Onwards and upwards (or not)

There is more snow here than in Whistler. What is going on with the weather? This time of year only the peaks of the highest mountains should have a dusting of snow. Not so for us. Original plan to hike up Haba Xue Shan/Haba Snow Mountain (5,396m) here in Yunnan is postponed until the weather gets better--if it gets better. Also will need to buy more equipment as my pitiful jacket and pant combo that got me through Peru's coldest trekking is definitely not sufficient here in these conditions. Hoping it gets better within the next few days as the Pops and I are currently seeking some respite in Shangri-la (paradise my ass). It's hardly any warmer here at 3,600m.

So yes, there are a few days missing in my travelog here. I'm now in Shangri-la.

(Eden, if you're reading this, you would have surely killed me on the bus ride from Haba Village to Shangri-la this morning if you thought that bus ride to Tumbes, Peru was bad... man.. heehe)

Inaccurate Economics: Dogs as a proxy for a country's economic development

Standard methods of measuring a country's development aside, stray dogs kind of work*. China c. 1960 didn't have too many strays running about as people were too gosh darned hungry to be working animal rescues (Great Leap Forward--huge famine--blah blah). Thus, stray dogs are in people's tummies. On the flip side, once a country has reached a certain level of development, there are few strays to be seen as they become menaces of a poop-free society. Thus, stray dogs are in the dog pound.

My parabola's slope is too big. Oops.

* It doesn't really work as there are too many counter-examples hee.

Lifestyle observation

I've stayed at numerous hotels and homes in my stay here so far. Verdict: people here love their ultra firm beds. Bad news for side-sleepers like me.

On the road to Shennongjia

We are headed to Shennongjia, a forest preservation area that is famous for being relatively unexplored and undeveloped. It's also famous for some Bigfoot legends.


Outside of the cities, China's countryside is quite lovely. These yellow flowers are currently in bloom. You see pastures and pastures of this stuff making for lovely kodak moments. Unfortunately, the rain seems to be travelling with me as well. Hoping for clear weather tomorrow, our second day of the two day drive from Wuhan to Shennongjia.


Along the way, we have naturally been stopping for good eats. There were so, so, so many fantastic dishes at today's upscale lunch spot. I won't be uploading it all at the moment but for now I bring you this: fried scorpions with peppers! Look closely and you can see the little scorpion bodies. Verdict: Crunchy and perfect spiciness! Like delicious miniature, fried soft-shelled crabs! Yum!

I really have nothing against eating insects--especially when fried. It's the various kidneys and livers that I have no interest in trying.


Chinese are making their own red wines! This one tastes like two buck chuck... and note: "Constantly drinking this wine is good to your health".


Playing some mah jong on a sweet automatic mah jong shuffling table. The game is fun but shuffling takes for freaking ever. This table is GENIUS!

And that's it for tonight's update from the only star-rated hotel for miles around in some small village in the middle o' nowhere. So long internet! (Incidentally, this hotel's toilets are excellent and the seats are even heated! I must pay patronage to that sweet bucket now. Oh heavens the toilet issue has been magnified 10-fold from South America. It's a rare opportunity to have one like this available!)

A day in the life of a lazy traveller

Currently in Wuhan, China--the primary city of central China (pretty much like Chicago in the US except a million times larger). Today I... slept in; got a full body spa treatment and facial; had my nails manicured; ate lots of dumplings; and shopped.

Ah, China. Ain't life grand when you've got American dollars and can divide everything by seven? It used to be grander when you could divide everything by ten.

With that said, China is a whole lot more expensive than it used to be, and I really don't know how a lot of the locals afford it. Short answer: they don't. It's a world of change out here. Sometimes I'm loving it and other times I'm hating it feeling like I'm taking advantage of the disadvantaged...

One thing relating to the environment here: yes, it's true; it's crazy polluted. But god damn, there are over one billion people in this developing nation going through its industrial and technological revolution simultaneously. Of course it's polluted! One thing is damned sure though, nobody here is as wasteful as anyone in the US. Despite how much the West moans over the environment, few put their money where their mouths are. A/cs are still kept high, lawns are still kept unnaturally green, and nobody's really driving in the carpool lane.

Admittedly, a lot of the "conservation" in China is not really conservation but more like total lack. Nonetheless, people here live a relatively simple, energy-efficient lifestyle. Thing is, there are still a billion of em.

Fattest Person in Asia

I am the fattest person in Asia. I've never felt so fat in my entire life! In the States I'm like, you know, healthy and depending on where I am, rather thin. Here I am seriously HOOOOOGE! Sigh.

And being here isn't helping when you're eating this everyday because everyone who works with/for your uncle wants to do some ass-kissing (my pin yin sucks):


"Song Shu Guay Yue" - Squirrel "Guay" Fish; this technique of preparing the fish is called squirrel because, according to mom, it's like a scared squirrel with its fur all up? Maybe the Chinese name for porcupine is also song shu. I have no idea.


Roasted/Fried young chicken (with head).


"Mu Gua dun Xue Ha" - Papaya with Steamed Snow "Ha" (which is something that used to live in the sea before it became food? Maybe? I'm not sure... My mom isn't good at translating - My mom has no idea what she's talking about. It is actually "the reproductive glands of the snow frog, dried, rehydrated and double-boiled with rock sugar, [and it is] a unique culinary invention that was previously only eaten by emperors. The hermaphrodite snow frog's sperm and ova form a glutinous and opaque dessert after cooking. It sounds weird and feels like tapioca in the mouth, but with a slightly salty after taste." Source, Taipei Times). Anyway, reproductive organs or not, this is my favourite sweet-soup. It's also popular with the wimmin-folk as it's supposed to have beautifying qualities. Whatevahs.




So that's like lunch (plus five other dishes). Then you head out on the town to do some shopping and browsing and there are places like this Zhou Hei Ya ("Zhou's Black Duck") where you can get some snacks:


Duck wings, necks, body cavities, and other strange body parts for sale. All totally tossed in the spiciest, tastiest sauce you'll ever have.

Yeah... so like I'm the fattest person in Asia.

Tumblr is a no go; Update from the PRC

But blogger & blogspot is working fine! Google and the government must have had a little conversation about such matters. As such, I'm relocating again. Followers of this blog--what few of you there are--must really hate me.

So I am currently in the PRC--Shenzhen (the first of China's special economic zones), to be exact. This city is very new. One thing that struck me about Taipei is how old and delapidated most of the buildings are. Here in Shenzhen, everything is pretty much under 20-years old and totally spanking new with some crazy architecture to boot. Of course, as with all Chinese, there is underwear hanging in all the fancy condo balconies. Sigh, Chinese.

I arrived this morning and did some shopping. I must say, I'm a little disappointed with the shopping here (ie, the main reason I'm here). While shopping, I also visited the first McDonald's in mainland China (to use the bathroom). If you gotta go pee, it's best to find a reliable chain like McD's to do it. Other places... eh...

Ok. That's enough for my lame update. Uh, more to come later? I'm boring.