April 26, 2019 – Metallicman

What Visiting a Park in China is like (part 8)

I like parks and nature. I like friends, and to share fine wine and song with them. But you can have your own pastimes. Certainly parks are awesome. I love the clean fresh air, and the exercise you get from walking and climbing. I love the new views and the adventures that you can experience.

Each and every park is different. When I used to explore the park in Indiana, back in the USA, I was amazed to discover how each one had their own flavor and “feeling” to it. It wasn’t just the layout, or the types of trees and vegetation. It was the smells in the air, and the humidity. It was the way the sun hit the trees and the care and design of the wooden bridges.

It was the mountains, the rivers, the lakes, the streams and the rocks. It was how the people interacted with each other, and the various little special nooks, crannies and glades that would appear here and there. It was the meadows and the brooks. It was the rustling grass on a perfect croquet playing day, or the dim dark shade of a deep forest tangle.

Each park is special, and each park stands alone. Individually and special.

But for those of you who don’t like to walk or hike, the world has so much to offer. This includes the lights of the big city, and the noisy calliope of people. You see, in my mind, it is the experiences that we have, and who we share those experiences with that defines to what degree we are living life.

A person like Howard Hughes might have been a millionaire, but as a recluse he stopping living life. Ah. That is what mental illness does to you. It affects your ability to function properly.

So whether you wish to go forth and live life in nature, or just want to live it where you are right now, that’s all good. The key is to make the best of what you have right now. That is the key and that is what is important.

Whether it is this…

Notice what they are doing?

That’s right. They are hopping up and down. They are shaking and moving about. Dancing does not have to be done expertly. It’s all about moving about and having fun.

Oh, and by the way, you don’t need to drink alcoholic beverages to have fun. While I love to do so, that’s just me. You need to have fun your way. Do it your way. You do not have to do it my way. And your way can be really different.

It could mean going sled racing with your huskies pulling away, or riding horse. It could mean tromping out though the hills to an isolated brook and fishing for brook trout. It could mean riding quads in and out of mud holes. It could mean going to a friends house and eating nachos and watching Vincent Price movies on their big screen monitor.

Or this…

The important thing to keep in mind is how fleeting life actually is. When you get older, your parents are gone. You find that a number of your close friends are also gone. Some tragically.

You cannot count on anything. All you can do is make your own life count.

Make your life count.

Thank you for visiting. I hope that you enjoyed this post and maybe learned something new in the process. Have a wonderful rest of the day!

And, may your days and nights be filled with happiness.

If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.

Links about China

When the SJW movement took control of China

China and America Comparisons

The Chinese Business KTV Experience

This is the real deal. Forget about all that nonsense that you find in the British tabloids and an occasional write up in the American liberal press. This is the reality. Read or not.

Learning About China

Contemporaneous Chinese Music

This is a series of posts that discuss contemporaneous popular music in China. It is a wide ranging and broad spectrum of travel, and at that, all that I am able to provide is the flimsiest of overviews. However, this series of posts should serve as a great starting place for investigation and enjoyment.

Part 3 - The contemporaneous music of China.

part 3B - The contemporaneous music of China.

Part 4 - The contemporaneous popular music of China.

Part 5 - The contemporaneous music of China.

Part 5C - The music of contemporary China.

Part 5F - The contemporaneous music of China.

Post 6 - The contemporaneous music of China.

Post 7 - The contemporaneous music of China.

Post 8 - The contemporaneous music of China.

Part 9 - The contemporaneous music of China.

Post 11 - The contemporaneous music of China.

Articles & Links

You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
You can find out more about the author HERE.
If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

What Visiting a Park in China is like (part 7)

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You do not need to live a life like I do. It’s not for everyone…

Indeed…

But there are places that you should see in person; places and life that you should experience. Not through the lens of a camera or a video, but rather with all of your senses… not only your visual and audio senses…

There are amazing places out there. Places that are beyond your comprehension. These places are not found on travel websites listing five-star hotels as approved by California software companies. These are off-the-beaten track adventures.

Yes, they are packaged to appeal. These are fine vacations where you can stay in a five star hotel, or get a “better listed” room in someone’s house. You can travel in style and churn up a month’s wages for the experience. You can bask in the sun on a fantastic beach resort, or go skiing at a famous resort frequented by the perpetually wealthy in the Untied States.

Or, you can just throw darts at a wall map of the globe.

My best and most remembered experiences were those with friends in unremarkable places.

You can go out and have a nice meal and some wine with your loved ones or your friends and just talk about… About what it would be like to just take a chance and go someplace really different. Talk about spending time together with your friends. Talk about the good food, and the things that you might want to do.

Think about all the selfies you all could take.

It doesn’t need much in the way of planning. But it does need shared desire. So, what’s stopping you? What’s stopping you for buying a bottle of cheap wine, a loaf of French crusty bread and a block of cheese? What’s stopping you from dialing your friend right now, this very second and asking them if they want to join you for dinner. What’s stopping you?

They call to you…

Now, let’s go to the next part of this post. (If I throw in too many micro-videos nothing appears and the post takes forever to load.) So to continue, please go follow this arrow…

If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.

Links about China

China and America Comparisons

The Chinese Business KTV Experience

This is the real deal. Forget about all that nonsense that you find in the British tabloids and an occasional write up in the American liberal press. This is the reality. Read or not.

Learning About China

Contemporaneous Chinese Music

Articles & Links

You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
You can find out more about the author HERE.
If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

What Visiting a Park in China is like (part 6)

One of the things about China is that they are not afraid to experiment. There just aren’t legions of nay-Sayers or guardians of regulations and red tape that you need to fight to do something new. There are no overweight social justice warriors in bureaucratic positions that love to say “No!” to new ideas, or committees of well-entrenched stogies that say “pay me my fees so that I can study this matter“.

They just go ahead and do what they want.

If they want a water fountain with playful water they just go ahead and make it.

That’s right, and if some old busybody gets wet and complains, they will report that person to the police so that they can have their mental health examined. In such a large populous nation such as China there is absolutely zero tolerance to busybodies, social justice warriors or people with mental issues. Once they become dangerous, such as disrupting the lifestyles and fun of others, they are segregated from society.

They are then isolated, and studied to see if they need to be “corrected”.

Mental hospital in China. — There have been abuses of sending social justice warriors straight to mental hospitals instead to prison. This problem has since been corrected by the Chinese government. If a person is making a public disruption it needs to be ascertained whether they are acting due to [1] a mental illness or just [2] social activism contrary to the government policy. If they have a mental issue they go to the mental hospital. If they a just a SJW, then they go to prison for public and social disruption. Things are much clearer today than they used to be. The Chinese have greatly strengthened the protections of people and citizens in China.

Anyways, here’s a water fountain in China. Why not have fun with the water like everyone else is? I think it’s a great playful fountain. You betcha!

I really like how the mothers are with their children and the kids scatter when the water ceiling starts to collapse. It’s so very cute and awesome! What fun!

Having fun in China can mean going to parks. It can mean playing in the KTV’s. It can mean having fun off-road in a vehicle. It can mean fishing, or eating fantastic food. It can mean all sorts of things. Not just natural scenery at parks.

It could mean exploring all the many, many cities…

People, life is about living it and having experiences. It is not about falling into habits at the mercy of your boss… or following the rules that box you in. You need to go out and make your life count.

Do you remember what it was like when you were young? Do you remember what it was like when you would hang out with your friends? Do you remember talking with your friends about your hopes and dreams and what you would like to do someday? I do.

I really do.

And, yes, I did have a tree house. My friends and I did have a club house. Yes. We did ride our bikes all over the countryside into late at night. That is what life used to be like int he USA. It was a land of freedom.

I remember one such day.

We had rode our bikes on a long all-day excursion. It was August, and it was pleasant. Maybe 81F, and low humidity. The trees were getting apples and the blueberry bushes were all laden with fruit. We had rode up to the top of one of the hills. It was all planted with wheat, and it was a beautiful golden field that the wind would blow back and forth.

The sky was brilliant blue with the white cotton ball clouds and we just laid in that field and talked about music, and what we would do when we would eventually have a girl friend. For some of us, it didn’t happen for a number of years.

What was so important, was not what we were talking about. It was not what our dreams were. It was not the beautiful day, nor the amazing scene that laid around us. It was the time spent with our friends.

That was what was the most important thing that I remember to this day.

Life is short. You need to make it count. Spend it with your friends. Laugh. Cry. Swear, and make a scene if you want. But by all means do it with those you care about.

All these experiences won’t magically appear one day. They will not happen once you get “all your ducks in a row”. They will not happen once you get a raise. Or, more money in the bank. Or when your next pay check clear the bank. Or, when the trash is cleared out of the garage. Or, when you finish that project that you have been working on.

Now is your chance. Now is your opportunity. Now.

Please don’t squander the wonderful life that God has gifted you with. You have two arms. You have two legs. You have money in your wallet. Go forth and use that life that you have.

You know, life is not one-dimensional.

People. People! You can’t just segregate traveling and experiencing the parks of China and leave out who are experiencing it or why.

Life is not a Facebook post, a Google listing, or a Wikipedia listing. It cannot be narrowed down to facts and figures. It’s about all of the senses, not just one or two. It’s about all your experiences, your relationships, your knowledge and prior experiences and how they all coalesce when you experience a new adventure with your friends.

That is what parks are all about.

Now, let’s go to the next part of this post. (If I throw in too many micro-videos nothing appears and the post takes forever to load.) So to continue, please go follow this arrow…

If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.

Links about China

China and America Comparisons

The Chinese Business KTV Experience

This is the real deal. Forget about all that nonsense that you find in the British tabloids and an occasional write up in the American liberal press. This is the reality. Read or not.

Learning About China

Contemporaneous Chinese Music

Articles & Links

You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
You can find out more about the author HERE.
If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

What Visiting a Park in China is like (part 5)

You can spend the entire day at the park. In fact, if you are up to it, you can go camping, or rent a room at a lodge. You can sleep in your car if need be, rent a hotel room, or just sleep under the stars. And while you are at it…

You all can be enjoying yourselves during a holiday and offer your prayers to God.

A Catholic image of Saint Peter. Do you realize what is going on in this picture? Maybe you should. Think about it.

Prayers are important. Whether you believe in God or not is immaterial. There is a higher force, a higher or finer power that directs everything in this life. You don’t have to take my word on it, but you should at least be circumspect in your actions and decisions towards others. I would advise a more careful appreciation of your actions and your interactions with the people around you.

Say a prayer and ask for guidance.

I personally believe that life should be experienced to the best of your ability. If you have the opportunity, go take it. Explore new things. Go to new places. Do new things. Make new experiences for you, your family and your friends.

Come on!

My best memories are with the people and the pets that I love. Really and seriously. It doesn’t matter if these are childhood friends, or college buddies, or my various friends as I traveled as part of my occupation. My best memories were shared.

Life is meant to be lived. And that does not NOT mean that you do so alone. Your life is to be shared. That is how you obtain adventures and experiences.

It can be on a glass floored bridge…

Or riding down a glass-walled sleuth.

You should spend your time with others. You should value yourself, not by what your occupation is, but by who your friends and family are. For they, their feelings and emotions, are what matters. Not things. Not money. Not a certificate on a wall, or a CV.

People matter.

Not things. Not documents. Not paper.

People are what is important. You need to treasure your chances to make a different in the lives of others. You should appreciate these other people AS THEY ARE and not try to change them. You need to be you… gosh darn it, the best YOU that you can possibly be.

And go forth, and share these trips and adventures with others.

Speaking about your relationships with others…

You know, the real sad thing about all this are the internet trolls and nay-sayers that send me harassment emails and notes. They don’t realize that every time you send or do something hurtful, that goes as a “black mark” in your “soul record”. It’s as if Saint Peter will record everything that you do and take a good hard and long look at your actions.

And no, asking for forgiveness won’t erase your piss-poor actions. It will only put a line through it. It will not erase it.

By-gones — If you burn your house down, it will not miraculously reappear. If you cut off your arm, it will not grow back. The things that you do in this world will have a direct influence in the quality of your life. Don’t fuck it up.

So, people, make the most of your life. Share it with others. Have a good time. Enjoy it more. Drink some frosty libations and start eating better.

Why have a McDonald’s (fake) burger when you can eat the real thing? Why pay a premium price on a Starbucks packaged coffee and drink it out of a paper cup instead of a proper coffee mug? What’s up with that?

Life is short. Live it well.

This next video is interesting, and it kind of summarizes what I am trying to say.

You don’t need to travel to a different place to make your life fulfilling. It doesn’t have to be a park, or an exciting ride, or a romantic beach. It just needs to be exactly where you are right now… exactly who you are right now, and with the people that are around you exactly as they are right now.

Please, whether it is a park in China, or an Applebees restaurant, go forth and enjoy it with friends, loved ones and any one else you can drag along.

Oh, and by the way, have a wonderful time.

Now, let’s go to the next part of this post. (If I throw in too many micro-videos nothing appears and the post takes forever to load.) So to continue, please go follow this arrow…

If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.

Links about China

China and America Comparisons

The Chinese Business KTV Experience

This is the real deal. Forget about all that nonsense that you find in the British tabloids and an occasional write up in the American liberal press. This is the reality. Read or not.

Learning About China

Contemporaneous Chinese Music

Articles & Links

You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
You can find out more about the author HERE.
If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

What Visiting a Park in China is like (part 4B) Bullet trains

Here are some other notes that I have to just throw in… We need to talk about how to get to the park.

When you arrive to the various national parks you will more than likely need to take a train. Busses and cars tend to be slow. You can fly there with a plane, but the bullet trains are everywhere in China, they are reasonably priced, and quick. So most Chinese end up taking a bullet train to the destination and then go to the park from there.

It’s sort of like this…

Riding in a bullet train is a smooth, easy experience.

You have plenty of leg room. The coach is wide and you can easily move forward and backward in the car. There are plenty of bathrooms, with an average of two per car, which means that you typically don’t need to stand outside and wait for the bathroom to be available.

The ride is very, very smooth. It is calm. It is pleasant. It is relaxing.

Chinese High-Speed Rail

China has an extensive network of bullet trains.

China announced that it would implement bullet trains, and a network throughout China at the same time that California announced that it would implement a bullet train that would connect San Francisco to Los Angeles.

China’s announcement was met with laughter.

“China could never pull it off.”
“China only makes junk. It would never work and break down all the time.”

Well, today in 2019, we know that the (American) California bullet train never got off the ground.

It is still billions of dollars in the red. The American engineers couldn’t design it properly, so they had to turn to Japanese assistance. The train route was fraught with problems, and as of today, only 15 miles of track has been laid. No stations are completed. No vehicles are manufactured. And the program has been scrubbed as “unobtainable” by the Governor of California.

Meanwhile, China’s bullet train rail line network look like this…

China high speed rail map. — The Chinese network of high speed rail. This is what it looks like as of 2020. The rail lines are not only more extensive than the California plans, but are actually faster than the trains (that were) planned for California.

The Chinese are proud of their high-speed rail (bullet trains) and they have good reason to be.

I, as a rail enthusiast, admire their efforts and completely enjoy the luxury of rail travel. Yes, I do love to fly, but flying in the United States is more like being herded into cattle cars than anything resembling comfortable travel.

Over the years, the American airlines (of all types) have been dealing with increasing federal regulation, and completely diminishing value of the dollar (thank you Federal Reserve), and so they have been forced to cram more and more people on tinier, and tinier aircraft. Often charging an assortment of extra fees from everything to luggage to snacks and meals on the planes.

Not so in China.

About the Trains

The train stains are all new and China certainly has mastered crowd control. While the slower “old fashioned” trains still exist, and are being used, the bullet trains (high-speed rail) offers a comfortable alternative to those who are willing to pay the extra $5 to ride in roomy comfort.

These trains are fast. There is no denying that. They do slow down when they near a train station, but even then, they are fast. As this video clearly shows…

Once you arrive at the station, you will need to take a car or a bus to the park. That is, of course, unless you don’t have a loved one, a family member or a friend to pick you up.

And, what ever happens, your train experience would typically look a little like this…

Car or Driver Rental

The most common way to achieve this is to use DD or take a taxis.

DD is the Chinese version of Uber. It pretty much works the same as Uber does, except that (it has been my personal experience) that the Chinese driving the cars for DD have to have their cars pre-screened for acceptability, where Uber does not have this requirement (that I am aware of). Thus the DD cars tend to be nice, clean and often new.

However, you will need to navigate through the massive mazes of highways and roads, such as this…

As well as go through all sorts of tunnels. After all, most parks in China are in mountainous regions and the Chinese do love their tunnels.

Tunnels

I’ve got to tell youse guys one thing. Tunnels in China are quite a different experience than tunnels in the United States. It really is. In fact, I could probably write a couple of posts on this subject.

The Chinese are traditional conservative pragmatists.
Government and management obtained their positions through merit.
Public works are to be designed for public use. There must be an element of beauty mixed with functionality.

They are indeed, quite a different experience. Have you ever seen light shows in American tunnels? How about planted shrubbery, trees, or flowers inside the tunnel? How about daily cleanings, sweepings, and washings by the cleaning crews? (China does not have welfare. They have work-fare. You want to eat, you must work.)

Look at how clean these tunnels are…

Now, let’s go to the next part of this post. (If I throw in too many micro-videos nothing appears and the post takes forever to load.) So to continue, please go follow this arrow…

If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.

Links about China

China and America Comparisons

The Chinese Business KTV Experience

This is the real deal. Forget about all that nonsense that you find in the British tabloids and an occasional write up in the American liberal press. This is the reality. Read or not.

Learning About China

Contemporaneous Chinese Music

Articles & Links

You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
You can find out more about the author HERE.
If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

What Visiting a Park in China is like (part 4)

Again, you need to have some fun. And don’t argue with me on this. Humans need fun. No, I’m not talking about software games, first-person shooters, or mindless entertainments on your cell-phone. I am talking about things that you can share with all five of your senses with a friend… or two… or others.

Bring a dog why don’t ya. The cat’s can stay home and protect the house.

You know, when you are a child, play is your work. Children automatically play as that is how they learn. Play is important. It is critical to the development of a child. Play is how a person learns and programs themselves to interact with the world around them.

Well, after you grow up a bit, the need to play and have fun takes on a different role. It is not only how you learn new things, but it becomes a method; a technique, in how you can “turn off” your mind from repetitive actions. As that is how the brain works. It goes on auto-pilot every chance it gets.

So you need to shut it down from time to time.

We do this through play and personal entertainments. You know, like games, sports, exercise, food, and drinking. Oh, and yes, sex does play a role also.

In China, like in the United States there are artificial “parks”. These are not natural parks with hiking trails and scenic views. Instead. these are places to have fun in. They will often have a roller coaster, and other similar rides.

Oh Baby!

They will often have all sorts of alternative entertainments that you might not see in American theme parks. For instance, there will be stage shows, musicians, public dancing displays and other events staged at random locations at specific times. Often these performances are pretty darn cool.

There are so many different kinds of parks in China. After all, China is an enormous nation.

There are kiddy-parks, water-parks, natural-parks, seaside-parks, theme-parks, slides, dives, and everything in between. These parks are great places to go and have fun. You can go with your friends, your family or with loved ones. Very rarely do people visit them alone.

Being alone is very lonely.

Outings

You don’t want to be alone. You want to share your life. You want to experience life with others.

I do enjoy a good outing. Don’t you?

Some of the best times that I have ever had was at parks. It doesn’t matter if I was dirt-poor and eating a can of beans over a fire behind a parking lot, or if I was with others having a big gala celebration in a pavilion. The parks are great places to be.

Can’t you just smell the burning charcoal or wood (snapping and popping)? Can’t you just imagine sitting at a picnic table while the rain pours outside the shelter? Can’t you just image now great those potatoes and onions taste when they are pulled out of the ashes in the fire pit?

I can. I can well imagine a can of Campbell’s Pork and Beans with the top open sitting in the ashes of a fire cooking away. I can image a coal-black cast iron skillet with fresh fish or eggs sizzling away. I can imagine eggs and bacon cooking. I can imagine a hotdog on a long pointy stick that I carved with my pen-knife.

Can’t you just imagine the cold frosty bear when you pop a top or pull a tab?

Budweiser Beer

Oh, by the way, Budweiser beer is very popular in China. Only they don’t call it “Bud”. Instead they call it “Bye Way”. So when you go to a restaurant, you say something along the lines of “fu yuan, gei wo, yi peng, bei wei pijiu. Bing dong de.”

Or in other words; “Waiter, give me a bottle of Budweiser beer, icy cold.”

You can enjoy this anywhere in China. You can enjoy this in any of the restaurants, bars, clubs or KTV’s. You can enjoy it on the street, in the parks, or inside a hospital. You can enjoy it in a parking lot, or while waiting for the train.

It can be at the beach…

Enjoy yourself

You can have fun anywhere. It doesn’t have to be in China. I just happen to use China as an example because I happen to live here. You can go forth and enjoy your life where ever you are right now.

You can ride a bicycle. You can ride a motorcycle or a trike. You can hike or climb. You can backpack or go there in comfort. It just matters that you go forth on your own and just do it. Do it near a beach.

Or it can be on the top of a mountain.

When I was growing up, it was pretty much assumed that we would have “vacations” when we were out of school, AND the factory was shut down for the two week summer shut-down period. This is something that was pretty much assumed during the 1960’s. This meant that the only fun and vacations that were taken away from our home was during the Summer.

But…

You will be able to go to the parks in the Summer as well as in the Winter. Each time will be unique. Each time will be special.

Of course, what’s a mountain trail without a glass-floored bridge? Many Chiense parks have these enormous glass-floored pedestrian bridges that you can walk on, and many have the pizeo electric actuated PVD interlayer that will display images electronically.

This is a great way to have fun. It looks like the glass is breaking underneith your feet. LOL.

Now, let’s go to the next part of this post. (If I throw in too many micro-videos nothing appears and the post takes forever to load.) So to continue, please go follow this arrow…

If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.

Links about China

China and America Comparisons

The Chinese Business KTV Experience

This is the real deal. Forget about all that nonsense that you find in the British tabloids and an occasional write up in the American liberal press. This is the reality. Read or not.

Learning About China

Contemporaneous Chinese Music

Articles & Links

You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
You can find out more about the author HERE.
If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

What Visiting a Park in China is like (part 3)

Getting to the Park

Of course, you will need to take a train or a car to go to many of the parks. Any parks that are located in a city tend to be over-used and mildly challenging. To fully experience China, you need to travel. That means driving through China.

Go ahead, any drive through China will be an adventure. It’s a little bit like this…

In some ways, the civil engineers in China really get carried away. It’s like what it was like when I was a young boy playing with my erector set or Lincoln logs. I used to make all kinds of complexes. I would make these amazing race-tracks for my “Hot Wheels” cars, and all sorts of interesting railroad track layouts.

It’s kind of a thing with us boys.

Well, the Chinese are permitted to go ahead and let loose. You can see this all over China. That’s one thing that I like about China. You don’t have all these armies of bureaucrats telling you what you can and what you cannot do. You don’t have SJW’s telling you what you can or what you cannot do or say. You just don’t have that.

So, you can go ahead and do your thing.

Go ahead have fun.

One of the first things you notice about China is the freedom. You can sit down in a restaurant, bring in your own bottle of VSOP. Plop it down, pour yourself a good stiff drink, and light up a cigarette. You can put your big Siberian husky in the seat next to you and when you order a meal, the waitress won’t say anything to you except…

Ahhh, what a cute dog you have! What’s his name?

It’s all about freedom, liberty and having fun. There are no rules. At least nothing that you need to worry about. So go head. Just enjoy yourself.

And please remember to share the experience with a friend of two. People, you should NEVER ever be lonely. There are people out there… people who want to do things. People who want to share a meal. People who like pets…dogs and cats. People who would love to share a beer or a cigarette with you.

Having fun in China. — What is better than sharing quality time with friends and family. Especially when that means sharing drinks and fine lively discussion. My Lord, we all spend too much time on social media, don’t we. Do out and have fun.

You should be sharing your time… Your self, and your life. You should be sharing your enjoyments, your meals and your happiness with others.

That’s what friends are for.

Don’t forget about the water.

Parks are places to have fun. They are places to have adventures, and to obtain experiences. It’s not only the tall mountains. It’s the rivers, the pastures, the farms, the coasts, the cities and the townships.

You can explore the rivers, and ride down the rapids. That’s always a great way to have a great deal of fun.

Now, let’s go to the next part of this post. (If I throw in too many micro-videos nothing appears and the post takes forever to load.) So to continue, please go follow this arrow…

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Links about China

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Learning About China

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What Visiting a Park in China is like (part 2)

This is the second page of an on-going post describing what Chinese parks are like. If you would like to start at the beginning, please go HERE. Otherwise enjoy…

Please kindly note that this post has multiple embedded videos. It is important to view them. If they fail to load, all you need to do is to reload your browser.

The Views are Beautiful

There is no question that the views are glorious. For beautiful is a word that just doesn’t cut it. I love the fresh air, the scent of the trees, and the cool breezes that caress my face. There is a certain romance with the way the forests are and the rocks and stone. I find it enthralling.

You might wonder why the stones have these traditional Chinese characters on them. Well, I have.

Well, it turns out that this is what the Chinese like to do. You know, like how Americans like to put a plastic pink flamingo (or an entire flock of them) in their front yard, or those plywood cutout of bent-over granny’s, or flying duck whimsy’s in their yards. Or those gnomes… Or those buried bathtubs with a statue of the Virgin Mary inside…

Or putting folding chairs in the parking spots on the streets of Pittsburgh…

Kitsch America — During the 1950’s and the 1960’s Americans would put these Pink Flamingos in their front lawns. It was considered a very trendy thing to do at the time. Now, it is looked upon as Kitsch.

Kitsch, also called cheesiness or tackiness, is art or other objects that, generally speaking, appeal to popular rather than "high art" tastes. Such objects are sometimes appreciated in a knowingly ironic or humorous way. The word was first applied to artwork that was a response to certain divisions of 19th-century art with aesthetics that favored what later art critics would consider to be exaggerated sentimentality and melodrama. Hence, 'kitsch art' is closely associated with 'sentimental art' .
-Wikipedia

Travel within the Park

Often you might need or opt to take a tram or light-rail train to some of the more remote areas in the parks. This can be an amazing experience.

Often you will ride in and out of the clouds. You will pass under and through trees and vine tangled gorges. You will watch light glimmer off of shattered stone surfaces, and witness rainbows form over enormous cascading waterfalls.

Wildlife

Being China, you will see all kinds of native flora and fauna that is unavailable in the rest of the world. Bird watchers end up experiencing some special treats.

The birds not only look different, but they make different sounds as well. Instead of hearing “cup of tea” from a grackle, you might hear some kind of prehistoric screech that seems like it belongs in a grade B horror flick.

Entertainments

Being a mountainous nation, the Chinese love to take advantage of the natural beauty and scenery. As such, they enjoy building recreational themed structures and venues on the tops of mountains and the sides of cliff faces.

It is pretty common to have these enormous swings that you can ride from one mountain top to the other, or glass floored bridges that you can walk in the clouds by…

There are often all kinds of fun things to do. There are many, many kinds of amusements. I personally like the hour-long water slides that go down the mountain. Awesome! It’s like you are riding some of those logs in the hills of Sacramento (Auburn), California back in the gold-rush days.

Remember them?

Wooden sluice — Here is a sluice from the gold rush days. The water would be diverted and used to help mine, process and separate the gold. In cases of timber logging, the sluices would not have such drastic bends and curves.

It’s sort of like this. And yes, you can experience this kind of ride all over China. It’s as common as bumper stickers on cars. It’s as common as having packages stolen off your porch once Amazon.com delivers them (or the UPS does). It’s as common as shoelaces on shoes.

It is sort of like this…

Riding down one of these things reminds me of a scene from the old television show Here Come the Brides.

There was a scene, in a long ago, half-remembered scene, where they rode down the sluice to get away (?) from some bad guys (?). All this kind of reminds me of that. I well remember wanting to ride one of those trees going down a sluice. Ah, it didn’t happen until over fifty years later. Eh?

The brides lived in an area much like a Chinese park. — Screen capture from the late 1960’s – early 1970’s American television show “Here comes the brides”.

There are all kinds of different versions of this. From little life-raft thingys to miniature go-carts, to mechanics roller beds . Here’s another version at a different park…

It kind of reminds me of sled-riding in the dead of Winter on snowy January nights in Western Pennsylvania. The logging roads in the woods would be blocked off from traffic, and the snow would be packed down by snowmobile. Then the cub-scouts would organize a “wiener roast” or “hot dog” party at the base (or often) at the summit of the hill.

Well, that’s enough micro-videos for this section. Let’s go to the next page of this post to see what other surprises that await us in the parks of China.

Now, let’s go to the next part of this post. (If I throw in too many micro-videos nothing appears and the post takes forever to load.) So to continue, please go follow this arrow…

If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.

Links about China

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The Chinese Business KTV Experience

This is the real deal. Forget about all that nonsense that you find in the British tabloids and an occasional write up in the American liberal press. This is the reality. Read or not.

Learning About China

Contemporaneous Chinese Music

Articles & Links

You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
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What Visiting a Park in China is like (part 1)

Here we spend some time exploring China. In particular some of those outstanding mountains that are just about everywhere.

Please kindly note that this post has multiple embedded videos. It is important to view them. If they fail to load, all you need to do is to reload your browser.

China is a land of some amazing nature and spectacular views. You look at the brochures, and the commercials, and the videos and say “Man oh man, I just have to go there and visit that place!“.

Well, this is what it’s like…

It’s all about the climb.

Every single park in China seems to be located on the top of a mountain. To access it, you need to hike up these endless steps and climb up and up and up. It’s amazing!

You, the reader might think that I am joking, or maybe exaggerating. I am not. All of the parks involve climbing.

I have a theory about this.

I think that over the last 5000 years, as the Chinese population grew and nations came and went, the Chinese people rendered all the land, except for the most difficult to reach, for living and farming. Thus, today, in modern contemporaneous China, the parks are located in the most difficult to reach locations.

It doesn’t matter where you go in China. The parks all require strong legs and a willingness to climb.

Restrooms

Of course, when you go on hikes in China, you will often need to use the restroom. The Chinese will often accommodate this most basic of human needs, and will make a small and easy restroom where you can go to the bathroom in.

China tends to be warm, and thus you will need to keep well hydrated. As you climb, you will sweat. To replenish your precious bodily fluids, you will drink some bottle water, and continue on your way.

Chinese water prices — Chinese bottled water and prices. Note that in general, 6.3 yuan equals 1 USD.

Eventually, at some point, you will need to stop and take a leak. For many this will require a bathroom or toilet or urinal.

The only problem is that it is often located off to the side and you might need to hike a spell to get to it. It’s sort of like this…

Spectacular Views

The views that one can see once they climb these mountains are often spectacular. In China, for some crazy reason, most of the mountains seem to have nearly perpendicular sides. It’s like a towering cliff face. Yet, once you get to the summit and take a look around, the view can be breathtaking.

Like this…

For some reason all the parks in China seem to be perched up high at the very summit of the mountains. This can be everything from bathrooms to convenience stores. The Chinese do love to climb. It’s almost a national pastime.

Maybe sometime way back in their past they had an affinity for mountain goats. Ugh!

Climbing goats in trees. — Goats can climb trees and cliff faces. I never could get my “arms” around this concept. As they don’t possess hands, or thumbs to assist in gripping things.

By the way… have you all been as mystified as I have about goats? I mean, really what’s all this stuff about them climbing trees? You know, they don’t have hands capable of gripping or anything like that. Yet they can climb trees.

I boggles the mind, I’ll tell you what.

Now, let’s go to the next part of this post. (If I throw in too many micro-videos nothing appears and the post takes forever to load.) So to continue, please go follow this arrow…

If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.

Links about China

China and America Comparisons

The Chinese Business KTV Experience

This is the real deal. Forget about all that nonsense that you find in the British tabloids and an occasional write up in the American liberal press. This is the reality. Read or not.

Learning About China

Contemporaneous Chinese Music

Articles & Links

You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site. I don’t make money off of it. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care.

You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
You can find out more about the author HERE.
If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

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