A Canadian in Beijing: Floating Billboards on The Bund

by Ember Swift on

Since I’m on vacation here in Shanghai, it stands to reason that I ought to act like a tourist once in awhile. I have been snapping photos like one since I arrived, to be sure, but besides visiting The Great Wall, I haven’t yet taken in many historically significant sites. For once, I read a guide book and took the advice of the pages therein. They advised me to take in the waterfront in Shanghai, particularly on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

The Bund, also known as Zhongshan road, is an historical section of waterfront that stretches a little less than one mile on the western front of the “Pu Xi” (West City) and looks out to the eastern part of Shanghai known as “Pu Dong.” It is raised and separate from the roadway and proved to be a popular tourist destination on this sunny day. I was among them and I got the requisite photo taken across from the famous Oriental Pearl TV Tower as well as one of the tallest in the world, the Jin Mao Tower. (Hard to believe that, coming from Toronto and knowing the scale of the CN Tower!)

The Bund is part of the Huangpu River, an essential shipping route and regarded as the symbol of Shanghai for many years. There are lots of cruises available in these waterways that are flanked by huge corporate modern structures intermingled with a diversity of architecture from many different cultures across many centuries. It’s clear that this port has long been an international one, and not just because of the wide diversity of faces we can see walking along and snapping pictures just like us.

I thought it would be a great place for a romantic stroll on a warm evening and this thought warmed me into stalling and going to the edge of the walkway to peer over. I stared out into the river to see muddy waters below. My gaze followed the river’s current out and north-westward where the waters were guarded by Nikon and Nestle and other multinationals.

Between their buildings and my perch, there was a boat cruising slowly across the harbour with a giant screen and constant television advertisements flashing brightly for all to see. I could think of nothing more I’d rather NOT see than commercials at that moment. Talk about muddying the waters… A floating billboard on the Bund?!

I took that as a sign that I had seen enough. I turned and left, having walked only about halfway.

Still, I am happy and grateful to have seen an historical section of an ancient port, and this moment of its development is no less valid. It, too, will eventually become part of history.

Pic of me by Sarah Keenan

Jamestown in Virginia Turns 400

by Jamie Rhein on

Wow! Jamestown is 400 years old already? Time does fly. On May 14, 1607, folks from the Virginia Company stepped off their ships onto Jamestown Island. And so it began. The Virginia colony was established here at the banks of the James River with the idea they’d find gold for England and a way to keep heading east to Asia. The Algonquin Indians weren’t too tickled with the intruders so there was a bit of fighting which prompted the building of a fort.

Jamestown Settlement and Historic Jamestowne are established tourist spots where history has stepped out of a textbook for some interactive learning. At the recreated village, Jamestown Settlement, people dress in period costumes and demonstrate what life was like way back when. Next door, at Historic Jamestowne, archeologists excavate the original site. Replicas of the ships are also part of the things to see package.

For the 400th birthday, there’s a weekend of activities, May, 11-13 and tickets are still available. You can buy tickets on-line. Here’s a list of what’s going on for the celebration weekend. The variety and scope are impressive. For a video about the voyage from the Jamestown Web site, click here.

365 Days in Oregon

by Erik Olsen on

Even though this appears to be an ad for tourism in Oregon, I have to say I really enjoyed the site. The layout and design are clever and the site is attractive. You will find yourself becoming mildly addicted to clicking on each day to see what cultural, artistic, sporting, random activities you can do in the state.

I am biased because I have spent a fair amount of time in Oregon and have long had a secret love affair with the state (my wife does not know this…she thinks I’m strictly a Seattle man). Not so. Portland is easily one of my favorite towns on the planet. But this site is a refreshing improvement over so many tourism marketing sites I’ve seen in the past.

Poetry Month: Paul Laurence Dunbar State Memorial

by Jamie Rhein on

With National Poetry Month winding down in the U.S., I want to mention Paul Laurence Dunbar. He was the first African American poet to gain notoriety. His home, now owned by the Ohio Historical Society, also has the distinction of being the first state memorial in Ohio to honor an African American. The Paul Laurence Dunbar State Memorial is on the Best Historic Sites in Dayton list and is touted as being a place to find out, not only about Dunbar, but about the history of the times. For example, he was the son of freed slaves from Kentucky.

Dunbar, along with being a poet, was a friend of Wilbur and Orville Wright since Dayton was their stomping ground too. Unfortunately, Dunbar’s life was not a long one. He died at age 33 of tuberculosis, but for such a short life he left a legacy for those of us traveling by to enjoy. If you do plan to visit, the house is only open during the weekends in April and May, but in the summer the hours expand to include Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Also, besides tours of the house where you can imagine what it was like during Dunbar’s time, there are events held throughout the summer and fall.

For a radio broadcast about Dunbar and his poetry that was on National Public Radio last year, click here. It was to celebrate him 100 years after his death.

Lake Minnewaska: The Great Escape

by Jamie Rhein on

I grew up, at least from 8th grade on, living next to Minnewaska State Nature Preserve. Our land was right next to it. My friends and I would hike from my house to Lake Minnewaska the back way, meaning up over the mountain and down to the lake. That was the good part about living near there. Then, though, it was not owned by New York state, but the Phillips family. This is a tale of intrigue, mystery and bankruptcy. Eventually, the Phillips had to bail. (See article about history)

Generally, though, as an 8th grader and high schooler, living next to Minnewaska was like living next to Siberia. I’d pay friends money to drive me home since it was 10 miles out of New Paltz (13 from the high school) and I didn’t have a driver’s license until after I graduated. (How would you have felt if when you were learning to drive your mother grabbed the rearview mirror and made noises like, “Oh! Oh! Oh! At least that’s my version of the story.) The last four miles on SR 55 involved an extremely windy road and a hairpin turn (scroll down for picture.) Perhaps this turn had something to do with my mom’s reactions. I went through adolescence pining for a life in town.

Now, though, when I go home to visit, I rarely go to New Paltz and always head to Lake Minnewaska, usually walking along the trail that leads from my father’s road, past the waterfalls and on up to the lake. The trails once served for horse drawn tourist carriages that went from Mohonk Mountain House to Lake Minnewaka back in the 1920s. They are a mountain biker’s dream.

These memories of Minnewaska just came about because my best friend from high school just sent me a travel article on Lake Minnewaska published in The New York Times. “Spring in Your Steps” is a current Escapes feature. Ironically, the place that I always wanted to escape from is written up as a place to escape to. Who knew? Here’s more on Minnewaska, including other people’s memories.