http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/GypsyKing/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from GypsyKing en-us Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:20:52 +0000 Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:20:52 +0000 A few weeks ago for a class lesson on the importance of taking notes I put together a Powerpoint presentation of the Seven Most Popular Theme Parks in the World. Needless to say my students paid extra attention especially when the Disneyesque theme park in Beijing was mentioned. Not only did I have some updated shots of Minnie and Mickey they look JUST like Disney's Minnie and Micket...hmmm http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangsu/Danyang/blog-450708.html Chinese National DayOur students were giddy and down right rambunctious last week as our school and the entire nation prepared to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Peoplersquos Republic of China on October 1st. Our kids knew the facts the PRC won the revolution and the losers limped over to Taiwan and started their own government there knew the reason Mao is very much a hero over here http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangsu/Danyang/blog-444911.html Still Humming About Tibet Hey everyday the power of the internet and blogs continues to amaze me. After my blogs on Tibet I received comments and messages from people all over the world expressing their gratitude you are welcome Becky and their outrage most were Chinese and not wellinformed. Anyway thank you everyone for your heartfelt messages and if I did not comment on your comment r http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangsu/Danyang/blog-439101.html Saying Goodbye to TibetAfter a late night filled with fiery political discussions and warm beer our week of exploring Lhasa and Mt. Everest was technically coming to a close. All but three of us are leaving in the morning so the evening was filled with hearing what others enjoyed or hated about our adventure swapping emails passionate ideas on why the European Union will never work all while e http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Tibet/Lhasa/blog-435843.html Mt. Everest Base Camp Day 3We ended up getting to our hotel late last night about 1030 after a decent meal in Shigatse Tibet. Even though we didn't get to see Mt. Everest up close yesterday on our way back to the closest town we did get to spend about forty minutes watching the top 13 of the mountain appear and then fade away and then appear again as cloud formations slowly passed over the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Tibet/Everest/blog-433984.html This morning we are up at 5am and leave at 615am. We seem to be making good time as the road is fairly smooth and the views keep us entertained. Yak horses sheep goats the locals it's all postcard beautiful. Everybody is in a fairly chipper mood because we are excited about seeing Mt. Everest but honestly no one is looking forward to the rough riding we know is coming. We drive all morning http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Tibet/Everest/blog-432011.html Mt. Everest Base Camp Adventure Day OneWe get up early finish packing and drop off our backpacks with the hotel front desk then walk into our little Cool Yak dining room to grab a bite eat. As our group slowly ambles in itrsquos clear we are excited about the upcoming journey. Seeing Lhasa has been an incredible experience but we are all in this group because we chose to pay for an 8day tour http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Tibet/Gyantse/blog-429957.html We wake up to our third day in this amazing city Lhasa. We both got to sleep in from our night of singing and partying at Music Bar and push ourselves to stumble over for breakfast at 930am The whole group eventually lumbers in groggy but happy we laugh about last nightrsquos fun and eat a Chinglish breakfast. There are fruit and snacks stands right outside our hotel so we pick some up an http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Tibet/Lhasa/blog-429334.html Got up and out at 830am to have a light Chinese breakfast with some western flair such as pancakes pangrilled spam and strong black coffee. For our first day we skip over just a block to one of Tibetrsquos most memorable experiences the Jokhang Temple. Founded in 639AD it was built to protect an image of the Buddha brought as dowry by the Nepali Princess Bhrikuti on her marriage to King S http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Tibet/Lhasa/blog-428159.html Hello from the rooftop of the world We landed here in Lhasa about 435pm taking pictures of the changing landscape the whole way in flying over brown tundra snowcapped mountains green hills with green and yellowcolored waters running through them. The lakes and rivers are lime green and yellow here...beautifully surreal. The weather is warm low 70's right now and the first thing you notic http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Tibet/Lhasa/blog-427979.html Back to Xi'anHello from the capital city of Xi'an in Northwest China. We have left the surly city of Zhengzhou and are spending a few days here in one of our favorite places to stay in Xi'an the HQ Guesthouse owned by our friends Todd and Mei. We are in back in Xi'an to receive our final paperwork from our Tibet tour company before hopping on our first flight inside China since landing in Sha http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanxi/blog-427716.html Gunkumsan That is hello in Tibetan...we have just spent a week in Lhasa and have much to write about especially some amazing pictures. Jennifer and I have just finished traveling on a train from Lhasa to Chengdu about 50 hours and we now have internet access. We are putting together some blogs in the hotel and then walking to the local Starbuck's a few blocks away.We will be putting up some http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Tibet/Lhasa/blog-427557.html Jinan ChinaJinan is not a hot tourist destination in China so people mostly travel through on their way on to bigger more attractive cities. But it is called the City of Springs and it is the capital Shandong Province. It has a history of some 2000 years is famed for its numerous relics. It is also the home of Lu Cai Shandong cuisine. We had to pick what we were going to do in one day and we d http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shandong/Ji--Nan/blog-423462.html QingdaoTsingTaoOur first stop is Qingdao 3873823707 3873823798 Q299ngD462o TsingTao easily one of the most beautiful cities we have seen in China. Old town has a strong European influence from the Germans hence the beer and it reminds us both of southern California around the Laguna Beach area or even a little like Carmel by the Sea as the multitude of beaches are litt http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-422444.html Check out the map above. We are using it to show our travel plans starting from our home city DanYang and then four to five weeks of trains planes taxis trikes and just plain walking.ItineraryZhenjiang Jiangsu ProvinceFrom our city DanYang we are starting with a fast train to Zhenjiang because DanYang is so small we can't get to our first stop Jinan from here. Then we hop on another http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangsu/Danyang/blog-421270.html Before moving to China in January 2009 a year of researching taught me there are two issues not to be broached over here in the Middle Kingdom. All of the foreigners on all the message boards and websites call them The Big Trsquos Tienanmen Square is one and Tibet the other. For weeks after my arrival I danced around these issues when they came up. I remained polite and servile wanting to b http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangsu/Danyang/blog-420983.html Hello from the thriving metropolis of DanYang China. It's early Tuesday evening here pouring rain right now mixed with some small hail which is not unusual for this place and time of year. It is in the mid90's during the day with high humidity and it does not cool off in the evening but just like Tampa Florida we get some great storms here Me and Monkey Girl they have a children's TV show http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangsu/Danyang/blog-418453.html Went out for a nice meal this evening for our once a week date night and although at 600pm it was a balmy 94 degrees here in DanYang the 1 bus offered us a nice breeze and for 1 yuan apiece you just can't beat the scenery the smells the immersion deep into everyday life here in central China. We love taking the bus these days basically because a cab gouges us for 6 yuan about .60 but http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangsu/Danyang/blog-411112.html After the turbulent bus ride to Tangkou all I could think about when I got off and looked around was where is hotel and how far of a walk is it A friendly man in a dark blue Adidas track suit greeted us pulled out a card with his restaurant in English and began chatting with us. He wasn't selling anything he was just friendly. He introduced himself and asked us where we were staying. He k http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Anhui/Huangshan/blog-408760.html Hello Everyone This is Jennifer again and we are back from over a week of vacation as our students were taking the College Entrance Test the Gao Kao. I know it has been a long time since I have written. I am still angry about the other blog website access being ldquotakenrdquo away from us www.blogger.com so part of my absence has been some sort of rebellion at having to start up again o http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Anhui/Huangshan/blog-408358.html