China From Shanghai

I wrote you all an email yesterday and apparently I kicked the dsl modem under the desk here at the hotel and the connection crashed losing my hour long email/diatribe/adventure journal. This pained me greater then you all as I know you hang on my every word and my communications complete you !

We've been in Shanghai for the last three days but before we left we held a Kung Fu exhibition in Fushon City . It was by far the grandest one yet with close to a thousand people turning out. Stranger yet, it was sponsored by Walmart and Pepsi,

The performers were again treated like celebrities, kids wanting their pictures taken with them and autographs.

Shanghai is by far my favorite city yet in China . It has everything, old new, expensive and budget, fashion and bargains.HA!

It is a city of 18 million people but only 400 years old, young for China where Beijing has thousands of years of history. Here's some of the older...


Our hotel is a step below the previous two to say the least. One traveler described it as "old European" which is actually code for one step above rat trap. My room has that old lingering cigarette smell that wont go away when you open the windows. I'm not complaining though as once again I have my own room. Hopefully my luck will continue in Beijing as we leave for the airport in half hour.

When we arrived here we say the Budt section a river walk, here's a night time skyscape scene

that I thought was fairly unremarkable except for the dyhard persistant street vendors selling fake Rolexes and chairman mau watches. The street vendors were on us like trailer trash on velveeta. At one point I pulled my cash out of my pocket preparing to separate bills to make a deal when I heard this voice over my shoulder in a Chinese accent "you want buy something? You want buy something?" I said without looking "go away leave me alone" but he persisted. Finally I turned around and it was Grandmaster offering to give me advice on bargaining.

Shanghai has three different districts the Pu-dong, the pu-chi and the Pu-to. The tour guide always repeats the names of the districts three times. The guys on trip think I get a lot of mileage out those words as I'm always chuckling as Puto means something different where I come from. The Skyline here is incredible. Foreign investment is encouraged and buildings are tall colorful and incorporate unusual shapes and designs. When we arrived we took a river cruise by night and the views are fantastic. The Japanese are building the tallest building structure in the world in the shape of a samurai sword to be finished next year.

Yesterday we visited traditional Chinese gardens and if you've seen one, you've seen em all. We also visited a small water city only accessable by car after 1988. They call it the Venice of China with a complex system of locks connecting two large rivers.

We also visited a silk factory and learned all about how silk is made just before they ushered us into the gift shop. I'm sure I'm going to hell for this shot...

The air quality is as bad as I remember it or worse. Shanghai actually has the cleanest air in China and coming here was the first time I've seen blue sky or sun since we arrived. The smog is so bad in parts of china the sky is always gray and the becomes a red orange obscurred blob.

It supposed to be rain and snow in Beijing which will be quite a change from the heat wave we had last year.

Beijing 2 White Dragon Kung Fu Trip 2007

So where did I leave off? Beijing. We had five nights and three days (thats the new math) in Bejing. The Hotel is really nice, I mean REALLY nice. Not quite Penninsula nice but right there with it. All the nicer, I have my own room again.

The first two tour days the group went off to the forbidden city, Tienagurn Square and some of the other local haunts I saw last year so I took a couple days off away from the group and did my own thing. Walked the city, went to the silk market had some clothes made, and shopped.

Meanwhile back at the farm this cold has really set in and hit me hard. I would say 85% of the 85 people on this trip are or have been sick from this thing. What really put me over the edge was a few of us (less then puritan Kung Fu types) found out the bar at the hotel had a happy hour, all-you-can- drink any-booze-you-want for $10. Well we drank em blind on black label and Carlsberg beer until they closed the place. The next morning I woke up with this cold full force. OK my fault.

The third day in Beijing we went to see the temple of heaven where the emperor would come pray for a good harvest. Its quite spectactular and ornate with colors and carvings everywhere. It's been rebuild, or restored as the Chinese say, in 2005 and looks brand new. Here's a pic

The second half of the day we visited the summer palace which was quite remarkable perched high on a hill in front of a huge man made lake. Apparently the Dragon Lady, a concubine of the emperor that gave birth to the emperor's son ran China into the ground after the emperor died diverting money from the navy to build the summer palace. Subsequently the Japanese came invaded and conquered China. Pictures on Flickr when I get back. Or here now...

Yesterday we took a flight from Beijing to Hong Kong, getting up at 4a and not flying until 8a (a disadvantage of traveling with a group so large). We flew on a 737 which always kills my ears. Exhausted in Hong Kong (and already having been here) I cacooned in my room (oh yes, private once again the famous Gates luck saves the day) and slept 12 hours.

We fly out today and sadly our time together must come to an end, like all good things in life. We take off today, which is monday for you tuesday for me, we land 2 hours before we take off, tues for the both of us. Confused? Ya me too....

Beijing White Dragon Kung Fu Trip 2007

Happy happy and merry merry, Thanksgiving that is.

We arrived in Beijing yesterday, the whole day consumed by travel flying from Shanghai to Beijing. While the flight was only 2 hours getting a group of 85 people to the airport, checked in, and through security requires extra time and planning. Plus we sat on the tarmac for 35 minutes before taking off. Airtravel is not a exact science when it comes to flying in China. The flight from Guangzhou airport to Shanghai was an interesting tale. We took off from Guangzhou airport the largest airport in the world and believe me the Chinese make sure you know it. 300 foot high ceilings and building that span for miles. Problem was we sat on the tarmac for three hours while the chinese airforce conducted surprise exercises over shanghai. Apparently they can just do that whenever they feel like it and passenger airtraffic comes to a screeching halt.

Before leaving Shanghai a bunch of us went for massages (not the rub and tug kind.) We got an hour of foot reflexology and an hour of full body work all for $13. Believe me, the 4'10" chinese gal digging her elbows into my back knew what she was doing. I hadn't realized how tight my upper body has become until then.

We just arrived in Bejing and I dont have much to report but I can give you a food update. While I've been trying EVERYTHING they put in front me I've noticed the difference between southern and northern China cuisine. Basically, they south is pretty bland, the north (shanghai) is better and Beijing rocks ! I told someone on the trip that I was trying everything and they commented, "Yeah but are you enjoying it?" I had to think about it for a minute but the answer is no, not really. I'm just sort of going through the motions. Last night however we had a REALLY good meal of dumplings. By far the best and most satisfying meal yet. I'm not discounting the possibility that my pallate has become so desensitized that even the worst day old fast food would be good about now.

The group headed off to the forbiden city and Tienamen Square this morning without me. I opted out after already having been there last year. The hotels we stay at give us wake up calls as a group pretty early, so I decided to take the phone off the hook and xanax it, i mean sleep it. Oh those willy Chinese ! They were prepared for that eventuality. They actually sent someone up to my room and knocked. Figuring they would just go away, I didn't answer and they actually opened the door and came in my room and woke me up. Drats....

These damn puritan Kung Fu people, not a partier among the bunch. I can't say I blame them too much. Paying kick-your-teeth in hotel or bar prices for 3.5% rice beer gets pretty old fast. Boy what I would'nt pay right now for a good Stone or Pizza Port IPA. I hear the group from England likes to rage a little, maybe i'll see if I can get in with them.

I'm headed off to the pearl market gift shopping for the lucky few of you :-)

In case you were wondering, Beijing doesn't have turkey, stuffing or cranberrys...

Bidding you all adieu (sp?) and best thanksgiving wishes ! Is Thanksgiving today tomorrow or yesterday? I'm lost in the space time continuium of international travel... HELP !

Hong Kong What Day Is It?

I had inteneded to write sooner then this but we have been so heavily scheduled there just hasn't been any free time to sit down and type until now.

We landed in Hong kong 2 days ago, but it seems like a week. The flight went well, all 14 hours of it. I read, dozed, and took some Xanax. Repeat that about three times and that was my flight. I guess I was lucky, one instructor had a screaming child behind him the whole flight that kept kicking his chair... It can always be worse right?

We didn't spend too much time in Hong Kong, just long enough to browse the avenue of the stars (think hollywood and add Bruce Lee and Jacky Chan to the sidewalk.)
That's Bruce Lee...


Jackie is the Payton Manning of commercials here. He's on everything from shampoo to Ice cream.

From Hong Kong we took a hydrofoil type Ferry to Jiangmen China. Jiangmen is a southern chinese city of about 3 million with the prodominant industry light manufacturing. So there's not much to see in the ways of sights and even less tourists. So much so that when I went to the mall (adjacent to the hotel) people would stop and stare at me. Maybe it was just my dashing good looks :-) The Hotel here in Jiangmen is as lavash and opulent as any I have ever seen. Last years Peninsula in Beijing included. OK so there's no 50 inch plasma in the room, but its almost as big as a suite with a separate area with a sitting chair and full sized couch. The Hotel, called the Yucca, makes the best coffee I think I've ever had. I don't know how they do it, but its one cup at a time and $4 for a size not much larger than an espresso. Its one of the only things I've spent money on here so far.

We visited a small villiage called King Mui where our particular brand of Kung Fu, Choy Li Fut was invented. We visited the founders house and were greeted by dancing lions and firecrackers by the chinese students.

We went to a few Kung Fu schools and watched many different Kung Fu exhibitions with many of our guys performing. Kinda cool to know the americans can hold their own with the Chinese. If fact at every school we stop at they treat us like celebraties. They take pictures of us and shake our hands as we walk in the schools. People come out their houses or stand in the windows or balconies to watch us and we walk by. The exhibitions here are really cool and I've seen some great performances.

We visited the Jade Terrace Temple, quite a sight. I used to say if you've one (insert temple/cathedral/palace here) you've seen em all, but this one was quite breathtaking. The roof was tile, like our spanish tile but made of Jade. Neeto.



The food has been pretty good, still a little hard to get accustomed to. They feed us so much and so often and its all included in the package price. I am continuing my tradition of trying everything they put in front of me. I've stopped asking "what is it?" Nobody seems to know anyway so whats the point? Its a little trying at times and I have to admit like last night when some really fishy smelling mussels or oyesters came around and I saw three people try them and cringe... OK I admit I skipped that ONE plate. I did break down this morning and have the western buffet, eggs french toast and bacon. It was worth the $11.

I think most of us here all have the same general feeling of mild fatigue. All the heavy travel, sleep disruption and jet lag tends to wear a person down and throw off the system. On the bright side, the roomate I was supposed to have switched to another traveler and I have my own room hopefully for the full trip. We'll see but I'm on night three and loving it! All the exhibitions are over so things should calm down with the schedule. We fly into Shanghai tomorrow, I'm looking forward to that.


Now if I could just figure out what day it is...