Personal
A very different Christmas or: my journey to the top of the world
As a result of not being able to go home over Christmas, a couple of friends of mine and I decided to set off on a rather different Christmas excursion to the top of the world: i.e. to the Himalayas; more precisely: Mount Everest Base Camp (5200 m).
I have reported of the elusive hills just outside campus before (here). This time I went into the opposite direction, i.e. southwest, to explore the hills further, to a place called Xikou. Xikou’s cultural significance comes from the fact that it is birth place of Chiang Kai-shek, who’s ancestral home has now been made into a tourist attraction.
Since my return from Japan, I have not done much else but teach and tackle various other academic jobs such as research paper writing, meetings and admin, so I am due a blog entry and my g*d I was due a trip off campus. So finally the excuse lent itself that a very good friend of mine was in the country and we could return to Hangzhou. Unfortunately he had to fly out again a day before we had the chance to go, but nevertheless some other friends of mine and I decided to set off as planned.
ç¯‰åœ°å¸‚å ´, Tsukiji shijÅ – Tokyo fish market etc.
Got up at 5 am on friday morning, to experience the Tokyo fish market in Tsukiji. It’s one of the world’s largest fish markets, handling over 2,000 tons of marine products every day. The whole place is filled with fresh fish, shellfish and huge tuna and with its many scooters, trucks, sellers and buyers in full action, it exudes an atmosphere of real excitement. The trading and bidding for the huge big, torpedo like tuna fish seemed very tense indeed.
Took the Shinkansen train from Osaka to Tokyo – the penultimate leg of my trip to Japan. The train as well as Tokyo were simply amazing. I picked this picture, as it epitomises Japan for me: the Shinkansen high speed train, the neon signs, the funny shaped cars … it’s a civilisation at the edge of technological advancement and sophistication.
Couldn’t come to Japan without seeing the wonderful gardens of Kyoto, however to my disappointment, they are spread out around the city and so it’s almost impossible to see more than two or three a day, and so that’s what I had to make do with. My first stop was the Fushimi-inari Taisha shrine of the Inari cult, dedicated to the god of rice and sake.
ã“ã‚“ã°ã‚“ã¯ã€‚- Konnichiwa
As a result of a national holiday here in China, I thought I’d take the opportunity to see some more of Asia and travel to Japan. Flew to Osaka from Shanghai to go and meet up with one of my friends for a few days, who is currently out there on business, and then traveled to Kyoto and Tokyo.