Jintai Hotel Chengde

... creek running under the middle of it. Further up I found a couple of Buddhas with offerings in front and a little donation box (religions really are all the same). Out of respect (the kind of respect learned by having one too many Chinese yell at me) I didn't take any pictures of the statues, even up here where the were no other people. I guess they've trained me well.<br><br>After our return to the city, we spent much of the rest of the night doing ...

... including ethnic Mongols and Manchus. From the top of the temple looking out was a wonderful view of the north end of Bishushanzhuang and the northern temples with the city.<br><br> The next day, returning to the city, we took a series of buses to the entrance of what is knows as 'Sledgehammer Peak'. This peak is a very unusual natural rock formation that looks like an inverted sledgehammer and ...

... named after him! Beer , incidentally, was the order of the day when I finally ended the hike by descending across a dam by zipwire, to travel a few minutes downriver by boat, where a hearty lunch and a well-earned bottle of cold 'Tsingtao' awaited me. (You will be shocked to lean that this was only my fourth beer since leaving Helsinki over a month ago!!! I'd better rectify this habit before I get to Australia!)<br><br> <br><br><br>

... arrived, we traveled to a village nearby (and owned by the town), for some authentic rural apple picking. A new fad in China apparently (as many rich business-men were doing the same) to go to the villages, and fill your own basket of apples straight off the tree (at a higher price than the market of course). Regardless, it was loads of fun, and I have a big bag of delicious apples.<br><br ...

... slice, and we're really craving a decent chunk of good mature cheddar or stilton. And good red wine. Preferably together. And steak and hula hoops (the last two were Mike's, together or not, he's not fussy). And a proper cup of tea! (Mum). I know we're in China, but the milk really doesn't cut it. On the up side, beer is dirt cheap - we paid GBP 1.80 for nine 600ml bottles the other day - could give us quite a saving on the wedding costs! And ice ...

Coming from Beijing to Chenge was like a breath of fresh air. I can understand why the Qing Emperor decided to have Chengde as their retreat, the montain resort away from the hectic Beijing. I planned to have Chengde as a day trip, which was not only possible, but I could miss the charming and the relax attitude of the local. Chengde is well known for the Mountain Resort (Bishu Sanzhuang) and its 8 outlaying temples. <br><br>The train left Beijing ...

... sva si mislila, da bo najin izlet v Chengde dobra priprava na sibirski mraz. Dejansko sva lahko v nekdanjih cesarskih parkih v Chengde dozivela mraz do minus 10 stopinj Celzija, a je bilo zaradi sonca, zimske idile ter najinih toplih oblacil nadvse prijetno. Kot za dodatno nagrado pa sva imela tukaj se priloznost videti kopijo slovite Tibetanske Potale iz Lhase ter najvecji lesen kip na svetu. Slednji dve znamenitosti sta sicer ...

... autonme : il y aura un concert sur le lac et une quantite enorme de gateaux de lune ("moon cake"). Les temples etaient construis au 18ieme siecle dans les styles des differentes religions afin de faire plaisir a tout le monde (les conquits). Le plus impressionant de tous etait le petit Potola un temple base sur celui de Lhassa (Tibet). J'ai eu la chance de trouver un hotel pas cher parce que ...

In the end Amy has woke up and guess what, in time for dinner. Very nice food and then onto Amy's highlight so far, the paper cutting art place. She had been looking forward to this all day and to be honest it didn't take long to blow me away either. The designs and styles that this one family in the world manage to achieve with a piece of paper and a pair of nail scissors is quite stunning. With a whirr of activity the artist that ...

... by rolling green hills and the wall itself varies from where they have renovated it to crumbling sections. The walk was quite hard work in the heat and it took us 3 1/2 hours to get to Simatai from where we got the bus back to Beijing. Jerry bought the t-shirt to prove he has climbed the great wall!