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Published: January 22nd 2007
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First entry for a while, and we've now made it to China (and have been here for 2 weeks). First impressions are that it's very big & very cold (and getting colder as we go north!), people still "clear their throat" (ie spit) a lot, and there's definitely a language barrier here; nothing that good old sign-language & pointing can't overcome, aided by some misguided (but well meaning) Mandarin/English from both sides!
We took an overnight train from Hong Kong to Guilin; quite a contrast to our xmas 4star hotel, but an early chance to get up close to the locals (and practice that Madarin). Arrived in Guilin about 7am and after a few extra hours kip at the hostel we headed off into the city centre & did a spot of sightseeing (aided by the ever-present hostel flyer with Chinese symbols incase we got lost). After stumbling upon a lake with a pair of pagodas, and a walk in Central Square (complete with toy cars), we walked along the river bank whilst watching some Chinese men brave the freezing water. Here we met a friendly English teacher, who "practised" his English with us before taking us to his sister/cousin's
tea-house - we later found out that this can often result in people getting scammed & paying extortionate amounts for tea, but we avoided this & enjoyed our hour there.
The next day we took a local Chinese-tour (cheaper than English, but obviously the guide has limited, if any, English) to see the beautiful Dragon's Backbone rice terraces & the Long-haired ladies of Leshan. At the long-haired village we were again greeted with the sales-women in ethnic clothing (a la Sapa), but we took in a show there (in which Zoe kindly volunteered me to get married) & it was friendly enough! The ladies are actually in the Guiness Book of Records for the group with the longest hair in the world, which is as long as 1.8m.
We spent the following morning in Guilin, taking in more sights & introducing our new American friend Angel to the joys of Dim Sum (Cha Siu Bau!); Guilin is pretty much a typical Chinese city (big, murky, grimey/dusty), with the added bonus of Limestone peaks everywhere - think Halong Bay in a city. That afternoon we headed to Yangshou, a small city by Chinese standards (only 1 million people here!),
where the limestone peaks are all the more striking, especially along the Li River. Here me, Zoe & Angel chilled in travellers' cafes, drank cheap beer (5 Yuan - 30p!) and hired bikes to take in some local sights (overcoming punctures along the way). We also met lots of friendly Chinese people (not all after our money), and Thomas, the most persistant tout in the world!!
We then went our seperate ways from Angel and headed up to Chengdu to see the Pandas - a 2 hr flight seemed a better option than a 30hr-plus train journey. Found a lovely hostel here, and after a relaxed day we were ready for the early start to visit the Panda Research base just outside the city. They were amazingly cute, especially when eating bamboo (and apples), and one panda in particular seemed to pose endlessly for photos. We also got to see the Panda nursury, complete with creche & playpen, and those cheeky little pandas there were everyone's favourite! It's easy to see why they're such a well-revered (and now protected; poachers face death) animal in China. That afternoon we went with Mr Lee (a local "free-lance tour guide, who picks
Rising fast...
The water will eventually come up to this bridge. up business by meeting travellers in the park! Yep, dodgy we know!) to see the Sichuan Opera. The theatre was down the dodgiest little side alley, and certainly wasn't the west end, but inside was full of old grannies with their flasks of green tea, which gave it a certain Chinese charm. Mr Lee took us back stage before hand to see the actors preparing their make-up, and interpreted for us throughout, often throwing in Western twists (Bill Clinton's concubine!).
After leaving Chengdu (not too soon, it's not a pretty place; especially grimey & wet/dull) we went on a 3-day cruise (def not the QE2) down the mighty Yangtze river's 3 Gorges; best described as a shipping lane which eats into the heart of China. However, the Chinese are in the process of daming this river in their quest for hydroelectric power; good I hear you say, which it is apart from the 2 million-odd people whose homes/fields have been eaten up as the Yangtze rises 175m above it's old level due to the dam! We managed to upgrade to a private 2-berth cabin, and much sitting/reading/cards followed, though the highlight was undoubtably the cruise down the 3-lesser gorges;
much thinner, and more dramatic, though as the river has already risen 156m you wonder how much more dramatic it used to be.
After finally leaving the boat we spent a night in Wuhan before flying to Xi'an, for a hastily arranged weekend with Zoe's mum, dad & Aunty Wendy. We stayed within the city walls, and for once there's lots of architecture sympathetic to China's history, which makes for quite a pretty city within the walls (aided by less polution here). We took in one of the China must-do's in the weekend they were here - the Terracotta Warriors. Hidden away in 3 vast warehouses (and behind shed-loads of tour shops!), they really are one of the most impressive sights we've seen to date; you can't help but appreciate the history of the warriors (all 8000), which were built to protect the first emporer of China. When you see that they were discovered in the mid-70's but still being restored, you can appreciate the enormity of the restoration task still being undertaken here. They also take the chance to demonstrate ancient China's incredible advances; for example, chromium-plated swords were found here, which wasn't "invented" by Germany/USA until the 1930s. We've also taken in some other burial tombs here, pretty much hills as the Chinese won't excavate due to the fear of spirit powers. We're planning to spend a few more days here in Xi'an, even though it's -2 at the moment, before heading to the Shaolin temple (to teach them a thing or two!) followed by Beijing.....
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Eddie
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It's a great adventure~
The pictures you made is so nice.I can see the pictures,although I can't understand your words,(I am not good at writing.) Everything is amazing.