Category Archives: China

Movin’ On Up: Shanghai and Hong Kong

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We arrived in Shanghai by train early in the morning. Shanghai was already looking like a much nicer city than Beijing or Xi'an.

We took a cab to the hotel to drop off our bags. We figured since it was so early in the morning our room would not be ready. However, when we got to the hotel, not only was our room ready, but breakfast had been arranged for us in our room. It was fabulous and the Waldorf was beautiful! Our room overlooked the Bund with a perfect view of the Pearl Tower and all of the other high rise buildings on the other side of the river.

Our beautiful room at the Waldorf Shanghai

Breakfast when we arrived

Shanghai was a big city, but easy to get around by taxi, and the taxis were very cheap.

Random squatting lady

The first night we walked the main pedestrian shopping street Nanjing, which was very crowded and alive with the upcoming China Day celebrations. We also got some great pictures of the skyline at night.

Nanjing Street

Motorbikes everywhere

We also had arranged to do a cooking class while in Shanghai. There were four of us in the class, including us, a girl from Germany, and a girl from France. We had a blast. We first got a tour of a local market, which was a little smelly, to learn about the ingredients we'd be using in the class. After the market we headed to a small apartment nearby where the class would be taught. We made three different recipes (sweet and sour pork, Kung pao chicken, and spicy beef) which all turned out delicious. The only downside was the chef didn't speak any English so all questions and answers had to be interpreted, and the cooking area was rather small for four people.

Chicken feet...yum

Sweet and sour pork finished product

We also took in an acrobatic show, which was a little hokey, but still very impressive.

Going to the acrobat show

The streets of Shanghai were packed on China Day which made getting around a little more difficult, but we still managed to make it to an antique market, Xintiandi Area with lots of shops and restaurants, and squeezed our way through the over crowded Yu Yuan Garden and Bazar.

The Care Bear stare!

Two little boys playing in the street at the antique market

A woman selling flags for China Day

Battling the China Day crowds

The busy street near our hotel on China Day

One afternoon we went across the other side of the river by the underground sightseeing tunnel, which was super hokey, but fun. We wandered around two of the very large shopping malls where we stumbled across a Morton's Steakhouse where we had half price Martinis and free steak sandwiches for happy hour. It was an excellent break from all of the Chinese food we had been eating.

Nothing like a martini and steak sandwich

After four days in Shanghai, we packed up and headed to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong was much more comfortable for us in the fact that most people spoke English and it was much cleaner. We checked into the Conrad, dropped off our bags and hopped on the next boat to Macau to check out the casinos for the evening. The boat ride was about an hour each way, which wasn't too bad on the way there, but the water was really choppy on the way back (which didn't go too well with my motion sick tendencies).

We decided to go to the Venetian since we had heard it was supposed to be bigger and better than the one in Vegas. We also went to a couple other casinos close by. Scotty hit up some of the black jack tables, but we weren't very lucky. It was worth the trip just to see the lights at night.

Somebody sitting in front of us smelled really bad

The next morning I woke up feeling under the weather, and being the hypochondriac I am (I blame Google and Web MD), I was sure I must have caught the bird flu. Scott was sure I didn't have the bird flu, it turns out I'm still alive so I'm assuming he was right. We spent an entire day in the hotel room since I felt so bad.

After some sleep and some cold medicine, I was feeling much better by that evening so we decided to check out the one place that I was definitely willing to crawl out of bed for…Disneyland Hong Kong! They sell night passes that get you into the park from 6pm on for half the price of a regular ticket. We had a blast at the park, minus the fish balls that were sold on every corner. We'd prefer churros and corn dogs, which were nowhere to be found.

The next day we wandered around the city and through a couple markets on the Kowloon side. The city was great and we would definitely come back. Even though we didn't get to do much in Hong Kong, it was nice to have some downtime and recharge from the previous weeks of going nonstop.

The beard is getting long

 

Peking Into Chinese Culture

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When we got to Beijing we were so happy to be off the train and ready to start our Asian adventure. We walked out of the train station got some cash and got in the taxi line. While waiting in line for a taxi, one thing became very apparent to us. Chinese like to spit…a lot…wherever they are! One other thing also became very apparent, people love taking pictures of Scott. Apparently they don't see a whole lot of red heads. Several times people asked to take a picture of or with him and many times we caught people trying to discretely take his picture.

One of Scott's many fans

We got into a cab and showed the cab driver our hotel address in Chinese that the hotel had sent us. The cab driver didn't speak a lick of English and our Mandarin consists of three words. So we hoped he knew where he was going. We knew the hotel was only supposed to be a short drive so when we'd been in the cab for over twenty minutes we knew it wasn't right. Scott pulled out his Google Maps on his phone and sure enough we were headed in the wrong direction. He tried to show the cab driver the directions on the phone and after several u-turns and failed attempts at communicating we signaled to the driver to let us off at the nearest hotel we saw. Luckily the bell boy spoke enough English to point us in the right direction, so we walked a few blocks carrying all our stuff and finally made it to the Hilton Wangfujing.

The hotel was really nice! I'm sure we stood out like sore thumbs having just come off the seven day train ride, but the staff treated us like royalty nonetheless. We even got upgraded to a large suite and had delicious chocolates and baked treats waiting for us when we got to our room. We took the most glorious showers of our lives!

That evening we decided to go out and explore the night markets that happened to be right near our hotel. The snack street was bustling with locals and tourist loading up on a wide range of snacks including fried star fish on a stick, tarantulas and scorpions on a stick, and you guessed it…animal testicles! We also wandered down to another little night market close by, but didn't stay long as the smell there was unbearable and we also saw a few people rummaging and eating out of the dumpsters. It was a little scary and very sad.

The next day we spent most of the day visiting the Summer Palace and gardens. We walked for hours and still didn't get to see the whole thing, but it was still a really fun day.

Old man telling fortunes

We climbed so many stairs

The following day was a our three year wedding anniversary so we planned out a full day of sight seeing and a nice dinner. We booked a guided tour that included Tianeman Square, the Forbidden City, a jade and silk factory, and the Great Wall. Our tour guide's name was Shine and he was great! We had three other people that were on the tour with us and it was quite comical. There was an older couple from Slovak Republic and a man from Saudi Arabia. While At the Forbidden City, Shine was explaining to us how the emperors had many wives and concubines, the Saudi guy on our tour commented that he was only allowed to have four wives! Scott thought this was hysterical.

Our awesome tour guide, Shine

Tiananmen Square

Forbidden City

Scott carrying the tour guides flag

We took turns carrying Shine's flag

Standing in front of the love tree on our three year wedding anniversary

At the silk factory

Silk worms

Women stretching silk threads

Man carving jade

The Great Wall

What does this even mean?

That night we had reservations for a Peking duck restaurant that a friend recommended, Da Dong. The ducks were roasted in a huge oven where we could watch and then carved right at our table. It was delicious!

Showing off my purchase from the silk factory

Spicy shrimp appetizer

After dinner snack

The next morning we headed to the zoo to see the giant pandas before we had to go to the train station. We weren't that impressed with the conditions that the animals were kept in, but it was still neat to see the animals.

We headed to the extremely crowded train station to catch an overnight train to Xi'an. The train station was chaotic. People were sprawled out everywhere, some with no shirts or shoes. We boarded the train reluctantly as our last train experience wasn't exactly the best. To our surprise, this train was actually pretty comfortable and a thousand times cleaner than the last…and we had our own toilet.

Bought some Chinese beer for the ride

Also bought some of these things. Verdict?

Not so good:(

When we got to Xi'an in the morning we took a cab to the hotel to drop off our bags and headed straight out on another day tour. We opted to do a private tour with a guide this time. We went out to see the amazing tarracotta soldiers. We were amazed at how every soldier had a different face and were also surprised to find out that the soldiers were actually colorfully painted, but the colors quickly faded away once they were unearthed.

After the soldiers, we headed to the city wall where we walked along the wall for a while.

Our last stop was at the Musslim street. The street was lined with food vendors and lots of people buying things. We also had another odd/disgusting experience. Since we had gotten to China we had noticed a few toddlers that had splits in the back of their pants. At first we thought maybe they had torn them squatting down or something and we just laughed it off. Then we realized none of these kids had diapers underneath. So we figured maybe this made taking a kid to the restroom easier when they neede to go…well our guess was close, but not quite the right answer. While walking down Musslim street we saw another split pants kid walking on the sidewalk with her mom. Then all of a sudden the mother squats down scooping up the kid from under the knees and the child began to use the restroom right on the sidewalk…right next to all of the food vendors! We kept walking in shock, wondering if maybe parents were required to clean up after their children similar to some laws in the states require dog owners to clean up when their dog does his business on the sidewalk. Well our question was answered when we had to walk back that direction when we were leaving and the pile still remained right where they left it! This would not be the last split pants kid we would see doing this either.

The next day we would be heading to Shanghai. Overall, we had a blast in Beijing and really enjoyed seeing the tarracotta soldiers in Xi'an, but ultimately preferred Beijing over Xi'an. We felt that a day and a half in Xi'an was definitely enough time.

On the way to the train station

 

 

The Trans-Siberian Adventure!

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We made our way to the Moscow train station in the early evening just as the sun was going down. Big clouds were looming over us as they had been for the last few days. We made our way into a smoke filled diner (the only place to sit near our train track) just seconds before the biggest downpour we'd seen yet began. The crowd at the train station seemed to be a little bit of a seedier crowd, and not an English speaker in sight. We started to get a little nervous wondering what our fellow train passengers might be like on the seven day journey.

On our way to the train station with all our stuff in tote

After sitting for a few minutes, we realized that we forgot to stop by an ATM to get cash for the trip. We figured we might not have an opportunity at any of the stops to find an ATM and it was highly unlikely the babushkas would be excepting Visa. So I waited in the diner while Scott ran out in the rain to go find an ATM. While waiting for Scott to come back, I was awkwardly stared at by two old Russian men drinking beer, watched a belligerently drunk guy almost fall over trying to find a table to sit at, and watched a young fellow eat two entire cans of some sort of weird meat out of a can that he'd pulled out of his backpack. What did we get ourselves into?

Scott finally made it back after what felt like an eternity. The rain stopped just a few minutes before our train arrived. We decided to head outside to wait by the track just to make sure we wouldn't miss the train. We looked around and realized that sure enough, there were lots of English speakers and a few other backpackers waiting outside by the track. We figured out that most of the people in the diner had been waiting for a different train. We were a little relieved. As we stood there waiting with our overstuffed packs, day bags, and two huge tote bags full of bottled water, ramen noodles, and other snacks, we looked over and saw a young couple that looked like they were toting the exact same stuff. We introduced ourselves as we all walked towards our train cars. It turns out our new friends Rachelle and Blair were from Canada, and had a similar travel route planned out for Asia after the train ride.

The train we were on turned out to be Chinese train #4, which we were a little disappointed about since we had read so much on other travel blogs about the Russian trains. Having a Chinese train also meant that we had Chinese male attendants instead of the providnitsas (Russian women attendants). However, when we boarded the train our carriage attendant was really nice and brought us the sheets for our beds right away.

We are sad to report that the accommodations on this train were much, much worse than the very comfortable sleeper train we had taken from St, Petersburg to Moscow. The walls in our compartment were covered with a faux wood paneling strait out of a seventies horror film. The barely there seat cushions (which would also be our beds for the next six nights) had tattered seat covers. But it gets much worse! The private bathroom we were promised with our “first class” ticket was nothing more than a sink (that looked like it hadn't been cleaned since it was installed) with a retractable sprayer. The water that came out of the sprayer was suspicious looking and frigid. There was a drain on the floor which more than likely drained straight onto the train tracks. We also had to share our washroom with another cabin. But far worse than the non-existent mattresses and failure of a shower, was the fact that we were in the last compartment on our carriage…next to the one toilet that would be shared with our entire car! Not to mention that when you flush the toilet you can literally see the waste falling onto the train track! We would definitely not recommend living near a train track in Russia. Also, the train was B.Y.O.T.P. We had read on some blogs that this was the case, so luckily we had stocked up ahead of time. The smell wafting from the tiolet combined with burning coal and second hand cigarette smoke from the chain smoking German guy two compartments down was almost unbearable.

The train cars being loaded up with new coal

After a couple days on the train we decided to try showering by filling up our tea kettle with boiling water from the samovar. After letting it cool enough to not scald ourselves, we poured it over our heads, washing our hair and essential body parts. However this was also a not so fun experience since we had to let the water cool off between rinses. I'm not so sure all of the shampoo was washed out of my hair, but at least it smelled good.

So it wasn't the Orient Express, but we luckily had a fan that we could turn on to minimize the toxic smells and it was nonetheless another adventure.

On a new adventure

We spent the next few days watching the scenes outside our compartment window change drastically from mostly burch trees to little wooden shack villages, from shack villages to a mountainous region, to beautiful Lake Baikal, from a beautiful lake to more little shacks.

We would hop off the train when it made stops to stretch our legs and sometimes buy snacks. Sometimes the train only stopped for five minutes in what seemed to be ghost towns and sometimes it stopped for half an hour in villages where the tracks were bustling with Russian women selling home cooked goodies (a.k.a. Babushkas). Scott bought some snacks from the babushkas, but I was hesitant to try the home made meat filled pies since we had heard rumors that they could possibly be filled with unknown animal meat products of animals we consider “man's best friend”.

Train stop itinerary

Getting off to stretch our legs

Scott coming back with snacks

We trekked across the length of the train to check out the Russian dining car. The dining car was small, and like the rest of the train, looked like it had seen better days…including the old, limping man running the car. The food was actually pretty terrible, but it was nice to escape the confines of our room for a while and chat with other travelers. We met an older English couple while we were in the dining car that were a blast to talk to. The guy named Ian had been drug on the train by his eager to travel wife (who had ended up getting food poisoning). It was blatantly obvious that the guy was miserable, but his whittiness and sense of humor was the perfect combination for his pessimistic attitude toward their adventure.

Food from the Russian dining car

Eggs served to us floating in a pond of grease

Because of the few dining options in the dining car, our diet for the rest of the week mainly consisted of ramen noodles, hot tea, and whatever kind of cookies we could buy at the stops. We were so sick of ramen by the end of the trip!

Drinking more tea

We spent a lot of time on the train playing cards, doing crossword puzzles, and catching up on our favorite tv episodes we had downloaded to our iPads before we left Moscow. Having iPads and an electrical outlet to charge them was the only thing maintaining our sanity when there was nothing to look at outside our window. Come to find out, our friends from Canada's electrical outlet didn't work the entire train causing them not to be able to use their iPad. They had just assumed the whole train was in the same circumstance so they didn't mention it to us until the last day. Had we known we would have offered for them to use our outlet to charge up.

How I felt by day two of the train ride

At the end of the second day on the train, Scott came down with a cold, which was a total bummer. He had a stuffy nose, cough and felt just plain crumby. It was probably the most uncomfortable circumstance to be in when you don't feel good. But on a positive note, at least it wasn't food poisoning or a stomach bug!

Our first long stop was when we arrived at the Mongolian border. The train stopped for a few hours to allow immigration and customs checks to occur. Russian immigration agents came onto the train, they gathered everyone in our cars passports and got back off the train. We were required to stay on the train until they came back with our passports a couple hours later. It was a very uncomfortable situation to be sitting on a train in the middle of nowhere Russia with our passports out of our hands for that long. When they finally brought back our passports, the customs agents boarded and did a one by one cabin search. It was a tedious process, but thank God for word puzzles (we must have finished at least thirty by the end of the trip). Once the process of leaving Russia was complete, the train moved for about twenty minutes and stopped for the whole process to be repeated by the Mongolian border agents.

When we woke up the second morning of being in Mongolia, the scenery outside had completely changed once again. We had entered the Gobi Dessert. Off in the distance we could see the little white tent like structures (ger) that some Mongolians call home. We also saw some livestock, and even a few camels.

Along with the scenery change outside the train we also had a nice change of scenery on the train as well. When we crossed into Mongolia our train left behind the horrible Russian dining car and picked up a Mongolian dining car. This time the dining car was attached to our end of the train which was nice not having to trek through a billion moving train doors to get to. The car was much more interesting to look at, and the one meal we ate there was actually pretty good.

Inside the Mongolian dining car

It didn't take too long to get through Mongolia before we were at the Chinese border. This required another really long stop. Once again agents took passports and rooms were searched. However the process to cross into China is even longer due to the fact that Russian and Mongolian railroads require a different size wheel than any other country. So, one by one the individual train cars were jacked up and the bogies were swapped out. We stayed on the train while this process took place. It was actually kind of fun to watch out the window.

Changing out the bogies

Once we got into China the dining car changed again to a Chinese dining car. We were all given vouchers for free lunch for the last morning of the train ride. As you can imagine, the dining car was packed. Luckily we got seated at the same table as the English couple that we had met in the Russian dining car. The free meal consisted of some sticky rice, some slimy vegetables, and some sort of really squishy meatball. Not so good, but it at least served as some entertainment to watch Ian's reaction to the food.

Pulling into Beijing

Not too long after our last meal (if you could call it that) we arrived at our trains final destination, Beijing.

Finally made it to Beijing

The trek across Siberia was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. The scenes we saw outside the windows were at times amazing and at other times depressing. However, if we were to do this ride again we would probably do it a little differently. We would definitely arrange our schedule to be on the Rossiya train #1 (a much nicer train) from Moscow to Irkutsk (Lake Baikal), where we would spend a couple days and then board the Baikal train #10 to Ulan Bator. From there to Beijing is only a one day train ride, so any train would probably be ok for that period of time.

We would also recommend the following items to anyone planning on making the journey:

  • Toilet paper and wipies
  • Paper towels
  • iPads
  • Playing cards
  • Dry shampoo
  • Bath towel
  • Mugs to make noodles and tea in
  • Travel cutlery and a Swiss Army knife
  • Lots of food that either requires no preparation or just add hot water
  • A first aid kit including cold medicine
  • Hand sanitizer and antibacterial wipes
  • Lots of bottled water