nina's tales: china



July 8, 2009
The Adventure Continues


Hello All,

Thanks to all for your responses. It's a great feeling to know that you are out there enjoying reading about our travels. I don't know how often I will be able to email as we travel to the smaller places. This hotel has internet in the room, but I don't know how the rest will be, but I will try to keep you updated on our adventure.

Our guide Jai-Li is a very personable young woman from Canton. She speaks excellent English and is an awesome group leader. She will be with us the whole China trip. Our 15 person group pretty much sums up the commonwealth. 6 Brits, 2 Aussies, 2 Kiwis and 3 Canucks with 2 Danish thrown into the mix. Everyone is very easygoing and up for adventure. We are bonding very well. I am the oldest person on this trip with the others around 25. Remember this when I describe the Great Wall!

We took a private bus for about 2 hours out to one of the better preserved areas of the wall. We then had to climb steep steps straight up for 30 minutes to reach the wall. I truly was sucking air by the time I got to the top. Then you could go the long way further up the wall- 2 hours or the short way 1 hour. I actually decided that I had done enough stairs, so I took my time and meandered each way for a bit. It was humid and 35 degrees, so I rested in the cool stone towers quite a bit and took lots of pictures. As the intrepid young climbers started to come down, they were literally soaked in sweat! The ladies selling cold water and beer raised their prices the higher you went. A 5 yuan bottle of water at station 6 (where I was) went for 25 yuan at station 20! That's a price hike of from 70 cents to $3.75. I guess some of the people were gasping for water at that point and paid the inflated price. We took a lot of bottled water with us. It truly was an amazing sight to see the work that had gone into this structure which stretches for thousands of miles.

Jai-Li arranged for us to go for a traditional Chinese dinner. The food was fabulous. Reminded me of Chinada on Pembina Highway. The price was very cheap. About $8.00 for dinner, water and beer. In Japan it was very expensive. Over $100.00 for a one way to Tokyo on the bullet train.We went to a show about a boy who becomes a buddist priest and learns kung-fu. It was a good mix of acting, acrobatics, dancing and amazing martial arts strength and agility.

Today we went To Tieneman Square with Mao's tomb, but there were about 300 people lined up for that so we passed. We crossed the street underground and entered the Forbidden City- palace of the Chinese emperors. The place was massive with many gates and supposedly 999 rooms. It took us 2 and 1/2 hours to go pretty much straight, without going east or west. Unbelievable structures and gardens. Tonight we go for Peking Duck dinner and tomorrow we are on our own. We intend to go to the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven and the Lama Temple. After dinner tonight Jess wants to go to the night market and eat a scorpion on a stick! The next day we take a train to Shanghai.

Nina

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July 10, 2009
Shanghai


Hi All,

There is no free internet at our hotel, so we are at an internet place with about 100 other people. Yes, the kids ate scorpions on a stick. Very disgusting! The night market was very interesting. We closed the evening at a bar in the market where beer was 5 yuan- about 25 cents. The next day was our free day so we went with the Australian couple to the Summer Palace. Took the subway as far as we could go and then tried to get a taxi. They all refused to take us. Didn't know why, but a guy came up to us and offered to drive us. Now we have been warned not to get into unmeterd taxis, but it turns out this guy didn't even have a cab. It was his car and he took all five of us for 20 yuan. We were a little worried, but hey, it worked out. So much of this trip feels we are in the Amazing Race!!! Coming back two rickshaw drivers appraoched us and offered to take us back to the subway for 4 yuan. We actually could have walked back faster and in the end they showed us the price card which was 40 yuan each!!! Still that's about 7 dollars. We took the subway to the Lama Temple and then the Temple of Heaven. By the tim e we got back, we had been walking for 7 hours. I have heat rash on my ankles! The neck collersm work very well. Thanks Marilyn!

Caught the overnight train to Shanghai. I had not yet worn the backpack and day pack together. It took some time for me to figure out how to not tip over. Thanks Ruth it's a great backpack! Picture 15 foreigners fully back and front packed weaving their way through hundreds of Chinese travelers in a packed train station, then we end up sitting on the floor because it is so jammed with people.Crazy!

The train cars had 2 banks of 3 bunk beds on each side,, 6 to a section. We were all so tired, we basically collapsed into our bunks. Lucky for Jess and me, we had bottom bunks.We also had ear plugs, sleep masks and gravol to make us sleepy. I will not talk about the squat toilets, it's just not pretty!!!

Shanghai is very different from Beijing. I had to stop looking ahead as the cab driver took us to our hotel. It is as Jai-li said, the traffic lights are a suggestion and not a rule. It is crazy traffic and you are constantly thinking someone is going to get hit.It's the same walking- luckily we make quite a large group, so the traffic will usually stop, but not always!

We walked to the Shanghai Museum. It was great,with artifacts over 6000 years old. We had dinner together and went to the Acrobatics show. It was outstanding!

I am not responding to individuals emails, but I am reading them with appreciation. Thanks for writing and listening to my tales.

Nina

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July 13, 2009
Xi'an


Hello All,

Another night train to Xi'an which is the home of the Terra Cotta Warriors and first capital of China. The first emperor of China built his funeral site with all these models of warriors,horses and chariots. His thinking was that he would need all these things in the afterlife. He took 40 years to build these pits and spent one third of the country's money to build the site. Farmers drilling for a well in 1979 found the first pit which was buried and covered with trees and excavation was started to piece together the statues. It is a wonder of the world and quite amazing. We also visited the night market and got some great deals. Cheapest cold beer yet- less than one dollar! Tomorrow the group is going to the wall which surrounds the city,some to cycle the 14 km, some to walk a bit. Guess who is walking? I am actually able to keep up with these kids quite well, but have heat rash again. A huge dumpling dinner rounded off our evening. Good Night until next time!

Nina

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July 15, 2009
On the train again


Hi All,

Thanks for your responses. Deb, thanks for taking care of the house. I am so relieved to have that in such good hands. Am looking forward to hearing about the wedding. Say Hi to Maureen for me. Reanne, thanks for keeping your dad informed of my whereabouts and give Jazz some extra hugs when you see him. Ruth, Lynne and Jane thanks for the loan of your stuff and the advise. Yes, I do feel pretty proud that I can sort of keep up with these kids. I am usually at the end of the line when we are fully back and front pack loaded, and heading out for any distance, but Jamie sticks with me and offers to take the weight from me. What has been really great is to share this experience with the both of them. I am so lucky that we are doing this together.

We have now landed at our hotel in Yichang after a 14 hour train ride. I am taking advantage of the internet in our hotel room to write now, as it will be some time before I have another chance to get to use the computer.

After the Terra Cotta warriors we headed back to town for dinner. Jaili had ordered ahead at this special dumpling restaurant. The chicken dumplings covers were made to look like little chickens. We were all starving and ate like locusts! We then set off for the Muslim night market. The Chinese Muslims were the group involved in the recent riots further north. They want autonomy says Jaili, our guide. There were about 150 people killed and thousands wounded. Just the other day, two muslims went to the hospital and tried to start some more trouble. The police ended up shooting them. We are far away from that, but as a result, Face Book has been blocked in China and for some reason we cannot get our bank websites.

Most of the group bicycled around the wall, Jess and I walked to the next tower, about 1 and 1/2 hours. Looking over the wall, we could see Tai Chi sessions and ping pong. Jess was great at figuring out how to get around, so we continued onto the Muslim mosque. It is one of the oldest in China, built in 700AD. Difficult to find due to construction, squeezing down a narrow alleyway with scaffolding, and workers welding and climbing all over, we got through as fast as we could. it was a little scary knowing that I am such a klutz. Then we went on past the yelling vendors to this beautiful lush garden setting with incredibly ornate buildings. It was so calm and refreshing to be there! Checked out the vendors near our hotel and a group of three students came up to me. I thought they wanted me to take their picture, but he gave his camera to another man. Turns out he wanted to take a picture of me with them! I guess I am now exotic, who knew? We went back to the hotel,met up with Jamie and took a cab to the Large Wild Goose pagoda on the other side of town. Getting the cab was an experience in itself. I have pictures taken from the front window of all the traffic and people. Unbelievable that no one gets hit! Most intersections are so busy that you have to go underground to cross, like Portage and Main.We usually wait until a group of locals gather and we merge ourselves in with them. I try to stick in the middle. So far, so good.

We have been warned to be very careful with our belongings as there are pickpockets, especially little kids. John, the Aussie was making a deal with a vendor for some figurines, when the guy grabbed his sunglasses off John's head and ran off. Kate was stopped by a beggar lady who was pointing to her umberella, then she grabbed it out of Kate's hand and ran off. She stoped and yelled back, shay, shay which means thank you. That's the extent of our crime so far.

Dinner out was Mongolian Hot Pot where we each had our own pot of broth and sauce we mixed to our tastes. You drop the vegetables and meat into your pot, lot like fondue. Hard hot work, but very good. We carried onto the supermarket to stock up with "snacks" for our train journey. We are eating lots of crackers, noodles and really good fresh fruit. Of course we also buy and drink lots of water and sprite. I got kicked out of the long check out line because as I realized from hand gestures, I had not had my fruit weighed and tagged. Then I couldn't find anyone from the group and I experienced a mild sense of panic. Jamie was waiting for me at the checkout, so I was relived.

Up at 5:30 am to get to the train station for the long ride to Yichang. The scenery was really nice at first with tall hills and rolling valleys, but the it got flatter. Played cards with my new "Beautiful Places in China" pack, read, ate slept, pretty boring. I spoke a little to the young girl in our compartment and gave her a Canada pin. She wanted me to pose with her for a picture too.

We spent the night as this good hotel and shopped for more snacks for the boat trip. We are going to take a bus to see the Three Gorges Dam, the highest man made hydro electric dam in the world. It displaced about a million people and wiped out a fresh water dolphin species, but the people were compensated and it provides electricity to 10% of China, so it is an interesting debate.

This afternoon we board the boat for a two day cruise down the river. Jaili is going to teach us Mai Jong on the boat, so if I like it I may have to buy a set and teach my friends. We will have green tea and noodle Mai Jong parties. Of course I will have to also serve dumplings and buns with red bean paste.We all love to refresh with a popsicle/ice cram treat from the vendors- about 10cents. Jess thought she was getting a pomegranate, but it turned out to be red bean. Not a good ice cream flavour! After the big boat ride- we have our own rooms and bathrooms like a hotel, we go on a Sampam for a little ride. Hope I don't fall in, there's crocodiles in the water!

That's it for now!

Nina

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July 19, 2009
Yangshuo


Hi again,

I'm writing from an internet site. The internet places are more like giant rooms of mostly Chinese playing video games and smoking. (I am in the VIP section which has more comfortable chairs and a view of the street. (only costs 3Y per hour which is about 50 cents! The hotels are more expensive and few computers with many waiting to get on.)The men love to smoke over here, and of course-spit. You get a good warning though as there is a loud horking sound before the actual event, so you have time to move if necessary.I have hand sanitizer (thanks Deb) wherever I go.

We got a private bus up to the dam site. Jiali had to get a special government permit to take us there and we had to pay of course.After we gave her our money,she exchanged some Chinese words with the bus driver and went to the booth to pay. Our bus driver started the bus and pulled away. We thought maybe he was parking, but no he took off, u turned and then we thought he had to head in the other We were somewhat perplexed and then a little anxious. He stopped the bus, jumped out and got some money from the bank machine. Turnsout he had to pay too and had no money. That was a sclose as we have come to being sold into slavery. My fate would have been to be one of the little old ladies who collect empty plastic bottles on the street.

So, the bus to the Three Gorges Dam took us up very highinto the hills. There were three different views with three different buses to get there. My favourite was the last, a park area overlooking the back of the dam, so you saw the water spilling over. We watched some fishermen with a big net trying to catch fish. Apart from the method, it reminded me of Lockport at the spillway where many people fish.

We collected our packs and headed by bus to the boat. When we are fully loaded with packs,we have a private bus, but for sightseeing in the cities, we take subways, city busses or taxis usually with our guide along to tell us what to do. Not much in the way of English directions.

The boat was quite nice, holding 100 passengers, but when we arrived, before sailing time, the power was off, so no lights,AC or hot water.They are good at conserving power here.You put your room key, which is a plastic card in the slot on the wall in your room and that activates the power, including the AC and lights. (I had a rather nasty shock in one hotel when I was showering and Jessie took the room key and went to Jamie's room. Suddenly I am plunged into pitch black with shampoo all over my head. My frightened calls yield no response, so I tentatively open the door and seeing no one there, crack the door a bit and rise off. Luckily it was not dark out.) Since we were not due to sail for a while we left the boat and wandered through town.Along with the usual assortment of food and souvenirs, there were some very strange things on offer- pig snouts,pig legs, cooked sparrows,I'll stop there.

Our criuse took us along the Yangtze with some splendid scenery.We played Mah Jong and had a poker tornament. I finished second over all.

Jaili and I are getting on very well. I remind her of her mother, both of us born in the same year - the dragon and both retired teachers.I feel like I am on a long field trip and she is our teacher,in crowds we follow along like ducks in a line. We are lucky in the size of the group and once we have had an orientation,we are free to wander at will, meeting up for actvities etc.From her I found out that in China, you are only allowed to have one child unless you are a minority, then you can have 2. If you have more than one child, you must pay a lot of money. Many women abort their girl babies, so you usually see lots of boys. Often the child is with an elderly grandparent, which is very cool. Our group leader misses having brothers and sisters, so doing the tours helps her make new friends she says. Jiali took her univrsity degree in Tourism and met her husband who also works for GAP.She said it was love at first talk. Since she only had her parents, she had decided to become a Buddist nun when her parents died, but fell in love instead.

On to the next adventure-We took a small boat from the mothership and cruised down the river to a narrow gorge where we were transferred to long narrow boats called Sampan. There were three boatmen at each end, paddling standing up.When we came to rapids and the turn around point, they got out and pulled the boat with long ropes. They originally did this naked, but our boatmen were clothed.Many villages along this gorge were under water because of the dam, so new villages were buit high in the hills.Unfortunately manuy of the men who were farmers and lost their land, have to work in We passed many unusual rock formations and Hanging coffins. Yes, one tribe used to have 4 climbers each take a plank and the other take the body and they wedged the cofin in the rock crevices. Jiali says these people are taught to climb from 5 years old. They scramble up the mouintains like monkeys.We saw many peole on the4 rock faces gathering dead brush which they burn, then scrape up for fertilizer on their farms. Old ladies are perched on these imp[ossibly hich cliffs like sitting in a rocking chair!

Our Sampan Captain sang us a local song and when he asked us to sing, we sang Happy Birthday to Christian, the Dane who turned 25 on that day. When we got back to our mother ship, there was no power as the rest of the passangers, the Chinese tourists, went off to visit a temple, so we all met up on the cooler top deck and celebrated Christian's birthday with wine he had bought for the occasion as well as little rice krispie like cakes. Then everyone told how they had met their mates. That was fun! At dinner, Jiali ordered Christian a big bowl of longevity noodles which he shared, so I am good for another 30 or 40 years!

Dancing and singing entertainment by the crew followed and then we danced a sang Kareoke until 1:00. Up at 6:00 we headed for the bus to take us on another overnight train to the town where we are now. It's very small by Chinese standards, only 300,000 people, nestled in the midst of thousands of small mountains called karsts, formed by earhquakes. We were taken to a travel place where we could book activities.Since we were a large group and they knew Jiali, we got a bettr deal than through our hotel. The kids went on a cave, mud slide/pool, hot springs swim adventure, but I passed on that particular thrill. I wandered around town and enjoyed my solitude.

When they returned and had washed mud from all those hard to reach places, we went for dinner- pizza this time and then met Jiali for a light show. It takes place in a huge outdoor theatre overlooking the river.The fellow who produced the Bejing Olympic Opening Ceremonies, created this show. Over 600 performers on a massive scale, the karst mountains lit up in the background. Absolutely astonishing!

This morning Jamie, Jessie and I got up at 4:30 to go for a hot air ballon ride. It was such a complete thrill. We got our own basket and set off first of 4 ballons. Our pilot took us high over the mountains and then so low into the farming and fishing vallies that the kids were waving to children below. It was beyond our expectations, until it was time to land. Due to some morning wind, there was a discussion of if we were even going to go, but we did, which makes it more tricky to land. The pilot can control the up and down, but the wind drift makes landing very tricky, especially in the terrain we were travelling over. We started our decent, and could see the ground crew ready below on a wide patch of land. Unfortunately we sailed over that, touched the tops of tree, barely made it over the hydro wires and the top of a house and landed on the highway, narrowly missing an oncoming bus. But we did miss the bus and the landing was very gentle, the ground crew were great about stopping the balloon and we got out with ease. It happened so fast that we didn't really have time to be scared and we all ended up laughing so hard. What an adrenalin rush!!!

This afternoon we are going to take a motorboat ride on the river and then later in the evening we are going to see the cormorants fishermen doing their thing.

Tomorrow we are taking a little trip to a cooking school where we will cook a five course meal and then eat it. It's our last night together tomoorw, so we will celebrate at a final group dinner. Then it's one more overnight train to Hong Kong.

The temperature remains hot and humid - 35 degrees.We continue to cherish the AC and are expecting evn hotter temperatures in India, our next country. It wil be 45 degrees, but not humid , so there's that to look forward to.

As you can tell, we are having the time of our lives and will continue to tell you about our adventures.

PS Lynne, thanks for the travel towel. There were no towels on the boat. Ruth, I preferred the Laundry Queen service- wash and dry in machines. Judy and Sandy, while there are a few hiccups along the way. it all makes for a unique experience. Apart from the ballon ride, we feel perfectly safe and are being careful.

Nina

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July 23, 2009
Almost in India


Hi All,

I am writing from the hotel intenet room in Hong Kong. AC and no smoke. This is a beautiful hotel! Back to the story. The motor boat ride was one of the most beautiful and relaxing things we have done. The boat was a bamboo raft with three rattan seats under a sun shade canopy. It was just the three of us, gliding down the clear, shallow water with the karst mountains all around. Our driver let us know when we passed the picture which is on the 20 Y bill. The kids sat on the front and trailed their feet in the water. At the turnaround point, he landed at a spit of land wherer there were, you guessed it, vendors of all sorts. We passed on the pictures with the live giant python and got our favourite pomegranete popsicles. I felt sorry for this old lady selling fresh flower hair wreaths, so I bought one for 2Y. Jess took a picture of me wearing it and then we were back on the boat. When we docked, I gave the flowers to another old lady selling cooked crabs. She was very pleased and put it on her head and laughed!

The night comorant fishing was really cool. Our boat pulled up beside this really old fisherman who had about 6 birds with strings around their necks. He talked to them and they jumped in .We could see the birds swimming underwater like penguins. We could also see the fish they were chasing. He hauled the birds up by their string with a long pole and sort of choked the fish out of their throats. He rewarded them wit a small bit of fish and put thier fish in a basket. All the while he is talking to them. Somtimes a bird would jump on the boat and filch a fish out of the basket while his back was turned.

The next day about 7 of us met for cooking school. Pam is an older lady from Stdney who now has her home in China. How did she end up in Yangsho? Love of course, but the love didn't last. Her enthusiasm for China however did last and she has been here 7 years. She started the first cooking school and it is on her property in the country. First we visited the market and she shows us all the freah vegetables etc. Then we got on a bus and headed for school. Lovely place she has. Gardens and patios. The coking room was AC and we each got our own wok, chopping block and ingredients. Leo (our teacher) showed us each dish step by step and we did our best to follow. We made 5 courses and enjoyed our lunch on the patio. Met some people from Quebec, Barcelona and US.

One more night train and we were in Hong Kong. Actually it was quite a crush and long wait to go through customs and security for Hong Kong. They are quite different from Mainland China - different money systemn and language. Our guide had a more difficult time even than we did as she is from a very small town and they are suspicious of mainland Chinese snaeking in to live in Hong Kong. After the flight we had to take a subway to Kowloon where we were staying. Poor Jessica was very close to fainting. She truly was blacking out when the young Dane who is a medical student had her sit on the floor of the subway and put her head between her knees. The poor kid was pure white, even her lips were white. Thank goodness she didn't faint and everyone pitched in to carry her stuff and we arrived safely in a taxi. She rested for the rest of the day as Jamie and I joined our guide for an orientation tour of the area.

It's gettin glate and we have our laast day in Hong Kong tomorrow, so I'll stop for now.

Goodnight!

Nina

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July 24, 2009
Last day in Hong Kong


Hello,

I forgot to mention in the last travelogue that we saw a partial eclipse of the sun from the train on our way to Hong Kong. The rest of the group had never seen an eclipse, but I have. Remember in Winnipeg around 1975 Susanand Audrey? We left the kids in the classroom at school and we went out to look at it through welder's glass remember? It was a total eclipse in Shanghai, but it was cloudy there. We saw footage on a news report while riding the subway to Kowloon. Very cool.

We are staying in Kowloon, which is the mainland. Hong Kong is one of the many islands around the area. The area is known for good deals on electronics, leather, shoes and very high end stores. I could have had a diamond and platinum Rolex watch for only $475,000 Hong Kong Dollars. Divide that by 14 and you'll see what a deal it would be in Canadian! Of course imitation Rolexes are also avaliable for about $8.00. The hotel and many of the public places here has hand sanitizer avaliable and the best bathrooms I have seen in China! Our hotel even has masks if we want. I am taking masks to wear in India as I think the smell might get to me. I also bought a little bottle of perfume to sprinkle on my mask just in case. In this way maybe people will think I have H1N1 and will stay away from me. In every airport, you get your temperature scanned as you go by the checkpoint and you must fill in a health declaration. Lots of signs to cover cough and wash hands, which we do a lot!!!!

While the others were off on their own, Jaili and I walked all down Nathan street to almost the harbour.This is a major shopping street and she was looking for gifts for her family. Her home is a 2 hour bus ride from here. She is having her formal wedding in October and we were also looking for shoes for her. Our first night we met up for our last supper together and then walked to the harbour to see the lights. We caught the ferry and then a bus to the Victoria Peak tram station. This is the highest peak in Hong Kong with spectacular views. This is also where my dad was captured by the Japanese in WW2. Strange to think about that. There were newspaper clippings on display in the cable car station which told about the fall of Hong Kong and the Canadian and British soldiers who were hiding up in the hills when they were captured.

We said goodbye to our GAP friends and so ended our wonderful tour. The next day, after finally sleeping late, we changed to a family room for the three of us which Jessica had booked and then set out for the island of Lantau. We took the subway and then another cable car. This time it was like the gondolas in BC, with a twist. We went up in a crystal car which has a glass floor. Yes Arlene, I stood on a glass floor and looked down on the river and tree tops. I face my fears and enjoyed the ride. At the top, we visited the village of Ngong Ping, where we stopped for lunch and watched a drum festival performance. We walked up to the Buddist temple and the Walk of Wisdom, so I am now definately smarter! The giant Buddha was truly that. Many, many steps to get to the top of the mountain, so I contented myself with zoom in pictures and let the kids do the hike. Even they were puffing when they got down.

On the way back, we checked out the light show at the harbour. The buildings all flash multicoloured lights in time to the broadcast music. Quite spectacular. We were tired tourists as we headed back to the room to pack for our leaving day. I must say that this Hong Kong weather is much cooler than any we have had so far.There is always a cooler breeze blowing from Victoria Harbour. One shower a day will do me here whereas I was having up to 3 in other places.

Our last day in Hong Kong saw Jamie sleeping in and then writing postcards home while Jess and I returned to Victoria peak for the day perspective. Talk about a million dollar view! They say that Jackie Chan (whose face is advertising everything in China) has a house on Victoria peak worth about a billion dollars. We certainly saw some gorgeous places as we travelled up the hill, including one which looked very like a castle- maybe his? After we came down, a bus took us to the subway station and I got off close to the hotel while Jess continued on to meet a friend for lunch. He is an architect from her class at U of M and is working here. When she returns we are taking a taxi to the airport and then flying over to India. We will be landing at 9:00 pm. I keep saying that I may not get to the internet so some time, but so far it's been good. Hope it will be the same in India. We are booked on a private GAP tour, so we will have a driver to pick the three of us up and take us places.

Thanks again for all your positive comments on my travelogue. I am pleased that you are enjoying the descriptions, wordy though they may be at times.

Nina

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