photos

Chongqing photo

 Jack playing ping pong

Snack cart on the train

A few things about Hangzhou

Hangzhou is an ancient city with a glorious history. Marco Polo marveled at it, poets have praised the beauty of its West Lake for a thousand years. There are plenty of videos about the tourist attractions.
This one talks about the food market. Do you think the "bird on a stick" has a future at the MN State Fair? No? how about the "crab on a stick"? Looks good to me!


This video about is bike-share program gives a lot of information about the city itself.

The Biggest, Baddest Bike-Share in the World: Hangzhou China from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

The Qiantang River is the site of the world's largest "tidal bore," a naturally occuring tidal sruge that causes a giant wave to travels up the river, against the direction of its flow. People gather to watch it, and one year some pro surfers were invited to surf the wave.

Surfing China's Qiantang River Tidal Bore, Hangzhou - September, 2008 from GSM International on Vimeo.

On the road again

From Mr Yu:

Most kids got up late. a few kids went with Mr. Yu and Jackie to tour the central business area of Chongqing. From the hotel we were told to exit the building from the 4th floor through the back door towards the parking lot. We crossed two streets and rode a commercial elevator (for 1 yuan) up to the street maybe 200 feet higher. We ate some delicious but cheap noodle bowls before the girls found a bakery. In the center of downtown Chongqing, we found the Liberation Monument dedicated to the Alliance' victory in the Second World War. Most Chongqing people still have fond memories of Americans who fought against the Japanese with them during the war. Then we went into a genuine Rolix watch shop where there were no customers but two neatly dressed sales women. The prices started somewhere about $7000. On the way back we found a supermarket hidden in the basement of a large apartment complex.

Day 2. July 6 Wednesday

Some kids went with Mr. Yu to the nearby Cable Station to take a ride to the other side of the Yangtse River. Unfortunately the cable car was closed for today for regular maintenance.

7/7
in the afternoon we went to the Chongqing Railway Station where we boarded the bullet train bound for Shanghai. The train departed at 6:10 p.m.. We have the soft sleeper cars so everyone has a bed to sleep for the night. There are two bunk beds for four passengers in each cabin. There is also a dining car but its menu is mostly restricted to some prepackaged meals and instant noodles. Otherwise the hardware is very impressive. The average speed is about 160 miles per hour so when the kids woke up the next morning, we were already 1200 miles away from Chongqing. As I am typing, the train is traveling between Nanjing and Shanghai where we are scjeduled to arrive 90 minutes from now. This afternoon we will take the real high-speed train to Hangzhou with the average speed maintained at more than 200 miles per hour.

What is it like to ride the bullet train? Here's a video:

Chongqing at Night

From Mr Yu

Composing a report

Mr. Yu and his editorial staff.

Snacks

Trying starfish and scorpion

The gang

In Chengdu

In front of the Walmart

more photos from Lijiang

Jade Snow Dragon mountain

Lijiang airport with some new friends

Chongqing report

From Mr Yu:

We left Chengdu for Chongqing on July 4. The ride on freeway through greenish rolling hills and small towns took about 5 hours. When stepping out of the chartered bus, we immediately felt the heat. The city of Chongqing is known as one of the four furnaces along the Yangtse River Valley. We all agreed that Chongqing's reputation as one of the hottest cities in China was indisputable. We had lunch at a restaurant where we almost lost James again in the restroom. The hotel, called the Carol Hotel, is located right next to the Yangtse River. At both day and night we have panoramic views of the river and the highrises in the urban area. It is only about a few minutes walk form the hotel to downtown Chongqing, but most buildings between the hotel and the business area are the old, beaten-down buildings from many years ago (probably built during the 2nd World War Era when Chongqing was China's wartime capital), most of which seem to be deserted and are set to be demolished in the near future.

 This is also where our kids can find some really bargain food, like beef noodle for 5 yuan, fried rice for 4 yuan, etc. Once we get to CBD, we have easy access to the usual fashionable restaurants, retailers, cinemas, shopping centers, cafes, and fast food restaurant that our kids are very familiar with back in Minnesota.

We will stay here until 7/7 instead of 7/6 due to lack of sleeper beds for the group on 7/6. We will add Hangzhou on the itinerary. We will stay in Hangzhou on 7/8 and will come back to Shanghai on 7/9. The added cost will be covered by the group fee.
I will update the photos in Chongqing tonight.

Off to Chongqing

After a weekend of relatively unscheduled time in Chengdu, on July 4 the group will take a bus to the city Chongqing  (see video here ), a distance of about 340 kilometers. We hope the bus is air-conditioned, as it is hot in the area right now! Chongquing is at the confluence of the Jialing and Yangtze rivers.
 On their way, they will be able to stop and tour the Dazu Rock Carvings, a UNESCO Heritage site with caves and cliffs elaborately carved and painted.



After dinner, the group will go to Eling Park for a night view of the megalopolis. Videographer David Goorney has a series of spectacular HD videos from all over Asia, and his night-time photograph of Chonqing is spectacular:

Lots of photos!

More photos from climbing Jade Snow Dragon Mountain

Shangri-La old town

Rainy day

Tea