China Contd.

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Fri. 12th.
After leaving most of our breakfast, we are taken to a mountain lake for a short boat trip around an island. It was pretty, but just like Royden Park on a larger scale. In the shop they sell large canisters of oxygen, and we are amazed at the amount of people using it. On the way back to Li Jiang, we make the obligatory stops at the tea houses, and Jade showrooms. Each time we hope the loos will be clean, but no joy. Admittedly some are better than others. Would you believe cattle stalls, with very low sides, and no door! After dinner (see previous comments) we walk to the old town and are again enthralled by it. It is even better and busier by night, with all the red lanterns lit, and traditional song and dance around every corner. We don't know what the fish think about the candles floating down the streams, but we loved them. It's places like this that make us wish that we had more time to spare in China.

Sat. 13th.
Another very long journey (why is the country so big!) to Snow Mountain, and an hour's queue in the cold, before we take the chair lift to Spruce Meadow. We did get glimpses of the snow on the peak, but the cloud was heavy and low. Another big queue to descend, but the views are worth the wait - just about. After a late lunch, we transfer to a bus to take us back to Dali. For once we are pleased to stop at a jade showroom to buy a little memento for Vera and Bonny. When they left us we didn't know whether their tears were of joy or sadness. Although it's been chilly on this trip, the sun has kept shining, but now torrential rain takes over, and the scenery is non-existant. In Dali, we're taken to a much nicer hotel, so we don't mind spending 2 nights here, as it avoids using the overnight train. The only problem is finding a place to watch the cup final and also finding the shop where we left out laundry. We failed on both counts, and to make matters worse, on one of the 50-odd channels, they were showing an old German game -- at least it wasn't Man. U. A plea for Graeme to video the final was vetoed when he text us back to say they do not have a player any more, (Gilbert, have you been trying to post things in it?) but he would ask Mark or, God forbid, Bill & Kath. As if they haven't done enough. Lots of text messages telling us the goals, and at 02:00 we could go to sleep happy.

Sun. 14th.
Did we mention Liverpool won The Cup! Our last trip of the package starts at 08:00, and we are taken by minibus, in the pouring rain, for a boat ride on Lake Erhai Hu. The boat is huge and looks impressive, with Dragons etc. adorning it but the seating is just garden chairs, if you can find any. Our guide was lovely, and she shepherded our group into a small room, where they gave shoulder and foot massage, and found us some seats. How long do you think it was before Jim availed himself of the massage? - Not me, it looked too much like torture. We land on our feet yet again and are befriended by 2 Canadians, 1 of whom could speak Chinese. Eureka! Half way through the cruise, we were taken to the theatre and treated to a super performance of national song and dance. This was spoiled by the vile tea they brought around in the interval. We crave a decent cup of coffee! The boat trip was followed by lunch and visits to tea and jade shops, which was a complete waste of time. This only left us 1 hour to appreciate the 3 Pagodas and The Chong Sheng Temples, which was a travesty. This is China at its very best and we could have spent all day here. The massive Buddhas in the 6 Temples are sometimes accompanied by 500 larger than life figures, all immaculately presented. An electric car ferrys us to the top of the complex and the view is awesome, but we didn't have much time to stop and stare. The 3 Pagodas are hidden frim view until you come to the fourth terrace, and then you see 1000 years of history before you. They do not have foundations, and yet have withstood earthquakes through the centuries. The pull of the whole area is such that, while walking away, you have to keep turning around to have another look. We decide to forego dinner in the old town, ( Yippee) and hail a taxi to take us back to our hotel. Then it's "Hunt the Laundry" time, and luckily the place is still open at 7:00. Our tour guide must have rang the hotel to make sure they gave us something to eat on our return, so we were frog-marched into the dining room. When the waitress asked Jim what we wanted, he took one look at my face and accompanied her into the kitchen with his food list. I don't know how he accomplshed it , but we had a meal of CHIPS, egg fried rice and two delicious meat dishes. To top it all, the water stayed hot all through our showers. What more could we ask.

Mon. 15th.
A miserable start to the day but as we will be on the train back to Kunming, and then a flight to Cheng Du, it doesn't really matter. The train has 13 long carriages and the one that we are in is almost empty, although the others are full to bursting. We have 6 seats and a table to ourselves until a passing Chinese philosopher sits himself down and chews Jim's ear for most of the six hour journey. I escape to another cubicle to update the blog and admire the beautiful countryside. For once we choose a hotel out of the Lonely Planet book, and do we strike gold. The Traffic Hotel is highly recommended by us. Ultra clean and the reception understand slow english. The food at the restaurant is fantastic, and the waitresses fall over themselves to serve you. The city's skyscrapers are illuminated at night, and on the river, coloured lights reflect from the many bridges, giving the effect of a European city.

Tues. 16th.
Today is "Panda Day" at the research centre, (not the zoo!) so, for once, the 06:30 morning call was welcomed. Our minibus picks up 3 other people and their interesting conversation helps take our mind off the 101 near misses our driver has in the heavy traffic. On arrival, we hotfoot it to the first enclosure and gape unashamedly at this magnificent creature. The Pandas are only active around breakfast time, which is 08:00 to 10:30, so we go from one compound to the next (and back again) watching them eat bamboo shoots. After that, they take a dip in the pond and have a mad half hour playing. It was worth coming all this way just to see them so content. After lunch, we take a rickshaw to the post office and finally send our photos home. No such luck with the internet though, as it keeps getting blocked.

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