Let's start with Crater Lake

by Matt Dela Peña

Hike up Garfield Peak. You'll be glad you did ;)

I have a belief that we, regardless of where we're from, tend to take for granted the beauty that is in our very own backyard. Well, that's the case for me anyway.

You see, I've spent the majority of my life thus far as a resident of the state of Oregon, despite at first being a Filipino immigrant to California, and this September marks my 9th year living here—roughly half my current lifetime. So, I truly consider myself an Oregonian despite what anyone else might say.

Shanghai-bound

by Matt Dela Peña

Pudong skyline

Shanghai—the world's most populous city and busiest container port; the PRC's principal financial center and Alpha+ global city; a rising hub of commerce, culture, finance, media, fashion, technology, and transport.^[1] The list goes on and on. With so many accolades to its name, I was dying to go.

Cars look like ants...

by Matt Dela Peña

... from the observation deck of the Shanghai World Financial Center. At 474 m, it is the world's highest public viewing deck. The building, currently Shanghai's tallest at 492 m, will soon be dwarfed by the Shanghai Tower (632 m) which is due for completion in 2014—its lot is visible on the lower left corner of this picture.

Zhouzhuang

by Matt Dela Peña

Cultural preservation seems to be the norm in China these days perhaps to serve as a reminder for how much of a terrible idea the Cultural Revolution really was (way to go, Mao). It seriously feels like every street corner in every Chinese city is adorned with either a temple, museum, or cultural center, just to ballyhoo to unknowing passersby the complete and utter badassery that is Chinese history.

But just when you think you've exceeded your fair share of culture for one day, you suddenly find yourself in a town that is in and of itself an entire cultural exhibit. Welcome to Zhouzhuang.

Suzhou, China's paradise on Earth

by Matt Dela Peña

Not a lot of Portlandians (myself included) know that the city of Suzhou in Jiangsu Province is one of the nine sister cities of Portland (as listed by the ever so factful Wikipedia). Heck, why would we? We are, after all, Americans. We quiver at the sight of a map.

Yet, Portlandians would be pleased to know that the city they share some sort of citified sorority with is actually the fastest growing industrial center in the fastest growing province in all of China. Talk about having connections.

Surviving China: Money

by Matt Dela Peña

PRC currency has two names: yuan (¥) (元) and Renminbi (RMB). HOWEVER, if you purchase anything anywhere, the shopkeeper will always refer to it as "kuài". One kuài is like one "dollar". One kuài is divided into 10 máo (毛) (kind of like our cents). There are two máo coins: 1 máo (10 "cents") and 5 máo (50 "cents"). So, when the shopkeeper says "shí wǔ kuài sān," she is asking for 15.30 元. Got it? Great!