In Shanghai, we explored the famous shopping district — Nanjing Road, the Bund, Oriental Pearl TV Tower, and QiBao Ancient Town. In Beijing, we covered Summer Palace, Great Wall, Ming Dynasty Tomb, Tianmen Square, Forbidden City, and Wangfujing Street. In Hangzhou, we circled around the amazingly beautiful West Lake.

A lot of things have been changed in China from my last trip 5 years ago. Nowadays, traveling in China has become much more easier.

First, there are bullet trains connecting cities together with reasonable cost, running at 200 km/hr. It takes a night from Beijing to either Shanghai or Hangzhou. The traveling time between Shanghai and Hangzhou has been further reduced to 75 minutes from 90 minutes 5 years ago. The train stations become much cleaner, especially in Shanghai.

Second, there are McDonald, and KFC everywhere. Food in China is relatively cheap, even after the recent price hiking. In China, a meal in McDonald costs 22RMB — about 3 dollars, compared to $7~8 in US. If one goes to some local restaurants that don’t look very clean, the cost could further be reduced to 4RMB, which is a little bit more than 50 cents. On the other side, one can enjoy a really good meal for less than $30.

Third, there are restrooms everywhere and the streets become much cleaner. It is not only for foreigners, but also for local travelers. Even though it was not the right season for traveling, we still saw a lot of visitors wherever we went. The whole traveling industry will be the next biggest thing in China once Chinese have more flexible vacation time as what we have in US.

Now, let’s look at lodging. The best way is to live in a hostel, which, most likely, provides tour groups for foreigners. The second best choice is to book a hotel via ctrip.com, which requires a local cell phone number for membership. (Besides, there will be a ctrip/HYSTA event in Feb 2nd.) Both hostels and hotels are clean and the cost is less than 200RMB per person per night. Of course, rich visitors could try expensive 5 star hotels that provide English local maps and costs more than $100 a night per person. Hostels and hotels allow people to check in luggages and even expensive goods while they are out for sightseeing, but they might not provide tooth paste and tooth brush.

All in all, traveling in China is pretty exciting and relatively cheap compared to US, except the expensive airline tickets.

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Shanghai, as the biggest city, population wise, in China, roots its history back to Song Dynasty (AD 960 – 1279), as a busy seaport. Eventually, it outgrew its original political jurisdictions to become the center of finance and trade in mainland China. What people might not know is that in the 1930s and early 1940s, over 20,000 European Jews fleeing Nazi persecution found refuge in Shanghai, one of the few places in the world that allowed their entry at that time. Shanghai will hold the next World’s Fare in 2010.

Beijing becomes famous long before it wins 2008 Olympic. As the capital of China for the last three dynasties, the city is history rich. It first became the capital of State of Yan, one of the powers of the Warring States Period (473-221 BC) with the name Ji. Most of historic temples/palaces were constructed in Qing Dynasty, except Great Wall, which was done in Ming Dynasty. Forbidden City, Great Wall, and Summer Palace are places worth visiting.

The city of Hangzhou was founded about 2,200 years ago during the Qin Dynasty, it is listed as one of the Seven Ancient Capitals of China. Hangzhou was the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty from the early 12th century until the Mongol invasion of 1276. The Venetian Marco Polo visited Hangzhou in the late 13th century and referred to the city as “beyond dispute the finest and the noblest in the world.”

I will share my journey here with everyone!

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The experience is definitely fantastic, especially for these who enjoy speeding. I have tried twice, first time in 2000 and second time in 2001. The water pushes the raft down the stream. The water is always chilling so it is better to go there in early summer for warmer temperature and more water. Make sure that one knows how to boat. It is important to control the head of your raft. We also need to wear Tennis shoes. The stream is fast-flowing and shallow. In case we fall into the water, tennis shoes help us stand still on the river stones. The facility provides the equipment for rafting, including two-person rafts. It has safeguards to take care of accidents. It is a fun place to enjoy and exercise. I will definitely try again when having some time.

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The greenbelt locates at north of highway 101 within one block distance. It is a fairly linear, eighty-foot wide strip of land extending east to west across the entire City of Sunnyvale. A good portion of it – from the City’s eastern boundary at Calabazas Creek to just east of Mathilda Avenue, a distance of over two miles – serves as a natural greenbelt linking open space amenities for pedestrians and cyclists. At one end of this two mile stretch lies Fairwood Park/School. Here is a detailed map.

I have been walking on the greenbelt for couple of times with my roommate. Yesterday, we took a 3-hour roundtrip, crossing 101 via a pedestrian overpass, finishing the greenbelt towards east, bypassing Mission College, and reached the cross between Great America Pkwy and Mission College Blvd (see the picture below). It was a nice exercise. Thank you John Christian!

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The parade was full of Irish step-dancers, bands, musicians and Irish spirit. The main color for St. Patrick is always green with colorful Irish dancing dresses blooming like flowers. Young girls put shamrock stickers on their smiling faces. However, their noses were red due to the cold weather.

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Last Saturday, it was warm and sunny, which was a nice day for Chinese Lantern Festival. I went to San Francisco by Caltrain. From San Francisco station, I walked along 4th Street, truned right on Market Street, and took Stockon Street across China town. At the end of Stockon Street, I turned left on Columbus Avenue, passing Washington Square until reaching the bay. After visiting Ghirardelli Square, I headed back by taking Columbus Avenue, and then Montgomery Street. At the corner of Market Street, I observed Chinese New Year Parade. After taken enough pictures, I relocated myself to the famous Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, where a flickr event was happening. Spending some time there, I walked back to Caltrain station and headed back home.

I never thought that it could be so easy to enjoy city life in San Francisco — by public transportations and by walking around with my cameras. The round-trip time on the train was 2 hours and 40 minutes, while I entertained myself with all sorts of podcasts in my iPod. Definitely, I need to enjoy city life more in the future. Further, I have found a map of Bay Area public transportations, which could be useful for new people to San Francisco Bay Area.

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The park provides trails for hiking, bicycling, horseback riding, and backpacking. It contains a tennis court. It has a staging area for non-gas powered model airplane and kite enthusiasts to play with their toys. Finally, it has a small picnic area equipped with picnic tables and barbeques for up to 25 people. That area is ajacent to a huge California bay tree. Bay tree leaves could be used as a flavoring in food and are reputed to be an insect repellant. Last but not least, a majority of the Park’s facilities meet those standards established by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Confucius once said: “The wise find pleasure in water; the virtuous find pleasure in hills”. As a place full of hills, a number of plant communities and wildlife habitats exist in the park and open space preserve, including the famous bay tree mentioned earlier. Even during summer, trees provide enough shades for people to enjoy. The preserve is also home to many wildlife species (see the pictures listed below).

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The highlight of the preserve is Deer Hollow Farm, a working farm with a cow, pigs, goats, sheep, chickens, other animals, and an organic garden, as well as numberous turn-of-the-century ranch buildings. An additional attraction is the restored Grant Cabin, furnished to represent living conditions in the late 1800s.

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The farm is an amazing place for kids to experience the Nature. A lot of families come to the farm during weekends for a picnic around the farm barn complex. Kids are playing together, happily.

Here are more pictures:

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During 2004 Memorial Day Holiday, I joined a photography trip. On the first day, we flied to Spokane (WA) from San Jose, drove 5 hours across Idaho along highway 90, and took highway 2 from Kalispell until West Glacier around 8pm. The first night, we stayed at the Historic Belton Chalets with a discount since it was not officially open. At the hotel, we heard that the famed Going-to-the-Sun Road was closed due to the weather. Luckily, the weather became sunny and remained sunny until we left the park.

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Going-to-the-Sun Road is the main parkway through the heart of Glacier National Park. It was completed in 1932, and it is the only road that crosses the park. Along the road, we bypassed Lake McDonald, hiked along Avalanche Creek, and skirted Weeping Wall. We stopped at Logan Pass. It is the highest point on the Going-to-the-Sun Road located along the Continental Divide. The road became narrower after the pass. Then, we encountered not only the famous Going-to-the-Sun Mountain, but also big horn sheep and grizzlies. Along Saint Mary Lake, we reached Saint Mary. Heading north, we visited Many Glacier Lodge at sunset. We stayed at Saint Mary for the night.

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On the third day, we visited Saint Mary Lake again in the morning. Then, we headed south for Two Medicine Lake. When we reached the lake, it was windy and freaking cold. We took a long exhausting hike for the afternoon. Unfortunately, the sunset was boring due to the weather. Eventually, we reached Walton at late night.

On the forth day, we drove north, back to Lake McDonald. Along highway 2, we took several trails. We stayed at Village Inn at Apgar right on the shore of Lake McDonald. At the next sunrise, we got a load shots of the lake.

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We were pretty lucky in the sense that normally, Going-to-the-Sun Road is not open until mid-June. We went there a little bit early. Because of that, hotels were not “officially” open during our visit. That’s how we enjoyed the discounts for our stay.

All in all, Glacier National Park is a must-go among all the national parks!

Note: I used a mac to edit these pictures. They might appear a little bit muddy on PCs.

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Before the trip, I was living in crunch time. The movie “Gang of New York” and the tragic 911 might be the only two sources for me to have some ideas. I DO know that it was the capital of United States before and friends DO suggest famous places to me, which include Time Square, Empire State Building, Wall Street, Liberty Stature etc.

In the first day, I started from Time Square, walked to the 5th Avenue, matched towards Empire State Building. It was about 10 street blocks far. Luckily, I caught New York Public Library on the way. Since I like to read, I am always interested in public libraries, not to mention that New York Public Library is one of the world’s leading libraries. It is stunningly beautiful inside and out. Hopefully, my pictures could reveal its charm. Later, atop of Empire State Building, I enjoyed the 360 degree panorama of the whole city.

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In the second day, after figuring out New York Subway System, I headed toward Manhattan Financial District starting from Grand Central Terminal. Due to the schedule, I didn’t make my trip to Liberty Stature. I walked through Wall Street and visited Trinity Church at the intersection of Broadway and Wall Street. Then, I took shots of the famous Charging Bull in Bowling Park. I did miss NYSE due to the construction work in Wall Street.

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When I visit a place, I like to understand the culture, the history, and the tradition behind people’s day-to-day life. My unpreparedness actually served this purpose very well, which forced me to talk to local people to find the right direction. That’s how I realized that it is not easy to find a local New Yorker. It was not easy to find a person who knew the road.

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In 1972, the small community of Grazie di Curtatone in northern Italy started the first International Street Painting Competition. In 1987, Executive Director Kathy Koury, a fundraiser for the Children’s Creative Project, launched the first street painting festival in North America — I Madonnari, in Santa Barbara, California. In 1994, Youth in Arts brought Italian Street Painting Festival to Mission San Rafael Arcangel, which is now the largest one in the United States.

The following pictures are from this year’s I Madonnari:

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Check out this site for galleries of street painting festivals and lists of events.

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The history of Santa Barbara started on Dec. 4th, 1602, when Sebastian Viscaino sailed into the Channel of Santa Barbara. Since that day is sacred to the memory of Saint Barbara, virgin and martyr, he named the place as Santa Barbara — the Spanish version of Saint Barbara, who is the patron of artillery and mining, and who helps against lightning and fire.

After the Civil War, people from the East began pouring in and Victorian houses soon outnumbered Spanish Colonials. However, on the early morning of June 28, 1925, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake woke up most of the Santa Barbara residents. Local towns folk realized that most of the Victorians had burned and most of the buildings left standing were the Spanish Colonials, that relied more heavily on indigenous building techniques. An ordinance is passed making the downtown area Spanish Colonial. Thus the 1925 earthquake is responsible for the distinctive architecture in the city that has made Santa Barbara a popular tourist destination for over 70 years.

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In the memorial day holiday, I visited Santa Barbara with my roommate. He had a nice family re-union while I enjoyed the beauty of the city. The following places are worth visiting:

• Old Mission Santa Barbara: It was originally built in 1786, labeled as the “Queen of the Missions”. Every year during Memorial Day weekend, there is a street painting festival called i madonnari.
• Shoreline Park: One could have a nice bird view of Santa Barbara Harbor.
• Stearns Wharf: Originally built in 1872, it is THE best place for a luxury dinner in the city.
• Palm Park: Every Sunday, there is arts and crafts show in this park along shoreline drive.
• East Beach: A beach full of activities, such as sand volleyball.
• The Santa Barbara County Courthouse: As THE most beautiful courthouse in US, it is a historical landmark for wedding pictures. From its tower , one can get 360 degree view of the entire city. Its gorgeous Mural Room presents the history of the city on the wall.
• UCSB
• Henry’s Beach: It is actually called Arroyo Burrno County Beach Park. It is the right place for sunset, where you can see the campus of UCSB cross the sea water.

[gmap name='sb' lat='34.419769' lng='-119.696747' zoom='12' desc='Santa Barbara, CA USA']

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Budget doesn’t mean less enjoyment. For example, there is a hostel located in Pigeon Point Lighthouse, which is near great beaches, tide pools and redwood forests. It is also a good place for whale watch. There are few interesting hostels in Northern California, such as Point Reyes, Point Montara Lighthouse, Redwood, Fisherman’s Wharf. Please check out the website for hostels in Northern California. Also, don’t forget Hostels Worldwide.

I learned this by a trip to Pigeon Point Lighthouse. My current boss has had very good experiences with hostels. Someday, I will try it out for sure.

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