Obviously you're all thinking that this blog has been pretty sparse so far…Well, we would concur with that. What you may not know is that the Chinese Government put a stop to websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogging websites just before the Beijing Olympics in 2008. As a result, any postings that were put up while we were in China were courtesy of our parents (thanks Mom and Dad!). Now that we're in India, we should be able to post more regularly.
Before we get to telling you about India, we feel that we owe it to everyone to fill you in on our trip to China. China is a land of conflicting ideologies and stark contrasts. In one way, you have big brother watching over the people, restricting access to websites, TV programs, and conveying a message of a better life for all its people…Note the "Better City, Better Life" slogan for the Shanghai 2010 Expo, for example. At the same time, you have the young generation using cell phones, blackberries, and shopping like there's no tomorrow. We've never seen a culture so driven on consumption…The Chinese machine is running on all cylinders - a stark contrast to our traditional understanding of communism.
Beijing: The city was really impressive in terms of its sights, but being that Nadia and I prefer a "walker's city", we found it to be too sprawling and spread-out. Our days in Beijing were spent sightseeing at Tiananmen's Square, the Forbidden City, Beihai Park, The Temple of Heaven, and taking in the sights at Wangfujing Street. For those that aren't familiar, this is a street where you can dine on anything from seahorses to scorpions to cockroaches on sticks (see the attached video in case you don't believe it). Of course, we made the inevitable Great Wall excursion, which was pretty spectacular, though extremely crowded, and much steeper than we ever anticipated.
Xi'An: This was definitely one of our highlights of China. The Terracotta Warriors was an incredible sight to see, but what Nadia and I enjoyed even more was the Muslim Quarter of this ancient city. Narrow streets of stalls with Uyghurs, and an atmosphere of life that you can never quite capture on film. At the same time, the air in Xi'An so far ranks as perhaps the worst we've felt so far (and we're beginning to feel like we're authorities on the matter now that we've seen a number of cities in the region). I can only describe the air as the perfect mix of smoke, rotting cabbage, metal shavings, dust, BBQ'd street meat and paint thinner. It was at this point that we were starting to feel the effects of the Chinese machine on our lungs…
Hangzhou: Many of you won't have heard of either Hangzhou or Suzhou, but both have populations greater than 6 million people. We stayed in Hangzhou on the edge of a beautiful lake called "West Lake". It was the perfect spot to chill for a couple of days and regain some peace and tranquility (amongst 6 million or so other people). We also went to one of the most spectacular religious sites we've seen, known as the "Lingyin Temple", with massive Buddha statues in a series of temples built on the hillside overlooking West Lake. There were also 1,000+ year old Buddha statues carved right into the rocks of the mountain.
Suzhou: Suzhou is known for its gardens and canals, but we had trouble finding the peace and tranquility of Suzhou as the poor air quality and the colds we had caught began to put a damper on things. However, we made the most of the time that we had there, and still got out to see many of this city's sights. Some have referred to this as "The Venice of Southeast Asia", but it was hard to see a lot of the parallels…Though Nadia and and I managed to have some absolutely delicious Italian food in this city…
Shanghai: Shanghai is truly an international city, and as some have suggested, is not really representative of "the real China". There are all sorts of international restaurants, hotels, etc. and the city is abuzz in a shopping frenzy. For us, I think the best part of Shanghai was our unique living experience in the Embankment Bulding on Suzhou creek. We had an apartment for 5 days that was arranged with an outfit called "Chai Shanghai Living". Our place was on a street that most tourists would never go on, in a building that most tourists would never dream of settting foot in, living amongst local residents of Shanghai. However, entering into our "pad" was like a little slice of home. Lee, the "Hospitality Manager" paid attention to every possible detail, including restocking our fridge every day with a healthy breakfast, providing us with a cell phone, etc. We can easily say this was the best hotel/apartment/guesthouse experience we've ever had. The owner even bought Mike a full tiramisu cake for his birthday!
Overall, we had a good experience in China and saw a lot over the 16 days that we were there. People were generally curious about the two of us, obviously not having seen many mixed couples before; however, they were curious in a good way. No malicious looks or hostilities other than one gentleman on the train from Suzhou to Shanghai that told us to "go home". Perhaps the meaning of what he was really tring to say was lost in translation...
Hope everyone enjoys the pictures and videos, and please stay tuned for postings on India.
Mike and Nadia
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