Hong Kong

The people on the China Teachers Program met from Thursday until today for a conference. This morning each teacher did a two minute presentation about something they did last semester and hopefully we have all come away with a few ideas for next semester.

We went by ferry across Victoria Harbour to Hong Kong Island where the conference was held.

We noticed all kinds of boats in the Harbour - large cruise ships and little fishing boats.

The building above is the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center.

Victoria Harbour is getting smaller all the time. All the buildings around the harbour are on reclaimed land. More and more buildings are being built all the time.

After the conference Bob and I along with others went by bus across the island on a narrow, hilly road to Stanley Beach. It was a beautiful day. We had our dinner there and walked along the beach.

There were wedding pictures being taken right in front of the eating places.

Apartments and buildings surrounded the beach.

We returned to the ferry dock by bus and returned to the hotel. We had supper at the Spagetti Factory - we are eating all the western food we can before we return to Nanjing.

Tomorrow we fly to Guilan from Shenzhen, so we have to again cross the border from Hong Kong and then enter China. When we came across the border to Hong Kong there were all kinds of signs about not being ill when you cross the border. There were scanners that we passed through that measure body temperature. They are worried about bird flu.

Shenzhen/Hong Kong

At 6:00 a.m. yesterday we left beautiful Hainan Island. We travelled to the airport and took a flight to Shenzhen. It is a city that is part of mainland China and is across the bay from Hong Kong and is cheaper to fly to than Hong Kong.

There was a checkpoint between the airport and Shenzhen. Up until about four years ago it was necessary to have an entry card to get into Shenzhen but we just had to stop at the checkpoint and a soldier came on the bus and stood and smiled for a couple of minutes and then waved us on through. Many of the soldiers look like children in dress up clothes. The one who checked us out looked very young.

We spent the rest of the day in Shenzhen at the Splendid China Miniature Scenic Spot. We went to the Horseback Battle Field and saw a representation of a battle - some very good horses and riders. Some of the other shows we saw were the Tibetan Show, the Uygur Show, a Wa Village Show, an Oriental Dress Show and a Dancing with the Dragon and the Phoenix Show. All the shows were very impressive.

The Tibetan Lamasary

The Uygur Show

The Wa Village Show

However, it was a long day and we were happy to return to a good hotel and spend the night.

This morning we loaded our luggage on a bus and went to the border to exit China. We had to unload our luggage, fill in a form to exit, put our luggage through security and get our passports stamped. Then we loaded all our luggage on the bus and drove five minutes to the entrance of Hong Kong. We unloaded our luggage, filled in an entrance form and went through a long lineup to get into Hong Kong. We are staying at the Salisbury YMCA until late Sunday afternoon. (Not your average Canadian YMCA - a very nice hotel.) This afternoon we found a very good Japanese restaurant and enjoyed our dinner.

This evening we met with the China Teachers group and were instructed on our agenda for the next three days and then we watched a laser show over Victoria Harbour.

Monkey Island and the Beach

Yesterday I had a sore throat and stayed home while Bob went on the tours. I thought they were supposed to be back around noon, but they didn't get back until 6:30 p.m. Some of the group went skuba diving. Here are some of Bob's pictures and comments.

mobile housing in the harbour--there is a power and tv antenna line running from mast to mast
more mobile housing

the sedan lift--a real Dopplemeir--atleast that is what the label said!!

I didn't know that Darwin is spelt as "Darwen"--well is is on the book that this fellow is sitting on

if these critters escape our tour guide said no problem--they just end up being eaten

these birds are trained not to land on your finger for less than one yuan and will go to the higher denominations before landing on the one yuan handboy could these monkeys go really quickly when on the stilts--the trainers had a hard time keeping up to them!!

the first time that I've seen a goat walking a high wire with a monkey on its back, and the monkey was doing handstands and other tricks

it was amazing to see the goat stand on the vase with all four and the monkey doing handstands--they both moved very slowly and cautiously--I think that they have not always been successful, but they were today

a beach with no one on it--very rare--you need to take a ferry or the cable car to get to this resort and it is not sheltered like the popular beaches

Muslim girls at the beach--so much for bikinis

Third Annual China (SanYa) Orchid Show

Yesterday afternoon we went to the Orchid Show. It was the very end of the show and some of the flowers were wilting but there were still many beautiful flowers.

We walked down to the beach that is about a block and a half from our hotel and then went to an open air food court for supper. There were coloured lights all around. In the center of the court there is a stage and there was music being played.

The End of the Earth

Yesterday we went to the End of the Earth or Tian Ya-Hai Jiao. This inscription was put on large rocks about 1714.

Here is a picture of the entrance to the scenic area followed by pictures taken inside.

Below is one part of the inscription. The first character is sky.

The ball in the dragon's mouth is a pearl. Apparently if the dragon puts the pearl in the mouth of a deceased person the person will come to life.

Saturday Afternoon in Shanghai

After lunch on Saturday we went back to The Bund because the sun was shining and we could get clearer pictures than we got the day before.

We then went to the Shanghai museum. It was a beautiful building with many displays. We did not have time to see all the displays. We looked at the display of furniture, jade and ceramics. We also looked at an exhibition of copper pieces on loan from a private collector in New York. We weren't allowed to take pictures of the copper exhibit. Following are pictures from the furniture, jade and ceramics exhibits.

I always thought jade was green, but I found out there are many colors of jade.

After the museum we were able to take some of the same pictures that we took Friday with better light.

Everyone hangs out their laundry here in China. People who live behind the shops hang it out right on the street in front of the business.

We went to the Shanghai Jiangnan Silk Museum and learned how to make silk before rushing out to the airport where we caught a flight to SanYa on Hainan Island. We travelled by a private no frills airline (most airlines are government airlines but some businessman thought he could make airlines more accessable to the common people by lowering prices). We were allowed only one carryon and it couldn't be more than 5 pounds and they weighed it in as they collected our boarding passes. It was very hot on the flight and we were glad to arrive at SanYa finally.