Shanghai Maglev

A Maglev train levitates on a magnetic field which propels it forward. Because it experiences significantly less resistance to traditional trains it can reach mind blowing speeds. 

Shanghai operates the only commercial Maglev in operation on the planet. Its a show piece or "vanity project" at this point. They are trying hard to extend its use however money, politics, ownership of the technology, public support, etc are barriers. Their heavy rail trains run at an impressive 350km per hour for significantly less capital cost.

In China they have tested the Maglev at over 500 km/h but they run them opperationaly at a top speed of 431 km/h.

The train runs about 30 km in distance to the Pudong airport.

It's an exhilarating experience to say the least! The entire trip is about 7 minutes, it only operates at the max speed for a few of those minuets but it accelerates fast and smooth.

It's shockingly fast to travel at those speeds on land. Because they are concerned that citizens might get too uneasy they use a special glass for the windows called decelerating glass. The decelerating glass creates the illusion you are moving slower than the 431km/h. I estimate appears closer to the 350km/h experienced on experience with heavy rail trains but you can definitely feel you are moving ridiculously fast through the city!

For reference the fastest roller coaster in the world goes 240 km/h

The camera work here is pretty bad, I was focusing more on the experience than I was trying to capture great footage. The ride is very smooth but the zoom significantly magnifies the slightest of  shaking/swaying.

Why can't we have nice things like this in North America?

-Jason

Toilets in Asia

Our favorite toilets in the world are in Japan. They come in all shapes and sizes with plenty of buttons. Some will keep the seat warm, wash you (in varying spots and water pressures), and sing to you (flushing noises or other sounds to cover up the noises you are making). After using these ones, you will dream about them and no other will come close to the perfect toilet. If only the rest of the world had these.

 Toilet in Japan

Close up of all the buttons!

Alas, we could not stay in Japan, as we have a need to see the rest of the world. We cannot be tied down, as such, we will have to experience other toilets. Being on the road gives you the chance to experience a lot of toilets along the way. Some good, others not so much. You just have to be aware, and always be packing....change, Purell and tissues!

Some washrooms I've seen in Asia

 have a dedicated toilet for children!

It's tiny!

Asia is not the first time we’ve had to pay to use a public toilet. And not all toilets require payment, but you never know, so we always carry a little change with us (Tip #1). Tissues are a MUST. I have met many a toilet where there is no paper, sometimes I bypass them by accident when I enter the washroom, but a lot of times there just isn’t any. I ALWAYS carry tissue (Tip #2). Then there are times the sink is of poor working condition, and often no soap, so I will carry Purell (Tip #3) to sanitize in between. But these are all things you get used to and will become habit before you venture out each day.

My favorite sign - the raised toilet sign

(Western style toilet), I am very happy when I see this!

Also a favorite sign - Starbucks have Western style

toilets, but a sign is required for proper use...

see the "For your safety..." item on sign.

Excuse me, but how do you squat on a Western

style toilet?! I'd fall off!

What I cannot and may never get used to are the two different types of toilet styles found in Malaysia, China, Vietnam and others. You have your western style, and then you have your “squatter” style. Sometimes public washrooms will have both styles but often, it will be just one style (and usually not the style I was hoping for!). But when you have to go, you go!

 Horizontal urinal style squatter

Disneyland Hong Kong - all but one stall

was Western style

I took pictures of the cleanest squatter style toilets I could find - I'm saving you from some very disturbing images. And please be VERY careful when using these. Sometimes they are wet inside the stall (from cleaning). Once I went to use one, and almost slipped right into it! That was a close call!


~ Christine

Visiting Pizza Hut in China

Here’s another one I am not a big fan of but Jason is, Pizza Hut. Pizza is not my favorite food (yes, I know, strange am I), and two, I think the pizza here is greasy, both of which are reasons Jason is always trying to get us to go!

Pizza Hut in China

Pizza?

Corn beverage?

We were trying to figure out dinner one night while in Chengdu. I was just too tired to think and deal with trying to figure out another menu, so I just caved right in. Crumbled without a fight, hmmm, come to think about it, neither of us had even made a suggestion yet of where/what to eat, I just said, “Ok, if you want, we can go to Pizza Hut”. Jason could not believe his ears! He wasn’t even in the mood for pizza, but knows how much I do not care for it, that he jumped at the chance. Who knows when I would agree to it!

Steak?

Rice?

This one is another surprise. Pizza Hut here is not the same as home. They are quite nice looking for one, and the locals love it - busy! We were seated and handed a menu. I’m not sure why that is so big in Asia, but a lot of the time, you only get one menu for everyone to look at. Also, as soon as they give it to you, they will often stand there and wait for you to order. Now if you’ve seen the menu at Pizza Hut in China, it’s not just a page, its pages, I need a little more time to see what is in here! Hey, look at this! It’s not just pizza! There are appetizers we are familiar with, and some we are not. You can even get escargot here! There are salads, pasta dishes, rice dishes, steaks, dessert and 2 pages of drinks! And the menu is full of pictures (which of course, are for illustration purposes only...).

Jason had to try the escargot at Pizza Hut

Prices are reasonable, the food is good, and it is a fun experience. Who knew?!

~ Christine

Eaten 23 October 2013 (and a couple other times :)

The Great Wall

If you were to ask me the one thing that must be done while visiting China (other than the pandas in Chengdu :) it would be to visit the Great Wall. It is breath-taking beyond words.

The Great Wall is over 6,200 km long and construction started over thousands of years ago. Several walls were started and they were all joined together to form the Great Wall.   It was initially built for protection against intrusion, and later used for the purposes of border control (trade) and control of immigration/emigration.

Parts of the wall are in good condition, while others are in decay. The most visited portion of the wall is called Badaling and it is located just outside of Beijing. This section of the wall is the first part that was opened to tourists, it is also the youngest, at only 600-ish years old. It took hundreds of thousands of people to build this and when you see it, you wonder how it was ever done.

The mountain views are stunning

We took the train to Badaling, and the view was beautiful. Once you left the city, you approached the mountains, and then before you knew it, you could see parts of the Wall. I got a little teary eyed when I first saw it, I could not believe I was there seeing it!

Small section of the wall on the way to the peek

If you are not up for the walk, you can take a cable car or pulley car up. We knew we had to walk the Great Wall. The day we went it was very windy, but it worked well for us as the little bit of fog/smog we had in the morning lifted as time went by. We went to the highest point on the North side, the 8th or 9th tower. I would guess it is a couple kilometers away. It is the peak most people aim for, with a few brave ones continuing further down the Wall. The walk is steep and uneven. Some sections have stairs because it is really steep and the rise of each step varies greatly. We read that some people have counted about a thousand stairs you have to climb. I didn’t count, I was just focused on the walk. It's a challenging and rewarding climb if you can make it.

In autumn, the mountains are yellow-ish in color, there were some red leaves,  the sky was blue (lucky day) and the clouds were white. Simply amazing. Pictures and words cannot explain how it felt to be there at that moment.

Here’s how to see the Great Wall at Badaling:

Take Subway Line 2 or 4 to Xizhimen Station, then follow the signs to the North Railway Station

Head to the ticket office UPSTAIRS to buy tickets for the S2 trains - just keep following any signs you see that say S2 .When facing the ticket wickets, head to the one on the far right, there is a small S2 sign above the little wicket opening. You will not see the sign if people are standing there. The ticket will make no sense to you (all in Chinese) but you will see S2 written on it. 6Yuan one way.

Exit ticket area and turn right, head towards the path with the blue awning above it and the S2 train schedule to the right of it. Show your ticket, go through security and wait in line. They do not open the doors to let you wait on the platform. Instead everyone stands in line and once the doors open, a lot of people run for the train to get a seat. The ride is about an hour and from what we could see, seats can run out and you will be left standing.

We took the S205 train at 8:34 to Badaling, and the S216 train at 13:40 back to Beijing. You will want to check online for all the train times. No reservation required, and you can hop on any S2 train.

There are a few stops along the way to Badaling, you will be heading to the last stop (most people will be getting off here). Following everyone else (and the signs), walk about 800m to the ticket office. Admission will vary depending on time of year of your visit. For us, it was 40Yuan each (Nov1-Mar31). There is a cable car or pulley you can take up (fee applies) or you can walk.

To return to Beijing, head back to the Badaling station and purchase a ticket inside (after you go through “security”). Then get in line with everyone else. Again people will be running to the train when the doors open.

TIP: bring a hat and maybe gloves (vendors are prepared to sell these to you as you walk toward the entrance to the Wall if you forget). Also wear good shoes!

~ Christine

Experienced 05 November 2013

Starbucks in China

I would have a coffee almost everyday before I would head into the office. I’m not really a big coffee drinker, but I think it just became a habit for me: get a coffee, go to my desk.  Or go to my desk, then grab someone to go out for coffee! I would mix it up depending on my mood of the day and visit different coffee shops to get what I was after.

I actually forgot about this habit for a good month or so when we began this journey, but while in Kuala Lumpur, we would sometimes stop for a coffee at Starbucks because it was nearby. We never really visited Starbucks when traveling, like we would McDonald’s. It wasn’t really anything interesting, but we kept returning every couple days or so and I could not understand why (besides to get coffee), then it hit me. When you are on the road for such a long time, you start to look for something familiar. English is widely spoken in Malaysia, so it wasn’t the comfort of language, but just the need for something familiar. Its a good place to find a moment amongst the chaos you sometimes experience while moving about so much.

While in China, Starbucks has given us something else besides familiarity. It has been very helpful with something more valuable than a caffeine fix. In a country where neither of us can understand the language (Mandarin), we have been able to find someone (the person taking your order), will have a decent to good command of English. This has been very helpful to us on a few occasions, particularly when lost!

We had arrived in Xian via the overnight train from Chengdu. We had carefully prepared the name of our hotel and address with the Chinese writing of it as well, and a picture to show the taxi driver. We approached a number of cabs and they all refused to take us claiming they did not know where it was. At this point we were frustrated, and saw a Starbucks. Time to take a rest and figure out our plan of attack. I order two grande cappucinos and then showed the hotel name and address to the person taking my order. I explained our dilemma to her, and she told me to wait. After paying, off she went. I picked up my coffee’s, and a short while later, she can to me with a paper and something written in Chinese on it. She said to give this to the the taxi driver. I thanked her very much. We then tried to get a taxi but was turned down again. We didn’t understand what the problem was until we saw some other people get turned down as well. Ahhh, there is cab shortage in the area near the train station and they are picking the customers they want! A little extra money and our new handwritten note, and the problem was solved. Sometimes creative thinking is required. Even with a little extra money, the taxi’s in Asia are CHEAP! Ok, but this isn’t about taxi’s, it’s about Starbucks. Let’s get back on task...

You could visit any Starbucks in the world and you would not know where you were. The menu is in English with some local writing as well, and the prices are the same (but in the local currency). This throws us off a lot! I mean, In KL, order 2 grande cappuccinos, pull out a 20 note currency, and they ask for 30RM! What? Oh wait, 30RM translates to $10CAD. Or in China, order the same thing and they ask you for 60Yuan, that my friends is roughly $10CAD as well, but when you pull out a 100Yuan bill to pay, you think, that’s a lot of money!

And one more important thing. After being on the road a while, and experiencing the toilets of Asia, sometimes you just need a nice clean western style one :)

~ Christine

Written 05 November 2013

 PS Starbucks is dressed up for Christmas and it looks the same here!

Injury or Death as a Direct Result of Enemy Action South_Korea DMZ Tour

 
At the end of WWII Korea was divided in half with the Soviets controlling the North and the USA the South. Both sides established Korean governments. In 1950 North Korea invaded south Korea (to "unify" it) and took most of the country until UN forces and South Korea fought to take much of the country back.

In 1953 North and South Korea signed what is effectively a "cease fire" agreement. Technically the two countries are still at war today. The Military Demarcation Line (MDL) is used to separate North and south Korea.

The DMZ (demilitarized zone) is designed as a buffer with 2km on each side of the MDL.

Within the DMZ there is a Joint Security Area or the JSA. The JSA is a portion of the DMZ where South and North forces stand face to face (literally staring each other down).

In the JSA there are a number of buildings, one of them is the is the MAC (Military Armistice Commission) Conference Building where the two sides meet. The MAC/Conference building straddles the MDL, half is in North Korea and half is in South Korea. This is not a technicality, it physically straddles the border. Under agreement, both sides can move freely within the building, this is to facilitate meetings between them. 

The environment is not friendly in any way, it's very intense. The ROK (South Korean) soldiers stand guard constantly watching the NK soldiers. Sometimes the NK soldiers will make faces and motions like they will slit the ROK soldiers throats, trying to make them "flinch" (so to speak).

There are a number of tours you can take of the DMZ. The most common one takes you inside the South side of the DMZ where you can look into North Korea from an observatory and it takes you to one of the tunnels NK dug for a planned invasion of the South in the 1970s.

The tunnels are fascinating and terrifying. The third of the 4 discovered tunnels was built a shocking 350m (1,150 ft) below ground. It's believed that there are up to 20 of these tunnels in existence. They were created by painstakingly blasting through granite with dynamite and carting the pieces out. South Korea only discovered these by gaining information from defectors. Because the defectors did not know the exact location they had to drill (like drilling for oil) many holes in the ground until they hit a tunnel. The plan was to dig these to Seoul and basically,  you would have NK troops streaming out of the ground in and around the city, very scary. This tunnel alone "can easily accommodate 30,000 men per hour along with light weaponry", now imagine 20 of these popping out in the capital city of South Korea.

Another tour which can be combined with the DMZ + 3rd Tunnel tour is the JSA/Panmunjom tour. This tour takes you right to the front lines. You will see North Korean guards and be just feet from the slightly raised concrete line that divides the two countries. It is kind of an unnerving and an incredible experience. For this tour you will need to register 48-72 hours in advance with the tour operator so they can register you with the UN. You will be instructed not to carry bags (purse, backpack, etc) and to dress in a manner that is appropriate and will not impede you from running in case something happens. There have been a number of flare-ups here that have resulted in the deaths of soldiers on both sides. One such flare-up involved NK soldiers hacking US soldiers to death with an axe. The last incident was as recent as August 2013 when a South Korean was shot to death trying to defect (yes South to North, it's a strange one). 

You will also sign a lengthy waiver with terms such as "The visit to the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom will entail entry into a hostile area and possibility of injury or death as a direct result of enemy action."

This is our visit to the JSA:

ROK Guards watching NK - The grey building is in NK 
The blue buildings straddle the MDL/Border

Notice how the guard on the left is only half way out of the side of the building. This is so he can signal his officers with the hand covered by the building in case of any enemy action. They stare directly ahead and do not move a muscle, kind of like the guards at the Queen's Palace in England except these guys are on the front lines. You can see a NK guard in the upper left in front of the door. He kept an eye on us through his binoculars.

On the North Korean side of the conference room with ROK soldier guarding the door. He looks like a mannequin and does not move but he is very real. These guys are intense. Apparently at some point an interpreter forgot to lock the door (seen right behind me) and NK soldiers tried to drag one of these guys out of the room and effectively kidnap him.

Christine on the North Korean side of the conference room in the JSA

Raised concrete in the middle is the MDL (border) left is NK right is SK

Christine in North Korea, note the concrete border behind her that is the MDL
Not a place to smile for your picture

Me in North Korea

I am not sure why they provide these tours, it seems risky to me. The North also provides tours from their side. You have to get to North Korea via Beijing if you really want to go.  The only thing I can think of is by showing the world maybe they hope this helps reinforce support from other nations in dealing with NK.

- Jason

China! (Chengdu, Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing)

Going to the Movies in Asia (Hong Kong) - The Hunger Games 2: Catching Fire

Today we went to AMC Pacific Place in Hong Kong to see The Hunger Games 2: Catching Fire. I could not wait and had to rush out to see it as soon as it came out! I’ve been waiting impatiently for this one.

We saw the 11:00am showing for this and it was $70HKD ($9.50CAD). Price of movies is dependent on the time and movie you want to see (this is true for a lot if not all movie cinemas throughout Asia). A lot more English is spoken in Hong Kong, so I had no problems getting tickets. As with all cinemas in Asia, we were able to select our seats. Tickets in hand, Jason went to the concession stand where he could select salty or sweet popcorn (he got a mix) and regular soda for $76HKD ($10ish CAD). More expensive here than other places we have been seeing movies in Asia, but still less than Canada!

The theater was nice with big leather seats and lot’s of leg room. There were commercials before the movie but what was interesting was the type of commercials for high end products like Louis Vuitton! Not sure if that is in all of Hong Kong, or just the area we were in! A few trailers and the movie started....

The audience was mixed, Hunger Games appeals to all ages both male and female. There was even a group of young teens either on a school trip or skipping school! The girls were giddy and excited over the “love story” aspect. They were a little too chatty but it sort of added to the experience...this time.

The movie was quite true to the book, and VERY good. Jason, who has not read the trilogy, enjoyed the movie a lot, even more so than the first one. The acting by everyone is excellent but the star again is Jennifer Lawrence. We are big fans of her and she delivers.

Here are our previous "Going to the Movies In Asia" blogs:
http://qatuqatsi.blogspot.ca/2013/11/going-to-movies-in-asia-update.html

http://qatuqatsi.blogspot.ca/2013/10/as-we-travel-we-are-doing-mix-of.html

~ Christine

Jason eats SCORPION!

These little guys were skewered on a stick and still moving! When you are ready to give it a try, hand over your 25Yuan ($7CAD), and they grill these little guys for you until lightly charred, then seasoned and ready for you to devour!

I was not surprised when we walked past these and Jason said, "I'm going to try the scorpions". I said, "Ok, have fun!"

This isn't a local delicacy where everyone eats it in China, we only saw them at this one market. We even had some locals come up to us in surprise that people were actually eating them! They were impressed!

~ Christine

Experienced 02 November 2013

McDonald's and KFC in China

When we leave North America, we like to make an effort to seek out a restaurant chain such as McDonald's, KFC, etc once during our travels. It sounds strange but we do it because we are fascinated by how these can be replicated on the other side of the planet. A Big Mac tastes the same in Canada as it does in Argentina, as it does in Japan. How DO they do that?

I mean, I rarely eat McDonald's at home, but when traveling, I love to see what is on the menu! Most of the time, we will try the items you would not find at home, and there are some fun things to try! Over the years, we have had some good meals at these places. Not words I would usually string together, but it's true!

The McSpicy is REALLY good!

McSpicy Chicken - the spicy is part of the 

coating on the chicken, it is not a sauce that is spicy

The wrapper for the wrap - notice

the "pull here" tab

Look closely, you will see the rice 

in the wrap with the beef patty

 McD's delivery - KFC, etc offers this service

as well. There is also a VIP service - don't 

ask me what that means!

 My fave McD's meal - rice with corn, fried egg, 

pork patty w/sauce, stir-fry, and mushroom soup.

Oh, and to drink, orange ginger soda.

 Another rice meal but with chicken

Spicy Port McBits and Banana Pie!

Being on the road longer this time (we are at 65+ days now), has given us new reasons to visit these establishments. We still visit them to see what interesting things we can find, but also because:

• sometimes you get fatigued trying to figure out the menu written in a different language. After a while you do get tired of trying to decipher the “English translation” and if there are pictures, they are for “illustration purposes only” and you still are not sure of what you are about to get!

• its where the locals go. Yes, they really do. I used to scoff at the idea of visiting chains when traveling because I felt I was not experiencing the culture of where I was, but all around the world, the locals eat at these places too.

• they are everywhere. Yes McDonald's is everywhere, but KFC has quite the presence in Asia. Chicken is big business!

 KFC - Congee with a fried egg 

and Chinese doughnut

 Chicken with curry and soup

That my friends are some of our reasons to visit restaurant chains while traveling!

~ Christine

PS McDonald's and KFC is not as expensive over here as in Canada

Written 03 November 2013

PPS Other chains (but we did not try)...

"Like a pork chop in your pocket"

Yes, he said that and yes, he ate it. Had to share because it is funny! Spam is popular in South Korea, even saw gift packs, so guess what you are getting for Christmas this year :)

 Like the single serving pack? 

"It's so quick and easy!"

 I love the pictures of what I can make with it - sushi? 

And it's good until 2016! Sweet!

 Here we go!

Jason is in love!

~ Christine

Going to the movies in Asia - Update

We previously wrote about seeing movies in Japan, Singapore and Malaysia http://qatuqatsi.blogspot.ca/2013/10/as-we-travel-we-are-doing-mix-of.html

Thought it was time to see another one! So we went to see Thor 2: The Dark World in 3D while in Nanjing, China! This one was a little more challenging but we did it!

The cinema listings were all in Chinese so we were not sure how we were going to identify the movie and time. We knew it was playing because of the large billboard in the lobby! It helped that this was a sequel and had the number 2 in it, and only one other movie on the listing was a sequel. From here we only had two movies to figure out, and based on the writing on the billboard, we were able to match it to the Chinese on the listing! From that, we knew what time we wanted to see it at.

We approached the ticket window, and began our order by pointing to the large picture of Thor, holding up two fingers for number of tickets, and then telling the time we would like to see it. Then we got stuck as we had to pick our seats and we were unable to tell her.  I tried to tell her the number in Mandarin (I know some of my numbers), but because the rows and seats were both numbered, I could not explain it well. Fortunately, her co-worker next to her spoke some English, and we were able to tell her. It was only 50Yuan ($8 CAD) each to see the movie in 3D. With tickets in hand, we moved onto the concession.

To make things easier, we pointed to one of the combos on the menu board. To complicate matters, it came with a free glass which we did not want and tried to give it back to her! She was confused. We were confused! A regular sized popcorn (only sweet popcorn was served here and it was very good - not too sweet at all) plus two regular sized sodas for 40Yuan ($6.75 CAD).

Ok, now to head into the theatre. We look at our ticket, and um, what?! We cannot read it! We are confident we have Thor tickets, but what theatre are we in? Then we remembered, we selected row (grade) 6, seat (type) 15 and 16. Ok, so hall is the theatre number, but what is K3 (6) mean? Apparently, the theatre we were in was literally called K3(6), so no problem.

There was a lot of leg room, and because it was middle of the afternoon, it was quiet. The movie was in English with Chinese subtitles. Story was a little similar to the first one, but done well. Acting was good, and it was fun, we enjoyed it. A lot of money has been made so far, so we know that Thor 3 will be made and I have no problem with that!

~ Christine

Experienced 12 November 2013

And just for fun, here is the movie poster in Seoul, Korea: