get ready for a photo heavy post

i think i'm going to divide this post into two sections. the first is about mong kok, one of my favorite places in hong kong, and the second is about my recent trip to china.

mong kok is located about 15 minutes by metro from downtown hong kong. the reason it appeals so much is because it's the closest fit to what i expected hong kong to be like before arriving. i was initially pretty discouraged by hong kong as most of the downtown area is full of big malls and white people drinking. mong kok, though, is one busy market after another, with a lot more happening, and a lot fewer expats. the goldfish market sells everything from turtles to sting rays to large tropical fish. there's a great fruit and vegetable market, and of course, the requisite tourist junk market. below you'll find a few photos of mong kok at night.

mong kok from above

one of many busy streets

i had a pretty light work week this week [surprise] so i headed up to guangzhou, the capital of guandong province. here's a map:

canton and guangzhou are the same thing. you can also see shenzhen (city I visited a few weeks ago) and macau (city I visited six weeks ago)

i really loved guangzhou. the only problem was that because this week was national week the streets were more insane than they usually are (which is really saying something), which made walking around pretty exhausting. on top of that, most tourists leave the country for national week, so after a day of wading [literally what it feels like as i stand a head above most everyone else] through crowds, i'd return to an empty hostel. the hostel itself was located on a beautiful island in south west guangzhou. the island was originally a concession given to european traders in the 19th century, so the architecture has a distinct colonial european feel. with the multiple parks and gardens and wide footpaths i could easily forget i was even in china. it made it a nice place to return after the insanity of guangzhou proper. here are a few photos:

a little overexposed, but this is the shamian island central walkway

guangzhou skyline

guangzhou old town

one of dozens of alleys selling traditional medicine ingredients

one such store. notice the starfish in the upper left

a bucket full of live scorpions [for traditional medicine]

near the scorpions, more animals (even chipmunks!) in a small space than i have ever seen

a video of central guangzhou - neon lights are big in china

and because i appear in none of these photos, a completely unrelated photo from the horseraces (maybe next time you'll get more than my back):


well, congrats for making it this far. i'm proud of you. so proud, in fact, that i have a little reward:

song of the week: the penalty by beirut (video courtesy of la blogotheque - skip ahead to 1:20)