm thinking that as my own gift (heh, to myself!) later on I might go make a purchase of a big, silken blanket. The blankets are actually comforters, but they're not filled with cotten, feathers or anything like that... but rather pieces of silk! It's something you really don't find in the US and David (his full name is David Purnell, so don't be confused when I say "purnell 教授") claims that they're warmer and lighter than the usual comforters in the US. They're expensive though, around 200-500 kuai (136 kuai = 20 US dollars). I found a few nice things I'd like to buy people for Christmas!! (They have reeeally nice purses, Mom!)
That night we went out to a bar called "The Maya". It wasn't anything special other than for the fact that a lot of International Students went there. You could tell the owners were used to it, because their English was better than most that I've found. Although, their "Strawberry Daquiris" were labeled "The Strawberry-est in town!" and I failed to taste ANY strawberry and all the rum! I suppose I got what I paid for though, given that the more alcohol= the more your drink is worth! After that a few of the people in my group went to a club called S.O.S. I decided not to go since I had already paid for my night's worth of alcohol and it seemed silly to pay 60 kuai to get into an "all you can drink' club when I was pretty much done drinking for the night.
HOWEVER, two nights before yesturday (got that? =) ) I did go to that club with a few people in our group earlier. 60 kuai is less than 10 dollars, and so paying that and getting an open bar, music and dancing in return is pretty nice. The music is loud and there are so many glistening lights everywhere! It's a little overwhelming at first, but it was a lot of fun to go dancing. The club has two sides: a hip-hop side and a techno side. The techno side is filled a LOT of locals so we generally don't go into there, so we don't suffocate from the madness!
Onto today! Today we went to the east side of West Lake and visited a very large market area, yet again. This is probably my favorite area, because the shops sell many different things. Unlike Silk Street (where all they sell is silk-related products), this street sells tons of different stuff! Anything from your basic trinkets and gifts, to traditional medicine shops (with herbs, roots), to caligraphy sets and restuarants. I found a lot, and I mean a LOT of stuff I wanted to buy but I'm forcing myself not to. I want to wait to shop for people until November when I can see my budget AND, because if I bought the stuff now... I'd want to tell everyone what I got them! I already bought Bryan a present, but it was a smaller gift that I thought was really cute. I'm actually using it as a decoration in my room right now.
It's a paper design, hand-cut by a Chinese man. Now a days a lot of these papercuts are made by factories and not hand-made, so finding this is a bit of a treat! The lady who was selling them was really nice and told us a lot about many of the different kinds of meanings behind many of the cuts. The one I have is of a phoenix and a dragon, which is a very common theme for weddings where the females are represented by the phoenix and the males by the dragon.
After exploring the markets, we then journied into this renovated mansion that was built during the Qing Dynasty. The place was... HUGE!!! The biggest mansion I've ever seen! The mansion had so many rooms, beautiful hallways and a very large pond and garden. I can't even describe it or begin to think of how to describe it... the place is so beautiful, large and wonderous... it is something you really have to see for yourself. I could get lost in the mansion for hours and enjoy the peace and serenity of teh design. Everything- from the window latches to the gorgeous wooden door frames- was just intricate and filled with fine details.
Finally, we ended the day going to a well-known 100 year old lamb and fish resturant. We met with a few friends of David and had many different dishes before us. The way we eat group meals here is by ordering many large dishes and placing them on sort of a 'lazy susan' wheel. You then spin the wheel to whatever dishes you'd like to sample and just grab it with your chopsticks! (And by the time I get home, I'll be a chopstick expert because I have yet to touch a fork here.) I ate well although my lack of appetite for some of the more exotic veggies and meats had me running to the grocery store tonight. I had to buy more supplies anyway, so I bought some more noodle cups and some snacks! I also finally bought a large cup for tea and a bag of Dragon Well tea. The tea comes in many different grades and years, which determines the price. The newer tea is more expensive, along with the "S" grade. Their grades range from S - 5, and I bought the grade 3 tea because it jumps from 25 kuai to 45 kuai! (grade 4 is 24 kuai).
The nice thing I like here is I can get a decent meal for about two dollars or less. There is a noodle place where I can eat for 5 kuai, which is less than a dollar. Usually my meals range from 8 - 25 kuai, depending on if I eat in a group or not.
Now I am simply relaxing in my room! Tomorrow I register as a student here 'officially' and get my language courses figured out. :3
Zaijian!
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Hangzhou's Welcome
Ni hao!
Firstly, thank you to everyone who has thus far commented. It's really fun to read your replies and know that I have listeners! (Or readers, really. :) )
In anycase, the reason my blog has been delayed so far is due to the fact that I have not been able to have internet hook-up until just today. It's a bit of a process- you have to supply a copy of your passport and your student ID number, and then the next day you come to them and they have forms ready and a guy to set up your internet. A lot of websites are banned and to my dismay, one of my gaming applications doesn't work. However, I'm going to see if there is a way I can get it to work by plugging in a few tidbits of information. :3
But, back to the beginning!
I flew safely from Hong Kong to Hangzhou and luckily for me going through customs was a breeze. Nothing like America or Greece, so I was thankful for that. Then David Purnell, our program director, met me at the airport and helped me take a taxi to Hangzhou and told me a lot of great stories already about what he planned. It surely is going to be an interesting semester! David seems like a really great professor and reminds me a lot of Prof. Udry! So needless to say, I'm extremely happy to have him around and to hear his wonderful stories about Hangzhou and the wealth of information that he has to share.
All my things are put away in my room now at the International Dorm at Zheijiang University. Getting there by taxi was not difficult at all and all my things were easily put away. My room is small, about half the size of Carthage's basic rooms but however I do have my own bathroom which is quite nice. The other 8 students who are here from the same program are also really fun to be with. They're all very nice and friendly, and they're all beginners to China like me! So it's really fun to be timid adventurers like me!
But in any case, the first few days were more about settling in. The second night we gathered together and went out to eat with David and he ordered a bunch of different dishes. My favorite was something called Mantou, which was like a doughy bread dipped in a really sweet sauce. In truth, I've been craving it for the past few days- but most likely that's due to my sweet tooth missing my Melopan from Little Tokyo.
Yesturday we traveled to West Lake- the famous lake in Hangzhou that attracts a lot of sight seers and romantics about China. It truly is magnificant. The past few days have been a little bit hazy- which isn't too common, but it adds to that mysterious appeal of China- at least, in my opinion. It was at West Lake where we learned a great deal about some of the prominent stories and figures of China. In truth though, it was only a handful of stories and we're learning more everyday.
Firstly, thank you to everyone who has thus far commented. It's really fun to read your replies and know that I have listeners! (Or readers, really. :) )
In anycase, the reason my blog has been delayed so far is due to the fact that I have not been able to have internet hook-up until just today. It's a bit of a process- you have to supply a copy of your passport and your student ID number, and then the next day you come to them and they have forms ready and a guy to set up your internet. A lot of websites are banned and to my dismay, one of my gaming applications doesn't work. However, I'm going to see if there is a way I can get it to work by plugging in a few tidbits of information. :3
But, back to the beginning!
I flew safely from Hong Kong to Hangzhou and luckily for me going through customs was a breeze. Nothing like America or Greece, so I was thankful for that. Then David Purnell, our program director, met me at the airport and helped me take a taxi to Hangzhou and told me a lot of great stories already about what he planned. It surely is going to be an interesting semester! David seems like a really great professor and reminds me a lot of Prof. Udry! So needless to say, I'm extremely happy to have him around and to hear his wonderful stories about Hangzhou and the wealth of information that he has to share.
All my things are put away in my room now at the International Dorm at Zheijiang University. Getting there by taxi was not difficult at all and all my things were easily put away. My room is small, about half the size of Carthage's basic rooms but however I do have my own bathroom which is quite nice. The other 8 students who are here from the same program are also really fun to be with. They're all very nice and friendly, and they're all beginners to China like me! So it's really fun to be timid adventurers like me!
But in any case, the first few days were more about settling in. The second night we gathered together and went out to eat with David and he ordered a bunch of different dishes. My favorite was something called Mantou, which was like a doughy bread dipped in a really sweet sauce. In truth, I've been craving it for the past few days- but most likely that's due to my sweet tooth missing my Melopan from Little Tokyo.
Yesturday we traveled to West Lake- the famous lake in Hangzhou that attracts a lot of sight seers and romantics about China. It truly is magnificant. The past few days have been a little bit hazy- which isn't too common, but it adds to that mysterious appeal of China- at least, in my opinion. It was at West Lake where we learned a great deal about some of the prominent stories and figures of China. In truth though, it was only a handful of stories and we're learning more everyday.
At Mr. Gou's Villa- (not really a guy's villa, its more of a little tea house stroll) I tried the famous Dragon Well Green Tea. Hangzhou is famous for it, due to an Emperor of the Qing Dynasty (forgive me, I forget his name) proclaiming it as one of the best teas in China. Hangzhou itself is really known for its tea and silk, along with West lake and it's scenic appeal.
We ended yesturday by climbing over one of the hills back to campus- and by hill, it seemed to me more like a mountain when you think that I'm used to Minnesota hills. It was still really beautiful and I saw a lot of fascinating sights. Bamboo forests, tea bush fields, the Broken Bridge, etc...
Today we did a lot of walking as well. More sight-seeing around West Lake. We visited a few tombs, and if I were prepared when writing this, I'd be able to tell you exactly what and such. However, I'm writing this quickly so I can take a shower and get ready to go out tonight. I have a ton of pictures, but unfortunately the internet here is so slow that I'd take forever for me to even put three in this blog. I'll try to include a few though with every post, if possible.
But yeah! That's a very, very brief summary of what has gone on thus far. Hopefully I won't have to backtrack so much, now that the internet is working. But here are some random thoughts of mine to leave you with about China. (They're random because I'm too lazy to give them a proper order and such...)
1.) I drink a lot of tea in China.
Seriously, I didn't realize I'd be drinking so much tea. I mean, I knew I'd be drinking a lot but I didn't know I'd be drinking THIS much. They offer it at every single meal, and thank goodness I like it. The more I drink it, the more I like it although I found I'm not a big fan of the flowery teas. Lucky for me, around Hangzhou they serve Dragon Well tea and Green tea more than anything. At every meal (other than lunch, usually) I drink about 2 - 3 cups of tea. Be prepared when I come back to the states, because I'll probably be wanting it!
2.) Hangzhou seems to have two very different sides.
From the few days of what I've seen, I find that scenic-wise, there are two sides to Hangzhou. When you immerse yourself in West Lake, it is a gorgeous forested area filled with parks, flowers, trees, hillsides and a great deal more. But then there is the large, towering city that houses over 3.5 million people. You wouldn't guess, walking through the busy streets of Hangzhou, that West Lake even existed! Yet the funny thing is, immersing yourself in West Lake... you'd think the same otherwise too!
I hope everyone is doing well back at the States!
~ An Kang Mei
Kalah
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Hong Kong's Welcome
你好!
Currently I'm sitting at the Hong Kong International Airport, patiently awaiting my flight on Dragonair to Hangzhou. The airport is really nice and is quite large and roomy- doesn't feel crowded or stuffy at all, which is something I'm not used to with LAX. The only downside is it seems the internet only works on one side of the airport, and the power outlets for my computer to charge are on the other side. So, I have limited time but wanted to put in a little entry!
The flight left LAX about 1:45 PST and got in early in Hong Kong around 7:00 AM, their time. It was a really nice flight too! The selection of entertainment from my little TV was simply amazing- I've never had so many TV choices, movie choices and music choices! I watched three movies, including Kung-Fu Panda which was actually really entertaining.
After a bit of TV watching, reading and sleeping I finally graced the shores of Hong Kong! It was really beautiful to see the perfectly serene, flat water lapping along coast. The mountains were a really nice greeting as well when I stepped out into the heavily windowed airport- the clouds lazily rolling over the misty mountains is truly inspiring! You'd never see an airport quite like this in America... so I'm appreciating it all the more.
I also converted 15 dollars to buy me an adaptor and some food, and I still have leftover change. I'm REALLY appreciating that- in an airport in America, 15 bucks would only pay for the food!
Oh, and here you'll see Duma, my stuffed Cheetah, peaking out of my backpack. He's sort of my traveling partner... going wherever I go to be my 'back up'. I don't care how old I get, I'll never get too old for him!!
Kalah
Kang Mei
Friday, August 29, 2008
One Step Out the Door...
I can't believe that in about a day, I'll be on a long plane trip to 中国 (zhongguo = China). It makes me extremely nervous and I keep running through my head all the things that MAKE me nervous and also incredibly excited. It's funny in some way, because I'm not nervous about living in China nor am I nervous about the culture shock or making new friends... the thing I'm already nervous about, is that darn language test! I've never been extremely confident with my language skills, but at least it gives me comfort to know that some people who know very little Chinese will be going. Worst case scenario is I learn, right? At least... that's what I keep telling myself!
For those of you who do not know, I will be living in the city of 杭州 (Hangzhou). I've done a little research on it (and I have to go back and reread it so I feel more knowledgable, thank you Wikipedia) and it seems to be an extremely interesting city. It's very close to Shanghai and is considered one of the more beautiful cities in China. It gets a lot of tourism as well due to the large lake that's found there. There's a lot of culture to be had there so I'll be off scampering about, learning new things and trying to absorb the overload of new stuff like a sponge!
The weather shouldn't be too bad either and from what I found, the weather is a lot like Minnesota and Los Angeles if you were to combine them. The temperatures in December range from 51 - 37, which is warmer than Minnesota and a lot more like Los Angeles. However, they get plenty of rain being on the otherside of the Pacific, so in that sense it's like Minnesota again! I'll out buying a raincoat, which will be new to me since I haven't had one since... well, ever. I won't be bringing a winter jacket though, being as 37 degrees really isn't that cold and if I need one, I'll go shopping! :D Wonderful excuse to save space traveling!
As for now though, I'll be shopping later today and tomorrow for some extra clothes and supplies. According to my guide, it is recommended for girls to wear skirts and dresses rather than pants and shorts- which will be interesting for me. I feel rather embarressed bringing my big bag to China (and trust me, it's a big one) but at the same time it really can't be helped. All my bags are either very small for three-five day excursions, or they're extremely large for 2 weeks or longer trips. I'll just bank on the idea that there will be at least one girl who packed as much as me!
Well, cheers for a good sending off! You can be sure that my last American meal on Saturday will be Pizza! :D 祝
好
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