Day 7 - Blog Wars

Dun Dun Dun Dun Dah Dun Dun Dah Dun...

 

So, after much ado, I've found a new blog that I can access from China without complicated firewall workarounds. It actually shortens up the URL a bit too! Come follow me at: http://kiminshantou.blog.com/

 

Thanks so much for your patience! Hopefully this rewards it!

Fwd: Day 5 - The return of the blog?

So, it turns out that the Great Firewall of China also blocks Blogspot - who would have guessed? Apparently I didn't research this properly at all before I left, but I seem to have found an acceptable workaround. I'm posting from email now, as I only have brief windows of time where I can access my blog unless I pay a subscription, so it may take a few tries to get all of my formatting the way I want it. Please bear with me. Also, now that I'm done travelling, I'll be referring to things in Shantou time for simplicity, which is 14h ahead of Calgary time - I'll leave the time zone conversion as an exercise for the reader.

 

The last few days have been pretty busy. We arrived in Shantou on Monday at about noon, and were met by a few of our classmates from Shantou. We went out for a nice lunch at a restaurant in town, then headed to the university to get settled into our dorm rooms. Once we'd unpacked a bit, we toured the campus to get our bearings - I still don't know where everything is, but I'm gradually figuring that out. Our residence backs onto a mountain covered in rainforest, and the entire campus is just as gorgeous, so getting a bit lost once in a while isn't the worst thing in the world. I'll do my best to communicate that through photos in the next few days. Here's one for starters...

 

Is that... Isengard on the mountain?

 

Yesterday, we went out into town on a shopping trip. I got a new camera that I'm thrilled with while I was there - I'll try to get up as many pictures as I can. We started up classes today - we'll be brainstorming ideas for our renewable energy consumer products tomorrow morning, and we started constructing photovoltaic cells from copper and CD cases this afternoon. It will only get busier from here, but it should be a lot of fun.

Day 2 - Hong Kong (continued)

So, after a bit of sleep, let's see if I can get some more photos up from last night's trip to Cowloon. We took the train into town from the airport, then walked up and down some market streets, looking at the goods for sale and grabbing some dinner.

Wandering the streets of Cowloon with Dr. Hugo, our fearless leader

Neon signs are everywhere, flashing messages in Cantonese, Mandarin, and occasionally English. Definitely not an epilepsy-friendly city, but it was pretty enough in small doses.

Entrance to the main shopping street we explored.

Hanging flags and lanterns strung between the buildings overlooking the street.

One thing I found really interesting was the use of bamboo as a scaffolding material. I suppose it is fairly ubiquitous, strong, and lightweight, which lends it to the application, but it was still a bit different from what I'm used to at home. 

Bamboo scaffolding - in most places, it's used to hold up awnings, but here, it actually appears to be supporting a raised walking platform.

Bamboo connections and "cross bracing (?)"

Underside of bamboo scaffold deck

More bamboo - bamboo for all!

There were plenty of interesting shops and vendors to check out. We did a lot of browsing, but I don't think anyone made any major purchases just yet - it's a bit early for that. Didn't stop us from seeing what was on offer.

Fauve peruses the jewellery on display

The group heads into a store selling a bit of everything.

Dan on the quest for an iPhone 4

Dan showing off his absolutely gorgeous camera. I will freely admit to being jealous of it and the pictures it takes - I'm pretty sure everyone wants copies of Dan's photos once this trip is done.

There is a bit of everything on sale in the market...

From fanciful phones...

To piles of bracelets...

To carved pendants...

To Disney knockoffs that speak in Cantonese and flash coloured lights as they waddle around on tables.

It's Snoopy!!!

It's also very interesting to see the food, and soon-to-be food products on sale:

Live shrimp

Squid steaks

Assorted shellfish

Live crabs

The last thing we did was head down to the harbour, to take a look at downtown Hong Kong over the water. It was pretty spectacular to see.

Downtown Hong Kong

Harbour lights - I thought this looked pretty neat.

We'll be checking in for our third and final flight in the next few hours. Next stop: Shantou! Beds! Profit!?

Rock on!



Day 1 1/2 - Hong Kong

I don't think it really qualifies as Day 2 if I haven't slept yet (there was a bit on the plane, but nothing really continuous), so I'm currently on day 1 1/2 by my reckoning. I'm tired enough that I find it really amusing that the clocks on my iPod currently say it's 12:21 PM Today in Calgary, and 2:21 AM Tomorrow in Hong Kong - I'm living in the future!

We're currently setting up to crash on some couches in the Hong Kong airport. We arrived here about 8 hours ago, but took the opportunity to head into Kowloon for some sightseeing and food. Very much worthwhile, but also tiring - I'll let my pictures tell the story as much as possible.

The Hong Kong airport. The ceiling architecture is stunning... the curved roof surfaces seem to be weightless, floating above impossibly long beam spans. I think the illusion is caused by the way the panels cover much of the underlying steel structure, but reveal it strategically. The arching beams draw your eye down, which seems to lift the ceiling up. 

The reflections in the end windows add to the illusion that the building never ends (not to say it isn't big - it's massive!)

Even the train station gets in on the curved-steel and glass action

Heading into Cowloon = some interesting currency trading

Waiting for the train (is it obvious my camera is set for automatic face recognition?)

Well, the airport wireless seems to be betraying me - I can't get any more photos to load right now. I'll do my best to get the photos of Cowloon and Hong Kong up while we're waiting for the plane to Shantou "tomorrow".... see you soon!

Day 1 - Vancouver Airport

The journey has begun! The flight into Vancouver went smoothly, and the Shantou 2011 Study Abroad group is currently camped out at Gate 54 in the International Departures area of Vancouver International Airport, awaiting our 13-hour flight to Hong Kong. People seem to be pretty tired in general - some just finished their last exams or presentations yesterday, so it's understandable. I imagine some of us will be taking advantage of the opportunity to nap on the flight, although some are getting a head-start...

 

Vien testing the bench seats at Gate 54 - he seems to approve

 The group arrived here in two waves, so I haven't seen everyone yet. Some have wandered off to get food while the rest of us hold down the fort at the gate.

Fauve, Bruce, and Rachel chilling at the gate.

Parth keeping it real.

I'm actually quite impressed with this section of the Vancouver airport - I've never departed internationally in this direction, so it's fun to check out a new portion of the building. I quite like the look of the space.

The food court has water features

They also have fish!

I'm quite liking the curved beams - who says steel isn't pretty?

Also, the light fixtures are funky.

I'm being called up for boarding now, so should probably pack up my computer. Next stop: Hong Kong!