Sometime at the end of 2009 or beginning of 2010, my friend Sarah asked me if I wanted to go with her to visit some friends in China.  Never one to turn down a free place to stay in another country, I jumped on the opportunity.  It was only a couple of short months later that we had our visas in hand and hopped on an airplane for what ended up being one of the longest flights I had ever been on.  But it was all worth it.

We arrived in Shanghai, but quickly made our way to the bus stop so we could be transported to the regional airport to catch our flight to Beijing.  Of course, no trip to China is complete without the most important beverage made in any Asian country:

Milk Tea!

Oh I could wax poetic on the joys and pleasures of milk tea. But I won’t.  I will tell you this, I ended up checking luggage (gasp!) for the flight home so that I might transport 6 bottles of this stuff back with me to America.  Seriously, I love it!

After a brief bus ride, we made it to the regional airport and boarded what would be the first of a handful of regional flights.  Flying foreign airlines always makes me a little grumpy.  US airlines nickel and dime you for everything, but foreign airlines pamper you with food on the shortest of flights. With real utensils too! But I digress.

In Beijing, Sarah and I enjoyed the wonders of the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, a Beijing Opera and the Great Wall.  We discovered sweet taro pies from McDonald’s and Szechuan peppercorns. We were traumatized by co-ed dorms rooms that included a bathroom with only a half door and a wastebasket for your toilet paper!

After a few nights in Beijing, we boarded an overnight train (Sarah’s first) and headed to Xi’an and took in the majesty of the Terra Cotta Warriors.

After Xi’an, we made our way south to Guilin and Yangshuo to bask in the beauty of the karst mountains by bamboo raft and mountain bike.

With another regional flight under our belts, we finally arrived in Hangzhou to stay with Sarah’s friends Juliane and Stan.  We ended up enjoying the company of many other people who went to the same undergrad the Sarah and I went to.  We had sushi, went to a night market, visited West Lake, rode in a rickshaw, ate a durian and enjoyed the tulip garden.

Finally, we made a quick trip to Shanghai before riding the Maglev train and boarding another long flight back to America.

There it is! A very brief look at my trip to China!

Granny got married to Bill!

We finally get to meet Baby Zaya

Stephanie comes for a visit

Carrie moves away

Nadia and I attend a Muse concert

I ride a race car simulator and go skeet shooting in one day!

And finally, my trip to China commences!

Since I have so many pictures from China and because the trip occurred over two months, the next post will just be all about China!

Being the thrifty people we are, we head on over to the website of a local bike rental company.  It seems that this bike rental company is the one running the tour as they have a tour by the same name on their site.  They don’t list the price of that tour, so we are thinking that they only run it through cruises.  So instead, we see what the price of bike rentals are. $30 per person for 4 hours.  That is right, less than a third of the cruise line price.  Amazing, huh?  It even includes dropping off and picking up the bike at your location.  Now I can pay a fraction of the price and not have to be among a crowd of other cruisers.  Sure, I won’t have a “tour guide” and I will have to do enough research in advance to know where we want to bike to, but that is completely worth saving a total of $130.

Although Sanders Cafe is not completely original, it has been restored and a modern KFC can be found inside, along with the “original” side and memorabilia.  Sanders Cafe is a National Historic Landmark and has a sign out front to familiarize guests with the history of this place.

Of course I had to have some Original Recipe Fried Chicken to make this visit official.  It was actually greasier than I remember it being.

And no visit would be complete without a picture with the Colonel himself.

The good news, is that on the way home I will get to stop by the Costco and the Trader Joe’s in Indianapolis.  The closest ones to me are over two hours away in Nashville, so it will be nice to hit these on the way home on Friday.  If you have never been to a Trader Joe’s, you should find your closest one and get there as soon as you can.  It is a great grocery store.  I can’t wait!

It is good to be home!

Ashley in Asia: Getting to Hong Kong

Taking Off

Doesn’t he look so excited?!?

Our first day was really a day of travel.  We started off bright and early on a flight out of Knoxville to Chicago a took a nice long 6 hour plane-break (a.k.a. layover).  While waiting for our Chicago to Hong Kong flight I started the first of three books I had brought with me on the trip.  I do not sleep on airplanes, so I always travel with at least one novel.  For the ride out I read Fire in the Blood by Irene Nemirovsky.  We finally boarded the second leg of our flight and sat in an airplane for 16 hours and 25 minutes.  Yes, it takes that long to get from Chicago to Hong Kong.  Nothing exceptional happened on the flight, besides the fact that I finished Fire in the Blood, started City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau and watched a couple of movies that were so boring I can’t even remember what they were!

Tip: I make sure I select a vegetarian meal for my food preference.  If you have a food allergy or know you you prefer a certain type of food, it might be available as an option on your next international flight.

Mmm… Airplane food! I always request a vegetarian meal.

The Arrival

We finally made it to Hong Kong.

We finally arrived in Hong Kong on the evening of our second day traveling to the other side of the world.  The first stop was to the Hong Kong Tourist Center.  There are few locations inside of the Hong Kong Airport, and they are all helpful.  I already knew I wanted to grab the Hong Kong Walks brochure, as it included walks to all the sites in Hong Kong that I wanted to see.  Hong Kong was also offering a “Summer Temptations” program.  There were multiple brochures covering this program, one which included coupons for stores and attractions (even one for Buy One, Get One Free Ice Lollies at Disneyland!).  All of the “Summer Temptations” brochures included a little ticket that had you collect stickers at popular attractions.  Once you collected three stickers, you could redeem the ticket for a little cookie and tea bag gift tin.  Conveniently, there were redemption locations in the airport, so we waiting to redeem them on the way home.

Tip: When traveling to a new city, always check out the local Tourist Information Center for free maps and discounts on places you are planning on visiting anyway!

Tip: On your way out of the airport, if you are going to be taking the metro(MTR) into the city, make sure you stop and purchase tickets as soon as you get through Customs. If two people are traveling together you can purchase a special ticket that is cheaper than buying two tickets into the city.

Safety first!  MTR always reminds you to hold the escalator rail.

The Accommodations

Arriving so late meant that we headed straight to the guest house to check in and get some sleep.  We chose to stay at the Alisan Guest House at Causeway Bay.  It was simple, yet adequate, close to food and the metro, and inexpensive.  That makes it the perfect place for us to stay.  I am all about budget traveling.  The cheaper you can travel, the more places you can go and the longer you can stay.  The only exception I make is when Disney is involved.  I have such a passion for Disney, that I let that be the big splurge of a trip.  Every now and then I will also put a little extra money out for food, but most of the time I will not participate in fine dining (one meal for the price of three and you have to pack extra clothes and shoes).

The shower in the bathroom and the heater (turn it on 10 minutes before you shower!)

The Alisan Guest House is on the 4th and 5th floor of a busy Hong Kong side street.  The ladies working check-in in the evening are polite and quick to get you checked-in and settled into your room.  The rooms are sparse, with the shower sharing the same space as the toilet and only room to walk next to one side of the bed.  There is a television and (most importantly) an air conditioner.  That is one luxury I can not give up in the summer heat.  Pack your own toiletries, but Alisan will supply the sheets and towels along with a communal refrigerator that includes complementary water.  If it is available, ask for a room away from the street.  We slept in a room on the street side of the building and had neon lights flooding our room throughout all hours of the night.  But even with that nuisance, I would still return to the Alisan Guest House during a future trip to Hong Kong.  It was safe and clean with friendly staff, which is what I always need in a place to lay my head!

Tip: When I was researching accommodations for Hong Kong, I noticed that many smaller places do not book their rooms more than 60 – 90 days in advance.  Don’t be surprised if you run into this trend, you can still get a good room at a reasonable price.

The lovely bed at Alisan Guest House with our luggage on top.

Coming up: Ashley in Asia: Hong Kong’s Temples and Parks

Want more? See all the photos on Flickr