One of the weirder things about my stay in China is how the number of Chinese Visas in my passport has grown exponentially. Five Visas in one year when I never actually left the country (except for stupid Hong Kong, which I could have sworn was in China) is pretty impressive.
So those five visas coupled with the stamps I've collected over the years have left my passport mighty full. It's a nice thing really, and I've grown strangely attached to the little blue book. So much so that I just can't wait to get some new big bad visas in it from my upcoming jaunt through South East Asia.
The only problem, is that my passport doesn't have enough pages.
Enter the U.S. Consulate in Shenyang, China. This branch of the embassy located a mere four hours away from Dalian by train offers the super cool service of adding in new pages. So with an email sent to double check when they were open, Corey and I hoped a train to the capitol of Liaoning Province (home to Dalian).
Shenyang itself is... uninspiring. Dirty, crowded, and dirty. But maybe I'm just being an ass for no reason.
We make our way to the embassy and are confounded when the gates are closed. There are no Americans or signs in English explaining why the place was shut.
I managed to use what little Chinese I've accumulated to ask the guard what was up, and he responded with a courteous (but a bit snarky I'd say) "Ming tian". Tomorrow. Not what you want to hear after you spent four hours on a rather uncomfortable train.
Wei shen mo? Why?
I'm sure he gave me a legitimate explanation, but as they say... it was like he was speaking Chinese or something.
Another American dude rolled up to the Consulate with his Chinese Girlfriend/Prostitute in tow and after he talked to the guard, he explained to us that it was Presidents' Day.
What? Really? I did email the consulate. They could have bothered to tell me that when they say they're open Monday-Wednesday, that doesn't include the upcoming Monday.
I mean, who celebrates Presidents' Day anyway?
- Shawn
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
Harbin... It's Cold
Sorry for not posting this sooner. I'll just cover by saying that I've been battling frostbite for the past few days.
Harbin is cold. Really, really cold. I went in hearing all the hype of how terrifyingly freezing it's supposed to be, and prepared myself accordingly. I even grew a massive beard the likes of which hadn't been seen since the days after Al Gore lost the election in 2000.
The funniest part of this is that when we actually made it to the icy northern city of Harbin, it was in the middle of a heatwave. So by all accounts, it was pretty nice there.
Still miserably cold.
Thank god for wonders of facial hair. I have no idea how Corey survived.
So why bother going to a place as miserable as the link between China and Siberia?
The answer is the magnificent ice festival, which is truly one of the more remarkable things I've ever seen. They build gigantic replicas of buildings out of ice, and it really is impressive.
Before we get to the ice festival, the city itself isn't too bad. Its Russian ties have left Harbin with some nice architecture, including an old Church, and even a Synagogue or two.
After checking out the "city", we crossed a nice and thoroughly frozen river to get to the snow festival - the scrawny, less hyped up, little brother of the Ice Festival.
Still, despite the lack of press, the smaller sibling proved to be a scrappy fighter indeed, boasting some pretty impressive snow work. It had hundreds of snow sculptures, some designed by international teams, and proved once and for all that American made snowmen... suck.
We got up nice and early the next day to make sure that we had time to hit the Harbin Tiger Park. Much like the Dalian Zoo, visitors can pay for their bloodlust and get a find variety of animals to be fed to the tigers - just on a much, much larger scale.
It was awesome.
The next stop was the Japanese Germ Warfare Museum, which really helped get to the heart of exactly why the Chinese hate them so damn much.
But finally, it was time for the Ice Festival... words won't really do it justice, and the pictures will just come close.
If you really wanna experience it properly, you should take your laptop outside, blow these pictures to as big as they get, and then while it's freezing cold, run a cold hose over yourself.
Still though, you probably won't enjoy it as much, so you might as well just hop on the next flight to Harbin.
Or check these pictures out. Indoors. That works too...
Stay warm,
Shawn
Harbin is cold. Really, really cold. I went in hearing all the hype of how terrifyingly freezing it's supposed to be, and prepared myself accordingly. I even grew a massive beard the likes of which hadn't been seen since the days after Al Gore lost the election in 2000.
The funniest part of this is that when we actually made it to the icy northern city of Harbin, it was in the middle of a heatwave. So by all accounts, it was pretty nice there.
Still miserably cold.
Thank god for wonders of facial hair. I have no idea how Corey survived.
So why bother going to a place as miserable as the link between China and Siberia?
The answer is the magnificent ice festival, which is truly one of the more remarkable things I've ever seen. They build gigantic replicas of buildings out of ice, and it really is impressive.
Before we get to the ice festival, the city itself isn't too bad. Its Russian ties have left Harbin with some nice architecture, including an old Church, and even a Synagogue or two.
After checking out the "city", we crossed a nice and thoroughly frozen river to get to the snow festival - the scrawny, less hyped up, little brother of the Ice Festival.
Still, despite the lack of press, the smaller sibling proved to be a scrappy fighter indeed, boasting some pretty impressive snow work. It had hundreds of snow sculptures, some designed by international teams, and proved once and for all that American made snowmen... suck.
We got up nice and early the next day to make sure that we had time to hit the Harbin Tiger Park. Much like the Dalian Zoo, visitors can pay for their bloodlust and get a find variety of animals to be fed to the tigers - just on a much, much larger scale.
It was awesome.
The next stop was the Japanese Germ Warfare Museum, which really helped get to the heart of exactly why the Chinese hate them so damn much.
But finally, it was time for the Ice Festival... words won't really do it justice, and the pictures will just come close.
If you really wanna experience it properly, you should take your laptop outside, blow these pictures to as big as they get, and then while it's freezing cold, run a cold hose over yourself.
Still though, you probably won't enjoy it as much, so you might as well just hop on the next flight to Harbin.
Or check these pictures out. Indoors. That works too...
Stay warm,
Shawn
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Superbowl Monday and the Chinese New Year
The past two and a half weeks have been hell. Corey and I worked for nineteen consecutive days without a day off, but with that behind us, we rolled right into the pre-game for the Chinese New Year. Not a bad way to unwind.
Matt Herman, who astute readers may remember visited China once before, showed up in Dalian just in time for the Superbowl, which thanks to the time difference was on at 7:00 AM Monday morning. Being the good Americans that we were, we got up nice and early and made sure to be there to root for our home turf in the form of the New York Giants.
The game was being shown at only one bar in town. Bobo's Bar is a small place owned by a small Chinese dude named... well... Bobo. I don't really know what I expected in the early morning festivities, but I have to say that I was more than a little surprised by just how shady an operation China is still capable of pulling off. The game was shown on an illegal stream of the game being buffered through the bar's computer. The only downside was that the computer wasn't connected to the sound system, so the entire game (and the wonderful, wonderful commercials) were enjoyed while listening to a hilarious mix of 80's Pop, Weezer, and trance.
Still though, it was a great game that featured the trouncing of a New England team that no one thought could be beat. Couple that with a few early morning TsingTaos, and you've got a good start to your day.
The rest of Matt's short visit was highlighted by the purchase of a 520 RMB (after bargaining of course) box of fireworks to get a good head start on the Spring Festival festivities.
The box was massive, and after we blew it up that night, we were all in agreement that it was money damn well spent.
I would love to attach the video of the MASSIVE explosions that ensued, but YouTube is acting screwy, and Blogger's own video uploading tool is painfully slow.
For those of you with a Facebook account, check out the video HERE.
It blew up real good.
After Matt had left, we geared up for the actual start of Spring Festival. The Chinese New Year was brought in with some real style, and some really loud explosions to boot.
Again, I apologize for the lack of easily accessible videos, but I think the following series is worth a look:
ESCAPE FROM THE DMZ
ESCAPE FROM THE DMZ II
ESCAPE FROM THE DMZ III
MIDNIGHT IN THE DMZ
Really, video is the closest you can get to understanding just how insane it was. Things were exploding left and right, and the night was lit up with fireworks in all directions. Easily one of the most impressive things I've ever seen.
Next up for the Spring Festival holiday is a trip up north to Harbin, the city that hosts the annual Ice Festival. I've been growing a massive beard for well over a month. We'll see how it holds up in the freezing cold.
Lastly, this new year is actually the Year Of The Rat, which is leading me to debut a spectacular new Label on these posts. These posts signify the beginning of the end of our stay in China, and this blog as well. We will be leaving China in less than a month.
But don't worry... we're saving some of the best stuff for last.
Happy Year of the Rat,
- Shawn
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
