Pleb ( and don't report me to police ( if you haven't seen our TV you have no idea what I am on about) How could you not be impressed by what they achieved - changed my mind you are not my nephew after all !!
PLEB? Haha, i knew you would hate me for that, just that Xi an was a massive costly diversion for us and to be fair getting your slaves to make something for 30 years before you die isnt exactly difficult!
The muslim quarter in Xi an is much more interesting!
Enjoy your last few days Time to reflect on the holiday and enjoy the last few days! Hope things still going well . Weather here and France very wet. Lourdes under masses of water!
And what an art that noodle making is! Yeah it reminds me the Muslims make the best food wherever I was in China. Great photos mate. It's a shame you can't post the smells and noise! It looks like you're having a very interesting time. Are you finding it reasonably inexpensive?
Reasonably but we are travelling a lot so that is the biggest expense, eating and drinking can be as expensive as we want or dont want so averages out i suppose.
Lovely!!! Sounds beautiful.Did feel we missed seeing the real rural side of China but can't do it all - well not on a budget anyways. See you saw the fishermen with cormorants ( seems I got the bird wrong as well as the spelling last time !!) Enjoy the peace - Xi an a completely different ball game - saw our worst traffic ever there . Walk along the city walls good and terracotta warriors worth it though.Enjoy the rest of your hols. We are off to Northumberland Fri.
Inquiry How much was spent for your trip? I'm a bit concerned with the transportation form the airport to the hotel. Is there any airport bus service there that is also a car hire service? Is this advisable?
Cost The airport bus was just 20 yuan each to the city, the rickshaw then took us the last 2 km for another 20 for the 2 of us plus luggage.We were staying right in the city centre though just a 2 minute walk to Central Square, there are some better options transport wise near the bus and railway station.We always prefer the town centres though.
We did speak to someone who got a metered taxi for 120 yuan from the airport to city centre.
If you stay in an english speaking hostel or hotel in Guilin they can probably sort transportation out for you in advance .
Sounds lovely! Guilin sounds really good- worth another trip to China although don't think we will be pushing our luck as we only had smoggy stuff early one morning.The view in the photo shows you how amazing it must be.Caved in and having English food in a cafe I see. Must admit enjoyed the Chinese food for other meals and although interesting to try it wasn't too impressed with the noodles and dumplings etc for breakfast - definitely an aquired taste as was their version of porridge.
hurrah Glad to see things improved in Suzhou. Guess you didn't get to Master of the Net garden etc at night but apparently lots of bargains to be had. Tongli looks good. Did you see the fishermen using the guilliemots ?(Not sure about that spelling. )Can't believe the people on The Bund in your photos. Much quieter when we were there - in fact more brides having their photo taken than anything else! Also luckily we didn't get the smog anywhere. You do leave China with a real impression of the millions of people though and I think the Chinese use cars etc including the electric motorbikes which creep up on you silently as weapons! The advice we were given for crossing the road - find a group of Chinese who look as if they know what they are doing and cross when they do !Used to take them a few attempts. The bus we were on was stuck in traffic trying to get out of the hotel and the Chinese and English tour guides got out and directed the traffic so we could get out !Glad to hear the children are OK. They will be like little limpets when you get home. Photos of Guilin we hope as we didn't go there. Enjoy the peace and quiet. x
photos Got the e mailed photos. Was able to guess where they were taken! Really surprised to see all the green at " the wall ". It was all autumn colours when we were there and we were just about a week later than you. All looks as good as ever.We were told all the red lanterns were up for the holiday as well but didn't see it looking as effective as your photo.x
Oh dear ! What a shame - not the experience we had in Suzhou but Chinese holiday had finished then. We liked it and visited quite a few gardens. Liked Nanjing better but perhaps it would be lousy during the holiday as well.We did get soaked on the rickshaw ride but was good fun and had great driver but guide told us not to pay more than certain amount when we had rides- they did try to get more but we refused.Hotel in Shanghai sounds good- well worth a second visit. Hope you enjoy Guillin. Would like to have gone there but other things we wanted to do.
Remember it well ! You are going to get Chinese tourists all week as although holiday supposedly 1st Oct goes on all week - we hit it on 5th and guides told us it was quiet compared to 1st !Seems Tianemin Square the place all Chinese want to go.Bet you didn't queue to see Mao .Still you get the flowers which aren't there any other time apparently. Even out of holiday time wherever you go it is busy. Jina a girl for a bargain . There may be little English spoken but the locals understand bargaining in any language. Hope you got to the Summer palace although it would be busy it is a bigger area. Forgot to say don't sit on the grass in Beijing - not allowed to as so many people they would destroy the grass !! Had to sit on the kerb instead.
Lovely reading your blogs as bringing back great memories. Enjoy Shanghai. x
Sounds like you´re having a good time. Hope the weather in France hasnt been as bad as here. Floods and bridges down, people evacuated 8 drowned. But it has stopped raining here.
Tell Jina new shopping centre has opened , walking distance from here !
Good to hear you are slumming it!!!!!!!
Can picture it Bringing back memories of last years holiday !Keep the blogs up as I can picture some of the places . Glad you are enjoying it. Mind you we didn't hit the shops .Eating in a restaurant I see !Were the flowers out in " the square " . If so not usually there - just put them out for their big holiday.Weren't any screens when we were there. Hope it isn't too smoggy for you when you go to the wall or you will miss the view. If you have time you have to go to the Summer Palace as it is an amazing area.Unless you are desperate to see a panda give the zoo a miss.x
The Wall No, did the wall today via metro and train, great to see but sure theres bigger and better sights awaiting us, i will private email pics soon, off to Shanghai on Tuesday xx
I was interested I was interested because I thought you weren't going til October ! Plus it gives me a chance to find my way around this system again ! Enjoy ! x
Auntie Jen
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Pleb ( and don't report me to police ( if you haven't seen our TV you have no idea what I am on about)
How could you not be impressed by what they achieved - changed my mind you are not my nephew after all !!