Under the Dome

I want to share a film with you that was released in China this past month called 'Under the Dome: Investigating China's smog'. It was created by a former journalist for CCTV named Chai Jing. In a documentary style that feels similar to Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth", Ms. Chai presents a very clear picture of China's pollution problems. As someone who has experienced the pollution issue firsthand here in almost every city I visit or live, I was fascinated by the facts she presents in her film. In fact, within the first 48 hours of it's release, this documentary went viral in China and was viewed over 100 million times. Then within days of its release, it disappeared, blocked by the Great Firewall (the common term for the firewall that blocks any content or site the government finds objectionable).

I first heard about this documentary upon my return back to China in the beginning of March, after my long vacation. My friend told me about it and how it was spreading all over the blogs and social media sites. I was intrigued so she showed me the video. At the time it had no translation yet, so I watched in the original Chinese gaining a general idea but knowing I was missing a great deal. But from what I did understand of her presentation, I was immediately encouraged that this had been released and surprised that the government was allowing it. And then it disappeared.

But thanks to the power of the internet (magical secrets ;) it did not disappear completely. I was told by my fellow teacher here in QHD that it had been put up on YouTube. Thank heaven for YouTube. And now it has English subtitles! After watching it, I felt compelled to share it. As someone who has a vested interest in what happens in this country, I thought this was both a grim depiction of the hard reality of the pollution issue, but also a message of hope for the possibility of change. Wherever you stand on the environmental issues, this film in my opinion is a must-see.

It is about 103 minutes long. Under the Dome Documentary

Winter Vacation Recap: Hong Kong

Here's to the first of what might be quite a few posts about my winter vacation. Not sure how it happened, but I ended up having over two months off from teaching. And I did a lot of traveling during that time. Instead of going back home to the states, I decided to take this opportunity to explore this side of the world. While I was a bit homesick and wish I could have done both, I am very glad I got the opportunity to visit so many new (and old) places and enjoy so many new experiences!

An overall map of my travels: After leaving QHD, I flew out of Beijing down to Shenzhen, China to visit my friend Evergreen who just started teaching in that city. Shenzhen is in the south, just over the border from Hong Kong. Together we spent a few days in Hong Kong over the New Year holiday and went to Disneyland Hong Kong. From there I flew down to Cambodia to spend ten days in Siem Reap with my friends and co-workers, Rita (part of ELT), and Yumiko, the Japanese teacher from our school. After Cambodia, Rita and I flew up to Nanjing, China to meet the rest of our ELT group and spend about a week with our boss, Dane, for our winter teacher's retreat. Then, the four of us, Rita, Luke, Danny, and I took a train over to Huangshan, China to hike in the mountains for a couple of days. From there, Rita and I took a train to Shenzhen (again for me) so she could go to Hong Kong and I could go to Taiwan. I then flew from HK to Taipei, met my Taiwanese friend in Taipei and started my 10-ish day trip in Taiwan. Traveling alone for most of it, I went from Taipei to Hualien (in the east), down to Pingtung (in the south), over to Tainan (in the SW), then back up to Taipei to spend the rest of my time with my Taiwanese friend and her family. After that, I flew to Okinawa, Japan to visit my cousin Stephanie and her family at one of the bases on the island. From Okinawa, I flew to Fukuoka, Japan (near the southern tip of mainland Japan), and worked my way up the country. From Fukuoka I took a train to Yamaguchi to once again meet Yumiko and spend time with her. We traveled together, first to Hiroshima and Miyajima, then to Osaka to visit Universal Studios Japan. Then we parted ways and I went up to Kyoto, and finally ended in Tokyo. Returning home, I flew from Tokyo via Manila, Philippines (a long 12 hour layover there), to Hong Kong, then back to Shenzhen and finally up to Beijing and QHD. Phew! When I type it all out like that it seems like a lot!

So, to present the first real leg of the journey, here are some photos of my trip to Hong Kong with my dear friend, Evergreen. Enjoy!


New Year's Eve:

The city was very busy because of the holiday. But despite the overall expensive-ness of the city and the amount of people, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved it! The people were really friendly and the food there was delicious. Before we left, Evergreen's friends advised us not to use any Mandarin while we were there because of the tense feelings toward Mainlanders. Since neither of us can speak Cantonese, we used English. Almost everyone could speak English in addition to Cantonese and that might have helped in how they treated us. But still, probably the nicest policemen I've ever met were all in Hong Kong. Every time we needed help or directions or something, the police officers were so friendly and went out of their way to help us. I've never met policemen as kind as the ones we met. It really makes a difference to be surrounded by strangers that are more likely to smile and offer a kind word than just stare blankly. But I digress....

Double-decker buses!

The street food was sooooo good. Actually all of the food was delicious! I miss it already!!

Evergreen and I went downtown, near the bay, to pass the New Year. It was by far the most crowded situation I've ever been in. I definitely have no interest in ever going to New York's New Year's Eve ball drop because if it's anything like it was in Hong Kong.....too many people.

The fireworks were set off from the skyscrapers across the bay. It was a bit hard to see because of the people and buildings, but still a very memorable experience.

So many cameras, so many phones, so many fireworks, so MANY PEOPLE!!!!!

In the end I think it was worth crossing the New Year in downtown Hong Kong, surrounded by the mass of humanity. Only because I passed it with a friend though. Because then we could commiserate with one another as we were jostled and squished. In fact, the worst part was trying to get back to our hostel. We left about 12:15, but quickly realized there was no fast way back. I'll say this for the situation, the police and emergency workers seemed to have everything under control, ready to handle any sort of panic situation. So we shuffled along back to the subway station. A 10 minute walk turned into an hour and a half walk. With constant jostling and barely any breathing room. I'm not one to be claustrophobic, but towards the end I was starting to get fidgety and just wanted out of there. Again, definitely worth it in retrospect, but not overly pleasant at the time.


 Disneyland Hong Kong:
(warning, many many pictures below...you've been warned ;)
We spent New Years Day recovering from the craziness of New Years Eve. So we saved our trip to Disneyland Hong Kong until the next day. The park was still quite crowded but not unbearably so for the most part. I was so excited to go since I haven't really been to Disney since I was five and don't remember a great deal. Plus going to a Disney in another country was very cool too. Just watching the little Hong Kong children (and I'm assuming some mainland Chinese kids) go crazy over seeing Mickey or Elsa, or dress up in little Disney costumes just gave me warm fuzzy feelings.

The subway to the park was even Disney-themed, complete with Mickey Mouse windows and hand-holds.

The Disneyland train station.

Hong Kong Disneyland!!!

Evergreen and I in front of the main entrance.

It was so festive! All of the Christmas decorations were still up, including a giant Christmas tree opposite Cinderella's castle.

I haven't been to Disney since I was about 5 years old (DisneyWorld in Florida), so I was super excited to experience Disney again, especially in another country!

The Golden Mickeys. A stage show we went to in the morning that included live action performances/characters mixed with Disney music and animation. Besides the Disney songs, all of the actors spoke in Cantonese.

Mickey and Minnie Mouse with the MC. Hearing Mickey and the Gang speaking in Cantonese was pretty awesome and hilarious.

Beauty and the Beast

So many characters! The show definitely got me in the Disney spirit! :D

Cinderella's Castle

Not quite as big as Cinderella's Castle at DisneyWorld, I think.

Flyaway balloons! There was a lot of Frozen-themed merchandise and decorations at the park.

Tomorrowland!

It's a Small World after all! It's a Small World after all! It's a Small World after all! It's a small, small world!

Main Street, USA

Waiting for the parade to start. Two adorable girls dressed as Anna and Elsa from Frozen.

Flights of Fantasy parade

Disney Princesses

Belle looked right at me! Squeeeee.

Tigger and Eeyore. There were a lot of characters in the parade.

The Lion King float with Rafiki. Beside the characters there were a lot of performers, acrobats, and dancers. Quite a spectacle!

Eating lunch after the parade. Roast turkey legs. Finally I get my Thanksgiving turkey!

They're everywhere. I found it humorous that there was even a designated "Stroller Parking" section. XD

Toy Story Land!!

Everything in this section made you feel like you were toy-sized. It was soooooo cool!!

RC from Toy Story!

The claw! OOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!!

You've got a friend in me. :)

Just a bit of fun with Evergreen. :D

Too many cute things!!

Stitch!!

And now....all of the hats!

Disneyland: The one place where it feels perfectly normal to try on a tiara. And the one place where the staff don't judge you for doing so as an adult. XD

Characters!

Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse in their festive outfits.

Anna and Elsa from Frozen.

Both Evergreen and I wanted to meet Goofy. And he was wearing traditional Chinese clothes! :D

Goofy! I felt like a little kid and couldn't help giving him a big hug. :D

Pluto! My other favorite dog. :)

Space Mountain! We only ended up going on one ride (though there weren't that many big coasters there). I've always heard about Space Mountain, and it was awesome!! Evergreen wasn't as much of a coaster person, but she humored me.

Castle in the dusk

Night lights

And now the Paint the Night parade!

Spent the whole day at Disney. We were exhausted at the end! But it was sooooo worth it. Truly the happiest place on earth. Or at least the happiest place on this side of the earth.

And if you made it this far, thanks for viewing! ;)