Dear Readers, please note that we have struggled at times to keep up with our blog entries either due to unavailable or Chinese sloooooooooow internet access and our busy travel schedule. Please look back beyond the current date to be sure you catch up on anything we may have entered for an earlier date. Thanks for taking the time to read our news. Best regards, The Chaosathome Blog Desk [View Full Entry]

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Hangzhou was described by Marco Polo who allegedly visited the city in 1300 as ‘The City of Heaven’ this is something that we do not think would worthy the same title now but non the less Hangzhou has got some interesting places still woth visiting. The huge West Lake or Xi Hu is situated at the heart of Hangzhou and covers over three square miles, it is surrounded by hills and high rise buildings as well as an underpass which cuts its way underneath the lake from one side to the other. The entire walk reportedly takes a whole day to [View Full Entry]

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Huang Shan is reputedly ment to be the most beautiful mountain range in eastern China or otherwise known as the Yellow Mountain. So it was a must on our itinerary so despite considerable extra cost, we had to fly as all the trains had gone over to the earth quake area to help serve the rescue team so flying was the only option. We arrived late at night and managed to get a taxi to our hotel with little problem and withthe alarm clock set for an early rise we flopped into bed exhausted. We took the cable car option up [View Full Entry]

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Our hotel in Shanghai was perfectly placed on Nanjing Dong Lu opposite The No1 Department Store. Finding the front entrance through a tailor’s shop under a side arcade was a little challenge on arrival and we had to get the boys’ room changed as they were required to literally walk through a construction site on the third floor to get to their originally allocated bedroom. Shanghai differs markedly from everywhere we have visited so far in China and is much more ‘Westernised’; no doubt reflecting its’ history as a trading and commercial outpost of Western Empir [View Full Entry]

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Unable to arrange our onward train tickets to Suzhou from our hotel in Wuxi, we instead hired a people-carrier to drive us the 90 minutes from Wuxi and were glad of the convenience. Suzhou grew-up around the 1000year-old Grand Canal and owes its’ prosperity to the Silk trade, but includes a rich mix of cultural sights well worth seeing. The Humble Administrator’s Garden was our first stop and it is an absolute delight. Pathways lead through a series of beautifully planted areas, water-gardens and elegant pavilions established for contemplation, celebration and tea-ceremonies. [View Full Entry]

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We again travelled by overnight train from Xi’an to Wuxi. The 13 hour journey itself was fine, with four of us sharing one booth and Tristan installed down the corridor with a snoring Chinaman. As we waited at the station, the sky was a spectacular green-black and we could hear the crack of lightning very nearby. After the (now routine) stampede of smoking thousands to board the train, our departure was delayed as we sat in the station through a massive thunderstorm with ear-splitting overhead lightning. I wondered as we waited if there was the potential for the creation of a [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Xi'an at 8.30am on the overnight 'soft sleeper' from Beijing, having procured our train tickets through the hotel - a lot less hassle for anybody thinking of train travel in China. You pay a small commission to have the tickets purchased, seats reserved and tickets delivered to your door avoiding lengthy 'queues' (organised pushing-in really) and language barriers. Our journey to Beijing's West Train Station the previous evening had been something of a mission, travelling during the latter part of rush hour (which actually lasts about three hours) in horrendous traffic with a [View Full Entry]

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The traffic in Beijing has to be seen to be believed. Thee are bikes, mtor bikes taxis and cars everywhere not to mention huge coaches who think that being the largeset vehicle on the road gives them monopoly for pole position on the the many busy and confusing roads that sweep around the city. In particular one coach driver suceeded to 'squash' the taxi we were sitting in up against the kerb and a brick wall! the driver then proceeded to chase the coach driver who had not stopped to then stop abruptly in front of the coach, get out rant [View Full Entry]

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On day 2 two in Beijing, we took a minibus trip with a guide 90km north of the city to visit The Great Wall at Mutianyu, stopping en route at The Sacred Way to the Ming Tombs. The Sacred (or Spirit) Way leading to the Ming Tombs extends for 7km and is aligned with The Forbidden City some 30km distant. The pretty avenue is marked at the start with an elegant Tower and proceeds to be lined with 36 oddly-sized stone statues of officials, soldiers, animals and mythical beasts. The atmosphere was really peaceful and it was a pleasant morning walk. [View Full Entry]

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Our flight from Osaka's impressive Kansai Airport landed us at the architecturally stunning, brand new Beijing Airport designed by Norman Foster (reckoned to be the largest construction project on Earth). We ran the gauntlet of taxi drivers vyeing for our custom, having given up trying to fathom the transfer by bus and could not take the subway link into the city, because construction work is not yet complete. Driving in China reminded us of similar experiences in India - possession of road space is everything, irrespective of where it is and whether or not it should be your space. After a [View Full Entry]

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