Misty thoughts

Monkey festival

Reuters has a film on internet with the monkey festival, check it out

It really is like that

Bye Bye Hong Kong, Hello Ko Tao

It is not often that I feel as though my words are not enough, yet this is exactly how I feel when I try to tell someone about Hong Kong. To describe Hong Kong in words would be like trying to explain to a blind man why the color red is much more vivid then gray. It is simply impossible. You can try, but one has to see, one has to feel for one self before it is understood.

This all may sound a bit over dramatic but it is genuinely how I feel about Hong Kong. The place, for me, has a certain magic, that cant really be described. Cities have vibes, and Hong Kong's vibe is nothing short of magic. Watching Hong Kong from Victoria Peak at night is not only breathtaking but also romantic. For me it also feels me with pride. Look at this wonderful towers, this show of beauty. Its all made by men. We made it, not nature. And that is something very few places manage to do.

The city feels like it was designed to live in. It has air-walks, and parks, and trees all intertwined with huge skyscrapers. There are butterflies and serious men in suites, rich and poor, eastern and western, its just all there. There is charm to be found almost in every corner we have seen.

As wonderful as the time we had in Hong Kong was, it was time to move along. After 5 wonderful days in Hong Kong, we boarded the plane and flew to Bangkok. Our original plan was to go to the north of Thailand, followed by Cambodia, and then finish in the south of Thailand. We both were a bit tired after 3 weeks in China so we though a small stop at a beach for a few days will be good. On the plane we decided to change a few days at the beach to the diving course we were planning on doing anyway. We chose Ko Tao as our destination. So here we are now on a tropical isle, about to take our first shallow water dive today.

Hong Kong!

Hong Kong, finally, after years of thinking of you, I'm here, to walk your fantastic streets, amongst your people, to see you with my own eyes.

I felt like a small boy, off to his first amusement park. It is weird for me to feel this way as I rarely get so excited about cities. Hong Kong for me was always a name that was almost magical. That British-Chinese city in the far east. The melting point of civilizations. And I was not disappointed.

We landed here at night. Taking the Airport express we emerged from a tunnel to view the towers of light set against the dark sky. It was like I was riding on a Metro in the middle of a Manga film.

I still get excited as soon as I leave the hotel room, which is on the 19 floor.

I am going back into those streets now. Ill write more about the magic I have found here after we leave.

Gallery update

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The Terra cota army

The reason we actually came to Xi'an was to view the terra cota army. Yesterday we finally did it. The sight of it has left us amazed.

The terra cota army was made for the burial of emperor Qin. Qin was the first to rule over the whole of china. There were 5 kingdoms in china then. He has conquered them all, creating the basis for what is modern day China. It is assumed he believed he would continue to rule even after his death and that this army was built for him to have soldiers to command after his death. The site is made out of 3 pits.

Pit 1 is the biggest and most impressive, hosting waht is assumed to be a total of about 6000 warriors. Pit 2 was unfortunetl closed when we were visiting. Pit 3 contains 72 warriors, most of them high ranking officers, so it is assumed it was the command post.

Pit 1 really is mind bogging. It is huge, and there are just so many warriors there it is amazing, and it is not yet fully discovered yet. We were really taken by it. I find it hard to express in words the awe that we felt gazing upon them. Considering this is all more then 2000 years old makes it even more amazing. The details are amazing. No two warriors have the same face! The Chinese call it the 8th world wonder and I find it hard to dispute. The amount of work, and riches that went into making them is hard to imagine.

The burial place of the emperor himself is expected to be amazing as well, but it is still in the first phases of excavation so there isnt anything to see there yet.

The terra cota army alone is worth a visit to Xi'an, and maybe even a detour into china if your in the neighborhood. It is huge, it is impressive, and it is a sight that will remain with you long after the trip becomes a far memory.

Chinese impression Part 1

So far we have only been to Beijing. My impression of the Chinese might be wrong then, but so far it is really a people of duality.

They are nice people but about as polite as a pack of starving hyenas on the queue to the free antelope steakhouse. Example:

We got into the metro station and queued behind the guy buying he tickets. The two Chinese dudes behind us just casually walk by us and stood in line before us. I made some cavemen grumbling noise they turned, looked up (It helps being twice the size) smiled and walked behind us to queue properly. The guy was finished and we were about to take a step towards the register when this Chinese woman, coming just in tried to walk in front of us and to the register! I set my arm in her way, making that grumbling noise again. she looked up at me, smiled said sorry and got in line.

That was the worse part of it all. She said sorry, which means she knows its wrong, but she just went ahead and done it anyway. And this is just one in many cases we encounter this, each day. They seem to be living in a bubble of "Me Me Me" and the rest can go screw themselves.

It might be only the Beijing Chinese. I'm not sure. Ill know in a few days when I have been to Xi'an for a while.

Forbidden city and the communist emperor

A few days ago we visited the forbidden city. The place sure justifies the city part. To call it a palace will be an insult to the shear size of the place. It is probably bigger then most average size villages. For you dutch readers, its probably slightly bigger then the center of Leiden.

In contradiction to European palaces of having one major building with a few small ones, the forbidden city is almost a maze of large and small buildings with walls in between. Less then half of it is open to the public and yet after spending a whole day there we still did not manage to see all of the public areas. It really is that big.

The attention to detail is amazing. They had about 500 years to perfect it, and it looks like they really took the time. Even the stone sewer covers are nicely decorated. Every piece of wall, roof, window and stair has been given attention. You get the feeling that if an area is plain looking its like that because it was the intention, not for lack of attention, or time.

All that said there are some pointers the Chinese government could use to make this place even more interesting to visit. Hiring someone that can actually speak English as a language, and not just translate Chinese text for once. A lot of time when reading the signs next to the building you can see it is just literally translated from Chinese. The other place where improvement can be made is in the content. Every building had pretty much the same sign. It was so bad we eventually started to make jokes about it.

Every building was built in the Ming dynasty and had a name with Harmony, Longevity and/or some season name in it. Each one was rebuilt during the Qing dynasty, renamed twice using the same naming rule. And that's about it. Only 3 buildings actually had more than that on their sign. A place with 500 years of history probably has more to say about its buildings one might think. Not that this will diminish the experience, which is amazing.

Yesterday we went to the Mao memorial. His body is kept there for all to walk by and admire. It is an experience you have to see when in China. Paula and I got the feeling this is their emperor. Its like the Chinese need an emperor, and in the communist time, the only possible emperor is Mao.