Hong Kong and Yangshou, China
Ni Hao from Yangshou, China! We have officially passed the mid-point of our little adventure and it seems like it is moving faster and faster.
First off, we would like to give a little shout out to Dan Gestwick. His generous gift of Holiday Inn points set us up very well during our time in Hong Kong. More importantly, his great advice pointed us to a taquaria owned by a former resident of So-Cal who flies in her ingredients and makes a mean carnitas burrito. Oh, what a fabulous Mexican fix right in the middle of the trip.
The big story here in China is the Lunar New Year. In Hong Kong, we watched the whole city setting up and rehearsing for their annual equivilent of the Macy's parade complete with floats, dancing children, and an unlikely guest appearance by the Arizona Cardinals' cheerleaders (for some reason, their publicity photo - Lycra uniforms and all - was one of the more visible on the parade ads).
New Year's eve here in Yangshou was like festive little warzone. Our hotel looks out over the Li River and it was a perfect spot to launch very big rockets and light off meter-long strands of fireworks. After getting through that first night we thought that it might calm down a bit as the week wore on, but no, we were mistaken. Two days later, kids are still sling-shotting little bombs at one another while their parents look on and laugh. Initally, we felt that maybe Americans are just a little wimpier than people in China when it comes to chaotic celebration with potentially maiming devices. And then, when a man lit fireworks into the tree directly outside of our hotel window, we gained a renewed appreciation for the illegality of fireworks in most parts of the U.S.
In order to get out and do a few things that weren't just "on the beaten path" and to temporarily escape the endless explosions, we arranged for a guide to show us around the areas outside of Yangshou where it would be rare for folks to speak English. Stephen was great to us and taught us a lot about Chinese culture. He was also excited to chat about Chinese and U.S. history and politics, which we of course enjoyed as well. We hiked alongside the Li River, ate lunch in a little village, rode bikes 4 hours out into the countryside and rice fields, and visited a small buddist temple with an amazing view of the karst landscape. Sadly, we did learn that fireworks are enjoyed everywhere in China.
Throughout our time in Cambodia and Vietnam, we were always amazed that nearly every sign and menu was written in both the local language and in English. While we see much less English here, they are trying, particularly in places visited often by foreigners. But, for some reason, there are wonderful mistakes everywhere. Some of our favorites: "Please place trashery in the bin," "Wonderful shopping place for your face soil" and "Jack Naniels."
First off, we would like to give a little shout out to Dan Gestwick. His generous gift of Holiday Inn points set us up very well during our time in Hong Kong. More importantly, his great advice pointed us to a taquaria owned by a former resident of So-Cal who flies in her ingredients and makes a mean carnitas burrito. Oh, what a fabulous Mexican fix right in the middle of the trip.
The big story here in China is the Lunar New Year. In Hong Kong, we watched the whole city setting up and rehearsing for their annual equivilent of the Macy's parade complete with floats, dancing children, and an unlikely guest appearance by the Arizona Cardinals' cheerleaders (for some reason, their publicity photo - Lycra uniforms and all - was one of the more visible on the parade ads).
New Year's eve here in Yangshou was like festive little warzone. Our hotel looks out over the Li River and it was a perfect spot to launch very big rockets and light off meter-long strands of fireworks. After getting through that first night we thought that it might calm down a bit as the week wore on, but no, we were mistaken. Two days later, kids are still sling-shotting little bombs at one another while their parents look on and laugh. Initally, we felt that maybe Americans are just a little wimpier than people in China when it comes to chaotic celebration with potentially maiming devices. And then, when a man lit fireworks into the tree directly outside of our hotel window, we gained a renewed appreciation for the illegality of fireworks in most parts of the U.S.
In order to get out and do a few things that weren't just "on the beaten path" and to temporarily escape the endless explosions, we arranged for a guide to show us around the areas outside of Yangshou where it would be rare for folks to speak English. Stephen was great to us and taught us a lot about Chinese culture. He was also excited to chat about Chinese and U.S. history and politics, which we of course enjoyed as well. We hiked alongside the Li River, ate lunch in a little village, rode bikes 4 hours out into the countryside and rice fields, and visited a small buddist temple with an amazing view of the karst landscape. Sadly, we did learn that fireworks are enjoyed everywhere in China.
Throughout our time in Cambodia and Vietnam, we were always amazed that nearly every sign and menu was written in both the local language and in English. While we see much less English here, they are trying, particularly in places visited often by foreigners. But, for some reason, there are wonderful mistakes everywhere. Some of our favorites: "Please place trashery in the bin," "Wonderful shopping place for your face soil" and "Jack Naniels."
Tomorrow we head to Shanghai to reunite with Jesse & Christy. We are very much looking forward to seeing them again and are bracing ourselves for the big city fireworks that undoubtedly lie ahead.
More Karst, this time on the Li River. The scene behind us is shown on the 20 Yuan bill. Speaking of, we discovered the pain in the butt that is counterfeit money the other night. Turns out it sometimes comes out of the ATMs. Lots of places check and reject it but it didn't turn out to be hard to get rid of it later on. We guess some merchants figure there will always be another gullible foreigner coming down the pike.
Sarah and Stephen pose in their borrowed flip-flops and helmets before we head into a limestone cave that houses an underground lake and mud-bath. After shimmying through tight spaces and wading in knee deep water, we realized that a similar attraction in the U.S. would require a minimum of 40 pages of liability waivers.
Gus, never before a huge fan of Chinese food nor a practiced user of chopsticks, shows off newfound skills while taking his malaria pill.
posted by Sarah & Gus @ 2:22 AM
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