Embrace the bizarre- China 2015

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Hello everybody! I have just done a tour of China! Oh my goodness what an experience, the trip from Beijing to hong kong has been phenomenal. Firstly arriving at the airport after leaving dubai was so tricky, i was knackered and had no idea what to expect. In arrivals it seemed a free for all with everyone pushing, shouting and jousting for positions in what can only be described as a riot of a line. Passed through customs with little bother. I arrived at the airport exit to find a small chinese man with a sign with my name on it, gave him a wave to say that was me, he ran up to me showed me the hotel card, grabbed my luggage and ran! Welcome to china!!! After chasing him around the airport finally we reached the oldest BMW I've seen in years, it looked like the cat was falling to pieces. He ushers me into the car by pointing and grunting. As soon as he enters the car, i ask "how long will it take to get to the hotel?" his response "No english". Well folks this was the theme for the whole of china. Nobody or very little people we encountered on our trip spoke any english.

As i am sitting in this wreck of a car a million things are going through my mind, "Have i done the right thing here?" "Where the hell is this guy taking me" "Will i get on okay on this trip?" "Will there be people on the trip i get along with?" What a car ride that was, it took an hour of my driver driving up the hard shoulder, peeping his horn at everything that moved and me genuinely fearing for my life a couple of times to arrive safely at my hotel. I checked in with little difficulty, and was told im sharing a room with somebody called Krystine. My fears began as im walking up the stairs to my room thinking "i hope shes nice and we can at least get along for the next three weeks". I try opening the door and i cant get in, i give it a chap and there she is. "Hiya im laura, im sharing a room with you blah blah blah blah blah", i swear to goodness i spoke at Kryssy for the next hour solid, poor girl didn't know what had hit her. Little did i know at this point we would be such wonderful friends the whole trip. I must say i couldn't have had a more wonderful travel buddie than Kryssy.

That evening we met the rest of our group which consisted of 7 people (all lovely thank goodness) and got an early night as the tour kicked off the next day. We seen the forbidden city and the temple of heaven that day which was very impressive, the only drawback to this was the level of pollution in Beijing, I've never been to a place so congested in all my life, i felt i could hardly breathe. The following day we visited the Great Wall of China, this is something i have wanted to see for as long as i can remember, and believe me it is so worth it. We walked along the wall to the highest point that tourists can go and the views from there were spectacular. I can really see why it is one of the wonders of the world as the wall itself is very impressive but also the setting and surroundings are equally breathtaking. If you are travelling china it is a must.

It was then a case of getting a sleeper train down to Xian which was an event in itself, my first experience of a sleeper train in China consisted of chinese people screaming, smoking and spitting at all times throughout the night. Thank goodness we were all together in a bay of 6. There is very little room to move in these bunks and the journey was less than comfortable but we all survived it and were prepared for the next 3 sleeper trains we had to come in the following weeks. Xian is so rich in Chinese culture and is the most interesting place we visited in terms learning the history of the evolution of china. During this time we visited the terracotta warriors which was exceptional and museum of Xian which took you from 2000 bc to modern day china. The following day we took a bike ride around the city wall of Xian which was so fun, Kryssy and I chatted non stop as we cycled round the wall for a good couple of hours, taking in all of the sights and sounds of the city. Every so often as we were cycling around the wall we heard these loud bangs which we thought were some kind of cannons, or guns going off. Little did we know it was a man making popcorn in an old type of pressure cooker and when he released the lid it sounded like a cannon going off and all this wonderful fresh popcorn came shooting out into a big net, we bought some off the man which was delicious. It gave us a feel of traditional chinese culture and the old fashioned methods in which they can use to do more modern things. The city was so interesting mixing old culture with a more modern chinese society. Then it was time to go.

After another horrendous sleeper train we arrived in Shanghai. This was such a culture shock again, coming from a city so rich in history and chinese culture to this modern metropolis. Never the less Shanghai was wonderful we went on a skywalk over the city 100 floors up with fantastic views. We took a ferry boat ride and seen the city at night which is extremely impressive with all its flashing lights and modern buildings. The Bund in Shanghai is spectacular as you can see all the way down the river and the financial district over the water lights up at night which is extremely beautiful. Shanghai was also the first place in a long time that seemed slightly more westernised. This was the first night the group had partied together which was great and we staggered home around 2am after all taxi drivers refused to take us to our hotel. We also had this trouble in Beijing as apparently because of the language barrier and we are tourists they don't want to take you anywhere. Our guide Gary even said its difficult for local people to get taxi drivers to take you anywhere so we had no chance. Anyways we were off on another sleeper train, next stop LongJi.

After a sleeper train, a few hours on a bus, twenty minutes of the scariest local bus journey of my life. Picture this.....sheer drops, mountain cliffs, very high altitude and a maniac driver going about 50 miles an hour along a route that says "no buses beyond this point" we were exhausted. Then we seen it, LongJi. It is one of the most beautiful places i have ever been. The village we were staying in was so secluded and was a twenty minute walk up a mountain with all our luggage from the bus stop. We arrived and the views were phenomenal from our room. So Kryssy and i decided to go on a little exploration of the village and surrounding area. We climbed up to a vantage point at a hotel and took in the views, for as far as the eye can see there was rice terraces shaping the landscape. We were both so excited for our day trek the following day with our local guide who was honestly one of the most lovely ladies we had encountered on our trip, she spoke to us all in mandarin, not a word of english and we understood mostly everything she was saying by her expressions and body language. It was the first time on the trip that i noticed the genuine caring nature of the local people. The things we seen on that trek were amazing, the views we had could never be captured on a camera it can only be experienced. For me i think this was my favourite part of the trip, it was all the things i love, being outdoors, hillwalking and having the best laugh with wonderful company. Kryssy the night that we killed that wasp, nearly killing ourselves with 50% deet, me jumping from bed to bed and nearly out the window is something i will never forget, the laugh we had was unbelievable and its memories like that will stick with me for such a long time.



A three hour bus journey then took us to our final destination in mainland China, Yangshuo. Yangshuo has so much to offer, we found it touristy enough but still with that local flare and the most gorgeous scenery. We experienced a wonderful traditional Chinese cooking class where wee made six dishes which were all delicious and met a lovely girl from Brazil who was travelling alone in china, which we all found so brave of her. The next day our guide Gary had organised for us to hire scooter and take us a ride into the country to really see the beauty of Yangshuo. This experience was the best yet, we hired the scooters and rode off into the country, the whole trip was 40KM long and the views of the hills were spectacular. There were moments on that bike ride i wish i could have captured on camera, us all driving through the country, meeting the most random man who told all of us girls that he would love us forever and he wanted an english wife. Said man followed us on a peddle bike for 20 miles before he crashed into a bush and gave up on us. We went to the light show which is directed by the man who directed the Beijing Olympics. The less said about it the better, we all didn't enjoy it and would not recommend it to anybody. We then all partied again that night which was hilarious and were treated very well by locals and foreigners alike.



Another sleeper train and here we are in Hong Kong, we arrived yesterday, had a little explore of the city and we went out partying again last night, Victoria, Valerie, Kryssy and myself went to this great area in Hong Kong where all the clubs are called Lab Kwaii fong in central hong kong island given to us by our random friend Winston we met in a bar, we will be forever thankful to him as this night out was brilliant and Kryssy and i were the last girls standing when we staggered in at 3am this morning. What a night we had, the dancing, laughing drinking and general carrying on was hilarious and will be remembered for a long time. So today was very hard, saying goodbye to all the girls, Gary and Neil was tricky. When travelling with these wonderful people it makes it so hard to say goodbye especially when a great time has been had by all. But one goodbye was certainly the hardest, my dear friend Kryssy. Writing this will tears in my eyes thinking about the brilliant time we had. Could i have survived China without you? maybe....would it have been the experience that i had....NEVER. To find a friend like this is so important, this makes travelling all the more enjoyable. From our routine of morning oreo's. Our desire to find every oreo flavour under the sun, laughing hysterically, killing wasps, taking in all those wonderful sights, you being the bravest foodie ive ever known, driving our scooters side by side down the road and being so chuffed with ourselves. The list goes on.... But all is fine because we will see each other again. Its just a massive thank you for making my trip what it was. Love you girl.



China you have blown my mind. What a culture shock again and memories that will last me a lifetime. Will i come back? Probably not, i have had a whirlwind tour that has satisfied my need to see what i need to in China. A wonderful place which i think you need to see to believe and so culturally diverse and interesting i think you'd never get bored. Gary told us an old saying in China is "embrace the bizarre" which i feel every one of our group members did. China you have been amazing, thank you and goodnight.

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