Huangguoshu Falls

On our first full day in Guiyang, we took a day trip to the Huangguoshu waterfalls. In Mandarin, this means the yellow fruit tree falls; who knows why. I didn't see a lot of yellow fruit trees when I was there. Anyways, the falls were about an hour and a half drive away. They are often considered the Niagara Falls of Asia. One look at the falls, and you will all agree (especially you Michiganders) that these falls were no Niagara. However, they had their own elements that made them unique. First, there were actually two main falls and one smaller fall that made up the group, compared to just one giant fall for Niagara. Gives you more variety to see. Second, you had to actually hike about 15 min to see the first large fall, and about 5 min to see the second main one. Compare this to Niagara where you can see it from your car. If it's a particularly hot day, there is no need to even get out! Having to hike at least a bit makes the falls seem more connected to nature. They are waterfalls, after all. Finally, for the first main fall, you could actually walk around behind the falls. That is correct; there was a trail that took you behind the falls. Sweet dude!

This is the first main fall, the one you can walk behind. The couple are our friends and travel companions, Jill and Luke from Chicago. The Chinese people loved Luke's height, and they loved Jill's curly hair!

I'm carrying the towel in this picture because we weren't sure how wet we were going to get walking behind the waterfall. There were ladies in the parking lot selling ponchos, so we figured it was a good idea. In the end, it really wasn't necessary, but it was great to wipe the sweat off my face as we hiked out of there!

This is the second major fall. Obviously not as tall and the first fall, but much wider. 

After the two main waterfalls, we went to an area called the Tianxingqiao Scenic Area, which held the third smaller waterfall. It also held an incredible cave, one of the largest I have ever seen. They lit it up with lots of lights, making us able to see and appreciate every corner of the space. Basically the hike, which lasted about 2.5 hours, was a nature walk on steroids. Every 50 meters, there would be something new and exciting to see, whether it was a cool rock formation, a giant banyan tree, a swinging bridge over a gorge, the cave etc. For those of you who have ever been to WaterWorld in Denver, it felt like the bit you have to walk through before getting to ride the Dinosaur theme ride. A maze for adults! 

This was inside the amazing cave. Check out the stalactites! I mean stalagmites! I mean....I actually have no idea what the difference is....

Adventure's out there!

There was even a ghetto gondola ride at the end to remind us of Colorado! The gondolas were so small, they only held two people at a time. And I'm sure we could have walked faster than these things were going. But, it only costed a dollar to ride! Deal. 

After all of this excitement, we decided we were hungry for lunch, now that it was 3:30pm and way past actual lunch time. The driver took us to a small place within the park, which was twice as expensive than if we had eaten outside the park. But, we were starving. Again, no English. So the waitress brought me over to the refrigerator and had me point to ingredients I wanted turned into dishes. Eggs, yes. Lettuce, I know what that is, yes. Fish, yes. A whole chicken, no, that would take too long. Pig's feet? No, thanks. Mushrooms, YES! Another leafy green?  Sure. In the end, we had a delicious lunch, with each ingredient starring in its own dish. Whole small fried fish. (Tasted way better than it sounds) Sautéed lettuce and tomatoes. Delicious stir-fried mushrooms, the stir-fried leafy green, and finally scrambled eggs. Yum!

We didn't get home from all of this until about 7pm. Then it was time to hit the hot tub at the hotel to soak out aching feet. Day well done!

Downtown Guiyang

Friday was a holiday for us, so we left that morning for a supposedly 3-day weekend. We took a bus to Shenzhen, which is the large town just across the border from Hong Kong, then flew from Shenzhen to Guiyang, about an hour and 45min flight. As the flight was now a domestic one, it was cheaper than just flying from Hong Kong to Guiyang, but the trip in total also took longer. Always a time versus money debate! 

We got to Guiyang about 3pm, so the first stop was to our hotel, the Hyatt. Luckily, Luke our friend and travel buddy works for the Hyatt, so we got a great discount on the room. That evening, the hotel was hosting a wedding, so we saw these balloon bride and groom being escorted down the hallway. Hilarious!

Guiyang is separated into two main sections. There is the old section, where everybody lives, goes out, etc. There is also a new section where our hotel was, which was literally a ghost town with 20 new skyscrapers all being built at the same time. Apparently one super rich Chinese guy was funding ALL of the projects, betting that the city (which already has about 3 million people in it, compared to the entire population of Colorado which is 5 million) would take off and become a megatropolis. Wow. After we got settled in, we took a taxi to the old part of town to find a restaurant that served the infamous Suan Tang Yu, or Sour Fish Soup. We found a place, and told then the dish we wanted, but then I had a tough time communicating what ingredients I wanted, specifically, which veggies, what kind of fish etc. One cute waitress was very patient with me, and she eventually took me back to the kitchen and showed me these buckets of fish, letting me pick the one I wanted. In the end, it all worked out and the result was delicious! It was super fun finally getting to really use my Mandarin, but it was very obvious how much more I need to learn! 

Also at dinner, we had to try the Mi Jiu, or plum rice wine. It was actually incredibly delicious. I would certainly have it again! BUt at 17% ABV, one had to be careful! Eventually we switched to ice cold Snow beer, which hit the spot as we were trying to calm down our fired up taste buds. 

After dinner, we walked around the downtown area, to get a feel for the area. One street was full of street food, including this stand grilling kabobs. Don't they look delicious? And the meat is recognizable! That's a feat in China. 

There were also lots of small restaurants who serve people on plastic tables out on the sidewalk. Fine dining at it's best! But I bet the food is as good as what you can get at any fancy restaurant. 

Then we walked to the river which goes through the middle of the old town. There was a very quant river walk, which was very nice to walk along. Reminded me a lot of the Cherry Creek or Platt River Trail, except maybe the river was a bit bigger :)

You can see there is a cool mix of high rises with older architecture mixed in. Also, along the river there were these picnic pavilions, roughly 5 of them, every 100 feet. That night, every pavilion was packed with a group of old men, singing their hearts out to karaoke. It was so interesting, because the non-singers weren't socializing or drinking, but were sitting down listening intently to the singer. They were so serious about it! And to top it off, they were terrible! I bet there was 200 men in those pavilions singing/listening to karaoke that night!

Also along this river walk was an old building called the Jiaxiu Tower, or First Scholar's Tower. It was built in 1598, as an inspiration for the scholars studying for the national exam in China. Remember, proving academic excellence back then was a way to raise the social standing of your entire family. Apparently this building so inspired the scholars, that for three consecutive years after it was built, the province of Guizhou (of which Guiyang is the capital) produced the scholar with the top score for all of China! Also, notice the full moon. We just had the mid-autumn festival, which is always held on a full moon in the fall. 

Tai Hang Fire Dragon

Apologies for the lapse in posts. Drew, myself and our friends Jill and Luke took a weekend trip to Guiyang China, as we had a holiday weekend. We had a great trip, as you'll see in the upcoming posts, but we also got stuck there an extra day because of Typhoon Usagi. I will discuss that later too.

But first, the night before we left for Guiyang, our little Tai Hang neighborhood had its annual Fire Dragon Festival. They hold the festival around the same time as the Mid-Autumn festival, a very important festival for China, so there were a lot of participants. Anyways, the story behind the fire dragon is this. Back when Tai Hang was nothing more than a fishing village, a plague broke out. The people decided to pray to the god of the sea, Tin Hau, for help using the fire dragon. It worked, and the plague diminished. So, ever since then, they parade around the fire dragon once a year, from the local Tin Hau temple, around the neighborhood, and down to the sea. 

Now most people would say, there is no way parading around a dragon actually saved the people from a plague. But, it's possible, and when you see the pictures of the dragon itself, you'll understand why.

This is pic of the signage marking the path of the dragon to the sea. You can see how packed it is!

Before the dragon came out, these adorable girls carrying lotus lanterns (this may have been more for the mid-autumn festival which is big on lanterns) in matching pink silk outfits. 

So cute! And the lanterns had real flames! All of the policemen patrolling the parade were carrying mini fire extinguishers just in case.

The dragon!!! This is the head of the dragon. Notice all of the men either carrying the dragon, or waiting to carry it. Perhaps 30 men carried the dragon at any one time, but perhaps 100 men or more were waiting to trade spots, which they did about every 30 seconds. It makes sense, as that dragon was moving! Not an easy task to carry it.   

Now you can notice why it's called the fire dragon. Literally, the dragon is on fire! It's made of twine twisted into thick rope, then thousands of incense sticks stuck into it. Now do you see why the dragon may have worked to stop the plague? The plague was probably caused by a virus carried by a mosquito. After three nights of running this dragon up and downs every street in the village (they still run the dragon for 3 nights in a row), the incense released from the dragon would have killed the bugs, slowing down the infection rate. Ha! The incense from the dragon was overpowering. At the end of the night, all of our clothes, hair, everything smelled of it. 

This is the body of the dragon. Again, more twine twisted into a rope with incense stick in. The festival lasted for 3 hours each night. About once an hour, the runners would place the dragon on the ground, remove all of the old incense, and replace it with brand new stuff. That's a lot of incense!

Finally, we have a friend who lives literally in the apartment complex above the street where the festival was being held. So after we got to see the dragon up close, we went up to this friend's apartment to look out over the scene. Impressive huh?

Flora and Dim Sum

On Saturday, I took a walk to find a nursery in order to buy a few plants for our apartment. I realized the place was a bit cold, and I was hoping some greenery would liven and warm the place up a bit. I found a nursery online that was supposed to have a large selection and be nearby in Happy Valley. But, I couldn't find an exact address for it anywhere, only the road it was on. The road itself was the road that circled the entire Happy Valley racetrack, so it's not a short road. I did find a website with a googlemaps drop point, so I decided to look there first. I took to the bus right where the drop mark said, and starting walking in one direction. 10 minutes later, and with not a nursery in site, I assumed it must have been just behind where I started. So, I walked the 10 minutes back, plus 10 mins the other way. Nothing. Hmmm. I call the place on the phone, and they tell me they are nearby the hospital, which happens to be on the exact opposite side of the racetrack, not where I had been looking. So I walk 20 min in the direction I had originally started, which, of course, is the most frustrating part. I see the hospital, and check the near side of it. Nothing. I walk past the hospital and see a cemetery. Right next to the cemetery is the nursery. Finally. 

One might say, well Mo, it was really your fault it took you so long to find this place; you should have just called it before you even started. True. But, I have learned that getting lost in a neighborhood is the best way to see it and learn it. 

Also, can I just add how weird it is to have a hospital next to a cemetery? The poor patients happen to look out the window, and what do they see? The place they are trying most desperately to avoid! Seems like poor planning to me. 

What was even more peculiar was that the nursery was actually using the cemetery to store its outdoor plants. It certainly made the cemetery more beautiful, but it also seemed a bit odd that these people were resting in a store basically. See the pic below. It was also slightly weird for me to walk around to see the plants. I wasn't sure it I was allowed to, or if it was disrespectful....

This nursery did have some amazingly beautiful things. Such as this tree that was covered in white and pink flowers. I've never really seem anything like it. 

Anyways, an hour and $300 later, I walk out of there with my own mini-greenhouse. The first thing I got was a tall bushy plant, that looks bambooish. It reaches just to my head, and brightens up the corner by our dining room table. 

 

Next were a few smaller green plants, again to fill up corners and add more life. Two are by the TV stand, and one is in the guest bedroom. 

Next was a flowering bush to put on our little porch. This one might be my favorite. The purple flowers are really quite beautiful. 

Finally, the piece de resistance, some white orchids! 

Now, as many of you know, I do not have the greenest thumb in the family. I think my thumb is actually more of a brown color. My mom gave me a "love oak" or a baby oak tree when Drew and I got engaged, just like how Kate Hudson had her "love fern" in the movie How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Well, I managed to kill that tree in short order. :( So, between myself either overwatering or underwatering, and Trig potentially eating them all, I will be impressed with myself if the poor things last a month. 

On Sunday morning, Drew and I meet up with some friends at a renown dim sum restaurant for breakfast. The name is Tim Ho Wan, and it's supposed to have the best priced but incredible dim sum in the city. 

We tried to go here at noon last weekend, but there was a wait of about 50 people while the place only sits 30. So we tried again this morning. Dim sum is also traditionally a breakfast food. Anyways, it opens at 9am. I was in line by myself at 8:15. But, the cooks were in the kitchen, hard at work hand prepping all of the dumplings. By around 8:35, others started showing up, and by 8:45, there was this line, waiting for the place to open. But I was first! Ha! 

The place is most famous for their baked BBQ pork buns. The outside is sweet and the inside filling is savory. It's heaven on earth. They also have alot of steamed dished like shrimp and pork steamed dumplings. 

                                     

                                     

After 30 mins of stuffing ourselves, this was the mob of people present as we walked out. The volume of dim sum this place must serve every day in unfathomable. 

Chinese Zodiac

Most of us are aware of the Chinese Zodiac. It is a 12 year cycle that designates a lunar year (not a calendar year mind you) to a specific animal. The idea is that is you are born in that specific year, you will inherit that animal's qualities. For example, I was born in 1988, which is the year of the dragon. According to the chart below, I am supposed to have good health and lots of energy. I am also supposed to be a good friend, as I am a good listener. Now, does everything this in that list apply to me? No. I think my energy level is very average. But I am a good listener? You betcha.

 

Consequently, certain animals get along better with others, so your year also defines which relationships are easy and which are difficult. Not surprisingly, the dragon's most compatible relationship is with the rat, which is Drew's sign! Ha! My older sister Stephanie also happens to be a rat. Dragons also have harmonious relationships with the pig, which is my parents' year. This explains everything....

One thing to note is that a few animals are essentially interchangeable in the Chinese vocabulary. For instance, there is really not much difference between a rat and a mouse for them. Oxen and cows are the same, as well as sheep and goats. 

Apparently also the rat tricked the cat out of his place in the cycle. Hence why there is no cat, and hence why cats eternally chase rats; to get back at them for such a trick. 

The dragon is also supposed to be the most popular zodiac sign. So, parents will purposefuly try to have their children during the dragon years. So, they get their own version of the Baby Boomers, but every 12 years. Coincidentally, both myself and my language partner are dragons. Funny enough, I can't tell if she is my age or 12 years older than me. She has a 3-year old daughter. That would make me think she is 38, as Asian women tend to have their children later in life than Americans. But, she has a very young looking face. So, I dunno. 

What I didn't realize until a few days when I had an in-depth conversation with my language partner, is that these 12 animals are also applied to a single 24-hour day. Each animal gets a 2 hour time slot in which the animal does or doesn't do something of note. I will outline said cycle below. It's extremely interesting, and you'll notice the animals remain in the same cycle as the lunar years.

11pm-1am: Mouse Time. This is the time of day mice are active and snoop around in the trash etc.
1am-3am: Cow Time: Cows are chewing cud and preparing for going to work in the field.
3am-5am: Tiger Time: This is when the tiger hunts and is the most fierce.
5am-7am: Rabbit Time: This one is more complex. The Chinese believed that both a beautiful lady and her pet rabbit live in the moon. So, the moon and rabbits are interconnected. Since both the moon and the sun are in the sky simultaneously at this time, it is the rabbit time. Just nod your head and say Ok.
7am-9am: Dragon Time: During this time the dragons fly across the sky, causing morning showers.
9am-11am: Snake Time: This is when the snakes hide in the grass, so they won't bite people.
11am-1pm: Horse Time: Another complicated one. All of the animals are given a yin or yang designation. The horse is a yang animal. Yang is also day, while yin is night. Since this is the peak of the day, or the height of yang, it is the horse time.
1pm-3pm: Sheep Time: This is when the sheep eats and is a very relaxing time.
3pm-5pm: Monkey Time: This is when the monkeys are the loudest, screaming from the trees.
5pm-7pm: Rooster Time: Since apparently roosters have poor nighttime vision, they like to return home at this time before it gets dark.
7pm-9pm: Dog Time: This is when the dog begins his guarding duties at the front door.
9pm-11pm: Pig Time: This is when it's time to sleep, and pigs love to sleep.

Not too bad huh? Now just wait, it gets better. Not only do these 2-hour time slots connect to animals, but also to organs in our body, dictating when we should or should not do things in order to have the best health.


11pm-1am: Gall Bladder. Must be asleep so that the gall bladder can correctly release its toxins.
1am-3am: Live: Must be asleep for same reason as above.
3am-5am: Lung: Watch out for respiratory problems. Also, best time to get a pulse reading.
5am-7am: Large Intestine. Drink water now to relieve constipation.
7am-9am: Stomach. Best time to eat large breakfast. Dim sum!
9am-11am: Spleen. Makes brain active, so best time to study.
11am-1pm: Heart. Should take a nap now to protect the heart.
1pm-3pm: Small Intestines. Should drink water now to protect channel flow.
3pm-5pm: Bladder. 2nd prime time to study.
5pm-7pm: Kidney. Drink water to prevent buildup of toxins.
7pm-9pm: Pericardium film. 3rd prime time to learn.
9pm-11pm: 3 warmers or channels. (This is a Chinese energy flow concept) Prepare to sleep.

Also seems to make sense huh? When to sleep, when to eat, when to study, when to drink water. It's all here! Now some people might say, well this is just common sense stuff. Most humans follow this pattern unknowing. But, whether this system just defines the obvious, or if humans instinctively follow it because it's true is an interesting debate. Just some food for thought here.

From all of this, I gathered a few core realizations.
1. Drew and I are a match made in heaven, both the Christian one and the Chinese one :)
2. Since the dragon time is 7am-9am, I am not allowed to wake up any early than 7am. Sounds appropriate to me.
3. Since the dragon time is also the stomach time, I can handle diverse foods more easily than others.
4. Drew and I can now adjust our 5-year plan to incorporate which zodiac sign we want our future children to have. Ha, just kidding. Or am I.....

Odds and Ends

A few days ago, I read the book "In the Shadow of the Noonday Gun," a collection of short stories about Hong Kong back in the 80s. A super interesting read, I finished it in only a few hours. Hong Kong was a very different place back then, basically run by gangs, corrupt police force, the whole nine-yards. I recommend the book to everyone who is curious about pre-China Hong Kong.

The Noonday Gun, mentioned in the book's title, is referring to the gun below, which is fired every day at noon from a point in Causeway Bay. The amazing thing is, I have never heard it, even though we live so close. So, I doubt anyone else hears it either unless they go visit the site just for the shooting, and a lot of tourists do. The book describes why the gun is even there, so I will let you read to find out :)

But, inspired by the book, today's post will be a collection of short paragraphs (Ha!) each describing a different event from the past few days, with accompanying photos. 

Chinese Resourcefulness

While the Native Americans might be good at finding a use for everything they have, the Chinese are resourceful, solving problems with everyday objects. Now, whether these quick fixes are safe and/or lasting is another story. But, in that hour of need, the Chinese will figure out how to solve the problem, using exactly what they have, hence this drain that was not funneling water properly. The cement had worn away, leaving a directionless drain that was splashing water everywhere. The solution is a plastic bottle with the bottom cut off, placed in position to direct the flow of water correctly. Ingenious! Unfortunately, I doubt this fix will last through our next heavy rainstorm, as the bottle will likely get carried away. (You really have to see the volume of water that comes down during a heavy rain). But, until they can get a road crew over there to fix the problem, this quick fix will do! In America, this problem would remain a problem until a permanent solution could be wrought. But, in the meantime, people get splashed! Nearby this fix was a beautiful flower that had both pink and yellow flowers in a cluster. I've seen flowers that have different colored petals, but have you ever seen a flower with half of the cluster in one color and the other half is another? Can you identify this flower, mother? 

My Sun and Stars

Over the weekend, Drew's office moved locations. So the Friday prior, their old office owners sent the employees about 8 fruit baskets. Was this a nice goodbye gift? Thanks for not getting pissed that we didn't renew your lease? This is a great example of reciprocity that is Oh, so important in China. Gift-giving is the way business is done. You give a gift when someone new arrives. You give a gift when someone leaves. You give a gift when you close a deal. Always gifts. Even my language partner has given me several gifts, for no reason, just in the short time we have been meeting. They included my first lychees (which are now one of my favorite fruits) and a bookmark of a famous Chinese lady. I reciprocated with pink rabbit hair pins for her 3-year old daughter and chocolate truffles. 

Anyways, the fruit that Drew got to take home from the fruit basket was a dragon fruit (a vividly pink outside with a white with black dots mild tasting inside. I believe I showed a pic of it in one of my first blogs) and a starfruit. I was unaware that the skin of starfruits are incredibly bitter, making the fruit inedible if left on. As you can see in the picture below, I did leave the skin on at first. But a quick bite soon showed me the error of my ways. The pic is my re-creation of a line from Game of Thrones, one of our favorite shows. In the first season, Khaleesi calls her husband her "Sun and Stars" while she was the "Moon of my Life" to him. See! Drew is my Sun and Stars :) The following photos are the lobby of the new building his office moved into as well as the view from Drew's new stand-up desk. Much better than his old office, let me tell you. 

Chinese Artistry

If you have ever tried to draw a Chinese character, the title of this short paragraph is very obvious. The characters are intensely detailed, and each stroke is defined in order. Left to right, top to bottom, inside out. Very particular. Another example of such artistry I discovered while waiting for my bus after a Mandarin lesson. These construction workers are re-doing the road lines, designating where a bus stop is. If you look closely, you can see the artists at work here. One guy is pouring white paint from a bucket into a rectangular metal mold held by the other guy. The second guy holds the mold a few inches above the street, and moves it in perfectly straight lines to guide the paint the other guy is pouring. The two men worked in complete synchronization, for the flow of the paint had to match the speed of the guider's movements. Yes, there were chalk lines drawn on the ground for the guider to follow, but that was all! A third guy followed behind the painters and sprinkled this magic powder on the paint that somehow made it dry instantaneously. Seriously. I watched the guys work, then they picked up the construction cones, and immediately a bus came and drove over everything. No! I almost cried out! The paint! But the bus drove away with not a touch of white on it! In the US, we have automated trucks to re-draw road lines. But try making a truck that can copy a Chinese character easily. Ha! A stencil is the only other approach I can think of, but there are too many characters used on the roads for that to work, I suppose.