China - akstoltzy
A fellow teacher and I are traveling to China for five weeks, 20 May - 24 June, 2010. We will split off after arriving in Beijing. He will travel to Chongqing and I will begin a train odyssey that...

Map
Palmer, United States
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written by  akstoltzy on May 16, 2010 from Palmer, United States
from the travel blog: China

Day 2 of China Odyssey
Palmer, United States
Leaving Shungnak
Arrived in Palmer yesterday afternoon. Started out at 9:00 AM with a flight from my home village of Shungnak
The only way to get in or get out.
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Had a quick stop in Kobuk (10 Miles east of Shungnak)
View of Kobuk, AK, closest village to our east (100 population)
and then on to Kotzebue, northwest Alaska's hub city. After lunch and a few hours layover, it was on an Alaska Airlines jet for the 1:30 minute flight to Anchorage.
I was able to sit next to a former student of mine and so we signed all the way down to Anchorage. He's learned a lot of sign language since I last taught him (2007) so it was nice to see his progress. His name is Nixon (but I'm pretty sure he is a democrat!).
My former student and seatmate from Kotzebue to Anchorage
The principal at our school in Shungnak, Kitza Durkop, picked us up at the main terminal and then we drove the 45 minutes north to her House in the Mat-Su Valley. We unloaded our bags and then it was off to Kitza's friend's House for a party of which I knew two people, Kitza and Eric (the fellow teacher I am traveling with).
Teacher Party in Palmer, AK (45 min north of Anchorage)
Teachers area rowdy group that's for sure! Kitza is standing in the white sweater.
Our principal in Shungnak, Kitza (standing in white). We're crashing at her place until we leave.
Today it's Sunday and we're just kicking back. Very windy today and so staying inside due to all the glacial silt blowing in the air. Just watched the Blackhawks squeak one out against the Sharks. YES!!
I have doctor and dentist appointments Monday and Tuesday and then it's off to Vancouver on Wednesday and then China on Thursday. 12 hours in the air and so technically we arrive the next day on the 21st. China is 16 hours ahead of Alaska time and 13 ahead of CST. It will be Back To The Future when we return at the end of June as we will arrive back in Vancouver before we leave due to the time change.
I'll be posting newest entries first so if you miss a day or four, just keep scrolling.
Probably won't have many entries until Wednesday.
written by  akstoltzy on May 16, 2010 from Palmer, United States
from the travel blog: China

Arriving and The Lhama Temple
Beijing, China
Today is Saturday. We lost a day coming over since we crossed the International Dateline. When we arrived yesterday, it was about 5:30 PM when we finally arrived at the hostel. It's called Candy's Place or, more officially, 1 Hai Inn. It's located down what we would call an alley but where there is also a little bit of traffic. So maybe it's an Alley Way? In any case, here are two pictures of the outside
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The people that work here at 1 Hai Inn are very nice. They speak English and have helped to get us either plane (for Eric) or train (for me) tickets.
When we got through customs in China we had to hop on a tram. The airport is absolutely HUGE. The tram, like all the trains and buses, are very crowded. Eric and I were the last two on the tram and as soon as we entered the doors began to close. Eric decided it was a good time to grab the overhead bar to prevent him from falling. Unfortunately, a little Chinese woman was standing there and her face got in the way of his hand. So, in China for 10 minutes, Eric has proceeded to knock a cute woman right in the eye with a right cross. So, welcome to China!
We took a cab from the airport to the hostel. They have lanes here that have the obligatory markings but which no one follows. It is amazing that more cars do not have dents and scratches.
I slept much longer than Eric but that isn't surprising. I slept roughly 14 hours straight. Eric didn't sleep as long as he was busy in the middle of the night trying to watch Chinese television. There is also an English speaking channel that is like a CNN but is mostly Chinese news. Apparently, I snore because Eric couldn't hear the tv. I think he is delusional. Who knows what the truth really is but all I know is that I don't snore.
I brought a map with us of downtown Beijing when we went on our hike. However, as we were about to find out, it was not to scale. We figured we would walk today and get an idea of what the city was like on a weekend. To give you an idea, think of downtown Chicago on a Saturday but with 4-5 times as many people. This city is huge. Our first stop was to the Lama Temple which is right behind us here at the hostel. You'd have to be Bhuddist to really appreciate it. No pictures in the buildings were allowed so these are the only two. This one shows the actual layout.
There is a huge Budda statue that stands about 60 ft tall within one of the temples. Pretty cool. If you look carefully at this picture, you can read about the temple.
After the Temple, we thought we would try to blend in with the crowds. However, we stuck out like sore thumbs no matter how hard we tried. We walked a total of close to roughly 17 km (based on a map that WAS to scale). For all you metrically impaired, that's a little more than 10 miles. It's also about 85 degrees here so I'm feeling a little stinky right now. We found the only Irish-owned bar/restaurant in Beijing called Paddy's something or other. We stopped there for lunch and water. LOTS of water! We met a couple of people from the states that work for Microsoft that have lived here for a while. The guy we met was obnoxious. Knows way too much and can speak a little Chinese so he's pretty impressed with himself. The lady was nice and actually gave me some tips for the next few days on where to hang out, what to watch for in relation to scams, and so forth.
We walked down a street that is known as 'Ghost Town'. Read about it here:
Here is one side of the street:
You can tell the street is full of markets, both inside and out, because of all the red lanterns. They will sell ANYTHING! Most everything is not marked so there is bartering that takes place. Most of it is junk so I still have all my money.
I didn't take many pictures because there was nothing that seemed 'picturable'. Eric has left this morning and so I am going to go out and explore the city in another direction. I'm going to try and find the Bell and Drum towers. I have no idea what they represent. However, they will probably be torn down as part of the city's rejuvination projects. I'll try and post more pictures tonight (it's Sunday now).
We left at a little after 11 AM and got back to our hostel at 5. My feet hurt, I stink, and I'm hungry. I am glad to see that the Hawks won AGAIN! 3-0 with the next two at the United Center. Looking good Hawks fans!
That's all for now. More tonight or tomorrow.
written by  akstoltzy on May 22, 2010 from Beijing, China
from the travel blog: China

The Great Staircase
Beijing, China
I am having troubles uploading photos. My computer is very slow. Consequently, my post will be a day after the actual blog.
Yesterday, a group of 9 of us went to see the Great Wall and The Ming Tombs. It should really be called the Great Staircase. Almost 2000 steps up and then you have to still get down.
Anyway, we started by going to the Ming Tombs.
It was nicer today because of the wind. Actually saw blue skies. In any case, something like 13 of the 16 Ming Rulers are buried in this area (pic 1). I don't remember what the second picture says but I think it explains the tombs.
Here is moi in front of one of the tombs:
We were only there for a short period of time as we really wanted to see The Great Wall more than a bunch of tombs that have Pin Yin descriptions. Pin Yin is what you call the Chinese written language.
After the tombs, we drove way up into the mountains so we could do a 5K walk to the wall.
No one said it was 5K UP STAIRS!
NO SMOKING ALLOWED:
But everyone smokes anyway. No guards or military on the way up so people smoke. Additionally, while I could have taken a picture but decided in the best interests of everybody not to, there was also a spot where someone obviously needed to defecate off to the side of the stairs. They do that here. One always need to be aware of their next step! Walking at night is even more precarious.
Once we got to the top, the views were pretty awesome.
There was a couple taking wedding photos.
It was pretty nice to see. I uploaded another picture but it doesn't show here so I'll try to remember to include that in my next post.
The Wall was nice to see. Contrary to what has been said in the past, you CAN'T see The Great Wall from space. However, it is massively long (I think greater than 2000 miles if my conversion is correct.
What I found was so neat on the way back was this still-used aquaduct.
They still use them throughout China to control snow melt in the spring as well as rain in other seasons. Made me think of the Romans and all the aquaducts still in use over there.
We stopped for lunch and ate like we hadn't eaten in a week. Here is most of our group:
They just keep brining food if you finish the previous dish. We finally said NO MORE.
It's amazing that more accidents don't happen or people get run over. Driving here is an accident waiting to happen! Probably more accurate would be Darwinian: Survival of the Fittest!
Our last stop of the day was to a silk shop. They took us through the process of the silkworm life-cycle, how they get the silk, and then how they weave and dye to make some pretty nice clothing, sheets, and so forth. The picture here shows the walkway over the main road. Pretty fancy I'd say!
The next picture I just had to take.
Our guide calls this, "The only 7-Star hotel in the world". Hmmm, I thought seven stars meant heaven. Anyway, Bill Gates rents one on the top floor for 100,000,000 Yuan a year. Divide that by 6.7 and that's your dollar amount. I think that comes out to about $15M a year. The top floor is that 'thing' that looks like it was slapped on top. I'll try and get a better piture before I leave here tomorrow. I head to Shenzhen (Shen Zen) tomorrow evening. That's right next to Hong Kong. It's a 23 hour train ride in a 'Hard Sleeper'. That means there are six people to a cabin with two sides of 3-bunks. Each is priced differently with nthe bottom bunk the most and the top the least. Please pray for those that have to endure my snoring.
Today, I go to Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City. It's hotter than Hades today so I am going to take the metro-train instead of walking. Should be an experience. I'll try my best to get today's activities posted tonight. More likely, I will do so tomorrow due to how long it takes to upload pictures.
Later.
written by  akstoltzy on May 24, 2010 from Beijing, China

Whare Am I?
Beijing, China
I am lost! I am hot. I am sunburn. I am thirsty. I am sweating like a water fountain. No one speaks my language! As a man, I refused for a time to ask for directions. It didn't matter. NO ONE SPEAKS English! Frustrating but a good learning moment. I'm having some tea and am cooling down and then I will walk into the next hotel or bank where I know they have someone that speaks EEnglish. You are all sleeping so hopefully I will be back by the time you wake up! I'm exaggerating a little of course as I am prone to do but I AM lost, I AM hot, and I AM enjoying it completely. This city of 16-19 million people is fascinating.
I'll post tonight my visit to Tian'amen Square, The Forbidden City, and The White Pagoda within Beihai Lake. Pretty cool!
More Later!
written by  akstoltzy on May 25, 2010 from Beijing, China

Tian'amen Square
Went to Tian'amen Square yesterday. Took the metro train which was very covenient. One ticket is 1 Yuan or about 15 cents. I had to take Train #5 to Wondong and then transfer to Train #1. No transfers needed if you stay within the metro stations. Anyway, it was hot as hell yesterday. About 92 if my conversion is right. Humid, no wind. Today I am a bit sunburned since I walked forever yesterday. More on that later.
The above picture is from within the square itself. The building is the National Chinese Museum. Didn't go inside because I wanted to do other things. When I return to Beijing next month, I will go inside the museum as well as Mao's Memorial Museum that has his embalmed body. There are no bags allowed inside and I had my backpack so I wasn't allowed in.
Below is where the government offices are mostly located. I think Hillary and Geitner are inside as I type this discussing trade and commerce.
Here I am standing in front of the People's Monument:
I don't know if you can read the inscription
but when it was finally completed in '58, it was at the time the largest monument in all of China. Don't know if it still is or not. Took 6 or so years to build. Here's another shot from the front:
I haven't screened the pics so hopefully they are clear enough.
From Tian'amen Square, you can look across the street to see the Forbidden City. Here's a shot from across the street:
When the military would have their parades, Mao would be seated above his picture. To the right and left (I didn't take pictures) are many boxes where the other government officials and dignitaries would be seated. Today, they still have parades (I think they are on Oct 1 every year to celebrate when Mao came into power in 1949) and so the street is closed off to traffic and the military marches in front of the building.
The picture below is of the White Pagoda:
It is located about two miles away from the Forbidden City in a beautiful area called Beihai (Bay Hi) Park. The pagoda represents a monument built by one of the dynasties way back when.
This next picture is of a monument built for one of the dynasties:
Here is it's description:
After I left this park is when the real odyssey began. The map I have is not to scale and so with some bends in the roads I was following I ended up doing two 360 degree walks, each of which was approximately 2 miles. I was so disappointed when at the end of each one I found myself to be one block further east then when I had started. The blog I left last night was at the end of my second 360.
I eventually made it back to the hostel at about 5:30. When I got back here, I ate and talked with some folks I have met here. Here's the picture:
I can't see the picture clearly but from left to right is:
some guy from Germany that doesn't speak english, a guy named Matt (greenish/blue shirt) from some english speaking country (can't remember), Wilhelm (the other German's cousin who DOES speak english), some nut bag from New York named Nickie (black outfit), Gaya from Israel (blue in foreground)，Natalie in the back from France (she left for Dubai this morning), and then Andrew from Australia. Natalie and I talked about her travels (she's been traveling for 10 months) which was fascinating. Malaysia, New Zealand, London, Mongolia (where Gaya and her boyfriend Ben are leaving for today), Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, and Tibet. I'm sure I left off a few places. What an adventure she has had.
The gal at the bar is Christina. She has been teaching me Chinese and I have been teaching her American Sign Language. She's a much faster learner than I!
So now, I will not post any more until Friday (Thursday your time). I leave in a little while for Hong Kong/Shenzhen. I'll take a 'T' train which is quite fast. Nevertheless, it will take 23 hours to get there. I have the top bunk in a hard sleeper. Hard just means a thinner matress and more bunk-mates. There will be 6 in my cabin. Who knows who they will be but I'll find out shortly. I'll take pics of the train, the ride, and then the hostel where I will be staying. I don't get in until 7:40 tomorrow night so if I am not beat, I'll download, with luck, pics and try and blog. I'll be checking email, too, so you can always write there as well if you don't want to leave comments here.
I'm doing great! My feet are a bit sore from walking so far yesterday in some pretty lusy sandals but all in all I am great.
Until tomorrow....

Saying 'Zaijian' To Beijing (for now)
Well, it's travel day today. I don't leave until later tonight but I am getting ready now. As I was packing, it was time to say good-bye to Ben and Gaya.
They are a great couple from Israel. They are both very nice, patient, and tolerant. They have a few months of traveling left. This morning, they are heading to Mongolia for a month. I can't remember where after that but I wish them well. It was a pleasure to meet such a nice couple.
As I was getting ready to leave the hostel, I took a picture of some of the workers and a Dutch young man named Reinger (pronounced Ranger). Here is one of the pictures:
Cindy is second from left. She is a very friendly young lady that works eight hours a day, seven days a week. I will now stop complaining about my schedule. The other workers also work those kinds of hours. They have not had vacations in two years! Reinger tried to teach me some Chinese as well. He has traveled to many countries and is now in China studying the language six hours a day, five days a week in an immersion program for foreigners. Very smart guy. Speaks nine languages, four quite well and five where he can communicate effectively enough to travel anywhere in the that particular country.
Here is Christina:
Her English is pretty good, too. I taught her some sign language. Mind you it was only the alphabet and numbers 1-20, but she was able to memorize all 46 signs in only three demonstrations by me! Unbelievably smart young lady.
I headed to the train station. This is the Beijing West Train Station. It is massive! The picture shows only the front and what is above ground. Even still, I couldn't get the whole thing within my frame. Underground is like a separate city with enough shops and food to keep you going all day.
There must have been tens of thousands of people underground. This was one of the big boards they have inside so you can find your train.
More on the trip in my next post.

Beijing to Shenzhen
Shenzhen, China
I made it to the correct waiting/staging area and to the correct train with no problems. The picture will be hard to see as the light wasn't the greatest but here is the best shot from the outside:
The rest of this blog is a mixture of personal journal and blogging. The thoughts are my own so if you don't agree that's ok. I only ask that you be as open to my thoughts as I am to any comments you leave. there is no right or wrong, just what is. Thanks!
The train is approximately 18 carriages long (not including the engine cars). I am in what is known as a 'hard-sleeper'. This means that the carriage I am in has six bunks per compartment, three on each side. I am now typing from the top (cheapest) bunk. Here are two shots I took earlier:
It cost me about $65 USD or 420 Yuan. Anyway, the carriage has ten compartments which means there are 60 people in this carriage. Everyone is speaking Chinese so I am completely alone on this leg of my adventure. It will take 23 hours to get to where I am going so I have developed a mindset of patience and lots of reading. I have earplugs but will wait until they turn the lights out at 10 to put them in. I have two reading lights so I should be fine.
I am very glad that I have developed patience and tolerance over the past years of working in Alaska. I need all of what I have learned for this trip. The smoking is outrageous (350 million smokers here). So, everywhere you go there is cigarette smoke. There is no smoking in the carriages but some still do while others follow the rules where there is smoking allowed between the carriages. The smoke still filters into where I am so it feels like I am traveling in a bar. I was watching an English-language program and they said that by next year China will start a ban on smoking in public places. Unfortunately, it is one year too late for me. I'll be very happy to get to a city that has less pollution than Beijing (Shenzhen; not Hong Kong). Actually, it will improve 1000% when I get off this train!
It's 9:00 PM Wednesday evening here so that would make it 8:00 AM Wednesday morning in Chicago. I am going to start reading and save the power on the computer. I will write more later.
OK, it is 4:45 PM on Thursday. I have found out we are a little over two hours late so now we will not arrive until 9:30 PM. I slept relatively well which was surprising. Three Benadryl doesn't hurt, either. I was reading last night and a message came over the intercom that said..... how the heck do I know, I don't speak Chinese. However, I figured out five minutes later that it probably said that the lights would be turning off in five minutes. That was at 9:55 PM. So, in the dark, I started feeling around for my bag so I could get my reading light. Took a little while but I finally got it. I read for another hour or so and then slept in spurts of a few hours each. The train is smooth and pretty quiet. The only bad thing was the smoking. But, you get used to it sort of. Being on the top bunk, I think most of the smoke gathers there so with the fans it took a little while to disperse. With the pictures above, you can see the layout of the train. I finished an entire book today before taking an afternoon siesta for an hour or so. While I walking to the 'bathroom', a man (bottom right in the top picture) asked me in English if I would like to try some Chinese 'tea'. I figured it was some type of alcohol but when I smelled it I couldn't really tell. It is a form of respect when a Chinese person offers something of their own to a foreigner. I didn't want to be disresoectful so I mustered some instant courage, said a Hail Mary faster than a nun, and hoped for the best. It smelled like licorice. In any case, I took a swig. HOLY SHMOLY! It's been 15 minutes and my throat and stomach are still feeling the heat. I don't know what it was but it was fairly strong and did taste like black licorice. He calls me 'friend' and so we have practiced a little Chinese and English together. There are four different tones in Chinese. Using the wrong tone can change the entire meaning of the sentence/word. For instance, the word 'ma'. With one tone, the word will mean 'excuse me'. With another, it will mean 'will you kiss me'. Another and I think it means 'horse'. So, as you can see, one must be careful when learning the language! I have been laughed at quite a bit which is fine. I learned to laugh at myself a long time ago. But when I finally get the tone and the correct sound out and they give me a thumbs up or shake their heads adamantly up and down, it is quite rewarding. There are many sounds that are in Chinese that we do not have in English. Trying to make the correct sound is like gymnastics training for the tongue. I also think that because I am the world's worst singer, I am having more trouble with the tones than maybe someone who is not tone-deaf would have. My teacher yesterday before I left was a guy from Norway named Reinger (Ranger). I mentioned him yesterday. In case you didn't read that post, he has been here 3 months and is in a Chinese immersion language class at the University of Beijing. The class is six hours a day, M-F. I envy those that can speak other languages. We in America are not forced to take other languages as part of our curriculum in elementary and high school. I think that is a mistake but I am sure that will change in time. The world is becoming too intertwined with all the technology advancements and trade so I hope that languages such as Spanish, French or Latin (which are very close to each other), and even Chinese are introduced as compulsory. Not all mind you but at least two of the three. I only say Chinese not because I am here but because of their burgeoning economy and their rapid rise in status in the world in general.
Being here has been such an experience and it has only been a week. The dichotomy between the haves and have nots, poverty and growing middle class, modern/advanced infrastructure and archaic mud huts, and modern energy (solar and wind power) versus coal burning and incredible pollution makes this country so fascinating. The younger people here between university age and about 40 are mostly very polite towards me. They offer me drink (the above example), a seat to chat and to have the opportunity to practice their English while teaching me Chinese, as well as asking many questions about what it is like to live in America and what it is like to travel all over the world tells me they have either come a long way in less than a generation or our history books have some facts slanted. Probably a combination of both. After all, history is usually written (fact or not) by the victors. For instance, the other night I was sitting alone at an outside restaurant finishing a monstrous meal that cost me less than $2. I started talking with two men next to me. The elderly man who was with his son expressed his gratitude to the US for helping to save most of his relatives' lives during World War II. Unfortunately, his parents and grandparents along with some others were taken one night from their house by Japanese soldiers and were never seen again. He said if it hadn't been for the Americans, the Japanese would have continued their atrocities against their people and everyone in their village including his family would have been killed. I didn't have to know Chinese to see by the look on his face and the tear in his eye the disdain he still feels towards the Japanese. I didn't know what to say to him except to thank him for being so kind. I wanted on the inside so badly to take a picture of this man with his hunchback, wrinkled and weathered face, and arthritic fingers but thought that might be disrespectful. I found out later that I had chosen correctly.
I would have liked to have taken more pictures through the windows here on the train as I have traveled but between the dirty windows and the speed with which we are traveling, the pictures are blurred. The countryside is full of mountains (no snow caps) and sharp instead of rolling hills. Every square inch of available ground space seems to be used for growing rice and some other types of food. The housing is mostly brick and anywhere between one and four stories average. The number of units in each I can't really tell however it seems as if they range from single-dwelling up to more than ten separate apartments. It's cloudy down this way and they have been receiving record rainfall. If it stays this way, I will travel to Chongqing earlier than expected and then back to Beijing earlier as well. There is still much to see in Beijing.
We pull into the station in about 90 minutes. It will be Thursday morning your time so hopefully you will have a chance to read and comment. Let me know if there are things that you would like me to take pictures of. I won't guarantee anything but I'll do what I can.
As it turns out, I couldn't post this until today, Friday. The next note explains why.
written by  akstoltzy on May 27, 2010 from Shenzhen, China

From Hostel Hell To Paradise
Shenzhen, China
I arrived in Shenzhen last night. After some walking around for about an hour, I finally found the hostel. Here's a picture from the outside I took today:
A more appropriate name would be My Little Hell Hole Hostel. I was pretty tired last night by the time I arrived (just before 11:00 PM). The girl at the desk didn't speak a lick of English and kept talking on her cell phone instead of checking me in. I stood patiently waiting. When she got up from around the counter and walked outside I remained calm and patient. She came back a few minutes later with a water and some noodles. She looked at me and, probably because I was tired, I interpreted her look as, 'What are you still doing here?' I then put my passport on the counter, she looked at it, and all was well. She pulled out a reservation and within minutes I was in my room. If you call it that. It smelled like a cat box. The urine smell was overpowering. Just like a cat. I was spoiled in Beijing! By the time I figured out how to turn the air on, I had become dehydrated (it was 91 F when I arrived) and in danger of passing out (kidding but I was dripping wet!). I went back downstairs and found the store she went to get water and bought three bottles of my own. I went back upstairs, took two benedryl, and passed out. This morning, I noticed there was a blood stain that looked fairly fresh on the bottom sheet. I checked myself and determined it was NOT my blood. That's when I knew I was getting a new residence. I showered and shaved and then went exploring for a place to stay. I came across a nice place but that was $80/night. I've learned since being here that you can get a whole lot for whole lot less so I kept looking. I found this place instead:
It's called Unotel Inn and only costs about $30 a night. Here is the room:
Here are the wall switches:
I know.... you're saying who the heck cares about wall switches. Well, I do! Especially in China. On the far left, you see my room key. Until you put your room key into the slot, you have no electricity. As soon as I leave here for a walk or for lunch, everything turns off because I need the room key for the door lock. Talk about a great money-saver with energy....
I still have my big bag over at Hostel Hell but I will get that in a little while and officially check out. I have to do that because in China, foreigners are not allowed to be in two places at one time. I am now officially registered here AND still at the other place. I have a few hours still to go but no need to press my luck.
I went to lunch today at a very busy but very good restaurant. They were kind enough to serve me with a spoon instead of chopsticks but of course, trying to blend in, I said, 'bu shi bu shi (no no), qing gei wo (please bring me) and then I made the sign for chopsticks by tapping my index finger on my thumb over and over. Chopsticks is way too hard to say. She laughed and took the spoon away. Well, as the French woman I met in Beijing would say, SHIT! I should have taken the spoon, too. I didn't realize how soupy the meal was underneath. So, I just drank it at the end like you would when you finish a bowl of cereal. Everyone else does it that way here but I still am not used to doing that in public. Anyway, for about $2.50, here is my lunch:
My glass of watermelon juice did not show up on my picture download but it was quite good.
Here are a few views from my room:
oops, put your left cheek on your desk and look at it that way
If you look closely, you can really see how the modern is built right next to the dilapidated. It's such an interesting clash that I don't think the pictures can really show the true dichotomy.
That's all for now. I'm heading out to buy some shirts, eat more food for cheap, and figure out how to get to Hong Kong tomorrow. It is considered a Special Administrative Region which means passports are needed and border patrols exist. If you don't hear from me in two days, turn on CNN and call the US Embassy! At least call the embassy for me. Please?
Yi hui'er jian (ee hoo are jee u n) - See You Later
It's harder to say than it looks because of the tones. When I say it, I may be saying see you on my monkey's couch. Who knows!
written by  akstoltzy on May 28, 2010 from Shenzhen, China

Thanks For The Comments
Shenzhen, China
It takes a while to post these blogs and so I hope they are descriptive enough for everyone. Let me know if you have any suggestions. This is my first blog ever so I have a lot to learn.
Just as an FYI, FB is completely off limits here in China. I am receiving many notes from my gmail account saying that people are posting on my wall but I can't access the site. There are back doors for access but I'm not interested in doing that. I am having my sister access my account to let everyone know.
I know many people are looking based on the counter I put on that I can see but you can't. I just want to say I appreciate those looking as well as the comments. Even if you look and don't comment I find that pretty cool. While I enjoy reading the comments, everyone has a life. If you have the time, then feel free. Just enjoy. I'll do my best to keep it light, add some of my sick humor, and capture some serious stuff as well. Whatever happens here happens. That's the joy of this adventure. I have no idea what will happen next! This place is awesome and I hope others will find this trip through my eyes and damaged mind exciting enough to make their own plans to visit.
Oh yeah, one more thing.
GO HAWKS!
written by  akstoltzy on May 29, 2010 from Shenzhen, China

Shenzhen
Monday (yesterday for us), Eric and I went walking for a bit. The following pictures are from an outdoor show that is put on most days by children.
It was one of the cutest things I've ever seen! All these little girls singing something but performing on stage was hilarious. What was even better was that their performance was simultaneously shown on this huge screen over the square.
It was easily the highlight of the day!
We then returned to the hostel for a four hour nap in the afternoon. I was able to get the correct stomach medicine while we were out and so I was feeling better when I awoke. In fact, I think I am going to send this medicine to BP because I am thoroughly convinced that a few hundred of these capsules will stop the oil leak in the gulf (that's how good and fast this worked).
Eric and I decided to skip the hot pot and I instead ate something generic at the hostel. We then wanted to see how the Chinese party and so we went to '88', a nightclub fairly close to the hostel. They know how to have a good time! There was a male singer that would stand up on stages located throughout the club. I have no idea what he was singing but he had a great voice. We left shortly after arriving because of the smoke and how loud it was. It was nice to go to a club though and see how the younger folks have fun. Jack Daniels is huge here. They were drinking a concoction of tea mixed with JD while playing a dice game. I never figured out the dice game but I did figure out that the ones losing were getting hammered. Every time they lost, they drank a 4-6 oz glass of this stuff. My stomach turned watching them drink this like water. There are a few Chinese that must not be feeling well today! I didn't think of bringing my camera and I am now very disappointed that I didn't. We will hit another club in the next few days and I will be sure to capture some 'Chinese Fun' and post it here.
More tomorrow...

Travel Day
Chongqing, China
Well, never made it to Hong Kong. The weather was bad yesterday with really loud thunderstorms. They were really loud, too, because of all the tall buildings. The buildings create not only wind but incredible echos. Anyway, even though Shenzhen is right next to Hong Kong, NO ONE SPEAKS English! I was feeling pretty crappy (literally) since I had come down with a stomach problem. And so when I was walking in the rain and humidity and couldn't get a person, even at a luxury hotel, to tell me how to get to Hong Kong, I said screw it. I had even more problems trying to get a train to take to Chongqing. After more than three hours trying to get tickets, I gave up and said the hell with it, I'm flying. Well, that's where adventure number 3 for the day began. Someone tried to hack into both my credit card account AND my Pay Pal account so all my money was frozen. I tried one last ditch effort using my debit card and it worked. Now me and my bank have a system for approving the release of funds. I'd tell you but then the hackers here in China would know (if they don't already!). So, for $200 I flew one way here to Chongqing. I have many photos as well as an adventure Story to share but that will have to wait until tomorrow. I'll upload during the morning and then hopefully blog by afternoon. Sorry for the delay. I still have China Chowder (that's what they call the stomach problems one eventually develops here if they aren't careful with water) and I am pretty weak and tired tonight. So, tomorrow I'hope to feel better. Either way, I will get the blog up-to-date tomorrow. Thanks for being patient.
How about those Hawks? Sweet victory!
On a personal note, I hope my friend in Vernon Hills is doing better (and no, it's not you, Craig though I hope you found my shoe and sunglasses by now). To CF, you are in my thoughts and prayers.
I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday weekend. More tomorrow!
written by  akstoltzy on May 30, 2010 from Chongqing, China

Shenzhen to Chongqing
Chongqing, China
SHENZHEN to CHONNGQING
Before I checked out of my hotel today, I was awakened by a whole bunch of people yelling something in unison. It's just after 7 AM and I'm still trying to sleep. I get up to see what the ruckus is all about and I see the following below me:
They are soldiers or police-officers-in-training doing some kind of training marching.
I checked out of the hotel four hours before my flight. I was anticipating problems getting to the airport so I left myself some time to make mistakes. The cab driver of course spoke no English. So, while he is trying to figure out my Chinese, I finally do sign language for airplane and he says, 'AHHHHHHHH! Airport'. Well, I guess there are a few words he understands!
It took almost an hour to get there. So, when we pull up, there are three exits, International, A, and B. I say to him 'A'. Should have said 'B'. Not a big deal because the walk wasn't so long to the B terminal. I go to the check-in counter and hand over my passport with a smile and say, 'Ni Hao' (nee how) which means hello. Once he punches some keys on the computer I see my bag tag coming out and know I am home free and that I have been successful with this part of the trip. So I say to myself but apparently out loud, 'YES'! The guy looks at me and I say again,' YES! I made it this far!' He looks at me funny. He gets up from behind his desk and walks away. I'm thinking maybe he's going to get a tray for my backpack that every airport uses that I have gone to. The straps on my bag are numerous and so they always put the pack in a tray so the straps don't get tangled or stuck in the luggage escalator thingy. So I wait a few minutes and I see him return with a policeman. I'm thinking really scary things now (waterboarding, jumper cables to all parts of my body, dirt floor jail cell, rice and water, CNN, etc). The policeman asks me in very good English, “Is there a problem here. This gentleman says you are saying things that has him concerned'. I'm thinking this is the same guy that can't understand me and now he is concerned? So I tell the policeman about my journey for the day and the problems I had communicating the past few days and say that I am just relieved that things turned out ok today. He starts laughing while Mr. Ticket Counter Man keeps looking from me to the policeman wondering why we are the only two people laughing in the whole terminal. Policeman says something to Mr Ticket Counter Man and now everyone is laughing!
Here's my taxi:
Just like the train station, they have one 'Monster' board with all the flight information like departure and gate numbers. Here is Shenzhen's board:
The plane ride was nice and I arrived 2 hours later in Chongqing. Now the next adventure begins. I get outside and jump into a taxi. To my absolute surprise (not), the guy doesn't understand a lick of English. So, I show him the directions to the hostel and he obviously has no idea where to go. He knows the district it is in (kind of like in Chicago where you have Lincoln Park, Wrigley-ville, Gold Coast etc) but anything specific is out of the question. So in about 40 minutes, we arrive in the district. I ask to use his mobile phone because I have the number and I know they speak english at the hostel. So after another, 'Ni Hao', I ask the lady if she can explain to the driver how to get to the hostel. I think she does this based on the guy and his repeated head nods. Nope. We end up in an alleyway and he starts asking the locals where the place is. Finally, he calls the hostel back and they say to leave me there and they will be over in a minute to pick me up. So I'm standing there for 20 minutes and the locals come up and look at my map and one person gestures to go one way, another grabs his arm and throws it down and I think is saying, 'No No No, you go this way' and while I watch these people arguing with each other on where I should go, I start laughing. You know the kind, the one where you're in church or at a funeral and all of a sudden you can't stop type of laughing. They all get quiet and look at me and I'm trying to pull out my translation book so I can tell them that I am not laughing at them but with them. Thank God the girl from the hostel arrives just then. Even though I was blending in well (yeah, right) she was able to figure out right away that it was me she was looking for. Smart girl. We walk about two blocks in and out of alleys and voila, we are at Tina's Hostel.
People wonder why I stay at hostels when traveling overseas. The answer is easy: there is always someone working that speaks English. Plus, there is no better place to meet people.
The girl takes me to my room and I see that it is a 4-bed room; two bunk beds. Very cheap, 30 Yuan each night or about $4.75. Can't beat that with a stick! It's a nice enough place and I am glad to be here. Here is my bunk (lower):
I haven't figured out yet what I will write on the wall before I leave but I will share if I remember.
Eric and I decide to go for a walk a few minutes after I am checked-in. We look at buildings to find landmarks so we can get back later. The problem is it was still light out. When we attempt to return, it is dark and that's where some difficulties arise. More on that later.
We walk up the street to find an area where people are dancing.
It's mostly my age and up and they are all having a good time. They do this here. Somebody drops a portable boombox on the ground and all of a sudden the people are all dancing.
We then proceed to walk to the city center. Here is the Rolex clock tower that signifies the center of the center of the city (no, I did not stutter):
We also saw meals in the near future in cages:
Yes. those are rabbits. We also saw larger rabbits and hens in cages as well. In fact, if you got the grocery store, you can get your fish 'live'. That's right. They fish the one out of the tank you want and put it into your shopping cart. So, as you go down the aisle, you have a fish flopping in your cart. I'm not joking.
There are more shops here in this area than I have ever seen. With all the lights, it's almost like day-time. After walking for a while and getting pretty warm from the humidity, we stopped into a restaurant where, surprise surprise, no one spoke english. Except for one man. A customer. So he helps us order. I tell him to surprise us but to order enough where both Eric and I would be full because we are terribly hungry. The restaurant we are at is called a hot-pot restaurant. They bring out this huge metal octagonal pot and put it in the middle of the table. In the table there is a hole where there is a butane lighter thing in it. The pot is full of hot (spicy) oil. Once they light the fire, it doesn't take long to get the oil boiling. Our food arrives with each meat and vegatable on its own dish. We pour the beef, fish, and beef into the oil as well as the cabbage, some noodles, and some other god knows what plants. It takes a very short time to cook. Here's what it looks like:
Eric and I use our chopsticks to start digging food out of the boiling oil. The meat is fairly easy to grab minus the fish. The vegetables are another story. I finally get a piece of cabbage out, dip it into some ginger sauce, and place it in my mouth. Has anyone ever had their teeth and mouth cleaned with an acetylene torch? Holy Mary Mother Of God! It was like eating fire! People at other tables (not a one of them western) are looking at us and start laughing. I am ignoring them because I am afraid the flames will spread from my mouth to my clothes and really cause a problem. I have water flowing from my eyes but unfortunately it evaporates as soon as it gets close to my mouth. I am chugging water and tea and finally the flames are extinguished. No more cabbage for me. I don't know what it is about the cabbage but it absorbs all the spicy hot stuff. That was easily the hottest thing I have ever had in my mouth. I know that didn't help the stomach situation but since my intestines were already on 'Full Steam Ahead' I figured I would just keep eating. The pork and beef may have been good. It may have been bad. Since all the nerve endings on my tongue were already incinerated, I can't tell you what it tasted like. I hope it was good.
On the way back to the hostel, it was obvious we stuck out. It was dark by now and so we had little idea of exactly where we were. We were going to ask a few people how to get back but since our mouths no longer worked and we couldn't control our drooling (think of the dentist and trying to drink something through a straw with your mouth novacained), we just continued walking. We finally made it back about an hour later. By this time, our speech was approaching normalcy and the drooling had stopped. It was an eventful evening. I slept off and on because the hot food as well as the intestinal diuretic I had taken made continuous sleep impossible.
More later!
written by  akstoltzy on May 30, 2010 from Chongqing, China

Dazu Stone Carvings
Chongqing, China
Eric and I went to see the famous stone carvings of Dazu. It was raining pretty hard all night and continued throughout the day. We boarded the van (with nine ther people) and headed to the left to Dazu. Yes, I said left. Apparently, most people here do not say north, south, east, or west. They say up, down, left. right. So, we went left. It took about two hours to get to Dazu. The roads are smaller to the left and I guess that's why it takes longer. I know that because there were English speakers with us. YES! Ooops, shhhhh. (in a whisper) Don't need people coming to me and saying that I am acting suspiciously.
Anyway, the carvings are incredible! The second best tour to date so far! Until we have 3-D cameras, it will always be difficult to capture in a picture what you are truly seeing. These carvings go back over 800 years! I like to take pictures of description stones to help remind me of what it is I am seeing since I suffer from permanent CRS (can't remember s*it). So, here is the first description stone that tells about the entire area:
The carvings were made under the supervision of a monk by the name of Zhao Zhifeng. He probably looked better in person:
These carvings have a mixture of Buddhism, Confucianism, and some theories of Taoism (Greg and Teresa: You'll Love These!).
Here is the first one as you walk into the site:
I don't have descriptions for all of them but I will post them below as they come up on my queue. As a history freak, looking at these articulate and precise carvings made more than 400 years before America was discovered by foreigners is particulary interesting. The preservation is also amazing. There are a few missing faces, toes, or other parts, but most are in excellent condition. These are carved right out of the sides of hills! They obviously had an idea about preservation because each is either inside a cave or has an outcrop above that extends past the carvings themselves in order to prevent rain and drainage from higher elevations from creating erosion and damage. You really have to see this to believe it. Pay attention to the dimensions of the statues (on the description stones). This will also help to give you an idea of their enormity.
In Alaska Eskimo/Indian Culture, the 'Circle of Life' is a dominant theme. For those who haven't come across this cultural value, it basically states that everything on earth is intertwined not only from people-people, but also between the earth, animals, and spiritual entities/beliefs. This has been a consistent theme in almost all cultures from way back when to the present. It is obviously true in Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism as well. Here are the photos of this important but seemingly presently overlooked way of life:
Their are six basic principles of this theory starting with being reincarnated/born in the top wedge (if a clock, think 11:00 - 1:00) to leaving earthly life in the last wedge (9:00-11:00).
The next photos talk/show three people practicing Buddhism:
This is a neat one:
Here are a few more:
Can't remember the story on this one but their are nine dragons which represent power and good fortune:
Here is one to show filial piety:
And the last of them:
Here's one of me Eric took. Yes, the spot on the bridge is me:
So, we finish the tour and then head back to the right to get to Chongqing (shung sheeng). I think I have mentioned the driving here in a previous blog. Let's just say that if any of us drove as they do here, we would have enough points in a day against our driver's license to have it suspended for years. On our return, we hit rush hour. That's a misnomer because the entire day is nothing but a rush-minute. So, we get about half way up a clover-leaf exit ramp so we can join the main expressway. About half way up is when you can see what the traffic is like on the merging expressway. In this case, our driver decided we were not going to join that expressway. So, he decides to stop and proceed in reverse back down the UP ramp so as to take the previous exit. Many others decided to do the same thing as you can see by these pictures I took:
More people getting the same idea:
We were fortunate to meet a young lady and her mom who both live in a Detroit suburb. They are both Chinese. The daughter was born here but moved with her family when she was six (she is 22 now). They helped to explain any important stuff the guides were saying. However, they didn't start helping us until after Eric and I walked through a door (I now call it the No-No Door). Apparently, the guide just finished saying that we should all go through a particular door on the right. Instead, because we were hanging back looking at the architecture because we had no clue what they were saying (we declined the heavy cost of having an English interpreter), we decided to go through the door on the left. That would be the No-No Door. Everyone started laughing, pointing at us, and saying something. Because we entered through that door, in two years Eric and I will begin studying in China to become monks. I can't wait. That's the pitfalls of going without an interpreter.
Towards the end of the tour, we ended up inside a room where there was a wise monk speaking in Chinese. Again Eric and I were in the back by ourselves sitting on bench seats. As he was obviously expousing the Buddhist religion and then half-bowing, both Eric and I half-bowed as well out of respect. In the next few minutes, the monk had a group of people (6 or so) stand and dismissed them through the same door we came through on entering. Next, he had a group of 2-3 stand. He said something important I guess because after he gave them something, he dismissed them through a side door. The first group received nothing from this monk. He did this with one other group and they too went through the door on the left. At this point, Eric and look at each other and wonder where he is going to send us. Will we be stoned to death? Will we be taken directly to monastery school? Maybe he'll just ignore us and he will leave and Eric and I will make a beeline back to the van. So here we are, the last two people with the monk and we have no idea what the heck he's saying. He motions for us to stand and come up to his alter (oh shit.....), begins saying something more (double shit......) and then hands us a medallion in a red case and then points to the entrance we came through and dismissed us. When we walked back out, we were guided outside and to the van. We made it without crushed skulls, burned body limbs, and all of the parts we walked in with were still with us! YES!!!! Oh wait, shhhhh. I keep forgetting to keep my comments to myself for fear of arrest.
As it turns out, the first group that was dismissed were non-believers of Buddhism, Confucianism, and/or Taoism. No 'good left door' for them to exit through. The other groups were believers and were allowed to exit through the 'good left door'. Eric and I have a chance one day to walk through the left door but we must commit to becomming believers. I showed the medalions to the desk staff here as well as 'The Believers' on the bus and they were surprised we received anything. Here is a picture of the front of the medallion:
Here is the back:
I now expect that you would like a translation? Ohhhhh, you make me laugh! I have no idea what it says. I did ask the girl working downstairs but she couldn't find the English words to interpret. She used a few though, Good Fortune, Peace, and Prosperity. The medallion itself is maybe 2" high and 1" wide. It was hard to get a good picture so I hope you can make out a little of it. The shiny-ness of it makes it hard to photograph as well.
Eric and I are going to try and go to see the pandas tomorrow. Apparently, the prima donna bears feel it is too chilly out for them to come out of their dwelling. Maybe it will be warmer tomorrow.
Eric and I are also seriously considering a quick (3-4 days) trip to Tibet, return to Chongqing and take a river cruise for another 3-4 days, take the train to Guilin then on to Xian to see the terra cotta statues and all the history there and then on to Beijing so Eric can get to see the Great Staircase (Wall), Tian'amen Square, and whatever else floats his boat. I'll know more later tonight which will be when you are waking up.
I hope you enjoyed this blog. This was a great tour/trip. Also, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE sign your first and last name to the blog. I think it's getting hacked because there are some comments from I don't know who. I've blocked two that have tried to leave comments but their are 3 others I don't know about for sure. I have figured out Doug's (thanks for the nice comments!) but their are others I am not sure about. I don't have anyone I know that would sign their name as 'Sis'. Yes, I have two sisters but we never spent the end of the night turning lights off as we said good-night to everyone. No, we were definitely not the Waltons. The other two I don't know about so please leave a name that I can identify easily. Thanks!
written by  akstoltzy on June 1, 2010 from Chongqing, China

No Chicken? You gotta be kidding me!
Tonight, Eric and I went to find a place to eat. We left late, about 10 PM. We couldn't find anything open except for a KFC. So, begrudgingly, we walked into an american restaurant. We go to the counter and they hand us a picture menu. I point to the bucket of Chicken and ask for 2 cokes. The girl behind the counter says, 'No! No! No Chicken today.' I wonder if it's all a bad dream. I point again and she says the same thing. So we left.
We walked a little while longer and found a restaurant. It was down a whole bunch of stairs. Since the escalator wasn't working, we had our doubts. When we get to the basement, six or seven people stand up, start laughing at us, and guide us into the restaurant. There was not a single person eating in this fairly large restaurant. It reminded us of the ballroom in The Shining. Great food that filled me up silly. Total cost, $4.50.
Eric and I will not be going to Tibet or Mongolia. There is too much to see in both places and so those two should be combined together for one nice vacation. We leave Friday for a 4D/3N cruise on the Yangzte to see some sites as well as the largest dam in the world, the environmentally wrecking Three Gorges Dam. From there, we will bus and train it to Guilin for a few days. Then we will train it up to Xian for another few days to see the terra cotta statues and other historical things associated with the city. From there we will head to Beijing for the rest of the vacation.
Will be in touch....
written by  akstoltzy on June 2, 2010 from Chongqing, China

Lunch or Dinner Anyone?
Eric and I went out to find an ATM last night so we could pay for our Yangzte River Cruise. On the way back, we stopped at a grocery store to score some snacks for the boat ride. In the meat department, we found some unusual choices for the gourmet chef in everyone. If you are a PETA person, please read the following. 'The following pictures contain graphic material. Parental discretion is advised.' I think that's how you label it. Anyway, this takes fresh to a new level (at least in the US):
Yes, those are live rabbits, ducks, and hens. You pick one out and they take care of the rest.
Here is what happens when you outlive your cage-life:
The guy on the right must have been extra bad. He got smoked.
Does anybody need a leg? How about a neck? Got those? Ok then, have a few feet then:
Now this last one is even a bit much for me. I wonder if you serve this with mustard or steak sauce?
We settled on yogurt, bananas, and noodles. Vegan sounded better last night.
written by  akstoltzy on June 3, 2010 from Chongqing, China

Out Of Touch?
Later today, Eric and I will be going on a 4D/3N cruise down the Yangtze River. We splurged and so we are taking the nicest ship they have (5 Star). For those that have been reading regularly, I looked into a 7-Star cruise but they didn't have one. I have no idea if they have internet on the ship. I'm guessing no so that probably means they do. In any case, I will blog if they do. If not, you won't hear from me until Sunday evening or Monday morning your time. We have the rest of our trip planned minus some sightseeing. When the cruise is over, we will dock in Yichang and then hop on a bus to Wuhan where we will camp for the night at a hostel that Li arranged for us. Li is the manager here at Tina's Hostel and has been a great help to us. After Wuhan, we will train it to Guilin (we are going to visit some schools and get an idea of China's education system since their kids do so well in science and math) and stay there for three days. For those that know Eric and his style of teaching math, he plans on proving the 55/50 theory with help from his Chinese counterparts. We then train to Xian (terra cotta statues and lots of history since it was China's first capital city eons ago) for another three days and then return to Beijing for the remainder of the trip. It's been two weeks so far with three weeks left. The time is passing too quickly.
I'll be journaling throughout the cruise. If they don't have internet, the first blog will be more of a journal than a blog. However, I think that's probably equivalent to the different ways you can say tomato. No matter how you say it, it's still a tomato.
I almost forgot to mention that I have been looking for postcards everywhere we walk (believe me, that's a lot of looking with all the walking we have been doing). I have not been able to find ONE store that sells any. I don't get it. That would be a cash-cow for these guys. I'm still looking and so for those I promised a postcard to, please be patient.
Until Next Time....

On The Road Again...
Wuhan, China
It's been several days since I blogged (duh) and there is no way for me to get caught up on the travels of the last four days. We arrived by our ship in a town called Yi Chang (ee chong) yesterday at about noon. It's been raining steadily for the last 48 hours. Not just a drizzle, but much harder than that. If I was predicting, I'd say about 6 inches of rain so far. That's obviously just a guess but by listening to how loud it is I'm thinking 6 inches is conservative.
We left our hostel in Chongqing on Friday afternoon at about 5:30 PM. The manager, Li (lee) made all of our travel arrangements from Chongqing back to Beijing. Here is Li:
Really nice guy. Spoke English well as all people who work in hostels must be able to do. The Chinese are really into fashion with name brands. So try and guess what this little girl's name is?
Prada! Every time I walked into the main lobby, she would start biting by ankles and shoes. Pretty cute little dog.
We took a van/taxi to the dock. Our boat is the third one in back. You can't see it very well but...:
It turned out to be very nice. Here is a picture of the room:
The first night on the cruise there wasn't any show or performances in the bar/ballroom. We didn't leave port until after 11:00 PM. Eric and I spent the evening playing cards and just meditating on the decks. Not much happened the first night. The cruise really began to happen the next day, Saturday. The cruise was pretty awesome despite the rain and fog. I took many pictures but unfortunately, very few turned out.
Eric and I are heading to the train in a few minutes so we can travel from here, Wuhan (wu h on), down to Guilin (gwee leen). We'll be there for three days. The train ride is more than 20 hours and we will be staying in a hard sleeper (refer back to my train trip from Beijing to Shenzhen). I am starting the Twilight series (books about vampires) and so I hope to finish the first one by the time we arrive in Guilin. I will also write everything out about the rest of our cruise on the Yangtze so all I will have to do is cut and paste when we arrive in Guilin. The next few blogs I hope will be interesting for you. Since most pictures did not turn out and also because we hit the Three Gorges Dam at midnight, I'm going to have to try and explain to you in words what the experience was like instead of through pictures. It won't be the same obviously but if you get a little idea then I have done well enough.
I have bought gifts for my sisters and dad as well as me and I hope they survive the rain and travel. They are delicate items and while I know they will not break, I hope they do not get wet, either. We'll see!
The train ride is long and so we won't get in until late morning tomorrow. There is no internet on the train. I'll try and get everything posted by tomorrow evening which will be Wednesday morning your time.
Until then...
written by  akstoltzy on June 8, 2010 from Wuhan, China

Three Gorges Dam
Yichang, China
Well, we still have rain. It is also very foggy. Even if it was sunny, according to our guide Stephen, it would still be foggy due to the humidity, amount of water in the gorge, and the height of the gorge walls (or in some cases, shear cliffs). In any case, the pictures from today are a bit disappointing, too. I'll try and describe what the camera was unable to capture. All my info comes from the guide(s) or reading I have done on my own.
The following picture is of a new community that the government needed to provide for those affected by the construction of the dam:
During the construction of the dam, more than one million people were displaced from their homes. The reason: they are all under water now. The construction of the dam caused the Yangtze to rise more than 70 meters from it's previous height. For all the metrically-impaired out there including my life-time membership, that's about 230 feet. We passed several of these communities as we continued down stream.
This next picture shows us entering the narrower portion of the gorge:
We had to transfer to a smaller boat due to the depth of this river decreasing the further we went up river. This is not part of the Three Gorges Dam itself. This is a tributary of the Yangtze River but whose water level also rose.
As you can see, the fog is not conducive to photography.
This next picture shows a little bit more visually the river's depth change:
This body of land is now an island. Previous to the dam being built, it was part of the mainland (a peninsula actually). Now, you can only access this by boat.
The next two pictures just prove that Eric and I were here:
Here are a few pictures from the front of the ship:
Again, detail is difficult because of the type of camera I have and the fog. The peaks of these mountains range from 1000-2000 feet in height.
The tributary/river we are entering actually has a name but I can't say or spell it so you'll just have to take my word for it.
We passed this lady who is either coming or going:
Our little ship (we had transferred to a smaller boat due to the depth of the river a little more downstream) almost capsized her. She barely had tome to turn into the waves before being hit with them.
This is a picture I saw a lot of where there was either a man or woman rowing up or down the river.
Here is Grand View Peak (the little point in the top left of the picture):
This is the highest peak in the gorge at a little over 1000 meters (3900 ft):
If you look at the picture, you can see high-water marks on the walls of the gorge. This happens every summer. In the winter, the water is allowed to rise to the top water-mark. In the Spring/Summer, the water is lowered to allow flood waters a place to go rather than all over the land. The water-level depth that you can see from level to high-water mark is about 50 meters (more than 150 ft).
This cave is pretty cool (though the photography is not):
It's 100 meters high and about 30 meters wide. It's called Swallow Cave because that's where swallows nest. It is considered bad luck in this area of China to disturb the nests for eggs and so any swallows that nest here are safe from being the main ingredient in soup.
The next few pictures show traditional Chinese culture in these shallow areas of the river(s). We transferred from our smaller boat to these traditional wooden boats that have been used for over 2000 years:
Only 17 or so people can get on one of these boats:
Here is our guide who speaks Chinese first and then gives us two Americans the short version:
They are rowed/paddled by up to six men and a captain. We were rowed about ¾ of a mile up the river. The depth of the river continuously became more shallow.
When we arrived at a point where it was too shallow to paddle, the men hopped out of the boat, grabbed lengths of 'rope' made from bamboo, and pulled us up the river:
That is how it has been done for thousands of years in this area of China!
In this next picture, the man is 75 years old and has been doing this his whole life:
The men farm during the day and then make one or two trips doing this for tourists now. I can't see an ounce of body fat on this guy. He was nimble as well as he hopped in and out of the boat several times.
These men only recently started wearing clothes. They are too poor to travel way up stream and attain clothing. However, with tourism becoming more and more important to China's economy, even the locals are cashing in.
This guy is the only chubby guy among the men.
If you guessed that he was the boss than pat yourself on the back! He was yelling constantly at these guys to move here or there. Apparently yelling doesn't shed the fat like manual work does.
Don't know why I took this picture:
It's China's flag and hopefully I'll learn soon what the four smaller stars around the big star represent.
As we headed back to our ship, we passed the city of Badong (bow dong):
The bridge was built back in 2004 and was modeled after the Golden Gate Bridge:
That's what they told us. There must be another Golden Gate Bridge because I do not see much of a resemblance.
We made it back to the ship and immediately set sail for the Three Gorges Dam. This picture is of our main guide Stephen:
The show in the bar/ballroom that night consisted of more traditional Chinese dancing as well as crowd participation. The little girl in this picture:
got up on stage and sang something (Remember, I am not Chinese). She was pretty darn cute. Right after she started, there was a problem where the mic went dead and the music stopped. After hitting a reset switch, the song began again from the beginning. It didn't faze this girl at all! She just started from the beginning again. After the song, her dad went up on stage and presented her with a flower that was on every table. Pretty neat!
Eric decided to go up on stage and show his coordination and MJ moves. Yes, MJ is dead and Eric proved that rather well! The staff had 6-foot long bamboo poles that they would rhythmically slap together or slap on the ground. Eric never quite got it and almost broke his ankles when he should have been in the air (when the poles slapped together) instead of on the ground. Here is a sequence of pictures:
Getting Directions:
Trying with a helper:
On his own:
Forgive him for he knows not what he does!
I was called up to play musical chairs with three other guests. The idea was to 'dance' (I also proved the MJ is dead) around a group of chairs until Stephan stopped the music and announced something that we had to get from the audience. I did well the first round, ripping a shoe off an elderly gentleman. However, the second round required a sock. I went back to the traumatized man whose shoe I had just stolen only to find out he wasn't wearing socks. I then jumped over he and his wife and started ripping off the sock of a Japanese man. I almost took his lower leg with me but when I turned around and saw that the other two had already found their magic sock, I left his leg alone. I apologized to the man as a tourniquet was applied to slow the bleeding. I won a map of the Three Gorges Dam so all in all it was quite fun! I may need a little forgiveness, too.
We hit the Three Gorges Dam at about midnight. The pictures all turned out black due to the rain, fog, and lack of a manly flash on my camera. What I can tell you is that it is ENORMOUS. The Grand Coulee Dam in the US is pretty big, putting out about 800 K-Watts of power through it's four or five turbines. This dam? 22 turbines and 18,000 K-watts of power. I have no idea what I just typed because I don't know anything about electricity. What I do know is that the Grand Coulee Dam is big. This dam is like comparing an elephant and a gerbil. Here is proof that I was there:
You must look carefully to see the 'doors' between Lock #2 and #3. Each 'door' weighs more than 8000 tons. While you can't really see them, they are huge.
Here are pictures from Monday morning right before the cruise ended:
Here you can get an idea of large the 'doors' are. They are not called doors but I don't remember what they called them.
I only wish that the pictures would have been more clear. I learned that if we took the cruise from Yi Chang to Chongqing (the opposite run), we would have gone through the five locks during the daytime. Oh well, maybe next time. This was the highlight so far of the trip and yet I can't show you visually how cool it was. In any case, I highly recommend the cruise if ever coming here. It is worth the money!
After the cruise, we boarded a bus for a 5-hour ride to a hostel in Wuhan (woo h on). We stayed overnight and then caught a train to Guilin. Guess what the metal buckets are for on the floor:
If you guessed for garbage, you are half right. They are also convenient if you have to pee or even a little more. Just make sure you bring your own paper. I'm glad the bus wasn't crowded.
written by  akstoltzy on June 7, 2010 from Yichang, China

Chinese Flag meaning
Guilin, China
According to Wikipedia:
The largest yellow star represents the Communist party and the smaller yellow stars represent the four social classes: peaseants, workers, bourgeoisie, and capitalists.
School is now out for summer. Have fun.
written by  akstoltzy on June 9, 2010 from Guilin, China

Wuhon To Guilin

Guilin
Guilin, China
BLACKHAWKS RULE!! How exciting to have a champion again! Trivia: Chicago is the ONLY city in the US that has had a championship in each of the four major sports (bball, baseball, football, and hockey) in the past 25 years! Take THAT NY and LA! HAH!
OK, now to some travel news and the real reason we are here. It's been a rainy few days here in Guilin. Let me back up a bit. We found our hostel in Wuhan after a little trouble. First off, the bus driver dropped us off in downtown Wuhan. He said something in Chinese and after trying to tell him we didn't understand, he obviously felt that if he said the same thing but 100 decibels LOUDER that we would understand him. So, we shook our heads yes and said thank you. We found a young lady who said we needed to find a cab. I think that's what she said because she immediately started trying to flag down a taxi. It is raining buckets and she is standing under her umbrella and is unsuccessful for about 15 minutes. We 'She uh She uh her (thank you) and decide to flag a cab ourselves. We felt bad that she was trying to help us but was standing in the rain (though she did have the umbrella) and probably had better things to do than flag a taxi for a couple of Americans. So, after another 15 or so minutes in the monsoon, we are finally able to flag a cab. The card we had for the hostel had instructions for the driver written in Chinese. It helped but not exactly. He drops us off on the other side of the street and starts pointing and saying something. We obviously have a dumb look on our face because for the second time in less than an hour he begins hollering in Chinese what he just said at conversation levels. The rain had lightened a little but it was still raining pretty good. We see the sign for the hostel but can't figure out how to get into the building where the sign is. We walk back and forth and then out of the blue, an elderly Chinese man looks at us, says something at deafening tones, and points to a different building. We obviously looked like we were staying at a hostel. As it turned out, he was the only person we never talked to first who actually could tell us where to go. Very ironic. Most of the hostels are tucked into little alleys and way back off the main road where only scooters and bikes can get through. The same was true of this one. After a zig here and a zag there, we found it
When we zigged the first time, we were left with this site:
After the zag, we found it:
You need a bloodhound to find this place. Anyway, it was pretty nice. We camped for one night and then picked up the train for Guilin (gwee leen).
This is the scene at the train station in Wuhan:
If you look carefully, you will notice that many people are looking at the lady in white with the ponytail (just to the right of middle). She and two other ladies are yelling at each other loudly. We seriously thought a cat-fight was in the making because one of the ladies got right into the other one's face and was screaming at her. It was fun to watch actually because we obviously had no idea what they were yelling at each other but you just knew that there were some bad words being exchanged. Quite the monotony-breaker.
All of the people are not going onto our train. Six stayed back (at least it seemed that way). The line forms to walk to the platform and people will run you over if you don't move forward. Leave an inch between you and the person in front of you and there will be three people fighting for the space. It's like one gigantic mosh pit. Anyway, Eric and I each are in the same carriage and in the middle bunk on either side of each other. Eric is probably 6'3 and a pretty big guy. The middle bunk is probably the worst one he could have. Neither of us slept well. It was a long 14 hour ride between the old guy below me vibrating my bunk with his snoring and the eight plus hours of the guy above me and the guy above Eric talking. Honestly, those two talked non-stop for more than EIGHT agonizing hours. It was like an all day Kung Fu movie with only audio listening to these two. If they had been Americans, I would have sworn they were on crack. Instead, over here, they must have been on tea. A LOT of tea. It was unbelievable.
When we arrived in Guilin at 5:40 AM, I looked at the map on the hostel's card and can see we are very close. We decide to walk and we are glad we did. The hostel, Flowers (peace, maaaaaan), is tucked back, around and then up a few flight of stairs. Here is the sequence of how to get there from the main street in front of the station. Each picture represents either a turn, bend, or flight of stairs:
This is the train station from the side of the street the hostel is on.
Heading in the right direction down an alleyway.
Head right between those two buildings.
Ok, bewteen the two buildings now. care to stop for a meal?
At the end of this alley so now turn right:
Now, go up the stairs:
One more set:
Now follow the arrow:
Go through the ivy-vine thingy (don't know how to spell trellace or trelice or, well, you get the picture:
Go down the long entryway:
You've made it!
Now to the room:
Go up the stairs and follow the signs:
Our room is on the right next to the bathroom:
Here's a squat toilet if you really need it:
Not much privacy but if you have to go you have to go!
These are the showers:
So here we are. We are heading to Xian on Saturday (a lovely 27 hour train ride through central China; it will be a ride anyway with middle bunks again) to see the terra cottas and then go on a tour of the wall that was built around the city for protection some eons ago. I'll get more accurate info when we get there.
Both Eric and I ate something that did not agree with us and so all day today and last night we have been alternating using the bathroom. We don't have one in our room. It's shared with the whole floor. Eric is upstairs now with a little worse case than I have. I'm eating a monster plate of rice and hope that will help.
Don't know what's happening tomorrow. Hopefully our bellies will let us stray more than 10 yards from a working bathroom.
Until then...
written by  akstoltzy on June 10, 2010 from Guilin, China

Observations From The Albino Panda
Guilin, China
I feel like an albino panda here. That's not a racist statement so don't even try. Most people I walk by here (and that's a lot of people because the population is very large) stop and stare or just follow you with their eyes until you pass them. It's quite interesting to walk down the street and have just about everyone observe you. It's not done in a rude way at all. Mostly, when I notice someone observing me, my cargo shorts are looked at first, then my shoes, and then my face. Because the order in which I am observed, I have noticed that I am one of the only people wearing shorts (they are cargo shorts with many pockets) designed like mine. And of course my funky-looking sandals don't help either. I have not seen one pair like them anywhere in China. The younger generation here in China (age 16-40ish) is very fashion conscience. I have never seen so many shoe stores in all my life! The shoes that the women wear here are amazing. Not being a 'shoe-guy', I am amazed at all of the different styles. The roads here and sidewalks are filled with cracks and crevices, steep and regular inclines/declines, and slippery areas from all the oil (from cooking; many vendors right on the street). Even with all these obstacles, women are wearing 2"-4" heels! Some of the shoes are a little over the top but are obviously considered normal here since I see so many women wearing them.
No pictures from yesterday. I went out to just observe. We leave this afternoon for Xian and so this is likely to be the last post until Monday your time. The train ride is 27 hours and so we don't get in until Sunday evening at about 8:00 PM if all goes well. On Monday we head to the terra cotta statues. I'm sure I will have a lot of pictures from their and from within Xian.
I saw a car wreck happen last night. Actually, I didn't really see it happen straight away but I caught it happening out of the corner of my eye as well as with my ears. A cab driver wasn't watching when he was making a right turn from the middle lane and so he got struck by another taxi. They weren't happy with each other. There were a lot of gestures and probably bad words but I can't be sure. The one taxi driver couldn't get out his door and so he is climbing over the middle console and yelling at top volume while trying to get out the passenger-side door. His passenger gets out of the taxi, walks over to the other taxi (while he is yelling as well) and then spits on the windshield. I stood there and just watched but needed to get out of the street because cars were honking at me to move. So I moved.
I have met three people here at the hostel in the past two days. Here they are:
The first picture is of Janina (Yeah Nee Nuh) from Hamburg, Germany. I learned today that Hamburg is where the name hamburger came from. Anyway, she is 20 and has been traveling for 8 months! She heads back to Germany for a month in August to work at her parents' shoe store and then she'll take off again to destinations unknown. She has been all over SE Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. She is very free-spirited and refreshing to talk to because of her positive attitude and quest for seeing as much as she can of the world. When I took this picture, she was planning her next month with stops in Tibet, SW China (Dali City) and Shangra-La, and Mongolia. She'll take the trans-siberian railway to Moscow and then get to Germany in a way she has yet to determine.
This is Tom from Wales:
He's 22 and has been traveling for six months. He started in Sri Lanka and was there for a month and then flew to Singapore. He then made his way north through Malaysia and Thailand by bus and train (he has a fear of flying). His next destination from here is Hong Kong to visit his aunt. He has no obligations and so he may go work in Australia or may stay here and teach English. He'll make up his mind when he is ready. As of now, he is not ready and will continue to be a vagabond.
It amazes me almost daily the variety of people that I meet in hostels. It's a different blend of people but most are free-spirited and have a zest for life and exploring that we don't normally see in the US. There are no worries and no time-tables for most of them to meet. We have sat downstairs here in the hostel for many hours the past few days just talking. No poitical talk but just life and travel experiences. Talk about no stress! This entire trip so far, with staying in hostels, has been like a big dose of Xanax but with only positive side effects. Being married and having children would preclude you from this lifestyle unless all your kids were out of the house. At the same time, though, I have seen families (one from Germany and another from Canada) with kids traveling here and enjoying the hostel experience. If you want to travel for a good price and don't mind sharing a bathroom and paying 1/10 the price of a hotel room, hostelling is the way to go. My room here costs my 30 Yuan a night. That's $4.41 each night. the beds are comfortable, the public areas are all very clean, and each serves authentic and western food. What more do you need?
Well, it's off to the train station for our 27 hour ride. We are going to head to the department and grocery store before going to the train. Might pick up a dice game of some sort or a regular deck of cards to help pass the time. We also need to have munchies and water. Each carriage has a hot water (drinkable of course) station and so with tea and noodles packed, we should be set for the journey to Xian.
I'll be in touch as soon as I can. If any of you can download Skype onto your computer (you need a camera and microphone), I would love to talk to you! My username is akstoltzy. Look me up and give me a ring!
Until Monday....
written by  akstoltzy on June 12, 2010 from Guilin, China

Ghost City (Feng Du) and Ship Fun
Yichang, China
We pulled into port at Fengdu (fang dew) so we could visit the Ghost City. I don't recall a lot about what was said. I do remember that the Ghost City is famous because of the temples the older dynasties built in order to worship both heaven and hell. That doesn't mean that hell was actually worshiped. Hell was given attention to because it was/is not a place most would like to spend eternity. Instead, in Buddhist culture, one walked a fine line between heaven and hell based on how they adhered to customs, beliefs, and folklore (my understanding, anyway). For instance, when walking into a temple, there is a threshold that ranges in height from a few inches to about two feet. Women must cross these thresholds by stepping over them with their right foot first while men must do the same except using their left foot first. The height of the thresholds were determined by the importance of the particular temple they were 'guarding'. The larger Buddhas usually have a higher threshold. Speaking of large Buddhas:
And please everyone, do not play your trumpet here in the park:
They also have statues all around that are related to Christianity and the ten commandments. Thou shalt not kill, covet thy neighbors wife, and so on. Here is one that relates to what happens if you do not listen to your parents:
People are encouraged to 'spank' the statue.
My batteries in the camera were dying so I could not take pictures of all the statues.
This picture show a hotel they are building that is roughly one mile away:
It's not real clear because I had to max out the zoom but you can see that there will be a Buddha's face on the front of it. Reminds me a bit of Mt. Rushmore and the ongoing construction in South Dakota of the Crazy Horse monument being carved out of the side of a hill.
We spent about three hours on this excursion. I had many more pictures but I couldn't remember what they were pictures of. I suppose I could have just put them up but without an explanation of each, it would have been like going on an art gallery excursion without an interpreter. OH WAIT! That's exactly what we were doing!
Tonight, we went to the bar/ballroom for a little show and some games. The staff did some dancing:
Since Eric and I were the only two westerners on board, we were picked out of the crowd to participate in all of the fun and games. No matter how hard we try, we stick out a little bit like albino pandas without round eyes. In any case, Eric tried to shake his booty with a box tied to his hind end. Inside the box were ping pong balls. There was a little hole on the bottom of the box for the ping pong balls to fall through into a basket. It was hilarious! Eric did poorly, ending up 3rd and winning a map of the Yangtze River. Here are a few shots:
I went up to play a version of a game on The Price Is Right. There were cards spread in rows on a board. I had to pick 4 cards and if I picked an ace of any suit, I would win a t-shirt. Well, the t-shirt is in my bag. I also won three beers to go with it and so I made three new friends in the crowd!
The night ended at about 11:30. We have to be up early tomorrow because we are approaching the gorges and we're going to go on another excursion where we will have to transfer two times to smaller and smaller boats. Tomorrow night we see the Three Gorges Dam. Hopefully it is lit up since it will be dark.
written by  akstoltzy on June 5, 2010 from Yichang, China

History
Xi'an, China
Added a new blog entry (the one directly after this one) about our arrival in Xi'an. It explains about arriving safely but not safe.
Yesterday (Monday) we went to the famous terra cotta statues. We first visited an old settlement from 6000 years ago. Here is the plaque as you enter the building:
Here is a pit that contains the remains of a woman (top) as well as some clay pots. The pots are believed to have been buried at the same so she could use them in her next life:
Here is another burial site with the same idea with the pots:
This is what the inside of the building looks like as they have preserved the site:
It was pretty hot yesterday. Our tour guide said that, "It's only 35 C today." Yeah, well 95 F is pretty dang hot for a couple of guys from Alaska. It's even hotter today. I suppose that it's only 38 C today (100.4 F) so I probably shouldn't complain!
After we visited the old settlement, we were taken to a site that shows what the inside of the Emperor Qin's tomb looks like. It's a reproduction as they have not officially opened that to the public. It's pretty tacky looking so I didn't take any pictures.
To read about the terra cottas themselves, this is a good website to visit:
After we visited the tacky 'museum', we went to lunch. We were trying to figure out if we were going to ACTUALLY SEE the terra cottas or not. Our guide spoke English well but it was still not certain (at least that was the consensus inside the van) whether we were actually going to see them or not. So after lunch, the seven of us piled back into the van and headed through traffic to the drop-off point. The drop-off point is probably a half mile or so from the actual statues. It is common here for the tours to start well in advance of the actual place you are visiting. They do this so that you have to walk through a labrynth of shops and vendors. Neat marketing ploy but it does get bothersome.
In any case, we have to take an electric cart that holds about nine people to the actual museum. Here is a picture of what the line looked like:
Just like with traffic and the train station, there are no 'lanes' to follow. You just pack yourself into the crowd and fight for position as you move forward. I was a little testy yesterday as the heat was frying my patience. Plus, all those darn umbrellas kept hitting me in the face. When it was time for our group to get on the cart, people were pushing me from behind so they could get on the cart themselves. I'd had enough by then and so I blocked the left side of the line as these two guys are saying 'GO! GO!' I replied in my best Chinese, 'NO!' It was crazy just to get on the cart.
We finally make it to the site where the statues are being excavated.
This first picture is rather dark but if you look carefully, you can see in the right upper portion what looks like bent logs. Well, that's what they are. The statues were placed in the bottom of the pit and then covered with a roof of sorts made from fabric and logs. This was then covered with dirt in order to keep them hidden. The statues were built in order to protect Emperor Qin in his next life. He was in power from 221-206 BC. When he came to power at age 13, he immediately had work started on his tomb and so these statues were being made as early as 221 BC.
These next pictures show chariots that were excavated and then displayed on the main floor of the museum.
The chariots are made of bronze, copper, and gold. I can't remember their significance.
These next shots show what the warriors looked like back then.They had archers:
Cavalry Men:
High Ranking Officers:
and other fighting warriors.
Here is a kneeling archer:
You can see the color on his back armor. This is pretty rare to find a statue with color still intact.
These next pictures turned out dark. I tried to fix them with a program I have on the computer but they didn't turn out real well:
This next one:
shows the actual brick flooring. There are also many heads missing. They are not sure why the heads are missing. One theory is that the site was possibly looted more than a thousand years ago. However, that's just a theory.
Here's a bunch more:
This next picture shows a lady spraying water on the statues:
The site is an active archeological dig. The building that was built over the site is built like a green house in order to keep as much humidity inside as possible. They need to keep the statues moist so they don't crack. So with the greenhouse effect and the misting spray the statues are being preserved as best as possible.
Here's more:
This last picture is with a Japanese student and new friend that was with our tour:
Her name is Toshimi and she is going to school in Beijing I believe.
This museum was very cool. Seeing how distinct each face and body of every statue is quite amazing. All of this was done 2200 years ago and so that makes it even more impressive. This was an awesome experience!
Tonight we ride around on a bike on the top of the wall that surrounds this city. Xi'an (zhe ann) is one of the first capitals in China. They built a wall around the city as well as a moat in order to keep enemies out. The wall is about 14 kilometers long (though shaped in a square) or about 9 miles. We'll do this in the evening when it cools down to ONLY 30 C or so. I hope we get some good pictures.
written by  akstoltzy on June 15, 2010 from Xi'an, China

Arrival in Xi'an
Xi'an, China
Arrived in Xi'an (zhe ann) Sunday night after a 29 hour train ride. We were late by two hours. We left the train station in Xi'an for the hostel hoping to find a taxi. Well, we found plenty of taxi cabs, however, none wanted to charge us by using the meter. They wanted from 50-80 Yuan for the ride. So instead, we started walking. We walked and walked and since we were fairly tired from our long train ride, we were not in the best of moods. So, after walking for a while and trying to figure out the scale on the map we had, we figured we better get a ride. So, we took a motorized rickshaw. With our bags and our size, we were pretty crowded. In fact, the driver took my big bag and put it on his lap.
So we are driving in this rickshaw when it dawns on us that this guy is playing Chicken with every car, bus, and motorized vehicle on the road. He goes the wrong way on the highway, pulls u-turns right in front of busses, and drives straight for cars expecting (knowing?) that they will honk but eventually move. If we had them, it would have been smart to change into a pair of Huggies before getting on this motorized suicide machine. He has to stop three times to ask other rickshaw drivers where our hostel is, one time pulling directly into the path of a police car. The police car honks and then drives by close enough to my side that I do not think I could have fit my thumb between his side door and the tire on our rickshaw. We get to the hostel in one piece but have found that our exhaustion has been replaced by an overdose of adrenaline. We are up for the next three hours and go to bed at 3:00 AM.
written by  akstoltzy on June 13, 2010 from Xi'an, China

The Second Wall
Xi'an, China
We tried to go walking yesterday around the city at about 1:00 PM. It was a tad warm. 100 degrees warm. So, our walk only lasted about a mile. I took these pictures during our short walk.
This first one shows a sentry point on top of the wall around the 'old' city. This wall is not the original wall built arojund the city in 194 BC. This one was built in the 14th century.
The moat in the picture below surrounds the entire wall and stands as a barrier to invading soldiers:
Eric and I decided to go back in the evening so we could bike the entire wall. The top of the wall where we began our bike ride looks like this:
Here is the bike I used:
It's not your average mountain bike as it has only one gear (pretty low). They also don't adjust the seats so it turned out to be quite a nine mile ride.
That's Eric in the background:
He's taller than I am and so he was even more uncomfortable on his bike than I was on mine.
This picture:
shows a park on the other side of the moat about a mile into our journey.
And the wall just keeps on going and going....
Here is an area that actually connects the wall with the other side of the moat:
You can see how narrow the walkway is. This was to prevent invading troops from being able to assault the city wall in great numbers. By backing them up in thin lines, it was easier to pick them off with arrows, cannon shot, and fire.
Here's a shot from one of the sentry points:
This is a shot of the train station that we arrived through and will leave through this afternoon on our way to Beijing:
There are many people that beg for donations by either coming right up to you or, more passively, singing or playing an instrument. We caught this woman singing below near the train station:
Don't know what she was singing but she did have a pleasant voice. Many people were donating to her and her partner. The box on the edge of the banner is pretty full of Yuan, China's currency
These next two pictures show what traffic is like here in Xi'an:
If you look carefully, there is nothing but chaos. It's a battle to cross the street and frequently cars and taxis are passing by you with inches to spare. We have gotten pretty good at stepping in front of busses and cars and hoping they slow down enough to allow us to cross. I've found that more often than not, if the driver makes eye contact with you, you're 'safe'. But if he doesn't, then it's much wiser to wait to step in front of the next vehicle behind him. It's quite maddening to be honest with you but it is also a little fun playing the ultimate game of chicken.
Here is a picture of the small road leading into the area of our hostel as well as a picture from the outside of the hostel itself:
This is a very large hostel with three floors, a restaurant, and a bar. They also have several washing machines that cost 10 Yuan per load which includes soap (about $1.50). They have drying racks but they were all full so I had to hang my clothes on the railings overnight. Traveling by hostel is the most affordable (ok, cheapest) way to travel and the people are usually very friendly and honest. As long as you don't leave things laying around (money and electronics) you're things are safe. That includes my shorts, pants, and undies hanging on the rail all night. Everything was nice and dry this morning!
Yesterday, our four-bed (two bunks) room was filled by a couple from Belgium. She is a research psychologist who was here for a conference in Beijing and then had her boyfriend meet her after it's completion. They had a poor experience on the train from Beijing and so were a little tired last night. They each can't be more than 25 or so. What this Kyle lacks in age he more than compensates with his snoring. I started with ear plugs but that was no match for his accoustical tremors (he literally rattled the bunks and he wasn't even in mine!). So, I had to put my MP3 in to try and counter his noise. My volume maxes out at 20 which is very loud and probably ear-damaging if done so frequently. I finally settled on a setting of 16. I am very tired today but since our trip to Beijing is a little over 12 hours and all at night (we leave here at 6:42 PM), I imagine I will sleep like a rock and arrive in Beijing ready to go. Weather is iffy for Thursday and Friday with rain predicted and highs in the 70's. After this heat, however, I welcome the change.
I'll write more Friday (Thursday to you guys). We will be staying at the same hostel I stayed at when first arriving in China. They were great there and instead of rolling the dice with another hostel, we are going to stay there instead.
Hope all is well. More later....
written by  akstoltzy on June 16, 2010 from Xi'an, China

Hard-Sleepers vs Soft Sleepers
Took the overnight train from Xi'an to Beijing last night. It wasn't a bad ride. However, we were in the carriage that is the last sleeper with the 'sitters' (they only have small chairs and tables to sit at) right next to us. The smoke in that car is incredible and of course drifted into our car. We were also the last bunk section in our carriage and so were the closest to the smoke and the occasional bathroom smell. It was a ride that lasted a little under 12 hours. We arrived at the hostel, ate breakfast, and crashed. I woke up at 2 PM so I must have been tired.
The overnight train is the way to go when traveling here. Leaving at night and arriving whether it be in the morning or early afternoon is a great way to avoid wasting days if you are here for a limited schedule/time. This is what I have learned regrading train-travel in China (hard sleeper only):
1. If you are nimble or even in fair shape, the top bunk is the way to go. It's the cheapest and you don't have to worry about anyone stepping on you. The middle bunk isn't bad (medium price) but if you have a person above you that gets up a lot, you will undoubtedly wake up every time they need to do whatever they do in the night. The bottom bunk is the most expensive and unless you are unable to climb a small ladder, I would stay away from it.
2. Bring a good book to read. If you are traveling with a friend/mate/spouse, bring a deck of cards or a small game like Yahtzee. Backgammon even works. These are great time killers. If you are not Chinese, everyone will stop and eye you over. Don't take it personally. Chinese are fascinated at western people, especially if you have blond or red hair (NATURAL, not bottle). The greater the difference between your appearance and their's, the longer and more detailed the look will be. Smiling (important when greeting others here), saying Ni Hao (nee how with the accent on nee), waiting, and if no comment then throwing in a 'hello' usually entices a reply at most and a look elswhere at the least. Bring a booklight as well since the lights turn off at 10:00PM sharp.
3. Find out as much info about your ticket as possible if someone from the hotel/hostel gets it for you. Find out the length of the trip, which bunk you are in, and what type of transportation you will be taking to get to your final destination after arriving in the city. It is sometimes easier to jump on the subway then it is to take a taxi or bus. The subway system is very easy in most metro places and there is usually at least one 'Chinglish' speaker at each station to help you get your ticket
4. This now leads us to the train station. This will be your most interesting experience of the trip. The staging areas are easily identifiable as the have the train letter/number posted on a large board in the front of the station. When you get to your 'area', look to see where the entrance to the platform or door you will go through to get to the platform is located. Get as close to the front of the line as possible BEFORE the train begins boarding. I recommend at least 60 minutes before departure time (boarding begins 30 minutes prior to departure). When boarding is announced, you will know this becuase everyone will stand up and try to get to the front of the line. They will walk through you, around you, and by you if you give an inch. I am not kidding here. There is no such thing as turn-taking here or maintaining an orderly line. You literally fight for every inch you make. The best piece of advice is to get as close to the person in front of you (not to your side as that changes too much) and walking as much in lock-step with them as possible. This is the time where all your valuables better be locked into your most secure bag or place. You will be pushed and bumped and possibly have your feet stepped on but that is how they do it here. If you want to get through the gate, you need to be prepared to do the same. You must have your train ticket in hand as there is a person that will punch a small hole out of it to allow you access to the platform. After you pass this ticket-checker, the line thins a bit but that's only because the area to the platform has enlarged again. Now, you should make your way to the train as fast as possible. Look up at the board and see how the carriages are organized. If you are in carriage 12 or higher, you will usually go the right. Anything lower and you will probably go to the left. But double-check anyway. The carriage numbers are in small numbers (English) on the side of the train but if you are walking fast you may miss them. Find your carriage and be prepared to show the lady your ticket once more in order to make sure you are getting into the right carriage. If you are on a top or middle bunk, make sure you stake your overhead space as soon as you get there. This is what you have been fighting for ever since you arrived at the station! Have your book, board game, water, snacks, TP, and toothbrush easily available from a bag. However, do not have them out yet. Leave them in the bag/suitcase you have and put them up top so you don't lose your precious space. If you are on the bottom bunk, stow what you can underneath your bunk and put the rest up top.
5. Bring your own toilet paper. MOST public places do not provide toilet paper. To go one step farther, carry TP with you in your bag or in your pocket wherever you go since when the need arises, you do not want to be environmental and paperless!
6. Bring a few snacks with you on the train and a quart of water (at least). The running water they have on the train is not drinkable so you must brush your teeth using bottled water. Meals are not necessary since they have a constant flow of vendors going up and down the aisles offering decent meals (rice, beef or chicken, and veggies for 10-20 Yuan ($1'25 - $2.50). You ight want to have your own spoon/fork if you haven't a clue about chopsticks). You can get these easily at Cabellas or any decent sporting goods store.
7. Bring earplugs!
8. If you are asthma sensitive, make sure you have your inhalers packed. Plan on using one each week here as the pollution and smokers here are beyond anything you can imagine (unless you have visited India or Gary, Indiana). If you are really sensitive, bring a mask. You will see many people wearing masks so don't think you'll stick out any more than you already do.
One final word: taking a soft-sleeper is an option but getting tickets are pretty difficult. Ask the person at the desk to inquire when the earliest date you can have a soft-sleeper for your destination. They do not have one 'central' booking center to get reservations. You usually must get the tickets at the city in which you are visiting. For example, if you are traveling from Beijing to Xi'an and then three days later will travel from 'Xi'an to Chongqing, you can only purchase the Beijing to Xi'an ticket. You will have to wait until you get to Xi'an to buy your Xi'an to Chongqing ticket. Go to theses website to find excellent info on train travel in China:
http://www.seat61.com/china
This website is great! It explains all of the different types of trains as well other useful info.
This site supplies exact train info as well as current cost and length of travel from city-to-city. Note: you MUST include the 'Special:CNTrainSearch?method=1' into the url at the end. I'm not sure why the website here has not highlighted that part as well.
With the soft-sleeper, the advantages are the following:
1. Only four per sleeping unit (basically bunkbeds)
2. You have a door that you can close. This may be an advantage if your asthma is really bad or you have a very sensitive nose.
3. The bed is a bit softer with about a three-inch pad vs the one-inch pad on the hard-sleeper.
The cost difference between hard-sleeper and soft-sleeper is fairly significant so if you are on a more constricted or tight budget, hard-sleeper is the way to go.
The weather here in Beijing is T-storms right now. Hoepfully it will clear overnight. We're going to see Mao tomorrow in his mausoleum as well as a repeat of Tian'amen Square and maybe another site or two. The weather calls for more rain so we'll see if we get to where we want to go. Next week we will hit the Beijing Zoo. I'll be looking up a few other places to go before we leave China on Thursday.
Until then....
written by  akstoltzy on June 17, 2010 from Beijing, China

Walking Like There's No Tomorrow
The internet has been funky, to say the least, over here the past few days. Now that it's working again, I can fill you in on the weekend.
Today (Friday), we went back to Tian'amen Square. So, we left the hostel and started walking thinking that making two lefts would be easy and therefor, allow us to walk due south and right to the square. That was our first mistake. We stopped at a store:
to get something to eat thinking it was only a four mile walk. I decided on some yogurt (cherry/coconut):
mainly because it was such a large container.
As we walked, and walked, and walked a bit further, we came across embassy row (this is where we figured out we had to have made three left turns instead of two because we were walking way to the east and north of the square!). We never did find the US Embassy. I'm kicking myself for not taking the Swedish Embassy's picture but we were pretty tired by then since we essentially ened up further away from Mao and Co. then when we were at the hostel. We decided to find the first train that we could since we had walked for more than two hours and on the way, we found these soldiers practicing marching:
We tried to give them tips on how to walk aimlessly, far, and without direction but it was probably good for us that they didn't speak English.
We almost stopped for a slushy:
but decided to keep truckin' on for the train. BTW, first 7-11 I've been in with owners that were not Pakastani or Indian! Go figure!
So we get to the train and after a transfer (yes, we had walked so far from where we should have that it required TWO trains to get back to Tian'amen Square!) we made it. Unfortunately, the tiny three-delay in arriving meant that the mausoleum that we had come to see WAS CLOSED! When it gets hot like this (each day has averaged about 98 or so) they are only open from 8:00 AM to noon. We might go Wed or Thu but who knows.
On the way back to the hostel (we walked since we thought we had the left-turn problem taken care of; wrong), we passed a Catholic Church:
It's called The Catholic East Church, or Wangfujing Catholic Church, and is one of the best-preserved religious sites in the middle of Beijing. The East Church was originally called Saint Joseph's Church, and was built in the 12th year (1655) of Emperor Shunzhi during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). We went in and I would have taken pictures but it was very dark and the few I took did not turn out. It's just neat being inside a building or at/on/in any historical building whose history dates back so many years.
As I mentioned before we walked for a while. We left at about 11:30 AM, took the train to Tian'amen Square and got off at 1:50 PM, and then proceeded to walk until after 6:00 PM. Conservatively speaking, we walk between 3-4 miles an hour. So that means, for the roughly five hours we were walking, we had to have walked close to 15 miles. We never stopped walking! It was 99 today so I figure we lost any bloating problems as well.
Tomorrow, we go to the Hard Rock Cafe, Hooters, and maybe a nightclub. Should be an adventure in walking again as we refuse to admit defeat to the poorly written maps!
written by  akstoltzy on June 18, 2010 from Beijing, China

Hard Rock Cafe and Hooters
Still having some problems with connectivity and the internet....
We woke up fairly early today. It's another scorcher today (about 97) and so the walking turns out to be a good workout, especially when you get as lost as frequently as we do!
We sat around for a while this morning as we are about traveled out. We left about 2:30 PM and actually got to our target (Hard Rock Cafe) in just under two hours (applause applause applause)! Here is proof we got there:
The food was hugely overpriced as we paid American equivalents for our meal and drinks. The only other Hard Rock I've been to is in Los Angeles (or somewhere in Orange County where my sister used to live). I knew it would be expensive but the shock was a little greater because we have been paying, on average, about $4.00 each meal. This one was over $40 bucks! It was good to go though and of course I bought the t-shirt but not the black one.
We then headed down the street about two Miles with the intent of watching the World Cup at a Sports Bar/Restaurant. However, the place was absolutely packed and there wasn't a seat available outside. As we looked around to see if another place had the first match on, lo and behold there is a Hooters right above us! So we went in and watched the first match. Just like only reading the articles in Playboy, we only watched the soccer match. Honest.
The past two days, we have walked well over 20 Miles. Exactly how much I don't know but I'm sure it is the most I've walked on consecutive days.
Tomorrow is the Beijing Zoo. I'm not a fan of zoos but they do have Pandas.
Until tomorrow....
written by  akstoltzy on June 19, 2010 from Beijing, China

Beijing Zoo
Hopped on the train and railed over to the Beijing Zoo. We went the wrong way after we caught the transfer train but recognized our mistake quickly and so we only went one stop before getting off and taking the train the other way. We saw the most rude and funny thing before we got to the zoo. I've written many times about the lack of personal space and that people will literally run you over to get somewhere. That's exactly what happened. At one stop, there were many more people that wanted to get on than get off. So, as the train doors opened, the few that needed to get off did and then the stampede to board was on. These two Chinese girls, each of whom could not have been more than 5' tall on their tippy toes, were standing in front of me when this good-sized man just bowls them over, the one girl much harder than the other. If the train had been less crowded, she would have ended up on the floor of the train. Instead, she got moved back along with the people behind her a good three feet. I couldn't believe this guy! Then, after the one girl got creamed, she starts laughing and continues to do so with her friend for a good 10 seconds. That cracked us up! It was like someone on the show 'Biggest Loser' stomping a munchkin from The Wizard of Oz. It was quite funny and a head shaker both at the same time.
We arrived at the zoo and bought our passes for the aquarium as well. As you walk in, there is a fairly large moat that has many different types of aquatic birds. Here are a few:
We walked around the entire zoo and finally came to the pandas!
Like my friend Jason says in his best Forrest Gump voice, this bear was taking a nayyyyyaaap.
Here is another shot of a different bear:
I had more but they didn't turn out since the glass reflected the flash and whited out the images.
This sequence of signs is pretty funny:
We also saw the bad part of the zoo:
This guy is being fed by the public. they throw him parts of sandwhiches, popcorn, and whatever they have. You can tell by his fur how poorly he is being cared for. Then there is this bear:
What was even worse is there was no water ANYWHERE that we could see. It's almost 100 degrees and no water.
Here are the rhinos (notice their ribs showing):
Nothing else really has to be said as these pictures I think tell a thousand words.
Here are some other photos that are better:
Here's one that resembles the aforementioned Jason:
Oh wait, this guy has hair.
We also went to the aquarium and the dolphin show but that's when the batteries died in my camera. It was a short show. In any case, no one puts on a water mammal show like Sea World. This was the minor leagues compared to Sea World.
We're winding down our stay. These next days will be filled with eating foods that were not meant to be eaten by people (ay least in the west). I am still having major stomach problems so eating insects, arachnids, and God knows what else shouldn't make it any worse. More tomorrow...

Frederick and Saul, Contact Me!
We had a great last few nights in Beijing! Met some neat people (Thanks for a great few days Frederick, Ida, Saul, and Christian!!!) and saw and experienced some truly memorable moments. I will wait to post the pictures until I hear back from the folks above.
Hosteling this trip has turned out to be the best, cheapest, and easiest way to meet folks from around the world. The folks mentioned above are among the best! I sure hope Ida is feeling better as well.
Frederick and Saul, please contact me when you are able so I can post some of the wonderful photos from the insect/arachnid/Lassie/pigeon night. Please send photos as soon as you are able! Email to akstoltzy@gmail.com.
I am in Vancouver now but will post pics and stories very soon.

Leaving Shungnak

The only way to get in or get out.

View of Kobuk, AK, closest village to our east (100 population)

On the ground in Kobuk.