Weekend Trip: Yangzhou (扬州）

NYU sponsors three overnight trips to cities nearby Shanghai: Yangzhou, Hangzhou, and Suzhou.  Our group chose to go to Yangzhou as our weekend trip.  Yangzhou is a prefecture-level city in the central Jiangsu Province.  It sits on the northern bank of the Yangtze River.  

The drive from Shanghai to Yangzhou is about three to four hours; therefore, we departed bright and early at 8am (well, it wasn't that early...).  This trip includes transportation, accommodations, tour guides, and meals.

Each meal was very similar, all consisting of traditional Yangzhou cuisine.  Once you sit down, the first dishes served are all cold dishes, followed by the main "warm" dishes (not too sure what you would call these...hot dishes?) Yangzhou cuisine is known to have an appealing color, aroma, taste, and appearance, and no oily sauces are usually added.  Some traditional Yangzhou dishes include Yangzhou fried rice, 狮子头 (Lion's head-meatballs), 扬州干丝 (dried bean curd in soup).  Each of these three dishes were included in every meal we had in Yangzhou. 

Our first stop: He Garden, which is located on Xuningmen Street.  The whole garden is divided into two parts: the east and the west section.  The east garden contains four walls, which houses the main building of the garden.  The west garden there is a pool in the center of the building walls.  

Next Stop: Slender West Lake, which is considered to be a national park of China.  It is located in the Hanjiang District of Yangzhou.  The lake consists of a few attractions: Lotus Flower Pagoda, Small Gold Mountain, and the Fishing Platform (which was a favorite of the Qing Emperor, Qianlong).  

Slender West Lake

Slender West Lake

Tiana taking Colin's "senior portrait"

The 1201 crew 

All the 朋友's...and ducky!! 

After dinner, we were treated to a traditional Yangzhou show, the kind that is performed as the audiences are enjoying tea and sunflower seeds.  The show consisted of dancing, singing, and a few musical instruments.  A photo-op was allowed with the performers after the show.

Our hotel breakfast :D

First stop of the next day: Ge Garden.  Many gardens constructed during the Han Dynasty did not last through the years, except for the Ge Garden and a few other Yangzhou gardens.  The garden uses bamboo and rocks as its principal elements.  The rocks are formed from different kinds of rocks to represent a different season, hence the name "four-season-rockery."

Our last stop of the trip: Daming Temple, which is located in the city's northwest.  The original temple was built in the Song Dynasty.  The temple is nine stories high.  Unfortunately, much of the garden where the temple was located was all under construction.   

Overall, this trip consisted of way too many gardens.  Granted that this is what is famous in Yangzhou, what we heard from the Suzhou and Hangzhou trips made Yangzhou seem very unexciting.  It was also a little less adventurous compared to our Spring Break (that could have been why).  However,  it was nice to have a trip where we didn't have to worry about finding transportation, paying admission fees, or planning what to do ourselves.

Chinese Table

Last night, our 中文老师 (Chinese teacher), the amazing Mark, along with his wife, took us out to dinner.  The class consisted of Elementary and Intermediate Chinese for Advanced Beginners, which are both classes for Chinese speakers who cannot really read and write Chinese.  The dinner was dubbed "Chinese table," based off of Princeton University's idea of weekly dinners with the Chinese teachers to practice speaking Chinese outside and without the pressures of a classroom setting. Since this isn't the traditional college setting, we had this as a special one time thing.  It was a good experience, because we were able to just have a conversation on topics outside of what is in our textbooks, aka we just asked him about him and his wife, which is fine since it uses relevant vocab, such as 高富帅-tall and handsome，一见钟情-love at first sight，and 白头到老, love until old age, right? ;)  

Weekend Trip: Busan, South Korea

Due to my visa limitations, I was "forced" to get out of China so that I would be able to renew my 90 day visa restriction.  Hard life...being forced travel (just kidding, that was sarcasm).  Since one of my friends lives in Busan, South Korea, I decided to head there for the weekend instead of going to Taiwan again.

Busan is located at the southern tip of the South Korean peninsula.  It is the second largest city in South Korea behind Seoul and the largest seaport in the country.  The city is best known for its beaches and nature reserves.

Attractions:  

The Gwangalli Beach overlooks the Gwangan Bridge.  The main attraction in this area is the beach and the nightlife scene along the beach.

Another beach we visited was Haeundae Beach, which is actually connected to Gwangalli, but it is about an hour walk to get from one end to the other. 

Another main attraction in Busan is the Busan Tower which is located inside Youngdusan Park. The park and tower are located in the district of Jung-gu.  Same procedure as any other tower: you pay to take the elevator up, take pictures of the view, and then leave.

The view from the Busan Tower.  This is definitely a better view than the view from the Seoul Tower. 

The other main activity of Busan, as well as Seoul: shopping!  Nampodong is the main shopping and entertainment district in Busan.  

Food: 

***aka the most important part***

Obviously: Korean BBQ.  

Fried chicken and beer: the best.

Cheese Kimbap (sushi)

Seafood pancake from Haeundae Street Market.

Koreans love their coffee and waffles. Afternoon snack from Caffe Bene.

Soondubu Jigae (soft tofu soup).  Best part of this meal, ddukboki (not sure if this is how it is spelled), the spicy rice cakes, was a side dish and all side dishes were self-serve.

Observations: 

-Koreans love their backpacks

-pretty much everyone has a phone the size of an ipad mini
-almost everyone holds their phone and wallets in their hands even though they're carrying a bag
-they love their "letterman jackets"
-they love to wear matching clothes and the guys love their hipster glasses

Conclusion: 

Busan > Seoul 

Thank you Joanne for taking me around! :D

Spring Break Edition: Xi'an

Xi'an is one of those places where you have to visit when you're in China, so we made an effort to include it in our spring break plans, even if we were only able to stay there for a day.  Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi Province.  It was originally called Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty.  It is known as one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China.

Problem #1:

Phil, Sondre, and I parted ways with the rest of the group, as we headed towards Xi'an and the rest of them headed back to Shanghai.  Our first problem of the trip occurred when we found out our flight to Chongqing would be delayed two hours (our layover was two hours too...).  We ended up missing our second flight from Chongqing to Xi'an; therefore, had to spend the night at the airport, and find another ticket to Xi'an in the morning, which thankfully worked out, and we arrived in Xi'an around 8am.  

   

Finally leaving Chongqing and heading towards Xi'an bright and early.

Famous Xi'an hand pulled noodles from Horse and Tiger Noodles. *Just an indication of how popular this place was: there was a wait at 9am.* 

The main attraction of Xi'an: Terracotta Warriors, which is a collection of sculptures depicting the armies of the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang.  The purpose of the Terracotta Warriors is to protect the Emperor in his afterlife.  There are four main pits: pit one contains 11 corridors, pit two contains cavalry and infantry units and war chariots, which represents the military guard, pit three is the command post, and pit four is still left unfinished. The attraction is about an hour from the train station.

Xi'an City Wall was initially built during the Tang Dynasty, but enlarged during the Ming Dynasty.  The city wall includes four gates, Changle in the east, Anding in the west, Yongning in the south, and Anyuan in the north.  The south gate is considered to be the most beautifully decorated, usually the gate that holds any major ceremonies, but unfortunately we were unable to make it there due to time.

If interested, anyone can bike along the city wall, which takes about 2-3 hours.

Muslim Quarter: This is the main area of the Muslim Community in Xi'an.  It is located north of the West Street in the city center and covers several blocks.  By the time we arrived at the "start" of the Muslim Quarter, we only had about 40 mins left before our train leaves.  However, the Muslim Quarter is also about a 40 min walk away from the train station...and here is where problem #2 appeared.

Problem #2:

We assumed that it would be easy to catch a taxi from the Muslim Quarter back to the train station.  We were very wrong.  Taxis that are in service or empty were hard to come by at the time we needed it.  Therefore, we were frantically trying to find a ride back to the station, until a sketchy van pulled up and offered us a ride.  Desperate, we took the offer, but he wasn't able to drop us off at the station, only nearby.  So, after he dropped us off, we ran for our lives to catch the train...pretty much running through Xi'an and making our train with only a few seconds to spare.  Success! 

Cheers to making the train back to Shanghai and cheers to the end of the most adventurous spring break of my college career thus far!

Also, special thanks to Tiana for planning all the other parts of our spring break trip!

Spring Break Edition: Zhangjiajie

Zhangjiajie is located in the northwestern part of the Hunan Province.  The WuLingYuan Scenic Area is located here and it is considered to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  My main observation of Zhangjiajie, they have a slightly different dialect/version of Mandarin.  I was only able to understand the gist of what the people were saying...aka 1/3. 

Our first stop: Tianmen Mountain (天门山)

This is located in Tianmen Mountain National Park.  The cable car we took to the top of the mountain is dubbed as "the longest cableway of high mountains in the world." Also located in the Mountain National Park is the Tianmenshan Temple, cliff paths encircling the mountian, as well as a stairway to the Tianmen Mountain "Doorway to Heaven."  However, since it rained when we went, we were not able to see the "natural bridge"or the glass floor on the mountain.  We did manage to see the door, but we did not have enough time to head down and actually walk up to the door.  

The view from the cableway.  It is definitely a long ride, but the ride takes you above the clouds and it is absolutely breathtaking.

The cableway heading straight into the fog.

Tianmen Mountain Doorway to Heaven located at the bottom of this picture. 

Hunan cuisine in a little hole in the wall restaurant.  Sondre is pro at finding restaurants to eat at in any and every location we go to!

Day 2: Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is part of the much larger Wulingyuan scenic area; thereby, making the national park a UNESCO World Heritage Sites.  This park was also the inspiration for the movie, Avatar's, Pandora.

The National Park also boasts a variety of animals; one of them is the Rhesus Monkey.  Tip: if you offer them food, they might attack you.

Hiking up the mountain in pouring rain and fog, but we managed.

If I remember correctly, we were somewhere near the Avatar Hallelujah Mountains at this point.  However, due to thick fog, we were unable to experience the single most famous attraction in Zhangjiajie, which are the Hallelujah Mountains.

The fog seemed to clear at all the right times, except at the Hallelujah Mountains.    

(somewhat) Pandora!

Located inside the park is the Bailong (Hundred Dragons) elevator, which is an outdoor glass elevator built on the side of a huge cliff in the Wulingyuan Area of the park.  It is claimed to be the world's highest and heaviest outdoor elevator, at 330 meters high. 

再见 Pandora, and 再见 to some of our group, as we parted ways: three of us heading towards Xi'an, and the other four headed back to Shanghai. 

Spring Break Edition: Guilin

Our second stop on the trip: Guilin.  Technically, we arrived in Guilin as our first location, since it is where the train station is located, but we decided to go to Yanshuo first and then head back to spend a day in Guilin after.  Unfortunately, our time in Guilin was short, since we ended up spending a longer time in Xingping, which was definitely well worth it.  We didn't arrive in Guilin until late that night.  

Guilin is located in the northeast of the Guangxi Province, situated along the west bank of the Li River. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in China.  Yanshuo is actually considered one of the many districts in Guilin.     

  

In terms of food, Guilin is famous for their thick rice noodles.  The noodles can be eaten dry or in soup, with a few small toppings.  These rice noodles are not quite up my alley, but they were cheap and fast.   

Our hostel: Wada Hostel.  It had the same community feel as The Old Place Hostel.  The front desk of both hostels were both very accommodating and helpful in planning our trips.  We were specifically in Guilin to see the rice paddies, but the trips with the hostel don't leave until around 8am; however, our train leaves at 5pm and it takes 3 hours one way to get there and then back, so the hostel helped us find a ride and guide for 6am instead, which worked out perfectly.   

Once again, our rooms were better than expected.  The girl's room was three beds to a room and the guy's had a dorm style room. 

Guilin also has a few night markets, but the staple foods at the night markets consisted of chow fun (pictured above-fried thick noodles), 炒饭 (fried rice), and skewers of all sorts.

Longsheng Rice Terrace- This is technically not located in Guilin.  It is actually located in Longsheng County about two hours from Guilin.  The fields are built on an elevated slope reaching from the river to the mountain tope, so ideally, this is a hike to the top of the mountain.  Since we went during Spring, the mountain was supposed to be filled with layers of water and sun, but it poured on the day we went, so there was no sun in sight. 

From left to right: Phil, Sondre, Jae, TT, me, Garrick, Marissa

After a long, soaking, but successful day, we headed back into Guilin to take the soft sleeper train to our next stop. (if you want to know more about soft sleeper trains, see my Huangshan post).    

  

Next up: Pandora! (from Avatar) aka Zhangjiajie

Spring Break Edition: Xingping and Yanshuo

Xingping

Xingping is a town in the North Guangxi province.  It is about a 45 mins bus ride from Yanshuo, but be cautious, the bus ride right now will be very bumpy, because they are fixing up the roads.  (Bumpy, as in you will be bouncing up and down in your seat numerous times).  Xingping is probably best known for its 20RMB view...literally it is the view that is on the Chinese 20 Yuan Note.  I would recommend anyone who decided to visit Guilin/Yanshuo to stay a night or two in Xingping.  This town has a lot of character and the views are definitely worth it!   

In Xingping, we stayed at This Old Place Hostel, which was by far my favorite hostel of this trip.  The lobby area has an oven where they serve wood-fired pizza.  Our rooms, as well as the rooftop, had amazing views (or as we learned in Chinese, the view is considered to be 如诗如画-as beautiful as a painting).  The overall atmosphere of the place was much like that of a small community.  Everyone spent their evenings chatting in the lobby over pizza and a movie that played from a projector. 

Tiana and Marissa, twinning it up, outside the hostel

The girls had a room with two beds, one larger bed for two and one smaller bed.  They guys had a four-person dorm style room.  Both had private bathrooms.

On one of the days, we hiked up Laozhai Mountain in Xingping.  Unfortunately, the days that we were there, there was no sun so we weren't able to see a sunrise or a sunset, but luckily it was not foggy, so we did get to see the Chinese 20Yuan Note view (shown above).  (This weather sounds oddly familiar...seems like we had the same kind during our trip to Huangshan...just our luck).  The hike is about an hour long, but once you get to the end of the trail, don't stop there.  Keep climbing up to the top of the rocks.  Your eyes will thank you later when you see the view.    

The Chinese 20 Yuan Note view.

Xingping is located along the Li River.

This wasn't the original bamboo rafting that we had intended to do, but due to weather, this was the only option in terms of bamboo boats.  We took this bamboo boat "cruise" around the Li River.  The trip was about an hour and a half to two hours long.  

Yanshuo

Yanshuo is small town in the same province as above, bordered by the Li River on one side.  It is easily accessible from Guilin by boat or bus (about an hour away).  Yanshuo is filled with many outdoor activities.  However, once again due to weather issues, we had many restrictions on what we could and couldn't do.  Out of all our locations for spring break, I believe Yanshuo definitely did not lack in the number of tourists, considering the number of restaurant employees who were able to speak English to try to get us to eat at their restaurant.   

Thankfully, our first activity, cave exploring, was not affected by the weather.  We drove about 30 mins to Gold Water Cave, on the outskirts of Yanshuo.  

Gettin' down and dirty...

Within the cave, we took a mud bath and then unwound in the hot springs.  This may have been the most relaxing part of the entire trip.  

After a soothing nap in the hot springs, we headed into the main town center, and walked along West Street, where they have rows of Chinese restaurants, Western restaurants, and street food all mixed into one city center.   The main town center of Yanshuo actually reminded me a lot of Prague's Mala Strana.   

Since waterfall climbing was closed, we decided the next best thing was to go... zip lining through the mountains.  

Next stop: headed back into Guilin for a day!