Shanghai | the Bund and Pudong

Pudong through Shanghai's smog
(c) 2011 by David Ourisman

Shanghai is the financial center of China and the second largest city in the country with a population of 23 million (the largest being Chongqing). We were amused, during the trip, when we would hear cities with 7 million residents — roughly the population of New York — being described as "small cities," but this is an indication of China's immense population. With over 1.3 billion residents, China is the world's most populous nation.

Shanghai is an attractive city. I took this photograph from the Bund, looking towards Pudong, the contemporary high-rise section of Shanghai. Pudong lies "south of the Pu" River (which is the literal meaning of Pu-dong). At the left of the photograph is the Pearl Tower, and you can also see the Park Hyatt Shanghai, at the top of the city's tallest building, shrouded in the haze.

Our historical walking tour of the Bund was very interesting, and we also toured the French Concession, a beautiful residential section of the city with low-rise buildings and streets lined with leafy trees. Shanghai is also the home of the Shanghai Museum which houses an impressive collection of art, furniture, and cultural artifacts — a must-see.


Shanghai (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2011 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
.

Serengeti: The Eternal Beginning

Serengeti: The Eternal Beginning is a photo essay documenting the fragile beauty of the vast Serengeti, a World Heritage Site which is now endangered due to climate change. Author and photographer Boyd Norton has been visiting the Serengeti since he was a schoolboy in the late 1940's, and this 250-page book conveys his intimacy with and passion for this area. This book is not for the casual reader looking for an easy read that describes what to do and what to see on safari. Norton conveys an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the Serengeti, its history, and its wildlife — and a prophetic passion for the ecological preservation of this irreplaceable wilderness.

One of the world's 40 most influential nature photographers (see a gallery of some of his favorites here), Brad Norton uses his own images to illustrate this book. There must be hundreds of full-color photographs, some covering an entire 9" x 20" two-page spread. The book is also an invitation to join Serengeti Watch and to stop the Serengeti Highway, a proposed commercial highway across the park that would cut off migration routes.

See video of the Serengeti in the clip below.


Serengeti: the Eternal Beginning from Boyd Norton on Vimeo.

The book is available on amazon.com.


copyright (c) 2011 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
.

bamboo rafting down the Li River

A typical feature of many tours of China is a three day cruise down the Yangtze River, but Imperial Tours does tours differently. Although there is some spectacular scenery along that cruise, they reason that three days is too long to be stuck on a boat instead of actually exploring one of the most intriguing and diverse countries in the world. So instead, they planned a scenic cruise on a bamboo raft down the Li River near Guilin.

Claire and I had our own raft and sat on a bamboo bench while our boat was being "poled" down the river. The mountain peaks were gorgeous (see my photograph above), and I happily watched the scenery drift by as we slowly made our way downstream. At the end of our river cruise, we enjoyed an experience that tourists on the big river boats never get to see - a visit to the home village of our guide, seeing her family home where they made tofu, and having an open and free-ranging conversation with the Party Secretary of the local Communist Party that ran the village.

Sometimes less is more, and our short rafting trip was the perfect amount of time to spend on a scenic cruise in China.


bamboo raft down the Li River (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2011 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
.

holiday wishes from Brownell

An interesting holiday card, showing the development of our logo over the past 125 years (Brownell is one of the oldest travel agencies in the United States). What's next? Not allowed to say, but I do notice the big red question mark… Let me pass along my own holiday wishes and best wishes for the next 125 years.


Brownell Travel (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2011 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
.

Up the Down Volcano | a very good read!

Cotopaxi is one of the tallest mountains on earth, its top 19,347 feet above sea level, and Up the Down Volcano is Sloane Crosley's autobiographical account of her mountain climbing adventure on Cotopaxi. Any reader forearmed with this one essential fact (e.g., 19,347 feet elevation) would know from the first two sentences of the story that her adventure was not likely to end well.

I am told that Ecuador is graced with all four seasons in the course of a single day, and so I pack for none. Instead I stuff a bikini and a fleece vest into the pocket of negative space that appears as I zip my bag shut.

And so she flies off to Ecuador with just a carryon at the behest of a travel magazine that is sending her to write about Quito. She mentions to the hotel receptionist upon her arrival of "my interest in climbing Cotopaxi, a mountain I apparently can't be bothered to Google."

What follows is the improbable story of what happens when an ill-equipped and ill-prepared tourist hires a non-English speaking guide to climb to a peak nearly four miles above sea level. She has brought no boots, no clothing heavier than her fleece vest, and a ripped sleeping bag. She begins her assault on Cotopaxi just one day after arriving in Quito, itself 9,200 feet above the sea. It should surprise no one that Crosley is stricken with a serious case of altitude sickness the night before the ascent.

The book is an incredibly good read. Crosley is an engaging writer with a wonderfully witty sense of humor that she directs mostly at herself. While it's obvious that she lives to tell the story (this is an autobiography, after all), Crosley manages to keep the reader in suspense about just how everything will end. I thoroughly enjoyed reading my review copy, and it's well worth the $1.99 for the essay which is available as a Kindle single.

In my experience as a travel consultant, I have encountered two kinds of travelers. At one extreme of that spectrum is the meticulous planner who creates a spreadsheet detailing every detail of every day. At the other extreme, there are those travelers who revel in enforced spontaneity (Crosley), having planned practically nothing. While I shudder at the thought (I'm a planner, after all), I do recognize that spontaneous travelers often have the most memorable adventures. After all, life is about the journey, not the destination, and frequently the journey is most interesting once we get lost and have to discover a way back home.


travel consultant (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2011 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
.

Xi'an … terracotta warriors and more

Xi'an is one of the oldest cities in China and is China's former capital. While many folks go just for the terracotta warriors (which is an amazing sight - see my photo above), Xi'an is a destination well worth two nights. This gives you one day to see the warriors, ride a bike around the ancient city walls which encircle the core of the city, and explore the downtown area.

Don't miss what most tourists never see before leaving Xi'an — the Hanyangling Museum. Housing the mausoleum of the western Han emperor Liu Qi … the most fascinating section of the museum is underground. Visitors literally walk on glass floors in this underground museum, viewing a vast archeological dig with countless clay figures which were buried with the emperor.

terracotta warriors (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2011 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
.

don't miss the Great Wall of China

Great Wall of China - Jinshanling Section

The Great Wall of China is one of those iconic attractions that you must see, if you have the opportunity. The only structure constructed by humans that is visible from space, its construction began in the 5th century BC. Intended to protect China from invaders from the north, nearly 4,000 miles of walls qualifies the Great Wall of China as history's largest public works project.

The vast majority of tourists - both Chinese and others - visit the Badaling section of the great wall; only one hour from Beijing, it can be reached by inexpensive public bus transportation. What you will experience there is a reconstructed section of the wall ... and crowds. Most tour companies take their guests to Badaling.

Imperial Tours goes the extra mile(s), taking their guests to the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall and then providing us with an unforgettable luncheon in one of the watchtowers. Two and one-half hours from Beijing, the visit makes for a long day ... but the extra time is worth it. I took the picture above during my visit, and it shows the exclusive and uncrowded visit that we enjoyed. The only visitors were the members of our tour group - and some local guides who assisted us in climbing the steeper sections of the wall and helped us with our footing. I encourage you to accept their hospitality, and then to buy something from them after your visit; it's how they make their living.


Great Wall of China (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2011 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website. Photograph of the Great Wall is copyrighted © 2011 by David Ourisman
.