Entry to China

Hi Guys,

I hope your all well, and the weathers not as bad as it is here.
That's right it's actaully raining here. Two nights ago I crossed the
Tropic of Cancer on the overnight bus and it hasn't stopped raining
since! It's been hard to catch up on news here apart from the stock
markets in HK! so thanks for some of those updates; i head Andy Murray
did well and Celtic got gubbed in the Champions League again!

Since arriving in China the accomodation has been much better and
cheaper. Single room with an ensuite last night worked out at 3.50, in
HK I paid more for a grotty dorm. I wasn't ripped off, that's just how
expensive land is in HK. Anyway I didn't mind as I was out sightseeing
pretty much the whole time. In Guanzghou there isn't a great deal of
sightseeing and I took very little photos. The city was huge with a
massive road network, high rise flats as far as you can see in the
smog. the underground network is all brand new, it's been massively
upgraded for the olympics, it really puts Glasgow's wee clockwork
orange to shame! My Guanzghou hostel was really nice, situated right
on the Pearl river opposite Shamien island. The streets surrounding it
were packed with local market stalls, i picked up a new backpack, USB
stick, memory card for my camera as well as a padlock for my
valuables. From right outside the hostel you can take a ferry to
Shamien island which is a lovely, leafy escape, with old colonial
buildings and lots of Americans pushing prams. I asked about the prams
and was told that there is an American Embassy nearby and many come
here to adopt Chinese kids. I found the American Embassy later that
day, it was right next to a starbucks!!

In Guanzghou theres been several times were I've wanted to take a
photo of something strange, but I haven't just incase someones
offended. On the ferry over to Shamien Island there were several guys
sitting on a bench smoking under a big no smoking sign that warned of
a fine if caught! I also visited the infamous Qingping market where in
previous years you could buy anything from dogs, cats, monkeys,
pangolins all for human consumption! It was one of the first markets
in China to rea,,y flourish and fgave Guanzghou the nickname of 'the
trading city'. When I was there it was mostly mushrooms, plants with
medecinal qualities, and plenty of seafood - incl tubs of seahorses.

My bus to Guilin was an experience. Although just a small distance on
the map, it was a 14hr overnight journey with constant horn beeping,
sudden braking and in parts the road was incredibly bumpy. At one
point we changed bus driver and he was busy cleaning the wingmirrors
at a set of lights, he clambered back inside when they turned green
and he looked as if he was having a bit of trouble getting it into
gear. He revved up and we shot backwards! must have been close to
whatever was behind us as a barrage of horn balasts ensued. A little
flustered the driver tried again and after a few awkward seconds we
were off again. Walter had warned me about bus travel in China, and it
was everything it was cracked up to be. So my next big journey is
gonna be by sleeper train i think. In Guilin I caught a ride on a Tuk
Tuk which was fun, he drove us all the way out to the reed caves about
5km outside of Guilin. For dinner I went to a nice restaurant, which
had an English translation of the menu, I had Horse meat with Noodles
and veg. it was actually really tasty I even drank the leftover soup
stuff at the bottom!

Guilin is an average city set amongst some of the most beautiful
scenery I've ever seen, Karst limestone upthrusts encircle the city
(which I'm sure my amateur photos won't do justice!). The Li river
weaves its way through some incredible scenery, tomorrow I'm hoping to
get a bamboo boat ride upriver and maybe even a bit of hiking or
mountain biking.

I'm still trying to get some photos uploaded, but it's hard work the
internet cafe's in China are so sllllooooowww!
I've put some up on my flickr account, just Macau and HK so far but
hopefully il get more up soon.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/57899353@N00/

If you've read this far then thanks, you've done well!

Andy

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