As should have been written on 13/01/2011.
Out with the old and in with the view. Walking through Shanghai is like entering a Jetsons cartoon as futuristic buildings of varying shapes and sizes tower above you. Most prominent amongt them is the Oriental Pearl TV Tower which stands at the side of the Bund and resembles a rocket piercing into the sky. It stands there with two purple spheres planted along its length, one large and one small, like a verticle snake that's swallowed one massive mouse for dinner and finished off with a smaller one for desert. Whilst, to its side like an enormous bottle opener stands the Shanghai World Financial Building. Overall it makes for an odd combination. The Bund itself is pretty impressive, but not if you're looking for a traditional China town. In reality, Shanghai seems as Chinese as Michael Macintyre: you think you spot something oriental, but it turns out it's just a lookalike. The buildings along the Bund prove this point. Despite the area being so misty you can't see half the buildings on it, you'll notice that on one side buildings are higher and stranger than an ageing hippy but the other side is classically European and could easily stretch along the Thames or the Seine. A few steps from the Bund on to Nanjing Road and this is proven further as Western shops do their northern Australian impression and flood the high streets. Walking along the street you can see it all: from H&M to Zara and McDonalds as often as you can say Chicken McNuggets. Shanghai is a business city and it turns out shopping is big business. This is not to say you can't find authentic if you search hard enough. For dinner I had it all - Chinese Hot Pot style. The idea behind this seems to be: if we've got it put it in. Pork? Yeah all right. Meatballs? Go on then. Chicken feet? Yeah, why not. I tell you why not: because it's like chewing on an old ladies finger! Quite unsurprisingly, I was ill most of the time I was in Shanghai. When not performing my Metro trick of simultaneously grossing out the Chinese and running a woolly hat, I did some basic sightseeing. I saw some coins, writing bowls in Shanghai Museum: which was fittingly fascinating. Also, after seeing Jing'an Temple and Jade Buddha Temple I realised I had seen enough temples to give me, well, throbbing temples. Next on the agenda was Hong Kong and in truth I was looking forward to something new. Just as well as this city looked as new as an Ipad with wings. After a good night's sleep I took the advice of someone I had spoken to the previous day and headed straight to Hong Kong Park. Situated in the heart of the city, the park is overlooked by towering skyscrapers but somehow allows for escapism. It's also a smorgasbord of different opportunities. I visited the aviary, the clock tower, the tai chi garden and the Olympic square buts still had time to potter about in the tea museum. Next I was on top of the world (or at least Hong Kong) at The Peak. This spot allows you to see across the city and understand how the city intertwines with the Island's landscape. One side of the view shows huge buildings and a sea full of trading ships, the other shows a landscape packed with rocks, trees and bays. Hong Kong may be busy, but there's always a spot for a quieter break. One of the most peaceful things to do of course is Thai Chi. Unfortunately it starts at 8; which, to any lazy traveller is about 4 hours too early. Still, I braved it out (cold milk coffee in hand) and struted my stuff in slow controlled movements. A bird flapped its wings, there was a rocking motion and a ball was carried to the side, then it finished. I was as chilled as a frozen pea. In the words of Daft Punk, there were Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger things to do. I braved the hustle and bustle of the Ladies Market and didn't buy any fake watches, I had a few TsingTaos in both the Lang Kwai Fong and Soho areas and most vivid of all watched the Symphony of Lights along Victoria Harbour. The Syphony of Lights is one of the most bizarre things I have ever seen. At 8 0'Clock there is an announcement and suddenly each building along Hong Kong Island was being introduced as if they were lining up for Chelsea. Although, in true big band style they each had their own sound effects and lit up each time they played. After 20 minutes of what sounded like Disneys 'It's a Small World' being blasted out, the crowd subsided confused as to whether this marked the future or a space-age ideal that was better off left to the Sci-fi writers. Equally strange to a western visitor is the Avenue of Stars which lines up to its side. Just like the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but with a Chinese twist, the road is paved with big names - and I'm not just referring to Anthony Wong Chau Sang! All I recognised were Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. After seeing the heart of the city I began travelling further afield. I explored the wonders of Lamma Island, still a small fishing Island, and Lantau Island, home of the Giant Buddha and Po Lin Monastery. If there is one thing worth trekking away from the main Island it would be the Giant Buddha which is larger than Andy Gray's hate mail sack. The Buddha sits high up in the hills and to me was the perfect symbol for a city which to me oozes with tranquillity.
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As written on 03/01/2011.
After a brief stint rambling my way through South Korea, which is not to say I talked anyone’s ears off but rather that I spent two days lost and worn out with a backpack making me droop over like a man fifty years my senior, I felt once more that I was embarking on an exciting new adventure. I was off to the oriental unknown and not knowing how China reacts to foreigners, Beijing had me clenching. I need not have worried. My first thoughts on the city was that it has the vaguely smoky allure of a post match poker table and as the first experience for most Westerners on arrival in Beijing is to be pushed, shoved out of the way and stared at on the train into town, this appears to be a city with a competitive edge. Once off, dogs run free on the streets but if I were them I’d run as quick as I could as you never know what’s for dinner. As I’m not a massive dog fan, once I’d dropped my bags off I headed to where they could never catch me – the Metro. That being simply because they would be unable to bypass the security that floods the underground. Although, I’d imagine that, if by some fortune they were able to break through those barriers, even they may be able to afford the train fare which charges a staggeringly minuscule 20p. In truth I was unsure where to head on my first night in China’s imperial city, so I headed north of Jiandemen and departed towards the surface to view what appeared ablaze before me as a gigantic weaved basket. It was of course China’s national stadium, The Birds Nest, which glows majestically amongst the 2008 Olympic Village. I was blown away - and not just because Beijing is windier than a dog with the munchies for chocolate. In the morning I felt I’d become part of a reality TV show. I headed to the Pearl (and later in the week the Silk) market and haggled with Apprentice flair for a jacket that no doubt a week later I’d be discarding quicker than Mary Bale does her cats. Sir Alan may have fired me, but I felt my puffa was worth 30 squids. Prepared for all elements, I finally had time to appreciate the wonders of Beijng’s rich history. The Temple of Heaven was heavenly, the Summer Palace was quite the palace and the Forbidden City was... well in truth it was just a city, it was nice but I didn’t really see what the fuss was about on that one. Although, Jingshan Park which overlooks the city to the north showed it was larger and grander than a big grandfather clock*. Of course, central both physically and psychologically to Beijing’s history is Tiananmen Square. Visually bare with a large portrait of Mao surrounded by Chinese flags overlooking it from the northern edge, the square is left sterile as a doctor’s glove. Flat and open, winds rip across your face making it a hostile place to stand for long; although, it’s important to take a moment to envisage the mass slaughter that occurred here when students occupied the square in 1989 and were brutally killed by the government, who claimed their acts as ‘social chaos’. In that context, maybe being ‘kettled’ on Oxford Street isn’t too bad. As if Tiananmen was not emblematic enough of China’s Communist history, in the middle of the square lay Chairman Mao’s Memoriam. Frozen throughout the night, every morning Mao is raised to the surface like a vampire into a see through casket (yes, I assume this is to stop him getting rornery). Visiting him is stranger than a lama in a top hat, as it’s difficult to believe it’s him as the preserving process leaves him looking like a waxwork caricature of himself. Stranger still, hundreds of people still bring flowers each day and so having been rushed through, I left feeling dizzy as I walked past the amusing collection of Mao souvenirs available at the exit. Conversely, my favourite sights in the city was the Lama Temple which hosts (amongst many) an 18 meters tall Buddha that both monks and the public pray to daily, as well as the understated Bell and Drum Towers which enable you to observe the method by which Chinese has historicallyshared the time, with a traditional drum performance. Also, these towers provide a great view of the traditional Hútòngs.This is not to mention my trip to the Jinshanling to Simatai section of the Great Wall of China. The Wall takes your breath away and not just because of the steep hills, as it snakes across the tips of mountains and off into the distance. Towards the end of my time here was New Years, where I drank a few too many Tsing Tao’s in the Hútòngs but loved every minute. Turns out Beijing’s a lot more than nine million bicycles. *Yeah, that’s right a grandfather clock. What’s wrong with that as a simile? It works; I mean it’s large and grand and... okay, fine, we’ll put some diamonds in it too then. It’s larger and grander than a big grandfather clock with DIAMONDS! Happy now? |
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Samuel FryTraveller Archives
June 2011
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