Chasing Winter (2)

One other COLD place we visited this time was called the "Snow Village."  It's also in Northeast China, a very small, remote village that gets a huge amount of snow each winter.  It's surrounded by mountains.  Cold air from Siberia and warm air from Japanese Sea meet here and dump tons of snow in this little village every year.  The village used to be very rural and it kept all traditional Chinese housing...

Believe it or not, this year, the “Snow Village” had no snow (per local standards).  It took us a lot of effort to get there, only to find out that it's much warmer this year than usual AND there was "no snow!"  Go figure!!!!

Anyways, I just had to take a few photos... as a part of my travel log.

Northeast China
January, 2019

Chasing Winter

My trip to Northeast China turned out to be one of those unforgettable events.  Once again, I got to experience things that I'd never experienced before.  Went to a very remote village in Northeast China to chase winter, the real -30C winter!!  The place is so remote that there is no hotel in the village.  There are only homemade motels -- you live there and eat whatever the motel owner cook for you on that day...  Getting there was very difficult, and staying there was even more difficult.  I am not sure if I have the courage to ever go back there again...

Despite all the difficulties, due to unexpected weather conditions, I did not really get to see the special winter phenomenon I wanted to see in that part of China.  Yeah, I know, a big part of nature photography is luck!!

I would be lying to you if I say that this is not disappointing.  However, the important lesson I learned on the trip was "acceptance."  Yes, you might have plans in your head.  But when Mother Nature has other plans for you, happily accept it and thoroughly enjoy it.

Northeast  China

January, 2019

Happy New Year!!

The decluttering process continues...

In addition to the precious details I discovered about baby Michelle, I also found the following two events:

1.  We took our first "vacation" in this country during Thanksgiving in 1991.  We went with two other friends to the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and then Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.  I have no idea how on earth we picked those locations, but apparently, I was very happy about the trip.

2.  After landed in this country in September 1988, my first trip back to China was in December 1992, after finishing school and getting my green card.  My goal was to fly from Chicago to Beijing, but found myself going through such twisted connections to get from Point A to Point B.

1) 12/10/1992: TWA483 from Chicago to St. Louis, leaving Chicago at 7:15pm central time

2) 12/10/1992: TWA171 from St. Louis to LA, leaving St. Louis at 9:31pm central time

3) 12/11/1992: TWA171 arrived in LA at 1:40am central time.  Spent the night at my friend's place.

4) 12/11/1992: I arrived at the gate in LA at 11:05am Pacific Time to catch the flight to Beijing, no record of the airline or the flight number.

5) 12/13/1992: I finally arrived in Beijing at 1:35am Beijing Time.

  

Life was very different back then, but was equally precious, in its own way!!

I am heading back to China again this Saturday for two weeks, going to the COLD part of the country to chase ice and snow.  My flight?  United, from Chicago to Beijing, direct flight for 13 hours.  Everything is so much better now that I forget my painful experience from 26 years ago...  I will be sure to appreciate my not-so-long flight this time!