Travel

My pattern so far has been to get out of town every other weekend for an outing or travel. Last weekend, a group of us hired a car and driver to take us to a scenic spot out of town called Benxi 本溪. There is a famous cave with an underground stream that is supposed to be great. The cave didn’t seem appealing to me, because I’d been to Mammoth Caves National Park in the US, and I figured no caves could top that. Besides, I wanted to hike, and so did my boss, so we split up into two groups. My boss and I started exploring the area.

We wandered along the river for a while, then we saw a path going up the mountain.

I want to be very clear at this point that going up the mountain was my boss’ idea, not mine.

“Shall we?” He said.

Remember, this was his idea.

Mountain paths in China are pretty well constructed: usually they are a series of stone steps and concrete paths. Quite picturesque, and a little deceiving, because although it’s a nice footpath, you’re still going up a mountain, and mountains are tall and steep.

At several places along the path, there were little stone tables and stools, where you can take a break and maybe have a snack. At other places along the path, there are signs warning about falling rocks, and telling you not to linger there.

It’s just bad planning to put both a snack place and a falling-rocks warning in the same place.

Before too long, I realized that my boss was no longer right behind me. In fact, I looked back and couldn’t see him at all. So I developed a keen interest in a dead beetle on the path until I could hear faint wheezing sounds coming up the path.

The path got even steeper towards the top.

At one point, my boss said that he had to stop and take a rest. Which was fine with me, because as we sat on the steps, chugging water (it was very hot that day), we noticed that there were no sounds but bugs and the wind in the trees. It was exactly the escape from the city that I wanted. On the way up, we encountered only one other group of climbers, going down as we were going up. It was great.

Almost perfect, except for the growing concern about the health of my boss’ heart. I didn’t want to be that guy who killed his boss by taking him on some sadistic macho suicide mountain climb. I imagine it’s hard to get tenure if you have a registered boss kill. Kind of a career stopper.

Anyway, we finally made it to the peak. There was an observation tower at the top. Most of the view was obscured by the trees, but we were able to see some nice views.

We relaxed on the tower, had some snacks, and pretty soon I heard faint snoring from my boss. He took a little nap up there.

On the way down we took another route, which ran along the mountain.

Then the path went straight down. Just a continual flight of stairs from the top to the bottom.

About halfway down, I started counting steps, and hit 287 by the time I reached the base of the mountain. So I figure it was at least 500 steps down. If you have never climbed down 500 steps, you can reproduce the feeling by climbing down 10 steps 50 times. My legs felt like those deboned chicken thighs that you buy at the grocery store.

We made it back down, hooked up with the water cave people, and drove back to town. My boss napped all the way back, but he was at work on Monday, and he was still talking to me, so I guess my tenure prospects are still as alive as he still is.

The city of Changchun, about an hour north of Shenyang, was the capital of the puppet country Manchukuo from the 1930s through the end of World War II. The emperor Puyi was installed there by the Japanese.

Several scenes of the movie “The Last Emperor” were filmed in the historic palace, which is now a museum. It was fun to visit and see the actual palace, as well as to remember the scenes from the movie.

 

 

 

We ate dinner in a beer garden. A student group was there, on route from biking from the Bohai coast to the northernmost village in China, a place called Mohe æ¼ æ²³. A map of their route was printed on the back of their shirts.

The beer garden was a nice place to eat. We ordered food from the vendors, bought huge mugs of beer, and enjoyed the summer evening.

The Confucius Temple in Harbin is called 文廟 (Temple of literature) instead of 孔廟 (Confucius Temple), I’m not sure why. It’s a large complex, and the architecture is very nice.

In front of the main hall is a commemorative large ceremonial vessel, modeled on an ancient bronze style.

Along one wall is a series of plaques that have the text of the Analects of Confucius with illustrations.

The temple complex is orderly, quiet and peaceful, a nice escape from the chaos and noise of the city.

Here is another example of why I need my wife to take care if me and to protect me from myself.

A group of us planned a trip to the northern city of Harbin for the weekend. The best way to travel in China seems to be by train: the distances between cities are great, and the train system is well-organized and convenient. The ticketing system is labor-intensive, though, a little out of step with the general modernization trend in China.

You can buy your ticket ahead of time, and you can buy online, but in order to board the train, you need a paper ticket. If you buy online, you still need to physically go to the train station to pick up your ticket. The ticket has a bar code that is scanned by a reader at the gate. A lot of the train system is automated, but if you don’t have that paper ticket, you aren’t getting on the train. If you were to lose your ticket, you’re in trouble. Big trouble. You do not want to lose your ticket.

Can you guess where this story’s going?

A coworker bought my ticket for me and handed it to me a few days before our trip. Being the responsible grownup that I am, I promptly lost the ticket.

Now go back a few paragraphs and review the part about “big trouble.”

I tore apart my desk, went through every pocket in every piece of clothing, flipped through every book, and I couldn’t find the darn ticket.

I figured that I should just buy another ticket. I looked online, and of course that train was completely full; no tickets were available for that train.

And then I thought to look inside my passport, where I should have put it, because I would need my passport to get on the train (don’t ask why). Sure enough, there was the ticket, right where it should have been, and right where I should have looked for it in the first place.

Honey, if you had been here, this wouldn’t have happened. I am really stupid over here without you…

On my return flight from Hong Kong to Shenyang, I had my toiletry kit in my carry-on bag. As my bag was going though the X-Ray machine, I realized that my toothpaste was in there.

I steeled myself for the humiliating lecture from airport security about Very Dangerous Materials, and tried to remember if I had any more toothpaste in my apartment. I wondered if they would offer to write a receipt and allow me to pick up my toothpaste within 30 days.

Much to my surprise, the airport security did not confiscate my toothpaste. The security staff demonstrated the same bored detachment that Hong Kong shop clerks and wait staff are famous for.

I have to admit being a little disappointed with the lack of drama.

In the past, whenever I thought of Hong Kong, I thought of one big shopping mall. No longer. Now I realize that there is natural tropical island beauty in Hong Kong as well.

We started our nature hike on the subway, of all places.

After about 40 minutes on the subway, we reached the end of the line, and started the hike.

In no time, we left the city, and started climbing the approximately 34 million stairs up a mountain.

Our efforts were rewarded with some spectacular views of the city.

The trail quickly led us away from the city, and we started walking through some serious nature.

Our path was the “Dragon’s Back” trail that runs along a mountain range.

The trail ended at a beach town, where we ate lunch and then (30 minutes later, I promise) we went for a swim in the ocean.

It was very hot and humid, we sweat a lot, but the views were spectacular. After breathing polluted city air for two months, my lungs were grateful for the clean mountain air.

I can’t wait to go back to Hong Long and do some more urban hiking. My wife will love it, too. Honey, what do you say, is it a date?