Since we had a full day yesterday, our hosts from the All-China Youth Federation decided to make some changes in the schedule and brought us to one of the counties of Nanning City for some sightseeing.
We visited Yiling Cave in Wuming County which was about an hour from the city proper. Before entering the cave, visitors were treated to a cultural experience with the traditions and various ethnic groups of Guangxi presented in an interactive outdoor museum and show. As we entered the cultural park, a group of musicians played on local horns and drums to welcome the group. The tour took about 30 minutes before we finally reached the entrance of the cave.
Unlike our caves in the Philippines, the entire route inside Yiling Cave from top to bottom was all wired for a sort of lights show. I felt it was quite commercialized or maybe I just was not used to seeing neon lights inside a cave. It would have been better if they just used plain flood lights to give visitors an unadulterated view of the spectacular limestone formations. The cave experience seemed more Disneylandish to me than a visit to a natural wonder. Oh well! But overall, it was fun. And it was good exercise too since it obviously got me sweating.
After catching our breath, we boarded the buses to proceed back to the hotel for lunch. We hardly had time to rest and we were off to our next stop which was the secretariat of the China-ASEAN Expo for a briefing on the upcoming event. This was followed by a visit to Qinxiu Mountain again where we planted trees in the China-ASEAN Friendship Park. It would be nice to come back 20 or 30 years from now and revisit the trees we planted.With that over, everyone was excited since next on our itinerary was shopping. As our hosts quipped, it was time to contribute to China's GDP. We were brought to this large shopping mall called New Mengzhidao (Dream Land) and given two hours to do our thing. Since I was not in a shopping mode given that I had to conserve funds for my trips to Beijing and Shanghai, I decided to sneak out for a while to take a walk to the city square which was just a few meters away.
In front of the Guangxi People's Hall was Minzu Square which was all spruced up for the China-ASEAN Expo. One thing I noticed in China was that the flowers along the streets and squares were all potted and can easily be replaced as soon as they wilt. So there is always a fresh supply of flowers greeting visitors.I hope Mayor Atienza and our other Metro Manila mayors start to learn the importance of proper gardening in their cities because Chinese cities are just so green and colorful with well-maintained plants and flowers along roads, sidewalks, parks and plazas!
I also took a photo in front of a billboard with photos of Chairman Mao, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin. Unlike our political billboards in the Philippines which are for the selfish interests of our incumbent officials, this billboard honors the former leaders of China. And it's tastefully done with proper landscaping in front, not like the political billboards especially in Manila which is basically nothing but clutter!In the evening, our hosts in Guangxi prepared a farewell banquet. And just like in the previous banquet, toasts were exchanged, this time with the local liquor which explains why a lot of people got drunk tonight, some people we know inlcuded. Hehe!
We left the hotel early yesterday to proceed to the airport for our flight to Nanning, the capital of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China. We arrived in time for lunch. From the airport, we went straight to the Ming Yuan Hotel where buffet lunch was waiting for us. As always, food was overflowing! What else could you expect when China hosts international meets like these? They definitely know how to make their guests feel welcome.
Our first stop for the afternoon was the China Guangxi International Youth Exchange Institute where we met up with the Philippine delegation to another program sponsored by the Chinese government, the ASEAN Youth Cadres. After a brief introduction by the school director and a presentation by the Philippine and Lao students at the institute, we proceeded to Qinxiu Mountain. On the way, we saw the preparations for the 3rd China-ASEAN Expo which is held annually in Nanning.
There wasn't much time so they just took us for a drive around the park. We had to rush back to prepare for the banquet together with the officials of Guangxi government. As always, the banquet at the Ming Yuan Hotel was superb! Toasts for China-ASEAN friendship were exchanged the whole evening. On the right is the Philippine delegation with Madame Chang.
Today was reserved for the China-ASEAN Youth Forum. This was an opportunity for the ASEAN and Chinese youth representatives to discuss the topic "voluntary spirit and civic consciousness of the youth." I was tasked to speak in behalf of the Philippine delegation during the country reports in the morning. Each country delivered a situationer on the state of volunteerism in their own countries. One thing we noticed from Philippine statistics was that the incidence of poverty was lower were levels of volunteerism was high and the opposite where there was little volunteer work. That says a lot about volunteering. If Filipinos stop thinking about what they would get in return for everything that they do, we'll definitely go places!
In the afternoon, we were divided into discussion groups with two representatives per country in each group. We discussed the same topic but this time offered some possible solutions to certain issues raised such as the need for a regional body to coordinate volunteer efforts. I was asked to report for the group during the forum conclusion. Extra work for me! Haha!
In the evening, we had a party with each delegation as well as groups from Guangxi preparing cultural presentations. Our presentation was hilarious! Haha! Let's leave it at that.
The China-ASEAN Youth Camp finally began today. Our first stop was the Dongguan Songshan Lake Science & Technology Industry Park. This strategic high-tech industry park is located in the center of the Guangzhou-Hong Kong economic corridor.
Covering an area of 72 square kilometers with a well-protected ecological environment, the park was elected as the high-tech industry park with greatest development potential in China by the National Research Center for Science and Technology.
We visited the exhibition center where an impressive scale model of the park masterplan at the center of the hallway gave visitors a preview of the future of the park. I was impressed by the consistent use of the Post-modern architectural style for many of its buildings.
I was also impressed with how the planners created a sustainable environment for Songshan Lake, with modern industries and institutions in harmony with the natural environment around it. Lunch was served at a function hall by the shore of Songshan Lake. Again, we had more Guandong style cuisine. One of our drinks was white fungus with bird's nest. After lunch, we toured to the Dongguan University of Technology to check out the campus and its facilities.
To cap the day, we took a stroll at the impressive city center of Dongguan. We were dropped off at the headquarters of the Dongguan People's Hall. Again, it was a feast of structures and monuments in the Post-modern architectural style around a vast square of fountains and pools, and plant boxes filled with flowers of various colors.
We were on our way to the Dongguan Exhibition Center to view several hallways filled with exhibits on the history, culture, development, industry and technology of Dongguan. Not only were they informative and well-organized; the exhibits were nothing less than world-class!
Dinner was also in downtown Dongguan. After dinner, the delegation went around some shopping areas but nothing much to buy since it was quite pricey in the area which we visited. Since we were tired as well, we decided to make our way back to the hotel in Hongmei Town which was about 40 minutes away. More photos here.
Remember I said I had exciting travel plans coming up? I had to cancel the whitewater rafting trip in Kalinga as well as the bus ride to Samar and Leyte just for this. Hehe! I'm one of the delegates selected by the National Youth Commission to represent the Philippines at the China-ASEAN Youth Camp 2006.
We left for Guangzhou today via China Southern Airlines. Although I've been on several flights this year, all of them were on low-cost carriers. So I completely forgot they served meals on board which was good since I wasn't able to eat breakfast. Our flight left NAIA at 12 noon and landed at the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport at 2:40 p.m.
It took quite a while for us to get out since lines were long at the health screening and immigration counters. After getting our luggage, we were met by representatives of the All China Youth Federation. We had to wait for a few more minutes since the delegation from Laos was arriving that afternoon as well. So we took a stroll around the airport in the meantime.
By the time we got back to the meeting place, the Lao delegation was already there so we boarded the coaster which took us to our residence for the next three days, the Grand View Hotel in Hongmei Town, Dongguan City which was was in between Guangzhou and Shenzen.After resting for an hour, we had a sumptuous traditional Chinese dinner at the restaurant at the ground floor. Several dishes were served on the table which included duck, chicken, fish, squid, mushrooms, and vegetables. No pork was served since there were Muslim delegates.We took a stroll outside the hotel after dinner but weren't able to see much since we we're not close to the city center. There was a convenience store close by so I bought my supply of dried fruits and water for the night. Since we were tired, we went straight to bed. Tomorrow is a free day while we wait for other delegates to arrive. The camp officially begins on October 24.
I have never tried diving yet although I have always wanted to. And obviously, with so much marine biodiversity in the Philippines, I'm missing a lot. The closest thing I've ever done was walk a few meters from the shore in full scuba gear during a high school class outing in the Eagle Point Resort in Batangas. We also got to snorkel off the coast of Anilao, close to Maricaban and Sombrero Islands. But that was it.
Which is why I was encouraged further when I found out that the Verde Island Passage, which was just a few kilometers away, is now recognized by scientists as "the center of the center of the center of the world's marine shore fish biodiversity."Just to give everyone a backgrounder on the title, the Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape is recognized by the scientific community as the center of the highest concentration of marine biodiversity in the world. Occupying an area of 900,000 square kilometers in the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, it is "at the heart of the coral triangle which accounts for 50 percent of the world’s coral reefs," a Philippine Daily Inquirer article reported.
Comparative studies of marine concentration in the Indo-Malaya-Philippines archipelago show that central Philippines, which includes the Tubattaha Reef, a UNESCO world heritage site, is the center of that center of marine biodiversity. It was American marine biologist Kent Carpenter of the World Conservation Union, and fellow researcher Victor Springer of the Smithsonian Institution who discovered in 2004 that the center of the center of marine shore fish biodiversity in the world was the Philippines, and not Indonesia.
And it was determined that the center of the center of the center of that marine biodiversity was the Verde Island Passage corridor, which was found to have the largest concentration of marine life in the world with a recorded 1,736 overlapping marine species in a 10 by 10 kilometer area. Verde Island is thus dubbed by scientists as "the world’s blue water version of the Amazon River basin."
For more information, check out the article RP world center of marine treasures. Looks like I'll consider diving in the near future. Hehe! (Photos from Scott Tuason; Diving in the Philippines and Yvette Lee, PDI)
Since we had a full day yesterday, our hosts from the All-China Youth Federation decided to make some changes in the schedule and brought us to one of the counties of Nanning City for some sightseeing.
We visited Yiling Cave in Wuming County which was about an hour from the city proper. Before entering the cave, visitors were treated to a cultural experience with the traditions and various ethnic groups of Guangxi presented in an interactive outdoor museum and show. As we entered the cultural park, a group of musicians played on local horns and drums to welcome the group. The tour took about 30 minutes before we finally reached the entrance of the cave.
Unlike our caves in the Philippines, the entire route inside Yiling Cave from top to bottom was all wired for a sort of lights show. I felt it was quite commercialized or maybe I just was not used to seeing neon lights inside a cave. It would have been better if they just used plain flood lights to give visitors an unadulterated view of the spectacular limestone formations. The cave experience seemed more Disneylandish to me than a visit to a natural wonder. Oh well! But overall, it was fun. And it was good exercise too since it obviously got me sweating.
After catching our breath, we boarded the buses to proceed back to the hotel for lunch. We hardly had time to rest and we were off to our next stop which was the secretariat of the China-ASEAN Expo for a briefing on the upcoming event. This was followed by a visit to Qinxiu Mountain again where we planted trees in the China-ASEAN Friendship Park. It would be nice to come back 20 or 30 years from now and revisit the trees we planted.
In front of the Guangxi People's Hall was Minzu Square which was all spruced up for the China-ASEAN Expo. One thing I noticed in China was that the flowers along the streets and squares were all potted and can easily be replaced as soon as they wilt. So there is always a fresh supply of flowers greeting visitors.
I also took a photo in front of a billboard with photos of Chairman Mao, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin. Unlike our political billboards in the Philippines which are for the selfish interests of our incumbent officials, this billboard honors the former leaders of China. And it's tastefully done with proper landscaping in front, not like the political billboards especially in Manila which is basically nothing but clutter!
