Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Brian Regan on Flying
In preparation for takeoff, I thought you would enjoy this bit of humor... I must say, I was nodding my head through much of this...
Friday, July 3, 2009
Terracotta Warriors Preview...
The main event of any trip to China is to see the Terracotta Warrior site. More on this later in the week. For now, enjoy this teaser video, courtesy of Lonely Planet.
Get Ready for a Calligraphy Lesson
Part of the beauty of this tour that many tours do not offer is the cultural immersion opportunities. One of the many said opportunities that we will have is a calligraphy lesson in Xi'an. Here's hoping for something interesting and enlightening.
A Visit to the Shaanxi Provincial Historical Museum
If you visit one museum in China, make it this one, for its unrivaled collection of treasures. The museum was being renovated at press time and its manifold riches should be displayed even more alluringly by the time you visit. As you enter, start with the hall on the left, pull on a jacket to brave the fierce air-conditioning, and ignore the man who tries to drag you to his display of "original art." Items are displayed chronologically, starting with the Shang dynasty (ca. 17th c.-11th c. B.C.) and the Zhou dynasty (ca. 11th c.-221 B.C.) on the ground floor, including items that speak to eating, drinking, and merriment in the Western Zhou (ca. 11th c.-771 B.C.).
Things take a martial turn as you enter the Qin dynasty (221-206 B.C.): Aside from the bronze swords and rusting iron weapons (which gave the Qin a decisive military edge), a striking exhibit is a tiger-shaped tally covered in characters (duhu fu) which gave its owner, one General Du, imperial authorization to mobilize over 50 soldiers at will. As you move on to the Tang dynasty (618-907), the influence of Buddhist art from the Silk Routes becomes apparent -- carvings are more sophisticated, and bright colors are introduced. Perhaps the most startling exhibits are the frescoes (bihua) relocated from the Tang tumuli around Xi'an. A depiction of ladies-in-waiting (gongnu tu) shows nine women carrying the tools of their trade -- candelabras, fans, cloth bundles, powder boxes, even fly swatters. Two of them are dressed in male clothing. Another fresco (ma qiu tu) shows noblemen enjoying the newly imported game of polo. Ceramic tomb guardians point to a lively trade with the outside world -- there's a trader from Africa and a fanciful depiction of a man on horseback battling a leopard. You can easily spend 3 or 4 hours here.
Information Courtesy of Frommers.
Click here to explore the museum more thoroughly.
Things take a martial turn as you enter the Qin dynasty (221-206 B.C.): Aside from the bronze swords and rusting iron weapons (which gave the Qin a decisive military edge), a striking exhibit is a tiger-shaped tally covered in characters (duhu fu) which gave its owner, one General Du, imperial authorization to mobilize over 50 soldiers at will. As you move on to the Tang dynasty (618-907), the influence of Buddhist art from the Silk Routes becomes apparent -- carvings are more sophisticated, and bright colors are introduced. Perhaps the most startling exhibits are the frescoes (bihua) relocated from the Tang tumuli around Xi'an. A depiction of ladies-in-waiting (gongnu tu) shows nine women carrying the tools of their trade -- candelabras, fans, cloth bundles, powder boxes, even fly swatters. Two of them are dressed in male clothing. Another fresco (ma qiu tu) shows noblemen enjoying the newly imported game of polo. Ceramic tomb guardians point to a lively trade with the outside world -- there's a trader from Africa and a fanciful depiction of a man on horseback battling a leopard. You can easily spend 3 or 4 hours here.
Information Courtesy of Frommers.
Click here to explore the museum more thoroughly.
Our Journey in Xi'an Begins with the Big Goose Pagoda
Xī'ān's most famous landmark, the Big Goose Pagoda, was completed in AD 652 to house the Buddhist sutras brought back from India by the monk Xuan Zang. Xuan Zang spent the last 19 years of his life translating scriptures with a crack team of linguist monks; many of these translations are still used today. His travels also inspired one of the most well-known works of Chinese literature, Journey to the West. You can read more about the pagoda by clicking here.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Learn About Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture at a Hospital in Shanghai, Then We Take Off for Xi'an!
When I first presented this tour to you guys, I promised, not your typical tour, but one that included real cultural immersion as well. The cultural immersion will begin on the morning of day four as we learn about Chinese medicine and acupuncture at a local hospital in Shanghai. This should be very enlightening!
Later in the day, we'll hop on another plane and head off to Xi'an, China's ancient capital, as well as a modern city of over 3 million people! More updates are coming next week about our stay in Xi'an, so stay tuned. Until then, check out the website Tour Easy, the online survival guide to Xi'an. I'll see you all next week with more updates, and don't forget our final mandatory meeting on Wednesday, July 1, at 6 pm in the Media Center at North.
Later in the day, we'll hop on another plane and head off to Xi'an, China's ancient capital, as well as a modern city of over 3 million people! More updates are coming next week about our stay in Xi'an, so stay tuned. Until then, check out the website Tour Easy, the online survival guide to Xi'an. I'll see you all next week with more updates, and don't forget our final mandatory meeting on Wednesday, July 1, at 6 pm in the Media Center at North.
The Shanghai Jiangong Jinjiang Hotel
I have been asked several times over the past few months what are hotels would look like. I did assure everyone that the hotels we use for China are NICE and of a higher standard than the hotels we typically use in Europe. Well, I just received information on our hotels yesterday, and I think you will be very pleased with our accommodations throughout the trip. For now I will just introduce you to the hotel that we will be staying in while in Shanghai- the Jian Gong Hotel. This hotel will put us right in the middle of the action of Shanghai, about 3 miles from the city center. The hotel is right at Hengshan Road Station on Line 1 of the Shanghai Metro Transport Network (you can see exactly where that is located by clicking here. Although we won't be spending too much time in the hotel because we will be busy out on the town, you'll be pleased to know that the hotel contains 3 restaurants, a health/fitness center, bowling, message, a beauty salon, a florist, foreign currency exchange, a gift shop (stay away from those, it's much more fun to haggle with street vendors), air conditioning, complementary bottled water (I know that was a concern of some), individual climate control, cable/satellite channels including HBO, CNN, BBC, and NHK, etc, etc. The even better news is that the hotels get even better in the next two cities, so stay tuned for updates next week. For now, you can check out the hotel's website by clicking here.
Nanjing Road Shanghai
No doubt we'll get some shopping done on the legendary Nanjing Road. Click below for more details.
Nanjing Road Shanghai,Shanghai Nanjing Road
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Nanjing Road Shanghai,Shanghai Nanjing Road
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Yu Yuan Garden of Shanghai
We'll be checking out this beautiful destination as well! Click below for more details.Yuyuan Garden of Shanghai, Yu Yuan Garden, Yu Yuan Garden Shanghai,
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Shanghai Jade Buddha Temple
This promises to be one of the highlights of our tour of Shanghai. Click below for more details.Saturday, June 13, 2009
China in the Spotlight from NPR
This year, NPR is taking a close look at China and its growing influence in the world. The NPR series China: In the Spotlight (that you can access by clicking here) does an excellent job of showcasing the rapidly evolving China in areas like diplomacy, culture, environment, and the economy. I have enjoyed this story very much, and I thought I would share it with you guys. Check it out!
Friday, June 5, 2009
We'll Cap the Night Off With an Acrobatics Show
Traditional Chinese acrobatics is quite popular in China, and reportedly the Shanghai Acrobatics Troupe has some of the best performances in town at the Shanghai Centre Theatre. You can check out the theater on their website by clicking here. I'm still not sure on the details of who acrobatics company we will see, but I'm sure that we'll thoroughly enjoy whoever we see.
Taking a Stroll on the Bund
Although you'll likely be jet-lagged after a 14 1/2 hour flight out of New Jersey, you will no doubt wake right up when you hit the bund. Whenever I travel, there is always a moment when it hits me, "Oh man, I'm in ____________." Perhaps that moment for you will be when we set out on foot for a walking tour along the Bund. The information that follows appears courtesy of Frommer's Guidebooks:
"The Bund (which means the Embankment) refers to Shanghai's famous waterfront running along the west shore of the Huangpu River, forming the eastern boundary of old downtown Shanghai. Once a muddy towpath for boats along the river, the Bund was where the foreign powers that entered Shanghai after the Opium War of 1842 erected their distinct Western-style banks and trading houses. From here Shanghai grew into a cosmopolitan and thriving commercial and financial center, Asia's leading city in the 1920s and 1930s. Many of the awesome colonial structures you see today date from that prosperous time and have become an indelible part of Shanghai's cityscape.
Today, a wide avenue fronts the old buildings while a raised promenade on the east side of the road affords visitors pleasant strolls along the river and marvelous views of both the Bund and Pudong across the river. Pudong's new skyscrapers and modern towers -- constituting Shanghai's "21st Century Bund" -- may dominate today's skyline, but the city's core identity and history are strictly rooted in this unique strip on the western shore. For years, the Bund was the first sight of Shanghai for those arriving by boat; it should be your first stop as well...
...The highlights of the Bund are undoubtedly the colonial-era buildings lining the west side of Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu, standouts of which include the former British Consulate, Customs House, former Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, and Peace Hotel.
Besides its landmark colonial architecture, however, the Bund has a few other small attractions. On its north end, Suzhou Creek enters the Huangpu River beneath the 18m-wide (60-ft.) iron Waibaidu Bridge, built in 1906 to replace the original wooden toll bridge constructed in 1856 by an English businessman. On the river shore now stands a granite obelisk, Monument to the People's Heroes, dedicated to Chinese patriots (as defined by the Communist Party), beginning in the 1840s. It was erected in 1993 and contains a small historical gallery at its base, the Bund History Museum (daily 9am-4:15pm; free admission), which contains a few artifacts and some interesting photographs of the Bund. Just south of the monument, at street level, is the park Huangpu Gongyuan (daily 6am-6pm in winter, until 10pm in summer; free admission), originally the British Public Gardens built in 1868. In the early days, only Chinese servants accompanying their foreign masters were allowed to enter the park. Dogs were also prohibited, leading in later years to the apocryphal NO CHINESE OR DOGS ALLOWED sign being attributed to the park. The park was eventually opened to Chinese in 1926. South of here, across from the Peace Hotel, is the entrance to the pedestrian Bund Sightseeing Tunnel (Waitan Guanguang Suidao; daily 8am-10:30pm, to 10pm Nov-Apr; admission ¥40/$5 round-trip, ¥30/$4 one-way) located under the Huangpu. Complete with tram cars and light show, the tunnel connects downtown Shanghai to the Pudong New Area and the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. Also here is a statue of Chen Yi, Shanghai's first mayor after 1949 and a dead ringer for Mao Zedong, at least in bronze.
Farther south down the Bund Promenade are scores of vendors, a few restaurants, and excellent overlooks facing the river. Near the southern end of the promenade are the docks for the Huangpu River cruises. You'll also notice picturesque Signal Tower, a slender round brick tower that served as a control tower for river traffic during colonial days. First built in 1884, the tower was rebuilt in 1907, and also relayed weather reports. In 1993 during the widening of Zhongshan Lu, it was moved 20m (65 ft.) to its current site. Today, a handful of photographs inside show the early days of the Bund, but you can no longer climb to the lookout."
I can't wait! The University of Maine has a very cool site that you can check out (by clicking here) that provides a key to the buildings on the Bund with history, and there certainly is quite a bit of modern history there indeed.
"The Bund (which means the Embankment) refers to Shanghai's famous waterfront running along the west shore of the Huangpu River, forming the eastern boundary of old downtown Shanghai. Once a muddy towpath for boats along the river, the Bund was where the foreign powers that entered Shanghai after the Opium War of 1842 erected their distinct Western-style banks and trading houses. From here Shanghai grew into a cosmopolitan and thriving commercial and financial center, Asia's leading city in the 1920s and 1930s. Many of the awesome colonial structures you see today date from that prosperous time and have become an indelible part of Shanghai's cityscape.
Today, a wide avenue fronts the old buildings while a raised promenade on the east side of the road affords visitors pleasant strolls along the river and marvelous views of both the Bund and Pudong across the river. Pudong's new skyscrapers and modern towers -- constituting Shanghai's "21st Century Bund" -- may dominate today's skyline, but the city's core identity and history are strictly rooted in this unique strip on the western shore. For years, the Bund was the first sight of Shanghai for those arriving by boat; it should be your first stop as well...
...The highlights of the Bund are undoubtedly the colonial-era buildings lining the west side of Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu, standouts of which include the former British Consulate, Customs House, former Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, and Peace Hotel.
Besides its landmark colonial architecture, however, the Bund has a few other small attractions. On its north end, Suzhou Creek enters the Huangpu River beneath the 18m-wide (60-ft.) iron Waibaidu Bridge, built in 1906 to replace the original wooden toll bridge constructed in 1856 by an English businessman. On the river shore now stands a granite obelisk, Monument to the People's Heroes, dedicated to Chinese patriots (as defined by the Communist Party), beginning in the 1840s. It was erected in 1993 and contains a small historical gallery at its base, the Bund History Museum (daily 9am-4:15pm; free admission), which contains a few artifacts and some interesting photographs of the Bund. Just south of the monument, at street level, is the park Huangpu Gongyuan (daily 6am-6pm in winter, until 10pm in summer; free admission), originally the British Public Gardens built in 1868. In the early days, only Chinese servants accompanying their foreign masters were allowed to enter the park. Dogs were also prohibited, leading in later years to the apocryphal NO CHINESE OR DOGS ALLOWED sign being attributed to the park. The park was eventually opened to Chinese in 1926. South of here, across from the Peace Hotel, is the entrance to the pedestrian Bund Sightseeing Tunnel (Waitan Guanguang Suidao; daily 8am-10:30pm, to 10pm Nov-Apr; admission ¥40/$5 round-trip, ¥30/$4 one-way) located under the Huangpu. Complete with tram cars and light show, the tunnel connects downtown Shanghai to the Pudong New Area and the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. Also here is a statue of Chen Yi, Shanghai's first mayor after 1949 and a dead ringer for Mao Zedong, at least in bronze.
Farther south down the Bund Promenade are scores of vendors, a few restaurants, and excellent overlooks facing the river. Near the southern end of the promenade are the docks for the Huangpu River cruises. You'll also notice picturesque Signal Tower, a slender round brick tower that served as a control tower for river traffic during colonial days. First built in 1884, the tower was rebuilt in 1907, and also relayed weather reports. In 1993 during the widening of Zhongshan Lu, it was moved 20m (65 ft.) to its current site. Today, a handful of photographs inside show the early days of the Bund, but you can no longer climb to the lookout."
I can't wait! The University of Maine has a very cool site that you can check out (by clicking here) that provides a key to the buildings on the Bund with history, and there certainly is quite a bit of modern history there indeed.
See Shanghai From the Top of the Jin Mao Tower During our Tour of in Shanghai
This used to be China's tallest building (and the fifth-tallest building in the world), the 88-story Jin Mao Tower (literally, the "Gold Luxuriance Building" in Chinese. Of course, Shanghai is always determined to out-do itself, so in 2007, the 90-story Shanghai World Financial Center was opened right next door. Our tour, however, will take us to the top of the Jin Mao tower, a building built in 1998 as a Sino-American joint venture. The observation deck on the 88th floor is sure to provide some breathtaking views. You can check out the tower's website by clicking here.
Shanghai Internet Resources
You can check out these websites to get more insight into the city of Shanghai before arrival (you'll be blown away by the modernity and sheer life of this metropolis after browsing these sites:City Weekend- Shanghai. A good listings website that has a searchable database of articles.
SH Online. This is the latest player on the city scene, brought to you by veterans of That's Shanghai.
Shanghai-ed. Everything from what's on to historical essays, though parts are a bit outdated.
Shanghai Expat. Interesting site for anyone considering living in Shanghai.
Shanghai Guide. This used to be a good guide to living in Shanghai, with a strong focus on tourism. Now it is more like Shanghai's version of Facebook.
SmartShanghai.com. For fashion, food, fun, and frolicking.
Tales of Old China. Lots of reading on Old Shanghai, with the text of hard-to-find books online.
That's Shanghai. Always on top of what's happening in Shanghai's entertainment. Right now you'll have to get past a survey before you can browse the website.
http://shanghaiist.com/. Aimed at expats, but an interesting blog nonetheless.
Continental Flight 87
The flight that we will be taking into Shanghai's Pu Dong International Airport is a unique one, as it is a polar route. Generally, the flight leaves Newark and heads straight for Greenland and then flies over the Arctic Ocean, and then finally shoots through Russia and the Central Asian steppes (the main stage of Season 2!) making a final beeline into China and more specifically Shanghai. Sometimes, due to weather, it will go the opposite way (as is the case today incidentally). You can check out the flight pattern as well as all of the inflight amenities by clicking here.
Top Five Books on Shanghai
Well, in a little over five weeks from now, we'll be touching down in Shanghai. Perhaps with school out and a few weeks to sleep off the studying frenzy, you're ready to pick up a book again. If so, you may want to consider the following titles, recommended by Lonely Planet Guidebooks as the top five books on Shanghai:Shanghai by Harriet Sergeant. A recommended reconstruction of Shanghai's swinging history.
Shanghai: The Rise and Fall of a Decadent City by Stella Dong. Another wee-researched history of the good-old bad-old days.
In Search of Old Shanghai by Pan Ling. An easy read into the characters of Shanghai's murky past.
New Shanghai: The Rocky Rebirth of China's Legendary City by Pamela Yatsko. Bring yourself up to date with this portrait of the new Shanghai. Ask Livaditis what he thought, I believe he's reading this book right now.
Candy by Mian Mian. Hip modern novel from a darling of the city's social set, proving that sex, suicide and drug addiction aren't just limited to Shanghai's past.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Shanghai Welcomes Us on July 14th!
Well folks, because of the reversal in our itinerary, Shanghai will be our first stop. Over the next few days, I will be highlighting some of our stops in this magnificent city. In the meantime, enjoy the video below showcasing "The Bund," Shanghai's former financial heart.
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