The Final Day in Suzhou
Two days of Suzhou was plenty. I wouldn't want to stay in this city much longer. It's not that it's a horrible city, I just don't care for it much. Aside from the gardens, the rest of the city isn't too fancy. The shopping area is nice too, but that's about it.
This morning, we checked out of the Sheraton Suzhou at 8:30am and booked a train ticket for a late train to Shanghai. After a quick breakfast, we walked around the Sheraton hotel where the Panmen Pagoda stood and a moat from the old times lay. From there, we taxied to The Master of the Nets Garden, which is nice... but paled in comparison to yesterday's Humble Administrator's Garden. Then we went Northwest to Tiger Hill, where a famous Yunyansi Pagoda has stood since 959 AD, tilting with a lean of 3'49, and is the symbol of ancient Suzhou. From the base of the pagoda, there are sightlines to see much of Suzhou... which, even at a distance and elevation, is still unimpressive. From Tiger Hill, we taxied to The Lingering Garden, another one of four famous classical gardens in China (the other being the Humble Administrator's). We lingered. Also very nice, but I was getting tired of seeing gardens.
Finally, we dropped back to the shopping center and walked around the arts and crafts market, which also had a few streets of plants (bonsai's and more). Shamefully, I suggested going to Pizza Hut, because I was hungry and was looking for something easy. To balance out my guilt, I ordered the "Seafood Catch" Pizza, which had shrimp, octopus, imitation crab, and squid. We also had a couple other more "regular" pizzas.
Finally, we taxied back to the hotel. Now here's the cool part, along one of the smaller streets, our taxi pulled to the right slightly. Then, out of nowhere (since I was behind the driver, I didn't see it), a bus hits our taxi along the side! The taxi driver, a woman, stepped out of the car and started to yell at the apologetic bus driver. Then they got into a yelling match as the taxi driver was enfuriated, and the bus driver would do nothing of it. The damage wasn't too severe, but there was a scratch that ran along the length of my door. The bus driver gave her 50RMB (a meaningless $8-9), and she reluctantly left the scene steaming.
After returning to the Sheraton, we got our bags from the luggage storage and taxied to the Suzhou train station. About 1.5 hrs later, we arrived in Shanghai at our hotel.
The Sofitel Hyland Hotel may have an impressive location, but their amenities suck. Internet access goes for 4.00/minute, up to 160RMB per 24 hour day, and everything else is really expensive (compared to just about every other hotel I've stayed at in China).
Moving on...
Kevin
February 05, 2004
February 03, 2004
The First Day in Suzhou
I knew meeting at 7:30am was trouble, that's why I suggested 7:15am. Someone else didn't agree, and someone was even later than that, so we ended up rushing to the train station after breakfast and checking out. The taxi driver on the way to the Hangzhou train station seemed to give attitude, plus the run to the train in fear that it would leave the station without, had me fuming for the first bit of the train ride. I can't stand it when other people make me late for stuff... especially when the person responsible then says "next time, let's try not to be so rushed next time". Grrrr....!!
The express train went from Hangzhou to Shanghai to Suzhou, with a few stops along the way. With our pre-booked soft seating into a fairly empty train car, we travelled much more relaxed than our previous train ride. Leaving around 9am, we arrived at the SZ train station at 12:20pm, and to our hotel just before 1pm.
The Sheraton Suzhou Hotel is AMAZING. It's not very tall, only 3 - 4 floors, but it spreads over a large block and looks amazing. As our taxi drove up, it looked like we were approaching a tourist interest spot as the hotel looks like a traditional chinese fortress. The previous hotels I've stayed at in China have been high-tech with fancy amenities and look cool and modern. This hotel is a breath of fresh air with its exquisite decor, but also has a fair amount of the fancy in-room things.
After we dropped our things off, Gord, Jan, and I took a cab to our first tourist destination, The Humble Administrator's Garden, one of the four famous gardens in China. Between this taxi ride and the ride from the train station to our hotel, we concluded that there are more people walking the streets, more people biking on the streets, and more cars on the roads than in Hangzhou. Traffic was intense.
At the garden gate, we paid for a "General Ticket" which allows us to visit a fair number of gardens over 3 days (although we're only in town until tomorrow). I decided to pay extra money for a guided tour, which wasn't really worth it, but I did get more historical stories out of the garden scenes. The Humble Administrator's Garden is absolutely astonishing. These are the kinds of places that cause me to have 1000+ photos at the end of my vacations. The amount of thought and care that went into the building of the H.A.G. is evident, from the low buildings that allow a near buy pagoda to be seen over the garden walls, to the meticulus detail and views of the garden from every angle of every path. We spent some 3 hours walking around, observing, relaxing, and taking pictures. Lots of pictures. Unfortunately, 3 hours was longer than we had expected, and we were kicked out with the closing of the garden for the day.
Because we spent so much time in the H.A.G., it was most likely that the other gardens in the city would be closed as well. So we went to a shopping centre (a 4 block x 4 block shopping area of stores). Our first stop was a restaurant. The one with its building edges lit in red turned out to be empty other than a table of people playing MJ. The one with its building edges lit in pink seemed fairly popular and we decided on that one. Dinner was awesome. Szechuan food. We had about 6-7 dishes, with several hot dishes. The bill came to 149 RMB (about $24 CAD) for the three of us. What a steal, by our standards.
After getting completely bloated with spicy foods, we headed back to the street and walked around. About 1 hour later, we left and went back to the hotel, and called it a night. Tomorrow, we'll try to see what we can to wrap up this city and move on to Shanghai, my final destination in China.
Kevin Out.
I knew meeting at 7:30am was trouble, that's why I suggested 7:15am. Someone else didn't agree, and someone was even later than that, so we ended up rushing to the train station after breakfast and checking out. The taxi driver on the way to the Hangzhou train station seemed to give attitude, plus the run to the train in fear that it would leave the station without, had me fuming for the first bit of the train ride. I can't stand it when other people make me late for stuff... especially when the person responsible then says "next time, let's try not to be so rushed next time". Grrrr....!!
The express train went from Hangzhou to Shanghai to Suzhou, with a few stops along the way. With our pre-booked soft seating into a fairly empty train car, we travelled much more relaxed than our previous train ride. Leaving around 9am, we arrived at the SZ train station at 12:20pm, and to our hotel just before 1pm.
The Sheraton Suzhou Hotel is AMAZING. It's not very tall, only 3 - 4 floors, but it spreads over a large block and looks amazing. As our taxi drove up, it looked like we were approaching a tourist interest spot as the hotel looks like a traditional chinese fortress. The previous hotels I've stayed at in China have been high-tech with fancy amenities and look cool and modern. This hotel is a breath of fresh air with its exquisite decor, but also has a fair amount of the fancy in-room things.
After we dropped our things off, Gord, Jan, and I took a cab to our first tourist destination, The Humble Administrator's Garden, one of the four famous gardens in China. Between this taxi ride and the ride from the train station to our hotel, we concluded that there are more people walking the streets, more people biking on the streets, and more cars on the roads than in Hangzhou. Traffic was intense.
At the garden gate, we paid for a "General Ticket" which allows us to visit a fair number of gardens over 3 days (although we're only in town until tomorrow). I decided to pay extra money for a guided tour, which wasn't really worth it, but I did get more historical stories out of the garden scenes. The Humble Administrator's Garden is absolutely astonishing. These are the kinds of places that cause me to have 1000+ photos at the end of my vacations. The amount of thought and care that went into the building of the H.A.G. is evident, from the low buildings that allow a near buy pagoda to be seen over the garden walls, to the meticulus detail and views of the garden from every angle of every path. We spent some 3 hours walking around, observing, relaxing, and taking pictures. Lots of pictures. Unfortunately, 3 hours was longer than we had expected, and we were kicked out with the closing of the garden for the day.
Because we spent so much time in the H.A.G., it was most likely that the other gardens in the city would be closed as well. So we went to a shopping centre (a 4 block x 4 block shopping area of stores). Our first stop was a restaurant. The one with its building edges lit in red turned out to be empty other than a table of people playing MJ. The one with its building edges lit in pink seemed fairly popular and we decided on that one. Dinner was awesome. Szechuan food. We had about 6-7 dishes, with several hot dishes. The bill came to 149 RMB (about $24 CAD) for the three of us. What a steal, by our standards.
After getting completely bloated with spicy foods, we headed back to the street and walked around. About 1 hour later, we left and went back to the hotel, and called it a night. Tomorrow, we'll try to see what we can to wrap up this city and move on to Shanghai, my final destination in China.
Kevin Out.
February 02, 2004
A Final Day in Hangzhou
Today was another hugely successful day. In the morning, the travelling trio mapped out a rough plan of what we wanted to conquer. We rickshawed in two separate three-wheeled cars (i.e. a cart pulled by a man on a bicycle), with Gord and Jan in one car, and myself in the other. Our first destination was The Broken Bridge, then the YingLin Temple. After we got off, as we were nearing the bridge, a local HZ woman saw us looking at our map, and asked us where we were going. I told her our plan, and she replied that we should go to the Longjing sellers in the mountains (where they harvest the famous HZ Longjing tea, it's also where the locals go to buy their tea. After she left us, another woman came to us (me) and gave similar advice... but with a more complete path. Her new path was to bus to the Longjing tea mountain, then walk down to the Nine Creeks waterfall, then rent a "bread car" around to the Six Harmony Pagoda, take a bus to the Leifeng Pagoda, take a boat onto the West Lake and the islands on the lake, then cab to YingLin, and finally back to the Broken Bridge. We thought about her advice, and decided to take it seriously -- so we hoped on the No. 27 bus up to Longjin mountain. On the bus, I asked a woman beside me how long the bus ride would take, and we started chatting. She was getting off at the same stop, and offered to show us where to go, explaining that the best place to buy Longjing tea is up the mountain (this was becoming a familiar comment). We got off the bus and headed down an old street scattered with old houses. We talked along the way; she suggested the same path as the woman had before we got on the bus. She took us to her mother's house, who happened to sell tea. Figures. Nevertheless, on the cold day, the warm tea was great to induce some heat into our bodies and circulate blood into Gord's frozen hands. We were taken aback by the authentic main corridor of this woman's house. It was a small room, with tea baskets and harvesting materials. Most amazing, in my opinion. Some more tea was bought, and money was spent.
We continued down the road, which soon turned from old pavement to older cobblestone. On each side of the path were hillsides lined with tea bushes (I think that's what they are). We crossed over several dibbling streams of water, and eventually came to the Nine Creeks. Our two RMB entry fee seemed almost too much to see what we came to see. Aside from a waterfall, there wasn't too much else. There're stairs that go further up the mountain, but we chose not to climb them out of laziness and after discovering that the source of the waterfall was a small puddle 10 metres up, filled with water pumped from below.
We hired a "bread car", which is essentially a mini minivan, costing 10 RMB to get to the famous Six Harmony Pagoda. As I spoke to the drive along the way, he changed his mind and decided to charge us 10 RMB to get to the Leifeng Pagoda (one step further on our path) because I told him that we are from Canada, and he has a relative in Canada. Sure. So we took a few moments to take some pictures at the Six Harmony Pagoda and were on our way. The driver also explained that it was the cheapest time to buy pearls right now, and I remembered that my mom wanted some pearls as well. So he took us to a couple stores, from which he'd get some sort of kickback, I bet. No one does this free of charge out of the goodness of their heart. Not in China, not in my opinion. Some pearls were bought, some money spent. Finally, the driver dropped us off at Leifeng Pagoda, a pagoda with a long history, but was burned down in 1955 by the Japanese then recently rebuilt (finished last Sept/Oct).
The Leifeng Pagoda was amazing. Each of the four levels provides a spectacular view of the surrounding areas, West Lake, the mountains, and the city. Each level is also superbly decorated with wood carvings, paintings, and scriptures on the walls. Because of the recent reconstruction, it's also a state-of-the-art pagoda and one for the laziest of folks. There is an escalator running upwards outside the pagoda to get to its base. Then there are two 3-story elevators to get to the first level of the pagoda. Finally, another 4 story elevator takes you up the middle of the pagoda to any of the first 3 levels.
Because of the late time and the cold weather, we decided to skip the boat ride and taxi to the famous Yinglin Temple. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, the doors were closed. Darn it. So we taxied back near West Lake to Yue Fei's Tomb. The 25 RMB entrance was pricy for what was contained within the building walls.
As it started to darken, we stepped into a sword shop. After much bargaining, some sharp objects were bought, some money spent. Then we had dinner with a guy who used to work with Spectrum's distributor, Andy, and his friend Charlie. And the night pretty much ended after that.
Off to Suzhou tomorrow morning with an early train at 9am.
Kevin, signing off from China... the place where cell phones should never be silenced or ignored, a CD/VCD/DVD store owner insisted that there is no such thing as "wai guo" (Western) karaoke discs, a policeman will turn you back when you're already halfway past the middle of an intersection and tell you to take the sky walk, I can get a better price because I'm Chinese, locals are more than willing to tell you what the good places to visit around the area are, and I can spit freely on the sidewalks.
Today was another hugely successful day. In the morning, the travelling trio mapped out a rough plan of what we wanted to conquer. We rickshawed in two separate three-wheeled cars (i.e. a cart pulled by a man on a bicycle), with Gord and Jan in one car, and myself in the other. Our first destination was The Broken Bridge, then the YingLin Temple. After we got off, as we were nearing the bridge, a local HZ woman saw us looking at our map, and asked us where we were going. I told her our plan, and she replied that we should go to the Longjing sellers in the mountains (where they harvest the famous HZ Longjing tea, it's also where the locals go to buy their tea. After she left us, another woman came to us (me) and gave similar advice... but with a more complete path. Her new path was to bus to the Longjing tea mountain, then walk down to the Nine Creeks waterfall, then rent a "bread car" around to the Six Harmony Pagoda, take a bus to the Leifeng Pagoda, take a boat onto the West Lake and the islands on the lake, then cab to YingLin, and finally back to the Broken Bridge. We thought about her advice, and decided to take it seriously -- so we hoped on the No. 27 bus up to Longjin mountain. On the bus, I asked a woman beside me how long the bus ride would take, and we started chatting. She was getting off at the same stop, and offered to show us where to go, explaining that the best place to buy Longjing tea is up the mountain (this was becoming a familiar comment). We got off the bus and headed down an old street scattered with old houses. We talked along the way; she suggested the same path as the woman had before we got on the bus. She took us to her mother's house, who happened to sell tea. Figures. Nevertheless, on the cold day, the warm tea was great to induce some heat into our bodies and circulate blood into Gord's frozen hands. We were taken aback by the authentic main corridor of this woman's house. It was a small room, with tea baskets and harvesting materials. Most amazing, in my opinion. Some more tea was bought, and money was spent.
We continued down the road, which soon turned from old pavement to older cobblestone. On each side of the path were hillsides lined with tea bushes (I think that's what they are). We crossed over several dibbling streams of water, and eventually came to the Nine Creeks. Our two RMB entry fee seemed almost too much to see what we came to see. Aside from a waterfall, there wasn't too much else. There're stairs that go further up the mountain, but we chose not to climb them out of laziness and after discovering that the source of the waterfall was a small puddle 10 metres up, filled with water pumped from below.
We hired a "bread car", which is essentially a mini minivan, costing 10 RMB to get to the famous Six Harmony Pagoda. As I spoke to the drive along the way, he changed his mind and decided to charge us 10 RMB to get to the Leifeng Pagoda (one step further on our path) because I told him that we are from Canada, and he has a relative in Canada. Sure. So we took a few moments to take some pictures at the Six Harmony Pagoda and were on our way. The driver also explained that it was the cheapest time to buy pearls right now, and I remembered that my mom wanted some pearls as well. So he took us to a couple stores, from which he'd get some sort of kickback, I bet. No one does this free of charge out of the goodness of their heart. Not in China, not in my opinion. Some pearls were bought, some money spent. Finally, the driver dropped us off at Leifeng Pagoda, a pagoda with a long history, but was burned down in 1955 by the Japanese then recently rebuilt (finished last Sept/Oct).
The Leifeng Pagoda was amazing. Each of the four levels provides a spectacular view of the surrounding areas, West Lake, the mountains, and the city. Each level is also superbly decorated with wood carvings, paintings, and scriptures on the walls. Because of the recent reconstruction, it's also a state-of-the-art pagoda and one for the laziest of folks. There is an escalator running upwards outside the pagoda to get to its base. Then there are two 3-story elevators to get to the first level of the pagoda. Finally, another 4 story elevator takes you up the middle of the pagoda to any of the first 3 levels.
Because of the late time and the cold weather, we decided to skip the boat ride and taxi to the famous Yinglin Temple. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, the doors were closed. Darn it. So we taxied back near West Lake to Yue Fei's Tomb. The 25 RMB entrance was pricy for what was contained within the building walls.
As it started to darken, we stepped into a sword shop. After much bargaining, some sharp objects were bought, some money spent. Then we had dinner with a guy who used to work with Spectrum's distributor, Andy, and his friend Charlie. And the night pretty much ended after that.
Off to Suzhou tomorrow morning with an early train at 9am.
Kevin, signing off from China... the place where cell phones should never be silenced or ignored, a CD/VCD/DVD store owner insisted that there is no such thing as "wai guo" (Western) karaoke discs, a policeman will turn you back when you're already halfway past the middle of an intersection and tell you to take the sky walk, I can get a better price because I'm Chinese, locals are more than willing to tell you what the good places to visit around the area are, and I can spit freely on the sidewalks.
February 01, 2004
A Day of Walking
My feet hurt. After a late morning start out the door, Gord, Jan, and I did a good day of walking. From our hotel, we walked down a few main streets, and came to a silk market. Some silk was bought, some money spent. Then we tried to find a tea market, but were unsuccessful, and before we knew it, we had to head to another hotel to meet Herrick (from our distributor's office) for lunch. We had a great lunch, with included more duck tongue, and were back out on the street in search for tea. Finally, we found a strip of stores that all sold tea, and we charged into the one right in front of us. Some tea was bought, some money spent.
From there, we grabbed a taxi to the Southwest corner of West Lake and walked around the new development area; then journeyed across a path that cut through the South end of West Lake, with short segments of land and 6 short bridges. The wind was strong, the air cold, and the waters were scattered with row boats operated by certain companies. The path took about 1.5 hours to traverse, and the feet were complaining. After looking at a few last shops, we taxied back to the hotel. During this ride, I actually saw a cyclist get hit by a taxi and his bike crushed. I knew it would happen SOME time. Fortunately, the biker seemed alright, and the taxi driver actually seemed concerned.
Gord and Jan decided to take a break, while I immediately headed back out to a CD/VCD/DVD store we had been to the day before. Some DVDs were bought, some money spent. After I returned, we went to dinner in a restaurant at the hotel because I couldn't put my feet through any more than the traumatization it had already been subjected to over the last 8 hours.
Back in my room, calling it a night.
Kevin, signing off from China... the place where bargaining is more for sport than real deals, people push to get around you, any kind of food can be cooked 5 ways you've never seen... even if you had just learned another 5 ways of cooking it, people sing in public as they're doing their own thing, and money is spent.
My feet hurt. After a late morning start out the door, Gord, Jan, and I did a good day of walking. From our hotel, we walked down a few main streets, and came to a silk market. Some silk was bought, some money spent. Then we tried to find a tea market, but were unsuccessful, and before we knew it, we had to head to another hotel to meet Herrick (from our distributor's office) for lunch. We had a great lunch, with included more duck tongue, and were back out on the street in search for tea. Finally, we found a strip of stores that all sold tea, and we charged into the one right in front of us. Some tea was bought, some money spent.
From there, we grabbed a taxi to the Southwest corner of West Lake and walked around the new development area; then journeyed across a path that cut through the South end of West Lake, with short segments of land and 6 short bridges. The wind was strong, the air cold, and the waters were scattered with row boats operated by certain companies. The path took about 1.5 hours to traverse, and the feet were complaining. After looking at a few last shops, we taxied back to the hotel. During this ride, I actually saw a cyclist get hit by a taxi and his bike crushed. I knew it would happen SOME time. Fortunately, the biker seemed alright, and the taxi driver actually seemed concerned.
Gord and Jan decided to take a break, while I immediately headed back out to a CD/VCD/DVD store we had been to the day before. Some DVDs were bought, some money spent. After I returned, we went to dinner in a restaurant at the hotel because I couldn't put my feet through any more than the traumatization it had already been subjected to over the last 8 hours.
Back in my room, calling it a night.
Kevin, signing off from China... the place where bargaining is more for sport than real deals, people push to get around you, any kind of food can be cooked 5 ways you've never seen... even if you had just learned another 5 ways of cooking it, people sing in public as they're doing their own thing, and money is spent.
January 31, 2004
The Last Day of Work
Arrived at our customer site at 9am and spend much of our time travelling between their two sites. Work was swift and partially productive. The meetings were inconclusive, but short. Lunch consisted of dishes with pig intestine, pig heart, pig liver, water snakes, fish, bambo, green beans, another green leafed veggie, and rice. Overall, not too bad.
After only 2 days here in Hangzhou, I believe we accomplished the work we had hoped to. That means the rest of our time is free to wander.
Jan ended up staying in Shanghai for the night, but made it here in one piece today. After work, the three of us went to a mall in the area and found a food court to have dinner at. Food courts in China are above and beyond those in Canada, if you like Chinese food. There's a vast variety of foods, and all at a very affordable price -- by our standards anyway.
Then we walked around a little in the city and returned to the hotel. A few drinks at the piano lounge later, we headed back to our rooms. We'll get out for a full day of tourism tomorrow.
Kevin, signing off from China... the place where turtles can be seen cut in four in kitchens, the restaurant washrooms also have toothbrushes and toothpaste because the owners live there in the same building, the fake DVDs run around 7 RMB, and firecrackers are lit anywhere, everywhere, and at all hours of the day through the couple of weeks following Chinese New Year.
Arrived at our customer site at 9am and spend much of our time travelling between their two sites. Work was swift and partially productive. The meetings were inconclusive, but short. Lunch consisted of dishes with pig intestine, pig heart, pig liver, water snakes, fish, bambo, green beans, another green leafed veggie, and rice. Overall, not too bad.
After only 2 days here in Hangzhou, I believe we accomplished the work we had hoped to. That means the rest of our time is free to wander.
Jan ended up staying in Shanghai for the night, but made it here in one piece today. After work, the three of us went to a mall in the area and found a food court to have dinner at. Food courts in China are above and beyond those in Canada, if you like Chinese food. There's a vast variety of foods, and all at a very affordable price -- by our standards anyway.
Then we walked around a little in the city and returned to the hotel. A few drinks at the piano lounge later, we headed back to our rooms. We'll get out for a full day of tourism tomorrow.
Kevin, signing off from China... the place where turtles can be seen cut in four in kitchens, the restaurant washrooms also have toothbrushes and toothpaste because the owners live there in the same building, the fake DVDs run around 7 RMB, and firecrackers are lit anywhere, everywhere, and at all hours of the day through the couple of weeks following Chinese New Year.
January 30, 2004
The Day Off
I woke up early today and thought I should check my email before going back to sleep, since I really didn't have to be anywhere in particular today. Unfortunately, emailing went a little long, with a slew of both work and personal emails to attend to, and I never got a chance to get back to sleep. Breakfast/brunch was had in the hotel, but we had missed the breakfast buffet. So I ordered an "Oriental" set breakfast, which was congee and some dumpling. Probably the worst congee I had ever had. No taste whatsoever.
After brunch, I had to wait an hour for Gord to get this stuff together as he was trying to figure out how his wife would get to Hangzhou from Shanghai. It was a logistic nightmare since there was no way for him to get a hold of her, and he didn't want to put her through the train ride of hell. Without much progress, he gave up for the time being.
We taxied down to West Lake, and rented bikes at 8 RMB/hr. For the next 3.5 hours, we took the bikes around the great lake and had a great time mixing in with the locals on their bikes. There's nothing more exhilerating than riding a bike in traffic with the crazy car drivers. West Lake offers some beautiful scenery, tainted only by the hazy low-hanging sky. One can only imagine how astonishing the view would be on a clear day. One reason for the haze is because we are still in the middle of New Year's celebrations, and the smoke from fireworks and firecrackers seem to suspend in the air. Nevertheless, the bike ride was a more-than-welcomed chance to see the famous historical lake and to be slightly active.
Thereafter, we got back to the hotel and met up with Chao Yang, one of our customer's engineers. He took us to a popular restaurant where you buy tickets that you spend like money on menu items. The tables are scattered much like a food court, and you would go to a long counter where food is prepared and placed for you to "buy" with the tickets. This was the reason I love coming to China. The food. There's nothing like having a local order authentic Chinese dishes. I enjoyed most of the items, but Gord wasn't as enthused (he was courageous enough to tried everything, but didn't like most items enough to take more than a bite).
Chao Yang then took us to a tea house, which are popular places in Hangzhou, which is famous for its teas. These tea houses are often larger than restaurants, and have booths where people can sit, drink tea, and talk with friends. With your order of tea, you can also enjoy a large variety of snacks free of charge. It's an interesting concept. Mind you, an order of tea (which consists of a glass with tea leaves and as many refills of water as wanted), runs between 55 RMB - 85 RMB, which converts to about $9 - $14 CDN -- so it's not overly cheap. But I enjoyed the experience. Chao Yang's girlfriend also joined us after she finished work at a travel agency. I also got to try duck tongue, which was a thin slab of meat that forked into two long points (go find a picture of a duck's tongue), marinated on a skewer. With a texture like jerky, it was actually pretty decent, once you block out the fact that it's a tongue. Apparently, it's quite expensive, given that most ducks only come with one tongue.
After close to 5 hours of dinner and sipping tea, Gord and I returned to our hotel, where I am now writing my update. Gord will be heading to the Hangzhou Railway Station shortly to pick up his wife, Jan. Hopefully she made it there alright.
Kevin, signing off from China... the place where cold water stinks as well, kids begging often make more than adult workers, and sometimes the only way to cross the street is like Frogger.
I woke up early today and thought I should check my email before going back to sleep, since I really didn't have to be anywhere in particular today. Unfortunately, emailing went a little long, with a slew of both work and personal emails to attend to, and I never got a chance to get back to sleep. Breakfast/brunch was had in the hotel, but we had missed the breakfast buffet. So I ordered an "Oriental" set breakfast, which was congee and some dumpling. Probably the worst congee I had ever had. No taste whatsoever.
After brunch, I had to wait an hour for Gord to get this stuff together as he was trying to figure out how his wife would get to Hangzhou from Shanghai. It was a logistic nightmare since there was no way for him to get a hold of her, and he didn't want to put her through the train ride of hell. Without much progress, he gave up for the time being.
We taxied down to West Lake, and rented bikes at 8 RMB/hr. For the next 3.5 hours, we took the bikes around the great lake and had a great time mixing in with the locals on their bikes. There's nothing more exhilerating than riding a bike in traffic with the crazy car drivers. West Lake offers some beautiful scenery, tainted only by the hazy low-hanging sky. One can only imagine how astonishing the view would be on a clear day. One reason for the haze is because we are still in the middle of New Year's celebrations, and the smoke from fireworks and firecrackers seem to suspend in the air. Nevertheless, the bike ride was a more-than-welcomed chance to see the famous historical lake and to be slightly active.
Thereafter, we got back to the hotel and met up with Chao Yang, one of our customer's engineers. He took us to a popular restaurant where you buy tickets that you spend like money on menu items. The tables are scattered much like a food court, and you would go to a long counter where food is prepared and placed for you to "buy" with the tickets. This was the reason I love coming to China. The food. There's nothing like having a local order authentic Chinese dishes. I enjoyed most of the items, but Gord wasn't as enthused (he was courageous enough to tried everything, but didn't like most items enough to take more than a bite).
Chao Yang then took us to a tea house, which are popular places in Hangzhou, which is famous for its teas. These tea houses are often larger than restaurants, and have booths where people can sit, drink tea, and talk with friends. With your order of tea, you can also enjoy a large variety of snacks free of charge. It's an interesting concept. Mind you, an order of tea (which consists of a glass with tea leaves and as many refills of water as wanted), runs between 55 RMB - 85 RMB, which converts to about $9 - $14 CDN -- so it's not overly cheap. But I enjoyed the experience. Chao Yang's girlfriend also joined us after she finished work at a travel agency. I also got to try duck tongue, which was a thin slab of meat that forked into two long points (go find a picture of a duck's tongue), marinated on a skewer. With a texture like jerky, it was actually pretty decent, once you block out the fact that it's a tongue. Apparently, it's quite expensive, given that most ducks only come with one tongue.
After close to 5 hours of dinner and sipping tea, Gord and I returned to our hotel, where I am now writing my update. Gord will be heading to the Hangzhou Railway Station shortly to pick up his wife, Jan. Hopefully she made it there alright.
Kevin, signing off from China... the place where cold water stinks as well, kids begging often make more than adult workers, and sometimes the only way to cross the street is like Frogger.
January 29, 2004
The First Day of Work
Woke up around 7:45am today and got through my email as I prepared to head out for the day. After an overly expensive breakfast buffet, Gord and I grabbed a cab to our client's office. Some areas of Hangzhou are subject to power outages (which seem to be power/cost savings measures), so we immediately went, with some of our customer's employees, to another nearby facility to do our work. The drive took about 20 minutes and brought us around the West side of West Lake (a large lake that Hangzhou is famous for). This second facility was a large warehouse that had no apparent central heating. At zero degrees C, this isn't wear you'd want to spend most days. I don't think I've worked a full day with my jacket on until now.
Lunch was army food in the cafeteria. A disappointing episode of hard chicken, overcooked veggies, tofu, and rice. The work day went smoothly, and we were back at the hotel by 4:30pm. A short break of emailing, and Gord and I headed out for a walk to West Lake, only about 1km away from the Radisson Hotel. By the time we got to the Lake, it was already dark. We walked slowly along, playing around with our digital cameras. We found a decent restaurant on the Northwest side of the Lake, relaxing for 2 hours while chatting about various subjects. Then we headed back to the hotel, where I am now. I've still got about an hour of work emailing to do, so I better head to Gord's room now to work on that. Overall, the day went by quickly and was fairly pleasant.
That and we get tomorrow off (due to the lack of any work needed to be done). Chances are, we're going to rent bikes to ride around West Lake tomorrow. We'll also meet up with one of our client's engineers who will show us around Hangzhou with his girlfriend. A generous offer considering he has no obligation to do so, and has chosen to on his weekend.
Kevin, signing off from China... the place where the worst drivers are probably also the most skilled drivers, and warm tap water stinks like hell.
Woke up around 7:45am today and got through my email as I prepared to head out for the day. After an overly expensive breakfast buffet, Gord and I grabbed a cab to our client's office. Some areas of Hangzhou are subject to power outages (which seem to be power/cost savings measures), so we immediately went, with some of our customer's employees, to another nearby facility to do our work. The drive took about 20 minutes and brought us around the West side of West Lake (a large lake that Hangzhou is famous for). This second facility was a large warehouse that had no apparent central heating. At zero degrees C, this isn't wear you'd want to spend most days. I don't think I've worked a full day with my jacket on until now.
Lunch was army food in the cafeteria. A disappointing episode of hard chicken, overcooked veggies, tofu, and rice. The work day went smoothly, and we were back at the hotel by 4:30pm. A short break of emailing, and Gord and I headed out for a walk to West Lake, only about 1km away from the Radisson Hotel. By the time we got to the Lake, it was already dark. We walked slowly along, playing around with our digital cameras. We found a decent restaurant on the Northwest side of the Lake, relaxing for 2 hours while chatting about various subjects. Then we headed back to the hotel, where I am now. I've still got about an hour of work emailing to do, so I better head to Gord's room now to work on that. Overall, the day went by quickly and was fairly pleasant.
That and we get tomorrow off (due to the lack of any work needed to be done). Chances are, we're going to rent bikes to ride around West Lake tomorrow. We'll also meet up with one of our client's engineers who will show us around Hangzhou with his girlfriend. A generous offer considering he has no obligation to do so, and has chosen to on his weekend.
Kevin, signing off from China... the place where the worst drivers are probably also the most skilled drivers, and warm tap water stinks like hell.
Arrived in Hangzhou
After a 12+ hr flight to Shanghai, a 1 hr bus to the train station, a 2 hr wait at the train station, a 2.5 hr train ride, and a short taxi ride to our hotel, Gord and I have arrived and are drained.
The flight was like any other flight with pushy Chinese people kicking your seat every 4 minutes. The bus ride was longer than expected. But it was the train ride from Shanghai to Hangzhou that took the cake for the worst part of the travel. The train was dirty; the "soft seats" were sold out, so we settled for the cramped "hard seats"; we were squished like sardines into a booth with 3 other Chinese; the light blue and red decor was awful; the people were pushy, even though the seats were pre-assigned; and my ass hurt after about 1.5 hrs on that leg of the journey.
It's funny traveling with a white man. Chinese people LOVE to stare at him. But they don't just look at him. Usually, they do a full-body up-and-down with the eyes. It kind of scares me. And then I speak English to him, and they all stare at me for a while before focusing their attention back at him.
I'm glad to be settled into my hotel. The Internet access works far better than at the hotel I stayed at in Shenzhen. This hotel, Radisson, is also a cut above the Holiday Inn (Shenzhen). They have fancy amenities like piping the audio from the TV to the washroom, and a walk-in shower that can easily fit 10 people semi-comfortably (not all of them would get water, of course)... that's on top of a bathtub.
After all the travel, and no proper dinner, I've ordered in some Room Service (Singapore noodles and satay pork) and pulled a drink out of the mini-bar. Big pimpin', I know. I know.
Tomorrow, the work starts.
Kevin, signing off from China... the place where people can wear suits and still look like bums.
After a 12+ hr flight to Shanghai, a 1 hr bus to the train station, a 2 hr wait at the train station, a 2.5 hr train ride, and a short taxi ride to our hotel, Gord and I have arrived and are drained.
The flight was like any other flight with pushy Chinese people kicking your seat every 4 minutes. The bus ride was longer than expected. But it was the train ride from Shanghai to Hangzhou that took the cake for the worst part of the travel. The train was dirty; the "soft seats" were sold out, so we settled for the cramped "hard seats"; we were squished like sardines into a booth with 3 other Chinese; the light blue and red decor was awful; the people were pushy, even though the seats were pre-assigned; and my ass hurt after about 1.5 hrs on that leg of the journey.
It's funny traveling with a white man. Chinese people LOVE to stare at him. But they don't just look at him. Usually, they do a full-body up-and-down with the eyes. It kind of scares me. And then I speak English to him, and they all stare at me for a while before focusing their attention back at him.
I'm glad to be settled into my hotel. The Internet access works far better than at the hotel I stayed at in Shenzhen. This hotel, Radisson, is also a cut above the Holiday Inn (Shenzhen). They have fancy amenities like piping the audio from the TV to the washroom, and a walk-in shower that can easily fit 10 people semi-comfortably (not all of them would get water, of course)... that's on top of a bathtub.
After all the travel, and no proper dinner, I've ordered in some Room Service (Singapore noodles and satay pork) and pulled a drink out of the mini-bar. Big pimpin', I know. I know.
Tomorrow, the work starts.
Kevin, signing off from China... the place where people can wear suits and still look like bums.
January 28, 2004
January 27, 2004
You know when you sit down and watch TV for 5 hours, and when you finally get off your lazy butt, you realize how much you miss your brainwashing friend? Well, the new Riviera portable video player, coupled with the I-Glasses HRV Pro, is the answer to all your "do I HAVE to be active?" problems! Not only that, the I-Glasses are the next big thing is fashionable accessories. Wear it on the Skytrain, while doing laundry, and more!
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