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Published: August 9th 2009
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Our 30 day adventure through China, from Beijing in the north to Shenzen in the south, and a whole lorra fun inbetween....
THE HIGHLIGHTS: Tiger Leaping Gorge in south eastern China deserves to be mentioned first. Upon escaping from the chaos and humidity of the big cities we arrived at a town called Lijiang. At 1900m above sea level, Lijiang was a really comfortable temperature, perfect for wandering around the winding paths and alleyways of the charming old town nestled in the mountains. With good weather predicted we embarked on our 2 day hike of Tiger Leaping Gorge. Somehow the Chinese tourists had overlooked this place and couldn't be torn away from their gas guzzling coaches so we pretty much had the trail to ourselves. The views of the gorge below us and of the mountains around us were stunning. In parts, the trail was thin with a big cliff one side and a waterfall on the other (hence in the wet weather the hike is treacherous..people have died on it), which added to the adventure. The locals we met along the way were generally lovely... I remember a small boy wanting to show me his litter of tiny
puppies and smiles from some of the local farmers working the mountain sides. After 6 hours hiking we laid our heads to rest at an idyllic mountain guesthouse on the hillside of the gorge with direct views of the mountains on the other side of the gorge standing at 5,500m. The next day after a breakfast of corn porrige we continued on for another 2 hours or so along the most "if I slip here I'm a gonner" parts of the trail before finishing down at the road. TLG bought back fond memories of the Inca Trail and reminded us that our favorite place to be is in the mountains!
The second highlight was, perhaps predicatably, the Great Wall. However this was only a highlight because of the part of the wall we chose to go to. Having read and heard horror stories of some sections of the wall being packed to capacity with megaphone wielding, orange cap wearing, umbrella clad Chinese tour groups and hawkers trying to sell you all sorts of useless clap trap we decided to head to a largely unvisited area called Huangua. Long story short, outstanding experience, saw the real wall crumbling and overgrown
On your marks....
Beijing's Bird's Nest rising up steep hillsides and plunging away at impossible looking angles! We walked for about an hour and saw perhaps ten other tourists in the entire time. One funny old local lady blocked us at one of the guard towers and wouldnt let us pass unless we gave her the equivalent of 20p each, we decided to pay up as she provided good entertainment during her protests! We enjoyed the taxi ride back to Beinjing through some great countryside, watching farmers sell their fruit and vegetables roadside and otlhers building or repairing huts/roads and houses.
Next on the list is Xingping, Guangxi province, Southern China. The beautiful karst rock formations jutting out of the earth make this region a must see for visitors to China. Yangshuo is the main town in the region but staying in Xingping bought us much closer, giving the feeling of being nestled right in the middle of it all. We stayed in a real gem of a hostel on the river front with a large roof top terrace where every night we watched the sun go down over the karst rocks. We took a bike ride around the area passing small villages and many
Night Market Beijing
..digging in...mmmmmmmmm paddy fields.. The people really do live a basic life here. On our bike ride we asked a guy for directions who had just filled his buckets with water from the well and was carrying them using a bamboo stick accross his shoulders with buckets balancing on either end. The houses also were very Spartan and dark often without a wall or door on the front. We think they must have some special power to ward off the Mosquitos!!
We had a whole week is this photographers paradise to relax and recuperate before hong kong, so we tended to wander around the town and not really exert ourselves too much... With 1 exception! The day we hired the bikes, we started cycling at 7:30am but by 9am matt had a flat tire so we headed back to town.. Not wanting to call it a day just yet we decided it was still "cool" enough to hike right up to the top of one of the karst rocks to get a good view over the area.. Well, I don't think ive ever seen so much sweat pour off me! Despite the fact it was 10am, it was hot and humid enough
Forbidden City Moat
Local Beijinger catching his din dins that we felt we had just had a 3 hour intense gym session!...not a 25 minute walk up a trail!! Nevertheless we made up for all that effort by wandering the alleys and catching up on some reading for the remainder of our time in Guangxi!
One other place we really enjoyed our time was Pingyao, halfway between Beijing and Xi'an. It is a brilliant example of a walled city from the Ming and Qing dynasties, and remains suprisingly authentic within the city walls, its very compact and there were many shops and cafes to waste time in. Ourfavourite served spicy fried potato strips with green peppers and black bean, the perfect accompanyment to our shared 50p bottle of beer. Worryingly Nat is developing a taste for beer, she likes the ones that are 'less fizzy and don't taste of beer' (Water perhaps?!). We cycled around the city walls and small alleyways observing the locals whilst dodging the oversized electric golf carts whizzing around due to the ban on motor cars within the walls. Overall we thought Pingyao was much more fun than big brother Xi'an which is another walled city but with no where near the same amount
of charm and character.
LOWLIGHTS The Chinese men who honk up the flem in their throat, ever so ever so loudly, then spit it with good range onto the floor. This event takes place on public transport, in the street, effectively anywhere public! Another favorite pasttime of the Chinese man is to pull up his t-shirt to his breasts.. A bit like a girl's belly top. He does this to cool himself down, although we believe its also to become closer in likeness to the laughing budda, with large belly out for all to see!
The amount of littering in China is shocking and depressing, not just in city side streets and gutters where you would expect it. There is litter on beautiful rivers, along winding mountain paths, strewn on trees near shrines and temples. There is no culture of respect for the environment and that has been one of the hardest things to take in, how easy it is for a plastic bottle or wrapper to be tossed out of a car window. If the worlds largest population has this sort of attitude were all in trouble!
Babies without nappies, instead a slit in their
suit in the right place so that they can have motions on the floor anytime they please.. We actually saw a mum holding her child over a waste paper bin in Beijing train station...delightful!
We had an interesting couple of bus rides, the most memorable being an overnight sleeper bus where every other person was chugging on a cigarette and there was a severe case of cheesy feet! I mean I know sweaty feet, my own are probably a 'Strong Cheddar' on the universally recongnised Brassington Cheese Smelling Scale, but these were at least a 'Stilton' possibly as high as a 'Gorgonzola'! Needless to say after 15 hours we needed a long shower and to incinerate our clothes to rid ourselves of the memories!
Despite all these grating annoyances (plus a few more not mentioned), the wierd and wonderful ways of the Chinese people... We learned to like China and infact very much enjoyed our time here... And at times whilst using public transport I never thought I'd hear myself say.... I think I will miss certain things about China and its beautiful scenery!
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Flem
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Howdo
Looks like your having an great time! Matt that is possibly the worst sprint start i've ever seen Also I believe the term is phlegm and not Flem!!