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| Forbidden |
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| I am not sure what this dish is! |
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| Needs no words. Really. |
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| One word only. Saves money on spaces. |
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| Do you turn it off when you start? |
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| Whatever it is, it is fast. |
Showing posts with label China. Show all posts
Showing posts with label China. Show all posts
2.11.2011
Chinglish
1.26.2011
Flat Stanley Climbs the Wall
Have any of you ever heard of Flat Stanley? Me neither. Until a little while ago. Mr. Lovely's very lovely niece is doing a project in school where you have to draw a person (aka Stanley), color him in and then send him to your relatives and friends. Then they take him somewhere, Disneyland or the Golden Gate Bridge, and take a photo of him living it up in said place.
We took Stanley to the Great Wall. He complained about the cold and the 4 mile hike the entire time, but he was still smiling in all the photos! Of course we had to go with him. I mean, I didn't really want to go, but since Stanley was insisting, I finally gave in. We went to a town called Jinshanling and hiked 6 km (roughly 4 miles) to the town of Simatai along the wall. It was about 15 degrees and windy, although it was sunny so it wasn't too bad. This is a great way to see a lot of the wall, instead of just getting dropped at one town and going to the wall, taking photos and leaving. You really get a nice feel for the wall. It was great, no pun intended!!!
So, did you know the wall is actually 8800 km (about 5000 miles) long? That's pretty long. So we only covered a fraction of a percentage of it! Several walls have been built since the 5th century BC that are referred to collectively as the Great Wall, which has been rebuilt and maintained from the 5th century BC through the 16th century. One of the most famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. Little of that wall remains; the majority of the existing wall was built during the Ming Dynasty.
Okay so that concludes my history portion. The dynasties of China are confusing enough!
PS Just for fun I googled "flat stanley" and there is a website!! haha. You can read more about it HERE. I am SOOOO out of the loop!
We took Stanley to the Great Wall. He complained about the cold and the 4 mile hike the entire time, but he was still smiling in all the photos! Of course we had to go with him. I mean, I didn't really want to go, but since Stanley was insisting, I finally gave in. We went to a town called Jinshanling and hiked 6 km (roughly 4 miles) to the town of Simatai along the wall. It was about 15 degrees and windy, although it was sunny so it wasn't too bad. This is a great way to see a lot of the wall, instead of just getting dropped at one town and going to the wall, taking photos and leaving. You really get a nice feel for the wall. It was great, no pun intended!!!
So, did you know the wall is actually 8800 km (about 5000 miles) long? That's pretty long. So we only covered a fraction of a percentage of it! Several walls have been built since the 5th century BC that are referred to collectively as the Great Wall, which has been rebuilt and maintained from the 5th century BC through the 16th century. One of the most famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. Little of that wall remains; the majority of the existing wall was built during the Ming Dynasty.
Okay so that concludes my history portion. The dynasties of China are confusing enough!
PS Just for fun I googled "flat stanley" and there is a website!! haha. You can read more about it HERE. I am SOOOO out of the loop!
1.24.2011
Notes On China
I am going to have to do a few China recaps, since I couldn't get onto blogger, I didnt really post too much. However, today I am short of time, so I will leave you with a few random facts about China.
- % of population under the poverty line (US$1/day) in 1979: 64%
-% of population under the poverty line in 2007: 10%
-Average annual income in Shanghai 2007: US$3090
- Average annual income in urban areas 2007: $1819
- Average annual income in rural areas 2007: $545
And my favorite:
Number of fingers lost in factory accidents in the Pearl River Delta in 2004: 40,000
- % of population under the poverty line (US$1/day) in 1979: 64%
-% of population under the poverty line in 2007: 10%
-Average annual income in Shanghai 2007: US$3090
- Average annual income in urban areas 2007: $1819
- Average annual income in rural areas 2007: $545
And my favorite:
Number of fingers lost in factory accidents in the Pearl River Delta in 2004: 40,000
1.18.2011
Kung Fu Fighting
Have you ever taken the subway in a big city? Have you done it during rush hour? With your next 6 months worth of clothing on your back? We usually try to avoid the subways during rush hour times and sometimes if we do have our luggage, we will walk or even spring for a cab rather than bashing people with our items.
However, when you live in a country with approximately 1.5 billion people, you get bumped around no matter what. The subways are always full; people are rushing on and off and up and down the stairs. It is quite a sight. But the best was today, when we HAD to ride during rush hour. We were smashed into the car (luckily without bags!) with about oh, maybe 1.4 billion other people. You can't move or hold on to anything; you just hope that if the train stops the other 1.39 billion people will hold you up.
This has happened to me before. In San Francisco coming home on the MUNI after a Giants game is a pretty tight squeeze. I have ridden a non-air conditioned packed full (smelly) subway in Paris. In Japan, they have an attendant with a cattle prod who keeps pushing more and more (and more!) people into the train. However, I think China tops them all. Not only were we smashed in so tightly, but if someone in the middle wants to get out they just squirm their way to the edge. Even better was something else I saw today; it was basically a mosh pit of subway riders. When the train stopped, people were trying to run off the train; others were trying to run on…It was like they were fighting. Everyone was shifting and leaning and pushing and jumping and swaying and GWWWWARRRR! I felt like body slamming someone. Everyone else seemed to be having fun doing it.
As funny as this is when you are only doing it once in a while, the sheer excess of people in China has also caused us a little problem. February 3rd is Chinese New Year. That and the (basically) two week period before that are called the Spring Festival. This means: starting Wednesday the 19th and going until February 3rd, people are on vacation. Kids are out of school; people in the cities go home to visit their families; EVERYONE travels somewhere. What does this mean for us? This means we cannot get a train, bus, boat OR car out of Beijing. It's like a bad movie.
Our plan was to go from Beijing south, eventually ending up in Macau, where we would celebrate the New Year and then go to Vietnam. CHANGE IN PLANS!!! We can't get out. Even if we do get out somehow, we won't be able to go anywhere from there. So we have decided to, unfortunately, leave China early. Bangkok (and about a 70 degree raise in temperature) here we come!!! Instead of heading south from China to Vietnam, we will head north from Thailand to Vietnam. Crisis (and cold weather) averted. Phew.
Have you ever been stuck somewhere? Was it because of weather…or…? Did it ruin your trip? Are you a calm traveler or do you freak out in situations like this?
However, when you live in a country with approximately 1.5 billion people, you get bumped around no matter what. The subways are always full; people are rushing on and off and up and down the stairs. It is quite a sight. But the best was today, when we HAD to ride during rush hour. We were smashed into the car (luckily without bags!) with about oh, maybe 1.4 billion other people. You can't move or hold on to anything; you just hope that if the train stops the other 1.39 billion people will hold you up.
This has happened to me before. In San Francisco coming home on the MUNI after a Giants game is a pretty tight squeeze. I have ridden a non-air conditioned packed full (smelly) subway in Paris. In Japan, they have an attendant with a cattle prod who keeps pushing more and more (and more!) people into the train. However, I think China tops them all. Not only were we smashed in so tightly, but if someone in the middle wants to get out they just squirm their way to the edge. Even better was something else I saw today; it was basically a mosh pit of subway riders. When the train stopped, people were trying to run off the train; others were trying to run on…It was like they were fighting. Everyone was shifting and leaning and pushing and jumping and swaying and GWWWWARRRR! I felt like body slamming someone. Everyone else seemed to be having fun doing it.
As funny as this is when you are only doing it once in a while, the sheer excess of people in China has also caused us a little problem. February 3rd is Chinese New Year. That and the (basically) two week period before that are called the Spring Festival. This means: starting Wednesday the 19th and going until February 3rd, people are on vacation. Kids are out of school; people in the cities go home to visit their families; EVERYONE travels somewhere. What does this mean for us? This means we cannot get a train, bus, boat OR car out of Beijing. It's like a bad movie.
Our plan was to go from Beijing south, eventually ending up in Macau, where we would celebrate the New Year and then go to Vietnam. CHANGE IN PLANS!!! We can't get out. Even if we do get out somehow, we won't be able to go anywhere from there. So we have decided to, unfortunately, leave China early. Bangkok (and about a 70 degree raise in temperature) here we come!!! Instead of heading south from China to Vietnam, we will head north from Thailand to Vietnam. Crisis (and cold weather) averted. Phew.
Have you ever been stuck somewhere? Was it because of weather…or…? Did it ruin your trip? Are you a calm traveler or do you freak out in situations like this?
1.16.2011
Summer Palace in Winter
The architecture is gorgeous. The roofs are all hip and gable and have jade statues of dragons and different sorts of other animals on the peaks. There are arched stone bridges across the channels. The interiors of the buildings are all carved woodwork, meticulously painted. The palace sits on a hill where you can see for miles and has a great view of the frozen lake with all the little skaters on it.
However, even though all of this was great, my favorite (or maybe the thing that amused me the most) was the names of things. Here are a few examples. See if you can guess what kind of structure these are.
The Realm of Multitudinous Fragrance: If your answer was "a stone and brick archway", you are right! Apparently it was thought that it resembled the holy land of the Buddha, hence the name.
Hall of Dispelling Clouds: Yup, it's a hall. It was built to celebrate the Empress' birthday.
Garden of Harmonious Interests: Yup, it's a garden. I guess you can't go there with anyone you don't agree with? P.S. Mr. Lovely and I did not go there.
Okay the last two weren't that difficult. But isn't that fun? Don't you want to visit those places? Doesn't it seem like nothing but good could come to you here? Have you read Anne of Green Gables? Don't those names sound like something she would make up? There are also names such as The Hall of Benevolence and Longevity, The Hill of Longevity, The Temple of the Sea of Wisdom and many more.
I guess what I am trying to say is, even if you come to Beijing in the winter time, don't let the name fool you; the Summer Palace is just as fun in the wintertime!!
What is your favorite place to go in the summer/winter? What is your favorite fun(ny) name of a place near you? (P.S. Near my parents' house are the towns of Cool, CA and Maybe, CA.)
1.10.2011
Blocked! and other China randoms
- The number one MUST HAVE item in China -- a shiny poofy jacket with a fur lined hood. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE has one. Old, young, boys, girls and everything in between. EVERYONE has one. Except me. THIS is a good example of what I am talking about. Are people wearing these at home? I am so behind in the fashion world.
- I am happy to report that ALL BOOTS are now in style. I have seen short ones, tall ones, brown, black, slipper style, high heel, low heel, no heel, furry, pointed, round, square....etc. No matter your boot style, all is good!! Now would be a good time to stock up on all of your favorites. Maybe I need a bigger backpack. Or a Chinese Lady Bag. I guess I am in the right place for that.
- Best thing about China? Meat on sticks. Pork buns on the street. Dumplings on the street. So I guess what I mean to say is...street food. For about a dollar, you can get 2 chicken on a stick, 6 pork bun or 6 dumpling. I have eaten about 100 of each already.
- NOT cheap? Coffee!!!! Darn it. I tried to live without it for a few days and had a huge headache. So, I am living on Nescafe instant coffee for now (and supplementing with a treat of a mocha from time to time)
- A couple of Chinese words (and totally butchered spelling I am sure) I have learned: Thank you = Xiexie (pronounced shay-shay), Hello = ni how
- Price of a beer = .50 cents
- Price of a Starbucks coffee = $4.50
- Price of a clean room, with heat and a hot shower = $12
- Price of a clean room, without heat and who knows if the shower was hot because I wasn't about to try it = $7
- Price of a sleeper bed on a train from Shanghai to Beijing (~650 miles) = $50
That's it for now! I am still emailing posts in and am going to try to hopefully have a couple pictures included here! Please let me know if they don't show up! The round door is in Little Likeng, Wuyuan Province. The tower is the Oriental Pearl in Shanghai.
1.09.2011
El Willy Food Review
When we are traveling, we generally eat a lot of top ramen. For less than 50 cents a meal, or $1.50 a day, this is how we can afford to travel. Seriously. By saving on food, we gain an extra day here or there to do the things we want to do. SO… top ramen is my friend.
However, once every blue moon we like to go out for a "real shebang" and eat at a nice restaurant, if one is available. January's pick of the month was El Willy, in Shanghai. El Willy is a tapas joint and we saw it on the ONE English channel in China that we get, CCTV. We decided to see if it was any good.
By the way, if any of these are spelled wrong, its because this computer doesn't know any Spanish or Italian, and I am not good at spelling. I apologize in advance.
What we ordered:
Pickled anchovies
Octopus with Iberian Ham and garlic aioli (photo at bottom)
Crispy suckling pig, cooked 12 hours
Seared Fois Gras
Pork Loin with arugula and parmesan
Layered Fois Gras pate with croustini
Our Ratings, out of 10: (*=Mr Lovely, & = me)
Food Quality and Taste: *9, &8 (great food, some dishes were small)
Ambiance: *9, &9 (very open space, warm and friendly)
Service: *7, &8 (waiter was very nice, coffee and wine were a little slow to arrive)
Price: *7, &6 (it was a little too expensive for the size of the plate)
Location: *6, &6m (could walk easily to restaurant, however, it had no view whatsoever)
Total: 75 Average = 7.5/10
I would recommend this place to anyone if they are ever in Shanghai and want a nice Spanish meal. My favorite dish sways between the crispy pork and the first fois gras dish. However, if you are looking for a water view, this is not the place for you. If you want huge portions, this is also not where you should go. Stick with the traditional Chinese, family style portions. Mr Lovely had to get a hamburger after eating here.
Please let me know, as I am emailing due to blogger issues: Is there a picture below? Are there any links? I have no idea if anything is working and will be in China with problems for another few weeks.
The photo below should be of the Iberian ham wrapped Octopus. Yum! Hopefully the photo, if it is there, is not super huge.

However, once every blue moon we like to go out for a "real shebang" and eat at a nice restaurant, if one is available. January's pick of the month was El Willy, in Shanghai. El Willy is a tapas joint and we saw it on the ONE English channel in China that we get, CCTV. We decided to see if it was any good.
By the way, if any of these are spelled wrong, its because this computer doesn't know any Spanish or Italian, and I am not good at spelling. I apologize in advance.
What we ordered:
Pickled anchovies
Octopus with Iberian Ham and garlic aioli (photo at bottom)
Crispy suckling pig, cooked 12 hours
Seared Fois Gras
Pork Loin with arugula and parmesan
Layered Fois Gras pate with croustini
Our Ratings, out of 10: (*=Mr Lovely, & = me)
Food Quality and Taste: *9, &8 (great food, some dishes were small)
Ambiance: *9, &9 (very open space, warm and friendly)
Service: *7, &8 (waiter was very nice, coffee and wine were a little slow to arrive)
Price: *7, &6 (it was a little too expensive for the size of the plate)
Location: *6, &6m (could walk easily to restaurant, however, it had no view whatsoever)
Total: 75 Average = 7.5/10
I would recommend this place to anyone if they are ever in Shanghai and want a nice Spanish meal. My favorite dish sways between the crispy pork and the first fois gras dish. However, if you are looking for a water view, this is not the place for you. If you want huge portions, this is also not where you should go. Stick with the traditional Chinese, family style portions. Mr Lovely had to get a hamburger after eating here.
Please let me know, as I am emailing due to blogger issues: Is there a picture below? Are there any links? I have no idea if anything is working and will be in China with problems for another few weeks.
The photo below should be of the Iberian ham wrapped Octopus. Yum! Hopefully the photo, if it is there, is not super huge.

Big Trouble in Little China
Did you know that in China they DO NOT LIKE BLOGGER. In fact, they block it. You cannot get on any blogspot sites (sorry guys, but I am still checking you out in Reader); you cannot get onto blogger.com to post your blogs. So, I am going to try to post by email; hopefully the formatting isn't totally messed up because I have had that experience before when emailing. We shall see. The saddest part is that I can't even access my blog to make sure it posted okay and I can't access anyone else's to comment!!!! This sucks.
I guess you can help me. Is my format messed up? Do you know how to get around the blogger ban in China? I am sorry I am not commenting on anyone's posts!!
Besides that, being in China is interesting. First of all, barely anything is in English; barely anyone speaks English. We always pretty much do all our travel on our own; we don't use tours. Here it is a little bit difficult. You should have seen us when we first arrived at the Guangzhou train station and ALL THE INFORMATION was in Chinese. With kanji (Chinese characters), NOT Latin letters. To top it off, it is almost Chinese New Years, so we arrived and there were 17 mile lines at all the ticket booths. We sat and scratched our heads for a while, let me tell you. We are using a lot of pointing, sign language and nodding etc.
We finally figured it out, paid too much for our train ticket, and were on our way. Next we wanted to do a tour of an area where there were a lot of little towns and ancient architecture. We got our tour, complete with an overpriced driver who didn't speak ANY English! Its been an interesting adventure! Ordering food is a lot of grunting and pointing at pictures, if there are any. Luckily I know how to say Chow Mien (fried noodles) so that is my fall back plan. Hopefully I don't hurt myself, because asking for the hospital would be downright impossible.
To top it off, it is winter. I mean, snowing and freezing cold winter. Many of the places where we, gung ho as we were, thought we would "go hiking", are frozen solid. You can't get in or out and the locals don't have any water or electricity. But it is beautiful all the same. We are in Shanghai now, more on that later, and heading for Beijing in a few days, more on that later as well.
I hope it is warmer where you are than it is here! Please let me know if anyone has any tech savvy Chinese blogger evasion tips!!!
I am attempting to post a photo below. Please let me know if there isn't one!!! It is Shanghai at night.

11.05.2010
Go Home!
All I have to say is....2 days until I go home! Yay. Cookies beware, I am going to cook and eat you.
Today we are in Hong Kong. First, we spent a quick two days in Guangzhou, China, where all we did was walk around looking at lights and dried snake skins and mushrooms. Actually that is a lie. We also ate 3 big macs and a S load of meat on a stick. Funny story - I wanted Cantonese food; I have been dying to try the "real" Chinese food. However, Mr Lovely was dying for a burger. So, we spotted Micky D's and we decided HE would get a big Mac and then I would go get Cantonese. He went to the counter and returned to the table with this story:
Him: I want a number 3
The sweet little 15 yr old cashier: Number 3?
Him: yes, and an apple pie
Her: hm?
Him: number 3
The girl gets the manager.
The manager: yes?
Him: number 3
Manager: 3?
Him: yes
Then he comes to the table with....you guessed it, THREE Big Mac Meals! Three. So I ate one.
Then we walked around and found the best place EVER. Chicken on a stick. Octopus...ON A STICK. Little balls or wieners on a stick. Little balls not on a stick. And so much more. The next day we tried them all. Octopus wins, hands down.
Now we are in Hong Kong, eating more delicious food and seeing the sights (ie a TON of shopping areas). BUT, in only 2 days (Sunday) I get on a plane and fly home. I am looking forward to being home for a while. Family, friends...see you soon!
Today we are in Hong Kong. First, we spent a quick two days in Guangzhou, China, where all we did was walk around looking at lights and dried snake skins and mushrooms. Actually that is a lie. We also ate 3 big macs and a S load of meat on a stick. Funny story - I wanted Cantonese food; I have been dying to try the "real" Chinese food. However, Mr Lovely was dying for a burger. So, we spotted Micky D's and we decided HE would get a big Mac and then I would go get Cantonese. He went to the counter and returned to the table with this story:
Him: I want a number 3
The sweet little 15 yr old cashier: Number 3?
Him: yes, and an apple pie
Her: hm?
Him: number 3
The girl gets the manager.
The manager: yes?
Him: number 3
Manager: 3?
Him: yes
Then he comes to the table with....you guessed it, THREE Big Mac Meals! Three. So I ate one.
Now we are in Hong Kong, eating more delicious food and seeing the sights (ie a TON of shopping areas). BUT, in only 2 days (Sunday) I get on a plane and fly home. I am looking forward to being home for a while. Family, friends...see you soon!
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