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Dan Snyder 5/18/25 Dan Snyder 5/18/25

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden - Tokyo

Visiting Shinjuku Gyoen national garden in Tokyo, Japan.

We arrived in Tokyo on 7 April. The cherry blossoms are intense and we decide to visit Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden to the display. Entrance costs 500 Yen and you can pay with a IC card, the same one that can be used to pay for subway rides and at 7/11.

We entered the garden on the north west corner. We were greeted with variegated bamboo, uniquely shaped pine trees, and a pond with a turtle and carp.

Unique looking trees among the variegated bamboo

the western pond with Tokyo buildings in the background

white flowering tree hanging over a pond

Two tone pink variegated camellia flower

the western part of Shinjuku Gyoen viewed from the eastern side

Trimmed pine tree with a detailed shadow

Very large flowering cherry tree over a pond and a bridge

Greenhouse

The greenhouse is located on the north end of the park near the center. It is located near some old greenhouses that cannot be access by the public. The public greenhouse is uniquely shaped and entirely glass. Inside there were a variety of healthy plants!

Succulents

Begonias

Some begonias are bred to have uniquely detailed swirling leaves. I loved to see them here in Tokyo because they are also grown at my favorite greenhouse in Connecticut, Logees.

Other Flowers

Jade vine flowers that fell into a bucket of water

Orchids

Dan Snyder 5/11/25 Dan Snyder 5/11/25

Kyoto - Temples and Cherry Blossoms

two days in amazing kyoto japan

We got to Kansai international airport from Shanghai. The flight was about 3 hours. We chose the day of departure because it was 10 days after I arrived in China. I did not obtain a visa before going and I relied on the 10 day temporary visitor program. It requires that you are leaving through a third country, other than China or your own. My wife and I after visiting her parents in Guiyang, chose to fly to Kyoto. You can’t fly to Kyoto. You fly to Kansai International which is on an island. Then you take a train to your final destination, Kyoto. We found the express train and bought two tickets. The machine gives each rider a regular fare ticket and an express ticket, which costs extra. The trip saves about an hour by not stopping an local stops. We arrived in Kyoto, checked into our hotel after finding our way through Kyoto train station. We did not know this, but most of the good restaurants in Kyoto are extremely small and requires advanced reservations. Unable to find a highly rated yakiniku place with room for two, we found a diner style restaurant with plenty of foreigners. We were able to order familiar japanese dishes we know from the states such as eel with rice, miso soup, and sushi. Exhausted, we get to bed and prepare for the 5 stop one day tour of kyoto the next day.

Dinner on the first night. Unaju, egg custard, pickles, soup, sushi. we ordered in english. Still wondering how to get an reservation at one of the good yakiniku spots.

Kiyomizu-Dera Temple

On the first stop of our tour of Kyoto, tour guide Aiko and bus driver Kyhori san brought us to Kiyomizu temple.

classic shot of the kiyomizu. would not want to jump off that stage, it’s very high.

the painting of the joints in these buildings at the kiyomizu temple are colorful and very intricate

Arashayama Bamboo Forest

After lunch with our tour group, we went to the bamboo forest called Arashiyama. The bamboo was very thick and tall. The trails were wide but completely packed with tourists, including myself. There is a temple within the bamboo forest which we visited right after.

This are of Kyoto had lots of tourists and Rickshaw drivers pulling tourists around.

Tenryu-ji

In the zen garden at Tenryuji temple, inside the bamboo forest.

Kinkaku-ji

Next stop is a three story structure, last rebuilt in 1955, which is gilded on second and third levels. The top has a phoenix representing rebirth from the fire that destroyed the last building in its place.

I love the clouds reflecting in the pond in this image. The top level of the golden pavillion is shining among the cartoonish trimmed pine trees.

First level is wood and paper. Second and third level are gilded.

These bushes we recognize from our local gardens in New Jersey. Used a F/22 aperture to get both the bush and the gilded building in focus.

Fushimi Inari Shrine

The next site we visited is Fushimi Inari shrine. There was a live musical / religious performance at the shrine while we visited. We did not take photos to respect the rules. Everyone was transfixed at the man playing Koto and the woman dancing in front of him. No one was looking at their phones to photograph it. In Japan, many religious sites have a no photo policy. Whereas in China, everyone took photos of everything. so we were able to take photos in Kyoto in the vermillion torii gates with names of the donors.

a big torii gate when we entered the shrine area

Day 2 - Gion

It was a long day and we both were extremely tired after finishing. We stopped at a 7-11 where we bought some beer and chicken nuggets and a rice ball. The 7-11 stores are amazing. We got some sleep for our next day which was a free walking tour of kyoto, Gion district.

Akita dogs getting lots of attention in Gion

A bridge in Gion. View partly occluded by another tourist’s head, emphasizing the absolutely packed nature of this bridge.

Kenninji Temple

Our tour guide brought us here to Kenninji temple. This temple commemorates bringing tea from china to japan. The hedges are tea plants.

Building at Kenninji temple and cherry blossoms

The tour this day ended in Maruyama park while the cherry blossom festival was winding down for the day. There were plenty of food vendors and a very large weeping cherry tree in the middle.

In the states, I avoid takoyaki balls because I think I don’t like them. I just thought they were japanese themed hush puppies. But, they have octopus inside. So I decided that if I wanted to have a chance at enjoying a takoyaki ball, I ought to try on in Kyoto. The old man flicked 6 into a container and topped them with mayo, takoyaki sauce, and bonito flakes. So good. The inside was soft like the batter. The outside is crispy. And inside each one is an octopus surprise. Glad I tried them here.

Takoyaki balls from the cherry blossom festival in Maruyama park. 6 April 2025

Yakitori skewer purchased at the cherry blossom festival

Tao with flower blossoms in front and behind

I wish we had more time in Kyoto. It’s so beautiful. we only had two days and then we went to Toyko.

Dan Snyder 5/4/25 Dan Snyder 5/4/25

Guiyang Street Food

Lunch

First we met my wife’s friend for lunch at an open air spot. First course was beef soup and these amazing beef skewers with a strong smoky flavor. The beef soup comes with lots of cilantro and crispy peas. The soup is made to be poured inside each crepe filled with vegetables and tofu. It was delicious!

crepes stuffed with vegetables and tofu to pour soup inside of

The next course was a fried smashed potato cake with chili powder and sauce. This was very crispy and sweet and spicy. The gray jelly is Taro and supposedly has negative calories and is good for weight loss.

A smashed potato fried, topped with chili powder and sweet sauce. Taro jelly and chili powder.

An iced jelly soup with sesame and peanuts. Very refreshing on a hot day!

Potato Chips

We were stopping at a beer tap room next, so I wanted to try some of the potato chips that are sold in carts along the street.

Cart where chips are sold, My wife and her friend

Craft Beer

We arrive at the trip smith tap room, we got a delicious beef dish with lots of herbs and we tried three types of beer. I liked the new england IPA, but the Oolong candy was the best.

incredibly good beef dish at trip smith tap room

a can of the fruit lager Oolong Candy. Very light fruit and tea flavor, highly recommended!

Sticky Rice Shaved Ice

Next we stopped at a spot which served shaved ice mixed with sticky rice. this one is matcha flavor and has peanuts on top! Very refreshing!

Matcha shaved ice with sticky rice and peanuts

Rice Crust

The next spot we stopped at was a cart outside that served rice crust with nut and sesame filling. The man skillfully created a crust from a ball of glutinous rice dough and filled them with toppings, all in about one minute!

peeling the crust off the sticky rice dough

took a video of this master at work creating these rice crusts

Dan Snyder 4/27/25 Dan Snyder 4/27/25

Guiyang - Qianlingshan Park - 黔灵山

visiting the forest park zoo in Guiyang

In my wife’s hometown of Guiyang, there is a park with Pandas and wild monkeys. According to the sign, this panda was born in captivity in 2010. The zoo website says each panda eats 150 kg of bamboo per day.

Panda eating bamboo in Qianlingshan park

Pink and yellow flowers reflecting in a pool

The signs throughout the park showed the horrible injuries people have gotten from being attacked by the wild monkeys in the park. Most people seem aware that you should keep your distance from the monkeys. And while there is a ‘no feeding’ rule, not everyone obeys this. Some people gave the monkeys packaged food which the monkeys were able to open and discard the packaging. One little girl cried when a monkey tried to take her food. The monkeys can be aggressive. But look how cute they can be!

wild monkey looking wisely toward a group of humans looking on

a young monkey looking toward two zoo guests

The pandas were a popular attraction. The pandas area opens at 10:00 and we happen to get there 10 minutes before, so we found a big line of excited people. We were let in. It was neat to see how the distribution of people around the viewing platform changed as the panda moved around. Eventually I found myself in a good spot to take photos and video of the panda eating bamboo.

Panda eating bamboo, view partly occluded by a tree

At the point I found the best location for a photo

would it be miserable to eat bamboo all day?

The aquatic bird area had pelicans, black swans, and assorted ducks and geese. It was feeding time when we got there so the swans were getting lettuce while the pelicans were picking at raw meat. I didn’t know they would eat that, but it makes sense, they normally eat fish.

The monkeys in the cages must have unique longing - seeing the wild monkeys of a similar nature to their own - but free.

This monkey was called a caca monkey.

The crowd gathered around the peacock as it displayed its feathers all fanned out. The eye detection auto focus locked onto these eyes sometimes.

Monkey discarding the wrapping and storing the food in its cheek

Monkey running along a stone curb toward the viewer

Monkey looking a bottle to check if it had any yogurt left inside.

Disappointed at lack of yogurt, the monkey discards the bottle

I tried my hand at video recording the monkey. The small monkey gave me a chance to use object tracking in video mode. The EF 70-300 F/4-5.6L lens has very smooth zoom ring giving me the ability to smoothly keep the monkey in frame as it moves away.

Wild monkey, dependent on human food to survive.

Dan Snyder 4/20/25 Dan Snyder 4/20/25

Huangguoshu - World Heritage Waterfall

trek to world heritage waterfall

Huangguoshu waterfall ( 黄果树瀑布) in Anshun, China is a UNESCO world heritage site. The name means yellow fruit tree waterfall.

Only 7 world heritage sites are waterfalls. Huangguoshu is exceptional for two reasons: geology and anthropology. The site has sites of human history over 600 years old, and the waterfall has a unique shape due to the geology that formed the waterfall.

At the entrance to the waterfall area is a garden with many bonsai trees

Curly bonsai branches with red leaf buds

I love how this tree’s trunk looked mostly dead and completely twisted up. And there were still live branches growing at the tips. The combination of living and dead plant as one sculpture.

Take a long escalator down to the waterfall area for 210 RMB. Then walk toward the falls on a wide walkway with plenty of snacks for sale. The sound of the waterfall gets louder as we walked down the valley. The air gets progressively mistier.

Lower falls, a boat, and main falls in the distance

It’s getting really misty here.

The colors of this pool are beautiful. There is one other place in China with extremely colorful water. This place is in a province that I was not allowed to travel to since I used the 10 day visa-free transfer policy when I visited. I would have to apply for a visa to go to the renowned colorful water place.

Colorful pool between main falls and lower falls

On the rim trail walking up toward the cave

The entrance to the cave is crowded with lots of people. There are signs that say do not stop, but you have to stop to take a picture. There is significant spray here and my camera was getting wet.

Ferns growing in the save in the waterfall spray

Incredible moss formation below a stream of the waterfall

looking up as the water falls down from above us

a bamboo chute that brings water from the waterfall into the cave

Bridge back to the other side of the river

Dan Snyder 4/14/25 Dan Snyder 4/14/25

Yangshuo - Hills, Flowers, and Farms

Picturesque Yangshuo

Yangshuo is down river from Guilin. It’s the destination of the river cruise. It’s closer to Vietnam so you start to see signs also have Vietnamese. There are hundreds of fruit vendors when you get off the boat.

From the roof of our hotel, the early morning light and foggy atmosphere give the hills depth and context.

Epitomizes the scene in Yulong river valley, just as it is. Yellow rapeseed flowers, karst hills.

above the mountain, walking on glass with slippers

archery game along the river walk, Yulong river, Yangshuo

This alpaca we got to meet after lunch. This could have had something to do with Tao’s travlers illness she got the day after this encounter. She thought it was the food, but I ate it too and didn’t get sick.

Dan Snyder 4/14/25 Dan Snyder 4/14/25

Li Jiang - River Cruise

Li Jiang river cruise

We took a river cruise on the Li Jiang (Li River) from Guilin to Yangshuo. The trip took about 5 hours and we were able to see many incredible rock formations from the roof of our river cruise boat.

River cruise boats travel down narrow, shallow passages in the Li river.

Water buffalo roaming on islands in the Li river

Caves and uniquely eroded stone at the water’s edge

Clear green water, a shot helped by my polarizing filter

Dan Snyder 4/14/25 Dan Snyder 4/14/25

Guilin - Climbing Hills

Climbing hills in Guilin, China.

This city is known for sharp karst formations. Many of them are climbable with parks built onto them. One park has a stone called “Sword Testing Stone” which has a small gap between the stone and the ground. It has an underground cave area with buddhas carved into the stone. Diecai hill has a slide made a marble which you can slide down. The view of the hills, river, and city are incredible. Elephant rock is the largest and most popular hill.

Signs at Diecai hill in Chinese, English, Korean, and German

Massive monstera deliciosa at Diecai hill

Carved buddha in the caves at Diecai hill

There is a marble slide at a point on Diecai hill near the top. You can slide down it using the cloth provided. It gets pretty fast but you can slow yourself down using your feet on the sides of the slide. The curved sections of the slides are faceted, not perfectly smooth, so be prepared to control your speed!

Another beautiful view of the river from the top of Diecai hill

Looking south toward the first hill from earlier in the day

Turtle and fish in the pool at Elephant rock

Tao. There were droves of people taking selfies and portraits here, so it took a while to get down close to the water.

Dan Snyder 4/14/25 Dan Snyder 4/14/25

Huangshan - Yellow Mountain

A hike to a remote mountainous area in China during a spring snow storm

In the mountains west of Shanghai, is Huangshan. An accessible mountain park with multiple cable cars and thousands of steps carved into the stone. And several unique hotels at the top of the peaks supplied only by hardy men who carry bags of supplies supported on their shoulders with bamboo boards. This place is unlike any other mountainous area I have been visited. 29-30 March 2025.

An illustrated map of the Huangshan mountainous region.

In the cable car, we can see the temperature dropping as we ascend. The atmosphere gets foggier.

Ice, soft rime, covers the needles of the windswept pine trees on the steep mountain sides.

Frozen branches where the ices deposits on one side of the branch due to the constant wind.

Frozen pine trees on the hike up to the hotel

Frozen pine needles draped over vast chasms between cliffs.

Tao posing with the railing which is made to look like wood but is made of sculpted concrete.

The hotel at the top of yellow mountain, March 29th, 2025

View from the hotel at sunrise. A thick cloud surrounded us and it snowed all morning before we hiked down.

Unexpected spring blizzard. Hiking down in the snow storm at the last possible moment, after a lazy morning in the warm hotel watching CGTN, the only english channel on the TV. This was around when Trump was threatening tariffs but before they went into effect.

Posing for a selfie with the mountains

Remarkable number of people, many are old, so it was truly impressive to see so many people moving through the snowy trails. I felt it was a bit crowded but no one I saw got seriously injured.

Dan Snyder 4/14/25 Dan Snyder 4/14/25

Shanghai at Night

First night in China; seeing bright lights at night

Visited Shanghai on the first night of our 10 days in China. Late afternoon sky is orange as the setting shine illuminates the famously thick atmosphere. Hungry and tired, dinner at HaiXing Market. Then a walk to down Nanjing road to the river with my Fujifilm X100VI around my neck.

Apartment buildings, orange sky, from the highway, 5:30 PM.

Tao at the river. Slightly after 10 PM, most of the lights on the skyline shut off to save electricity.

This photo is taken with my Fujifilm X100VI. Felt like a real Fuji bro when I snapped this motion-blurred image of an electric bus zooming around Shanghai. This camera is perfect, I tell myself as I test my panning ability. It is a lightweight camera and a joy to use.

Tao found a deal on dinner at a popular place in the mall. This fish was tender and had many bones to watch out for. The chili and peppercorns on top were delicious and spicy. The sauce was sweet and soy sauce. loved this dish.

This robotic woman turned a mill by pushing on this crank showing a part of the candy making process

The iconic skyline after the lights go out. I love the river boats going by.

The bicycles are densely packed on the sidewalks. The bikes are dockless and pedestrians have to walk on the street. This building reminded me of the architectural style of some New England universities such as Yale and UConn.

The whole street is a retail hub. This is where I found out that I would need to setup wechat with a bank account in order to pay for anything here. No one uses cash or credit cards. Only WeChat pay or AliPay. So my wife paid for everything while we were here.

Tao and her Nikon Z6 ii + Tamron 2.8 / 24-70. It’s a workout to wield this camera.

I thought, initially, that these people were waiting for a product to be released. But they were just sitting. The apple store was open and they were advertising the iPhone 16e.

This Ferrari sounded very nice. I am glad to see that some people flaunt their wealth with beautiful cars in Shanghai.

Advertisement outside the mall for a bidet toilet seat. These are pretty much standard in Japan but may be catching on in China. I wish the USA would catch up! We love Bidet!

These London Plane trees look like sycamore trees. Sycamore trees remind me of Yale. China already reminded me of Yale.

Dan Snyder 4/14/25 Dan Snyder 4/14/25

Yu Garden

A rainy afternoon at a 466 year old Chinese garden.

Yu Garden in Shanghai, China. Yu means garden in Chinese. I do not speak Chinese. My wife, who is guiding me here, does speak Chinese (Mandarin and Guizhou dialect) and tries to explain to to me. I kept trying to understand why some signs called it Yuyuan garden. I means garden garden? What about yuan?

Pagoda in Yu Garden — Intricate pagodas, wildly twisted and eroded rocks, all floating above koi ponds. We got here as it started to rain which made the bridges slippery. Had to tread carefully because there are not handrails in all areas. I enjoyed the thrill of walking over the ponds in the rain.