BEIJING, CHINA

Today was all about eating.

Jin, Karine and I had made plans to have a big lunch today with Christian, his mom and his aunt Tess at a local Korean barbecue restaurant. (As Christian and his relatives are leaving for a holiday in the Philippines tomorrow, this is our last chance to see each other.) After imbibing too much last night and waking up with a nasty hangover, though, I wasn't sure I could even make it through a big family meal today.

Luckily, once I started eating I felt fine, and it was some incredible food. I had never experienced Korean barbecue before, but the way it works is, they put a charcoal grill in the middle of your table, give you a bunch of meat and vegetables, and you grill everything yourself. As Jin was the "expert," he did all the grilling while the rest of us watched. He cooked up some mean beef, chicken, pork, potatoes, prawns, and several types of mushrooms. We also had side dishes of salad, seaweed, sweet cakes of sticky rice, and of course, spicy kimchee. It was a ton of food, and everything was really tasty.

Afterwards I was too stuffed and tired to do any sightseeing, so I just came back to Jin's and rested. Later on Jin's friend Raymond came over, who's a very...colorful character, to say the least. He's Chinese, but he lived for several years in San Francisco and New York. All day he kept cracking me up by reciting a litany of every American brand that's made it's way to Beijing: "There's McDonalds, of course, and KFC and Subway...and Century 21, and Nike and Adidas and Haagen Dazs, and Sizzler. Sizzler, how awful is that? And Staples, and Papa John's, and Baskin Robbins...." This continued intermittently well into the night.

As part of today's cook-your-own-meal theme, Jin, Raymond, Karine and I later went out to an authentic Beijing "hotpot" restaurant, which was very interesting, but I have honestly say I didn't enjoy nearly as much as lunch. Instead of a grill, they bring a boiling pot of broth to your table which you add meat and vegetables to for a few minutes before fishing it out. We had lamb, beef, cabbage, mushrooms, and meatballs, along with a few things I was a little more squeamish about. Believe it or not, I actually tried a slice of congealed duck's blood (ugh), but gave a pass to the white and slippery-looking ox throat. Truthfully, it was all rather bland, and as Karine noted, everything had a similar texture--kind of rubbery and squishy. And after we had just about finished, three more of Jin's friends joined us, and ordered many more plates of squishy stuff as they chatted away in Mandarin. I really was a bit worn-out by the end, which came more than four hours after we first entered the restaurant.

But the evening wasn't over, of course. It's Saturday night, which meant more bar- and club-hopping. I was careful not to drink too much this time, although it's hard when people keep buying you drinks! The club crowd was pretty friendly, though--at one bar Karine and I met a girl named Olivia and a guy named Mike from Shanghai on the dance floor, then later at Destination I talked to an English guy who teaches English to German kids in Beijing(?), and a guy named Avi from Wisconsin who's in the army stationed in Korea. When I asked him what he did there, he told me rather cryptically, "things you're not supposed to talk about in China."

BEIJING, CHINA

Several weeks ago I came to the awful realization that I would be in Beijing around the beginning of October, which isn't really the best timing. You see, October 1 is National Day, the holiday marking the anniversary of the People's Republic of China (kind of like our Fourth of July). And the week following National Day is called Golden Week. Most Chinese have the entire seven days off as a holiday, so basically it's one of the worst times for traveling and sightseeing in China. D'oh! Consequently, I wanted to hit the major sights before the start of the holiday, if possible. That's why I wasted no time in visiting the Forbidden City on my first day here, and set out to see the Great Wall today.

There are actually several sections of the wall that you can visit around Beijing, but Karine and I both thought it would be better to see a less "touristic" area, as the Europeans say, and one that hasn't seen a lot of modern restoration work. So we did a little research to find a suitable unrestored section, caught a taxi to the long-distance bus station, rode a bus several hours north of the city, then hired another taxi to take us the rest of the way there. On the way we passed some really nice terraced orchards, cornfields, small villages, and farmers driving donkey carts, until the landscape around us changed to rolling hills.

Finally we approached the wall, which we could see snaking its way over the distant hills just like in all those pictures--it really is an amazing sight. Our taxi driver dropped us off and agreed to wait for us, and Karine and I set out to scale the wall. It isn't as easy as you might think--first we had to walk on a winding path up to the wall, then squeeze through a little window in a watchtower, scale a set of nearly vertical crumbling stone steps (using our hands and feet), and finally climb up a rickety ladder to the top of the wall.

Once on top, though, it was an incredible feeling. We were lucky to be there on a beautiful blue cloudless day, with just a hint of October chill in the air--perfect weather. And best of all, there were no tourists! Amazingly, the only other people we encountered on top of the wall were a group of four Americans from Virginia, in China for a friend's wedding. Other than that, it was just me, Karine, and the wall itself, which is flat in places and unbelievably steep in others as it follows the ridgeline of the hills. Every so often along the wall there are watchtowers, which we snooped around in, but the best thing was just viewing the surrounding river valley from the top of the wall. It's a really beautiful area.

We walked (and sometimes climbed) along the wall for an exhausting couple of hours before turning around and heading back toward the car. On our way there we came across a really big praying mantis, maybe four inches long, right on top of the wall. We stopped to watch it and take a few pictures, then I had the bright idea of "introducing" it to one of the ubiquitous shield bugs crawling around. I instantly felt bad about that, because of course the mantis immediately pounced on the poor thing and began eating it alive. It was a scene of horrible carnage, and yet Karine and I couldn't stop watching as it noisily munched away. Ah, the drama of nature....

After making our way back to the car, our driver took us to a nearby restaurant, where we had a decidedly mediocre lunch. It was amusing to see some of the menu items, though--I noticed there were several donkey-meat dishes, including one called "donkey treasure" that was about ten times more expensive than anything else on the menu. (I asked later on, and sure enough, "donkey treasure" is exactly what you're thinking.)

Back in Beijing, Jin took us to a restaurant famous for its Beijing Duck (I guess they don't call it Peking Duck anymore, although "Beijing Duck" still sounds weird to me). Anyway, the duck was really good--you eat it wrapped in little pancakes, so it's like a duck burrito. Mmm. We then headed to one of Beijing's uber-trendy nightspots (who knew Beijing had uber-trendy nightspots?), the Face Bar, where we had various martinis and hobnobbed with the beautiful people, and then found our way to a dance club called Destination.

Where I had too much to drink.

BEIJING, CHINA

After suffering through an all-night hard-seater train ride (the less said about that, the better), I arrived once again in the nation's capital at 6:00 this morning.

Walking around the city, it became immediately evident that Beijing is a city in transformation. Business is obviously booming, and the city appears to be growing by leaps and bounds, as everywhere you look there are dozens of half-completed skyscrapers and huge cranes looming overhead. It's massive sprawl reminds me a bit of Atlanta, and I'll confess I was surprised at how modern and cosmopolitan a city it seems to be--not exactly the dull grey communist model I was expecting. It's kind of cool to see all the growth, but at the same time it's a little depressing to notice how big cities everywhere are starting to look the same. Still, I have to admit that after the long train ride, I was glad to be able to procure that Starbucks' Espresso Frappucino....

From the train station, I made my way to the Sanlitun district, where I met up with my old friend Christian Clay at the Embassy of Mexico, where he's Head of Trade Promotion. We chatted for a bit in his office while he fielded calls from the Mexican Ambassador and emails from Liv Tyler (his sister's best friend), while people kept coming in and saying hello to me in Spanish and Chinese. I had to laugh to myself at the strangeness of it all. At any rate, it was great to see Chris again and catch up on things, as the last time we saw each other was about ten years ago in Washington, D.C. (Man, time flies....)

As (bad) luck would have it, Chris' mother and aunt are visiting him this week from Mexico, so I can't stay at his place while I'm in town. But Chris' boyfriend Jin has graciously offered his couch, which will really help me out a lot. Jin actually has a guest staying with him too: his friend Karine from France. I felt a little bad about being in the way, but it actually turned out to be convenient for us all, as Karine and I decided we can go sightseeing together while Jin works (he's already seen all the area's sights, anyway).

So that's what we did this afternoon, when we took a taxi to Beijing's most impressive slab of real estate, the Forbidden City. This is the gigantic complex that housed the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties, along with all their officials, attendants, concubines, and various hangers-on. There are supposedly 999 1/2 rooms in the complex, but I'll confess I wasn't really counting. It was certainly impressive, though, from the huge symmetrically-laid-out ceremonial halls to the maze of smaller buildings once used as royal living quarters. Some of the largest halls are undergoing major renovation right now (no doubt to be ready by 2008, when the Olympics comes to Beijing), so they're covered in scaffolding, which made the view a little less dramatic, but all in all it was still pretty impressive--the scale of the place is just massive.

We exited the Forbidden City through the south gate, also known as the Gate of Heavenly Peace (this is the one with the huge portrait of Mao Zedong over it). This brought us into another famous icon of Beijing, Tiananmen Square. Today it was full of tourists, kite-flying youngsters, souvenir-sellers, and larger-than-life displays of the pride of China: Models depicting the new train to Lhasa, Tibet; the Three Gorges Dam, complete with running water; and the "Five Friendlies," the mascots for the 2008 Olympics. It's hard to believe this was ever the site of civil unrest, although as I walked past all the happy people I couldn't help picturing the crowds of angry protesters and tanks that rolled through the square during the ill-fated 1989 pro-democracy movement.

After a few laps around the square, Karine and I then made our way to a nearby shopping mall, where Jin met us in the food court, and we had dinner at a Chinese restaurant there. Jin ordered a whole range of Chinese delicacies that I would never be brave enough to try otherwise, which was kind of cool. The lotus and gingko weren't bad, and even the barbecued whole fish was okay. The fatty pork, though, was a little too...uh, fatty.

After dinner I left Karine and Jin to meet up with Christian, who was just leaving work. We caught up on things and had a few beers at a local pub run by an American expat named Frank, then went across the street to a Muslim restaurant for more beer and some awesome spicy lamb kebabs.

TAI'AN, CHINA

Having conquered The Mountain yesterday, I was ready to head back to Beijing, so this morning I checked out of my hotel and took a cab to the train station. Not surprisingly, when I tried to buy a ticket on the spot, there wasn't anything available until 11 pm tonight (and a hard seat, at that--ugh), so I was left with a full day to spend in the town of Tai'an.

So after checking my big backpack at the station, I caught another taxi downtown. This proved to be a little more challenging (and comical) than my first cab ride today, because at first the driver couldn't understand where I wanted to go, and then he kept asking me questions in Mandarin, even though he knew I had no idea what he was saying. I kept answering him in English, even though I had no idea what he was asking me. It was completely ridiculous, and in the end we just had to sit and laugh at each other.

But eventually got me to more or less where I wanted to be, so I hopped out and walked down the street, where I promptly ran into Justin from yesterday, having a beer (at 10 am) with a British guy he met on the mountain. They had stayed overnight at the top to watch the sunrise, which turned out to be a no-show (more clouds and fog), and today they're leaving for Qufu (Confucius' hometown, where there's a big celebration, as tomorrow is his birthday).

I wished I could have come along, but I already had my ticket to Beijing, so I walked on a few blocks to Tai'an's main attraction (besides the mountain), Dai Temple. It's a huge complex of temple halls, courtyards, koi ponds, and gardens where pilgrims traditionally offered sacrifices to the gods before climbing Tai Shan. There are a number of gnarled ancient cypress trees growing in the courtyards and several towering stone steles, each resting on a base that looks like a giant turtle. It was a nice place to wander around for a few hours, as the atmosphere here is very serene and meditative.

TAI'AN, CHINA

There are five sacred mountains in China, but the most sacred is Tai Shan. For centuries it's been a place of pilgrimage for scores of Chinese who have climbed the mountain and offered sacrifices at its summit temples. Legend has it that if you scale Tai Shan, you'll live to be 100. No less than five Chinese Emperors have made the journey to the summit; from its peak Confucius proclaimed "The world is small" and Mao declared "The East is red." I climbed it today and announced: "My legs are tired."

But it was an amazing experience, and worth every sore muscle.

I set off this morning at 9 am, armed only with a bottle of water, four muffins, a bag of pistachios, some oat calcium digestive biscuits, and the last of my Xi'an apricots. Oh, and a Snickers bar. (Okay, that actually sounds like a lot, doesn't it?)

Anyway, this was unlike any other mountain I've climbed before. The path to the summit is laid with 6,660 stone steps, and along the way there are dozens of temples, shrines, arches, bridges, caves, and terraces from all ages of its long history. There are also hundreds of places where the boulders and cliffs that line the path are carved with sayings in elaborate calligraphy--again, some of it dating back a thousand years or more. I have to say it's the most beautiful graffiti I've ever seen. It was amazing, too, to think about the tremendous effort that went into creating a staircase (and temples!) up the side of a mountain, all without the aid of modern construction tools.

The journey to the summit took nearly five hours--that's five hours of climbing stairs; think about it! Good thing my knees are in decent shape. And luckily there was enough interesting scenery on the way, both natural and man-made, to provide a convenient excuse for stopping frequently to take a look. Some of the named features I saw included the Midway Gate to Heaven, the Path of Eighteen Bends, the Cypress Cave, the Dragon Spring Nunnery(?), and the Archway to Immortality. I also encountered some interesting twisted trees and rock formations, as well as some beautiful long-tailed birds and a scampering creature that could have been a stoat or mongoose. By the final dizzying stretch of stairs to the South Gate of Heaven, most of the climbers (myself included) could only manage a few steps at a time. At times I felt a little like Frodo climbing the Winding Stair above Minas Morgul--only without Gollum ahead of me to offer encouragement.

At the top, though, the terrain leveled out, and there was a whole complex of buildings and mini-peaks to explore. Some highlights included the Azure Clouds Temple, with its strange iron roof tiles, where elders give offerings to the gods; the Jade Emperor Temple, on the highest point of the mountain; and Sunrise Peak, where climbers gather at dawn to watch the sun come up (Chinese legend states that the sun begins its daily journey across the sky from Tai Shan). On a clear day you can supposedly see the ocean from here, over 200 kilometers to the East. Unfortunately, today it was grey and misty, so I could only see some of the nearer peaks, and not the terrain below. But I guess that added to the atmosphere, so to speak. For a long while I just sat on a boulder and looked out over the misty mountainside.

Although there were hundreds of Chinese climbers, I only saw four or five Westerners at the summit. I talked to one of them, though, a very cool guy named Justin from Melbourne, Florida(!), who's backpacking around Eastern Europe and Asia. He's just out of the army and about to start school at UCF. Small world, eh? We ended up hanging out at the summit and exploring the alliteratively-named Rear Rocky Recess, a forest of pines with some really cool cliffs and rock formations. By then it was late afternoon, and time to head back down the mountain.

Tai Shan really is a unique place, and climbing it was an unforgettable experience.

At the risk of sounding like a total dork, I have to admit that part of my inspiration for visiting the mountain was hearing the excellent song Tai Shan by Rush almost 20 years ago. The lyrics really do a good job of describing the experience of being there, so I reproduce them here now (this will no doubt be the first and last time I quote Neil Peart in my journal):

Tai Shan

High on the sacred mountain
Up the seven thousand stairs
In the golden light of autumn
There was magic in the air

Clouds surrounded the summit
The wind blew strong and cold
Among the silent temples
And the writing carved in gold

Somewhere in my instincts
The primitive took hold

I stood at the top of the mountain
And China sang to me
In the peaceful haze of harvest time
A song of eternity

If you raise your hands to heaven
You will live a hundred years
I stood there like a mystic
Lost in the atmosphere

The clouds were suddenly parted
For a moment I could see
The patterns of the landscape
Reaching to the eastern sea

I looked upon a presence
Spanning forty centuries

I stood at the top of the mountain
And China sang to me
In the peaceful haze of harvest time
A song of eternity

I thought of time and distance
The hardships of history
I heard the hope and the hunger
When China sang to me

TAI'AN, CHINA

The latest destination on my whistle-stop tour of China is the town of Tai'an, in Shandong Province. And "whistle-stop" is appropriate, I guess, because to get there I had to take a seven-hour train ride from Beijing.

By the way, have you ever tried to buy a ticket in a Chinese train station? It's an adventure, let me tell you. I think it should replace "Chinese fire drill" as the new politically-incorrect metaphor for a chaotic situation.

Anyway, the train ride itself was pretty comfortable. I chose a "hard sleeper" bunk, which wasn't really that hard after all. It was was definitely worth the few extra few bucks to have a place to lay down, even if the ceiling was just inches above my head. Interestingly, the "Chinese" gentleman in the bunk across from me turned out to be from Sheboygan, Wisconsin(!), on a business trip to sell American plants and trees to Chinese cities for landscaping ("They really need it," he told me).

Oh, the reason I made the rail journey to Tai'an? Even though my time is limited in China, I wanted to do something that's a little "off the beaten path," not on the usual list of tourist spots. So I've decided to climb Tai Shan, the most sacred mountain in China according to the Taoist religion. We'll see how that goes....

XI'AN, CHINA

Today I took the bus to a couple of places outside the walled city: The Big Wild Goose Pagoda and the Shaanxi Province History Museum.

The 64-meter-high pagoda dates to 652 AD, although it's been renovated and added to since then. I'm not sure where the "wild goose" comes in, but the "big" part is to differentiate it from the LITTLE Wild Goose Pagoda just down the street (no, really!). It was originally built to house Buddhist scriptures brought back from India by a traveling monk--now it has a few relics inside, but is mainly just a big tower to climb up and look over the city. It sits in the middle of a well-manicured complex of gardens and a small art museum, and outside that there's a huge pedestrian plaza with sculptures and a "dancing fountain" show, which is actually pretty well done. As it was already misty and drizzling, though, the fountains didn't stand out as much as they might have on a clear day, or at night.

From there I walked to the Shaanxi History Museum, which although not quite as impressive as the Shanghai Museum is still quite a large repository for priceless ancient relics, most of which were found in the area. The place is huge, and walking through its galleries, which are arranged chronologically, proved to be quite a workout. One of the more interesting exhibits was a display of hundreds of brass mirrors, many of which are thousands of years old, and recovered from burial sites. It's the backs of the mirrors, of course, that are interesting, as they're carved with every imaginable type of design--animals, flowers, people, abstract shapes, Chinese characters, and every conceivable combination of the above.

On the way back to town, I decided to hop off the bus at the South Gate and scale the city walls, which you can walk or bike around the top of. Some sections are missing, so you can't completely circumnavigate the city, but you can go a fur piece if you want to. Today it was really grey and misty, which meant that hardly anyone was up there, and the weather gave everything a slightly mysterious atmosphere, which was kind of cool.

XI'AN, CHINA

Today I stayed close to home (er, hostel), and walked to some of the sights of the inner city.

I started with Xi'an's Bell Tower, a huge brick structure at the center of the walled city, originally built in the 14th Century and rebuilt again in 1739. Inside the building and up the stairs are displays of ancient musical instruments and a few antique ceramic plates and vases. There's also a concert stage where they hold daily musical performances on traditional instruments (yang chin, various bells, harps, flutes, etc.). Since I arrived about 45 minutes before a show, I amused myself by looking at the numerous scenes carved on the wooden doors of the tower. Some of the captions were pretty interesting: "Playing the Xiao to Allure Phoenixes," "Zhen Long Eulogizing Roosters," "Dog Sending Letters," and "Patriotic Yue Fei Has His Back Tattooed by His Mother," among others. I wish I knew what story or stories they were illustrating, because I would definitely read that book! Anyway, the musical performance was really interesting as well; definitely worth the wait. The big set of bells, especially, was fun to hear and see. Bizarrely, one of the tunes they played was "Auld Lang Syne," which makes sense I guess since it's in a pentatonic scale.

From there, I crossed the street and visited the other big tower in town, the Drum Tower. And sure enough, there are rows of big red drums around the building. I think originally they were used as signals to open and close the city gates, but now they're just for show. For some reason the inside is dedicated to a display of Chinese furniture through the ages. Whatever.

Behind the Drum Tower is the Muslim section of town, featuring lots of restaurants and food stalls, as well as a market selling lots of dried fruits and nuts (I bought a giant bag of apricots there that should last me about a month). It's also the location of the Great Mosque (built in the 18th Century), one of the largest in China, which is sort of hidden behind a maze of narrow alleys. I eventually found my way there and walked around the gardens, which are nicely landscaped and provide a peaceful escape from the busy streets just outside. It was interesting to see a mosque that looks more like a Buddhist temple, since it's built in a totally Chinese architectural style. You never think of Chinese Muslims, either, do you? But there they were in their white skullcaps, kneeling in the prayer room.

XI'AN, CHINA

Yesterday I arrived in Shaanxi province and the ancient city of Xi'an, which has a rich history going back several thousand years, and in fact was the capital of China for over a thousand of them. Now it's a major modern city, but with many remnants of the old town still evident, including the old city walls, which hardly any Chinese cities still retain. I'm staying at a really conveniently-located hostel in the heart of the old city and have been doing a lot of wandering around the city center, soaking up the vibe. There's a real mixture of ancient and modern here which is interesting to observe, as well as a distinctly Muslim influence, since Xi'an was the eastern terminus of the Silk Road.

Some of Xi'an's most interesting sights are historical and archeological sites outside the city, so today I took a tour of some of the major ones. We began at the Huaqing Pool, which is actually a series of pools at the foot of Li Shan mountain, fed by bubbling hot springs. Many of the pools and their associated ceramic plumbing were built during the Tang Dynasty for various emperors and their concubines. The excavated ruins of the pools are on display today, along with some so-so exhibits about what the hot springs were like during that period.

After walking around the springs for an hour or so, we then proceeded to the Tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the Qin Dynasty emperor who united China and standardized its currency and writing back around 200 B.C. His "tomb" is really nothing more than a giant burial mound, although legend has it that beneath the hill were buried countless treasures including a relief map of China made with mountains of gold and silver and rivers of running mercury(!), supposedly guarded by a series of ingenious automatic defenses. Somehow I think if there were any truth to this they would have found some evidence, but I don't think they've excavated anything important under the hill. There is a sign onsite proclaiming that the levels of mercury beneath the mound were found to be many hundreds of times the normal level, though, so who knows? Anyway, we didn't do much here except take an electric car ride around the perimeter of the mound, and watch a performance of some dancers and acrobats in presumably Qin Dynasty costumes doing some pretty neat ceremonial harvest, hunting, and battle dances.

Qin Shi Huang's REAL legacy is not his tomb per se, but the fake army he buried nearby to protect his mausoleum. I'm talking about the world-famous Army of Terracotta Warriors, discovered by accident in 1974 by a farmer digging a well. This was the next stop on our tour, and the Main Event. There are over 6,000 of these life-sized figures arranged in battle formation, only some of which have been fully excavated and/or pieced together. But they're really magnificent. For some reason I had thought they were smaller (maybe because most of the photos I've seen are looking down into the pits where they stand), but they're actually life-sized, and many held real weapons when unearthed. They're incredibly detailed, too, down to their individual hairs and the treads on their shoes, and each face is different! What an incredible archaeological find, and an impressive sight to see (especially Pit 1, which requires an entire aircraft-hangar-sized building to shelter the main battalion of warriors). Another amazing find on display in the museum there is a sculpture of two fully-equipped bronze chariots and their horses, discovered nearby in 1980. Stunning.

The last stop on our tour was a bit of an anticlimax--this was the "Underground Palace"--basically a tourist attraction depicting what Qin Shi Huang's tomb might have looked like if the legends were indeed correct. But it's obviously someone's modern-day fantasy rather than any sort of archaeologist's or historian's reconstruction. With its miniature figures, models of animals and buildings, and hokey colored lights, it looked to me a little like someone's Christmas yard display gone horribly wrong.

After returning to town, I walked through the Muslim section of Xi'an, eager to try some of the cuisine that's supposed to be unique to the area. Sure enough, there were lots of street vendors selling colorful and completely unidentifiable foods, many of which looked and smelled great. But I was too timid to try any without knowing exactly what I was getting into (the chicken butt incident still fresh in my memory!). I finally found a restaurant with an English menu, but even then I wasn't sure I trusted their translations, as their dishes included "Sheet Iron Cow Spinal Cord (Hot Curry)" and my favorite, "Aluminum Dusting Powder Finless Eel Section." (I came this close to ordering that one just to see what they'd bring!) In the end I settled for a more ordinary-sounding dish of grilled beef filet in spicy cumin sauce, which nonetheless was quite tasty.

XI'AN, CHINA

To satisfy my insatiable need for speed, today I took a ride on The World's Fastest Train--no, not Supertrain, I'm talking about Shanghai's Maglev (that's for Magnetic Levitation) train, which runs from the Longyang Metro stop to the Shanghai airport. It's only like five bucks, and it reaches a top speed of 431 kilometers an hour (that's like 270 mph), traveling over 20 miles in a little over seven minutes. Sweet! There's a digital speedometer readout in every train car, so I could watch the acceleration. It was a pretty smooth ride, I'll admit--but not exactly "glasslike" as the hype would have you believe. Still, the damn thing's fast. Did I mention that?

On the train I met a nice middle-aged couple from Alberta, Canada, who have done a bit of traveling themselves (they're going to a conference in Shenzhen, but have traveled across much of the world in the past 20 years or so). We had quite a nice little chat about backpacking around the globe, and they gave me much encouragement. What is it that makes Canadians so durn nice, anyway?

SHANGHAI, CHINA

A full day seeing some of the sights of Shanghai....

I started this morning by taking the "tourist tunnel" underneath the Huangpu river, an EPCOT-like ride that transports people in futuristic little space-pods from the Bund to Pudong through a tunnel surely inspired by the psychedelic boat ride in the original Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. It's a completely ridiculous "journey" under the river through a long passageway filled with lasers, smoke, strobes, projections of sharks and other sea creatures, and Time Tunnel-esque spirals of Christmas lights. This is accompanied by a soundtrack of spacy synthesizer music and a narrator barking random phrases in Chinese and English ("Blue cadence!" "Meteor shower!" "Magma waltz!" "Paradise...and HELL!"). Truly bizarre and awful--I loved it.

On the Pudong side I walked around and admired the architecture for a bit, and got a close-up look at the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, the rocketship-like structure that looks like it's the cousin of Brussels' Atomium. I passed on going up to the top, though, and instead added another fish-house to my list by visiting Shanghai Ocean Aquarium. I found that it features some really good exhibits on the life of the Yangtse and the Amazon, and supposedly contains the "world's longest underwater tunnel." That's stretching it a bit, though, because the tunnel actually runs through four or five separate tanks, rather than one big one. My favorite critters in the place: baby cat sharks, a hyperactive sawfish, and a school of huge arapaimas (largest freshwater fish in the world).

I then took the Metro to People's Square at the heart of the city, and checked out the Shanghai Museum, which contains one of the world's finest collections of ancient art and artifacts from China's long history. I have to say that not only are the objects themselves amazing, but the way they're displayed--presentation, lighting, descriptions, etc.--rival those of the great museums of the world. It's extremely impressive, if a bit overwhelming--there are literally thousands of years of stone and brass artifacts, paintings and calligraphy on display, and it's all interesting stuff. At the end, though, I had a headache!

After dinner at Pizza Hut (I know, shut up!), I decided instead of taking the Metro, I'd walk back to the Bund along Nanjing Donlu, one of the biggest shopping streets in the city. It's a really bustling area, great for people-watching. And the Chinese sure love their neon--the strip is a sea of it, a bit reminiscent of Leicester Square in London, or even Times Square in New York.

SHANGHAI, CHINA

Well, I've made it to the mainland and the amazing city of Shanghai, which despite having a bit of history behind it is now most definitely the face of the "New China"--in other words, it's modern, it's clean, it's cosmopolitan, and it has the most futuristic sci-fi skyline I've seen outside of Disney's Tomorrowland.

I'm staying at a place called the Captain Hostel, a rather posh youth hostel with a nautical theme running throughout ("sailor bunks" and "cabins" instead of dorms and private rooms, for example). In fact, when I first stepped in the elevator I was accosted by a blonde woman in a full pirate costume who invited me to a "pirate party" at the upstairs bar--her bikini top was completely covered in gold doubloons. "It's my treasure chest," she giggled. Well, obviously.

Side note: Believe it or not, this is not the first youth hostel costume party I've encountered on this trip. What I'm wondering is, who the hell gets motivated to buy a pirate costume for a youth hostel theme night, anyway?! Where do you find one, anyway? And is it really worth taking time out of your vacation to scour the streets of Shanghai for a fake eyepatch? I don't get it.

Conveniently, my hostel is only a block away from The Bund, a classy section of impressive colonial and Art Deco buildings along the banks of the Huangpu River. It's an incredible area to walk around, especially at night, when the buildings of the Bund, as well as the modern skyscrapers of the Pudong New Area across the river, are illuminated. That's just what I did this evening. I also discovered that there's a nightly psychedelic light show here, just like in Hong Kong, where they light up the waterfront in a rainbow of neon patterns.

And for the first time since Australia, it's actually cool at night. Yes!

HONG KONG, CHINA

Once again I'm back in Hong Kong, and once again, I'm doin' it in style! Last month I was met at the airport by my mom and brother; this time it was my old pal Bill Moore who made the trek all the way from suburban Washington, D. C. just to greet me at the Arrivals hall.

Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration--I guess he was already in the area (spending a few days in China, and flying home tomorrow). But anyway it was absolutely great to see him, as it's rare enough we get together when we're in the same country. And to top it off, he had reserved a really nice suite at the swanky Regal Airport Hotel, so it was the lap of luxury for us tonight, baby: high-flow shower, free cocktails and canapes, and those little bottles of shampoo. (See, it's the little things....)

The best part, though, was just hanging out with Bill, who I always realize how much I miss whenever I see him. He really managed to buoy my spirits despite the fact I've had an exhausting few days and have also come down with a nasty head cold. You're the best, buddy!

THAILAND RECAP

Thailand has been a lot of fun (er, mostly), but I have to say that after seven--count 'em--separate stays in Bangkok on this trip, I'm quite ready to get the hell out. (Sorry, Max--hope you have a great year here!)

Favorite Things About Thailand: Southern beaches and northern mountains.

Least Favorite Thing About Thailand: Bangkok cab drivers. They will try to overcharge you, tell you their meter is broken when it isn't, and randomly refuse to take you to your destination, no reason given! It's absolutely infuriating.

Biggest Regret: Spending too much time in Bangkok...and not enough in Krabi!

BANGKOK, THAILAND

Yesterday I took a bus from Vientiane across the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge into Thailand and the large but rather unremarkable city of Udon Thani, where I stayed the night. (It's cheaper to fly to Bangkok from there rather than from Vientiane, see?)

This morning I ended up taking an earlier flight than originally scheduled in order to do some more trip planning and get my act together before heading to China tomorrow. (So many countries, so little time to plan an itinerary....)

INDOCHINA RECAP

Favorite Thing About Vietnam: Halong Bay.
Least Favorite Thing About Vietnam: People constantly trying to rip me off.

Favorite Thing About Cambodia: The Temples at Angkor. Truly stunning.
Least Favorite Thing About Cambodia: Land mines.

Favorite Things About Laos: Luang Prabang, cool waterfalls, and general laid-back vibe.
Least Favorite Thing About Laos: All the torn-up sidewalks. What's up with that?

Favorite Thing About Indochina as a whole: Baguettes!

VIENTIANE, LAOS

When I asked my good friend Bill about things to do in Vientiane (a city he loves), he actually told me "not a lot." Which I've since found out is a pretty fair assessment. But I guess that's what makes it appealing to some; it's a laid-back kind of city that's best for quiet activities like drinking a Beerlao and watching the sunset along the Mekong.

That being said, there are a couple of minor tourist sights to see, and I dutifully visited both of them today.

The first is Patuxay (literally, "victory gate"), a monument in the center of town that's basically a knockoff of Paris' Arc de Triomphe. Well, maybe that's a little unfair, because it does have some typically Laotian architectural details, but that's what everyone compares it to. (Ironically, it's a monument to those who fought for Laos' independence from France.) Up close it's a lot less spectacular than its famous relative, as most of it is grey, unfinished concrete with lots of cracks and some really shoddy workmanship. The best part is that you can pay a couple thousand kip to climb up through it to the top, and from there you can get a pretty good bird's-eye view of the city.

From there I decided to hoof it a couple more kilometers to Vientiane's most famous landmark, Pha That Luang. It's a Buddhist temple that was built on the site of several other temples, dating back to the original 3rd Century one which was supposedly built to house a sacred relic: the breast bone of the Buddha himself. It's the national symbol of Laos, and its architecture is striking; a square of spires surrounding a central stupa, all painted in gold. It's supposed to be best viewed in the late afternoon as the sun reflects off it. Unfortunately it was overcast when I got there, so it didn't shine as much, although it was still beautiful to see.

PS--Happy birthday, Jenny!!

NOT LOST... JUST LEFT IN LAOS.

Or something like that. :-)

As many of you are already aware, the big news is that after eight months of traveling together, Chris and I have decided to split up and travel separately from now on. This is no doubt the best thing for both of us.

Unfortunately, "going solo" also means that I'll have to do some major trip restructuring, and will most likely have to come home earlier than originally planned. While that prospect leaves me somewhat disappointed, I can honestly say that I have no regrets, and I'm still having an amazing time seeing the world. And I'm determined to keep on truckin' and see as many places and things as I can before I have to head for home.

I'll keep y'all updated as my plans develop. Watch this space...

VANG VIENG, LAOS

We left Luang Prabang for Vang Vieng at 6:30 this morning, traveling south for seven hours on what was supposed to be the "VIP bus"--but what I think was actually the trashy one that all the locals take. Consequently, we stopped at every little village along the way, picking up and dropping off passengers (human and canine) while our clueless driver struggled with the apparently foreign concept of shifting gears. Most of the ride was on twisting roads through the mountains, which meant some lovely scenery along the way, accompanied by a not-so-lovely soundtrack of people throwing up (the guy handing out plastic bags was kept constantly busy).

We finally made it to Vang Vieng around two in the afternoon. And guess what? It's an incredibly ugly place. Basically, it's just a strip of backpacker-oriented businesses (restaurants playing Friends reruns and selling "happy" (drug-laced) pizza, internet places, guesthouses, tour companies, etc.) along a dirty street, with piles of rubble where the sidewalks should be. Nice.

The reason all the backpackers stop here is not for the "town" itself, but for the activities in the surrounding countryside: caving, rock-climbing, kayaking, and mainly, tubing down the Nam Song River. Chris and I opted to try the latter this afternoon, which actually turned out to be pretty fun. It's exactly like tubing back in the States, except here some enterprising locals have set up a number of makeshift bars on the riverbanks where you can come ashore and drink a few Beerlaos before continuing down the river. I'm sure it would make the journey even more enjoyable, but unfortunately, we're both running out of kip (and there are no ATMs in town!), so we had to drift on by this time. The scenery was nice, though, and at one point the river winds past some jagged black mountains, which were cool to see.

LUANG PRABANG, LAOS

There are a number of scenic waterfalls in the countryside near Luang Prabang, but according to everyone we've talked to, two in particular stand out above the rest. The first, Tat Kuang Si, we visited two days ago. And the second is Tat Sae, which we decided to see today.

To get there we had to first hire a sawgthaew to drive us 30 minutes out of town. Then we paid a boatman to take us on a canoe-like motorboat another five minutes down the Nam Khan River until we could see the white water of the falls emptying out of the forest. He then let us out on the bank and we climbed some stairs into the woods, where we came to the main part of the waterfall.

Sure enough, these falls were just as spectacular as Kuang Si--but very different in appearance. Instead of one long cascade, Tat Sae is composed of dozens, if not hundreds, of flat limestone terraces descending through the jungle toward the river, with tons of water rushing over them. The falls are punctuated by large trees growing up through the terraces, so it's really a waterfall and a shaded forest at the same time--very unique-looking! There are some large pools there for swimming, too, but I didn't bring my bathing suit, so I just took off my shoes and waded along the edges of the terraces in foot-deep water.

Next to the falls was a sign pointing out a trail through the jungle, which Chris and I followed to a nearby cave. The cave mouth was only three or four feet high, but you could duck inside to find a living-room sized chamber, empty except for a few big daddy-long-legs. In fact, this area seemed to be a mecca for all sorts of creepy-crawlies: We also came across a number of snails, an army of ants attacking an earthworm, some big spiders, and a giant orange millipede eight or ten inches long.

After returning to town, I took a walk along the river from our guesthouse to the city's most famous royal temple, Wat Xieng Thong, built in 1560 on the peninsula between the Mekong and the Nam Khan. The exterior of the main sanctuary is decorated with a colorful "tree of life" mosaic, and the interior contains a shrine with a large golden Buddha statue. Inside a nearby chapel there's a giant wooden funeral chariot with carved nagas (serpents) in the front and a large cremation urn which once held the bodies of Lao monarchs. Pretty cool.

LUANG PRABANG, LAOS

The rainy season has finally caught up with us: After weeks of unseasonable sunny weather, the past two days have been rather grey and wet. Which is good news for the locals, as it's been a dry summer, but not so great for us in terms of outdoor activities. Consequently, we haven't done too much, although Chris went kayaking today on some river somewhere--can't get much wetter, I guess! I stayed in town and wandered around, buying a book at a bookstore and chatting a bit with Mark from Georgia, who it turns out owns a local bar and restaurant.

This morning I also paid a visit to the National Museum, which also happens to be the former Royal Palace. That is, until the present communist government took over in 1975, forcing the king to abdicate to Thailand (never to be heard from again). Most of the museum's contents, not surprisingly, are the royal furnishings, clothing, and regalia, along with a large number of small Buddha sculptures from around the country, gifts to the king from other nations, some giant ceremonial brass drums, and various other Lao musical instruments.

I would have to say that as a royal palace, the whole place is actually rather modest. Well, the throne room is pretty dramatic, with bright red walls completely covered in mosaics of colored Japanese glass, and several golden thrones. But the bedrooms of the king and queen, which have been left as they were during his reign, are really quite spartan: White walls, a couple of sconces, a bed, dresser, and a nightstand or two. It's not all that big, either--more like the large house of a well-to-do businessman, as opposed to a king. Still, it was interesting to walk around, and when I visited there were hardly any tourists there, which was cool. I found it amusing to be walking through a royal palace virtually by myself, in bare feet, no less! (Like most Lao dwellings, you're supposed to remove your shoes at the door.)

LUANG PRABANG, LAOS

After meeting at the White Elephant Adventures office at 8:30 am, Chris and I were joined by three young Londoners--Rob, Charlie and Charlotte--and our Lao guide Max (a former monk and a Slipknot fan!), for our one-day trek through the surrounding countryside. First we were driven about a half-hour south of town via sawgthaew (a covered pickup truck with benches in the back) over dirt roads, through the outlying hills. We stopped at a couple of hill tribe villages along the way, where we got out and took some photos of huts and children and drying peanuts and piglets and whatnot. It's still strange to come across primitive-looking thatched huts with big satellite dishes outside, but I guess that's the 21st Century for ya! It seems that housewives the world over have to watch their stories. We also visited a village primary school, which was a lot of fun. The kids were at recess, playing various playground games and running around like lunatics. They're not that used to visiting Westerners, apparently--seems like many of them couldn't decide whether to be frightened or amused at the sight of us.

We then started trekking, first through a village, then over farmland (fields of corn, squash, and rice), and finally into the jungle. After some three hours of steamy, sweaty slogging, we finally made it to the top of Tat Kuang Si, one of the area's most famous waterfalls. We then followed a staircase that ran down the side of the falls (and sometimes through them) to the bottom, where there's a picnic area with a magnificent view of the falls, which are really tall and dramatic. We had lunch there and then walked farther downstream to even more falls; a series of smaller cascades that drop ten or fifteen feet at a time; and a bona fide swimmin' hole complete with jumping tree. We all had to jump in and go swimming, of course--the water was freezing cold, but felt great after all that trekking in the hot sun. Charlie and Rob were the most acrobatic, doing backflips off the tree and the falls themselves--crazy kids. Oh, and we also ran into Andrea from Munich, who was visiting the falls with a different tour group.

Here's something kind of random: On our way out of the waterfall park, we walked by two fenced-in enclosures in the forest: one containing a number of Asiatic black bears, and one containing a tiger! All of the animals were supposedly rescued from poachers, and I think were being raised for eventual transfer to zoos. Actually, the enclosures looked just as big as those in a zoo, and they each had jungle vegetation and a natural stream running through them, so it looked like the animals had it pretty good. There was a guy selling bananas there so you could feed the bears--at the prospect of food, they stood up and walked around on their hind legs, which was hilarious to see. Chris kept throwing bananas to one bear, but he was so stupid he kept staring at Chris while the bananas kept bouncing off his head and were retrieved by other bears--not the brightest ursine in the bunch, for sure.

We were then driven back to town just in time to visit Phou Si, the sacred hill at the center of Luang Prabang. It's supposed to be best viewed at sunset, so Chris and I scaled the 300 steps to the top just after 5 pm to have a look. The temple itself is nothing special, but the view over the town, the Mekong river, and the surrounding hills, forest, and farmland is really amazing. Chris didn't stick around for sunset, as he wanted to get some information on kayaking from the Canadian guy who runs White Elephant Tours, so he went back down while I chilled out at the top of the hill for another half hour or so and watched the sun set over the Mekong. (And ran into Andrea again up there, too!)

Afterward I met Chris at White Elephant Adventures, who was talking with Derek the owner, a really nice new-agey entrepreneur who moved to Laos several years ago from London, Ontario. We sat for awhile in the shop, drank beer, and talked about life in Luang Prabang, changing Lao society, and his various business ventures.

For dinner, Chris and I decided to check out a "Lao Barbecue" joint on the banks of the Mekong, which turned out to be really good: For $3.50, they give you a bunch of meat, eggs, vegetables, and spices (more than enough for two people), which you cook over a charcoal fire right at your table. They also supply a bowl of crunchy fried eggplant, which tastes a lot like potato chips. Mmm....

Later Chris and I went to a local bar called Khob Chai, where we were befriended by the bartenders and somehow ended up getting taken by them on their motorbikes to the big disco in town, which was packed to the hilt. There we ran into Derek from White Elephant, and met a guy named Mark from Louisville, Georgia(!) who lives in Laos for six months of the year. Small world, eh?

LUANG PRABANG, LAOS

Another day of putt-putt-putting down the Mekong--more of the same beautiful scenery, and for a little excitement, a few areas where the muddy water was churned into eddies, whirlpools, and some near-rapids. This morning's highlight: Glancing across the river to see a bull elephant standing on the bank! I barely had enough time to point it out to Chris, who managed to snap a picture--I think we were the only ones on the boat to see it.

Around 3:30 pm we docked at Luang Prabang, which from the river hardly looks like a town at all. But it's actually a very nice little palm-tree-shaded hamlet, most of which sits on a peninsula created by the meeting of the Mekong and Khan rivers. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995, which basically means that the whole city is a historic district, and is protected from uncontrolled development. It is a pretty charming place, with lots of old-looking colonial-era buildings, lots of open-air restaurants along the Mekong, a night-market selling local textiles and handicrafts, and at the center of town, Mount Phousi, a tall hill with a Buddhist temple at the top.

After checking into a guesthouse across the street from the river, we walked around town and spent some time talking with the staff at White Elephant Tours, who signed us up for a day trek tomorrow.

PAK BENG, LAOS

This morning Chris and I walked down to the river and got "stamped out" of Thailand at the little immigration office, then took a boat to the other side of the river (Laos) and got "stamped in" to Laos at the little immigration office there. Then it was a fifteen-minute walk down to a different boat landing where we caught the slow boat, a long, narrow craft which carries about 50 people on wooden bench seats. Not the most comfortable way to spend two full days, but we figured it was better than the "fast boat"--which does the trip in one day, but costs more, involves getting wet, requires wearing a helmet and earplugs, and has a much higher fatality rate. Er... no thanks.

As this is laid-back Laos, we were an hour late departing, but once we got going the journey was okay. Unfortunately I had just finished reading my last book, so I had nothing to do except watch the scenery along the muddy Mekong--lots of water buffaloes, wooden farmers' huts, tiny villages, and miles of emerald-green hills, farmland and jungle. Chris claims he saw a dead body(!) in the river at one point, but fortunately I missed that.

After about six hours, we arrived at the halfway point, the little village of Pak Beng, which is nothing more than a handful of shops and guesthouses on the river. Surprisingly, there was a really good Indian restaurant there, where I had some killer chicken tikka masala.

CHIANG KHONG, THAILAND

Traveling to Laos has proven to be a little tricky. Rather than flying directly to Vientiane from Bangkok (the most direct route) we realized it would be much cheaper to fly to Chiang Rai, Thailand (again) and enter Laos from the north. Our original plan was to take a bus from there to Luang Namtha, in the northwest corner of Laos, where Chris was keen on doing some trekking/rafting/kayaking in the Nam Ha National Protected Area. We would then work our way south to Luang Prabang and finally, Vientiane.

But after arriving in Chiang Rai yesterday and consulting with our old friend Tom (who runs the Mae Hong Son guesthouse), we were advised against that plan. Apparently the road from Chiang Rai to Luang Namtha is pretty bad, and drivers charge a lot of money to get there. So instead we've chosen to take a bus to Chiang Khong, a couple of hours from Chiang Rai, and catch a two-day "slow boat" east along the Mekong river to Luang Prabang. Which is fine with me--we can do trekking from there, and will have more time to relax, rather than spending several days on the road to and from Luang Namtha.

People met today:

• Andrea from Munich, Germany, who's at the beginning of a three-month Asian tour. We met her on the bus to Chiang Khong and found out that she's taking the slow boat to Luang Prabang, too. She decided to stay at our guesthouse, and later joined us for a stroll around town (there was nothing to see!).

BANGKOK, THAILAND

Books I've read in the past three weeks:

Land Below the Wind by Agnes Newton Keith: This is the book I gave Chris for his birthday; it's an account of life in northern Borneo (now Sabah) in the 1930s by the American wife of a British official. Basically it's her diary, and skips around from discussing etiquette at diplomatic parties and the quirks of her many servants to her bouts with malaria and trips deep into the jungle among floods, leeches, and actual headhunters. Sadly, from what I've seen, in the 70-odd years since it was written it seems like Borneo may have lost some of the romantic appeal Keith describes. Although I guess that's true of just about everywhere in the world, isn't it?

No Touch Monkey! And Other Travel Lessons Learned Too Late by Ayun Halliday: A really funny collection of backpacker anecdotes from a fellow grungy world traveler. There's a lot I could relate to in here, especially since she talks about her experiences at many of the places I've visited this year. The title, in fact, refers to the Sacred Monkey Forest in Ubud, Bali, where it turns out we were both accosted by the scary little primates.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold: Another book that everyone else seems to have read before me. Given its heavy subject matter (little girl murdered by a serial killer), it manages to evoke emotions without ever seeming overwrought or maudlin, which is no mean feat. I have to say, I can't see how Peter Jackson will be able to adapt this into a decent movie, although I guess I thought the same thing about Lord of the Rings.

The Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha, edited by C. A. Burtt: Since I see his guy everywhere I go in Asia, I figured maybe I should read up on what he was on about. Not to mention the fact that it's my heritage: I'm descended from a long line of Japanese Buddhist priests. I have to admit, apart from reading Hesse's Siddhartha, I didn't know much about Buddhism before reading this collection of texts. It's really fascinating stuff, and gives some insight into the culture and history of many of the countries I've been visiting, although I'm not sure it's the religion for me: I just don't think I'm quite ready to forsake all human attachments and the pleasures of the five senses. Maybe next year.

BANGKOK, THAILAND

You know you're a real world traveler when you've run out of room in your passport for any more visa stamps! This finally happened to me, so this morning I schlepped across town to the U. S. Embassy to get some more pages added to my passport. After filling out a form, it only took a few minutes to get 22 more pages stapled in there, and it didn't cost me anything, which was cool.

On the way to the Embassy I walked through Lumphini Park, probably the only green space in all of Bangkok, and was accosted by all varieties of reptiles. Well, really I just saw a lot of turtles in the canal, a couple of really big monitor lizards strolling across the lawn, and a big green snake in the grass that scooted up a tree when it saw me. Don't think it was poisonous, but this is Asia, so you never know.

Not much else to report, as we've just been taking care of business and planning our journey to Laos. Oh, except we did have a nice reunion yesterday with our pals Kim and Gemma, who we met in Malaysia a few months ago. They're on their way back to England today after 7 1/2 months on the road (they started their trip at almost exactly the same time we did, and hit most of the same countries). We had a good time catching up on things, eating, and hanging out on Khao San Road before they had to catch a taxi to the airport. They were nice enough to lend us their Lonely Planet China guidebook, which I'm sure will be an invaluable resource in the next month or so.

PS: Happy Birthday, Mom!!