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October 3rd 2010
Published: October 3rd 2010
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13th September - 4th October 2010

As we were arriving at Hong Kong airport pretty late, we had pre-booked a hostel again, although we were conscious that we had had limited success with this so far..... and this one would not buck the trend!! We got the airport shuttle bus to Mongkok and then spent the next 45 minutes looking for the hostel. After trundling down one road after another Steve went to a nearby Maccy D’s to look on the internet at where we needed to go leaving Ellie standing at the side of the road looking after the bags. As it turned out Ellie was in fact standing right outside the hostel building but as it was one of many ‘mansion’ buildings, there is one doorway off a backstreet and absolutely no signage. The hostel was a bit of a hole, an expensive one at that, so the next day we ventured into one of the rival hostels in the same building for our remaining three nights in Hong Kong.

After moving hostels we started our first day wandering Nathan Road in search of food and eventually found ourselves at the harbour for ferries to Hong Kong
Steve getting scientific at the space museumSteve getting scientific at the space museumSteve getting scientific at the space museum

Can you tell that he had no idea what he was supposed to be doing?
Island. So we paid our 20p for the ferry and headed over to see the sights. As we got off the ferry we decided to head towards the Bank of China Tower, where you can get free views of the city from the observation level on the 46th floor. As it didn’t look to far away we started walking, but it soon became apparent that this was a mistake as Hong Kong is not a city for safe walking - and it was a long way away! However, it was well worth the trek as we were marvelled by the skyscrapers and architecture surrounding us. It was then time to take a ride on the famous outdoor escalators which transport pedestrians up to the higher reaches of Hong Kong Island to the south. Midway up we stumbled across an English pub called ‘The Yorkshire Pudding’ which was advertising a happy hour...so rude not to we thought! After a couple of glasses of wine we were charged up for the remaining ascent to the top. We then jumped in a taxi to the tram stop at the bottom of Victoria Peak which afforded us fantastic views of Hong Kong by night. It was also very special to be there as Ellie’s cousin had recently proposed to his now fiancé there - no such romance from Steve though. After heading back down from the peak, we headed back to the Soho area for the young and trendy (we fitted right in with our backpacker scruff!) and frequented another bar for some more wine. After a glass or two we decided that a nice Italian meal was in order and happened upon a lovely little restaurant. When we saw how expensive it was, we agreed to bring forward our anniversary 1 day and celebrate in style.

We had found out that Wednesday is ‘free’ day at many of the museums so we opted for a visit to the space museum. We started by walking through the exhibition hall which had some hands on exhibits before taking our seats for a planetarium showing of ‘Cosmic Collisions’ with narration from Robert Redford. After all that education we headed to the ‘Avenue of the Stars’ which is Hong Kong’s answer to the Hollywood Boulevard. Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee were the only names we recognised however.

Then it was back to the hostel to prepare for our night at the races! After donning our best clothes, which we hoped would be good enough to get us in, it was onto the metro to Happy Valley Racecourse. The course is amazing in that it is set right amongst the skyscrapers of Hong Kong Island and has huge grandstands that were packed to capacity. We were due a win after dismal combined displays at our previous race outings at Windsor and Chester and we hoped to have at least some success from the 8 races!! This was not to be as we did not win a bean - which means out next racing event should pay out big time - Aintree anyone?

The following morning our heads were a little sore after our one drink per race policy so it was a slow start. However, we managed to drag ourselves out to the train station where we tried getting tickets for the following day to Shanghai. We were told, however, that the soonest we could do would be in five days time so instead we opted for Guangzhou, a stopping point on the way. It was back onto the metro to Lantau Island for a
HK racesHK racesHK races

Check out the size of the grandstand
cable car ride to Ngong Ping which is a monastery and temple complex 500m above sea level. This is home to the Tian Tan Buddha Statue, the largest outdoor seated bronze Buddha statue in the world. We were a little pushed for time as we had a harbour cruise ticket for that evening, so we decided not to climb to 260 steps up to the Buddha in 30 degree heat - camera zoom is a wonderful thing!

The harbour cruise took in a nightly music and light extravaganza called the ‘Symphony of Lights’, a wonderful way to sign off from Hong Kong. The next morning we were on our way to Guangzhou with no idea what to expect.

Not much to report on Guangzhou as it is a bit of a dump. We were there for 2 nights and this was more than enough. It does not receive many western tourists evidently as there is no English and nobody appears to speak any there. There is a local beer called Pearl River, which is an absolute delight although it doesn’t appear to be available outside of the city, in a market dominated by China’s leading beer - more on that later. The biggest challenges we had in Guangzhou was ordering dinner off an entirely Chinese menu. We somehow managed although we ordered what we thought was beef, but wasn’t like any beef we had ever had before, which raised suspicions on the true identity of the meat.

The only availability for the night train to Shanghai was for seats, so we reluctantly accepted them. They turned out to be hard seats with very little comfort. When we stumbled onto the train, our carriage was rammed to the rafters with all seats taken and all available space taken up by standing passengers, including the sinks and toilets. We had ticket numbers so we fought gallantly through the masses with our large bags knocking everything over in the process before evicting two hapless souls from our seats. The seats had vertical backs and virtually no leg room and they would be our home for the next 20 hours. At least we had seats though as many of the passengers faced 20 hours on their feet. Within 10 minutes of being on the train we were causing much interest with the locals and a group of three students started taking our photo and then continued taking our photo for the next 30 minutes - it was like some kind of ‘Hello’ photo-shoot. We got chatting with them though and found them to be really lovely and when they were really starting to tire of standing we gave up our seats. The problem was that every 10 minutes they would get up to give us our seats back as they felt bad with us standing, but in actual fact it was nice for us to be in a different position for a while! After little to no sleep, we were relieved when the train pulled into Shanghai at 10am the next morning.

As we were in the midst of the Chinese mid-autumn festival (moon festival) train tickets were a scarce resource so the first thing we had to do on arrival was arrange our onward ticket to the next destination, Qingdao which we chose to visit for reasons that will soon become apparent. We decided that 3 nights in Shanghai should do the job and weren’t going to fall for the mistake of hard seats again so opted for hard sleeper for the mere 18 hour journey.

For the Shanghai hostel we thought we had better get used to dorm rooms as we would be relying on these throughout the remainder of our travels pretty much. We were disappointed to learn that the beds we booked were in single sex dorms so we were in with strangers but the place was clean and comfortable so wasn’t too bad. Although we were shattered, we were excited about being in Shanghai so decided to head straight out and save sleep for the night. We first went to the French Concession part of the city which is supposed to be good for a stroll and a bite. We were amazed at how European it was and had a bit of lunch before heading to the riverside and the tourist attraction, The Bund. This is an amazing place as it is where the two contrasting styles of Shanghai converge. On the west side, there are a host of typical 1930’s European style and art-deco buildings whereas on the more modern east side, there are numerous modern skyscrapers which are pretty spectacular. If we are honest, we were expecting a lot more futuristic buildings but after Hong Kong, everywhere will seem inferior. We happened upon a microbrewery close to the bund so agreed that we deserved a beer before dinner.

One attraction in Shangahi stood out head and shoulders above the rest but it wasn’t the famous Shanghai World Expo 2010. It was in fact the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition - you can take the planners out of planning.... etc....! It was 6 floors dedicated to the development of Shanghai from its days a small fishing village in the 16th Century (if memory serves correctly) to the city of 20 million odd it is today. As we headed down the escalators after viewing each of the floors we noticed all the staff congregated by the door wanting to go home - we had spent all afternoon there! It was a record for us, and definitely a personal best for Ellie - beating her earlier record of 28 minutes in a museum / exhibition! That evening we took a river cruise to see the buildings illuminated which was nice but once again, fell short of Hong Kong’s high standards.

The next day was our last in Shanghai so headed east of the river to get amongst the skyscrapers. After a few hours of wandering around aimlessly we decided to go on ‘The Bund Tunnel Sightseeing Trip’. This took us on an underground train back to the west side of the river and left passengers wondering what an earth had just happened on arrival at the other side. Firstly there were no sights just a myriad of psychedelic lights and sounds - they were right about it being a trip though! Afterwards we went in search of a brew in a typical Chinese tea house. We toured through a maze complex of traditional Chinese buildings which had been converted to tut stalls / cafes / restaurants for the numerous tourists. To escape from the drizzle we sought refuge in a tea house and enjoyed a jasmine and oolong tea, the latter of which was similar to a chemistry experiment with the mixing of different solutions in different pots! It was well worth it though and we even walked away having purchased a tin of this tea. We headed back the hostel where we met up with an Australian chap from Steve’s dorm for a couple of beers. We couldn’t believe it when it was suddenly 3am and had a long train journey the next day so went to get some sleep.

The next morning we headed to a supermarket to get some food to take on the train with us - having seen the locals chewing on bones and other unusual creatures we thought we would play it safe with a baguette and some sushi. The journey was a pleasure, notwithstanding the beer swilling, burping, flatulent man on the lower bunk (not Steve) and we arrived in Qingdao at 7am and well rested.

Qingdao’s most famous export is Tsingtao beer, hence our trip - not just for the beer though, the history too! The city was occupied by Germany from 1899 before it was handed back to China after the war. The brewery was opened in 1903 by a German company (with the help of the British) and the legend was born. Whilst there are about 14 breweries around China, the original remains in operation and is surrounded by many pubs and bars and is known as ‘Beer Street’.

We headed straight for Beer Street to suss it out and arranged to come back the following day for a tour of the brewery. Whilst there it would have been rude not
Log flume at Guangzhou parkLog flume at Guangzhou parkLog flume at Guangzhou park

This was as good as it gets in Guangzhou!
to indulge in a cheeky glass of the local tipple, so we found a bar and got a pitcher in! One tactic we had perfected when it comes to ordering food in China was the old fashioned ‘point & hope’ and this paid off beautifully when we managed to get a nice platter of cold meat - which we later decided was probably beef.

The next day was dedicated to the local speciality as we enjoyed a very interesting and educational visit to the brewery. It was by far the best brewery tour either of us (well Steve mainly) had ever been on. We couldn’t believe the sheer volumes involved. Naturally the process was made all the much better by the beer testing along the way!

After Beer Street, it was Ellie’s turn as we headed for Red Wine Street... seriously! This is a recent addition to Qingdao to celebrate China’s wine production. Now personally, the only oriental wines we had ever tasted were the plum wines you get at Chinese and Japanese restaurants so were surprised to learn that China is in the top 10 of wine producing countries in the world. In the museum, an underground
At the train stationAt the train stationAt the train station

Errrr..... help please
maze of tunnels, there was no tour as such and we were left to roam and try and work out what the signs which were written in Chinese actually meant. Fortunately there was a bit of English so all was not lost on us. After about an hour of looking at the museum working out if there would be any tasting involved, we stumbled upon the tasting chamber. We were told that we could have a glass of wine of our choice. We were offered French, Italian, Chilean or Chinese which we thought was a little strange. After hearing so much about the wines they produce in China, they offer us a choice of 4 wines, only one of which is actually Chinese. Obviously, we opted for the Chinese one and it was actually quite nice. It was far sweeter than we are used to with a red wine but was enjoyable nonetheless, so much so that we bought a bottle.

Next up, it was back to Beer Street for a few drinks.... ok a lot of drinks! We went to a few places but it wasn’t really that lively for a Saturday but as the late afternoon became
The train ride from hellThe train ride from hellThe train ride from hell

Yes those people were standing for 20 hours!
early evening, the place came to life. There was a table a Chinese guys behind us who were having a jolly old time and drinking a pitcher of black beer (or stout as Tsingtao called it). Steve decided to order a small glass of this but the language issue meant that he had a whole pint...... which joined the full pitcher of normal beer we already had. Fortunately Ellie was into her stride now and was enjoying the beer, not just pretending! We decided to offer the Chinese guys some of our beer and topped them all up. They responded by offering us some meat on sticks (maybe chicken!?!) which we gladly accepted. Before long we were all sitting at the same table and enlisted a nice Chinese couple on the next table who spoke excellent English and we had ourselves a regular party! There was normal beer, green beer, black beer all flowing freely and the most common universal gesture was to raise the glass and all to drain it simultaneously. It wasn’t long until the language barrier was not a barrier at all, as speaking alone became tricky for most! It was a wonderful evening though and we were glad to have the opportunity to fully interact with some of the locals.

The following day we headed down to the harbour. Qingdao is not just famous for beer, it was the venue of the sailing events of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. We had a lovely picnic on the lawn by the harbour before having a walk around. The place is immaculate; by far the cleanest part of China we had seen to date. Fortunately the weather was amazing too so we enjoyed a very lazy day enjoying the sunshine. We even had a small afternoon nap by the lighthouse, which may have had something to do with the previous night. There is one more novelty street in Qingdao that caught our attention; Gourmet Cuisine Street so decided to treat ourselves for a nice seafood meal for our last in the city. After walking up and down in search of a restaurant with an English menu, we accepted we would have to go with the point & hope technique. This worked a treat as we had some delicious seafood, the only drawback being that we had no idea how expensive it would be. We pushed the boat out
Urban Planning ExhibitionUrban Planning ExhibitionUrban Planning Exhibition

Like a kid at a sweet shop
and ordered a whole load of interesting things including sea urchin and some sort of snail (which was seriously delicious) so braced ourselves for a big bill. We couldn’t believe when they asked for 120 yuan (£12) - what a bargain!

The following stage of that night will be remembered as the Qingdao taxi incident..... After jumping into the taxi we pointed to our hostel on the map and he agreed and started driving. As we neared the hostel he took what we thought was a wrong turning, going through some very quiet and dark roads, eventually ending up at a hostel that wasn’t ours. After pointing frantically at the map the driver responded in Chinese pointing towards the other hostel, implying that we should just stay there! After refusing to get out as we had no idea where we were, the driver asked an old couple for directions and the next thing we know, they were in the car with us. We continued driving around racking up the meter and getting no closer to our hostel. When he pulled over to try and get directions once again, we had had enough so jumped out of the car. This
Planning exhibitionPlanning exhibitionPlanning exhibition

Ellie was content to explore the childrens section.
did not go down well with the taxi driver or the old couple, who also were telling us to stay at the other hostel, but we had been in the car for around 40 minutes for a 20 minute journey. When the driver demanded payment for what was on the meter, we flatly refused and gave him half of the fare, which was still more than the reverse journey had cost earlier on. He really wasn’t happy and a small fight ensued, no fistycuffs but a bit of shoving from the driver, but we stuck to our guns and walked off, the driver calling us some probably obscene names in Chinese. As it turned out, we were quite close to the hostel so walked the remainder of the journey back.

The next day we were on a bullet train to Beijing, at a mere 240km/h for only a 6 hour journey this time.
As usual, our first task when we arrived in Beijing was to get our train ticket out of there, back to Hong Kong. After standing in one queue for ages, we eventually got to the front and were told we needed to go to another queue two floors up, which was even longer than the first. We presumed that we’d been sent to the English speaking desk but when we got to the front, we were greeted by an old battleaxe who did not like her job and very much disliked us! Luckily, a bloke behind us came to our rescue and managed to translate for us. When we had the tickets in our hands, we asked him to translate again and he informed us that we would be on the top bunks of the hard sleeper, something which we had done in Vietnam, and vowed never to do again, certainly not for a 24 hour journey anyway. So, off Steve went to the back of the queue to negotiate with the battleaxe - minus a translator!! Somehow he managed to get our tickets changed to soft sleeper and both on the lower bunks - what a treat!

Three hours after arriving in Beijing train station we eventually left and headed on the tube towards our hostel. We were delighted to find out that we would be in the same dorm this time and particularly happy that we were the only ones in there for
The tea houseThe tea houseThe tea house

The most complicated cup of brew in the world!
two nights. We did our traditional first day recky of the area to find that we were right in the middle of the city, very close to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. After a very large dinner of noodles at one of the many food courts in the city, we booked ourselves on a Great Wall tourist trip for two days time. This left us with the following day to discover the Forbidden City.
We started early (well for us anyway) and headed straight for Tiananmen Square, specifically the Chairman Mao Memorial. This is where they display the body of Mao and after having missed out on Ho Chi Minh’s body, Steve was determined not to let the Chairman slip through his fingers. Now, looking at a dead body is certainly not Ellie’s idea of a good time so she sat outside while Steve trawled through with the thousands of other tourists hoping to see some grimness! He was very orange and shiny and it didn’t take long for Steve to pronounce him dead.

So the next stop was lunch before heading into the Forbidden City where we had an automatic audio guide that wouldn’t stop talking. It actually got to the point where we just stopped listening but we still very much enjoying looking at the amazing sights. We spent about 3 hours in there which was about our limit as the different buildings were starting to blend into one. Our next destination was the Beijing Underground City which looked to be easy walking distance from where we were. However, the size of Biejing means that nothing is close by and it turned out to be a bit of a hike, one which ended with us being quite lost. When we got close-by we still couldn’t find the place and stumbled across a ‘kindly’ tuk-tuk driver who agreed to take us there for the bargain price of 3 yuan. We clarified that he did mean 3 and not 30 which he agreed and off we went for the 400 metre trip to the entrance. After stopping in an alleyway beside the tunnels we gave him the 3 yuan and went to walk away. All of a sudden his English became much improved and he started saying ’30, 30’ to us. After a number of ‘taxi incidents’ along our travels we were not in the slightest bit surprised, in fact we were expecting it. Unsurprisingly, we refused to pay 30 yuan (£3) for our 400 metre foray and knew he was on tenuous ground when he tried a counter offer of 10 yuan..... he got his 3 yuan and we walked off laughing at his cheek, weirdly enough he was also laughing! The last laugh was his though as the tunnels had in fact closed down so 2 minutes later we were walking [past him again, with him offering us a lift while still asking for more money. Needless to say, we declined his offer and walked to the nearest tube to find a famous roast duck restaurant, recommended in the lonely planet. After eventually finding the place, despite the hopeless directions offered in the guide that they didn’t even sell roast duck. After yet more walking we found a place called ‘The Roast Duck Restaurant’ so were sure we would get what we wanted there. It was well worth the searching as the duck was absolutely delicious, a far cry from the Peking duck we get at home.

The next day we were picked up at 8am for our day trip, which included the Great Wall and Ming Dynasty Tombs. On such tours they justify slightly lower prices by making you visit local factories etc who try the hard sell on the tourists. So our first stop would be a Jade factory and huge shop. After a short tour and introduction we pretended to look interested while in the shop and 45 minutes later were allowed to leave.
It was then on to the Great Wall and we were lucky enough to have a very clear, sunny day to see it. The wall was amazing although very heavily touristed. The section we saw was on a very steep hill which was pretty scary to climb but even worse to descend. The climbing was made harder by the thin air close to the top but when we reached it we were rewarded with fantastic views of some of the more untouched sections of the wall. After a couple of hours we headed on to our lunch stop which was large canteen, obviously used by many of these tours. The lunch was however quite delicious and contained no bones - a first since we’d got to China. It was then time for the Ming Tombs, luckily no dead bodies on show here, which was quite spectacularly huge and grandiose and in good nick for being 600 years old. On our way back to the city we were ‘treated’ to a tea ceremony in Dr Tea, a government run tea factory that claims the medicinal benefits of certain teas. As it happened we were on our tour with an Egyptian couple, the man of which was a doctor. As the tea lady went to find things to sell us, the doctor explained that most of what she had said in the last few minutes was in fact medically incorrect. The lady was not impressed that we wouldn’t buy anything, even when we explained that we would be travelling for 12 months so we quickly got out of there and found our tour guide. Unfortunatly, he was also not happy with us as we had not spent long enough in the tea place and told us that we needed to spend at least 40 minutes inside our next stop, the silk factory. After another short tour, we were taken to the bedding shop where we had 30 minutes to kill before we were allowed out. Never before has time moved so slowly and Steve likened our stay there to a hostage situation. After 20 minutes of total boredom, our excuses for not buying were starting to wear thin so we produced an ace from up our sleeve..... “Are these sheets cat-proof?” followed by a short story about our fictional cat ‘Mr Bojangles’ who loves tearing things up. Well, we think that one worked as the sales assistant looked blankly at us then walked away never to disturb us again. After 38 minutes we headed for the door and only then realised that we had been stuck in only a small part of a very large store, which even included a cafe which would have been ideal for killing time. Our duties were complete and we were back in the bus on our way back to the guesthouse. That night we were exhausted so settled for a quick dinner and yet another early night... all of this tourism was taking its toll.

Our last day in Beijing had a slow start and didn’t get much faster. We trundled across town to the local Carrefour to get a picnic, which we would enjoy at the Olympic Park. The main attraction of
The Olympic lighthouse, QingdaoThe Olympic lighthouse, QingdaoThe Olympic lighthouse, Qingdao

20.08 metres high to commemorate the 2008 Olympics
this park is the Birds Nest Stadium which is a fantastic design and surrounded by a number of other interestingly designed buildings. This day was all about relaxing and recuperating as a 24 hour train journey to Hong Kong was looming.

The original plan had been to spend a couple of days in Macau, which can be easily accessed by a ferry from Hong Kong. We hadn’t factored in that it was the 1st October, the start of a week long public holiday throughout China, and the prices and availability of Macau hostels reflected this. After deciding that we couldn’t justify paying £200 for 2 nights accommodation we sadly realised that Macau would not be.

So our last two nights before Oz would be back in Hong Kong, staying at the delightful Chungking Mansions. Our penultimate day was spent mostly in the trusty Yorkshire Pud watching the Ryder Cup. For our last night we headed to an Indian ‘mess’ within the mansion and were treated to an exceptional curry. It was like eating in someone’s living room and afterwards the owner invited us to stay and keep on watching the tv! He even asked if he could take a photo for his next promotional leaflet so we now officially endorse The Bombay Club - Block C Floor 4 (nearest tube Tsim Sha Tsui).

On the 4th October we fly to Sydney where we will more than likely be staying until after Christmas, as it is time for us to earn some money!!

All the best, S & E



Additional photos below
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Great WallGreat Wall
Great Wall

The bit we walked up


3rd October 2010

Hi!
Wow, Wow, Wow! Your blogs are great! and it sounds like you are both having an incredible time, although in some respects i don't envy you when your on your long 20 hours journeys with no sleeep - but I bet it makes up for it once you reach the chosen destination! :) Enjoy Oz, (BBQ on the beach for xmas day?!) x
5th October 2010

Hi Guys, It its great to read you are still having a great time. Beer O'clock seems to be the theme of most days ;-) and transport isn't your friends ;-( I can relate to your 20 hour journey on hard seats and staring locals, India is the same! Have an amazing time in OZ. I am very jealous...... obviously. Who knows I could be back soon to join you for a scooner or two!!.... Take care and until your next blog keep smiling. Sara
5th October 2010

suparvellous!!!
LOL!!! DShould've warned you re the chinese shop rules on all trips, glad you're still having a rocking time, skype me when you get to sydders as will send you details of people we know out there.xxxx
5th October 2010

Check your facebook & e-mail ellie
new york booked baby!!!!!!!!
6th October 2010

Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition?
Are you serious? PMSL!!!! Fetch the mop!
7th October 2010

G'day!
What a brilliant time you have had, but what's wit you guys and taxis? Can't wait for Christmas when we will see you both. x
9th October 2010

Have one (or several) for us!!
Hi S & E Seems like you're drinking your way around the world. Good planning. Say hello to Sydney for us! Reccomend a night at the opera, a tad expensive, but worth every penny (or cent or whatever) Look forward to the next "session" I mean blog. Jim & Dav.

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