We’ve reached Issue 2 of our new Blogroll Express, here to bring more photos and adventure chronicles within easy reach. Comments are welcome, as we continue testing for function and accessibility. We like (apparently, so do you) - and have included more of - “Travel Troubleshooter”. Perhaps with that, and a few other items, we should add “+ News & Hints” to the title? (continued below…)

If you scroll down, or look in the archives for the articles as they appeared in ‘Issue 001′, you will no longer find the box, but the articles and photos didn’t go away. Just click “Read more…” at the bottom right corner to visit “Dan’s shared items” on the Google Reader page; the shared items are what appear in Blogroll Express. Enjoy!

As promised, here we are with another visit to China before the Olympics begin in a couple of days (08-08-08). If you’re an Olympian or a spectator, the adventure of experiencing China’s opening on the world stage promises to be nothing short of thrilling. The infrastructure, including Qingdao Olympic Village, has been ready for the influx of athletes, officials, and journalists, and Beijing and Hong Kong are welcoming spectators. Since Olympic Village opened two weeks before the Olympics, many of the photographers, journalists, TV networks, as well as officials and athletes, have already been on site for a few days to a week or more. Rehearsals for opening and closing ceremonies have gone well. Everything looks wonderful!

However, China’s outward shine is understandably lacking a bit of luster, in the minds of journalists and a few IOC officials, at this writing, because of Internet access restriction issues for journalists reporting and recording the events. This, coupled with the recent handling of the unrest in Tibet, has tarnished the otherwise (mostly) glowing sheen of China’s entrance onto the pageant walkway, as it were.

For China visitors, in any capacity, none of this should change the spirit of adventure, though, in the next weeks and months. Adventure, good or bad, positive or negative, is still adventure, and should be viewed and experienced as just that. My adventures have not all been positive, but they’ve all been adventurous! I wouldn’t expect it any other way. If all experiences, and outcomes of those experiences, are known in advance to be comfortably positive, where is the sense of adventure? Predictability is generally the opposite of adventure. “Indiana Jones” knew adventure had no bounds, and he left predictability behind in the classroom!

So, if you’re going to China anytime soon, will it be for the Olympics? Or will you go after the Olympic torch has been extinguished? Or will you opt for other adventure travel - to more far-flung parts of China - even during the Olympics? We’ve previously mentioned a few possibilities, and will discuss more distant ones sometime after Olympiad XXIX is history. China is, after all, a very large country, even if we don’t consider the large semi-autonomous regions such as Tibet or Mongolia.

Of recent interest to me was the transportation across large expanses of China, from one city to another, one province to another. There is no infrastructure of four-lane divided highways connecting distant cities like the Interstate Highway system (begun under President Eisenhower in the 1950s) does in the U.S.A. Rather, Chinese President Hu Jintao has opted to connect his country by a gargantuan expansion of the air travel infrastructure that dwarfs anything ever attempted by any other nation until now.

The recent (February) opening of the world’s largest airport terminal, in Beijing, is only the beginning; the main terminal - of three - is nearly two miles (3.2 kilometers) in length, covering approximately 10,000,000 square feet (929,030.4 square meters). To meet demand, 97 more new airports are being built (and another planned for south Beijing within ten years). And 3,200 new jet planes are being purchased.

If your adventure includes traveling to more than one main location in China - and why wouldn’t it? - your travel can be the non-adventurous part of your itinerary. With all new planes, new airports, courteous agents, free luggage check-in, flight hostesses who provide excellent service - with a smile!, and good food (yes, they have meals!), what could be more - well, mundane? Ha-ha! On top of all that, ticket prices - when bought in China - are a fraction of comparable distance flights in the U.S.A.! Does it get any better?

If you’re still unsure of anything about your next international travel - and you want it to be cheaper, safer, and more adventurous, get my free “Smart Tips Handbook” available exclusively to Registered Readers! Click the link below.

International Travel Adventure

While many thousands of people’s lives have been lost, with many more thousands impacted severely by the Sichuan Province quakes, China is moving ahead toward her “coming out gala” of the 2008 Summer Olympics. China has looked forward to, and is endlessly preparing for, this summer’s spotlight historic event. For more commentary, feel free to read the previous posts in this series. That having been said, it is important to realize China is much more than Hong Kong, Beijing and additional related Olympic venues (Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shenyang, Tianjin, and Qingdao). For adventure, China is a great country to travel. Many readers cannot travel there during the time-frame scheduled for the Olympics. Even if you can fit the schedule, attending more than one or two events can be outrageously expensive - that’s just the Olympic way.

So, where else to travel, and what else to experience or explore, you ask? If you want to trek along the Great Wall, part of it is only a short drive from Beijing. Since it is mega-historic, mega-famous, large enough to be the only man-made structure visible to the naked eye from earth’s orbit, and the “prop” for one of David Copperfield’s major televised illusions, you should see it and explore it. To avoid the tourist crowd, go early in the morning - dawn is best; by around 8:00-8:30 a.m., the bus loads begin arriving. (Of some 690 sites globally listed as World Heritage by UNESCO, this is one of 27 in China.)

You might want to experience the exquisite beauty of nature of Hangzhou’s metropolitan area, especially around West Lake. If you only visit one city, and the beauty of nature’s scenes easily win your attention, don’t miss this gem, about 112 miles (180 km) southwest of Shanghai. For the main adventure here, follow your camera lens. Your camera will thank you. Hangzhou could be on your way to explore China’s largest bamboo forest in Anji, which is about 1-1/2 hours by bus from Hangzhou. There is the rather touristy Bamboo Museum, but a good forest trek is the objective. Whether or not you’ve spent time exploring forests - even the bamboo kind - this will be a treat. As a bonus, check out the location of the beautifully choreographed bamboo forest martial arts scenes from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. As a second bonus, some of the friendliest people you’ll meet will be in the Anji area. Guest houses and restaurants, all run by locals, are plentiful. I recommend an overnight stay in order to experience everything the Anji area has to offer. Make friends here.

When you visit China, try to make a point of visiting Sichuan Province - both for the diversity of peoples and cultures (probably more than any other province in China), and to explore any accessible regions following the quakes of May 12. The landscape of some areas has changed dramatically in the wake of the monumental shifting of continental plates; there were, at one point, at least 34 newly formed lakes. If you’re able to physically contribute to any of the ongoing assistance needed in the devastated regions, your adventure will be more satisfying and complete.

There is so much more China has to offer the adventure traveler. Tibet and Mongolia - two totally different autonomous regions of China - both geographically and culturally - possibly hold the most promise for adventure purists. Interestingly, both share wide open spaces and nomadic lifestyle cultures. Due to the space constraints of these articles, we’ll save them for next time. Yes, we’ll revisit China before the Olympics, and probably again after. This is China’s year to shine, so why shouldn’t we take advantage?

Please be sure to check out the Video III page for Chinese music and associated cultural videos. Certain things come to mind when we think of areas in which Chinese people excel, and some of them are included.

If you’re still unsure of anything about your next international travel - and you want it to be cheaper, safer, and more adventurous, get my free “Smart Tips Handbook” available exclusively to Registered Readers! Click the link below.

International Travel Adventure

This post began our new feature “Blogroll Express”, and it is merely “added to”, rather than “disappearing”, as it seems. Just check the most recent issue for all current and past articles, photos, etc. Perhaps the easiest way - from here - is to check the Archives for the “Blogroll” category in the sidebar - or here. Click “Read more…” at the bottom right corner of the box. Newest material is at the top of the lists, older material requires scrolling down and/or subsequent pages. We’re looking for a way to make previous articles more readily accessible by post date.

Now we come to what is being done about it all. The heroic efforts of the Chinese people, and the organizational skills of the government and military, have been nothing short of amazing to witness. If you saw news coverage from anywhere other than China, you probably got bits and pieces; watching CCTV (China Central Television - CCTV 9 is in English), even now that 24-hour continuous coverage is past, has been very refreshing in terms of seeing what concerted efforts of tightly organized large numbers of people can accomplish. And yet, shortly after their first efforts, the Chinese government realized help was needed; and thankfully, they began to accept help, first from only nearby neighbors, then widening that circle to eventually include much of the world.

We have mentioned in an earlier post about how international adventure is not always fun or entertaining or good. If we asked any who have been “privileged” to help out in China in the aftermath of the quake, I’m guessing there would be mixed feelings of sorrow over the lives unable to be saved, extreme gravity in dealing with the conditions - not for themselves - but for the survivors (newly childless, orphans, amputees, and more), and yet, elation for direct participation in saving so many more lives, comforting those they could, and witnessing, and helping in, the transition from grief-stricken loss to moving on with life, which so many survivors are gradually accepting.

As was mentioned in Part 1, China should be visited this year. The Olympics is only one reason, and only one short season. There is so much more to see and do in that large wondrous country. But if you are truly adventurous, and have the ability to take the time now, why wait? You can watch CCTV to find out directly what is needed; it is posted on-screen at least every half hour. If you’re able to contribute your time and efforts, check out local branches of Red Cross and other organizations where you live. Find out how and when you can go as a volunteer. Literally tons of foods, fuels, clothing, tents, bottled water, etc. have been donated - and even delivered - for the cause of the stricken. And yes, the Chinese have large numbers of people in almost every specialization imaginable. But there are still needs for skilled people; for example, doctors, nurses, and those skilled in trauma psychiatrics are the obvious. Just check with your local charities and other humanitarian aid societies.

Maybe you have brought to completion a recent development or invention that can be helpful. A perfect example (on a large scale) is the mobile hospital contributed from its inventors in Germany. The unit modules - packed, shipped, and personally delivered - house either 120 or 400 beds, and contain operating rooms, emergency room, etc. It is completely self-contained; it generates its own electricity, purifies all needed water and air, processes all human waste, and more. The inventors/developers delivered it, set it up, and trained local peers in all aspects of the unit. They have also donated it to China for any possible future needs. Is that an adventure for those Germans? You bet!

More medical teams and doctors are being sent to, and arriving in, the earthquake zone, even now. Another medical team recently arrived from Pakistan, and 20 more doctors from Indonesia. These people are all contributing of themselves where they are needed. Are they in the midst of an adventure of a lifetime? Yes! Is it all uplifting and good times? No. Is it something they’ll remember the rest of their lives? Absolutely, and they won’t regret going to China and being part of the effort to make a positive difference in so many people’s lives!

The quake zone still requires much work and talent. Besides the inglorious tasks of finding more of the missing and burying the dead, disease and epidemic prevention are high on the list at this time. Temporary dwelling structures are being erected, while in some areas rebuilding has already begun. But at the same time, any areas downstream from the aforementioned newly formed lakes (and one dammed lake) are being evacuated. The engineering jobs required to contain and divert the accumulating water safely is of prime importance as the minutes and hours become more fleeting.

Relocating the approximately 15,000,000 people for whom it is necessary - many due to the evacuations - is another major task. 566,400 tents have been set up and occupied (average four per tent) so far, while many times that many are still required. 1,600 temporary homes have been set up, with over 4,000 under construction. Yet, 15,000,000 people are being relocated!

Where do you fit into all this? If any of our readers do, or have, become directly involved, we’re all hoping you will tell to us your stories of going, and being a part of the solution, following one of the worst natural disasters of our time. [For any of you wondering, yes, there will be a Part 3!]

If you’re still unsure of anything about your next international travel - and you want it to be cheaper, safer, and more adventurous, get my free “Smart Tips Handbook” available exclusively to Registered Readers! Click the link below.

International Travel Adventure