It’s just my bad habit – I can’t stop trying to sianing all the MMs and exploring new “opportunities” – old habits die hard. Then again, I have some interesting results from my “current projects.” Anyway, since EZ told me I better finished my FR on WH, here I am…
We spent the next two days playing tourist in WH. It has been at least a decade since I last visited the city and noted the fast transformation expected of a Chinese 2nd tier city. But we’re not the normal tourists and therefore have our “Sunshine Tour (ST)” and “Moonlight Tour (MT).” The ST during the day is more boring for most bros visiting SBF, nevertheless we visited the following popular tourist places during our limited time. I’ll just provide brief comments and won’t elaborate since bros can easily goggle and find loads of info.
1. Yellow Crane Tower (黄鹤楼) : This is one main tourist spot of WH. The original one was built in 223AD during the time of the “Three Kingdom” and I believe the current one is “Version 3” completed only 27 years old. The main tower was the only attraction when I visited it not too long after it was opened, but the place has now been expanded into a park, with a new entrance on the other end complete with large car park to accommodate large buses bringing in tourists.
Yellow Crane Tower with Yangtze River Bridge & GuiShan TV Tower (龟山电视塔) in the background.
2. Memorial Hall of Wuchang Uprising (亥革命武昌起义纪念馆 ): This is within walking distance of the new main entrance to YCT, but we never made it in time as we got there after closing time, but there were posters next to the statue of Dr. Sun YatSen giving the historical account of the 1911 Wuchang Uprising.
3. Yangtze River Bridge (武汉长江大桥) aka 1st Yangtze Bridge since there are now more than one. We were walking around the area near the Memorial Hall, but didn’t see anything “exciting” and was going to walk across the 1.6km bridge until it started raining as we reached the first tower with a lift that brought us to a small exhibition room of once grand bridge built in the 50s, and down to the road level. We walked along the river bank near the bridge, but didn’t find anything interesting and so head back to get ready for the MT of the day.
4. DongHu or East Lake (东湖) : With 33sq km, it is the largest urban lake in China and the locals like to remind visitors that it is larger than Hangzhou’s East Lake. But walking through it, I told EZ it is great for a bit of romantic stroll, or a day out with a MM.
5. Hubei Provincial Museum (湖北省博物馆): Located near the East Lake, we kind of wandered into it late afternoon, and surprised that the admission is free. It has interesting exhibits, including a special exhibit of Chu State (楚国) complete with the King’s sword (not sure if it is the sanzhai version on display), and incredible artifacts dating back to 2400year old.
6. Guiyang Temple (归元寺) : A popular Buddhist Temple in WH, with a hall of 500 LuoHans. It is developing into a “religious park” with adaptation of modern technologies, and we found it somewhat more “commercialized” than what we expected of a temple. It even has a website:
http://www.guiyuanchansi.com.cn/
As for MT, we have the following choices:
1. KTV: AA told us these are expensive and even mommies & water-boy expect or ask for tips. And the MMs are “unpredictable” even for their pricing – and we decided “why bother?”
2. BBS: we revisited the area near where we stayed, but didn’t see one that "motivate" us enough to find out the physical conditions these joints, since AA told us the MMs usually just do on-site at 100RMB for a 30mins session and do not normally go to your hotel. There are other BBS areas in WH but we didn’t have the time to check them out.
3. FLs: AA has managed to link up with two mommies so far, one with a pricing of RMB900 and another with RMB1200 overnight. When asked what’s the difference, especially in term of MM quality, he was honest to say (and that’s why I like about him) he couldn’t really tell the difference, except that’s the price insisted by the individual mommy. He suggested we take the 900 and we were not disappointed. The MMs will come at either 8pm or 11pm (note: EZ got this timing wrong) and will stay for 12hrs but I believe this is AA’s understanding with the mommies. We decided to take these for both the evenings, since it allows us plenty of time for ST, especially the very bad traffic and seemingly shortage of taxi during the peak hours around 5-7pm (and that’s also when they have their change of shift – beats me why such timing!). We arranged for them to come around 11pm and we were told we can reject and just give taxi fare of 3/40RMB. My only disappointment is that none of them is local - one from Guangxi and another from Zhejiang, but neither disappoint and quite fun to be with. One told me why she dislikes HB and relating all the negativities of the locals, claiming that she couldn’t wait to go home once her 1yr contract is over. Both the MMs claimed to be working in the boutiques across the main road near the hotel.
4. SNs: I've described this in my earlier posting.
5. Bars: We have seen various variations but didn't check out any.
Like EZ, I continue to be tickled by the Hotel Hard Dick’s logos, and but it also has the appropriate “tag” that any cheongster will appreciate:
