What a Way to Wrap Things Up

Today we visited Mt. Fuji and Hakone, which is a National park with views of Mount Fuji. Mount Fuji (Fujisan) is 3776 meters high and is Japan's highest mountain. Mount Fuji is a dormant volcano, which most recently erupted in 1708. After waiting patiently, we were able to see the peak of the mountain, and it was most spectacular! Clouds and poor visibility often block the view of Mount Fuji, and we have to consider ourselves lucky to get a clear view of the mountain.

After seeing the peak of Mt. Fuji, we visited Hakone, a nearby hot spring resort. The mountains in Hakone are beautiful, but we couldn't see Mt. Fuji because it was overcast. We took a 15-minute boat cruise on Lake Ashinoko, then took a 20-minute gondola ride up the mountain. Even though the weather wasn't as cooperative as we would have liked, we enjoyed our last day together.

Tomorrow we have to leave the hotel at 6:30 AM to head home. It has truly been a pleasure to have had these students on our trip. They are a great group and Dr. Spangler and I will miss them!

Kyoko is here!

Today we are with Kyoko, our Japanese guide. She was our guide last year, so I am excited to have her again as our guide--she's adorable and very knowledgeable.


Today we did a lot of sightseeing. Tokyo is such a great city! Today we visited a town called Kamakura and went to two temples (Hase Cannon and Kotokuin), one of which was right by the ocean. There were dozens of hawks flying around and quite low and the sights at the Hase Cannon Temple were beautiful. The open-air Kotokuin Temple had a giant bronze Buddha. The Buddha was hollow and some of the students went inside for a view.




After visiting the temples and having lunch, we drove past the Imperial Palace. We didn't stop as it is not like the White House is, where you can see it even if you aren't permitted inside. The Imperial Palace is protected by a moat and has tall foliage surrounding it. We were lucky enough to see the rooftops of the Palace. From there we went to Tokyo Tower, which is still very tall, but considerably shorter than the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai. The sky was pretty clear, but unfortunately it wasn't clear enough to see Mt. Fuji from the observation deck.





The last place we visited before dinner was Ueno Park, which is like the Tokyo version of Central Park. We walked around for about an hour and took in the sites as well as browsed through local shops.



Tomorrow we wrap up our Asia 2010 Tour with a visit to Mt. Fuji. It is hard to believe that we will be home on Sunday. Leaving is bittersweet; we are all VERY excited to see our loved ones, but we want to stay and play longer. :)

We Don't Need a Guide After All

Just a note before I begin today's posting...I am still having problems uploading our photos to Snapfish. I'll keep trying, but I might have to wait until we return home.

Today was our first full day in Tokyo and Dr. Spangler and I conducted our own walking/sightseeing tour and we actually didn't get lost or lose anyone. :) We were originally going to participate in a one-day program with Rikkyo University, but since the SMBA group was just here and had a program with them, it was difficult for them to coordinate a program with us within such a short period of time. So, we decided to take a tour of Tokyo and began our tour with a visit to the Tsukiji Fish Market, which is located in Ginza. Tsukiji fish market is the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world and also one of the largest wholesale food markets of any kind. It was interesting to see the variety of fish sold and we even watched as a couple workers slaughtered some fish--wasn't some of our most favorable moment on the trip. However, it is interesting to see how this business functions and watch the 100's of workers coordinate efforts like a synchronized swim team. Don't worry...I won't post any pictures that are too disgusting. I didn't take any but I think our students did. Yikes!

After our trip to the fish market, we took a tour of Panasonic. I have to say that it was one of the coolest things that I've done while in Asia. The technology was tremendous and you will not believe the items that will be on the market within the next 5 years. Of course we couldn't take photos so your son/daughter will have to tell you about the Life Wall, the 153" 3D HDTV, and massage chair to name a few.

After our Panasonic visit, we just went to a couple different areas via the metro and train. We had lunch and came back to the hotel to get ready for our special dinner at Gonpachi in Roppongi, one of the busiest and foreign friendly parts of Tokyo. This is the restaurant where Quentin Tarrentino got his idea for Kill Bill. On our way to the restaurant, we went to Shibuya, which is like the Times Square of Tokyo (except it is very orderly). It is another shopping and entertainment district situated in the west of Tokyo and is a fantastic place to people-watch.

A Nation Without Censorship is a Great Nation

I can FINALLY view the blog! Today was pretty uneventful, since we spent most of it traveling. We did get to ride the maglev train to the airport, which is even faster that the bullet train we took 1 1/2 weeks ago. This was a very cool exprience and was our surprise to the students as we had planned on taking our bus to the airport. On the busride to the maglev station, the students presented Jo with a gift and tip. It was a lovely gesture and several of us became quite emotional. She is a very kind and sweet person and we will miss her dearly while in Japan. Our Japanese guide, Kyoko, is quite good, as well. She was our guide last year and I think the students will like her as well (although no one compares to Jo!).

We finally checked into our hotel at about 6PM and had the evening to eat on our own and explore the area around our hotel. I stayed here last year and it's a great area--very safe, too! I'll be curious to see everyone tomorrow and hear about their evening.

World Expo 2010

Today we spent the entire day (9AM-6PM) at the World Expo 2010. The size of it was enormous—truly the size of a small town—and focused on the theme "Better City, Better Life." Participating countries displayed urban civilizations, exchanged their experiences of urban development, disseminated advanced notions on cities and new approaches to human habitat, lifestyle and working conditions in the new century. They show how to create an eco-friendly society and maintain the sustainable development of human beings. There were a lot of great messages for us all. It will be running until October and will host over 70 million visitors (approximately 350,000 per day). And from waiting in the lengthy lines, it felt like 350K. Some of the countries who had the longest lines included USA, Switzerland, Germany, and Canada. We first visited the Pavilion of the Future, which was amazing. Since Dr. Spangler and I are in the information technology field, we were amazed by the technologies used to facilitate information. Of the pavilions we visited, it was truly the most impressive. Everyone had a great time and walked A LOT! We are guessing that we walked about 10 miles throughout the day. Here's a link to the website if you're interested in learning more about the Expo: http://en.expo2010.cn/.

I did learn a little about Haibao—our guide's translation was a little off. The name of the mascot of World Expo 2010 Shanghai China is Haibao (pronounced "high-bow, which means the treasure of the sea. Haibao is a typical lucky name in Chinese tradition. Created from the Chinese character "人," which means people, the mascot embodies the character of Chinese culture and echoes with the designing concept of the emblem of World Expo Shanghai. I think his "hair" looks like a wave. J

We left the Expo at 6 PM and Wei's family hosted dinner for our group, which was an extremely kind gesture and we were most appreciative. We tried some delicacies that we hadn't tried yet such as pig's tongue and frog. Wei's uncle is a very famous artist in Shanghai (some of his work is on display in the China Pavilion at the World Expo) and he took us to his private gallery after dinner—it was only about a 5 minute walk. Unfortunately we were not able to take photos, but I can assure you that it was beautiful. He also had dozens of awards on display, which were quite impressive. His private gallery is one that very few people get to see; even Wei (pronounced "way") has only been there one other time. Her mother, aunt, and cousin also joined us for dinner. By the way, none of them speak any English, which made it stressful and fun all at the same time. They were wonderful hosts and kind people.

Tomorrow we say goodbye to Shanghai, which also means that we will say goodbye to our national guide and my old friend, Jo. It will be bittersweet as we leave such an amazing city to learn about another culture. Tokyo here we come!

We love Shanghai!

Today was our first day in Shanghai and it was unbelievable! We began our day with an amazing breakfast that had fresh fruit, sushi, French toast (with maple syrup!), eggs, lo mien, and many other Chinese and Western goodies. We think that this breakfast is even better than Xi’an if you can believe it!

The rest of our day consisted of sightseeing followed by dinner then an acrobat show. We first visited the Bund, which is the riverfront. It’s a nice place to walk that gives a beautiful view of the Oriental Pearl Tower. While on the Bund, we went into a bank that had amazing artwork (mosaics and paintings), but we weren’t permitted to take photos. After walking along the Bund, we headed across the river to see the Oriental Pearl Tower. Once inside, we went up to the observation deck, which is 263 meters high. The views of the city are spectacular! The second observation deck had a glass floor, and a few students were very brave as they posed for photos. Others played an important role in being their photographers.

After lunch we visited Yu Garden, which is one of the more beautiful gardens we’ve seen on our trip. It is located within a large shopping area, so we spent time walking through the garden and learning about the natural elements (trees, feng shui, etc.) and then spent a little time walking through the retail area. This gave many of us time to purchase World Expo souvenirs as the lines at the Expo will be incredibly long (it also gave many of us time to get last minute “China” souvenirs and visit Starbucks). Many of us purchased items with the World Expo mascot, Haibao, or as a couple students on the trip keep saying “hobo”. Haibao stands for ocean baby—yeah, your guess is as good as ours. J

After dinner, we went to a Chinese Acrobatics show instead of the riverboat cruise—Dr. Spangler and I thought this would be a better experience for the students, and we’re glad we made this decision. This show was amazing and included many feats that we all have seen on television, but maybe never imagined we’d see in person. I took many photos from the show, but am having problems uploading them to Snapfish—I’ll get them uploaded as soon as I’m able.

Yellow Mountain Memories

This past weekend was incredibly busy—late flights, early mornings, and long days. Yellow Mountain is not easy to get to. We took a flight on Friday night to Tunxi (pronounced toon-she) and stayed at one of the newest hotels in the area. It reminded us of Vegas as there were many bright lights and even a laser show (I don’t think it came through on my video). We arrived at the hotel about 11 PM and departed for Huangshan (pronounced hwong-shun) early the next morning. It was about 1 ½ hours by bus, then we took a cable car to the top of the mountain (about a 15-minute ride). Then we had to walk about 45 minutes up and down MANY stairs to get to the hotel. I’m sure you’re anticipating my reports of amazing views and  beautiful scenery. Unfortunately, the weather was horrible. It was extremely cloudy and rainy during our stay and we unfortunately didn’t get many pictures. The sky cleared up for literally 2 minutes, but by the time many of us got out to the overlook, the clouds were back. Many students had hoped that on their hike through the forest they would see a monkey, which are indigenous to the mountains. No such luck. We woke up at 3:45 AM, hoping to watch the sunrise and unfortunately it was still too cloudy and rainy. Given the challenges we faced, we all still had a very enjoyable time. It’s all what you make of it, right? What we could see was beautiful. And the scenery to and from the mountain was gorgeous. There is no access to the top of the mountain via roads, so porters carry all supplies up the mountain—the cable cars are not used for this feat. It is amazing to watch them do this.

 

 

 

Upon leaving the mountain, we stopped at a small village where some scenes from the movie, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, were filmed. We had lunch a local restaurant and it was delicious. After that, we headed back to Tunxi, walked around a market area for a while, had dinner and then off to the airport. Our flight to Shanghai (pronounced shong-high) was at 10:15 PM, so we didn’t get to our rooms until about midnight. Today, we are off to sightsee – I should have much to post after today’s excursion!

 

We're still alive!

Sorry for the delay in postings…we have had a couple days with very early mornings and late nights. Hopefully this post will catch you up!

 

On Thursday, we went to Leshan to see the Giant Buddha. The city is remeniscent of Pittsburgh, where the 3 rivers converge into a point. The Giant Buddha of Leshan (aka Dafo) is the tallest stone Buddha statue in the world, carved out of a cliff face by an 8th-century monk in southern Szechuan province. The Giant Buddha overlooks the confluence of the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers and faces the sacred Mount Emei (with which it shares its World Heritage status). Construction on the Giant Buddha began in 713 AD. It was the idea of a Chinese monk named Haitong, who hoped that the Buddha would calm the turbulent waters that plagued the shipping vessels travelling down the river. His plans were not just supernatural - the enormous amount of rubble carved away from the cliff would be deposited in the river, altering the currents and calming the waters. The students took a boat ride to see the Buddha from the river then entered the “park” and climbed all the way down then up the mountain. It is a hike to do this since the stairs are all man-made and very uneven. Some were anywhere from 1 foot to 1 ½ feet high and them some were mear inches. Below you will see Wei lighting incense in honor of Buddha and her birthday (it was on Thursday). We also celebrated her birthday at our dinner with cake and singing! After dinner, we stopped at the Dairy Queen outside of our hotel. They were out of most everything we wanted, but the bottom line was that we got ice cream and chocolate and that made us happy. J

 

 

On Friday, we visited the place that everyone has been waiting for—the Panda Research Base. The Chengdu Panda Base was founded in 1987, with six giant pandas rescued from the wild. Now, the captive population has increased to 83 from that founding population of only six. A few students had their photo taken with a panda, unfortunately they couldn’t hold it because the baby they use for that was sick. L The red pandas (which look like a cross between a fox and a raccoon) were very active and we took lots of great shots of them. As we were heading to the exit, 2 participants in the Amazing Race Shanghai ran through and asked us where the kitchen was. It was really cool and we hoped to see more teams run through or exit, but we didn’t. At dinner, we said goodbye to our local guide and Dr. Spangler and I were quite impressed that the students gave him thank-you gifts. It was a very kind gesture. After dinner, we headed to the airport for our flight to Tunxi. Tomorrow we head to Huangshan (Yellow Mountain).

 

 

Goodbye Xi'an, Hello Chengdu

Today was a busy day as we said goodbye to Xi’an and hello to Chengdu (pronounced chung-doo). After breakfast, we had the opportunity to visit the underground mausoleum of Western Han Emperor Liu Qi (Hanyangling)—something Dr. Spangler, Jo, and I decided to add since we had time before our flight. The Hanyangling Museum has been built into a large-scale tour core for probing cultures of Han Dynasty. Situated 20 kilometers north of Xi'an (on our way to the airport), the museum is a key cultural relics protection unit of the county. One word describes this tomb—spectacular! We could see many of the relics that were buried with the emperor including pots, chariots, and warriors (the warriors looked like dolls, especially compared to the Terra Cotta Warriors) along with the man-made “mountains” where the Emperor and Empress were buried within. We also saw a film on the history of the Emperor, which was created by using holograms (so cool!). A few video clips of it are uploaded to our Snapfish site. Below is a group shot of us in front of the Emperor’s “mountain” and also one of us in front of his tombstone. It was another beautiful, clear day—again, unusual to have clear skies.

 

 

 

On our bus ride to the tomb, Jo gave us a mini lesson on Chinese characters. It was interesting to see that there actually was a methodology to the creation of the characters.

 

 

Our flight was about 1 ¼ hours to Chengdu, and upon arrival we were met by our local guide, Jonathan. Jo will continue to stay with us through Shanghai, but we will also have local guides since they are from this area and know the history better. We arrived at our hotel at about 5 PM and it is VERY nice. We only had a few minutes to drop off our luggage and head to dinner and a show. We first went to a restaurant that specializes in “snacks”; however it is not the same translation as it is in English. This means that they are small portions. So, we ordered many “snacks” including dumplings, wonton soup, rice, kung pao chicken, and other items of  which I don’t remember the names. Smaller portions is a little misleading, but it seems to me that it has to do with how it is served. Where we have been eating family style the entire trip (where the full portions are placed on a lazy Susan in the center of the table and we all help ourselves), many of the snacks were served individually to each of us. Since we are now in the Sichuan province, everything will become spicier. The guide had to tell the chef not to make it too spicy—it was still spicy for some of us, but many want it spicier!

 

 

After dinner, we went to the Shufengyayun Tea House to watch a traditional Sichuan Opera. Opera in China is not what we imagine. It is more like a variety show with some opera acts, but also music, acting, hand shadows (definitely watch the videos of this—it is unbelievable!), stick puppets, and the famous face changing act as well. Everyone enjoyed it and liked it as much as the show the previous night.

 

 

I hope you’re enjoying the blog. I still cannot view or edit it. J We’re already half-way through our trip. Time flies when you’re having fun. Tomorrow we’re off to visit the Giant Buddha in Leshan. I think the students will be excited to see the similarities that Leshan has with Pittsburgh.

 

Visit our Snapfish site at http://www2.Snapfish.com/Snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3400894009/a=32703808_32703808/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=Snapfish.

It's National History Day

Before I begin, I posted a video of our Xi’an breakfast. You can view it along with all my photos and videos at http://www2.Snapfish.com/Snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3400894009/a=32703808_32703808/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=Snapfish.

 

Today was full of sunshine, clear skies (if you can believe that!), and history lessons as we toured the Xi’an Provincial Museum. Located in the southern suburbs of Xi’an city, it is one of the four largest and best museums in the country. The building covers a area of over 70,000 square meters and houses more than 37,000 historical relics evacuated around Shanxi (pronounced shan-shee) area, including Bronze wares from the Western Zhou Dynasty, 3,000 years ago, terra cotta figures, gold and silver wares and murals discovered in Tang tombs, and much more. The museum houses relics from the Prehistoric Period, the Zhou, Qin, Han, Wei, Jin and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Sui Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty, and the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, with a focus on social development from the Stone Age to the decline of China's imperial era in 1840. The Terra Cotta Warriors (uploaded to Snapfish) are the real deal—we were meer feet from them!

 

 

 

We didn’t realize that it was National History Day, but were pleasantly surprised by performances and a fair-like envireonment outside of the museum. We arrived as a drum group was finishing—they sounded amazing. We were hoping they would play again, but we must have arrived at the end of the performances. We did see a small dance ensemble and I recorded it as well. Unfortunately, we all came to the conclusion that they made it up as they went along. It should be comical to watch! We also saw a “Keep of the Grass” sign that looks like it has a picture of a bird or goose on it; the students informed me that it was a dog. See…even I learn things on the trip! I swear it looks like a bird.

 

After concluding our museum tour, I decided to take the students to a tea ceremony (really more of a tea “tasting”). It wasn’t on the itinerary, but we went last year and I really wanted the students to experience it. It included an explanation of some of the teas, how to brew them, and lots of tasting. They really seemed to enjoy it, so I’m glad we decided to add it to today’s agenda.

 

  

 

For lunch we stopped at a fairly “touristy” place for a lunch buffet, meaning they have some Western and some Chinese food along with sushi, fruit, and noodles. Of course it was good and students were mad that there were only forks (no chopsticks) on the table. Many requested a set. The students had a couple hours to relax, shop, and sightsee on their own between the tea ceremony and our dinner theater.

 

  

 

Tonight we went to a traditional dumpling dinner and Tang Music and Dance show as we bid farewell to Xi’an. The show presented today is a recreation of a traditional entertainment attributable to a great variety of historical records and relics. In 1981, the artists of Xian's Shaanxi Provincial Song & Dance Troupe, inspired by the thriving tourist industry, conceived a series of programs to illustrate on stage the history, culture and artistic heritage of Xian. At that time, the Tang Dynasty Music and Dance Show, as a comprehensive form of art being lost in admiration, promptly came into the sight of the artists. Even the male students enjoyed it—it truly is a great way to see culture as it was and as it has been passed along through generation.

 

 

We depart Xi’an in the early afternoon tomorrow. What a fantastic city. Panda Research Base, here we come!

8th Wonder of the World

Being able to say that we visited the greatest archeological find of the 20^th century is almost too much to fathom. We left our hotel at 8:30 AM to head to the site where the Terra Cotta Warriors were discovered about 35 years ago ( about 25 miles away from our hotel). You’ll notice some photos (see Snapfish) of the scenery as we drove to this part of Xi’an. The street lamps look like Chinese knots, which are symbolic of the tightness or closeness of family, and you can also see a tram traveling on one of the mountains. I couldn’t figure out where it was going. Once arriving at the site, we had to walk quite a distance to get to the burial site. Farmers discovered the Terra Cotta Army when digging a well. No one had discovered them prior because they never dug that deep before (the army was about 20 feet below the ground’s surface). Unfortunately, the Chinese do not own land, so the farmer did not get anything from the find. The one does work in the gift shop signing books—I sneaked a photo of him. J

 

 

The site is divided into 3 pits. Buildings were build over each pit in the order of discovery—mainly to protect the soldiers. Pit 1 is the best pit and was the easiest to photograph. The other 2 pits are kept very dark as archeologists don’t want the light to damage the findings. If you look through the Snapfish album, the lighter photos were in pit 1, and the darker images were in pits 2 and 3. Also in pit 1, archeologists were working or “digging”, which is unusual to see. The army was in millions of pieces when discovered and any that you see that are intact have all been restored. There are several types of soldiers and they can be differentiated by their hairstyle and/or hat. For example, a general wears a hat that looks like a butterfly, archers (including kneeling archers) wear a hair bun that is off to the left side (so they can reach back and get their arrows, which were stored on the right side of their body). There were 2 types of horses and these were differentiated by the way their tail was “styled.” Some of the photos show some warriors that are still being restored.

 

 

A museum is also located on-site, where many of the artifacts that were found are on display. The 2 main items to view in the museum are the bronze chariots. These were not built to scale as they would have been too heavy and the Chinese believe the soul can fit anywhere. One of the chariots is a replication and one is the original find. The details are exquisite!

 

 

After visiting the Terra Cotta Warriors, we went to lunch—it was “ma ma hao hao” (so-so), however an employee was conducting a Chinese Noodle Making Demonstration, which was really cool. After lunch, we went to a pottery factory where they make Terra Cotta replicas. This is the most famous factory as they make them as close to the real thing—not the look of them but the process and materials. They do much custom work (i.e., a bust of Obama was being made for the American Embassy). We could stand behind headless warriors and become one, which was hilarious! They also manufacture lacquered furniture, which is beautiful.

 

 

 

After our factory visit, we went back to the hotel and walked to the Muslin Quarter, which is a street with many shops and food vendors. Students spent about 2 hours and loved being able to barter with the shopkeepers. Some negotiated great deals. At 6PM, we went to dinner for hot pot. It was a little different than what the students had in Beijing as everyone had their own individual pot. At the end of dinner, we celebrated Tom’s 20^th birthday with a bowl of longevity noodles, which wish a long, happy life, and we sang the Chinese version of happy birthday. We then surprised him with a cake and the entire restaurant sang happy birthday (in English). The cake was amazing! Something tells me that this is a birthday he will never forget.

 

 

View our Snapfish album at http://www2.Snapfish.com/Snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3400894009/a=32703808_32703808/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=Snapfish.