Posted in China, Culture, Travel on Oct 15th, 2008 No Comments »
They litter the corners of intersections like giant green boxy roaches; gather in clusters at the exits of subways and massive shopping malls. In Chinese they are joking referred to as “electric donkeys.” They serve as three wheels of cheap convenience. For half the price of a taxi, two people can turn a half hour [...]
Posted in China, Culture, Travel on Oct 11th, 2008 1 Comment »
All places have their oddities, annoyances and delights. China should be different from no other place, yet perhaps because it is such a land of contrasts; peasants bicycling mountains of recycle on a 12 lane rush hour highway, as traffic honks its way past a hodge-podge of Soviet concrete boxes lost amidst the wild spring [...]
Posted in Culture, Travel on Oct 10th, 2008 No Comments »
The Vancouver International Airport is a marvel of art and engineering, waterfalls and environment sounds, soaring curving roofs and glassy mazes that are completely in contrast to American cattle corrider and utilititian squares.
Water sounds and saltwater smells greet the weary traveler as they enter the great hall of immigration. It is soft and inviting, and [...]
Posted in Culture, Curiosity, Travel on Oct 6th, 2008 No Comments »
Somewhere on the road between Wuyi Shan and Jiuhua Shan there was a town that involved in a bus change. It was the summer of 2005. Anwei Province Chinese summer hot, with a roasting heat that vied with the humidity and gritty air. Restrooms in Chinese bus stations are by definition a moment of endurance. [...]
Posted in China, Culture, Travel, Wellness on Sep 11th, 2008 1 Comment »
Gratitude is the first thing that comes to mind.
The splash of summer flowers spilling out into a sidewalk draped in September blue sky.
The smell of vegetables off gassing fecund fields.
Travelers and locals allowing life, for a moment, to unwind outside the their usually consensual reality.
Seasons of salmon gray rain that warp time with its incessant [...]
Posted in Taiwan, Travel on Mar 20th, 2008 3 Comments »
Xinyi Road is a forest of drills, cranes and mushroom like ventilation towers. Taipei’s already excellent subway system sprouts new lines like clematis tendrils climb a trellis. This one will connect the financial nerve center and the world’s tallest building “Taipei 101” to the main train station and the highspeed bullet line that now renders [...]
Posted in Taiwan, Travel on Mar 19th, 2008 2 Comments »
There is something of a cat meow in the way Taiwanese girls say 歡迎光臨, it is as irresistible to the ears as ice cream on a soft breeze summer night. It seeps into the ears like spilled honey, the audio equivalent of the fragrance of lily.
Flocks of scooters that roar a turbulent surf.
The emotional tags [...]
Posted in Culture, Taiwan, Travel on Mar 14th, 2008 No Comments »
I’ve been through terminal one of the Taoyuan International Airport enough times to know which way to turn out of customs to catch the bus that is a nap away from Taipei main train station.
Down two flights of escalator, a short flight of stairs and into the slipstream of Taipei subway rush hour. You could [...]
Posted in Language, Medicine, Taiwan, Travel on Mar 12th, 2008 1 Comment »
It is not that time changes things. But, that things change as they flow through time.
Seven years ago about this time of year I boarded an airplane with the destination of Taiwan. Armed only with determination and desire to learn enough language to engage the medicine in Asia. Tonight in the deep beyond midnight I [...]
Posted in China, Curiosity, Travel on Dec 17th, 2007 No Comments »
Travel can easily be broken into two general categories. The time you are in places and the time you are between them. One is about settling, the other, movement. The Chinese would just say it’s Yin and Yang.
I see it more as Doing, and being Done To.
“Brakes bu ling” 刹車不靈
This is NOT what you [...]