Royal Ramblings

Five Years!

2011-08-11T09:20:00.000-07:00

I met Chunlin five years ago this evening, here:

Two days later, we had our first "date," a hike to Yellow Aster Butte.

We headed back to the Mt Baker area last weekend to celebrate our anniversary, but clouds obscured the distant mountains...

Wanna See Some Photos?

2011-07-28T21:30:00.001-07:00

In case you haven't noticed, this blog is asleep. On the other hand, I've been posting photos almost daily over on flickr. So go take a look.

Towel Day

2011-05-25T10:56:00.000-07:00

I know where my towel is. It's on the towel rack in my bathroom...

tumblr

2011-05-10T11:08:00.000-07:00

I am stunned and amazed that some of my photos are getting hundreds of accolades on tumblr with only a few views on flickr. Is tumblr really that much more popular now?

e.g.: Across the Valley, a photo from Mt Dickerman I took several years ago but only posted on flickr a couple days ago. It's not one my all-time favorites, but it sure has sparked interest on tumblr. 224 "likes" and "reposts" on tumblr, while only 1 "favorite" on flickr. The postings on tumblr all have the direct link back to the flickr page for that photo, by the way.

Washington State Ferries Map

2011-04-15T12:08:00.000-07:00

Most of the ferries in the Washington State system are named after Native American names (except the MV Evergreen State, MV Rhododendron, and MV Hiyu). Some of these are people, some are places, but either way they're tied to a location in the state.

The different text sizes correspond to the size of the ferries. Font size equals number of cars divided by ten, more or less. Click on the map to see the image full size and thus the small names.

Future UFL Cities?

2011-02-13T18:50:00.000-08:00

Apparently the UFL won't be expanding this year, but the thought of the little professional football league made me think about what cities might be good choices for expansion. What follows is a list of the largest metropolitan areas that do not have an NFL team located within a 2.5-hour drive.

Portland
San Antonio
[Las Vegas]*
(Austin)**
[Virginia Beach]*
Memphis
Oklahoma City
Salt Lake City
(Tulsa)**
Fresno
Honolulu
Albuquerque
[Omaha]*
El Paso
McAllen

The UFL has kept talking about Portland and San Antonio, but evidently can't find any local businessmen to pay for a team in either town.

The thought that the southern tip of Texas would be the tenth-best location for a UFL expansion makes me believe that the NFL currently has the country well-covered. L.A. is not on this list because it's less than two hours from San Diego. If the Vikings leave Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul would be top of this list. If the Jaguars leave Jacksonville, that city would be just ahead of Memphis.

*Cities in square brackets already have UFL teams. The other two UFL cities (Sacramento and Hartford) are within two hours of NFL cities (Oakland and New York).
**Cities in parentheses are near a larger city on this list that doesn't have a team.

NFL Powerhouses

2011-01-24T17:01:00.000-08:00

When I heard a while ago that the Dallas Cowboys have the highest value of any American sports team, I scratched my head. Does anybody still care about the Cowboys? What have they done lately?

So I checked the NFL records for the past ten years. The Cowboys are a middling team, just like the Seahawks.

What follows is a ranking of the NFL teams over the past ten years, weighted toward recent seasons, with playoff and championship wins weighted as well.

1. New England Patriots (15.8) **
2. Pittsburgh Steelers (15.4*) **
3. Indianapolis Colts (15.2) **
4. New Orleans Saints (11.5)
5. Philadelphia Eagles (11.4)
6. New York Giants (11.2)
7. Green Bay Packers (11.2*)
8. San Diego Chargers (10.9)
9. Baltimore Ravens (10.8)
10(t). Chicago Bears (9.9)
10(t). New York Jets (9.9)
12. Dallas Cowboys (9.2)
13. Atlanta Falcons (9.2)
14. Seattle Seahawks (9.1)
15. Minnesota Vikings (8.9)
16. Tennessee Titans (8.5)
17. Carolina Panthers (8.4)
18. Jacksonville Jaguars (8.2)
19. Denver Broncos (8.2)
20. Tampa Bay Bucaneers (8.1)
21. Arizona Cardinals (7.7)
22(t). Cincinnati Bengals (7.0)
22(t). Miami Dolphins (7.0)
24. Washington Redskins (6.8)
25. Kansas City Chiefs (6.8)
26. Houston Texans (6.5)
27. San Francisco 49ers (6.4)
28. Buffalo Bills (6.2)
29. Cleveland Browns (5.6)
30. St. Louis Rams (5.5)
31. Oakland Raiders (5.5)
32. Detroit Lions (3.9)

*The winner of the Super Bowl XLV will gain 1.45 points, placing either the Steelers into first place or the Packers into fourth place.

**Edited 1/25 because I found an entry error giving the Colts the equivilent of a Super Bowl win in 2008.

Figaro Is Dead; Long Live Figaro!

2011-01-09T21:44:00.000-08:00

Chunlin's little blue betta that I thought was dead two years ago has finally passed on, for real.

She was getting sicker and sicker the past few weeks. She wasn't eating very well for the past month or two. I think her eyesight had gone. She couldn't hit the food with her mouth.

But she's gone now.

At least there's now another betta in the family, Bojangles.

And Chunlin bought a red fish in Portland and declared it to be the new Figaro.

Hopefully this one will last longer than 2.5 years!

Today's Epiphany

2011-01-06T11:10:00.000-08:00

The twelve days of Christmas are over. It's now officially time to take down the decorations.

Boo!

Geoduck Geotech

2011-01-05T12:07:00.000-08:00

I think that Geoduck Geotech would be a good name for a soil engineering firm in the Puget Sound region.

This Month's Photo of Chunlin

2011-01-05T08:41:00.000-08:00

I put my new calendar upon my cubicle wall and this is the photo for January. My cutie!

After Thanksgiving a year and more ago, we took a drive down to Oregon to start US 97 across Washington. In the gorge, we stopped near Multnomah Falls, but went to Wahkeena Falls instead. This is from that short hike.

Bonus photo, from the cover of my calendar:

From Huangshan...

2010 Drives

2011-01-01T13:55:00.000-08:00

Last year, we drove to Portland, South Bend, Kalaloch, North Bend, Long Beach, Gold Bar, North Bend, North Bend, North Bend, Skamokawa, Verlot, Port Gamble, Stevens Pass, Westport, Sunrise, Pacific Beach, and Stevens Pass.

In 2011, we might just visit eastern Washington again...

Have a New Year!

2010-12-30T15:16:00.001-08:00

Um... Have a *happy* new year!

Feast of Pétíso!

2010-12-20T09:33:00.000-08:00

Today's the Feast of Pétíso, God of Death.

Eat, drink, and be merry, for the world will soon be reborn!

Hang a Shining Star. . .

2010-12-19T18:06:00.000-08:00

We're almost done wrapping up all our gifts...

No Water

2010-12-10T17:43:00.001-08:00

Having no water service is much worse than no electricity...

Thanks to a burst water main or somesuch, our neighborhood is currently without water.

I'm getting thirsty.

If it's not back on when we get back from dinner, maybe I'll have to take a trip to the lake to pump some water...

Federal Lands Unconstitutional?

2010-12-09T10:35:00.001-08:00

Have a look at this pre-filed bill in the Washington State Legislature for next year's session. Basically, it says that the federal government is constitutionally prohibited from owning land in the state of Washington without the state's consent, so the state is taking it back.

Oddly enough, I had this very idea a few months ago, as a way to curb the federal government's power. All states should do this.

But I doubt this bill will ever see the light of day. It will probably be "x-filed" or lost in a subcomittee for all time.

This Month's Photo of Chunlin

2010-12-01T07:47:00.000-08:00

My, that water's cold, eh?

I flip over my calendar at work to December, and this is the photo I'm greeted with. I can't stop smiling!

50,000 Words!

2010-11-30T17:25:00.001-08:00

My novel is "complete"! I've reached the 50,000-word goal for Nanowrimo! Hurrah!

In the wide and dusty valley, a herder minded his cattle. His dog ran to and fro, keeping the herd together. The herder walked slowly behind the herd, twirling a stick in his hand.

“You should honor Tíngnopok,” had said his wife, “for He watches over your cattle. He watches over you.”

The herder had not listened to his wife, however, and never bothered to go to Tíngnopok’s temple or even say a prayer of thanks to the Black God.

After thirteen months of such behavior, Tíngnopok became agitated.

And thus 50k words have been written. My work here is done...

40,000 Words, Finally!

2010-11-26T08:45:00.000-08:00

I don't have much time to get to 50,000 words before the end of Nanowrimo, but I still plan to finish. I just need to remember to stop editing as I go!

Here are the words that got me to the 40k mark:

Íngna puffed out his cheeks to say something disrespectful, but then he noticed little clouds of dust around the knight’s body. The dust had kicked up when Íngna set him down and was only now just settling back to the earth. Had it really been so soon? Had he truly dug a grave in but a few seconds? Apparently, so.

“I am sorry, my father,” said Íngna with humility. “I see now what has happened. Somehow when the dying knight touched my forehead, the lightning gave me amazing power. With his last command of his body, the knight gave his strength to me.”

Light Traffic...

2010-11-23T07:51:00.000-08:00

Last night at 5 p.m., I had my quickest commute home in ages. Clear sailing. Not many cars on the roads. Plenty of green lights going my way.

When I saw the horror traffic jams on the late news, I was quite shocked. This morning, people who had been stuck in traffic all night?!

My drive in to work today was easy peasy, as well. More snow on the roads than last night, but it's dry, granular snow that makes good traction, even in the driveway. Hopefully SDOT doesn't spray too much of the de-icer on the streets to turn the good snow into nasty brown soup like two years ago...

30k, Behind Schedule

2010-11-21T17:34:00.001-08:00

I've been lax the past few days on my writing. I fell behind schedule for the first time all month. Now, late on Sunday, I've reached 30,000 words, which I meant to reach on Friday. Here are the paragraphs about the witchy Mongana which took me over the 30k mark:

“Oh my,” said the blonde maiden. “Your hair is very black!”

“And yours is quite golden,” replied Mongana.

The pale goddess stepped into the water beside the maiden and stood close. The blonde girl did not flinch, but stood firm and gazed into Mongana’s dark eyes.

Apathy

2010-11-15T21:46:00.001-08:00

Whatever...

20,000 Words!

2010-11-13T22:19:00.000-08:00

I'm now over 2/5 through my goal of 50,000 words in my novel for November. Only slightly behind schedule, too. Here is the section which put me over the 20k milestone:

“It’s a wonderful day,” said Íkmí. “Is it not?”

Her two sisters were too busy combing their hair to reply.

Íkmí did not mind, for she was enjoying the warmth of Hahumí upon her skin from head to toe. The river water glistened upon her body, sparkling like a thousand jewels. Íkmí smiled tranquilly as the sun embraced her.

“Eeek!” shouted her sisters. “A snake!”

Happy Mirror New Year!

2010-11-10T08:30:00.000-08:00

11-10-10 --> 01-01-11 !!!

10,000 Words!

2010-11-07T12:10:00.000-08:00

I have reached 10,000 words this week, this month. I am approximately one-fifth of the way done with my grand story, Chronicle of the Universe.

Here are the paragraphs that put me over the milestone:

Kíngtíní, old daughter of the great mother Anuhut, floated away from Nınom, disappearing from his sight. She walked through the village, none of the folk wise to Her presense. They acted as if She were not among them, for they could not see Her.

The Old Crone searched for a man named Manguhıng. Manguhıng was an old man and a rich man. He had amassed great wealth and was the richest man in the village, by far. Manguhıng had a flock of eighty-one sheep, all healthy and strong.

Eat Up!

2010-11-03T07:44:00.001-07:00

Today is the Feast Day of Nokí, Goddess of Food!

As such, this morning I ate two breakfasts.

Nanowrimo!

2010-11-01T08:12:00.001-07:00

Hooray! November's here, which means it's National Novel Writing Month!

I'm 300 words into a 50,000-word novel. Good start, right?

I last participated in 2004, back in the days when I had few responsibilities...

Happy Feast of Rékaré!

2010-10-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

Rékaré is the strongest, most skilled, most loyal, and most loving god in the universe. May He always protect us!

Blog?

2010-10-21T08:16:00.000-07:00

It's official. Mamurd has taken over the blogging duties for the family...

Never Forget Columbo Day!

2010-10-11T07:55:00.000-07:00

RIMMER: You can scoff, Lister. That's nothing new. They laughed at
Galileo. They laughed at Edison. They laughed at Columbo.
LISTER: Who's Columbo?
RIMMER: The man with the dirty mac who discovered America.

- "Waiting for God," Red Dwarf

Demise of the WAC

2010-10-09T20:56:00.000-07:00

WAC, huh
Good God y'all
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Say it again

WAC, whoa, Lord
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me

Did you know that the Western Athletic Conference will be down to six schools in a couple years? There's a distinct possibility that it may dissolve and disappear. Kinda sad, really, for a conference that's been around since 1958 and had 24 members (but not all at the same time).

The charter members were, of course, BYU, Utah, Arizona, Arizona State, New Mexico, and Wyoming. The Arizona schools left in 1978 and the rest in 1999.

From six schools to eight to seven to eight to nine, where it held for twelve years, then to ten and to sixteen for three years, then to eight to nine to to ten to nine, and soon to eight and then six: Hawaii (since 1979), San Jose (since 1996), Lousiana Tech (2001), Idaho (2005), New Mexico State (2005), and Utah State (2005).

Maybe they should disband an all join the Big Sky Conference...

Beijing, part 20: Goodbye, China

2010-10-08T07:30:00.000-07:00

Time to finish packing. Time to leave China. Time to go back to work.

We needed three more suitcases... Chunyu found a couple old suitcases for us to use. We got everything packed away.

On the way to the airport, we stopped briefly for Chunlin to get a haircut touch-up, for Chunyu to buy us some donkey sandwiches, and back home to get the couple things for Jason that we forgot. Onto the expressway and airport-bound.

Jason was waiting at the airport. Chunlin and I took the luggage in and got our boarding passes, then went back out to sit and drink tea with her brothers.

An hour before the departure time, we headed to the newstand then finally through customs and security to the gate with twenty minutes to spare. Too tight for me.

At the gate was a bus. An empty bus arrived and ours left full. We boarded the plane up the stairs in the sun. The airport was far enough outside Beijing that the air is not too smoggy.

A couple more buses after ours. A few seats empty. The door closes ten or fifteen minutes late.

Wait wait wait in line to take off.

Finally in the air. Zai jian, Beijing. I spotted Pangu Plaza in the haze. Chunlin had the window seat. She spotted the Great Wall. Our seats were over th wing, so it was hard to see down.

The map function on the seatbacks wasn't functioning.

Still over China so it's six p.m. Still sunny on the northwest side of the plane. We closed the blinds because it was too hot, not because of the grumpy sleepers in the middle seats. It was still daytime! Wear an eye mask if you want darkness. I'd suggest earplugs, too...

The sunset turned into a sunrise, Venus disappeared into the haze, the clock changed to Tuesday and back to Monday, and then the San Juans were in sight. Back in the U.S. of A.

Coming in for a *yawn* landing.

Home sweet home. It's kinda cold here...

Beijing, part 19: Shopping, etc.

2010-10-07T07:30:00.000-07:00

One morning, Chunyu, Yüfang, Chunlin, and I went to a pharmacy. Down Chaoyang Bei Lu all the way into town -- almost to the Third Ring Road.

Shelves and shelves of Chinese medicine.

The labels on the cupboards were helpfully in English, too.

Almost English, that is.

The pharmacy had a scale. With shoes, etc., I weighed 207 lbs. My backpack that I'd been carrying every day weighed 13 lbs.

We next went to a clinic for Chunlin's shoulder and back problems. I hoped they could help, but I guessed they'd have the same efficacy as the chiropracter.

Red buckets hanging on the wall near the indoor fountain -- fire extinguishers?

Banners on the medical clinic's walls are the equivilant of certificates in frames in clinics back home. All I could read were the dates. The "0" zero has almost completely replaced the complex "ling" character (which means zero), even on these fancy banners -- completely replaced it on posters, etc. "Arabic" numerals have almost replaced Chinese numerals, in general. Chinese practacality -- use the simpler character that means the exact same thing.

A couple days later, Jason took us along with Shannon and Apple to the mega souvenir store for last-day purchases. First, though, we stopped at the shopping mall for mango smoothies and other desserts. This was in the embassy district. Tons of foreigners from all over the world.

We bought an abacus for Dad, a dragon mask for me, stuffed animals on a string for Mom (and Chunlin's boss), a silk shirt for Christina.

Out of curiosity, I asked a tshirt vendor her price for an "I Climbed the Great Wall." 80 yuan, she said. I told her the asking price on the wall the previous day had been 40 yuan, but we had talked that vendor down to 20. This tshirt vendor quickly dropped her price to 15 yuan, but I wasn't really interested. I already had one! "Why you ask me price if you don't want?" "Sorry! Sorry!" Ah. Silly American.

The next morning, our last day in China, Chunyu took us into Tongzhou (the satellite town near their home) to a big supermarket. We bought lots of candy.

Across the store, a fight broke out between a store clerk and a customer. The two women were grabbing at each other and throwing punches, screaming all the while. What was that about???

Beijing, part 18: One Last Temple

2010-10-06T07:30:00.000-07:00

From the middle of Beijing, we walked and took the subway north and west to the Lama Temple. The bus was too crowded. The temple was originally an imperial residence, but was converted to a Tibetan Buddhist lamasery in 1744.

Lots of worshippers. 'Twas a Sunday, so the Buddhists were taking advantage of their day off work. I felt a bit self-conscious being a tourist while all these people were worshipping.

The Lama Temple was actually a series of halls, each one bigger and more ornate than the previous.

The statues inside got bigger and more ornate, too. But you're not allowed to take pictures inside the halls (or burn incense inside, for that matter). The final statue is an 18-meter-high colossus of Buddha in the penultimate hall. Huge. Golden. Peaceful. Carved from a single tree? Perhaps.

An epilogue hall, then back through the incense-filled courtyards to the main gate.

I've posted more photos of Lama Temple on flickr.

And that was that for sightseeing in China. We stood by the 2nd Ring Road and got picked up by Chunyu. Time to go home.

Beijing, part 17: Let There Be Drums

2010-10-05T07:30:00.000-07:00

At the heart of old Beijing rises the Drum Tower, from which drummers would beat out the times of the day (and occasional warnings).

Chunyu dropped us off -- Yüfang, Steven, Chunlin, and I -- and up we climbed.

Red columns and beams similar to the Southeast Watchtower. Later Ming Dynasty.

We had a half hour to wait till the 1:30 drum performance.

Views out over the hazy city. Visitors are only allowed on the south balcony -- into the sun, blech.

The tourists were gathering. No time for lunch.

Boom boom bada boom! Impressive five-man drum show on the big drums.

Then we descended and headed next door to the east to the same restaurant as Monday evening. At 2 p.m. it was slightly easier to get a table. Hao chi baozi, pi jiu goes down smooth from a bowl.

We said goodby to Yüfang and Steven. She took food to Chunyu, who was still at the car.

I took a brief look at the nearby Bell Tower, but didn't go inside.

More photos from our visit are on flickr, if you'd like to see them.

Beijing, part 16: Driving, etc.

2010-10-04T07:30:00.000-07:00

A typical Chinese city arterial street. Note the secondary lanes to the sides, primarily for bicycles, separated from the car lanes. Wide enough for cars, but you need to drive slowly. The street doesn't seem much wider than a typical American street, does it? If Seattle were serious about bicycles, we'd have avenues like this, instead of the stupid "sharrows" all over.

Another feature on Chinese streets: the countdown clock. They tell you how many seconds are remaining for the signal, whether it's red, green, or an arrow. In Seattle, we have countdown clocks on the pedestrian crossing signals, which I sometimes look at while driving to know how much is left in my green light. Wouldn't it be simpler to have it overhead? It's helpful to drivers so they know when they're not going to make a green or to minimize their impatience while waiting at a red.

Expressways are always fun, if they're flowing...

The blue streaks overhead are actually green arrows. The expressways (toll required, so not freeways) in Beijing are all very controlled. Variable speed limits, arrows for merging around blocking -- similar to what WSDOT installed in south Seattle on I-5 this year. But Beijing also has large signs that are maps of the near section of the expressway system, with red, yellow, and green lights showing where backups are. The closest we have in Seattle are a few "this way is 11 minutes, this way is 15 minutes" signs that don't really help you if you're not going to downtown Seattle or downtown Bellevue.

The Jingcheng Expressway north out of town, like many Chinese expressways, had different speed limits (maxima and minima) for different lanes.

Didn't we try that in the US and decide it didn't work?

Along with large signs saying "no overheight loads" (cartoon giraffe in a truck), "no overweight loads" (cartoon elephant in a truck), "no drunk driving" (various alcohol bottles and glasses), Beijing also had entertaining "no littering" signs.

Also this "Don't Use Neutral on the Downhill" sign...

I saw these signs along the expressway, when approaching tollbooths. At first, I assumed they meant "etc." for "all other vehicles," but that didn't really make sense. The ETC lanes didn't have to stop, and why would the Chinese abbreviate in Latin? And then we figured out that it stood for "Electronic Transmitter C-doohickey," or whatever. Electronic tolling like WSDOT's Good-to-Go program where you put a transmitter in your car, linked to a prepaid account.

Chunyu's car had a built-in GPS.

It worked swell most of the time, but when we drove out to the Great Wall on the new Jingcheng Expressway, it failed.

The GPS told Chunyu to exit the expressway and get on the old highway, but I convinced him not to exit. Soon we were wandering across the countryside, flying over rivers and through mountains, nary a road in sight (on the map, at least), while the GPS tried to recalculate...

Oh well. At least it played DVDs.

A DVD player in the front seat of the car is a delightfully dangerous distraction. Kung fu!

I wasn't entirely comfortable with Chunyu watching the movie while driving. Drift in the lane, drift slower and slower, speed up again. Eyes on the road, please.

On Sunday morning, 'twas an empty city. Our whole family piled into the car, going down the relatively empty road.

A donkey pulling a cart down the boulevard...

Chunyu wasn't quite sure how to get to the Drum Tower, so he turned left down an alley shortcut to the expressway and we wound up three miles off-course -- in the middle of a traffic jam. Nice. How come Chaoyang Road was so clear? How come he didn't know it went straight into town? When we finally got near the Drum Tower, traffic was so slow that pedestrians passed us. The heart of Beijing is made for bicycles and pedestrians, not automobiles.

On Chaoyang Road, dozens and dozens of apartment skyscrapers were under construction, vacant. Three-story worker shelters cowered nearby. Who will live in this new city? A half million new residents -- from older parts of Beijing? From the provinces? And they'll be served by two or three new subway stops on the 6 line (under construction -- Coming 2011!).

No city's subway is as complex as New York's, I'd say. Big? Yes. Busy? Yes. Complex? No. Beijing and Shanghai both need a lot more crisscrossing lines to get to New York's level. Beijing is trying to have New York's subway system overlayed with Los Angeles's expressway system, but they're not there yet. Right now, they have Houston's expressway system with ten times the traffic. A car town desperately trying to catch up.

Beijing, part 15: Family Meals and Foot Massages

2010-10-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

We met Jason's daughter of many names. Apple is her chosen English name, so that's how I know her.

She's a singer, dancer, model, voice actress -- eight or nine years old.

Apple is a precocious one. Kindergarden English level. He has trouble with the Fs in "five" and "fifteen," but has no problem with "four."

Chunlin described Jason's apartment as an old house, since it was built before she moved away in 1988. This is the view out his window.

One morning, we went into town with Chunyu and jia ren (family). We dropped off Steven at school. They had extra security measures because of a rash and scare of child killings in Beijing recently.

Chunyu then dropped us and Fuyang at Sihui Dong Station (the end of line 1) to join the crazy crush of rush-hour subway traffic. We waited for the next train to get a seat, but what's the point? We only stayed on the train for two stops anyway.

A couple days later, Chunyu and his wife Yufang gave us a prepaid card for foot massages at a nearby shop operated by blind men. Felt good. Our sore feet were not so sore anymore.

Sitting with my feet
In a bucket of tea
In a room painted pink
With my wife next to me

Afterwards, we returned home for dinner with the family. I played with Steve and his toys (legos, matchbox cars, toy guns, etc.). He called me "Gu Fu" which means "uncle on father's side, but not one of his brothers," or something like that. In any case, he didn't really pronounce the last vowel, so it sounded more like "Goof"! I am the big goof. Wa shi da gufu.

Chunyu's cats aren't much fun to play with. Careful or they'll scratch you, he said.

I fell asleep watching the Adventures of Monkey and Pig (or whatever it's called) while the others chatted.

The next morning, no rush. I was fairly medieval-architectured out. Not much besides that to see in Beijing. Chunlin and I went out to the street to buy breakfast -- soup in a bag, ubiquitous fried dough, and cooked-on-the-spot pancake-egg-chive-hot-sauce wrap of some sort -- very tasty. The soup was too smoky for me. It tasted like burnt campfire pancakes.

Chunlin watched Chinese Dateline CCTV, or something like that. 9 a.m. What to do today? How about a massage?

Lying on a bed
With a hole for my head
Me and the one I wed
Blind men rub us red

After touring, we met with Jason and his girlfriend Shannon for a fancy dinner in the Haidian District. Chunlin and I were a half hour late, but Shannon was over an hour later than us. We started without her. She didn't eat much of what we saved for her, anyway. Chunyu and Steve picked us up and took us back home to Tongzhou.

The next evening, Chunlin had another foot massage while I played Grand Theft Auto with maniac Steve. Knowing English is very helpful for remembering the cheat codes. Dinner again at home with Chunyu's family.

The following evening, however, we all went out for a big meal. Finally, we had everyone together (well, except Shannon). It was supposedly a fancy restaurant (Jin Bai Wan, the same chain as our first lunch in Beijing) but this particular restaurant had the atmosphere of a noisy Denny's or McDonald's. The Peking Duck was very good and the presentation on the plates was quite nice, but it seemed a bit of a waste.

No matter how good the food was, it's not a fancy restaurant when there's a plastic number placard on the table. Table 62 will never be as fancy as room 35 -- like the restaurants in Shanghai and Nanjing we had big meals at. Best for first.

We then returned home all together, except for Chunlin and Yufang, who stopped off for foot massages. Cousins Apple and Steven played together nicely. Thanks to China's one-child policy, apparently now the words for "brother" and "sister" are used for first cousins.

The next morning, we get another relaxingly slow start. Chunlin had another massage and got a haircut, to boot. Meanwhile I watched Chicken Little in Chinese. Chunlin can't get enough of the cheap massages.

And that's how our days in Beijing went, around all the sight-seeing.

La la la, la lune est là
Lune est là, yuè liàng
La la la, la lune est là
Moi shì loony!

Beijing, part 14: The Great Wall

2010-10-02T17:30:00.000-07:00

The Great Wall of China is certainly an impressive feat of engineering. How did they build it? The same way they build everything in China -- manpower!

Silver snake of stone slithering over hazy hills to the horizon.

Chunyu and his extended family decided not to venture far from our arrival point at the wall, but Chunlin was willing to join me hiking up the ridge.

Up and over and along a ridgeline of cliffs. From what I can tell on the map, this ridge (and thus the wall) is the borderline between the municipality of Beijing and the province of Hebei. Doesn't quite feel like Beijing, does it?

The sections with stairs seem newer -- they were probably rebuilt for tourists. The higher sections don't have steps, but just a steep (and slippery) ramp. A very steep ramp.

Most parapet/guardrails are gone. Don't get too close to the edge!

Five watchtowers later, there wasn't much wall left. For some stretches, there's just 18" of brick wall each side of six feet of bare rock.

A gate. Too steep and dangerous to proceed further. The sign proclaims a 200-yuan fine ($30), but only a 100-yuan bribe to the guards is needed if you really want to keep going.

I trusted the gate-maker's judgment and stopped there. I pulled out my zoom lens, however, and pointed it further up the ridge.

Not much of a wall up there, is it?

After a short while, we turned our toes back down the hill. Our jiaren (family) was waiting.

Hawkers waited for us back at the wall access point. One lady wanted to sell me a book about the wall. I said no (bu yao), repeatedly. She chased me to the next tower and back again. Then, she tried tshirts. XL? "Tai da le." (Too big.) M? "Tai xiao le." (Too small.) L? "Tai hei le." (Too black -- I prefered the gray of the other two.) We got the black large shirt anyway ... eventually. 50, 10, 40, 10, 40, 15, 40, 45 whoops 15, 30, 20, 25, 20 yuan -- mai le (bought). Chunlin took over for me at the end of that exchange. I actually walked away, down the trail to the tram. But now I'm the proud owner of an "I climbed the Great Wall!" tshirt which says Simatai (the name of this stretch) on the back (in Chinese).

And down down down we go.

It wasn't till we returned to town that I realized I hadn't needed to blow my nose the entire time we were away. Good clean air in the countryside.

I've posted many more photos of the Great Wall on flickr, if you'd like to see 'em.

This Month's Photo of Chunlin

2010-10-01T07:58:00.000-07:00

On my calendar this month is this lovely photo from a long, long time ago (last year), on our Fourth of July tour of eastern Washington (and Highways 22 and 23).

Happy sunny days...

Beijing, part 13: Going to Simatai

2010-09-30T12:01:00.000-07:00

Finally we headed to the Great Wall of China!

We started by sleeping in... Breakfast at 9:30, then go. The roads were busier than I expected for a Saturday morning. Maybe if we'd left earlier...

Chunyu, Yufang, Steven, Chunlin, and I in one car. We met up with Yufang's niece and her boyfriend at a toll gate, for a grand total of seven in our group.

It felt good to get out of the city. Once we passed the 6th Ring Road, the Jingcheng Expressway was clear sailing all the way to Simatai.

North of town, the new expressway was an almost continous series of tunnels and bridges.

I could see the Great Wall in the distance! Let's get closer!

But first, some food.

The restaurant took far too long to produce dumplings. Hmph. No air circulation inside, either, making it unbearable. Hungry, hot, impatient, wanting to go to the wall -- I was in no mood for this delay! Just ask Chunlin.

Finally, we got on the cable car.

It was slow, but easier and faster than walking.

Closer and closer to the wall.

Next, the mini train, pulled up up up by a giant winch.

Closer and closer, off the tram and up the trail -- staircase, really.

Up up up, closer and closer to ... the wall!

Smaller than I imagined...

More photos on flickr.

Beijing, part 12: 798 Art District

2010-09-29T12:31:00.000-07:00

We headed into the 'burbs to the 798 Art District, which used to be an industrial area, but was repurposed by the government. The concept of a centrally planned art district is just wrong, if you ask me. The government says, "Here. Take this old factory. You go here. You go there. Be creative in your little box."

Dominating one courtyard was a set of sculptures -- many wolves around one swordsman.

We wandered around, not quite sure which gallery to see first.

This is one of the first galleries we went in. It didn't have any "no photo" signs...

I tried to take a photo of the next gallery -- the room, mind you, like above, and not a specific painting -- and I get a "No photos" from a worker. I can understand them not wanting someone to reproduce one of their paintings without permission, but to block a photo of the whole space? Petty security-guard nonsense.

Even if I were to photograph a painting, it's still not the real thing. If I diseminate the image widely, it's free advertising! But they want control, not fame and money.

A tshirt shop had three signs around the door proclaiming "No photos." One of the signs even said they'd fine you 100 yuan ($15) for taking a picture. Really? On what authority? Is this a law? Does it apply to the tshirts visible from the sidewalk?

They're afraid of someone stealing their ideas, but their ideas are so basic that I wouldn't need a photo to reproduce them: Obama dressed as Mao, etc. Let others make similar tshirts and let the competition begin!

So I took photos of the old buildings and a restaurant's lanterns.

And Chunlin, of course.

And random bits of architecture.

And the sculpture arrayed along the sidewalks.

We sat for a while in an exhibit called "Kids" -- paintings of children from around the world, by one artist. The set in front of us was entitled "Health Disease Happiness Sadness Grow-Up Death Homeland Rangers." Of eighteen portraits, only one or two look happy. The vast majority look miserable. If you put balance in your title, your art work should have balance.

The silkwork in one gallery was very nice. The musculature on the horses -- done in thread -- looked real. A black cat disappearing into the darkness. Expensive, of course. Everything's for sale -- but you've got to go to China if you want to see it because free advertising is out of the question.

Beijing, part 11: Summer Palace

2010-09-27T12:29:00.000-07:00

After three long bus rides, we'd traversed the city and arrived at the gate of the Summer Palace, the 18th and 19th Century pleasure park for the emperors. Hot but a breeze kept us comfortable as long as we didn't move. Lots of people visiting, hanging out, flying kites.

We got some food -- baozi, etc. -- and ate it. We then crossed the 17-Arch Bridge to South Lake Island, home of the Dragon King's Temple.

The temple wasn't very photogenic, so we continued onward to the north end of the island.

We fought the tour groups for a seat on one of the dragon boat ferries.

The ferry took us to the ultimate symbol of Empress Dowager Cixi's "let them eat cake" attitude: the marble boat.

"We don't need a modern navy. We need more playthings for me!" Although by that time (1888), it was probably too late for the empire anyway.

We finally started some souvenir shopping. A dragon, rabbit, and monkey for us and a tiger for Amy. A Monkey King and the ingénue from the opera. Jesus armwrestling Satan -- in 3D!

And then we slowly proceded down the Long Corridor -- with uncountable tour groups.

Some of the tour guides carried national flags that had nothing at all to do with the tour group -- the groups looked all Chinese to me. I suppose the national flags were unique and easy to spot in the crush of humanity.

Near the East Gate were the main imperial buildings -- the local throne room, etc. Outside the main hall was this qilin -- a strange mix of dragon, deer, fish, ox, and lion -- which is a good omen of serenity and prosperity.

Outside the East Gate, we caught a bus -- which bus? That bus? It doesn't stop. How about this bus? -- and went to dinner.

I've got more photos from the Summer Palace on flickr, if you'd like to see them.

Beijing, part 10: Temple of Heaven

2010-09-27T12:07:00.000-07:00

We hopped on a bus, meaning to go to the subway, but by happenchance, the bus turned south and went right to our next destination, Tian Tan, Temple of Heaven.

But first, food. We wandered the neighborhood, but the back-alley restaurants frightened Chunlin. We therefore went to KFC.

They deliver.

Half the chicken offered at KFC in China is Chinese-style fried chicken. Different seasoning and no breading. We also got a spicy chicken sandwich (American style!) and a Sichuan-flavored fajita wrap. No mashed potatoes for sale here, so sad. French fries, though!

And then, into the Temple of Heaven Park. Some local pay fifteen yuan ($2) just to get into the large park where they play cards, dance, and generally just hang out.

We bought one of the weighted feather toys. Chunlin was good at it, since she used to play this game as a kid.

The temples aren't really temples, but altars for sacrafice by the emperors. Thus, no monks or incense burning or statues. More like the many throne halls of the Forbidden City.

The main buildings are all round because the circle was identified with heaven, as opposed to the square for the earth.

Near the south gate (the traditional entrance and apparently the tour-group entrance) is the Round Altar, which doesn't even have a building. It's a circular pyramid of sorts, with a large area for the sacrafices on top.

With all this paving, we were baking. Even in the shade, it was hot, but okay with a breeze. It's a dry heat...

A couple buses later, we were at Dian Gate at the south end of the old city, at the south end of Tian'anmen Square. This was the imperial entrance into the inner city, just a bit south of the Forbidden City south gate (gone -- now the location of Mao's masoleum).

Just outside the southernmost gate, the Arrow Tower, is milemarker zero for all the roads in China.

We then walked around the west side of Tian'anmen Square, sticking to the shade of the trees as much as possible. The Money Museum was closed for renovation, which bummed me out. I wanted the change in scenery from all the medieval gates and temples.

In the middle of Tian'anmen Square are two giant LED signs.

They changed around from video of Chinese scenery to what I assume are government slogans. In other parts of the country, there were plenty of banners with messages of a similar style, hung along fences or above streets, but none so fancy as this.

We then got on a bus heading east back toward home, on the street above the 1 subway line. I wouldn't have been able to ride the buses without Chunlin. No maps.

Going past places we've seen before: Tian'an Men, Old Astronomy. Going slow. I want more breeze...

For more photos of Beijing's slice of heaven, go to flickr.

Jeopardy! Three-way Tie

2010-09-24T08:58:00.000-07:00

In Alex Trebek's second episode as the host of Jeopardy!, all three contestants missed the Final Jeopardy! question and the game ended in a 0-0-0 tie.

The Final Jeopardy! answer was: "Calendar date with which the 20th century began."

All three contestants bet all their money and gave the same question: "What is January 1, 1900?"

Alex: Oh, boy. What... I'm at a loss for words in a situation like this. [whistles] Hey folks, easy come, easy go. Because all of our contestants wound up with nothing, we have consolation prizes for each of them. Tomorrow on Jeopardy!, we'll be bringing in three new players to play the game...

Voices offstage: The answer!

Alex: You mean, "What is the question?" The question is "What is January 1, 1901?"

How could they all miss that? So simple and basic...

[Found via Tom McMahon.]

Beijing, part 9: Old Fortifications

2010-09-23T12:03:00.000-07:00

Okay, so that's not really "old fortifications." On the way to the Ming-era city walls, we stopped to see the new CCTV (China Central Television) building. The locals call it the Giant Boxer Shorts. Construction is still ongoing, so the bottom was blocked by a huge billboard fence all up and down the streets.

We walked a bit, then got back on the subway 1 line for a couple stops and headed south.

This looked like it could be the old city walls, so we stopped here. Actually, it's the Ancient Observatory. It looked like an old city wall!

We decided to pay the small fee and look around, anyway.

This was a water clock. I had to take a photo because it has a rabbit, and Chunlin was born in the year of the rabbit, so...

After a breather in the observatory's courtyard, we continued walking south and arrived at the much more magnificent Southeast Watchtower.

Below the tower and along the remnants of the south wall stretches a very green park. We sat in the shade with the retirees and toddlers. Nearby, a couple groups of college-age kids were doing group drills of some sort. Apart from the lawnmower, quiet and peaceful. Naptime.

We passed through the Railroad Gate (a retrofit for an early-1900s rail line) and climbed up the wall.

The stairs used to be a ramp, but it was later modified for the horses.

Inside the tower is now an art museum. Stone walls, timber construction for the tile roof.

We climbed up to the top and viewed the city in all directions through the small windows.

Impressive red timbers, but not the best view...

More photos at flickr, as I'm sure you expect.

Beijing, part 8: Beihai Park

2010-09-22T20:41:00.000-07:00

Beihai Park is around Beihai, "North Lake." The "bei" is the same character as in Beijing and the "hai" is the same character as in Shanghai. The "hai" in Shanghai refers to the sea, though, and not a lake.

Before we entered the park, we climbed a fortification known as the Round City.

Atop the fort is the last known remnant from Kublai Khan's capital, a jade jar.

Somehow only it was preserved over the centuries. Now it is housed in a small glass box in a courtyard.

We then arrived at the lake, Beihai.

Willow trees around the lake. Chunlin had a couple very nice photos of her by this lake 25 years ago. Here's one from this year.

We crossed the bridge to the Jade Isle and climbed through the Yong'an Temple to the White Dagoba (Bai Ta).

Good view from up top.

We then descended the other side of the hill.

This spiral staircase ended at a blank wall. We had to climb over the guardrail to continue downward. Very odd.

The Ancient Caves of the Jade Islet didn't sound interesting enough to justify the three yuan entrance fee, so we passed them by.

Back at the lake, sweating in the humidity, we waited in the shade of the Long Corridor and caught a boat.

At the north end of the lake are the Five Dragon Pavilions.

That's five pavilions with dragons, by the way. It was at the center of these pavilions that Chunlin had her photo taken 25 years ago. During our visit, elderly folks danced in the center pavilion, so we couldn't spend much time there.

We took a brief look at the closed Xiao Xi Tian ... temple? pavilion? then over to the double-sided Nine Dragon Screen, which actually thus has eighteen big dragons -- and over 300 total dragons, or so they say.

Food time. Tired.

We left the park and hunted. Some small food from local-type restaurants. Kung pao chicken and spicy eggplant.

Bus to subway line 7, to line 1, to line Batong, to get picked up by Chunyu. Standing in the dark under a streetlight by a freeway offramp of sorts. An hour to get home and I couldn't see how it could be quicker.

'Twas Mount St. Helens Day. Big bada boom.

My feet finally started hurting at 6 p.m. Chunlin's feet hurt all day. Vacationing is hard work. Wo bu xi huang gong zuo. Good night.

I've posted twice as many photos from Beihai Park on flickr.

Beijing, part 7: Rain Storm!

2010-09-17T12:17:00.000-07:00

Our next stop in the Forbidden City was the theater.

The stage is three levels (see above). Performers would be on all three levels, travelling between levels on stairs and wires.

The audience was situated in the buildings across the courtyard, with the emperor a floor up for optimum viewing. Only the emperor (and Emperor Dowager Cixi when she was in charge) could sit down. All others were forced to kneel for the duration of the performances. Some ministers didn't make it, apparently, and keeled over.

Real hats of the emperor, or so they say:

Nearby is a collection of precious jewels and carved jade.

Impressively huge, in the Chinese imperial tradition.

They need to weed their roofs, however.

As I've mentioned before, maintenance in China is a bit hit-and-miss.

At the Imperial Garden, we discovered where all the tour groups had been hiding. Also, the skies began to rain. Notice the man in the above photo peering upward. I think he knows what's coming.

Thunder.

Everyone runs for the North Gate.

Since we were just about finished with the Forbidden City, we followed the crowd.

Instead of hanging out in the gate's tunnel for the rest of the afternoon, we decided to head to the street and catch a bus. It wasn't raining too hard, after all.

By the time we reached the street, the rain became harder. We shared our umbrella and crowed partially under a bus shelter while the heavens opened up.

A few enclosed pedicabs stopped by, offering rides, but no one took them up on their offer.

After a long ten minutes, sudden sunshine.

We caught a bus westward and that was that.

More photos on flickr.

Beijing, part 6: The Center of the Known World

2010-09-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

We rested a moment at the Zhong of the Zhong: the Middle Hall in the center group of three halls in the middle of the Forbidden City in the center of Beijing in the political center of the Middle Kingdom which is at the heart of the known world.

And back down the other side.

We got some food at one of the two eateries in this part of the palace, then wandered through more halls.

The buildings and courtyards were quickly all starting to look the same. And the stories, too. This is the throne where the emperor made big decisions. This is the throne where the emperor made really big decisions. No, this is the throne where the emperor sat while the Emperor Dowager sat behind that curtain on that throne and made all the big decisions.

For a change of pace, we headed over to the Watch and Clock Gallery on the east side of the Forbidden City.

At 2 p.m., we watched a few medium-sized clocks spin a few trees and flowers. It wasn't as impressive as I'd hoped.

Nearby is the Nine Dragon Screen.

Nine is a lucky, powerful number in China and dragons are ... well, dragons!

For more photos, head on over to flickr.

Beijing, part 5: Entering the Forbidden City

2010-09-14T12:38:00.000-07:00

We popped out of the subway at Tian'anmen Square. Big, crowded -- although, we were blocked from the main area of the square by a major street. Tour groups all over, of course. We followed the flow of humanity through Tian'an Men (Gate of Heavenly Peace), pausing only for pictures with old man Mao. I mean you gotta, right?

Next was the Front Gate and then another large plaza full of people. We bought tickets and audio auto-guides, and then entered through the Meridian Gate.

We were finally inside the Forbidden City, the past home of the emperors of China.

It's now home to millions of tourists.

The palace is big and harsh -- composed of unforgiving stone squares.

The only respite was the Golden Stream meandering across the first plaza.

With five bridges, I guess it was a bit of a moat, but I'm sure battles never got this far inside the defenses. At least not battles with armies -- just battles of diplomats, bureaucrats, and the like.

The palace squares may be harsh, but the buildings had lovely roofs. Ornate detailing on the eaves. Lines of animals on the corners of the roofs. Dragon heads for water spouts from one stone terrace down to the next. Wide stairs up to the fancy halls.

This was the marble carriageway up to the large Hall of Supreme Harmony. Only the emperor himself was allowed to use this carriageway, which is good, because I'm sure it would have long ago been trodden to destruction otherwise.

Not all dragons have long, lithe bodies. Some have hard shells!

No one is allowed inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, hence it's empty. I fought for space to take a photo or two of the throne. This hall was used for the big, ceremonial shindigs with dignitaries and such. It's the first and largest throne hall in the palace, and thus designed for show. And now it is on display, instead of hosting the display.

The tour will continue in a while. For now, there's more photos of the Forbidden City on flickr.

Beijing, part 4: Evening, Morning

2010-09-14T12:12:00.000-07:00

Beijing has a lot more pagoda temples than Shanghai. Is this a Tibetan Buddhist influence via the Mongols? Yeah, must be.

With Chunlin's brother Jason and his daughter Apple, we went to dinner in the heart of the old part of Beijing, in the proverbial shadow of the Drum Tower.

"Proverbial" in the sense that there might be a shadow if Beijing wasn't in a perpetual overcast of smog.

The restaurant was an old-fashioned style chaotic Chinese restaurant. Get your food at the counter and then fight for a seat. We had to wait ten minutes or longer for a table, even after we had our food. Oh, you're leaving soon? Can we set our food on your table until you finish your dinner? Thanks!

The restaurant next door had plenty of empty tables. I guess our restaurant was a better deal.

We then drove a short distance and took a walk around Hou Hai ("hai" meaning "lake").

Bars and restaurants galore. Music -- live music and karaoke -- poured forth. Budweiser and Carlsberg were the advertising beers of choice.

I'd pause for a time-lapse photo. We'd all pause for Apple to dance to a song.

About halfway around the lake, we realized we had to hurry. Jason had told the car park attendant we'd only be gone 40 minutes.

We got back on the expressway, picked up Chunyu near the embassy area of town, then Jason drove us home to Tongzhou. Our first day's tour of Beijing was thus ended.

The next morning, we took the bus into town with Chunyu's wife, Yufang.

Rain the night before meant a bit of blue in the sky in the morning, a bit of sunshine.

Once you're on a bus, the signs have English, but not when you're standing on the street! By the end of the week, I was able to recognize some characters, comparing against my map and guidebook, and take a guess at bus stop signs, but certainly not this early in the trip.

Sitting on the bus, sitting on the bus, sitting on the bus. The bus sits on the road. Half hour? Hour? It could have been worse. I could have been standing. Chunlin and Yufang told me to sit because I took the most space. Two backpacks in my lap.

As we inched closer to town, though, the skies turn grayer. I wasn't sure I wanted this commute for sight-seeing for the rest of the week. Jingtong Expressway entrance. Creep creep crawl.

We passed under the Fifth Ring Road and also the Sihui East subway station. Where were we going? Surely the subway was quicker than this. What was wrong with that station?

Eventually we passed the Fourth Ring Road. And another subway station...

The bus stopped near the third subway station on the 1 line. We crowded down the sidewalk, crowded into the station, and crowded onto the train. Soon we were moving right along, much faster than the bus on the expressway. Six stops later, we were at the center of the known universe.

More photos from around Hou Hai are on flickr.

Four Seasons

2010-09-09T10:59:00.000-07:00

The Four Seasons should have had a song called "Vivaldi."

Beijing, part 3: Bird's Nest and Chunlin's Past

2010-09-03T12:01:00.000-07:00

After lunch, we went to the Olympic stadium -- the Bird's Nest. Almost two years after the Olympics were held, it still looks shiny new. When are they going to tear it down?

The biggest surprise for me, although I suppose it shouldn't have been, is that it was swarming with tour groups and other visitors. I'm not used to stadiums being visited without an event being held, but this was China and this was the Beijing National Stadium.

Nearby, the puffy Water Cube (Beijing National Aquatics Center).

The Promenade between the two was full of visitors and kite vendors.

Just behind the Water Cube was a small McDonald's with a limited menu: Big Mac, chicken sandwich, McNuggets, fries, drinks, ice cream, apple pie, nothing else. No little burger for sale for five yuan. We settled for coffee and ice cream.

Next door, a new building that I later learned is called Digital Beijing.

Four o'clock. Jason drove around and picked us up. Next we visited Chunlin's past. First, we went to the China University of Mining and Technology, where she used to live and work, teaching English.

Some of the buildings had new stucco and paint, but they were basically unchanged.

Beijing Normal University, Chunlin's alma mater, on the other hand, was radically different. Her dormitory and main classroom building still remained pretty much the same as she remembered, but much else was gone. The old main gate for the campus was gone. It's now a hotel parking lot entrance.

This is the old entrance to the women's dorm, where Chunlin stayed as a student. It's now locked and the guarded entrance is around the other side of the building.

She lived up there, somewhere.

Here's the building where she took most of her classes. Not much has changed inside, not even the small lecture hall where they watched American movies that almost nobody else in China got to see. She were learning English, after all.

The remains of the big square are in front of the rebuilt library, with the new main gate on the library's axis, with a matching skyscraper behind the library.

It's a big campus, or at least it seemed so.

When we got back to the car, Jason said (in his ever-improving English), "Lots of beautiful girls here."

I replied, "I got me a beautiful girl from this school!"

And so I did.

I've posted more photos on flickr, naturally.

This Month's Photo of Chunlin

2010-09-02T16:11:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I ever stopped posting each month's photo from my calendar of Chunlin...

She's just so cute!

It's from last Labor Day weekend, at Soap Lake.

Beijing, part 2: Old Summer Palace

2010-08-31T12:12:00.000-07:00

Beijing was ten degrees Celsius cooler than Shanghai, thankfully. Rain, though.

Left turners are more prone to cut off those with the right-of-way in Beijing than Shanghai, but maybe that's based on an insufficient amount of data.

I'm not used to foreign countries being so large. It felt strange to travel so far and not need to change currencies.

Chunyu picked us up at the airport and took us back to his apartment. We met his wife, son, and three cats. They live on the east side of Beijing, in Tongzhou. 22:00. I was still tired, but it felt better to be safely tucked away from the others from the airport and expressway. Safely in family's home.

The next morning, Chunlin's other brother, Jason/Yuzhou, picked us up for sightseeing.

Maybe it was just because it was a gray Monday morning, but there seemed to be more depressed people in Beijing than Shanghai. More overweight people, too.

The bamboo scaffolding of the south was replaced by timber and lumber in the north. Steel is still clamped together the same way, though.

Jason drove us through the decrepit and booming suburbs. It was his girlfriend's car, because only certain license plates are allowed into the city on certain days. We listened to a Jack Johnson cd that she had left in the player.

She had a Che Guevara "doll" on the dashboard of her car. Ah, the heroes of a communist country.

We stopped for a few minutes at Jason's office so he could introduce us to his boss. Mr Zhang, ni hao zai jian. Busy man. Jason is the COO of an online school company. Their brochure needs better English proofreading. Office in a business district in the northwest corner, near the Third Ring Road. Hard to keep track.

My original plan for the day was to go to the Forbidden City. Since Jason had taken the day off work, we changed the plan to a drive to the Great Wall. I asked to stop by the Ming Tombs on the way. Slight translation problem. The Ming Tombs aren't called the Ming Tombs in Chinese, but the Old Summer Palace is called Yuan Ming Yuan. Therefore, Jason spent an hour driving around the northern suburbs of Beijing looking for the Old Summer Palace when I was wondering why we weren't getting on an expressway and leaving the city far behind.

Despite driving around town for hours, we hadn't seen anything yet. I was ready for lunch, trapped in the back seat.

Since we were at the Old Summer Palace, we decided to see it, anyhow. It had sounded interesting when I first read about it, but I had dropped it off the itinerary to make room for other stuff.

Jason stayed with the car as Chunlin and I entered the gardens.

It was good to be out of the traffic and seeing something for a change.

A big park with piles of stones and some ponds. These are the ruins of the imperial retreat before the French and British destroyed it back in the 1800s.

A big stone maze is the dominant standing structure. It was rebuilt, actually.

It was easy to wend through if you follow the tour guides.

It was cool out, yet I was still sticky hot if there wasn't a breeze.

My Forbidden City plan was gone. Our Great Wall plan was gone. 1:30. Time for lunch.

More photos of the Old Summer Palace on flickr, as I'm sure you guessed.

Beijing, part 1: Welcome to China

2010-08-31T11:56:00.000-07:00

Our day began at 4:45 p.m.

A couple hours later, the flight attendants woke us up just after three o'clock, as we entered China. One hour behind schedule.

Nothing but clouds below since Alaska. A breakfast/dinner later, the clouds parted to reveal a patchwork of fields. The pervasive grid in the US is rather unique in the world. Here, small areas are gridded, but no more than a few square miles together.

The Chinese Customs' logo is a key crossed with the medical snakes-around-a-staff symbol. Gatekeepers of health.

The flight attendant told us that most of the plane would be transferring to Shanghai, so we didn't need to worry about being so late. They wouldn't leave without us.

Chunlin was quite tired. So was I, a bit. Perhaps the excitement of being in a new country gave me some adrenaline.

Beijing has the best smog in the world.

We met with Chunlin's younger brother, Chunyu. We gave him some duty-free cigarettes we had just bought, plus a few gifts from the rest of the family. Suddenly we were travelling lighter. He gave us a cellphone and cash.

We said our goodbyes and hurry hurry hurried 'cross the Beijing Airport. We arrived at gate A12 ten minutes before our plane was supposed to leave. No, no. It's delayed. They still needed to deplane. Then why did none of the departure boards bother to mention this?!

It only took ten minutes to load our plane. 737. Blue seats. 7:05, pulled back from the gate. It was finally starting to get dark outside. We'd been in daylight since the day before.

Summer's Gone

2010-08-31T09:28:00.000-07:00

Where, oh where has my summer gone?
It's autumn now, or so it seems.

Where, oh where has my summer gone?
Winter is just around the corner.

Where, oh where has my summer gone?
Little went as planned.

Where, oh where has my summer gone?
There's always next year...

The Other Seattle vs. L.A. Game This Weekend

2010-08-27T18:52:00.000-07:00

The Seattle Storm are taking on the L.A. Sparks tomorrow in game 2 of their playoff series, up 1-0.

Tonight, though, is another Seattle vs. Los Angeles professional game with championship ramifications. The Seattle Mist are playing the L.A. Temptation in ShoWare Arena in Kent in a women's football game. There's only four games left in the season and it's all tied up because ... there's only four games total in the season!

And you thought the WNBA had short seasons...

Anhui, part 10: To Tunxi and Beyond

2010-08-23T12:49:00.000-07:00

Huangshan may have seemed crowded and noisy, when comparing to other mountain hikes, but it was downright peaceful when compared to the nearby town of Tangkou. Honking horns and revving motors. Back to the real China.

And now... a snake oil salesman.

Seriously. Why did we let ourselves get roped into this? Hungry, tired, in need of a shower -- and the tour locks us in a room with a snake oil salesman.

When it seemed the agony would never end, Chunlin got a phone call. It was a tour guide from our group. Get on the minibus now to go to Tunxi! Okay! We barely had time to be glad that he remembered her phone number as we raced out the door.

A brief stop at the hotel to get our stuff, then away we went.

Three English speakers were on the bus, from Hong Kong. I didn't hear them speak any Chinese. The woman said she was originally from London, so maybe they all were. They were very tired. Huangshan wasn't nearly as relaxing as they needed.

Many nice houses along the highway between Huangshan and Tunxi. Are they Potemkin villages for the tourists?

Construction construction construction. Hotels, highways, powerlines, office buildings, apartment buildings. Oxen wading through the muddy fields...

Farmers and families filling huge bags of tea leaves, carrying them up the road -- on a motorcycle, bicycle, or shoulders.

Back to Huangshan City (new name for Tunxi). 150,000 population, but as dense as New York City. More efficient that way? It's the Chinese way -- up, not out. Even in the countryside, the farmhouses are narrow, three-story affairs.

From the bus drop-off near the hotels, we caught a pedicab to the train station.

We arrived with plenty of time before our departure.

The locals were very friendly -- trying to sell us something, always. Friendly still after we told them "bu yao" (I don't want it) or bought something. They would sit and chat with us and wait for their next sale.

We took a pedicab ride to the bank to get cash for the train and Expo tickets. Then we spent 20 yuan to use a nearby hotel room briefly to shower. We felt much better after that!

Then to the market for foodstuffs. No baozi (steamed dumplings) in the evening. Sorry. But some pancakes, water (three yuan for 1.5 L!), and tissues. Tiny kitten at the shop in the market. Cute.

Eventually, on the train. Middle-level bunks, but we had the compartment to ourselves for a while. I finally started to cool off.

As the train departed, a couple from the next compartment moved into the bunks below us, since we were quieter than the neighbors above them. At the next stop (while we tried to sleep) the ticketholders for the bunks below us showed up; a heated exchange ensued. Eventually the conductor convinced the new arrivals to take the bunks the bunk-hoppers had vacated. The new arrivals weren't happy because the folks above them were still yammering away.

We drifted off to sleep again as the train rolled down the tracks, leaving Huangshan and Anhui far behind.

Anhui, part 9: Down Huangshan

2010-08-23T12:28:00.000-07:00

I wonder how recently that platform was the trail through this section... A little worse for wear now. Luckily we had a concrete trail to walk upon.

We caught sight of the Jade Screen cable car, but instead of being able to go down to it, we had to go up and around.

Hurry hurry hurry. We still need to see the Welcoming Tree before we leave!

We skipped the shortcut down to the cable car station so we could head over to the Jade Screen Hotel area.

Lots of (apparently) famous sayings were carved into the cliff.

Lots of (apparently) happy people milled about.

Nearby is the Welcoming Pine. Just another tree, if you ask me, but it's hard to get to and/or take a photo of, so everyone clambers to get to it and take a photo.

A few raindrops fell from the sky, but not enough to get the umbrella hawkers excited.

We doubled back toward Lotus Peak on a lower trail, the cable car in sight again.

We paused for a rest at the junction with the trail that goes up toward Lotus Peak and avoids the Jade Screen Hotel and Welcoming Pine. 'Twas limited traffic on that route, so the stairs made for good seating.

Finally, we got to the cable car station. Wait in line.

Down down down into the forest.

We disembarked at Mercy Light Station, a short walk from Mercy Light Temple. We had a timetable to keep, so we couldn't stop. We needed to get to our bus.

Our bus wasn't waiting there, though. Another 1200 meters, but what was that to us, after all the walking that day? We'd only be a little later than expected.

All steps, down down down.

Still with some from our tour group. I couldn't walk as slow as them on the stairs, so I spent a lot of time looking back up...

We passed Ren-Shaped Falls, which looked a bit dry and missing one leg.

"Ren" is the Chinese character for "person," which looks a lot like an inverted V or a capital lambda. I think this is just the left branch of it.

Down down down the stairs. Keep walking. We arrived at the hot springs area, which has several hotels and more under construction. 550 mL of water for sale for 3 yuan, then 2 yuan. The 10-yuan bottle from Lotus Pavilion was long gone. Hot hiking, even downhill.

Finally on the bus. Cool a/c breeze on my face. Ahhhhh...

What a hike!

More photos on flickr.

Anhui, part 8: Around the Lotus

2010-08-23T12:02:00.000-07:00

Our long day of hiking the paved trails at Huangshan continued. We passed the Gleam of Sky -- a steep staircase up a narrow chasm -- but didn't go up. That would require us to either circle back the way we'd just came or climb to the top of Lotus Peak.

Do you see the people? They're climbing the Gleam of Sky stairs.

Soon we were near the bottom of the Ladder on the Clouds, which we had viewed from afar earlier. It's another long, steep staircase. Naturally, men with sedan chairs waited for clients.

We chose to walk.

Up up up, we went. Only now, looking back at the photographs, do I realize that we lost the last little bit of blue sky that day while we had our noses pointed at the ground.

Eventually, we reached Lotus Pavilion, whereupon we sat down with a hundred other people and finished the last of our water. Still thirsty, we broke down and bought a 550-mL bottle for ten yuan (about ten times the price of water in the grocery store the night before).

Lotus Pavilion would have been a nice place to rest, if not for the constant tour guides. Why must they always be so loud? As soon as one left, another arrived and started yelling into his or her microphone. They got to be too much for me, and so we left.

Around the side of Lotus Peak at a viewpoint, I noticed something on the cliff above us...

We stayed with a good portion of our tour group (the ones we'd met the day before) through this section of trail.

The Chinese character is "shan," which means "mountain." Presumably they labeled the rock so you'd know you were looking at a mountain...?

After crossing through the gap between Lotus Peak and Lotus Stamens Peak, we caught sight of Heavenly Capital Peak once more.

But most people looked at the big rock known as Lotus Stamens Peak.

Nearing the end of our journey, our pace quickened, but that didn't stop me from taking a lot of photos.

I've got more scenic photos on flickr, as one might expect.

Anhui, part 7: Turtle Cave

2010-08-19T12:06:00.000-07:00

After lunch, our tour group hiked over to the Turtle Carrying the Golden Turtle, a curious rock formation.

It was actually easier to see the turtle-on-giant-turtle from back on Bright Summit Peak, but it was a nice outcropping for viewing the rest of the mountains. Views all directions from the vast expanse of bare rock.

Such as back to Bright Summit Peak...

And down to the trail we would soon be on.

This particular section of "trail" is called the Ladder on the Clouds. There were no clouds around, but it sure felt like a ladder!

We decided not to climb to the top of Lotus Peak.

Plenty others did, though.

Instead, we descended toward Turtle Cave.

In this small canyon near the head of the big turtle, we experienced a major traffic jam. Hundreds of people patiently (for the most part) waiting to get in a single line to descend the steep staircase.

Not even the Chinese subways had pedestrian traffic jams this horrible, although the automobile traffic on Beijing expressways was comparable...

Oh well. Look at the scenery.

Chunlin occasionally had English come to her lips quicker than Chinese, even when she was trying to speak Mandarin. I would say "Chinese" to remind her...

Eventually it was our turn to descend the narrow, steep staircase to Turtle Cave.

The stair-trail doubled back just like it was in a building. We went through the cave and out the opening. With the steps and handrails and whatnot, the cave no longer seemed particularly natural.

And one more look up at nearby Turtle Peak.

More photos on flickr, per the usual.

Anhui, part 6: Lunch on Yellow Mountain

2010-08-18T12:33:00.000-07:00

Atop Huangshan ("Yellow Mountain" in English), we continued our hike with a million Chinese tourists.

I'm certainly not used to fire hydrants on the trails I hike. I suppose this was just a walk in the park, then.

Do you see the fish? Fish bring us fun. Please don't feed them.

Without roads to all the hotels atop the mountain, everything is transported by manpower on the trails, just like in olden times. This does not mean that the porters are not modernized, however.

Climb the stairs!

We rejoined our tour group at White Goose Ridge, which is where the old cable car reached. We promptly began spreading out again on our way to Bright Summit Peak, which is home to a large meteorological station. Stay with your group! Don't get lost! Don't fall behind!

Plenty of good viewpoints nearby.

Our group stopped for lunch at 10:20 at the Baiyu Hotel. The place was swarming with tour groups, many of which we hadn't seen before. Red hats, yellow hats, sky-blue hats, orange-and-blue hats, blue-and-red hats. Teeming mass of humanity.

"Hello!" I hear, for the Chinese may have a limited knowledge of English, but they all seem to want to try it. By lunchtime, I had had a dozen people ask to take a picture with me. The first time (the day before, actually), I had assumed they wanted me to take the photo of the two of them, but quickly realized that I was the attraction they wanted a photo of! Group shots with multiple cameras...

Speaking of lunch, for that is what we were eating in the shade of the store by the hotel at the edge of a paved plaza surrounded by trees, I discovered that donkey meat doesn't taste too bad at all, even straight out of a vacuum-sealed pouch. But I still preferred the steamed dumplings. Chi bao zi!

Soon it was time to start hiking again. And away we go...

More photos from that day are on flickr.

Anhui, part 5: Up Huangshan

2010-08-17T12:11:00.000-07:00

We awoke to pure quiet and stillness. The highway outside our Tangkou hotel was empty. An hour later, there was an occasional horn honk, but not much at all compared to the night before.

We had a breakfast of porridge, egg, pickled vegetables, and shouting people. Chunlin wasn't satisfied, so she went to buy more bread, etc. Fried dough.

Soon our tour group from the day before (all staying at the same hotel) was herded up the street toward the bus depot. While on foot, it was easier for me to see which construction scaffolds were built with steel and which with bamboo.

Important stuff for an architect, you know.

At the bus depot, we met dozens of other with our same red hats and hundreds of other tourists in different colors, all filing onto the dozens of buses. Huangshan is a big production.

We were taken to the New Yungu Cable Car and given the option of walking up the hill (about 4000' gain) or taking the cable car. We took the cable car.

At the top, on White Goose Ridge, we followed the flow of humanity down the paved trail.

Sometimes the trail isn't so much a trail as a long balcony full of steps. They managed to make it paved the same on top, so when you're walking, it always looks like you're on solid ground. It wasn't until we rounded the bend that I realized for how far we had been cantilevered.

The scenery was, as expected, exquisite.

The tour guides were terribly loud, however, what with their electronic megaphones.

Lots of staircases. Crowded staircases. So be careful and show some comity!

I've posted more photos on flickr, if you'd like to see them...

New Hobby

2010-08-11T16:52:00.001-07:00

My new hobby is looking at the WSDOT traffic cameras on I-5 to see what the speed limit is currently...

Four Years Ago

2010-08-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

Today is the four-year anniversary of when Chunlin and I met.

'Twas a Friday evening at the Mountaineers' Mount Baker Lodge. We only spoke briefly, but she certainly caught my eye.

The next day I was talked into leading a hike, but the hike I chose seemed too difficult to Chunlin and the other women. (Chunlin and I took that hike, Ptarmigan Ridge, a year ago, so she certainly could have done it earlier.) So I spent most of that Saturday with four other men.

Saturday afternoon and evening, though, Chunlin and I had plenty of time to get to know each other.

By Sunday morning, we were setting off on a hike, just the two of us, and Chunlin told her carpool's driver that she had arranged other transportation home.

So now it's just about time to head north to Mt Baker once again...

Happy anniversary, Honey!

Anhui, part 4: Nine Dragon Falls

2010-08-10T12:08:00.000-07:00

The next stop on our whirlwind tour of the scenic areas around Huangshan was the famous Nine Dragon Falls.

Early in the hike was a little waterfall called Dragon's Daughter.

The guardrails were made to look like wood, but were actually steel-reinforced concrete, carefully painted.

I'm not entirely sure how they made a continuous concrete handrail of that length, so it certainly impressed me.

Trails in China are all paved. Sloped trails have concrete stairs. It makes the walking easier, guarantees less erosion, and means that tennis shoes are overkill, not to mention hiking boots!

The ninth falls wasn't all that impressive, but that's where most people stopped.

We continued up the 400-some steps to the higher falls.

Up up up.

Until finally... the view of the main falls.

I think we missed seeing falls seven and eight and never climbed high enough to see one and two, but three through six were quite impressive!

We continued climbing up to the base of the higher falls.

Once there, life was peaceful and relaxing. As long as the breeze kept up, it was enjoyable. Otherwise, kinda hot. But that's southern China for you...

Chunlin washed her face in the pool and I dunked my head. A Chinese couple wanted a photo with the the American. I obliged.

We laid down on the rock slab and rested (after a few photos of our own).

With a glance at our watches, we sadly realized it was time to head back down the hill. Back on the tour bus, back to our hotel.

Mostly cold showers because we weren't quite quick enough to hop in, but that's a good way to cool off, right?

Our hotel looked like it was originally two separate buildings. Two adjacent staircase were connected at the landing between the first and second floors with a large door, but a couple floors up, they had a tiny door between the stairwells.

Cute, but odd.

Others in our tour group walked around town looking for a restaurant, but ended up at the restaurant in our hotel's lobby. We thus trusted their decision and ate there, too. Eggs and tomatos to start. Let Chunlin order. More dishes. A local beer washed it all down well.

The others in the tour group noted my left-handedness. Chinese lefties still write with their right hand, apparently. Otherwise the characters wouldn't look right.

We then hit the town for grocery shopping for tomorrow's big hike. The town was hopping -- cars, motorbikes, and pedestrians running up and down the neon-lit street. A brass band practiced on a back alley.

Bedtime for us.

More photos of waterfalls and stairs on flickr, if you'd like to see those...

Super Hair

2010-08-09T15:47:00.001-07:00

I found a 3"-long hair atop my head -- attached. The rest of my hairs are only about 3/4" long...

Since I cut my own hair, I can't blame my barber; therefore I declare that it was a super-growing hair that exploded 2.25" in one week.

Either that, or it survived two haircuts!

Which of those sounds more plausible?

Anhui, part 3: Emerald Valley

2010-08-09T12:14:00.000-07:00

Our second short hike of the day with our Huangshan tour group was to Emerald Valley, also known as Lovers Valley.

Cross the bridge and start up the paved path...

Stop and read the poetry if you'd like.

The second bridge is called Lovers Bridge. It's above a pool where Mandarin ducks supposedly like to hang out, although we didn't see any. The ducks are, of course, associated with love.

Couples put padlocks on the bridge to symbolize their eternal love.

We don't need a padlock.

Bridges, waterfalls, cliffs. The scenery just kept going.

Eventually, we arrived at the Love Rock, where the character for "love" is painted huge on a flat rock.

I waited several minutes but this was as clear a shot I ever saw.

And then, surprise!

Acrobats appear above us, riding a unicycle across the canyon, waving fans and trailing ribbons.

For some reason, they went backwards. Perhaps to be better facing their audience?

It was soon time to return down the valley through the bamboo forest.

On the way, I said hi to the first non-Asian I'd seen that day, a Canadian.

One soon learns which characters mean "exit." "Chu" (to go towards) plus "kou" (opening or mouth).

The valley was peaceful in the shade, hot in the sun. We ran out of water while we waited for everyone to return to the bus.

After that, our tour group was dragged to a tea shop presentation to see a saleswoman recite her spiel. More recitation than salesmanship, by her tone of voice. She poured water all over the table and floor, dropped canisters left and right. Buy? Taste. Buy? And they did. Chunlin, too. Our first souvenir.

No photos of that, but for more of the hike, go to flickr.

Anhui, part 2: Rock Gate Gorge

2010-08-06T12:49:00.000-07:00

The first destination of our Huangshan tour group was Shí Mén Xiá (Rock Gate Gorge), a short drive east of the mountain.

Take you ticket, show your ticket at the gate, and start walking up the paved path through the bamboo forest.

'Twas a hot afternoon.

We didn't actually go all the way to the Rock Gate Gorge, but stopped at a green pool with a boulder cave and a waterfall.

There was a warning sign before the short trail down to the creek.

"Warning: Rain the hour:Prevent the swollen mountain stream occurrence, and please not the water to inside play the water, and keep off the water side, and carefully slip and fall down [sic]" -- Words of wisdom, there, I tell you what.

Do you see Chunlin there? The Chinese character means "green," for that is the color of the water. I quickly decided they used the wrong color paint...

Quick quick quick before I'm ready to leave, our guide is calling us to head back for the bus. I wanted to take more photographs! Ah, but that's life in a tour group.

At least once the bus was moving, there was a refreshing, cool breeze through the window...

More photos from this brief hike on flickr, if you can find them.

Anhui, part 1: Going to Huangshan

2010-08-03T12:47:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Jixi Xian. Where? I don't know. Not our destination. Sizable city, though.

We took the overnight train from Nanjing to Huangshan. We awoke to a sunrise near the city of Jixi, after an incomplete night's sleep.

Our train pulled into Tunxi, the city now known officially as Huangshan, even though the mountain by that name is still quite a ways away. Inside the sweeping city limits, however.

We had a change of plans -- we joined a tour group. Fewer hassles of the logistic variety that way. We wouldn't be sleeping atop the mountain, but I probably wasn't going to see the sunrise anyway. Never in May, they say.

Chunlin bought a poncho from a hawker, then the hawker lady stepped it up and sold her a hat. Three yuan, but we only had one yuan or 100 yuan, so the tour guide agreed to pay the hawker the next day. We never ended up paying the three yuan and never saw that tour guide the next day anyhow...

So we boarded the minibus and headed for Tangkou at the base of the mountain.

Up in the mountains! Rows of tea plants on the hillsides, bamboo trees growing like weeds up the slopes. Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) appeared in the distance -- yellow rock shooting up from all the greenery.

Our hotel was in western Tangkou.

We got checked in, emptied our packs, then got back on the bus.

At Tangkou proper, we got our first good view up the valley at the mountain -- Heavenly Capital Peak, in specific.

And east we went, off my map. Forced patronage of a roadside restaurant. The air was so spicy I wanted to cough just walking through the door. Chunlin asked them not to spice our lunch, but then it wasn't flavorful enough, so she asked for hot sauce.

While at the restaurant, she got a phone call. From her coworker, boss, brother, or cousin, I no longer remember.

More photos on flickr...

Jiangsu, part 10: Canals of Suzhou

2010-08-02T12:16:00.000-07:00

Rather tired, we decided to grab a bite to eat and then take a small canal tour of Suzhou. Sausage on a stick: tasty.

Quite pleasant. Relaxing after the crowds of the trains and the Humble Administrator's Garden.

Suzhou is all green and gray...

For a promise of a bit higher tip, the boatman sang for us. Worth it.

Our boat ride covered merely a tiny corner of Suzhou's network of canals, but it was a satisfactory length of time, for sure.

When we had returned to the dock near the museum and garden, we hired a pedicab to take us back to the train station, with a stop at the North Pagoda.

Since our train was to leave soon, we didn't have enough time to do the 25-yuan entrance fee justice. Thus we just admired it from outside the gate.

And had another snack, as well. Good food in China, everywhere!

We caught our train back to Shanghai and returned just in time for another feast with Chunlin's cousins...

More photos of Suzhou on flickr, of course.

Jiangsu, part 9: Humble Administrator's Garden

2010-08-02T12:02:00.000-07:00

Suzhou's Humble Administrator's Garden is nice, but not spectaular. If you get caught in the wrong spot, the tour guides can drive you crazy. Other places and times, however, it can almost be relaxing. Perhaps it would have been nicer in the morning, but we arrived in the middle of the afternoon.

We took a city bus from the train station to the garden. It was a "tourist" bus that circulated to the local highlights that they expected tourists to go to. We had a bit of a walk from the bus stop to the garden, though.

Past a fancy new museum and past plenty of tourist-oriented shops.

Through the gates and into the Humble Administrator's Garden, which was originally the personal garden of an imperial administrator for this region. With a huge garden like this, I'm not sure how humble he actually was...

This city had more foreigners than anywhere in China outside the World Expo. Or so it seemed. French and Russian and German and too much English.

Having no blonds in a crowd was weird, but having blonds in a crowd was weird to me, too.

Since we were tired enough to fall asleep on our feet, we decided to not visit any of the other gardens in Suzhou, even if they may have been quieter.

As you might expect, I've posted more photos of this garden on flickr.

A Little Poem

2010-07-30T19:00:00.000-07:00

Get up off your lazy butt
Now it's time to go do... what?

Jiangsu, part 8: Train to Suzhou

2010-07-28T12:11:00.000-07:00

Splat-crash went the jar of greens, then the man slowly walked to the restroom. Those nearby in the train station glanced up briefly.

A minute later, the cleaning woman didn't notice the broken glass and walked right by, dustpan in hand.

We were waiting for the 12:04 train to Suzhou. People raced through the massive waiting area to catch the 11:39 train to ... somewhere. They were like a huge swarm of locusts as soon as the sign changed from red to green, but there was plenty of time between that push and the last-minute race just before the train left. The sign turned from green to yellow...

The cleaning crew evenutally swept up the broken glass and spilled vegetables.

I got a KFC spicy chicken sandwich. Dark meat instead of white, but the same mayo and lettuce, though. Chunlin brought me a cup of coffee. Very nice of her.

Chunlin is the epitome of first and second languages.

The time for our swarm approached and people started queuing before the sign changed to green. We waited till the crowd had dwindled before we stood and got on the train.

The ride was comfortable. The train reminded me of the one between Philadelphia and New York, but cleaner.

The Suzhou train station was under construction, presumably for the new high-speed rail line going in between Shanghai and Beijing.

Once outside the station, we were swarmed by hawkers for hats, maps, and tour groups. Chunlin talked to one or two tour-group people while I grew agitated. Time was short and I didn't want to wait around on someone else's schedule. Then again, we didn't really know how to get where we were going.

Eventually, Chunlin got one of the tour groups to sell us train tickets to return to Shanghai, for a little fee, and I got to not go on a guided tour.

Last Weekend Down Wahkiakum Way

2010-07-22T20:59:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we camped at Skamokawa on the Columbia River.

Down the road in Cathlamet, the annual Bald Eagle Days were in full swing. The local fire departments had a game to play.

We then returned to our campgrond and hung out on the beach, watching a couple ships go by.

Then back to Cathlamet for the fireworks show.

We bought a glowing sword.

Sunday, we drove Highway 103 and stopped in Oysterville to buy clams and cherries. The cherries were eaten quickly; the clams waited till we got home.

We then visited the beach at Long Beach. Saturday had been a sandcastle-building competition, but they were washed away by Sunday.

Tiring trip. Fun trip.

More photos on flickr. Many more.

Jiangsu, part 7: Quanfu Temple

2010-07-21T12:15:00.000-07:00

Toward the south end of Zhouzhuang, foot traffic thinned out.

This must be the working area of town, along the South Lake, where they use cormorants to fish.

At the edge of the island sits the Quanfu Temple, a big Buddhist complex.

Plenty of fish in their pond...

You're not charged an entrance fee, and they don't outright ask for donations, but we still ended up paying several yuan for visiting.

They had a room that you couldn't enter, but could approach a large, open window from the outside. Across the room were bells. Since it would be good luck to get one of the bells to ring, everyone throws coins at them.

We missed every throw. Not all of those coins were ours, thankfully. I wonder how often they clear the floor?

The shops of Zhouzhuang are ready for tourists. We bought two silk weavings, with much negotiation. Before going to the temple, we looked at one weaving I liked. The shopkeeper asked 150 yuan, then 120. While starting to walk away, I countered 40 yuan (in Mandarin). We kept walking. Before we got too far away down the alley (about 100 feet), the shopkeeper had lowered her price to 80. We didn't return, though.

After visiting the temple, we stopped at another silk shop. The asking price for the same design was 250 yuan. Chunlin told her that the other shop had dropped to 60. This shopkeeper accepted the price and a sale was made. For the other weaving, Chunlin talked the price down from 1200 yuan to 250. We had to try to leave a few times. I helped by acting like I didn't care and just wanted to leave and go eat something. Long bargaining is tiring.

We were indeed hungry at this point, so we went to a teahouse. Luckily we bought some snacks at a nearby pastry shop, because the teahouse prices were quite high. They let us eat the other food with their tea, though, so that was nice.

And then we met back up with our pedicab driver, who took us back to the bus station. Ready for another long bus ride?

There was no need to turn on the bus's air-conditioning. It was raining outside and therefore couldn't possibly be hot on the bus...

More photos on flickr, of course.

Best Traffic Jam Ever

2010-07-19T12:04:00.001-07:00

This weekend, we drove to southwest Washington for Highway 103. Yay! The three month hiatus is over.

We had a bit of a late start, since we didn't tell Christina she was going with us till Saturday morning. So when we hit traffic in Fife and Tacoma, I figured it was just normal Tacoma I-5 traffic.

But the slowdown slowed down south of Tacoma. Near the Highway 512 interchange, it got even worse, so we exited and stopped at Dairy Queen for lunch. Good but pricy food, but we knew that. I only chose Dairy Queen because it was to the right and everyone else was trying to turn left.

When we finished lunch and tried to get back on I-5 south, traffic was inching along. I think it took a full half hour to make our way down the on-ramp.

In that time, however, I spotted numerous people sitting in the McDonald's parking lot. Were they just watching the traffic jam, waiting for it to clear out before getting back in their cars? Nope.

Blackhawk helicopters roar overhead, troops dangling their feet out the side doors. An Apache helicopter circles the area. Some fighter jets do maneuvers in the distance, above McChord Air Force Base.

It was the annual air show.

While we still sat on the on-ramp, two giant airplanes appear on the horizon: C-5 Galaxys. Huge airplanes, seemingly moving very slowly through the air. A third one follows, lumbering toward us.

Low over the air field, a dozen paratroopers leap out. "Look! The plane is pooping people!" Their parachutes open instantly and gently they float down.

The trio of Galaxys circle the area, performing a couple more flybys. They bank hard, wings tilted at a 45-degree angle, and it's more impressive than anything the fighters can do.

Eventually we get on I-5 and merge into traffic. Once we pass the McChord exit, we resume speed and continue our trip. But that was certainly the best traffic jam ever. Great seats for the air show!

Bloom!

2010-07-19T07:13:00.000-07:00

We return from our weekend trip and are welcomed home by these roses. After two or three extra traffic-related hours of driving, they were quite nice to see.

This year, they're Chunlin's roses. Last year, they were my roses. They bloom nice whoever is taking care of them.

Jiangsu, part 6: Going to Zhouzhuang

2010-07-16T12:41:00.000-07:00

Instead of heading to the Shanghai World Expo for a second day, we decided to go to the nearby old canal town of Zhouzhuang.

On the bus, I noticed something amissed with the emergency escape hammer.

There was no hammer!

Good thing we didn't need it.

Our bus avoided the toll expressway and took the old roads. Save money, pay time.

Our bus had a sign-in sheet. The attendant (not the driver) had Chunlin write, "Mark the American foreigner" in Chinese for me. Ma ke Mei guo lao wai.

When we arrived at the crossing into Jiangsu province, the bus stopped for an ID check. Police took all the Chinese cards. Just keeping tabs on everyone, you know...

Through cities and fields. Powerlines everywhere, tall buildings on the horizon every which way. Quickly back into another city and out again. And a left turn finally with a sign for Zhouzhuang.

Rain.

We bought our tickets for the return bus at 15:40, then hired a pedicab to take us through the new town to the ancient town.

100 yuan entrance fee for the historic section.

We walked for the bridge to the old town since our driver couldn't quite get us up the hill.

We arranged for the pedicab driver to be waiting for us and ventured into the old town.

It instantly reminded me of Venice, but smaller and with fewer closed-up buildings. But that's probably something to do with the 100 yuan entrance fee.

Chunlin bought some ham hoof hocks.

She had a couple of them vacuum-sealed. We ended up giving them to her brothers in Beijing.

Zhouzhuang is a lovely town. Tourists are expected.

Zhouzhuang is an old trading center on the network of canals all across that area, connecting to the Yangtze and the Grand Canal that carried goods north to Beijing. The Mongols put the capital in Beijing, but that region didn't have enough farmland to support the imperial bureaucracy. Therefore they buit the Grand Canal to the fertile fields of the south. And so the cities on the interconnected lakes and rivers prospered.

While we were there, Christina called. It was prom night back in Seattle.

Christina wanted to stay with friends at a hotel until 4 a.m. We said no and had Christina's father pick her up at one o'clock. Staying out till 4? Trouble that way lies...

(More photos on flickr.)

Pittsburgh

2010-07-14T14:50:00.000-07:00

I'm tired.

Blargh.

We left the hotel shortly after 6 this morning to beat traffic and get breakfast before starting work in downtown Pittsburgh. Our hotel is in a suburb 1/2 hour out of town.

Tomorrow, I'm driving my three coworkers to the airport, leaving the hotel at 4 a.m. and then driving to Cleveland. I'll stop for breakfast somewhere between.

I think bedtime is coming soon.

Downtown Pittsburgh is pretty nice, actually, by the way.

Feast of Hívo

2010-07-11T19:58:00.000-07:00

I hope you're having a joyous Feast of Hívo today. Drink up!

May He bring me swift travel tomorrow, for I'm going on a business trip to Pittsburgh.

Yay, Pittsburgh. Three days in Pittsburgh.

They like Hívo's beer there, don't they?

Jiangsu, part 5: Wangting

2010-07-09T12:33:00.000-07:00

Sitting on a train. Sitting on a train sitting on the tracks. Sitting on a train sitting on the tracks sitting in a small town east of Wuxi.

Sitting in Wangting.

Scheduled stop. Very long stop.

On the overnight train from Huangshan to Shanghai, our train stopped and waited in Wangting for our turn to get into the big city. Other (express) trains zipped by. Each time, I thought, "This is the train we were waiting for. Now it's our turn."

The other train would always disappear. We would always continue to sit.

If we had thought to arrange a transfer in Changzhou, we could have arrived in Shanghai by then. Three hours of waiting, it must have been, all told.

Breakfast was eaten. People roamed the train cars, getting hot water from the dispenser for their morning noodles, going to the toilet, etc. Quiet conversations.

Another train bounced us sideways.

Was it our turn?

No.

Chunlin's feet and legs were sore, so I took it as a blessing we weren't running around Shanghai already. Forced rest and relaxation.

Chunlin asked me, "Are you getting tired of this train?"

I replied, "It'll probably be another hour before we mov--"

The train jolted forward, cutting me off.

Seriously. That's how it happened.

Look! The scenery is changing!

Jiangsu, part 4: Nanjing Family

2010-07-08T21:08:00.000-07:00

From the Nanjing train station, we took the subway south through town. Past the old town, we popped up just outside the ancient city walls. Tall walls.

At the far south end of town, we got off the subway at the BenQ Hospital Station.

Out in the countryside, skyscrapers were popping up like weeds.

Soon we met Chunlin's cousin, who had a minibus courtesy of his company. Apparently any of the upper managers at the company can reserve the bus for personal use as they wish. The driver was an employee of the company.

On the minibus, we got on the freeway heading southwest. Several miles rolled by. Dusty smoggy town. The suburbs of Nanjing look like major cities.

The traffic was the same craziness as in the heart of town, but there was just less of it.

While we were still on the expressway, the sun started down. Luckily being in a mostly empty minibus meant I had a good view.

Cousin and the minibus took us to Chunlin's uncle and aunt's apartment. Chunlin's mother's older brother. They are the parents of Chunlin's Shanghai and Nanjing cousins.

They have a turtle in their shower.

Everyone got on the bus and away to the restaurant we rolled. We met up with Chunlin's cousin's wife and son and proceeded to eat another feast.

Peking duck. Yum.

More baijiu.

Hard to stop eating. Even harder to convince jia ren (family) that I'm full.

With this plus the big dinners in Shanghai, it was like Thanksgiving three times in one week! Oof.

Nephew Jack is learning English and he's not nearly as shy as his older cousins in Shanghai about trying it.

I should've taken my camera to dinner, because Jack and his mother went home while the rest of us returned to Big Uncle's home.

We ate lychee, drank tea, then looked through old photo albums -- including a few photos of Chunlin.

Big Uncle is only a few years younger than Granddad. He seems older since Granddad is an anomaly.

At ten o'clock, we said zai jian and headed back to the train station via the minibus, accompanied by Chunlin's cousin. Another fun day drew to a close.

Except, of course, for the little bit about waiting for a 1:15 a.m. train...

Jiangsu, part 3: Linggu Pagoda

2010-07-08T19:39:00.000-07:00

At the Linggu Temple complex, we continued up the hill to the Linggu Pagoda, along the way passing through the Pine Wind Pavilion, which is now a gift shop and food court.

The long stairs northward come to an end. We're at the pagoda, if not the top of the hill. This pagoda was built in 1929 to memorialize those who lost their lives in the revolution.

Inside, the stairs keep going up.

Chunlin rested. I climbed. Charge! Round and round and round we go...

Once above the trees, I could see back through the haze to Nanjing.

Plenty hot, but with a cross-breeze, not too bad. At least it's not too bad if you're not afraid of sweating profusely.

And back down again...

Whereupon I found Chunlin talking on the phone. Probably talking to family, but it could have been a work call. I don't ask many questions some times.

And a taxi back to town. Wheeee!

You can find more photos of our trip on flickr.

Jiangsu, part 2: Linggu Temple

2010-07-06T12:26:00.000-07:00

When we arrived in Nanjing, I wanted to go to Linggu Temple. We just missed a bus heading that direction. Since time was tight, we took a taxi instead.

Through crazy city traffic, out into the forest. The road went up and back down and around curves back and forth.

Welcome to Zhongshan Mountain Scenic Area. Big park. Redundant name. ("Shan" means "mountain.")

The first cab dropped us off at Sun's Masoleum, a mile from Linggu. A second cab got us where we were going.

At the entrance to the temple complex, a monk rode by on a motorcycle. Under his robes, he was wearing jeans.

We walked through the forest (a nice change of pace from the big cities), up steps, and through gates -- one of them functional (payment required for entrance).

The reason I picked this temple of all the sites in Nanjing to visit was for its Beamless Hall. Unusual for China, it was built with brick barrel vaults during a timber shortage. It's now a memorial for soldiers killed in the 1920s unification of China (the Northern Expedition).

Rather reminiscent of Roman architecture, but not that old.

While Chunlin and I explored separately, I came across a little gift shop in the back corridor.

I decided to purchase a green-bean ice cream for Chunlin, since she likes those. The seller was very surprised by all my old pennies and jiao that I had brought from home. At least I think she was amazed by the 1980s era coinage. My Mandarin is good enough to buy a popsicle, but not that good. Chunlin appreciated the ice pop. Tired, relaxed, happy. The Beamless Hall was a cool place to rest on a hot day.

More photos on flickr, of course.

Hooray for the Losers!

2010-07-04T14:39:00.000-07:00

So far this World Cup, just about every team I root for has lost, especially since the Round of 16 started.

Korea lost to Uruguay. USA lost to Ghana. Ghana lost to Uruguay.

Slovakia lost to Netherlands. Chile lost to Brazil. Brazil lost to Netherlands.

Mexico lost to Argentina. England lost to Germany. Argentina lost to Germany.

The only game so far in the single-elimination portion that went as I wanted was Paraguay over Japan. But then Portual lost to Spain and Paraguay lost to Spain.

Based upon this pattern, the final victor will be Netherlands, beating Spain in the final.

Happy Birthday, Chunlin!

2010-07-02T07:58:00.000-07:00

When I first met you, I guessed you were 28, so you must now be 32 years old, right?

Age 1:

Age 2:

Age 16:

Age 17:

Age 28:

Age 29:

Age 30:

Age 31:

Age 32:

Something like that, right?

Anniversary of the King and Queen

2010-06-30T12:04:00.000-07:00

Three years ago today, Chunlin and I were wed.

Ah, good times.

I feel like we've always been together, and yet the three years have flown past.

I love you, Chunlin!

Jiangsu, part 1: Through Changzhou to Nanjing

2010-06-28T12:30:00.000-07:00

One of Chunlin's coworkers picked us up in Shanghai and drove us to Changzhou, the location of Chunlin's company's plant.

Leaving the city, the apartment buildings step down from twenty stories to fifteen to ten to seven to four and it all seems rather sudden. Empty office buildings. Trees. Warehouses. Still in Shanghai. Fields. Old houses.

There's a cluster of skyscrapers near the tollbooth to leave Shanghai, then it gets quite rural again.

On the Huning Expressway, the lanes have the following speed limits from left to right: 120 max 110 min, 120 max 90 min, 120 max 60 min. Trucks and buses 100 max. A big sign for no sleeping while driving. That's a good rule.

Zip by Suzhou without really seeing anything but buildings on the horizon.

Changzhou. Into the heart of town to buy train tickets -- for the 1:27 p.m. to Nanjing. Chunlin's boss arranged to have her coworker pay for our train tickets from Changzhou to Nanjing and on to Huangshan. Chunlin tried to pay him back, but no.

Changzhou seemed the same size as Seattle, but it's probably bigger. BRT down the middle of the street. Drivers and pedestrians were just as crazy here as in Shanghai. A pair of people walked down the middle of a divided road, in the fast lane, as if it was a sidewalk.

We headed out of town to a business park. Here was Jimmy's building. "Rim Rim Rim Rim..." it said across the front windows.

Chunlin and her coworkers were happy to meet each other. Much laughter. She got a tour of the plant while I waited in a lounge. Outside, it was lunchtime. Workers from all the businesses sat and stood in the shade of the small trees, walked down the sidewalk in pairs or threes, enjoying the sunny day.

We didn't have time for the big lunch Chunlin's coworkers had planned. It took too long to get everything together and leave Shanghai, I suppose. This wasn't really a problem for us, however, since we'd had many large meals lately, but I felt sorry for her coworkers who missed out since our schedule was so tight.

12:25 go go go! Two coworkers took us to a quick noodle lunch and then off to the train station.

Construction everywhere in China. This building was across the street from the noodle house. I took the photo from the car as we turned around, in a rush.

When we got near the train station, we hit a red light and decided to hop out and run. Chunlin's coworker pushed her way through the crowd and we followed a bit nicer.

At the security line at the station entrance, I paused for no more than a second to snap a photo of the city.

And then we ran inside. The waiting area had a queue for our train, filing out onto the platform. A sign proclaimed our train would be seven minutes late, and thus we had time to go to the restroom...

We said zaijian to Chunlin's coworker, joined the push to board the train, and found our seats. We both had window seats, with me facing backwards. Full train.

And away we went, zooming through the countryside. Fields zipped by, with occasional clusters of two- or three-story houses. Construction all around, yet deterioration all around. Maintenance is hit-and-miss.

This route is going to be on the Shanghai-to-Beijing high-speed rail line. Construction of bridges and stations all along.

It wasn't very long before we arrived in Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province and sometimes the capital of China.

Skyscrapers in an ancient town.

I didn't expect that. My guidebook didn't mention skyscrapers at all.

But then again, the really tall one, the Nanjing Greenland Financial Center was only completed a month before we saw it (and more than a year after the guidebook was written). I'm sure they'll mention it in the next edition, since it's the seventh tallest building in the world!

Shanghai, part 10: Middle East and City at Night

2010-06-28T12:07:00.000-07:00

At the World Expo, we wandered around the Middle East area for a little while.

We went into the Oman Pavilion because the line was short. Common theme for us, eh?

Inside, every pavilion has exhibits shouting "Our country is great!" The pavilions all look completely different, and yet they're all basically identical. "Just like people," replied Chunlin.

We sat and rested on a park bench for a while as the sun set. We considered walking around more to see the pavilions after dark, but we decided our feet hurt too much and thus we should head for the subway.

Chunlin wanted to see the riverfront at night, so instead of taking the 7 line directly back to the hotel, we took it the other direction and transfered to the 2. We got off at Pudong and saw the skyscrapers that were shrouded in mist before.

We then got back on the 2 under the river. Next stop Nanjing Road, the closest stop to the Bund. Nanjing Road is a busy pedestrian shopping street. Neon and crowds.

After a couple blocks -- "What street is that?" I had taken us the wrong direction. West instead of east. How had I messed that up?

We had no further energy to walk to the river. We thus got back on the subway and headed home to Xincun Lu. Bus? Where's the bus stop? No bus stop? Walk limp crawl the half mile from the station to our hotel.

Four sore feet, once more.

Further foreign photos on flickr, for sure.

Shanghai, part 9: The Heart of the Expo

2010-06-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

This was the line for the China Pavilion, I believe. Or maybe Taiwan. In any case, moving but very long.

We looked into getting into the China Pavilion, but we would have to arrive first thing the next morning to get a reservation for later in the day.

The gray building in front is actually the larger portion of the China Pavilion. It acts like a plinth that the red portion sits upon. The whole thing will remain on the site and open to the public long after the expo is gone.

The streets have all been built for future use, but right now they're closed to most traffic. A bit odd for now, especially since all the nations' pavilions face away from the streets and onto the wide pedestrian lanes that will eventually disappear.

On the upper walkway, we ventured to the Expo Axis, a long series of tents and funnels. Six giant, glass funnels, actually.

This will certainly remain once the expo is over.

I do wonder about the drainage system, however, since these are open to the sky.

Would you like some Kekoukere?

We then headed downstairs to the mall beneath for food -- noodles. Gave our feet a much needed rest.

And then we went to see the giant bunny.

If you like these photos, I've posted more on flickr.

Shanghai, part 8: From France to Nepal

2010-06-25T12:19:00.000-07:00

At the Shanghai World Expo, I wandered down the giant alley toward the Poland Pavilion, which had intrigued me with its design. Meanwhile, Chunlin rested her feet.

On the way to Poland, I passed the France Pavilion:

Past the Germany Pavilion, I spotted Poland.

It wasn't as interesting in person as in concept. It was hard to see it as folded paper from ground level.

Across the wide alley, Spain was a pleasant surprise.

The Spain Pavilion was a giant wicker basket -- and it smelled like it, too.

Come November 1, the expo will close and these buildings will no longer be good for much of anything. As far as I know, China plans to demolish all the nations' pavilions and create a new neighborhood. Only a few expo structures will survive.

I rejoined Chunlin and we hopped a shuttle bus for the other side of the expo, near the Nepal Pavilion.

At first we thought we'd go in, but then we saw the full extent of the line.

Instead, we climbed the stairs to the pedestrian walkway which runs over the street nearby.

Presumably these walkways will still exist once the expo is gone. Or at least I think they'd make a good addition to the future neighborhood's infrastructure. Separate the foot traffic from the wheeled traffic. Safer that way.

More such photos on flickr.

Name That Flower!

2010-06-25T08:14:00.000-07:00

Let's play a little game of "Name That Flower!"

It's a quiz, just like Mamurd's... except it's not multiple choice.

A:

B:

C:

D:

Shanghai, part 7: Canada and Beyond

2010-06-24T12:21:00.000-07:00

At the World Expo, we took a stroll through flashy Canada.

It looked like it had a short line, but half of the zig-zags were hidden inside the building. Tricky folk, those Canadians.

I didn't really pay attention to all the "our country is great" stuff the exhibits were saying. I just took photos.

They had some bicyles that interacted with large screens. I'm not sure what that was about...

In the courtyard, Chinese staff wandered slowly, dressed as a fish, a fisherman, a tree, and butterflies.

Once back outside, we stopped by a restaurant that had an interesting name: Shanghai Old City God Temple Snack Kingdom.

Inside, I realized that all the English translations of the Chinese signs were obviously a collection of the worst translations ever found. They were trying too hard. It wasn't fun anymore.

Chunlin liked the food, though!

We then wandered through Europe again.

Aren't the EU and China flags awfully similar in design? I wonder if they were trying for that...

I wanted to see the UK Pavilion, but the line was very long.

The Netherlands Pavilion was much more accessible and photogenic.

Everybody enjoys sitting on sheep. That's what the World Expo is about: finding the little things that bring the world together, Dutch and Chinese, everybody.

More expo photos on flickr!

Shanghai, part 6: Luxembourg

2010-06-24T12:02:00.000-07:00

Shanghai has a lot of people in it.

At our hotel, I picked up a good map of the Expo -- and one of the full subway system. The stand had been empty on Monday and I took the last the last map this time. It's hard to keep the shelves stocked when they're free.

But the map was only in Chinese!

I finally got an English map at the gate.

Massive crowd control measures unnecessary at 1:30 on a weekday afternoon. We walked right through like it was the Spokane airport.

The USA Pavilion had a huge line, so we kept walking.

We headed through the Americas and Europe to Luxembourg. Quick-moving line.

"Is that the color of their country?" Not really.

"Is that the shape of their country?" Well, sort of.

Luxembourg transported this golden statue around the world from its home on a pillar in Luxembourg City. I wonder what's on the the pillar right now...

After hearing about how great the small country of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is, we headed back to Americas Square for a song and dance exhibit from Venezuela.

There are shows every half hour all day long at one square or another. Norway, Mexico, etc. We were very far from the stage, but the speakers were so loud at times it hurt my ears.

Since we were in the Americas (I presume), staff came around with trays of free mini-cups of Starbucks coffee. It was cold, but a taste of home.

I have more photos of these pavilions on flickr.

Shanghai, part 5: Random Thoughts

2010-06-23T12:33:00.000-07:00

Real branches, fake flowers, motel lobby.

Elder cousin and we walked to a nearby dumpling house for breakfast. The restaurant had two levels of seating, but the fastest business was at the sidewalk window.

We had baozi and wonton soup ... and Pepsi.

The crab dumplings were oily good -- just don't squirt the deliciousness all over your shirt. Like I did.

Chunlin was much more vocal in China, talking to strangers, telling them what to do, where to sit. She had said as much a couple years ago, when taking a office personality quiz: much more a follower in the US, a leader in China. Language, customs.

Between the cars, bikes, motorbikes, and pedestrians, driving in China is pretty crazy. But most everyone pays attention and there are few accidents. Stop lights are suggestions. Only drive on the right if you really want to.

Drive on the sidewalk if you'd prefer.

Plenty of horn honking. Turn signals used.

Around our local subway station, the small plaza was jam-packed with bicyles and motorcycles. It was an unofficial park and ride.

Shanghai has twenty-story apartment blocks as far as the eye can see. The city goes on forever.

A sunny day is laundry day. If the window opens, there were clothes drying out of it.

Sunny but smoggy -- even with rain the day before.

At our hotel, I got sucked into a Chinese soap opera -- in Mandarin with Chinese subtitles, of course. Must stare at the glowing box.

Donald Duck dubbed into Mandarin. They left his laugh the same from the original, but it was quieter than the dubbed dialogue. It seemed very slapdash that way.

We visited Chunlin's elder cousin's apartment. They have turtles.

Chunlin's niece was wearing a shirt that proclaimed in bright pink, "Framtiden: Forget the horizon today." She knows enough English to know it was nonsense, I'd think. An oddly defeatist, inward phrase to be displayed so boldly. Framtiden, by the way, means "future" in Scandanavian languages. ...Makes sense now, right?

More photos on flickr, of course.

Shanghai, part 4: Dinner

2010-06-23T12:12:00.000-07:00

Chunlin's cousins in Shanghai treated us to two extravagant dinners. Lots of weird food. Lots of good food.

Some of the appetizers didn't get eaten much.

The sweet and sour fish was enjoyed by all. Pull off a piece and dip in the sauce.

We had the best sesame pork baklava you'll ever eat anywhere.

Pork slices fried, with a kind of hollandaise sauce.

The waiters just kept bringing dish after dish after dish, consolidating and removing empty plates and piling them atop each other.

The first dinner, they asked me what I wanted to drink. Since the only Chinese drink I know (not the only drink I know in Chinese) is baijiu, a liquor, I asked for that. Our cousin then ordered a very expensive and extremely good bottle of baijiu.

Baijiu is to be savored, sipped, smelled. We didn't finish the bottle; we made them take the extra home.

At the second dinner, they ordered huangjiu, a weak liquor with a taste reminiscent of pine sap.

Efforts were made to get the two youngsters to speak English, with some success. Chunlin's nephew was bolder in his speaking, but her niece never spoke incorrectly. Often silent, though.

Happy Solstice!

2010-06-21T07:20:00.000-07:00

Summer is finally here. Can't you tell? I know Seattle still has cold, gray skies and the weatherman is calling the month Junuary, but it's summer now!

Huzzah!

Shanghai, part 3: Sore Feet

2010-06-11T12:44:00.000-07:00

The Bund is the old financial center of Shanghai, from the foreign concession era in the early 1900s. The buildings used to be just a few feet from the Huangpu River, but now a wide avenue and a pedestrian-boulevard dike separate them. Much like New Orleans on the other side of the world, old Shanghai has sunk a bit and is now below river level.

My grandmother was born in Shanghai back then. Did she see the Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank soon after it was built? It's still standing and looking good. The clock on the Customs House next door is still telling the correct time. Not much remaining from those days, but the line of buildings along the Bund would look familiar, I'm sure.

In a juxtaposition credited to central planning, across the river is the new financial heart of Shanghai: Pudong (meaning "east of the Pu river"). The towers rank among the tallest in the world.

We headed under the river to Pudong for a closer look, me being an architect and all.

Unfortunately, the low clouds precluded us from seeing their full world-class heights.

Pudong has been derided as being soulless and such, but at least it had a big mall to explore... We had sticker shock at the Starbucks, thanks to the currency conversion factor, but then did the calculations and realized -- wait a minute, it's still more expensive than Seattle!

Back on the subway, back to our hotel. This city just keeps going forever. Our first day of vacation ended and we already had four sore feet and a couple blisters.

So, in summary: Shanghai is just like New York City, but bigger. I feel like a giant sometimes, though.

More photos on flickr.