Showing posts with label China. Show all posts
Showing posts with label China. Show all posts

Monday, March 12, 2018

A Trip to Guilin, China + Weekly Wrap

I went on another China adventure to the land of karst mountains and had so much fun! We hiked, we rafted, we explored, we ate and we laughed.


My membership with the American Women's Association offers me the opportunity to do many things including take trips around Asia. I've been to KaipingHarbin, and now Guilin where the famous karst mountains are located.

The morning that we took the bamboo raft ride was rainy and overcast, but it didn't dampen the fun at all. Our rafts were authentic bamboo with the driver using a bamboo pole to push us down the river (we would later see larger rafts with motorboat engines attached and be grateful that we had a genuine experience).


The views from our bamboo raft were absolutely stunning! The karst mountain peaks loomed all around us and the countryside was so peaceful.


We did have a few exciting moments as the rafts dropped over terraces. The first one was a little scary but then after that it was just fun.



We pushed our hiking trip to the next day and it was worth the wait. The hike began with a moderate climb to Xianggongshan where we had amazing views of the Li River and the karst mountains.


The rest of the trail took us through beautiful countryside including right through mandarin plantations. The employees were very friendly as we passed by and our guide gave us each a mandarin orange.


At the bottom of the mountainside our hike continued along the Lijang River to Xingping old town. 


The shore was lined with cormorant fishing boats. The cormorants are tied to the rafts and sent into the water to retrieve fish. We didn't see actual fishing, but the locals were more than ready to pose for photos, for a small fee. (I found this photo on Trip Advisor)


I signed up for this trip because I wanted to see the karst mountains and because we would hiking and bamboo rating down the Yulong River. I like sightseeing, but I like adventure sightseeing even more. It was exactly what I hoped.

And now I'm catching up on blogging. Here's the rest of my workouts for the week:

Monday - Trip prep - lots of walking!

Tuesday - travel to Guilin

Wednesday - Bamboo rafting and sightseeing

Thursday - 7.3km hike and travel back to Hong Kong 

Friday - REST

Saturday - 3 mile run

Sunday - Walk around the neighborhood

I’m linking up with Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap!


Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Kaiping, China: Two Days Exploring Diaolous

Throughout the year (September to June), the American Women's Association plans and offers several trips to Asian destinations. For my first AWA Asian Tour, I traveled to Kaiping, China to spend two days exploring the UNESCO World Heritage Diaolous.


Getting to Kaiping:

We took a bus from Sheung Wan to Shenzhen Bay border crossing. After passing through Hong Kong and China immigration, we boarded another bus for the long journey (4 hours) to Kaiping. At the Kaiping bus station, we transferred to hired vans for our trip.

Background:

Diaolous are multi-story residences built by returning wealthy merchants at the turn of the 20th Century that rise high above the traditional low-rise Chinese landscape. They were built to protect the wealthy owners from attacks by bandits. The exterior design of the homes reflect a distinctly western influence while (almost) everything on the inside is traditional Chinese.

We visited three diaolou clusters (or villages), each one becoming more upscale than the last. The diaolous themselves are all very similar: multi-storied so that multiple family members could live there, each floor basically set up for each family (parents on the main floor, first wife and children on the second floor, etc...), rooftops served as lookouts.

Majianglong Diaolou Cluster: 

We learned about watch towers here - built to protect the village from approaching bandits with holes for guns, pouring hot water or stabbing with large knives. Residents shared the duty of looking out for the village.

Our tour guide, Stanley

We saw many low rise buildings before actually seeing the first Diaolou. Many of these are still lived in and a couple have been converted into small restaurants.


Each Diaolou that we visited was uniquely different both outside and inside. The wealthier the owner the more levels and more elaborate the architecture.


We were able to walk through some of the diaolous (some are still owned by the descendants of the original owners). Most of the furniture we saw in this cluster was pretty simple and very typical Chinese.


Pictures of owners and descendants filled the walls. It is very hard to tell, but the images below are hand drawn.


The diaolous in this cluster were separated by bamboo forest which was absolutely stunning to walk through.


Mountains and rice fields made a beautiful backdrop to the Majianlong Diaolou cluster.


Accommodations: Country Garden Jade Bay Phoenix Hotel, Kaiping

We arrived in the night (and I was suffering from major motion sickness after traveling in the van), so to wake up to this view was quite surprising after spending the previous day in very rural areas. This hotel felt straight out of Las Vegas - everything was large, splendid, and over-the-top. The breakfast buffet was typical Chinese spread and the coffee was very good.


*Our original accommodations were changed because the government effectively closed old town Chikan where we were supposed to stay (this is common in China - when the government decides to do an overhaul, the local residents are offered a relocation deal with the opportunity to return when the renovation of the town is compete).

Zili Village Diaolou Cluster:

There was an instant notable difference to the diaolous we had seen at Majianglong. After crossing some wooden bridges and stopping for a quick coffee at a little cafe, we reached the towers.



The furniture inside was more ornate with grandiose details.


The rooftop terraces were also grand with large pavilions on the top and plenty of space to enjoy the 360 degree views.


The village and diaolou properties felt like a park. There were ponds with geese and many places to sit and enjoy the beauty of the countryside.




There were many locals working on the rice harvest.


Jinjangli Diaolou Cluster:

The entrance to this village felt like we were entering a walled fortress.



After browsing a small museum, we walked through the tight alleys of the village to reach the featured diaolou: Ruishilou. At nine-stories, this was the tallest diaolou that we visited.



Inside, the furniture was yet another bar above the previous houses. It wasn't flashy, but definitely more substantial.


We saw windows with glass panes for the first time, although there were still bars on the windows. To open, the glass panes slid left or right like a barn door.


The top of this tower was very ornamental, but not open like the towers with pavilions. The top floors had more covered common areas with watchtower features on the outside.


We stopped quickly to view Zhongjianlou and Bianchouzhulou, China's leaning tower of Pisa!


A special treat was having lunch in a diaolou turned into a restaurant, AMO's ---> and it was the best Chinese food I've had. After lunch the owner gave a grand tour. I highly recommend this spot for a meal if you are touring the Diaolous in Kaiping.




Our last stop was to Chikan Old Town, built on a river. This is where we were supposed to have accommodations before the government closed it down.


Normally Chikan would be bustling with markets, but we only saw buildings deserted and barricaded with bamboo scaffolding. Even the pedestrian bridge was closed.



Despite being closed, we were still able to meet some of the locals who still come and set up tables to sell their homemade food. I bought some peanut brittle that was so delicious.



Chikan Old Town is so historically picturesque that it has often been the set of many movies. Part of the town was officially turned into Chikan Studio City and it's nickname became Chikan Movie Town.



My visit to Kaiping was just what I expected: historical, authentic and educational, but most of all fun (well, minus the van sick part). Now that I'm getting the hang of the AWA website, I'm looking forward to signing up for more trips.



Have you ever been to a UNESCO site?



Tuesday, June 14, 2016

The 'After' Blues, Dragon Boat Festival and a Workout!

I've been suffering from the post event blues. 

You know this feeling (maybe?). The day after...your big race, the wedding, big holiday...you get the idea. After six weeks of following the carb cycling and intermittent fasting program, I was so excited about the results. I rode that high for a couple of days and enjoyed the break. Between the program ending, the rain, and the humidity, I fell into a bit of a funk until this weekend.

Dragon Boat Festival came on Thursday. This Chinese holiday's origin (so I'm told) has something to do with villagers rowing their boats up and down a river and tossing zongzi into the river to prevent fish from eating the corpse of a very popular poet.

The resulting traditions celebrated these days include: watching dragon boat races and eating zongzi. Since we didn't know of any local races (only the preparations we saw at Discovery Bay), we enjoyed having our first taste of zongzi.

Zongzi is a traditional Chinese food, made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings (ours were meat only) and wrapped in bamboo, reed, or other large flat leaves. They are cooked by steaming or boiling. Besides being pretty, they were very tasty.


We also enjoyed a full plate sharing meal with friends. This is by far the best way to try new foods in a foreign country. No guilt if you don't like a dish, just move on to the next.


During our meal we were entertained by lots of good music. The band members were very interactive with the customers, even dancing with them at times, and with people who just came in to watch and listen.


After a very rainy weekend, I finally got out for Mountain Monday. It was crazy humid (85 degrees but felt like 106!), but the view and breeze at the top are worth it.


The crazy fierce summer hikers.


I've been enjoying a lot of popsicles and smoothies. 


Today I did a lower body Tabata workout from Fitness Bender. The Tabata workout: 3 minute cardio warmup followed by two 14 minute rounds of 20 on 10 off. Each exercise was repeated 4 times.


There were 7 exercises: pulse lunges on each side (I modify with the stability ball to make pulsing easier on my knee), plank tucks and extensions, side lunges and jumps, flutter kick pulse squats, bridge kicks, and jack squats.



This workout got me nice and sweaty. I'm hoping my legs aren't too sore the next couple of days!

Do you ever get the post (fill in the blank) blues?








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