Hong Kong and Happy Hours

One year ago, I was navigating the hectic, sensory-charged streets of Hong Kong. I was craning my neck beneath one of the densest urban spaces in the world, slurping hot noodles, haggling for jewelry in between fish and produce stalls an an outdoor market, squeezing in between natives and tourists and unforgiving drivers, figuring out how to renew my visa and return to China, all while trying not to sweat through my clothes (that was hopeless). Organizing the trip was a choice driven by desperation, and I owe a lot to Peter who literally wrote stop-by-stop metro directions for when I landed in Shenzhen and walked across the border into Hong Kong. I was largely alone, and it was an exhiliarating two days. I still remember and cherish my awe. Even more amazing is considering how much life has changed in this year.

Back to the year 2014:

Strawberry you-pick fields extend forever in the Finger Lakes. We went to a farm between Penn Yan and Geneva that allows you to harvest quarts for only $2 each. I was astonished at how bountiful the fields were, and the seductive red and juicy roundness of every berry. Families of all ages were voluntarily crouching beneath the expansive, sunny skies, diligently plucking at stems with stained fingers. We picked so many strawberries that some are frozen, jam, a crumble, muffins, eaten with ice cream and oatmeal, and my favorite way--enjoyed raw. I'd love to go back there in a few weeks for raspberries, then later in the season for tomatoes.

Eating these is a sound reminder of why we should reject grocery market berries from California and elsewhere: there is a reason that Earth has seasons, and these treasures are only supposed to be enjoyed during their small window. What we find in stores is likely genetically-modified (you notice how giant they are?), picked early and obviously out of season, then shipped thousands of miles and wasting significant water and fuel resources. The product is a lackluster frakenberry, lacking juice and semblance of their pure state. Summer in the northeast is an agricultural dream, so I say get out there and become part of it at local pick-your-own fields, and try to purchase most of your produce from area farmers. One of these days I'll come up with a more articulate argument against industrial agriculture, but for now my point rests at I like strawberries as much as you do, but once summer is over, it's not worth it.

Another Sunday evening at the Sandbar on Canandaigua Lake, luckily with a lot fewer patrons and our parents in tow! Alcohol isn't everything, but you can't beat kicking back in the Finger Lakes during the summer with your friends and cheap cocktails. We went across the street for dinner at a sports bar after. Kristen, Caitlan, and I had a perturbing, though amusing, encounter with a man that couldn't have been too older than us, trying to pick us up. I was at a loss for words, though Caitlan managed to say, "Can you leave? We're with our families" after giving him the benefit of the doubt (and him tremendously flopping). HA, bar dynamics.

Listening: "Hyperparadise (Remix)" by Flume

Written Wanderlust

I’m embarrassed to admit that during the school year, my leisure reading predominantly involves glossy magazines. I’ll indulge every now and then in Glamour (it’s fun to share with roommates), pine over my past running days with Runner’s World, or snag an issue of Time to feel updated with the world. Yet my favorite magazine has to be National Geographic Traveler. Once I saw the February/March 2014 cover online, I knew I needed to obtain the issue:

The feature story has particular significance to me. During my time in China last year, I spent a week travelling the southern province of Yunnan, and we went to some of the same locations as the Nat Geo title suggests: Shangri-La, Jade Snow Dragon Mountain, Lijiang, and more. It was by far the most breathtaking area of the world I ever visited, and one of the best weeks of my life.

Yunnan is possibly China’s most biodiverse and ethnically diverse region. You can go from the southern jungles or the year-round temperate capital of Kunming, drive for a day, and end up on plateaus and glaciers at over 15,000 feet stretching into Tibet. 22 of China’s 52 ethnic minorities reside here, with cultures and languages and color in their lives beyond what my minimal Mandarin Chinese could ever comprehend. I went trekking for a day through Tiger Leaping Gorge, one of the world’s deepest canyons, and spent a few nights living and learning with host families outside Shangri-La in the culturally Tibetan village of Napa.

The photographer, Michael Yamashita, perhaps has the longest-running collection of photos from China spanning across 30 years. These from Yunnan are absolutely stunning and truly capture the rugged, almost mystical essence of the region. And to be honest, I can’t remember anything too notable from the written story because I was too busy marveling at the images. Memories of Yunnan flash through my mind nearly every day. I’m thrilled that National Geographic continually uncovers untouched corners of this world, but in some sense, this is a secret that I want to keep.

The issue also caught my interest for its features on Quebec City and the Berkshires of Massachusetts—so many peripheral connections! I’m not sure if any retailer in Canton offers this magazine (my parents mailed it to me from a bookstore in Florida, huge thanks to them), but if you’re pining for some wanderlust at any budget, I suggest you check it out. I’m crossing my fingers to return to Yunnan someday.

To subscribe and see more on this issue, peruse the Nat Geo Traveler site. To see more of Michael Yamashita’s work, both professional and daily life, follow his Instagram. And my own experience in Yunnan can be found in my blog archives!

This post was originally composed for The Laurentian Magazine blog.
Listening: KSLU radio, our school's student-run station!

北京的照片（第二个）

Just some more photos to share from the last two days in Beiijing...

Dinner with ZeFang and her parents: an absolute feast.  Jovial Chinese banqueting (yes, I just turned that into a verb) at its finest.

 My last day of Beijing Ultimate summer league with Team Crazy Bad.  Our league theme was Air Pollution, so the team names went Good, Moderate, Hazardous, to the worst (and best!) of them all.. Crazy Bad!  超级疯了哈哈  It's a satirical take on a more or less dire issue.

 There's quite a few people missing but I had an awesome time playing with them.  I hope we win the league by the end of the season!

  

 My last dinner in China was at a hole in the wall shop a few hutongs north, where this man and his wife make piping hot pots of Yunnan-style crossing the bridge noodles.  As it goes, rice workers in Yunnan (one of the southern-most provinces that I had the fortune of visiting for a week) needed to eat, but they were so busy in the fields that they couldn't leave.  Their wives would through noodles, eggs, vegetables and whatever scraps they could find into pots, topped off with boiling hot broth.  By the time the women crossed the bridges to pass along the soup, the broth had cooked the noodles and was ready to be eaten!  I ordered my bowl pretty spicy with slices of lamb, which came to a satisfying 10 RMB.

 The laoban and his wife tend to have the television on with Chinese historical kung-fu movies.  This was my second time visiting and he showed me photo collections of foreigners that have eaten at his shop.

 Nondescript, but worth the stop.  

And for my last night in China, I went out with friends for a good round of KTV-- Chinese kareoke!  We had this over the top, butterfly-themed room (the bubble theme was already booked) and sang and danced for hours.  The Chinese songs had subtitles, except in traditional characters, so I stuck with the English songs.  It turns out I really enjoy belting Adele :).  Afterwards we lingered in the streets (that's not as bad as it sounds), then joined hordes of others an at outdoor bar, ordering drinks and skewered cbuanr (spiced lamb) until after 4 in the morning.  

 After barley 3 hours of sleep, I pulled myself together and rounded up all of my belongings.  I was greeted by a marvelously clear morning.  In this photo, the foreground is a tattoo parlor.  Right behind it with the red and yellow banners is a newly-constructed Japanese restaurant.  Where that brown shutter and blue door stick out-- through that doorway is where my apartment is (was)!

 I know this isn't how Beijing normally is, but it made for a bittersweet departure.

 I met up with Peter, and we strolled the hutongs with some good reflection and ate baozi before seeing me off.

 This shop appeared to be a pet store of sorts.  I find Chow Chow dogs endearing.

  One last look.

Sam, the next room mate, came by and I passed on the key and dragged my cumbersome luggage down the hutong in the continuous bright day.  It didn't feel right leaving; almost like another jaunt across the mainland rather than towards home.  But ZeFang and her dad drove me the airport, and all I could really say was that I was sad to leave. 

It's been a week now.  I definitely miss it; Shanghai, Beijing, learning, eating, the daily surprises of awesome and awful, the curveballs, and the exceptions that agglomerate to this active impression of China.  Because if there's anything I learned, it's the reality of impermanence.  Everything changes, though on varying scales of time, so we have to figure out how to navigate our evolving selves as well.

Listening: "Genesis" by Grimes

长城

你不能来中国然后没有过去长城！You can't come to China without going to the Great Wall -- you're just robbing yourself of an amazing experience.  

Fortunately, Beijing is within periphery of many sections of the wall.  In order to avoid navigating Chinese tour buses and overwhelming crowds, I signed up with a group called Beijing Hikers.  They lead several trips every week around the city and across Mainland China that are very-well organized and rated according to difficulty.  Last Sunday I joined them for a level 3+ 'Great Wall Spur' that was an unrestored section of Mutianyu.

  

 I was up at 5:30 AM, on the metro to meet the group, then we rode a bus for a few hours north.  We were out trekking by 8:45.  We ascended a mountain for nearly an hour and a half through foliage that made me think we were bushwhacking through Vietnam!  The air was very heavy so I was drenched in sweat, and unfortunately the mist limited what would be incredible views.

 A small cave on the trail up that was great for a cool break.

After the trail we entered the wall through a fortress.

The wall is overgrown with years of packed dirt that has birthed its own small forest!  I was pleasantly surprised by the numerous wildflowers (giant bees and horse flies weren't that great).  

The Great Wall stretches back nearly 2,000 years, with the most recent construction between 1300-1600 during the Ming Dynasty.  I can hardly conceptualize the millions of lives, whether forced or not, that partook in the immense construction-- by hand!  It is truly a vestige of humankind.

It was fun to look back every now and then to track our progress.  Let's just say I'm glad we took this trip with the mountain first, because the rest of the wall was mainly going downhill.  Some portions were a bit treacherous, with crumbling stones and no support.

Our awesome BJ Hikers guide, Milly, explaining how different generals were in charge of building sections of the wall.  She's worked in Beijing for three or four years now, but spent years living in Nepal and guiding treks across the Himalayas-- northern Pakistan, Nepal, southern China.  She had a sharp sense of humor, great stories, and spoke English, Spanish, French, Chinese, and probably a few other languages we didn't hear.  Simply put, Milly is a professional badass (my conclusion was also affirmed when she mentioned that she played ultimate frisbee in the eighties).

We didn't hike the wall pictured here, but I just wanted to point out how absurd this hairpin construction is.  There had to have been a better way..!

I met some interesting travelers so conversation made the hike pass quickly.  We ended with a big lunch in a village before heading back to Beijing.  I wish the hike was longer, or that I had time to go to another section.  Beijing Hikers was a bit more expensive than I hoped (this is the frugal student whining), but I can't recommend their staff or trip-planning enough.  If you're hoping take more obscure nature adventures, they are the ones to work with!  For more information click here.

 嘿你好！ Pants were a good idea for protection from the brush, but it was really hot.

~*~

So it's my last week in China.  I'm already behind on blogging for this past week, but I'm aiming to do some guerrilla posting through the madness of the coming days because I have more photos to post and stories to share.  Life has this tendency to move a little too quickly..

Listening:  The Nightbeds