Going South to Guilin

In addition to our excursion to Huangshan, we took another 3-day trip south to the city of Guilin. Set along the Li River, it is another beautiful region filled with green fields, cragged peaks and mountains, and a lot of tourists! There is a noticeable difference in the amount of influence from Western tourists just by the types of shops and restaurants in the town, such as an Irish Pub, a German restaurant, and of course all the American fast-food chains.

The Waterfall Hotel (a real waterfall on the front side every night!) (Top)

View from the Li River Cruise (Bottom)

The first day we set out on a four hour boat cruise down the Li River. The boat passed 83 km of terrain, and the rugged mountains, lush green fields, and wild animals made for a lovely ride. The boat docked in another city called Yangshuo (much smaller, but unbelievably more touristy as well.) West Street, or the main street, is lined with shops and restaurants all catering to foreign tourists. We toured the area during the day, and at night saw one of the most famous shows in China. Titled "Impressions," the show is set on the Li River with the mountains as the backdrop. It is famous because it features over 600 performers throughout the show, and was also directed by the same person who later worked on the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. It was very impressive! Much of it was in Chinese song, unfortunately not understandable to myself, yet it was again visually beautiful and offered an

insight into a lot of the local minority cultures.

Holding the moon at Moon Valley Hill (Left)

Che is everywhere! Communist preparation shop on West Street, Yangshuo (Right)

The next day we left Yangshuo and headed back towards Guilin to see the famous terraced rice patties. After hours climbing higher and higher into the mountains (in our van), we reached the area. We had the unique opportunity of visiting two of the local minority villages, one featuring ladies who never cut their hair! Some of their locks are over 8 meters long, going all the way to the floor. After we finally made it to the rice terraces, which during this time of the year are all green.

Women showing their long hair (Top)

Top of the rice fields (Bottom)

There is a short climb to the viewing point area which displays all of the fields in the area. It's a beautiful sight, of supposedly the best terraces in the world!

Before flying back to Beijing the last day, we finished our tour of Guilin by going to a few of the famous sites actually in the city. First we visited 2 parks, both set on single mountain peaks sticking out of the ground, called Fubo Hill and Elephant Trunk Hill. They were lovely natural areas, yet the second was definitely more unique. Jutting out from the left side of the peak was a rock formation the really did look like an elephant's trunk dipping into the water. After lunch we visited the "best cave in the region" named Reed Flute Cave. Chinese caves are quite different, as they put multi-colored lights on all of the special areas (somewhat ruining the natural beauty of the cave!)

Elephant Trunk Hill

At night we hopped on a flight to Beijing where we would spend our last few days in China visiting family and touring the city.

Kaká's face is everywhere in this town!

Hiking in Huangshan

After spending a week in Shanghai, we left the big city and went on a three-day excursion to a city (though much more rural) southwest of Shanghai called Huangshan. Also called the "Yellow Mountain," it is an area famous for the unique peaks and cliffs of the mountain range that inhabits the region. After finally making it to town after another delayed flight, we ate dinner in the old city center of Huangshan on Friday night before heading out Saturday morning to the actual mountains where we would be spending the next two days.

The mountains in the clouds (Left)

The stone step path (Right)

Our journey started with a drive to the cable car that after only a twelve minute ride took us up through the clouds to a very high spot in the mountains. We were suddenly transported to a completely different world, where instead of hot, humid, and crowded it was cloudy, damp, and serene. The late morning fog was pretty thick, making the area feel eerie-like and mysterious. The scenery was beautiful, lusciously green with pine trees coming out of the sides of rocks. We were to stay the night at a hotel higher up in the mountains, and first had to hike one hour to get there.

Walking the paths you immediately notice the three things that this region is famous for: the pine trees, the clouds hanging to the peaks, and the jagged staggered mountains all around. After arriving at the hotel, we took another hike in the afternoon to the "Grand Canyon of the West Sea." Another hike full of climbing up and down thousands of stone stairs, the view of the steep valley below was beautiful along the way.

Have to watch where you're walking!

The view at sunset

Unfortunately, since it was summer there was an enormous amount of people on the mountain. Mostly Chinese, it felt a bit like summer camp around the hotel with people everywhere in large groups taking hikes and hanging out in the area.

The next morning my father and I braved the warnings and took the challenge of hiking one hour of straight stairs (2.5km) uphill to the Bright Summit. Though steep indeed, we didn't have any problems except the large amounts of people along the way! The views were amazing from the top; the day was exceptionally clear and we could see for miles and miles around. Unfortunately it seemed like everyone else had the same idea we did and it became quickly crowded and quickly unenjoyable, so we headed back down to the hotel and soon after to the cable car.

Finally at the Bright Summit

At night we went to the infamous cultural show of Huangshan. Showcasing what seemed like hundreds of performers, it was a mixture of musical, play, and acrobatic show with crazy costumes and a plot that didn't quite make sense. Yet, it was visually impressive with spectacular colors and acrobatics. Only pictures can really do it justice!

Sightseeing in Shanghai

After fully touring the World Expo, our time in Shanghai was almost at the end and so we decided to take a day and tour some of the famous parts of the city. Most of the popular places are actually recently-built skyscrapers and towers as well as modern shopping and eating areas.

The Pearl Tower (Left)

The Shanghai World Financial Center (Right)

In the morning we headed to the new Shanghai World Financial Center. Towering above all the other skyscrapers in the Pudong district, the Financial Center is now the tallest building in China and the second tallest building in the world (coming in right after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.) The view from 474m up on the highest floor is quite amazing.

The view from the top of the World Financial Center

Though the sky was a bit hazy, you can still see the outlying area and even all the way down through windows in the floor! In the same area also stands the Pearl Tower (somewhat futuristic resembling a building constructed by aliens) as well as the Jin Mao Tower, which before the Financial Center was the tallest in China. It is a great part of Shanghai to visit as it offers a view of modern China, as well as shopping at many famous stores!

In the afternoon we stopped at the Yuyuan Garden and Bazaar for some shopping, It has a similar feel to the Khan al-Khalily market in Cairo, yet bigger and less dusty with more people and even Western restaurants in the mix. The gardens and waterfront area in the middle are a nice sight along with the old Chinese style architecture of the buildings.

Pictures from Yuyuan Gardens and Bazaar

At night we visited what is maybe the most famous area in Shanghai- a walkway along the waterfront called the Bund. I imagined it very old and traditional, but what I found was a modern, newly-constructed elevated walkway along the river that faced all of the new skyscrapers, including the World Financial Center we had visited earlier. It is quite a sight with everything lit up. We took a river cruise and were able to get a nice (illuminated) view of the whole downtown area. After, we walked down the Bund to the famous pedestrian street Nanjing Lu. There were so many thousands of people everywhere you looked that it was hard to enjoy the street without feeling like you were in a mob leaving New York City after New Years Eve!

Shanghai at night (Top)

Nanjing Lu (Bottom)

Nevertheless, it is fun to see all of the stores and restaurants and get a taste for the nightlife in Shanghai.

The Bund walkway along the left-hand side

Tales of China: Starting in Shanghai

*For the last 3 weeks I have been traveling through China, beginning in Shanghai and ending in Beijing. Unfortunately all blog sites are blocked by the Chinese government so I could not post while I was there. These are the tales of the trip!*

China is unlike any other country in the world. It's size is enormous, it is filled with more than a billion people, and there is so much to see and do that just a few weeks is simply not enough to see a small fraction of what the country has to offer. This trip was much different than my weeks in the Middle East earlier in the summer. First of all, I was fortunate enough to travel with my family (or I was fortunate enough that they took me along with them!) Also, for the first time in a long time I did not speak a word of the local language, (Mandarin.) I had been in China for the first time 10 years ago when I was only 12 years old, it was actually my first trip outside of the United States! Yet returning again this time as an 'adult' with more experience, both in travel and in life in general, put a new perspective on the culture and country.

The China pavilion at the World Expo

We started our journey in Shanghai, partly to visit family of my father's wife and partly to visit the city as well as the World Expo of 2010. Shanghai is an incredibly modern city, center of trade, finance, and business for the country. There are a lot of neat things in the city to visit, but most of our time was spent visiting the World Expo. Our of six days in Shanghai, we went to the Expo four times, and it was completely worth it!

The USA Pavilion

A view of the Germany Pavilion from inside of the France Pavilion

The World Expo is known for being an international event to showcase countries and businesses from around the world, yet interestingly enough this Expo seemed to be overwhelmingly Chinese (which makes sense considering China makes up 1/6 of the world's population). They were everywhere! We only saw a small group of foreigners on most of the days. There were almost 200 countries presented, each with a pavilion to showcase their country. Though some were big and some smaller, the exterior of each was designed in a unique way which drew in the tourists to see what was inside. Some we waited longer for than others (Spain), and some we were fortunate enough to get a special VIP entry to (Saudi Arabia, France, China), yet all were aesthetically fascinating. Unfortunately the interior was less interesting than the outside, but it was still fun to visit each country and see what it showcased and offered.

Previously I always thought of the World Expo as a historic event, also called the World's Fair and most popular in the early 2oth century for being the first place to showcase new inventions that now we take for granted. However, this Expo was focused on sustainable development with the slogan, "Better City, Better Life." Visiting the 2010 Expo took away my archaic idea and introduced a new one that was visionary, looking to the future instead of the past.

The futuristic United Kingdom Pavilion, one of the most popular (and hardest to enter!)

My favorite pavilions (that we entered) ended up being Spain, Mexico, China, Chile, Morocco, and number one: Saudi Arabia.

The exterior of the Mexico Pavilion