If everything goes in cycles I think we have entered an unlucky flight phase this year! Our insurance company will be auditing me soon because I'll be putting in another claim! After learning earlier in the year that using different carriers for connecting flights will leave you totally screwed if things go wrong I did have the good sense to use KLM all the way from London to Beijing, thank God ,since our flight left London over two hours late and we totally missed the Amsterdam to Beijing connection!! Not the best start it has to be said but with a few enquiries and some fast running through the airport we managed to get on a China Southern flight that same evening...unfortunately our bags didn't!
We arrived in Beijing at about 1pm instead of 9.30am and incredibly our transfer person was still there to meet us. After just making it onto our flight we had literally a minute to ping off an email to the tour agency to tell them what happened before all phones had to be turned off for takeoff but I didn't hold high hopes of being met especially since it was a Sunday so to find Ming there holding a (large) sign with our entire names on it including middle names was quite a relief! Throughout the trip we would come across some interesting variations on those signs...I think the only one we didn't have was Mrs John Dolieslager!
With a 7 hour time difference I had planned nothing for this first day and as expected, we were a bit buggered and ended up having a snooze in the afternoon and going for a stroll in the evening to find some food and a clean top for the next day. Now a dab hand at washing my gruts in the basin and giving them a blast with the hairdryer in the morning (since losing my luggage on a business trip recently!) we were all set to go the following morning.
We had a tailor made itinerary which meant that we had everything already booked and paid for, transfers sorted and a guide to meet us in every city but it was just the two of us...perfect!
For a long time Asia in general was not high on my travel agenda, I think largely because I didn't know what I was talking about and had not spent any time really looking into it. My friend went to China for her Honeymoon and that sparked my interest initially. Then the problem became how to see everything and what to miss! China has a fascinating history and loads of amazing things to see, including some beautiful scenic areas so after some creative time management we ended up seeing a huge amount and having 4 days to relax at the end. Of course there is so much more to see and Western China is a gorgeous area that we did not see at all. We might just have to go back!
For this 15 day trip however we took the following route;
Beijing - 2 nights, 3 days. Overnight sleeper train to Xian.
Xian - arrive 8am, evening flight to Chongqing to board our Yangtze River Cruise boat
Yangtze River - 3 nights, 3 days with evening flight to Chengdu
Chengdu - 2 nights, one day with evening flight to Guilin
Guilin - 2 nights, 2 days ending in Yangshuo
Yangshuo - 4 nights, 4 days with evening flight to Beijing
Beijing - 1 night near airport and then home
BEIJING
Day 1 we arrived and vegged out. Day 2 we se t off (smelling of hotel soap, wearing our new tops, totally inappropriate gold footwear (just me!) and jeans from the flight) in 33 degrees. We still have not managed to figure out how much of the mist was smog and how much was humidity but you could not see more than 200 metres in front of you and the sky was grey when it wasn't raining. Not the best for photos but we had to get used to that as the majority of our trip was this kind of weather! Granted it was the rainy season but I had expected a bit more blue sky and sunshine overall. The temperature was consistently above 30 degrees though and humidity at about 70% so nothing dried! Looking back we were pretty lucky with catching plenty of dry spells for our sightseeing except for the great wall when it bucketed down, but did clear for about 20 minutes so we can confirm it is longer than 200m long!
From our hotel we walked through a really nice park to Tiananmen Square. The largest public square in the world and where Chairman Mao proclaimed the People's Republic in 1949. A huge open space, busy with lots of people. Across the road from this is where you enter the Forbidden City through the Gate of Heavenly Peace with an enormous portrait of Chairman Mao above the entrance. Built between 1406 and 1420 it served as the imperial palace for the Ming and Qing dynasties and is said to contain 9999 rooms...it's pretty big! Residence of 24 emperors and focal point of the empire, entry was forbidden to all those, except on imperial business until 1911, when the last emperor was overthrown. The 720,000sqm complex is surrounded by a moat and has numerous gates, temples, palaces and halls. All the roofs are tiled in yellow which was the colour reserved for the emperors. With some imagination you can visualise what used to go on there, imagine the water flowing and cascading down the stone terraces and gushing out of the hundreds of dragon's mouths. There are loads of bridges and entrance ways which all used to be for specific people only. The emperor was the only one to go over the middle one. The empress walked it once upon entering the Forbidden City and thereafter had to come and go by the south gate only. Everything has a meaning, including the type of animals adorning the corners of the roofs. If you have read any of the Empress Orchid books you can imagine it was pretty cool to see the throne and the screen behind which she used to sit.
After this we made our way out of town to the Summer Palace. This is where the emperors went to get away from the summer heat. It is set around a lake and has a huge long corridor along the lake side, about a kilometre long, that is all hand painted with all sorts of different scenes. After walking around the lake we caught a dragon boat back to the other side. Very relaxing.
Before dinner and the Kung Fu show that evening we had some time and went to the silk market. Here you could see how silk comes from the cocoon and is separated into a tread. One cocoon unravels into a 1.6km long thread that is super fine but very strong. My friend had told us about silk duvets and regretted not getting one when they were in China so we picked one up for her and one for us. 100% pure silk, it is made of layers of stretched silk sheets that look like a spider's web. It doesn't bunch, doesn't smell, holds the heat in winter and is cool in summer, is light weight and very soft. The plan was to get these at the end of the trip to save lugging them around but these came with a 20 year government warranty which seemed a safer bet then getting one at an outdoor market somewhere but to be honest, they were a royal pain in the arse!!!!!!!!!! Who knows if they truly were the preferred supplier to the Olympics and I have no doubt we got a bit ripped off but sitting under my silk duvet at this very moment, I can say I'm pretty happy with it! We also went to a market where everything was a fake. From iPods, to iphones, to handbags. As you can imagine Shayne was in heaven. He couldn't help himself and bought a 4MB memory card for the camera, which worked for a while and then stopped working and lost photos so that went straight in the bin. The iPods won't load music from iTunes but the photo download plug in thing works a treat! Not all successful but it was fun bartering.
The kung fu show was pretty cool. There was a story line and it was a big stage production which had some pretty amazing moves. A nice way to spend the evening.
Day 3 we were off the see the Great Wall. About a 2 hour drive out of town, we caught the gondola up to the top but had no idea what the countryside looked like because it was pissing with rain and you could not see a damn thing! We were still excited though and spent a good few hours walking along the wall. My rain poncho (which I thought was practical to cover the back pack and Shayne thought just made me look like a hunch back) eventually gave up the ghost and the sleeves were no longer attached to the shoulders but were plastered to my arms so still stayed up! As we were considering turning around the weather cleared and for about 20 minutes we had decent views and realised we were at the base of where the wall went straight up a steep hill. We didn't climb that bit but it was cool to see and we finally managed to get some views of the wall running along the ridge into the distance. Before we went to China we had seen a documentary on the wall and one of the things we learnt was that it had been built by the army and there was no food so apricot trees were planted and that is what they lived off and there are in fact apricot trees for miles along the edges of the wall. The present wall dates mainly from the Ming dynasty, some 20 dynasties were involved in its construction over a period of 2,000 years. It stretches east to west for about 6,700km but at one time was nearer 9,700km long. Nearly 1 million soldiers worked on it and it features 1,000 fortified passes and 10,000 beacon towers. Each tower is separated by the distance of two arrows so every part of the wall was protected. When we flew home it was a pretty clear day and we could see the wall from the air plane window. Pretty incredible what steep terrain it covers. Definitely one of our greatest memories, walking on the Great Wall of China.
On the way back to town we went to a glazing factory which was really interesting. China has so many beautiful hand craft traditions. When you look at the finished product you don't appreciate how much manual labour goes into creating these things. The glazing was an eye opener. The pattern is created by sticking on hundreds of copper moulds to create the pattern. The moulds are then filled in with natural dyes that come from stones. It then gets fired and repeated about 7 times until the top of the copper mould is flush and acts as the outline of the pattern. When this outline looks gold it is when gold moulds are used. I bought a Christmas ball for my United Nations collection!
We had a few hours to kill before heading to the train station so we got as close to the Olympic stadium as we could for a look. Incredibly it only took 1.5 years to build. We also checked out a couple of malls in town. One of them had a huge ice skating rink in it. The train station was pandemonium. People for miles, pushing in, bags had to go through security scanners, and off course, it was pissing down with rain. We got on the train without a problem and were bunking with a couple from Yorkshire, England. It was nice having a yarn to them and finding out where they had been and were going. The train was nice and quiet and we both slept really well but as per usual, the beds are pretty short...no problem for me but Shayne was a little squashed! The logistics are always fun like having a change of clothes easily accessible, how to get your bra off, and back on in the morning, without flashing your room mates, what to do about Shayne's horrendously smelly shoes overnight and his feet when the shoes come off! And you thought it was all fun and games but no...some serious planning is required! Shayne would disagree off course and gives none of these things a second thought but thinks it's good luck when there happens to be a heavy duty plastic bag on hand to wrap his shoes in and the liquid soap makes a magical appearance to wash his feet!
XIAN
Day 4 and we pull in at the train station in Xian at about 8am. Carry, our guide, picks us up, we grab some Mc D's for breakfast and are on our way to another great wall. This one surrounds to city of Xian and is the only completely preserved city wall. It was reconstructed by the Ming dynasty (14th century). Xian was the capital of 13 dynasties and is regarded as one of the most important cities in Chinese history but declined into a provincial backwater until the discovery of the terracotta warriors in 1974.
We spent the morning riding a bike on top of the wall from the West gate around to the South gate and back again. It was a glorious day with the sun shining and was a really enjoyable and relaxing morning. We had a quick intro to Feng Shui at the museum there before making our way out to the terracotta warriors. We stopped on the way at a terracotta factory where I had a 'ghost' moment and had a go with the clay but unfortunately this was the time when the fake memory card gave up the ghost so there is no evidence but I had fun! The clay looked like huge pavalovas. They had the most amazing collection of pottery and also furniture. Screens that take six months to craft, the most beautiful lacquered cabinets (did you know there is a lacquer tree??) and the most hideous jade carvings, enormous things that sell for about £40,000.
Not knowing what to expect at the warriors site we were impressed with how it has been developed and the three pits contained under enormous roofs. Pit 1 is the largest and the building the size of a couple of football fields. Pits were dug out and wooden beams laid over the top and then they were buried. Over time the beams have sagged and collapsed meaning that the terracotta underneath is smashed to pieces. I had never stopped to think about what state they were found in really but when you consider that they have been reconstructed piece by piece this is almost as amazing as their existence at all. In pit 1 many of the holes have not been excavated because when they are the oxidation causes the colour to disappear and until they invent technology to prevent this they will not uncover any more. The 700,000 people that worked on creating this shrine over 36 years were actually buried with it to prevent anyone disclosing its existence or whereabouts, as well as his concubines. Some might argue this was an honour but I suspect they didn't exactly have a choice in the matter. The various pieces are in a battle formation and no two are the same. Their faces, expressions and hair is different on each one. The generals wear hats and armour and the more intricate the armour the higher their ranking. They even have fingernails and tread on the soles of their shoes. Their size is larger than an average Chinese man. In addition to men there are horses and chariots and even though the weapons have largely eroded they were holding a range of weapons on their hands. There were also copper sculptures unearthed and the chariots took 8 years to restore. Hundreds of archaeologists have worked on this site which was first discovered by a farmer drilling a well in 1974. The warriors are 2,200 years old. Something that was really amazing and just one example of why their history is so fascinating is that a sword with a 10-15 micron thickness of chromium was uncovered which acted as a protective coating against corrosion. Chrome plating technology was not invented until 1937 by the Germans and 1950 by the Americans yet had been used in China 2,200 years before. There are so many examples of advanced metallurgy and understanding of technologies but that knowledge seems to have got lost and not been rediscovered until much later.
In total more than 7,000 life-size warriors, archers and horses stand in military formation across the three pits. There is a photo of a board listing all the places the terracotta warriors exhibition has toured and Shayne has his arm under the NZ listing. Carry was explaining to us how the Chinese symbols used are representative of the sounds to form the words. Auckland was spot on as was Wellington but Christchurch was a little bit off!
Carry, our guide, was fantastic. I had some really interesting chats with her about her opinions on the one child policy, censorship etc. It was becoming pretty clear that with the internet the government could no longer prevent its people from hearing news and opinions from the outside world which has instigated a change in their disclosure policies. Opening up the eastern seaboard to the west in the early 90's has also had a big impact although the influences have taken a while to filter across to west China. In their daily lives I think they live very much like you and I, aspiring to own a home, a car, earn more money etc. The fact that the average person is not interested in politics because they have no involvement beyond electing their local representatives who then elect the ones above and above them which is all pretty much a foregone conclusion and there are no different parties, is the biggest difference. The people have no say in policies but the few pretty highly educated and worldly people I spoke with seemed to think that generally they did do a good job in the best interest of the people. I don't know much about it admittedly but the emphasis on increasing your wealth and prosperity, on the acquisition of material things, focussing on getting yourself ahead and the increasing power of businessmen all seems a bit at odds with my very basic impression of what communism was founded on. Interestingly when you hear what Carry's mother was told by the government and now what Carry is being told by the government things are definitely changing. I read a most interesting article in a paper there written by a film producer who was commissioned to make an animation film for the Olympics but was given so many restrictions that there was no room for creativity and the film never happened. He was commenting because there was a lot of criticism from some sectors about the film Kung Fu panda because it was not made by Chinese but used their culture to make money at the time of the earthquake. This film director summed it up brilliantly when he said they did it accurately, sensitively and creatively, giving the world a glimpse into the real China and not the misperception the government seems to want to present to the world which does nothing to allay the fears of the world with Chinas increasing growth and dominance in the world market. Having had a small glimpse of the real China myself, I can tell you that I had many misconceptions and discovering how wrong I was has been a pleasure. The people are very warm and friendly. English is widely spoken and signs are interpreted in many places. It is compulsory at school now. There was no overt army or police presence and we felt really safe the entire time. Our guides, granted they have a lot of interaction with overseas people, were really open about discussing their hopes and dreams, likes and dislikes, and concerns for the future of their country. OK, there wasn't a reporter nearby but they were pretty forthcoming about what they thought they were missing out on and what they would like to change and also about what they liked. The biggest thing that struck me was their awareness that they are often only getting one side of the story and look online for international news.
Anyway, back to the trip. In case you wonder what the coke can photo is about....they have old tabs there that come all the way off which for some reason fascinated Shayne?!
YANGTZE RIVER CRUISE
We had a small glitch with our flight out of Xian being delayed from 7pm to 11.15pm which meant that we made it to our boat after 1am (after catching a cable car down to the deck of the boat which was a bit unusual) when it was meant to sail at 9pm. Ooops!!!!!!!! Thankfully they waited for us which was a bit embarrassing and was going to throw the cruise agenda out the following day as we were due to dock somewhere in the morning for a shore excursion but did not arrive their until the afternoon. Christoff, the German Cruise Director, with a very dry sense of humour and convinced that we were late because we were buying weed (Dutch passport was responsible for that weird conclusion!) assured us that there were weather delays during the night which is what everyone was told at breakfast in the morning. Which incidentally was at 7.30am! Problem with these trips is you don't get a lie in because you're busy doing stuff! We did nap a lot though to make up for it. In the morning we attended a lecture (sounds awful but was really interesting) about the three gorges, which was the area that our cruise was covering. The reason I decided to do this was because it was meant to be very scenic and at the end of 2008 they will complete the three gorges dam project. The three gorges were formed around 70 million years ago. The Yangtze River that runs through the gorges is in total 6340km long and is the 3rd longest river in the world. The three gorges project is an enormous engineering project with 26 turbines producing a crazy amount of power daily which still only accounts for 3% of China's overall power consumption. It is maintained that the primary reason for building the dam is as a flood control measure for further downstream which periodically suffers severe flooding killings thousands of people and destroying millions of homes. This project affects 400km of river whose water level will rise to 175m. Currently is sits at about 140m which is already higher than it used to but at the end of the year when the level rises to 175m a lot of the scenery will disappear. About 4 million people have been relocated, towns have been moved, all bridges have to be rebuilt etc. It has had a huge impact on many things as you can imagine. Now is the last time to see this part of China before it will be changed forever. We visited a woman in her new home who was relocated. We learned about how much compensation they received and how that worked etc. Clearly, being a chosen person to visit, she was very happy about this and her new home but obviously not everyone is. We had a look at a school and also a local market which was an eye opener. There are fresh vegetables for miles and man do they know how to make them taste good! Another pleasant revelation...I did not eat rice once while there but had the best meals ever. So fresh and tasty. Nothing like the Chinese takeaway shop, trust me, but the herbs and spices they use are delicious. There were plenty of things at this market that no matter how long I looked, I could not recognise! And to be honest, probably would not want to. They must have guts of steel when you look at the meat sitting in this 30+ heat.
After the captains dinner the crew put on a fashion show of Chinese dress through the ages. I really enjoyed it. The styles changed a lot but one thing was constant, they were always made from silk. Something else I learnt was that China is made up of many ethnicities. About 80% of the population is Hun and the remainder are minorities. Minorities have their own customs and the government seems to make a big effort to conserve their identities.
Something we noticed everywhere we went was the number of Chinese tourists. Many people can't afford to travel outside of China and getting visas is not easy apparently so recently domestic tourism has sky rocketed. On our boat, looking around the dining room, about 40% of the passengers were Chinese. We had a couple with a little boy at our table. They couldn't speak any English but we had a few charade conversations anyway and they were good for chop stick tips!
Day 6 was an even earlier start, bloody 6.45am up on deck to see the 1st gorge. It was only going to take about half an hour to sail through so we figured we shouldn't miss it! It was ok. To be honest we weren't that overawed by the scenery. It was nice but not spectacular. I guess the fact it was grey and drizzling didn't help. After breakfast we got on a ferry and went exploring up one of the tributaries which was a lot more scenic. Very relaxing. The markers showing the 175m height bought home what was going to be underwater very soon. There is a strange phenomenon called hanging coffins where a long time ago somehow people managed to stuff coffins into natural caves and crevices high on the cliff faces. Quite how they managed to get them in there is a bit of a mystery. The rain picked up again but the upside was that it created loads of waterfalls.
After setting of again we had an afternoon snooze and just before dinner entered the 5 ship locks which ships need to go through with the new dam. Currently the fist lock is not used but will be when the water level is raised so we had 4 locks to go through. Huge things, fitting 6 large boats each. Once all in the water level drops 20m really quickly before you go into the next lock. They had also planned for an elevator for smaller vessels but seem to have run into some technical difficulties getting the calculations slightly wrong and realising it was going to be really heavy to lower a ship along with water on cables! No shit. Apparently they have recently commissioned a German outfit to build a system using gears.
After dinner there was a cabaret show where some of the passengers showcased their unique talents. The Mexican contingent had a sing along and the US teachers group did a weird impression of their favourite fireworks, being the 4th of July and all. And the crew again outdid themselves. Multi talented they were but I think the show stopper was the fact that the girls costumes in one of the performances was pretty much see through under the lights!
Day 7 began with breaky at 7am and then off for a closer look at this dam. Bit of a letdown since it again was so misty you couldn't see the dam thing!!!!!!!!!! It cleared for a bit and we could see the water rushing though which was the first day ever they had opened it to relieve some of the water after all the rain. After lunch on the boat we were met by our guide Allen in Yichang. Incidentally, all our guides had English names, sometimes they chose these themselves and sometimes their English teachers had given them their names. Allen struck me as an odd one to choose but he picked it because it was easy to say. It made me giggle. The rain had really set in now which was a shame. We went to see some sturgeons which are a fish that can grow to 4-5m in length. They are prehistoric and have bone armour plating on the back. Really bazaar things. We saw some young ones that were only a couple of metres long. The dam project has played havoc with their migration as they can no longer go upriver with the dam in the way so they now breed them and release them instead. It seems that no research was done on the effects on the ecosystem of these or really any other animals with the building of the damn before it took place which surprised me. The people were the primary concern. No one knows what impact it will have on these prehistoric animals who have been swimming up and down that river for thousands of years or on the rest of the ecosystem.
We went to a museum which was interesting. It was exhibiting a collection of recently discovered artefacts of the region. Again the detail, skill and functionality of the pieces when you consider the ages of them was pretty impressive. After this we went to an embroidery place. Now I know what you're thinking but even Shayne was into it! You can't help but be impressed when you see firsthand the labour and skill involved in producing this work. They use silk thread which is highly reflective and achieves the most dazzling results. The animal pictures were the best because it really looked like fur and three dimensional, like you could run your fingers through it. I resisted a purchase but did get a blossom tree embroidery later on. They embroider onto silk and there is also a technique where they do double sided embroidery which is pretty clever.
We still had a lot of hours to kill before our flight but because of the rain there was no point going to the park and we seemed to have exhausted anything else noteworthy to look at so we put Allen out of his misery and got him to drop us at the airport where I read my book for 5 hours, while drinking the most ludicrously expensive coffee ever! It's where we spent the most money actually...waiting in airports and paying about £5 per coffee!!!!!!!!!!!! At least they have liberal smoking rules in China so I could enjoy one with my overpriced brew. After being stung for excess baggage on out first internal flight because of the damn duvets we packed a little more creatively this time. I also had a cunning plan to actually have a lighter at the other end of the flight as on the first internal flight we learnt that you could have no liquids or gels at all on internal flights...resulting in getting to the boat at 1am in the morning after a 4 hour delay only to not have anything to light my damn smoke with! Christoff was less than helpful informing me this was a smoke free boat which temporarily made me feel faint until he said if you can see the sky you can smoke so in other words, outside. After turning over my luggage I located my spare lighter which I knew I had packed somewhere only to tiptoe down the corridor to the doors leading outside but do you think I could get that fucken thing open? Not on your life. Given it was now 2am, there were other cabins around and if my banging and rattling the door hadn't woken them my swearing would shortly do so, I gave up and promptly went to sleep in a very foul mood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This time I knew better and had matches. Ha ha. Only to have these confiscated at security!!!! Come on. The flight took off on time and we were met by Lilly in Chengdu at about 11pm.
CHENGDU
Lilly was my kind of girl. Laid back, genuine and for a self confessed shy girl she could talk! Sympathetic to our lack of sleeping in we pushed the departure time in the morning to 9.30am. Guess where we were going today...to see the pandas! As much as I was loving the history the pandas were a must do for me on this trip. Given my slightly strange fascination with getting as close to the local animals as I can, whether they are camels, elephants, alligators, snakes, monkeys etc. the panda was not getting missed. It was the one reason we were coming to this part of China but when the earthquake epicentre was not far from the panda reserve we were visiting it was looking a little doubtful. Woolong reserve was badly affected. The enclosures were very damaged, pandas escaped although most have been recaptured now, and 5 staff members lost their lives. Sadly this happened during an aftershock after they returned to rescue the animals. Pandas eat 25kg of bamboo a day so after the earthquake this in itself was also a rescue mission to get food to the pandas who as you all know are very endangered. This panda reserve is part of a large national park but this whole area is out of action and will be for some time. Thankfully there was another research centre nearer to the city of Chengdu where pandas are bred naturally and through artificial insemination. Their gestation period is between 5-6 months and they give birth to one or two cubs, at 1,000th the size of the adult panda so mortality rates are very high.
This research centre was really nice with developed grounds, a lake etc. The outdoor enclosures were nice and the animals looked very well cared for. First we saw a couple of adults who were still outside even though it was stinking hot. This is why you need to go in the morning because they choose to go inside late morning because of the temperature. We then went into the area where the young pandas were. They had already come inside and loved the aircon unit which you can understand when you see how dense their fur is. Not made for 30+ degrees! They were sooooooooooooo cute. A lot more agile than I thought, climbing all over everything and rolling all over each other. Then they would take a little break, crash out on their backs and have munch on some bamboo. Apparently they have an acute sense of smell and if the bamboo is not fresh they will reject it. They are not at all easy to photograph because they were constantly moving around. I swear you could stand there all day and not get sick of watching them. I know the bars in the photos look awful but they were free to go outside and their enclosures were huge with lots of jungle gyms and stuff. Next it was my turn to actually hold a 4 month old panda girl on my lap...for a cost off course but the money went straight to the research centre and I thought it was money well spent for this once in a lifetime experience. It was short but unforgettable. You could not get that smile off my face for days!! Their fur is so incredibly dense with down against the skin that they are made for snow and not humidity! She loved honey and didn't care about the apple at all I had for her and instead was quite happy licking the honey off her paw. Shayne had the camera on multi shoot and was snapping away frantically while behind him quite a crowd gathered so god knows where my photo will end up!
We then went to see the red pandas that are also endangered and since I was on a role I also gave this one a cuddle. More fox like with a long tail and much smaller but also very cute.
Finally we went to see the adult pandas that are pretty huge, they do 10kg of poos a day! Just amazing to see them up so close. Although Shayne was a bit ho hum about it initially I think it was one of his highlights too.
After this we had another wonderful lunch (getting pretty good with the chop sticks by now) and then we went to the Sanxingdui museum. Very new and once again pretty mind blowing. Unfortunately one of the buildings was closed for repairs after the earthquake but they had moved most of the important items into the other building. Not an exhibition I had heard of before, but some of the items, namely the golden mask and the golden sceptre have been on a world tour. This was a civilisation existing 6,000 years ago that not much is known about and one that seemed to be wiped out quite suddenly. Once again their craftsmanship was staggering. They definitely had invented round wheel like objects thought to be used for worship and quite how they carved jade into the tools and weapons on display so long ago is unimaginable. There has been reference about these items in some ancient literature but until they were discovered it was thought to have been mythical. According to the writings there should be more in the area which they are still looking for.
We still had quite some time before our evening flight so went to a tapestry place where they weave on these huge looms. I know I sound like a broken record but the hours and hours of manual labour involved is insane! Two people need to operate the loom and they need to learn the pattern so that the top one lifts the right strands and the bottom one threads through the right colours. It takes them about 3 months to learn a new pattern. I think there were about 5,000 threads running across and unbelievably they create only 7cm of tapestry in an 8 hour day. Some of the work is so fine that it looks printed, not woven. After this we went for a stroll in the park which has many tea houses. I forgot to mention that in Beijing we went to a tea house where they take you through the different teas and explain the significance of the cups and the lids and the positions of the lids eg. Use it to filter the leaves but balanced on the saucer it means a refill, left on the seat it means I'm coming back. Tea tottlers we are not (normally) but it was really interesting. They also had these ones where a huge flower opens up over time. Our favourite teas were Jasmine and lychee tea which is incredibly sweet naturally but Lily had never heard of it so we all had Jasmine teat at the teahouse in the park. It was a cool experience because all the locals go there to read a book, play cards or marjong and just chill out. Something else the locals get done is have their ears cleaned while enjoying their tea! Long sticks with fluffy bits on the end and some kind of vibrating stick, to shake the wax loose I guess, and hey presto, your ears are cleaned and buffed. You can also have a bit of a neck and shoulder massage which Shayne naturally went for. It was funny because lily usually would translate stuff but the guy said something and she didn't until Shayne asked and he had commented how hairy Shayne was! Which is probably one of the reasons he got stared at a lot, I think the other is because he's white and tall and big. This little boy in the park could not take his eyes off him! That is only topped by our paparazzi experience a few days later when we were walking along the market with our guide and got stopped. Shayne thought she was asking him to take a photo of them but no, she wanted a photo of him, and me, with her man??!! Weird or what??!! She was so excited she could hardly contain herself, and so was he for that matter. Next thing she wants to be in the photo and then their friends so we ended up with this group shot of these incredibly excited Chinese people who we can only guess had never seen Europeans before. They were so excited and grateful, you'd think we were bloody pandas!
Actually, the other time we saw a group so excited was on the internal flight. I think with domestic travel being quite a new thing there many people have not flown before and we were totally gobsmacked at the state of chaos on the plane and felt really sorry for the air stewards who were trying to get them to sit and keep their belts on! Landing was the worst part as they were all jammed up against the window when we were about to land and then as soon as we touched down they were up and about chattering like crazy, so excited that half of them forgot all about their bags and went storming out the exit only to show up at the baggage belt 5 minutes later and then, it gets better, completely not understanding the concept of a belt that moves and brings your bag to you they would run alongside the thing piss bowling people left right and centre trying to catch their bag!!!! I am not kidding. We were in stitches!
Anyway, back to the park. The oldies like to hang out there and sing a bit of karaoke, again, I'm deadly serious! Quite entertaining when they are singing Britney Spears! While 20metres over we have some other music blaring and a full on ball room dance competition underway! Absolutely mad! Good on them I reckon. Not so good for Lilly's auntie who is an accountant in an office block across the street who finds it hard to concentrate with someone swinging a cat all day long!!!!!
After a couple of relaxing hours at the tea house we headed to the airport for our 9.30pm flight to Guilin. After setting us up with the most unusual KFC feed you've ever seen (my wrap had soy sauce and cucumber sticks and some very yummy seasoning on the chicken. Not seen dumpling soup on the menu before and that was for breakfast!) Lilly was done for the day.
For the record Lilly, your dad was totally wrong! You were the best guide on our entire trip. You were such great company, easy to be around and really good to talk to. We had a great time with you and may be back to see the West side in the future! We like your style!
GUILIN
Jing Jing met us at the airport and got us settled into the hotel for the night. Due for some sleep we negotiated a bit of a later start at 10am the following morning to head out of town to Longsheng. 2.5 hours drive it was a bit of a schlep to get there but comfy as in our air conditioned car. Where were we going? The dragon's backbone off course! 70 sq km of rice terraces that began construction in the Yuan dynasty 1271-1368. The Zhuang and Yao ethnic people have lived there for generations leading simple farming lives. The highest terraces are at 1180 metres and the lowest at 380 metres above sea level. Over hundreds of years the rice terraces have been completed and make for a spectacular sight. Their appearance changes over the seasons with the water filled terraces reflecting the light in spring time, in summer the rice seedlings are green, in autumn they are golden and in winter they are covered in snow.
After a steep ascent in the car the rest is on foot. There are a lot of steps to get to the top but the amazing view is worth it. The camera can't quite capture the beauty and the detail that you see before you. Once again, it was raining quite a bit obscuring the view in the photos but it was a spectacular sight. As you climb to the top you pass through one of the villages, precariously build on the hill side with houses seemingly jammed in at all angles where ever there is a space. Pigs live in the basement, chickens run around, ducks are everywhere and small pack horses go up and down the steps as everything that comes in or out needs to go up or down!
For those not up for the walk you can be carried in your own royal padded seat...as tempting as that was, and half way up I was wishing I'd invested in one, we leisurely climbed our way to the top where we enjoyed the best tea I have had in my life! Off course you can't buy this one in a box, damn it, because it is literally a specific fruit boiled up in water. I can't remember the name of it but it also had ginger in it and man was it delicious!!!!!!! So naturally sweet you would think it had teaspoons of honey in it.
The Yao women have a long tradition of only cutting their hair once, when they are 16 years old. They wear it all wrapped up on their heads in a special way with the cut of hair as part of it. They actually hold the Guinness world record for the first village with long hair! And it is long, like to the ground. I got a sneaky pic of one ladies hair all twisted up but mostly they cover it with a cloth.
After making our way back down and driving back to Guilin we had agreed with Jing Jing to book on an evening tour around the lake with bridges which I didn't even know was there. She did a good job of up selling! It was worth it though as it was very relaxing and pretty. There were two enormous pagodas (tall tiered structures) one of which was made from copper I think and weighed a huge number of tonnes. In the evening light with the lights and lanterns on they were very pretty. There was a completely glass bridge as well as replicas of other famous bridges all magically lit. As you went around there was a waterside play taking place just for our benefit and it was the first time we had heard about the cormorants. These birds are shags to you and I but what the fisherman do is tie some string around their necks so that when they catch the fish they can't swallow them. The birds come back to the fisherman who removes them and collects the fish in his basket. We also got a demo of this in action and those birds are quick at catching fish! Amazingly they are taught to return the fish to the fisherman and when they stray too far they respond to his call. Following the boat trip around the lake we went to check out the biggest waterfall on the side of a building you can imagine...72 metres wide! It comes on just in the evenings to music and a great crowd. Pretty impressive!
It was at this point that Shayne's little ongoing issue, which I have not mentioned yet, got well and truly got out of control. I will keep it brief, only to not work myself up into a homicidal state, but for quite a number of weeks before we left for China he had developed a really nasty cough. It was weird in that it wasn't constant, didn't have any other cold or flu symptoms but was getting worse in that the attacks would be that severe he'd make the most bizarre noises, not breathe for a bit and then burp. Might sound funny but actually I didn't find it that funny when neither of had slept through the night for weeks and especially when this was now accompanied by involuntary ejection of fuck knows what. On the plus side we were in a place where we didn't know anyone and you might think well, he was in good company in a country where people are hoicking left right and centre, but it was a bit of a problem, especially when aircon seemed to set off an attack and since its bloody 33 degrees there is aircon everywhere! Our poor guides and drivers must have thought we were nuts wanting to go everywhere with the windows down instead of the aircon on!!!!! Anyway, having been incredibly stubborn and not seen a doctor before we left to get something to clear it up before we went, it off course got worse and worse to the point where poor Jing Jing kept asking if we would like to go to the doctor which finally Shayne agreed to after a particularly explosive and disgusting attack. Hence we ended up at the hospital in Guilin. Jing Jing did a sterling job of interpreting the gruesome details about colour, texture and consistency to the doctor who declared he had a lung infection. Fantastic. Loaded up with what we can only assume was every antibiotic under the sun - drinkable vials, bottle of liquid, some pills the size of horse tranquilizers and some normal size pills - we paid a pittance really and were on our way. I will say I'm glad any kind of surgery was not required by us in that place but the service was good, it didn't take too long, we got an insurance form and we left with drugs. What those were is anyone's guess but they weren't expired! (to be taken before or after food remains a mystery as Shayne didn't pay attention to the explanation and couldn't remember!). Finding a balance between genuine concern and total embarrassment when your husband sounds like he's dying and looks like something you want to give a wide berth in public places is not actually easy. In the end I found pretending not to know him was the easiest way! At least that way I could divert the guide's attention. Sounds harsh I know but I could have quite happily murdered him otherwise!!!! To be fair, he was feeling increasingly ill and tired which was not nice for him obviously but all so unnecessary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will say no more.
The following day, day 10, we were picked up at 8.30am and drove to the dock where we boarded our Li River boat which would end in Yangshuo at 1pm and follow the river through one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world, the limestone karst rocks. Shaped by erosion over time, the rocks come in all shapes and sizes. The only thing marring this idyllic scene was the presence of the other 100 tourist boats! It was basically one long convey that set sail in the morning with a bit of jostling for position along the way. Jing Jing said that this time last year 10,000 people per day travel this stretch of river and this year it was only 3,000 as a result on the strict cut backs on visas issued prior to the Olympics. I have not been able to get to the bottom of what the logic behind this decision was other than to minimise risk before the games but I do know that all our guides have been hit hard by a decline in tourism this year which seems ironic as I would have thought it would have been the opposite. I can't even imagine what that river would be like with 3 times the number of boats on it daily. It was possible to still get some nice shots without a boat in the picture if you got the timing right but it was a bit of a shame. They have now closed all the paper factories along the river who used to dump pollutants into it as they have recognised the value of tourism in the area but I'm not sure how much better that many dirty boats is for it?! Still, without it we would not have got to see it and it was wonderful. Lunch was on the boat and the entertainment, not intentionally, was a crazy Chinese tourist, dressed to the nines in white leggings, fluoro pink shiny jacket, big black shades, black heels, black shiny bum bag and, wait for it, her phone/music player...without air phones! Oh yes, we all got treated to her dubious taste in 16 year old pop music while she sashayed her way around the deck like she was at the hottest night club in the 1980's!!!!! Hubby was a little conservatively dressed we thought but dutifully took snaps of her as she posed really badly for him...again, in the middle of the deck. And it gets better because she had a daughter who already had mummies attitude...god help that poor man!
After docking in Yangshuo we walked through West Street, where we had our paparazzi moment, before being picked up and taken to our Mountain Retreat about 20 minutes outside of town. The shopping had looked good and we intended to make a day of it but were now just looking forward to doing very little for the next 4 days. I had booked this place myself and it didn't disappoint. The room was great. We had a balcony overlooking the river and it was set in the middle of karts rocks. The view from out balcony was spectacular. Shayne crashed out and I read my book on the balcony for the afternoon while we had a little monsoon moment with crashing thunder. It eventually stopped. Being isolated I wasn't sure about the restaurant or prices but both again did not disappoint. Fantastic menu, delicious food and really friendly staff.
Day 11 we rocked down for breakfast at 10.30am and spent until 3pm doing sweet fuck all. It rained again but then cleared so we grabbed a couple of bikes and took off down the road to explore. The roads are slabs of concrete so nice to bike on and it's all flat so not strenuous at all! We got to the second village which is where the road ended and we negotiated our fare for our bamboo taxi back. Two chairs, on a bamboo raft, with a brolly if you want one and a little man with a long stick pushing you along, and the occasional waterfall/wear thing to go over. The rain stayed away and an hour later we and our bikes were delivered back to our hotel. Bliss. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon. That evening we had a 'hot pot'. Basically a hot plate, a pot of broth stuff and things to chuck in it. I hated it, Shayne loved it. Not surprising really since it's like a good old boil up! Nothing for it but to order a large desert to fill the gap.
Day 12 was shopping day. Off we went to town and spent the whole afternoon and evening shopping! Everywhere we went, including here, everything is so clean. You don't see rubbish lying around, you can't smell sewers. You can smell the toilets from 20meters away but that's a different matter! After some hard bargaining, plenty of ice coffees and some dinner we headed back. Miraculously there was no rain at all this day. We had a great time.
Day 13 was going to be a walk to Moon hill but it rained and rained and Shayne was knackered so I read and he slept. For the evening we had booked to go and see a show that takes place on the water, set with a natural backdrop of karst rocks. A bit pricey but definitely unique. Some of it was great, some of it could have been done better, being able to follow the storyline would have helped but overall it was enjoyable with some clever use of pontoons, lighting, rafts, fire and props. The best bit was the audience. Largely Chinese, who all thought it was fine to talk nonstop and loudly through the whole performance! And they are an excitable bunch with huge ooooooohhhs and aaaaahhhhhhhs when something happened.
Day 14 was our last day and we were leaving at 5pm to go to the airport but I had booked a late flight so that we had the day there which worked out perfectly. After strategically packing and leaving some cheap singlets and jandals behind we managed to get it all in within the allowed weight ranges, or so we guessed! We checked out, paid the bill, stored the bags and took off for our hike to moon hill. We left the bikes behind and set off on foot, crossing the river, walking through a couple of villages, encountering a scary bullock who thankfully was tied up on a very thin piece of rope which miraculously held him when he didn't like Shayne's aftershave and started charging at us, or maybe he liked it a little too much?! About an hour later we spied the famous Moon Hill. Depending on what angle you view it from the hole in the hill can be a half moon or just a sliver. What I can tell you is there is a fuck load of steps to actually be standing in that hole!!!! Sweating like a bastard we climbed up and the view was worth it. The day was clear and you could see these amazing karst peaks for miles. The descent was a bit easier and on jelly legs I had a welcome ice coffee at the bottom. We managed to shake the two ladies who were selling water and, of all things, mango juice to us on the way up but a couple of guys we passed on the way down had them as personal fanners for their ascent! Those old bags must be fit climbing that a few times a day! After we got back to the hotel at about 4pm the rain kicked in which didn't bother us much and an hour later we were in our car heading for Guilin airport, a couple of hours away.
As the two hours were approaching Shayne was getting a little twitchy as we were on a remote back road with pot holes and a very unlikely location for an airport but when our guy said 5 minutes he meant it and next thing you know we bounce out of a pot hole, through a barrier and the back way into the airport. I was more worried about the petrol situation myself as he'd pulled into three stations and they didn't seem to have what he needed and every time his tutting got louder which didn't seem to be a good sign! God know what our car was running on but it was going to be fumes soon! Thankfully he gassed up and we made it. Not long after someone turned the tap to full on and it pelted down. Unbelievable, along with thunder and lightning. It cleared and our flight left on time, along with a guy so drunk he kept dropping his parcels and they flew a security person with him! At the other end we caught a cab to the airport hotel but we seemed to have arrived in the middle of some chaos. A flight was cancelled and they were trying to accommodate all these people and the crew who looked like hotel staff but weren't which explained why they hanging around the reception desk but not doing anything! Finally it was our turn and we hit the pillow at about 1.30am. The next morning after some breakfast we caught the shuttle, got checked in, without incurring any excess baggage costs (bonus!) and were on our way. This time we actually flew KLM which was very nice with good leg room for Shayne and made the connection in Amsterdam to London without any problems. In typical fashion half the trains in London weren't running due to engineering works but we eventually made it home by about 7.30pm and back at work the next morning.
Ironically I developed a cough in the last few days of our trip which escalated and the doctor (who I went to see!!!!!) said it was a viral chest infection and nothing for it but copious amounts of water and having your head over a bowl of steam. I was off work 1.5 days last week and spent the whole weekend in bed with fever and aches the likes of which I have not had since stupidly going to the gym a long time ago! I've been off work Mon and Tue this week too so well and truly suffered from a nasty lurgy! Some might say karma for pretending not to know Shayne???!!! I say just bad luck!!!! The irony is he slept straight through me coughing up a lung during the night!
Anyway, that was our China experience. Full of new discoveries, corrected misperceptions about a country and its people and a new found appreciation of the unexpected, like tea houses and embroidery!!!!!!!
Next on the agenda is a boat trip along the Croatian coastline for a week at the end of August. I'm hoping for a few more sunbathing opportunities on this one!
Check out the Videos at the bottom of the photos, Scroll to the end!
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