I actually had to start on day 0 because I flew Edmoton -> Toronto -> Cancun. This was a much longer trip but since direct charter flights to Cancun didn’t work for me date-wise and I would do anything to avoid flying through the US, this was the best option. I flew into Cancun at 10:30AM but it took a long time to clear customs. I guess that’s why the phrase Mexican time. It was curious that travellers had to push a button after having our luggage x-rayed to determine whether you get searched or not. I’ve heard different hypotheses and [View Full Entry]

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More tidbits about Dalian: a peninsula city, city with the most number of roundabouts in China (~50), population of about 6 million with 2.9m in the metropolitan area, size of about 30x Singapore. Today was my last day in China. We went to ShinHai Park (literally translated "Star Sea" Park), a popular park with the locals. It used to be a garbage dump but you wouldn't even know unless someone told you. The plaza here is four times as big as Tiananmen Square. There is a big concrete structure in the shape of a open book. It was constructed to [View Full Entry]

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By this time I think I've tried all variation of Ce Suo (washroom/restroom) along the various roads, highways and attractions. They range from behind a bush, a hole in the ground with 4 walls, a sliding channel lined with heavy plastic with 4 walls, a bigger room with a gutter separated by walls, turkish squat toilet, and all the way to 5***** self-flushing urinals with soap dispensers and running water. Do bring your own hand sanitizer and toilet paper! Before I tell you about my day I think some history of Lushun is in order. Lushun literally means "smooth journey". [View Full Entry]

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Changchun to Benxi Asia » China » Dongbei » Changchun By frequentflyer June 6th 2007 After more driving this morning we get to today's highlight - Benxi Cave, with the longest underground river in China, 5th longest in the world. It's about 5km long, average depth of 2m and deepest is 7m. Average water temperature i [View Full Entry]

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Heilongjiang province is the most northeastern province in China with a population of 39 million, about 4 million in Harbin. Some interesting tidbits about Harbin: it has the tallest free-standing tower in Asia; Harbin Industrial University is the 6th largest in China and has many Russian students; the first department store was built in 1901; public schools are named by number, and usually don't have names; it costs about 100 Yuan to attend public school, about 5000 to 18,000 for private school. Ginseng, mink fur and deer antler are known as “three treasures of northeast China&rdquo [View Full Entry]

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This morning we cruised around Jinbro Lake. It's 46km long, the second largest volcanic crater lake in the world. The largest is somewhere in Switzerland. The rich and powerful have villas around the lake. Some universities also have cottages here for summer retreats. Some of the highlights include crocodile islands and a mountain that looks like a supine chairman Mao from a certain angle. Afterwards we got on the bus again, this time heading for Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province (literally translated as Black Dragon Province). Harbin is about 200km from the Chinese-Russian bord [View Full Entry]

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Today we were on the bus pretty much the whole day to get to Jinbrohu (Mirror Lake). On the way we drove through Yanggi. It has a sizable ethnic Korean population, and as such many people here are bilingual. The city is relatively rich as many people work in South Korea and send money back. I guess the relatively few bicycles on the road vs. other Chinese cities is a reflection of that. One of the locals told me that North Korea is very much like China in the 1960's. Everyone wears a pin praising their leader. There are three [View Full Entry]

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Today is probably the highlight of my trip. We drove to Changbaishan, literally translated as "forever white mountain". It is generally acknowledged as the most famous mountain in the NE. The mountain rises in the southeast of Jilin province, or the northern part of Jilin's Antu County, and gradually extends southwards towards the North Korean border. It is the origin of the Manchu people. 6 of its peaks are in China, 7 in North Korea, and 3 shared by the two countries. The highest peak is named Baiyuan peak "white clound peak", and rises 2691m above sea level. It got [View Full Entry]

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This morning's first stop was Pu Yi, the last Chinese emperor's palace or residence in Changchun. He lasted a total of 3 years as the ruler of China. He was only 3 years old when crowned as the emperor. He was scared and cried as he sat on the throne. It was said that in an effort to comfort him the words "it's all going to be over soon" was used. The Qing dynasty was soon over too. Japan occupied China for 14 years starting in the NE on Sept 18 1931. Japan knew that there were still Qing loyalists [View Full Entry]

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This morning I visited the Imperial Palace of the Qing dynasty in Shenyang. The Qing Dynasty was the second time when the whole of China was ruled by foreigners, the Manchu. The first time was during the Yuan Dynasty when China was controlled by the Mongols. The Qing Dynasty lasted from 1644-1911 A.D. The Palace is much smaller than the one in Beijing, about 1/12 the size, and was used before defeating the Ming dynasty. There didn't used to be any trees within the palace because of fear of fire. Large vats are everywhere as source water to fight fire [View Full Entry]

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