A Hong Kong Typhoon

July 19

I was woken in the middle of the night by a typhoon that partially hit Hong Kong. There were very strong winds and rain, but not enough to keep me awake longer than about 10 minutes. It actually ended up being a blessing because by noon all the rain had cleared out and taken the smog of Hong Kong with it. This allowed me to get crystal clear pictures of the city, which I hear isn't very common.

The city of Hong Kong is split into two main areas, Hong Kong and Kowloon. Today I visited the actual Hong Kong island side for the first time. It was still raining pretty hard when I set out so I decided to experience the escalators to Mid Level. A series of escalators that are about a half mile long take you up the steep hills of Hong Kong and by shopping, restaurants and apartment buildings. It is something you can't experience anywhere else in the world.

I then photographed a couple temples. The Man Mo Temple and the most famous in Hong Kong, Wong Tai Sin, which is a Taoist temple. It had beautiful gardens that were surrounded by the cities unique apartment buildings. They also had a very impressive pond with about a 30 foot waterfall that was filled with at least 100 large koi.

After that I took the tram to Victoria's Peak, which overlooks the city. From there I was able to take advantage of the typhoon clearing out the smog and captures some great shots of the city and then waited until dusk to get some night photos. It is an amazing view of one of the most unique cities in the world.  I stood there for an hour and a half to keep my spot for the dusk shots and just soaked it all in.

I decided I had a little more energy left in me and walked through the financial district taking pictures of all the skyscrapers. Hong Kong has too have some of the most creative architecture for skyscrapers and many of them are lit up at night, which makes for great pictures.

Incense burning in the Man Mo Temple.

A woman praying in the Man Mo Temple.

A lion on the exterior of the Wong Tai Sin Temple.

The gardens at the Wong Tai Sin Temple.

The view over Hong Kong from Victoria's Peak.

The view over Hong Kong from Victoria's Peak at dusk. This is actually 4 images that have been stitched together. All together they create a 95mb file.  The color of the dusk sky spread out evenly because of the layer of clouds above the city and the created an amazing blue hue. 

Looking up at the impressive Bank of China building at night.

Hong Kong's tallest building surrounded by clouds, The International Finance Center.  There is currently another building that will complete construction next year to surpass it.

Back in Hong Kong

July 18

Yesterday was a full day of travel.  The bus ride from Hanzhong to Xian was pretty uneventful, but the trip has multiple tunnels that go through the mountains, which makes it more interesting.  You go through at least 20 of them and the longest one is over four miles long! 

Today I took a bus to Tai O.  A remote village on Lantau island that is known for its houses on stilts.  It was a very small village and there wasn't much going on.  The houses that are on the stilts are amazingly small.  About 300-400 square feet spread out over two floors and in multiple rooms.  The ceilings have to be 6-7 feet at most.

I then took a bus to Po Lin, which is home to one of the biggest Buddha's in the world.  It is 85 feet tall and sits at the top of the hill.  It has an amazingly ornate Buddhist temple nearby.  It was definitely worth the trip to see.  The "Big Buddha" is up in the mountains of Lantau island, so I then took a gondola back to sea level.

After that I came back to Hong Kong and did some night photography of the city life.  Overall it was a very rewarding day of photography and very tiring.  I photographed for over 12 hours.

The stilt houses of Tai O

Salted fish hanging to dry in the sun.  I have found that if it comes from the ocean, they will salt it, dry it and eat it whatever it is.  I've seen starfish, seahorses, blowfish, squid and everything else you can think of for sale.

A boat coming down an inlet between the stilt houses in Tai O.

The 85 foot tall Big Buddha at Po Lin.

A Buddhist statue at the base of the Big Buddha with the Lantau mountains in the distance.

Dragon detail on the front of the Buddhist temple at Po Lin.

An ornate building with the Big Buddha in the distance.

Dusk on Nathan Road on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong.

Neon signage on Nathan Road.

A woman serving fish balls with octopus on a stick in the foreground.

Stalls and shoppers at the Temple Street night market in Kowloon.  Be ready to barter!

A creative shot of the neon signage in Hong Kong.  I promise it wasn't an accident.  It actually took 19 tries to get what I wanted.

Last Day in Hanzhong

Today was my last day in Hanzhong. Tomorrow I will be traveling back to Hong Kong for the remainder of the trip. I have really enjoyed Hanzhong. I haven't seen anyone outside of our group that has been a foreigner. It is quite the experience when you are the only foreigner that many of these people see walking down the street on a given day. You definitely get a lot of stares. Overall it has been a wonderful experience and I will look forward to returning to China some day.

This morning I was taken to the Hanzhong Museum which talks about the local history. It has some calligraphy that was almost 2,000 years old and the buildings were around 1,000 years old. I enjoyed the history but the main reason I went was to take pictures of the buildings. They were incredible. It was exactly what I had in mind when I came to China. The ancient architecture here is pretty amazing and a lot of fun to photograph.

I spent the afternoon today working on editing the final images from the English Camp and the cultural photos I have taken. Phil Eyster, the director of EPI, needed about 400 photos to use in a slide show for the final day of the camp. The biggest challenge is to try and make sure that all 200 students are represented in the photos so nobody feels left out.  One of the funniest things about the camp is the English names that the students take.  They are asked to take English names because no one can pronounce or remember their Chinese names in the 10 day period of the camp.  Some of the names they choose are very entertaining.  There is a Pudding, Cereal, Feather, Weasel, Winston Churchill and many more.

Enjoy the photos from the museum and look for my next update from Hong Kong in a couple of days.

The Wangjiang Building at the Hanzhong museum.

Ancient calligraphy at the Hanzhong Museum.

Another beautiful building at the musum. It housed the 2,000 year old calligraphy, which couldn't be photographed.

Typical architecture of the Qing period of the Song dynasty.

Another shot of the The Wangjiang Building, which is the centerpiece of the museum.

A lion guards the entrance to the museum.

A man sells meat at a market.

Zip Lining and a Chinese Foot Massage

Today was a rest day for the group, which meant that we were able to visit a historical site up in the mountains that surround Hanzhong.  We visited Stone Gate Reservoir and Baoxie Plank Road.  It was great getting out of the city and getting some shots of the some of the more cultural elements of the region.

When we arrived at the location we found out that their was a zip line that went over this big gorge at the base of the dam.  So a bunch of us decided that we had to try it.  What an experience!  I am a big fan of the show "Amazing Race" and felt like I was doing one of their challenges.  You felt like you were flying over the river that was probably about 200-300 feet below. 

We then walked along the restored plank road and took a bunch of photos of the pagodas and other offerings.  It was a great location for pictures and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

This evening a bunch of us decided to go try a traditional Chinese foot massage.  It was quite an experience.  For about $6 we received an 80 minute massage and they didn't accept tips!  When they hit certain spots it was quite the intense pain, but overall it was very relaxing.  I was just expecting them to massage my feet but even though you stay fully clothed they ended up massaging my neck, shoulders, arms, hands, back, calves and feet.  They even did some weird thing where they had you lay back and they massaged your back with their knees.  There were 5 of us together and we shared a lot of laughs.

The painted ceiling of a pagoda.  I had no idea they could be this colorful.

The roof of a pagoda.

One of my favorite photos so far.  A local man that was walking across the bridge that was nice enough to stop and let me take his photo.

Statues at the Baoxie Plank Road.

A metal Chinese warrior stands guard.

A man waits to give someone a ride in his tuk tuk.

The Stone Gate Dam

A pagoda on the side of the mountain.

Me and two of the guys on the trip, Josiah & Andrew, recreate the pose of the statues towering above us.

Hot Pot

July 14th

Today was a pretty typical day of photography.  I spent half the day photographing the English camp and the other half wandering the streets meeting people and doing photography.

We did go out as a group with some university officials for hot pot for lunch.  Hot pot is spicy boiling water that you cook various meats and vegetables in.  It is a lot like fondue in the states.  It was a fun experience and tasted really good.  I never thought I could like boiled meat!

A woman and her donkey pull a loaded cart down the street

Hot pot

A man overlooks a bunch of fruit stands.

A girl doing her school work.

A man displays the meat he has for sale.

A husband and wife share a laugh.

A beautiful little girl looks tentatively at the camera.  Her parents asked me to take her picture, but she wasn't so sure.

An elderly man gives me a great smile.