Adventures in me 'ol China!

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Arrived in China later than expected, so had to hot foot it to our hotel to meet our tour group! We followed all the instructions given to us on how to get from the airport to the hotel via taxi, but somehow must have done something wrong. So much so we ended up in a 16 seater minibus- to ourselves!!! The giggles soon dissipated due to the crazy nature of the taxi drivers driving and other Chinese road users! Now we have had some crazy taxis before but I feel this may have taken the biscuit. But still we arrived checked in, met the group and had dinner. The next day it was up early for a guided tour of Tiananmen Square, the forbidden city and the dream tower! This day was entertaining for a few reasons:
1. You cannot help but notice the smog that covers the city- I've read about it but didn't realise it would be that bad
2. No sooner had we stepped out of the hotel, people were staring at us and one woman grabbed me in the queue for a photo- something which continued through out the day. Some people at least came up and kind of asked, others would pretend that you couldn't see them taking one!! So somewhere in China is a photo album of us all, posing with Chinese people and holding Chinese children picking their noses!
3. Once we had climbed up the dream tower in the boiling heat, we had our photos taken in traditional Chinese dress overlooking the forbidden kingdom.
Back at the hotel for a quick shower before we headed off in the evening for he traditional kung fu show. I have to say we both really enjoyed it and it was fab to see some traditional Chinese culture.
Again the next day we were up early this time we were destined for the wall, not just any wall but THE GREAT WALL!
We got a cable car up to the top and then walked for what seemed like hours along it to get to the various view points. It was so hot it was unreal- this is probably why I thought it would be a good idea to run up some of it and why we all took to singing 'ain't no mountain high enough' at the top of our lungs on the wall. Still enough walking we decided to get the toboggan down. It was really fun but I have to admit I was nervous after my last tobogganing adventure in New Zealand!
Covered in sweat and smiles the reality kicked in that we would not be able to shower until the following day as we were now on route for the night train. Wet wipes at the ready we managed to clean up somewhat. Still it didn't really matter as the night train was hot and smelly also!
The only way I can explain the night train is like trying to squeeze six people into a shoe box. Hardly any room, hot, sweaty and nil personal space. With the lights off at 10pm it was how I imagined boarding school to be like, except instead of fun roomies we had crazy odd Chinese locals. We tried to sock it to the man by staying up for a drink in the end of the carriage but gave up when I got trapped on the floor behind a door in a tiny space with jo and another girl!!!
The next morning we were all dying for a shower by the time we arrived in Xian but we were unable to check in so it was off to the local market for breakfast. We explored the market and we're able to try all sorts of traditional Chinese breakfast delights (although they were all fried and filled with stodge) we also encountered some more 'local habits' like walking a dog upright in high heels and a dress... yes that's right the dog was wearing pink sparkly high heels and a frilly dress. Absolute lunacy.
Finally we checked in and went on to explore the town. We got as far as the hairdressers for one of the guys we were with to have an hour long haircut and blow dry (he is essentially bald by the way) and then a photo shop for one of the girls! That evening it was off to explore the city properly, visit the night markets and have a dumpling feast!!! The dumplings were amazing. All hand made and crazy tasty! After it was souvenir shopping in the markets. The highlight being buying chopsticks for £1.50! I bartered like a pro- so much so the woman got cross with me and threw the chopsticks at Jo!!! The next day we were headed off to the terracotta warriors. It was incredible- really can't put into words how amazing it was and to think the emperor wanted actual humans to begin with! On the way back we stopped off at another place (I can't remember the name) and watched the water fountain show. As we were standing around listening to our guides info on the area an old woman bent over in two, struggling on crutches limping like a champion approached. She approached us all wanting money and after none of us gave her money, before our very eyes, she straightened up and walked away like a spring chicken!! We were gobsmacked!
The next day we had some free time before getting onto another night train. Again the conditions were cramped and very warm. To boost morale we had a karaoke session on the train before bed, belting out total eclipse of the heart. I managed to have a decent nights sleep, Jo however was sharing her cabin with some drunk Chinese people and woke up to them sat on the bunk opposite her, at 5am eating hard boiled eggs whilst staring at her sleeping. She wasn't a happy bunny!
We arrived in Suzhou mid morning and hit the town for a visit to the famous masters of the nets garden. After an hour wondering around we were totally zen! Next up our tour guide had organised a rickshaw tour around the city. Our guy looked smiley and so we got in all ready to go. We soon ended up drifting to the back being overtook. Then we started to drop right behind, then he got off and started pushing! He looked like he was about to keel over. I offered to pedal instead but it was lost in translation! When we finally got to the stop we expressed our concern to our tour guide- only to be told he was fine he does this all the time every day and has had heavier people than us in the back! Ok onwards to the next stop- again he looked like he was going to die, we were at the back and now we were being harassed by angry drivers. He nearly killed us on a cross road intersection and then we actually hit a woman on a moped going along the road. It went through stages of being funny and then outright scary and humiliating. When we got to the next stop we were in no mood for laughing and I quite frankly was shell shocked! The tour guide said the rickshaw was broken after talking to the driver and thankfully we got in another rickshaw for the last leg. I can safely say I never want to go in a rickshaw ever again! To get over she shock a stiff drink was in order. It came in the form of a karaoke session. Drink was flowing and songs were being murdered before we knew it! It was a fab night and defo some sore heads in the morning, which we didn't have time to nurse. We were on a bullet train to Shanghai early morning where most of us were to hung over to appreciate the speed we were travelling at (200km/hr). In Shanghai we explored the city before an evening of the finest acrobatics you have ever seen! We were told it was special and boy was it! From the start with girls riding bicycles with no hands and jumping on and off them to the finish with squeezing eight motor cycles into a small spherical cage- it was edge of your seat stuff and really really good! It was a fantastic way to end our whirlwind crazy week in China! We fly to Thailand on the morning for some much needed sunshine! Bye from China Lauren and Jo

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