Chinese anyone?

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Firstly sorry for the big gap between the last blog and this one! I place the blame squarely with the Great Chinese Firewall which randomly blocked various websites including this one and now in Australia where wifi and internet access seem to be either absent or really expensive. 

The last blog was written whilst relaxing post trek and resting weary legs. We were aware at the time of a nationwide strike called by the maoist party in Nepal in attempt to get the prime minister to resign. This was similar to the one which held us up at the end of our trek but it was an 'indefinate' strike this time. It was due to start a week before we flew to China and when we asked any of the locals how long they thought it would last, we got the characteristic head wobble and a vague answer such as 'a few days'. We were gutted that our time would be wasted and worried that we would not have time to see much of the Kathmandu valley which we had hoped to do during that week. We figured that the strike was unlikely to last a week and that the pleasant leafy surrounds of Pokhara were a better place to be confined to our hostel than the crowded and polluted Kathmandu. The Maoists are not stupid and they realise the vital nature of tourism to Nepal's fragile economy and so during previous strikes had let tourist busses travel and tourist cafes stay open. During this strike for some reason that went out of the window. Each day we had to sneak around the back of cafes to eat and as each day passed, our flight from 200 miles away in Kathmandu got nearer with seemingly no way to catch it. Ideally we would have brought our flight forwards to before the strike and then gone to China early but that was the week of May 1st or one of China's 'golden weeks' where the whole country goes on holiday and transport gets booked out weeks in advance. 
As each day passed, the tension rose and there were pictures on TV of crowds facing off with riot police in Kathmandu and our decision to stay in (relatively) peaceful Pokhara was justified. 
The bus trip from Pokhara to Kathmandu costs £4 and is a well plied route but the strike was not showing any sign of being called off and so we were forced to shell out £170 for 2 flight tickets (the only transport not blockaded by maoists) on Buddha airways for the spectacular 25 minute flight into the chaos which was Kathmandu. Ideally we would have got a flight to connect with our international departure to China. The only problem was that our passports were in the centre of town having been left with an agent who was arranging our China visas. We were the only vehicle on the road in a ministry of tourism shuttle bus passing lines of riot police and young protesters wielding rocks and sticks. Once safely on our hostel with passports in hand we managed to relax before catching our flight the next day. 
Our flight to China was a three legged affair overnight so we arrived at 3500m in Jiuzhaigou tired but excited about our travels through China.  Jiuzhaigou is a national park in Central China which is little visited by foreigners but is a hit with Chinese tourists with millions visiting each year. Jiuzhaigou is a valley with spectacular geography including waterfalls and lakes in a stunning shade of blue with bright green algae around the edges. It is very difficult to describe but have a look at some of the images on google before we get the chance to upload our pictures. The 99.9% majority of domestic tourists choose to catch the bus up and down the valley in huge groups. They only get off to dress in 'authentic' brightly coloured Tibetan outfits and pose for photos before rushing back on the bus to head for the next designated smoking area. The best parts of our day were walking between the bus stops where we barely saw a soul and saw the stunning scenery change as the suns rays caught the water, trees and snow-capped peaks at different angles. 
From Jiuzhaigou, we caught the bus to Chengdu where we stayed for a few nights over my birthday. My birthday treat was going to the panda sanctuary and I wont forget it! The panda cubs were hilarious- constantly scrapping and wrestling with each other and the adults just laid there with piles of bamboo on their stomachs stuffing their faces without a care in the world! The Chinese are breeding them in captivity but the sad thing was the complete lack of a conservation message and any acknowledgement that they may try to re-introduce some of these captive bred pandas into the wild. 
We took a day trip to see the biggest buddha in the world in Leshan which was fun but the day was quite misty so all our photos are a bit grey.
We caught the sleeper train 2000km down to Yunnan province and started in a lovely town called Dali. We traveled 'hard sleeper' which is much more pleasant than it sounds and our pleasant encounters with Chinese people on an individual level continued. 
Twelve years ago when i came to China mountain biking as a 15 year old I probably was more interested in my mates than forming an opinion on the Chinese but lots of people had said to us (including the guidebook) that we would find the Chinese aloof and even rude. What we found could not have been farther from that. We both made an effort to learn a few phrases in Mandarin and when we pulled these out they were met with either a beaming smile or an infectious giggle! Overall everyone was warm, welcoming and helpful especially staff in the brilliant youth hostels which made travel arrangements so easy.
Dali was no exception and we had a great time walking the old walls ( a bit like York!) and walking through the wonderful park between cups of tea. Next stop was Kunming which is a big city where Alex celebrated her birthday by seeking out french croissants and then got accosted by a group of Chinese ladies to have her photo taken with them. She thinks it is because of her curly hair but i just reckon it is because she is pretty!  Much nervous laughter was done but it was just another example of how lovely the people were.
From Kunming we moved on to Guilin and the iconic Li River. The limestone karst scenery is present throughout the area and we took a bamboo raft for a few hours down to a village called Yangshuo. The area is popular with Chinese honeymooners and we saw lots of posing couples with photographer in tow. We spent a day cycling round the area from village to village stopping off at waterfalls and ice cream sellers. 
Other than the scenery, the other draw of Yangshuo is the Cormorant Fishermen. These old guys own a flock of Cormorants who they have trained to go fishing for them! A noose is tied around their necks to stop them from swallowing the larger fish and they bring them back to the boat for tbe fisherman. We first saw this on the Michael Palin series 'Himalaya' and we ended up seeing the same fisherman as on the programme who was very proud of his BBC fame! They fish at dusk and we went on a boat beside their bamboo raft to observe. 
Our final 20 hour train journey took us to Shenzen and the border with Hong Kong. That area is dotted with factories and is where most of our ipods and computers are made. The place was a small village until only 20 years ago and has mushroomed into one of the biggest cities in China manufacturing goods for export. 
The Hong Kong border is the same as an international border despite us staying within China. We had our passports stamped and the signs now appeared in English as well as Chinese. We changed our currency to Hong Kong dollars and headed by rail to Kowloon.
Hong Kong is the busiest place i have ever been! Space is at such a premium and there are crowds everywhere. The only thing more palpable than the claustrophobia is the commerce. Shops and restaurants fill every street and markets often fill the streets themselves! I had some new glasses made in an optician on the 18th floor of a towerblock! The feeling of Hong Kong being a port is still present as there were Indians, Nigerians, Japanese as well as the Chinese and English all involved in some trade or business transactions. We spent 4 days seeing the sights and traveling on all sorts of public transport. We caught the famous Star Ferry from Kowloon to Hong Kong island looking up at the towering skyscrapers. We rode the funicular railway up to the peak on the only dry day and were treated to a manificent view of the urban sprawl and upwardly mobile buildings. Coming down from the peak, the top floor of a double decker bus allowed us a peek into the exclusive residences of Hong Kongs billionaires. We took the tram at night to the Happy Valley racecourse but didnt gamble any of our money away! 
Arriving in Hong Kong we were pretty self-conscious of our appearance. Well heeled businessmen in suits rub shoulders with glamourous women in dresses and heels on the metro trains and we were still clad in extremely practical trekking gear but looked a bit scruffy! Alex and I took the opportunity to go to shopping at H&M and the night markets to make ourselves a bit more presentable for the more 'western' end of our trip.   
Our Asian adventure came to an end with us feeling pretty tired and a feeling that we had covered as much of Hong Kong as is humanly possible in a packed 4 days. 

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