Friday, December 14, 2007
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Monday, December 10, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
China, China!
China China! My motherland! D land of my ancestors, my origin.
When my mom first suggested we visited Shanghai, I vehemently protested. Of all places, why Shanghai? China is such a big country (its total area is 29 times of Malaysia's).
We can visit Gui Lin (d place famous for its hills), Yun Nan (famous for its blue, blue sky), Guang Zhou (famous for its Cantonese food)... but why Shanghai? Apparently, my parents just love shopping. So much so that they need to go to civilized locations which have McD , KFC, Parkson and Robinsons. How can that be unique? How can that even be termed as 'travelling'? I voiced out my two cents worth. But, parents being parents, they will always want all their children to be at their beck and call. Since I'm still young, and being the obedient, obliging daughter, I went along with their decision; sticking to my belief that visiting Shanghai won't be much different from Bangkok, Jakarta or Singapore's Orchard Road.
However, d moment we landed at the airport, and boarded the tour bus, greeted by our energetic tour guide, I knew this would definitely be a different tour. Throughout the journey from the airport to the hotel, the guide began to introduce Shanghai's Pu Dong airport to us, mentioning that it was built on reclaimed land.
It's cold outside. 17 degrees Celcius. I'm hungry, thirsty and tired. I, am too tired to listen. I just want to sleep. And so... I slept, on the bus and later, on the hard Chinese bed.
When my mom first suggested we visited Shanghai, I vehemently protested. Of all places, why Shanghai? China is such a big country (its total area is 29 times of Malaysia's).
We can visit Gui Lin (d place famous for its hills), Yun Nan (famous for its blue, blue sky), Guang Zhou (famous for its Cantonese food)... but why Shanghai? Apparently, my parents just love shopping. So much so that they need to go to civilized locations which have McD , KFC, Parkson and Robinsons. How can that be unique? How can that even be termed as 'travelling'? I voiced out my two cents worth. But, parents being parents, they will always want all their children to be at their beck and call. Since I'm still young, and being the obedient, obliging daughter, I went along with their decision; sticking to my belief that visiting Shanghai won't be much different from Bangkok, Jakarta or Singapore's Orchard Road.
However, d moment we landed at the airport, and boarded the tour bus, greeted by our energetic tour guide, I knew this would definitely be a different tour. Throughout the journey from the airport to the hotel, the guide began to introduce Shanghai's Pu Dong airport to us, mentioning that it was built on reclaimed land.It's cold outside. 17 degrees Celcius. I'm hungry, thirsty and tired. I, am too tired to listen. I just want to sleep. And so... I slept, on the bus and later, on the hard Chinese bed.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Shanghai
On our first night in Shanghai, we were treated to a delicious meal in the form of Japanese's Obentou and famous steamed egg.
The very next morning, our first destination in Shanghai was the Pearl of the Orient.
The Interesting Signboard
D Famous Pearl of D Orient. This TV tower is 468 m in height and is the highest towers in Asia.
View from the Pearl of the Orient (Along the Shanghai Bund)
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Why is this building shaped like a rocket shooting into the sky?
Why do these residential blocks have rounded sides?
Why does this building have bronze, reflective glasses?
Why does a bottom of d bridge has to be in d shape of a hemisphere? Why didn't they design it to be flat all the way?
The very next morning, our first destination in Shanghai was the Pearl of the Orient.
The Interesting Signboard
D Famous Pearl of D Orient. This TV tower is 468 m in height and is the highest towers in Asia.
View from the Pearl of the Orient (Along the Shanghai Bund)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Malaysia, all buildings look the same. If there's a temple, all the temples will have the same shape, same colour and well... almost the same height. If there's a Wisma XXX, the building will be about 3 to 4 stories high, with grossly bright colours like yellow, green or orange. If there's a tower, the tower will be so tall with a lightning rod at its peak.
In China, however, buildings are totally different. I learned that there are many kinds of buildings: ancient buildings, modern buildings, buildings made solely from glass (which were apparently not practical as it caused heat pollution), wooden buildings and of course.. forte whose bricks were cemented with glutinous rice, water, limestone powder and a few other secret ingredients.
The shape of the buildings matter a lot in China. It has never occured to me to ask "why" until I visited Shanghai.
In China, however, buildings are totally different. I learned that there are many kinds of buildings: ancient buildings, modern buildings, buildings made solely from glass (which were apparently not practical as it caused heat pollution), wooden buildings and of course.. forte whose bricks were cemented with glutinous rice, water, limestone powder and a few other secret ingredients.
The shape of the buildings matter a lot in China. It has never occured to me to ask "why" until I visited Shanghai.
Why are the roofs of temples / palaces always shaped like this?
Why is this building shaped like a rocket shooting into the sky?
Why do these residential blocks have rounded sides?
Why does this building have bronze, reflective glasses?
Why does a bottom of d bridge has to be in d shape of a hemisphere? Why didn't they design it to be flat all the way?
I never knew the answer until I came to the land of my ancestors. In China, there is a reason for every single thing. The answer is all due to "feng shui". Temples have curved up roofs to chase away the evil spirits. Some buildings are shaped like a crown to signify wealth and prosperity. Some have sword like structures around them to burst the bubbles of good fortune of neighbouring businessmen. Some are shaped like a lotus to bring peace and harmony to the local community.
According to the feng shui master, even the planning of Shanghai city was according to feng shui law. In the 60's, Shanghai was a quiet fishing village. None of the entrepeneurs wanted to invest in this city because they could not see the future for this village. However, when one of the Chinese Presidents visited it in the '90s, he saw that it had great potential to be developed. He ordered all the fishing villages to be demolished, relocated the villagers and gave them a new livelihood for survival, and thus, began transforming the village into a modern city.
The law of Feng Shui specifies that to be in the direction of good fortune all the time, a conducive environment is necessary. This includes having mountains, hills, rivers and cooling weather. Shanghai is a city which experiences 4 seasons. Thus, it is always cool. No problem there. As for rivers, they already existed a long time ago, and villagers earned their livelihood from it. The only problem was mountains. Because Shanghai was in the plains, land was flat everywhere. The lands were as vast as the ocean and you could not even see a single mountain in sight even if you turned 360 degrees from where you stood. So, to create 'mountains', the town planners decided to build sky rise buildings to substitute the mountains. From one building, it became two. Soon, business improved and they multiplied to four, 16 , .. and as the mountains grew exponentially, so did the population. Today, all over the city, new buildings are mushrooming all over the corners of Shanghai. Bigger, better, more modern and more sophisticated. Each claiming to be the best!
So, as you can see, Feng Shui is a very serious matter in China. Before construction, Feng Shui Masters are paid a generous sum to derive the best direction for the main door, the materials, the shape and the interior designing of the building. That is part of the reason why there are so many lions in front of the shops and half-hollow crystals at the entrance of the shops. It is all to welcome wealth and prosperity.
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According to the feng shui master, even the planning of Shanghai city was according to feng shui law. In the 60's, Shanghai was a quiet fishing village. None of the entrepeneurs wanted to invest in this city because they could not see the future for this village. However, when one of the Chinese Presidents visited it in the '90s, he saw that it had great potential to be developed. He ordered all the fishing villages to be demolished, relocated the villagers and gave them a new livelihood for survival, and thus, began transforming the village into a modern city.
The law of Feng Shui specifies that to be in the direction of good fortune all the time, a conducive environment is necessary. This includes having mountains, hills, rivers and cooling weather. Shanghai is a city which experiences 4 seasons. Thus, it is always cool. No problem there. As for rivers, they already existed a long time ago, and villagers earned their livelihood from it. The only problem was mountains. Because Shanghai was in the plains, land was flat everywhere. The lands were as vast as the ocean and you could not even see a single mountain in sight even if you turned 360 degrees from where you stood. So, to create 'mountains', the town planners decided to build sky rise buildings to substitute the mountains. From one building, it became two. Soon, business improved and they multiplied to four, 16 , .. and as the mountains grew exponentially, so did the population. Today, all over the city, new buildings are mushrooming all over the corners of Shanghai. Bigger, better, more modern and more sophisticated. Each claiming to be the best!
So, as you can see, Feng Shui is a very serious matter in China. Before construction, Feng Shui Masters are paid a generous sum to derive the best direction for the main door, the materials, the shape and the interior designing of the building. That is part of the reason why there are so many lions in front of the shops and half-hollow crystals at the entrance of the shops. It is all to welcome wealth and prosperity.
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Suzhou - City of Silk and Pretty Girls
Su Zhou! Su Zhou!
When I was young, my Mandarin teachers used to teach us about the famous poems and proverbs。 Unfortunately, children, being children, always took things for granted. We never really took the effort to understand the history of China back then, and always belittled the teachers who taught us. Thinking it was just a waste of time, we studied without understanding. Memorized without putting ourselves into the shoes of the great writers and philosophers. We just repeated what was taught to us blindly and poured it all out on exam day. The next day, all would be forgotten and not only we did not improve, we became more haughty and proud. Yes. The History of China, seemed so insignificant then. We thought it was unnecessary to posesss such knowledge as it did not aid us in our exam scores. We thought it was inapplicable in our daily lives. What good would it do to have such information in our brains?
However, the guides of China proved us wrong. They were so proud of their country and their heritage. When they talked about Confucious, 唐伯虎, 江南四大才, Xi-Shi (one of d most beautiful ladies in China), you would have thought they were talking about their most beloved and respected ancestors. They knew their history really well. Which, of course, put me to shame as I did not appreciate history until that very moment. From then on, I vowed to myself to read as much as I can on the history of the world. History not only reveals the solutions of the past , it also holds the key to the future.
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Su Zhou! Su Zhou! It is so quiet here. It feels so calm and peaceful. Relaxing and cooling. So different from the bustling city of Shanghai.
As the province which receives the most rainfall in China, Su Zhou is equivalent to Venice of Italy. This city is filled with canals.
Night Scenery of YangTze River
Su Zhou is a city famous for its young, gentle and captivating ladies. During the reign of the Sui Dynasty, the King ordered all the civilians to build him a canal (Yangtze River)to travel from his palace in the north to the city of Suzhou. (In the olden days, Kings could have up to thousands of concubines and citizens would just accept it as the right of the King. ) The canal took a long time to build and in the process, many lives were sacrificed. As a result, all the citizens were very angry with the king and decided to take his life.
Meantime, the King, who was a haughty person, was too busy and excited about visiting Su Zhou to choose yet another concubine. He knew the commotion was uprising. He knew the people were planning to kill him. So, he specified that he wanted only females as the rowers of the boat, the staff and the cooks. He even made all the women in the country to stand by both banks of the Grand Canal to welcome him to Suzhou. This of course, further angered the citizens. So, when the boat arrived in Suzhou, the King was murdered immediately.
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However, the guides of China proved us wrong. They were so proud of their country and their heritage. When they talked about Confucious, 唐伯虎, 江南四大才, Xi-Shi (one of d most beautiful ladies in China), you would have thought they were talking about their most beloved and respected ancestors. They knew their history really well. Which, of course, put me to shame as I did not appreciate history until that very moment. From then on, I vowed to myself to read as much as I can on the history of the world. History not only reveals the solutions of the past , it also holds the key to the future.
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Su Zhou! Su Zhou! It is so quiet here. It feels so calm and peaceful. Relaxing and cooling. So different from the bustling city of Shanghai.
As the province which receives the most rainfall in China, Su Zhou is equivalent to Venice of Italy. This city is filled with canals.
Night Scenery of YangTze River
Su Zhou is a city famous for its young, gentle and captivating ladies. During the reign of the Sui Dynasty, the King ordered all the civilians to build him a canal (Yangtze River)to travel from his palace in the north to the city of Suzhou. (In the olden days, Kings could have up to thousands of concubines and citizens would just accept it as the right of the King. ) The canal took a long time to build and in the process, many lives were sacrificed. As a result, all the citizens were very angry with the king and decided to take his life.
Meantime, the King, who was a haughty person, was too busy and excited about visiting Su Zhou to choose yet another concubine. He knew the commotion was uprising. He knew the people were planning to kill him. So, he specified that he wanted only females as the rowers of the boat, the staff and the cooks. He even made all the women in the country to stand by both banks of the Grand Canal to welcome him to Suzhou. This of course, further angered the citizens. So, when the boat arrived in Suzhou, the King was murdered immediately.
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In the daytime, Suzhou is a peaceful province. Weeping willows creep silently and hang from the strong branches of the big tall trees , providing shade for the weary travellers and tranquility for the restless souls.
Suzhou is one of the famous provinces in China for producing scholars as well! Once, when a poor scholar who spent all his savings to go to the city for a major exam and failed, he stopped at one of the temples in Su Zhou for a long rest. As he sat by the river, under the willow tree, he began to pen down his feelings into a poem as below:
As the province with the highest level of rainfall, Suzhou produces the best silk in the whole wide world. With the high level of humidity, the mulberry leaves are of such good quality that people from all over the world flock here just to obtain the silk products of Suzhou, including silk pillows, silk quilts and silk bedsheets. According to the tour guide, silk not only provides warmth to the user, it also absorbs the water in the air which aids in reducing aching of body joints, and reacts with the body chemicals to provide stronger immunity to its users. In winter, it is most advisable to use silk products as it helps to prevent colds and pneumonia.
Worms chewing mulberry leaves. Soon, they'll be in a cocoon.
Suzhou is one of the famous provinces in China for producing scholars as well! Once, when a poor scholar who spent all his savings to go to the city for a major exam and failed, he stopped at one of the temples in Su Zhou for a long rest. As he sat by the river, under the willow tree, he began to pen down his feelings into a poem as below:
As the province with the highest level of rainfall, Suzhou produces the best silk in the whole wide world. With the high level of humidity, the mulberry leaves are of such good quality that people from all over the world flock here just to obtain the silk products of Suzhou, including silk pillows, silk quilts and silk bedsheets. According to the tour guide, silk not only provides warmth to the user, it also absorbs the water in the air which aids in reducing aching of body joints, and reacts with the body chemicals to provide stronger immunity to its users. In winter, it is most advisable to use silk products as it helps to prevent colds and pneumonia.
Worms chewing mulberry leaves. Soon, they'll be in a cocoon.
These coccoon will then be boiled for long hours to soften it and its threads can reach up to 100m or more!
The coccoons are then cut open and pulled as far apart as possible. Layers and layers of it are added upon each other. It is a laborious process. It takes years to produce silk of excellent quality! So much time and man power is put into it! No wonder silk products are so expensive! I will never complain about its price again!
Wu Xi
In Mandarin, Wu Xi, means "no tin". In the olden days, people used to mine for tin. It was one of the sources of livelihood then. Because of the good money that tin brought to the town people, wars and disputes often occured and caused much disharmony among the people.
Thus, a monk who had travelled all over China, when he came to a land who was relatively calm and quiet, he was naturally curious. "Why is it that this place has no fights and petty crimes?" he wondered. As he began to investigate, he found out that this town was barren. It was void of any minerals, which meant there was no need for the people to fight over who gained more money, or who was richer than the other. No greed existed among the people here. As such, he decided to name it "Wu Xi" to signify peace to the world.
This is the most famous Buddha statue in Wu Xi. It is 30 metres tall. Yet, lightning will never strike it. According to local beliefs, this statue prevented SARS from affecting the people of
Wu Xi Province
Touching the Giant Buddha Hand for Good luck from here on! How? Walk clockwise around the hand as you place both of your palms on Buddha's palms and rotate your palms anti clockwise! Interesting, isn't it?
In Wu Xi, we visited the movie studio, sat on ancient war ships, watched fighting on horses, and tasted the best McDonalds Ice cream!
I also visited one of the biggest lakes in China! Tai Hu! It was sooo big and wide that you would have thought you were by the seaside, staring far out towards the ocean!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The highlight of this trip was learning all about pearls. I learnt how to distinguish between real pearls and fake pearls. Real pearls are made up of minute grains of sand. Thus, the only way to know is to gnaw your teeth against the pearl grains. If it's a real pearl, you will find that its surface is rough, and not smooth.
Myth: In cartoons and comics, it has always been portrayed that an oyster produces only 1 pearl. But in reality, an oyster produces more than 1 pearl! On Average, an oyster can make about 30 pearls throughout within 6 months! The longer the rearing period, the more pearls will be produced. If its left long enough, the pearls will become bigger, rounder and darker!
Myth: In cartoons and comics, it has always been portrayed that an oyster produces only 1 pearl. But in reality, an oyster produces more than 1 pearl! On Average, an oyster can make about 30 pearls throughout within 6 months! The longer the rearing period, the more pearls will be produced. If its left long enough, the pearls will become bigger, rounder and darker!
Counting Pearls in an Oyster!
I also learnt to value pearls! There are several grades of pearls. The lowest quality of pearls would be white. Next in line would be pink. Better quality pearls will be of darker colour as it takes a longer time to be produced and it is quite a rare find. This includes pearls of the purple genre. The best pearl is the black pearl! If you ever see one, let me know!
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