没事 (Mei Shi) No Problem

Yabuli Ski Resort

  This is must read information if you want to go to Yabuli and Windmill Village in HeilongJiang, Harbin, China. We encountered so many people who were dealing with such ridiculous pricing and other situations that I feel it would be irresponsible to not help people with regards to this ski area.
  First, if you are seriously into skiing and want the best hill, it would be better to fly somewhere else to ski for piece of mind. The second you arrive at this place you are going to feel like you are paying too much...and you will be and you will have nothing you can say about it because you are miles from anywhere and a captive of their economic system. If you MUST visit this ski resort, then you should email us at chinavideoblog@gmail.com and Jiao Jiao can help you get a reservation. Maybe you could give her a tip for her work. She will certainly save you money and trouble.
  Don't believe me? We paid 300 rmb a night for a room that was filled with bugs, living bugs in the dead of winter, while a German man paid 900 a night for the same thing. They told him they had no room, so he needed to pay that much...he did not even get into the main lodge with that...he was in the Asian Games dorms for 900 a night. Another guy got his deposit kept due to simple bloody mindedness. So, once again, if you give Jiao Jiao 50 rmb for her booking, you are saving it in the end.
  It was a warm winter and the snow was not plentiful. The best runs had grass growing up through them and the bottom of the hill was a massive slab of pure ice which forced a person to be very skilled with their edges. In America, 20 dollars would be sufficient for skiing here. This resort costs more than 400 rmb, not cheap. You will see the best skiers in China, all six or seven of them!
  The best part of the trip was when we were able to use a sauna all to ourselves...that was fantastic...hehe
  We did not really like this section of the trip, but it was my idea to see the best skiing China had to offer...my mistake! Here is our video log of the trip, enjoy the frustrations....

Japanese Autrocities Museum

After we had been to the ice festival, we had one more day before we went skiing. So, we decided to make an excursion on the bus to the Museum of Japanese Unit 731, which was a very brutal germ warfare testing unit during the Sino-Japanese War. They were very secretive and no one really knew what they did at the time. When the Russians began moving in on the country, the people destroyed the lab and fled. Over the years they had done many experiments on many people. Here is the video we made of our trip.

The Harbin Ice Festival

Over the Spring Festival, Jiao Jiao and I took a trip north to Hei Long Jiang province, better known as Harbin. This place has become world famous for the Harbin Ice Festival which features, of course, ice sculptures. Actually, the sculptures would be better described as structures. There are only a couple of actual sculpting projects and a large number of block stacks around the facility. It was a little different than I expected, but an interesting view none the less. We spent far too much time at this place, but the posts for that are yet to come. There will be two movies that you can see here and an album of pictures to take a peek at as well. The first movie is a 10 minute joy ride through the park with lots of funny stuff, it is sure to get a giggle or two.

The second video is a slide show of the pictures we took while at the festival. We actually arrived at the park at 3 pm, hours before anyone else, so we got some good pictures during day and night that we faded together.

On the side, you can click the link the Ice Festival photo album to see more of what we got from that festival. Comments about the movie are appreciated.

New Year 2007, First Night

    This year was my 3rd Chinese New Year in Beijing. Last year was crazy, it was the first time in 12 years that the Chinese were legally able to celebrate with fireworks. Jiao Jiao believes that the reason that Christmas and other holidays began to become so popular was that there was no ability to really celebrate the Chinese New Year.
    This year, I anticipated that the festival would be even more wild and noisy. The first night was no bigger than last year, how could it be. The environment was torched, just like last year. But, the number of days the fireworks went off was much longer this year, legally. The last night was actually, last night-Sunday 3-4-07.
    I made a video last year about the fireworks that was pretty wild, you can look back on that video here.

    That video was made using my little old Mac. I have not used the Mac for a while because it is outdated and the effects are not that good, although it still has some great features. Back when I made that movie, no one would allow you to upload much size, so I had to make it small and I have never gotten around to making it any better.

  This year, Jiao Jiao and I got home at about 10:30, just in time to start watching the events unfold in the window in front of us. It was a fantastic evening of fireworks that continued well into the next day without a break. We were only able to push the limits to about 1:00 am before we both fell asleep. Here is the New Year 2007 video.

  Stay tuned for the next videos and posts to come sooner than later. As long as we can get ready for Hong Kong in time. Does anyone know if you can connect directly to the MTR from KCR (Inter-city train)?

 

Oh, and do not let me forget to thank all of you who commented on the last post. Stephen, not sure about the next Love and Loss. But, it will come!!!