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Published: October 11th 2010
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1st October is National Day in China and we all get 7 days off so, despite dire warnings about not travelling on the equivalent of our Bank Holiday, I ventured on a long distance bus tour to Hunan province, escorted by my good friend Xu Fie and her husband ‘Alan’ and 3 of their friends. They all spoke some English so I had a great support network to manoeuvre me around and make sure I didn’t get left behind!
It started with an epic 24 hours travelling south, including one hair-raising moment in the dark and inevitably heavy rain. We had taken a wrong turning and ended up on a route which might actually be a road by next year but at this point was more like rubble, and we all had to get off the bus while our excellent driver somehow managed to negotiate a 2 foot difference in levels - then suddenly we rounded a corner and were back on a major high way with bright lights and hotels - whew!
The recommendations to stay home are not just because of the traffic jams (China now officially has the worst traffic jams in the world)
but because of the people jams - TOO MANY PEOPLE - 2 hour queues for the cable car, all out fights to get on the shuttle bus, taking turns to actually see the view and desperately trying to get a photo NOT featuring someone else’s family! But that’s China. The other frustration for me was that I thought I could at least enjoy the countryside along the way but when my fellow travellers got on the bus the first thing they did was close all the curtains, start eating, turn on the TV and then fall asleep! So I would try to spy the changing landscape through a sliver of window and mentally tune out the Chinese comedy act or action movie. But hey it was still worth it and believe me I did manage to see a whole lot more than just the inside of a bus.
If you have seen the movie Avatar or its promo posters, you might recognise the amazing sandstone rock formations in my photos because this is where they filmed it, at Zhangjiajie National Park. The first day we climbed the mountain (millions of steps) and the second day returned to another part
of the park for another climb - but I have a confession - I took the sedan chair part of the way - feeling a bit like an old colonialist but assuaging my guilt by reminding myself that this is how the local guys earn their money, from tourists like me, and they have the calf muscles to prove it! Great fun and a bit scary on those steps!
Next day was an ‘ethnic minority’ village, a bit too ‘theme park’ for me, but if you looked around the corners it was evident that this is still a living, working village. And the traditional costumes were beautiful. Later we arrived at the fascinating old town of Phoenix with a maze of cobbled streets around the river. We got up at 5am to catch the sunrise (although there was no magical mist across the water as promised - the weather was actually too good) and I can see why keen photographers love that special morning light, my little camera doesn’t do any of it justice, I am afraid. Dinner was in the hustle and bustle of the night markets and Hunan is famous for its spicy food, which is not
to my taste, so I had to be very careful (especially with long bus rides to follow…..…) but the atmosphere was buzzing.
Finally we got to Hunan's main city of Changsha; Hunan is the birthplace of Chairman Mao and set of the ancient 1000 year old University. Last stop was the huge Dongting Lake, which at first was a disappointment as it looked more like a working river with dredgers and a polluted skyline so you couldn’t see the other side. But on the shore is a famous garden and Yueyang tower with views which inspired the work of some of their most revered poets so its the Chinese equivalent of going to see Monet's garden. Suddenly the sky changed and we experienced the most beautiful sunset and understood why - at which point my camera ran out of battery!
So I can definitely claim to have seen something of the real China (and a lot more than many Chinese people have seen) although the thousands of tourists we encountered were nationals; in fact on the whole trip I didn’t see another blonde!
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jenni
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The Miao
Did they invent leg warmers ????