Final Stop: Ha Long Bay

According to our Vietnamese guide Ha Long means "Descending Dragon" and you're supposed to be able to see dragon shapes in the limestone rock formations that surround the bay. It is a beautiful place. It's very much like the Li River in China, only on a much grander scale. This is the last stop of the trip. We end on Friday with a day of student presentations, then return to Hanoi on Saturday to start the long journey home. Much of the talk in the group now is about what we want to eat when we get back. It's been a great trip, but everyone is very ready to return!

Vietnam - The Zen of Scooter Riding

There's no possible way to describe the "scooter culture" that exists in this country. It looks like complete chaos, and yet, somehow, it seems to work. Here are just a few snap shots that illustrate some of the things I observed relative to scooters. The first picture shows the masks many of the riders wear. I assume it's not related to swine flu, but is related to trying to lessen the intake of dirt and toxic fumes from the hoards of scooters that surround you. Good luck. However, even better is that the picture shows that the driver is texting! You wouldn't believe how many of these people are whizzing around talking on the cell phones or texting! The second picture shows the line up of scooters waiting for a light to change at an intersection. This is actually very rare. Most intersections don't have traffic lights and so when you come to one you just start honking and move on through. No one weaves and rarely does anyone stop. You basically just brake a little while everyone else continues to move and before you know it, you're on the other side! The last picture shows a couple of young women with a cute little kid on the scooter. Kids no bigger than Jacy are all over the place on the scooters, holding on to the handle bars and cruising with the 'rents! How anyone lives to reach adulthood around here is a mystery to me!

Vietnam - Part Deux

Ah, the French! Here's the history of Vietnam (simplified), as I now understand it. French people arrive to "colonize" Vietnam. They exploit the resources of the country for their own gain and oppress the people. Not all Vietnamese people are happy with this plan. Those people are jailed by the French in the prison shown in the picture above (same prison later to be refered to by American airmen as the "Hanoi Hilton"). Struggle for independence from the French eventually includes Communists. French people leave after WWII and Americans get involved to stop the spread of Communism. Americans finally learn what the Cicilian in "Princess Bride" knew: never fight a land war in Asia. Americans pull out. China tries to invade Vietnam. Chinese finally learn that even Asians shouldn't fight a land war in Asia. Vietnamese learn that capitalism is not all bad. The country begins to modernize, but it's tough to overcome all the baggage of so much war and the government corruption that followed. However, the summary of all this is: it will take a while, but watch out - this place will blossom and be an economic powerhouse!

Good Morning Vietnam

When we left Hong Kong and said "goodbye" to China it was time to say "hello" to Vietnam. I thought after China that I'd seen it all, but I was wrong. You ain't seen nuttin' till you seen Hanoi! The pictures on this post do no justice at all to the chaos and energy of this place. People, scooters, noise and smells on a scale that I've never before imagined. And the morning in Hanoi is NOTHING compared to the night! Our walk through the night market in the Old Quarter of this city was beyond description. I'll try to get some more representative pics for the next installment!

Hong Kong

After the River Li we proceded to Hong Kong, which includes the incredible business district on the harbor, Hong Kong Disneyland and several traditional Chinese markets - featuring, in this case, a beautiful western woman looking for a (OK, "her") husband! I guess I should explain - Chris (the "western woman") was able to join us in Hong Kong. After a harrowing journey that was disrupted when a volcano erupted in Russia and forced trans-Pacific flight delays she arrived in Hong Kong on the afternoon of June 18. She'll continue with the USU group to Hanoi and then return next week, a few days before the group comes home. We've had fun exploring this truely amazing city, even if only for a short time.

Li River and Yangshuo

After leaving Shanghai we headed for Guilin, the jumping-off point for a cruise on the Li River. The area around this fascinating site in south-central China was covered by ocean nearly 400 million years ago and over eons the sea floor was covered with remnants of shelled animals that created limestone rock. When the rock was thrust up by movements in the earth's crust and then worn down by weather and the river that formed once the sea was gone the most amazing landscape was formed. There are literally thousands of jagged limestone peaks that line the River Li and the surrounding country side. This area is breath-takingly beautiful.

Shanghai

Shanghai is, as is the case with everything in China, a place of incredible contrast. The ultra-modern downtown area is full of Gucci, Armani, Mercedes, Porsche, etc., etc. stores and showrooms, high end restaurants and spectacular office buildings. But just off the main thoroughfares you get back to grimy, smelly, dirty, teeming China very quickly. The city is undergoing massive reconstruction in preparation for the World Expo that will be held here next year from May to October - similar to what happened in Beijing in advance of the Olympics. No doubt Shanghai will continue to change in lock step with the changes in China in general.

Xian City Wall

The ancient city of Xian was walled and the wall still stands. Completed in 198 BC it's one of the oldest surviving city walls in the world. It's almost 10 miles around with large gates at each point of the compass. The moat is still exposed in many places and is lined now with walkways, trees and parks. I had a chance to wander through the streets of the old city by myself. I really enjoy getting off the beaten path and the small side-streets and alley ways I found were unbelievable. I was the only non-Chinese person I could see as I strolled down the narrow byways with noodle shops, butcheries, fruit stands and laundries. People were selling birds in cages, live chickens, all kinds of food being cooked outdoors on the streets and clothing. Bicycles and scooters are the non-foot methods of transportation as the lanes are too narrow for cars.

Xian

We've been in Xian (pronounced "she-on") for several days now and I'm still discovering what a diverse and interesting place it is. The first picture is of the "Bell Tower" where huge bells hang that once were used for various communication and entertainment purposes. The second picture is of the night market in the area of the Bell Tower. The street is jammed with shops, vendors and people. It's amazing and fun. Xian was established as China's capital by emperor Qin (of Terracotta Warrior fame) in about 200 BC and stayed the capital until about 800 years ago when Beijing took over. It was the beginning (or the end, depending on your direction of travel) of the "Silk Road", a great trade route that linked China in the east with Persia and Asia Minor in the west and was actively traversed from the time of Christ until modern times.

Terra Cotta Warriors

In about 200 BC an emperor named Qin conquered 7 different tribes and created a united China for the first time. He immediately took advantage of his new power by instituting an "economic stimulus" plan based primarily on using virtually unlimited slave labor in infrastructure projects. Unfortunately, rather than roads or bridges, the projects consisted of building a massive tomb for his future use and a vast army of clay (terracotta) warriors to guard it. The tomb was hidden under a man-made hill and the clay armies were positioned around the hill in pits that were covered with wooden roofs and then, in turn, with soil. Many of the people involved with the project were either entombed with Qin upon his death or killed and the site was abandoned and forgotten until its discovery in 1974 by farmers digging a well. Only a fraction of the warriors have been uncovered (about 8000 figures so far).

The Great Wall

The Great Wall of China is just that - great. It stretches nearly 4000 miles over some very rugged terrain. It took centuries to build and it's estimated that 2 to 3 million Chinese laborers died in the effort. Our group was on a portion of the wall just north of Beijing. A few of us hiked a loop that took us about 2000 feet up to a ridge top (you can get a feel for how steep some the sections were from the second picture), along the ridge and then back down again. After the wall we had lunch at a restaurant connected with a cloisenet factory and then we went to the emperor's summer palace. The Chinese emperors made of science of excess. This evening we went to a gymnastics show that was pretty spectacular. I'm sure that most of the performers were Chinese Olympic gymnasts until they reached the minimum age for official Olympic competition at which point they were too old for the team, so they were switched to the theater. No matter - they were amazing!

The Olympic Park

One of the great visits we've had in Beijing is the Olympic Park. It was fun to sit in the "Water Cube" and imagine watching Michael Phelps win his medals and in the "Birdsnest" I was able to go down and walk on the field where the events were held and try to imagine what Usain Bolt might have seen as he completed his amazing races and looked up into the crowds.

Arrival in Beijing

After wrapping up our stay in South Korea it was on to Beijing China. I have to say that I'm surprised by Beijing. It's a very modern, upscale city and the air quality is much better than I have heard would be the case. Of course, I'm told that just a few years ago the impression would have been much different. The Olympic games had an incredible impact on this city (not all of which was positive, but clearly for the most part it was a "Great Leap Forward" to quote Chairman Mao). The pictures are of a shrine in the Forbidden City, yours truely at the south gate of the Forbidden City, and the Temple of Heaven, respectively. The Forbidden City, home of the emperors of the Ming and Ching dynasties was amazing. It was massive, with seemingly endless palaces, halls, living quarters and shrines surrounding vast courtyards. Only the royal families, government officials, servants and concubines could enter the city (hence the "Forbidden" name). The Temple of Heaven was amazing also. It's here that people gather throughout the day to exercise, dance, sing, make music, fly kites and play various games in the huge park and on the courtyards and plazas that surround the temple. It's truely beautiful. This is probably the most interesting place I've ever been.