One Final Trip

Okay, it’s been a really really long time since I posted… I don’t have an excuse except that it has been a bit of a whirlwind.  I’m back in the USA! It’s been honestly really weird adjusting back to being in the states and living with my family again.  People keep asking what it’s like being back and it’s kinda hard to say, I miss parts of being in HK but I also know that isn’t where I wanted to be long term.  Mostly it’s the little things that will throw me off at random.  Seeing changes in the town and at my house.  It’s a little startling to realize you forgot where things are kept in the house that you’ve spent our whole life.  Plus, as a little talked about side effect of the life I live I really don’t have close friends in my home town or state. I went to college out of state and travel as much as I can so I have friends all around the country and the world but not where I grew up.  Luckily as it happens a number of my friends live in the same state so I’ve spent a fair amount of my time back in the states road tripping through NY to catch up with them.

But on to the more exciting part of this post.  Before I left HK I spent 10 days traveling in mainland China with my mom and my oldest brother. We started the trip by meeting up in Beijing.  They flew from the US and I flew from HK so my first reunion in a year with my family members was in the Beijing airport.

We were only in Beijing for a couple days so we tried to cram in as much sightseeing as possible.  Our first stop was the Summer Palace. It is a large complex of gardens, lakes, palaces, and temple that was first constructed in the 12^th century but underwent numerous remodels and expansions over the years and from different dynasties.

Our next stop was Tiananmen Square, where unfortunately Mao’s Mausoleum was closed for reasons that were not made clear.  There was also so much security at Tiananmen (and really all over Beijing and mainland in general).  Even with the Mausoleum being closed it was still kind awe-inspiring/eerie to be walking in a place that is surrounded by so much emotion and ultimately tragedy.

From there we crossed the street to visit the Forbidden City and the Imperial Garden. Basically living out my Mulan fantasies.  The Forbidden City was the Imperial Palace from 1420 to 1912.  It is made up of 980 buildings and covers 180 acres in the middle of Beijing.  Really just the sheer size of the compound and the buildings when you think about how they were constructed is mind boggling.

Our final stop was The Temple of Heaven. This temple was constructed by the same emperor who built the Forbidden City.  The complex was visited by the emperors to pray to Heaven for a good harvest.  The complex is a beautiful park area with gardens and buildings filling the area.

After our very busy day in the city we got up early the next day to head to the Great Wall (the Mutianyu section- Michelle Obama went to this section too).  It was honestly amazing.  We were lucky because it was slightly overcast when we went so there was almost no one else there, but it didn’t start raining until we were on our way down.  We hiked all the way up thousands of steps to the peak of the Great Wall and were able to experience the renovated and wild parts of the wall. It’s really something to stand on it and just see the wall twisting off into the distance.

The next part of our journey took us the Lhasa, Tibet.  The Tibetan Plateau is the highest in the world with Lhasa itself sitting at 3,490 meters (11,450 ft).  Flying in over the mountains was breathtaking and stepping off the plane into the crisp clean air (especially after living in HK for a year) was such a great experience.  There’s a lot of political tension surrounding Tibet and China’s treatment of it and the people there so we traveled with a guide and made sure we had all the appropriate permits (and were cart some of the religious sites and seeing the trucks of armed Chinese soldiers patrolling the streets certainly gave the air of an occupied territory.  We also suffered from some mild altitude sickness which made the first night/day a bit rough.  But it was worth it and I loved being there.  Definitely adding it to my return trip list!

Our first stop was Norbulingka. It was built in 1755 and served as the summer residence for the Dalai Lama until the exile of the 14^th Dalai Lama in 1959.  It consists of beautiful gardens and buildings and temples.  We were able to see where the Dalai Lama had been living  and the different prayer rooms and meeting rooms.

The next place we visited was the Sera Monastery.  It is considered one of the great three university monasteries of Tibet.  After the Dalai Lama fled to India many of the monks from the Sera Monastery followed him and set up a mirror Sera Monastery in India. Both Sera Monasteries are known for their live debates which we were able to watch in Tibet.

We also visited the Jokhang Temple. This is generally considered the most sacred and important temple by Tibetans. The Jokhang was founded during the reign of King Songtsen Gampo. According to tradition, the temple was built for the king’s two brides: Princess Wencheng of the Chinese Tang dynasty and Princess Bhrikuti of Nepal. The original part of the temple was built in 652 and it underwent numerous expansions from then until the final one in 1610.  It is viewed as the “spiritual heart of the city” and sits at the center of a network of Buddhist temples.  At all times of day you will see people circling the temple on their pilgrimages as well as prostrating themselves outside of it.

One of our final visits was to the Potala Palace. It is named after Mount Potalaka, the mythical home of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.  Its construction began in 1645 by the 5^th Dalai Lama and it functioned as the Dalai Lama’s residence and the seat of the government until the 14^th Dalai Lama had to flee in 1959.  Visitation is strictly monitored with multiple ID checks and limits on the number of visitors and how long you can stay for, as well as having numerous areas off limits.  It contains the Funeral Stupas of the previous Dalai Lamas as well as many other important artifacts.

We finished our time in Lhasa with a visit to a local family where we learned how to make momo (Tibetan dumplings) and printed our own prayer flags.  It was nice to get out of the city a bit and see how people live.  Just standing in the shadows of the mountains and breathing the fresh air was really awe-inspiring.  And experiencing the life of a people who are having their culture and religion taken from them was humbling and troubling.  Throughout Tibet you won’t find a photo of the 14^th Dalai Lama and no one knows what will happen and if he will ever get to have a funeral stupa in the Potala Palace.

The final city we visited was Xi’an.  The city is the starting point of the Silk Road and is surrounded by a restored city wall which offers great views of the city.  Xi’an is also home to the Terracotta Army that we’ve all learned about in school.  Its surprisingly well preserved and really cool to see.  It was honestly kind of hard to grasp, seeing all these soldiers it seems like there’s no way they are actually real and just dug up out of the ground.  This was my mom’s favorite thing on the trip.

We then spent an evening watching the fountain and light show in front of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and it was so fun.  We actually got soaking wet because of how close to the front we were (the whole crowd in that area did) but it just added to the fun of it.

On our last day in the city we visited the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower. Both were built in the 14^th century and contained a large bell and drum respectively.  The bell was rung at dawn to mark the time while the drum was beat at dusk.  From there we headed to the Muslim Quarter and the Great Mosque.  In my travels I have visited a few mosques, but this one was really fascinating.  While it was not the grandest I have seen, the mix of traditional Islamic designs paired with Chinese architecture created a unique aesthetic.

We left Xi’an and headed back to Hong Kong for less than 24 hours before leaving to head back to America.  Walking around the city I’ve lived in for the past year and knowing I was seeing it for the last time in a while was bittersweet.  I’m glad to be back in the US and see my friends and family, but I had some amazing times in HK and met some great people.  I don’t know where my next adventure will take me, but I’m truly thankful for everything I’ve experienced this past year.

Blue Crush 3?

This past Tuesday was a public holiday here in HK so my friend and I decided to go to Big Wave Bay and try to learn how to surf.  We decided that we didn’t want to pay for lessons (they’re very expensive) and so we asked around with friends and strangers for advice and figured we would be fine.  To be clear here basically all of my knowledge about surfing comes from the early 2000s movie Blue Crush and its less good and totally unrelated sequel Blue Crush 2.  But there was a surf lesson scene so I felt like I knew the important stuff.

So basically we went to BWB, rented wetsuits (honestly one of my favorite parts is the outfit) and surf boards, got a quick theoretical lesson and headed into the water… Unfortunately I do not have a natural aptitude for surfing. Definitely not a prodigy.  Basically paddling was really hard so I just like swam with the board instead and then pulled myself up on it when I got out far enough.  Also since paddling wasn’t happening instead of correctly catching the waves I kinda just laid on the board until a wave caught me instead.  Also I really never figured out how to stand up. Not the balance part, but the actual getting up part.  Everyone just says “and then pop up” like it’s actually gonna be that easy but let me tell you it most definitely is not.  I regret always skipping the burpees in my workouts…

Even though I didn’t actually surf I was able to kneel and ride a few times (def could not pop up enough to get my feet under me) and other wise I just enjoyed laying down to ride the waves. Overall it was a ton of fun and I think I will be doing it again… maybe with a bit more research and instruction next time!

A Pillow Fight in the City

The weather here in HK is getting warmer every day and last Saturday I decided to take advantage of the pre-humidity warm weather and wander around Central.  As I was doing my wandering I came across what I later learned was the 7th Annual International Pillow Fight in Charter Gardens.  There was a bunch of people wearing costumes and just hitting each other with pillows.  My friend and I even joined in a bit! If you manage to find the news coverage of it you’ll even see the picture of us with the minion character among others (there’s a video on Facebook).  It was definitely an interesting experience!

 

The Twins

Last Saturday my friends and I set out on another hike- Twin Peaks in Stanley.  We had heard it had some of the best views in HK but none of us really knew where it was or what it was like.  I did some research and many people called it one of the harder hikes in Hong  Kong but a few people used a phrase that, in my mind at least, was open for interpretation. One hiker said they use this hike as a good “weekend workout”. Now in my sporadically fit opinion a weekend workout is easier than a regular workout– it’s the weekend.  For my whole life weekend has implied relaxing. With this in mind I convinced my friends that even though there were multiple peaks  and a section called One Thousand Steps it wouldn’t be that hard… I think my exact words were “it’s only one thousand stairs, that’s not even that many”.  To be clear I work on the second floor and I take the elevator.

So with my encouragement we set out for our hike.  In hindsight we were given many signs that this maybe was not really the best plan.  The fact that we had to walk uphill for 20 minutes to get to the start of the hike, the fact that the start of the hike was a fairly steep set of stairs (not the one thousand  steps part), the fact that the weather was shit before we even started, and you know- the actual sign at that start warning away inexperienced and unequipped hikers…

Of course we ignored all of that and continued on our hike! Now I’m not gonna say don’t do this hike, clearly I made it, but maybe do some stair-master training first. Essentially the whole hike is steep stairs up the side of a mountain and THEN you get to the One Thousand Steps and surprise it’s actually 1209 steps! Also if you didn’t guess I was absolutely wrong, 1000 stairs really is that bad.

But you know at least we had that really nice view to make it all worth it……. yeah we were essentially inside a cloud of fog and saw nothing, like it was like looking at a wall instead of a window. And the wind really picked up which made climbing somewhat treacherous stairs just that much worse.

I have really mixed feelings about this hike. It was kind of awful but at the same time the experience was pretty hilarious… although if you ask if I’ll do it again to get the view I’m really not sure about it.

Hit Your Villains

This past Sunday was the start of Jingzhe here in Hong Kong.  This essentially means the start of the start of spring (they use solar terms not just days so Jingzhe refers to the 3^rd solar term which lasts from March 5 to March 20 and that whole period is “the start of spring”).

Anyway this day is considered the most auspicious for the tradition of villain hitting, so of course I had to join in. 

Villain hitting is a traditional sorcery practiced in Hong Kong and the ceremony is performed by older ladies usually in gloomy locations- I went under an overpass to find my villain hitter. Villain hitting is used essentially to curse a villain in your life or exorcise a demon from your life. Targets of this cursing often include politicians, celebrities, employers, and/or rival love interests.

 I’m going to do my very best to explain the process, but as my Cantonese is limited to introducing myself I’m sure I missed some details in the ceremony…

 After you have located a villain hitter you write down specific details about your villain on Fulu (special talisman paper).  The hitter will take this paper and then use a paper effigy of a person to symbolize your villain.  They then take to beating that effigy with their shoe… many times… while chanting some prayer/curse.  Then they burn the effigy and the Fulu paper.  Next you make a sacrifice to Bai Hu or the white tiger of misfortune.  Yellow paper tigers are used to represent Bai Hu and the sacrifice is a piece of pork that is smeared over its mouth (to feed it) so that it will not hurt you/others. Then you pray for blessings to balance out the cursing that just happened (dualism is very important).  To do this you take special red paper called Gui Ren paper and pray over it then burn it as well.  Finally you thank the spirits by making an offering to them and bowing.  Of course there is a lot of incense burning the whole time as well.

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While the whole thing was carried out in Cantonese I have to say I felt rather uplifted and lighter after the experience.  I would recommend anyone passing through HK find their way to an overpass and get their villains hit. 

Exploring the Past

In a place like HK where the land is very much overwhelmingly urban it stands to reason that most exploring is urban exploring.  While this usually consists of wandering around crowded streets in search of that one store on the 15th floor of a usually super sketchy building, it sometimes involves something a little different.

After our hike on Devil’s Peak last weekend, we were inspired by the abandoned British garrison so we found our way to an abandoned secondary school and decided to continue exploring.  It was cool, but kind of creepy, because none of knew why it had been abandoned and there were still old posters on the walls.  It has been thoroughly explored probably by hundreds or thousands of young Hongkongers and tourists–as evidenced by the extensive graffiti but it still had an air of mystery.

Devil’s Peak

Last weekend my friends and I hike Devil’s Peak.  I don’t know how it got that moniker though because it was a relatively short and easy hike.  On the way up we passed the remains of British redoubt barriers that were built in 1914 to garrison the peak in order to control the Lei Yue Mun which is a key passage to the South China Sea.

The hike provided some good views of HK and the harbour from an unusual angle and there were swings at the top! I will admit that we knew this was going to provide good photo opportunities so we had a planned impromptu photoshoot at the top… including outfit changes…

 

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Ping Shan Heritage Trail

I learned recently that Hong Kong has a few heritage trails (think Freedom Trail in Boston) that are pretty close to where I live.  So my friend and I decided to make use of our day off on Tuesday are walk the Ping Shan Heritage Trail. This trail takes you through a part of Hong Kong that has been populated by the Tang clan since the late Yuan dynasty (1271-1368).  It is a fairly short trail with some really cool sights and there are a good number of signs to make sure you are headed in the right direction (although I would recommend they paint the ground like in Boston).

The first stop was the Tsui Shing Lau Pagoda.  This is HK’s oldest pagoda and its name means “Pagoda of the Gathering Stars”. It is said to have been built as a fengshui structure to ward off evil spirits.  It was also aimed at ensuring the success in the Imperial Civil Service Examinations for members of the Tang ( they actually produce numerous scholars and officials throughout history).

The next stop was the Shine of the Earth God. This is right outside the walled village and believed to protect the homes and villages.

Right near the shrine is Sheung Cheung Wai, a 200 year old walled village. Parts of it were renovated over time, and there are still Tang families living there.

The next stop was the old well (which now houses koi) and the Yeung Hau Temple, dedicated to Hau Wong, who is believed to have been a general who gave up his life to protect the last Song Emperors.   The temple is divided into three parts honoring Hau Wong, Kam Fa (patron of expectant mothers), and the Earth God.

 

From there we moved on to the Tang Ancestral Hall and the Yu Kiu Ancestral Hall.  These building are side by side and built identically and were used as community gathering places as well as schools.  This style of building (three halls with two internal courtyard) is considered unique.

Nearing the end of the trail are the Kun Ting Study Hall and adjacent Ching Shu Hin.  As expected the study hall was used as a school and Ching Shu Hin was a guesthouse for scholars and prominent visitors.  Both of these buildings are noted for the impressive craftsmanship and design that went into them.

Our final stop was the Hung Shing Temple, Hung Shing (the temple’s namesake) was a Tang official who promoted astronomy and meteorology and used his knowledge to help and protect the local fishermen and villages. This temple is unique in that it has an internal open-air courtyard instead of being fully roofed.  This makes is brighter and much better ventilated than other temples (nice way of saying the incense doesn’t choke you on your way in).

Hiking the Dragon’s Back

Last Sunday a group of friends and I hiked Dragon’s Back.  I spent much of the fall trying to plan a hike there and having it rain every weekend we wanted to go, but now I finally made it!! It is a very easy hike with some awesome views.  It’s called Dragon’s Back because the rises look like the bumps of a dragon’s back as it lies down (seen in first picture).

Ocean Park

I’ve asked numerous students and friends what they would recommend me visiting or doing during my time in Hong Kong and almost always the response is Ocean Park.  I’ve been a bit resistant to it because I’m really not one to visit a new country and then hit up the theme parks.  However, this past weekend I relented and made the trip there (on the brand new MTR line with a station right at the park!).

My first pleasant surprise was getting the discount for being a resident (yay HKID!).  After that I continued to enjoy my time seeing many animals and a really awesome aquarium. They had pandas, koalas, kangaroos (including an albino one!), arctic foxes, sharks, penguins, my very first walrus (!), and many more!!

 

There are also lots of rides and games and food that add to the experience.  Including a sea animal carousel and roller coasters!

I have to agree with all the recommendations, it is definitely a place to check out in HK. Although I suggest going in the winter like I did because the usual crush of people was happily absent.