Kesmit3's Blog

WuShan is a little city located on the 3 Gorges Damn project. My guide and I walked around town in the evening and I was surprised to see so many....toys. Creepy toys, mind you. As a bonus this video captures my failed attempt at humor, which is probably why many foreigners end up talking aloud to themselves... but that's another story. ;) My comment: "What is That?" (Taken from the Princess Pride "What is THAT THING...") Serious response: "Pedestrian Walkway." Thinking to myself: I know this is a ****** walkway, what is that THING that just went by with a person on it????

Random things native English speakers are asked to do in China? How about being asked to give a Chinese company an English Name? Haha.

I met my friend Hana in Chengdu to go see the Pandas and check out the city. We also made it to Leshan to see the world's biggest Buddha statue/sculpture, which rests in the side of a mountain. Chengdu is a pleasant city located not too far from Tibet. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but it surprised me to see such a commanding military presence there. The center of the city features a massive statue of Mao whose hand is slightly larger than normal proportions. It seems to be saying "In your FACE." but most people think it is a friendly wave... We stayed in a Hostel that cost something around 10 dollars for two evenings. The first day we walked around and looked at the city-center and The People's Park. We only had one full day in Chengdu and woke first-thing to see the Pandas. I was a bit critical of the setup at first...it seemed more of like a panda prison to me, but It's hard to know if they would even be alive if not for places like this. I...

Text of Clinton's speech: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/01/21/internet_freedom?print=yes&hidecomments=yes&page=full Part1 Only a week after Google's announcement to the world that it would no longer censor in China, the timing of Clinton's speech likely makes the relationship between Google and the US Government seem closer than it actually is. Not to mention that..historically The Chinese have not taken all to well to direct confrontation or any challenge to their absolute authority and Goggle's move followed by Clinton's speech makes me, as an Emerging Media and Communications Graduate student, a bit uncomfortable. I'm currently living in Beijing and have had an opportunity to ask many locals what they think about the Google 'threat' (as it is now being called). For the the most part, people think Google's decision is entirely motivated by profit. And, quite frankly, those inside China do not have access to blogger.com, so h...

The temperatures in Harbin today were a high of 1 and a low of -22. If you're thinking about visiting to see the ice festival, you might want to find a better strategy for keeping your feet and hands warm than I had! Even with warm boots, thick wool socks and an under-layer of cotton socks my toes went numb in less than an hour! There are about 10 tourist hot spots outlined for Western eyes and I managed to see three of them today. I first ventured to Zhongyang Street during the daytime. There were a variety of shops, nothing special for most Western shoppers, but there were several ice sculptures along the street. Though, my favorite was a statue that displayed the frigid temperature! I headed back to the Shangri-La hotel where I was staying and had a Cappuccino to warm up. Here's a tip: when you're in China - drink tea. The coffee is terrible. After resting I ventured out to a smaller park called Zhaolin Park. My favorite part of this pa...

I visited Three Gorges University in Hubei Provence, Yichang - China to check out the campus and see the area. The countryside of Yichang is beautiful with every square meter of land being farmed - I love how they farm the hills! This is the 'low season' so we were one of very few people on the tour circuit that day! Luckily we were allowed to tour the caves with no one else around, what a treat! The next day I ventured to Fengjie and Wushan with my guide, Ginger. She was EXCELLENT! Ginger is a Yichang local and she and her husband provide tours for visitors. She is well versed in the area's history and was great company during the weekend. We took a 2 hour boat ride to Fengjie from YiChang on a Speed-boat, those things are FAST! The sit up out of the water and almost glide on top. Fengjie is a county with a dense history. Since the Xia Dynasty (21st - 16th BC), people have been living in this place. The county was named during the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) in honor of...