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Zhang Jia Jie - Part 1

the longest cable car ride in the world (about 25 minutes ride) starts near downtown. All these suspension bridge, glass walk , etc are about 3000 feet high.

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Chinese are ahead in cashless society. Credit cards are things of past. While in China I used my credit card only once. Everyone one uses cell phone to pay or receive money, everyone including this street beggar. The QR code is printed and is hung over the neck. If you want to give her the money, click the QR code and enter the amount. All the stores, street vendors, restaurants,hotels, taxis, even buses have the code. Typically local bus fare is like 25 cents, and people pay online.

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In Xi An

first three. Obviously a local specialty noodle dish. The three letter says Biang Biang Mien(noodle) one of Biang letter needs 62 strokes to write and obviously not many people can remember how to write.

Next: China ‘s cashless system is well ahead of any other country. Credit card transaction is almost nonexistent . The advantage to the merchant is that he/she gets 100% - no commission is deduced by credit card company. Every consumer and merchant has an account including this person begging on the street. He has his account number in QR code. If anyone willing to donate money, just scan his code with the phone and enter the amount. In three weeks I was in China I never used credit card. I had my AliPay account which is linked to my credit card. I don’t know how my credit company will pay me my usual 1.5% cash back on my China spending.

Next two - a night entertainment. About $30. About a love story.

last: a local historic marker. Drum Tower. Located centrally in a walled city. With the drum in the morning all the gates are opened. There is similar looking Bell Tower that will ring in the evening to close all doors to the city.

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in Xi’An

This place, now a UNESCO World Heritage site was discovered by an accident by a farmer who was digging for a well in 1970s. This is believed to be the after life guard for the Chin Emperor. There have been no records of this terracotta servants and soldiers existence, and that’s why it was discovered so late and by accident. The emperor’s tomb has not been found, and that’s one of mysteries. There had to be records where his burial site was, but the reason they have not officially found was probably it was already robbed by professional grave robbers a long time ago knowing how wealthy the emperor was.

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a day trip from Qingdao

I signed up for a day trip. I don’t understand what the guide says but the guide used translator to tell me when and where to comeback to the bus. I used the service for mainly transportation. Cost only $5 for micro bus ride all day. first: this is official declaration of Chinese Socialist advantages. There 12 points are official and are used everywhere throughout China. I have seen hundreds of times in the three weeks I was in the country. It includes equality, justice, commonwealth, law, fairness ets. Will have the translation later.

I bought simple lunch for like $2. It consisted of see weed with egg soup and a flour bun without anything in it. I thought it was a huge dumpling but it was a just bread with nothing in it.

the huge statue of Nozi. Another old philosopher like Confucius.

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Finally I went into China and came out yesterday. Most sns outside China is not accessible from inside China. Any public square large enough to hold a mass assembly is guarded by swat type vehicles. People are watched everywhere like public squares and metro stations. Your bags like backpacks, luggage are scanned and your body is scanned every time you take subway. You are not allowed to carry cigarette lighters. The government of China behaves as if there is a credible intelligence everyday that a terrorist attach is imminent. Even the local flights, they frisk everyone manually even after automatic check.

First, secon and third.：Qingdao（Ching dao) an Easter city close to Korea.

4: Qingdao beer is famous in the city and I think beer can be mixed with fruit flavored drinks

5,6,7,8,9 : Qingdao Museum. Like Hong Kong and Macau, Germans came to Qingdao and demanded that the city is open to German. Germans got the permission and started building a brewery (Qingdao Bruewary) and started producing German beer. A few years later Germany lost WWI and had to leave. Then Japanese occupied that part of China and Japanese took over the brewery and produce beer under Japanese name. Then the WWII ended and Japanese surrendered the brewery to Chinese government. That’s why Qingdao beer was accepted by many other countries because it still brew beer the German way. Currently they said there are 60 breweries throughout China.

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To China

On May 6, Monday, I will start my 3 week journey into China. I finally got my visa (whopping $140 fee) from Chinese Consulate in Chicago for this trip.

I will enter China from East (Qingtao - the beer that made a city famous), move to North (Xi’An to see terra cotta soldiers) then to a little South to Zhangjiajie (where the movie Avatar was filmed) to West to Kunming and Lijiang. Then I will go to Shanghai and Suzhou before I go to Tokyo on May 28. My son’s family from Chicago will be in Tokyo to visit my daughter who has been living in Japan for the last three years. We will go to Tokyo Disneyland together.

Then I will be home on June 1.

I understand China has strict control of internet usage. I understand there won’t be any foreign social media like google, facebook, or even email. So I am slowly getting ready by writing down my itinerary in a note so that I don’t have to depend on my iPhone for all that info. I have been studying Chinese for the last two to three months.

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in Korea

first two. As usual I paid a visit to my parents’ graves. There is a man who is supposed to take care of the graves by cutting grass and repair flood damage but obviously it is too early to do that yet for this year. The grave was unkempt.

One of Koreans’ favorite activities is, in addition to singing along with Karaoke machine is hiking because majority of the people are obsessed with maintaining good health. One afternoon I hiked this mountain near Seoul National University. This is supposed to be one of easiest hiking courses, but I barely managed climb to the top. I am not sure if I will be able to do it again next year though. The height wasn’t the main problem; it was steepness. There are several hundred steps.

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A few days ago I bought a dozen of regular size oysters for about $8. I liked the so much so I went back to the store almost daily to see if they are back.. they haven’t, and instead they have these huge oysters. So I tried one today. One for $6. Fresh and delicious.

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I will be going to Korea on The 27th of April At least for a week. Plan to go to several cities in China from there.

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April 24,2024

A day trip to Cape Neco Lighthouse. Due to persistent rain I did not make to the lighthouse.

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A day trip to Izhushi, a ruined castle town. I don’t know the history why this castle became ruined. It’s about an hour bike ride away. The town’s specialty is buckwheat noodle. See the last picture. What makes that different from other buckwheat noodles? This town serves noodle on smaller plate and the unit of ordering is 5 plates at a time. Men eats 10-15 plates of noodle and women 5-10 plates. It’s not that much of food. I ate a plateful of noodle in two chopstick helping. Haha.

Toured an old samurai house. The sitting samurai figure in there was so lifelike I had to look several times to make sure it’s not a human.

The fourth from the last is a picture of old Buddhist stone carving that maybe several hundred years old. The whole area was full of moss, but some faithful must be coming on a regular basis to prey because I saw fresh flowers in the vase.

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A town whose name is Kinosaki Onsen is short distance away. I can go to the railroad station and go two stops or take e-bike and ride an hour to get there. It is a touristy place because there are 7 hot springs in a town. Many tourists including foreigners come here for a few days to enjoy the hot springs, cable car, and the local specialty food. I have been in three different hot springs and will go one more new place before I leave.

Hot spring water is hot enough (80degree C?) to cook food. One of activities in hot spring area is cooking one’s own eggs or sweet potatoes. One of these pictures show that. But for bathing in the public bath is cooled down to 40 degrees C (102 in F) . It’s hard to stay in the water more than 10 minutes at a time. That’s why outdoor hot springs are popular. Most hot spring public bath houses have both indoor and outdoor pool. Even foot bath pool is 40 degree water. Hot.

The second picture is a foreigner strolling in a traditional Japanese hot spring outfit called “Yucata”. It’s a common scene in the town. D

The 8th and the 9th picture show where people cook their eggs. They tie the bag containing raw eggs in there and come back after 10 minutes to get their softboiled eggs called “onsen Tama” - hot spring egg.

Other pics are hot spring public bath houses and the Buddhist temple to protect hot springs. Of course, they don’t allow cameras in the hot springs.

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The traditional Japanese garden next to the Himeji Castle, Kokoyen.

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On the way to the castle from the railroad station(about 10 minutes walk), there was an active firefighting activities. The smoke was seen at least an hour. In order to protect the wooden floors of the castle, people have to remove their shoes and carry them in a plastic shopping bag.

The model of wooden frame structure of the castle. Inside there are two main columns supporting the whole structure.

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April 15, 2024

Took a day trip to Himeji mainly to see the Himeji Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage site. This castle is considered the most beautiful castle in Japan. Visited both the castle and the Japanese traditional garden next to it.

The castle, I believe about six or seven stories tall, is made with only wooden columns.

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Japan Railway is Punctual and Safe

In most rural areas in Japan the railway is single lane shared for both directions. Each station has more than one lane. Trains wait in a station until the other train passes through from the other direction, usually within a couple of minutes. This require punctuality or the system will be in chaos.

The driver of this train (sometimes just one car train like tram) stands up from his seat, open his window to check visually the platform is clear. Then he points to the green light ahead as if he is showing someone that the light is green. He may drive this route daily for many years, but as he passes each check point he verifies the time to make sure. He doesn’t just look at the timetable, he points to it as if a driver trainee shows his trainer what he is doing. The driver do this everyday.

The driver is the fare collector too. Sometimes there aren’t ticket seller or machine at the station. In this case the passenger ask for the ticket with the station number where he/she got onboard. The display panel above the driver shows the number of the station and the fare if the passenger gets off now. So the panel gets updated as the train moves along. Each train has money changer and pay box. Shown here with orange color box in front of the driver booth. It would be time consuming process if many passengers have to pay onboard.