Archive for October, 2007
October 23, 2007 at 10:35 pm · Filed under Uncategorized, Knowledge and Experiences
Over the October National Day holiday, the Beijing Subway Line No. 5 opened. Now you can travel directly from Dongdan or Chongwenmen to Yonghegong (Lama Temple) without changing subway lines.
And even better, they lowered the price! Now you can travel more places for less money! When does that ever happen–more for less money? I think that’s the opposite of inflation.
Apparently, reducing the price from 3yuan to 2yuan for a ticket is a move to encourage more people to take the subway rather than other methods of transportation. I’d normally think the difference of 1yuan is not going to make much of a difference to those who usually take taxis and who therefore are willing to pay a minimum of 10yuan per ride; but, for some reason it convinced me to take the subway more often than usual when I was in Beijing this time. Hey, maybe it can work. I believe pricing it at 2yuan also makes it more competitive with short-distance city public buses which usually charge 1-2yuan.
Friends living in Beijing said it probably had the opposite effect on their willingness to take the subway, though, citing the more crowded train cars and the increase in the number of bums riding the subway.
How to strike the right balance? 2.5yuan per ride? Run the trains more frequently?
October 20, 2007 at 8:54 am · Filed under Tourism
While China is predominantly populated by Han Chinese (90-93%) the country does have 55-56 officially recognized minority groups as well as a few very small unrecognized groups. Most of the Minorities have settled in southern China, namely Yunnan province, which alone has over 26 groups of ethnic Minorities making it the most ethnically diverse province in China.
As many of my passengers will attest to, I love the minority regions of China. I find their position in Chinese society lamentable (the only advantage is the exemption from the one-child policy), their culture and native dress fascinating, their food very interesting and for the most part tasty, and their settlements to be in some of the most beautiful places in China. As such I’ve made somewhat of an effort to seek them out throughout my travels in China. Below are some photos of these incredible people and the regions in which they live.
(Though I do have a particular interest in these Minorities, I am by no means an expert. I’ve tried my best to identify and classify the woman according to their ethnic group; however I’m not positive all my associations are correct. If you find an error, please leave a comment to that effect. Nonetheless, at minimum, I’ve listed where the photo was taken.)
| Xishuangbanna, a region in very southern Yunnan that’s more similar to Southeast Asia than China. These photos were taken during the Thursday morning market in Xiding, a “sleepy hillside hamlet” (LP China) about 4hours drive into the mountains away from Jinghong, capital of Xishuangbanna. The elevation made it much cooler and therefore seemingly less SE Asia-like than the rest of Banna. |
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Akha Minority women |
| Bulang women with Black turban-style headdresses |
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Bulang woman
with Light turban-style
headdress |
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| Dali and Shaping, towns in central Yunnan that are home to the Bai ethnic minority. The Bai prospered because of the tea trade during the imperial era. They are known as the Bai because of their worship of the color white, “bai” in Mandarin. These photos were taken at the Monday market in Shaping, a 1-hour drive from Dali. |
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Bai woman
preparing to calculate
the price by weight |
| Lijiang, a town in central-northern Yunnan that is home to the Naxi (Nakhi) ethnic minority. The Naxi are very proud of their culture and are active in the community, giving an orchestral performance nightly and dancing in the square during the day. |
| The Naxi dancing in the square |
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| Zhongdian, full name: Zhongdian Autonomous Prefecture, in northwest Yunnan, is a Tibetan grasslands town in the foothills of the Himalayas. While not part of the formal territory knowns as Tibet, as defined by the Chinese Communist Party, Zhongdian is in its essence, Tibetan. In addition to the native Tibetan minorities who survive on yak-herding, farming, and tourism, the Yi minority are also found in this region. |
| Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces, Longji, are set in the hillsides outside of Guilin, Guangxi. They various villages are inhabited by Zhuang, Miao, Yao, and Dong ethnic minorities who cultivate rice on steep terraced hills. Featured villages are Dazai and Ping’an. |
For the rest of the photos of these unique and intriguing minorities in their daily life, click here.
October 17, 2007 at 10:15 pm · Filed under Tourism, Traveling
My apologies for my absence from blogging recently. Any spare moment I’ve had on the internet has been devoted to planning my trip around the world, which will commence when I leave Shanghai on November 18th and end when I return to Shanghai on February 18th. Planning a RTW trip has proved far more difficult than I ever imagined, and I’m rather well-traveled, not to mention, have been traveling independently for years, and am a tour leader!
Flights–Flights were definitely one of the biggest challenges, compounded by the fact that few agencies who do RTW tickets are willing to start these trips from Asia. Most prefer to start from USA or Western Europe (namely UK). Eventually, the only agency I found willing to do my tickets was Airtreks.com based out of San Francisco but willing to book tickets from any origination point and ship to any location. They have a very useful feature on their site (requires flash) that allows you to enter your flight itinerary (including over land transfers) and it will approximate the total price for you in seconds! It will also suggest stopovers, both free and ones at additional cost. The only drawback is, because its an approximation not based on season, your flights, like mine, may end up being far more expensive than the low-end of the estimate. They were able to get very close to the dates I wanted, particularly given that I was traveling on some popular routes during the holiday season. The total package was also cheaper than trying to book even 2-3 of my major segments by myself. 3 cheers for Deborah at Airtreks!
Visas–Even with the ease of google searching and the internet, it can still be a hunt to find enough accurate info on the internet with regard to visa requirements.
- Egypt-An easy one, all my searches turned up consistent results, Americans can obtain Egyptian tourist visas on arrival at the airport.
- Jordan-My first search found that arrivals at the airport and only some land border crossings would be granted visas on arrival; our sea border crossing at the Red Sea was not one of those entry points. After talking to the sales agent at Intrepid Travel, a former tour leader for the Middle East, he said of course you can get visa on arrival there as I did it for years while a leader. Not that I intentionally doubted him, but things can change or be different whether you’re Australian or American. So I did some more research and found out that indeed, he was correct. At all overland crossings into Jordan, except 1 bridge coming from Israel, visas can be obtained on arrival.
- Kenya-Even now I’m only 98% sure on this one. I will be flying into Nairobi going on a safari into Tanzania and then returning to Kenya, which would theoretically amount to a double-entry to Kenya. However, because of border agreements with Tanzania, it seems Kenya doesn’t recognize the crossover into Tanzania and therefore a single-entry visa is all that’s needed. Kenyan visas are issued on arrival at the airport and whether I need single- or double-enty can be discussed with the visas processor on arrival.
- Tanzania-This one is proving most difficult and confusing. I’m flying into Dar Es Saalam, then taking the ferry to Zanzibar (which apparently requires a passport), then returning to Dar to fly to Kenya and from there taking a safari back into Tanzania. Again, this seems to indicate a need for a double-entry tourist visa. Online research has told me everything from, visas on arrival are possible though not a safe bet and a Yellow Fever inoculation certificate is required, to don’t bother getting a visa ahead of time, it’s easy to get on arrival. The fact that I need a double-entry visa is more what concerns me, particularly given that my second entry won’t be at an airport. The Tanzanian Embassy in Beijing proved no more helpful and perhaps even more confused and unsure than I am. He said I need a multiple, which has to be referred to Dar Es Saalam and is only valid for 3 months. (Right now, I’m more than 3 months away from my arrival in Tanzania.) However, if the border policy of Tanzania is the same as Kenya, then its really only single entry. (This is because of the East Africa Community, which in the future will have a common visa, allowing travel freely through all member states on 1 visa, however this will not enacted until 2010.) Furthermore, discussion boards on Fodors.com said, there is no need to get a visa ahead of time. If anyone can clarify the visa situation for me for Tanzania, I’d greatly appreciate it. There is no longer a requirement for proof of Yellow Fever inoculation, but its still recommended.
Inoculations–I got countless shots and prescriptions before I went to Asia the first time; however, to go to Africa it seems I need countless more. Research suggests I should get Typhoid, Cholera, Yellow Fever, Poliomyelitis vaccinations as well as Malaria tablets. Given that I live in China and many countries won’t recognize these inoculations if done in China, this proves to be a bit of a problem. Can anyone suggest a good travel doctor that can prescribe or administer all of these things in either Hong Kong or Miami? Am I being overcautious or missing any other preventative measures?
Here’s my schedule:
November Shanghai to Los Angeles to Chile to Argentina to Antarctica
December Antarctica to Argentina to Mexico to Panama Canal cruise
January Panama Canal cruise to Miami to Egypt to Jordan to Qatar to Tanzania (Zanzibar)
February Tanzania to Kenya to Doha to Shanghai
More updates on my trip to come (as well as more on China)…
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