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2010 China Travels: Part IV – Beijing, Guilin, & Yangshuo

// April 21st, 2011 // No Comments » // China, Chinese, Dancing, Taiwan, Travel, Uncategorized

Wow, considering I wrote Part III back in November 2010, I’d say it’s about time to finish writing about my 2010 China travels! I was doing well keeping up with it all, but then classes started in Taiwan and things got busy (read my last post if you want to know what kept me so busy in Taiwan). So now I’ll take the time to finish what I started. Where I left the story last, it was Halloween and I had just landed in Beijing.

Beijing

I spent 4 days in Beijing, and while I was originally not planning on making a stop there, one thing changed my mind: The Cangelosi Cards. One of my favorite jazz bands of all time, it just so happened that the Cards were in town that weekend and were getting ready to play two shows back to back in Beijing. Since the last time I saw them was in Virginia Beach back in 2007, I decided I couldn’t miss it.

The first day in Beijing, I joined in the Rocky Horror Picture Show party being put on by Beijing Swing, which was a riot to say the least! The next day was the Cards’ first show, and as soon as I entered the venue I ran into Tamar, the singer, who instantly recognized me. I couldn’t believe it, but she remembered seeing me the last time in VA Beach, because at that time we had talked about how I had just started learning Chinese. Here I am 3 years later and we meet in Beijing! The rest of the night was incredible, dancing away to their music till late in the morning.

The following day we did it again, and this time even better! The Cards gave an epic performance, and some of the dancers performed some routines live to the music. It was two of the best nights of dancing in a row that I’d had in a long time! The next day I headed to Tianjin to visit for a day and met with some professors at Tianjin University who showed me around the city. At the time I was considering working with them come spring of 2011 (though I ended up working in Beijing where I am now). I found Tianjin to be an extremely beautiful city, one very different from others I’ve visited, and it seemed a lot less crowded. It seemed like a city I could enjoy living in for a while.

Guilin

I left Beijing in the morning, but my flight to Guilin was booked from Shanghai, so I spent one more night in Shanghai surprising all my dancer friends when I showed up. I flew into Guilin airport on November 5th and took a bus to the middle of the city where I went to Guanxi Normal University to meet with my buddy Robert’s girlfriend who was letting me spend the night while he was out of town. Robert and his brother run a school there, the Chinese Language Institute, and showed me around. I have to say I am very impressed with the program they have set up, and if I had the time I would considering studying there myself. I explored a tiny bit then crashed and prepared to visit Yangshuo in the morning.

Yangshuo

In the morning I went down to Yangshuo along with some of the CLI students, accompanying them on a field trip. We rode motor boats down the Li River marveling at the Karsts, then hiked through the small town of Xiping on our way to Yangshuo. We arrived in the evening, dropped our bags, and headed to a grand theater built on a lake where we saw Zhang Yimou’s famous show “Impression” (刘三姐). It was quite a fantastic sight to see, as most of the performance was done on small boats on the water. The choreography was breathtakingly complex and timed to a perfection that can only be achieved in China.

The next day we rented bikes and rode around all over town seeing the many beautiful sites Yangshuo had to offer, including a famous mud cave where half the students stripped to their bathing suits and jumped in the mud. I opted to chill in the hot springs myself instead of freezing mud! Later that day, the students all went back to Guilin, but I decided to stay for one more day so I could do some rock climbing. I found a small climbing store, “Black Rock Climbing,” and booked a day with a couple Norwegian girls also looking to climb. In the morning, our guide, Weihua, brought us out to a cliff face called Wineglass and showed us the ropes. We spent the whole morning climbing, and in only a few hours we were pretty beat. It was an incredible experience though, because as you climb higher and higher you can see a remarkable view of the hundreds of karsts surrounding you. I now understand why the whole world talks about Yangshuo as a mecca for climbers.

In the evening I headed over to Moon Hill mountain, famous for the huge hole in the middle, which was also full of climbers. I hiked past the “warning don’t go here” signs and got all the way to to top, where I caught an unforgettable sunset amongst the karsts. Later that night, I went over to The Giggling Tree hostel, a place I had heard of the very first time I visited China and had been wanting to see for years. It is a small place owned and run by a Dutch couple who bought the land and converted 17 different farm houses into a hostel. It is on the outskirts of Yangshuo in the middle of farms, and by far one of the most unique hostels in the world. It was also one of the nicest places I’ve ever stayed at in China, and quite affordable for a dorm room (only 50 RMB a night!). A night at The Giggling Tree was the perfect end to my 2010 backpacking adventures in China.

I headed back to Guilin and hopped on my 20 hour train back to Shanghai, and while everything started nicely, things took an unfortunate turn for the worse. About 10 hours in, I got horribly sick…vomiting sick. Throwing up on a Chinese train for 10 hours has got to be one of the worst physical challenges I’ve endured in my life…and things only got worse. When I arrived in Shanghai, I at least had a day to recover at Bruce and Julia’s before boarding my flight for Taipei in the morning. In the morning, with nearly no strength left in my body, I managed to make it to the airport, only to find my flight had been delayed 3 hours. We boarded the plane, and waited another 2 hours before even taking off. By the time I landed in Xiamen, my connection to Taipei had left, and I was stuck for the night, sick, weak, and frustrated. Luckily I still had one extra day on my visa, and the airport put me up in a nice hotel. All in all it took an entire 24 hours until I got back on a plane for Taipei. When I landed, I was extremely relieved to find JC and Mindy waiting on me in the airport, and my Taiwan adventure began.

While it was a rough last 2 days traveling from Shanghai to Taipei, the previous month was full of incredible experiences and moments I will cherish forever. I had danced for 9 days in Shanghai and visited Hangzhou, Huangshan, Nanjing, Beijing, Guilin, and Yangshuo. I experienced so much in such little time I had to write about it in 4 parts, and didn’t finish it until now, 4 months afterwards! When I look back at the time I spent, I realize how lucky I am to have been able to see so many amazing places in this world, and it makes me very thankful to have had these experiences.

2010: The year of Nature, Serious Dancing, and Travel

// January 12th, 2011 // No Comments » // Dancing, Other, Travel

For many, 2010 was a year to forget, bringing nothing but a constant stream of disappointment and troubles.  While I had my fair share of the same, I figured I’d look back and note the good I encountered this year.  Apart from several significant events this year (including graduating from Virginia Tech), 2010 had 3 recurring themes: nature, serious dancing, and travel.

Nature

By far, I had the privilege of seeing more amazing landscapes in 2010 than any other year in my life.  I never planned things to be that way – it just sort of happened, probably mostly because I just travelled so much and kept finding myself in amazing places.  It started in the middle of the year right after graduation.  I took a road trip in June up to Montreal and on the way back visited Niagara Falls (the Canadian and American sides).  The falls have been on my list for a very long time, and I never thought this would be the year to see them.

I followed that trip with a whole summer working in Livingston, Montana, one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been for an extended time.  Up in the north eastern Rockies, this is the view I saw from our townhouse everyday (right). Throughout the summer, my coworkers and I hiked many of the surrounding mountains and soaked up the landscape, including Livingston Peak, Sacajawea Peak, and Cottonwood Lake.  Here are some of the views we enjoyed:

Being only an hour north of Yellowstone National Park, I couldn’t leave Livingston without a visit, so I picked a weekend in August and visited both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park.  I spent two days driving through both parks and can’t describe how amazed I was at the landscapes and wildlife I encountered.  The pictures don’t even come close to capturing how spectacular this region of America is.

At the end of my job in Montana, I began my current trip to Asia and flew to Shanghai.  After a week there, I spent three more weeks backpacking and visiting many places I’ve wanted to see in China, including Huangshan, Hangzhou, Guilin, and Yangshuo – 4 destinations packed with breathtaking natural surroundings.  Anyone in China will agree that each one of those places are what people dream of seeing, let alone visiting all 4 back-to-back in 3 weeks!  Yangshuo marked the end of my natural landscape adventures for 2010, but in just a few weeks I am planning to continue the trend by visiting the rest of Taiwan, including the national park in the middle of the country famed for its unbelievable landscapes!

Serious Dancing

I add “serious” here because 2010 was the first time I noticed that my dancing has now become a major part of my life.  Before then, dancing was something I just loved to do (albeit do A LOT!).  Several events in 2010 made me realize just how important swing dancing has become.  First, I attended my first ever all blues event called “Steel City Blues” in Pittsburgh, PN back in March.  Before then, blues had been a dance I knew rather little about, and mostly all I did know was from social dancing.  At STB, I took my first ever workshops with professional blues dancers, and a whole new world of dancing was opened.  I learned a tremendous amount that weekend, and I even competed and made it to the final round in the open Jack and Jill, my first time ever making it to any J&J final. 

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

A month later, I went to my first ever DC Lindy Exchange and spent the weekend hanging out with 3 of my best dancer friends ever: Michael, Annabel, and Kara.  We all became friends at different times, but this was only the 2nd event we had all been at, and it was amazing to see how much we had bonded through dancing.  I realized that weekend that some of my best friends are dancers, and that had I never danced I would never know these amazing people.  

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

The rest of the summer, I attended several events that kept up with the same theme: seeing some of my best friends over a weekend of endless happiness dancing.  I visited Philadelphia for Hot Mess in July and then Atlanta for the Southern Belle Swing Bash, where again I made it to the final round in the open Jack & Jill.  

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

To finish the year off, I spent my first week in Shanghai dancing for 9 days straight at the first ever Swing Out Shanghai and then performing at the Shanghai World Expo with dancers from all over Asia.  It was an unforgettable week and an incredible start to my current trip in Asia.  I’ve already begun 2011 continuing the same theme having just attended the 3rd annual Hong Kong Swing Festival!

Travel

After reading the first two themes, it’s clear that I traveled a lot in 2010, and I mean a lot in addition to the normal amounts of traveling I do.  All in all, I visited over 10 states in America, 4 different countries, drove from VA to Montreal and back, flew from VA to Montana and back 5 times, flew from America to China, and traveled to 8 cities in Asia (and most of that travel was between June and December).  Between working in Montana for 4 months, traveling for dance events, and starting my current trip in Asia, I have probably covered over 50,000 miles in the last 6 months alone.  Besides the frequent flyer miles I’ve been racking up, I’ve learned a few things doing so much traveling.  One, I am an expert at packing now and am ready for just about any situation you can imagine on the road.  Two, my navigational skills have never been sharper – getting lost is not something that happens easily, and I will never be caught without at least one compass on me.  Three, I miss my friends and family.  While constantly seeing new places and making new friends is exciting and fun, I also realize how much I am missing out on back home.  There are so many people that are important in my life and I barely got to spend any time with them in 2010.  It is something I regret, but also the unfortunate reality of life on the road.  I learned this lesson clear in 2010, and I will keep it in mind as I look towards future decisions I will have to make about where I will be and what I will be doing next.  As a visual, here is a map of all the places in Asia I have travelled to in the past 2 years:

View Complete Travels Through Asia, 2008 - in a larger map

As I said, so far 2011 is starting off with many similar trends as I just got back from an awesome weekend dancing in Hong Kong.  I am learning and learning and still going and going, but it feels good to sit down and remember the good times from a very scattered and crazy 2010!  Here’s hoping 2011 will be full of just as many memories – it is the year of the rabbit after all (my year!!!)!

Swing Out Shanghai & The Shanghai World Expo

// November 9th, 2010 // No Comments » // China, Chinese, Dancing, Shanghai, Shanghai, Travel, Uncategorized

Currently writing from Yangshuo, one of the most unique and beautiful little towns in all of southern China. This is the first time I’ve had a chance to write since leaving Shanghai two and a half weeks ago. I’ve now been back in China for 3 weeks, so I thought I would sit down and reflect a little my first week back since leaving in August of 2009.

I landed in Shanghai on October 13, 2010, around 1:30 pm Beijing time and proceeded to have the absolute smoothest travel experience of my life. I honestly couldn’t believe how well things went – my bad even came up just as I walked up to the baggage pick up. I got through customs with almost no wait, picked up a SIM card in the airport, called my friends Bruce and Julia who were hosting me in Shanghai, and hopped on the metro to their place. Everything seemed so familiar this time, and despite a year of living in the States, I immediately jumped back into Chinese. Bruce and Julia were a big part of that smooth transition too, because in addition to providing a very comfortable setting to get over the jet lag, they were great company and overwhelmingly helpful in every way. 5 stars to L’hotel Julia!

The very next night, I went dancing at the Melting Pot, and there is simply no better way to get over jet lag than to stay up late dancing with old friends who I haven’t seen in over a year! It was a huge reunion for me, and it began an unforgettable 9-day dancing streak. The next night (Friday) officially began “Swing Out Shanghai,” the city’s first ever international swing dancing event. Two years before in a bar in Hong Kong, the idea for the event was first hatched, and two years later it finally came to fruition.  For the next two days, it was non-stop dancing in Shanghai.  The opening dance was at C’est La Vie restaurant, followed by Saturday afternoon at Hengshan Park in the French Concession, then later that day at the Music Hall Court, then that night at the House of Blues and Jazz, and then finally the last dance at the Melting Pot Sunday night.  Friends from Beijing, Singapore, and Taiwan all came to the event which doubled our numbers and really made it a full blown lindy exchange.

As the chief DJ and music coordinator for the event, I was in charge of keeping the dance floor full, and my team of DJs really pulled through throughout the whole weekend (huge thanks to Akiko, Sam, Brian, and Chad).  The event ended, but then Monday night we were dancing again at the usual Monday night dances in Shanghai, so it sort of just kept going…and going, and going, and going, and…

…and then the Shanghai Expo performances began, called “Swing For All”featuring the Hong Kong Big Band.  It was Hong Kong week atthe Bao Steel stage, so the week was dedicated to a multitude of Hong Kong performers, which included the band and us, the dancers.  The band gave two performances on both Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons.  Throughout the show, the dancers social danced down in front of the stage to the music, and a select few gave a few special choreographed performances as well.  At the very end, we did a jam to “Sing Sing Sing,” and the very last performance the crowd rushed the stage and cheered and clapped along with us.  It was by far the most fun I’ve ever had during a dance performance, and one of the most unique dance performances of my life as well.  I was so proud of all of the dancers and musicians there and so happy to share a small piece of the happiness we all experience when we are dancing with the local Chinese people.  Photos and videos of both SOS and Swing for All can be seen here.

So then it was Thursday, and once again we danced at the weekly Thursday night dances (day #8 of dancing if you’ve been counting).  And then it was Friday, and a few Shanghai dancer friends and I decided to visit the Shanghai World Expo.  After all, we all had our VIP “performer” passes that were still good, so we figured we should make use of them and try and get into as many country pavilions as we could.  In order, we went into USA, Peru, Columbia, Brazil, Canada, Venezuela, Argentina, Germany, and finally Spain.  The whole thing was quite arbitrary – we just started walking and asking who would let us in as VIP (only Chile denied us…freakin stiff Chilean door guard).  Over all, I was so glad we did not have to wait to get into any of the pavilion, because none of them were worth more than 30 minutes.  Some were better than others (Germany, Canada, Spain), but in general there wasn’t much to see or do that was truly amazing.  It was kind of like a lousier version of Epcot without rides.  The most fun we had was when Akiko and I crashed the Argentina pavilion by totally faking some Argentine Tango (see video below).  Right in the middle there was a large open space, so when they started playing tango music we started doing really smooth swing, and kind of pulled off a tango-esque feel.  By the end, hundreds of Chinese had circled us, snapping photos right and left.  They all seemed to think we were part of the show (in fact one of the actual Argentina workers asked us afterwards what style of tango it was because had never seen it before!).  We finished the night by crashing an outdoor concert at the Australian pavilion as well where we danced right up in front of the stage.

After it all, I headed back to Bruce and Julia’s then caught a train to Hangzhou first thing Saturday morning and began my 3-week trip backpacking through China, which I am just now finishing up.  It has been quite an adventure, and there will be a massive amount of writing, photos, and videos to come soon.  I leave for Shanghai tonight and then fly to Taipei Thursday to begin my studies there for the winter.  Still, it is only just now hitting me how significant the whole first week of dancing in Shanghai was historically.  It was the first of its kind, and hopefully the beginning of much more to come.  Maybe fifty years from now people will look back at the origins of swing dancing in China and write about us!  Heck, we even made the LOCAL NEWS!

Montana Summer & China Plans

// August 21st, 2010 // No Comments » // China, Chinese, Dancing, Travel, Uncategorized

Wow the summer is going by fast! I cannot believe that I took my big road trip to Montreal 2 months ago! I guess I’ve just been having such a good summer I never realized that it is almost over. Since returning from my road trip to Montreal, I have spent the majority of my time working near Livingston, Montana, as an off-road driving instructor driving and working on H1 Hummers. It is not the job I would have ever guessed I would be working after graduation, but it has been the most fun and well-paying job I have had. The job itself is already pretty great – I’m outside all day, I work with people, and I drive Hummers on the side of a mountain.  But the best part by far is that I have been living in the northern Rockies all summer!On my days off I go hiking, camping, fishing, shooting – if it’s outdoors, you name it and I’ve probably done it this summer. Since I have never been out west, it’s been an invaluable opportunity to experience some of the best the western US has to offer.

Another great feature of my job in Montana is that every month I get a week off and my company flies me anywhere I want to go in the US, so I have been able to attend a couple dance events here and there as well.  The first I attended was “Hot Mess” in Philadelphia on July 9-11, 2010.  True to the name, Hot Mess was one of the hottest weekends of the summer in Philly and the focus of the event was all fast dancing, accentuating the messiness.  Nonetheless, it was one of the most fun events I have attended in a long time and it was a good to finally work on my fast dancing, which has always been a week point for me.  The second event I attended was “Southern Belle Swing Bash” in Atlanta on August 13-15, 2010.  Another fantastic event by Michael and Jaya of Asheville, NC, SBSB was an event made specifically for follows.  All of the workshops were for follows only, and as a result leads were invited to join for free as long as we volunteered to help with the workshops.  I felt guilty for not having to pay for the event because it was so much fun for leads!  Besides the wonderful company I enjoyed staying with all weekend and the countless dances, I also competed in the open Jack & Jill and actually made it to the finals (check out my videos page to see the finals warm up dance).  While I did not place in the top 3,  it was my first time in a finals competition for a lindy hop J&J and I learned a lot from it.  Hopefully there will be more to come in the future!

Since the summer is coming closer to an end, I have already begun planning my next trip to China.  I will be flying out on October 12 to Shanghai to attend the first ever international swing dancing event there called “Swing Out Shanghai.”  When I lived there two years ago, the ideas for the event started to emerge, and now in the middle of the Shanghai World Expo the event will finally be held.  One of the best parts about it is we will actually perform on stage at the World Expo, making history for the whole world to see. After a few weeks in Shanghai, I will move to Taipei in Taiwan to begin a long and concentrated study of Mandarin.  All of my previous trips to China limited me to only 3 months of study at a time – just enough to get somewhere and then forget it.  This time, with the help of a 3 month scholarship by Taiwan’s Ministry of Education, I will spend 6 months studying, giving me the much needed time to hopefully make some large strides with the language.  I will return home May 24, 2011.  It will be a long adventure, but I am confident that the investment I will make in Taiwan will be well worth it later in life, if not for the language skills, then for the life experiences I will encounter.

Montreal Road Trip, 2010

// July 20th, 2010 // No Comments » // Dancing, Travel

I’m back! Wow what an amazing trip! I returned from my Montreal road trip about a month ago and only just now have had the time to write about it. My last post was right at the beginning of my trip in DC after dancing at Jam Cellar.  From there the plan changed quite a bit – here’s the rundown:

• June 1-3: DC – Jam Cellar Tuesday night (June 1) and stayed with Soo Clark until June 3. Left for NYC in the afternoon June 3.
• June 3: NYC – Arrived in NYC at around 12:15 am and went straight to Frim Fram. Danced for about 45 minutes then ended up staying with Big George in the city. Had to park on the street, so I took a 3 hour nap then got up at 6:30 am, got in my car, and started the drive to Montreal.
• June 4 – 9: Montreal – Arrived in Montreal Friday night. Met up with Amanda and went straight to the dance at Cat’s Corner. Went to a club the next night, then explored the city with Amanda on Sunday. Monday I explored more hanging out with Jason Zwolak, then stayed for the dance Tuesday night at Le Petite Medley. Left Montreal for Rochester the next morning, June 9th.
• June 9 – 12: Rochester – Arrived in Rochester on the evening of June 9 and went to the Wed. night dance after meeting up with Joy at her blues lesson.  Went to Niagara Falls the next day, then came back and went blues dancing that night back in Rochester.  Explored some of the city on Friday then stayed for the opening of the Rochester International Jazz Festival.  Stayed with Lindsay then left for DC June 12th.
• June 10: Niagara Falls – Stopped by Niagara Falls with Joy Arico.  Unbelievable place and a major highlight of the trip.
• June 12 – 14: DC – Arrived in DC on June 12th and stayed with Amber Smith for a couple nights. Got to visit friends and spend Saturday and Sunday night in DC before heading home on June 14th. Flew back to MT the next morning, June 15th.

Map of my roadtrip

View June 2010 Roadtrip in a larger map

During those 2 weeks, I visited DC, NYC, Montreal, Rochester, and Niagara Falls…and went dancing in every city (often more than once!). As awesome as it was to visit and dance in such amazing cities, gettingto meet and spend time with so many wonderful people truly made the trip an unforgettable experience.  I also wanted to especially thank the following friends for opening their homes to me along the way, without whom the trip would have never happened:

Soo Clark
Big George Henrik
Amanda Fong
Putra Manggala (Angga)
Joy Arico
Lindsay Crawford
Amber Smith

Thank you all so much for being part of my road trip and for all the memories!