China

China part 1

Pingyao

We took an overnight hard sleeper train to Pingyao and only stayed there 1 night. Pingyao was at one time the banking and financial capital of China, so we assumed that we would be able to get money out there. This was a mistake. After trying three banks, we stumbled into the last one we could find.

First we tried using our normal cash point card in the ATM. That failed. Next we tried using our credit card in the ATM. That failed too. Then we asked the teller if we could get a credit card advance. No joy. Finally we asked if we could change some traveller's cheques. Eventually the cashier held up a sign written in English explaining that there was no way of changing cash anywhere in Pingyao, and the nearest place to get cash was 30km away!

Pingyao was very picturesque, and it was a shame we had to leave so quickly. It was how I expected small towns in China would be. There were plenty of low buildings with ornate roofs. In fact the tallest building by far was the 'Town Building' overlooking everything at a huge 18.5m.

As the town is so small, and the roads so narrow, the local government has declared that no motorised vehicles are allowed within the town walls between 8am and 8pm. This has led to the locals speeding around in golf buggies.

I was unable to get anything westernised to eat in Pingyao, so I risked stir-fried aubergine. It was gorgeous, and miraculously I wasn't ill from it the next day!

As we couldn't get any cash we left Pingyao after 1 day and got the overnight hard sleeper to Xi'an.

Xi'an

We stayed in Xi'an for 3 nights. On our first day we walked around the city and visited the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower, which had great views across the city. We also walked around the Muslim Quarter, which was full of interesting smells and food. That night we ate at the hostel with a nice cold beer. Spurred on by the fact I'd managed to eat something without getting sick, I went for sweet and sour pork. The next day I was sick again, so we just pottered around the hostel, researching our next place to visit.

In the evening, Katie went for a walk along the city wall. The top of the wall was very flat so it was easy to walk along and had been restored so there weren't any potholes. The walk back along the bottom of the road led through winding streets lined with locals selling all sorts of things, from bronzeware to jade pendants.

The next day I was fine again so we decided to head out to the Terracotta Warriors, we took a taxi there (just to be on the safe side). We arrived and were immediately hounded by the hawkers before we had even got to the front gates of the museum.

The Terracotta Warrior museum is housed in 3 buildings, the 1st was an exhibition of how they were discovered and the process of excavation. Housed in this building are 2 bronze chariots and horses which were unearthed 20m from the Tomb of Qin Shihuang, they were thought to be guarding the Tomb. The horses and chariots are in excellent condition considering their age. There was also a display of coins and metal belts that had been found in the surrounding burial pits.

The 2nd building housed an excavation pit, this had been partly excavated and we could see the timber roofs which housed the warriors, there were also the ruins of some of the horses and warriors.

The 3rd building was the most impressive, as we walked through the door the room opened up into a massive hanger. We could see the Terracotta Warriors very clearly, all lined up in rows, all facing the same direction. Half this pit had been excavated and the other half was being worked on. It was amazing how they have survived over 2000 years. This was the pit that was first discovered in 1974, by a local man who was digging a well. We took the local bus back to Xi'an which was an experience in itself!

Chengdu

We left the next day for Chengdu, and stayed in another great hostel. There wasn't much to do in Chengdu itself, so we wandered around the city on our 1st day. On the morning of the 2nd day we visited the Panda Breeding Sanctuary. It was very interesting, there were several Panda enclosures. Each one was surprisingly large and had enough to keep the panda occupied. There was one enclosure which had 5 toddler pandas, which were playing with each other, and kept attacking the keeper who was in there with them. They looked like live teddy bears.

The sanctuary was also home to lots of red pandas which are alot smaller and have longer tails. These animals are very strange, and bear more of a resemblance to racoons than the giant pandas. Indeed, no one is sure whcih family pandas belong to, bears, racoons, or a completely new family of animals.

Our tour finished with a video on their work they are doing at the sanctuary. It showed the artificial insemination and how pandas give birth. Apparently the 1st time Pandas have a baby they dont know what has happened and are scared of this little squawking pink thing that has appeared - to be fair, it does look like a freshly shaved rat. The 2nd time they are more sure of what they have to do.

Leshan

On our 3rd day we took a bus to Leshan, which has a giant Buddha carved into the rock. We took a boat to the other side of the river and walked up to the big Buddha's head. There were loads of Chinese tourists when we arrived so we decided walk to the entrance instead of going down by the big Buddha, at 4.30pm we took the bus back to Chengdu. Leshan probably isn't worth a visit, although the tourist information staff were brimming with enthusiasm.

Kunming

We took another overnight train to Kunming, and wandered around the city. We visited a 1000 year old Buddhist temple, which was so relaxing. Despite being right in the centre of the town, there was no noise at all. A massive pool filled the centre of the temple, with a walkway leading to a pagoda in the centre of the pool. The pool was filled with goldfish and terrapins.

Shilin

From Kunming, we hearded out to Shilin to see the Stone Forest - a massive collection of grey limestone pillars. The tallest 'tree' is 30m and the 'forest' extends for around 60 kilometers. It was a beautiful day, and after getting away from the tour groups, the forest was eerily silent. We wandered around for a couple of hours stopping for a bottle of water in a deserted pagoda. In the whole time we were there, we only saw 3 other people. On the way out we stopped at the 'lesser forest', a collection of smaller rocks set in beautiful manicured gardens.

The bus ride back to Kunming was interesting. It was obviously a local bus. It would randomly stop for people to get off and buy pommegranites, onions and other miscelanous stuff at the side of the road, while the conductor and driver screamed at each other.

Yangshou

Leaving Kunming, we headed to Yangshou, our penultimate stop in China. Yangshou was one of the most relaxing places we visited in our trip. It was a small town surrounded by rolling hills, and limestone boulders. Yangshou was how I imagined the Koh San road in Thailand would be. The main street, West Street, was lined with small cafes, bars, restaurants and street stalls. During the few days there, we decided that we'd head out on a bike ride, and take part in the Chineese national passtime of cave exploring.

We peddled around for a couple of hours, exploring the countryside with our guide, before being dropped off at a local cafe and being decked out in very fetching caving attire.

The caves were pretty amazing, but I was a little too tall to fit comfortably through some of the gaps. Inside the caves were waterfalls, and natural mud pools. In one of the pools, a mud slide had been constructed. Katie loved it!

Yangshou was a great way to bring our Chineese adventure to a close before heading back to the much more westernised Shenzen special economic zone, just outside Hong Kong.

Shenzen

After an overnight bus ride, we arrived in Shenzen. We decided that we'd stay here after reading about Minskworld - Russian aircraft carrier which has been converted into a floating museum. It was a really interesting place to wander around. We finished our day with a few beers in the Shangri-La hotel being seranaded by the band.

The following morning, we donned our backpacks and walked across the border into Hong Kong, and got the Kowloon-Canton railway to our hotel in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong - Again

Having just rushed around China, we decided to chill out in Hong Kong for a while. I luxuriated in being able to eat food which wasn't either pot noodles or kraft cheese slice sandwiches!

One of the strangest things we've seen was here in Hong Kong. In the seas around the island are pink dolphins. Apparently the mud in the water has caused the dolphins to loose their skin pigmentation. They were very shy, and stayed well clear of our boat though, which helps explain why the photos we got were so bad!