Blogs from Zhongdian, Yunnan, China, Asia - page 4

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Asia » China » Yunnan » Zhongdian July 16th 2006

Surprise.... Okay so we flew into Zhongdian and had a random lady pick us up in her car to drive us to the Tibet Cafe which was where we were supposed to find out information on the saftey of hiking the gorge. We then took a bus right into Qaio Tou which was the starting point of the next 2 days. Walked to Margo's Guest House (she is an Australian lady who has all the scoop on the gorge, owns a hostel here and makes great food (Western food that is). She is very scatter brained as we soon found out, she talks about 590689 things at once and none of us could understand her or figure out who she was taking to most of the time. But it was cheap ($2 to sleep) and we ... read more

Asia » China » Yunnan » Zhongdian April 26th 2006

Driving out of Lijiang was kinda sad. We've had a wicked time so far in China and our time at the A Liang (free press, those guys are awesome) guesthouse had been particularly good. It was also the end of our independent travel for a while, as once in Zhongdian we are to meet up with three others and share a jeep for the 8 day drive overland into Lhasa, the Tibetan capital. We drove the same road that leads to Tiger Leaping Gorge and so the scenery was beautiful - pine forests, the rumbling river, mountains everywhere and blue, blue sky. I fell asleep for only 20 minutes and all this changed. When I awoke we had driven up onto a vast plain, dry and desolate it was populated by yaks as far as the ... read more

Asia » China » Yunnan » Zhongdian April 8th 2006

After completing our trek of the Gorge, we decided that night to continue west (towards Tibet) to Zhongdian, otherwise known as Shangri-La. We initially planned to return to Lijiang, but we had the time, so we took a five hour bus northwest. Because we planned to return directly, we packed an overnight bag for the trek (and left our large bags in Lijiang). This was good in that we didn't have to lug our huge backpacks with us but bad in that we were wearing dirty and, for me, smelly clothes. But, that's how we do these days. Zhongdian is on the edge of Tibet but not officially on the Tibetan plateau. Therefore, you are not required to obtain a special permit to visit. (For Tibet, you need pay a few hundred dollars for a permit ... read more
Guihua Monastery
Building with Monk
From the Top

Asia » China » Yunnan » Zhongdian March 18th 2006

Summary - Pearl River Delta - 18th March 2006. Pearl River Delta, covering an area of 45.000 sq. km, it is a triangular agricultural heartland in Southern China. With a history of more than 800 years, Zhongshan City is situated at the south of the Pearl River Delta, is featured by an extensive area of field and rich attractions by the riverside. Lignan River Village, a network of waterways, is famous for its preservation of traditional agriculture and fishing practice that is a rarity in today´s hi-tech world. You travel here back in time with many traditions. Monkey and Bear. Pearl River Delta - 18 maart 2006. Lieve vrienden en vriendinnen, Vandaag een wat minder uitbundige aflevering in vergelijking met gisteren van onze travelblog. Allereerst is het 06.30 uur als wij vertrekken uit het hotel, voor ... read more
Pearl River Delta
Pearl River Delta
Pearl River Delta

Asia » China » Yunnan » Zhongdian March 16th 2006

OK well I think if you want to see all the amazing photos from our travels - and there are so many that will take your breath away - you'll have to visit us for a photo session. As they take too long to upload & I'd prefer to keep you up to date with what's been happenning since. What we do promise to do is put our favourite photos into a hard copy photo album. So you'll be abe to browse them then. In the meantime, as a final offering of China, here is a tribute to the amazing faces & costumes (their everyday clothes) we saw. You'll see why we felt like we were on the wild frontier - and why it's important to visit tehse places before they become spoilt. Claire... read more
I want his hat!
Love their bright colours
Brendon really wishes he'd packed his gloves

Asia » China » Yunnan » Zhongdian March 14th 2006

Not quite, but the Chinese do have some fanciful names. So now that we finally are in our own place and have the internet (at last1) I can resume the tale of our travels. I left you in China in Lijang. This is where we'll briefly resume before showing you the picturesque Tiger Leaping Gorge. This has just taken me 2 hours (those pics take an age to load - so you'll have to wait for the next installment before you can see the amazing Tibetan faces of Zhongdian.... read more
10,000 flower Camellia
Close up on the "King of Camellias"
Watch out for the traffic

Asia » China » Yunnan » Zhongdian November 8th 2005

From Zhongdian we took the back roads to Litang; a four day trip through several high alititude himalayan passes. It was very beautiful, the enitire time was spent with eyes glued to the horizon, one of many highlights were the 5000 metre high plains with herds of grazing yak near Litang. Photos below were taken through windows on a moving bus so you can imagine how good theyd be taken normally. I hope to come back one day and do this route by motorbike, it would be truely breathtaking. Any travellers reading this may want to disregard the LP advice that these roads are some of the most dangerous in the world. Those that we travelled (on public bus) were tarmacked and good quality, with no obviously dangerous sections. There were a few places where there ... read more
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Asia » China » Yunnan » Zhongdian November 2nd 2005

31.10.05 - Qiaotao From Lijiang we travelled north about 80km to Qiaotao, the gateway to the world's deepest gorge - otherwise known as Tiger leaping Gorge after an old fable of the tiger escaping hunters by jumping from one side to another! It is approx 13,000 feet deep and China's longest river, the Yangtze, flows through the centre. There are 2 roads along the gorge, the low road designed for tours and people who want to take a day trip to see the gorge and the high road up in the Haba mountains for stupid people like us who decide to trek along the top! It's a 2 day hike but we started late on the first day so spread it over 3 days, stopping many times along the way to marvel at the spectacular scenery. ... read more
Jade Dragons Snow Mountains in the distance
..but they get closer and closer as the trek continues
Near the end of the first day

Asia » China » Yunnan » Zhongdian July 24th 2005

our photo from tomer and eainav we lost our camera... read more
in the treck - the tiger leaping gorge
yuval wating for us
local on the road

Asia » China » Yunnan » Zhongdian June 25th 2005

We were leaving the Tibetan Autonomous Region but not Greater Tibet yet, flying from Lhasa to Zhongdian (Chinese name, Tibetan name: Gyeltangteng). Public buses to the airport do exist, but since the airport is quite far from Lhasa (100km to the south) due to the high mountain ranges in its proximity, we preferred to take a taxi and start far earlier than we were supposed to. We already had some experience with road works in Tibet and did not want to run any risk concerning the flight. On the first kilometres the road was tarred and smooth, we once again came across the almost finished railway line that will connect Lhasa with the western parts of Tibet (the Chinese really do everything to unblock Tibet from its geographical isolation and to further integrate it into mainland ... read more
Entrance to the Sungtseling Monastery
Sungtseling Monastery
Old and new




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