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Border Police
took a sneaky picture of border police before crossing over Capital Bejing 10.9 Yuan to 1 Euro
Famous - Hosting the 2008 Olympics
1 meal on a street stall 8/10 Yuan!!! thats less than a EUROOO!!!!!!!! and u can get that every where...even in the most touristy places
Hostel for the night...10 - 20 Yuan... low season or not more than 5 euro
Best thing about China - The friendliness, Chinese people have by far made the most impression on me, unbelievably friendly, men & women will come up and speak with you, ask if you need help, happy to talk to you and practice their english, stop and ask if they can take a picture with you, and just like Vietnam I was in awe of this vast country, with a
population of over 1.3 BILLION and a one child policy per family it's hard (as I found out) to find a small town or village..
Most annoying thing about China..... toilets and the hocking & Spitting!! 😞=😞 😞=😞
From Hanoi I enter China through Friendship Pass, I feel like a lost can, I have no idea where the hell Im going but I meet this lovely chinese student on the bus who cannot speak a
word of english at all and insists on paying for the bus ride, my attempts to tell him that I had already bought my bus ticket fell on deaf ears (but how sweet it was because it was 4/5 dollars and they are not on a good wage here) and onto
PingXian for a night where I meet up with my students friends for a bite to eat and arrange to meet up again that night after they found me a hotel, the girls had english so it was nice to chat, I tried using my Visa at the bank but for some reason they just will not accept it at all, all Im getting is
no.. no... we wont accept. The chinese students collect me at 8pm and we hit the tiles...
Chinese style.... and guess where it was that I had
my very first night out ..... Karaoke!! It was actually a really good night, a private room with nibbles
(snails&tsingao (local beer) and a list of songs.. including the only english one... BOY ZONE!!!
Next day I had to get the local Train from Pingxian to Nanning 8 LONG hrs 15 Yuan (1.50 Dollars)
because the bank wouldnt accept my Visa and thats all I had left......
Did I say it was Eight loooong hrs... on a SUUUPER local train... really entertaining though, packed with workers, from the fields and everyone nibbling on seeds... packet after packet.. gotta get my hands on these seeds.. see what all the fuss is about.
It was a real culture shock, Im sure they were all curious as to what the hell I was doing aswell.
One night in Nanning and got sorted in the bank, I thought I was coming into a small town, at least that was the impression I got from the LP..but its a huge city... village to the Chinese..
population was one and a half million!! and I still seem like the only tourist here.. I have met no one at all and even in a big city like this I still get stopped and get the look of curiousity.
Next day I follow the coast and head for
Beihai....(home of the pearl) to the hot weather... where I meet Bruce (as in Bruce Lee) hehee!who has perfect english.....Beihai is lovely,
a small port fishing town.... ... Bruce finds me
a nice little hotel by Happy Beach...for 5 euro a night...its the bomb, nice bed, aircon, ensuite with a
western toilet I do a little dance of excitment and sit on the toilet just to make sure it is not an illusion... TV.. and crisp white linen sheets.. I'm here in China a few days and so far I havent found a bed that is soft.. they are all as hard as the ground and Im thinking I should get used to it for the month I am here.
Bruce and I hang out every evening after he finishes work and we check out a few bars, one inparticular.. the Holland bar, its the most liveliest one.
Bruce invites me to his house to meet his friends and his landlady for dinner.. me and Bruce are the only 2 who speak English and before I know it, Im railroaded into staying with them, I accept but would prefer to stay in my hotel, before I know it my bags are taxied down and I am being fussed over, they make me feel right at home, I cant believe how nice everyone is, Im just loving the whole
experience here.
My only problem is that I now dont have my western toilet and not to sound like a inpolite pleb but the bed is even harder.. and the food we had the first night is still kept out on the kitchen table uncovered and ready to be eaten again and has become the home of many a fly.... now I just cant handle flies and the land lady has went to market and got fish, Bruce is back from work and we all sit down to eat... Im too polite to say anything so I dont... i eat only the fresh fish and nothing else and Bruces landlady asks him if i am ok and why I not eat.. I say I not eat fly tonight thank you.
I came across a really trendy hair salon and meet an English/Chinese guy from none other than Laaandaaan mate - that translates what I want done to my hair....I don't know what language this guy thinks he speaks but I can assure you it aint fekking Chinese.....for the rest of my journey through China.. I wear hats!!
Went to see Silver Beach, its lovely
but other than that nothing else to do here... I did check out the markets, local restaurants, shopping, karakoe, and bars with Bruce that did keep me entertained for a few days, the shopping is great, faaab style.
But stay away fromt he hairdressers if you have blonde hair... awaaaay...
Bruce comes to the bus station with me and we say our goodbyes, he is the nicest guy and we had the best few days hanging out... and even better that there was no mixed signals either and knew where we both stood.
I rock into
Guilin and check into
Flowers hostel, this is where I meet Yota (Japanese guy) all I can say about Guilin is check out the markets, they are very good but get out of there and head to
Yangshou ........................................ I leave Guilin 200 euro lighter as I was pickpocketed when I left the bank... and then I had to make a statement to the police... after my hostel called them they arrived within 10 minutes and I was thinking..
Jaaaysus.. these guys are on the ball... maybe they will catch sneaky pickpocket and I'll be for ever in
their debt.. so me and Yota and one of the girls from the hostel take the ride around the corner to the poooolice station... and all I could do was laugh.. no sorry, all they did was laugh...... I couldnt really figure out what was so funny... my passport picture maybe... anyway after giving the lads at the nik a good start to the day.. me and Yota finally get on the bus bound for Yangshou...
bus from Nanning to Behai 60 Yuan 8 hrs
Bus from Beihai to Guilin is 9 hrs 160 Yuan
Flowers Hostel (4 bed dorm) 40 Yuan a night
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