Here we go again! Trip around the world, Part 3--Hong Kong and Israel

Hello again all,

After a tiring and very polluted week in China, it was time for a bit of fresh air and modernity.

Hong Kong was a lovely experience. I had been there before, but I was able to appreciate it again through new eyes as both my mom and dad joined me for this part of our adventure.

On Friday, we walked around Tsim Sha Tsui. Saturday was spent with Chabad in Kowloon. Sunday was spent going up Victoria Peak by tram, and Monday was spent relaxing--my parents had a day together, and I met up with friends from my MBA program who were on a Global Learning Opportunity in Hong Kong, just as I had been in Dubai the year before. The weather was excellent, and we enjoyed our time there very much. It was nice to have my mom enjoy a bit of our father-son trip as well.

My mom meeting us at HKIA 

Overlooking Hong Kong City (Victoria) at Tsim Sha Tsui 

Mangosteen!!! 

HKIA--so vast!

The trip onward with my dad was all too quick. Everyone flew Korean Air (our first) to Seoul-Incheon, then my mom continued on to Chicago. We had a layover and took advantage of ICN's free Korea tour, giving us a five hour tour of Seoul. Most of it was spent driving to and from the city, but we were able to see some very colorful temples (much more similar to the Japanese style, but with so many colors) and try a little Bibimbap!

Sunrise from the bus 

Look at the greens, and reds, and blues!

Small alleys filled with restaurants, like Japan

Strange vegetables for the bibimbap 

View from the wing: KE957

Upon arrival in Tel Aviv, my dad (finally) had an easy time going through immigration, and off we went to see the city. Our first day was spent going down memory lane, as my father showed me the school in which he had studied some sixty years ago. We also went to the military base in which they used to live and my grandfather used to serve, soon to be closed down and moved south.

Old bell tower at Great Synagogue of Rishon LeZion

My dad couldn't get over this road existing all the way to the base

All in the family

Delicious breakfast at the hotel

The next day, we made our way to Jerusalem. We began by hiking through Hezekiah's water tunnels, an amazing discovery showing how the great king built an underground water system some 2,700 years ago that is still filled with clear water today. From there, we made our way to the kotel, offering some prayers at the base of the holiest site of the Jewish people, as well as enjoying a tasty burger at Burgers Bar.

Al Aqsa mosque, from the Gate of Mercy

If I forget you, O Jerusalem...

 

On Friday morning, I accompanied my father to the airport for his return to Chicago on KLM. I, meanwhile, bar mitzvah tutored by phone, then made my way south by bus to Beersheva for a lovely Shabbat.

The next week was spent with good friends in the south and north, sharing some wonderful meals and times with old friends.

My friend kept her word, saving this bottle until I returned. 

Wonderful meal at Arabica in the Old City of Beersheva. How did I miss this before?

Overlooking a full moon in Haifa

Sunset in Haifa 

Finally, on Wednesday night, if was off to Amman>>Doha>>Johannesburg>>Sydney. All of my flights were surprisingly on time, and despite a bump at Doha when they almost wouldn't let me board my flight (since I was on two separate tickets and didn't have a full page in my visa section of my passport for a visa to enter Johannesburg, which I didn't need, since I was just connecting), I was able to show my onward boarding pass and my bags that were checked through, and I was permitted to board. Onward and southward!

Here we go again! Trip around the world, Part 2--China

Hello all! Before I delve into my daily itinerary in China, as we descended into a hazy Beijing winter afternoon on Japan Airlines Flight 21, I could already begin to perceive some clear differences between the PRC and countries like America and Japan, differences that would be flushed out as the days went on. But more as I go.

New Years Day, 2016: We landed in Beijing on time. We decided to skip the Great Wall due to time constraints, but a damaged bag also delayed us further. We proceeded to the office, in which the agent said that the two options were to fly back to Japan to get it fixed (ummm, nope), or that he had a replacement suitcase that was "$100 on the market." Since my suitcase was around that price, but I knew that his was nowhere near (it didn't even have extender abilities), I told him that we would take the suitcase if he could also offer us some funds. He said no, then he gave a very low price. We bargained for over 15 minutes, yelling and arguing. This is not at all how it works in Japan. They give you a sum of money based on the type of damage, not at all outside of reason, and then profusely apologize. But after a while, he agreed to a compromise amount, then shook my hand and said "you win." Let me be clear: I won nothing. This was a disgrace.
From there we went to find a taxi. We were told that a taxi could not hold our bags and that we would need a 200 yuan van. We had to argue here as well, then name our price for a normal taxi (good I looked up reasonable prices beforehand), and then we all shoved in and headed off. The driver got lost and spoke zero English, but eventually we made our way there. We stayed at Hotel Jen for one night near the Chabad of Beijing, unpacked, got things settled, and made our way to Friday night services and dinner. What a tiring day, especially considering we were up all night. We returned that evening to our room, looking out into the night as the buildings disappeared into a purple-yellow haze. It was pretty disgusting, and you could taste it in the air.

A smoggy view from the hotel room

Jan. 2: We went to the synagogue in the morning, followed by lunch. In the afternoon, we made our way to a really neat area of Beijing, a sort of reclaimed abandoned factory district-qua-art district. There were plenty of interesting and odd exhibits from all over the world, most of them free, making for a very refreshing scene and a great way to spend the afternoon. We returned to the synagogue in the evening, then returned to the hotel, grabbed our bags, and took a taxi across town to the Doubletree, welcoming us with warm cookies and at least half-decent English.

Following check-in, we walked over to the subway station and went to Wangfujing Street to see the night market. So many interesting smells, all of which I'm sure would have made for a variety of tastes and stomach problems. People were eating bugs and cows, pigs and rats, living, dead, whatever. It sure was something. We also went into a big bookstore nearby, since my dad loves Chinese military literature (which probably raised a few eyebrows as well). We then saw the entrance to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square at night, with Changan Avenue lit up in traditional Moscow Communist fashion, replete with guards and plenty of cameras. Eerie and effective.

My dad seeing the Forbidden City entrance for the first time

Hello, comrade.

Look at that nasty smog!

Jan. 3: There was a gentleman from London who worked at the Doubletree with impeccable Mandarin. He was both friendly and extraordinarily professional, making it a sincere pleasure to plan out our next two days. We walked over to the Temple of Heaven, a disappointment, in truth, after all of the temples and shrines kept beautifully in Japan. That said, it was much more colorful, and the park in the area was clearly a familiar place to the locals, many playing chess, go, cards, or other Chinese games.

Relics at the Temple of Heaven 

Looking inside the temple

Old stoves in the Temple of Heaven complex, once used for animal sacrifice

From there, we traveled to the Forbidden City and walked through. Man, it goes on forever. It was incredible thinking back to the vassals and tributaries of old and the power that such a place would have commanded (and required to keep). It was very impressive.

Daytime outside the Forbidden City. See all of the cameras and speakers on those lights?

Moat (frozen) outside the palace walls

Finally, we headed to see a few museums, including the Beijing Capital museum and the military museum.

Some pottery from the Beijing Capital Museum

Jan. 4: Since it was our final day in Beijing and my father wanted to try a bullet train, we decided to buy round trip tickets to Baoding, a nearby town. The train was faster than the Shinkansen in Japan, but less sleek and comfortable, and also quite packed. We made our way out of the train and began to wander, going into a supermarket and seeing some of the local (and foreign fare). We went up in that building and found ourselves in a multi-level building filled entirely with sellers of fake wares. There was no attempt at hiding. Prices were dirt cheap, brands were terribly spelled, and we clearly felt out of place in this smaller, more remote town. Still, we completed our rounds dutifully. We then began to walk down the street, eventually getting bored and deciding to take a bus back to the station. We got on the wrong bus, but with the help of the drivers and the other passengers (and my ability to write some Chinese characters), we made our way back. While waiting for the correct bus, a number of older people began placing chairs in the road to block it. They were clearly protesting, and it was obvious that no young people would join them. There is great fear of government punishment, but the elderly have less to worry about. As we boarded our bus and headed around it, we saw a police car going in the other direction. Freedom to gather is not a right or privilege in China. All of the "people's square" areas in every city were filled with guards in case the people would wish to gather. The events of 1989 would not be repeated. The government continues to see to that.

Beijing West Railway Station

Starting to protest

We waited for hours in the Baoding railway station for our return train, eventually boarded, headed back to the hotel to collect our bags, and then made our way to Beijing Railway Station (another relic of Russian influence) for our night train to Harbin in the north. We boarded our soft sleeper, with the two of us, a young female student, and a male middle aged con artist who spent time speaking enough English to try to convince us to first cancel our hotel reservation so that he could use his discounts to get a better one, then trying to convince us to travel with him to our hotel once we arrived as a favor. And man, did he snore and talk in his sleep! I thought I would never fall asleep.

Jan. 5: We arrived into Harbin tired, dazed, and confused. We didn't have any clue where our hotel was, despite thinking that it was walkable. Since we didn't have the address written in Chinese, no one could get us there. However, in the station, there was a gentleman working security who was a huge bulls fan and had some of the best (if not the best) English we had encountered from a local in China, far outside of the areas in which we thought such a thing to be possible. He checked our information, wrote down the address, showed us the taxi stand, and was just really amazing. We took a taxi to the junkiest hotel of our trip, the ibis hotel, checked in, paid a bit for breakfast (a total waste, unless you like northern Chinese pork dumplings), and then dropped our things into the room. We walked around a bit, desiring to head to the Harbin Snow and Ice Festival, but it was apparently too early, as our next taxi driver discovered. He refused to take full fare, dropping us off instead in a shopping area. We looked around at some ice sculptures there and stopped into a Starbucks.

Eventually we took a bus to the festival. It was absolutely frigid, but it was incredible. The colors and shapes used to create the massive and beautiful ice sculptures was unparalleled. I've posted plenty of pictures. We spent time hopping between restaurants/cafes and being outside, eventually waiting until it got dark for the fireworks before heading back to the hotel by bus. I was able to even remember how to get from the bus stop back to our hotel on foot!

Jan 6: Harbin used to have a very large Jewish community, and it turned out that the old synagogue was only a 15 minute walk from our place. We went inside, paid our museum fees, and could easily make out how the shul most likely looked. The first floor was an art gallery, mostly of paintings of cathedrals (of all things!), but the second and third floors were a museum to the Jewish history of Harbin. I learned a lot about the city and its connections to my people.

Hamsas and medallions of Lenin. Hmmm... 

In the afternoon, we made our way to the airport. We found a lounge and I showed my Priority Pass and they let us in. As we left, some other people were taking out their Priority Pass and talking to the agents and asking if it gets them in and everyone was very unclear. They were ultimately denied entry, making me think that we should not have gotten in, or that too many questions make for problems. No matter. We boarded the flight on China Southern, which did not have our kosher meals (though the attendant tried very hard to accommodate and make us happy, which we really appreciated). We arrived Shanghai on time, bought the round trip maglev train and 24 hour subway pass, and made our way to the Hilton, sharing some cookies and drinks before bed.

Jan. 7: We decided to explore Shanghai, seeing the Bund and the newer economic centers. We did a lot of walking around, as well as some sitting and watching of the boats. 

Repairs, standing on the ramparts with bamboo support.

Talk about gaudy...

At the day went on, we decided to return to the hotel, a good thing indeed, since Dragonair cancelled our flights. We asked the concierge to call them, and while I spoke to the agent at Dragonair, it became more and more apparent that we would need to actually go to the airport to get rebooked. So, ruining our day, we made our way to the airport, without any kosher meal any longer. Frustrated and tired, we headed to the lounge for a respite for a few hours, then made our way to the plane.

Shanghai Pudong Airport interior

Our new Dragonair flight, on an Airbus A330. At least the crew were nice.

China was an interesting an unique place. It is certainly a "police state," as my father calls it, or a dictatorship, as I call it. Internet is censored (less in the trade area of Shanghai, but heavily everywhere else). Foreign websites take longer to load because they need to be approved of content, and sometimes, they just "fail to load."

Moreover, while watching CNN one day in Beijing, a story was being aired about the Chinese economy falling a bit. That was okay. Then it switched to a story about some disappearing booksellers in Hong Kong. The news, within five seconds, cut to an article they had presented ten minutes before and then repeated an earlier commercial break until this news story passed in real time. 

People in China were often quite rude, constantly making me revisit the phrase of "the Japanese are insincerely nice, and the Chinese are sincerely rude." Even if people weren't being directly rude, mannerisms were often quite uncouth. China is simply a different place with a different attitude. 

The smog and military prowess of China were both constantly shoved down our throats, one literally, one figuratively through posters and military parade videos on repeat on the subway line. It was pretty unreal, and you could feel a lack of freedom within the country. It was certainly unsettling. Still, I'm thrilled that we were able to see and experience this unique and lovely place.