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Published: January 7th 2007
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Xi'an
Terracotta Warriors We arrived in Xi'an, an old capital which has a lot to see but not a huge amount to do. We enjoyed an afternoon taking in the Muslim Quarter and the City Wall but ultimately there's only one reason to go there - the Terracotta Warriors. And they did not disappoint - they were absolutely stunning. What we hadn't realised is that it's a live archaeological site, and they've only uncovered a fraction of the figures on site. But what they have discovered is amazing to see - you couldn't fail to be impressed by the level of detail in the Warriors and by the sheer scale of the place.
But for all that, one night in Xi'an was enough and we flew on to Lijiang the next day. Lijiang is a beautiful, picture postcard village and a World Heritage Site. But it seems it only became a major tourist destination after an earthquake in 1996, at which point Chinese government officials visited and told them they would focus on tourism, seeing as how it was such a pretty spot and all. And so that's what they do! The town is home to the Naxi minority people, who walk around
in their traditional costumes and pose for pictures while hordes of tourists throng the narrow lanes and riverways that criss-cross the town, turning it into some kind of heritage theme park. A bit strange, but we're getting used to strangeness in this country.
Lijiang is also home to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, a beautiful, impossibly photogenic mountain 5,500m high. No-one has ever climbed to the summit, though they've got far enough to install a cable car to 4,400m (riding that is an experience in itself). Once you've reached 4,400m, you can attempt to battle the altitude and thin air to climb another 280m to 4,680m, the highest point you can get to without some serious climbing gear. Or you can just sit around and take hits off the oxygen you've bought at base camp, which is what a lot of the Chinese tourists seem to do. We struggled up to the summit, which did take some doing in the thin air, where we took some amazing pictures.
We enjoyed Lijiang, despite the strangeness, and flew next to Yangshuo. It was a culture shock to find such a western place so out of keeping with the rest of the
Yangshuo
Boats on the Li River country, even Beijing. We struggled to get used to it at first, not helped by having a hotel room on the first night which backed out onto one of the main, noisy, neon-laden strips, where we were able to sing along to the thumping music until about 1am. Once we changed rooms and spent some time in the countryside, things improved a lot! We had a really enjoyable day cycling a tandem(!) around the Yangshuo hills, giving us a close-up look at the stunning karst mountains, with their unusual, jagged formations. We also had a lovely cruise down the Li River, where we were able to take in even more of the scenery. The misty weather (a lot of that about) also added to the experience.
From our inauspicious start, we grew to like the laid-back atmosphere of Yangshuo. Travelling can be such hard work in the rest of China that it was a welcome change to find somewhere that was easy to spend time in. But we came back down to earth with a bump when we reached Longji, our final destination in China.
Longji is an hour or so from the nearest big city (Guilin) and
Longji
Rice Terraces 20 minutes from the road. Yes, 20 minutes from the nearest road! You park as close as you can get, then you have to carry your bags about 20 minutes, uphill, to your accommodation. But you're unlikely to get a chance to carry your bags yourself, as groups of women in traditional dress fight each other for the chance to carry your bags up the hill and earn themselves a pound. Believe me, there must be easier ways to earn a living than that. We checked into our accommodation, in a ramshackle guesthouse on the flanks of the mountains that this area are famous for. Our room was on the 3rd floor, but the floorboards were so suspect we expected to be on a lower floor by the time we left.
Once we'd checked in, we checked out the village. Longji is famous for its steeped rice terraces, which make for a beautiful sight. But it's also a poor, rural village that has recently seen a sudden big tourist influx. A poor rural setting and a tourist boom make for strange bedfellows. The local women all have extremely long (some real, some fake), black (ditto) hair, which they are
Lijiang
Picture postcard views from the Black Dragon pool only too happy to take out of their turban-like headdresses and charge you money to take a picture of. Very insistent, they are. So much so that we were chased up to the top of a mountain by two women shouting "Long hair, long hair!" "Photo, photo!" I must admit, it did take some of the beauty out of the moment. There wasn't much beauty to be found on our way down either, when we stumbled upon two men blowtorching a dead dog by the side of a path. I kid you not. I guess we must have taken a wrong turning somewhere, but still...
Longji was basic. It was dark, and not just at night, but there was a real beauty to the rice terraces, and we took the opportunity to enjoy a couple of nights of peace and quiet. Just as well, as there was nothing else to do!
We had a really interesting time in China, but travelling around this country is hard work! You have to be prepared to be amused, frustrated, disgusted and constantly surprised! But for all that, we've had an amazing experience and one we're not sure you could have in
too many other places. On to Vietnam!
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