Posts in the "China" Category

• Dirty Datong & The Buddhas: Episode Six

  China

  Buddha Caves

  
  

  Kinsey’s Guide to Better Living: Chapter 2: Do Not Go to Datong, China!

  Filth.  It’s the first thing that comes to mind when we think of Datong!!  Our first stop after Beijing, we came here to see the Yungang Caves.  There was trash everywhere!!  You could even see the pollution in the air.  When walking down the street we kept getting whiff after whiff of one nasty smell after another!!  Kinsey has a very sensitive nasal passage and can get migraines justfrom inhaling cigarette smoke.  While in Datong she was getting migraine after migraine probably due to the poor air quality and pollutants.  Don’t stay in Datong longer than is necessary, see the caves, which are worth it, and get out!!!

  Though the city was dirty and nasty, the people were remarkable.  To get to the Yungang Caves we had to take a number of public buses.  English was nonexistent so we had to resort to pointing in our guidebook and using our Mandarin/English phrasebook.   Not only did people want to help us but they also personally escorted us from bus to bus with one man even paying for our bus tickets.  The kindness and helpfulness exuding out of these people are like nothing we have seen in any other country we have been.  And we think the babies are the cutest EVER!!!!

  Datong must not get many western tourists because people were craning there necks and taking double the amount of pictures to get a glimpse of the two blue eyed freaks walking around their city and their caves!!  By the way, the caves were astounding!!! There are 252 caves with 51,000 Buddha statues from giant to tiny!!  All this work was started in AD 460 to boot!!  Holy Moley Cassaroley!!

  For more photos, check out our Flickr account!!

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• Partyin’ in the Park!!! – Beijing, China: Episode Five

  China

  Celebrate Good Times

  
  

  It is official, we are Huge fans of dumplings!!!!  Dumplings are actually a breakfast food here in China. You can bet our butts are gonna be there Every morning for our dumpling fix!!  We have no idea what is actually in them but we will go with the conclusion that if it is not killing everyone else then we are alllll good.  Mmmmmm Chinese dumplings!!!

  Our first impressions of Beijing/China are:  1.  We love dumplings.  2.  It is a little stinky in the city.  It’s not overly dirty but not too clean either and on sunny days you can see a thick layer of smog!  L   3. The Chinese are the nicest people EVER!!!  Super friendly and they go out of their way to help you!!!  Even with the language barrier!!

  The Temple of Heaven Park was great!!!  First off, the temple itself was gorgeous!!  The detail work and colors were amazing!!  But what was best of all were the preparations for Chinese National Day.  The whole community was out!!  It had great vibes and was a lot of fun!!  Originally we thought that the holiday was the next day…we were wrong!!  The Chinese prepare for National Day on and off for a little over a month.  They take it Very seriously!!  For instance, that same day we had to be back to our hostel by 2pm for lock down.  The government shuts down certain neighborhoods around Tiananmen Square (where the main celebrations are) so they can practice the performances for National Day.  It is ILLEGAL to see the show before the holiday… I don’t want to know what happens to you if you sneak a peak!!!  Eek!!

  Chelsea’s Quick Tips: Do Not Forget Deodorant!! Someone at our hostel forgot to pack deodorant and was asking the very friendly/helpful front desk girl where to pick some up.  Her response, “The Chinese do not use deodorant.”  Out of deodorant in China use a potato!!!

  For more photos check out our Flickr account!!!

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• Greatness at the Great Wall: Episode Four

  China

  “He who has not climbed The Great Wall is not a true man.” – Mao Zedong

  

  Fun Facts:

  • The ‘original’ wall was started during the Qin dynasty, 221-207 b.c.
  • The construction required hundreds of thousands of forced labor workers, many of which were political prisoners.
  • The Wall never performed its original function as a barrier against foreign invaders.  Instead it was used as a sort of highway, transporting people and goods from one region of China to the other.

  Kinsey’s Guide to Better Living:  Chapter One: Make sure you are skilled in the ways of hiking before you tackle The Great Wall!

  We weren’t expecting to be out of breath before we even made it to The Wall!!  But as our luck goes the hike up was Treacherous!! It was almost straight up and the trail consisted of unsteady rocks and fine dirt!!!!  It kicked our butts!!  But when we finally reached the wall the hike made the first view even better than just being carted up!!!

  As you saw in the video the section of the wall we climbed was off limits to the public!!  But savvy us, found a tour guide to take us there.

  We didn’t expect to be hacking our way through bushes and climbing over crumbling sections of the wall but it made the experience that much more enjoyable, real and super exciting!!!  We felt like Indiana Jones!!  There really are no words to explain how beautiful it is up there!!  Even our video and pictures don’t do it justice.  Our guide informed us that the Chinese call it the ancient dragon that snakes its way through the mountains.  When you are up there it really does take on the guise of a dragon.

  Speaking of our guide… he rocked!!  He was singing the whole way!!  And when he wasn’t singing he busted out his phone andblasted the latest Chinese pop!!  Basically, he was the Man!!

  Chelsea’s Quick Tip: To get the Real Great Wall experience, get your Butt to China!!!

  For more Great Wall photos check out our Flickr account!!!

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• Tian An Men Sunrise Hostel – Beijing, China: Hostel Life!

  China

  Ratings: 1 – 5 star each for…  The Vibe, Beds, Whereabouts, Staff, Cleanliness

  Tiananmen Square Sunrise Hostel

  2 Ciqiku Hutong Nanheyan Street

  DongCheng District, 100002, Beijing

  The Vibe: It was a little squished but there was a bar, dvd’s, games, free internet & wifi, bookshelf and tables all set up for lots socializing!! 4 out of 5!!

  Beds: Having a comfortable bed is key!!  The beds were hard but the pillows and blankets were comfy!!  3 out of 5!!

  Whereabouts: It’s all about location and this place had it!!  Five minute walk to The Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, the night markets and the underground!!  5 out of 5!!

  Staff: Staff was amazing!!  They were super helpful, friendly and spoke English very well!!  They even brought us tea with honey when they found out that Kinsey was sick!!!!  5 out of 5!!!

  Cleanliness:  The hostel was definitely clean.  The only things were the smell coming from the sink and shower drain and they only cleaned the bathroom trash (where you put your used bathroom t.p.) every other day.  Over all we give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

  Overall 20.5 out of 25 stars!!!  Not a bad stay.  A little squished but they put in a lot of effort to keep the place fun!! Easy to interact with other travelers!!  Overall we would recommend staying here!!

  

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• Holiday Fiasco – Beijing: Word on the Street

  China

  Names: Maarten & Philippe

  Ages: 27 & 25

  Hometown: Antwerp, Belgium

  

  Beware of Chinese National Day!!

  The Chinese celebrate their National Day with great zeal!!!  At this time all 1.6 billion Chinese citizens takes time off of work to head to Beijing to be there for the festivities!!  How is this going to affect your time in Beijing you ask??  Well Philippe and Maarten have the answer!!

  As you can see by the picture they are blue eyed, blonde haired Europeans.  What does this mean in China…celebrities!!!  As they were walking around Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City with the other 1.6 billion Chinese they were constantly hounded for pictures!!  It came to the point where they stood for ten minutes posing for photos as a “giant mass of Chinese people surrounded us taking photo after photo.”  The waves of photo craving Chinese would not have stopped if Philippe and Maarten had not just turned on their heels and booted it away from the crowd and headed to the safer confines of the hutong, the traditional Chinese neighborhoods of Beijing.

  Lesson learned:  If you are a westerner and heading to Tiananmen Square and The Forbidden City Expect to have many photos taken with you.  Going to be in the Square near a major holiday???  Might as well avoid it outright!!

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• Ballin’ in Beijing: Episode Three

  China

  Celebs

  
  

  Let’s just get it out there… We feel like celebrities here in Red China.  Why you ask??  Because we have people asking to take pictures with us at least twice a day.  If they don’t ask they out right just snap a photo in our faces or the oh so famous have their friend stand near us and pretend to be taking a picture of them instead of us.  It happens allllll the time!!

  While we were snapping away in Tiananmen Sq. a Chinese girl came up to us asking if she could practice English with us. We had heard of scams where Chinese girls come up to you and try and get you to go to a teahouse with them and then charge you some crazy amount for tea so you could say we were on our guard.  We decided that as soon as she started asking us for money we would ditch her. Until then we would give her a shot.  Come to find out she actually did want to learn some English.  It was actually an assignment for school: ask foreigners if you can speak with them for 15 minutes.  Fifteen minutes turned into around 2 hours.  It was actually quite fun!!

  The Forbidden City was really amazing.  It is the largest and best-preserved group of ancient buildings in China.  Unfortunately, we went on a weekend and it was sooooo crowded, to the point where it kind of took away from the experience.  But nonetheless it was beautiful.  And like Kinsey said in the episode, it really did feel like you were in Mulan, like stepping back in time.

  Check out our Flickr account for more Beijing Photos!!

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• Flight to the Other Side of the WORLD!!!! Episode Two

  China

  Hell at the Chinese Airport!!!

  The landing went smooth…until five minutes later.  Kinsey’s hands and lips began to go numb and heartbeat began to race because she didn’t know what was wrong!!  Chelsea jumped up as the seatbelt light popped off and ran for a flight attendant!!  With ginger ale and Advil in hand she pushed her way through the departing crowd and shoved them in Kinsey’s face!!

  Ten minutes later Kinsey was being wheel chaired off the plane and through the airport. “I felt sooo ridiculous because I was this 22 year old in the wheelchair line with only other elderly disabled people.  Dirty looks were thrown my way from people in the crowd!!  But I didn’t care.  I was waaayy too dizzy!!”  Kinsey recalls later that day.

  “I didn’t mind skipping the lines!!  I had to lug our two hulking carry on bags through the HUGE Beijing airport!!  Not only that but it was a thousand degrees and I had to muster the strength to grab our huge backpacks and load them onto a cart!!  Once again… it was a Thousand degrees!!!”

  Thank God we planned for an airport pickup!!  Because on the ride home Kinsey was trying not to barf all over the place!!  Our driver didn’t speak one word of English and we don’t speak one word of Chinese!!!  Chelsea didn’t know how to tell him!!

  Luckily Kinsey didn’t puke…until we reached the hostel.  There she ralphed her brains out while Chelsea ran around dealing with check in issues and trying to help her poor sister, thinking… “OMG, we are in China, on the other side of the planet and I have no idea what is wrong with her!!”

  She felt better and blamed it on the chicken sandwich she had on the plane.  We both passed out by 6pm.  Next thing we know someone is knocking at the door.  It was the cleaning lady and she informed us that it was noon!!!  We slept 18 hours straight!!  Well, guess it’s time to drag our butts out of bed!!!  Day 1 here we come!!

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• Pre-Trip Confessional: Heading to Beijing, China!! Episode One

  China

  Off to Beijing: 2009!!!  The Adventure Begins!!!

  So you can say we are a little excited, nervous, anxious and  pumped all at the same time!!  As of tomorrow we start our trek to the other side of the WORLD!!!!!  Beijing, China!!!  Honestly we are both a little nervous about the amount of English there will be in Beijing!!  All we know how to say is hello and thank you, which are clearly the first key words to learn.  Still, depending on how much English is used will depend on how difficult it is for us to basically do everything!!!  lol Which will probably be pretty entertaining at times!!!!  We’ll get through it we just have nooooooo idea what is ahead of us.  But this is just part of the excitement of it all…and the Adventure!!!  China here we COME!!!

  Peace!!

  Chelsea & Kinsey!!

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• Art, Shopping and Scams – Beijing: Word on the Street

  China

  Name: Shaoli Ghosh
  Age: 23 years old
  Hometown: New Yorker!

  
  Beijing is great for shopping! So bargaining is a must. There is this great place near the Yashow Mall called Nali Mall. Not crowded and amazing deals on great clothing and bags etc… I would go back to Bejing just for this mall. There is this great restaurant next to Nali called Alameda. It’s Brazilian and supposedly one of the best restaurants in Beijing. It was excellent!

  My friend and I went to the bus area that takes you to the Great Wall, but there were none running, so we made a deal with a cabbie. From what I remember, it wasn’t a bad deal and he knew which part of the great wall was less crowded etc… so it was really convenient and easy.

  Also, Chinese contemporary art is blowing up right now! so I recommend checking out this concentrated area of art galleries called 798 art zone.

  And, cabs can be your friend in China, but the traffic can be monstrous!!

  My Story in Beijing:

  When I visited Beijing, I heard these stories about young Chinese people chatting up tourists (particularly Chinese girls going up to guys) and asking them out for tea. The tourist goes and ends up having to pay $200 or some other ridiculous figure for Jasmine tea. It can be a tourist trap so be careful! When I was at Tiananmen Square with a friend who luckily spoke Chinese, we were approached by some Chinese students. They were learning English and were really excited to speak to native English speakers. They invited us to tea. I was completely hesitant because of the stories, but ultimately they were just really curious about Western culture. I still can’t believe how friendly they were! But as I discovered, all the Beijingers I came across were all very kind.

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• Intro Video: Asia

  Cambodia

  We’re Chelsea and Kinsey, two badass girlie girls from Boston who travel the world with only packs on our backs, Chucks on our feet and travel guidebooks in our pockets.

  We’ve conquered countless countries, including such off-the-beaten-path places like Russia, Columbia, and Egypt (check out the other 29 countries we’ve been to in our Bio section). Now, we’re traveling on the largest continent on Earth—Asia—and you’re coming with us through the videos we’ll be posting!

  We’re out here on our own, on a budget, taking on adventure after adventure. We want to see the world and experience other cultures. We represent modern girl power…doing it up the way we love it…and finding out that along the way, even though the world is so diverse, we’re all more the same than we are different.

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