Word for the Travel Wise (05/17/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

After my first experience at a Tibetan restaurant I figured I’d share some of the delicious vocabulary I plucked off the menu for today’s lovely lingo lesson. Since most of the items were names of dishes I won’t bother throwing them out there, but here’s one you can surely use in Tibet beyond meal times.

Today’s word is a Tibetan word used in Tibet:

Tashi delek – Welcome

Tibet is the type of place I’ve always heard tons of hoopla about, but never truly took the time to figure out what all the rage is about. I’ve already got a lot on my plate and I’m not talking about the veggie-style tsel thupek I had for dinner. Without going into politics I’ll pass on what I’ve found in regards to the language here and some cool notes to note on the country name itself.

According to the Wikipedia the English word for Tibet is derived from the Turkic word Töbän meaning “the heights.” The Sanskrit name for Tibet is Trivishtap and Tibetans call their homeland Bod, pronounced pö in Lhasa dialect. To learn more about the Tibetan language visit Tibet.com where you can find an audio guide, exhibition of Tibetan calligraphy, places to study and various other links. Your most extensive source for information on the web is probably going to be the Tibetan Language Institute site, which you’ll want to check out for yourself if genuinely interested in learning further.

Brits to Flock to Hainan

by Karen Walrond on

CNN.com is featuring an article musing on which group of people are likely to have deeper culture shock:  the Brits who will be visiting Hainan, a small Chinese island, or the people of Hainan who ware about to be inundated by British tourists after 2007.  The reason for this influx of Brits will be, apparently, entirely due to a tour company, Airtours, based out of a small English town in Manchester.

The article explains that the island, while beautiful, and home to several resorts, still needs to do some “tweaking” before the English come:  “Predominantly, it’s about delivery in the hotel,” said Steve Barrass, managing director for Airtours.  According to the article, “the Chinese need to get to grips with changing their menus daily. Offerings such as ‘Fried Froggy’ and ‘Stir-fried Flesh’ might also need some tweaking.”

Cultural insensitivity aside (and I’ll let you decide who’s more culturally insensitive), the island sounds lovely, with “golden sand and clean, blue water stretching as far as the eye can see.” 

I’ve actually only been to Asia once, but Hainan seems as good a reason to return, don’t you think?

Tattoo Mistakes

by Erik Olsen on

Years ago when traveling in Thailand, I came upon an American guy who had just got a new tattoo of which he was very proud. He was one of those white-boy dreadlocked hippie travelers who had recently discovered Buddhism and found it an appealing belief system whose humanism contrasted nicely with what he saw as the raw and mean culture of selfishness of his own country. The tattoo, he told me, said something like peace and love. Sadly, after he left, one of the Thai folks at the bungalow where I was staying explained to me that the tattoo actually said chicken fried rice or some such thing. I laughed a hearty laugh at the travelers expense. There was a very amusing irony there, I thought.

Well, seems he was not alone, and other folks like this lost soul have now been heading to tattoo removal parlors en masse to get rid of tats they once deemed cool, but now find awful little mementos of their reckless youth. This story over at Fox News examines the trend and cites some other fine examples of tats gone awry, including some whereby folks who thought they’d gotten tattoos for Chinese characters for attractive concepts like “power” and “love” discovered they actually read “General Tso’s Chicken special” or “gullible white boy.” That is just too damn funny. The article goes on the describe other Chinese tats where the symbols were upside down or one he thought said “spirit” actually said “gas”. Poor fellow.

Don’t understand Feng Shui? Try a Feng Shui Travel Tour

by Karen Walrond on

Feng shui is an ancient Chinese art of geomancy, which ostensibly helps bring balance and harmony to a person’s life.  While this article from Yahoo!News is primarily about using feng shui in your love life, I  was intrigued by the author’s comment of feng shui inspiring travel:  “…enthusiasts of the ancient art are finding that they can increase their understanding by doing a feng shui travel tour.”

According to the article, people can book a 10-day travel tour through a company called Feng Shui Masters, who will guide visitors through a series of ancient sites in China that represent feng shui’s beginnings.   “Each person has a different reaction (to the trip), depending on their cultural background,” said Johnathan Ng, executive director of Feng Shui Masters.  “A visit to the Hangzhou temple has moved people to tears,” he said. “They feel so great, so very positive.”

Hmm…. a tour of China AND a more balanced life?  Sign me up.

China Opens 525-foot-high Ferris Wheel

by Karen Walrond on

From Yahoo!News.com:  China has just opened what it claims to be the world’s tallest ferris field in the south of the country.  Called the Star of Nanchang, it opened in a riverside park in the province of Jiangxi. 

As a point of reference, the new wheel is 82 feet taller than the London Eye, which the Guiness Book of World Records currently lists as the tallest ferris wheel.  The Star of Nanchang is currently waiting for its certification by Guinness as the new recordholder.