depthq - ccm|mac

Just about 2 weeks ago, I was still out on a 8-day trip to Changbaishan, Mohe and Harbin. It is winter in China and what better place to be than the northern most place in China, Mohe. Other highlights include: the frozen lake in Changbaishan, alfresco bathing (yes outdoor!) in hot springs in Changbaishan (sorry no pictures ), beautiful winter scenery and landscapes, dog meat hotpot & other delicious food and fooling around in the cold.

I somewhat enjoy the cold weather more than the hot, even though I have lived most of my life, so far, very near the equator. Actually I much prefer living in a place with proper 4 seasons than some place that has eternal sunshine (and or rain). And people say that you live a longer life if you live in a place with 4 seasons, I wonder how true is that.

Anyway, the trip was a blast and -30 degree celcius (without wind) in Mohe is not as bad as I thought it was. When we initially arrived, we didn't feel it was that cold, not until we stayed outside for about 15-20 minutes, did the cold really get to us. I definitely wore enough, although some people might argue against that and the hardest part of my body to warm up would be my toes.

We spent quite a lot of time in the train and bus. Let me recount: train from Beijing to Changchun (5-6 hours), overnight train from Changchun to Yanji (7-8 hours), bus from Yangji to Erbaidaohe (3-4 hours), van from Erbaidaohe to Changbaishan (1 hour), bus from Erbaidaohe to Antu (a few hours, can't remember), train from Antu to Harbin (10 hours), train from Harbin to Mohe (20 hours), van from Mohe to the northern most village and back (2-3 hours), train from Mohe to Harbin (20 hours) and finally train from Harbin to Beijing (5-6 hours). That's about a total of 80 hours in 8 days. An average of 10 hours in the bus/train each day.

That seems like a lot of travel time but a lot of it is sleeping time, for overnight trains and for those waking hours, it was really fun, listening, chatting, joking and just being silly. Overall, a very good trip!

And now, I am back in Malaysia, where I'll have to battle high 30 degree celsius temperature with t-shirts & shorts, a running nose, a sore throat and a fever.