Caution, the screen shutdown at 10pm and sound animations stop at 9:30pm.
Sources: site officiel JO 2008
Freeze,
I'm very fond of this event . It's very simple, a group of people meet in a place at an accurate time and stop moving during 5 minutes. After I have participate to the one of Toulouse and Paris I thought: "Why not do one in Tianjin?". With help of Stéphane and Shen Si we have done it, just have a look on the result:
The Freeze happenned in two times. First we have done it on the bridge which cross the Nanjing road, and then on the Binjiang Avenue ("Golden street"). If you want to participate to a next Freeze in Tianjin, let's join the Facebook's group.
There is no play words with "The and", the video was made by a chinese guy who doesn't speak english.
Even if we plane to go Dali first and then Lijiang(丽江), we decide then to do Lijiang first and finnaly canceled Dali. We chose this because of transport logistic, because we understand that stay just 2 days in a city is just too short and tiring and because all person we met who have done the both cities said that they preferred Lijiang.
So let's go on 17th Tuesday about 10:00 am(with the plane company "Lucky air" what an ironic name!). When we arrived we can feel that the temperature is warmer than on Kunming, great! The way in bus allow us to discover many beautiful mountain landscape.
The old town is composed of many little street where there are many shop which sell tea, jewel and many kind of food like the local speciality, the Yak. After a long visit to find our guest house, we have a tea-orange break into this. This famous guest house, Mama Naxi's Guest House is very popular for foreign people. A warm and family place where it's easy to communicate with everybody. Food is good and cheaper, beds and bathroom are clean and Mama is a real show. She is like a theater character in a performance, she can speak a little of english, enough for understand. She have help of young people who made cook, company pets are here for watch (even when they are sleeping or asking food). Anyway, a guest house that you must try, moreover Mama can book ticket and can bring with car in the new city for 2 Yuans, very cozy.
During the night the old town change in a burning atmosphere with many noise and light, street became animated and in particular the street of Chine bar and club. Understand by "Chine"; hight leve music, hotess who try to rent you a table for 400 Yuans(depend of negotiate)... You should try this just to feel the atmosphere and Chinese people who become crazy... I advice to just stay few moment in this place and then go walk in the silent old town part where you can admire the show of light water and old building. Then, drink a Yak milk which is like a occidental sugar yogourt. If you are hungry you can go to the Susan's Naxi local restaurant where you can taste Yak meat with menthol with a soap cheese plate, delicious! Try the Yunan tea, my favourite one is the black.
We are at last arrived to the final district, the Yunnan(云南).
It's 11pm, we go out the airport and the temperature is pleasantly hot; we can open the windows when the taxi is running! The city seem to be modern like it's write in the Lonely Planet, road are new or in process of construction and enlighten with many decoration. We arrived on the Jinmabiji Place(金马碧鸡) where we can find many bars, clubs and restaurants. There are many youth people and the atmosphere is animated. In the Hump hotel, we decided to take a shower after have found towels and buy shower gel which are not available in the room, a little frustrating. There isn't also soap to just wash your hand... Because of the club, the room is very noisy, however, Cyril fall asleep and I decide to go to the main room to get Wifi. The place is pleasant, the big room is compose of a bar, billard, sofa and a computer space. The terrace is composed of a cover part and the other is outdoor, very enjoyable with the temperature.
On the morning we decide to wake up at 10am, a little of rest will not be bad because we had a average of 6 hours sleeping by night. The morning is consecrate to a breakfast on the sunny terrace, planification of Kunming visit and about the next travel to the other cities. At the begin of the afternoon we start with the visit of the Grand View park (Daguan Gongyuan/大观公园) where we discover a Japanese garden with many bonsai. We go near a little lake where hundreds of seagull entertain the visitors who throw food and they succeed to catch this during they are flying, very amazing.
Then we take a boat to go the the east lac side, the cross is about 10 minutes and allow us to contemplate the landscape of Xi Shan which we want climbing. We take a cable car and a little bus to arrived to the Dragon Door. Many galleries which give a very beautiful view of Kunming. We do a part of the descent by walking in the wood and we go to meet Philippe in the downtown of Kunming.
Arrived to the Green Lack, we taste "Noodles crossing the bridge"(Guoqiao mixian/过桥米线), which is a speciality of Kunming, the name come from the fact that an intelectual chinese people decide to to go a island to study, his wife cooked for him created dish and must cross a bridge in order to give these. One of the dish was appreciate and the name is for honor the woman. We go for a walk around the lake where there are many little shop, musician and dancer who are animating the place. We visite the University which is really clean and class which is uncommon for Chinese University. We finished the night by an Italian bar, named The Box and go back to the hotel.
We refused, with great to the despair of Cyril the invitation of a beautiful brunette who propose us to join heir table, but like we have a plane early at 10:30am on the next morning we have to got sleep to have a rest.
Enven if Kunming is not really interesting as a touristic place, I think it's good to live their because of the activity, the greenery, lakes and for the eternal spring. The city is at 2 000 meters of altitude, the temperature stay good and even is the summer. However there are many things to visit around the city like Stone forest(Shi Lin/石林), Xi Shan(西山), Dali and Lijiang.
Chengdu, is done! We spent 2 days in the Sichuan capital, we arrived at 5:30 am after 17 hours of train, we directly go to the Sim"s Cozy guest house and the name is a really good choice because it's a really magic place:
A 10 days trip,
That's why I began on Tuesday with Fabien, Stéphane, their families and Cyril. The way: first Xi'an with everybody, then go with Cyril in the south of China; Chengdu, Kunming, Dali and finally last LIjiang.
I blog this note since one of the Bell Tower Starbucks which is a center of Xi'an and Presently all is ok.
Yesterday we visited the famous terracotta army and watch the greatest water-sound-light show of Asia. Today we went the impressive and sportif Huat mountain, wich enven if the fog, was a nice exploration. Tonight, we will discover Xi'an downtown and specially the musulman street. We will take the train again tomorrow for 17 hours direction Chengdu. Start at 1:30am and arrived at 7:00am(or may be 5:00...) to go directly to the famous Sim's Cozy hotel Garden that I advise. Then we will visite Chengdu city, we have plane nothing yet but I think that the simple fact of walk will be a pleasure.
The day after we will take a plane direction Kunming for just one day and go then to Dali and the day after to Lijiang. I share with you some photos that I have took.
As I haven't speak about my Great Wall trip, this chain sent by Stéphane allow me to show you a photo.
Take a bedroom's desktop in Tianjin, don't clean it during 15 days. Take a humidify paper towel et clean the surface, look at the result:
Indeed, paper towel is black of dust! At Tianjin, with the pollution and the city which is in building the air has always so much particle. Do the hoover, 2 days after, bits of fluff are there again...
Beijing, it's done! I could finally visit and profit from a part of the Chinese capital. We went go Fabien, Cyril and me since 9h30 from the Tianjin train station, Stéphane did not be able to come because of his work. We arrived after 30 minutes (the train have a speed of 300km/h)to the new Beijing's train station(very impressive). It is unfortunately not link to the subway, so we had to take a taxi to go in the traffic jam and go to the nearest subway station.
Direction forbidden city, just near the famous Tian'anemen place. The good weather was here, however it was very cold because of the temperature and the wind but a blue sky, which is rare on Beijing following us during this visit. This settlement cover 720 000 m² is a city in the city. It shelter Chinese emperor from 1420 to 1911. Our visit remain approximatively 4 hors during those we can see the major part of the settlement which is a real maze!There is also many mini-museum which show historic thing, we have visited only some of them.
Since the end ho this first visit we go to the Jingshan park just behind the forbidden city, it contain a plain which overhang le center of Beijing, a great panorama is visible because of the interdiction of built building higher than the forbidden city from some kilometers around. We have been joined by Pierrick and Gabriel to appreciate a sunset without pollution.
After have drunk a Tsingtao beer we went to one of the favorite friend's restaurant which is specialized in the sea food, we have eaten meet skewer naturally. This restaurant have a reputation of a being glaucous for occidental people because when you command fish, the cooker take care of show it to you when it is even living; then you can see the cooker killing the fish by hitting the fish on the flow or the workspace, very elegant! Here the fish have a incomparable freshness.
Then we could appreciate the night life of Beijing, a large quantity of bars and club are opened all the night, we had notice that the party begin at 00pm like in occidental country opposed to Tianjin where the party is full on 10pm. A very good thing in chine is the sociability of people, there isn't any snobby person and it's possible to address people very simply, it's great!
After a short but good night at Pierrick's house we went to the Apple store and then join Gabriel to eat jiaozhi which are very delicious in a kitchen of 10m², very folk! Pierrick & Gabriel explained that many shopkeeper often live in their shop because they haven't got any money to get an accommodation.
We visited the Lama temple, a Buddhist temple where there is the higher Maitreya wood statue (26m), very impressive! Then we went to the Heaven temple where we played to the ancestor of the badminton, it's like the badminton but you smash with your foot, many Chinese people laugh of us.
We finished with a fake market, we could play to negotiate prize, Pierrick was a master at this game! We bought remote control cat and helicopter.(what we are child?)
The day ended with a occidental restaurant in a dilapidated street, we can degustate occidental food like tagliatelles or made home hamburgers, like frites and mayonaise. The returned happenned as we come and we arrivend aroud 11pm at Tianjin.
I want disorientation I got it!
Even it it's not radical in a city like
Tianjin, its present! As I'm very linked to the French culture, and
particular, to the French food, I'm begin to feel a big
lack. About pork ("charcuterie" in French) it's OK, because of my 4
sausages that I have astutely package in order to the custom does not
detect it. Of course, ham, rillettes and appeared as big absents. The
worth is the cheese. I'm a real consumer of cheese since my childhood
and my passion for it does not regress. The moment of the day that I
want to eat some, it's on the breakfast. Yes, some of you will make
faces reading this post but I love my Vache Qui Rit slice of bread for
example. I can't eat the same breakfast as you, like Nutella or jam, I
prefer to don't eat(yeah, I'm not fan of Nutella it's not a joke). In
chine, one of the only cheese available is the Camembert for 8 euros,
for the present I absent, but It won't continue.
The comportment at the lunch time is also different. Chinese people loves purify their body, they loved scrape their throat to swallow a big yellow spit, event at the restaurant. It not give the appetite but with the time I don't turn my attention on it (what "or not?"). Moreover, Chinese people can smoke everywhere and speak very loudly and it's often difficult to speak quietly.
Out of the food aspect, there is also the social aspect which is a lack. A little thing like kiss or shake hand. In order to bow a girl in France, we kiss, normal. In chine it's not the case, like for Russians, Americans, frustrating! We replace it by a wave with the hand and a smile... Even the market does not bow client.
All of these are trifle and there are not disturb me enough to low my spirit and come back in France, it will may be come with cheese... Many other good things compensate for thees but it's proof of my attachment with the French type of life
ps: Welcome to Cyril who has just open his blog.
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