Neeson Hotel Yan'an

... mix meat and vegetables. In the evening we join a couple from Holland and man from Germany so get five dishes to share. It is much more fun socially and gasronomically not to eat by ourselves with our usual two dishes to eat.

We are having trouble deciding where to go next. Most tourists would go to Chengdu from here which is a ten hour bus ride. We want to go to famous national park so decide to head north. We are not ready to face the big city yet.

... thing was overrated and I would much prefer some steps, the steps began. And they were much worse, which just goes to show that old saying is totally true: be careful what you wish for because you might actually get it. Although to be fair, the steps at Huashan were pure torment in a completely novel way. Usually the steps up Chinese mountains are all the same, so they completely crucify particular small muscle groups in the legs, like overly large pins were stuck in them or something. The ...

... are quite a few, actually, but most of them seem to be called 'Bob' or 'Tom' or, for a girl, 'Linda' or 'Alice'. I have classes with as many as three Bobs in them! We went to the Muslim Quarter to eat. I really rather like it there. Helen and George showed me two foods I'd never eaten before and still can't spell. One was a kind of dumping. The other was some kebaby thing. The dumplings were grand but the kebabs were all gristle. Having ...

... is the only employment blind people seem to have in China but they're bloody good at it! I haven't seen many disabled people at work or even around in the streets for that matter. As you can see from the photos, it's not very disabled-friendly. If you have anything physically or mentally wrong with you, well, you're buggered... interesting how it's not so for the blind. Other bits and bats have happened. Let's just ...

... Our second day in Chengdu we went to the village of Huanglongxi, where Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was filmed. It was a very pretty village with a gorgeous temple, right by the river. We sat by the river for lunch and wandered about before going to see Sichuan Opera in the evening. This included fire breathing, face changing and crazy acrobatics with women juggling tables on their feet (see photos). The next day we left Chengdu for Leshan.

... we could explore so six of us decided to climb to the top of this cliff/mountain. Just amazing views...will show pictures later... One of the best experiences of the trip...and definitley made the long bus ride worth while! Oh and just a side note...Yan'an...the city that we went to only gets about 100 tourists a year...so we were quite the celebrities....I can't wait to come home where no one will take pictures or videotape us like we are a national attraction :)

... having spicy noodles, seafood in a sweet chilli sauce and dumplings, again the value is immense. We head back expecting to go to bed early that is until we meet a really cool lad called Jason from Blackburn who we have some beers with, we're then joined by another cool lad called Ed and end up getting drunk until 2.30 when we have to call it quits due to the owner sitting at the adjacent table falling asleep, we can take a hint. I stumble to bed after this...

... door de laatste volledig intacte stadsmuur uit de Ming dynastie (1368 - 1644). Dit authentieke stadje met zijn vele tempels en courtyard huisjes behoort dan ook welverdiend tot het werelderfgoed. De hoofdstraten zijn weliswaar gevuld met musea, winkeltjes, restaurants, massagesalons, hotels en guesthouses, die allemaal zo veel mogelijk geld uit je zakken willen halen. Je voelt je dus een wandelend dollarteken als je over straat loopt en elke twee meter ...

... guzel yemeklerin bulunabilecegi yerleri kesfe ciktik. Ilk tercihimiz bir Sichuan restorani olmustu. Cinin ortalarinda yer alan Sichuan bolgesi, bol acili ve lezzetli mutfagiyla unludur ve bir cok kucuk restorana ismini vermistir. Ama maalesef restoranin tamamen kapandigini ogrendik. Bunu kitaba maille bildirmeye karar verdim. Bu tarz guncellemelere yardim eden gezginlerin isimleri bir sonraki baskida tesekkur kismina eklenirmis. Benim kitabimda da sayfalar ...

... was also quite nice. Yan'an was an interesting city and their were no other Western tourists. Mao was chosen as leader of the CCP in this city and you can see the old mountain houses where he and other famous Chinese lived during the start of the revolution.