Yes, this is the next generation of my old phone, the Nokia E61i. The E71 is slimmer, smaller and a lot faster than the E61i. I contemplated long and hard about this over the iPhone and concluded that I did not want/need to pay the extra $40 per month. Though I did end up getting the $20 data plan.
This phone is replacing my old phone (obviously) and my iPod Nano (4GB). The good thing about these Nokia phones is that they take up to 8GB microSD. My biggest complaint about this phone is the 2.5mm audio jack. I will need to pick up an adapter to fit regular size 3.5mm headphones.
It's been a year since we officially launched TickerHound! It's been a year of sleepless nights, antisocial weekends and caffeine induced coding sessions. It was/still is a hell of a ride and I love (almost) every single moment of it. This is by no means the end - far from it! Like Wayne said: "we're just getting started!"
Here are some memories, lessons, highlights:
Outsourced Indian firm: getting the project back from them with most of the code - a couple thousand lines or so - in ONE file. We had to take it apart and pretty much redo the whole thing from the ground up.
The Crash: the site crashed 15 minutes into the launch. We should have cached like I suggested; I should have stepped up and made us cache. We've gone a LONG way since then. We're now on an auto-scaling architecture at RightScale, leveraging Amazon Web Services (EC2/S3/SQS).
Workspace: our apartments to Starbucks to SunShine Suites. Upgrades at SunShine: the small dark cubicle space (4th floor) to the slightly bigger, brighter but noisier and smellier cubicle space (6th floor) and finally to the nice 3 cubicle space by the window.
Hired Help: I want to thank everyone who's pitched in and contributed. Good or bad, we wouldn't be here without you.
Lou: Our third official hire. With him on board, we took TickerHound to the next level. The first time Lou was meeting us, he was late. He was late because he missed the bus. He missed the bus because he passed out on top of a sugar silo in Montreal the night before.
TickerHound Members: we definitely wouldn't be here without you. You ARE TickerHound. Thank You!
Software: I no longer get laughed at by the tech community for using DreamWeaver. I'm usually using Eclipse and sometimes VI.
Hardware: I still get laughed at for having my variety of gadgets: curved keyboard, logitech revolution mice, laptop coolers, headphones, monitors. At the center of it all: my MacBook Pro - still trucking!
Wayne: Thanks for fishing me out of the menial 9-5 job (no disrespect to my last job, nine to five business casual is just not my thing). It's the most fun I've had working. There's no other way to do it. "It's your world squirrel - I'm just trying to get a nut"
TickerHound (Wayne, Lou and me) are in South Florida for two weeks to do meetings.
We got a pimping condo: big kitchen, hot tub, hd flat screen, high speed internet... the works. The TickerHound mobile (rental car)... not so much. It's a Dodge Magnum (I didn't want to drive the Celine Dion car; Pacifica).
I'm not really complaining considering I took this picture when it was about 20 degrees in New York (yes, I did check the weather, just so I can rub it in my friends' faces)
Dinner impossible night: I had to make food for 5 people but only had enough material for 3. Starter: Almond Crusted Goat Cheese on Salad of Arugula. Main: Rigatoni with Meat Sauce
Used everything on hand. Added an appetizer and used white bread crumbs and cheap wine to stretch the sauce.
Lou and I grabbed our cameras and drove down to South Beach for a day trip.
Seriously, the following conversation occured right before me seeing that... Me: This beach is frickin empty! Where are the topless chicks? Lou: I don't know what they're doing over there but we should be part of that action.
One more with boobies
Obligatory shot of palm tree and coconuts
This guy loves the water.
We sat at a cafe type thing along Ocean Ave. and sucked down giant fruity frozen drinks while waiting Chris to drive down for dinner.
We had dinner at Nemo (sorry, didn't bring the camera with me so no pictures). Nemo had one of the best Chilean Sea Bass I've ever had: crisp on the outside, perfectly cooked all over, great sauce. After dinner Chris took us to The Florida Room in the basement of the Delano hotel to check out the live band. The Fox Brothers Band was playing some wicked latin jazz.
We woke up and met with Mr. Chen around 8AM. He took us to the tour company and bought us tickets to the a tour of the Great Wall at Ba Da Ling - just in time to get on the bus. As the bus was chugging along, we decided to read our tour book. The book warns about side trips to locations such as medicine shops and jade factories. Simon wakes me up as the bus is pulling into a parking lot. Shocked that I had slept for the whole 3 hours, I asked if we’re there already. I soon find out that we are only about an hour and a half into the trip. As we’re getting off the bus, I asked the tour guide what this was. She answers enthusiastically: jade factory and lunch.
// pictures to come After a short tour of the jade factory and the jade shop, we were directed to the eating area in this fairly big complex. We sat down next to some of our fellow Great Wall tourists to have a family style meal. This was the worst meal ever. I was reluctant to eat a couple of the dishes as I did not even think about popping a squat anytime soon.
The next stop was the Ming tombs. After seeing the tombs in Egypt, the Ming tombs weren’t too impressive. To be fair though, China only dug up 1 of 13 tombs.
Two more hours on the bus brought us to the Great Wall at Ba Da Ling. There are many entrances to enjoy the Great Wall. Ba Da Ling is the most touristy. Dan and Sindy went to Simatai, a more remote spot along the wall. There is a giant Hollywood styled sign with the Olympics logo and slogan smack middle of the most visable spot. I have mixed feelings about the sign: it effectively ruins all and any shot around it but it also makes me damn proud to be Chinese.
I’m glad we didn’t go to Simatai. Simatai meant 4 hours of hiking through steep and rough inclines and stairs where as Ba Da Ling was only about 1 and a half. Some of the inclines were probably around 30 degrees.
The Great Wall surely is great. It stretches on and on and on along with the mountains. I did way too much walking the past few days to hike any more than the 1 and half hours. We made through about 3 towers before we had to get back to the bus. Of course, my bad knee gets busted on the way down. Simon took a video of me walking down some stairs with much difficulty as an old man whizzes by me. It got bad enough that I had to hold on to Simon's shoulder to make it pass the stairs by the vendors past the entrance to the wall. The same calm bus driver who took us to the Great Wall drove like a maniac back to Beijing. It was so bad that I woke up to a bunch of people puking on the outskirts of Beijing. Strange enough it didn’t smell.
The bus arrived back to the tour company about 20 minutes early. When I called Mr. Chen, he was already waiting at the KFC across the street. The restaurant where we’re having our dinner wasn’t too far away, so we started walking through the busy Beijing street in the middle of rush hour. Mr. Chen took us to the Quanjude located on Chienmen Street. Quanjude is the oldest Beijing duck restaurant in Beijing. Chienmen (front gate) street was just redone to reflect its former glory. It was so new that 90% of the store fronts are vacant.
Mr. Chen came to Quanjude an hour before we arrived to get a ticket for seats so we wouldn’t have to wait. The hospitality is indescribable. Mr. Chen informs us that another friend of my dad’s is joining us for dinner: Manager Wong (yes, that was how she was introduced and that was what I called her). Manager Wong came with two of her nieces. One of them had the jellyfish hair cut that Lori told us about. Manager Wong is also from Fuzhou. Simon and her briefly conversed in their dialect.
We had a feast: everything duck from skin to offal as well as a few other kinds of animals.
The coolest part was the restaurant gave us a card telling us the number of the duck they served us: 1.15 billion + 360,948
After dinner, Manager Wong and Mr. Chen took us to a massage spa where we were treated to 3 hours of foot and full body massage. As it turns out, the owner of the spa was also a friend of my dad's (go figure).
We took a bunch of slow shutter pictures in front of the Forbidden City on the way back to the hotel. At 11PM: Tiananmen square is closed/fenced off, the underground tunnel to cross the street is filled with the slumbering homeless and the sidewalk in front of the Forbidden City is empty save a few Liberation Army guards and policemen.
A good way to end our last night in Beijing I suppose.
Everyday at sunrise, there’s a flag raising ceremony at Tiananmen Square. Thinking back, Simon and I really should have joined Dan and Sindy on the Great Wall tour on day 3 – they went to a more remote part of the wall and we would have gotten up at the same time anyway. We got to Tiananmen Square at about 6:45AM, 20 minutes before sunrise, and were already too late. There was already a mass of people standing waiting for the flag to rise. We were about 7 rows of people (and growing) behind. 5 minutes before sun rise, a column of the People’s Liberation Army marched out from the Forbidden City.
Flag-raising Ceremony on Tiananmen Square from Simon Tung on Vimeo. At the exact time of sun rise, the national anthem started playing and the flag started rising. It was a little anticlimactic as I thought people around us would burst into song when the anthem started playing. After a round of pictures around Tiananmen Square, we headed into the Forbidden City. The Odwalla bar we had didn’t quite hold us over so we went to the fast food joint right outside the first gate. We had some congee that ate like watered down grits and some steamed pork buns. The Forbidden City ticket office doesn’t open till 8:30. We watched the troops practice marching till then.
The Forbidden City is palace after palace. The ones towards the front have been better restored than the ones in the back. We finished walking after about 2.5 hours and headed back to the hotel. On the way back, we discovered a supermarket in the basement of the hotel building. We shopped around and picked up some freshly made dumplings for lunch.
After a short rested we decided to check out the home of Prince Gong and the Hutongs in the area called Houhai. Once we got to Houhai, we were offered rides on the tricycles. We talked the price down to 70 from 180, giving up the ticket to the house of Prince Gong. Our “tour guide” took us into the Hutongs.
Our first stop: traditional courtyard house in a Hutong. We also made another stop to check out the outside of the Bell Tower – from the outside. Houhai is an area where the converted Hutongs into a bar and shopping area.
We went back after the tricycle tour to pick up some souvenirs. Found some opium pipes, the haggling game begins: the price tag says 380, I asked how much in Mandarin, he told me 125. I got it down to buying 4 for 250. On the way out, they wanted me to buy more stuff and offered a carved mask for 300. I didn’t really want to get it so I told them a ridiculous price of 50. They ended up it giving it to me for 50 on the way out.
Our time in Beijing has passed by pretty quickly and the food opportunities are dwindling. There was one more meal I needed to squeeze in as a favor for Wayne: hotpot. There’s a sauce for hotpot in Beijing called majiang that can’t be found anywhere else in the world. I had to try it in Beijing so maybe we can duplicate it. It is now 3:45PM. I talked Simon into making hotpot a snack as we hopped into a cab and headed to HaiDiLao (海底捞), a restaurant recommended for hotpot (food blog post to come).
Hot Pot in Beijing from Simon Tung on Vimeo. I most definitely over ordered: ½ spicy Sizhuan ½ medicinal broth, variety of meats, variety of vegetables. The waiter told me the majiang sauce was made of sesame paste and peanut butter though I am sure there was more ingredients in there. I forgot to order the fresh hand made noodle.
After our “snack” we grabbed a cab and headed back to the hotel to change and clean up before meeting up with a bunch of friends for Beijing duck dinner. Of course, we hit traffic. It was so bad that the taxi driver suggested that we get off and took the subway.
We were about 15 minutes late. Lori, Diana, Sindy, Dan and their friend from the hostel (whose name I forgot) were already there. Lori asked the waitress to give us a demo on how to eat the duck. The duck was mindblowingly amazing: the skin – crispy, the fat and meat – juicy, flavorful. It makes me sad that I can’t get it back home. Oh yea, the pine fish was pretty good too. We had a dinner conversation about how I hardly take pictures of people. I forgot to take pictures of people during dinner. We called it an early night as we have to wake up pretty early the next day for the Great Wall expedition.
Tour of Tian Tan, Food at Three Guizhou Men, Hutong Almond Tofu
We were both massively hung over from the night before. After attempting to get up several times, we finally managed to leave the hotel around 1PM. Lunch was at a restaurant we randomly picked (well, not so random, this one had the most locals eating in it) across the street from the hotel. We had bokchoy with mushrooms and a beef and tomato casserole. The original plan was to go to the underground city that the communists built during the war but a quick call to Sindy changed that. Sindy and Dan had been at the Forbidden City for the last few hours and were heading to Tian Tan (Temple of heavenly peace) after some food. We decided to meet them at Tian Tan instead of the underground city as it was more historical (and touristy). After a 15 minute cab ride, we arrived at the Tian Tan complex south east of the city center.
Tian Tan was where emperors came to pray. It’s a large complex that stretches a couple of football fields.
The main points were the alter, the small round temple and the large round temple. There are gardens surrounding the giant path ways leading to each. It took us about 2 hours to reach the main attraction, the large round temple, from the entrance.
The sun was setting and Tian Tan was closing shortly after we reached the end. Dan and Sindy never made it as they couldn’t catch a cab by Tiananmen Square after lunch.
On our way back to the entrance, we were greeted by what seems to be tenors singing songs from the cultural revolution era. It was groups of people congregated in the park leading to the entrance.
They were just hanging out in the park on a Sunday afternoon singing songs, playing chess, kicking hacky sacks and playing badminton. By the entrance we met a girl from California who suggested that we check out the “pearl market” across the street. The “pearl market” was more like a giant department store/flea market with different floors selling different stuff: 1st floor: electronics, 2nd floor: clothing and shoes, 3rd floor: jewelry, basement: pearl. The setup is stalls and counters after stalls and counters selling similar things. I picked up a LED flash light after some hard bargaining.
Lori made reservations for us to eat at a minority food restaurant called Three Guizhou Men. It’s a pretty classy restaurant decorated by a lot of modern Chinese art pieces (this place was opened by an artist). Sindy and Dan brought their friend Rich (who works in Beijing). The food here was amazing. The most memorable dishes was the spare ribs (spicy and falling off the bones. pictured above) and the quail soup (flavorfully clean, perfect for an unexpectly cold Beijing night).
For dessert, Lori took us to Alba Café located in an area where they converted Hutongs into boutique shops (similar to Houhai but less touristy). The café was housed in a converted Hutong. We sat at the attic area upstairs which only fits a table of about 6 (so we had the whole upstairs to ourselves).
The almond tofu here was amazing: very dense, lots of almond flavor.
The VIP Treatment My dad had arranged his friend Mr. Chen to take care of us in Beijing. I didn’t expected a crazy VIP style treatment. He had a sign with my name in both Chinese and English when we came out of the terminal. He then took us outside to a parked Mercedes with a driver waiting. Too bad all our luggage didn’t fit. Mr. Chen ended up taking Dan to her hostel in a taxi and the driver took us to our hotel to check in. After we settled in a bit, Mr. Chen came up, gave us some items from my dad (a burner phone, some cash and a bunch of tourist info) and took us to dinner. The place he wanted to take us to, Quanjede – oldest Peking duck place in Beijing, was way too packed and had a 40 minutes wait. We opted for a rain check and went to Korean barbeque across the street. The Korean BBQ was unlike any I’ve seen back in the states The meat is grilled over a giant pot of red hot coal. Mr. Chen asked us if we drank and ordered a bottle of baijiu. Simon thought it was beer (ha!) This brand, Er guo tou, was what Mr. Chen and my dad drank when they first met 16 years ago. It was 102 proof (56% alcohol). It is definitely not a sipping drink. I find it pretty good if you take a swig and breath out the minty burning sensation. Dad told me that the way that business men drink in China is that you toast and take a shot with everyone there individually (so if there are 13 people, you'd be drinking 12 shots in your round plus 12 more for everyone who toasts you). The loser (first to get drunk) pays for everything (dinner, drinks, whatever they do afterwards). He claimed that he has never had to pay for dinner, etc.
Carepackage FAIL After dinner, we went back to the hotel and rested a bit before heading out to Sanlitun to meet up with Barbara. Barbara and her friends were having dinner at The Opposite House (this is also where Diana works). We gave Dan and Sindy a call to let them know, grabbed Barbara’s carepackage from her mom (it’s a suitcase of magazines and random stuff you can’t get in China like Frosted Flakes) and jumped into a cab. When we got there, we got out of the cab, went around to the trunk to grab the suitcase but as soon as both side doors slammed, the cab driver jetted – with the carepackage in the trunk. I ran after the cab but about 3 blocks later, the baijiu made a reappearance and I left a part of myself by a tree on Sanlitun. With no other option, we walked to The Opposite House with our heads down to let Barbara know the bad news. She was quite disappointed and shocked. We met a couple of her expat friends. Simon had a Brooklyn Lager at the bar. Dan and Sindy stopped by and went out to grab food. Diana stopped by to say hi and went back to work (she manages one of the restaurants there). Barbara: we'll try our hardest to make this up to you when we get back stateside.
Broken Key and Outback Steakhouse Barbara had another friend from out town who is staying with her. She got a call from him when we’re about to head to another bar, telling her that they couldn’t open her door. Since she lived in the area, we decided to walk back to help them. For most of the 15 minute walk, Barbara and her friend Manny argued how long the walk is. Barbara insisted it was 5 minutes and Manny 20. When we got back to her place, she opened the door with no effort. She then grabs his duplicate key to show him how it’s done. She stuck the key in, turn and the key snapped. We tried tweezing the stuck part out with no avail. The security guard at her complex was no help. Diane (one of Barbara’s friends) ended up calling the Police and got a referral for a locksmith. They came within 30 minutes with a cop; they called the police separately to make sure everything’s legit. The locksmiths ended up replacing the barrel. This must be one of the worst night Barbara’s had for a while. Not wanting to end the night on a gloom note, we went out to an expat bar in Sanlitun called Tun. The place was filled with expats and was blasting 90s rock – awesome. We met the owner Chad, a nice fellow from the states who decided that he liked China better. After downing giant pails of delicious mojitos, we headed to another place. Barbara wanted to show us what the club scene is like in Beijing and took us to Vic’s (next to the workers’ stadium). Vic’s is housed in a U shaped building with a Outback Steakhouse in the middle. The club is huge, with many sections playing different kinds of music (American). The feel is just like any other club I’ve been to. We ended the night eating Chinese burritos I bought from a street vendor in our cab on the way back to the hotel.
We got to the airport without a hitch. Dan even had enough time to pick up breakfast sandwiches from Parisi bakery (ham and egg on a roll) for us. I have to confess that I am an over packer. My giant suitcase was 10 pounds over weight. Good time Simon was also an over packer and had enough room in his carryon to stuff 10 pounds worth of my crap.
Power adapter FAIL: we called a day early to get premium seating. They don’t cost extra, you just have to call. I called and requested an aisle seat with power. Little did I know that you need an adapter for power on airplanes. They don’t rent the adapter either. Nope, if you want it, you have to shell out $125 for it. We didn’t need power bad enough to justify the $125.
I’m too pampered by JetBlue and their fancy on flight DirectTV. For some reason, I came on this flight expecting to watch about 8 hours of FoodTV or Travel Channel. There was no FoodTV, no Travel Channel, no DirectTV; only the few preselected movies on crappy screens. I kept the screen off during the flight. I did manage finish the lectures on Chinese history, read a couple of chapters of the book I got for this trip “It must be something I ate” and sleep.
The food on this 13 hour flight was mediocre at best: the beef was dry during dinner but had a sweet sauce that made it ok, the burger was mushy, and the omelet was kind of gross. At one point, I asked the stewardess what she recommended and she replied that she brings her own food. What was super awesome about this flight was the middle seat between Simon and I was empty. It wasn’t a packed flight so most of the middle seat in the middle column were empty.
I've known Barbara since the 7th grade. We also went to the same high school.
Night life, Beijing is at once coooler and less cool than you'd imagine. It offers a lot of variety and the places can be just as swanky as New York, just with a Chinese twist to it...a dn I don't mean "chinese" as interpreted by lower east side hipsters...but mainland chinese as in slighty over the top, just one too many blingy items, almost russian sort of chinese...you'll see. There is interesting things every night of the week, as there is a really cool chinese indie rock scene, but the bread and butter will be saturday night, As I said, I live right in the expat bar club area and will show you guys around. Though I might skip out on all the touristy things, cuz...jesus... the great wall the 10th time... ;)
As for the list of items, much appreciated, but what I'd really like is if you could just swing b y mom's restaurant in Chinatown and pick up a care package for me. It will include a few girly items but also some books... I AM SOOOOO BOOK STARVED here! Also,if either of you smoke or drink hard alcohol, I suggest picking some up at the duty in USA, BEFORE CHINA, cigarettes and alcohol are cheap here, but many on the market are fake...and this isn't paranoia, just advise. I myself am a big whiskey fan ;)
// after we told her where we're staying
thanks so much guys. Not to be a bummer, but you're pretty out of the city center. Luckily, the taxis are cheap but the traffic can be killer here. You'll have to rely on public transit at peak times, but warning it can and is always very crowded. It makes croded subways in New York seem like deserted islands ;) The tourist stuff, Tianmen and Forbidden city is in the south center of the city. The bars and restaurants for expats are in the east center of the city, where I am located. Your hotel is in the North West. Not a huge deal, but you guys are welcome to crash at mine if we are out too late on Sat.
Translated using Google Translate and my Chinese reading skills with some minor editing.
1. It will take about 1 hour and 30 minutes to get to the airport from the hotel in Beijing. You should get there 45 minutes in advance to check-in.
2. It will take about 1 hour to get to the airport from the hotel in Shanghai. You should get there 45 minutes in advance to check-in.
3. Beijing and Shanghai have frequent traffic congestion. You should leave for the airport 3 hours in advance from the hotel.
4. My friend who is picking you up from the airport in Beijing is Mr. Chen. He's about 1.8 meter (5'9") tall, owns a bridal shop and speaks Mandarin, Cantonese and English.
5. Mr. Chen will have a mobile phone and travel plans for you when you get to Beijing.
How Way Sichuan's # 64282777 (I think they have 3 locations)
Goto Jiajia Tung Bao by Park Hotel.. across da street is Fry's Dumpling.. eat @ both places. 1 shot. and the chicken is up to you..that's next door to jiajia tung bao on the same street.
Jiajia Tangbao (Near Park Hotel) Address: 90 Huanghe Lu (by Fengyang Lu) Phone: 6327 6878
1. Xin Tian Di -- lots of places to drink and stuff, lots of touristy ish too...Ding Tai Fung is there as well.
2. There's a "new" type of xin tian di area that's much cooler...intersection of Taikang Rd and Si Nan Rd. (gotta walk into an alley way and you'll see a bunch of shops begin to appear).
I'm proud to say I made a real effort to vote this year. Being that I never changed my address, I had to vote in Brooklyn, for the district where my mom used to live. I stayed overnight at my mom's new place in Brooklyn and woke up extra early to get my vote in before my one day field trip to Maryland (9 hours of driving total for a 1 hour meeting - worth it? we'll see).
The voting system isn't the greatest. They didn't check my ID. I could have just grabbed the mailing from someone's mailbox and came in with it. The machines are archaic: very non user friendly buttons/levers. They were also rushing me where there were NO ONE behind me: "Are you ok? Do you need help?" - NO, I'm looking at all the goddamn names on these tickets!!!
All in all, I voted. Did you?
// update BTW, I didn't get a "I voted" sticker. I'm glad the nice ladies at the various rest stop Starbucks along the NJ Turnpike took my word for it.
Mine: 11/7 - New York to Beijing 11/8 - 11/12 - Beijing 11/12 - 11/15 - Shanghai 11/15 - 11/19 - Hong Kong 11/19 - 11/22 - Shunde 11/23 - Hong Kong to New York
Simon's: 11/7 - New York to Beijing 11/8 - 11/12 - Beijing 11/12 - 11/15 - Shanghai 11/15 - 11/18 - Fu Zhou 11/19 - 11/23 - Hong Kong 11/23 - Hong Kong to New York
With the power (minutes) of a phone card Kingman gave me, I made a couple of calls last night:
1. Dad - I wanted to check if he had booked our hotels and airplane tickets yet. He hasn't, but was planning on doing it later that day. Prices for hotel and airfare goes down another 20-30% within a week. I also asked him about traveling and stuff. He's going to have his friend pick us up at the airport and help us plan out the trip, etc. Regarding ShenZhen, he's going to meet up with me there. I always thought it was pretty far from Shunde but it's only about an hour to an hour and a half. I told him sure, why not, if he has time.
2. Jenkins - He's one of my best friends growing up. He moved back to Hong Kong around the end of high school. He came back once for the summer a year after that. I met him in Hong Kong the last time I was there. I think he's just chilling / working at his dad's restaurant - bored out of his mind. I got his cell number and will give him a call when I'm around. I had the whole conversation with him in Cantonese.
"Beijing: Places that u must go: Great Wall of China(长城）, The Imperial Palace/The Forbidden City(故宫），The Summer Palace(颐和园），The Ming Tombs(明十三陵),Tian'anmen (the Gate of Heavenly Peace)-->the place that u watch the "flag-raising ceremony", and the Olympics sport fields. These sceneries should all have tour guide in English, but u'd better study the history of them first before you go.
Shopping and entertainment places: Wangfujing Street(王府井大街), International Trade Centre(国贸), Sohu(建外SOHU), eat roasted duck at 全聚德. You should go to local restaurant instead of eating fast food like KFC as well. I went to 2 clubs in Beijing but i only rmb one of them is called "8号公馆唐会". Both of them r good, nice music and HOT GIRLS..no kidding lolz..yea i think clubbing in Beijing and Shanghai and Hongkong are all good, only depends on whether u like northern girl or southern girl =P... ShangHai: Im not so familiar with Shanghai but here r the places that i recommand:The Bund(外滩)(go there at night time); The other side of The Bund is called PuDong District(浦东区)(people usually come to see the New Shanghai Area), there you can go The Oriental Pearl Tower(东方明珠) and The international trade centre(国贸). Small towns outside ShangHai are good places to go 2, you can see the "water villages" (Venice of the East). Go try the Magnetically Levitated Train--It goes to the PuDong Airport. Shopping: Nanjing Road(南京路), Xujiahui District(徐家汇), eat local food at Temple of ShangHai(城隍庙). There r lots of clubs and bars in Shanghai as well. Theres a place just like Lan Kwai Fong in Hongkong but i forgot cuz i went there with my frds. Just ask the locals or taxi drivers. HongKong: Take the cable car to The Victoria Peak(太平山頂), you may wanna go there in the afternoon so that u can go to the Madame Tussauds and take pics at the peak at night. Go to the Victoria Harbour(維多利亞港) at Kowloon during night time, Avenue of Stars（星光大道) is beside there Hong Kong Space Museum(香港太空舘) Entertainment Parks: Disney's World, Hongkong Ocean Park Shopping: HongKong is one of the best places for shopping in the world, just like NY. Names as the subway stations: Mong Kok, Tsim Sha Tsui, area around the Harbour City, Causeway Bay. Club: there r many clubs but most famous ones are on the bar street Lan Kwai Fong(蘭桂坊)"
Ray and I only met recently. His mom and my mom were friends in high school. We met when they came down from Toronto for a tour of New York. Ray and his brother Robin have recently been to the cities we're going to
"Here is some of my experience in Beijing & Shanghai:
Beijing to go:
Forbidden City (故宫; Gu Gong) – Imperial Palace of Ming Dynasty (1406 – 1662) and Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1912). It serves as the political and ceremonial centre of Chinese government, also as the home of Chinese Emperors and their family. UNESCO World Heritage. As the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world, it is a huge museum. You can see the arts and sculptures on the building, also some priceless jewelleries and art pieces previously owned by the imperial family. Be prepared to spend a lot of time here.
Summer Palace (颐和园; Yi He Yuan) – Huge imperial garden of the Qing Dynasty, UNESCO World Heritage. It declared the Summer Palace "a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value." It is a popular tourist destination but also serves as a recreational park. Temple of Heave (天坛; Tian Tan) – Built in the same time as the Forbidden City, this complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest. UNESCO World Heritage. Not as big as the previous ones but definitely worth to go.
The Great Wall in Ba Da Ling (八达岭长城;Ba Da Ling Chang Cheng) – As you know, the Great Wall is huge, and not the whole Great Wall is opened to the public, so you can only go to a specific area to see it. Ba Da Ling is a mountain area near Beijing, and the Great Wall over there is the one of most famous parts. This part is also a UNESCO World Heritage. Plan your trip wisely to go there, it's far from the downtown Beijing.
Thirteen Tombs of the Ming Dynasty (明十三陵; Ming Shi San Ling) - The Ming tombs of the 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty, located about 30 Miles north from Beijing downtown. UNESCO World Heritage. This is one of best places to see the Chinese imperial tombs. Only 3 of the 13 tombs are excavated and opening to the public. I remember it is not very far from the Great Wall in Ba Da Ling (not sure though), maybe you can spend a day to go this two places.
Tian An Men Square (天安门广场; Tian An Men Guang Chang) – One of the largest squares in the world, symbol of Beijing, even of China. The world "Tian An Men" means "Gate of Heavenly Peace". Rebuilt in 1650s, it was the gate of Beijing City, but now it is more like a political symbol of PRC. Many big historical events happens there since 1400s to now, including the proclamation of the People's Republic of China by Mao Zedong on October 1, 1949. There are some museums around the square, like the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong. You can also watch the flag raising ceremony each morning. The time of the ceremony depends on what time the sun rises at that day. Please ask hotel staff (even you don't live in hotel, you can pick any and go ask). Arrive early, it will be crowed.
The Peking Man World Heritage Site at Zhoukoudian (周口店北京人遗址; Zhou Kou Dian Bei Jing Ren Yi Zhi) – Not sure if you wanna go there. It is the site where a first specimens of Homo erectus (an ancient human being), dubbed Peking Man, was discovered. It is about 30 miles southwest from Beijing. I have never been to there. It is a UNESCO World Heritage.
Olympic Green (奥林匹克公园; Ao lin Pi Ke Gong Yuan) – You must saw and heard a lot about it this year…The last time I went to Beijing was 10 years ago…so I have no idea about this new attraction.
Sanlitun(三里屯酒吧街;San Li Tun) – The most famous place for night life, including the best night clubs. You must go there, maybe every evening? lol
Beijing to eat:
Peking Roast Duck (北京烤鸭;Bei Jing Kao Ya) – The most famous restaurant to have the yummy roast duck is called "Quan Ju De" (全聚德). Every people in Beijing knows it. Because it is so famous now a chain store. But the quality is still the best of the best. Price is not cheap for Chinese people, but since you are spending USD it should be good. http://www.quanjude.com.cn/e_about.html
Fang Shan Fan Zhuang (仿膳饭庄) – I don't know what it is called in English. Its menu was from the Forbidden City – everything you eat there was supposed to serve the imperial family, and the first several chefs worked for the emperor. In my point of view the taste is might not as good as the fancy restaurants outside, at least it doesn't have chocolate or sushi or steak…But it is quite a good experience if you want to know what kind of food the Chinese emperor had every day and in what environment. The restaurant is located in Beihai Park (北海公园;Bei Hai Gong Yuan), which is an imperial garden to the northwest of the Forbidden City in Beijing. Initially built in the 10th century, it is amongst the largest of Chinese gardens, and contains numerous historically important structures, palaces and temples. Some stuff in the restaurant might be very expensive, like shark fins….but even you don't wanna spend a fortune on it, at least you can have some dessert or simple food. It only has Chinese website: http://www.fangshanfanzhuang.com.cn/
Shanghai to go:
The Bund (外滩; Wai Tan) – Around the 1910's Shanghai was the largest and most developed city in the Far East, even much better than Tokyo and Hong Kong. Lots of foreign companies and government agencies were set up around the bund, including consulates and banks of Russia, USA, France and Britain….etc. Today those western buildings are still there, and become the most expensive stores and clubs, it is the most important tourist attraction of Shanghai. The Bund looks great at night, don't miss it. You can either walk along the street, or see it far from the other side of Huang Pu Jiang (Huang Pu River).
Yuyuan Garden (豫园; Yu Yuan) – Another must go in Shanghai, it was a private garden first built in 1560s. You can see some traditional Chinese building there, and have great Shanghai snacks like Soup Dumpling (aka: Xiao Long Bao or小笼包)。 Yuyuan Garden sells great snacks in the food court, while there is another famous old restaurant inside. I remember you said you like Xiao Long Bao right? Make sure go to a store called Nan Xiang Man Tou Dian (南翔馒头店, see the picture attached), I remember it is close to the entrance of Yuyuan Garden. Ask people around you if you can't find, every Shanghainese knows it.
Xin Tian Di (新天地) – Popular entertainment district of Shanghai, modern night clubs and restaurants.
Oriental Pearl Tower （东方明珠电视塔; Dong Fang Ming Zhu） & Jin Mao Tower (金茂大厦; Jin Mao Da Sha) – Highest towers and buildings in the Lu Ja Zui financial district. Both of them have observation decks. I heard that the new Shanghai World Financial Center (环球金融中心; Huan Qiu Jin Rong Zhong Xin) is opened recently, if it is, that's the highest one.
Maglev Train (磁悬浮; Ci Xuan Fu) – the first commercial high-speed maglev line in the world, and maybe it's the only one. It starts from Longyang Road subway station to Pudong International Airport. the line operates daily between 06:45–21:30, a one-way ticket cost ¥50 (US$7.00), or ¥40 ($5.60) for those passengers holding a receipt or proof of an airline ticket purchase. A round-trip return ticket cost ¥80 ($11.20) and VIP tickets cost double the standard fee. The service operates once every 15 minutes.
In normal operation, the speed and journey time vary depending upon the time of day. Daytime hours 06:45–08:30 08:30–17:00 17:00–21:30 Journey time 8:10 minutes 7:20 minutes 8:10 minutes Maximum speed 300 km/h (190 mph) 431 km/h (268 mph) 300 km/h (190 mph)
Note: the maglev train is not the only way getting out of the airport. It is just between the from Longyang Road subway station to Pudong International Airport. Longyang Road subway station is still quite far away from the city center. Here is options from Pudong Airport to the city center ( I might be wrong since I don't leave in Shanghai but I have been to there several times): 1. Taxi, the fastest and easiest way, around 20-30 USD. 2. Pudong Airport (maglev) - Longyang Road subway station (subway ) – city center 3. Pudong Airport (bus) - Longyang Road subway station (subway ) – city center,$3 USD total, cheapest way but slowest 4. Pudong Airport (bus) - city center, I took it before but I forgot the schedule and where the destinations are.
That's all I know about Beijing and Shanghai. Hope it help. Feel free to ask me more questions!"
Lori and I go way back. We're practically family: Chao, Zhao, 1 letter off, same in Chinese. She's been working in China, writing for the WSJ for the past 3-4 years.
"hola, been crazy busy and realized just now i never responded to this. so u'll be here 11/7-12 then? i know of a very decent hotel that's a good price. but if u wanna splurge there are some cool hotels with courtyards and stuff on the fancy side. (by fancy in beijing i mean nowhere close to the prices in ny.) i say yes, def do the touristy stuff, but get it all done in 2 days so u can do other stuff. think: day tour of all the major spots in the city i.e. forbidden city etc., then half to one day at a cool more remote part of the wall. as cool as the touristy stuff can be, it's only one aspect of the city, and not what makes the city so cool. plus, you'll hate china if all you see is country-looking domestic tourists oohing and aahing at concrete slabs. :) and get dinner with me a few times so i can take you to get some good minority food that isn't in the US yet. (they do it well in BJ, not in SH. In SH, get southern food i.e. shanghainese, macanese, taiwanese, etc.) and the peking duck question will inevitably come up--don't go to quanjude no matter what anyone says, even if they lived in beijing ten years ago and all their old people-friends out here say it's the best. it's the oldest chain in the country, so people who either think you're an idiot tourist or who are too unsophisticated to know any better will steer you toward it. but anyone who actually likes food here knows there are at least 3 restos that make duck way better. (sorry, pet peeve of mine) when u get here, pick up a free copy of That's Beijing. it's like Time Out NY, except for expats (it's in English) and has lots of listings."
// addium 1 You're staying on the west side of town ... not insanely far, but with traffic can be a hassle to meet up. There are some fun old Beijing style restos out there, which are good for a one-time experience, but all the really yummy food is on the east side. but the subways are decent and the cabs are cheap.
// addium 2 btw, for duck I really like Da Dong at Nanxincang, which is close to my office so let me take you there whenever you're free. they need reservations, though, so let me know.
but I also definitely recommend you try out provincial/minority foods which are done much better in Beijing than Shanghai (if they're done in Shanghai at all), and which you won't find anywhere in the U.S. (Guizhou, Xinjiang, Yunnan, etc.) The Sichuan food is also way better here than NY.
for hot pot, there's shabu shabu which is good but boring since you can get it in NY, but the good stuff is the hot/sour hot pot; there are a couple of really good places around the city you should try, but without me because I can't eat spicy stuff.
I went to high school with Diana. She posts a lot of pictures of Beijing so I hit her up for some recommendations:
"hk, bj and shanghai are like food heaven. in hk, all the local hk places are GOOD. some fancier dim sum places i like are fook lam moon, city hall, the dim sum place in the intercontinental hk @ tsim Sha Tsui (cant remember the name). and Kenjos for sushi, Press Room for brasserie type, L'atelier de Joel Robouchon for fancy french, Assaggi for casual italian. Dragon-I for clubbing. uh...hk is kinda like ny. there are major touristy places that everyone goes to but the buzz of the city is what makes it cool. shanghai, din tai fung for xiao long baos, xintiandi is like newly built complex of modern restaurants / shops etc- cool to check out. check out the art district at moganshan lu. the french concession near taikang lu is also nice to walk around. Face bar for drinks. Clubs in china are just scary, but m club is okay and velvet is a cute loungey/club place. el willy is a really cute spanish restaurant. jean georges @ 3 on the bund is nice. there is nothing to see in pudong.
im in bj at the moment and will be around for the rest of the year so give me a buzz if you are in the area. u should check out forbidden city (of course), the drum/bell tower and the surrounding area ie. gulou, houhai, and definitely nanluoguxiang are cute and very 'old beijing' made in china, and duck de chine @ 1949 and dadong are best for peking duck. sanlitun is THE neighborhood to be. The hotel i work in called The opposite house is the centerpiece. Go to theoppositehouse.com for more info. Lan Club, q bar, bed bar and face bar are good for drinks. there are a plethora of scary clubs to go to ie babyface, bling, mixx n vicks, suzie wongs. dali courtyard for yunnan food. laohanzi for hakka food. uh i can go on forever.
check out cityweekend.com for shanghai and beijing. and thatsbj.com for beijing."
The visa is a required item for our journey to the middle kingdom.
The process of getting it: 1. Passport: find passport, make sure it's not expired. 2. Form: print and fill this form (make sure the letterhead is on there. it didn't come out on mine so they made me refill the form at the embassy) 3. Passport Photo: get passport photo (2x2). I got mine at Kinko's for $14. It was a total rip off but I was pressed for time. Simon had some left over from other trips. Kingman paid $6. 4. Embassy: drop off form and passport at the embassy. We went early, at 9AM, to avoid the line. We waited about 15 minutes. They made us refill the forms a couple of times because of the letterhead and address of our contact (has to be in China, not Hong Kong). 5. Wait: it takes about 4 business days 6. Pick Up: Only 1 person needed to go pick up. Simon volunteered. He said there were 2 lines: 1 to get a ticket and 1 to pay and pickup. It took him 1.5 hours during lunch time.
After flipping through most of the China travel books at the local B&N (Union Square), I end up deciding to order these two from Amazon.com (it was cheaper):
Lonely Planet China - I'm too used to the format. They're pretty much all set up the same way. It's easy to find stuff for me. They also got the 2 days / 3 days itinerary for each city which helps a lot. Also, this book has some random cities we might be in: FuZhou (Simon), GuangZhou (Kingman) and ShenZhen (Me).
Beijing and Shanghai (Eyewitness Travel Guides) - I found this one very useful. It tells me what and why I'll be looking at touristy things instead of just standing there looking at it. It also has pretty pictures and maps.
Last night of the NYC Waterfalls art project. Of course, they turn it off 5 minutes early, so I couldn't get the shots of the waterfall north of the Manhattan bridge.
