Pingyao to Fenghuang

Oh boy this is going to be a long one. We haven't placed an entry since leaving Beijing & since then we've headed south & west through China visiting Taiyuan/Pingyao, Xi'an, the Yangtze River (Yichang to Chongqing), Chengdu, Lhasa (Tibet) & Wulingyuan/Fenghuang. OK since we can't write about everything we've experienced, we'll give you the highlights of the things we loved most.

Pingyao was a nice little city & had many historical sites to visit, our favorite being the Qiao ancestral home. It has many rooms to show what life was like for a wealthy capitalist in the Qing Dynasty in China.

Xi'an is a great city! We might be a little biased because of the great hospitality we received there from our tour guide who was recommended to us by a friend. Mark & Mike - their American names of course :) - took us to a great dinner upon our arrival (at 11pm!) to the Muslim quarter where we had some great mutton noddle soup & sesame oil grilled tripe! The next day we visited the Terra Cotta Warriors where we were given a first class history course on the Chinese dynasties. We were also treated to a first time ever "white glove tour" where we were able to visit with an archaeologist who showed us some treasures recently excavated from 2,000 to 3,000 years ago. We were able to touch them while wearing white gloves, but were only allowed to take pictures of one of the artifacts. It was an amazing experience. We also went to the Big Goose Pagoda Sq one evening to watch the water & music show at the fountains. Good thing it was nice & warm out because the kids soak you with all their playing in the water if you get too close. OK another reason we liked Xi'an was it felt like a little break from some of the dirt - Xi'an is cleaner & a little more orderly than the rest of our experience in China.

Leaving Xi'an we took a 14 hour hard sleeper train ride to Yichang! Now that wasn't so fun. We were squeezed 6 people (3 bunks high on each side of the wall) per compartment. And only the bottom bunk is sit able so everyone in the compartment sits on the 2 bottom bunks even though their tickets might be for an upper bunk. Lucky us we had one of the bottom bunks so everyone made them selves at home on our bunk! Also on the opposite bottom bunk was a little baby & in case you didn't know - babies don't wear diapers in China. There are just wide gaping slits in the fronts & backs of their pants for when they happen to use the bathroom. So there were quite a few messes deposited onto the floor between our bunks. Oh & lastly there was no A/C & it was boiling hot in there. OK enough of that ride.

Once we arrived in Yichang we headed out for a 3 day cruise on the Yangtze river. The 3 gorges are beautiful & we got a chance to see the dam in all it's glory. It's HUGE! It took our boat about 3-4 hours to be raised through the 5 water locks. The river's water level is currently 145 m, still 30 m below it's final height - 175 m above sea level - but there were markings all along the riverside showing where it's final height will rest. We had several interesting excursions from the boat. One took us to the White Emperor City where we climbed several hundred steps up into the hillside where the town remains are. The town's name came about because white vapor in the shape of a dragon appeared from a well & was seen as an omen. Also the views of the Qutong gorge from the city hillside are some of the most gorgeous views we had!

In Chengdu we only had one morning to explore & we visited the Panda Research Center. We were happy to make it there alive as the cab driver was the craziest we had had so far on the trip. The driving here is insane! It's pretty much go whenever you can & where ever you want, pedestrians are 10 points, 100 for foreigners, 500 for Americans... :P The pandas were of course very cute & the cubs put on a great show for us while they ate their breakfast. Laura even got to hold a cute one year old red panda girl cub! Oh, & we also ate KFC for the first time in a LONG time. They are in every major city & seem to be bigger than McDonalds here. We needed a break from Chinese food & the greasy deep fried Chicken Sandwich totally hit the spot!

The plane ride & drive into Lhasa were absolutely GORGEOUS! We used that evening to relax & begin to adjust to the altitude - 12,000 ft. We felt a little light headed & the air felt extremely dry making us really thirsty. We felt happy not to have passed out on our way to dinner. The next day we visited Barkhor Sq, Jokhang Temple & Potala Palace. The Palace is a work of art & it was interesting to see all the pilgrims in their rituals at the Temple. But we were overall a little let down in Lhasa. Tibet is beautiful & we wish we could have seen more outside Lhasa. We also don't feel our guide was able to give us enough info on the culture, people, place, etc...

We have spent the last 4 days in the Wulingyuan/Fenghuang area - thanks to a tip from Ashley's Mom & a NY Times article. The sandstone peaks in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park are a wonder to look at. They rise up thousands of feet into the mist & are decked with growths of trees coming from the rock. Our stroll through the valley along the Golden Whip stream & our hike up some 3,000 stairs in the Tianzi mountain were gorgeous! We'd also highly recommend the Yellow Dragon Caves. The caves are enormous & filled with amazing stalagmites & stalactites. The tallest one is still growing (1 mm per 100 years) & is insured for about 14 million USD. Our last night was spent in Fenghuang (the Phoenix city). It's set on the Tuojiang River & the ancient city buildings rise directly from the water's edge. The narrow little side streets are great to wander up & down both at night when everything is lit up & during the day when you can appreciate the architecture of the city.

We are now headed to Guilin & Yangshuo for our last few days in China before heading to Vietnam. Stay tuned...

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