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China Pride
This kid loves the Olympics so much he shaved his head in honor of it. China. I've arrived and I already like the place. It's cleaner that Kathmandu, which isn't necessary true (according to some random rumor I heard one day; Beijing is like smoking 60 cigarettes, while one day in Kathmandu is like smoking 30 cigarettes...I'm sure that isn't entirely true but China seems much cleaner and doesn't smell as bad. I flew in to Guangzhou, a major port city 2 hours west of Hong Kong. It's a nice city divided by one river that splits off and reconnects together again in various areas. It makes from some good views and a nice breeze. I spent my time wandering around the city, through it's various parks, small streets and street markets. It was like many of the cities/town I had been to before but there was one noticeable difference: China is much more modern than the other countries I have been to on my trip.
Beijing was next. My mum and sister were set arrive on May 9th for a 10 day whirlwind tour of China. I arrived a few days early to settle in and explore on my own. I met some people in my hostel and went to see the new Olympic
Bird's Nest and Budda
We couldn't get any closer due to construction. stadium and surrounding complex. One thing I did notice is that nothing is finished, most places are under construction and they seem to be working around the clock to get it all ready in time. Us westerners became part of the spectacle and numerous Chinese tourists wanted their picture taken with us. The Bird's Nest is a very modern, Guggenheim in Bilbao (don't know the architect) style building with curved stainless steel everywhere, it was pretty impressive. All the buildings are made with "green" technology, the first in Olympic history. You can make your own conclusions about China's reason for doing so.
My mum and sister arrived safely and we began our tour. I was expecting huge tour buses, loads of elderly people, and buffet dinners, etc. but I was surprised to learn there were only 8 of us in total and everyone was youthful. We spent the next 10 days in 4 different cities with 3 separate flights. It was packed but a great experience. It took a lot of the pressure of having to navigate China on your own, which can be very tricky. My family and I really enjoyed the experience.
As you have gathered,
Great Wall of China
Good to see China hasn't obscured the scenery with something obsurd like a giant sign....oh wait, what? we weren't effected by the earthquake that happened on May 12. We had just flown into Xi'an and were in the bus to the hotel when it happened. Apparently others in the van felt the car shake, I have gotten used to terrible vans and terrible roads so I though nothing of it and didn't even notice, but shortly afterwards we came to a toll both and the police had closed the bridge due to the earth quake. No one thought much of the earthquake until we turned the news on in the hotel and saw how bad it truly was. The epicenter was in the next province, about 1000 Km's away, but throughout the next day we felt aftershocks. At one point, I woke up to a gentle rocking in my bed, it was the whole building rocking from an aftershock. It was the first time I had felt an earthquake and actually realized it. It was a very strange feeling. Our hotel had assured us of the stability of the building and that it was earthquake proof so I wasn't too worried. Much has been publicized about the earthquake and how it was effected China. I was happy
to see the government's reactions the the disaster and how much media attention it has gotten. I'm in Yangshou right now and there has been much support from the local community, fund raisers, volunteers, moments of silence; even local climbers trained in search and rescue have gone to the effected areas attempting to help. It was a great tragedy and much more will need to be done and I hope the government will continue to help.
Our time after the earthquake was spent in Guilin, with a stop in Yangshou and then Shanghai. Guilin and it's surrounding area is arguably the most beautiful area in China. The landscape is full of karsts, limestone cliffs jutting dramatically out of the farmland. It's estimated there are 20,000 of these towers in the area which range from 20 feet high to 500. As you can guess there is rock climbing here and after my families trip ended I quickly returned to find out how good the rock climbing has been. Before I came back to Yangshou our group was headed to our last stop on the trip, Shanghai.
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