A few nights ago we met up with a couple of Chinese CouchSurfers Janet and Vivian. They invited us out to diner with their other surfing friend from Perth, Rene, who actually surfs more skys than couches with over 6,500 skydiving jumps! During dinner it was decided that we would all take advantage of a 2-for-1 promotion for a day trip out to a water village.
We woke up at the break of dawn this morning to catch our 7am bus ride to the town of Nanxun. The weather was a bit drizzly but it sort of added to the vibe of this ancient place. Right after stepping off the bus we walked smack dab into the middle of one of the most exotic sights we’ve seen so far. A small lake full of hydrophytes (that one’s for you Joel) and surrounded by stalagmitic stones. Across the lake sat a small gazebo, creating one very picturesque moment…
…after another…
…and another. From the Gazebo, in the distance is an ancient library with over 6 million volumes!
We would later find out that their “books” are waterproof — that is to say their books are actually slabs of wood with words carved into them — as we saw a woman washing a few novels off in the nearby stream.
Here’s a shot of some of the volumes on their book shelves, or perhaps drying racks.
Once we finished reading all 6m volumes, we walked down some narrow pathway that opened up to make way for a memorial archways of the Qing Dynasty…
…and its ferocious stone guards.
Just like in Venice or Friesland, the primary means of transportation through their Asian counterpart is by boat. Duh.
Unfortunately my rowing skills are a bit rusty.
So in an effort to keep dry, we just footed it across one of the towns many bridges to the other side, where we found some interesting street vendors. One in particular sparked Vivian’s interest, a wok full of… of… um… motor oil?
As if by magic she was able to take three chopsticks and turn that 10W-30 into something that almost looked edible. Actually the only way I knew it was edible was because she ate it.
There are about 9 points of interest to see in the village, and since time was somewhat limited by the fact that we needed to be back on the bus at a certain time, we skipped a few lesser sights, in favor of the more impressive. Like this temple…
…that had a giant round platform with thousands of prayers hanging from the handrail, and in the middle was a giant Yin Yang symbol that was circumscribed with the 12 zodiac signs.
Once inside the temple we were given a yellow slip of paper and told to write our name down on it, then we were escorted back out of the building and told to burn it! What an interesting form of hospitality!
I’m still not sure what to make of it all, but hey, there I go.. up in flames.
After watching myself burst into flames, we searched for a quick bite to eat before heading back to the bus. The ladies selected one of the more popular spots along the river…
…and like a few nights earlier ordered us a bunch of local delicacies, like chicken stew. And when I say chicken, I really mean the WHOLE DAMN CHICKEN.
That is one of it’s claws trying to climb its way out of its own broth.
Being a local, it really wasn’t a big deal to Janet. But to us westerners, it was like watching a carnival freak as she gnawed the meat (do feet have meat?) off the scrawny foul foot.
Not one to be outdone, I had to represent and go for the gusto.
One chicken head. Down the hatch.
Would you be surprised if I told you that it tasted like chicken? I hope not. Now that you’ve all lost your appetites, let’s move on…
And speaking of moving… according the Janet’s cell phone we had met our walking quota of 7.7km (that’s 11,647 steps) and burnt somewhere around 261 calories.
Which is concidentaly the same number of calories listed on the side of a package of chicken heads! If you don’t believe me, check it out the next time you’re at a chicken head store.
So with a successful trip under our belt and a bird in our belly it was back on the bus to head back to Shanghai for our final night in the city.
While walking through People’s Square today we happened across two young ladies that were quick to strike up a conversation in English. It came as somewhat of a relief as we were beginning to grow frustrated with our lack of ability to communicate with the locals on any level. After regurgitating the same conversation we invariably get into with most people we meet (i.e. the story about our round-the-world trip) they invited us to a local tea parlor to practice the ancient rituals of the original tea drinking people.
We were lead inside by a tiny Chinese woman in a silk garment.
She sat as down at a table that seemed to be fashioned from the base of a tree stump. Our seats, or rather stools were probably made from branches from the same tree.
The host only spoke Chinese, so the ladies translated every couple of sentences. Stories about a lucky three legged frog-like-creature.
And the meaning behind the blossoming of flowers.
In all we tried 6 different teas, each with their own special properties and unique preparation technique.
The whole experience was quite enjoyable, and the tea made me very relaxed. So relaxed in fact that on the way back to the hotel I just had to pull up a chair and join the local nappers.
HA! P.T. Barnum ain’t got nothing on Shanghai. While he was busy futzing with elephants, high wire acts, and bearded ladies, the Chinese have been working on their grand scheme to undermine Barnum’s operation and truly create The Greatest Show On Earth. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, feast your eyes now on the Shanghai Land Subsidence Monitoring Show!!!
Ohhhhh. Ahhhhh.
But wait… there’s more!
We got duped into the most ridiculous tourist trap of the trip today! The Bund Sightseeing Tunnel is the most tacky, overpriced, sightseeing scam ever. It is however — as far as we could tell — the most efficient way to get to the other side of the river. And I was able to salvage some of my dignity with a few over exposed photos.
Once we escaped from that tube of terror, we emerged on the other side of the river where we got a close up view of the Oriental Pearl Tower which is the third tallest tower in the world.
I guess when you have 20 million people living in a city, you learn very quickly how to build vertically. And learn they did. After the clouds smog parted I was able to get a shot of the top of the Shanghai World Financial Center, which up until this time last year was THE worlds tallest skyscraper at 1,614.2Â ft.
It’s the one on the right that looks like a bottle opener. It’s neighboring building only looks taller due to the angle. But you can see who’s really the boss from across the river.
We grabbed a bite to eat as the GoodYear blimp floated down the river.
Or for those of you that can read Chinese, here’s the translation on the opposite side.
Since we couldn’t find any other way to get back across the river on foot, and we already paid for the round trip ticket, it was back through the seizure shaft.
We started to walk down The Bund, but after being constantly harrassed by the plethora of street vendors we just gave up and went back to the hotel to try and brush up on our Chinese phrases. As it turns out, it’s REALLY difficult to do anything in this country without a decent understanding of their language. Everywhere else up until this point you could squeek buy with simple English. Not in China. I guess when you’re the most populous nation in the world you don’t really need to learn another language. But don’t fret my fellow Americans, we have a strong foothold here… in a little franchise called KFC. First we take over their chicken, then their language! Muaahahah! 😉
Today we tried our best to catch up on our sleep, so not much to report. After two back-to-back 13+ hour flights, our internal clocks are a bit waked out. I’m sure our all night partying last night until 6am didn’t exactly help. We did manage to wake up on time however for the 8pm light show. Here are a few select photos from the other side of Hong Kong island during it’s nightly 8pm show.
After the light show we took a stroll down The Avenue of the Stars, which is very similar to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, only it’s for Chinese actors. And at the end of the Ave is this life size statue of Bruce Lee.
Very cool!
The prize of the night goes to these Chinese street performers who absolutely butchered some classic American songs.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that we won’t be seeing their statue on the Ave anytime soon. Great entertainment however! Even if it does make me want to go crawl back into bed and jab q-tips deep into my aural cavity.
You think you know. But you have no idea. This is the true Hollywood Hong Kong story of a Halloween night out on the town dressed as a caveman and a cereal killer.
I kid you not, we must have posed for at least 50 photos before we even got to the turnstile to board the train.
And once we boarded the train…
…we posed for several more photos on the train…
…and yet more after exiting the train at our stop…
For the first time in my life I’ve come to realize what it must be like to be a celebrity. From one camera to the next, flash after flash, photo after photo. At one point there must have been a crowd of 50 or so people all surrounding us waiting for their turn to take a photo with us. It was INSANE I tell you! At one point we just had to cut people off (no pun intended) and walk away. And that’s when people would bring out the big guns and come up to you with their babies in a pumpkin costume and lay on the guilt trip. Now how can you say no to that? You just can’t. So of course we got wrangled into about two dozen more photos before we finally ducked out from the flashes of the paparazzi.
Had we know just how many people there were out in the streets snaking around downtown Hong Kong, we would have evacuated much sooner. It was a massive parade of people. I’d say it was the equivalent — as far a density of humans — to the millennium celebration in Las Vegas. Just a ridiculous amount of people.
Some in costume…
…and some not – just out to have a good time…
…and take photos…
…with all the freaks!
At one point there was even a little Cro-Magnon theme going on… friggin’ traitors! I knew I couldn’t trust them with my fire!
At least I bagged myself a real live injun!
Before I found one of the best costumes of the night.
It was by far one of the most fun Halloween experiences of my life. I HIGHLY suggest everyone tries dressing up in Hong Kong to celebrate All Hallows’ Eve at least once in their life. You won’t be sorry.
