Guangzhou is hard

I got to know Guangzhou up close and personal today. It’s a hard place. It’s hard in that it’s difficult to do things here, and it’s also a bit cold and unfriendly. Sure, there might be palm trees and other tropical flora about, but you’d...

Take me down to Old Town

I finally got to post this. I’ve arrived in Guangzhou, which is near my family’s ancestral home. My first impression is that it’s a bit of a soul-less place. It seems to be made of nothing but shoulder-to-shoulder condominium and apartment buildings,...

Don’t say I never do anything for you

Ok I think I had mentioned how poor my Internet connection is in Shanghai, but let me give you a more specific example. This morning I was trying to upload yesterday’s blog entry which has a lot of pictures. To be safe, I used the encrypted VPN tunnel to...

Shanghai bruiser

The first thing I wanted to do after having a bit of a rest was to get a massage. There were ads everywhere for massage, at varying prices. I settled on a spa a block away from the hotel. It was staffed by a multitude of attendants, who brought slippers and menus of...

From culture shock to culture shock

October 10: Right now I’m on the sleeper train from Huang Shan to Shanghai. It’s not that far, but it’s going to take all night. My guide book says the distance is only 500km, but the train seems to be stopping every 20 minutes or so at every little town along the...

Mountain man

Admittedly I don’t always make good decisions. Yesterday was one of those occasions. Upon arriving at Huang Shan mountain about an hour away from my hostel, I decided that I’d take the lesser-traveled western route up the mountain. Most people take the...