Living in a Skyscraper – Hong Kong

Posted on October 15, 2014 by admin

Somehow I felt like Hong Kong is a must see place if you travel China. Arriving by plane I had the spectacular pictures of approaching the airport in my mind. But at the same time I knew that we will land at the new airport built on an artificial island and not flying to the former one which is in the middle of the city. Once rated as one of the most difficult airports to land at.
Since at the time protests were going on in Hong Kong the public transportation was a bit limited. Not knowing that I was waiting for 20min for a bus just to get told that it won’t stop at the place I needed to go. The solution was the 3 times more expensive MTR train. However, I got fast and save to Hong Kong Island. One thing I realised on the way: The Chinese did much better in designing a metro station than the brits!

Ant another thing you will realise getting on the streets of Hong Kong is the high rising building all around. I think I never saw a normal house around the island. And yes, people live in there and not just work. My hostel was based on the 13th floor and my room was called deluxe. The space we got was ~11sqm for eight of us. Bunks with three levels were standard, sleeping in a shelf in a cramped place!

Although, if you were willed to walk up to the victoria peak you could first of all enjoy a nice walk through the city and secondly escape it. And finally you got a great view down. Around the peak I found some leftovers of old british fortification. According the signs built before the war and destroyed during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.

Back down in the centre I passed the main area where the demonstration takes part. It was much bigger the days before our arrival and became much bigger afterwards. No more to see at least at that time.

Staying in Hong Kong made me realise how much more lifestyle costs in the west. Compared to China which I think is not cheap at all is Hong Kong super expensive. For a night you paid at least 30$, a burger menu in a restaurant its around 15$ and so on. But thats the price to be back in the west I guess.
Unfortunately I missed the most famous thing – the light show in the evening. There was no second time as we were believing. Too late for that night and the day after I left it … Thailand next.

Another China – Shanghai

Posted on October 13, 2014 by admin

After over a month in this country I was kind of over it. Too different cultures and not always easy to be tolerant to the ignorant Chinese! But before I left China I wanted to see Shanghai. The perhaps most western like city in China beside Hong Kong.

Since it was still Chinese National Holiday Shanghai was packed with tourists. Especially throughout the pedestrian area which goes to the infamous ‘the buns’.A area along the river with the some historical building. It also faces the banking district of Shanghai with its skyscrapers. A must see area in Shanghai and that how it felt during holiday. Especially in the evening all the people showed up to see the lighting of the high rise buildings. And it was also the evening where as the police started to route the people through the streets. From subway to the bund on one street and back on the parallel street. No contraflow. When the pedestrians crossed the street the police kept them inside of a human tunnel or where putting up ribbons.

Perhaps the most famous at the moment is the Pearl Tower on the left. The most famous in the future might be the Shanghai Tower on the right which will be finished up till 2015. An over 600m Skyscraper which gets narrower to the top and torques around its on centre. And somewhere between you can find the ‘bottle opener’. At least it looks like a xxl opener. If you get the chance get into that one, get up to the 91 floor to the bar and enjoy the few.

During night time The Bund looks amazing with all the skyscrapers. Some of them are simple lid up others like the Pearl tower is flashing and chaining colours.

When the holiday finished Shanghai calmed down and it was possible to walk freely and quick from A to B. I got a totally different experience than the days before. And at once you could realise that people living here are more western. Less people spiting on the street, making weird noises or kids shitting on the sidewalks.
Initially i was planing to take the train down to Hong Kong. But since it would have taken so long I booked a flight there. First flight after all the trains from Europe to and through China. And another reason was to take the Maglev train to the international airport in Shanghai. Never traveled so fast on the ground before. Approaching the exit point with 431 km/h. I have to admit that the regular trains feel more comfortable at speeds exceeding 300 km/h. At top speed it became a little bit shaky but it was an awesome ride 🙂

Plank walk and clay dudes – Xi’an

Posted on September 19, 2014 by admin

A while ago a blog caught my attention. Someone mentioned Mt. Hua Shan near Xi’an and a path on timber along a cliff. The plank walk or path to heaven. A must do it. Some people around the hostel including Gary I met in Mongolia at the train station were up for it. With the help of the hostel we got private mini bus and there we went. Entering the visitors centre we got a bit shocked about the fees they were charging. 180 yuan for entrance, 40 for the bus to the bottom of the mountain which was quite a bit to go and for cable car usage each way another 80 yuan. They know how to make money out of tourists!

The views were not the best ones on that day but at least it was not raining. Walking from the north peak to the south peak also meant to climb a lot of stairs. The whole mountain is full of them. Narrow and steep staircases up the peaks and down on the other site. Not giving you much space to take over the slow ones which basically meant the Chinese visitors.

Compared to them we were rushing through the not visible scenery. For a few moments the clouds opened up but most of the time it was misty. After less than three hours we found what we were looking for. The plank walk and it seemed like it became more popular. There was even a queue to do it and for sure you had to pay for it. A police officer ensured that everybody got a harness and safety gear before entering the track.

What we didn’t know was that the path was ending at the other way and everybody was coming back the same way. It basically means you walk in a vertical cliff on a narrow piece of wood and have to climb over each other. Kind of fun but at the same time frightening if you see how unexperienced Chinese with no logical thinking handle the gear. Taking both hooks of the cable instead one by one. Or posing with both hooks in the hand for a selfie.
The walk itself was just a few dozen meters and the end was less spectacular. Just a small temple in a cave. On the way back the cloud opened once more and gave us a quick look down the cliff. A whole trekking path like this would be fun but only if there wouldn’t be as many people as at the Mt. Hua Shan.

Perhaps more popular around Xi’an is the nearby terracotta army. An army build of clay to protect the grave of a former emperor. Quite impressing to see how many warriors they build and put in those tunnels. Most of them were destroyed by the damaged arches and also by thieves. There are still some people busy in putting them back together like a huge jigsaw. But thats it, there is not more except the Chinese tourists which are also kind of an attraction.

Another adventure we had back in Chengdu when we wanted to get our sleeper tickets. Once more we had to figure out that train tickets can be sold very quickly. And so we had to figure out that our favourite train was gone by the time we wanted to book it. The only option was to wait for the nightly maintenance cycle which blocks the booking system and frees locked tickets. The next morning we had to be at the station before 7am. Two tickets we got but not mine since I left my passport home. Worrying about not getting it I hurried back to the hostel were I got it booked online with the help of the staff. Chengdu we are coming …

Traveling with the speed of a bullet

Posted on September 15, 2014 by admin

Next on the list was Xi’an with a stopover in the ancient town of Pingyao. To save some time and to see the region during daytime I decided to take one of the new trains. A bullet train. And those beasts are fast. It felt like flying through the rainy and foggy landscapes. No bumps, no vibrations nor any other distortion. Just smooth like a swiss train. The only loud source was the air conditioner and for sure the Chinese people. They shout into the phones, watch movies without earplugs and kids run around. Nothing unusual!

At the time we arrived I was a bit shocked since the station was not as expected in the centre of Pingyao but somewhere in the middle of a corn field! Pingyao? The ‘new’ bullet trains are not yet on the map and the station were built somewhere out of the centre or in the middle of nowhere. When I entered the bus to the city my 50 yuan bill got refused and I had to find some change. While I was doing that some Chinese guy offered me to pay my ticket. Really? I was quite surprised but accepted it. Later on someone else had five tens and wanted to change with my 50, so much help at once I wouldn’t have expected. It took more than 10 minutes to get to the centre and another 20 minutes to walk to the hostel in the ancient part of the city.

Coming from Beijing which is more modern and touristy this place felt much more relaxed. Offering some historical looking buildings with wooden house fronts and traditional interior.

The city shall also have the best preserved city wall of China. Preserved might be the best word since most of it looked like it was recently reconstructed.

After just one night I was back on the high speed rail to keep traveling with the speed of a bullet. The trains and the stations are really modern but there was one thing which surprised me a bit. The Chinese really must love their squad toilets. The only western style bathroom was the one for handicapped passengers.

Sight seeing in Beijing

Posted on September 12, 2014 by admin

Usually I would wait for the best bit till the end but since I started in Beijing the trip to the Great Wall was my first excursion. My roomy and I got coordinates from a french guests. Shall be a partially broken part of the wall with just a little tourism. And if you keep walking on it you end up at the postcard part of the wall. Perfect.

The way there was fairly easy and just took about 90 minutes one way. And after another 45min hike up the hill through the forrest we arrived at this sign. Thats about China, somehow you are not supposed to be here but on the other hand there were little shops at the beginning of the trek, the trek was marked and even at the end is a guy sealing water! Who cares …

First confusion on the wall was in which direction to go. We got told to the left but a local guy told us to the right which made more sense. Confused as we were we started to climb the first tower. Arriving up there we were welcomed by some local teenagers. Looked like they do this exercise everyday as quickly as they were climbing around. The further we went the more difficult it became. Finally we ended up doing rock climbing which was pretty cool. But at this point we were once more wondering why we didn’t get warned about it!
At the time we reached the repaired part of the wall we realised what happened. These people got on this part of the wall at the end of it. For some reason our taxi driver brought us to another location. Now we were sure that we kept moving towards the touristy wall. To our surprise there were not as many people as we expected. To finish the day with some fun we decided to take the ‘Rodellbahn’ to get back down. We weren’t that lucky with the people in front of us, they went slow. Super slow.

Few days later it was time to see the place I almost got scammed before. Back at the forbidden city [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_City]. What once was the home of two Chinese dynasties now became a major tourist attraction in Beijing. From top of the nearby hill in the north it looks quiet and peaceful but if you once hit the streets between the walls you won’t be alone again. Tourists everywhere, pushing each other around and standing in front of you.

And the security, takes it easy and has a look around. Business as usual. Thought there would be more non Chinese around such a sight but its hard to sight another white person in China. Chinese tourism is big!

After all the crowds in the centre I decided to see another major tourist attraction of Beijing. The summer palace [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_Palace] which is a bit out of the centre. Since the place spreads around some lakes people have to walk quite a bit for some parts. And since Chinese tend to walk just the minimum they have to was the far site of the lake a calm area.

The bridges over the water channels shall all be different. And after some exemplar it kind of looks like they were trying to optimise some designs. One makes a huge arch which you have to climb to cross the water. Others have small temples on the top. And some are just ‘simple’ designs where people let their kites climb the sky. Some are serious about it!

Near the hostel I stayed was the house of performing art. Kind of a theatre which is only accessible through the underground. On the surface the building is surrounded by a artificial lake which reflects the building amazingly especially during night time.
The thing I missed is the olympic village and the bird nest stadium. There was even the very first Formula-E race around this area just at the day I left Beijing. Nevertheless, Beijing is filled and surrounded by sights which are easy to access by public transportation. However, for a big city it feels like there is not that much to do¨I know, sounds weird but on the paper Beijing looks much bigger than it feels!

Last stop in Russia – Ulan-Ude

Posted on August 18, 2014 by admin

My last stop before leaving Russia was in Ulan-Ude. From here I would take the train the next day. Its a fairly small city which feels quite industrial at the time you leave your train at the station.

Long trains line up with oil tanks and coal carriages. And for only two tracks for the passenger trains going east, west or to the south to Mongolia. The funny thing is, if you leave the station you will recognise painted arrows on the street showing you the way to the hostel. It looks like a arrow war fighting for the direction!

My hostel was just next to the main square where the biggest Lenin head is placed. Its also the square to meet locals and to head out to the few bars around it. The main pedestrian street also goes away form the square.

As most Russian cities Ulan-Ude also has its fancy fountain. As soon as its dark there is a light show with music. Since I didn’t have much time I wasn’t able to visit the nearby Buddhism temple which shall be the biggest of Russia.

It was time to take my train to Ulaanbaatar since my visa was running out. I guess I got the maximum out of it. Arriving in Russia just after midnight of the first day and leaving it just before midnight on the last day of my visa. Well timed, like a swiss watch.

The Fast and The Furious – Krasnoyarsk

Posted on August 11, 2014 by admin

Krasnoyarsk its well known for the nearby national park ‘Stolby’ and for the Krasnoyarsk Dam.

The city itself is not that special. Quite small and not very heigh built. The best thing to do is to walk up the nearby hill and having a look down. Or to walk along the river but more about that later on.

Together with my french roommate ‘Laëtitia’ I went to Stolby natural park. A cloudy and foggy day but beside that everything started well. We found the bus bringing us there, some locals showing us the way to the entrance and even a car bringing us the last few hundred meters up the mountain. We only couldn’t do the big loop we wanted since the park ranger was telling us that there are too many bears at the moment! No bears but chipmunks and squirrels. At the end we got a free ride on the cable car and a free hitchhike back to the city.

Krasnoyarsk feels kind of dead as sun as the sun is gone. Empty streets, restaurants close early and nowhere to go. A weird place we found was on the river. On one end of the promenade is a big parking space where young people meet up in the evening. It looks like a scene out of the movie ‘The Fast and The Furious’. Young guys and girls with their cars listening to the music booming out of the cars speakers. One guy sitting in the back of his van smoking a hookah while his friend is driving the vehicle in a circle. Might be the busiest place in the whole city at night time.

Another night we ended up in a hookah bar getting into touch with some locals. ‘Yuliya’ a local freelancer in design and her friend took us later on to the irish pub. At the end of the evening they offered us to show us around the day after. Plan was to go to the Krasnoyarsk-Dam just matching my plan.

In the following morning they were already waiting for us on the street in the front of the hostel. First stop was at a look out point to oversee the river.

But the most interesting stop was for sure the one at the dam. Being built to create power for a nearby aluminium plant. One of the biggest hydroplanes in the world. To get by boat from one site to the other they constructed a huge elevator visible in the top right corner of the picture. Unfortunately it doesn’t work very often so it was parked on top of the slope.

One the way back from the artificial lake to the centre we recognised this funny scene. A Russian car is town away by another one and got stuck between the rails of the tram in the middle of a cross section. And for sure the town rope ripped so that all the cars had to wait till the problem was fixed. Yuliya mentioned that there are approximately 170 accidents each day in Krasnoyarsk!

Later on in this afternoon we climbed the hill and suddenly we became part of a wedding/reunion group on top of it. They showed up out of the blue, welcomed us and offered us some snacks and sparkling wine. And just a few minutes later they disappeared again. People here seems to be very welcoming to foreigners and happy to show them the nice sites of the region/Russia!
On the way to the station I got once more witness of an accident. Just happening in front of me and it was a really stupid one. Now I understand why they have their dashcams in the car!

Siberia’s capital – Novasibirsk

Posted on August 7, 2014 by admin

After a 24 hour train I was ready to stretch my legs and to get fresh air. Although, I had a great time on this train. Met a young electrical engineer from Moscow who barely spoke english and is sent to the far east to built up some transmission lines. To translate our conversation we found a girl from Siberia who was ok to translate the conversation.
And once more I had to say Russians can be crazy! Some of them Travel 6nights and more to Moscow to catch a flight to Europe where they spent 10 nights on a tour. And later on all the way back home. So for 10 nights holiday you spent another 12 nights on a train! I guess you need another holiday just to recover from the train journey.

Novasibirsk is considered to be the capital of Siberia at least since the railway was built. Therefore it is quite an industrial place and like Ekaterinburg more like a typical soviet place. Lots of apartment buildings and concrete all around the centre. But the first thing I realised after I left the station was an accident between an ambulance and a taxi! A second ambulance just approached the scene to pickup the patient. Welcome in Russia, sometimes it feels nobody cares about others!

The city is also home to a really nice Opera house in the centre. And right in front of it is a massive monument of Lenin placed. It might be even my favourite Lenin monument. Nearby its also a really nice park with many trees in it but beside that there was not too much to see.

Everybody might think Russians are in love with Vodka – which is a stupid stereotype – but the truth is they like Kvass. Looks like one of those huge tanks you keep water for cows but in those you will find a non alcoholic bread based drink. Quite popular and you can find them everywhere.

After another two nights I made my way back to the train station to get to the 12h away Krasnoyarsk. As usual I had to queue to get a ticket and as usual it took some time. And for sure there was someone jumping the queue. I also almost ended up to wait longer because of those stupid break times the counters do. Lucky me the girl in front of me and her boyfriend waiting in another line and I could take over her spot. Takes a lot of patience to get a ticket in Russia except you buy it at midnight!

Last stop in Europe – Ekaterinburg

Posted on August 2, 2014 by admin

And first stop in Asia at the same time since the city is in the middle of the border of the two continents. Ekaterinburg is the capital of the Ural Region and the place where the former president of Russia Boris Yeltsin was studying.

But as we all should know it is better known for what happened on the 17th of July 1918. The murdering of the last Tsar family of russia. The cathedral of all saints is built at the site were the crime happened.

As most of the cities Ekaterinburg also got a monument of Lenin. Facing one of the nicer buildings in the city. There is also the fountain you will find in all the big cities in Russia.

It was the first city which made me feel that I was in Russia. Broken streets and sidewalks, things under construction around every other corner or abandoned and unfinished buildings all around the center. Perhaps the most visible one of the last categories would be the unfinished TV tower which was supposed to reach a height of 400m but the construction was abandoned after they finished 200m and thats about 20 years ago.
The city also holds a few weird things. The perhaps only computer keyboard monument is based somewhere around the center as well as the only credit card monument. After three nights discovering the place I was happy to leave the place to the east and to cross the ural mountains in a 24 hours trip to Novosibirsk.

On the TranSib – first stop Kazan

Posted on July 31, 2014 by admin

After 9 days of fun in Saint Petersburg and Moscow it was time to jump on a train to the east. I followed an advice of a local in SPB and chose the train to Kazan. Its the southern branch of the trainsibirian train leaving Moscow.

And thats how such a train from the front looks like. Massive locomotives pulling the 10 to 15 wagons from Moscow all the way to Peking or Vladivostok. And if something is broken the driver will fix it with the suitable tool. This time it was a junction plate.

It was just a 13hour ride to Kazan unfortunately I was not really able to talk to my two compartment fellows. Although, at the time we were approaching the city there were pointing at certain objects. One of them was the Kremlin of Kazan which is quite special. Inside of it is not just an Orthodox church but also a Mosque since the region and this city are the home of the Tatar people.

Since the place has quite a different culture it is a popular city to go for holidays. It shall be the the third best place for living standard inside of Russia. The whole center must have been renovated recently. One of the places I enjoyed most was the square / park in front of the palace of agriculture. Based between the river and the entrance to the palace with its huge tree covering the main hall.

A bit out of the center on the other site of the river a temple of all religions can be found. Not opened yet but you can get the first impression of the weird combination. Buddhism, Islam, Christian as well as orthodox and perhaps some others I didn’t recognised are represented.

Kazan its a nice place for a stopover of one or two nights. Depending on how active you are and what you would like to do. Its easy to get a train back to Moscow or further to Ekaterinburg the capital of the Ural region.

retog@wordpress

travel diary and more …

Category Archives: Architecture