Visiting Taiyuan in Winter

Someone in Beijing once told me that Taiyuan was like “Beijing 10 years ago”, perhaps referring to its lack of a subway system, its lack of Starbucks, or the apparent roughness of the people there. But it may be more appropriate to say Taiyuan is like “Beijing 1000 years ago”, as a tour guide in Taiyuan proudly introduced Shanxi (the province where Taiyuan is located in) as the area where you can find many of the oldest Chinese architecture and artifacts above ground (presumably, as opposed to the Terracota Army underground in the Shaanxi Province.)

Taiyuan is a well-connected city accessible by public buses and minibuses but it is a bit difficult to navigate the system without Mandarin. If you only have a weekend, say you’re taking a short trip there from Beijing, here are my suggestions:

Where to go

1. Yuci Ancient Old City (see video above)

• This an old town built in the Ming Dynasty. I went there during the Chinese New Year Holidays. Though it was cold and the shops were closed, I had the sites, i.e., the temple, the garden, the law court, and the torture chamber, all to myself, which is quite unusual when traveling in China. Besides, I also avoided many tacky shops offering tourists to be photographed in ancient costumes.
•  How to get there: Take bus 901 to go to the last station, Yuci Ancient Old City @ 3RMB, get a feel for the public buses in Taiyuan. People seem a bit rougher than in Beijing, but they are nice This is only a half-day trip. If you have time, visit the free Shanxi museum in the city.

2. Qiao Family Courtyard (see video above)

1. This is where the movie”Raise the Red Lantern”  about gender inequality in the pre-communist era was filmed. You can watch it here: http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/aE0_4a302Vc/ with English subtitles. The movie will add another layer to your experience there, though for its actual history, see  http://english.cri.cn/725/2006/03/31/202@69691.htm

• Buses to PingYao from Taiyuan goes through Qiao Family Courtyard. You can ask to be dropped off there but you’ll need to arrange your own transportation back to Taiyuan. I did that last time around Chinese New Year, which means that basically it’s harder to find transportation than usual.  The cashier at Qiao said I could take a cab back to Taiyuan for 200RMB. Instead of doing that, I waited at the “drop off” area outside the courtyard for about 5 mins and got picked up by a tour bus heading back to Taiyuan from Pingyao for about 20 RMB.

3. Ping Yao

• Ping Yao is a very nice city and worth taking a day trip to. Go to Jiannan Bus Station in Taiyuan early in the morning and take a bus to Ping Yao. There are tour buses that take chinese tourists there for a day trip @ 60-80RMB.

How to get there

• Take the hi-speed train to Taiyuan. Or book a flight ticket @ http://english.ctrip.com/
• At the airport, there is a public bus going to the city center for 2RMB. You have to walk through a small car park where the taxi stand and the tour buses are. Or you can take a cab for 60- 80RMB.

Where to stay

• Find a place to stay near the main train station. Go for the hostels mentioned in Lonely Planet. There are also many small chain hotels, 2-3 stars, like Hanting Express, for about 200 RMB a night.

What to eat

• Find a noodle restaurant and have vinegar noodles with mutton.
• Or go to Food Street: enjoy the street food on the grill or honey chestnuts before go to a sit down restaurant.

Visiting Bruce Peninsula on a rainy weekend

It was early June after an unnatural long winter, when the temperature started to rise in Toronto and when it started to feel warmer that we decided to visit Bruce Peninsula. Not only was it cooler up North (about 4 hours from Toronto), but it also happened to rain that weekend.

What to do if it rains on Bruce Peninsula

1. Hang out in Tobermory, a nice small town on Bruce Peninsula, where you can find the start point of the Bruce Trail
2. Park your car in front of the harbor. Sit and watch the boats rocking back and forth in the wind, visitors walking by under their umbrellas, and dogs left behind barking in the car
3. Have fish & chips, clam chowder, and beaver tails
4. Visit the gift shop and check out the Gem stones
5. Go to the supermarket and pick up extra newspapers in case you need to start a fire in the rain @ your camp site later
6. Go to visitor’s center @ Tobermory and watch a short film about the Peninsula

What to do if the rain stops

1. Walk up the Tower @ the visitor center close to the Tobermory and get a 360 view of the Peninsula
2. Enter and hike the trail close to the visitor center. It’s a soft and beautiful trial with lots colors
3. Take the ferry to the nearby islands, i.e., Flowerpot, and Cove Island. For more info, check out: http://www.greybruceescape.ca/brucepeninsula.html
4. Rent a kayake or canoe @ Tobermory
5. Scuba Dive

Where to camp

I camped at the Popalars camp site @ Cyprus Lake in Bruce Peninsula National Park, about 10km from Tobermory. Site 42 and 45 are quite nice and private.

The Cyprus campsite is close to many hiking trials, Bruce Trail, Horselake Trail Georgian Bay Trail, where you can see very blue water, rocky white beaches and climb the Grotto.

To book a campsite, go to Park Canada: http://www.pc.gc.ca/

What to see on the Highway to Tobermory

1. Antique stores
2. Yard sales
3. A batman car, worth possibly over 100 thousand dollars on eBay, if you’re lucky http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/original-1989-batmobile-on-sale-on-ebay.html

Women travelling alone in Jordan

As I was browsing and looking for travel tips for women travelling alone in Jordan, I found a great deal of information, or misinformation rather, about the potential dangers for women travelling in Jordan, which is completely not what I experienced travelling alone as a woman in Jordan last year, in 2010, going from the North to the South, going from Jerash, to Amman, to Deadsea, to Dana Reserve, to Petra, to Aquaba and to Wadi Rum.

There’s ehow which says “As with most Middle Eastern countries, women should be vigilant while traveling in Jordan. Middle Eastern attitudes toward women are very different from those found in North America, Europe and Australia. Staring, sexual harassment and unwanted touching are common problems for women travelers.” And it ends with, “Women traveling with male companions will have the easiest time.”  http://www.ehow.com/list_6366127_travel-tips-women-jordan.html#ixzz19c86PMZF One may as well say that travelling with a big tour group and staying in a resort will be the easiest. Or better, it’s safer to just stay home.

On the US State department travel site to Jordan, doing a word search on “women” you will find 3 matches, all of which are under the section, Crime. http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1149.html

“Western women, both visiting and residing in Jordan, have reported sexual harassment, stalking, and unwelcome advances of a sexual nature. There have also been isolated reports of harassment and sexual assault, many involving taxis and taxi drivers. Incidents typically involve verbal sexual harassment, staring, or following the victim after the victim exits the taxi; however, there are occasional violent attacks.”

The first thing which strikes me is that, like ehow, the State website lumps “staring” together with serious crimes, that can also occur in Toronto, New York, Paris, and London. The truth is that while staring is considered to be rude in Western culture, travelling in countries especially those that has a rich local culture and have not been completely flooded by westerners, staring is not as uncommon, certainly doesn’t constitute a crime, and definitely not an indication of someone about to commit a crime.

As I was visiting the Roman City in Jerash, I remembered being swamped by a group of Jordan kids who were perhaps visiting the city on a school trip. There was certainly a lot of staring, touching, and giggling. Walking down the street of Amman, there was also some staring, neither wanted nor unwanted. Sitting in a mini bus full of men going to the Soft Beach from downtown Aquaba also attracted some attention. But as I tried to tell the bus drivers where I was going, the friendly starers all tried to help though most didn’t speak much English.

If the State website had provided some statistics, perhaps comparing the crime rates in Jordan and other countries, or Amman and other cities, the advice could be for people to immigrate to Jordan.

That being said, some precautions still need to be taken when travelling alone in Jordan.  For example,

a) Dress modestly; avoid t-shirts or shorts; avoid showing your arms or legs.

b) Be polite, but no need to smile at or be too friendly male strangers on the streets.

I followed the above rules to not so much to avoid dangers but more importantly to show respect to the local culture and tradition.

What I also noticed is that in areas (in Jordan as well as other countries) more populated by western tourists, though it’s natural to feel safer, unwanted attention or touching are more common.

Some sites also warn against going out in the evening, but going out to have dinner and doing so sensibly should be fine. Ruth’s Jordan Jubilee http://www.jordanjubilee.com/travelme/women.htm has some good travel tips but it’s certainly not true that going to Wadi Rum is unsafe. It says, “ The idea of “sleeping under the stars” is wonderful, but the idea of sleeping almost alone with strange Bedouin is less attractive.”  In fact, Wadi Rum is not somewhere that foreign tourists, men or women alike, unfamiliar with the desert environment can go on their own. But there are many tours operated by Bedouins. You can find out about them on Lonely Planet, travel agencies in Amman, Petra, and Aquaba, or other independent travellers.

Finally, Jordan attracts lots of experienced and independent travellers, who can be found in most hostels. Be outgoing. Talk to other backpackers and talk to hostel staff. You will be able to get a lot of reliable and current tips.