One High-Flying Week: Part 1

So, after a quiet week, I am sure you were all happy to get rid of me, dear readers. Well, I hate to disappoint you, but I have returned, and I come bearing gifts of stories and pictures. Aren't you all excited?

I can hear the silence from out here.

But I digress. If you remember my last post from a little over a week ago, I mentioned that I was going to be gone on a week-long trip with the Alliance program. Well, I got back from that this past Saturday, and it was an amazing experience. There was so much that went on that there is no way to contain it in one blog post. that's why you are going to get two! This first post will cover what went on in Guangzhou and Hong Kong, while the next one will recap the events in Macau and Zhuhai (I am going to REALLY recommend that you read the second blog, as it will contain some awesome pictures).

So, we left on Saturday for Guangzhou and the start of our trip. When we landed in Guangzhou, we met with our tour guides and made our way to the first major company visit of the trip. We visited a major production plant for one of the major companies in Guangzhou. The plant also held a small museum in it along with the plant:

Yes, the Zhujiang Brewery makes the popular local beer. We took a tour of the museum and plant, spoke with one of the high-level employees, then went for a few free drinks:

Everyone had a great time, and it was a great way to unwind after the flight. After dinner, we went to the Canton TV Tower, one of the tallest TV towers in China. It is a major tourist attraction, and overlooks the city very nicely. It is pretty colorful too:

Those colors shift as well, which is interesting to look at from a difference as well as inside the building. Unfortunately, the pictures I took inside the tower, with poor internal lighting, cloudy conditions, and really scratched up glass, did not come out as well as I would have hoped. However, the view was very nice despite this fact.

The next day, we took the chance to do some sightseeing around Guangzhou. We started at the Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family, which now holds many crafts and artistic items:

These vase things were minuscule, but were still accurately painted:

This gentleman used his hand as his paintbrush, and his works was pretty impressive:

After the temple, we went to the area near Lychee Bay, which is a very quaint area with some nice views along the small canal we were at:

On the whole, a nice place to spend a little bit of time:

Next, we went to Shamian Island, a big center for trade back during some of the ancient Chinese dynasties. Sadly, I was not that impressed with the area. I had expected some kind of reference to the previous use of the area, but the island has become very modernized, with no great places for pictures.

After this, we went to the are where the 2010 Asian Games (an Asian-only Olympics) had its opening and closing ceremonies. There is a museum in the area as well, which mainly covered natural history:

It was at this point that the rain really started coming in. After this, we were given the rest of the day to do what we wanted. Myself and a few other people went to a knockoff market nearby. It was, in a word, sketchy, and we did not spend a great deal of time there. After that, Cong, Muhdi, and I went to a Middle Eastern restaurant nearby (I believe the restaurant was Yemeni to be specific, but out food was more of a general food style). We had a very good meal, and I particularly enjoyed this meal. We went back to near the hotel after that want went to Beijing Road, which was a large pedestrian mall. It also has a great deal of hawker, and at one point a woman showed me some kind of metal match which would not go out. She showed me by striking it then holding it about an inch from my nose. Needless to say, I did not purchase it.

The next day was a travel day, but first we went to the Xiangxue Pharmaceutical company for another visit. The company specializes in medicines which pull from the old herbal remedies Chinese doctors used to use, and the brand is very popular today. After our visit, we boarded a train for Hong Kong. After we arrived and had some time to drop our luggage and eat, we went to the Peak, which is one of the most popular attractions in Hong Kong. It overlooks the entire area; it is accessed by a tram car of sorts, which climbs at an angle of about 45 degrees at points, which wreaks havoc for people who are dumb enough to be standing.

Not that I would know or anything...*ahem*...Moving on.

If you ever get to go to Hong Kong and you go to the Peak, just take some time to appreciate the view. You will be glad you did. I know I was:

It is amazing to think that we had done all of this, and we were only hitting the fourth day of our trip. Needless to say, Tuesday was one of the best sightseeing days we had during the whole trip. We started with another company visit. This time, we went to the Hong Kong Stock exchange. It is not as hectic as what you see in New York; a lot of the work is computerized, so there is not as big of a need for employees as before. You can have a little bit of fun while you are there as well. I mean, look at me, pretending that I know what I am doing:

 I had a lot more fun than I expected. Next, we went to the Golden Bauhinia Square. This was the site where Hong Kong was officially returned to China from British control. Oh yeah, there's a pretty nice view too:

We only spent a little bit of time here. After this, we went to Lantau Island, which involved taking a long cable car ride over the water.

The reason we took this trip was to see the amazingly large Buddha statue at the top of the mountain. You could see this thing from the cable car, it was HUGE, and it didn't get any smaller when you got closer to it:

We were also allowed to light incense while we were there. Here are mine:

These guys were putting on some kind of Pogo Stick show; they were pretty good:

That night, we went to see the Symphony of Lights on the waterfront. Take all of those synchronized light shows you know about, then make it the size of a city. That was this show, and it was amazing:

I loved this show, and the city in general. The next day, we had a free day to do whatever we wanted in the city. Here is where I made the one mistake that I still regret. I was under the impression that the group I was going to be with was going to be doing mainly shopping, so I did not take my camera, just to be on the safe side. Unfortunately for me, we ended up going to a beach, then to an amazing seafood restaurant on the water, and I missed out. I know other people have pictures, so I will just have to bug them for the pictures.

Anyway, this concludes part 1 of the trip. Tune in within the next few days to see the rest of the pictures and hear more about my adventures.

Until next time...

The Qingming Festival (Sorry, No Catchy Title)

So I realized that I had not yet posted a blog entry for this week. I am leaving soon for a fun-filled week in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau, and Zhuhai, and I would be remiss if I did not leave you with some story about this past week. Apologies if this seems rushed, as well as the fact there are no pictures.

Just as a quick side note, I am not planning on bringing my laptop with me, so I will probably not be updating this blog next week. Sorry about that, but I will make it up to you the week after that. I may have to break next week's blog entry into two parts, just to get in all the pictures and events that went on. Think of it as a "I really hope this makes up for everything" kind of move.

Anyways....This Wednesday was the date of the Qingming festival. Everyone had off from classes (but I already had no classes that day, so...) and the Alliance program prepared a small expedition for us. In addition, we had a member of the Alliance Staff with us. Teresa Bellono (which I hope to God I am spelling correctly, as she told me she reads my blog), the Communications Manager for Alliance, has been visiting the programs that Alliance has in Asia, and we were one of the last stops on her trip. She picked a great time to visit.  We went out to an organic farm an hour or so out of Shanghai, where we were allowed to pick fresh strawberries. This festival is a big deal for the Chinese, as it is associated with respect for the dead as well as agriculture. The festival, also known as the Tomb-Sweeping festival, is one where people pay tribute to their ancestors or go on spring outings.

This festival is associated with the turn of the weather to a more spring-like climate, and it has shown in the past few days. Gone are the days of cold rain and wind, replaced with sunny, warm days. Kite-flying is also a popular event of the festival, but I did not see any kites at all.

After our strawberry picking, we had lunch on the farm, nothing out of the ordinary. After that, we got back on the bus and went to Zhujiajiao, one of the local water villages and a popular destination for this festival. We took a riverboat ride, then walked around the village for a little bit. We did not have a great amount of time in the town, but it was enough to get a good idea of what the village is normally like. To be perfectly honest, it was not a major revelation, but it is a nice quaint village, and I would recommend it for anyone with spare time in Shanghai.

Apart from that, things have been pretty quiet. Well, I mean, apart from the fact that I will be competing against other people in a Chinese speech competition. Oh yeah, that should be fun.

Until next time...