melj

We had an early start for our cruise up the Li River. This involved about 20 odd boats all travelling up the river at the same time (although the views were well worth it and you didn't even notice the other boats after a while). It is currently dry season and there has been very little rain. This meant that the river was quite low in many places- it would have been amazing to see the river in full flight. Everywhere you looked there was an amazing view. There was no bad spot to stand on the boat - the only downside was that it was still quite foggy and the viewing wasn't absolutely perfect. We struggled to see what the chinese had named some of the hills - the nine horses??? I could only see ... read more

Our boat docked at Chongqing (a city of over 80 million people) this morning - we said goodbye to the Yangtze River and said hello to a 5 hour bus ride to Chengdu (home of the Giant Panda). The long bus rides are a little boring but the scenery was interesting. We arrived in Chengdu and checked into our hotel - the rooms were lovely but very noisy as they overlooked a busy street (as we found out in the early hours of the morning). Chengdu is in the Schezwan province and we were looking forward to trying the spicier food. The next day turned out to be a very long and busy one. We drove about 2 hours to the town of Leshan to go and see the Giant Budda. The only thing was that ... read more

Another early morning wake up call by those pesky birds chiring along in unison. Today was a highlight - a trip up the Shennong Stream. We had to disembark the boat and hop on to some smaller ferry boats to take us up the stream - the scenery is absolutely amazing but as with everything progress is encroaching and buildings and bridge works are beginning to dot the landscape. It was freezing cold and we needed every layer that we had on, although we did brave standing out on the deck to capture some beautiful pictures of the misty mountains and granite landscapes. We were on the lookout for the hanging coffin - a coffin suspended in a crevice - I couldn't see it the first time round and decided that I would keep a look ... read more

Another dream came true today - the Terracotta Warriors! Again words can't describe the sheer enormity of the treasures that have been unearthed here. The first Terracotta Warrior was discovered by four farmers in 1974 who were digging a well on their farmland. They discovered fragments of artifacts which was reported to the officials and the rest is history and the Eighth wonder of the world. Emperor Qin ruled for 37 years and squashed a lot of rebellions and tried to unify the differing regions (often by brute force). He finally succeeded but wasn't very popular. Shortly after becoming emperor in his own right at the age of 22 he ordered the construction of his tomb. It took 38 years and over 700 000 workers to construct the vast tomb. Life sized terracotta warriors of different ... read more

Today's highlight - the Summer Palace. This is where the royal family went to escape the heat of summer. In the Forbidden City there are no trees (so that no one can hide and plan a surprise attack. The summer palace had no such problems. It is a truly beautiful place but quite crowded with tourists (and this isn't the busy season). Our first glimpse of the Summer Palace was over a huge man made lake. This was built by one of the Emperors for his mother's 60th birthday. It is amazing but is only about a metre deep. Take away the modern day speed boat and small boats and it would have been a very tranquil place in which to relax. From across the lake you could see the Summer Palace and the beautiful temple ... read more