China Stop 5: Great Wall

What can I say?  It's pretty darn impressive.  After jetting back to Beijing from Guilin we spent the evening with Carl and his family.  The next day Carl drove us up to the Wall.  Even in this ancient place, Subway had managed to open up a sandwich shop at the base which at first I found a little disappointing but then realized it was probably perfect for you to grab a little picnic lunch to take up to the Wall for the hike.

We elected for the gondola ride up the mountain vs. the 1 hour hike.  It was cold and much easier.  The Wall stretched for as far as the eye could see and we hiked along it for about 1 hour.  On the return trip down, we took a 'tobaggon' ride down this metal slide.   It was kitchy but absolutely a blast to essentially slide on our backsides down the mountain.  There is a video of the ride at the bottom of the page.

 

 

 

China Stop 4: Yangshuo

Got off the riverboat in the small town of Yangshuo which was nestled at the foothills of the mountains.  The town is quite popular with European and North American expats that have setup little shops, restaurants, and cafes.  We stayed right in the heart of town at the base of one of the walking/shopping streets.  That night, I was on a mission to find a winter coat in the market.  Luckily Yangshuo is also popular with rock climbers so the shops were filled with North Face and Columbia gear - either knockoffs or items that found their way out of the factory.  Price negotiation is mandatory and usually done with each party typing a number into the calculator.  You literally have to walk away from the deal in order to get the best price.  I had vendors actually chase me down the street.  In the end, I got the coat I wanted which originally started at 450 RMB (65 USD) down to 170 RMB (25 USD).  Either way, the same coat in the US would cost closer to 200 USD retail.

The next morning we went on a bicycle tour of the countryside.  Our guide lead us through small farms.  Along the way you could see many farms being converted over to resorts.  It was a nice way to end our tour.

 

  

China Stop 3: Li River

The next adventure on the tour was a cruise down the Li River to Yangshuo.  The riverboat was a double-decker and we were seated on the top deck with the other foreign tourist while locals, tour guides, and local tourists were on the lower deck.  Although only about 85km, the cruise took 5 hours since the waters were very low and the boats had to move very slowly to navigate.  As we went down the river, local farmers would paddle out to the boat on bamboo rafts to try to sell their goods to the passengers.  It was quite a trick to time the approach alongside the moving riverboat and toss a hook to latch onto the side.  The scenery was spectacular as we wound our way through gorgeous mountains with rounded tops that I don't think you can see anywhere else in the world. The pictures speak for themselves.

 

 

 

 

China Stop 2 - Guilin

Arrived in Guilin late in the afternoon and went straight to the hotel. We had the rest of the day to explore the city ourselves before beginning the tour the following day. Although it was quite cold and windy out we wandered downtown from our hotel through some walking streets and around the 4 lakes and 2 rivers that surround the city.

For dinner we stopped in at a local restaurant that seemed quite full and lively thinking it would be a good pick. The waitress suggested the local tea which was an interesting mix of tea leaves, giant nuts and some flowers. It tastes great but sure looked like witch's brew in the pot.

Dinner itself was quite disappointing. The waitress suggested we try the signature dish of the area the "Li River Shrimp". While they looked great on the plate what you can't tell is that each shrimp is no bigger than a nickel with the shell on. Not much to actually "eat". The food in general in the south of China was pretty disappointing for me so I'm not really going to talk about food again until the Beijing part.

The next day the first stop was the Reed Flute Cave. Normally, I'm not a big fan of cave tours - they are usually cold, dark, wet, and smelly. This tour was quite different - these caves were truly 'cavernous' with ceilings that reached up 3 stories and a maze of rooms that went deep into the mountain. It was all very impressive although I found the neon colored lighting a bit distracting even though it lent itself to some pretty cool pictures.

The rest of the day was spent touring around the city including climbing up to the highest point in the city where we could see the surrounding landscape and a preview of things to come.

China Stop 1 - Xi'An

After a quick overnight in Beijing with my cousin Carl and his family, Kim and I head out on our tour. First stop - Xi'an - the first capital of China. We went straight from the airport to the dig site for the Terracotta Warriors, fighting a tremendous amount of traffic, road construction, and other delays along the way. It is amazing to see how much development of going on - I counted over 100 cranes building skyscrapping condo towers on the outskirts of the metro area.

Upon arrival at the dig site the first thing that strike you is how big it is. You have to take a golf cart from the parking lot to the actual exhibition pits as they don't want road traffic disturbing the burial sites that may still remain uncovered. The site consists of 3 pits and they are huge. In the picture below you see me standing at the entrance to one pit.

Behind me you can see the rows and rows of uncovered terracotta warriors. They were originally created by Emperor Qin, the first emperor of China to protect him in the afterlife. Construction of this burial site is estimated to have begun around 240BC and involved 700,000 laborers. It is estimated that there are over 9000 pieces (warriors, chariots, horses) buried at this site. It was interesting to tour all the pits to see the archeological work in various stages from completely restored figures all the way to grids that they were just beginning to unearth.

The next day the tour took us to the Xi'an city wall that still surrounds the old city and is about 14km long and the Shaangxi museum which was one of the nicest museums I've ever visited.

Stepping back into life

It's been too long since my last post. While I was in China, all the social media outlets were blocked so I have a lot saved up. I plan to release day-by-day updates on the China trip which was also amazing but today I wanted to reflect on readjusting to life back home and the reverse culture shock.

After I left Bacolod, I spent a day in Manila - actually Makati City - before my flight to China. The culture shock began immediately as I walked around the area surrounding my hotel. Yes there was still all the Jeepneys, crazy driving patterns, and Filipino food but something felt quite different. There were giants shopping malls filled with ex-pats from North America and Europe and all the familar brands from back home. Jaydip and I shared one last beer together at Bubba Gumps of all places.

Getting back to North Carolina was another adjustment. Yes I love being back with my family, having drinkable water out of the tap, having reliable power, traffic laws that are enforced, and a fast internet connection. It's great to kick back to watch TV (even if it is children's cartoons) and I love being back in my kitchen cooking again. It feels weird to have to drive everywhere after all the walking we did over the past month. The southern accent is throwing me for a serious loop after 6 weeks of Filipino, Finnish, Russian, Spanish, Brazilian, Belgian, Indian, Chinese, British, and Australian accents. It's also difficult to get back to the land of the 'super-size' whether it's the food, cars, or anything else. Americans are seriously overweight - particularly in the south! Of course I say this as we are all getting ready to pigout for Thanksgiving later this week. :)

Life at work seems to be business as usual. I gave me first post experience CSC briefing to my team today. They were quite impressed but completely grossed out by the Baloot!

It's So Hard To Say Goodbye

We just got back from our final team dinner at our favorite restaurant IMAYS. After gorging ourselves on all of our favorites off the menu we returned to the hotel to say our goodbyes. It's been an unbelievable month that I will always remember. I feel so fortunate to have had this experience, especially with this group of people. We all know that while we may have opportunity to run into each other 1-on-1, it is highly unlikely that this group will be together as a whole again. We met as strangers 27 days ago and leave tomorrow as more than just coworkers, we leave as friends. I have learned so much from each of them and have so much respect for their talents. Most of all, I will miss the comradery having spent so much time together working, playing, talking and laughing. My home office will seem quite lonely after this. With some teary eyes and hugs all around, we said our farewells to go our separate ways back home or onto the next adventure.

Barangay 19

While we were gone last weekend there was a fire in Barangay (District) 19 which is just a few blocks from our hotel. They area is tightly packed with small family homes and narrow alleyways. All in all, 62 residences were destroyed and 17 people died. The residents did not have much to begin with but all of it was lost in the fire.

Yesterday, Jaana and I took around town to snap a few last minute pictures before we leave tomorrow. Although the entrance to the barangay was closed off and guarded by the police we were able to visit an area where the displaced victims were being held and donations being accepted. Despite what had happened to them, the people still had smiles on their faces - their ability to deal with adversity is amazing. The children were running around an empty lot and playing games with each other. We ran over to a store and bought bags of candy to bring to them. I also had a small bag of toys that my boys had picked out from their stuff for me to bring with me. The kids were so excited! They swarmed around me and were dancing and cheering for the candy and toy cars. A small bit of excitement in an otherwise difficult time.

Ten Random Things I Didn't Blog About

There is so much to this experience and I realize it's hard to capture everything into these short vignettes so here's my list of things that I forgot to mention:

#10 - Place Settings
The tradition here is to eat with a fork and spoon instead of a knife. It took some getting used to but by the end of the month we are all experts - who needs knives! Ironically, the only time they give you a knife is if you are eating pasta (I know all the Italians are crying about that!)

#9 - Paper
Seems to be a carefully guarded commodity here. The restaurants are all very frugal about giving you napkins even though most of the food can be eaten by hand. Toilet paper is also rationed in our hotel and housekeeping is reluctant to give you more than what is 'allowed'.

#8 - The Dust
I have been coughing for the entire month here. At first, I thought I just had come down with the cold or flu but after a round of antibiotics, OTC medicines, and allergy pills, I'm still coughing. I think it's primarily all the dust in the city combined with the constant in and out of air conditioning.

#7 - Walking
Most of our team generally doesn't mind walking from place to place. It's not that big a city and we are all fairly active people. The local Bacolodians are always surprised by that. The insist on arranging cars to take us places, even if it is only a few blocks away. Nobody walks here - if you have a short distance to go you take a trike which costs around 15 pesos. Longer hauls you can hop on one of the Jeepney routes for 7 pesos. At night we generally splurge and take taxis for around 50 pesos (1USD).

#6 - Dudos Rules!
There is only one Starbucks in town but it seems like there is a Dunkin' Donuts around every corner. Makes me feel more at home knowing there is coffee and donuts nearby.

#5 - Creature Comforts
Speaking of feeling at home, I have tried to go as 'local' as possible, eating the local cuisine at each meal and trying to experience the local culture. I broke down last weekend though as there was I think from home I just couldn't go without any longer - BOURBON. I actually found a bottle of Maker's Mark and took it with me to Danjugan Island. Ah.......

#4 - Match Making
I don't have a problem with this since I pretty much look like a Filipino Chinese but the rest of the team has received multiple almost daily inquiries about their marital status - particularly Guillermo and Jaana. Guillermo now has girls bringing him pictures that they took of him for him to autograph and Jaana has also had many young lads from the local colleges try to Facebook friend her after she presented her seminar. :)

#3 - The Meals
I know I've talked about all the wonderful food that we've had but what I failed to mention how often people here eat. At a minimum the meals are breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner but some people will eat as many as 8 meals a day!

#2 - Hospitality
Everyone here bent over backwards to make us feel at home and welcome during our stay. We are always greeted with warm smiles and a friend 'Good afternoon' or 'Good morning'. It's really the antithesis to Manhattan.

#1 - The Spas
Okay, so I have to admit I've not written about this before because it's a bit of a guilty pleasure. You can get a 60 minute full body massage here in any style you like (swedish, thai, shiatsu, pinoy, hawaiian, etc) for the equivalent of about $4 - 6 USD depending on if they are running a special or not. That's right folks, for the price of an Extra Value Meal at McDonalds you can get pampered for a full hour.

A fitting sendoff

Last night we had our farewell party hosted my client BNeFIT. Once again, we gathered at the unbelievable house of Mr. & Mrs. Dumancas to celebrate the time we've spent together. Although there are still a few days left before we depart most of us are starting to wrap up our projects in advance of the provincial holiday this week.

It was nice for everyone to get together and say our parting words to our clients. The evening was once again filled with LOTS of food including lechon (whole roasted suckling pig) and a giant seafood paella. To top it all off, we put together a slideshow for our clients with pictures from our experience here in Bacolod and we wrapped up the evening with a little karaoke. I even broke out a little "Carolina On My Mind" as I'm missing home.

That was one delicious pig! Porkfat rules!

Russia & Canada Head-to-Head - it's like Olympic Hockey!

Alina, Jaana & Qiong with Mrs. Loida from West Negros U.

Just one glimpse of the water feature that surrounds their home.

Fantasy Island

This past weekend was a long weekend here in the Philippines to honor All Saints and All Souls Day. The tradition here is that everyone gathers in a family reunion in the cemetaries - they bring a picnic and make a day of it. Since we had no one to visit, we were treated to a trip to Danjugan Island, a protected marine and wildlife sanctuary. Our ABV coordinator, Waya also brought some of her family along and the 16 of us had the run of our own private island for the weekend. AMAZING. The island is only 500 meters wide so you can easily hike to either side to watch both the sunrise and the sunset.

I took the opportunity to get in a few more dives. First we went down to about 24 meters along Manta Reef. We didn't spot the manta ray but I did see a big lobster tucked into a crevasse. It was hard to tell how long it was but the antennae from it's head were at least 15 inches long. We also saw lots of fish and a few sea cucumbers. On the second dive we passed a field of giant clams which has been planted a decade ago to help rebuild the reef. They muscles inside were bright purple and spectacular. It was really nice to see the conservation efforts at work and impressive to see how much to reef had rebuilt after years of overfishing and destruction.



For some people this was their first experience 'roughing it' but it was quite reasonable to me. We slepted in open air cabana huts under mosquito nets. There is no fresh water on the island so must be brought in daily from the mainland. The power is a few solar panels charging car batteries which means showers were limited and cold. I really could have stayed there a lot longer, there was so much to explore. All in all, a once in a lifetime experience!

Paradise Found

Carben Reef outside Sagay City. A tiny strand of white sand in the middle of the ocean. Need I say more?

A matter of circumstance

Each time we travel out of the city I get hit hard with the reality of the situation here. The main industry on the island is sugar cane farming. Most farms do not have tractors and the workers use water buffalo to plow the fields.

Next they will meticulously plant the fields by hand. Once the cane has grown the workers manually harvest the cane with machetes and bundle them. The bundles are loaded into trucks (usually manually) and stacked so high that I wonder how they do not tip over. It's hard work, there is little automation, and the workers get paid very little. It's a hard life just to subsist at the poverty line yet there are still smiles on the people's face.

What hits me the hardest is when I see the children. This little boy is probably the same age as my oldest son. I know my son will grow up, go to college, and do whatever he chooses with his life. I'm quite certain that in the not too distant future someone will put a machete in this boy's hand and he will be sent to the fields so that my boy will have sweetener for his drinks. The only difference between the two boys is a matter of circumstance and where they were brought into this world. And that realization brings me to tears.