Travel China and Beyond

Updates on my photo albums page….

It has been awhile since I updated the photo album page on the blog, so earlier today I decided that I need to scrub my Google database and update the photo storage there and subsequently update the albums here... So now that this is done you can enjoy images from Beijing, Shanghai (not the usual stuff but some interesting shots from Pudong), and Taipei (including a beautiful park there)…

Visit on Memory Lane — Some old pictures from HuangShan - 1989

Just this past weekend I decided to go through some old photos (from the days when digital cameras were not yet the norm ) and - Oh, gasp - use my scanner to convert some of those to a digital format.  Long story short, I came some photos from 1989 and a trip I took with friends to Huang Shan.  Huang Shan being one of the most famous spots in China of course gets lots of tourists - there were plenty of people even back in 1989.  At any rate, here are some beautiful shots from the mountain peaks and the sunrise on one of the mornings.

Looking at these photos, you can understand why this mountain is one of the frequent topics of many Chinese paintings…It is a beautiful place - enough said.  So if you have a chance plan for a trip there.  For those of you not familiar with its location - you will need to travel to Anhui province in Eastern China.  I personally got to the mountain via bus (a long bus ride) from Hangzhou.

More on Air Travel in China - Also an observation about what services and products support need to be

About a year ago I posted on some of my experiences with how Chinese airlines manage delays and overall information to passengers…Well, it seems that a boiling over point has been reached for travelers in China. Recent article posted by Reuters provides a view of the activism performed by those travelers — taking matter in their own hands, they decided to stay on-board the canceled flight…

I have been in some of those situations — not staying on the plane - but having a whole bunch of passengers surrounding the airline representatives and not letting them leave until they resolve the situation with the delayed or canceled flight.

For those of you who believe that in China, consumers are not demanding, think twice…. This is one of the most challenging markets, or rather China has become extremely challenging place for companies who fail to meet expectations of the Chinese consumer. This latest report is just one example of the extremes you may experience as a product or service provider in China.

Sure, there are airline delays and flight cancellations in many places around the world, but few are the cases where passengers have done the act of staying on-board the aircraft and demanding action by the airline, while at the same time being served by the flight attendants….Quite something.

All in all, this can be viewed also as a red flag to companies who are planning market entry into the Chinese market…

What to buy and what NOT to buy in China

Recently I have come across a series of questions (on various web sites - not only on this blog) about what to buy in China. The reality is that the answer to such question depends heavily on your likes and dislikes. However, if you still want to have a general idea as to the types of goods to seek out or plan to purchase and more importantly which ones NOT to expect to get a good deal on, here is a summary:

You could purchase many types of tea that may be available overseas, but not even close in price. If you like tea, and plan to be in Beijing, you should plan for an afternoon at the Tea Street in South East Beijing. Here is a link to some earlier posts on this:

Furniture: various styles and types of Ming and Qing dynasty furniture is available - of course keep in mind that most of it is essentially replica of old pieces. You should not plan to get antiques anyway - you will have trouble shipping them out of the country. Same applies to pottery.

If you are looking for pearl, cloisonne, cinnabar jewelry - this is also the place to get it. There are many postings on this blog addressing shopping for jewelry…Here are some and another one
I would NOT recommend electronics — many people are surprised to find out that the US is actually significantly better place to buy electronics (when compared to China).

Places to See in China / Beijing — Beijing DongYue Temple Visit

One of the less visited temples in Beijing is the DongYue (East-Mount) Temple.  This Taoist temple is located at 141 DongYueMiao ,ChaowaiDaJie in ChaoYang district of Beijing (interestingly enough it is right across the street from busy shopping malls), but often overlooked.

If you want to visit you can take a cab to the address above or use the subway.  The temple is located near by the Chaoyangmen station.

The temple has been rebuilt in multiple dynasties since its establishment in the 14th century    The stone tablets in the temple represent apparently one of the largest collection of those in China.  Some of the 90+ tablets are inscribed by famous caligraphers and date back to the centuries of the temple’s first operation.

Today the temple is a nice place to visit and both experience some very interesting architecture and get a glimpse of Taoism, as well as just to enjoy the piece and quiet of its many courtyards.   Here an older Chinese gentleman is enjoying an exercise….

When you thought you have seen it all in Shoe Fashion, the next surprise comes

Rushing through Hong Kong airport recently, I could not miss the opportunity to snap a few images of brand new fashions in shoes… Take a look at these images:

Pretty fancy, yeah!?

More troubles in Air Travel - First Cancelled Flights, then Missing Baggage Handlers

Well, if you are looking for worry and trouble free flights these days, think twice.  On a recent flight from China (Shenzhen - Shanghai - Chicago) to Austin, Texas, I got to experience the challenges of air travel disconnects and issues.  As you are most likely aware American Airlines had to cancel a whole bunch of flights in the US as they were serviced by the fleet’s grounded MD-80 aircraft.

As a result of those flight cancellations on my recent flight to the US, I looked into requesting a switch to a United flight from Chicago O’Hare to Austin airport.  My initial reaction was “Score — I was able to get on the flight”, and be able to avoid staying the night in a hotel in Chicago.  That was the 30 seconds of elation.  Then the reality of the current flight conditions settled in.  The United flight was initially delayed by 2 hours.  Then, by the time we actually boarded the plane (after having to wait for a flight crew to arrive from another city) it was already 3, or 3+ hours delay.    Well, you may say, “Whats the big deal — only 3 hours delay…”  —- But that was not all.  Once we boarded the plane the additional wait started.  Come to find out (based on the plane captain’s update to us the passengers) — the baggage handlers had decided to go home.  So after midnight the Chicago O’Hare airport was being served by a tiny crew of baggage handlers — statements were made to the effect of “Only 2 baggage handlers are servicing all the gates in this part of the airport.  No, we do not know when they will get to our plane….”

The net effect was that we had to sit for a whole lot of time on the tarmac in the plane while someone had to load our bags in the plane.  We (the passengers) could have done that.  I am sure most of us wanted to get it done so we can get back home…..

Well, long story short, eventually the baggage handlers showed up, and eventually we were airborne.  But the sour taste in my mouth remains — what a crazy setup — You have a whole bunch of aircraft / flights canceled, you have a whole lot of  tired and frustrated passengers, and NO ONE from the airport management makes an effort to ensure that at least the ground crews are operational….. Go figure….!

That was a very frustrating experience.   So where was that bill of passenger rights

I wonder….

Happy Travels!

Buying Murano Style Glass Jewelry in the Silk Street Market in Beijing

When I was in the Silk Street Market in Beijing last month buying some stock for my online jewelry store, Chinafinds, I noticed that there were a number of stalls selling beautiful Murano / Venetian style glass jewelry. There was no attempt to pass it off as ‘genuine Murano glass’ or ‘authentic Venetian glass’ as it was very clearly made in China. It would be hard to imagine importing the genuine art glass from Italy and selling it in a Beijing market anyway!

At any rate, the quality of many of the items that I saw was quite good and the prices were much, much lower than those of the real Italian Murano glass items that I have seen. I had seen Chinese Murano style glass jewelry in the markets in previous years, but the amount was smaller and the quality was not nearly as good. Clearly, the Chinese manufacturers are perfecting their techniques.

Buying Cloisonne Jewelry at Hongqiao Pearl Market in Beijing

Still on Day 2 of my recent trip to Beijing—my daughter and I headed back to Hongqiao Pearl Market after lunch and a bathroom break at the hotel (for those of you who have never had the pleasure of visiting Beijing, a visit to the hotel bathroom is generally infinitely preferable to using the (un)sanitary facilities when one is out and about!). This time, we were in search of cloisonné jewelry. Like cinnabar, cloisonné is an ancient Chinese decorative art. To create cloisonné, wires are first arranged on the item to be decorated in the desired design and then the spaces in between are filled with successive layers of colored enamel. Finally, the item is fired and polished. Cloisonne can be used to create decorative plates, bowls and ornaments as well as jewelry, but today we were only interested in its jewelry applications.

The large central area of the third floor of the Hongqiao Pearl Market is devoted to pearls and to get to the place where cloisonné, cinnabar and other traditional handicrafts are sold, you have to go to the far back reaches of the floor. There you will find a multitude of items other than cinnabar and cloisonne—wood carvings, rugs, stone carvings, Christmas ornaments, Chinese seals (chops), decorative boxes, glass spheres with carvings inside them, hairpins, writing pens, writing brushes, ink sticks, wall hangings and more! Bargaining is, of course, essential. We finally found a few places selling good quality cloisonné bracelets. One of the vendors, who was selling cloisonné of higher quality than those in the neighboring stalls, was particularly informative about the different quality levels of cloisonné. She showed us the difference between cloisonné items that were lighter weight and had a rougher texture and those that were heavier and had a smoother, more polished texture. From what I understood of her explanation in Chinese, the former used a less expensive four-step process in its manufacture and the latter used a lengthier and pricier six-step process. I may not have understood her all that clearly, but I was impressed with the quality of the items I purchased from her. There was clearly a difference between the two types of cloisonné and the six-step process simply produced a higher quality product. We purchased both cloisonné bangle bracelets and hand-knotted cloisonné bead necklaces from her and then returned back to the hotel to collapse in our comfortable room.

Buying Cinnabar Jewelry at the Hongqiao Pearl Market in Beijing

On Day 2 of my recent trip to Beijing, I rose early from my comfortable bed at the Holiday Inn Temple of Heaven, urged on by my nine year old daughter who was worried that we would miss out on all the good stuff at the complimentary breakfast buffet if we didn’t arrive sufficiently early. After quick showers and a long breakfast (the breakfast buffet really was quite tasty and all the good stuff wasn’t gone!), my daughter and I got into a taxi and headed over to the Hongqiao Pearl Market.

The market is located right beside the beautiful Temple of Heaven, so it is quite convenient to do both of them in one day. However, we had already had several pleasant outings at the Temple of Heaven in the past, and today only shopping was on our agenda. We entered the Hongqiao Pearl Market through a side entrance as it appears to be undergoing some sort of construction facelift, leaving the front entrance not easily accessible, and went straight to the jewelry section. To do this, we had to march determinedly past the first floor vendors selling scarves and knickknacks and electronic equipment, evade the second floor vendors as they tried to sell us shoes, clothing, luggage and purses, and go right up to the third floor where all the jewelry is. This morning, our objective was jewelry made from carved cinnabar. Cinnabar jewelry has an interesting history; originally, it was made from a tree sap lacquer that was colored by the beautiful but toxic mineral cinnabar (otherwise known as mercury sulfide). The resulting red lacquer was painted onto an item in multiple coats, letting the item dry between each coat, and then the resulting layers of lacquer were carved by artisans in decorative patterns. Obviously it wasn’t known at the time that the mineral cinnabar was dangerous and any poisoning that resulted was probably low level enough never to be noticed. Today, Chinese cinnabar products contain no actual cinnabar—the classic red color associated with cinnabar is provided by a harmless red dye.

Cinnabar jewelry, our objective of the morning, comes in many forms. One of the most common is the cinnabar bangle bracelet. Carved with a variety of traditional Chinese designs, these bracelets come in various widths and sizes. Some aren’t even red—I encountered pure black cinnabar bracelets on this visit for the first time. There are also cinnabar bead necklaces, cinnabar pendant necklaces, and cinnabar earrings. My daughter and I managed to buy a good quantity of each type of cinnabar jewelry and came back to the hotel laden with loot. Our next objective would be cloisonné, but that could wait until after lunch!