http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jilin/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , China , Jilin en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:56:25 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:56:25 UTC Continued... We were feeling more comfortable with Fa after he took us to the train station and finding out he had a son 18 who lived in a nearby town. We drove through a forest and eventually made it to the park entrance. When we arrived he had some friends of his join us they were there to sell us something but we ignored them and moved towards the admission area. Trying to leave Fa behind we http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Jilin/blog-337918.html From Harbin we headed east towards Korea with our final destination being Changbai Shan. Changbai Shan is a Mountain and National Park and is also a spiritual place for the Korean and Chinese cultures. We took a bus in the early morning from Harbin to Jilin 4 hours. Mostly we passed drying Corn fields along the way. The air didn't get any better either. We had a nice stay at the Home Inn in Ji http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Jilin/blog-337909.html Hey just wanted to keep you all posted with our plans and current location. We are currently in Jilin which is in duh Jilin province. We spent the last few days in Harbin checking out the city and are turning our heads towards China's National Park and Border with North Korea ChangBai Shan. We don't plan to go to the DPRK but there is a pretty interesting tourist area in that area that we are http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Jilin/blog-334980.html Sorry itrsquos been so long since the last edition ive recently returned to the University life and have been somewhat busy with the location shuffle. Anyway on the bright side this is the final edition so those that have stuck it out this far wont have to tolerate my jibberjabbering for much longer The ReturnMy intention hadnrsquot been to write a blog about my return trip as I expected i http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Jilin/Siping/blog-332037.html Randomness This weekrsquos edition is just full of stories and wisdoms that I wanted to tell but didnrsquot fit into any greater category and have no particular order ill also shove afew pictures up which may bare no resemblance to the text. Sorry if it all seems abit scrappyBrendarsquosThe main social spot for the academy is 'Brendarsquos' which has multiple purposes with roles includ http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Jilin/Siping/blog-326030.html SipingWhile fairly large in population 500k1m it represents a very poor area of China with near no tourism and I would affectionately refer to it as the 'pigsty of China' having said this the people are very friendly if not English literate and everything is fairly cheap. The main shopping area in Siping is the Zhongxing which is 6 floors worth of knockoff dvds and clothes. The dvds are obs http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Jilin/blog-323013.html TrainingUpon arrival at the academy you get the option of 3 different martial art styles Shaolin Flashy acrobatics with weapons Baji Shaolin for people that cant jump Sanda Practical fighting kickboxing and spend 90 of their time kicking or punching a bag. However you can swap at any time to another style and many students staying for longer periods will do a stint in each. I chose Shaoli http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Jilin/Siping/blog-319996.html We came to Changchun for one reason only to see the palace of Puyi the famous Last Emperor of China who's life has been the feature of several books and an academyaward winning movie. I read the book on which the movie is based shortly before we left on the trip which I highly recommend.Puyi became the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty in 1908 before he had even reached his 3rd birthday. http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Jilin/blog-268127.html Internet access is very random in this city known as Yanji. And so updates of my life here will also be very random. In fact every aspect of my life feels very random here. I am currently typing on a table that is teetering back and forth as I write making it extremely difficult to type with much accuracy or speed. Strange. Random. Mindnumbing. I find it very hard to write about what has been h http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Jilin/blog-234868.html And so I didn't go to Australia thinking that I wouldn't have the funds and now I find myself in Yanji. What a place They heat with coal making the air so smoggy that it is worse than Beijing The sun is shining today but I still cannot see the hills I know are in the distance. And it's freezing here. Even up until my flight yesterday I was debating whether or not to come here. The upside i http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Jilin/blog-229922.html Dalin wasn't such a great city for sightseeing but we did get to eat some great food. We toured around the city and stopped at various places that looked out at some water. I bought a 20 tiered kite which looks awesome when flying. The guy I bought it from let me fly one before. The rest of the time was snapping pics and eating. We were there for a day. Between Dalin and Harbin we took a bus trip http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Jilin/blog-209628.html After staying two days in Jilin City story to be written soon we decided to hop a bus to nearby Yanji capital of China's Korean Autonomous Region. Tucked up between Russia and our true motive for going North Korea we figured it would be an off the beaten pathtype of escape. Almost true...Turns out Yanji is actually a pretty lively city. Much cleaner and newer looking than Beijing the area' http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Jilin/blog-169851.html 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 i http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Jilin/blog-169419.html 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 occupi http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Jilin/blog-169410.html Changchun ldquoEeuwige Lenterdquo is sinds 1954 de hoofdstad van de provincie Jilin.We logeerden niet in Changchun het is slechts 2 uur bus verwijderd van Jilin en we wilden alleen maar het paleis van de laatste Qing keizer Puyi zien. We reisden nog diezelfde dag door naar Jilin.We namen de bus naar Jilin in het langeafstands busstation dit ligt ten opzichte van het treinstation achter h http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Jilin/blog-147583.html Donderdag 25 januari. Berna en ik hadden deze nacht op de trein goed geslapen. Een paar keer waren we wel even door elkaar geschud bij een wat ruw stukje spoorweg. In een slaapwagon moet je na het instappen je ticket inruilen voor een plastic of metalen kaartje. Voor de aankomst wordt dit weer gewisseld voor jouw ticket. De reden voor deze procedure is waarschijnlijk om nog eens na te gaan of i http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Jilin/blog-124123.html Merry Christmas everyone hope you are all having a fantastic and festive yuletide back homeI have to say I've had a great time here there are about 25 of us left at the academy and we all went out and got truly soussed is that how you spell it on the 23rd in Changchun. Amazing how a bit of alcohol can help people bond although I had the worst hangover in about ten years on Christmas Eve http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Jilin/Siping/blog-113451.html It's now been a month since I arrived at the Martial Arts Academy for anyone needing a recap I'm here to learn some Kung Fu for a couple of months before the next leg of my trip which will be to Thailand in February.If I wrote this blog a couple of weeks ago I'd probably have picked a title like The Shawshank Redemption or Prison Break it was certainly a shock to the system having got used http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Jilin/Siping/blog-111477.html