Breakfast This hotel also included breakfast buffet. The restaurant had a great view of a lake. River I went to the park 甸溪河湿地公园. The park was built along a river, with paved trails on both sides. I walked from the south end entrance all the way to the north end entrance, 8km (5 miles). There were many trees along the paths, providing shades. The park was free and there were many locals here, mostly seniors exercising. There had been record rain fall the past month, so the water level was very high in the river and the water was muddy. People told me that the water was normally clear and much prettier in other times. Mountain At the end of the river park, it was the entrance to a mountain park called 锦屏山公园. There was a giant buddha statue on top of the mountain. One could climb up the stairs with 1999 steps, or take the shuttle. The entrance fee was 50 RMB, shuttle was 15 one-way, 20 round-trip. I purchased the roundtrip shuttle, but in hindsight, only one-way was needed, bec...
Preparation 2025 is solar maximum, peak of a 11-year solar activity cycle, which means best chance to see northern lights (aurora). One cannot see norther lights in the summer due to the constant daylight. I wanted to see it in the Spring. Here is how I chose the travel dates and place to see northern lights: New moon . Strong moonlight may reduce the chance to see northern lights. Jan 29 is new moon. 27-day northern light forecast It is not accurate, but I thought it was better than nothing. I saw two red bars (Kp=5) on Jan 30 and 31. Clear weather. Clouds will block northern lights. I searched Accuweather weather forecast for Fairbanks (Alaska, USA), Whitehorse (Canada), and Yellowknife (Canada) to see which place would have clear weather on these days. Yellowknife was in favor of good weather. That made me to book a trip to Yellowknife on Jan 29 - Feb 5. Before the trip, I upgraded my phone plan so that my SIM card would work in Canada. Goo...
Breakfast The hotel 湖泉酒店 was a big resort. We stayed at building E, which was close to the hot springs. The breakfast was in another building 400 meters away. The hotel provided constant shuttles, so we took the shuttle to the breakfast building. The buffet was huge, like a full dinner buffet in the US. The restaurant was beautiful too, they even had an indoor koi pond. SIM card After breakfast, I called the local 中国电信 store asking them about purchasing a SIM card with a US passport. They first said that they required a working permit. After I insisted that this was not the case and that they should check the policy, they said that they would call me back. Not giving up, I took Didi to get to the store and pleaded with the store clerk in person. She said that they had not done it before. She called some people and I waited over one hour before she finally got it approved. The card cost 100 RMB, less than half of what I paid at the airport. The person was very nice, she said that ev...
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