The Pearl River

The Pearl River flows 1,500 miles from the south China plateau eastward to the South China Sea. It is one of the most beautiful rivers in China, with foliage flourishing on its banks all year round.


In the evening, the lights on both sides of the river glow so splendidly that they brighten half the night sky. Legend has it that over two thousand years ago a celestial pearl was lost in the river and, since then, the river has been shining with radiant lights at night. People named it the “Pearl River.”

At its bank stands one of China’s most dazzling cities – Guangzhou, like a brilliant pearl shining on the river.

In Solitude

Copyright 2007 Helen Wang

In solitude, I pause to freeze the moment
so that I can be;

In solitude, I journey far in distance
so that I can feel;

In solitude, I stand in the shadow of the moon
so that I can see the sun;

In solitude, I create eternity from transients
so that they can last.

Egypt Highlights

There are many things to see in Cairo – the pyramids, the museums, the mosques, etc. Here are a few highlights that mark the classics of Cairo:

Copyright 2007 Helen Wang

The Egyptian Museum is a must-see for anyone who visits Egypt for the first time. It exhibits more than 120,000 artifacts throughout history. The most impressive exhibition is the items from King Tut’s tomb, which is the most complete pharaonic tomb ever found. Through viewing the burial treasures, I got a glimpse of Egypt’s glorious ancient civilization.

Copyright 2007 Helen Wang

About thirty miles south of Cairo is Memphis – the first capital of Egypt established in 3100 BC, when the North and South Egypt was first united as one country. Today, not much is left of this once “prosperous city and cosmopolitan center” except a small museum where a broken statue of Ramses II is laid to rest.

Copyright 2007 Helen Wang

Not too far from Memphis is Saqqara, also known as “city of the dead.” It was a burial site for the kings and queens of Egypt for over 3,000 years. An important monument in Saqqara is the Step Pyramid of Djoser, the prototype for the Great Pyramid and other pyramids in Egypt. The knowledge of building pyramids was developed by the architect Imhotep almost five thousand years ago. Not before, nor since, have such structures been created.

Copyright 2007 Helen Wang

Another monument of Cairo is The Citadel – home to Egypt’s rulers for 700 years. The centerpiece of The Citadel is a Turkish style mosque dedicated to Mohammed Ali, an Albanian who ruled Egypt in the 19^th century. Unfortunately, Egypt’s glorious civilization was followed by waves of foreign invasions. In the past two thousand years, Egypt has been ruled by many foreigners such as Persians, Greeks, Romans, Turks, etc., until 1952 when it finally declared its sovereignty again.

Copyright 2007 Helen Wang

I really like Alexandria – a city 200 kilometers north of Cairo on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It was founded by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. The city has many historic sites and legendary stories, such as Queen Cleopatra, the last pharaoh of Egypt, her marriage to the most powerful man of the Roman Empire Julius Caesar, and her Romeo-and-Juliet-type love story with Mark Antony. I am fascinated and intrigued to learn more….

Amsterdam – A City of Canals

We arrived in Amsterdam around noon of December. 10^th. Since Netherland is so high in latitude, the sun was hanging low in the sky, shining powerlessly through clouds, making me feel it was 3 or 4 o’clock in the afternoon.

I didn’t realize that Amsterdam is fifty feet below sea level. Back in the early thirteen century, the Dutch people started to build the dams on Amstel River to hold back waters from the North Sea. Hence, its name “Amsterdam,” meaning the dam built on the Amstel River, was born. Since then, canals after canals were built in the shape of a spider web spreading out from the center of the city – Dam Square, making Amsterdam a fascinating city of canals.

Copyright 2007 Helen Wang

The Dutch people are at the front line of fighting global warming. Obvious, if Greenland melts, Amsterdam is the most vulnerable place on earth. Therefore, there are a lot of researches and projects that are already underway to address the water issues.

Copyright 2007 Helen Wang

We stayed at Hotel Pulitzer on the bank of canal with a room of canal view. I was a little shocked to see the water in the canals was a dark brown color – so dark that it’s almost black. The Hotel concierge told me that it’s because of stagnation of the streams and lack of oxygen in the water. I guess it is also because of centuries of the dirt at the bottom of the canals. However, I saw swans and ducks swimming in the canals!

Copyright 2007 Helen Wang

There so many things to write about for Amsterdam – its architecture, history, art and industry, etc. The things that struck me the most are the canals and art. Here are some really nice paintings displayed at the hotel:

Copyright 2007 Helen Wang

The first day in Amsterdam, we strolled around the Jordaan – the neighborhood characterized with art galleries and boutique shops, and visited Anne Frank’s house – the thirteen-year-old girl who documented her experience hiding from the Nazis in her diary during the Second World War.

Copyright 2007 Helen Wang

The next day, we went for a canal tour, which is a great way to see the city. And even better, the canal tour took us to Van Gogh Museum, which has the largest collection of works by Van Gogh with more than two hundred paintings including many famous masterpieces. Although I am not that big a Van Gogh fan, I discovered some paintings that I had not seen before that I really like.

小桥流水

Copyright (c) 2007 Helen Wang

The photo reminds me of a famous Chinese poem: "A little bridge over brimming water, and there is a hidden home...." Since the "home" is not seen in the picture, I named it "A Little Bridge over Brimming Water."

这张照片使我想起一首词： “小桥流水人家” 。而这里，“人家” 却不所见。 所以，且命名为“小桥流水” 。我忘了和它对的一句，有谁能知道，望告！

My Hometown Hangzhou

My hometown Hangzhou is known as "paradise on earth." An ancient Chinese saying says: “Above there is heaven; below there is Hangzhou.”

Anyone who has visited Hangzhou is impressed by its scenic beauty. A mirror-like lake, called West Lake, is nested in lush hills, like jade carved into green velvet. Along the lake are peach and willow trees, wavering and whispering in gentle breeze.

In the springtime, when the peach trees are blossoming with pink and white flowers in between the green willows, West Lake looks like a cheerful bride ready to wed. A pagoda, named Precious Stone Pagoda, stands on the top of the hills at the north side of the lake, as if a faithful guard watching out for his bride.

Hangzhou is also a historical city. It served as the capital of China in Song Dynasty (960-1279). In the 13th century, Marco Polo traveled to Hangzhou – the center of trade and culture during that time, and wrote elaborately in his journals about West Lake. He considered Hangzhou as “the most beautiful and splendid city in the world.”

Throughout history, Hangzhou has inspired poets, artists, philosophers and politicians. Many of them had left mesmerizing poems about West Lake. A classical poem by Su Shi, a renowned poet in Song Dynasty, says it all:

The brimming waves delight the eyes on sunny days;
The dimming hills present rare views in raining haze.
If comparing The West Lake to the Beauty of West Shi,
It becomes her to be adorned in either ways.

Today, Hangzhou has renewed itself into a center for technology and entrepreneurship. With a population of seven million, Hangzhou accounted for 20 percent of the province’s GDP, 30 percent of its imports and 17 percent of foreign investment.

A recent survey by Forbes reveals that Hangzhou scored the highest on the list of “the top ten best places for business,” before Shanghai and Beijing.

It is a base for global manufacturers such as Motorola, Siemens, and Toshiba. It has several of the most successful homegrown companies – the biggest auto parts maker Wan-Xiang, soft drinks group Wahaha, and Internet company Alibaba.

Cancun Renewal

Who can imagine that Cancun was a former fishing village thirty years ago?

Surrounded by Caribbean sea, Cancun today has renewed its natural wonder with beautiful white sand beaches and crystalline turquoise waters. Walking barefoot in the sand awakens all my senses.

The beach is not the only attraction for Cancun. The ancient Mayan civilization and the promise of the return of Kukulcan invite me to explore its endless wonders and mysteries.

A parasail over the Cancun sky gives a bird-eye view of its unprecedented beauty. Feeling like a bird flying into the infinite blueness, my heart sings with ultimate joy!

Looking back, a year has passed with much to be grateful; and looking ahead, another year is coming with more to be hopeful!

Online Shopping Made Fun

Apparently, I am in a shopping mood lately. How can I not be? The holidays are in the air! In this Internet age, shopping can be at our fingertips. If you are like me who like online shopping, here are a few online stores that I would recommend:

Horchow.com is a site that carries classy and high quality furniture and home accessories. I find products there exquisite with unique style. Browsing through its “online showrooms” is like indulging in art galleries. It’s educational and fun.

I particularly like its accent pieces: the lattice console with hand-applied gold leaf make a bold statement of luxury, and the wraparound chaise lounge with tassels feels cozy and romantic.

Although Horchow.com is affiliated with Neiman Marcus, the prices are not necessarily “needless markup.” In fact, you can get better deals there than elsewhere for the same thing.

If you are more price conscious, Touch of Class is a site worth looking into. It carries nice home products with reasonable prices. The good thing about Touch of Class is that it has products in different styles, such as Victorian, Southwest, Safari, Tuscan, and Asian. So it has something for everyone.

I found its artwork and wall sculptures gorgeous. The tapestries are beautiful and yet affordable. The rugs are well-made with many selections. One of the rugs – the round imperial palace area rug caught my eyes. I bought one for our new home – it turned out to be a glamorous display!

I have been shopping from these two sites for quite a while. Beside the fact that Horchow’s products could take as long as three months to deliver, my experience with both sites is pretty positive.

In this holiday season, if you want to avoid squeezing into crowded shopping malls, why not make online shopping fun?

What A Wonderful World

I see trees of green, red roses too

I see them bloom for me and you

And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue and clouds of white

The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night

And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky

Are also on the faces of people going by

I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do

They're really saying I love you.

I hear babies crying, I watch them grow

They'll learn much more than I'll never know

And I think to myself what a wonderful world

Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world.

- Louis Armstrong

I came across this song by Louis Armstrong. What a treat to read something like this. I particularly like "The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky, Are also on the faces of people going by." I can't help posting it here to remind myself and everyone: what a wonderful world we have!

lifestyle, life, poetry, song, wonderful world

Furnishing A Beautiful Home

Furnishing a new home can be a very challenging project. There are so many things that need to be taken into consideration: the quality, the style, the comfort, and the price, etc. Most of all, how we furnish our homes tells a lot about who we are and what we value.

Despite my strong interest in home design, getting the right furniture for my new home is still quite an overwhelming task. After some intense research and numerous visits to furniture stores, I found the fine furniture by Amini Innovation Corp. (AICO) a shining crown jewel that clearly stands out among its rivals.

Designed in the United States with an exquisite European touch, AICO furniture featuring Michael Amini Signature Series are impressive collections of distinctive style and fine quality. Each carefully designed piece is marked with superior craftsmanship. Thanks to globalization, AICO furniture is handcrafted and manufactured in China, making this high-end luxury home furniture relatively affordable.

Among its many selections, Cortina bedroom set caught my attention. Inspired by the beautiful resort Cortina d'Ampezzo in northern Italy, the Cortina bedroom furniture is a stunning example of combining classic sleigh bed with modern elegance. Its unique Oval Marble Medallion accent in the center of the headboard gives a feel and look of majesty; and the gentle curves and subtle texture set the tone for romance. Indeed, each collection of AICO furniture is characterized with a cultrural and cosmopolitan flair.

When it comes to home furnishing, I see it more than a project to furnish a beautiful and comfortable home. It is also a chance to go deeper inside ourselves and understand who we are and how we want to express ourselves. As we know, after traveling all over the world, the greatest trip is returning home – that’s where our families and friends are.

Please also see my previous post Home, Sweet Home

lifestyle, home design, furniture, home, quality life

Li River

Guiling, China
Copyright (c) 2005 Helen Wang

Chinese saying says, “桂林山水甲天下." - that means "Guilin's mountains and waters are the best under the heaven." See for yourself!

lifestyle, travel, nature, China, Lijiang

Fashion Show in Santana Row

If you think Silicon Valley is a place for “geeks” who only wear jeans and t-shirts, not any more! Last weekend, the Annual Fall Fashion Show in Santana Row flashed the runway with the season’s latest style and high fashion – right on the street of Santana Row in a lush garden park setting.

With world beat music and impressive chic models, the fashion show featured the world’s top brands, from leading British designer label Ted Baker, to cross-cultural fashions of Anthropologie, to world-wide renowned fine leather Furla purses and high-end luxury shoes designed by orthopedic surgeon Taryn Rose – all are picked from the neighborhood’s retailers.

The elegant black and white outfits are still the high point of this year’s fashion. Additionally, the combination of vibrant brown and blue color has become my newest fancy for the Fall.

After the fashion show, I cruised into the designers’ shops featured in the show. Among them, I found Anne Fontaine a timeless class. A French designer drawing her creativity from her Brazilian roots, Anne Fontaine’s collection captures the purity and simplicity of white with a touch of feminine and elegance. In her boutique, “each shirt has a story and a meaning, and with each new creation, a new woman emerges.”

Another fun boutique is Pink Stripes – a unique retail concept combining clothes and sweets. Here, you can shop while sampling truffles, chocolates and other sweet treats. It even has a live model in the window! The shop carries the lesser-known lines from Nanette Lepore, Tracy Reese, Rachel Pally, etc. The price is quite affordable ranging from $50 - $150. The place is hip, hot and entertaining!

The Fall Fashion Weekend, highlighting six fashion shows over Saturday and Sunday, is one of Santana Row’s signature events. A must-visit place in Silicon Valley, Santana Row represents a high quality lifestyle that “blends a distinctive mix of living, shopping and dining experiences.”

Please also see my previous post about Santana Row.

Photo source: http://www.dailycandy.com

lifestyle, fashion, style, Santana Row, beauty, shopping, trendy

Monet in the Legion of Honor

San Francisco’s most beautiful museum – The Legion of Honor, is my best-loved place in the city. Located in Lincoln Park overlooking the Pacific Ocean on one side and the City on the other, it has the world’s most awe-inspiriting collection of 4,000 years European art.

My love for the Legion goes beyond its fine arts; I love its neoclassical architecture, its magnificent beauty, and its breath-taking and unforgettable view of Golden Gate Bridge. Most of all, I love it because it holds a precious moment in my life that is a secret only belonging to me!

This Saturday, we returned to the Legion of Honor for Monet in Normandy exhibition. The exhibit includes fifty-three splendid impressionist paintings by Claude Monet at the turn of the century.

As a lover of all forms of art, it was a delight to have an overview of Monet’s paintings throughout his career. Monet drew artistic inspiration from the countryside of Normandy, its villages and towns, and the seasonal rhythms of the region. His unique techniques to capture the effects of weather, light and color made his painting illusively beautiful and picturesque.

Among all the paintings, my favorites are still the ones he painted at Giverny, a town outside Paris where he spent the last decade of his life. The beauteous water-lilies and Japanese bridge in Monet’s garden became enduring sources of inspiration for his creativity. The richness of the colors in those paintings contrasted the blurring images of his early works, and indicated the peak of his artistic expression.

The incident brought back a sweet memory: on my honeymoon, we took a day trip from Paris to visit Monet’s house and his gorgeous garden at Giverny. It was a romantic addition to the beginning of our life together. Standing on the famous Japanese bridge and gazing at the water-lilies in the pond were indeed reminiscent and enlightening….

It was a beautiful art exhibition of Monet at the beautiful Legion of Honor. As we were leaving, the late afternoon sun painted a golden color onto the museum, presenting a sublime view of the Legion of Honor.

Photo source: http://www.monetinnormandy.org
lifestyle, art, museum, travel, good taste

My Experience at Esalen

Before we went to Big Sur for the Memorial Day weekend, my massage therapist advised me to schedule a massage at Esalen Institute. “It’s right on the cliff overlooking the ocean,” she winked, “it’s an experience not to be missed.”

I did not know anything about Esalen Institute. From what I read on the website, it sounded very intriguing: “The word itself summons tantalizing visions of adventure, of unexplored frontiers, of human possibilities yet to be realized.” My innate sense of adventure and curiosity kicked in – that’s something I want to explore. Isn’t it a one-of-kind experience? I must go!

Only after I arrived on the Esalen property, I started to get a sense what I was getting myself into. On the way to the massage house located on the cliff, I saw people, men and women, lying around sunbathing – they were all naked.

At the entrance, a woman, noticed my confusion, kindly handed me a towel and led me to the hot spring lounge. Just as I turned around the corner, I was appalled to see an open shower room with both men and women in it taking showers. It has a huge glass wall facing the jet-blue Pacific Ocean.

Too shocked to enjoy the scene, I turned myself to the corner. For a moment, I thought perhaps I should just turn around and leave. I didn’t mean to act like a conservative “bumpkin,” but I was not mentally prepared for this! I reached out to open my bag. I could put on my bathing suit, no one would force me to be nude. As I was hesitating, I took a peek around me - there were both men and women, quickly undressing or dressing themselves. No one was paying attention to me. Of course, no one was looking at anyone else.

At this point, I realized putting on anything, even my very sexy two-piece bikini, seemed pointless. What the heck, I thought, if I have gotten this far, I might as well just do the rest. It’s not a big deal. I took a deep breath and slowly undressed myself. I took off everything like everyone else, except my sunglasses. Thank God, I just got a new pair of sunglasses with big dark lenses of this year's fashion!

I rushed into the shower room to take a quick shower, and then rushed out to drop myself into the first hot spring tub I saw. After I settled in, I started to look around to get myself oriented. This is an open veranda with three hot spring tubs enjoying a spectacular ocean view. People were walking around care-freely like Adams and Eves. A picture of Medieval Greek gods amusingly came into my mind….

I sat stiffly in the water, trying to relax. Big drops of sweat started rolling down my forehead. The half hour seemed extra long to me. Finally, my massager came in to fetch me. I thankfully wrapped myself in towel and followed him to the massage room on the other side of the building.

It was a large open room with six massage tables facing a huge glass wall toward the ocean. The place was exceptional serene with the soothing sound of ocean waves. As I lay down on the massage table, pacing my breaths with the rhythm of the ocean, all the tension faded away. I felt my whole being dissipating into an infinite vastness.

The essence of Esalen massage is to align our body’s internal rhythm with the rhythm of the ocean, of the nature, and of the universe. It was transformative. It magically awakened my inner awareness and helped me to regain a sense of harmony, reverence and balance.

After the massage, I returned to the hot spring lounge feeling reborn. I was able to walk around like Eve. I discovered there were three outdoor hot springs on the cliff. I soaked into one of them like a mermaid, and crawled to rest my arms and chin on the edge, enjoying the bountiful ocean of dark blue waters in front of me. I no longer cared who was around me. The ocean, the sky, men and women became one…

I closed my eyes and let the natural healing hot springs penetrate deeply into every inch of my body. I felt the gentle sea breeze caressing my hair, and warm sunshine kissing my face, neck and back…. I sunk into a deep meditation. I prayed for the ocean, for the sun, for the land, for the tree, for the valley, for the mountain, and for the world, “where mention of God has been made, and His praise glorified.”

My experience at Esalen tested my "unexplored frontiers." It expanded my horizon to a new level. No wonder it is such a renowned place for “revolutionary ideas, transformative practices, and innovative art forms.” I look forward to returning to Esalen Institute someday in the future.

lifestyle, Esalen Institute, Big Sur, wellbeing, spirituality, nature