Land of the Dragon: February 2012

Haerbin - The Winter Wonderland of China

Things I did in Harbin:

Regained my faith that not all of China sucks
Conquered my fear of walking on ice by unknowingly wandering out onto a giant frozen river
Nearly got blown up with fireworks
Got minor frostbite
Saw a polar bear
Experienced a village made of ice
Ate the best Shāokǎo in China
Became a pro at navigating bus routes

Friendlies!

After roughly two weeks of traveling alone I was definitely excited to see Tyler, Emily, and Alan. They however didn't seem to fair quite as well as I had. In short, Tyler had almost all of his money stolen, and he and Emily had crashed an e-bike in Bangkok leaving Tyler with 8 stitches and a hole in his ankle. Also upon their arrival I learned that Tyler's friend had in fact not been able to acquire a return ticket for us back to Shijiazhuang, so thus began the hunt for transportation back home. But you'll hear more about that later.

Fireworks

Just as dangerous as mom always told me they were. Still just as fun.

Terracotta Warriors

I thought this was going to be over-rated and boring but it was so cool! The sheer size of the pits is incredible.

Huimin Jie (Moslem Street)

I could spend 2 whole days on this street. The food is cheap and super tasty and you can find any trinket you would want to buy in China. Oh, also lots of knives ^_^

Doctor For A Day

Though I've never had stitches I think I did pretty okay cutting out Tylers. I mean, he only bled a little...

Bell & Drum Towers

Neat, but not worth paying full price. Ask for the student ticket! Seeing Alan accidentally smack a Chinese child in the face: priceless.

Xi'an History Museum

Cool, but REALLY crowded.

The Quest To Return Home

Just thinking about recounting this adventure stresses me out. Pictures to come soon.


Xi'an	Playing Doctor

Nanjing - Winter Break Stop 2

Jasmine International Youth Hostel

I'd give this place about a 3/5. It was definitely built with the hot summers in mind because the restaurant/reading room/front desk/internet area couldn't hold heat at all. The staff was pretty nice and they had the cutest golden retriever named Batto. The rooms were way to small though, and I couldn't find any showers for the dorm rooms. Also, the food was really limited, super expensive, and not as good as the other hostels I've stayed at around China.

Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Scenic Area

It was weird going straight from Shanghai to a scenic area but the peace and quiet was pretty awesome. Also, a good workout.

Ming Tomb Scenic Area

In the same area as the Sun Yat-Sen memorial. The tomb itself was boring but the sacred way was line with really big animals sculpted out of rock. It was pretty expensive to enter the area but definitely worth it if you go exploring up to the lake and hot springs at the top of the mountain.

Nanjing Massacre Museum

Interesting museum. Poorly lit but probably the best sculpture pieces I've seen in a long time.

The Overnight T train

The most expensive bed I've stayed in in China but not so bad as long as you don't get the middle bunk (like I did).

Nanjing

Shanghai - Winter Break Stop 1

So after some initial debacles I was finally able to acquire a plane ticket to Shanghai and my train tickets from a travel agent in Beijing. I decided to scale down my winter travel stops because of a cold I caught during the last week of school so I only went to Shanghai, Nanjing, Xi'an and Haerbin.

Chinese Air Travel

I began my trip on a quick 2hr plane to Shanghai, which should have been relaxing and easy... but in China nothing is ever relaxing, or easy. It turns out someone decided the best place for the Shijiazhuang Airport was an hour outside of the city, and seeing as my plane was leaving at 10 i had to be up bright and early enough to hail and cab, get out there, and figure out how to check in. It wasn't very different from American air travel except I may have been only one of about 4 people who had been on a plane before. Which was quite frustrating.

Mingtown Etour International Youth Hostel

I'd give this hostel about a 4/5 stars. The location was perfect, the hostel itself was beautiful, but the staff weren't very helpful. Not that they were mean they just didn't seem to care that you were a customer or if your experience was pleasant or not.

Peoples Avenue

I stumbled upon this gem my first night in Shanghai. Its underneath the people's park and it's a shoppers paradise. They had a whole bunch of nice clothes stores as well as some anime themed stores, electronics stores, and the general Chinese nic-nacs that you see being sold in Beijing a lot. They were also selling these ridiculous phone covers, which I actually saw a few girls with the next day on the subway.

Shanghai Museum

Easily one of the top 3 museums I've been to in China. The building itself is architecturally really unique (like most of Shanghai) and the exhibit's were well lit, organized, and labeled. I had read online the the bronze exhibit was really neat and it did not let down for sure. The collection of currency and the seal gallery were also pretty impressive. My single favorite collection had to be the tibetan masks on the top floor in the cultural minority arts gallery.

The Bund

My main priority on my second afternoon was to locate the Bund. Obviously I had missed the minor detail that my hostel was actually located right next to the Bund... but it was really awesome to wander around and check out the different types of shops on the streets and take in the unique environment.

Pudong District

This was by far one of my favorite areas to just hang out in. The Pearl TV Tower is kind of obnoxious to look at but I found the rest of the Pudong district to be pretty cool. My favorite building by far is the Shanghai World Financial Center Building (the bottle opener). Plus it was only 2 subway stops away from my hostel :P

Shanghai Ocean Aquarium

Because where else would I be after being landlocked for 6 months? Pricey, but worth it.

Shanghai Subway

SO MUCH BETTER THAN BEIJING

Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center

I didn't really have high hopes for this one but after vising I would say it's a must visit for anyone going to Shanghai. The model of the city blew me away and the short 360degree video on the future skyline of Shanghai is the best I've seen so far in China.

Shanghai Art Museum

It took me forever to find the entrance to this place and it ended up being a complete disappointment. They were WAY overstaffed and the staff were all talking and overall being disruptive. The collections were only so-so.

Oriental Pearl TV Tower: Shanghai History Museum

Probably my favorite museum in China. It was very well organized and really took you into old Shanghai. It was relatively cheap and didn't have hardly any traffic. Its in the basement of the Pearl TV Tower.

The Quest for the new SD card

In my infinite wisdom to buy a tablet computer and not lug around my big laptop for my winter trip I failed to realize I would not be able to clear out my camera's SD card every night... I got about 3 days in before I had to start searching for a new card, and everyone I talked to had no clue where I would find one or how much I should pay. Luckily one of my Chinese roommates was a regular visitor to Shanghai and pointed me in the right direction. Thanks to her I now know where the Shanghai version of the Shiz's Taihe is, and it is AWESOME. I ended up paying 90kuai for a new 8GB SDHC card.

Jing'an Temple

The contrast between the temple and the surrounding skyscrapers is definitely worth the visit (even when it's pouring outside).

Overall I think if heaven was located in China, it would be somewhere in Shanghai.

Shanghai

Land of the Dragon

February 10, 2012

Videos from Winter Break