A Brief Stop in Mongolia

A Brief Stop in Mongolia
Originally uploaded by weberpoint

On Wednesday, we took the six hour drive (it took 10 hours) from the City of
Kunming to the hill tribe area of Yuan Yang in the southern mountains near
the border of Viet Nam. Along the way, we stopped for lunch near a small
Mongolian village called Xing Meng. Why there is a Mongolian village in
southern China is a long story. Sufficed it to say, that they have been
here for 900 years. This provided us with our first opportunity to shoot in
a rural village, so we descended upon it like an invading horde. sorry, I
couldn't help myself. The images here are from that village. I have no
idea what game the men are playing here, but it involved a lot of shouting
and the exchange of money.

Over the next two days we will be shooting the rice terraces and villages of
Yuan Yang.

A Brief Stop in Mongolia

A Brief Stop in Mongolia
Originally uploaded by weberpoint

On Wednesday, we took the six hour drive (it took 10 hours) from the City of
Kunming to the hill tribe area of Yuan Yang in the southern mountains near
the border of Viet Nam. Along the way, we stopped for lunch near a small
Mongolian village called Xing Meng. Why there is a Mongolian village in
southern China is a long story. Sufficed it to say, that they have been
here for 900 years. This provided us with our first opportunity to shoot in
a rural village, so we descended upon it like an invading horde. sorry, I
couldn't help myself. The images here are from that village. I have no
idea what game the men are playing here, but it involved a lot of shouting
and the exchange of money.

Over the next two days we will be shooting the rice terraces and villages of
Yuan Yang.

A Brief Stop in Mongolia

A Brief Stop in Mongolia
Originally uploaded by weberpoint

On Wednesday, we took the six hour drive (it took 10 hours) from the City of
Kunming to the hill tribe area of Yuan Yang in the southern mountains near
the border of Viet Nam. Along the way, we stopped for lunch near a small
Mongolian village called Xing Meng. Why there is a Mongolian village in
southern China is a long story. Sufficed it to say, that they have been
here for 900 years. This provided us with our first opportunity to shoot in
a rural village, so we descended upon it like an invading horde. sorry, I
couldn't help myself. The images here are from that village. I have no
idea what game the men are playing here, but it involved a lot of shouting
and the exchange of money.

Over the next two days we will be shooting the rice terraces and villages of
Yuan Yang.

A Brief Stop in Mongolia

A Brief Stop in Mongolia
Originally uploaded by weberpoint

On Wednesday, we took the six hour drive (it took 10 hours) from the City of
Kunming to the hill tribe area of Yuan Yang in the southern mountains near
the border of Viet Nam. Along the way, we stopped for lunch near a small
Mongolian village called Xing Meng. Why there is a Mongolian village in
southern China is a long story. Sufficed it to say, that they have been
here for 900 years. This provided us with our first opportunity to shoot in
a rural village, so we descended upon it like an invading horde. sorry, I
couldn't help myself. The images here are from that village. I have no
idea what game the men are playing here, but it involved a lot of shouting
and the exchange of money.

Over the next two days we will be shooting the rice terraces and villages of
Yuan Yang.

Cursed with Pleasant Weather

Cursed with Pleasant Weather
Originally uploaded by weberpoint

Huang Shan is famous for its fog and clouds swirling among the granite
spires. It's that feature that draws millions of visitors each year, and
earned it a spot as a UN World Heritage site. What we got when we arrived
was sunny weather. The scenery itself if breathtaking, and well worth the
visit no matter what the weather brings. Unfortunately, cloudless skies are
bad for photography. All of the pictures that I took pretty much suck.

The other remarkable feature of Huang Shan, also known as the Yellow
Mountains, is its stairs. Lots and lots of stairs. Due to the topology of
the area, going up or going down is the only way to go anywhere. Friends
who know me will recognize that I am not a big fan of stairs. I'm more of
an elevator kind of guy. If you look closely at the first photo (or last -
I don't know what order blogger will put these in), you will get an idea of
the kind of terrain that we were travelling on for two days. The next photo
is a close-up from the first.

Even though these mountains are rugged and remote, there is quite a bit of
construction at the top. There are at least six hotels and several
restaurants. The materials for building all of these structures was brought
up from the base of the mountain (4,000 ft below) on the backs of porters.
Basically, one brick at a time. The construction is continuing as there is
a great demand from the ever increasing number of visitors (mostly Chinese).
Huang Shan may even lose its World Heritage designation because of this
build-out.

Today, we flew to Kunming, in Yunnan province. Tomorrow, after breakfast,
we will be on the road all day to the remote border region which is home to
several hill tribes and to the terraced rice paddies. It is very unlikely
that I will have internet access for the next three days, so I will probably
post next from Guilin. I could be wrong about the internet - I had it at
the hotel on top of Huang Shan.

Cursed with Pleasant Weather

Cursed with Pleasant Weather
Originally uploaded by weberpoint

Huang Shan is famous for its fog and clouds swirling among the granite
spires. It's that feature that draws millions of visitors each year, and
earned it a spot as a UN World Heritage site. What we got when we arrived
was sunny weather. The scenery itself if breathtaking, and well worth the
visit no matter what the weather brings. Unfortunately, cloudless skies are
bad for photography. All of the pictures that I took pretty much suck.

The other remarkable feature of Huang Shan, also known as the Yellow
Mountains, is its stairs. Lots and lots of stairs. Due to the topology of
the area, going up or going down is the only way to go anywhere. Friends
who know me will recognize that I am not a big fan of stairs. I'm more of
an elevator kind of guy. If you look closely at the first photo (or last -
I don't know what order blogger will put these in), you will get an idea of
the kind of terrain that we were travelling on for two days. The next photo
is a close-up from the first.

Even though these mountains are rugged and remote, there is quite a bit of
construction at the top. There are at least six hotels and several
restaurants. The materials for building all of these structures was brought
up from the base of the mountain (4,000 ft below) on the backs of porters.
Basically, one brick at a time. The construction is continuing as there is
a great demand from the ever increasing number of visitors (mostly Chinese).
Huang Shan may even lose its World Heritage designation because of this
build-out.

Today, we flew to Kunming, in Yunnan province. Tomorrow, after breakfast,
we will be on the road all day to the remote border region which is home to
several hill tribes and to the terraced rice paddies. It is very unlikely
that I will have internet access for the next three days, so I will probably
post next from Guilin. I could be wrong about the internet - I had it at
the hotel on top of Huang Shan.

Cursed with Pleasant Weather

Cursed with Pleasant Weather
Originally uploaded by weberpoint

Huang Shan is famous for its fog and clouds swirling among the granite
spires. It's that feature that draws millions of visitors each year, and
earned it a spot as a UN World Heritage site. What we got when we arrived
was sunny weather. The scenery itself if breathtaking, and well worth the
visit no matter what the weather brings. Unfortunately, cloudless skies are
bad for photography. All of the pictures that I took pretty much suck.

The other remarkable feature of Huang Shan, also known as the Yellow
Mountains, is its stairs. Lots and lots of stairs. Due to the topology of
the area, going up or going down is the only way to go anywhere. Friends
who know me will recognize that I am not a big fan of stairs. I'm more of
an elevator kind of guy. If you look closely at the first photo (or last -
I don't know what order blogger will put these in), you will get an idea of
the kind of terrain that we were travelling on for two days. The next photo
is a close-up from the first.

Even though these mountains are rugged and remote, there is quite a bit of
construction at the top. There are at least six hotels and several
restaurants. The materials for building all of these structures was brought
up from the base of the mountain (4,000 ft below) on the backs of porters.
Basically, one brick at a time. The construction is continuing as there is
a great demand from the ever increasing number of visitors (mostly Chinese).
Huang Shan may even lose its World Heritage designation because of this
build-out.

Today, we flew to Kunming, in Yunnan province. Tomorrow, after breakfast,
we will be on the road all day to the remote border region which is home to
several hill tribes and to the terraced rice paddies. It is very unlikely
that I will have internet access for the next three days, so I will probably
post next from Guilin. I could be wrong about the internet - I had it at
the hotel on top of Huang Shan.

Cursed with Pleasant Weather

Cursed with Pleasant Weather
Originally uploaded by weberpoint

Huang Shan is famous for its fog and clouds swirling among the granite
spires. It's that feature that draws millions of visitors each year, and
earned it a spot as a UN World Heritage site. What we got when we arrived
was sunny weather. The scenery itself if breathtaking, and well worth the
visit no matter what the weather brings. Unfortunately, cloudless skies are
bad for photography. All of the pictures that I took pretty much suck.

The other remarkable feature of Huang Shan, also known as the Yellow
Mountains, is its stairs. Lots and lots of stairs. Due to the topology of
the area, going up or going down is the only way to go anywhere. Friends
who know me will recognize that I am not a big fan of stairs. I'm more of
an elevator kind of guy. If you look closely at the first photo (or last -
I don't know what order blogger will put these in), you will get an idea of
the kind of terrain that we were travelling on for two days. The next photo
is a close-up from the first.

Even though these mountains are rugged and remote, there is quite a bit of
construction at the top. There are at least six hotels and several
restaurants. The materials for building all of these structures was brought
up from the base of the mountain (4,000 ft below) on the backs of porters.
Basically, one brick at a time. The construction is continuing as there is
a great demand from the ever increasing number of visitors (mostly Chinese).
Huang Shan may even lose its World Heritage designation because of this
build-out.

Today, we flew to Kunming, in Yunnan province. Tomorrow, after breakfast,
we will be on the road all day to the remote border region which is home to
several hill tribes and to the terraced rice paddies. It is very unlikely
that I will have internet access for the next three days, so I will probably
post next from Guilin. I could be wrong about the internet - I had it at
the hotel on top of Huang Shan.

A Visit to The Pearl Tower

A Visit to The Pearl Tower
Originally uploaded by weberpoint

We had an afternoon to kill before boarding our overnight sleeper train to
Huang Shan, so we headed across the river to East Shanghai to visit the
Oriental Pearl Tower. This is a TV antenna tower with observation platforms
built onto it a different heights. They are in the shape of pearls. The
top observation level is at 1143 feet, but we only went as high as the one
at 863 feet. There is also a much larger one at 300 feet, but it contains
nothing more than a video arcade and some small children's rides. It was
well worth a visit.

Last night we took the sleeper train - it turned out that it was a 'local',
which meant that it stopped at every station between Shanghai and Huang
Shan. I didn't get much sleep. Today and tomorrow we will spend in the
mountains - our hotel tonight is at an evaluation of 6400 ft. More on that,
plus pictures, tomorrow.

A Visit to The Pearl Tower

A Visit to The Pearl Tower
Originally uploaded by weberpoint

We had an afternoon to kill before boarding our overnight sleeper train to
Huang Shan, so we headed across the river to East Shanghai to visit the
Oriental Pearl Tower. This is a TV antenna tower with observation platforms
built onto it a different heights. They are in the shape of pearls. The
top observation level is at 1143 feet, but we only went as high as the one
at 863 feet. There is also a much larger one at 300 feet, but it contains
nothing more than a video arcade and some small children's rides. It was
well worth a visit.

Last night we took the sleeper train - it turned out that it was a 'local',
which meant that it stopped at every station between Shanghai and Huang
Shan. I didn't get much sleep. Today and tomorrow we will spend in the
mountains - our hotel tonight is at an evaluation of 6400 ft. More on that,
plus pictures, tomorrow.

A Visit to The Pearl Tower

A Visit to The Pearl Tower
Originally uploaded by weberpoint

We had an afternoon to kill before boarding our overnight sleeper train to
Huang Shan, so we headed across the river to East Shanghai to visit the
Oriental Pearl Tower. This is a TV antenna tower with observation platforms
built onto it a different heights. They are in the shape of pearls. The
top observation level is at 1143 feet, but we only went as high as the one
at 863 feet. There is also a much larger one at 300 feet, but it contains
nothing more than a video arcade and some small children's rides. It was
well worth a visit.

Last night we took the sleeper train - it turned out that it was a 'local',
which meant that it stopped at every station between Shanghai and Huang
Shan. I didn't get much sleep. Today and tomorrow we will spend in the
mountains - our hotel tonight is at an evaluation of 6400 ft. More on that,
plus pictures, tomorrow.

A Visit to The Pearl Tower

A Visit to The Pearl Tower
Originally uploaded by weberpoint

We had an afternoon to kill before boarding our overnight sleeper train to
Huang Shan, so we headed across the river to East Shanghai to visit the
Oriental Pearl Tower. This is a TV antenna tower with observation platforms
built onto it a different heights. They are in the shape of pearls. The
top observation level is at 1143 feet, but we only went as high as the one
at 863 feet. There is also a much larger one at 300 feet, but it contains
nothing more than a video arcade and some small children's rides. It was
well worth a visit.

Last night we took the sleeper train - it turned out that it was a 'local',
which meant that it stopped at every station between Shanghai and Huang
Shan. I didn't get much sleep. Today and tomorrow we will spend in the
mountains - our hotel tonight is at an evaluation of 6400 ft. More on that,
plus pictures, tomorrow.

A Cold Night on the Bund

A Cold Night on the Bund
Originally uploaded by weberpoint

This is quickly becoming one of the most photographed skylines on the
planet. It is easy to see why. Even during the day, this collection of
cutting edge architecture would make George Jetson proud. At night, though,
is when the new Shanghai really shines. It is almost mesmerizing. We would
have stayed and photographed longer, but it was cold and windy. Really,
really cold. Tomorrow, we spend more time in old Shanghai, and then take
the overnight train to Huangshan (The Yellow Mountains). It's going to be
cold there, too.

A Cold Night on the Bund

A Cold Night on the Bund
Originally uploaded by weberpoint

This is quickly becoming one of the most photographed skylines on the
planet. It is easy to see why. Even during the day, this collection of
cutting edge architecture would make George Jetson proud. At night, though,
is when the new Shanghai really shines. It is almost mesmerizing. We would
have stayed and photographed longer, but it was cold and windy. Really,
really cold. Tomorrow, we spend more time in old Shanghai, and then take
the overnight train to Huangshan (The Yellow Mountains). It's going to be
cold there, too.

Low Communications Capabilities

Low Communications Capabilities
Originally uploaded by weberpoint

It seems that China blocks all access to both facebook and blogger. The
only reliable way that I have of posting pictures is to Flickr. My pictures
can be seen here: www.flickr.com/photos/weberpoint/ There is
apparently a backdoor to blogger through email, which I am trying now.
Since I, myself, cannot get on my blog to check to see if this works (or how
the post looks), I am a little uncomfortable using this as my posting
mechanism. If you can read this, I would appreciate a comment on the first
image that I posted from Shanghai just to let me know that this works.
Thanks. I am now off to the Bund for the afternoon.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Basic Survival Gear

I have almost completed revision 6 of the packing for my upcoming trip to China.  I would guess that about 35% of what I am taking consists of clothes, toiletries, hiking boots and other sundries.  The rest is all photo gear.  What I've laid out here is all the major bits - the gear that I will take as carry-on. Not shown is the laptop and all its accessories.  They go with me on the plane too. There's an equal amount of stuff that consists of cleaning supplies, filters, chargers, etc. that will get packed in my luggage.

In a nutshell, I will be bringing two camera bodies, four lenses, 52GB in memory cards, a little red car and a tripod.  And a rain cover for my camera gear.  If it rains, we still go out and shoot.  Since we will be traveling mostly to rural areas, internet access is not guaranteed.  I will post when I can.

ArtEast 24 Hour Art Marathon

I'm too old for all-nighters