eddakath's TravelStream™ — Recent TravelPod.com entries

eddakath's TravelStream™ — Recent TravelPod.com entries TravelStream™ news feed for member eddakath on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/eddakath en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:42:14 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com Immortality & Splendid Mythological Realities — Penglai, Shandong, China http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1248703195/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1248703195/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1248703195/tpod.html Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:42:14 -0500 Around China in smoky disco sleeper buses, once again eating anything that moves and teaching beautiful people!

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Penglai, Shandong, China

Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,Did you ever have one of those days when you could have sworn you were in the middle of a Chinese movie due to everything around you being of an ancient nature and entirely covered by a thick white blanket of sea fog giving it more than a mythological reality?You haven’t had one of those days?Well maybe it’s time you gave it ago!Today was one of the most amazing days I’ve had in four and a half years, landscape wise that is.  Jump on a plane to Yantai city and then grab a bus that will take you sixty five kilometers northwest to a small beautiful coastal city of Penglai (formerly known as Teng-chou (Wade-Giles)).  Penglai was the first port on the Shandong peninsula that was opened to foreigners in the 1800s, so it was the first place those pesky missions were established. Subsequently, it was overshadowed by the port of Yantai (Chefoo).  Penglai’s scenery has earned the city fame as the fabled landing spot on Earth for the Eight Immortals. Penglai has been ranked as one of China's best domestic tourist destinations and over the past several years more than twenty five million US dollars has been invested into restoring and developing it's characteristic tourist areas and each year more than two million tourists are expected.  There are several things to see in Penglai but all of them now come with a price tag with several digits on it.  Sitting on a cliff top over looking the bay is the one thousand year old Penglai Pavilion that is closely entwined in Chinese mythology with the legends of the Eight Immortals Crossing The Sea (more on that later).  There is also the Crossing the Sea Water Fortress and the Three Divine Mountains.  The city is also famous for its mirages out at sea, which are frequent during May and June.  On the 17th June 1988 a mirage appeared that lasted over five hours, revealing two islands with roads, trees, buildings, people, bridges and vehicles.I am writing this on July 27th and I haven’t started it until now as it was the last day that Luo Wei and I spent together before she headed back to Kaifeng city and sadly out of my life to live a simple life with her mother.  After checking out of our expensive crappy hotel (and leaving our bags there for the day) we headed across to the Beima Bus Station and grabbed a bus to Penglai city.  It cost 17Yuan each and the journey takes around one and a half hours.  There is not much too see along the way except for a development zone where all factories have same gardens out front.  When we arrived in Penglai were met by a line of cabs that pretty much told us how it all works.  It costs 5Yuan to the supposed bridge where the Eight Mortals became Immortal.  There is a temple dedicated to them along the way that costs 15Yuan to enter but we were more than sure we were gong to be 'templed out’ by the end of the day so we waved the driver on.The Water Fortress/Bridge of Immortality costs 60 Yuan to enter and the Three Devine Mountains have an entrance fee of 120 Yuan and if you buy both together you get free taxi cart rides between both and you also get a free taxi cart ride to the bus station at the end of the day.  As we wanted to get as much for our money as possible we decided to skip the one thousand year old pavilion (hey, I’ve seen many of them…tee hee) and took a taxi cart to the Three Devine Mountains to begin.  Though there actually are no mountains there are three beautiful temples/pavilions.  It was absolutely stunning especially as we were lucky enough to be there on a day when everything was totally covered with mythical sea fog.  It really did feel we were either on another planet or living a mythical reality.  I won’t go into details of the park except to say that it was brilliantly constructed and all buildings and temples are with visiting.  More so are the fabulous gardens that look like that are straight from a movie or painting.  It took us around three hours to walk around through the entire park and at the entrance they tell you that it will take four or five hours and offer you the luxury of a taxi cart but the cost of 150Yuan for the taxi cart you would want to be with a large group.  Chinese speaking guides are free (there are no English speaking guides) but all temples etc have a small write up in both English, Chinese and Korean so you can walk around and figure most of it out.  We then spent a wonderful few hours across the road on the beach.I finally got to show Luo Wei how happy a real sandy beach can be.By this time the mist had cleared leaving a wonderful blue sky above.We played with the sand and seaweed and collected little shells for Luo Wei to take home and then grabbed our free taxi cart back to the Water Fortress Temple thing.  After walking around for an hour we both agreed it wasn’t worth the 60Yuan, especially as the pagoda wasn’t open to the public to climb and take photos from so we decided to call it a day and grabbed a free taxi cart to the bus station.  We spent the entire hour and a half bus journey going through our photos.  We arrived in Yantai at the Long Distance Bus Station (not far from the Beima Bus Station) so we walked back to our old hotel, grabbed our bags and then dropped into an awesome noodle place for dinner before checking into our new hotel across from the old and still used train station.  For those going to Yantai who are reading this, if you arrive by bus from Ji’nan you will be dropped off near the New Train Station and this is the train station marked on both city maps and on the Lonely Planet map.  You will know it as it is freaking huge.  This station is not expected to be open for at least another year.  So if you want budget accommodation ask your taxi driver to take you to the old train station area which is further west down Zhifutun Lu (runs west off Beima Lu).  It is not far from the large intersection and takes only a few minutes to walk.But it is worth it as there is a large difference in hotel prices.Beers N Noodles toya…..shanePS:  ALL PHOTOS CAN BE FOUND BENEATH THE TEXT BELOW___________________________________________________________The soundtrack to this entry was by Sydney’s awesome DEF FXThe album was ‘Ritual Eternal’____________________________________________________________Mount Penglai or Penglai Island is a mystical land found in Chinese mythology. The legend also passed into Japan, where it took shape as the legend of Hōrai.According to Shan Hai Jing, the mountain is said to be on an island in the eastern end of Bohai Sea, along with four other islands where the immortals lived, called Fāngzhàng, Yíngzhōu, Dàiyú, and Yuánjiāo.  Though a Penglai City exists in Shandong, China, whether or not the city was the actual spot as described in the legends is unknown. The city, however, prides itself for the legend, and claims that a certain scenic region in the city was the landing point of the Eight Immortals. Others claim that the mountain can be seen in form of the frequent mirages at sea that the city is famous for.  Another theory by Yichu of Later Zhou Dynasty puts the fabled island as Japan, while Penglai Mountain is Mount Fuji.In Chinese mythologyIn Chinese mythology, the mountain is often said to be the base for the Eight Immortals, or at least where they travel to have a banquet, as well as the magician Anqi Sheng. Supposedly, everything on the mountain seems white, while its palaces are made from gold and platinum, and jewelries grow on trees.There is no pain and no winter; there are rice bowls and wine glasses that never become empty no matter how much people eat or drink from them; and there are magical fruits growing in Penglai that can heal any disease, grant eternal youth, and even raise the dead.Historically, Qin Shi Huang, in search of the elixir of life, made several attempts to find the island where the mountain is located, to no avail. Legends tell that Xu Fu, one servant sent to find the island, found Japan instead.In Japanese mythologyThe presentation of Mt. Hōrai in Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, is somewhat different from the earlier idyllic Chinese myth. This version, which does not truly represent the Japanese views of Horai in the Meiji and preceding Tokugawa periods, rejects much of the fantastic and magical properties of Hōrai. In this version of the myth, Hōrai is not free from sorrow or death, and the winters are bitterly cold. Hearn's conception of Hōrai holds that there are no magical fruits that cure disease, grant eternal youth or raise the dead, and no rice bowls or wine glasses that never become empty.Hearn's incarnation of the myth of Hōrai focuses more on the atmosphere of the place, which is said to be made up not of air but of "quintillions of quintillions" of souls. Breathing in these souls is said to grant one all of the perceptions and knowledge of these ancient souls. The Japanese version also holds that the people of Hōrai are small fairies, and they have no knowledge of great evil, and so their hearts never grow old.In the Kwaidan, there is some indication that the Japanese hold such a place to be merely a fantasy. It is pointed out that "Hōrai is also called Shinkiro, which signifies Mirage — the Vision of the Intangible".  Yet uses of Mount Hōrai in Japanese literature and art of the Tokugawa period (1615-1868) reveal a very different view than Hearn's Victorian-influenced interpretation.Who Are The Eight Immortals?Legends about the Eight Immortals (Ba Xian) started to circulate orally long ago among the people and were recorded in the works of writers of various dynasties - Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming. But it was only with Wu Yuantai of the Ming dynasty who wrote The Emergence of the Eight lmmortals and Their Travels to the East that the Eight began to be clearly distinguished as the following.Tieguai Li (also called Li Tieguai, meaning Li with the Iron Crutch) was a lay Taoist by the name of Li Xuan who received his Enlightenment from the Supreme Patriarch of Taoism himself. Once his soul left his body to travel abroad but had to enter the corpse of a starved beggar when he found his own body mistakenly burnt by his disciple. He then had an earthly form with unkempt hair, a dirty face, a bare abdomen and a crippled leg. He blew water on the beggar’s bamboo cane, changing it into an iron cane or crutch. Han Zhongli (or Zhongli Quan) was given the first divine revelations by Li Tieguai and then went into the mountains to seek the light. After his return to the world, he killed a tiger with a flying scimitar and changed copper into gold to help the poor. In the end, he ascended to the upper realms of immortality with his brother. He is usually shown with a feather fan in a comfortable reclining posture.Zhang Guolao was a hermit in the Zhongtiao Mountains for a long time. He is said to have already been several hundred years old in the reign of Empress Wu Zetian (690 - 705 A. D.). Summoned by the Empress, he feigned death by magic in order to avoid meeting her. Later people saw him in the mountains near Hengzhou. He used to travel on a white donkey which could cover thousands of leagues in a single day. When taking a rest, he would fold up the donkey as if it were made of paper and put it into his suitcase. He is usually depicted riding backward on his donkey, that is, facing the tail of the beast.He Xiangu was a Tang dynasty girl of Zengcheng, Guangdong province, living at a place called Yunmu Xi (Ravine of Mica). She became an immortal at the age of fourteen by taking mica powder. After that, she was so agile that her body could float from one peak to another collecting fruit for her mother. Another source says that she was a woman Taoist of Yongzhou during the Song dynasty, famous for her fortune - telling. Lan Caihe, according to some sources, was a hermaprodite, usually dressed in blue tatters, with one foot bare and the other in a boot, wandering through the country, begging along the thoroughfares and singing drunkenly to the cadence of castanets. One day in an inn, music of flutes and mouth - organs was heard descending from the sky. Lan was suddenly wafted off into the air and vanished.Lu Dingbin was a native of Shaanxi (some say, of Shanxi) province and lived during the Tang dynasty. After failing twice at the imperial examinations during the years 841 - 846A. D., he led a vagrant life for years. At the age of sixty - four, he met Han Zhongli, who taught him the secrets of alchemy. He was given an official title by a Yuan emperor and came to be generally know as Lu Zu (Patriarch Lu). Taoists considered him to be one of the five supreme deities of the North.Han Xiangzi is said to be a distant nephew of the great Tang writer - statesman Han Yu. Intelligent and unrestrained in nature, he managed, once in an early winter, to make rose - peonies blossom in a few days in different colours, each blossom carrying a written poem, to the great astonishment of his uncle. He tried to proselyte Han Yu to renounce the world for Taoism. When Yu fell into disfavour and was banished to Chaoyang in the far south, he met with snow on the way. Suddenly Xiangzi came from nowhere to bid him farewell. Before parting, Xinagzi told about future happenings, all of which came true.Cao Guojiu is said to have lived during the Song dynasty and his name was Cao You, Guojiu being a semi - official title for the brothers of the empress. He had a brother who, taking advantage of his imperial connexion, became a notorious evildoer. Ashamed of his brother and afraid of becoming implicated, he scattered his wealth among the poor and went into the mountains to seek the Way of Enlightenment. Finally, he was immortalized by Han Zhongli and Lu Dongbin. Another source says that he left his mortal remains at a Taoist temple in Xuzhou.The best known tale that involves all of them together is Ba Xian Guo Hai or The Eight Immortals Cross the Sea. It describes how, when crossing a sea in their wanderings, each of them used a different object (a walking cane, a fan, a scimitar, etc.) as a vessel. Thes has given rise to an everyday saying: when people try to accomplish the same task by different methods, they are said to be emulating the example of the Eight Immortals crossing the sea.
]]> Qingdaos Beautiful Boardwalk Adventure — Qingdao, Shandong, China http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1249028819/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1249028819/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1249028819/tpod.html Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:41:23 -0500 Around China in smoky disco sleeper buses, once again eating anything that moves and teaching beautiful people!

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Qingdao, Shandong, China

Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,Upon awakening yesterday I knew it was time to depart beautiful Weihai.I felt totally relaxed and that’s a pretty good sign to move on if you ask me. So after packing I said my sad good byes to the hotel staff and headed out to try my best to catch a bust to the bus or train station which can be found together at the other end of town.  I knew Bus Number 10 would get me close but as I was walking the bus I have come to call the Phantom Bus stopped at my side and asked where I was going.  Upon hearing my answer the guy said yes so I took the Phantom Bus Number 86 to the Bus/Train Station.  Bus 86 is not on any of the bus boards (or not that I came across in my time in Weihai) but you see it wizzing around here and there and it always seems to stop and ask where you want to go.  I never really knew where I wanted to go until this one time so I always gave a smile and waved them on their way.The Weihai Bus and Train station are in the new part of town so unless you want to fork over a heap of money catching a cab maybe catch the Phantom Bus Number 86.  I caught it just up from the corner of Shichang Lu and Qingdao Lu as I was walking along Qingdao Lu and it dropped me off right out front.The ticket to Qingdao was 93 Yuan (for a big bus as it was the next to leave- there are small buses which would be cheaper) and the journey took around four and a half hours to five hours.  My bus arrived at a bus station in the north east of the city so I grabbed a cab to the train station area which coast 10 Yuan.  While I was trying to figure out where the hell I was in the city several cab drivers gave me a price of 100 Yuan to the train station but I knew that if that’s what they were asking then it had to be a tenth of that.One I found a few road signs and figured out where I was then I headed to the next main road and flagged a random cab and as we drove past the other cab drivers with a smile I gave them the hand sign for 10 Yuan and waved good bye.  My cab diver was such a wonderful guy he spoke little English but I knew enough to get us by and he knew exactly where to take me for the hotel price I was willing to pay.  Zhongshan Lu Mall is the main road that runs through the old part of Qingdao City.And found just down from the large Mc Donalds sing and down the hilly Tianjin Lu (across Henan Lu) is what I named Sea Food and Beer Square.  The square is actually a round-a-bout but all around it are budgetish hotels.  I call them budgetish as I’m used to paying rural and inner city prices, but for the coastal area they are budget hotels with out question.  Of course they wanted much more than I could pay but after I told them how long I’ve been in China and where I have been living and teaching the price came down to exactly what I was happy to pay on the coast.  I spent the rest of the evening slowly walking around my area and found the famous train station and also found it to be just as beautiful as I have read.  This is not your normal Chinese monolith, it is of German architecture and if it was in another city it would stand out like a sore thumb but here it fits in fine.  After an hour I headed up to Zhongshan Lu and found that each night from the block past Mc Donald’s it turns into a night market which continues around and onto Jiaohou Lu to where the KFC is,For those who have heard of the city of Qingdao it will mainly be due to that it was this city that hosted the sailing part of the 2008 Chine Olympics and for those who are planning a trip to China Qingdao is a damn good place to start.  Here is the run down the Lonely Planet gives it and I couldn’t agree more;A breath of fresh air for anyone emerging from China’s polluted urban interior, Qingdao is hardly old school – parts of the town resemble Bavaria, but its effortless blend of German architecture and modern city planning puts Chinese white tiles towns to shame.  Its German legacy more or less intact, Qingdao takes pride in its unique appearance.  The Chinese call the town 'China’s Switzerland’.  The dilapidated charms of the hilly old town are captivating, so wander at will around the cobbled, higgledy-piggledy alleys, poke around stone clad Teutonic vestiges, guaff the famous local brew (Tsingtao) and ditch the diet, Qingdao has some of the best seafood and kebabs in northern China.Yes, the old town is exactly where you will want to be located.Qingdao is surrounded by mountains and the sea and the city can be broken into two.  The historic German old town in the west houses the cities unique charms and they are the what most people will be here for.  The architectural streetscapes, the train station and a church or two.  In the east you will find the modern side of Qingdao where the trendy bars, discos and restaurants are located and somewhere between you will find a bit of both along with some of the cities hilly parks and gardens.  Both east and west its southern foreshore offers plentiful beaches in which to spent time dripping and dozing away your tensions and travelling frustrations.  For me, last night as always the first thing is to always get the hand washing out of the way.So I did what felt like two decades of hand washing before sitting down with my Chinese Qingdao map and my Lonely Planet and transferring everything I needed for the next few days.  It sounds like a hard task and sometimes it is but this time it wasn’t so hard as the Chinese Tourist map has pictures of everything the Lonely Planet lists so it was just a case of finding them on the map.  I’m sure there will be an English map with it all done for me but I tried everywhere and no one had one.  Also one thing I have always found is that the Chinese tourist map always has much more on it so things simply become about circles and a few transferred street names.  Always remember that the writer of the Lonely Planet or what ever guide book you are using usually spends only a few days in the location you are at and from what I’ve found sometimes it seems they have never been there at all.  The internet is a wonderful thing but if you are only passing through for a day or two.  A seasoned traveller can easily read that the writer gathered their information from a friend or a simple badly translated or placed English map…..but that’s not the case with the writer of the Qingdao LP writer.The only thing I do wish to add to the LP is that things seem so distant on the map.But everything in the old town really is only a few minutes walk from each other.Both the train station and the beach are less than five minutes walk from where I am staying….Yeah! SO HERE IS MY SUGGESTION FOR YOUR FIRST DAYS ADVENTURE IN QINGDAODo the foreshore walk first and walk from Beach Number Six (Qingdao Bay) to Fushan Bay.It is a beautiful walk and you can take in some of the main sites along the way.QINGDOA BAY AND BATHING BEACH NUMBER 6The Coastal BoardwalkThe seaside or foreshore boardwalk really is awesome.  It stretches from Tuandao Bay in the west and runs all the way to Shilaoren Tourist Resort in the east, which is a huge forty kilometers and along the way it takes you through all the different parts of the city ie: the old section and of course the new section.  I spent a wonderful day walking from the Local Ferry Station which is located in Jiaozhou Bay  and then around Tuandao Bay to the Royal Club building (maybe supposed to resemble Sydneys Opera House but doesn’t – at the end of the night market area) and I slowly made my way around, Qingdao Bay, Huiquan Bay, Taiping Bay and all the way around Fushan Bay to just past the Music Square.  Here can be found the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center.It’s a long walk but it really is beautiful!QINGDAO BAY & BEACH NUMBER 6The NightMarket Each night as light leaves Qindao Bay magical lights seem to appear along the western side of Qingdao Bay.  Along Taiping Lu you will find the cities night market.  But before you get there sit and watch as those who run the little footpath stalls play cat and mouse with the Police.  They only have a blanket to put their wares on and once the Police arrive they simply make it into a sack, throw it on their back and run as fast as they can in the opposite direction.  The Police then leave and everyone returns and unpacks again and stands ready for the next time.  At the main night market you have stalls and lights and it is pretty cool and it sells all the normal stuff along with what you would expect from a sea side night market ie: seafood bbq, fake pearls, shells, dried fish and of course swords.Everyone needs a sword, even those who live by the sea need a sword!Zhanqiao Pier (Huilan Pavilion)Zhanqiao Pier is supposedly one of the distinguished buildings of Qingdao.  It has been thrown into Qingdao’s top ten due to its eight sided ‘Flying Pavillion’ (the Huilan Pavilion).  It cost 15 Yuan to enter but I didn’t bother as I was having enough people problems just on the pier.  If you don’t like crowds then past it by as it looks just as good from the shore.  Tianhou (Mazu) TempleThis small temple is dedicated to Tianhou (Heaven Queen), Goddess of the Sea and protector of sailors.  She is also known as Mazu and Niangniang and if you want to more about Mazu then CLICK HERE as I added a bit on it when I wrote about my visit to the one in Yantai.  Yantai’s temple is much more beautiful and has around one hundred thousand less people inside it each day.  Here I also had people problems and felt that unless you were in a tour group then you were very much pushed to the back or simply just told to move to make way for the crowds with the flags.  But after four and a half years I’m getting pretty god at telling people to stick it and push them back to where they were a moment ago to then smile at them and offer them my position once I have finished.  The temple itself is very small yet beautiful.  The main hall contains a colourful statue of Tianhou, flanked by two other figures and a pair of fearsome guardians.  Other halls include the Dragon King Hall where in front of the Dragon King lies a splayed pig and a shrine to the God of Wealth.  The Qingdao Navy MuseumNot being an armed forces freak in ay way I never bothered visiting this museum but if you are a military fan and in the area of the lighthouse or between Beach Number 6 & 1 then I think for around 120Yuan you can spend an hour or two here.  I believe you can also buy separate tickets for different things like the submarine or the war ships, which you can also see from the walk to the lighthouse. The Little Qingdao Lighthouse (next to Lu Xun Park)From the LP; Poking out like a lollipop into Qingdao Bay south of Bathing Beach Number 6 and dominated by its German built lighthouse, the Little Qingdao peninsula is excellent for throwing off the crowds battling it out on the beaches. Despite the name ‘Little Green Island’ it is actually a peninsula, lashed to the shore by a slender sandbar (called Qinyu Lu).  I grabbed a ticket for 15 Yuan and spent half an hour or so relaxing here.  You can’t actually visit the light house but there are very few people here so it is a nice place to sit and watch the boats go by.HUIQUAN BAY & BEACH NUMBER 1Lu Xun Park (next to the Lighthouse)Lu Xun park was established in 1929 and originally named Seaside Park as it follows the natural coastal terrain.  Its designer was Ge Jingying who was a famous Chinese horticulturist.  in 1950 the parks name was changed, but strangely no to its designer, it was changed to that of a Chinese writer.Marine Life Museum, Aquarim and Underwater WorldI didn’t visit any of the above on this day but I did return the following day and found Underwater World to be just as awesome as any other Underwater World around the world.  They seem to be like McDonalds and no matter where they are they all offer the same things which include the huge whale skeleton in the first or second room.  If you like jelly fish then the Aquarium is worth a visit.  I love jelly fish so I was squirming with all the kids who were racing around me.  As for the live show part of it, you don’t pay any extra but you do get to see a couple of seals and penguins swimming around.Underwater World cost 90Yuan & the Aquarim costs 40 Yuan.If you want to see both you can get one ticket that costs 120 Yuan.Huiquan SquareHuge square full of underground stores and eateries.TAIPING BAY & BEACH NUMBER 2Huashi Lu HouseFrom the LP;  formerly the residence of a Russian aristocrat, and later the German governors retreat for fishing and hunting. The Chinese call it the ‘Chiang Kaishek Building’ as the generalissimo secretly stayed here in 1947.  It looks a treat from the beach but when I got to the ticket office (6 Yuan) there were several tour groups waiting to pile in so I headed back to the beach instead.FUSHAN BAY AND BATHING BEACH NUMBER 3Qingdao Sculpture ParkIt has the theme of the Chinese Civilization and Oceanic Culture in mind and shows four different kinds of sculptures which are landmark sculptures, thematic sculptures, celebrity sculptures and miniature sculptures. Drop in as you are walking past anyhow.  Plus its free!Qingdao Music SquareThe music square is situated at the west of May 4th Square and covers an area of 36,000 m2.  It is divided into five parts; the greenbelt of trees, the soft sculptures, the elliptical square, the musical sea viewing platform and the underground amusement area.May Fourth SquareThe May Fourth Square gets its name from the May the Fourth Movement.  It is a square with a contemporary style and in the center is a huge round shaped sculpture made of rings that have been unevenly placed on top of each other which is known as the ‘May Breeze’.  Here you will find  the skies filled with kites of all shapes and sizes along with parents relaxing while their kids race around dodging all the kite strings.THE QINGDAO OLYMPIC SAILING CENTER, YAN’ERDA ISLAND & BEACH NUMBER 3Built for the Olympics and now home of the expensive sailing club.  If you are an Olympics person you can do a tour of the area but I have no idea what the cost is.  By now I had had enough of the crowds and Xianggang Road where you can catch many different buses that will take you all the way back to Qingdao Bay and the train station area.  I caught bus 321 and headed back to spend an hour or so in the night market and then headed to KFC for an elcheapo coffee and to begin this blog.All in all it really was a beautiful day spent entirely along the foreshore and I think it would have to cover more than half of the entire 40 km boardwalk.  I was so jealous of all the bike riders who were wizzing by me, most of whom where dodging the foreshore police who were also on bikes but it seems only the elderly listened to them.  I would have loved to have completed the rest of the journey as I believe the rest of it would be clear of crowds.  At the end is what is known as the ‘Old Stone Man’.  Who he is or what he is I guess I will never know. Beers N Noodles toya…..shanePS: for a little bit of information on Qingdao continue to read below.PSS:  ALL PHOTOS CAN BE FOUND BELOW ALL THE TEXT___________________________________________________________The soundtrack to this entry was by Faith No MoreThe album was ‘This is it, The Best Of’____________________________________________________________Qingdao (TsingTao) is a picturesque coastal city that lies on the southern tip of China's Shandong Peninsula, located in JiaoZhou Bay facing the Yellow Sea.  Qingdao, with an annual average temperature of 12.2°C, is also a well-known holiday resort in China.  The city has seven urban districts and five county level cities under its jurisdiction with an area of 10,645 square kilometers and a population of more than 8.1 million.  Before troops were garrisoned here by the imperial court of Qing in 1891, Qingdao had been a small fishing village.  It became a German concession in 1897 and was occupied by invading Japanese soldiers when the First World War broke out in 1914.  The famous May 4th Movement was launched in 1919 and protestors, against the then Chinese government yielding to Japanese pressure, demanded the recommencement of sovereignty over Qingdao.  The city reverted to Chinese rule in 1922, but was occupied by Japan again during the Second World War. After World War II Qingdao served as the headquarters of the Western Pacific Fleet of the US Navy.  The USS Alaska, allowed by the KMT, occupied Tsingtao, China in October 1945.  On June 2nd, 1949, the CCP's Red Army entered Qingdao City; Shandong and Qingdao's municipalities have been under PRC control since that time.  As one of China's most important independent coastal cities with state planning and budgeting powers including provincial power in economic management, the city has recently experienced rapid growth.  A new central business district (CBD) created near the Qingdao International Marina & Water Sports Center, east of May 4th Square and the city government building, is Shandong's costal business Mecca.  Its major industries include trade, light industry, tourism and oceanography research.  Qingdao is well known for its european architecture and attractive coastal landscape. With its abundance of natural beauty and growing human resources, the year-round schedule of tourist attractions and events, coupled with numerous tourist facilities as well as an extensive public transportation network, make Qingdao an ideal tourist destination both at home and abroad. 
]]> Wonderful WELCOME MAT Moments: Fujian Province — The Gold Coast, Australia http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1104912960/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1104912960/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1104912960/tpod.html Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:40:46 -0500 Around China in smoky disco sleeper buses, once again eating anything that moves and teaching beautiful people!

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The Gold Coast, Australia

THE WONDERFUL WELCOME MAT OF FUJIAN PROVINCE December 2006 to 30 June 2008 To keep the Great Welcome Mat Of China clean I've created this page to seperate my time in the South and North of China. From here you can walk beside me on my Fujian Province pathway. A Big Greedy English School cut my time in the north short and life once again took me to the south but this time to a south east coastal province.  I left my life amongst the arid hills and the bread and noodle eating tall peoples and once again found myself amongst lush greens.  As usual I rode for hours in search of little villages full of happy smiles and lush rice fields where I continued my waving and saying hellowwwww to bamboo peak hatted farmers. Life was as beautiful as always and weekends and holidays once again found me with my pack on travelling to small rural towns with friends to relax with a beer and find China's greatest BBQ. What will the future bring?   I'm still hoping for the trip to Laos & Cambodia and have now added the spicey train journey to Kashgar to my mental list of millions of things to do and places to go. I HAVE ALSO WOVEN ALL PHOTO'S FOR EACH ENTRY TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE.  SIMPLY SCROLL DOWN TO VIEW THEM!   Aselection of interesting enteries from Fujian 2006 - 2008 December 2006: Good Bye freezing Gansu Hello Green and Lush Fujian Remember in my last entry when I wrote the words; `Who knows what will happen between now and then´ regarding moving to Xian. Well, things did change! I now write to you from the coastal province of Fujian.  December 2006: The City So Far.....Beautiful Mate! What a wonderful life and what a wonderful place to live February 2007: In Memory of Billy Thorpe Whilst living and working on Queenslands Gold Coast I worked with a guy named Matthew March 2007: The Second Great Aussie Care Package Maaaate, it finally arrived.  My second Aussie Care Package! Aussie Santaroo finally found his fatass way to China with my Christmas present! April 2007: The Great Aussie Easter Care Package Yeah Yeah, it´s late I know! Build a chocolate bridge and get over it! Put me in my room and roll a rock in front of it! May 2007: Mate Whats Been Happening and A Quick Catchup That's it mate, they've gone home!  I can't believe they've gone. Shaowu will never be the same again.  The English couple have left the building. June 2007: Exam Time, Bus Patience and an Ancient Village With 1.4 billions people in one country and many of them being middle and high school students all fighting for spots in high schools and universities you have major life changing exams.  If you miss out on the university you need to attend to become `something´ then most of the time you will have to change your career choice. June 2007: A Bad Beginning Only Means a Better Ending I then walked into the lounge room and there at the front door was a huge brown rat.  We stood staring at each other wondering what the hell the other was doing and who was going to make the first move.  He made the first move and it was across the room and beneath the couch. June 2007: Christine or Cybil or Both I couldn´t stop laughing when the first thing Joyce said was `You´ve killed your bike again haven´t you!´  The tally so far for this bike is five pedals, one chain and now two sets of gears.  I think I need a sponsor! June 2007: Mate, It's Summer Break & This Weathers Insane Windows and doors opening and slamming closed by themselves.  I look to the floor expecting to see the cellar door from Evil Dead opening and closing with screams of laughter filling the air.   It seems the wind is moving in many directions at once and when it´s allowed inside it creates a separate storm in my apartment.  I have to run around catching flying paper and stop myself from being tangled and strangled in the curtains that somehow have grown an evil personality.   November 2007 - The Ancient Facts Behind The Modern Face of Shaowu The city obviously began as a small village over one thousand years ago.  I knew this had to the be the case as Shaowu houses one of Fujian´s three Ancient Mosques which was built over 700 years ago but today Mr Doo confirmed that the first village was built over one thousand years ago.  As the village grew into a town Protective Walls were built and soon surrounded the fast growing town.  These walls were built somewhere between three to five hundred years ago and only several hundred meters from my school and my home sits the last remaining section of the city wall and the last ancient city gate that faces the beautiful Min River.   November 2007 - Yet Another Strangely Perfect Day In Shaowu Photos Only But they are nice photos...hahahaha! November 2007 - Aliens, The Flu and Fishless Fish Farms After speaking to Super Shirley the Chinese English Teacher I thought about texting her a reply to her caring well wishes of `get some sleep, relax and take care´ type thing.  I remember thinking this and I was just about to raise myself onto my elbow to grab my phone when I must have been abducted my Aliens.   March 2008 - Beers N Noodles to my Nieces and Nephews Life is full of so many wrongs and rights.  What is the right thing to do when it comes to family? Do you do what most would say the right thing to do is? Do you head home and give yourself back to your family which will satisfy almost everyone? May 2008 - Four Canadians & One Super Sneaky Northern Train Girl Not long after arriving home from my Asian Adventure seven years ago I was driving along a highway with some friends and we came across a guy making his way hitching.  After the many that have gone missing around the world due to either hitching or picking up a hitchhiker it is not often that I would do such a thing.  On this day (like I said above) I was with friends.  On this day I met a guy I named Kev The Canadian Backpacker. May 2008 - The Day The Northern Earth Crumbled Supposedly predicted in 2002 to happen sometime in the following seven years the earth certainly did not only as predicted but almost at the very spot.  The predicted area was only 120 kms away from the epicenter.  Though predicted, who is going to stand guard for seven years under a door frame or sleeping in a tent on a football field.   May 2008 - School Markets For Those Still Buried Beneath In response to Mondays earthquake the school quickly gathered the teachers and students together and they all decided the quickest, easiest and most fun way to raise money for those in need was to simply bring 'things' to school and spend two afternoons buying and selling. So beneath a cloudless deep blue sky we all gathered in the playground with money in hand and bargained our butts off for several hours.  The stalls were news paper pages set upon the ground and upon these were placed the 'goodies'. May 2008 - An Earthquake Update From Another Hometown Boy Around the same time I left Australia three and a half years ago another guy from my home town was packing and getting himself ready for the life I was already flying towards.  Though our parents have known each other for a long time we had no idea that we were both planning to live and teach in China for the many years that followed.    Aselection of market place nights, festivals and celebrations in Shaowu 2006 - 2008 December 2006: Anyone want a Chinese Burn for Christmas Though I'm far far away from all of my beautiful friends, family and my homeland , I just wanted to let you know that..sniff...sniff...sniff...sniff I will be eating noodles for Christmas dinner...AGAIN!!!  December 2006: Christmas in China Mate, I even went to church Fan dancing and photos with the big Guy and the Dancing Girls January 2007: Back in the fields & a night with the Russian Orchestra Once we had all placed our chopsticks upon the table we made our way to the hall where the Shaowu Chinese Army was in full force checking tickets and making sure all would be well for their Russian Friends. January 2007: Happy Australia Day to all my Friends and Family Dinner was spent with some teachers from Daniels school at a Hot Pot eatery dipping assorted foods into our individual Hot Pots, drinking a heap of beer and happily chatting about anything and everything. February 2007: Spring Festival & Chinese New Year Information Spring Festival really is a most amzing time to be here in China.  For some it would be too much especially in a large city and for others they would become totally lost in all the different ways it is celebrated.    February 2007: Spring Festival Lunch in a Beautiful Village An awesome afternoon spent in a friends tiny farming village.  The festival feast was more than anyone could ask for.  The company was just as great. March 2007: The Spring Festival ends with the Lantern Festival Falling on the 15th day of the first month of the Lunar Year, the Lantern Festival takes place under a full moon, and marks the end of Chinese New Year festivities. The Lantern Festival dates back to shrouded legends of the Han Dynasty over 2000 years ago. March 2007: Womens Day Celebrations Sure Bra´s were burnt, Women´s Rights were introduced into most western societies but is there really equality in our societies?  Who is killing the world around us as they dominate society?  Men!  Take a look at history then look at the present. March 2007: Dining with Chickens at My Feet In A Small Village I´ve had a friend here in Shaowu since I first arrived at the school.  We have always got along really well.  She´s a heap of fun and very feisty, always trying to beat me or throw me off a balcony or the other way round.   She invited Daniel, Alexa and I to her village where her family still live farming rice and tobacco.  March 2007: MMMmmm Those Great Northern Noodles Not only in Gansu can you see this beautiful happening but also along the Sichuan/Tibetan Highway and I'd say all the way across to Kashgar.  It´s such a treat to sit and watch the Noodle Man throwing a ball of dough around and then by way of magic turn it into many long noodles that you will soon be slurping away on.  May 2007: The Yunnan Snow Mountain Minority Peoples Evening Hey, minority girls in minority dresses.  They could spend the night playing chess and I'd still be happy! May 2007: Bugs Slugs N a Wonderful Weekend Last night I headed out with the Martin and Georga for a night on the town.  I introduced them to the wonderful friendliness of `Yellow´ and its delicious menu.  We then took a walk though the neon coloured streets and we then headed to Shaowu's newest bar called the Miami Bar.  BUT, some of the signs actually say the Maiam Bar.  I really don't know how they can get it both right and wrong, but this is China.  From there we headed to Ting Tings Bar that we now have to rename as Ting Ting has left the building.  June 2007: International Children's Day in China Until coming here I always thought it was funny that we celebrated the birthday of a Queen none of us had ever met (and for many, nor really want) along with celebrating a three minute horse race called the Melbourne Cup.  Don´t get me wrong, public holidays have become rare in Victoria Australia and I´m happy to celebrate any `Old Jack or Jills´ Birthday to get a public holiday.  But should we really celebrate the Queens birthday over celebrating Children´s Day?  June 2007: The Chinese Dragon Boat Festival The Dragon Boat Festival which is also known as Double Fifth Day falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. From what I can gather there are many different stories as to where and how this festival came to light. But the most popular version and the one officially accepted is about Qu Yuan, a minister during the Warring States Period - (475 - 221 BC). August 2007: Chinese Valentines/Lovers Day One love story for this day is about the 7th daughter of Emperor of Heaven and an orphaned cowherd. The Emperor separated them. The 7th daughter was forced to move to the star Vega and the cowherd moved to the star Altair. They are allowed to meet only once a year on the day of 7th day of 7th lunar month. September 2007: Teachers Day Celebration In 1939 the Ministry of Education pronounced that Confucius' birthday would be celebrated on August 28, and designated it as Teachers' Day as well as a national holiday to remember Confucius' enormous contribution to Chinese culture and society. October 2007: Chinese National Day Celebration Soon Shane entered China, left China, went home for a spell and thought to himself, `Hey Man, I think it´s time to get me one of those Chairman Mao suites, I´m heading back to China for awhile.  In his wake schools have flourished and new brewery´s opened. October 2007: Celebrating My Third Birthday In China After dinner we all rocked on to a rather swisho KTV (karaoke) place where we met up with Joyce, Candy and a few others.  Here (after many beers) they came face to face with the legend my voice really is.  I´m serious!  It´s been compared to Pavarotti on acid breaking wind and my gawd did I sing up a storm that night.  October 2007: Young Pioneers Day Though all students have being spending many hours practicing I was more than proud of one group in particular.  Many of my Grade 5 students made up the school band for this years celebration.  Each night for many weeks they have been.....ANNOYING THE ABSOLUTE SHITE OUT OF EVERYONE WHO EITHER LIVES AT THE SCHOOL OR ANYWHERE AROUND THE AREA! October 2007: Flippity Flippity Flop, Joyce Ran Up The Clock I kind of went...HUH? Didn´t we celebrate your birthday on the 6th? Well....yes we did, but today is my `Lunar Birthday´. Oh, is that right? You Chinese keep that one up your sleeves for extra presents don´t you! November 2007 - FIRE FIRE FIRE!  119 Celebration Day Today we celebrated what is known here in Fujian Province as 119 Celebration Day.  119 is the emergency phone number for FIRE here in Fujian and tomorrow being the 9th Day of the 11th Month is the day all schools celebrate the heroic efforts of not only their country´s Firemen but the Firemen from all around the world! November 2007 - Lets Go On A Picnic Chinese Style! Bring The Wok! Mate, have you ever been on a Chinese picnic?  Let me tell you about the Chinese picnic I went on today.  First step is to buy as much food as humanly possible.  Second step is to pre-make nothing at all.  Third step is to carry it all there, then make it and eat as much as humanly possible! December 2007 - Happy Christmas To You All N Cake With Chopsticks Christmas huh!  Can´t believe its Christmas time.  It came and then it was gone just as quick. How quick does life fly on by now that I´m juuuust past twenty-one. I remember juuuust a few years ago when I was a boy, the lead up to Christmas was huge. December 2007 - Shaowu City Schools Performance.  Awesome! Photos aren't the best quality, mainly due to the lighting and my camera but mate, it was an awesome night.  My students were the best of course!  They are the ones in green with the red umbrellas.  Ha Ha!  December 2007 - Happy Yan Tan OR Happy Freaking New Year 2ya Mate Remember last summer holidays as I was casually drinking/making my way from city to town to city to town from Xian City all the way to the east coast of China.  Well, if you do remember, can you tell me!  Hahahaha!  Just joking, if you do remember then you would remember a beautiful girl I met in one of China´s ancient capital cities, the ancient walled city of Kaifeng.  January 2008 - The LABA (Eight Treasure) Rice Festival Falling on the eighth day of the 12th lunar month, Laba Festival was originally an occasion for people to give sacrifices to their ancestors, and to pray to heaven and earth for a good harvest and good luck for the family. Many years later, it has become a Laba rice porridge eating event. A porridge that contains different types of rice, beans, dried nuts, bean curd, and meat. February 2008 - Spring Festival and Chinese New Year Information Of all the traditional Chinese festivals, the New Year was perhaps the most elaborate, colorful, and important. This was a time for the Chinese to congratulate each other and themselves on having passed through another year, a time to finish out the old, and to welcome in the New Year. February 2008 - My Fifth Colourful and Squawking Chinese New Year My first was spent in the Xishuangbanna Region (Yunnan Province) in the year 2000. My second was spent in Yangshuo (Guangxi Province) in the year 2005. My third was spent in the Xishuangbanna Region (Yunnan Province) in the year 2006. My fourth was spent in a small Shaowu Village (Fujian Province) in the year 2007. And here I sit once again in my beautiful little mountain city of Shaowu (Fujian Province - 2008) bewildered by the fact that I have actually celebrated my fifth Spring Festival here in China.  February 2008 - Dining In A Village With Chickens At My Feet 2 If you are ever invited to a small village for such an occasion, simply feel an honoured guest!  You can try to find words of thanks but usually they will be waved away!  What you will eat has taken much money and time to prepare!  Don´t force your thanks, simply be thankful!  Walk away feeling an honoured!  Life is not always so beautiful! February 2008 - The Beer Man Wedding Feast N Back In The Fields What ever the time line is, I´ve enjoyed every Chinese Wedding I´ve been lucky enough to have been invited to.  I feel sorry for the groom though.  As they invite such a huge amount of people the poor bugger is hammered by the time the couple finally finishes going from table to table toasting and being toasted.  Silly `Beer Man´ chose to carry a bottle of red wine or two with him. Not a good idea when you have so many guests.  I think I would have stuck with beer...man! February 2008 - Super Northern Girls Surprise Valentines Visit Knock Knock Knock Knock! So she who was supposed to be in the north had just spent another twenty two hours on board an extremely packed train taking her from north to south.  This time though, as there were no seat tickets left she had to get a standing ticket.  February 2008 - Three Years Living In China Well Well Well!  Three holes in the ground! Five Spring Festivals and three years later I continue to live a wonderful life here in China! Yes, on this day three years ago I flew from The Land Down Under to the Confusing Land Uphere!  Doing so made most of my dreams become a reality and a reality they still are. February 2008 - The Chinese Lantern Festival 2008 Well from my experience all it actually does is remind everyone of their remaining fireworks along with the fact that soon the Fireworks Stores will either be empty or closed.  So really it only enhances the fact that everyone should or MUST be the last ones remaining with fireworks to annoy the complete shit out of everyone around them who have pretty much had enough by now.  March 2008 - International Womens Day in Fujian Province China Sure Bra´s were burnt, Women´s Rights were introduced into most western societies but is there really equality in our societies?  Who is killing the world around us as they dominate society?  Men!  Take a look at history then look at the present.  In the past and in the present, who have held and continue to hold most of the top positions in all societies? Who makes up a huge percent of the armed forces along with filling most of the beds on the `inside´?  March 2008 - Tree Planting Day and Ugly Bare Hills Being an obsessive bike rider I get to see so much of China that will never be seen by most foreign visitors.  Add to this the lucky fact that I get to live in a place for a long period of time and when you put these two together this means I simply get to see some of the changes that happen.  One change I am quick to notice in all the areas I have been lucky to live in are the changes in the hills that surround the town or city I am living in.  March 2008 - The Qing Ming Toomb Sweeping Festival In short it s a time for people to head outside and enjoy the greenery that springtime offers and to also take an adventure into the hills and both celebrate and 'sweep clean' the family graves. As of this year it is now an official public holiday in China.  Prior to this year it was a public holiday in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. April 2008 - Happy Birthday to Yan and Thanks For The Hangover Why we actually went to another restaurant was anyone's guess.  From what I could gather everyone was full yet once we began we all found we had spare room in both our food stomaches and our beer stomaches.  It was such a happy and wonderful night by the end of which everyone was pretty messy yet still in high spirits.  So here's a huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Yan!  I hope you had a wonderful time mate!  Always a big thankyou for a great meal! May 2008 - International Workers Day With Happy Luo Wei This year there was no time to pack the pack and bugger off into the wild blue yonder.  Shaowu was the place to be and I was ever so happy to be there as Luo Wei was with me.  Yes the Super Northern Train Girl boarded the train a week before and spent another twenty something hours in a hard seat rocketing her way from north to south. May 2008 - The May Fourth Movement and Why China Is China There is a reason behind China's dramatic pathway change and it made this change after dealings with the Western World, especially America who very much slapped it about and treated it without importance.  May 2008 - Happy Mothers Day Toya Mar Ya poor bugger, stuck in bed with the flu!  Bloody hell mate!  Who gets the flu on Mothers Day? Rise and shine and give the flu to Par Kettle or your other son or daughter for the day.  I'm sure they will be happy to bare your burden because that's what loves about right!  And that's what you do for ya Mar/Wife on Mothers Day! June 2008 - International Childrens Day - Part I This will be part one of this years Children's Day Travelpod Entries.  This year, Children's Day is on a Sunday so we had the 'Bezerk Classroom Fun' on Friday, 30th May.  Usually we would have celebrated it on the Sunday but this year is a special year for my school.  At the end of next week we will have several teachers and students come to stay with us from Singapore. June 2008 - The Dragon Boat Festival Less The Festival So I find out that there actually were Dragon Boat races in Shaowu.....LAST FREAKIN YEAR!  I don't know how many people I asked and they all said the same thing.  No, no Dragon Boat Festival in Shaowu.  Today (a year later) several people said to me 'Pity, no festival this year.  The Dragon Boat races last year were beautiful and much fun.'    What can I say?  The Chinese are not known for their communication skills.  June 2008 - International Childrens Day - Part 2 Colourful and happy photos only   Aselection of bike rides and walks around town in 2006 - 2008 December 2006: A walk through the Old River Quater I zipped in and out of the alley ways lined with moss covered little houses, noodle shops and old men and women hocking and coughing up lungs all over the place.  Somehow I ended up back in the other `old quarter´ and spent many hours ducking in and out of little alley ways and dodging hand pulled carts and three wheeler bicycles. December 2006: A Beautiful Mountain and the alleys of the old town This is the section where I find 99% of the cities `real´ smiles.  Though they have sweet bugger all in comparison to the rest of the city, they are so happy to have what they have and to actually be alive. January 2007: A picnic and a walk with my High School friends Daniel and Alexa had already been invited to another picnic with his students so it was only me and several 18 year old females.  DAMN!  Could life get any tougher! January 2007: The search for the Ancient Mosque Finally, this evening ended my search for an ancient mosque that has remained hidden in the labyrinth of small alleyways in the `old quarter´ by the river for the past two weeks. March 2007: My Daily Village and Temple Bike Ride The silence, the colour, the happy smiles offered by farmers in the fields, the screaming and being chased by the school children, the earth buildings, the chickens and the old temple I found.  I then leave the small villages behind. May 2007: My Daily Village and Temple Bike Ride Part Two I've been trying to find a ride like back in Tianang that takes me way out into the villages and then around and back again.  I've found and taken many off tracks but they always end at another small village.  It's always great to find a new village full of yapping dogs and small grubby children chasing chickens around the place. June 2007: Happy Birthday Candy and the Aussie Village Bike Ride After showering the dust and sweat off ourselves we were joined by the most beautiful Joyce.  She really is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.  We then headed out into the stormy afternoon in search of a birthday present for Candy who is Joyce´s best friend and fellow Chinese English teacher at our school.  June 2007: A Bad Beginning Only Means a Better Ending What is the worst sound a bike rider can hear?  Most would say the whooshing sound of escaping air from a tyre.  Wrong!  Some would say a truck a few centimetres away.  Correct but luckily for me it wasn´t that.  So what would the next thing be.  Maybe a crunching sound from the rear wheel followed by your back wheel locking up, and then more crunching sounds then your back wheel moving again.  The sound was my gear box falling apart and the two little cogs coming free releasing the springy `bar thing´ and it getting jammed into the gears.  June 2007: Christine or Cybil or Both I couldn´t stop laughing when the first thing Joyce said was `You´ve killed your bike again haven´t you!´  The tally so far for this bike is five pedals, one chain and now two sets of gears.  I think I need a sponsor! October 2007: The Great Autumn Rice Harvest Bike Ride Rice mate! I´ve never seen so much of it.  It is literally everywhere.  It´s growing in the fields in all its different shades of green.  It´s spread all over the roads drying.  It´s in piles on all the roads waiting to be put through the rice machine that separates the husks. It´s on everyone´s front porches.  It´s seriously is everywhere you look. January 2008 - The Village Temple Bike Ride With Amigo Anyhow today I borrowed Canadian Jo´s bike and I took Luo Wei (Amigo) on my Village/Temple and Loggers bike rides.  She took a tumble even before we made it out of the school gate.  I´m sure the young kids here are fed rice wine for breakfast.  None of them can walk a straight line.  One second left, then right, then straight, then left and then right again.  Poor Amigo had no idea where Rice Wine Baby was heading and soon she was off the bike and had landed on her knee.  March 2008 - What An Awesome Week It Was How was the week you ask. That´s bloody amazing mate!  I was just thinking about how great my week has been!  Besides two punctures in the last two days, as usual I couldn´t be happier if I was twins. May 2008 - The Beautiful Chinese Village Hop Today I rose and after a big bowl of noodles with vegetables and eggs I almost ran with excitement to my bike.  The day was so beautiful and it was the perfect day to find a new bike ride and I knew exactly where I was going to go.  I always feel like I'm about fifteen when it is time to find a new bike ride.  I'm always finding new places to go but when I want a new 'bike ride' I mean one that will take me 'way out there' for many hours.     Aselection of towns, cities and villages that I have visited in 2006 - 2008 Each selection will take you to my one favourite day in each city.  All of them my sandals and I spent several days exploring. January 2007: Xiamen City - Gulang Yu, is this really China All around I found heaps of little alleyways filled with normal Chinese daily goings on.  On Gulang Yu the colonial architecture was plentiful as were the giant Boa Trees.  They were everywhere with their long beards flowing in the breeze.  I also visited the Nanputo Si Temple which was built 1000 years ago during the Tang Dynasty.  It was ruined by the Mings and rebuilt by the Qings, so it´s pretty bloody old and worth a visit.  I also visited the beautiful Botanical Gardens and Xianmen University and ontop of all that, I met a very beautfiul girl.  She was like a romantic Song! February 2007: Yongding - Hakka Minority Peoples 'Earth Buildings' Day 1 The first thing I´ll say in this entry is this: `wouldya farken look at that!  Wouldya farken look at that!´  That was the first thing I said when I got out of the mini van.   February 2007: Yongding - Hakka Minority Peoples 'Earth Buildings' Day 2 They have been proven to be fire, damp, earthquake and heat proof.  Some are round and consist of one to five rings. Some are square or squares within squares.  Others are half moons or spirals but it doesn't matter what their shape is, all are simply put...unfreakinbloodybelievable! February 2007: Quanzhou City - Zhongshan Road & Around Town Temple Tour Awesome Quanzhou City which I found to be a city of temples, electric scooters and bicycles.  If you like any or all of these things then Quanzhou is the place for you.  If you fear one or all, stay in Xiamen.  I absolutely love all three so I fell in love with this city pretty much on arrival. February 2007: Chongwu Town - The Ancient Granite 'Walled' Coastal City An ancient walled city made entirely of granite was my plan for the day. Not a bad plan when you think of it. In fact a bloody good one I reckon! February 2007: Xiamen City - The Full Wrath of Spring Festival Back in what was now a very very gridlocked Xiamen City where I faced the full 'wrath' of the Spring Festival Transport Chaos!  It really is insane.  I also spent Valentines Day with lovely Ms Li. February 2007: Fuzhou City - One Rainy Night in Fuzhou A perfect end to a perfect coastal `Earth Building, Ancient Granite City, Temple and Beach Frolicking´ Romantic Adventure. February 2007: Sunchang Town - A Walk on Huayang Shan with Two Beautiful Girls Finally two hours after leaving Shaowu the bus arrived in Sunchang Town where I was met with a happy hug from Eva and warm welcoming smiles from her mother, Aunty and Eva´s friend Shania. March 2007: The Bumpy Road to the Ancient Town of Heping Moss covered cobblestone alleyways allow you to zigg zagg your way around town and visit some of the 300 or so buildings.  These buildings were built during the Ming (AD1368-1644) and Qing (AD1644-1911) Dynasties. On both the inside and the outside of many of the buildings you can find beautiful stone carvings. April 2007: The Tian Chen Valley & Broken Bowl River Adventure Everything was so alive and so full of colour due to the crazy amount of rain we´ve had over the past few months.  When we weren´t passing through huge rocky cliffs filled with strange crater like holes we were totally enclosed by a thick blanket of green.   April 2007: Shanghai City - The Shanghai Sandal Temple Adventure My walk today took me from the Nanjing Road area all the way up to the borders of the Puto and Jing'an Districts and then all the way down to the Xuhui, Longhua, and Luwan Districts.  It was a huge walk but I got to see so much and see how the city changes between districts.  The difference between the Jing'an District and the Longhua District is so huge.  They might as well belong to two completely different cities.  Of course my favourite for the day was the Longhua District.  It was more old china.  It was dusty and pretty much what I am used to.  April 2007: Shanghai City - The Chinese Old Quater & Futuristic Pudong When we arrived in Pudong there really was only one place to head.  The Oriental Pearl Tower.  This is the freaky futuristic triple bubble tower.  I loved it mate.  It cost us 85 Yuan each to go up 263 meters where we spent nearly an hour walking around the observation deck.  It was awesome!  As far as your eyes could see are skyscrapers, not in one or two directions but in every direction.  I had never seen anything like it.  When you are on the ground, Shanghai City is a huge super city as you have been told it is huge but until you get a birds eye view you really can´t comprehend its size.  If you have the money it is worth the visit.  June 2007: Fujians Wuyi Shan: Prices and Details It has a total area of 1000 square kilometres and its core being 636 square kilometres.  It has a huge amount of unique and natural scenery that includes the nine-twist river, thirty six huge crags and what have been described as one hundred grotesque rocks.  It is also an area for global biodiversity conservation. June 2007: Fujians Wuyi Shan: My Second Days Adventures You begin the journey at a small stone bridge and you are then taken along side a small stream known as `Zhangtang Brooklet´ that runs beneath huge cliff faces on both sides.  The vegetation is so lush and green and the water is crystal clear.  Easily the cleanest water I have seen in China.  Our first stop was the Huiyuan Temple.  This temple was first built during the Song Dynasty and then rebuilt in the late Ming, early Qing Dynasty´s.  July 2007: The Beers Noodles & Temples adventure began in Xi'an - Shaanxi Province When we finally reached the fifth floor and walked into the apartment, I found it exactly the same as it was in the picture I had posted on my `old blog´ a few days before leaving for Xian. Eve´s parents then came out to say hello.  WOW! It was seriously like they hadn´t aged at all.  How awesome it felt to be in their apartment again and how beautiful if it was to see them again.  July 2007 - The Beers Noodles & Temples adventure in Louyang - Henan Province After paying the 80 Yuan entrance fee we spent an awesome day together climbing stairs that took us along the cliff walls on both the east and west banks of the River Yi.  These walls have more than one hundred thousand Buddha engravings in them.  They are found in more than one thousand three hundred grottoes and two thousand one hundred niches.  Their height is from two centimetres to seventeen meters.  There are also more than forty pagodas and over three thousand six hundred inscribed steles/tablets. July 2007 - The Beers Noodles & Temples adventure on Song Shan - Henan Province Mate, you know when you watch a action packed movies full of martial arts and get all worked up and want to go out and Hoo Haar people, well everything you have just watched began here at this temple.  Kung Fu/Karate, Taekwondo/Judo etc, it all began here! July 2007 - The Beers Noodles & Temples adventure in Kaifeng City - Henan Province The streets are full of people, wonderful smells, colour and energy.  Everyone should come to Kaifeng.  Why go to Shanghai when you can go to Kaifeng!  When the Good Book (LP) states that it is a charming city that offers gastronomical delights it isn't telling lies.   It is that and so much more.  Oh yeah, I met a wonderful girl today and we will spend tomorrow together! Slow down, slow down, more about that later...ha ha! July 2007 - The Beers Noodles & Temples adventure in Zhengzhou City - Henan Province Amigo and I chatted our way through until seven in the morning.  It was such a wonderful time, full of happiness and a new found friendship.  Soon the house was waking around us and we all then headed out for a local breakfast soup which neither Amigo or I liked much.  It was gravy.  Seriously, it was just like gravy but with chili in it.  No noodles but you had a thin crusty bread to dip in.  This was nice!  July 2007 - The Beers Noodles & Temples adventure in Bozhou City - Anhui Province After having to say good bye due to too many car horns and people yelling around me I headed across town to the old quarter near Huaxilou Lu (near the river) and found my way to the Bozhuo Museum and mate, was I not prepared for the building.  What an ancient beauty.  It oozed stone carvings and colour.  The intricate carvings and stone work made it hard to enter the building.  Surely what lay behind these walls couldn't live up to the building itself.  I would put it right to the top of the list of `The Most Beautiful Things I´ve Ever Seen!´ August 2007 - The Beers Noodles & Temples adventure in Hefei City - Anhui Province When I reached Mengcheng Lu I headed back in towards the city and as I was walking I found the most wonderful coffee shop.  For those like me, Hefei not only offers a billion parks but it also offers an Audrey Hepburn Coffee Shop called 'Roma Holiday'.  On the outside are pictures from the Roman Holiday movie and on the inside are many pictures of beautiful Audrey.  August 2007 - The Beers Noodles & Temples adventure in Nanjing City - Jiangsu Province A city where many years ago the Japanese did some disgusting things to the people of this city.  The women (young girls, pregnant women, the elderly and even nuns) they raped, disembowelled, sliced off their breasts, nailed them alive to walls, ripped out their unborn, roasted them, hung them by their tongues, raped them with bats until they bleed to death and gang raped them over a period of weeks until they died.   August 2007 - The Beers Noodles & Temples adventure in Yangzhou City - Jiangsu Prov Just across from the ferry terminal and down a little back alley I found another Salt Merchants 'former residence'.  I paid my 10 Yuan entrance fee and wallah, another outstandingly beautiful abode.  These places really are unbelievable!  They all have an extensive use of expensive wood for everything from window frames to stunning carved furniture.  All the gardens are stunning and I'd say they are some of the most beautiful places I've ever entered!  August 2007 - The Beers Noodles & Temples adventure in Zhenjiang City - Jiangsu Prov The grounds were crowed and the entrance to the first building was filled with the thick aroma of incense that was being burned by the hundreds of Chinese who were doing their `North, South, East and West´ thing.  After leaving the first building the three of us spent a hysterical time trying to feed stone dragons coins for good luck.  They were mounted high on the rear stone wall and watching Cheng Ru was the funniest thing for everyone watching.  She really had no co-ordination at all.  Xie Xiao Lin and I got several in but poor Cheng Ru continued trying time and time again.  In the end her coin finally landed on the dragons head and the crowd that had gathered to watch decided that was good enough.  We left with a cheer for poor Cheng Ru whom bowed to the crowd as we left.  August 2007 - The Beers Noodles & Temples adventure in Suzhou City - Jiangsu Province By the 12th Centaury the city was pretty much the same size as it is now.  A city wall used to surround the central city along with a moat.  Sadly the Suzhou Smurfs knocked the walls down and filled in the moat but thankfully they left many of the canals.  By the 14th Centaur y Suzhou was Chinas leading silk producer and by the 16th Centaury over one hundred beautiful gardens had been established within its walls.   August 2007 - The Beers Noodles & Temples adventure in Zhouzhuang City - Jiangsu Prov Zhouzhuang Village, built by Puppa Smurfs Great Great Grandpa Smurf over nine hundred years ago is thought to be where they smurfed to when they smurfedup and Smurfpakked away from Suzhou. It really is more beautiful than you can imagine.   BUT, I don´t think as beautiful as Lijiang in Yunnan Province.  So why did the Smurfs Smurfpack away from this beautiful part of the world?  Tourists mate!  After a few hours all the people Smurf Hunting begin to make one a little edgy!  All the Smurfs wanted was a beautiful place to smurf and raise their young. Sadly their popularity (which Elvis and Beatle Mania never came close too) never allowed them to find a permanent home for very long.  This is why they now live in mushrooms and live the life of nomads.  Like the Mongolians who can pack up their Gurt and move at will, the Smurfs luckily were smart enough to learn from their Smurfgolian Brothers and now live a more Smurfmadic existence.   August 2007 - The Beers Noodles & Temples adventure in Hangzhou City - Zhejiang Prov When I finally made it to Xi Hu (West Lake) I was where Susan and I had been last night so I began my lake side stroll going the other way and slowly made my way down Nangshan Lu.  Man, there were so many people.  Doesn´t anyone work in this city?  It´s like the cities 6,000,000 people all hang out at the lake and watch the 1,000,000 Foreigners.  The first Gardens I came to were the Liulangwenjing Gongyuan (say that one several times!).  They were extremely beautiful and there were many green lawns that as usual you weren´t allowed to sit or walk on.   August 2007 - The Beers Noodles & Temples adventure in Ningbo City - Zhejiang Province Sorry baby, if I can´t afford to ride the ferry to Putuoshan I certainly can´t afford to ride you either!  She didn´t understand most of what I said but the parts in Chinese she did and get this, she then began bargaining with me.  Her price dropped quicker than a bride´s nightie and I soon had my wallet out showing her my life´s worth.  Once she understood that she stopped bargaining and began asking me about my life instead.  Bloody Hell I thought, I´m worth so little that a freakin prostitute stops dropping her price! August 2007 - The Beers Noodles & Temples adventure in Wenzhou City - Zhejiang Prov After a bowl of noodles I made my way towards Ou Jiang (River) to find the ferry that would take me across to Jiangxin Dao (Heart of The River Island).  The ferry ticket includes the entrance fee for the island along with the return journey.  Not bad for only 20 Yuan.  I spent the short ferry ride chatting to a lady who is a Chinese English Teacher in Wenzhou.  She was proud of her city and its wealth and truly believed that ALL the old areas should be demolished to make way for all the wealthy new arrivals that move to Wenzhou each year. Ok! I thought, we really aren´t going to get along to well now are we! August 2007 - The Beers Noodles & Temples adventure in Fuzhou City - Fujian Province I rekkon it´s really cool that all Foreigners look the same to Chinese people.  So much so that someone has confused me for 007 or Austin Powers and is sending me secret messages on my hotel phone.  Every few minutes it rings a different amount of times and then stops.  I rekkon that makes me an International Man of Mystery! October 2007 - The Non Adventure To Ancient Tainings Beautiful Lake So without knowledge of the lakes size or any other details of Taining Town, Canadian Jo and I grabbed a local bus and took the two hour journey.  When we arrived it was around midday and once we grabbed a map at the dusty little bus station I began searching for the lake.  I located the Min River but there were no other blue patches on the map.   October 2007 - Wuyi Shan! A Wonderful Yet Beautiful Hassle Well what can I say, this week end the Lonely Planet really came to life! In the Wuyi Shan section it states: `Unfortunately, it´s a prime tourist spot and is home to glib-tongued hustlers and would-be guides pursuing tourists.´ October 2007 - Wuy Shan! The Noise Level of Bamboo Rafting You want to talk about bamboo rafting at Wuyi Shan do you?  You don´t want to talk about it?   You actually want to do it?  Have you gone mad?  Are you insane? My gawd, what a horrid experience that was! And I bloody well paid 100 Yuan for the experience! Gawd I love China even when it really annoys the hell outta me! December 2007 - The Nanping 2008 VISA Medical Adventure I can back pack all over the country myself but organising and completing a health check in a big city would be one hell of a foolish thing to try.  I was supposed to be teaching today as China has a Public Holiday for the Western New Year we all work this Saturday and Sunday and then have Monday and Tuesday off.   January 2008 - The Wuyi Shan Adventure With Luo Wei - Day 1 We decided not to climb down the way we came and to do a reverse walk of the walk that the Aussies and I walked.  We headed passed the Beautiful Pagoda and began walking the track behind it.  We were soon climbing down hill again and passing beneath the Wuyi Arch.  I remember my first thoughts when spotting this last June.    `What kind of a person would make someone else carry such huge stonework up a bloody mountain!´   January 2008 - The Wuyi Shan Adventure With Luo Wei - Day 2 When the Monk opened the book to show Luo Wei a picture of the author, she (Luo Wei) gave a squeal of delight and excitedly told the Monk that this (Lady) Monk began in a small poor Village Temple in Kaifeng and it was she (the books auther and now famous Lady Monk) who was the Monk who raised her (Luo Wei) in the small poor Village Temple where she (Luo Wei) grew up. April 2008 - The Colourful World Below In The Yuhua Caves Yuhua Cave: 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) south of the Jiangle County, the cave is a famous karst cave with a total length of 6 kilometers (3.7 miles), six caves and three springs. It is named after glabrous rocks like jades and shining rays in the cave. It is the biggest limestone cave in Fujian Province. Since its discovery in early Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD), it has always been a hot tour spot May 2008 - The Taining Geo Park & Golden Lake Adventure It is situated in the northeast of the scenic area of Golden Lake. Here, red cliffs, rock holes and caves develop on a wide range of area, where the Rock Holes & Caves Museum lies. In the caves, there are a number of temples of different styles. Integrating rock holes, caves and temple culture, the scenic zone consists of two scenic spots Tiantai Rock and Ganlu Rock.    
]]> Crouching Tiger Hidden Villages of Yixian — Tunxi, Anhui, China http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1249650379/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1249650379/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1249650379/tpod.html Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:40:16 -0500 Around China in smoky disco sleeper buses, once again eating anything that moves and teaching beautiful people!

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Tunxi, Anhui, China

Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,Tonight finds me sitting in the Tunxi Youth Hostel (free wi-fi Yeah!) and I’ve just had the most wonderful club sandwich after which followed a vegetable salad which was by far big enough for three people. I can’t say I’ve had cauliflower and broccoli in a salad before and I also can’t say the Italian dressing went down too well with them but it was good to see normal things such as carrots, tomato and celery on the plate.I had another one of those 'where the hell am I and what year is it’ days today.In fact I walked around the streets of one of the villages used in the movie Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.  Now that is rather cool and one to brag about in a blog.   Last night I had the big decision to make on whether to climb Huangshan today or to head to Yixian County.  I of course chose to climb Huangshan (mountain) and who wouldn’t.  So today I got up and caught the bus to Yixian County as you do when you choose to climb China’s greatest mountain, Huangshan!  It wasn’t until I was on the bus that I realised I was actually on the wrong bus and that I had said the wrong name without thinking about it.  Does anyone else do these silly things?Or is it just me and Homer Simpson!Ok, let’s forget Homer and myself and cross over to Yixian CountyYixian County is one of the two oldest counties in Anhui, has a history of more than two thousand two hundred years and was named after Huangshan mountain as it is located at the foot of the mountain (located only fifty kilometers away).  Mt. Huangshan was called "Yi Shan" when Yixian County was built in Qin Dynasty in (221-207 B.C.).   Since ancient times, Yixian county has been called "Home on Wonderland". Yixian County is full of green hills, clear streams and elegant dwelling houses all of which create an enchanting sight for anyone passing through.  Also, the geographical structures and the folk customs of the area are in many ways similar to the state described by Tao Yuanming, a poet in the Jin dynasty, in his famous article "Tao Hua Yuan Narration". "Tao Hua Yuan" is an ideally perfect place for living on earth, a Chinese Utopia.   Within this Utopia can be found the ancient villages of Xidi and Hongcun.Both of which even now remain picturesque tableaus of slender lanes, cream coloured walls topped with horse-head gables, roofs capped with dark tiles, and doorways ornately decorated with carved lintels.  The villages are both fully functioning communities where you will find garlic drying in the sun and families sitting within the cool interiors of their ancient homesteads.  The doorways in villages such as these are frequently capped with upturned eaves and hung with overhead mirrors to ward off bad luck.  They are also fashioned with ancient drum stones (gushi) and mirror stones (jingshi), leading to interiors decorated with elaborate wood carvings on panels, doors and ornamental brackets, all naturally illuminated from above by light wells (tianjing).  Wander around the maze of flagstone lanes, examining lintel carvings above doorways decorated with vases, urns, animals, flowers and ornamental motifs, and try to avoid tripping over hordes of high school artists consigning scenes of stone bridges spanning small streams to canvas.  Xidi Village - Home In WonderlandDating to AD 1047, the village of Xidi has for centuries been a stronghold of the Hu Clan, descended from the eldest son of the last Tang Emperor who fled here in the twilight years of the Tang Dynasty.  Typical of the elegant Huizhou style, Xidi’s one hundred and twenty four surviving buildings and three clan temples dating back to the Ming and Qing Dynasties reflect the wealth and prestige of the prosperous merchants who settled here.  In front of the village is the Memorial Archway which was created in honor of a native, Hu Wen Guang who was an prefectural governor in Ming Dynasty.   All houses enjoy fine wood and brick carving which reflect local culture and customs. It is called "the Land of Peach Blossom" or "Home In Wonderland" for its beauty and tranquility. As a cultural site, Xidi Village was added to the list of World Heritage by UNESCO in 2000.Hongcun Village - Chinese Buffalo-shaped Ancient Village Hongcun Village is located at the foot of the southwest side of Mt. Huangshan and only eleven kilometers away from Yixian town.  In the Song Dynasty the villagers constructed an irrigation canal intervening every house, so virtually every household in the village has easy access of the canal. The waterways of the village were supposed to be designed to provide source of washing water and fire water in case of emergency. The construction was designed in similarity to a buffalo’s body structure. Nanhu Lake is shaped like the buffalo’s belly; Moon Pond looks like its stomach and channel its intestines. This vivid layout of buffalo is one outstanding feature of the village. All the buildings follow local architectural style and share exquisite carvings and are magnificent symbols of its time. They were built with fine craftsmanship that is regarded as some of the best in China. The village has beautiful scenery (simple yet elegant), a fine mixture of old houses, green hills and clear creeks. Hongcun Village has always enjoyed the name "a village in the Chinese painting". The village now boasts one hundred and fifty eight dwelling houses dating back to the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.Hongcun Village was added to the list of the World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in late 2000. It is also the location for the famous prize winning film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". FOR THOSE who are wondering what all the Huizhou this and that is all about I will hopefully be visiting the Huizhou Region sometime in the next week or so and will add a heap of information on the salt merchants and the Huizhou way of life.  In short though, Huizhou was a society with its own culture but more on that hopefully soon.FOR THOSE who are time or money limited and who are wondering which village too visit out of the two, for me there is no question.  The village of Hongcun wins hands down.HOW MUCH AND HOW TO GET TO XIDI AND HONGCUN VILLAGESMost people head straight to the youth hostel and book a tour of Yixian County as it not only takes you to both of the above villages but it also includes Nanping Village and Gaunlu Village.  I have seen more than my fair share of ancient towns and villages and the thought of visiting four of them in one day makes me want to find a colouring book and some crayons and stay home and colour instead.  From experience even two in one afternoon can be more than enough unless you are flying  from one to another in a different province.  If they are in the same area then usually the only difference will be the surroundings and the formation of the village which is why both Xidi and Hongcun are the perfect two to view.  To YixianI then decided to do it my own way and get one from station to the other just as the locals do so I grabbed a small bus (13 Yuan) from the train station car park at 9:30am and soon we were on our way to Yixian town.  The journey took around an hour and a half and when we reached Yixian I then had to change buses to get to Xidi Village.  To XidiVillageThe next bus cost 3 Yuan and we were there in a flash.To Hongcun VillageThere are supposed to be buses between both villages on the hour but as I left Xidi during lunch time the gate guard told me not to worry about waiting for the 1pm or 2pm bus as they don’t arrive that often due to the drivers either being at lunch or home sleeping so I grabbed a bus back to Yixian (3 Yuan) and then jumped on the next Hongcun bound bus (3.5 Yuan) which took about ten minutes.  To get  back to Tunxi from either village you have to once again head back to Yixian Town and grab the next bus to Tunxi which will cost another 13 Yuan.Why dong I grab a tour bus?I’ve been asked why I don’t just grab a tour bus to and from the places I go and I guess I have two answers to give.  One of course is that in the places I live and teach I am so used to catching a little bus to get to another little bus to take me to the place I really want to go.  My second answer is for the travelers who come to a country for a short time that want to be cool and not join anything that has the word tour in it.  I would say that on any given day such as today there was between one to two hours extra spent either on a small bus to get to another small bus or waiting for either.  Finding someway to get you directly to and from a place is more than just a great idea and even if you think you will need more time than the tour bus allows you most likely won’t.  Several hours in a place like an ancient village really is more than enough.Beers N Noodles toya…..shane___________________________________________________________The soundtrack to this entry was by the lovely Tori Amos The album was ‘Under The Pink’____________________________________________________________
]]> Tranquil & Unearthly Huangshan — Huangshan, Anhui, China http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1249619166/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1249619166/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1249619166/tpod.html Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:39:37 -0500 Around China in smoky disco sleeper buses, once again eating anything that moves and teaching beautiful people!

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Huangshan, Anhui, China

Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,For friends and family and all those who read my blog that I don’t know which includes all of those who skip reading and go directly to the photos at the bottom of the page, this is THE blog I would like you to read. Today I climbed Huangshan and the climb down scared the pants off me for most of it.  This is one of those blogs where a dream is put into words so grab a beer or a coffee and take the time to read it and then view the photos as without reading it the photos really have no meaning.For some it’s Mount Everest (God only knows why as it’s so cold there!)For me it has always Mount Huang (Huangshan) in Anhui Province.Today I finally brought forth that dream and made it reality.I also realised that I need to be on a leash or maybe that I need a Nanny.  Yes, I like the idea of having a Nanny and I think I’ll look into that one.  Serious by the time I arrived home I was barely able to walk.  I have no beer to relax with and I simply can’t be bothered going down stairs to get a few coldies to have while I write this.  My feet and legs are too sore.Today I definitely got much more than I bargained for.That’s saying something from some who walks and rides so much.Yellow Mountain (also named Huangshan) today, just as it has throughout history lays unclaimed by any religious movement and now holds the number one position as THE mountain to climb here in China.  It is also the mountain most westerners know 'Scenic’ China by.  I like most westerners, for most of my life have known China as a place of mythical peaks surrounded by seas of clouds with strangely shaped pine trees growing randomly upon them.  Yes, take a look at the walls in your own, your friends or families homes and surely some of them will have upon them scrolls, calendars etc with images of the above.  Some may even have a tiger or two included.Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to Huangshan!Huangshan, in one mountain brings together all the strong points other mountains have: grand, strange, baffling, arduous, steep, flourishing, quiet and spacious and is popular with tourists because its peaks are frequently shrouded in mist, so the mountains appear to float on clouds. The sunrises over them and the views from the peaks are some of the best in the country.   Out of the many peaks seventy seven of them are well over one thousand meters above sea level.  The legendary pines, oddly-shaped rocks, phantasmagoric sea of clouds, hot springs and winter snows have given Yellow Mountain its world famous reputation of having unique views. The mountains were formed in the Mesozoic, about one hundred million years ago, when an ancient sea disappeared due to uplift. Later, in the Quaternary Period, the landscape was shaped by the influence of glaciers.  The mountaintops often offer views of the clouds from above, known as the Sea of Clouds or "Huangshan Sea" because of the clouds' resemblance to an ocean, and many vistas are known by names such as "North Sea" or "South Sea." One writer remarked on the view of the clouds from Huangshan as follows:To enjoy the magnificence of a mountain, you have to look upwards in most cases. To enjoy Mount Huangshan, however, you've got to look downward.Although a very difficult climb Huangshan really is a must on any visit to China.  There are steps up to the peaks and then many more as you move from one peak to the next. There are two main routes up, the western steps (around fifteen kilometers) and the eastern steps. The western steps are much harder and most say it takes between four to six hours to reach the most scenic spots.  The Yuping cable car will take you half way, to the Jade Screen Peak. The eastern steps are much quicker and take between two and three hours to reach the summit or you can catch the new speedy Yungu cable car up. When I went to bed last night I was so excited that I barely slept a wink so I was wide awake by half past five and was on board the six thirty bus that left from the train station car park (cost and time details below).  After purchasing my entry ticket along with my cable car ticket I boarded the new cable car up the east side of the mountain.  I shared my journey up with seven South Koreans who were on a tour in China and after I told one of them where I had been in South Korea I found out the rest could speak English very well.  The ride up was totally amazing and honestly I don’t know what scared me the most, when we couldn’t see anything at all or when the cloud moved enough to show us what was below and to the sides of us.  I hate cable cars and they scare the hell out of me because they just hang there.The new ones like today’s are even worse as they wiz up the mountain much too fast for me.  Even though I hate them, like planes they save you half a day and allow you that time to play.   For some reason (even though I know they are supposed to make the noise) I always grab hold of something when they wiz over the towers and go bumpity bumpity bump.  I really hate that!  Surely they could make it so they don’t make that horrible noise.  It seems to make everyone grab hold of what ever they can even those who don’t realise they are doing so.  If you look at the photos below you will see that we were covered by such an intense and thick fog that we couldn’t even see the cable car in front or behind us.I spent my first four hours racing around like an over excited child who has had too much candy.I though had had two cans of Red Bull!I raced from peak to peak and back to the last peak and across to the one before that etc.  Each time I returned everything was different as there was either more cloud or much less which left me breathless each time.  While I was racing around the place I came across a guy from Europe and that’s what we will call him, European Guy.  As we were both so busy taking photos of the amazing world we found ourselves in and then nearly dying of exhaustion, we actually never got down to the normal travel chit chat.  After meeting on this that and the other peak and racing half way down the mountain to visit different things and back up again we decided to head down the mountain via the western steps.  We were both tired and as the Western Steps are around fifteen kilometers long (the Eastern Steps are seven) we were happy with another few hours heading downwards.  Somewhere along the way we either somehow took a wrong turn or were transported by aliens but we then found ourselves on what is known as the Grand Canyon.  The Grand CanyonMaybe this is part of the Western Steps but I don’t think it is. But then again how the hell would I know. Anyhow, it can not be found on either the English or Chinese map and it scared the pants off most of the people on it including myself.  There were signs saying that it was newly built and opened but they had no dates so either this year or last year. Most of the walk, which goes on for many kilometers is on a concrete ledge that has somehow been attached to a sheer cliff face that begins at around one thousand five hundred meters high.  It then takes you down thousands of steps and through tunnels that take you to the next cliff face and all you have beside you, is of course the cliff face and on the other side (just a few feet) is the thing that is meant to stop you from falling.  This is a single hand rail that has so many giant gaps everywhere that if you slipped or tripped you’d pretty much be a GONE!  I can across so many people that were doing the entire walk with their back against the wall.I for one was walking on that side and if I came across another ‘Wall Walker’ I did what most people would do, I out stared them and made them take a small step across the ledge to use the hand rail.  If I had of known what the Grand Canyon was I doubt I would have gone that way but the views if offered could doubtfully be offered anywhere else.  It is a step up from the planks of wood and chain that Hua Shan once offered but the photos (found below) of the Canyon Walk do it no justice as the clouds don’t allow for the nerve racking  views one thousand meters below your very feet and the hand rail beside you.I shudder even now when I think about it…..Yikes!I think the fact that you are actually on a platform as wide small town footpath gives you the confidence to continue but each time I got a look at where I had been from the next level down and saw that it was all resting on thick metal poles made me think of how in the world they got them there in the first place and how many workers died making this crazy cliff path available to the innocent public and more than once I felt myself quickly grabbing the hand rail, stop walking and stare at the cliff face to stop myself from having an anxiety attack.  I have never had one but after today I can see why people do have them.I guess it is safe unless a part of it comes away from the wall.But I honestly would have felt much safer if I also had a chain to hold onto on the cliff side.All went well and none of the fifteen or so of us that were sharing the cliff wall together fell off but what did happen is that when we were kind of nearly at the bottom, or where we could actually catch glimpses of it sometimes when the mist blew away, we came to the track that was supposed to take us the rest of the way BUT it was closed with a sign telling us we had to take the track just above it.  This was fine until it continued to lead us back up the cliffs towards the top.It then continued going up and going up and going up.With us were several families who had small children (yes only in China would you take your kids on a freakin cliff ledge walk) and there was also several aged couples (that no word of a lie would have to have been over sixty) and as we continued our journey things became not so good for everyone.  The kids could barely move and the elderly needed to rest after only several steps.  Remember that all of us had spent many hours at the top and from there we visited here and there and then went back to the top.  Then add to that a many kilometer cliff face boardwalk than went up and down and up and down.On the way back up the mountain my legs were beginning to turn to jelly (well I have been walking many hours each day like usual but even if I hadn’t been walking so much they would have).  We were all expecting to come across another pathway that was to then lead us back down the mountain.  The higher we went the more out of breath we became and when you have several old people behind you beginning to wheeze you get a bit worried.  Around three quarters up huge claps of thunder could be heard in the distance and none of us had rain coats or plastic bags yet we all had mobile phones, cameras and MP3 players.  Things weren’t looking good but thankfully the rain held off and only splatters of what seemed pregnant drops fell here and there.  They were huge and those that usually mean bad things are coming your way.  By the time we reached the top we were all scattered in small bunches or alone.  I lost European Guy, I’m not sure if he was in front or still half way taking Nanna Rests with the rest of them.  I had plenty of Nanna Rests but not for as long.  The pathway led to the Tianhai Hotel which is at the top of Lotus Peak.  When I finally figured out where I was and had paid 10 Yuan for a bottle of coke I asked what time the Cable Car closes (4:30) and I found that I had only half an hour to get there.  I then asked how long it would take me to get there and the girl said an hour and a half.  This would worry most people.But after living in China for so long I usually kind of half their estimates.So full of anger at having paid 10 Yuan for a coke and full of caffeine and sugar I was off on legs that were once again made of steel.  I arrived at the cable car at 4:25 with a huge storm brewing above me.  There was lightening and thunder all around but thankfully no rain or wind.  I quickly grabbed my ticket and raced into an empty cable car station.  Where were all the tourists?At this stage I was kind of thinking; I’m not getting into that thing alone in this storm.The cable car guy I’m sure was thinking; if you don’t then you’ll be forking out a heap to sleep in a dorm and from the .looks of you, you have no soap or clean clothes.  Look at yourself you sweaty Foreigner and think quick!  I thought, he looked.  I thought again and he continued to look.  I wished I could have stayed there thinking until the cows came home (meaning more tourists to come) but the longer I waited the louder the thunder clapped above.  I gave in and jumped into the cable car alone and I’m not sure if it was due to the storm or not, but that thing was whizzing along faster than both the Hua Shan (which I visited with the Fisher Family earlier this year) and the Huang Shan (this mornings cable car ride) put together.  It was making all of these strange sounds but none of them were the bumpity bumpity bump sound I hate so much.  This time I actually wished for those sounds to return.  It was going so fast there was no bumity sound at all and once it got over the tower it actually went faster on the new decent and made a straining sound like ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz until it got half way and slowed a little.By now I was almost on my knees promising to be a good boy in the future.I’ll do my hand washing every night when I travel.Let me live please!As you know I made it down because I’m writing this blog but not far from the bottom the heavens opened up and in the pouring rain (and with a crappy umbrella that someone gave me who got onto a tourist bus near the gate way) I raced up the road to where the mere peasants have to line up and wait for their public buses (13 Yuan). The wait wasn’t so long but I did get a little worried when the bus didn’t stop at the small Tourist Bus Station I caught it at that morning.  It continued out of town to a bus station that of course didn’t have buses going to Tunxi.Thankfully though there was a minibus parked out side waiting for drowned stray cats.Just over an hour later (another 13 Yuan) we were pulling into the small Local Bus station in the Train Station car park.  I then headed across to the hotel eatery and had some of the best fried rice I’ve ever eaten and then with jelly legs I headed up stairs to do my hand washing (like a good boy) before having a rest.It is now eleven thirty and the heavens above are still angry at some one.Couldn’t be me as I’ve done all my hand washing for this day.Only as tomorrow night may be my last night here.But don’t tell the Cable Car God that!HistoryDuring the Qin Dynasty, Mount Huang was known as Yishan (Mount Yi). In 747 AD, its name was changed to Huangshan (Mount Huang) by imperial decree; the name is commonly thought to have been coined in honor of Huang Di (the Yellow Emperor), a legendary Chinese emperor and the mythological ancestor of the Han Chinese; one legend states that Mount Huang was the location from which the Yellow Emperor ascended to Heaven. Another legend states that the Yellow Emperor cultivated moral character and refined pills of immortality in the mountains, and in so doing gave the mountains his name.   The first use of this name "Mount Huang" is often attributed to Chinese poet Li Bai. Mount Huang was fairly inaccessible and little-known in ancient times, but its change of name in 747 AD seems to have brought the area more attention; from then on the area was visited frequently and many temples were built there.  Mount Huang is known for its stone steps carved into the side of the mountain, of which there may be more than 60,000 throughout the area. The date at which work on the steps began is unknown, but they have been said to be over 1,500 years old.Artistic and scientific inspirationsMuch of Mount Huang's reputation derives from its significance in Chinese art and literature. In addition to inspiring poets such as Li Bai, Mount Huang and the scenery therein has been the frequent subject of poetry and artwork, especially Chinese ink painting and more recently, photography. Overall, from the Tang Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty, over 20,000 poems were written about Mount Huang, and a school of painting named after it.The area has also been a location for scientific research because of its diversity of flora and wildlife.  In the early part of the 20th century, the geology and vegetation of Mount Huang were the subject of multiple studies by both Chinese and foreign scientists and today the mountain is still a subject of research. There are hotels, restaurants and other facilities at the top of the mountain which are serviced and kept stocked by porters who carry resources up the mountain on foot, hanging their cargo from long poles balanced over their shoulders or backs.  Throughout your day you will see many of these porters as they grunt and groan their way passed you and the loads they are carrying are simply so hard to believe for the average western tourist and as I found out, even the common Chinese tourist.  Their job and their life is one that I simply can’t understand.  I have come across them on all of my journeys but when you are on a mountain like this one…well!  Surely with the money the mountain makes each year they could afford a helicopter to carry the cargo.Then as you stop in bewilderment of that mans job and tiny salary, then look around you and think of all you have seen this day, the buildings, the bricks, the steps and the concrete from which they are made, the  concrete handrails, the toilets etc, it was all carted up the mountain by people such as these porters.  There are no roads upon these mountains, only sheer cliff faces.  Paying ten Yuan for a coke now seems such a little price to pay for a boost of energy.HOW TO GET THERE AND HOW MUCHMost either book a tour bus from a hotel or a Youth Hostel or catch a big air conditioned bus from the cities bus station.  I of course I have to find the locals way to do it so I caught a small bus from the Train Station car park which cost 13 Yuan (no aircon and possibly chickens) and took just over an hour.  Remember though, like all local buses, they won’t leave until they are full and barely anyone on the bus is going to the tourist site you are going to so some have a heap of luggage they are moving from one city to the other.  I have no idea how much the big buses cost or how long they take but I do know that small minivans tout the train station car park in search of people wanting a speedy journey and I saw many westerners bargaining for a seat.  I was dropped off at a small bus station at the end of Tangkou Town that services strange people like me who don’t go on a tour bus which of course is much easier and it drops you off at the gate of the mountain.  My next Public Bus (13 Yuan) dropped me off near the get to the mountain.Entry into the mountain area is now 230 Yuan and the cable car is 80 Yuan each way.Both can be purchased at the cable car ticket office.Life really is a beautiful thing and don’t let it pass you by!Too Grand Canyon walk or NOT too Grand Canyon walk?It is of course your choice! But remember that all of these photos including the Grand Canyon walk are taken one thousand or so meters above the ground and that below you are sheer cliff faces/peaks and nothing in between.  The mist makes it look like the ground is ‘just down there’ but it isn’t, it is far below you.Beers N Noodles toya…..shane___________________________________________________________The soundtrack to this entry was by Guns N RosesThe album was both ‘Use Your Illusion I & II’____________________________________________________________
]]> Wonderful WELCOME MAT Moments: Sichuan N Gansu — Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1104850440/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1104850440/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1104850440/tpod.html Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:36:28 -0500 Around China in smoky disco sleeper buses, once again eating anything that moves and teaching beautiful people!

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Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

THE WONDERFUL WELCOME MAT OF SICHUAN & GANSU PROVINCES 1st July 2006 to Mid December 2006 To keep the Great Welcome Mat Of China clean I've created this page to seperate my time in the South of China to my time spent travelling and teaching in Sichuan and Gansu provinces in the North of China From here you can walk beside me on what was a very new pathway. Life took me away from the south gave me a new home in the north where I got a taste of life amongst the arid hills and the bread and noodle eating tall peoples. As in the south I rode for hours on my bike. Sadly the hours were not be spent in lush rice fields waving and saying hellowwwww to bamboo peaked hatted farmers, but amongst the bare hills that surround the city of Baiyin.  The city and the surrounding country slowly crept in and when it was time for me to leave I didn't want to leave.    Life was just as beautiful as always and some weekends were spent travelling to small rural towns with friends to relax with a beer and find China's greatest BBQ.  A Selection of interesting entries from Gansu 2006 August 2006: Baiyin City & prior A quick catch up on life and my new city September 2006: An amazing moment that I just could not comprehend What would you do if your girl hocked a loogey, snorted, wiped her nose with her hand and kissed you September 2006: Food, Twin Tubs, Heating & New City Information A run down on life so far in Baiyin city September 2006: Mans NOT a freakin camel Oh Man, the Great Supermarket on the edge of the desert is out of Tiger Beer! October 2006: Back in five Mate This is my short walk to grab a 2 Yuan bowl of noodles. It's colourful & it's noisey but it's rich in taste A Selection of Market Place Nights, Festivals & Celebrations in Baiyin Gansu 2006 National Day October 2006: Happy 57th Birthday China School Celebrations & a bit of information on what National Day is all about A Selection of Bike Rides, Towns, Cities and Villages that I have visited in 2006 Summer Break July 2006: Yangshuo & Baisha A day spent in a most beautiful 'hidden' valley visiting the stone village Summer Break July 2006: Yangshuo Electric Scooter Day Grab a pillow and join Irish Shaun & I as we take electric scooters whre no scooter has been before! Summer Break July 2006: Back in beautiful Dali The first day back in Yunnan's beautiful Dali. What an awesome town! The second day was spent walking around a little fishing village on the edge of teh lake. Summer Break July 2006: Back in Zongdian or Shangrila The first of two days spent back in Zhongdian. Not my favourite town but it was good to be back. The second day was spent visitng tombs and walking around the litte new 'Old Town' Summer Break July 2006: The Sichuan Tibetan Highway Join me as I venture into new territory adn take the Sichuan/Tibetan Highway to Xiangcheng. A great town filled with Monks on motorbikes. Kind of like Damenlongs Sister Town! the second day was spent in a most beautiful monestary. Xiangcheng also has China's bitchiest bus ticket lady! Summer Break July 2006: Litang & China's Real Life cowboys Another beautiful bus journey through the hills ending at Litang. A town full of real cowboys. Good for a giggle! Summer Break July 2006: Kangding, what a beautiful suprise Kangding really is the most beautiful town I visited on this adventure. I spent two days and upon leaving really wished I had of stayed longer Summer Break July 2006: Ya'an city or some would call it English City Ya'an was a great experience and really is the friendliest town I've ever visited in China. There is not only English everywhere but Pandas and another new 'Ancient town'. This is the first of four days. Summer Break July 2006: Leshan & the worlds Biggest Buddha What can I say, he really is a Big Bugger! Summer Break July 2006: Emei Shan First of two days spent at China's 'Number 1 Sacred Mountain'. Was a relaxing time but I'll climb it another time. Summer Break July 2006: Awesome Chengdu The first day in a week spent in Chengdu City. Let me take you to see the Pandas, the Sichuan Opera, on many city walks and a beautiful day climbing Qingcheng Shan Summer Break August 2006: Songpan really is sooooo beutiful The first day in a week spent at Songpan. Join me on a three day horse trek to Ice Mountain where I was thrown off my horse. It was cold, beautiful & a little scarey Summer Break August 2006: Langmusi Town What can I say but Runs Forrest Runs! Summer Break August 2006: Xiahe Town & Monastery Several days spent in the mountain town of Xiahe where I got to visit 'da da da da Da Lama Factory!' Summer Break August 2006: Lanzhuo City in Gansu The first day in Lanzhuo city. A vibrant & very long city. It quickly became one of my favourites! Summer Break August 2006: Baiyin City. To teach or not to teach? The first day in Gansu's Baiyin City. The reason for the visit was that I had had an offer to teach here. To spend a year without lush greens? Why not! Summer Break August 2006: Lanzhou City Back in Lanzhou City for a huge city walk Summer Break August 2006: The beautiful walled city of Xi'an A week spent retracing the footsteps I took six years prior. I got to visit the Big and Little Goose Pagodas again, said G'Day Mate to the Terracotta Warriors for the second time and retraced history in the Shaanxi History Museum. Summer Break August 2006: Yangshuo and my return to Salems Lotshuo All roads seem lead to Yangshuo and many all nighters at MC Blues! September 2006 : Si Long Riverside Town A bike ride with friends to the lush green river side town of Si Long (NOT!) October 2006: Baiyins Dirty Industrial Outskirts Let me take you on a bike ride around the outskirts of my city. It might be wise to wear a mouth mask. It's more than a little dirty! October 2006: A ride through the north eastern hills An afternoon spent in the hills where upon my return I finally found fields with a little green and happy farmers
]]> Wonderful WELCOME MAT Moments: Guangxi N Yunnan — Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1104757500/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1104757500/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1104757500/tpod.html Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:36:05 -0500 Around China in smoky disco sleeper buses, once again eating anything that moves and teaching beautiful people!

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Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

THE WONDERFUL WELCOME MAT OF GUANGXI & YUNNAN PROVINCES 1st February 2005 to June 30th 2006 To keep the GREAT WELCOM MAT OF CHINA clean I've created a new Wecome Mat for my time spent teaching and travelling in the beautiful southern provinces of Guangxi & Yunnan From here you can follow me through my first year and a half of life living and teaching in wonderful China. I taught and lived in a tiny rural town named Tianyang in the lush and beautiful province of Guangxi. Tianyangs population was around 30,000 people, mostly very poor farming families. Life being as beautiful as it is, allowed me to travel all over Guangxi and Yunnan Provinces. After work I would ride for hours through lush rice fields visiting small farming villages. Weekends would be spent travelling to small rural towns and cities with friends to relax with a beer and find China's greatest BBQ. Any major holiday found myself and my pack on board smokey disco sleeper buses N trains travelling far and wide. From far off farming villages to large bustling over crowded cities to majestic mountains overlooking some of Chinas most enchanting scenery. Looking back, I really did have an amazing time. It was a time filled with life experiences and adventures so many are not so lucky to fill a decade or two with. So come in, wipe your feet, grab a beer and with me visit a random selection of cities, towns and small villages throughout Guangxi and Yunnan. A Selection of Market Place Nights, Festivals & Celebrations in Guangxi in 2005 2005: Arriving in dusty little Tianyang for the first time 2005: Chinese Weddings. Mate, everyone arrives, eats and leaves 2005: Womens Day Celebrations 2005: Childrens Day Eve Celebrations 2005: Childrens Day Celebrations 2005: This is my normal daily lunch time. Even crazier than my students 2005: Down to my last 3 Aussie Dollars 2005: Back to school & Happy Birthday Lilly 2005: Teachers Day Celebrations 2005: Mid Autumn Festival 2005: Freaky English Names & Evil Biajio 2005: Seriously! Why does Beer have to weigh so much 2005: Happy Birthday to me 2005: Somewhere between the Market Place & home I lost her number 2005: Meet the happy Aussie Family from Guangxi 2005: Parent Teacher Night & Speeches & Blackboard Themes 2005: In Tianyang for another year. How could I leave my kids! 2005: The Aussie Xmas Tree 2005: Baise Christmas Party 2005: Christmas Blackboard Day with the kids 2005: Childrens Hobby Day. Only photos but some of the kids totally blew me away! 2005: The Aussie 'Seeya Mate' party for Leeanne & Kylie A Selection of Market Place Nights, Festivals & Celebrations in Guangxi in 2006 2006: Happy Womens Day Celebrations 2006: Party Weekend with Brad the Policeman 2006: Pretty much a normal fantastic weekend if I'm in Tianyang 2006: WOW, walking from Hong Kong to France! 2006: Oh Man, another festival. How could I forget the Tomb Festival! 2006: Awesome day at the Gan Zhuang Shan Festival 2006: Another normal weekend eating snails, ducks tongue & pigs eyes. As you do mate! 2006: A weekend in Tiandong & Baise 2006: Check this out mate. The good ol' Aussie care package. Shucks, thanks Mar 2006: Throw the bike on the bus roof and take it to Baise for it's first service 2006: Childrens Day Celebrations 2006: Beers Friends N The World Cup 2006 in Baise City 2006: Beers Friends N The World Cup 2006 in Tianyang. Australia Vs Japan 2006: Beers Friends N The World Cup 2006 in Tianyang. Australia Vs Brazil & What does 12:00 Really Mean 2006: Pigs Eyes N BBQ With the Girls & Talking About The Weather 2006: Contracts! A simple answer, Yes or No 2006: That Special Moment when it all comes together A selection of towns, cities and villages that I visited in 2005 2005: My return to Chinas YANGSHUO Arriving in Yangshuo for the first time in six years. What a trip Mate! 2005: Tiandong Adventure My Little Star English School Tour of Tiandong May Day 2005: Loye/Loyers caves & limestone kast peaks WOW, the west of Guangxi is pretty much the same as Guilin & Yangshuo. One thing though..where are all the tourists! Over here there are no foreigners at all! May Day 2005: The Mountain village of HOR MAI Oh how beautiful! Cave walking and a wedding feast in a tiny village! May Day 2005: Gunden Village An aweseome family feast with Mandys friends May Day 2005: Lingyun Town I fell in love with this town upoon arrival. What a special place! May Day 2005: Several days in Pingguo City Several days with Mandy and her family Summer Break 2005: Nanning A luxery stay in Nanning city Summer Break 2005: Beihai City Ow Man, it's the beach! Wahooooo! Summer Break 2005: Guilin City Lets go visit some of Guilins beautiful parks! Summer Break 2005: Ping'An Village Mate, you have to go here. Several days walking amongst some of the worlds most amazing rice fields! Summer Break 2005: Yangshuo Again! Once again night becomes day at MC Blues Cafe! Summer Break 2005: Kunming City A relaxing city walk around Kunming for a vew days. Why not! Summer Break 2005: Dali Town How beautiful is Dali! Come with me on several bike rides and walk the Mountain Cloud Walk. Summer Break 2005: Lijiang City Fighting millions of umbrellas & a beautiful country walk & tea with the Lama Summer Break 2005: Qiatou Town Join me for a steak with Aussie Margo Summer Break 2005: The Tiger Leaping Gorge Mate, you really do have to Walk the 'Tiger Leaping Gorge' It is AWESOMELY BREATHTAKING! Do it! Summer Break 2005: Zhongdian Several days amongst the begging Monks of Zhongdian or is it Shangrila Summer Break 2005: Dequin What a beautiful little town. Well worth the visit on the way to Mingyong Summer Break 2005: Mingyong Village Join me for a short, steep hike up to the Mingyong Glacier Summer Break 2005: Zhongdian Surviving the bus journey back to Shangrila. Pretty Hairy! 2005: Nanning City The Nanning 'South East Asian Food BBQ Festival Thing 2005: Guigang City CityThe English Teachers BBQ in Gujigang Christmas 2005: Kunming City Santa N Crew also visit Kunming. Really they do! A selection of towns, cities and villages that I visited in 2006 New Years Eve 2006: Guigang City Join me in the Nirvana Bar to see the New Year in New Years Eve 2006: Guigang City Join me in the Nirvana Bar to see the New Year in Winter Break 2006: Xishuangbanna Region - Jinghong City Winter Breaks random selection from Jinghong Winter Break 2006: Xishuangbanna Region - The Mekong River An awesome day spent rafting from Jinghong to Galanba Winter Break 2006: Xishuangbanna Region - The Mandian Waterfalls An awesome day spent at the Mandian Waterfalls and spending the evening at China's Greatest BBQ! Winter Break 2006: Xishuangbanna Region - Galanba Town A ride to Galanba to watch Minority Women throw buckets of water over each other! Do not miss it, to die for! Winter Break 2006: Xishuangbanna Region - Menglun Village A day spent walking around the Menglun Tropical Gardens & The Stone Forest Winter Break 2006: Xishuangbanna Region - Mengla City Walking the aerial skywalk, awesome! Winter Break 2006: Xishuangbanna Region - Spring Festival in Jinghong City Join me celebrate my 2nd Spring Festival in Jinghong! Winter Break 2006: Xishuangbanna Region - Menghai, Menghun, mangshau, Nanluoshan, & Gasa Areas Spend an awesome day with me venturing from little townto little town Winter Break 2006: Xishuangbanna Region Damenlong Town Do you really want to come with me to Damenlong. That place is strange and the Monks are crazy! Winter Break 2006: Xishuangbanna Region - Jinghong City You'd take her home but not give her your phone number! Winter Break 2006: Xishuangbanna Region - Jinghong City A visit to Manting Park to once again watch Minority women throw buckets of water over each other. Breath taking, simply breath taking! Winter Break 2006: Xishuangbanna Region - Jinghong City Elephants & Crazy english signs. A day at Sanchahe Nature Reserve Winter Break 2006: Xishuangbanna Region - Jinghong City Mud Maps & Memory Sticks. A day in the rubber trees. 2006: Nanning City Back in the city to get my mobile phone fixed Mothers Day 2006: Nanning City OOp's, Mothers Day was forgotten
]]> Lush Mountain Panoramas of Qiyun Shan — Tunxi, Anhui, China http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1249900417/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1249900417/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1249900417/tpod.html Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:35:07 -0500 Around China in smoky disco sleeper buses, once again eating anything that moves and teaching beautiful people!

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Tunxi, Anhui, China

Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,This night finds me out on the balcony of the Ancient Street Youth Hostel chatting to two very cute girls, one a traveller from Germany who is here for a month and the other a Malaysian medical student who has been here for three and a half years. The night is slowly becoming more and more humid not just because they are cute but there actually was a gentle breeze that was keeping us cool before but now it seems to have gone in search of a more cool place for itself to wisp, whirl and play..  The typhoon that hit and is causing widespread damage and death in southern China has sent its angry storm clouds our way.  Last night and it poured and it has continued all day today.This night (Monday, 10th) was supposed to find me in Jiangxi Province but when I woke this morning to find rain so hard that I couldn’t see out my window I rolled over and fell back to sleep until well after midday.  By then there were no more buses to Wuyuan so once again I rolled over and fell back to sleep until six in the evening.  I then decided that I really should rise, shine and do something with my last night in the Huangshan area.Of course I didn’t do anything except slowly walk down town.I then pulled up a chair on this here balcony!For those who are thinking of coming to China and have only limited time then I do believe I have the place for you, Anhui Province!  Base your self in Tunxi town and you will have something new to do each day for the next week or two.  You can climb, you can raft, you can climb, you can hike, you can relax, you can climb, you can ride, you can eat western food, you can eat Huizhou food, you can climb, you can eat Chinese food, you can drink western beer and you can also drink Chinese beer.And just in case I forgot to mention it, you can also climb.You can pretty much do anything you wish here in southern Anhui Province.  I actually had no idea that it was going to be this way, I thought I’d come and climb Huangshan and then scamper to a new spot but here I can still be found nearly ten days later and there are still things I can see and do if I wished to stay longer.  I don’t want to leave and I honestly will miss being here.  It is not that often a 'spot’ hits me like this so it makes it all the more difficult to leave but tonight the bar will soon close and I will have to finish my last ice cold Corona with lime and then slowly wander towards home until a pedicab driver accepts my small payment of four or five Yuan back to the train station.  I will then silently sit in the back looking out at the world wondering if this really is me living this life or will I wake up when my alarm wakes me to get up for work back in the law courts in Australia. Let’s hope not shall we!  I will miss my slow and silent ride home that allows a soft breeze to ruffle my feathers. I know some of you are wondering what in the world could be left for me to do here in the Tunxi area but today I had the most amazingly wonderful day climbing Qiyuan Shan mountain which just to let you know, can in no way can be compared to the mythical Huangshan.  Qiyunshan stands at only five hundred and eighty meters and is an easy climb and one can easily spent an entire afternoon walking its pathways.  The climb begins at a small village where you will not be able to stop yourself from taking more than enough photos of and from the ancient stone bridge that takes you across the river.  Once across turn right and say many happy hello’s to the local villagers in return for your passing through their village and then begin your journey up the mountain.  The climb took just over half an hour and its not until you reach the top that you have to pay your 75 Yuan entrance fee.I have no idea how much the cable car is as I walked both up and down.The mountain, long venerated by Taoists, the reddish sandstone rock provides a mountain home to the temples and monks who tend to the, while mountain trails lead people such as you and I through some stupendous scenery (LP).At the top I was surprised at what I actually found as I thought it would simply be a small mountain climb with a temple to visit and then back down the other side.  After viewing the ruins of what was once a small yet grand palace I found that there were plenty of tablet and stone inscriptions to be found on the mountain top.  Once there were over one thousand four hundred of them but now only four hundred and sixty or so remain for the public to view.  At the very top of the mountain I was more than surprised to find a fully functioning village in which you can spend time browsing through the many stores cluttered with this and that.  The main thoroughfare, Yuehua Street is filled with simple yet elegant Hui-styled houses and scattered among them can be found some Taoist temples built against the mountain. I thought about but forgot to see if you could actually spend the night here.From here I headed up to what is called ‘The Highest Peak’ and it’s called this simply because it is the highest peak.  Don’t try to take that away from it as ff you were an eldest child would you like someone calling you the middle child?  No of course you wouldn’t so let’s all sit comfortably happy with the originality of the name it was given.  I then decided to walk the ring path around the summit during which I met a happy family who were just coming down from visiting So and So’s Fort.  Thankfully they informed me that it wasn’t worth the steps it took to get there and we then slowly made our way to the next signpost.  The father was an English Teacher and I found out that they were from a town far away, but they called it near by as they loved the area so much they wanted to be included in it.They asked me if I would like to join then on their adventure down the hill.So I decided to pass the temples I had not visited to spend some time with them.We walked down the western side of the mountain and at the foot of the mountain we found ourselves amongst the greenest of green rice fields.  It was like heaven walking through them to the river where we all decided to board a bamboo raft (18 Yuan) upon which we slowly drifted towards the ancient stone bridge we all began our beautiful adventure on. For those how either don’t have the money or have missed out on climbing Huangshan (mainly due to the present expense and/or bad weather), and believe me I met much far more than I expected to meet here both in the Youth Hostel and walking along the streets, then a good itinerary would be to do a village or two in the morning and then Qiyun Shan in the afternoon as it is on the way back from Xidi and Hongcun Village.Beers N Noodles toya…..shane___________________________________________________________The soundtrack to this entry was by the Foo Fighters The album was ‘The Color And The Shape’____________________________________________________________Qiyunshan Mountain is located in the west of Xiuning County of Anhui province and is  thirty three kilometers away from Huangshan Mountain. Anhui-Jiangxi Railway goes across Qiyunshan Town. According to the record of Qiyunshanzhi, the peaks of Qiyunshan Mountain were once always densely surrounded by mist, fogs and clouds so it was once called Baiyue, which in English means The White Mountain. Qiyunshan Mountain Scenic Zone features cliff stone carvings, Taoist culture and Danxia landform and the total scenic area is one hundred and ten square kilometers. There are thirty six peaks in total, forty four strange rocks, eighteen caves, sixteen pavilions or dais, five stone bridges, thirty three temples, five hundred and thirty seven stone carvings and stele inscriptions and fourteen pools and ponds etc. Taoism appeared in Qiyunshan Mountain in Tang dynasty and it was flowering during Ming dynasty during which it was known as the No.1 Taoist Mountain. Now it is one of the four Taoism Mountains in China.
]]> Romantic Serenity in Small Likeng Village — Wuyuan County Small Likeng Village, Jiangxi, China http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1250424996/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1250424996/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1250424996/tpod.html Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:32:44 -0500 Around China in smoky disco sleeper buses, once again eating anything that moves and teaching beautiful people!

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Wuyuan County Small Likeng Village, Jiangxi, China

Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,Here I sit beneath red glows from the lanterns that surround me on my small balcony.I have just finished a huge plate of bamboo shoots mixed with vegetables and pork.I can be found almost teary this evening but not due to sadness, more so from the happiness I found four and a half years ago when I left the 'real world’ behind and chose to live my dreams. Not only is my job the most exciting and fun job in the world but for over four months a year each day is a new adventure where there are no business hours nor a boss to answer to.  There is just me, my pack, my sandals, barely a plan in mind and the only hard decision to be made is which beautiful place to visit next.If only you could see where I am now (in person!)Sometimes when I sit back and look at where I am it can be a little too much.  It feels like my life has become a picturesque calendar where instead of each month having a breathtaking picture attached to it mine has one for each day and usually of something that simply cant be my reality.  As I look around I find myself saying that this surely has to be out of a movie or from a postcard that a friend sent to a friend whilst they were on a short holiday in a far away country.Several days ago I finally gathered the strength to leave Tunxi town and all that it has to offer and for the next week or so I will be found tramping around an area known as Wuyuan and the following is what the LP has to say about this amazingly scenic area.The countryside around Wuyuan found in the splendid northeast of Jiangxi Province is home to some of China’s most immaculate views.  Parceled away in this fertile and hilly pocket on the fringes of stunning southern Anhui Province and western Xhejiang Province is scattered a cluster of picturesque Huizhou villages where old China remains preserved in enticing panoramas of ancient bridges, glittering rivers, stone-flagged alleyways and the slow, meandering pace of traditional rural life.  For the last several days and nights I’ve been in a tiny ancient village named ‘Small Likeng’ (say Leekeng) and after here I will head to Big Likeng both of which are located a bus ride from each other.  Both are real villages where people slowly go about their day doing what it is that rural Chinese village people do all of which seems to be completely opposite to me.  They rise early and sleep early and I rise latish in comparison and never sleep before two in the morning.  Here the lights go out at the ungodly hour of somewhere between nine and ten.  I am then left wondering what to do as I am trapped in my room and on top of that I have to do my best to be even quieter than any of the village mice.  So for anyone who wishing to visit and stay in any of the villages in the Wuyuan area you will be sleeping in someone’s home.  Admittedly the government has splashed about the tourism money to some of the villages and their homes new more resemble small elegant bed and breakfast places but still, they are homes.  This is a village and you do have to play by village hours where there are no bars nor televisions to be heard after lights out.  In fact I had mine turned up the slightest last night but it seemed that even though I could barely hear it over the air conditioner it was too loud and the owner knocked on my door and asked me to turn it down.  Of course when I did press the button a single time it went from one to zero so there ended my English version of The General Daughter.The following is what the LP has to say about the village where my pack lays open with its contents scattered all about my homely little room.A delightfully picturesque village, Likeng also known locally as Xiao Likeng (or small) enjoys a stupendous riverside setting, hung with lanterns, threaded by tight alleys and tightly bound together by quaint bridges.  Come night time, Likeng is ever more serene, its riverside lanes glowing softly under red lanterns and old fashioned style street lamps while locals navigate darker quarters by torchlight.Likens highly photogenic focal point hinges on the confluence of its two streams traversed by the bump of the three hundred year old Tongi Bridge and sign posted by the Shenming Pavilion (one of the villages signature sights) and its wooden benches polished smooth with age.  Among the baicai (Chinese cabbage) draped from bamboo poles, chunks of cured meat hangs out to dry from crumbling, mildewed buildings.Cross one of the ancient stone bridges and take the stone-flagged path up the hill, past an old camphor tree, past terraced fields, through bamboo and firs and then back to the clear cool river again.  Walk in any direction and you will soon be walking in country side.  Washer women can be found scrubbing wads of wet clothing along the village streams banks, plump chickens are seen scampering about, all of the interiors of each ancient hall and traditional home lay open inviting inquisitive glances whilst peasant families can be found offering cheap beds to wayfarers.  The photos for this entry were taken both today the 12th and yesterday the 11th August.  Both days I spent slowly and sleepily wondering around the village and finding small alleyways that I hoped I hadn’t already ventured down.  This afternoon I spent on a wonderful adventure out in the tiered rice fields that were watered via bamboo poles.  It was so quiet out there and so green.  I haven’t seen such green for over a year now after leaving Fujian Province, yet this green was more like those found in Guangxi.Such clarity and such calmness to ones soul fed though the bodies window, the eye.I ended my night back at the same eatery as last night and as I was sorting through the last few days photos another foreigner haphazardly found the same eatery.  Only two of us here and how nice that we found the same place out of all the little eateries in town.  A primary school teacher back in Europe who has just arrived in China after travelling around South Korea.  We shared a wonderful hour or so talking about the current China we both find ourselves in compared to the China we both travelled nearing ten years ago.  I can’t say how good it was to meet someone who was here back when Yangshuo was but a sleepy retreat for smelly travelers after which we both then followed the same banana pancake eating backpackers trail across to Yunnan Province. What a wonderful way to end my very relaxing time here in Xiao Likeng Village.I did have a heap of information to sort through but somehow last night I lost it all as I had two families around me wanting photos taken together and somehow I forgot to save this page after I had been cutting and pasting information so now all I have left is the information on the Wuyuan area which I will use in my next blog from Da Likeng (Big Likeng).  I thought the LP write up on Small Likeng (above) was so beautiful and too the point with its description on this tiny and sleepy yet very real rural Chinese village.So once again I’ve had to borrow from the LP.  Where would I be with out my bible!Beers N Noodles toya…..shane___________________________________________________________The soundtrack to this entry was by John MayerThe album was ‘Continuum’____________________________________________________________
]]> Fruity Meejyo Bars in Big Likeng Village — Wuyuan County Big Likeng Village, Jiangxi, China http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1250576845/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1250576845/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/eddakath/life_in_china/1250576845/tpod.html Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:32:15 -0500 Around China in smoky disco sleeper buses, once again eating anything that moves and teaching beautiful people!

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Wuyuan County Big Likeng Village, Jiangxi, China

THIS ENTRY IS FROM BIG LIKENG VILLAGE IN THE WUYUAN AREANOT FROM JINGDEZHEN CITY...TP won't accept my pin.Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,Tonight finds me sitting in a tiny Meejyo Bar beside a small village river and as we are the only ones here the two beautiful bar girls are taking it in turns to…….sing KTV (karaoke) to me and they are actually very good. Out side angry skies periodically light up the ancient river side Huizhou houses while thunder and huge rain drops can be heard falling into the river and onto tiny flagstone pathway that separates us.  Yes, Da Likeng is more than a wonderful place to be this evening!Meejyo is a very gentle rice wine that is around 10% to 15% alcohol compared to rice wine which is anything between 45% and 6000,000% alcohol.  The village I am in and the area around it are very famous for both their green teas (very expensive) and their fruity Meejyo.  I haven’t had Meejyo that often in towns or cities and it’s not usually until I have visited a friend’s village for lunch or dinner that I find it placed before me.  It is usually served warm during winter time and is a great way to bond with friends and their family without getting drunk and also keeping warm at the same time.I must say that I actually had no idea what this bar was until last night when I walked passed and decided to see if I could get some food and a beer.  The bar girl then explained that it was in fact a Meejyo Bar and gave me many free samples to try and then took me home where we shared a wonderful dinner of local meat and home grown vegetables.  In this village most of the larger homes have extra land where they grow an assortment of vegetables and I can tell you they taste so fresh and delicious.Both Da and Xiao Likeng villages can be found in the Wuyuan area which is known for having some of the "most beautiful countryside in China’.  It is also home to at least fifty beautiful ancient riverside villages. Walking through these old villages offers refreshing views of hills covered in yellow rape, of green farmland and luxuriant camphor trees, of creeks with small rapids. The villages lie along small rivers, ancient trees stand on riverbanks and old farmers leisurely drive ducks towards a pond all coming together to form a typical Chinese countryside scene. Originally the Wuyuan area belonged to Huizhou in Anhui Province but when the PRC was formed the Chinese government separated it from the Huizhou District and it became part of Jiangxi province.  Why?  I have no idea nor does anyone I have asked but I can tell you they are not happy about it now nor were their families when it happened.  The Wuyuan area features oodles of Huizhou local culture and architecture and is surrounded by Zhejiang province to the east and Jingdezhen city to the west. It is only a few hours away from Huangshan Mountain to the north and Sanqing Mountain in the south. It is said that it is a green pearl surrounded by many world famous places. Until recently is has been without influence from Chinese modernization and urbanization and it definitely still keeps its mystery and elegance as a center of classical beauty and traditional lifestyle.  It is known for not only its natural scenery, but also for its glorious past. The remote county was home to some of China's top scholars, including Zhu Xi, a Confucian master in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), and Zhan Tianyou, China's first railway engineer. Thousands of Wuyuan people passed the civil imperial examinations (insanely difficult examinations for selecting government officials in feudal dynasties) and climbed high on the official ladder. The county also once produced some of the country's richest merchants. The area is home to some of China’s best preserved ancient architecture and each structure has a distinctive shape and history. They emerge from the emerald green mountains, crystal clear rivers and the granite pathways that can be found crisscrossing between the fields.Wuyuan's Huizhou buildings were built during the Tang Dynasty (AD618 to 907), mostly around AD700 and thankfully its remoteness and inconvenient transportation has protected its villages' until now. Thus its idyllic scenery has remained un-noticed by the Chinese tourism radar until the last five or so years.  Da Likeng Village - From the LP (as I lost all of my Likeng information)This riverside hamlet of around three hundred homesteads is popularly called Da Likeng (Big Likeng) as opposed to the one I stayed at previously which was called Small Likeng (Xiao Likeng).  Typical of the local vernacular, many of Likengs white painted ancient Huizhou houses enclose splendid interior courtyards illuminated from above by light wells` which are rectangular openings in the roof that admit both sun and rain.  The effect is to bathe interiors in pools of natural light while rainwater soaks between the stone slabs below to drain away.  The cool interiors often rise to two tiers and feature galleries, supported by wooden pillars and brackets, all in their original state.Wander Da Likengs narrow alleyways pinched between towering walls and seek out some of its more impressive structures such as Dafudi (now converted into an antiques shop, and the lovely Simadi).  Sit down on a stone bench alongside the river or cross one of the stone bridges to the far side and climb the stone flagged path way up the hill to the tea bushes above the village.MY ADVENTURE & THOUGHTSAs I visited Xiao Likeng first, when I first arrived I was a little taken back by how different the two villages were but it only took several minutes for me to realise that this was the village for me.  Unlike Xiao Likeng Da Likeng is virtually (but soon to be) untouched by the governments tourism dollar and things still continue as they have been for hundreds of years.  Of course some families now understand what is about to take place and have refurbished part of their homes to accommodate tourists.  Xiao Likeng is of course a much prettier village than this one but due to this you are woken each morning by tour groups with matching hats and tee-shirts with their megaphone holding leader all doing their best to fight for room along the small river side pathways.     Here though there seems to be a silence happily observed and lived by all its occupants.  ACCOMMODATION & FOOD:  Like me you will want to stay in a family home to get the real deal but if I was to return I’d pass that romantic idea and stay in the hotel near the village gate.  I checked out many family homes and stayed in two of them (one each night) and found them to all be the same, very hot!  When you enter any of the rooms it is like a sauna and the new air-conditioner hanging on the wall either can’t seem to compete with the heat or they have all been incorrectly installed.  Honestly they don’t do much than blow hot air around the room, which of course is good to dry your sweat stained or recently washed clothes but it really doesn’t do much for your comfort as you try to sleep.I priced several 'family’ offered meals and found them to be over priced but some thankfully did offer normal meals that had normal prices attached to them.  Most though wanted you to pay around thirty to forty Yuan for a single meal which by Chinese standards is actually good value as you pay by the plate but if you are alone like scatterbrained me than it really sucks.  Today I headed to the small hotel near the village gate and I totally recommend it to everyone who visits here.  As you walk towards the village it is the first building you come across on your left and it has a red picture of a chicken and a fish on its window so I of course have named it The Chicken and Fish Hotel.  They have cool rooms for (50 Yuan) the same price as all the families yet they have a very realistically priced menu and it is all picked fresh from their little garden out back.  . When I arrived there was a huge thunder storm so I had to wait at the gate for an nearly two hours before I could even think about walking the two minutes to the village to look for accommodation.  When the rain did slow I had to race along the river side and take what I could find.  A man on a motor bike kept taping his fingers like he was playing a piano or typing so I followed him and found he had several rooms available but they were all steaming.  Oh, he was trying to tell me he had a computer in his lounge room and not a grand piano!The computer also came with around eight kids all fighting to play games on it.INTERNET & COMPUTERSI pretty much covered all alleyways and never found one internet café/room/hole in the wall etc which though is a good thing it is also a very strange even in the remotest areas of China. Also like I said I stayed in two homes and both offered internet but neither worked.  I have no idea what the problem was as I’m not a techno dude but I plugged it in and my net icon whizzed around and said everything was ok but nothing worked.  They of course had different ideas.As the icon whizzed around they had a working internet.I on the other hand after showing them that nothing worked had other ideas.WHAT TO DOWow, what an amazing place to visit!I was so taken in by this place within the first few hours of being here.  Yesterday evening I walked around here and there and even though it is so small I got totally lost in the villages maze of tiny flagstone alleyways which was mainly due to there being no lights and all I had was my mobile phone t guide my way.Zha Mu Keng Village:  Today though I spent a few hours wondering the alleyways and visiting some of the sites (buildings) and I then headed out into the fields and there my adventure began.  If you follow the river out into the fields you will come across a small building (that resembles an ancient bus stop) in the middle of the rice fields.  Continue to follow the granite pathway past it until it begins to take you up hill.  I thought that it would lead me to a pavilion that overlooked the village but it continued to lead me further out into the hills.  Most people would stop there as it simply continued to go further into the hills but as it was a clear pathway I continued to follow it. There is only one pathway and it is a very clear pathway so you can in no way get lost. As it follows the river you have the beautiful relaxing sound of running water all the way.  It took me way out into the hills and after an hour and a half of ups and downs I finally came across a beautiful Huizhou style village named Zha Mu Keng Village.  When I reached the end of the village I came across a house next to a large structure built of misplaced boards.  Here I was taken in by a family that fed me and filled me full of green tea.  I spent an hour chatting to their daughter who was a student at a Middle School somewhere near by.  She had never met a foreigner and told me that she had ever seen a foreigner visit their village.I find that hard to believe with a pathway so clear cut between both villages.  Maybe several have visited during her school terms.  I must say that whilst I was walking around household after household did come out to watch the strange sight of a foreigner visiting their village.  This is in now way new to me but it did actually seem new to them so maybe she was right.  I do know that most foreign people I met in Tunxi only stayed one night here in Da Likeng  and also in Xiao Likeng.  I did meet two other foreigners here in Da Likeng and both were here only for a few hours.Now I can say that they really did miss out on a spectacular walk and village find.If you do visit and decided to take the walk to the next village you must be more than careful when walking along the pathways and steps as they are made of granite and when they are wet they are insanely slippery.  I slipped my way up and down the mountains but thankfully never had a bad fall.  I only fell once which was around half way (just past the bus stop type structure with the religious icon built into its rear wall).So yes, I really do need a Nanny to follow me everywhere I go here in China……just in case!I don’t know about you but if I find a pathway I can’t stop myself from following it no matter where it seems to be taking me.  Whether I am riding or walking I just can’t help myself as the adventure is too much to pass.  I know when it gets dark and I simply give myself half of the time left to walk as far as possible and if I find nothing, then I walk a little more and then turn back.  But most times, like today I do find something worth my efforts!How Much & How To Get HereThe village only costs 20 Yuan to enter.Motorbikes will take you here from Xiao Likeng for 100 to 150 Yuan.I caught the bus from Xiao Likeng to Wuyuan for 4 Yuan, then another bus here for 15 Yuan.Beers N Noodles toya…..shane___________________________________________________________The soundtrack to this entry was by CreedThe album was ‘The Greatest’____________________________________________________________
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