China Highlights

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China

Thursday 18 October
I had many preconceptions about China. I had been to another communist country, USSR, in 1976 and memories of that grim unhappy place were still with me. The buildings were grey and austere and matched the people as they trudged through the snow after the few sad items in the few sad shops. I knew China would be different but I wasn't prepared for how different.

Shanghai airport is only 5 years old and very very big. As we got off the bus which had brought us from the plane it stretched for what seemed like a mile each side of me. This was very impressive and inside it was bright clean and airy. I had expected something rather older, dirtier and greyer. My first preconception immediately washed away.

The benefit of being in a group is that a lot of the worry is taken away. Tours arranged, questions answered and anxieties soothed. The down-side is that sometimes you are treated as cattle, or at best, school children. An example was as we queued to go through passport control - all 32 of us had to line up in alphabetical order. Is this the first example of the paranoid security of a totalitarian state? Still we laughed at the absurdity of it as we were processed. How will we feel after 2 weeks?

After efficient processing we were in the coach and off to the centre of Shanghai passing (or rather being passed by) the maglev train. The fastest in the world travelling (or low flying) at 430 km hr.

First thoughts of Shanghai while travelling from the airport are lots of traffic on new roads, well kept roadsides, lots of people and thousands blocks of flats with lots of people in them. 17 million people live here which makes London seem like a village.

I had visualised Shanghai as an austere city with a few big “show” buildings to prove to the world how successful the communist state could be. Just like Russia in the 1970s which had a few grey depressing buildings it would proudly show off to the few tourists. But this is different. This is not state driven. This is driven by business from all round the world who want a piece of the Chinese action. The sheer number, size and variety of buildings is staggering. No dead hand of the state could do this. And it has all happened in the last 15 years, and, unless the state decides otherwise, will continue.

Shanghai is the new China and it’s awesome. Most major global companies have a presence here and it seems that each tries to out-do the others with the size and visual impact of their corporate headquarters. A Japanese company is currently building the tallest building in the world. It is staggering. It was planned to have a huge round hole in the top to represent the Japanese flag, but the Chinese government thought this would be one step too far so now the hole is square.

The traffic in Shanghai is notorious and will only get worse. The local government charges at least £2,500 for a license plate, on top of the cost of the car, but this doesn't seem to affect the car loving Chinese. Impressive elevated roads sweep down the streets between high rise flats and offices but they can't keep up with the car buying public. I had expected to see the streets choked with local Chinese designed vehicles like the notorious moskovitchs and trabants of eastern Europe but all I saw were Volkswagens, Audis and Japanese cars. But all are made in China. They seem to be jumping off their bicycles into very smart cars. At the moment car owners are in the minority but the rate of increase is phenomenal. Soon China will be the biggest market for cars in the world.

The Bund is a promenade along the river and is about 1km long. Behind are wonderful 1930s buildings which are now hotels and banks. Across the river are the new commercial buildings. The old facing the new. The Bund is a popular place so, as in all popular places in Shanghai, there are numerous hawkers and ne'er do wells you wouldn't trust to run a whelk stall. This year the “in” pieces of useless merchandise are plastic tomatoes or rats which splat flat when you throw them hard at the floor then slowly regain their original shape. And wheels you attach to your shoes. We were not attracted to either. And of course you can get a Rolex and a Mont Blanc pen for next to nothing. Or best offer: 5 for next to nothing. The hawkers optimism is unquenchable. A hawker may have seen you turn down a dozen others trying to sell you a watch, but that doesn't stop him having a go. Some are persistent but most go without a fight. Just don't show the slightest interest. No eye contact. Pretend you would no more buy one of their offerings than stick pins in your eyes. And apparently there are not just fakes there are genuine fakes and fake fakes which are really bad and you shouldn't touch with a very long barge pole.

For some Chinese, particulary those from the country-side, a western face is quite exotic and unusual, and sure enough a couple asked if they could take a picture of us with one of them. We obliged and felt quite important! Look Mum! That’s us with the big noses. Aren't they funny?

We finally got to our hotel which was just as well because we were beginning to feel a bit woozy from jet lag. Our group had rooms on the 23rd floor and had, obviously, fantastic views over this huge city. The rooms were very nice and I was able to get internet access for my laptop computer.


Friday 19 October

It was a Breakfast Melee. Where are these people from? It seemed so quiet last night. Faced with over 2 weeks of Chinese food I have made the strategic decision to have European type breakfast and not rice and dumplings. Wise move.

Our first visit is to the Urban Planning Museum. This was not on my list of must-see sights but was surprisingly good. I think only a one party state could plan 15 years into the future. Also they appear to be able to make plans and decrees regardless of opposition. Central to the museum was a huge, beautifully detailed model of the city. There seem to be running tracks everywhere (though in reality the tracks are often overgrown with weeds). The plans for Shanghai's place in the country and, indeed, in the world are breathtaking.

Pearls are big in China. Not only dimensionally big but important big. They have 80% or something of the world market. At the pearl showroom we were given a useful lecture about pearls followed by a visit to the shop. Demonstration/lectures followed by buying opportunities are a normal hazard of global travel. Jen tried on a £16,000 necklace but did not buy it.

Lunches on the trip are normally taken in local restaurants so they tend to have more surprises than the hotels we stay at. Our first surprise was deep fried chicken feet. Chewy.

Gardens in China are very important and are more than just a space for a game of football and a barbeque. A garden has four elements; rocks, water, plants and building. There are also evil spirits who have to be controlled. Just about every scene in a garden has these elements. There are no big vistas so Capability Brown would have been out of a job. Much more intimate and cosy. Paths wind around the trees and rocks and present a different view at every turn. A wonderful use of space, and space here is valuable. There are no doubt thousands of books about Chinese garden design. Rocks are either male (large with holes) or female (smaller) and this affects their positioning. Buildings have thresholds you have to step over. The threshold keeps the evil spirits out (who cannot climb over things apparently) and the higher the threshold the higher the status of the house. This can be taken to absurd levels where the threshold is so high you cannot climb over it so you add hinges and turn it into a door. The zig zag paths are also designed to confuse the evil spirits who can only travel in straight lines.

Next stop was a Buddhist temple which contained a 2 metre Buddha carved out of one block of jade. Buddhism is important to the Chinese, particularly in the south. During the cultural revolution (1966 - 1976) many temples were destroyed. The jade Buddha we visited was saved by covering it with pictures of Chairman Mao so therefore the red guards would not remove them to destroy the statue. As in the garden the temples have thresholds to keep out evil spirits. Also in temples the thresholds represent Buddha's shoulder so you can't step on it; you must step over it which can be quite a step when the threshold is 2 ft high. As well as Buddha there are various other gods including a goddess who was deified simply because she agreed to stop eating children. The temple contains black and red buildings and pretty gardens with trees adorned in red ribbons; the whole effect is very beautiful.

In the evening we visited a Chinese acrobat show. This description rather undersold it and a few people were not particularly enthusiastic, imagining earnest gymnasts jumping, tumbling and somersaulting as in the Olympics. However, the show was fantastic and very difficult to describe. Imaginatively choreographed and beautifully produced it had us laughing one moment then on the edge of our seats gasping with horror then applauding with admiration. A definite highlight.

Saturday 20 October
Today we are trying the train. Already my vision of a packed, shabby rattling railway is under threat. The railway station is OK - a bit like Heathrow but with more people. We even have to put our bags through a metal detector. After waiting a few minutes we are allowed onto the platform and soon a shiny sleek train glides in. We take our seats in a spotless carriage and slip off to Suxhou, reaching 160 miles an hour in silent comfort. When my neighbour spills a drink on the floor (and my leg) within seconds an attendant was there to mop it up.

It’s the first time we have left Shanghai but we never seem to leave behind the town. There are high rise flats and industry everywhere. A few farms and paddy fields but businesses everywhere.

Suxhou is known for its gardens. And beautiful women. Janet, our guide, was wonderful and spoke excellent English with a sense of humour. There seems to be lots of humour everywhere except in the traffic which is the constant danger to life and limb. Crossing roads becomes a dangerous event. Zebra crossings are just target areas. Absolutely no one stops. You look for a driver who looks like they may have a bit of sympathy for pedestrians, and then edge out ready to dive back if he turns nasty. You can see them weighing up the chances of damage to their vehicle if they plough through. Danger of injury to a pedestrian does not seem to be a consideration. Vehicle drivers use the same tactics they used when they rode bicycles, ie fix a spot in the distance and head towards it regardless of what is in the way.

Once we get into the coach we feel safe and can enjoy the ride into the town. Suxhou feels much more open than Shanghai and very pleasant. Less frenetic. We are taken to the garden of the fishermen's nets. Why fishermen's nets? Don't know, but I have noticed that gardens, rocks, mountains, lakes have more descriptive names than we have. For example we may call a lake “Windermere” whereas the Chinese would call it “Lake of leaping swan” or “feet of unwanted guest”. The Suxhou garden was the same sort of garden as in Shanghai but rather nicer and better kept. Gardens are favourite places for weddings and it was lovely to see newly weds in their traditional Chinese clothes having their picture taken by everybody.

After lunch (which included a deep fried fish head) we made our way to a silk factory. China is famous for its silk so it was inevitable we would have to visit a factory and learn all about it. Silkworms have a tough life. They are fed lots of lovely mulberry leaves. Yum. They grow quickly and are given a nice pile of straw to make their cocoon in. They spin the cocoon with, basically, 1200m of spit and shrink while they do it. Then they are baked to death to stop them getting out and spoiling the thread. Tough. So at the factory when they unwind a cocoon a little shrivelled dead worm re-appears at the end. I have decided I don't want anything silk. The shop attached to the factory was the size of an average Marks and Spencer and had just about anything you needed, in silk. Not for me though.

Suxhou has a wall round it so our next stop was a gate in the wall to get some idea of the defences. As always there are tour groups from all over Asia. And some, annoyingly have tour leaders armed with personal loudspeakers they insist on talking through, even to those standing next to them. Very annoying but it adds colour and interest! The 600 year old fort and wall were very high and well made and obviously not built by the descendants who were repairing a wall nearby. There were at least 5 “work” men. 4 men watching another balancing ill-fitting bricks in a hole. There was some cement involved but not much. After wandering round the fort we were poured into a boat for a 1 hour ride through the canals. Don't know what we saw because I fell asleep.

Janet our guide told us about her life. A harrowing tale about the cultural revolution during which her mother (a teacher) was imprisoned for writing a letter daring to be less than positive about the regime. She killed herself in prison and the family was forcibly moved to the countryside to learn from farmers. When Janet wanted to go to university she could only do so if she renounced her mother. She did but still feels guilty about it. She said that life is much much better now and it’s not hard to believe.

At night we went up the 4th tallest building in the world. The view was, understandably, spectacular but the most fantastic view was on the inside of tower looking down into the foyer of the Grand Hyatt hotel. It is such a huge drop, like looking into a very very deep hole, that some people could not cope with it. Pictures do not do it justice.

We took a boat up and down the river which, again, was amazing. The lights, colours, huge imaginative building all around made it a memorable albeit chilly trip.

Sunday 21 October
The Shanghai museum is one of the best in China and was our first destination on another very busy day. There are rooms devoted to the various ethnic groups within the country (and there are a lot), to coins, to jade, seals (not the animals) and painting among others. The furniture room had ming (simple and functional) and qing (elaborate) furniture. The best rooms, though, were pottery and porcelain. China has, of course given its name to, well, china and you can see why. They were producing high quality porcelain 1,000s of years ago when we were struggling to make crude clay pots.

When we returned to the coach we found that the museum was claiming we didn't hand all our headsets in so were not going to give our guide her license back (which she had left as security). No license, no job. The bureaucratic state at its worse. Happily the problem was sorted out after many hours of worry for everyone on the coach, because we rather like our guide.

Next stop was a carpet factory. More forgetable facts. Very nice silk carpets which can take one weaver 2.5 years. Lunch here was in Mongolian style: you pile your selection of meat and veg and sauce (at last a hot sauce for me) then hand it over to a cook who then reduces it to about 5th of its size. Still, what there was, was very tasty.

A band greeted us as we boarded the boat which was to be our home for the next 8 days.
The boat has space for 200 passengers but there are only 120 on this trip so it should be comfortable. The rooms are a good size for a boat and each has a big window onto the river with a balcony. It even has internet access but of such glacial speed you have to put aside an hour to check your emails. Meals are in a spacious room with views of the river on three sides. Or more accurately with views of the fog and pollution on three sides.

Monday 22 October
First morning on the boat and it’s up for Tai Chi at 7.30. 40 of us had a go and we must have looked a most unlikely group. Our teacher did his best but the combination of his challenging pronunciation and our uncoordinated movements must have provided the crew with a good laugh. I still don't know what “chasing the pupa” means. We can only get better.

After lunch we visited the mausoleum of Dr Sun Yat Sen who ended the last dynasty (Qing) in 1911 and is the father of modern China. He is much revered still as evidenced by the 1,000 s of visitors. He was not a communist but a nationalist. The mausoleum is outside Nanjing - the old capital. We drove up into the mountains through sycamore trees which lined the route then climbed 362 steps to reach his impressive tomb. However, as throughout the trip, it is the people who are the most interesting. They come from all over the country to pay their respects. Some wear colourful traditional clothes you only see on BBC documentaries. They also like clearing their throats loudly and spitting, although apparently not as much as in the past when wearing wellington boots were advised as a sensible precaution.

We left the mountain and stopped in Nanjing city to visit the temple of Confucious. He was only a civil servant albeit a very wise one (and therefore, from my experience, a very unusual one). He gave good advice to emperors and after his death became deified and stories and myths grew up around him. For example, when he was born wise men came to visit him. Sounds familiar. Nevertheless, apart from his view that women should stay at home, he spoke a lot of sense. What didn’t sound familiar was a reluctant, albeit colourful musical group playing in the grounds of the temple. Once they had dragged themselves onto the stage they sounded quite good. Acquired taste though.

Tonight we have the inevitable captain's reception. The poor man is paraded uncomforably in front of us and says a few words which have to be translated, so prolonging the agony. But we do get sparkling wine type drink and some nibbles.
Later on kareoke was offered and 8 of us, unwilling to sing solos, sang as a group - “California Dreaming” and “Happy Talk” which caused some considerable hilarity.


Tuesday 23 October
On coach at 7.30 for 3.5 hour journey to the most beautiful mountain in China; the Yellow Mountain. We left the city and travelled through miles of farm land of small paddy fields farmed by just one or two people. Grazing water buffalo, used for ploughing, munched on the stubble left after harvesting. Houses were surprisingly big and detached although generally in need of a coat of paint and a bit of gardening. The roads in this bit of the country-side are good and in fact we could have used a recently opened motorway but the guide had decided to take us via the picturesque route.

We reached the bottom of the mountain and took the longest cable-car in Asia to the top which is about 6,000 ft above sea level. The journey up is spectacular. The mountains are vertical and contrast to the trees which cling to them and which have horizontal branches. The colours and shapes of the rocks and trees really do make this a special place. At the top we walked through a lovely forest to a restaurant for some typical rustic Chinese food. This is less fussy than we have been used to on the boat and in Shanghai. For example the chicken is simply chopped up, bones and all, then cooked. We were advised strongly not to eat the salad.

The walk after lunch must be one of the most enjoyable after lunch walks I have ever had. Firstly because I was out of the restaurant and secondly the views from the top down the gorges was spectacular and truly beautiful. We could see why it has a reputation as the most beautiful mountain in China. If it had been in USA it would have been the most beautiful mountain in the world, if not the universe.


Wednesday 24 October
The pace has been pretty hectic up to now (almost a week) so we were looking forward to a whole day on the boat. And a chance for me to catch up with this diary. But of course we can't be left alone so there were a series of activities including lectures on Speaking Chinese (hilarious), Chinese Painting (interesting) and Painting Pictures on the Inside of Snuff Bottles (why?).

The boat is owned by an American company and it shows. There is a tendency towards cheesy-ness. For example when we leave to board a coach for an excursion, the staff line the walkway all the way to the coach, wishing us well. One cynical fellow passenger suggested it was to ensure we didn't fall in the water and sue the company. On returning they again line the walkway and say “welcome back”. Even the maids stationed outside our rooms say welcome back as if they really missed us. And you know they didn't. Probably glad of the peace and quiet. The person who seems to be in charge of guest relations and activities is a Chinese girl who was born and brought up in Los Angeles and has that over the top familiarity and Disneyland jokiness which can come across so falsly. The staff are local though and absolutely delightful and very efficient. They have a natural sense of humour more in-line with ours than the forced American humour.

People. There are lots of people everywhere. This may be because there are 1.3 billion people in the country and many of them at any one time want to visit the tourist sights. The cities and towns are expanding rapidly as people leave the country looking for better life in urban areas. This puts the towns under great strain. There is a policy of one child per family which has slowed the population growth. This policy though has produced millions of spoilt little princes! There are crowds everywhere and you soon get used to the continual pushing and disregard for queues.

In the evening we took a tour through the city of Wuhan which had a population of just 6 million people. We noticed lots of people dancing together in the street - apparently they do it for exercise and sociability. The city has many new, modern building, lots of neon and has a feeling of relative prosperity. We had a short visit to a rock museum which contained dinosaurs as well as rocks. As rock museums go it was probably very good.


Thursday 25 October
Today we stay on the boat so we had more time to catch up on lost sleep. We have a fascinating talk about the Yangtse. Its history and central position in Chinese history.

Another ruse to keep us occupied and out of trouble was the bridge tour which passed without anything worth writing about (apart from commenting on the small wheel for such a big ship but that's not very original because everybody writing a diary writes the same).

The crew was marvellous and in the evening they treated us to a Chinese fashion show which was colourful and noisy.

Friday 26 October

We arrive at the first and oldest dam. We go through a huge lock which would take 6 ships of our size and causes everyone to go outside and ooh and aah. No doubt after the 5th lock we will find them a bit boring. As we continue sailing up the river the walls of the gorge rise up and make a spectacular scene. Farmers’ houses line the bank. They look a bit decrepit but most have satellite dishes. The farmers, when we see them tending their small plots, look quite well dressed. We see remains of the trackway where once naked men pulled boats through the narrow dangerous parts. In conservative China the women had to stay hidden in their cabins with the curtains drawn lest they saw naked male flesh.

The 3 gorges dam project is very controversial, even in China. Our river guide, Michael was, on balance, against it. Its benefits are to control flooding (in the past when the Yangtse has flooded it has drowned 100s of thousands of people), improve navigability for shipping and to produce electricity. But in order to do this over 1 million people have had to be re-located. From listening to our guides the relocated people have generally moved to better housing. Everyone is compensated but of, course, some find the change difficult.
On balance, if it saves lives, then it has to be a good thing.

We travel through the locks this evening but first we visited the site which is nearing completion. The size and scale is truly awesome, and from a vantage point looking down on the whole site you cannot help but be impressed.

It took us 3 hours to get through the 4 locks, each lock will take at least 6 ships of our size. When the project is finally completed there will be 5 locks.

Saturday 27 October

We boarded a smaller boat to get us up a smaller spectacular tributary. Again our local guide was excellent and gave us lots of background information about the Chinese way of life. We transferred to even smaller boats to navigate even smaller tributaries. The steep sides of the gorge made it spectacular. We also saw monkeys and 2,000 year old wooden coffins “hanging” on the sheer cliffs, safe even from the red guard zealots of the cultural revolution who unfortunately and unforgivably destroyed most of them.

Tonight the entertainment was the staff talent show, including guests if they wanted. The only guests were a couple from New Zealand who warbled a cheesey song which we presumed passed for entertainment in that far off land. The staff, though, were excellent and included a saxophonist who got better as he played, some excellent dancers and dancing dragons. But the highlight for me was a traditional face changer whose face mask changed colour so quickly it was impossible to see how he did it.


Sunday 28 October

Today we have an early morning trip to the ghost city. Buddhists believe you are judged whether you are good or bad then either go to Heaven, which is red or Hell, which is blue. Fortunately you can help yourself in many ways, in fact in so many ways it gets confusing. There are 400 + steps to the top (hell). The first test is over 3 bridges. If you have been bad in your life you will be flung off the bridge into a river of vipers. However if you go over the bridge with your loved one you will spend the afterlife together. If you cross the left bridge you will be healthy and by the right bridge you will be wealthy. But this applies after your death so I was not sure how you could be healthy. Furthermore if you are a man you must step over thresholds with your left foot (women must step over with right) otherwise you change sex in the afterlife. And so on. I was really not sure what I was going to be. If you could run up a flight of stairs in one breath you be immortal. Presumably cancelling out the bridge crossing. Or was it immortality in the afterlife? And if you could stand in a box outside hell on one leg for 3 seconds then something else happens. Fortunately in tour groups only 3 members of the group have to do it and this will then be applied to the rest of the group, saving a considerable amount of time.

Heaven appears to be full of shops and people jostling and shouting. Every single tour leader had their own loudspeaker and appeared to be competing with each other. We left heaven thankfully and made our way past gruesome statues to hell which was, unsurprisingly even worse. Too many people shouting and pushing. Smoke from whatever they burn and cheap cigarettes. The temple was dark and dingy and lined with horrifying scenes of torture and death. It was hell.

Our excellent guide who was with us on the boat gave a final talk about his life which was indeed interesting. He explained how after the cultural revolution (which was a mistake) ended. Deng Xiao Ping introduced economic reforms which has resulted in the vibrant economy which exists today. Political reform is a different matter as the events in Tiananmen Square in 1989 demonstrated. After that, Michael said, people forgot about political change and just concentrated on making money. The problem now is young people who want to wear western clothes, and the growing gap between rich and poor.

Monday 29 October
Today we leave the boat after 8 great days afloat and, as ever, it’s an early start. Our alarm goes off at 6am which really is not a holiday getting up time. We also have to pay our boat account which was not pleasant. But worth it. We fly to Xian later but first we have more places to visit. Chongqing is, believe it or not, the biggest city in this big country. It as 33 million inhabitants. More than half of the population of the whole of UK. Our guide, as always, spoke very good English, and had a mischievous sense of humour. They seem to have a similar sense of humour to us. Self deprecating and they don't take themselves too seriously. Amazingly our humour is more similar to Chinese than say US or parts of Europe.

Our guide took us to an old original market street. Not cleaned up or touristified but by locals for locals. No red dragons or post cards here. The shops contained all you needed to live: pots and pans, food. Knives which were rusty but could be cleaned. A dentist who has just this year got an electric drill - last year he had a foot operated drill. He was trained by his father at home - on who or what I do not know. An acupuncturist practising in the street, his patients sitting patiently with needles sticking out from all parts of their bodies. A herbalist with mountains of real herbs waiting to be ground up and mixed. Shoes last seen in the cultural revolution. Fascinating. And because this was a local street, we were stared at by the curious locals. All friendly though.
Lots of food stalls of unidentifiable goods whose smell could be challenging. Strong bottles of whisky like spirit containing, as our guide explained, “sex organs to help the married man”. A chaotic, noisy, smelly place which was utterly fascinating.

We arrived at “People’s Square” (lots of those in China) and saw the theatre which was a product of the Sino USSR alliance of the 1950s. China used to see Soviet Russia as their big brother and would copy them. Now they see them as their little brother.

The Zoo was next where, of course, the famous Chinese Giant Pandas live. We saw 5 of them including a very amusing 1 year old baby. The rest of the museum was a bit sad, particularly a pathetic looking Siberian Tiger. A quick stop in an art gallery then off to eat an excellent lunch in the city. We are in Sichuan area so they like their food hot. The chicken dish was 20% chicken and 80% red chillies. I like hot food but I was defeated by this fiery dish.

After lunch we went to a street which was rather more touristy than the characterful local street of the morning. Nevertheless in China, wherever there are people, there is plenty of interest and amusement. Chinese streets always provide lots of smells but unfortunately unlike the fragrant and spicy streets of the Middle East, the Chinese streets aromas are more challenging. Dumpling shops appear to be the worst culprits. The locals love them though. We took some tea in a tea shop which had a resident band playing Chinese music. It was very atmospheric until they played some Strauss and people in the street stopped to watch us drinking our tea.

We left the street and our guide offered us a visit to a cultural bed museum but nobody could summon up the energy or indeed the interest, so we headed straight to the airport were we took our first internal flight on China Airways to Xian. The airport is very new and the planes are now modern Airbuses rather than the aging Russian death traps they used to be. The airline food though, was impressively disappointing. A nicely printed box promised much but inside were a bread roll, a sachet of pickled vegetables, a dry cake and very small Kit Kat which must have been way past its sell by date, if it had one. Apart from that the flight was good and in an hour we had landed. We ate another excellent dinner then headed to our hotel which had fantastic views over the brightly lit 14th C walls of Xian.

Tuesday 30 October

The Wild Goose Pagoda was our first visit in the city of Xian. Built by a Buddhist monk 1300 years ago of brick, it is still standing. Climb the 400 steps to the top and you will live 7 years. We were not sure if this was 7 years added to what you were going to live anyway, or just 7 years from the time of climbing. If the latter then I will have to return 6 years and 364 days in the future for a top-up.

I suspect a bit of time filling before lunch because our next stop was a jade factory with attached shop. I honestly can't remember if we have already visited a jade factory, but the format is the same as the silk/carpet/pearl factories we visited earlier. You are taken round by a nice guide who has roughly the same script as the silk/carpet/pearl guide and then you are jettisoned into the shop. At least this one had a coffee shop.

After lunch it was a short drive to the Terracotta Army museum. There are 3 pits and an exhibition hall. Pit 1 is the largest and contained in a huge building very like an aircraft hanger. It contains 1,000 s of soldiers in columns and rows and is the one normally seen in TV documentaries. Pits 2 and 3 show other parts of the army and the exhibition hall contains models of wagons and horses. We were there 3 hours and could have stayed longer. No statues were found intact. All were in many pieces and have been painstakingly put back together. We were told that to fit just one piece in a day is considered a success. It was an amazing sight and although this was a quiet day the whole place was crowded. As ever there are hawkers selling miniature warriors. We were warned that if you buy from these people be very careful.

Our guide got us books about the site signed by one of the farmers who discovered the tomb in 1974. He is now employed by the museum to sign books, but he is the only part of the whole place which cannot be photographed. Strangely our guide presented our books in Morrisons supermarket bags. On close inspection they were obviously rejects because the words warning you not to put the bag over head were complete gibberish.


Wednesday 31 October

The Imperial Palace is the setting for the film the Last Emperor. Or more precisely it was where the last emperor lived until the end of the dynasties in 1911. The buildings are wooden and beautifully painted. We saw the “Bankrupt” rock which an official saw somewhere in China, fell in love with and went bankrupt getting it back to the Imperial Palace. This story is typical of Chinese stories. Who would ever like a rock so much that they went bankrupt over it? It was as big as a car though.

The palace contains the longest corridor in China. It is actually a path with a roof but it is very long and has thousands of paintings no doubt telling stories about rocks and birds and fishes. The corridor runs alongside a beautiful lake and you can imagine the young emperor wandering lonely along the banks. This was also the home of dowager Cixi who was much disliked. It was said that at every meal she would be offered 120 dishes and would reject all but 1 or 2. A single meal would feed a village for a year. This may have been a bit of an exaggeration but you get the picture. She was also hated because she made bad treaties with Western countries.

Tiananmen Square is impressively huge. Also very cold in the autumn when the wind gets up so we bought 2 Beijing Olympic hats for 33p each. They are seconds but do the job perfectly and we were very glad of them. At one end of the square are the banks of seats to hold the 1,000 s of dignataries we see on TV when they review their army. Mao still looks down over the whole place, even though he is not quite the hero he once was.

After yet another tasty lunch we walked on to the Forbidden City, which luckily we were allowed in. In fact it was only forbidden when there was an emperor residing. Again it is huge with courtyard after courtyard. It was designed to impress visitors and housed 5,000 people. The royal quarters were small and cosy though.

In the evening we took rickshaws through one of the few old original housing areas. The area has narrow dark streets squeezed between one storey housing blocks. The rickshaw drivers shouted to each other as we hurtled and swayed through the dark lanes and sometimes crashed into the one in front. We were very comfortable in the cold night with blankets over our knees. It was great fun. These traditional housing areas are being lost to developers so we wanted to see them before they were completely bulldozed. The houses are generally built around a courtyard, with a number of families sharing the space. They may also share the kitchen and bathrooms. We were taken to a house (the owner no doubt got paid handsomely) to see what traditional living was like. However the famous traditional courtyard had been partitioned (so much for the courtyard and community spirit), central heating had been installed and the owner was on his mobile phone, but it gave us a feel for what traditional living may have been like. The kitchen was not my idea of a cooking area but the 3 living rooms were certainly liveable. We asked him lots of questions about his life (which didn't seem particularly traditional - wife was accountant, he made musical instruments) and he told us that his house was worth £500,000 which seemed an awful lot when average wages are about £3,000. But these places are very sought after being near the centre of Beijing and very quiet. Everyone agreed it was a fantastic evening.


Thursday 1 November

We have done silk, jade, pearls and carpets (was there another one?) so to finish we had to complete the set and do an enamel factory. You take a metal pot, stick wire on it to make shapes, fill the shapes with liquid enamel then fire it to a high temperature. Actually the results are very beautiful. A huge shop was attached with at least 1,000 shop attendants but we were not persuaded to buy anything. How would you get a 3ft urn home?

Our Beijing guide, Michael, was particulary interesting and knowledgeable so I thought I would tackle him about the economic conditions. What, I asked, was the difference between the Chinese system and our capitalist western system. “We are Chinese Socialists”, he said but couldn't say what they meant. Anybody can start a private business and make profits, so it is definitely not communist. Also there is not universal healthcare and pensions, nor much of the social care we take for granted. He was surprised when I told him we have had pensions for 100 years and universal healthcare for 50 years. He admitted that when they talk of the “west” they think of the USA.

We stopped at the Ming tombs. The Ming dynasty lasted from 1400 to 1600 and produced some nice vases. Their emperors were buried just north of Beijing and we visited the largest but it is slightly disappointing consisting of a huge painted wooden building and a tallish tower with a paltry 70 steps to the top. Unlike the Goose Pagoda in Xian you didn't get any longevity benefit when you reached the top. Nor a very good view.

Following a reasonable meal in a restaurant attached to a shop (again) we had a pleasant walk along a very long driveway which was lined by 600 statues of emperors and animals.
We passed the Olympic buildings on the way to the Great Wall and very impressive they are too. I am sure they will be ready and the Olympics will be a huge success. The main problem will be the pollution, but while we were there the air was clear and the sky blue.


The drive to the Great Wall is very pretty through rolling countryside to the mountains. We passed the unfinished Chinese equivalent to Disney Land. The builder (who was Thai) has gone bankrupt which I would think is not unusual: foreign investors race to get part of the huge Chinese market and find it is not as straightforward as they thought. As we climb up into the mountains, which are turning autumn red, we see the first part of the wall. In fact there are three walls across the pass through the mountains and we are going to the last one, ie the one nearest the hordes of barbarians. When you reach it you are immediately impressed by the size. It is huge. I was expecting a wall like the town wall at York where 2 people can just about pass. On this one 2 cars could probably pass. It goes up and down following the highest point of the steep hills so ensuring no part is overlooked. The wide walkway on the top is correspondingly very steep in places and seems to be almost vertical which made it very uncomfortable for those with vertigo. The view to the north, where the Mongol enemy would be coming from, was fantastic. You could very easily imagine Gengis Khan sweeping across the huge plain with his army, coming to invade and pillage. In fact the Mongols were the only ones to breech the wall by force. The only other time it was breeched was by the Manchurians who were let in by disaffected generals guarding the gates. We walked for about an hour and a half and by the end our legs were hurting. It was amusing to struggle up a very steep bit, lungs bursting and legs burning, to reach the top and just as you are bent double fighting to get your breath back up pops a cheery person and says “Postcards, hats, coins. Only 30 yuan”.

Friday 2 November
Flew back today. Everyone agreed it had been a fantastic trip. I think all my preconceptions had been altered. The streets are not clogged with bicycles, the people are not inscrutable, the food we had was excellent, the hotels were modern, police were not on every street corner, the people were not miserable. Of course it is still a one party state, it still executes more people than any other country and has plenty of dark secrets. But it has a great future and I loved every minute of my trip there.

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Photos

Shanghai
Impressive skyline

Shanghai Grand Hyatt
Looking into the abyss!

Shanghai
Highway

Suxhou
Garden

Shanghai
Temple

Xian
Terra Cotta Warriors

Beijing
Tianenmen Square

Comments

[Christine Smith]

A very interesting blog!
Marie gave me your blog address as David and I are off to China next month, with the same preconceptions as you had! I very much enjoyed reading about your experiences and feel a little more comfortable about our trip. Your writing is very entertaining! Thank you.

[Steve Dow]

Glad you enjoyed it. Have a great time!