Day 365 - Happy Endings

Well thankfully I’m pleased to report that a jaded traveller I’m definitely not - after the flat experience that turned out to be my time in Vietnam I have absolutely loved being in China - even if I have been travelling alone again. It’s a vast and varied country with stunning scenery, sprawling cities, friendly locals and such a different culture to my own that, though I was left bewildered and amazed on many occasions at both what the country once was and how it is today, I couldn’t get enough of it.

I decided when leaving Vietnam to head straight to Hong Kong, where I could wait for a few days whilst I applied for a visa to enter mainland China. Unfortunately the Vietnam border control stamped the last empty page in my passport so, as you have to have a blank page for the Chinese visa sticker, I had to make a stop at the British Consulate to see if I could arrange a new one. I was relieved to find that, rather than wait the usual 10 days for a new passport to be issued, the consulate (with their magic official stamp) were able to “activate” the back page of my passport then and there, giving me free space and enabling me to obtain the required visa within the normal 3 days.

So after a nice time catching up with a friend from back home who now works in Hong Kong and a few days enjoying the sights, malls, movies, entertainment and general modern city living in the fantastic “east-meets-west” metropolis, I was ready to journey on into China proper. As with much of my journey since leaving South America I hadn’t really taken any time to plan a route, but with only a little over 3 weeks to fit in as much as possible I took a little time in Hong Kong to work out where I wanted to head. China is vast and the small amount of time I had remaining would barely give me a chance to visit a few of the highlights.

Thanks to the miracle of last minute discount air tickets (and I’m sad to say at not much help to the environment), I ended up starting by travelling almost the entire length of China by plane to the western province of Yunnan, arriving first in the town of Lijiang - just below the start of the Himalayan foothills that lead into Tibet.

Despite now considering myself an old-hand at travel I proved on my first arrival in China proper that we can all take a fall and look like the rookie - having caught a bus into Lijiang without any difficulties and not so much as a thought on my part - I realised that, having only the name of a hostel and no map, I was going to have to get some directions. Normally things just fall into place and it’s never a problem but I immediately realised that in China, if you don’t speak Mandarin, it’s a very good idea to plan ahead and get someone to write down the directions or address of where you want to go in Chinese… because very few people speak (let alone read) a word of English!

Marcus Brody would have been proud as I stood there helplessly trying to mime the name of my hostel of choice to the horrified poor innocent victim that I’d stopped on the street. Us both looking around for someone else who might prove better at this game of charades resulted in nothing but a sea of faces that all looked at me equally bewildered. And so I was stuck, standing at the side of the road, drawing a crowd and feeling very foolish whilst thinking I might as well be there wearing tweeds to complete the look of the bumbling Brit abroad, when I was rescued by three students who were as desperate to practice their English as I was to scurry to the hostel and regain my dignity.

As it turned out my three saviours were great guys - there wasn’t a money-call or a tea-scam in sight (some tourists are approached by people wanting to “practice” English and then roped into going for tea which they end up paying for at inflated prices), they knew where my hostel was and kindly walked with me the entire way there through the labyrinth of the old town of Lijiang whilst pointing out some of the sites. It was a great introduction to how pleasant and good natured the Chinese can be and a refreshing boost after so many times in recent months when people haven’t been so helpful.

Lijiang is yet another of those UNESCO sites that we all tend to flock to on our travels. But they are all award holders for good reason and Lijiang stood out as a great example of old Naxi architecture (even if an earthquake in 1996 did destroy much of the buildings meaning a lot aren’t quite as old as they’d have you believe). The Naxi people (a tribe that originally descended from neighbouring Tibet) now reside in and around a maze of quaint alley-ways which snake through the old town, many fringed by small running streams and canals which locals still use for daily life and across which are buildings that can only be accessed by crossing small bridges to each front door. I’d read that a lot of visitors to China shun Lijiang for being too touristy but actually I think that’s a shame - it is hugely touristy but very few are westerners (indeed I was the only one at my hostel). The biggest tourists in China are the Chinese themselves and I’d never witnessed that many of them on holiday before so to be honest I was almost as fascinated by that as I was by the town itself. When China is on holiday it works the sights hard during the day (usually en-masse with a flag-wielding guide at the front) and hits the bars and restaurants even harder at night. The bar scene in Lijiang consists of a beautiful street, lined with red-lanterns and divided along its length by a small stream running down the middle. The staff at the bars on each side of the street entice customers in by performing choreographed dance routines on the streets and the dancefloors which, particularly as they seem to favour cheesy 80’s hits, are a hilarious site to behold. Once they fill up with punters the bars have singing and shouting competitions with their counterparts on the other side of the stream in some kind of barwar that I couldn’t quite get the gist of!

Lijiang brought a refreshing change in that I was able to wander the main square and walk directly in front of the street hawkers and touts without any of them coming near me - they were all after the homegrown tourists. I walked into town one day with a guy from Shanghai who was staying in my hostel and he was embarrassed to be called at and approached dozens of times during our short walk. I tried to put him at ease by explaining that usually it was me, as a foreigner, that received the hassle to buy something touristy… but I think he just thought I was being smug so he quickly changed the subject to Britney Spears leaving me rather at a loss for words!

Beautiful though Lijiang was the punishing schedule I set for myself in China meant I could only afford a day and a half getting myself lost in the maze of streets and wandering around a few of the nearby attractions in town. But China has some stunning scenery so I was happy to jump on a bus and get out of town to stretch the legs a bit on one last trek.

The two-day hike through Tiger Leaping Gorge was on my to-do list as soon as I decided to head to China - it’s been a popular trek for years but was made even more famous by Michael Palin who featured it in his series Himalaya. In addition it keeps grabbing headlines due to the local authority’s continuous threats to dam the river in their quest for more hydro-electric power. I was happy to be planning on doing the trek on my own but as happened during my solo-trekking experience in Argentina at New Year, the bus journey to Tiger Leaping Gorge resulted in a new set of “emergency friends” - this time in the form of Steve, Tom and Leigh. We ended up trekking the entire two days together and actually it proved great to have some company - for some reason it always seems preferable to stare at stunning scenery and be able to saw “wow” aloud to someone - even if they are a virtual stranger you’ll probably never run into again! And Tiger Leaping Gorge had plenty of wow moments… the gorge itself rises almost vertically some 2,000m from the rushing waters of the Yangtze River to the peaks beside it and the narrow (and at times steep) winding path that snakes along the ridges provides dozens of corners that unwind to reveal numerous Kodak moments of stunning vistas and local Naxi village life. I’d been prepared for some very basic accommodation at the overnight stop but we ended up chancing our luck at the Tea-Horse Guesthouse (one of the bunkhouses I hadn’t read anything about) and it turned out to be excellent - friendly locals, good value for money and rooms with drop-off views down the gorge made it easy to see why some people stay several days. The end of the hike on day two drops all the way down to the famous Tiger Leaping Stone set in the raging waters of the river - this is where the legend of Tiger Leaping Gorge originated: a tiger being chased by a hunter leapt the entire width of the river using the stone which is still 25m from the other side.

After a night back in Lijiang I headed, via a long journey through Kunming, on to the area around Guilin back in the southeast of the country. My main reason for coming here was to spend some time in the stunning karst scenery situated around Yangshuo (a small town an hour south of Guilin). If Lijiang offered an insight into tourism Eastern style, Yangshuo countered it perfectly by showing off tourism western style! It’s backpacker heaven or hell depending on your preferences and although I enjoyed a brief respite from experiencing China by spending a few hours writing in one of the many western-style bars (it was honestly the only place I could get wi-fi!) - I very much know which side I prefer!

But although Yangshuo is a popular place for travellers to hang out and as a result doesn’t feel very authentic, getting out of town is easy. And that’s where it all becomes worthwhile. I borrowed a bike from the hostel and immediately lost myself (and other travellers!) in the surrounding countryside - spending a couple of days meandering down backlanes, past small villages, rivers and around miles of rice paddies whilst being chased regularly by curious dogs and even more curious children. The entire countryside is relatively flat but is peppered with sharp karst formations that sprout out of the ground at random intervals rising vertically to a high peak before you. It was Halong Bay on land and was well worth the visit.

From Yangshuo I headed a few hours north of Guilin and spent a day at the Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces near Longsheng. Despite being very much on the coach tour circuit this was a visually stunning landscape with the half hour climb to the top of the hills leaving me with a spectacular panoramic view of endless water-filled rice terraces cascading down every last inch of the surrounding countryside. The local area is home to the Zhuang and Yao people who began cultivating the terraces in the 13th Centrury (Yuan Dynasty). Over the years they’ve perfected the landscape into agriculturally efficient, visually pleasing and historically significant formations where views now boast names such as “The Road to Heaven”, “Seven Stars and Accompanying Moon” and “Nine Dragons and Five Tigers” - all with legend-based stories to complement them. In addition to all this scenery the local women of nearby Huangluo Yao are apparently Guinness World Record holders themselves thanks to their tradition of growing their hair to monumental lengths… walking around the countryside I was regularly accosted by local village ladies who for a few tourist dollars would drop the lot for me!

Although somewhat of a detour for me (largely due to an inability to travel though Chengdu and Sichuan Province because of the recent earthquake), The Terracotta Warriors at Xi’an was a site I was determined to get to visit. So another roundabout journey got me to the centre of Xi’an where I spent a day wandering the historic Muslim Quarter, seeing the ancient Bell and Drum Towers and walking along some of the 12km of beautifully preserved (and restored) 18m wide by12m high 600 year old city wall that borders the old town.

The next day I took a trip with the hostel out to the site that is home to the Terracotta Warriors - for those that haven’t heard of them these 8,000 life-sized figures (and accompanying regal/military paraphernalia including 130 chariots and 520 horses) were originally created as a funerary accompaniment for Qin Shi Huang the First Emperor of China in 210BC. They were discovered buried in a farmer’s field in 1974 and since then many have been carefully excavated and displayed along with the excavation pits in 3 giant hangars on the site (although a few regularly travel the world on loan to various museums/displays). The sheer scale of the army and the attention to detail (each figure is unique) are bewildering and, even being surrounded by dozens of other camera wielding photo-junkies, it was impossible not to get a sense of how eerie it would be to come face to face with that spectacle all that time ago (although my curiosity may have been raised by watching the trailer for the new “Mummy-in-China” film the night before!).

From Xi’an I’ve journeyed over to my final destination of this trip - China’s great capital of Beijing where I’ve spent 5 days enjoying the many highlights of this amazing city. Tianamen Square, the Forbidden City, the Lama Temple, the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace are just a few of the must-see historic sights here and I easily whiled away half a day at each of them browsing around, taking photographs and people watching. I also spent a long time seeking out the more off-the-beaten-track neighbourhoods, navigating the bus and subway system and spending some time out in one of the more distant Hutongs in order to try and experience a bit of old Beijing history. The Hutongs are the old neighbourhoods of Beijing where the houses are set around courtyards down narrow alleyways through which not much more than a rickshaw can pass. This traditional style of living is fast disappearing as development in Beijing takes hold and the Hutongs make way for modern apartments and commerce - some may survive but I’m glad I got to experience an authentic one before the bulldozers roll in!

I hadn’t necessarily planned on the last day of my travels being spent visiting China’s (if not the World’s) number one wonder but as it turned out it was the only day I could get on a trip, and in a way it proved to be a fitting ending - saving the best until last!

The Great Wall of China is a man-made miracle…. 4,000 miles long; built, rebuilt and maintained between the 6th century BC and 16th century AD; the cause of death to over 2-3 million people during it’s construction; and requiring a guard of more than 1,000,000 men at any one time. And it can be seen from Space… okay well not quite! I’d decided to get to the most distant section that is easily accessible from Beijing - and so a group of us from my hostel woke up on a clear and sunny Beijing morning and headed by minibus to Jinshanling and Simatai: about a 2 hour drive from the city where there’s a 10km section of original late 1500’s Ming Dynasty wall that can be hiked up and down the winding length in a few hours. Other than a few people in the distance and a few locals selling drinks and souvenirs it was incredibly peaceful. Just strolling along the wall admiring the stunning countryside that drops away to each side and seeing the wall snaking up and down the hills and over the pass into the distance was one of the most therapeutic and uplifting moments of the trip. And when you’ve been away for a year and seen some of the world’s best sights already that’s quite something!

So I ended my year travelling on a high - pleased that I could still be impressed and humbled as much on the last day as I was on the first - even if it did take something as majestic as the Great Wall to do it!

And in another fitting final “out-of-the-ordinary” travel experience, my last evening in China was spent with some new friends from the trip at the Donghueng Night Market - famous for its weird and scary food. This proved to be another award winner - now topping my list of places I’ve seen serving the most weird things prepared for human consumption! Deep fried starfish, tentacles on sticks, big-bug lollipops and skewered scorpions and grasshoppers are some of the more normal food that locals don’t even bat an eyelid at… I’m afraid I did - contenting myself with a nibble of some deep-fried snorkelly thing and then feeling a bit pathetic as I saw a 5 year old slurping away at what looked like a raw-squid wrapped around an ice-cream cone… Maybe what I really need is a bit more practice at this travel malarkey!

But no - this really is the end for this trip. A year to the day on the road and although I’m sad to be putting the backpack away the timing feels exactly right - it’s been an amazing time but I don’t think I could be a perma-traveller even if I wanted to. I’m always impressed by those I’ve met who spend years roaming the planet (as long as they’re doing it for the right reasons!) but I think I need balance to truly appreciate the joy of travel. I’m sure I’m not as awe-struck as I used to be - I think it may be travel fatigue!

And so it’s time for a bit of stability. I need, for the first time in a year, to put something in a drawer and leave it there…. To spend more than 5 nights in one bed. I may even need a routine for a bit! And who knows, in time that may bring on the craving to get away again… and to be honest I don’t really mind if it does!

So that’s it for this blog - despite finding the writing an utter headache at times, I’m really glad I did it. It started out as a light-hearted summary for a few friends but over time (and thanks to the pressure of increased readership), I found it really made me concentrate on what I was experiencing day in day out and it provided a constant focus for what I was getting out of the trip. And in hindsight that’s been invaluable - without it I may just have sat on a beach for a year! So thank you to Ali and the Travelblog team for running such a great site and to those of you who’ve read and enjoyed the journey with me. A special thank you also to those who’ve commented so nicely on my blogs and photos (particularly those of you who don’t know me personally and have still taken the time to drop me a line with support) - it takes some effort to do that and I’ve always felt inspired when I’ve had a positive comment.

So as I and my shiny backpack head back to Britain, both a good bit more worn in and a good deal lighter than when we left, I’m left without any doubts that the decision to do this was one of the best I’ve ever made. This trip has been everything I expected and more - at times humbling, challenging, relaxing, exhausting, exhilarating and on occasion uncomfortable and sickening. But at all times educational and ultimately inspiring. I’ll remember it as a trip with no regrets and plenty of nice surprises along the way. Which is lovely because that’s exactly what I set out looking for.

Until next time.

Nacho




China Slideshow

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