Change to China Itinerary
Trip Start
Jun 11, 2008
1
6
349
Trip End
May 14, 2009
Mansfield,
United Kingdom
Friday, May 30, 2008
After we have finished on the Yangtze river we will head straight to Xian instead of Chengdu. We will the go to Pingyao and Datong bfore heading to Beijing.
Pingyao is an ancient town designed in the shape of a tortoise - the Chinese symbol for longevity. It is full of temples, traditional architecture, city walls, watch towers and battlements. China's earliest banks were set up in Pingyao which at a stage during the Qing dynasty was the financial headquarters of the entire country.
On day 14 we travel by bus to Datong. Now an industrial city and transportation hub, Datong once served as a military stronghold throughout numerous dynasties and also as a capital for some ancient kingdoms. In those days it flourished in trade and agriculture and was a centre for Buddhism. A highlight of our stay here is a tour to the Yungang (Cloud Ridge) caves, one of the three great Buddhist grottoes in China. Construction began as early as 460 AD and there are over 50,000 Buddha statues that were carved into the caves by over 10,000 artisans, stonemasons and their assistants.
So bearing this in mind, it will be a shame to miss the pandas but the alternative looks very interesting and worthwhile.
On another note, we have now got our passports back with our Chinese & Vietnamese visas in them. All is well. We have also now got our Cambodia visas. I did these online with the Cambodian Embassy. It is known as an e-visa and costs $25 each ($5 more than at the border or Embassy). This is a new thing from last year and there are mixed reports but we will give it a go. We got an email back from the Embassy within 2 hours with our visas attached. We can print these off and even stick them in our passports if we like. We need to have two copies, one for entering and one for exiting.
Anyway, thats all for now.....11 days until we head for the Nations Capital before flying the next day....ONLY 4 MORE WORKING DAYS!!! (I've got Thursday off to watch the cricket at Trent Bridge)
