Your Japanese word of the week is...

"shashin" 写真, which means photograph. I figured since people might not be interested in reading tons and tons about my (supposed) insights on my trip, telling it in the form of pictures would be the next best thing. Plus, it's just easier to take it all in quickly with pictures than it is with pages of text.... shall we??

April 13, 2009 - Day 1 - Still in Hong Kong

Some offerings to the Tian Tan Buddha.

I find this picture very representative of Hong Kong. It's a tiny, resource-limited island that somehow manages to be completely filled to the brim with people through its original success as a trading port...

Yes, let's all do our part to increase global warming!

April 14, 2009 - Day 2 - Nanning via Shenzhen

Shenzhen is a city in China right across the water from Hong Kong. Interestingly, Hong Kong's rather unique relationship with China (a sovereign yet highly independent territory) means it's much cheaper to take an extra two hours to cross into Shenzhen and fly from there, as opposed to flying from Hong Kong. Of course, this same unique relationship means crossing between Hong Kong and China is like entering a separate country, despite the fact that you aren't...

As the plane flew over Nanning, I took note of massive multi-lane highways carving up the vast plains of farmland, the former having risen from the past 50 years of Nanning's industrial growth and China's growth overall.

What does any city known for its lush vegetation and surrounding agricultural area need?? A giant light board, of course...

Wheeee!! No seriously, laws or common sense don't seem to exist here. Four people on one scooter? Three wide on a two lane road? Passing on the hard shoulder? Passing cops at 50kmh over the limit? Daily occurrences...

You might notice the slight haze in the "Welcome to Nanning" picture. China is indeed enveloped in a fog of pollution, even in the country side. But it does make the sunset awfully red... pros and cons I guess...

Many of the Chinese are newly wealthy. New-money people like to make it known they have new money, thus flashy and ostentatious things are quite popular. A fully light highway cloverleaf is the municipal equivalent of a diamond encrusted Rolex... But it does make the night view very interesting.

How'd they fold it so small??

April 15, 2009 - Day 3 - Detian Waterfalls, some rock garden

This is more like it. Only 20 minutes outside of the city and the the scenery changes drastically. Farmers trundle down the road in their tractors, cowpies lie in the middle of the road, people sit outside their house without a care in the world... It's hard to imagine I'm in one of the world's richest countries with the fastest growing economy. I quite like it. Until the satellite dishes and cell phones burst my bubble...

Interestingly, seeing all these people was at first pleasingly peaceful, functional, and simple. But in the midst of the cell phones, radar speed cameras (seriously), and tourists (me included), it ends up looking backward, rundown, and poor. Unfortunate what the technological perspective can do to what is otherwise a perfectly pleasant, quiet way of life...

The Detian Waterfalls. It's much more impressive during the rainy summer season with lots more water, but as you saw in the preview, it's an attractive place nonetheless. This area of China is interesting in that it's mostly flat but mountains shoot up nearly vertically, resulting not in rolling hills, but massive spikes all across the land.

Just behind the waterfall and a small hike up is the border to Vietnam, which anyone can cross freely. We wandered 10ft into Vietnam and found a gigantic plateau market hocking various (typical) tourist wares. Y'know, just in case you ran out of CK One, combs or cigarettes on your way up...

Unfortunately, the name of this rock garden place escapes me. It basically had lots of various natural rock formations that they gave creative names to. The centre of the park had a more "produced" garden that includes this path.

Why thank you, I will.

Continued in Part 2.

China - Part 2

April 16, 2009 - Day 4 - Qing Xiu Tourist Park, Yiling Cave

Qing Xiu bills itself as a tourist resort and is a vast park with sightseeing attractions at various points, much like a theme park. And while many of these buildings look like they've been around for a long time, there were lots of other things that were being built as we walked through the park which made me wonder if the whole place was built just so they could charge an entrace fee...

Looks old, but seems to serve no purpose but house the stairs leading to the next floor. All 9 floors contain nothing. It's hard to imagine this being an honest historic building... Note the lights placed on every level.

At first glance, however, things sure are pretty...

See??

The pond in front of the building above is packed with koi. A few RMB buys you a bag of "feed for the ornamental fishes" that lets you send them into a feeding frenzy. It's quite a scene to watch, especially with the sound of splashing water that goes with it.

The view of Nanning from that 9-storey tower I posted above. Note the dense urban lanscape and things (like the bridge) constantly "under construction", all nestled within lush vegetation and encroaching on the farmland. I think it's symbolic of China...

The Yiling Cave is actually an entire spectacle in itself. A free hourly tour has natives of the area take you around their park, showing you various things of their culture. Things like traditional dance, crafts, and food, including a very delicious rice wine made from sticky rice. Food that rather hostile monkeys like to sneak up and steal. Our guide was careful to warn us that they are not trained nor are they docile, though not violent. They can (and did) take things from people.

Of course, you can't name a place Yiling Cave without having a cave. Like the mountain market on the Vietnamese border and the Qing Xiu park, they've done their best to make it as much of an attraction as possible to make as money as possible. Here, the 1km walk through the cave shows off various exhibits. While they're basically someone's wild imagination accentuated and justified by strategic lighting, it does add a bit of spice to what would otherwise be just a long walk through a dark cave. This one is two lions sitting down. Their eyes glow red...

Indeed it is...

April 17, 2009 - Day 5 - Longji rice fields

The climax of the trip, and rightly so. While they're not the only place that terraced rice fields can be found, these are particularly large. These are actually a part of a larger rice field area known as the Longsheng Terraces, although what separates the two main fields is simply distance. Otherwise, they're pretty similar.

Being a mountain top terrace field, it does include a walk up the mountain. Free of charge. Actually, I'm lying- it wasn't free. You have you buy a ticket before they let you go up...

After hiking to the highest lookout point, you're greeted by an amazing view of the terraces cradling the village the farmers live in. As you can see, they've only just started to fill the fields with water and over the next few months, the entire mountain side will start to look like a giant stepped mirror with all the strips of water reflecting the sky. Click here for a full-sized version of this picture.

While many in the village still farm, others are very happy to sell you lots of things to supplement their income. Things like handmade scarves...

Much like the rest of China, the villagers have embraced tourism as a means of earning extra income. But the village is still a functional farming village first, evidenced by people going about their daily lives. Click here for a full-sized version.

As mentioned before, embracing tourism means almost every building in the village has been converted into a restaurant or a hotel. We stayed at the Longji One Hotel, which is a relatively new 4 storey building. Aside from the amazing view, the photojournalist owner and his wife have given the hotel fantastic charm. The hotel is entirely wood and all the furnishings are wood, wicker, or rope. Note the slices of tree trunk that act as stools and table legs.

Or these coat hangers. The hotel is actually extremely comfortable with all the modern amenities. And with the brown tones complementing the greenery outside, the quiet mountain range punctuated by roosters crowing and pigs oinking in the distance, the fresh air carrying the faint smell of... well... manure mostly... it's one of the most calming experiences imaginable.

April 18, 2009 - Day 6 - Guilin

On the last day, we left Longji in the morning and made the trek towards Guilin. A popular tourist destination, we spent a few hours there before catching a plane back to Shenzhen. I did manage to see one of the most famous sights in Guilin- the Elephant Rock.

It's a rock. That looks like an elephant...

Actually, the whole park is elephant themed...

"AND"?!? No wonder the seats are always empty...

And that's it. Like that, the tour was over, I was back in the crowded metropolis of Hong Kong, wondering how all the terraces were replaced with high rises so quickly. A day after that, I was back in Japan.

And for all that I thought was similar between Japan and China, I can see now just how wrong I was...

I'll have more time to explore that side of things as well, as starting from next week, I'll be off to various other parts of Japan. See you then...

Your Japanese word of the week is...

"hinomaru" 日の丸. "hi" represents day (of the month, of the week) or sun while "maru" means circle. Some people even use "maru" while reading the number 0.

Together, however, "hinomaru" means something much stronger to the Japanese- the Rising Sun. The same Rising Sun found on the Japanese flag.

Having been in Hong Kong and China for the past three weeks, I wasn't sure how long it would be before I could spot the Japanese-ness as I flew home. But just before taking off, I looked out the window of my JAL 747 and saw the big hinomaru painted on top of the wing (for some reason, the first thing I thought about was the Mitsubishi Zero Fighter, but I don't know why...). So I guess that makes the Rising Sun the first real Japanese-y thing I saw on my way back. Well, that and the Japanese people in the airplane, computer animated safety video, and Japanese newpapers they were handing out....

Anyways, for my last week in Hong Kong, I headed off into China (and 20ft into Vietnam!) for an eye-opening trip. I'm still putting together all the bits and pieces but here's a preview of what's to come.

The Tian Tan Buddha atop Ngong Ping 360 in Lantau Island, Hong Kong.

The Detian Waterfalls right on the Sino-Vietnam border.

The terraced rice fields of Longji, about 100km from Guilin.

Dog..... well, people (and animals) live in mountain-top villages in Longji. I just like the picture though...

Check back soon for more...

Part 2...

Yesterday, I went back to the Hong Kong Museum of Art since my aunt hadn't gone so I had a chance to grab my camera and take some better photos as well as read more about some of the displays there.

Despite still having lots of people riding on trains, the feel is vastly different from Tokyo...

We started the day with a walk around Wan Chai, where you'll find the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The interesting thing about this building is that it's actually built, like lots of Hong Kong including the airport, on "reclaimed" land (ie- filling the sea with dirt to make a new landmass) and is connected by a short bridge. When they wanted to expand the building, the government wouldn't let them fill in the area the bridge was on, since excessive reclamation would turn Victoria Harbour into a puddle. So, they planted giant metal beams into the ocean floor and are now building the entire Exhibition Centre extension on steel supports. And all the while not "filling in the ocean". Sneaky...

The Convention Centre is the low, arched building in the foreground.

After that, it was a short ferry ride across the water to Tsim Sha Tsui to the museum. Having more time to browse, I found out a bit more about some of the displays I took pictures of.

These are the museum-founder pillows I was telling you about.... they're slightly creepy but popular (despite the lack of people in the shot =P )...

As it turns out, popular isn't the right word..... more like infamous, since nobody likes him (his main job is that of a politician). And what better way than show that than to turn him into a stuff doll?? heh...

Four caricatures found in the fine art section.

A nice minimalistic, almost cartoony painting of the 8 Eccentrics of Yangzhou.

I didn't realise this the first time I went, but the coffin-bed I took a picture of is actually connected to a display on the opposite end of the exhibit. The artist commented on the environmental (and, I suppose, metaphorical) unfriendliness of coffins being one-use and designed this. Made out of an old crate, he says he can use it as a furniture for 30 years and, when he passes away, it becomes a coffin holding all his memories. Special thanks to my aunt for modelling the sofa-table-coffin-bed...

And having had dinner near the harbour, I went back to see the lights....

Your Japanese word of the week is...

"jidai" 時代 which means "(time) period" or "era". It also means the same in Chinese, although it's read differently (si doi, in Cantonese). While it's most often refers to eras in history, it can be used to refer to any period of time- "These young whippersnappers these days, no respect at all! It really is an end of an era."

And while it doesn't directly refer to generations (that's a different word), you could use it to mention different decades people have lived through. Much like the decades I heard about from my grandmother and grandfather when I met them for lunch a few days ago. I was especially happy to see my grandpa again partly because I haven't seen him in a long time (since 2003 I believe...) but more so because he seemed more alert and stronger than I last saw him, which is always good.

More to the point, the reason "jidai" is the word of the week is because today I took a browse through the Hong Kong Museum of Art. Interestingly, I pretty much ended up in the museum by accident as, seeing I had a few hours to kill, I picked a random train station and upon exiting, a quick glance at the map directory pointed to this and the Hong Kong Space Museum in Tsim Sha Tsui.

To get the bad part with out of the way, despite costing a meagre $10HKD (a touch more than $1.50 CAD), the Space Museum wasn't that great. While it does have lots of bits and pieces of information about astronomy, space research, and space exploration, it didn't amount to much more than a well researched and comprehensive display of pictures and captions.

The Museum of Art, however, was much better. Even with its two separate Special Exhibits under renovation, the other main exhibits, including a modern art exhibit with local Hong Kong artists and a huge range of antiques and fine art from various Chinese dynasties, were great. And it also costed $10HKD.

This display is essentially a coffin-sized crate padded like a bed. A sign encouraged people to lie inside it for a nice "sleep". It was surprisingly comfy...

While red, white, and blue are typically associated with America (or France, I suppose), the "red-white-blue" canvas bags are one of the most recognizable symbols of Hong Kong. This table and backpack is matched with another exhibit outside of the room of a couch and mini-fridge, also fashioned out of the iconic fabric.

Interestingly, next to the display outside are two couches with life-size stuffed caricatures of the museum director. A video suggests giving the stuffed dolls a hug and recommends a short nap with one of the dolls to help you explore your dreams...

This really neat display is essentially an spectrum analyzer reading of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5. What you see are basically the physically representation of the peaks of various frequencies at each beat of the most well known part of the piece (the beginning), mounted to a wall. Obviously few people see music in the form of wave frequencies, but it made for an interesting art piece nonetheless.

In the antiques section, these monochrome Ming pottery examples really stole the show for me. The exhibits covered the entire range of pottery from various Chinese dynasties and while the very detailed, very intricate pottery that Chinese culture is known for were present, these monochrome ones stood out, not in the least because of their stark contrast to the more well-known (or perhaps best known) blue-on-white porcelain also from the Ming dynasty.

I particularly liked these because they looked minimalist and modern, like they'd be right at home on an Ikea shelf. Even the colour (if they were indeed such bright hues), are trendy. But the absolute best part is that really subtle and elaborate designs are engraved into the porcelain. You can't see it until you're up close (and you can barely see it in the pictures), but these simple looking bowls and cups are actually really elegant once you put some time into examining them. I like that...

However, the neatest part of the entire museum was a little area of 15 paintings in the fine art section. Titled "One Painting - One Story", each classic painting was numbered and visitors were encouraged to write a short 80 word explanation about what they thought a certain painting represented. The stories were submitted and then posted under their respective painting.

Take the above painting for example. I overheard a 6-year old future museum curator explain it as:

"One day, everyone got on a bus to go pick up their kids. But they were all annoyed because the bus was going really slow. They all said, `Why is the bus going SO slow?`. Then the bus driver said, `Because there's a cow walking across the street.` Then everyone said, `Why are there so many wheels?` And the bus driver sai-"

Then his mom said they ran out of space on the paper...

Here's one final story. I actually took a picture of the paper so what follows is a direct transcription:

"There is once a monk called Chris, who always have illosions. He once have a illousion about his Friend, Domini Lau betray him. Of course, it was a illousion but Chris thought it was real, and balled his friend. But this is not the worse one. One day Chris decided to go camping. he walked up a mountain and went to the top. There's a cliff. Chris thought there was a door. He made a 大 position and thought he opened the door. He thought he saw Issac's stove. He jump and bow. But instead he fell down the cliff. He's dead. So the illousion guy was gone.

By Issac"

I love art... =P