china take two
lunar new years in shanghai was amazing. the whole city is decked out in a gazillion lanterns, and everyone is in such a great mood. we spent about a day in the city, and already i was really happy to be spending the next 4 months here. our tour guide was the most adorable thing - orange/red hair, purple thick rimmed glasses, and a GOATEE!!! so cute.
on new year's day, we boarded a caustrophobic chinese boat for a "religious pilgrimage" to putuoshan, where a huge statue of Guanyin was built to commemorate the site of her enlightenment (?). getting there was a little rough, but they were showing this tv series on her life, and at one point she has a dream where she's talking to Siddartha, except the wonders of Chinese special effects have transposed a talking head onto the body of a rusty bronze colored statue. i pulled an eel and pointed and laughed loudly, and people around me looked horrified, including my poor mom.
the island itself was really calming and a nice little retreat, but the crowd was kinda odd. half of the tourists were women in high heeled boots and short skirts, while the other half were monks in yellow robes. some were making an actual pilgrimage and would slam their bodies onto the ground for a full on bow every three steps. supposedly, our friend met someone who had done that all the way from seattle. poor guy/girl must have started his journey to the airport a month in advance. the hotel was really not-so-religious. there was a ktv lounge and beauty/massage (hopefully not the sketchy type) in the basement.
after the island, we stayed for a day in ningpo, whcih is famous for two things: the moon lake and chiang kai shek (president only of taiwan according to the tourguide)
next was harbin, where i had the most fun. everything was just horrible until about 8 pm at night when we went to see the massive ice sculptures, where they've constructed a little city of buildings out of ice blocks. at night, the whole place is light up in colorful lights so it's absolutely beautiful, kinda the same feeling as when you first goto disneyland as a toddler, except maybe disneyland at santa's village int he north pole. needless to say, i first ran up the ice steps to the massive ice slide, then ran into the slippery igloo, where i proceeded to unsuccessfully "ice dance" with our 60 year old thai friend. i spent the rest of the night skipping and leaping through the air, and topped it off by running up 5 flights of ice stairs to the top of a building that resembled tianamen square to see a view of the whole park.
soo now, we're in changchun and i have no idea what the main attractions are, but judging by our fabulous dinner and the shopping in the "times square", i've got a soft spot for it already.