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Yushu (Jiegu/Jyekundo) Photo/Video Tribute

I've been saddened by the devastation caused by the recent earthquake in the Yushu area of Qinghai Province. This was a place I had visited and spent a few days during my adventurous trip around China and Tibet. I had a wonderful experience in this region and was touched by the hospitality of the Tibetan people and the beauty of the scenery. As a tribute, I am publishing some photos and videos taken of the town and surrounding areas. Please enjoy these photos and videos of the places, people, an...

2009 Slideshow – Part 2

My stay in China came to a close at the end of March. I will cherish the memories I've collected during my 9 months of living in China. The last few months of my stay included some special events such as a weekend trip to hot springs in Guangdong province, various day trips into Hong Kong, and attending a wedding in Hong Kong. I've accumulated enough photos to compile a slideshow for this final chapter in the 2008-2009 China stint. Enjoy![flashvideo filename=files/videos/BestOfChina5.flv /]

Tokyo, the Unintended Visit

Our stay in China came to a close after attending a relative's wedding in Hong Kong. We thought we were heading directly back to the USA. Not so fast. The day of our departure, there was a fatal airplane crash at Tokyo's Narita airport. A Fedex cargo plane slammed into the main runway and burst into flames. Its an unfortunate disaster as the pilot and co-pilot were killed in the crash. The result was that Narita was shut down for the entire day. We waited and waited in HK for news. Finally, we b...

The Bangkok Food Photo Collage

6 Days in Bangkok

My China visa expires but I can't go back to the states before attending a wedding in Hong Kong. What to do? Well, given the geographically central location of Hong Kong to much of East Asia, how about a trip to the sunny vibrant city of Bangkok? Bangkok is a huge tourist destination. Just take a look around the airport and there are people from all over the world. Many tourists visit the fabulous beaches and resort areas. We, however, wanted to focus only on Bangkok. Here's a rundown of our...

2009 Slideshow – Part 1

I now have enough photos for the first slideshow of 2009. This slideshow covers the very end of 2008 up to mid February 2009. I didn't travel too much during this time period and so the photos include many photos from events I've attended. I spent this time period in Behai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and Houjie, Guangdong. These were some great times because I had the opportunity to meet a lot of friendly and interesting people along the way. I also had the chance to meet up with friends and relatives...

Dafen, The Artist Village

I recently took a trip to Dafen which is in the suburbs of Shenzhen. This neighborhood is world famous for its production of oil paint replicas. Back in the 90s, a Hong Kong businessman brought 20 artists to what was kind of a peaceful hamlet outside of Shenzhen. They set up shop and started cranking out oil paintings which were replicas of famous paintings by Van Gough, Da Vinci, and others who have been dead more than 70 years (and thus out of copyright). Soon, more and more artists and art wo...

Houjie, the Ancestral Home

It would be unfortunate if I didn't make a trip to my mother's hometown given that its only about 1 hour away from Shenzhen. So I decided to ride the bus to Houjie, Guangdong province. Houjie is a town that has now been absorbed into the metropolis of Dongguan. This area, and all of the Pearl River delta for that matter, is bustling with factories, companies, and trade. Houjie is known as a location with many clothing, shoe, and electronics factories. Given all the wealth and growth in Guangdong...

Bass Fishing in Shenzhen

Although the scenery may look familiar, no, I'm not in Virginia. This is still in China. This past weekend, I had the opportunity to go fishing at a private reservoir just outside of Shenzhen. Our day started by driving with family friends to a small resort. At first, I thought this was our fishing location. We had a tasty lunch at this resort which also offers fishing in their private pond as well as other outdoor activities like hiking on their trails. After lunch we drove to a friend's privat...

Chinese New Year for Beginners

Back in the US, Chinese New Year is often unnoticeable unless you live in a Chinatown of a major city. If you look hard enough, maybe some Chinese restaurants have additional decorations. My way of celebrating Chinese New Year with my family in the US is simply by making the drive home to NJ on any convenient weekend in the January-February time frame and then going out to eat with parents and relatives. i.e. Not very traditional and not very spiritual but practical given the time and distance. ...