Week 8 (Part Two) - Goin'...North

Buddhist pavilion

               After a 5-hour nap, it was time to hit the road again, this time to the north, by plane, with a different traveling companion, Luoliang. Luoliang will come to Maine later in August this year 2016, and he hadn’t visited Beijing in a vacationing capacity before, so it was going to be good in any case. In a stark contrast to the previous night’s travel, everything went very smoothly on our way to Beijing. Once in Beijing, we boarded a bus headed downtown and found confirmation with what we had been warned about: Beijing has too many cars. Taxis, cars and buses all competed for the same 4 lanes out of the airport, which took a while to accomplish, before getting stuck within further traffic. Eventually, we made it to where we aimed to go, had a quick lunch and met up with a fellow student of Luoliang’s at the Summer Palace. The Summer Palace had typical Chinese design, and Tibetan-influenced features as well, complete with many large Buddha statues. The compound was quite large and carefully laid out. The most impressive area was not the Palace itself, but the shoreline of the lake that the Palace was situated on. After walking down from the Palace, you enter a shoreline pavilion that goes on forever with Buddhist paintings through the four seasons. There is also an island, with yet another temple-like structure, that is accessible by stone bridge. The whole place was really something, as Luoliang said: “It is where the Emperor went to relax, so it must be better.” Indeed.

The Cube. I'll pretend I'm competing there.

                Tired from the long walk around ¼ of the lake, we traveled to the Olympic Village from the 2008 Summer Olympics for a quick dinner, where I had an unquenchable thirst. I was told Beijing would be cooler and that Nanping and Wu Yi would be hotter than Shanghai. I would say that all three regions were equally hot. Just that the air quality is noticeably worse in Beijing and noticeably better in the southern cities. Post-dinner, Luoliang walked through the center of the village, where the Bird’s Nest, Cube and Torch were all still lit up with gusto, signaling the advance of the coming Winter Olympics in two years. There were no events currently held, but there were massive amounts of people. We waded through them, hopped on the metro and checked into the hotel for the night.

The Great Wall is...very big!

                The next day, we got up and traveled to the fast train station, looking for tickets to the Great Wall. Luoliang’s inside information about there being no difficulty during weekdays proved to be false, unfortunately, so we set out to find the buses. Asking for directions constantly, we finally arrived at the old Ming Dynasty Mint building, from where the buses (the MANY buses) departed. It was here, that Luoliang asked a nice lady at the nearby bus stop for our final directions, and she advised avoiding the typical entrance. Instead she advised entering through the bus parking lot. We did and came upon boarding passengers. We attempted to board but were promptly denied by five attendants and told to 

find the back of the line. As we came from the buses, we saw a line that stretched beyond my vision. We began to wonder if a new plan was needed for the day. Instead, we saw an opportunity about 50 patrons back and cut the line. I make no apologies for this. We probably saved 2 hours. I told Luoliang to take his hat off, I followed suit and stuffed both in the backpack and took that responsibility from Luoliang. Anything to appear different, as we had made quite the entrance. Whether it made a difference or not I do not know, but I do know we were allowed to board during this second attempt without any trouble and found ourselves at the Great Wall two hours later, along with, again,

Forbidden City entrance at night

 the rest of China. A total of 3 hours were spent hiking on the Wall, first, the southern section of the Badaling portion of the Wall, which was much less crowded than the northern section, which we did after. Just an amazing amount of people come to visit this place, it is really difficult to guess how many. There are  buses constantly running back and forth. The hiking itself was pretty challenging, as various inclines of steps and ramps were employed. I would imagine some danger would be involved with any kind of precipitation. Especially for those who opted to select ‘high heels’ as appropriate hiking footwear. Even without hiking footwear, 3 hours in the hot sun, with already sore legs from the entire week, I was pretty spent. We returned to the hotel, attempted to recover and then met up with two more of Luoliang’s friends in the area for dinner. We had a special type of duck (not Peking Duck, it just didn’t happen this trip!), among other great food and two types of traditional Chinese liquor (“Baijiu”) to commemorate the visit. Afterwards, we took in the Beijing night scene, including a nighttime preview of the next day’s activities.

Tian'anmen, the flag and the Forbidden City

                The wake-up call to start the day was 0430am, as we headed to Tian’anmen Square for the flag-raising ceremony. Soldiers marched out of the Forbidden City to the Square and raised the flag while the anthem played. We got there early and the place was already stuffed. I am thinking the equivalent of two city blocks were closed to traffic by police and the entire area was filled with people. I guess it is like this every day, which is amazing. After taking in the crowd and the moment, we returned to the hotel and rested until noon. After checking out of the hotel, we actually made it to Tian’anmen Square and walked around for a bit. Memorials and government buildings were highly visible, 

Grandness of the Forbidden Ciy

including the building that Chairman Mao sits in (we did not go due to long line). Afterwards, we headed to the famed Forbidden City, which is now adorned by a gigantic painting of Mao. It really was expansive and just a generally huge complex. The architecture was typical ancient Chinese, particular, detailed and impressive. Luoliang told of the legend that officers, domestic and foreign, who made the walk from Tian’anmen Square to the Emperor’s company finished the walk on their knees, due to the impressive nature of the compound. I do not doubt that some officers felt this way, but I cannot imagine the added military presence and the effect that it had, either. We visited all of the buildings we were allowed, 8 out of 12 total ‘palaces’, which I would more aptly call impressive living quarters, all temples and the Imperial Garden. By the end, I was again beaten down by the heat and sun and my body was completely exhausted by the entire week. But it was all great, I would do it again, in no time. Thanks to a fast train to the airport, a no-hassle flight and a brief taxi ride, I was again in Lingang, ready for more than 5 hours rest. The recovery had begun. 

Week 8 (Part One) - Goin' South

Pretty nice!

Thanks to the generosity of the University and the people within the Marine Science Department, I was afforded time to travel around this country and also have significant costs covered while doing so. I planned a whirlwind trip that would take me to 3 new cities, cover nearly 4000km spreading 1700km+from North to South (equivalent to Boston to Jacksonville, roughly). The trip was planned very carefully, with many factors contributing to the timing of transportation transfers and such.

First, I would travel south, 3 hours by fast train, to Fujian province to the city of Wu Yi, home of Wu Yi Mountain and the surrounding World Heritage area. Once again in the hub that is Hongqaio Railway Station in Shanghai, I saw many people peddling kids toys, probably illegally. These toys had all the stimulus any child could need: lights, sound, movement, all at once. Amazingly, I saw one lady sell 4 within the hour that Jie, my southward leg companion, and I ate lunch. A quick 100RMB. I guess it pays well! The trip south by rail was noticeably different from the trip north. There were steep mountain ranges and rivers that flowed from them along the way. Such moisture allowed the growth of dense forests, rife with bamboo. With more mountains, came way more tunnels. Why go up or around a mountain when you can just go through it? I should also mention, in advance, that the trip back revealed that these big metropolitan areas in the south were not lit up like Christmas trees at night, instead, you would have barely believed the amount of housing existed at all. I found this to be very curious.

Nice jacks! Need replacements, though.

Upon arrival at Wu Yi, we were approached by a taxi driver attempting to solicit his services. Not speaking the language, the interaction seemed very suspicious. This is how human trafficking happens, I thought. Get in my cab, let’s go! It turns out that Jie was negotiating the price. The cabbie wanted to impose a flat rate for any destination and Jie wanted to let the meter run. The cabbie accepted our terms and took us to our hotel for nearly the same price as he initially asked for, in the end. Our hotel room was located near the center of a village/town at the foot of a steep cliff. I was really impressed by this hotel’s appearance. It had a remarkable garden and the grounds were beautiful. It was a great find by Jie. That night, for dinner, we saw many small bats as wandered across the river into the town, which was pretty busy and had the local cuisine: Fish endemic to that one river. It was a pretty tasty (albeit spicy) whitefish. The province is also known for its tea. This was very apparent, with tea shops everywhere. Tea, tea china, and tea furniture could be seen on every block. Also, tea bushes were everywhere. The tea at the restaurant was definitely the best I’ve ever had. (Sidenote: China. You are a very hot country in the summer. Why do you demand to eat and drink things that are even hotter during this time? It’s madness). WuYi also provided some raw instances of China. Five people on a small scooter, a truck parked facing the wrong way in the middle of a 6-lane highway, two separate instances of very public urination by seemingly-sober individuals.

Pretty good!

The next morning, Jie and I headed out: we were going to go rafting through the Wu Yi mountains. We quickly learned that the tickets for the time we initially wanted to go were sold out and that the only way to guarantee such an activity would be to purchase a total park pass for the day, which doubled the cost. It would also require some hustle in hiking a very famous peak, so that we would be able to catch the bus to the rafting area on time. We decided to chance it and doled out the extra cash. A short caravan ride later, we were at the trail to Heavenly Mountain. After following the path for a short while, we came upon the staircase to the top. Along with the rest of China. It was (supposed to be) a one-way staircase, about 2.5 people wide to the top, with semi-frequent overlooks that allowed for traffic to flow more freely. I made frequent use of the handrail, as the drop from the stairs was no joke and the jostling was fairly constant. It was also very sunny and very hot and Jie and I took our packs, because we believed we might not return to the hotel (this was a poor assumption, and in hindsight, was an unnecessary burden – but it makes the story better). When we got to the end of the stairs, there was a more expansive overlook, with multiple vendors and a temple waiting for us. The hardest part of the hike was from this area, which I had initially presumed to be the summit, and the actual summit 300 meters away. I was not mentally prepared for this extra ascent, but completed it without much trouble. The descending trail was a staircase along the back of the mountain, in the shade of the forest. By the end of the hike, Jie and I were drenched from the heat, but we had made excellent time and easily caught a bus to the rafting site and even caught (an overpriced, tourist-area) lunch.

We're being followed....

From there, it was onto the bamboo rafts. We arrival a little early and loitered a bit before it became apparent that we should join the line early. The crowd of people swelled at the door and tightly pushed through when the doors were opened. From there, Jie and I were assigned 4 other travelers to complete a full boat roster and followed the crowd to a Disney-type switchback line that seemed to go on forever. When we were finally spit out, there were endless amounts of rafts. We boarded ours and pushed off, along with everyone else, and headed down the 1-5ft deep stream through the mountain range in an endless line of rafts. Our raft, like the others, was powered and steered by two guides with long, skinny bamboo poles. The raft was outfitted with 6 bamboo chairs and was surprisingly super-buoyant, only suffering minor spillover during the gentle rapids we encountered. The views were incredible and constant, while the ride was so relaxing that Jie caught some shuteye for a decent stretch of it. Our raft was faster than others, as our guides took no break for the near-2 hour duration of the trip and were also a little peeved than the boat didn’t want to shill the extra 20RMB/person to hear about the region during the trip. No issue for us, as we had a 40 minute fast train south to catch to Jie’s hometown of Nanping.

Location, location, location

Jie’s parents picked us up from the station and drove straight to my hotel. It was China’s National Army Day, and Jie’s father and grandfather both served as army personnel. I was also to stay in an army-affiliated hotel, though I would admit, it was very much a typical hotel. The drive from the station to the heart of the station was really something to behold. The terrain is unsuitable for a local airport, but very suitable for your viewing pleasure. Situated in a location where two rivers merge into one, the city’s downtown area is densely packed on the banks of the water, with steep mountains preventing any sprawl. Multiple bridges span the water, including a foot bridge, connecting the two sides. After a much-needed shower, it was time for dinner. Dinner, in the restaurant within the hotel (a realllly common thing, and the restaurants are good, too), also happened to be with most of Jie’s family. I counted 4 generations of Caos. I ate bamboo (very good) and coagulated pork blood (like a pudding brick, but not great) and other delicious food and a good time was had by all.

Even during the uncommon dryness, still plenty of water

The next day, Jie took me to his version of Acadia National Park, Xiyuan Canyon. A truly remarkable place, the area claimed to has 95% forest cover and over 12,000 species. There is one single-lane road, running concurrent with a vibrant stream, that supports two-way traffic that runs through the canyon to the small village on the other side. There are places for tourists and children alike along this road and views of the steep, forested side of the gorge that included obvious spots were powerful waterfalls frequently run, just not after such a dry period that happened to include my visit. Once through the gorge, I found myself in a large valley, still surrounded by steep, forested mountains. We made our way to the other end of this valley, in search of a trail up one of these mountains, but found the trail to be closed for repairs. I was not terribly sad, the two-hour canyon hike was plenty for me, as the kilometers were starting to add up on my legs.

Looking back at the canyon/gorge

After the hike, we wandered around the streets of the city for a bit before heading to Jie’s family apartment for a brief rest before we were on the fast rail northbound. It was about this time where we started to realize that my journey back to my SHOU hotel room would be one of incredibly tight scheduling. It required a lot of hustle. Things were looking good, with the train arriving 2 minutes early to nearly every station, including the 2^nd to last, but then we arrived at the terminal station 10 minutes later than expected somehow, further crunching my time. We ran way ahead of the crowd as soon as the doors opened and, after a brief difficulty with my ticket not being immediately read by the turnstile exit, fled to the metro station and caught a train 5 minutes after leaving the fast train. Good time. We figured that I would have a minimum of 5 minutes to make my final transfer and catch the last train back to Lingang and man, that was the case. Running with what I would guess were other SHOU residents, I just missed a train, but it turned out to be the penultimate run, thankfully. After some confusion whether the final train to pull in was indeed headed the direction I desired, I hopped on and finally rested my nerves. 

Week 7 - Lazing in Lingang

Half of the food is set

This week was mostly spent recharging after the time in Shanghai, but it did include work and dinner at friends’ apartments. I should say, one of the things about China that perplexes me is their approach to real estate and homeownership. It is incredibly complicated, but I will briefly just say that the government owns all property and people can only purchase 70-yr leases. If the government determines conditions too poor for living, the land is repossessed and tenant transferred to another parcel of equal value at the government’s choosing. Leasing prices are set as a price/square meter. In Beijing, prices downtown with approach 70,000RMB (maybe around 10,500 USD) per square meter. In Lingang, there are more affordable prices, as the government is attempting to lure highly educated people to this new city. Two of my friends just moved into an apartment that was approximately 2200RMB/sq. meter. It is a typical apartment, with 2 bedrooms and a connected living/dining room plus a small kitchen and bathroom. In these apartments, there were dinners for 12. Space was difficult to come by on the table, but it worked without too much trouble. Miserably hot, however, as the A/C could not overcome the amount of people. It was good to soak up some of the Lingang atmosphere, as I am starting to feel the end of my time closing in…

Week 6 - Tunas...and touring

Shanghai Museum stairs

This week, a group of 7 SHOU employees traveled to downtown Shanghai for 5 nights to attend the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission meeting for temperate tunas, albacore in this instance. I am 100% sure this meeting would be of interest to people of fisheries backgrounds only. Many countries coming together to talk about the science of assessment and then reviewing the technical document before submitting it to the science committee who will then recommend it to the managers. I will just say, with respect to the meeting, that I contributed some, mostly on language, and that was enough to feel validated in attending. My roommate for the meeting was a Ph.D student at SHOU from Cameroon, Richard. We had many interesting conversations, about the scientists at the meeting and his country, mostly, but also spent most of the week trying to decide who was generating the most stares from Chinese locals on our walks around the town at night (the Chinese are pretty famous for staring, I guess). Once the meeting was over, we were barred from another technical meeting, which was confidential, leaving us to fill the time on the 

I like dinosaurs!

town. The first night was just a walkaround for us. “Wanda Plaza” (?) just walking around a mall, getting out of the hotel and stretching the legs. But, as Richard left to attend personal business, I was given a grand tour the next day from some SHOU students. I went to the Shanghai Natural History Museum, Shanghai Museum and Shanghai Aquarium, all in one day, which was something. I took >500 photos and killed the battery of two phones doing so. So that was another thing. It was a pretty great day of touring.

                Let’s start with the Natural History Museum. I am pretty sure they had everything included in the building. From pre-Cambrian Era to present and even exhibits on the near future. Just an astounding array of exhibits. We spent 3.5 hours there and we were moving fast, as to complete all three stops during the day. I could have spent a month in that building, I am sure of it. Fossils, skeletons, tons of taxidermy (most of it good), videos, pictures…it was really comprehensive.

                The next stop was the Shanghai Museum. This museum focused mostly on ancient artifacts and relics of Chinese culture. Bronze, stone, jade, currency (China issued first paper money), calligraphy, paintings, furniture, and official seals through the dynasties, there were many exhibits to visit in this 4 story building. I 

Jade Carvings...pretty good!

admit I am not necessarily so interested in seals, currency, calligraphy and these types of items, so the hurried nature of this visit did not necessarily dampen my mood much.

I mean, when you are looking forward to the Shanghai Aquarium, it is easy to stay positive. Another massive building with many exhibits, some of the standouts included the ray tank, filled with many playful rays to delight the spectators; the seal tank, which maybe was not big enough, but still saw seals swimming laps; the penguin display, which lacked an underwater viewing arena, but still, penguins; and then the crown jewel, the world’s longer underwater tunnel, complete with rays, turtles, groupers and sharks. Really a tremendous exhibit to finish the 

Rays in flight

aquarium tour. Some things that struck me were the amount of pictures being taken. Maybe this is because I haven’t been to an aquarium in the cameraphone-era, but I still feel like it was excessive. There were even stages for pictures to be taken: white shark, penguin and…giraffe? It’s true. Also, most everyone was banging on the tank glass to get whatever critter was inside to present themselves in an active way. You may not be surprised to learn that this was ineffective and annoying. Also, I should mention that China has probably perfected the gift shop. There is always a gift shop and patrons always browse. The trick is, most only take pictures with the gifts. Good way to game the system, I suppose. Anyway, it is a business idea, I think.

Inside 'Linnaeus' Labortory

After pictures were taken, we, being my two student-guides plus myself, met up with others at the famous (I guess) Super Brand Mall on the river for dinner, before taking in the city skyline, including a now close-up of the Pearl and Shanghai Towers and looking back across the river to the place I had been previously (Nangjing Road and People’s Square).

Note: During this trip I discovered Banana Juice (delicious) and deep fried chicken feet sole (fine, but chewy).