Category Archives: Maps and Places

Guiyang locations and maps.

Finding the PSB (Revisited)

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Last year I posted detailed instructions, with colored glossy photos explaining how to take a bus to find the Public Security Bureau, more specifically the Exit and Entry Administrative Service Bureau ( Original Post  ). So I should have been able to find that place fairly easily. WRONG!

If you go to the Bureau, you will find it behind the Walmart as described in the post, however, when I went there on the 14th of this month (Sept 2016) there was massive construction on the southwesterly side of the shopping center, completely blocking the access to the rear of the building. I am ashamed to admit that I flagged a taxi and had to pay 10 rmb to find the place.  Even then, I didn’t have the correct verbal and I had to use a picture.  If you go there, it is a good idea to have the picture of the building: PSB Building Picture . You can put it on the computer screen and snap a picture with your cell phone. Then show it to the taxi driver after you get lost.

In retrospect, the construction makes a mess out of the directions. Going there from the bus station you walk through the center of the shopping center on a diagonal. Pass by the Walmart on your right and just go straight (westerly) toward the big clock. Pass by the clock in the center of the shopping center and walk out the back of the shopping center. Should see the big (massive) rock to the west of the shopping center and the PSB is behind that rock. Go to the second floor and you will find the Entry and Exit Burear area . . . it is labeled “Hong Kong, Macao . . . ” something. You will find the police there who can answer your questions.

 

CNN Highlights Guizhou

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Click on Link to see full story: Fanjin Mountain Feature Photo Cover

June 15, 2016 by CNN

“(CNN)Home to sheer limestone peaks, dramatic gorges and cascading waterfalls, Guizhou is a mountainous and largely undiscovered province in southwestern China.
Until recently one of China’s least accessible regions, it hasn’t yet seen the mass tourism that’s crowded Yunnan to the southwest — a popular destination for domestic travelers . . .”

GuizhouMap

Guizhou is isolated by mountains and was a preferred retreat of Mao during the Long March, and the defence industry during WWII. Difficulty of transportation protected Guizhou from enemies, and development. Aggressive transportation construction including trains, highways, and airports has connected Guizhou to the outside world. Those of us visiting Guizhou over the last fifteen years have seen massive changes in development, but the rural minority villages and landscapes are still a large part of this culture.

Jack

The Rooftop Cafe of Dong Men

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View from the patio.

View from the patio.

The Rooftop Cafe is located directly across the street from the Starbucks coffee house and Pizza Hut, and is near the Hunter Plaza. Walk down the hill from the Dong Men bus station about fifty yards and turn right. You climb the stairs and turn left at the top of the stairs, walking through a steel door into a large lobby area. Go to the elevators on the far side of the lobby and go up to the 30th floor. The room number is 3004. The Café is located on three levels, literally a rooftop garden.

The The Rooftop Café has four meeting rooms including the third level floor which is a private area which might be called  the building’s 32nd floor. There are panoramic views of the city from all three floors. The cafe is decorated with a local Guizhou wood, which appears to be cedar, very warm wood walls and floor. The furniture is also wood.

The Cafe mainly serves coffee however it has fruit juice, cocktails, beer, and some desserts. Prices are very competitive, particularly in this neighborhood. The manager’s name is Shadow and if you have questions, or if you have a group that needs a meeting room, be sure to call her at 1-398-411-3214.

Getting There

African-American youths see the true China

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African-American youths see the true China
By Yan Dongjie (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2016-05-22 16:35
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2016-05/22/content_25410946.htm

It is not often that I reference China Daily because this web site blog (at www.tourguizhou.com) is about foreigners in Guizhou. Guizhou Province of China is magnificent . . . in the friendly people, the beautiful landscape, abundant water resources, clean air, minority cultures and an incredible variety of local foods. So when I read a headline referencing the “true China” it really set off a little bell. In the USA people always ask me,  “What is it like in China?”.  My answer is always the same . . . “China’s a big place. It’s better to ask me what it’s like in Guizhou, or Guiyang.”

I really wanted to read the article because I don’t know how to describe the true China either. My impression is that about half of the country is still quite rural, with a big percentage of people pulling themselves up out of the rubble that was The Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution. It is a rapidly growing techno society and a sleepy rural place as well. It is on the move, or not. It depends on your bias going in, and what you are shown, and what you choose to see. So I really was curious about what the author and the hosts came up with in describing the trip of “African-American youths”. You have the link now and can read the article yourselves.

So if I wanted to show Chinese people the True America, what would I show them? Perhaps I will try to lead a group to the USA and attempt to show them the “True America”. What will it be? The African American youths were shown Beijing and Shanghai. That would be like showing Washington DC and New York City, only, and calling it the “true America”. What a bastard view that would be.

So the question stands, what would I show them? Well it would be difficult in two weeks to show the true America with any degree of granularity. For sure, I would want to show them New York City and Washington DC. I would also want to show them a pro football game, a college basketball game, a minor league baseball game, Flint, a jazz bar, Harvard, Northwestern Michigan Community College, a small midwest town, some National Parks, an NRA sponsored shooting range, a primary school class, a church service, a medical research hospital, Detroit Recorder’s Court, a township board meeting, a Donald Trump rally, West Point, a Boeing Corporation jet plane factory, … hmmm. Two weeks might not be enough time!

Does anybody else have any ideas about “the true America”?

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Guizhou Telescope

Guizhou now has the biggest radio telescope in the world.  It will be operational soon.

World’s Largest Radio Telescope Nears Completion, And It’s Going To Find ALIENS

Ross McG
May 3, 2016

The world’s largest radio telescope is almost finished – and it’s going to try to make contact with extra-terrestrial life.

This fascinating video and stunning photos show how close the 500m wide Aperture Spherical Telescope, or “FAST”, is to completion.

The structure, in China, will be operational by September and key components have already been tested.

Spanning 1,640ft in diameter, the telescope is a £125 million initiative that has been under construction since 2011 in Pingtang County in China’s Guizhou Province.

The structure is being fitted with 4,500 shiny panels following a successful dry run of its hardware last November.

FAST is three miles away from the nearest inhabited town, meaning it will have the perfect radio silence needed to listen to listen to the skies above.

Officials moved some 9,000 from the region to make way for the radio telescope, which will be the biggest of its kind.

 

Guiyang Black Taxi Blues

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Recently I got two painful reminders about black taxis. They are not professional and don’t know that moving a seat can hurt people.

The first one was when I was maneuvering my ample buttocks into the front seat of a black taxi.  The seat was pulled all the way up, but I thought I  could get in.  In the middle of the process, the driver pulled the lever which freed the seat to slide back about a 18 inches. I simply fell into the car and got hit in the back of the head by the top of the car. It was a big ouch.

The same week, I got in the back of a black taxi and the driver, again without warning, slid the passenger seat backwards and nailed both of my shins.  Remember. black taxis are driven by amateurs. Be careful of that front passenger seat.  Also, don’t hang your arm out the window. Drivers often close these windows without notice.

Jack

China Green Card will be Easier ?

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See Washington Post China Permanent Residency

A current Associated Press report is copyrighted, but is reporting that the government is interested in having more foreigners move to, reside in, and work in China. It is considered a way of improving the economy.  This is extraordinary news.

My British friend and I have both tried to stay in China, with significant resistance from the authorities.  I am only able to remain in China as a tourist, with a ten year tourist visa. It requires me to leave the country every 60 days to avoid violation.

My British friend is only able to get a 30 day visa to accomplish the same goal. It kind of takes any financial incentive out of trying to stay here. So if the government is planning a change, it will have to happen pretty soon to save two of us.

I’ve been supporting Guizhou Province people in my own way for nearly 25 years. I welcomed the students from Guizhou when they attended Oakland University (Michigan) in the 90s. I trained teachers in Guizhou in 2000 under Oakland U’s Summer Institute, and have taught English to Guizhou People for nine of the last fifteen years. After teaching at Guizhou Normal University for four years, my contract ended without renewal last August. I never received a warning of my demise or coherent explanation.

Now at age 65 I can’t get that “Expert Certificate” that  I had received nine prior years as an English Teacher. I don’t regret my service to the Guizhou People. It’s still the poorest province in China, except for Tibet. I am, however, looking forward to seeing this new enlightened policy in action.

Thailand Trip – Elephant Island

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Koh Chang is called Elephant Island in the Gulf of Thailand. It is accessed by modern ferry and has a small townish feeling to it. We went on a snorkel trip with www.scubadawgs.com. I visited my old teacher, Cao Laoshi and we took a couple of his students to this island resort. We stayed Cao and I had one tent and the students had another.

Jiang’s Blood and Guts Noodles

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My friend Jenny just opened a popular restaurant on a popular corner in Guiyang. The coagulated pig blood is a delicacy in Guiyang, as are the intestines of the pig. These are combined with noodles and broth to make a very popular noodle soup. Jiang is a famous name and a popular bowl of noodles known in Guiyang.  This is a franchise situation. I think Jenny has a winner.

Oops

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7/20/15

I’d been in the USA for a day and almost got hit be a car.  Traffic doesn’t expect someone to walk out next to an active lane. I forgot that the behavior of drivers in the USA is very different.

7/24/15

I have also been riding my bicycle in the USA. It is so easy to forget how the traffic works.  In Guiyang, you pick a lane and a direction, and that is your path. Others don’t simply cut you off. It is very different on the streets in Traverse City.  To begin with, people don’t seem to look for bicycles and pedestrians. They are mostly aware of the other cars.  I was almost run off the road by a woman who was pulling into a parking space. I was on her right in the bicycle lane. I yelled “Hey Man” in the passenger window, which was fortunately open. She immediately pulled away. She didn’t even know I was there. The “Hey Man” must have sounded like I was in the seat beside her.

I was trying to cross the street near a complex traffic light and I literally had to get off the bike and walk. People don’t seem to give you credit for having an equal right to the road. Well, right now, I feel more danger on US streets to my bicycle than China. Guess I am just used to different traffic rules.