Walk Through a Painting, Walk Through Guilin (桂林)

Guilin may be a city you have never heard of. However, if you ask a Chinese person, they not only will know the city and they will tell you it is the most pictureque city in China. During a visit to China former U.S. President Bill Clinton said "No place in China is more evocative of the beauty of your country than Guilin."

Two crystal-clear rivers flow through the city, encircled by mountains with unusual and bizarre rock formations and caves.

Here are 10 Reasons to Visit Guilin:

1. An absolutely legendary scenic Mecca, Guilin has the most typical karst topography in the world, with verdant hills, limpid waters, mysterious caves and grotesque rocks.
2. Take the Li River (漓江) Cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo (阳朔) and enjoy the fresh feeling of walking in a Chinese landscape painting
3. Pedal lazily through the rice paddies, fruit orchards, tranquil villages and extraordinary karst peaks of Yangshuo
4. Simply relax yourself in one of the bars or cafes at the nationally renowned Yangshuo West Street to enjoy the peaceful atmosphere
5. Watch the stunning "Impression, Liu Sanjie" (印象刘三姐) — China's largest outdoor performance on a natural stage setting formed by the Li River and 12 peaks
6. Enjoy a casual stroll through the city area, taste the famous Guilin rice noodles, and take the 'Two Rivers and Four Lakes' water tour around the city at night
7. Explore the peak-dotted riverine parks and marvel at Mother Nature’s masterpieces, such as the Elephant Trunk Hill (象鼻山), the Camel Hill (骆驼山)
   
8. Go through spectacular karst caves, such as the Reed Flute Cave (芦笛岩) and the Seven Star Cave (七星岩) and learn how the fantastic stalactites were formed
9. Take an excursion to the spectacular Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces (梯田) in Longsheng County (龙胜) and sleep in the Zhuang village (壮族) of Ping’ an
10. Hike around the mountain areas dotted with colourful ethnic minority tribes such as Zhuang, Miao, Yao and Dong

Largest Container Port in World

When Port of Shanghai can no longer handle the ever growing size of the container ships, this man made structure was built. Just south of Shanghai, the Yangshan Deep Water Container Port (洋山深水港) now can accommodate a world class container port. When the Yangshan island was first considered, over 60% of the port didn't exist. It was just a collection of tiny islands with fishing villages 32 km out from the mainland. The engineers thought about flatting the hills to create flat land. But they decided to build around the islands by filling the East China Sea. Area equivalent of 20,000 basket ball courts had to be built from scratch for phase 1 which started building in 2002.

Currently, the port can unload 3,000 and load 3,000 containers in under 20 hours (12 seconds per container!) with their state of art computer tracking and crane system. The port has 13 Ship to Shore cranes working around the clock to maintain schedule. Those beasts are 50 meters high. After the containers are unloaded, they are trucked off the port via Donghai Bridge. The bridge is 32 km long, six lanes wide and built on the open sea in 42 months. It is 12 times longer than the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fransico.

When Yangshen completes its construction in 2020, it will be the world's biggest container port.

Here are some more Yangshan Port stats when its completed:

• 50 ships can dock at one time
• The port quay will be 20 km long
• 25 million containers will be processed in 1 year or 70,000 containers in 1 day
  
• will cost approximately $18 billion USD

Fantastic Foods of China

China has over 5000 years to perfect its cuisine. It is no wonder it is one of the most popular cuisine in the world. Food is very important to the Chinese people. All important occasions are celebrated with food. People socialize over food and business deals are made over a good dinner. The Chinese pay a lot of attention to what they eat and love dishes that has a meaning or a great story to go along with it. They believe whatever animal part you eat will benefit that particular part of your body. It is no wonder that restaurants that serve animal penis became very popular in recent years, more popular than Viagra.

China is a large country and its food is very different from south to north, not to mention, its 56 different ethnics all have their unique take on food. Chinese cuisine is divided into 10 types according to regions: Beijing (京), Shanghai (沪), Anhui (徽), Cantonese (粤), Fujian (闽), Hunan (湘), Jiangsu (苏), Shandong (鲁), Sichuan (川) and Zhejiang (浙). General rule of thumb is cuisine from northern regions is usually spicier and saltier dishes accompanied with lots of noodles and cuisine from Southern regions is usually lighter and sweeter dishes that are preferred to be eaten with rice. Although I was born and raised as a Southern girl, I have taste buds for the northern dishes which I find much more flavourful.

Making a (very) short list of must try dishes in China is very difficult for me since there are so many great dishes!

1. Peking Duck 烤鸭 (Beijing) - probably the most famous Chinese dish, the Peking duck is usually served at table side with the chef thinly slicing the duck skin off a whole roast duck onto a plate. Then the skin wrapped in a thin rice pancake, hosin sauce, cucumber and green onion slice is eaten.

2. Steamed Soup Bun 小笼包 (Shanghai) - this miniature steamed pork bun is famous for the very mouth-watering soup inside. There is definitely a technique to how to eat these little guys. The trick is to place bun in a soup spoon first, nibble a small opening on the bun and suck the soup out first before popping the entire bun in your month.

3. Hot pot 火锅 (Chongqing) - It is noted for its peppery and hot taste, scalding yet fresh and tender. This is the quintessential Chinese social meal which people gather around a small pot filled with flavorful and nutritious soup base. Thin sliced raw variety meat, fish, various bean curd products and all kinds of vegetables are boiled in the soup base. You then dip them in a little bowl of special sauce. Be careful since the spicy soup base is burning hot.

4. Hairy Legged Crab 大闸蟹 (Shanghai) - If you love seafood, this is a must try! Ironic, this crab with the scary name is a fresh water creature. When it is steamed and dipped in soy sauce, you will find a flavour explosion in your mouth.

5. Candied Haw Berries 冰糖葫芦 (Beijing) - Any dessert that involves the word candy is an instant favourite of mine. The berries are dipped in molten sugar which is left to harden in the cold and sold on a stick. You can also find variations with oranges, grapes, strawberries, and bananas, or dipped in crumbled peanuts as well as sugar.

6. Salted Duck 盐水鸭 (Nanjing) - This delicious and tender duck dish is rich in flavour yet not greasy.

7. Broiled Chili Fish 水煮鱼 (Sichuan) - the fish is broiled and presented in a mini wok, completely covered in liquid with floating chillies. There are tons of napa cabbage, Chinese celery, mushrooms and lily.

8. Cross-Bridge Rice Noodles 过桥米线 (Lijiang) - a plate of thinly sliced raw meat (chicken, pork and fish), vegetables (beansprouts, chives and beancurd slices) and noodles are first served. Then mix and stir the raw ingredients into a bowl of hot piping soup. The noodle soup dish can be eaten once the meat is cooked and trust me the meat will cook in the hot soup.

9. Cumin Lamb Skewer 羊肉串 (Xijiang) - lamb meat is cut into very small bite size, grilled to perfection, slight charred and crispy on the outside seasoned with cumin and chili.

When in China, one just need to be very opened minded and not pass up any opportunity to taste everything.

Fantastic Foods of Canada

I love food! No matter where I travel to, trying local cuisine is always on the top of my to do list.

Canada is a country full of natural resources. Many of its food is inspired and came from these natural resources. Treats such as cookies with maple syrup centre, juicy and lean burgers made with moose meat and Indian candy is cubed smoked salmon are Canadian favourites.

Canadian food has many French influences. The most famous dish has to be the Poutine. Poutine is french fries topped with cheese curd and beef gravy. Originated from the dominantly French province of Quebec, the flavourful greasy spoon dish has even made its way into mainstream food establishments such as McDonald's and KFC to name a few. Although Chez Ashton made the Poutine popular and they are good, the best Poutine I have ever had is from Fritz European Fry House located in the bar district in downtown Vancouver (shocker, I know). Their Poutine is wonderfully sinful in every way.

"Would you like some bread with your meat?" is usually the reaction when you order a Montreal Smoked Meat sandwich from a cafe in Montreal. Yes, this sandwich is all about the meat that originated from the Jewish settlement in Montreal. The meat is always sliced by hand in order to maintain its temperature. Since it is so popular, whole smoked briskets are kept steaming and sliced up on demand. Schwartz's is the spot for this delicious sandwich! It is a must when visiting Montreal.

Believe it or not, not all desserts in Canada are made out of maple syrup. Nanaimo bar full of chocolate goodness is named after the city of Nanaimo in British Columbia. The best thing about this treat is it is easy to make at home. I have not tasted a bad home made nanaimo bar yet. (click here for a recipe)

One More Item for the Travel Gadget

eBook is not a concept that was invented yesterday. It has been around for a few years now. Amazon has just started shipping their eBook device called Kindle to Canada. I think I have to put this one on my fav travel gadget list and my Christmas list.

Aside from the capability of storing over 1500 books, here are some of its other features:

• Audio read back - so you can listen to your books
• You can read Word docs, PDF docs, blogs, newspaper and magazines as well as books
  
• SD card slot for additional memory = additional books/documents
• keyboard for search
• requires no PC and downloads a book in less than 60 sec
• only 1/3 inch in thickness and weights just over 10 ounces
  

One feature the Kindle doesn't have is it can't play MP3. Can't get rid of your iPod yet.

Click HERE for a video review on the Kindle.

Why China Would Not Appreciate its Currency?

In order to keep 1.3 billion fed and employed, China has to stay competitive in the global economy. One way to do achieve that is for China to keep its currency undervalued.

A simple example:

If 1 CAD = 6 RMB (Renmingbi):

Mr. Chen has to sell his handmade widget for 600 RMB a piece in order to cover his cost and make a small margin. Ms Smith in Toronto can buy this widget for equivalent of 100 CAD.

If 1 CAD = 5 RMB:

Mr. Chen's 600 RMB handmade widget will cost M Smith in Toronto 120 CAD to buy instead of 100 CAD.

Therefore, in order to protect China's economy, the Chinese government wants to protect its investors first. China actually appreciated its currency from 2005 to 2008 . Consequently, its export industry suffered a 20% decline. Many factories had to shut down. People even started protests. In respond to the financial crisis that started last year, China depreciated its currency again. This is probably one of the reasons why China is able to recover faster than the rest of the world from the crisis.

So why are countries like USA and Canada are putting pressure on China to appreciate its currency again? Don't they want their businesses to be able to buy cheap products from China? There are a few reasons why.

1. This one is the obvious. Less businesses would move their operation to China and less Canadian jobs would be lost.

2. Strong currency means stronger purchase power for the Chinese people. This enormous potential purchase power (which can possibly be the world's largest) can drive the rest of the world to make more and sell more products.

Check out XE for all your currency information.

Travel Gadgets You Should Get Before Your Next Trip

I love gadgets and travel gadgets are the best and most fun! Here are some of my fav travel gadgets.

1. Your Labtop - I think this one is a no brainer. Laptop is a necessity for business travelers. However, I also take mine on most of my leisure trips for blogging, keeping in touch with friends and family and entertainment.
2. SlingBox - This neat gadget is a TV streaming device that allows user to remotely view their home cable, satelite or Personal Video Recorder programming from a laptop. You can be anywhere in the world and still not miss your favourite TV shows.
3. Smartphone - Aside from its obvious functionality as phone, smartphones are usually equipped with built in GPS/Compass and downloadable language apps which all makes a smartphone a must travel companion. The most well known smartphone is probably the iPhone 3G. If you are looking for something to protect your iPhone, a Russian company is selling a $108,000 case made out of over 200 diamonds and 18 karat gold.


4. Vuzix iWear Glasses - I gave these cool glasses a try on a couple of days ago. I felt like RoboCop, but the glasses which project a virtual 62″ screen was unexpectedly crystal clear. Just slip-in a pair of these into your cabin bag and you can watch big screen movies all the way to your destination. It can be plugged into anything with a video port - portable DVD player, video iPod and any video playing gadget. It has rechargeable batteries which can provide 5 hours of continuous viewing which is enough for your flight duration.5. Noise Cancellation Earphone - Regular headphone are useless in the noisy in-flight conditions. A Comply NR-10 noise cancellation earphone is the sure way to guarantee a good rest. It has soft foam that will fit perfectly in your ear.

6. Coolpix Projector Camera - This little point and shot Nikon camera is the world's first camera with a built in projector. The 12.1 MP camera projects images up to 40" in size and a maximum distance of two meters. It has many other bells and whistles such as image stabilizer, smart portrait system with skin softening and quick retouch features. It is a powerful piece of technology that fits in your pocket.

Heavenly Yunnan (云南省)

About four years ago, I had the opportunity to travel to one of China's most beautiful areas - Yunnan Province. The literal translation of Yunnan is South of the Clouds. Geographically, China is shaped like an chicken. Yunnan with Kunming as its capital city is located on the back tummy of the chicken close to the Vietnamese and Laos border.

I flew to Kunming from Shanghai in early April. While the rest of the country was still a little cool, Kunming was already refreshingly warm and late spring-like. We hopped on a mini van for a 90km drive outside of Kunming to our first stop - the Stone Forest. The term "the Stone Forest" suggests that it is a forest made up of stones. It began to take shape about 270 million years ago. Groups of gray-black stone peaks, and stone pillars rise abruptly, pointing to the sky, like a very dense forest just as its name infers. Animals, plants, and even human figures can be found here. Some are elegant, some are rugged, and each is lifelike with its own distinguishing characteristics.

After a full day touring this natural wonder, we hopped back on the mini van and began our long drive towards Lijiang. This is a very mountainous part of the China situated on a plateau at an elevation of 2,600m. Charming villages in the valley, tiered farmland, lush vegetation and tribe villagers walking along the highways all made the winding drive very interesting and scenic. I did have to adjust to the altitude. But the light headache was gone after a good night of sleep and a lot of water.

With the Jade Dragon Mountain as backdrop, the Lijiang Old Town has adapted itself harmoniously to the natural scenery. Lijiang maintains an ancient water-supply system of great complexity and ingenuity that is still functioning effectively. Lijiang is heavily populated by people of Naxi nationality and they loved to dance. The highlight of the trip for me was dancing with the Naxi people in the town square after night fall.

It is said man has conquered Mount Everest, yet Jade Dragon Snow Mountain which is much shorter can never be conquered by man. The top of the mountain is covered in black loose pebbles which makes any climbing tools impossible to grip onto. I missed the opportunity to climb part of the Mountain. The lift was under maintenance. But the Chinese has a saying about traveling somewhere they love: "leaving here with a regret only means now you have an excuse to visit here again soon." I loved Kunming and I am definitely coming back!

Is China's Legal System Reliable?

Often, one of the top concerns of many business investors who are considering going into the Chinese market is if they are protected while doing business in China. While China's legal system is far from perfect, however, the progress is comforting to many. The following are inserts from an article published by the New York Post (for full article click here).

When President Obama arrives for his first China trip, he will find a country with a legal system vastly improved from a generation ago, particularly in the area of business law. And when it comes to dealing with China, as American businesses know, confidence in commitment to legal obligations is critical in giving assurances that business can be carried out effectively. For the United States, it provides a bilateral and multilateral negotiation framework.

At the provincial and city levels, out of sight of the country’s central leadership, legal enforcement remains unreliable. There are strong indications that enforcement of laws related to the environment and corruption is uneven and subject to favoritism. Yet even here, China has made progress. For example, the major western city of Chongqing is in the midst of broad corruption sweeps to clean up organized crime, providing a more stable civil and business environment.

Evidence that China has benefited from an increasingly robust legal framework is clear. China’s rapid economic development has stemmed both from relaxing state control over the economy and also its move toward a law-based society.

World Expo 2010 Shanghai China

The third largest international event right behind World Cup and Olympics, the 2010 World Expo is going to be held in my hometown Shanghai. I just came back from Shanghai not long ago, I can already feel the excitement of the host city for this international event. Themed merchandise and construction are everywhere.

Canada will be one of the Expo participants (left: Canada Pavilion). The 6000 meter future pavilion will have the theme of "The Living City: Inclusive, Sustainable, Creative." Sustainable urban living will be a very hot topic for this Expo and most participants will showcase their related innovative technology. China and its government is becoming more and more invested in this issue as well while the country projects 70% of its population will live in urban areas by 2035.

After the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, China has proved she is very capable of pulling off a great international gathering. The world got a first in depth look at what China can offer as a nation. People! I hope you are thinking the same thing. 1.33 billion people which is almost 20% of the world's population. That is a massive customer base (aka spending power house) that many companies have their eyes on.

The duration of the Expo is May 1 to Oct 31, 2010. Over 70 million visitors are expected to attend with 200 countries participating in the event. Visitors will get a chance to visit the world in a few days within a few hundred kilometers in Shanghai. Of course, it is not only going to be just a culture exchange. It is a great opportunity for businesses looking to expand into China and other markets to interact with each other face to face.

Mickey is going to Shanghai

Disney Shanghai has been approved. Mickey and the gang are coming into town! This is especially exciting news for that kid in me. I still remember when I was a little girl growing up in Shanghai, every Sunday at 7PM, CCTV 1 broadcasted 30 mintues of Disney cartoon. My favourite was Donald Duck.

CBC.ca reports Disney has been pursuing this project for the past decade. Currrently, a strawberry farm, the new Magic Kingdom will be located in the PuDong District of Shanghai, not far from the city's international airport.

Disney Hong Kong opened in 2005. Many found it strange that Disney wants two amusement parks so close to (1200km) each other. Disney Anaheim and Disney Orland is over 4000 km apart. However, for a country over 1.3 billion people and over 100 billion USD in domenstic tourism spending power, this is probably a worth while project for Disney to pursue for 10 years.

It was also reported that Universal Studios is working hard to take a chunk of this gaint tourism pie in Shanghai.