YangShuo (03-Jan-09 till 06-Jan-09) – River Cruising

A Mecca for backpackers… the attractions are similar to GuiLin i.e. the beauty of river and hills, but YangShuo is more laidback and less hassles.

River cruising is a must-do. The manually maneuvered bamboo raft was drifting slowly on the YuLong River, complete serene, quiet and peaceful. The reflection of the hills on the mirror flat river composed natural beautiful Chinese paintings. This was my preference.

The trip on the higher traffic Li River was quite noisy. Tens of ferries were cruising on this wider river, the sceneries were grander but the engine of the bamboo rafts was disturbing our mood throughout the trip.

LongSheng (02-Jan-09) – Terraced Fields

Acc’ to the locals, their life had been greatly improved ever since the asphalt road to this village was paved, under the governmental plan to help developing tourism in this area. In the last decade, people were basically isolated from the civilization, students had to walk to school miles away daily over the mountains, communication to outside was completely cut off during the hard winter. Nowadays tourism has become the main income resources for the locals, roughly 60 motels in this small village.

The terraced fields cover large area of mountain slopes, construction began since half a millennium ago, the idea was to solve the problems of agriculture lands shortage and prevent soil erosion. The sceneries now were not spectacular, the spring and harvesting season should be beautiful.

There were different tribes residing at this area. On the hill, a young lady from Yao tribe offered to lay down her long hair for photographing, with small amount in return. I rejected her begging, was not a matter of money, because she was not photogenic.

GuiLin (31-Dec-08 till 01-Jan-09) – Crystal Palace

The gifted crystal clear LiJiang (Li River) and the up thrust karsts studded along the river are forming picturesque sceneries which attract thousands of tourists to GuiLin. Many tourists chose ferry cruising to YangShuo along Li River (costs RMB243 per ticket), I postponed this program to YangShuo later. This river has become the main income resource for the local government.

I didn’t have any specific feeling to this town, but the various kinds of foods and snacks were indeed delicious.

Another attraction of this town is the natural cave LuDiYan (Reed Flute Cave) famed for its stalactites and stalagmites. The cave looked so artificial with colourful lighting projected on the walls. The flooring was well paved and no awful smell at all. I had to admit that a view named “Crystal Palace” was beautiful (see picture). The magic of lighting works… the rest were not interesting… The tour guide was explaining to us that this looked like an old man, that looked an owl etc… again another Picaso’s painting lesson. Boring!

At night there were plenty of pimps on the road, offering massage and lady escorts for all passing-by male tourists. I had been offered not less than 10 times in one evening.

ZhangJiaJie (28-Dec-08 till 29-Dec-08) – Picaso’s Abstract Paintings

Tourists used to combine FengHuang and ZhangJiaJie in a single trip. ZhangJiaJie is famous, comparable to HuangShan… many people said so, but I was not impressed.

I didn’t like the path up to the mountains, it was not challenging. The sceneries along the path were not that great. Up on the mountains, the view was OK, but getting fed up after short while. A name was assigned to each karst based on the respective shape. Occasionally some tour guides passing by, explaining that this karst looks like a monkey, that looks like a lion and so on. After figuring each one, I think it helps me to understand Picaso’s abstract paintings easier.

Met Ivan and Dong (HK), friendly and funny, would never feel bored with their companion. From our conversation, I learned the general opinions of HK younger generations towards their future, social and political views. Don’t worry about your career, your vision will be expanded later, it’s not limited by the scope of your studies.

FengHuang (27-Dec-08) – Swamped By Chinese Tourists

Being one of the most famous ancient towns in China, it has been over developed and commercialized. The small town is swamped by Chinese tourists. The sceneries are fine though small. The over crowded tourists were too noisy, I didn’t feel relaxing in this atmosphere. Many bars were scattered in this small town, couldn’t tolerate the KaraOK pubs blaring the screeching voices of amateur singers.
The night arrived at the hostel, I met a young lady in front of the hostel selling local snack. She is, quite pretty, talkative and friendly. The snack was delicious. I hoped to meet her the next evening, but she didn’t turn up before I left to the bus station.

XiJiang (26-Dec-08) – Minorities Are No Longer Primitive

Before visiting XiJiang, the so-called “Miao Village with Thousand Families”, I related it to less development, dirty and poor… I was wrong, instead the village was clean, internet and TV facilities were available and quite touristy.

This was not the right season to visit, the crops had been harvested, leaving dry brown lands which to be irrigated in spring. Somehow it was interesting to get lost in the maze-like villages built on the hill slopes.

It was so serene, people were friendly. A leisure walk to the terraced fields was refreshing. Possibly we could find a much more traditional village somewhere further in the mountains, but the trekking might take hours.

After sunset, the village was so quiet, any footstep on the street could be clearly heard. Was thinking what to do at night, surprisingly a modern bar is available in this village. Glad to have someone to talk.

ChongQing (23-Dec-08 till 25-Dec-08) – Hospitality

I didn’t have any plan to visit this city initially, dropped by only because the way from LuoYang to GuiYang was too far.

The city is built on hill slopes, makes it hard to navigate. The 2 adjacent roads could have significant height difference. Plenty of small paths and alleys with staircases are connecting one road to the other. It is hard for non-local to find the shortcut and determine directions. The driving attitude of the drivers could qualify them to Formula 1.

Most tourists came to ChongQing are to board the 3 Gorges ferry cruise. I didn’t try any, as most of the historical places have been flooded. If there is possibility to schedule a custom plan boat trip to remote areas, I would love to come back again. The 3 Gorges museum was good, housing fine artifacts and rich information.

Was glad to meet a group of local friends at the youth hostel. Their hospitality and friendliness left me a good memory. The atmosphere of the restaurant inside the air-raid shelter was exceptionally impressive, food too but extremely spicy!

LuoYang (22-Dec-08) – “Alternative” International Youth Hostel

Yesterday night, from the bus station to the hostel, I was besieged by agents volunteered to bring me to their recommended hotels. I ignored all, but one lady ran along with me for about 500m kept persuading me that she was the most honest and helpful person to show me the cheap accommodation. Of course I ignored her too, at last she realized that she couldn’t make any business with me, she shouted behind me that I would be regretful.

After checking in the international youth hostel, I learned that the room has no hot water supply, the heating system was not well functioning. The room was cold…

There is something special with this hostel - a sauna business attached to it. It was fine with me (but never seen with youth hostel). The rendered services listed on the board are something fishy… try your imagination what do these mean “Passionate Style 2 – RMB200”, “2 Stars Embracing Moon – RMB400”… (see picture).

LongMen Caves was interesting, better than my expectation. The caves perched along the river bank, though not as grand as Datong’s YunGang Caves, they are worth for a visit.

ZhengZhou (21-Dec-08) – Everything Went Wrong

We arrived at ZhengZhou in the early morning. After settling down in hotel, friends purchased train tickets to Shanghai. A moment later, they changed their mind to fly to Shanghai instead. So they returned the train tickets and booked the flight tickets. The air ticket agent refused our credit cards, but insisted only accepting China bank cards. At last we pooled sufficient cash to pay for it.

10:30am, we headed straight to the bus station. The bus refused to depart before collecting sufficient passengers to make up the trip to Shaolin. It delayed more than 1/2 hr.

3:00pm, we arrived at Shaolin. The weather was freezing coupled with the chilly strong wind, was uncomfortable. We were informed that the martial arts performance was relocated to the open space… gosh… I was sorry for the performers with thin clothing, while we were shivering and trying to cover every inch of our skin.

Right after the show, we rushed to the highlight – Shaolin temple. The guide gave a quick brief introduction, again we had no time to move around.

4:30pm, we rushed and caught the bus back to ZhengZhou. Oh no… the bus broke down on the way back. Not to take any risk, we flagged down a taxi (paid extra). Close to ZhengZhou, the taxi driver said he was not familiar with the traffic in the city. After small argument, we again transferred to another taxi (paid extra).

7:00pm, we arrived at our hotel. We checked out immediately and friends travelled straight to the airport, while I bought a bus ticket to LuoYang.

XiAn (19-Dec-08 till 20-Dec-08) – Metamorphosis

The main reason to visit XiAn was to see the most famous Terracotta. Everything is still the same… no excitement to me, too.

On the 2nd day, we arranged cycling on the ancient city wall which is said the best preserved in China. We spent about 2 hr to cycle around the 14km wall. At higher altitude, I liked to observe the buildings around and the ordinary life on the streets. Disappointedly, lots of old buildings had been or were being demolished, to spare spaces for new and modern building constructions. The original was no longer felt. The city has transformed faster than I expected.

We spent lots of time on eating, a buffet lunch costs RMB48 (EUR5) was worth a try though not exceptionally special and delicious.

BeiJing (16-Dec-08 till 18-Dec-08) – No More Excitement

This is the 2nd trip to BeiJing after year 2005 visit, with 3 friends, I was their trip planner. Basically nothing really excited me no more. The main tourist attractions were still the same, except the magnificent new Bird Nest and Water Cube stadiums illuminated in red and blue lighting were truly beautiful.

I always oppose to join tour package because it always in rush, wouldn’t allocate sufficient time to move freely. And it was compulsory for them to lead the tourists to go shopping. I later learned that the commission rebating to the tour guide could be as high as 30% of the sales! There was no doubt the tour guide could provide more professional info with all transportation organized, but I still prefer having my own freedom to stay or to move. The “audio guide” is normally available for rental.

For time saving on the 2nd day in BeiJing, we joined a local tour to Ming Tombs and Great Wall. At the Ming Tombs, we were only shown Chang Ling, but the more interesting Ding Ling (which shows the actual underground tomb) was neglected. I complained to the tour guide, she replied that the time was constraint and said not all tourists are interested to visit the tomb. Instead she spent our time on jade shopping and the lousiest foot massage.

New Camera

After selling my old camera Sony F717 to my colleague, I bought a new Sony again 3 days ago – DSLR-A300K. Gosh… I look quite professional when it hangs on my neck though it was heavier.

I was thinking to buy a Canon or Nikon, but the price of the same spec costs 25% higher. I hope this new piece won’t disappoint me…

China Trip

Couldn’t sleep well on the first night (04-Dec-08) back home… too warm.

The next morning, I carried the big black round eye bags to the immigration to renew my passport. The photo was horrible… looks like an inmate.

This morning I have collected my China visa… YES!!!… I’m ready to explore China again. The first 7 days I will accompany my friends, hope they would have chance to experience snowing winter, and I can shoot the winter sceneries of Forbidden City and Great Wall with snow clad.

I will move to the south alone after departing with them. The route is not finalized yet… only a rough plan in mind. Will concentrate mostly on the minority tribes… which means I have to travel to the remote area, expecting less hygienic living environment, and the primitive toilet…

I will depart from GuangZhou on 13-Jan-09. Teddy, can we meet on 11 or 12-Jan?

Going Home (03-Dec-08)

The moment saying goodbye to colleagues was quite hard. The ladies cried too much… was contagious… my eyes were drenched too.

Back home, finally… the trip from Kyustendil till I arrived at home consumed 26 hrs… tiring.

The flight from Kyustendil to Frankfurt was fine. 2 Bulgarian seamen besides me had their mini fiesta on this 2.5 hr journey. They played music with their mobile phone and drained their half liter whiskey bought from the duty free shop (they ignored the warning given by the stewardess).

The flight from Frankfurt to Singapore was a disaster. Lufthansa was using the aging Boeing 747-400 for this 11.5 hr long flight. I was given the seat on the last row, which was against the wall and cannot be reclined. I had to sit straight up through out the journey. Worse there was no screen (entertainment) in front of me (unlike the Boeing 777 or the new Airbus 340), boring! And the flight was packed!!! I won’t choose Lufthansa for this route in future.

Birthday

Wow… this year I received many birthday greetings from family, friends and colleagues… no one could guess my age right except my secretary – she ordered a cake with writing on it reads “Happy 28th Birthday”.

Reputable Lufthansa

My flight back home on Wed is scheduled to have a stopover at Bangkok. Worrying the prolonged siege of Suvarnabhumi Airport would change the schedule, I asked my colleague to inquire further info from Lufthansa.

Surprisingly, the feedback was Lufthansa would divert the route to Phuket Island (Thailand) and assume no further responsibility to send me to the final destination Kuala Lumpur. They offer to reimburse my air-ticket if I’m not satisfied with this arrangement. What the heck’s this reply? It doesn’t sound like the reputable airline that I’m familiar with.

Probably I will change my flight to Singapore and purchase an additional ticket to Kuala Lumpur. This would be not so fine… because I have to collect my luggage and re-check-in again, and to pay overweight AGAIN!

In fact, the logo of Lufthansa has already given the hint “There’s no better way to fly.”

Mumbai

BBC live broadcast of this terror attack occupied most of the airing time since yesterday night.

Just recall my short stay in Mumbai in Jan-06. The city has not much to offer to the tourists. The hostel where I was staying was just a stone’s throw from this landmark Taj Mahal Hotel (which was targeted in this attack). Offering the panoramic views of Arabian Sea and the Gateway Of India, the hotel was apparently frequented by the riches and elites. Elegantly dressed guests hopping in and out from the big luxurious cars, world famous fashion brand like LV and Gucci have their products displayed on the windows…

A few km away, the Chowpatty beach is lively at night. Locals spend their leisure evening strolling along the beach. The water is seriously polluted (but no awful stink), swimming is not recommended. A small food court to serve some snacks, a mini manually operated London Eye (ferries wheel) to cheer the kids, vendors are selling tea, groundnuts, corns… people is just satisfied to enjoy a serene evening hangout.

(manually operated ferries wheel)

On my way back to the hotel, an uniformed young man tried to strike a conversation with me. He managed only a few English words. Only I knew that he was asking me to snap a photo of him with my digital camera (such case happened quite common in India, especially in the rural area), with the beautiful night view as background. Technically it was not easy in the night time, to please him, I snapped one (of course no background can be seen).

Not far away… some homeless people were preparing their sleep on the bench, under the chilly starry nights… not only old folks, kids too… shivering. What an eye-sore in the city, and the Taj Mahal Hotel was just like a complete different world.

The grand Victoria Railway Station buidling was huge… I had never seen a public toilet with so many urinals. The sea of passengers flooded every corner. Somehow there was lacking of discipline and control in this railway station. Very often the overloaded wagons force some passengers hanging outside of the trains. For the convenience to the foreigners, we were allowed to enter the railway station before the office opening hour, and foreigners were allocated separate windows to buy train ticket. This saved lots of hassle to queue up with the locals.

Thailand Political Unrest (again…)

Ever since the Thai people succeeded to topple their Ex-Prime Minister Thaksin from the office, Thai people seemed to gain good experience in organizing massive protest. They are calling for a change, crying foul of corrupted politics… The unstable political situation has shaken foreign investors’ confidence.

After the successful temporarily occupying Government House some months ago, the opposition party is launching another wave of protest and besieging the Parliament and the airport. This morning news said Bangkok Airport is closed, and all flight schedules are cancelled. I hope it won’t affect my flight back home next week because it is scheduled to stop over in Bangkok before en-routing to Kuala Lumpur.

Yoga Ban

A top Islamic cleric in Malaysia said may ban yoga for Malaysian Muslims, saying the practice is engaging “Hindu religious elements” during exercise which is contradicting Islam and eroding their Islamic faith. Obviously they have no clue at all what is yoga, but somehow relates this exercise which is nothing more than a physical healthy pursuit to the religion threat.

How I Wish…

Came to Skopje last Friday, I don’t want to, but I have to leave Bulgaria for a few days due to the expiry of my working permit. I stay in a small family-run hotel (I always oppose to spend >EUR100 for a night in a 5-star hotel, even though on company cost), my room is <20m2,>

C’est la vie

The main construction works of this project have been completed now, our office starts retrenching manpower. 2 colleagues have left this week, a few more will follow, including me (within the next 3 weeks). Office is getting roomier gradually. A mix feeling of joy (going home), sadness (goodbye to colleagues) and uncertainty (next job) is emerging in the office. That’s the nature of our freelance contract – job’s done, bye bye with a handshake from the employer “Thanks for your works, we appreciate your efforts!”

Racial Issue

Extracted from Malaysiakini, showing the protest of some racial fanatic against the nomination of a Chinese woman as the head of a state institution linked to the economic management and development of the state of Selangor, the PKNS, of which the post has been traditionally assigned to Malay.

Congo Unrest + Rwanda

The plight of tens of thousands refugees fled eastern Congo has concerned me a bit… traced back to the Rwandan Genocide incident in 1994 when mass killing of Rwanda's Tutsis by Hutu militia. This unrest has provoked the tense between these 2 tribes again. Recently we are discussing about the project in Rwanda. I was told Rwanda is like Switzerland in Africa, in which aspect I have no idea. If the unrest is worsening I really have to think twice to work there, though I wish to see gorilla and visit the nearby Serengati (Tanzania).

Wider Spread

For the first time the Chinese government acknowledged the abuse of Melamine is found infiltrated into wider sectors, mainly on the animal feeds. Eggs are found contaminated, chicken too of course, fish and pig and all poultries are highly risked. What should we eat then? Turn to vegetarian? Worried about overdosed pesticide? What about genetic modified crops?

US Presidential Election

A big show. Both candidates have been campaigning months, traveling to almost every state, giving speeches repeatedly, debating opponent’s policy… the whole campaign is consuming billion of dollars. This election aptly boosts the weak economy in the US amid of financial crisis. I didn’t pay attention on what they have promised… I think Obama will win. Do you observe that when McCain is giving speech, he likes to stamp the podium with his fists?

Youngest F1 Champion

The nail biting F1 race in Brazil was trully entertaining. The last 2 rounds had almost sunk my heart when Vettel surpassed and pushed Hamilton to the 6th position, which he would barely lost his driver champion crown to Massa. Fantastic, at the last corner of the last round, Hamilton managed to overtake Glock in a split second, this clip was not clear on the live telecast. Ferrari team was jumping wild and screaming loud, the frame suddenly turned quiet when the screen showed Hamilton was back to 5th position again which granted him just additional 1 point to claim the driver champion title. Yahoo!!! The atmosphere of disappointment immediately enveloped the Ferrari camp… I keep laughing till now…

Losing Confidence

Was a little disappointed that the pressure from the opposition party is diminishing lately to exert greater pressure to the government.

The outcry to overthrow the incumbent government has forced the present Prime Minister to announce his stepping down in the next election, and his successor would be the present Deputy Prime Minister, Najib, if nothing goes wrong.

The recent statement of Najib has placed his political stand is parallel with the main opposition party leader Anwar, of which they both announce the present advantages enjoyed by the Malay and the New Economy Policy which is said harboring the cronies of the politicians have to be liberated gradually.

Najib’s announcement has been deciphered in mixed reviews. Some said his action is governed by expediency, to save the losing votes and halt the threat from Anwar in this very moment. While the optimistic comment is that Najib has foreseen the urgency to integrate the citizens of all races. The 2nd comment definitely won’t please the fanatic groups. Personally I don’t believe this idea would be realized too, considering the present political structure is more racial orientated rather than the benefit of the country.

The delayed action of Anwar to oust the government has granted the ruling party sufficient time to re-position themselves and exert different strategies to counter the attacks, it has also shaken the confidence and faith of the middle voters.

Formula 1 – Superb Ideas!

I’m not a big fan of Formula 1, but just enjoy the crowd when making jokes with colleagues. There is not a team or driver I like particularly. Since most of the people support Ferrari and Schumi (ok, he has retired), naturally I have to support the opponent to demise the red team spirit. Good that Hamilton (McLaren team) is leading by 7 points on the driver championship now.

I couldn’t figure out how F1 hypnotize the diehard. It’s not a sport in my opinion, just a driving race circling the circuit for 50ish rounds. I do agree the drivers need extreme high concentration… what else? The same title and function, the F1 driver could earn astronomical figure, while the ordinary taxi and bus drivers are making pitiful.

After watching Malaysia has the first F1 circuit in South East Asia, of course Singapore “must” also have one with a good idea of night race. I felt like being cheated by Singapore F1 organizer. Why? They advertise “night race”, I was expecting the race should be run in pitch black environment… that would be damn exciting! In fact the street race was brightened up like day time.

I wish any Africa country would organize a safari race in future… imagine a school of elephants cross the track, the cheetah or leopard jumping out suddenly biting off the hands, chasing by the raged buffaloes… hmm… exciting… more exciting than rollercoaster.

Tabloid

On 04-Oct-08, we arranged a gathering for all of our staffs in a local restaurant. It was fun… of course after some drinks it was getting wilder… Unexpectedly a journalist from local tabloid came in and made a short brief interview. This is the report…


(Translation)

The team of Mr.Hans-Dieter Spiegel from company SAG chose to chill out at Pizzeria “Bordeaux”. The representatives of the management personnel who are coming from different places all over the world were noisy and happy and they have proved that who can work hard also can have a glorious fun.

Teoh from Malaysia was the attraction of the party with the complicated steps and movements on the dance floor. For him they say that he is the brain of the German company. He is not married and he is looking for a Kyustendil girl who will fascinate his tender soul.

Bart from Scotland in a distinguished way gentlemanly made advances to the female attendance of the table.

The owner of the elite restaurant Emiliyan Angelov was looking for the comfort of his elite guests in a skilfull and professional way.

USD 700bn Rescue Plan

So excited to watch the live telecast of the US House of Representatives voting on the USD 700bn financial rescue plan to the ailing financial sector. Apparently the proposal didn’t convince 1/3 of the congressmen. Somehow the majority has the opinion that measures have to be taken to cease the deteriorating US economy, which threatening globally.

Guess the published economy statistics this week have deepened the worries of some congressmen. Dropping of payrolls, home sales continue diving, climbing of unemployment etc have definitely persuaded some voters shifting their stands.

In fact no one could tell if this astronomical figure is sufficient to revive the teetering economy. I was expecting the US share market would leap high immediately when the news announced. It wasn’t, but pointing downwards? I couldn’t understand why.

Personally I doubt this decision would improve the status quo, I do think it would ease the breath of financial institutes. But how long would the effect last? The speculators would be please to learn that fresh capital to be injected into the market and it’s a great opportunity to gain fast money again.

What I hope is… the share market would stabilize to save my investment.