Tokyo

We went to Tokyo for a long weekend with two couples from our apartment building. We had the good fortune of going with a couple who had lived in Tokyo for 10 months as Canadian Expats prior to moving to Beijing. We even got to travel out of the new Terminal 3 airport building from Beijing (out trips to the US still leave from the old terminal 2).

We left on a Thursday night and got in too late for the Express Bus or trains into Tokyo. Fortunately, Air China had provided buses to everyone free of charge to the center of Tokyo. The ride was over an hour. We then took taxis to our hotel in Roppongi area, near the US Embassy. Below is a view from our hotel which had a couple of elevated highways right outside (a little noisy).

This is a street scene in the Roppongi area which is known for catering to the foreign devils (expats). At night we had to walk by a couple of busy street corner where men would solicit you to visit gentlemen clubs. They did not care that we were with our spouses.

We did a lot of shopping, eating, walking, riding subway and taxis throughout the weekend. The meals were spectacular and just seeing the city was a treat. It was so different than Beijing (clean, people queued in lines, little car horn blowing, good air quality, no spitting, people spoke quietly, little talking on cell phones (lots of text messaging going on)

We happened to walk by this corporate sign. This will be a collector item some day since the branding for J.P. Morgan will be changing this summer back to the old branding and losing the octagon.

We ate at Gordon Ramsay's Restaurant (Hell's Kitchen for you Reality TV watchers).

The ladies were given a complimentary sparkling wine for their meal.

Amazingly Krispy Kreme had a 45 minute queue the first day we went by it. The last day which was very rainy the queue was a manageable 15 minutes.

We did have a couple of good Japanese meals as well.....

Guilin and Yangshuo

A group of us went to visit Guilin and Yanshuo for a long weekend. These cities are located in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is located in the southern part of China and borders on Vietnam. Its landscapes and natural sites are unique and beautiful. Guilin is known for its limestone peaks and beautiful landscape.

When we arrived at Guilin airport we took a bus to The Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces in Longsheng. It was a couple hour ride to the rice paddies with some beautiful scenery. This area is also known for its ethnic minority groups that are allowed to continue to their unique traditions and culture. We met some Yao, Miao, and Zhuang people.

After visiting the Terraces we drove back Yanshuo to stay in a very nice hotel. We did not arrive in town until very late.

The next morning we took a boat cruise up the Li River. Most people take the boat from Guilin to Yanshuo (downstream). We did just the opposite and were the only people on the boat (wow). The scenery was spectacular. We had some intermittent rain but that was a good relief the the hot humid climate.

Here we are posing with the 20 Yuan bill which has the same scenery on the back of the currency.

We took a bus back to Yangshuo and then went to a fantastic outdoor show (Impression show of Liusanjie) that was produced and directed by Zhang Yimou the famous Chinese director who will be doing the opening ceremonies for the 2008 Olympics. The show was about the river people and life along the Li River. It was a great light spectacle in a large amphitheater with over 6,000 local actors.

The next morning we visited moon hill near a local village.

We then headed for the city of Guilin and went to Reed Flute Cave

Good to be Home

It was good to be home to smell fresh air and to see all the greenery.

Yangtze River Cruise

Three couples from our apartment building went on a Yangtze River cruise in May. We flew to Chongqing to start the cruise which ended 3 days later at Three Rivers Gorge Dam.

Here we are arriving at Chongqing airport. Chongqing (also once known as ChungKing) is the largest municipality in China with over 31MM people.













Chongqing is a very hilly city in a very warm climate near Sichuan Province. We did a little sightseeing and ate at a hotpot restaurant before boarding our cruise ship.

































































Below we are arriving at Fengdu (ghost) City. The river cruise ship we traveled on is in the background.

The T-shirt I am wearing was a gift of an expat who has lived here for 13 years. It always gets laughs from the locals - bei ren kan pu dong - "white men don't understand" (westerns can't read this).













Very strange demonic statues along the walk up the hill to a temple.

This small guy has a great business. He rolls this huge iron object around a vertical pole and then has to lift it up on top of the pole Everyone is challenged to do it and of course no one can. He has a great technique that he has perfected. On our way back to the ship he caught up with BF to see if she would exchange all of his Dollars for Yuan. That is how weak the US Dollar is :(

He did not like me too much. He thought I was a foreign devil (large westerner with sun glasses). He was glad to see me go.

Sights of the river and gorge. The river has been flooded to 152M and will be complete when it reaches 175M in the near future.

The very controversial Three Gorges Dam, in Hubei Province, largest in the world.

May Holiday

One of the Golden Weeks was eliminated this year so more traditional holidays could be celebrated such as Tomb Sweeping Day, Dragon Boat Festival, etc.

Tomb Sweeping or Qingming Festival was celebrated on May 2nd this year.

The Qingming (Pure Brightness) Festival is one of the 24 seasonal division points in China, falling on April 4-6 each year. After the festival, the temperature will rise up and rainfall increases. It is the high time for spring plowing and sowing. But the Qingming Festival is not only a seasonal point to guide farm work, it is more a festival of commemoration.

The Qingming Festival sees a combination of sadness and happiness.

This is the most important day of sacrifice. Both the Han and minority ethnic groups at this time offer sacrifices to their ancestors and sweep the tombs of the deceased. Also, they will not cook on this day and only cold food is served.

The Hanshi (Cold Food) Festival was usually one day before the Qingming Festival. As our ancestors often extended the day to the Qingming, they were later combined.

On each Qingming Festival, all cemeteries are crowded with people who came to sweep tombs and offer sacrifices. Traffic on the way to the cemeteries becomes extremely jammed. The customs have been greatly simplified today. After slightly sweeping the tombs, people offer food, flowers and favorites of the dead, then burn incense and paper money and bow before the memorial tablet.

In contrast to the sadness of the tomb sweepers, people also enjoy hope of Spring on this day. The Qingming Festival is a time when the sun shines brightly, the trees and grass become green and nature is again lively. Since ancient times, people have followed the custom of Spring outings. At this time tourists are everywhere.

People love to fly kites during the Qingming Festival. Kite flying is actually not limited to the Qingming Festival. Its uniqueness lies in that people fly kites not during the day, but also at night. A string of little lanterns tied onto the kite or the thread look like shining stars, and therefore, are called "god's lanterns."

The Qingming Festival is also a time to plant trees, for the survival rate of saplings is high and trees grow fast later. In the past, the Qingming Festival was called "Arbor Day". But since 1979, "Arbor Day" was settled as March 12 according to the Gregorian calendar.



From China.org

Nice Visit with #3

We had a very nice visit with AF and her Scottish boyfriend. BF and AF played the tour guides for Stephen. I know he really enjoyed the whole experience and will have some wonderful memories to last a lifetime.

It was so nice to have AF back here. The time went by very quickly and we are suddenly empty-nesters again. Here are some sample photos from the visit: