Blogs from Shaanxi, China, Asia - page 99

Apologies 1st people, I have put some extra blogs on, but didn't publish them so that's why you couldn't see them Col. My fault, I'm stupid. (not that you didn't know that) Well I'm now in Xian, it's a bit South and West of Beijing. It's where the Terracotta Warriors are and I'll be off to see them tomorrow. We left Beijing on Fri and drove to the Great Wall, it was cool, really amazing to see. Trecked across it, 10k, it's far. It was difficult as well as the isn't much of a wall in places, more a load of rubble, everyone was knackered at the end. That eve we just chilled at a hotel. The next day we went to Beijing for a bit and then got a train too Xian, that's an experience. ... read more

Our visit to China's ancient capital was mostly cold and rainy. Felt like Home! :)... read more

We arrived in Beijing on the 15th and were met at the airport by our travel guide, Helen. She drove us to our hotel. Our hotel room had a tv and a computer with internet. The next morning we woke up early and our guide took us to a huge plaza where beggers tried to sell us hats and fake Rolex watches (Tianamen Square). Then we went to the Forbidden City. It was very big and a lot of the bridges and walls were made of marble. We spent a long time there looking at builidings, statues and other things. We then went to the Temple of Heavan which was very cool. We went to a restaurant and had Peiking Duck which was very greasy. Then our guide took us to a chinese opera. After the ... read more

We've seen three sides of China now. The old historic pretty China, the brash modern (slightly shoddy because its being built so quickly) new China and the relatively wild scenic China. The new is in danger of wiping out the old completely, leaving behind puddles of concrete and holes where buildings should have gone up but haven't. But the wild - at least down South - is still unspolit and amazingly accessible once you get a hang of where you are going. Chengdu, a city we have just left in the South China is a good example of Chinese modernisation. Whole parts of the city have been walled off so that sites can be demolished and then rebuilt. The end result is that hopes are quickly dashed as that ancient famous noodle and dumpling shop you've ... read more

Dear Family and Friends, We disembarked from the East King Cruise two days ago in Chonquing. Our local guide took us on an abbreviated tour of the city. We visited the City Hall, and Square. Enormous Pagoda like structure on the exterior, which seats 4000 people. Strolled the granite square outside, where in the evenings people dance, ballroom style and others. Buses of school children arrived, and they were all friendly and like to practice their english. It is about 16 C and very humid. We visited an authentic daily market, where locals purchase their food requirements. Vats of live wriggling eels, (horrifying), pig snouts etc. We have video. Cannot describe but was interesting+++. Later we went for lunch at a local restaurant which created the Kun Pow Chicken dish - yummy. But we do not ... read more