Hi all!

China, Re-hashed.  Day one: Hong Kong

China was meant to be a relaxing and educational vacation, a way to recuperate from three years of intense life/school/work…  But as per usual, I ended up spending all my free time soaking up the all experiences that I could find while I was there.  This didn’t lend me much time to rest, attend all of my herb and acupuncture shifts, or post stuff to my blog/journal as I would’ve liked.  During my month & a half in China, I (literally) took over two thousand photos.  Luckily, there are a few of them that turned out ok, and I’ve been reliving my trip through looking at them, and picking some to post here.

It’s great to be back to the States, and I’m finally feeling rested and readjusted to this side of the planet.  So here I am in digital form, finally bringing more Chinese adventures to you in your home office…or wherever you are right now. :)

My introduction to Asia was given by a good friend of mine that I met fifteen years ago in the dorms at Idaho State University.  A couple days hanging with him was the perfect gateway into visiting China.  Chi (Chuck) Li was born and raised in Hong Kong and chose to go to ISU to study, and lucky for me, he landed a dorm room next to mine and we quickly became good friends.  Fifteen years ago, I couldn’t have imagined that I’d be visiting him in his home-town, pursuing more knowledge in the field of Chinese Medicine.  Who knew…?

The first evening there, we went to a tapas restaurant along Kowloon bay, shared some very un-Chinese Spanish tapas, caught up with people back home, and hung out on the boardwalk along the bay…which had statues and hand-prints of famous Hong Kong Kung Fu movie stars…including a huge statue of Bruce Lee, and hand-prints of Jackie Chan.  My hands were bigger than Jackie’s, by the way.  His Kung Fu is much better than mine.  The next day, we got up and went to Sai Kung, which is a beach-side district in Hong Kong known for it’s seafood restaurants and awesome views.  It reminded me a lot of Hawaii…  The bay is dotted with a bunch of old volcanic islands that are now covered with tropical foliage.  We took a kai-to boat to an island and hiked around, which proved to be a good warm-up for the hike we took the following day (which I’ll post about next).  That night, we went out for Peking Duck, followed by drinks atop a few high-rises.  …and I used the coolest bathroom known to planet Earth at the Felix Bar.  When using the bathroom there, you face all of Kowloon in it’s radiant night time glory.  Watch the pics on the link for the bathroom…you’ll get the gist of it.

One of the coolest and inspirational things about HK is that there seemed to be an herbal shop on practically every block in the city.  As a budding herbalist, this was especially exciting and validating to see.  In one area of town, which was occupied by many Europeans, there were three that faced the plaza in which we were eating breakfast.  Think of how many coffee shops you see around Portland…that’s what it’s like with herb shops in HK.  A huge population in which herbs are an essential and integral part of life and health, and as accessible and prevalent as groceries.

The next day we met with Chuck’s dad, a wise and seasoned herbalist who took us out for dim sum in his neighborhood and taught us some cool tips on herbs, hiked up Lion Rock Park, and had a great dinner at the peak of HK.  I’ll post about it over the next few days.  Good times good times.

Thanks for looking, more to come,
Jon