Now Do This is bloody genius!

It’s a productivity tool that gives you exactly what you need (& nothing more): the task you should be working on right NOW.

I now have one window open to just this page. And when I start to browse around online aimlessly, I’ll see this window and be reminded to get back to work. I totally underestimated this trivial tool when I first saw it a few months ago…. until I started using it this week, and baby, it works!

Today, I accidentally discovered a mysterious “about” link in edit mode, clicked on it and discovered that the site was created by Jakob Lodwick and William Cotton. I was totally inspired when I saw Jakob’s extremely simple homepage with just the essential links - including a mention that he created Vimeo(!!!).

What can I say, brilliant people create brilliant things, time and time again. And each time I find someone brilliant, I become inspired and infused with creativity. Through Jakob’s page and his sites, I am completely inspired by the power and sheer beauty of simplicity.. that and a sweet balance of style, function and usability.

Who or what inspires you? Please do share!

My Daily Routine

… has been changed to something like this:

1. Sit at the dining table for 10 minutes to plan my day
2. Review tasks from various life categories
3. MITs - Pick out the 3 most important items I want to get done today.
4. Optional Tasks - Pick out additional tasks that would be nice to finish today, but are not the top 3.
5. Transfer the MITs into NowDoThis (and give it a MIT label.)
6. Transfer the optional tasks into a tab called “Bonus Tabs”
7. Start with the first item on my MIT list.

This way, I’ll feel like a superstar when I am working on tasks from the Bonus list. It’s very self motivational!

Tips Using NowDoThis

(via NDT blog)

1. Create Tabs - by starting sections with @

ie. Starting a newline with @later followed by a task on each line, creates a tab called later that you can switch to. Coolios!

2. Firefox sidebar

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Six weeks ago, I had written about my encounter with a puppy on the streets of Beijing. Many have since written asking about his safety and status. This is an update following up on the first post.

After spending four happy weeks in Beijing with friends and family, Blackie and I have successfully, safely and stress-free-ly landed in Seattle.

Blackie would like to thank you all for your concern and curiosity regarding his well being. Your love is gratefully received and gladly reciprocated.

Blackie in Beijing

After spending 2 weeks in a doggie hotel with a loving care taker while I traveled to XinJiang, Blackie and I reunited. Surprisingly, dogs weren’t allowed on Beijing public transports, and you couldn’t try to sneak him in, since all bags need to go through X-ray machines. So, we took taxis everywhere we went.

He was small enough (under 3 lbs) to fit into my day purse, and we brought him along with us pretty much everywhere we went: restaurants, shopping malls, people’s homes, museums, the Olympic Stadium, the Great Wall of China.

My parents and I were to rendezvous in Beijing, they had arrived from Toronto a week prior. Since we live in different cities, it was super nice to spend time with them while seeing a ‘foreign’ city (so much about the city has changed and in unfathomable ways), while carrying a small puppy around. My parents loved their new grand-doggie, Blackie, and hope to see him soon on their next trip to Seattle.

Blackie touring around Beijing’s major tourist attractions in Tina’s purse.

Resting on the shoulders of Tina’s dad on a road trip just outside of Beijing.

While shopping, Blackie met his long lost twin. We had to take a picture. :)

I had to smuggle Blackie in and out of hotels, since dogs are generally unaccepted in public places, even (shockingly) in parks. Luckily, Blackie is a peaceful dog with a quiet demeanor, never barking. I made sure that the “do not disturb” sign was up at all times, and called hotel housekeeping when I needed towels or toilet paper. We did well.

All Packed for America

Getting all the paperwork ready for Blackie was fairly easy, but time consuming and procedurally bureaucratic. Basically, it took a total of two days of filling out forms, and a lot of waiting in line. In the end, we had a government issued export permit and a health certificate, and we were ready to rock! (If you’re curious of the detailed pet permit procedures and costs, I’ve included it at the end of this article)

We picked out a nice Japanese made, airline approved, plastic crate for Blackie at the animal hospital, confirmed his “seat” in the flight cargo area and were ready to go.

Minutes before the flight at the airport.

Ahh… New Home & New Brother

After 15 hours of flying and waiting, Blackie lazily waltzed out of his crate, stretched his little paws, had a pee and started exploring his new home with great interest. Soon, he was running, spinning and sliding around on the wood floors, freely.

A few days later, he met his new furry brother, Tommy.

Tommy, completely ignoring Blackie, except to growl at him when he bit Tommy’s butt in a friendly gesture. For the next few days, you could see the dismay on Tommy’s face, as if thinking, “Oh god, I thought you (Blackie) were just a bad dream. You’re still here! Crap!”

It took a week of adjustment time before the dogs started playing together. I almost cried a tear of joy and cuteness-overload, when I first saw the dogs tugging at a rope toy together, or the time they fell asleep next to each other at the foot of my bed. Awwwww….

A happy family, at last!

In new home. Left: resting in unpacked luggage - a nice bed for a small dog. Photo by Tina Su

Playing tug war with Tommy.

It’s been roughly 2 months since we first picked Blackie up in Beijing, he has since doubled in size, now weighing a sturdy 5.5 lbs. And just recently, small signs of black dots are starting to show on his front legs, resembling a Dalmation.

Blackie’s hobbies include napping, taunting Tommy and biting everything in sight. His favorite napping spot is on top of a small camera bag under my desk. You’ll often find him there, curled up in a ball.

For those curious of Blackie’s breed, he is a Japanese Spaniel Mix (日本狆).

Chewing on Tina’s foot.

“Roommates” - sharing the bathroom together in their respective ‘houses’.

Napping on his towel after a hard day of playing.

Related Posts:

• An Unexpected Encounter: Impulse or Destiny?
• China, Baby! 中国, 宝貝儿!

Extra: Doggie Immigration Details

The following details my experience with preparing my dog to move from China to the US. Hope this will be helpful for other pet owners traveling with their pets out of China.

Paperwork

Getting the paperwork done was time consuming and I highly recommend finding someone who speaks Mandarin to go with you. You need to make two stops.

1. Health Certificate By Vet

• Go to a government approved animal hospital. There are only a few in each major city.
• Apparently, it’s a pretty standard procedure to prepare an animal for export.
• After the checkup, blood test and exams, they’ll give you an exam report.
• Hand the exam report to the registration window and wait. It needs to be signed by the head doctor and stamped by the hospital to be considered official. Waiting can take up to an hour. Check back at the registration window regularly, as they tend to forget to call you when it’s ready. I waited around 20 minutes for this. The result is a hospital issued health certificate.
• Cost: around 400 RMB (~ $65)

2. Government Issued Paperwork

• Take the hospital issued health certificate and head to a government issuing office. The vet will give you the address. Be sure to ask someone there to write down landmarks near the office so taxis will know where it is.
• Go to window that says Export (it’s written in Chinese), or if that window is closed, go to any of them and tell them you need pet export paperwork.
• Fill out a form. Hand it in at an adjacent office. Wait. When the waiting is done, they give you a case number and a computer print out. Waiting time can range between 10 minutes to 60 minutes. I waited around 30 minutes.
• Take print out to the export (or neighbouring) window. More waiting as they prepare for the official government issued documents. Waiting time is minimum of 1 hour. I caught their lunch break and waited 2.5 hours.
• The result is two blue papers. The export permit and health certificate issued by the government are both valid for 14 days.
• Cost: 100 RMB (~ $15)

Other Costs:

• Crate - we got ours at the animal hospital where we got the health exam done. They only had one type for air travel and it was a little pricy. 360 RMB (~ $60)
• Airfare - $275 on air canada and counts as one check-in bag.

Airline & Immigration Experience:

When checking in pets you go through a different channel than checked bags. After checking in at the counter and relieving yourself of all your check-in luggage, you wait with the animal until the actual plane is ready and confirms that the animal section of the cargo area is safe and at the right temperature. We had to wait until 30 minutes before took off to check him in. Then we took him to the over-sized luggage drop off, sent him through x-ray, showed the blue health certificate and then they had a person bring the crate directly onto the flight.

After this point, you don’t need to show the blue paperwork again. The Chinese immigration, when exiting the country, do not care about it. The bag security is the only place that needed it.

The US immigration didn’t say a word, even though the box for “Bringing Live Animal” was checked off.

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A reader from Australia wrote last week to inform me that he had found out about Think Simple Now via Sydney’s biggest newspaper, the Sydney Morning Herald. Coool!! Unaware of this press mention until his email, I was stoked to learn of it and attempted to get my hands on a copy through local libraries and international news stands… without too much success until …

Jason (the reader) was kind enough to then scan a copy of the paper.

Here it is if you wanna check it out (click on the paper on your left to enlarge).

Otto - my best friend from College, who also happens to be living in Sydney just informed me that he got a physical copy of the paper and is mailing it to me. YAY!! *bounce bounce*

Thank you Otto and Jason!

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Back in 2006, when I was roaming around Tibet on my own, I was approached by a couple of Americans to join them on an overland Jeep trip to Nepal. I remember how relieved I felt knowing that I wouldn’t be venturing out all alone. Besides, it’s so much cheaper to split the rental car costs and much more interesting doing a trip with other souls.

In Kashgar, when I saw the very colorful Jason Carter in the hotel lobby, I knew I had to approach him. He was traveling alone and he decided to join us on the 2 day road trip to Karakul Lake.

As my intuition had suggested, Jason is one of the most interesting characters I’ve encountered. A bloke from London living in Spain, has sold everything he owned and plans to travel for the next 3 years. Jason was hilarious, fast talking and he swore twice with every sentence he spoke. He had just spent a month in Mongolia and passionately disliked his remote highland prairie experience. Oh the stories he had… I laughed until tears came out.

Top: Jason mingling with locals at rest stop.
Bottom: On Karakoram highway.

We learned that there are group day trips to Karakul Lake at 300 RMB ($45) a person. But when we learned that driving one way took 4 hours and we’d only be stopping at the lake for an hour, we wanted a rental car to go at our own pace. I still don’t understand how people can be okay with sitting in a car for 8 hours just so they can dabble at their destination for an hour, before being rushed back on the bus again. I don’t get it!

So, we booked a car for two days, a driver and a guide from a travel agent attached to the Chini Bagh Hotel. We were told by the agent that a travel guide is mandated by the Chinese government, so we reluctantly got the guide. We later learned that we had over paid and could have traveled alternative ways for less (See travel tips at the end of this post if you’re planning to visit here and learn from our mistakes). Anyways, we paid 800 RMB ($120) for the car, gas, driver, and travel permits for two days and 300 RMB ($45) for the guide . Not a bad split between 3 people.

The drive along the highway was breathtaking, literally, as the driver sped along the curvy mountain side roads at alarming speeds, often driving on the wrong side of the road towards oncoming traffic. Several times, I had to shout at him to slow down and only when I began swearing in Chinese did he actually slow down.

Top-Left: Tina riding a horse. Top-Right: Main lake area of Karakul Lake.
Bottom-Left: Kyrgyz yurt. Bottom-Right: Kyrgyzstan embroidering design with rice sak material.

In all seriousness, the scenery along the highway was stunningly beautiful. It reminded me of the high altitude overland trip from Lhasa to the Everest base camp in Tibet. This famous highway is the highest paved international highway in the world, took 20 years to complete, 800 people died during its construction, and serves as a direct link from Kashgar, China to Islamabad, Pakistan.

During a rest stop along the highway, we were surrounded by a swarm of souvenir sellers. Many held up colorful stones in the shape of eggs for us to see under the sun; “come have a look, I give you good price.”, they would say. I had walked past them oblivious and immune to the common harassments found at tourist traps, but when I turned around, Jason had struck up a conversation with several of the sellers. Instead of being sold to, Jason thought it’d be funny to try to sell something to them, as a form of mockery and self-entertainment.

Video (press play):

Video of Jason playing around with souvenir sellers

Above is a video I recorded of Jason trying to sell his watch to them. Comically, in the end, one of the guys offered a bartering trade to exchange Jason’s sunglasses (worth $260) with a plastic camel statue, and the dude was totally serious. Note the random women holding up egg shaped rocks for me to see as I walk through the crowd.

At around 2pm Beijing time, our guide announced that we have arrived at the lake. Jason shouted “this doesn’t look like any of the pictures I’ve seen!”. He was right. We later learned that there are two sections/openings/entrances for the Karakul lake (next to one another), and the guide had taken us to the first one (not the main destination for the lake) hoping that we would stay at his preferred yurt for an extra commission for himself.

Top: Jason face covered with sunscreen. Horse drivers in the back ground.
Middle: Jeremy and Jason hiking around the lake.
Bottom: Cute camel for rent.

The guide turned out to be useless and completely shady. He lied several times and had tried to “guide” us into situations that would cost us more money, which would result in a little extra money for himself. It’s a matter of a few dollars, but we didn’t comply with him out of principle. I hate that feeling of being ripped off and taken advantage of by locals. They seem to think that travelers are stupid and gullible. I missed Mr. Happy from TianChi, it’s so rare to find an honest person at tourist destinations.

To protect ourselves, we decided to separate from the guide and driver, and went about finding our own yurt for the night. Even then, the guide continued to follow us for about 10 minutes, before we bluntly told him, that we do not wish for him to follow us around.

The settlements around the lake are inhabited by people of the Kyrgyz ethnic group (from Kyrgyzstan). And several Kyrgyz yurts are sparsely sprinkled about on both land sections near the lake.

All the yurts we saw were pretty primitive and basic. These yurts made Mr. Happy’s Tian Chi yurt look like a 5 star hotel at hostel prices. We decided on a yurt made of stone and wood instead of the Mongolian-style canvas tarp, for warmth. The high altitude made the whether extremely cold in October, I was once again decked out in two pairs of long-underwear pants and two winter jackets. The 3600 meter elevation, from sea level, also caused us to experience slight altitude sickness (Bring Advil if you’re coming here).

The Kyrgyz yurt where we spent the night.

The Yurt cost 50 RMB ($7) per person. They promised us 3 meals, but that turned out to be one meal of rice, and two meals of tea without food. I’m serious. And even tho we were told that we would have the yurt to just the three of us, we had to share it with other travelers who arrived later. The more people per yurt, the less blankets to go around for everybody, the less comfortable it gets. Basically, you don’t get what you’re promised. If you come here, have very low expectations.

Many tourists spend the day walking around the lake. Our lying guide told us that it would take 8 hours to walk around the lake, but only 3 hours on horse, hoping that we would take a horse under his commission. Turns out, it took Jason 2.5 hours, and another traveler 3.5 hours to make it around the lake on foot.

Jeremy and I rented two horses, each costing 40 RMB ($6) an hour. Each horse came with a guide. Instead of agreeing to the 3-4 hours to go around the lake, we asked to have the horses for 2 hours to ride around. Believe me, riding a horse for 4 hours would resulted in one being unable to walk for several days. Even after 2 hours, my tail bone was bruised and I was in a lot of pain. *smiles*

Each horse came with a “horse driver” that pulled at the horse in front of us. We convinced them that we knew how to ride horses (which we didn’t), and they let go. When we got to the area of flat land (similar to Mongolia) on the right end of the lake, we took off with the horses and roamed freely away from the horse owners. I felt like a wild Mongolian chick - hair flowing in the air, horse under my control, and riding freely amongst a massive field of dried grass. It was loads of fun! It was here that I learned to ride a horse, the natural way.

Middle: local Kyrgyzstan girl feeding her dog.
Bottom: Jeremy having a hard time jumping due to high altitude.

Other Related Posts on Kashgar:

• Video: Glimpses of Kashgar
• Kashgar: In Pictures
• Kashgar: A Colorful Celebration of Life - Part 1
• Kashgar: A Colorful Celebration of Life - Part 2

Travel Tips for Karakul Lake

Transportation & Permits

We had arranged a car from the travel agency at the Chini Bagh Hotel for 1100 RMB (800 for car + driver, 300 for guide), and this included travel permits. I do not recommend these guys, unless you enjoy being ripped off and lied to.

We later learned that there are alternative ways to get there and a guide is not necessary if you go by public transport. You can ride in a bus that takes you there directly for around 40 RMB, if you’re not pressed for time. Alternatively, you can hire a cab for around 400 RMB round trip, you may need to pay a little extra if you want to stay over night. Ask around, approach taxi drivers, as someone is sure to take on the job.

If you go without a travel agency, travel permits are pretty simple to get, and are mandatory. Go to the police station (ask your hotel where it is) and the English speaking officers will gladly help you out. The station is close by and the permits cost 50 RMB per person.

Things to Bring:

• Advil for high altitude sickness headaches
• Bottled water (very limited our there)
• Food and Snacks (again, very limited out there)
• Warm clothing

Annoyances and Warnings

If you go with a guide, be warned that he will want to take you to places where he gets a commission. If he recommends something, yurt, horse rental, side trips, stores, etc… it’s because he’s getting something for it. be wary of prices for things he recommends and bargain before parting with your cash.

The locals may try to charge you a 50 RMB entrance fee. This is a scam they have and the guides are in on it. Do not pay it!!! Just ignore the dude who tries to charge you an entrance fee. This is not a government regulated site and as such, no entrance fees are formally charged.

Finding a Yurt

Yurts are worth 40-50 RMB per person including meals. Don’t let them fool you into paying more. Just walk away if they are trying to charge you more. Starting price if you are with a guide is 80 RMB. They will be glad to accept 50 RMB if you start to walk away. Trust me! Prepare to put on your bargaining face.

Renting a Horse

There are plenty of horses and camels for rent, they all charge an hourly rate that ranges widely. In the main lake area (near the Chinese restaurant), you’ll find a large number of horses to choose from. Be sure to test out the horse before agreeing to pay. I had made the mistake of trusting my Yurt owner to find a horse, and paid before seeing the horse. I ended up with a horse that didn’t want to move very quickly.

I was quoted 80 RMB an hour for horses from several sources, but ended up paying 40 RMB an hour. Make sure to bargain!

They will also try to convince you to take the horse around the lake. This takes 3-4 hours and you will end up in a lot of pain. If you’re set on going around the lake, you’re better off doing so on foot. Ask for a horse ride for 1-2 hours on the grass field.

Also, if your horse driver gets on the horse with you (behind you), and you are a female, be prepared to be dry humped and hit-on. I’m totally serious. I was hit-on twice while riding with the horse driver behind me, and it was completely gross and uncomfortable. Wearing a backpack is a good idea to keep a physical distance from these nomadic perverts. Alternatively, tell them to get off the horse.

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For Part 1 of the post, go here.

The old town takes up about a 20 block radius. Here life is still of the traditional Kashgar-ian flavor, with the pounding and chiseling sounds of the hundreds of craftsmen seated along the back alley ways, and where every imaginable handcrafted item can be negotiated for in the tiny shops that line the streets.

Kids roam freely along the side alleys in the old town, most of whom are packing plastic bee-bee guns. We were shocked by the sheer number of unsupervised children running about during the day time.  They were constantly either harassing us for a picture, or shooting at us with their bee-bee guns when we weren’t looking.

The kids were cute, until we became targets of their harassment. Lemme tell ya, those bee-bee gun shots really hurt!! They can take an eye out! An accident waiting to unfold, I can just feel it. A few times, I had to physically remove the little plastic guns from the kids’ hands when they shot too close to me, or were about to shoot someone else.  They actually listened to me when I pretended to be mad (well, sometimes).

Local Conveniences:

Interestingly, I’ve noticed a few Uyghur words thathave the same pronunciation and meaning in English:

• Naan (bread)
• Bazaar (market)
• Pilaf (rice dish)
• Chai (tea)

The planet describes the old town as something “right out of an early-20th century picture book.” It is true! There are street side barbers, and tiny stores with a singular focus or specialization. Like stores that only sell (homemade) cooking pots (one model), keys, fresh vegetables, fruits, tea pots and cups, bread, knifes, etc.

Like in India, every city in China officially lives in one timezone, despite the obvious inaccuracies due to the sheer size of China. When a local Kashgar-ian speaks of time, they are referring to “Kashgar Time”, which is 2 hours behind the official “Beijing Time”. This was a point of confusion when dealing with local travel agents.

Local pay phones.

Street side barber shops.

Local “Whole Foods” grocery store.

Naan Bakery.

The Animal Market:

Outside the old town, everything is pretty modern and isn’t too interesting to see. We stayed a total of 10 days, and it felt too long. After about 6 days, we were itching to move on to another city.  After all, there are only so many times you can circle the windy side alleys of the 20 block radius of old town. There’s not much to do aside from wandering around old town and soaking it all in.

We arrived in Kashgar late on a Sunday afternoon and had to wait a whole week before visiting the ever popular Sunday Market and the Animal (Livestock) Market.  When the eagerly anticipated Sunday came around, we were up-and-ready, bright-n-early, camera-in-hand.  When we arrived first at the Animal Market at 9:30 am Beijing time, most of the market was just setting up; unloading truck loads of sheep, cows, donkeys and camels. At the same time, buses full of tourists were also being unloaded.

I tried my best to blend in at the retail sheep market near the entrance, and it sort of worked.I was particularly fascinated with the activities in this area. You have sellers holding onto their furry product, and buyers wandering through the tightly packed crowd of people assessing the animals with great seriousness - picking them up, checking their teeth, pinching their asses (Sheep have unusually large butts. I have pictures to prove). When the dance of bargaining breaks out, one might mistaken it for a verbal fight. Finally a deal is made, the new owner comes back to their newly purchased animal with a few pieces of lettuce, a tree branch with some green leafs on it, or a few pieces of dried corn. It was all very cute!

The wholesale sheep market area made me sad and sick to my stomach, as rows upon rows of sheep are strung together at the neck, unable to move, dehydrated, and kicked as they stand under the mid-day sun. Some seriously looked like they were gonna faint from the heat and over crowding (see picture below, 4 down).  Other than sheep, I saw cows, horses, donkeys and camels for sale, along with accessories for handling livestock. No chickens, no pigs, no dogs.

We went to the Sunday market in the afternoon and were horribly underwhelmed and unimpressed.  It was pretty touristy and you can find the same items for sale during any other day in old town for a lower price.

Retail sheep market.

Left: boy selling horse at live stock market. Right: garlic salesman.

Tina riding a baby donkey at the livestock market.

Wholesale sheep market. Sheep tied by the necks in rows.

Around Kashgar, Karakul Lake (More to be posted soon) is worth visiting. A travel agent said bluntly that it’s the only site around Kashgar worth visiting, and had convinced us that the one-day desert trips are not worth the trouble.  If you do visit Kashgar, make sure to have a full Sunday earlier on in your trip for the animal market.  If you’re not there for photography reasons, I would budget 2-4 days for Kashgar, 2 days for Karakul Lake (plus 1-2 days if you are interested in the Karakoram Highway, to visit the Pakistan border), and 2 days for Taklamkan Desert (note: this trip is highly prone to rip-offs by local travel agencies).

We stayed at the Chini Bagh Hotel (Qini Wake). I got a swanky double room with internet, it was supposed to cost 380 RMB a night, but if you stay longer than 7 days - which I did, you can ask for a discount resulting in the room costing 280 RMB a night (~ $40 USD) with breakfast.

According to the planet, the Chini Bagh has the best value in town. What I loved most, is the super-fast high speed Internet in some double rooms (More on this below if you’re planning to stay here).  I spent two whole days in the hotel room writing, and had produced this article (see picture below).

Three evenings before we left, I experienced my first earth quake. At around 11pm, the entire building shook back and forth for about a minute. I was in bed reading and was completely immersed in my book when the shaking started. It took about 30 seconds before I realized that my room was moving!! I jumped up, heart thumping out of my chest and was in instant survival mode.  Oddly, my first thought after jumping to the door ledge was, “I gotta save my pictures”.  Within a split second, I had mentally listed out the things I would run out of the building with if I needed to: (in order) camera, laptop hard drive, backpack containing money and passport.  I would just like to say that “it was pretty freakin’ scary!!”.

Overall, I loved my experience in Kashgar. It is the most culturally exotic place I’ve ever been to. With landscapes and ethnic richness similar to Tibet, and a cultural resemblance to Morocco; It’s a bold and beautiful mixture of Asian, Eastern European, and Muslim culture.  Leaving it, I felt humbled on many levels and was thankful for having experienced it. I’m ready to move on to Beijing.

Tina working on this article in hotel room. Kashgar, China.

Other Related Posts on Kashgar:

• Video: Glimpses of Kashgar
• Kashgar: In Pictures
• Kashgar: A Colorful Celebration of Life - Part 1
• Roadtrip: Karakul Lake via Karakoram Highway

Travel Tips for Kashgar

The following was prepared especially for those visiting Kashgar. Hope you find this helpful. :)

Lonely planet doesn’t do that extensive of coverage for Kashgar, or any of the cities in XinJiang. So, if you’re just visiting a few cities in XinJiang, it might be really worthwhile to photocopy pages from the planet to bring with you, instead of lugging the tome that is the China book.  For example, the whole of Kashgar and Karakul Lake is covered in only 4 pages (front and back). Lame!

Air Tickets:

Your best option for booking air tickets (for all of China, not just to Kashgar) is through CTrip.com, where you can comparative shop from the various Chinese airlines. It’s the Expedia for China travel and has display options in English and takes International credit cards (for a 3% fee).

Hotel:

Chini Bagh Hotel has 5 types of rooms: dorms (30 RMB, $4.2 USD), fancier dorm room (35 RMB, $5 USD), double in old building (280 RMB,  $40 USD), double in new building (380 RMB, $54 USD), and suites in new building (600 RMB).  If you stay for 7 days or longer, an unadvertised 100 RMB ($15 USD) can be discounted per day if you ask for it.

It’s super busy here with frequent bus full of international tourists being unloaded here, so I would reserve a few days in advanced. They speak very good English.  If you have a laptop, and want internet in your room, ask for it at reservation time, as only a limited number of rooms have hard wired DSL internet access.  Internet costs 20 RMB/day, or you can follow my instructions below to access it for free in these rooms.

Internet Access at Chini Bagh Hotel Internet-Ready Rooms:

Even if you told them that you were using the Internet in the rooms, all ready to pay for it, they would give you no instructions on how to set it up. I spent many hours of frustration before getting it to work. The hotel also doesn’t know how to track who is using Internet and will likely forget to charge you for it even if you’ve explicitly told them (several times) you would like to pay for Internet during check-in.

Pre-requisite: PC Laptop (not sure how to do this on a Mac. I’m on Windows XP), Internet Cable to plug into the modem (they don’t provide it).

Start > Control Panel > Network Connections > Create a New Connections (under Network Tasks)

New Connection Wizard, hit Next > Connection to Internet; Next > Set up my connection manually; Next > Connect using a broadband connection that requires a user name and password; Next > Type anything under ISP Name (example, “Room 4017″); Next

User name is your room’s phone number plus “-ks”. Example, in room 4017, the phone number is 2980821. Thus, the user name is “2980821-ks”. The password is “0000″ (four zeros, or it might be ‘o’ if zeros doesn’t work). Hit Next and you should see a connection shortcut on your desktop. Double click on it and enter the password again to connect.

Please lemme know if this works for you. If it doesn’t, let us know the updated way.

Sunday & Animal Market:

The animal market is way more interesting and impressive than the sunday market. I would head to the animal market first and plan to spent most of the day there. The market takes place on dirt, so it’s a good idea to bring a scarf or something to cover your face, as it will get super dusty in the main livestock market area.

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Kashgar (or Kāshí 喀什) is near the western most edge of China bordering Kyrgyzstan and within driving distance to Pakistan. Its remote location, vastly diverse cultures (mixture of Uyghur, Han, Kyrgyz, Tajik and Uzbek ethnic groups), and intense colors spread throughout the city are what draw in the curious tourists.

It was a long journey to get there, four flights from Seattle. And this was the fastest option, with trains being another popular option from Beijing. However, one would need to take two different trains at 36 hours a piece, making it a total of around 4 days of land travel. Yikes! We ended up booking flights from Beijing via CTrip.com, since the Chinese airline websites were virtually unusable.

Top: Kabob seller making fresh lamb barbeque kabobs.
Middle: Running girls in old town. Kashgar, China.
Bottom: Butcher shop along the streets of old down Kashgar.

After we landed, we eagerly immersed ourselves into the streets. Lemme tell ya, there was so much action going on and things to see along the narrow streets: people eating freshly barbecued kabobs, butchers dividing up the “day’s kill”, street barbers with their wooden chair and shaving tools, identically dressed kids walking hand-in-hand, bread makers baking naan in traditional outdoor-underground furnaces, donkeys and horses, women walking in unison, etc.

Everything seemed ridiculously exotic and foreign - the smells, the faces, the sounds, people’s clothing. Initially, we walked slowly through the bustling streets in awe, a little bit shy to approach strangers, and paying careful attention as not to get knocked over by a scooter, taxi or donkey along the crowded streets.

With portraits being a point of interest for me, I was initially afraid to take pictures of people (for the first day or two), it felt as tho, someone would whack me over the head with a wrack of lamb if I stuck a camera in their face.

Eventually, I learned to communicate with the locals to allow me to take photos of them. As with most cultures within China, when you ask for permission, people will almost always automatically say “No”, even if they want to say “Yes”. It’s totally counter-intuitive. I’m in the habit of always getting permission before taking someone’s photo, so after being told “No” a few times, I realized that I needed another strategy.

My new photo strategy in Kashgar went something like this:

1. Approach the person as you look in another direction
2. Take a photo really quickly of them
3. They say “no”
4. Show them the photo from the camera’s LCD screen
5. They will shrug their shoulders and say “yes!” :)
6. Spend time to take a proper picture

It worked like magic.

I was suddenly reminded of the saying, “It is better to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission.”

(Although, sometimes you can tell if someone really doesn’t want a picture, in which case I would leave them alone.)

Top: “Dave” the motor bus driver who would fit-in on wall street.
Middle: Taylor in old town after receiving him pictures I’ve taken of him.

The other striking thing about XinJiang in general and particularly in Kashgar, is how non-asian the locals look. Most people are of Turkish-Mongol descent and have those ridiculously good-looking central asian features. And some people were simply straight-up Caucasians of the Russian ethnic group (who consider themselves Chinese).

We saw so many Caucasian looking locals fully decked out in Borat-style suits that we started giving people names. Like the open air motor “bus” driver (3 pictures above), we named “Wall Street Dave”! Heck, since everyone is in a suit, the ones who are Caucasian, look like they would blend perfectly into any of the world’s business districts.

Top: A local lady’s home. She surprised us with displays of food to be photographed.
Middle: Many ladies dress identically. Many also wears the brown head cover.

Local diets consist mainly of lamb meat and (stale) naan bread. The local palif (rice) dish and noodles are delicious, but everything contains lamb meat. I was at a locally frequented restaurant in the square, and ordering from the only waiter (out of eight waiters) who speaks mandarin. The conversation with him went something like this:

Tina: “I would like to have something without meat.”
Him: “Sure, we could arrange that.”
Tina: “Yes, how about the noodle with vegetables. I’m a vegetarian.”
Him: “How about chicken? Does that count?” (he was looking completely serious)
Tina: “Nope, chicken counts as meat.”
Him: “How about tomatoes?”
…
I take it that was the first time he’s heard of the term vegetarian and couldn’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t want to eat lamb.

True story.

(To Be Continued in Part 2 …)

Tina in front of a carpet shop. Kashgar, China.

Other Related Posts on Kashgar:

• Video: Glimpses of Kashgar
• Kashgar: In Pictures
• Kashgar: A Colorful Celebration of Life - Part 2
• Roadtrip: Karakul Lake via Karakoram Highway

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The main reason for delays of new posts in SimplyTina is due to an overwhelming amount of photos to sort through, select and edit. I don’t mind the time consuming part, but it’s the emotional detachment that I have a hard time with.

I get terribly attached to my photos, and narrowing them down is kind of like choosing your favorite child and throwing the rest of your children away (in a fire). Ouch!

It’s been a few weeks, and over a cumulative of 20 hours, I’ve finally narrowed the 3300 some images from Kashgar down to 200, then again to around 50 photos. This is the first of three posts showing them.

In this post, I wanted to showcase two photo essays on Kashgar taken during the trip. Enjoy!

Posts covering Kashgar has been spread out into the following:

• Video: Glimpses of Kashgar
• Kashgar: In Pictures (Current Post)
• Kashgar: A Colorful Celebration of Life - Part 1
• Kashgar: A Colorful Celebration of Life - Part 2
• Roadtrip: Karakul Lake via Karakoram Highway

Please note: all images are copyrighted and may not be reproduced under any circumstance without written permission from the photographer.

“Living in Kashgar - Portraits”

By Tina Su

Copyright © 2008 Tina Su Photography. All rights reserved.

“Kashgar in Movement”

By Jeremy Sawatzky

Copyright © 2008 Jeremy Sawatzky. All rights reserved.

The Photographers:

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Kashgar has been a little overwhelming in several senses of the word. For one, the culture is vastly different than anything I’ve experienced; the colors are bold, the sounds are loud, and countless food stalls are packed between carpet and butcher shops along the street. If I had been blindfolded and dropped into this city, I would have guessed that I was dropped in Iran or somewhere in Central Asia.

Also, people look different; initially, I couldn’t stop staring at the little blond girls with green eyes, or the identically dressed men in Borat-like outfits roaming in groups and walking in unison. I wanted to follow them, and watch how they live. I was basically in sensory overload for the first few days.

It’d be too much to describe to you all that I’ve seen in this city in one post, so I will break it down into digestible chucks for your viewing pleasure.  Not to mention I’m still a bit freaked-out from the earthquake that just rattled the hotel I’m staying in!

For now, here are some video clips I took while walking along the streets of Kashgar that should give you an introductory feel for the place. I will fill in the details later.

Street Scene One:

Street Scene Two:

How People Cross the Street (And ignore traffic lights):

Related Posts Covering Kashgar:

• Kashgar: In Pictures
• Kashgar: A Colorful Celebration of Life - Part 1
• Kashgar: A Colorful Celebration of Life - Part 2
• Roadtrip: Karakul Lake via Karakoram Highway

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Tian Chi is located 114 km North-East of Ürümqi - the capital of XinJiang. Tian Chi, which literally translates to “Heaven Lake”, sits 2000m above sea level. Despite the vague description and shady directions in the Lonely Planet book, and without knowing what to expect, we budgeted 3 days and went on a whim.

Figuring out how to get there was really confusing. We ended up catching a ride on a bus with a day tour for 60RMB per person (~ $9). The tour guide and agency both turned out to be quite sketchy, where part of the trip included a detour to a medicine store (tourist trap) so the agency could pick up an extra commission for each tourist they brought in. (Note for next time: Take a bus from the north gate of People’s Park. Or hire a taxi for about 200 RMB.)

“I really like jumping pictures.” Here’s one of twenty. :)

The place was swarmed by thousands of day tourists rushing from sight to sight in order to maximize what they saw, before hurrying back to their tour buses by 3:30pm (after arriving there at 1pm). Many tourists - with their high-heeled shoes, pin-striped suits and thin coats - didn’t look like they were prepared to hike or roam around comfortably in sub-zero weather. I took a moment to give gratitude for not needing to rush along side the over-crowded heaps of people. And having the option to see the sights before the day tourists arrived was a plus.

The lake itself was so-so, but it was the surrounding panoramic view of the 5400m high mountain ranges that stole the show. The combination of water, mountain, snow, and green vegetation made the park breath-taking.

Supposedly, there’s a monster in the lake (from what I read in wikipedia). I’m sorry to report that I didn’t get to see him during my visit.

Bottom: Ethnic costumes to rent for photos. Tian Chi, XinJiang

Upon getting off the second shuttle (see end for transportation details), I was approached by a man asking if we needed Mongolian Yurts. I’m quite skeptical of people wanting to sell me things when traveling - I’ve learned from being ripped-off many times in the past. After questioning him I felt from his energy that I could trust him.

After some friendly bargaining with my new friend, we scored a sweet deal on a large Kazakh Yurt too cool to pass up. (Note: at the time of this writing, at the end of September, asking price was 200 RMB a night, we ended up getting it for 100 RMB a night including 3 meals for two people, two nights. That’s about $15 a night for two people including meals!!! )

When I saw it in person, I was blown away by how cool it was, and had to bite my tongue to hold off my excitement. I’m glad I bargained before seeing the place, otherwise, I would have given him a lot more money had he asked for it. The yurt was fully decked out, with electricity and primitive coal-based heating.

Dudes & dudettes, I present you with pictures:

Kazakh yurts in September. Tian Chi, XinJiang

The yurt was fully decorated with over-the-top Kazakhstan carpets, draperies and details; LOVE IT! It’s large enough to sleep 10 people and includes all the necessary bedding.

Even with heating, it was really freakin’ cold at night and early in the morning. I slept with 3 layers of pants (2 of them thermal pants), a scarf and two fleece jackets. I also had six blankets to myself, four used as a make-shift mattress, and two used as blankets.

Top: High-tech in low-tech. Jeremy getting comfortable with laptop in the cold night.
Bottom: Breakfast served in yurt: milk tea, Kazakh cube donuts, and cucumber salad.

The owner’s name is “Xi Lang Hou”, but I called him “Mr. Happy”. His last name, “Xi” means joy or cheerful. Happy was close enough in meaning and had an upbeat emotional association. He and his family were gracious hosts. The women were curious about my instant oatmeal packets and snack bars, so we shared with them.

Mr. Happy’s Wife

Mr. Happy’s wife has the most incredible light-blue-hazel eyes I’ve ever seen on an Asian woman. Mr. Happy is of the Huai ethnic group and his wife is of the Kazakh ethnic group. In fact, the Kazakh people are nomads originally from Kazakhstan (You bet’cha we made plenty of Borat jokes!). As one of the 19 major ethnic groups in the highly diverse province, they make up 6.8% of XinJiang’s population, and a majority of them live in this region.

The food was basic but delicious, especially the morning milk tea served in a kettle after being cooked on an open fire.

My days were filled with hiking, exploring, eating, reading and communing with nature. I also got to visit my first Taoist Monastery/Temple. There were optional horse back riding tours to the snow peaks, but we didn’t do it, due to lack of planning.

During the hour-long up-hill hike to the Taoist temple, I kept seeing these triangle-shaped warning signs of danger (painted on large rocks). They made me laugh. So I had to photograph them for ya:

After 3 days of authentic Kazakh living, Mr. Happy drove us back directly to Ürümqi. What a nice guy!

Tina in front of Taoist Temple. Tian Chi, XinJiang

Note on Kazakh Yurt: I highly recommend Mr. Happy and his family. Really amazing value and very thoughtful people. They also run a restaurant on-site during the summer. Here is their info:

Authentic Kazakh Yurts
Cell: 13899601931 or 13289001080
Cost: 50RMB (~ $8) per person, including simple meals.

(Note for those traveling to Tian Chi: There are several legs of travel before getting to the actual lake. Ignore the confusing details in the Lonely Planet book. 1. - All transportation first passes through the ticket gate, where tickets cost 100RMB per person. You are better off paying for a day tour leaving from Ürümqi for 120 RMB which includes transportation. 2. - It’s another 10 minute drive to the giant parking lot containing countless tour buses. If you take a taxi, make sure it takes you here, past the ticket gate. 3. - Another 1 km up hill to the park entrance area. Take a shuttle or the ski lift - which is open only during summer months. Both cost 35 RMB round trip. Once here, there’s an overly-priced-and-heatless 3 star hotel, various restaurants and coat rentals. 4. - A short 6 minute walk up to the lake area - your main attraction. There are carts that can take you there for 5 RMB. It’s pretty fast just to walk. 5. - Once you are at the lake area and you plan to spend the night, all the yurts are on the hills along the right side. Many yurt owners have cars parked near the lake and will take you up free of charge. Otherwise, walking up hill to the yurts takes 25 minutes.)

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I did something crazy and completely random yesterday; I bought a puppy on the streets of Beijing.

“How are you gonna bring it back to the US? I don’t think you’ll be able to take it back.” seems to be the common response I get asked. That and bewildered looks on the faces of my relatives. My answer has been a quick shoulder shrug and a reply of, “Eh, I’ll figure something out.” Everyone else seems to be more stressed out by it than me.

The sequence of events went something like this:

Sept 23, 7:30 pm - paid for puppy in cash.
Sept 23, 7:49 pm - drove to pet supply store for food, leash, pee-pee pads, chew toys and treats.
Sept 23, 8:46 pm - went to animal hospital for details on shots and health certificates needed.
Sept 24, 8:07 am - booked puppy’s spot on the same return flight as mine.

It all happened very quickly.

How I Ended Up Buying a Puppy (in Beijing)

We were walking along the streets in the historic Qianmen Hutong area. While waiting for my uncle to return from the bathroom, a woman (let’s call her Rose) walked by holding an adorable puppy in her arms. I asked to pet him and ended up playing with him.

At that moment, a local Beijingese couple on their evening stroll stopped in front of us. The woman (let’s call her Betty) asked rudely, “How much you gonna sell that dog for?” without first asking whether the dog was in fact for sale. Culturally, I was shocked by the way she questioned this stranger. If I had asked someone that on the streets of any North American city, I’d get a nasty look or a few choice curse words.

Turns out, Rose is a street umbrella seller who will not be able to afford to keep the puppy. She said politely, “He is for sale to a good family. I’m not an expert on pet prices. How much do you think he is worth?”

Betty and her husband continued along with their rude tone and asked ridiculous questions that were both purposefully belittling to Rose and demeaning to the dog. They spent the next 5 minutes picking out all the things that might be wrong with the puppy:

• “His tail is not straight”
• “How come he is walking wobbly” (Because he’s a bloody puppy! He’s only 8 weeks old.)
• “How come he has a beige patch by his eye? Is that a disease? Will I get the disease and die?” (No. He was born that way. It’s part of his fur. I think he is perfect the way he is.)
• “The colored patches on his back aren’t balanced on both sides.” (He was born that way, the same way that one of your eyes is higher than the other.)
• “How come his ears are so flimsy? Too soft and doesn’t stand up straight.”

Turns out my relatives would later ask me the same annoying series of questions - along with commenting that I paid too much. I don’t think owning dogs is generally an accepted practice in Chinese culture. Many of the locals have the notion that dogs are dirty and that horrible diseases can be contracted from them.

It was clear that Betty wanted to and was ready to buy the dog. Yet, she was afraid to even touch the little 3-lb ball of fur. She said that she might get a disease and die. “Okay, I’ve had enough.” I thought.

While playing with the dog the entire time this took place, I became disgusted by the behavior of the potential owners of this innocent creature. It appeared that he would be going to a bad home that would mistreat him. At that moment I decided that regardless of how much Betty tried to pay for the puppy, I would out-bid her.

We ended up in a bidding war, which I won, and I took the puppy for 300 RMB (~ $50 USD). I know it sounds impulsive and irrational, but if you were there in person, you’d understand. I followed my heart and listened to my intuition. It felt like the right thing to do. Anyway, I was sure that even if I couldn’t take him home with me, I’d be able to find him a better home.

Holding the tiny 3 lb creature in my arms, and looking into his innocent eyes, my heart melted and I was now in love with the little bugger. My little family just got a little bit bigger. I hope Tommy won’t get too jealous of the little guy.

Within an hour, a tiny puppy’s destiny had changed from a lifetime of selling umbrellas on the streets of Beijing, to that of an international traveler who will soon be moving to a new home in North America.

What Now?

So you’re probably wondering what I’m gonna do with Blackie (yup, that’s his new name) while I continue with my travels? Well, along this topic, more drama has unfolded. An uncle wanted to keep him while I’m traveling outside of Beijing, probably secretly hoping that he can keep Blackie in case I can’t take him with me to the US. However, I had to look for another home for him, after his wife flipped out on him (again, the assumption that their son could die from a deadly disease contracted by the puppy - silly woman).

Another relative agreed to watch him, since she is older, lives alone and has seriously considered owning a dog. So, this would be a trial run. When she came to pick him up the night before my flight to XinJiang, she demanded (literally, demanded) that I give her 200 US dollars. In a state of shock, my bargaining reflex took over and I shot back with, “Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me. That’s too expensive.” My mistake, this remark triggered a serious of drama that I’m too embarrassed to reiterate in detail.

Turns out, she was pissed off that I hadn’t brought her a gift from the US and was demanding that I buy her something substantial. Maybe this is the norm in Chinese culture, but it didn’t sit well with me. It not only made me sad, but also made me angry. Many local people seem to think that westerners and Chinese descendents living abroad are walking dollar signs, are not very smart, and can easily and willingly shower you with money.

In the end, I didn’t give in to the cultural norm and Blackie will be staying at a doggie hotel in Beijing with a personal care taker for about 6 dollars a day.

** 11/20/08: Latest Blackie updates can be found here. **

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