Brocks take on China trip 1 March April 2008

---

Wednesday, April 2, 2008 First few days

First day spent in Shanghai waiting for evening flight to Huangshan. The architecture at The Bund was very interesting - 'a touch of Palladian among the Art Deco in China'. Late night flight to Huangshan City. Early start for 1 and/2 hour drive to base of mountain. After passing through flat terraced fields blooming with canola, later to be planted with rice, we were on a toll road to rival anything in Europe, with numerous tunnels. This took us quickly into steep lower maountain slopes with every piece of usable land terraced for tea bushes. Higher up was bamboo forest and above 800 m pine forest. Large bamboo being harvested.

Very new modern cable cars carrying six people took us up, over breathtakingly steep terrain, jagged granite peaks rising sharply from the many valleys, with the cable almost scraping these as we rose. Out of the car and our first climb up to Beginning to Believe peak - up, up!! Each
peak has its own name and many have traditional stories or meanings. Then it was on up and down many times to our hotel - didn't count the steps! For the two days we climbed up and down many peaks - the steps and pathways well designed and maintained to cope with 1.8 million visitors a year. The staffing on the mountain is amazing with people constantly sweeping leaves, etc. Very clean, lots of litter bins and staff constantly picking up any litter and cleaning out bins. People really care for this place. After climbing several other peaks another trip took us down and back up on a different cable car that held 100 people.
Day 2 we were up and out at 5:15am to see sunrise at Refreshing Terrace - more than 3000 steps up from our hotel!! and before breakfast! Absolutely fabulous sunrise behind incredible foreground of multiple peaks. Many people there but we managed a front row position by climbing onto a rocky ledge. The area is just unbelievable and a must for anyone visiting China.

Everything to build and maintain buildings and all infrastructure, as well as all consumables and rubbish is carried up and down by porters. Incredible endurance and strength these men have. One example was porters carrying two 50kg bags of cement up steps for hundreds of metres. Had opportunity to explore many peaks - of course many steps up and down for each one. Our highest was 1820m. John unable to climb highest peak there (Lotus Peak) as the path does not open till April 1st for safety reasons.

After we came down from the mountain we visited two Ancient Villages dating back to 12th century- Hongcun and Xidi. Hongcun built in the shape of a buffalo. They gave a fascinating insight into feudal system. The villages are still occupied with just certain parts open for viewing, these being the original dwellings of officials and merchants. Many students were there from colleges, they come to paint the scenery.
Overnight sleeper to Suzhou which is famous for its gardens. We visited two beautiful tradional walled house and garden complexes featuring many courtyard rooms. The structure of the grounds was built in C12th. Each corridor or path turned and you would find yourself in yet another garden or courtyard. Corridors contained open window frames through which one glimpsed some garden vista . These gardens and houses were home to officials and merchants. The largest one we saw was 2.33 hectares. They each contained mountains (rock) and water (ponds), both important elements in cultural tradition.

A canal ride took us to China's 'Venice" - an old part of the city dating back to C15th - very narrow in some parts - tight squeeze and manoeuvre to pass other boats.

Back to Shanghai on uninspiring drive through continuous industrial development with accompanying new housing for the workers. A night's stay before going on to Guilin to begin our next adventure. Dinner in local Shanghai restuarant was good despite the menu having several dishes with dog meat!

Traffic in China is organised chaos! with bicycles, motorbikes, cars, buses, trucks sharing the roads and weaving around one another. The centre yellow line is a vague suggestion there may be a left hand or right hand side of the road. Pedestrian crossings are very wide and may be just hint that people may want to cross the road. Where there are traffic lights, pedestrian crossings have a large countdown showing from 30 seconds so you know you need to evade moving traffic as you cross in your short time! Well next time we will fill you in on the last couple of days her in Guilin/Yangshuo area.


Wednesday, April 9, 2008 from MARCH 29

Flight to Guilin 2 hours after a great drama at security about taking medication on board in hand luggage - had to recheck in. Afternoon visit to Red Flute Cave - one of the chambers could hold 1000 people - various sections lit with coloured lights - paths and infrastructure made access and moving through very easy - many visitors.

An extra cave visited was the Thousand Year Old Turtle Cave - well worth a visit. We fed a 1000y.o. Kylin turtle some banana. Held a 3 month old turtle. Others in pool were 3 and 4 y.o. The giant Mountain Turtles were 1000 and 1300 y.o. After dinner in local restaurant with top quality rice went for a walk before bed. Found a large section of lake gardens - two of four Guilin Lake Gardens. Spectacular lighting particularly the water spout display to music with lighting.

Next morning took 5 hour cruise on Li River to Yangshuo. Huge limestone karsts right down to water's edge spreading numerous peaks in depth away from the river. A procession of tour boats - with an open air kitchen on the back of each on which we saw lunch being prepared. The river had many other craft from small local ferries to bamboo rafts, some equipped with seats and umbrellas and powered by something that was a cross between a small outboard and a whippersnipper.

After we arrived in Yangshuo, John and our guide, Michael, went for a 2 hour bike ride along the Yulong River. Day 2 was the first of our extended walks. A drive upriver to Yangdi where a ferry took us across the river for a walk through the rice paddies, orange groves and villages. Crossed the river again and walked through more paddies, fields and villages. Had lunch in an open air place on the way - good food but facilities unbelievably basic. Walked to next ferry crossing where they were loading baskets of oranges.

Then our walk took us up into karst mountains to take inland route to Hebao Shan village for car pickup. This was the first time our guide, Michael, had done this route so he took instructions from an old local woman. The climb into the first saddle was arduous but scenery made it worthwhile. The track came out into a box canyon with ruins of an old abandoned village. The path deteriorated into very overgrown eventually disappearing. Michael searched for the track for 30 minutes. After two attempts on possible tracks we backtracked to a junction and took the upper path to the right (John wanted to use this in the beginning as it was more defined but Michael had been told to keep left). This led us through a different saddle and eventually down into a remote farm from which we climbed up to the village. It had been fantastic - remote and no people for hours. Even though it was nearly 7 hours walking, the villages and fantastic scenery made it worth it. Back to Yangshuo to a nice meal at Cloud Nine Restaurant, a massage and bed.


April 1st and a long drive of 5 hours to Dazhai over a mountain range. Lunch was near the top at a home style eatery with great views. Arrived at Dazhai Dragon Back Rice Terraces - more than 600 years old. Walked one and a half hours up a very steep, rough path to our guest house in Tientou.

Guest house in clouds, so obscure views but stunning as clouds and mist drifted across. Everything felt damp, including the beds. There was no heating in the guesthouse but they did have electric blankets. The 'hot' water was solar powered and only tepid. Next day and a 5 hour walk to Ping'an - a more touristy village. Walk was up and down many times, passing through Zhongliu where we paid 10 yuan for 2 ladies to let their hair down and redo - a tradition of these Zhuang women is to only cut their hair twice in their life - at age 18 and at death. These women had very long hair plus their 18y.o. extension piece and two more extensions belonging to their ancestors. It made a very heavy top-knot when rolled up again. Very entertaining! On the walk we saw many families celebrating their ancestors at the gravesites - they decorated the graves with paper money and streamers, burned incense and let off firecrackers.

The walk was well worth the effort with fantastic, expansive vistas - a very basic track underfoot, meandering its way around the terraces. Panic struck for a while as our driver phoned our guide to say the road out to our starting point at Dazhai had been closed for 10 days for bridge repairs! Driver not able to get through and pick us up and he had the majority of our luggage. We walked on with John suggesting various contingency plans. We didn't fancy 10 days in a very basic guesthouse with only our overnight needs with us. Just before we arrived at Ping'an good news from the driver - he had managed to negotiate a passage through. ( We didn't find out how.) On to Longsheng Hot Springs. Very late arrival so only a short time in the water, but what and experience! We selected the Doctor Fish pool. This pool was 38degrees and stocked with fish, 50 -75mm long. After laying in the pool for a few minutes the fish started nibbling away at any exposed part of your body. After initial uneasiness the sensation became pleasant. The fish remove dead skin cells and bacteria to open the pores and allow the minerals to work. We both felt refreshed afterwards. Breakfast and dinner disappointing which is typical of hotels and restaurants trying to cater for Western tastes.

Next morning we left early to have a walk across a picturesque swinging bridge with a pavilion on each end. John walked up paths into the park for further views. Then we went on to our guide Michael's village, Chengyang. Stayed in his hotel which is in the process pf being renovated - wood shaving on the floors, etc. Had to change rooms because no water in bathroom. These small guesthouses/hotels have a wall mounted 65L hot water cylinder in each bathroom, solar heated.

This is a Dong Minority village. There are about 2.5 million Dong people in China. Each village has some unique traditions. The houses of the Dong, Miao, Zhuang and Yao people are all timber and they are constructed of pine logs with mortice and tenon joins. We saw the village men preparing these in the local roadside 'factory'. The outer and inner walls and floors are single skinned pine boards with overlapping edges cut in. They are made with few nails. The roofs are layered tiles with upturned ends.

More about these fascinating people and our time in the area next time.

---

Photos

Huangshan
The Calligraphy Brush

Jiuzhaigou
At the end of the road at 3100m. The late is still partly covered in ice.

Jiuzhaigou
A fantastic waterfall all travertine.