Gary in China, Live, Love, Share, Inspire http://www.garyinchina.com/ en-us This year I decided to stay in Shenzhen for the Spring Festival. Since this is a migrant city, it was practically deserted for this, the most important national holiday of the year; where everyone tries their best to get home to their families. Although quieter than in a place like Beijing, there were still some places you could see people preparing. http://garyinchina.com/article-69.htm Last year, I was in Los Angeles in January and saw the NTDTV Chinese New Year Spectacular advertised in my hometown. I was in the middle of trying to absorb as much about China as I could so I decided to attend. Maybe I am spoiled or maybe Im jaded, but the show just was not what I expected... http://garyinchina.com/article-68.htm I thought you might like to see what Santa looks like here at a popular restaurant bar area, heavily frequented by foreigners, called Sea World. Its in an area called Shekou in Shenzhen near Hong Kong. And yes, that is a very big beer in his hand. http://garyinchina.com/article-67.htm I recently made a new friend here in Shenzhen who is from Xian and I was inspired to finally post some pictures I have from there. Like so many cities in China, Xian is very beautiful, has some great food, and some very interesting places to see. One of the most famous attractions of Xian are the terracotta warriors. I do have many more photos and some videos that I will try to post later, but in the meantime, I hope you enjoy these. http://garyinchina.com/article-66.htm Here is a panorama picture made from two pictures taken at the gate of Zhangjiajie, the first place recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in China. It is an amazing and unique place in the world with 243 peaks and 3000 karst upthrusts, waterfalls, limestone caves and rivers. http://garyinchina.com/article-64.htm While returning from a journey down the Silk Road, I stopped at the Great Wall of China at Jiayuguan. Although it was recently restored, and not quite the old beat down wall you would expect from something almost 500 years old, it was still an amazing place to visit. And where else are you going to get to see a part of the Great Wall and be the only one there! Granted, that was mostly because I was there in the Winter. http://garyinchina.com/article-63.htm During the Spring Festival this year, I went on an amazing journey down the Silk Road; mostly to see if it is a journey I could do again to see the Total Solar Eclipse taking place in August, 2008, but also to finally see many of the sites I have heard about for so long. http://garyinchina.com/article-62.htm Here is a short video of the 10,000 Buddha Monastery at Sha Tin in Hong Kong. This temple and tourist destination is a must-see while in Hong Kong and this video only begins to show you all there is to see. I have many more that I will post as time goes on, for example, of the statues and alters found at the site and of the hundreds of man-sized golden Buddha statues that line the 400 steps up to the temple and around the bamboo groves. http://garyinchina.com/article-60.htm Here are some pictures I took of the hike up to Harmony Peak at the top of Heng Shan, one of Chinas holiest mountains, often referred to as Nan Yue Shan (Southern High Mountain), while I was volunteer teaching in HuNan province. http://garyinchina.com/article-59.htm Here is a panorama picture made from various pictures taken at a more secluded private beach of Sanya Bay in front of the Treasure Island Hotel. Sanya is a small beach town on the southern part of Hainan Island. It is often referred to as the Hawaii of China. http://garyinchina.com/article-58.htm Here is a picture of the Great Wall of China at Simatai outside of Beijing. It is a panorama picture made from various pictures taken from the parking lot. The climb to the final station is a bit grueling but definitely worth it. Look out for more pictures to come. http://garyinchina.com/article-57.htm I noticed that I have not mentioned anything in my blog about Chairman Mao Zedong yet so I decided to share with you a picture I took of the home he grew up in. For those of you that do not know who he is, he is the founder of the Peoples Republic of China and one of the original members of the Chinese Communist Party. I am not going to go into any more detail about him here as you can find all the information you want about him online, however, I did want to share with you how amazingly beautiful the area he grew up in is. I do have many more pictures I took and I will do my best to share those with you as time goes on. http://garyinchina.com/article-56.htm During my travels throughout China, I must have taken hundreds of pictures of food; different kinds of meat dishes, fish and vegetables, but never any fruit. Well, the other day that all changed when I had what I can only refer to as a When Harry Met Sally diner experience after eating a ping pong ball-sized grape. I knew instantly that this would be my first picture of fruit and that I had to share it with you. Some of you may be wondering about the how they grow their fruit here in China. Is it organic? Do they use pesticides, chemicals, etc? Well, I have to tell you, this fruit is so amazingly good, the second you eat a piece you wont care where it came from, youll just want more! http://garyinchina.com/article-55.htm Well, I finally did it. People have been asking me for quite a while now if I have eaten dog while in China, so now I can finally say that I have. It was not quite on purpose, but yes, it finally happened. What I mean by not on purpose, is that I really had no intention of eating dog or even letting the whole situation go this far. It all started as what I thought was a pissing contest between me and another man. He kept asking if I was adventurous and if I wanted to try it. I really didnt think he was serious... (WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES) http://garyinchina.com/article-54.htm The Art of War by Sun Tzu has become a very popular book for military and businessmen in America, however, it seems it has been a requirement for them here in China since it was written. Although the stories are about war strategies, the lessons they provide can and have easily been adapted to the business world. Whether you come to China for business or plan to do any serious interaction with Chinese businessmen, I strongly recommend reading and learning this book thoroughly. Whether they realize it or not, the lessons taught in this book are embedded into many Chinese business practices. I chose this special edition to link to, however, there are many translation available online or at your local bookstore. http://garyinchina.com/article-53.htm Unfortunately, I have not been to Macau yet (or Macao as it is commonly written), but a friend of mine sent me this great 360 degree view from the top of Macau Tower that I thought I would share http://garyinchina.com/article-51.htm I recently found this interactive weather map that is extremely useful for anyone traveling around china or anyone just curious to see what the weather is like here. http://garyinchina.com/article-52.htm Yesterday I decided that it was about time I head to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center to watch this famous sunset I have been hearing so much about. Apparently, the view from the 7th floor is an amazing site not to be missed. To my surprise when I arrived, there was a pretty big commotion with tons of photographers and people in costumes everywhere so I had to take a few minutes to stop and see what all the fuss was about. Apparently, this weekend is the Hong Kong Game Fair and video game junkies from all over Asia gathered to check out the latest and greatest in gaming and pay respects to their favorite video game characters. I took some photos and videos that I thought I would share with you. Unfortunately, I was not very prepared for this and my camera ran out of batteries so many of these are taken with my phone. The video is also on my Nokia N93, which I have not figured out how to edit yet, so as soon as I do, I will post those for you to see. This was actually pretty funny. Up until now, except for Homer Simpson, I have never heard a grown man drool before. Enjoy! http://www.garyinchina.com/article-50.htm On July 22nd, 2007 I was lucky enough to head out to Kai Sung, one of outerlying islands of Hong Kong to do some dives with Pro Dive Training Center HK. The crew was great, professional, courteous and helpful, the boat was really well-managed, and with an air compressor onboard, I was even offered the chance to get in as many dives as I could in a litle over four hours. Unfortunately, I cannot say as many nice things about the underwater experience but I wouldnt change a thing about the day, especially considering I met some great people on the dive. Nothing went wrong during the dives, but the low visibility and lack of anything interesting to see (except this really over-sized and neon blue crab) just made you appreciate the above water environment so much more. Although I do not have any underwater content to show you, here are a few pictures I took throughout the day. I have got some video too that I will try to post at some point. http://www.garyinchina.com/article-49.htm As you will probably hear me mention a few times throughout the Hong Kong pages, one of the best places to visit while on Hong Kong Island is Victoria Peak. The peak tram, the tower, the gardens and all the surrounding areas (which I will try to post pictures and videos of shortly) are a great place to spend the day and evening. Here are a few pictures of the nightly fireworks and light show as seen from Lugard Road on Victoria Peak. I also posted a video of it here in case you would like to check it out. By the way, go early, no later than 4:30 pm and plan enough time for your way down as there will be a long wait for every mode of transportation down after dark. http://garyinchina.com/article-48.htm This ia short video taken from Lugard Road at Victoria Peak of the nightly light show at Hong Kong harbour. I have some great pictures I will be posting to GaryInChina.com soon so keep an eye out. http://garyinchina.com/article-47.htm What better way to celebrate the return to rule by a communist government then with a Pro-Democracy Rally? Here is a quick video of the 2007 Pro-Democracy Rally in Hong Kong during the 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Handover of Hong Kong to China. Unfortunately it was so humid that day that my good video camera would not work so I had to shoot this with my panasonic photo cameras video function. The audio is a bit tough to make out but it is still worth a gander. http://garyinchina.com/article-45.htm Well folks, my initial 3-day visit to Hong Kong has turned into a five-plus weeklong stay so I decided to rent an apartment to save some money. Why did I decide to stay so long? Well, I returned to China this time around to finally start some business ventures I have been researching for quite some time now. While here in Hong Kong I quickly realized that this is the place to set up the company. Next stop from here, work on setting up an office of my new Hong Kong company in mainland China... http://garyinchina.com/article-46.htm Today I had a great time celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong to China from Great Britain. Although I have a ton of video including a spectacular parade, and a pro-democracy rally, I thought I would share this one with you first. Its a short video of the most amazing fireworks show I've ever seen which was taken from the Aqualuna boat in Victoria Harbor. As you can see both the fireworks and lasers were choreographed amongst many building surrounding the harbor and played to music. I cant quite keep the camera still considering I am on a boat but its still a great video to watch. http://www.garyinchina.com/article-44.htm I hope you like the new layout. I just had so much to show you that the regular blog format just wasnt working out for me. Enjoy! http://www.garyinchina.com Take a look inside of what it takes to travel in China. From airplanes, to trains, to buses, to cars, to boats, to rafts, to bikes and ultimately feet. This section has it all. http://www.garyinchina.com/article-43.htm Just a few short stories to help lighten things up. http://www.garyinchina.com/article-39.htm Some of Chinas best attractions are those made way before we ever got here. Come see some of Chinas most amazing natural scenery. http://www.garyinchina.com/article-40.htm Lets lighten things up a bit. http://www.garyinchina.com/article-41.htm See pictures and videos of some spectacular and not so spectacular dishes, meals, snacks and drinks from throughout China. http://www.garyinchina.com/article-42.htm http://www.garyinchina.com/article-38.htm See pictures and videos of some spectacular and not so spectacular dishes, meals, snacks and drinks from throughout China. http://www.garyinchina.com/article-36.htm See pictures and videos of some spectacular and not so spectacular dishes, meals, snacks and drinks from throughout China. http://www.garyinchina.com/article-37.htm Here are a few fun activities I had the luxury of experiencing while in China. http://www.garyinchina.com/article-35.htm Some of Chinas best attractions are those made way before we ever got here. Come see some of Chinas most amazing natural scenery. http://www.garyinchina.com/article-34.htm Some of Chinas best attractions are those made way before we ever got here. Come see some of Chinas most amazing natural scenery. http://www.garyinchina.com/article-33.htm Did you know that it is good luck to climb to the top of some mountains in China. Take a look at a few of these I was lucky enough to climb. http://www.garyinchina.com/article-30.htm Here are a few fun activities I had the luxury of experiencing while in China. http://www.garyinchina.com/article-31.htm Ever wonder if they celebrate Valentines Day in China? Well look no further. http://www.garyinchina.com/article-32.htm Ever wonder if they celebrate Valentines Day in China? Well look no further. http://www.garyinchina.com/article-28.htm