Shanghai to get a Disney theme park: Does it need one?

by Jamie Rhein on

In five to six years, Shanghai will have joined Tokyo, Hong Kong and Paris as a city out of the U.S. with a Disney theme park. China may or may not need a Disney theme park, but Disney’s aim is that the Shanghai location will help create a mighty want for Disney products among the country’s population.

With 1.5 billion people in China, Disney is hoping that the big bucks it will cost to dazzle the multitudes will pay off in other avenues. As anyone who has ever been to a Disney property knows, the theme park is not just a way to be wowed for a day or two; it’s a gateway into other Disney habits. The hope is that the wow moments are enough to make you crave more.

For example, not only is the Pirates of the Caribbean ride now one more place to get a Johnny Depp fix as Captain Jack Sparrow, it’s a marketing tool for all things having to do with the movie. As Depp, aka, Captain Jack Sparrow makes appearances throughout the ride, and then talks so provocatively right before the end, the connection to the movie is not subliminal advertising–the type where an image triggers off our subconscious.

Nope, by the time we climb out of the ride at the gift shop, it’s no surprise to see shelves laced with every sort of Pirates of the Caribbean merchandise that has ever been cranked out. (Ironically, most of it is probably cranked out in China.) There’s no other way to end this particular ride but to push on through the gift shop, not the easiest thing to do without a purchase when one has a child in tow who now has Captain Jack Sparrow on the brain.

Disney is hoping that the Chinese families who fork out the money to enter its theme park will leave wanting more Disney. DVDs, video games, touring musicals and more are the perfect Disney fix for creating some of Disney’s magic back at home.

For the Chinese government, the hope is that Disney in Shanghai will provide tens of thousands of jobs for people who are in need of viable employment.

Because it is possible to teach an old dog new tricks sometimes, this Disney park will incorporate Chinese history and stories into some of its attractions. Many classic Disney rides will be included. I bet Captain Jack Sparrow will be speaking Chinese. Ni hao, Johnny!

Packing light for a cold trip

by Catherine Bodry on

I’m a proud packer, but until now my longer trips have either been in warm places, or to countries where I planned to be very stationary (and didn’t care if I looked like a 20-something grungy backpacker, because that’s what I was). Flimsy skirts and tank tops were the norm. My task this time around, however, is to maintain my packing pride while making sure I stay warm and manage to look somewhat professional.

I’m heading out for a three-month trip to China, where I probably won’t wear my swimsuit or flip-flops one time. I’m going to use Kunming as my base, and that city is at 6000 feet elevation. I hope to do a some trekking while I’m there, so a bit of gear will be necessary.

First, I need to choose my luggage. Instead of my fabulous Eagle Creek Switchback, I’ll cram my Marmot Diva 36L with all my stuff. It’s not as convenient for travel, but it’s a great pack for trekking. Next, I decided to bring my light down sleeping bag (rather than my thick synthetic bag, or nothing at all). It should be sufficient for sleeping in huts and will also be my bedding when I get an apartment.

Finally, the hard part: shoes and clothes. My running shoes will double as trekking shoes and, well, running shoes, while a pair of red Keen Mary Janes will fill in all the other shoe duties. Hopefully I won’t have to get fancy. As for clothes, I’m bringing stuff I would normally never dream of packing: jeans, cords, long underwear. No light cotton pants and only one strappy tank top (a girl needs to go out every now and then). One fleece pullover, several long sleeve shirts and a few t-shirts. My packing pile is growing, but overflow will get discarded and my Eagle Creek packing cubes will tidy the rest.

Cycling the Silk Road

by Kraig Becker on

Cycling tours have become increasingly popular in recent years, especially amongst adventure travelers who are looking to explore the world from the seat of their bikes. One of the leaders in organizing these kinds of adventure cycling trips has always been Tour d’Afrique Ltd, the creative minds behind such epic rides as their namesake Tour d’Afrique and the Vuelta Sudamericana. The company has even launched a website called DreamTours that allows us to design and plan our own cycling adventures, leaving all the logistics to their travel experts.

As if that wasn’t enough to keep us happily peddling our way around the globe, the Tour d’Afrique team is busily preparing for another long distance ride for 2010 that will cover the entire Silk Road, starting in Istanbul, Turkey and ending in Xi’an, China. The ride will cover more than 6650 miles over 16 weeks time, crossing through Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, as riders follow one of the most famous and important trade routes of all time, a route that was also explored by such historical figures as Alexander the Great, Marco Polo, and Genghis Khan.

Some of the highlights of the journey will include passing through an amazing variety of landscapes, from including snow capped mountains and desolate open plains. Travelers will get the opportunity to camp below sea level in the arid deserts of the Xinjiang Province in western China, while also ascending to dizzying heights as they climb along the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan, which rises well above 15,000 feet, offering a challenge for both the heart and the legs. The ancient cities of Samarqand, Bukhara, and Merv will be stops along the way as well, offering refuge from the road and a chance to explore marketplaces that have been bustling with shoppers for centuries.







All told, this cycling tour will put riders in the saddle for a total of 92 days, covering an average of roughly 70 miles per day. There will also be 22 rest days, and one day of travel by ferry across the Caspian Sea, bringing the total number of days on the Silk Road to 114. That’s quite a commitment for any traveler, but fortunately the route is broken down into seven stages, so even if you can’t make the full ride, you can still have the opportunity to experience part of the adventure by riding one of those sections instead. The cost for the full trip is €8500, but the company is currently running an early-bird special that cuts €400 from the price when you book the trip before November 15th. Pricing for the individual stages can be found on this web page near the bottom.

The Silk Route Tour is an amazing cycling tour that combines culture, history, and adventure into one spectacular trip that is sure to be a life altering experience. The ride gets underway on May 22nd of next year, so get training now and prepare to join in on this once in a lifetime experience

The international top five crappy pizzas

by Catherine Bodry on

Bad pizza? Isn’t that an oxymoron? Nope – despite the simplicity of melted cheese on dough, there is indeed such a thing as horrible pizza. I know; I ate some in Kaili, China – a town that has maybe 3 Westerners living in it, in a country that generally doesn’t do bread or cheese. I should have known better. All the ingredients were super-processed and frozen, and it tasted as though I was eating a fake, plastic pizza.

The hilarious list comes from Tom Gates over at MatadorNights, and includes such vivid descriptions as “[the cheese] sweats as if masturbating,” definitely not something I want my pizza to do.

The top five worst pizzas in the world (excluding my pizza in Kaili, which definitely deserves a mention) are served at:

  1. Pronto Pizza in La Serena, Chile
  2. Te Pizza el Gallso in Buenos Aires, Argentina
  3. San Marcos SRL in Florence, Italy
  4. Suba Galaxy Hotel in Mumbai, India
  5. Italian Pizza on Koh Chang, Thailand

I’ve eaten plenty of delicious local food in India and Thailand and know better than to order pizza there, but the lure of my favorite comfort food has certainly convinced me to override common sense and order a pizza (or hamburger, or fries, or spaghetti) at restaurants aimed towards foreigners. My advice comes from experience: ignore the evil voices trying to convince you how good the melted cheese with herbs will be, and go for the curry. It’s cheaper, and oftentimes the curry you get back home – especially if you live in BF Alaska – will be along the same lines as the pizza you’ll get in Asia.

[Via iamkohchang.com]

Planeterra Foundation gives sight to the blind in Tibet

by Sean McLachlan on

Tibet is one of the most visually stunning places on Earth, but many Tibetans can’t see it.

Blindness is a serious problem in the developing world. Poverty and lack of rural health care means that millions of people around the world go blind because of easily curable maladies such as cataracts.

One of the organizations fighting to stop curable blindness is the Planeterra Foundation, which recently announced a fund raiser and a video contest. For the past two years Planeterra has set up eye clinics in rural Tibetan villages and performed hundreds of surgeries.

“Tibet has one of the highest rates of blindness in the world. Most of this blindness is due to cataracts, a disease associated with aging but also prevalent among children and the working class. Many are unable to reach a hospital because of poverty and lack of transportation. With scattered populations spread across great distances, surgical eye camps are the most efficient way to treat the high rate of disease,” said Planeterra director Richard Edwards.

Such clinics are very cost effective. A donation of $50 pays for cataract surgery, so if you’ve enjoyed the beauty of the Himalayas, this is a good way to give back.

If you’re handy with a video camera, check out the “Her Sight Is Worth It.” video contest sponsored by Planeterra‘s partner Seva Canada. Young, aspiring filmmakers will create a short videos about vision impairment and gender, with the grand prize winner getting a new MacBook. Three winning videos will be screened at the World Community Film Festival and be honored by having sight restored to one girl and one woman in their name.

Planeterra believes in responsible travel and through its parent company Gap Adventures runs “Voluntours” where travelers can help out in schools in Zambia, study sea turtles in Costa Rica, or assisting street children in Peru. All Voluntours include several days of sightseeing too. Planeterra and Gap Travel are co-winners of the 2009 Responsible Travel and Tourism Forum (RTTF) Leadership Award presented by Baxter Travel Media and Air Canada.

Having trekked around a lot of different countries, I’ve seen many, many people stuck in sightless poverty because they can’t afford such a cheap and simple operation. Luckily Planeterra and Seva Canada aren’t the only folks out there tackling the problem. A number of agencies are fighting blindness. When I went to the Kumbh Mela festival in Allahabad, India, in 2001, there was one guru who had set up a free eye clinic and performed hundreds of cataract surgeries. It must have felt like a miracle for the patients to have their sight restored at Hinduism’s holiest festival.

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