China, China, China!
Due to Big Brother China, the government regulates the use of the internet which means that some sites are restricted, such as the BBC and our blog. Therefore, we apologize to all our faithful readers that we've taken so long to update you on our travels. We are currently in Guilin and have experienced so much since we last wrote, that we will give you a heads up and tell you that this entry is very long!
Just before we left Xi'an, we saw the historical Terracotta Warriors. This huge army was first discovered in 1974 by a farmer digging with his shovel. The sight of these warriors was amazing, but, to be honest, we expected a little more. They are not excavated in their current form, rather they have found pieces and have spent the last 30 years putting them back together. There are still thousands of these warriors left to restore, so this army will continue to grow.
We took another lengthy overnight train from Xi'an to Chengdu. The train was the worst yet...it was old and rickety and we were a little unsure of our "safe arrival" as we hit a few snags that felt like we hit another train! An interesting note about train travel in China: the toilets are squatters (of course) but the hole opens right onto the tracks. You can see the wooden slats zipping by underneath you as you do your business. No worries though...they close the toilets when you get close to a station.
In any case, we arrived in Chengdu. It's a nice, modern city and we wished that we had spent more time here than in Xi'an. On a recommendation from our friend Steve (we met in Korea), we stayed at a great place...the best guesthouse in all of China. We actually met up with him again there, and went out for some traditional "hotpot". Yum! A delicious mix of spices, sauce, potato, meats, lotus root, mushrooms, etc. in a boiling broth. Steve was able to select our dishes by going into the kitchen and pointing...good times!
We had a good time exploring the city including a tiny Mao museum. This museum was perhaps the highlight of our experience here. This museum is an old man's house in a small alley where he's been collecting Mao Zedong memorabilia since 1951. This little room is packed solid with barely enough room to walk through, from floor to ceiling. Wang An and his wife insisted we take many photographs (with them in it), and got us to sign a guestbook before leaving. Very cute couple!
We were also able to visit what Chengdu is known for...Giant Pandas! There is a research centre there, and we learned a great deal. While they are cute and interesting to watch, they really should be extinct if humans let nature take its course. For instance...they eat only bamboo (actually only 20 of China's 300 species of bamboo), their reproductive systems are unfavourable for reproduction and scientists have been using artificial insemination (the males have a short penis and females have a long vagina), they are solitary animals and have difficulty during the mating season (which is 2 days/year), and the females aren't sure what's going on when giving birth and sometimes kill their cubs. The list goes on. The one thing in their favour is that they're absolutely adorable!!! Especially the baby pandas we watched lying in a crib.
We spent a day visiting the city of Leshan, where we explored the caves, tombs, temples, and carvings surrounding the Grand Buddha. This particular sitting Buddha, is the largest in the world. It's carved out of a cliff and measures 71m high, and is around 1300 years old. It was a jaw-dropping sight! There is also a 170m lying Buddha that we would have missed if it weren't for Amy's keen eyesight. We know...how could we miss something so big? It's at the top of a cliff and you can only see sections of it (although it's really obvious now).
Another wonderful thing we did in Chengdu, was go to see a Sichuan Opera. It included snipits of the Chinese acrobats, music, comedy play, and the famous "face changing". Each part was entertaining and the performers are very talented. The masks were amazing...a performer wears numerous masks and changes them instantly. With a wave of his hand or a blink of his eye, his face looks completely different. Crazy!
One more thing about Chengdu. On the day we arrived, Jas went for a walk and fell in love...with a piece of art. A small shop carried Shu Embroidery which is intricate, double-sided stitch work that is done on silk. An artist could spend years becoming a master of this craft. Jas loved one particular piece (pandas)...he met the artist and discovered that it took her 5 months to complete! So, he bargained as much as he could and bought the incredible piece of silk.
After Chengdu, we took a 5 hour bus ride to Chongqing. The city is quite populated, and is full of hills (there are no bicycles to be found). We spent our brief time here relaxing before embarking on the Yangtze river cruise. We explored ancient town, walked around the city centre, and even had a go at "hotpot" again (Alex found a chicken foot and chewed on its toenail...ew!). The city is full of character and the lights at night are brilliant.
The boat cruise up the Yangtze river was incredible! We took the Chinese cruise (as it was much cheaper) and experienced the joy of waking up at 5am by our tour guide knocking on our cabin door and telling us to get off the boat in 20min to sightsee. The time schedule kept changing, so this pretty much remained the same for the rest of the trip. Falling asleep was also challenging due to the non-stop karaoke performances below us (not a rare occurrence in Asia so far).
Regardless, we met some great people and had lots of fun. We stopped at some temples along the way, including the "Ghost City" at FengDu. There were some demon carved statues and horrific scenes portrayed by smaller figurines. As Alex pointed out, it was just in time for Halloween! The main attraction of the cruise, and the most thrilling, was the Three Lesser Gorges. Awesome!!! We transferred to a smaller boat and experienced huge mountains of green, caves, and rock formations towering up on both sides. We even saw a few monkeys on the cliff face! Another transfer to smaller bamboo boats allowed us to continue through the mini Gorges where the locals sang and played music. It was really spectacular! We capped off our trip up the Yangtze with a visit to the huge Three Gorges Project Dam...interesting to see, but sad to think about the millions of people that will be displaced as a result.
Another bus ride brought us to Wuhan where we rested briefly before moving on to Shanghai. Wuhan was a nice spot, but our hostel, well, not so much. The main reason for this would be the mouse or rat that snacked on our food and pooped on Alex's bed while we were gone sightseeing. Jas set up a trap, we moved rooms, and we were given 4 free beers.
Shanghai - a very beautiful city and my favourite thus far. It is a great mix of old and new, cool architecture, and full of culture (the museum is awesome). Our hostel was situated in a great spot...next to the Ferrari dealership and down the street from the Peace Hotel and Ritz-Carlton. Fancy Schmancy! While in Shanghai, we were able to have breakfast at the Grand Hyatt (the tallest hotel above ground in the world), tour The Bund and surrounding sites, and catch a show of the famous Shanghai Acrobats (my favourite!). Jas, Amy, and Alex were able to do a lot more, as I ended up violently ill and in bed for 4 days recuperating. Oh China!!
One of their explorations, took them to the People's Park where they watched the "Tea Scam". The scam involves a friendly group of Chinese people who approach foreigners wanting to practice their English (not uncommon). After a casual conversation, they invite you to come with them to watch a tea ceremony. If you participate, they hit you up at the end of the ceremony for a ridiculous amount of money (the price). This could amount to $800, or basically, whatever you can give to leave safely. Bouncers are there to make sure you pay up! After watching them for some time, Jas ended up saving a lady who was going to be taken in...what a hero!!
Once I was feeling better, Jas and I treated ourselves to an anniversary dinner at the top of the Marriott hotel (despite our lack of proper attire). It was lovely...we each had a steak dinner (oh so sweet after so long without) and the view at night was spectacular.
After a 24 hour train ride to Hong Kong, we arrived. We found Hong Kong to be a bustling, multicultural city that is full of shopping and energy. It is very Western in feel and you can notice a big difference from mainland China. A few nights Jas went for walks to explore and see the nightlife-he even ended up in a gay bar by mistake! The things that happen when he's left to his own devices...
For our stay in Hong Kong, we settled in Chungking Mansions (quite the reputation). A very diverse crowd with mainly African and Indian shops and restaurants. Lots of different guesthouses...our first one ended up being a hole. Our room was basically a closet (we couldn't stand in it at the same time). We chose to spend a little extra money and upgraded to a much better place in the Mansion.
Apart from walking around and exploring, we visited the Hong Kong Museum of History where we learned about the Opium Wars and Japanese Occupation among others. We also rode the world's longest escalator, took the Star Ferry, watched a laser/light show by the water, and shopped (I couldn't resist!). For my birthday, we went to a nice Indian restaurant where we indulged on a good buffet. There was live music and they sang the Indian version of "Happy Birthday" to me!
Perhaps the highlight of Hong Kong for both of us, was meeting a few cool people. Firstly, we were able to get together with the family of one of Jas' close friends (Rachel). It was awesome! Her Uncle Manny picked us up and took us out for dinner along with his family. They treated us like royalty and the food was amazing. It was a birthday spread (for my benefit) complete with 10 courses and Chinese birthday cake! After dinner, Manny took us to Victoria Peak to see the view of Hong Kong at night. The lights were incredible, and we had drinks at a restaurant with a great view at the top. Everything was so nice, particulary Manny's company.
Our second meeting took place after Amy and I learned from our Granny that we had family living in Hong Kong, and that they worked at a bar! They were father and son and were both named David Colquhoun. While frequenting an Irish pub close to where we were staying, we ended up finding out where they were located and even chatted with the youngest on the phone. Crazy! All four of us took a trip twice to the bar (McSorley's) to meet them. They were both awesome people and it was great hearing about their lives and the Colquhoun family.
For our trip to Yangshuo (back in mainland China), we took an overnight hard sleeper bus. It is full of beds rather than seats...interesting. The bus beds were comfortable, but the ride wasn't. Once again, we all thought we were going to die with the amount of G-force and barreling around the corners at high speeds. It didn't help that we were videotaped after boarding...we found out the reason is so that they could identify us in case of an accident! Great, just great. Our washroom breaks were brief, and our bus almost left without Amy. Jas also had to improvise and pee in a bottle at the back of the bus.
We made it to Yangshuo and found the place to be one of the best spots in China! The scenery is spectacular with "Karst" landscape surrounding the city. We rented bicycles and rode through the city and out to Moon Hill. A climb to the top gave us a good view (a little foggy) and we observed many rock climbers. Loads of fun, apart from a little tumble that I took on the way down! We took a scenic route back to town and passed farmers, rice paddies, and lots of orange trees. We loved it.
We also climbed to the top of one of the mountains by way of an old stone staircase. The view was magnificent, and well worth the hassle of getting there. The stairs were out of the way at the back of houses...we got scared off by dogs on our first attempt, but found that they were, in fact, leading us to the staircase on our second. We also passed through a meat market - I've never seen anything like it (and never want to again). Ducks hanging upside down bleeding out, goats heads, live dogs packed into cages, dogs being butchered, dogs heads piled on the floor, and various other grotesque images. The smell was revolting and it took a lot of effort for me not to add to the gross things on the floor! Asia may perhaps turn me veggie once again...
Rain, rain, rain - it plagued us the whole time we were there. Therefore, we spent most of our time shopping, bargaining, and watching copied movies. Yangshuo has a shopping street called West St...cheap, cheap stuff. It's also full of cafes that offer both Chinese and Western food. A nice change! One particular place was called Drifters, and we were there often. Our hostel proved to be a poor choice...we ended up switching rooms, this time due to a flood we discovered in our room after a night of hard rainfall.
Whew...so there you have it! We are now in Guilin and will be here for the next few days. We can access the blog site here, but we may not be able to update you until we reach Vietnam (which will be in the next few weeks). We hope all of you are happy and healthy, and we miss you!
Just before we left Xi'an, we saw the historical Terracotta Warriors. This huge army was first discovered in 1974 by a farmer digging with his shovel. The sight of these warriors was amazing, but, to be honest, we expected a little more. They are not excavated in their current form, rather they have found pieces and have spent the last 30 years putting them back together. There are still thousands of these warriors left to restore, so this army will continue to grow.
We took another lengthy overnight train from Xi'an to Chengdu. The train was the worst yet...it was old and rickety and we were a little unsure of our "safe arrival" as we hit a few snags that felt like we hit another train! An interesting note about train travel in China: the toilets are squatters (of course) but the hole opens right onto the tracks. You can see the wooden slats zipping by underneath you as you do your business. No worries though...they close the toilets when you get close to a station.
In any case, we arrived in Chengdu. It's a nice, modern city and we wished that we had spent more time here than in Xi'an. On a recommendation from our friend Steve (we met in Korea), we stayed at a great place...the best guesthouse in all of China. We actually met up with him again there, and went out for some traditional "hotpot". Yum! A delicious mix of spices, sauce, potato, meats, lotus root, mushrooms, etc. in a boiling broth. Steve was able to select our dishes by going into the kitchen and pointing...good times!
We had a good time exploring the city including a tiny Mao museum. This museum was perhaps the highlight of our experience here. This museum is an old man's house in a small alley where he's been collecting Mao Zedong memorabilia since 1951. This little room is packed solid with barely enough room to walk through, from floor to ceiling. Wang An and his wife insisted we take many photographs (with them in it), and got us to sign a guestbook before leaving. Very cute couple!
We were also able to visit what Chengdu is known for...Giant Pandas! There is a research centre there, and we learned a great deal. While they are cute and interesting to watch, they really should be extinct if humans let nature take its course. For instance...they eat only bamboo (actually only 20 of China's 300 species of bamboo), their reproductive systems are unfavourable for reproduction and scientists have been using artificial insemination (the males have a short penis and females have a long vagina), they are solitary animals and have difficulty during the mating season (which is 2 days/year), and the females aren't sure what's going on when giving birth and sometimes kill their cubs. The list goes on. The one thing in their favour is that they're absolutely adorable!!! Especially the baby pandas we watched lying in a crib.
We spent a day visiting the city of Leshan, where we explored the caves, tombs, temples, and carvings surrounding the Grand Buddha. This particular sitting Buddha, is the largest in the world. It's carved out of a cliff and measures 71m high, and is around 1300 years old. It was a jaw-dropping sight! There is also a 170m lying Buddha that we would have missed if it weren't for Amy's keen eyesight. We know...how could we miss something so big? It's at the top of a cliff and you can only see sections of it (although it's really obvious now).
Another wonderful thing we did in Chengdu, was go to see a Sichuan Opera. It included snipits of the Chinese acrobats, music, comedy play, and the famous "face changing". Each part was entertaining and the performers are very talented. The masks were amazing...a performer wears numerous masks and changes them instantly. With a wave of his hand or a blink of his eye, his face looks completely different. Crazy!
One more thing about Chengdu. On the day we arrived, Jas went for a walk and fell in love...with a piece of art. A small shop carried Shu Embroidery which is intricate, double-sided stitch work that is done on silk. An artist could spend years becoming a master of this craft. Jas loved one particular piece (pandas)...he met the artist and discovered that it took her 5 months to complete! So, he bargained as much as he could and bought the incredible piece of silk.
After Chengdu, we took a 5 hour bus ride to Chongqing. The city is quite populated, and is full of hills (there are no bicycles to be found). We spent our brief time here relaxing before embarking on the Yangtze river cruise. We explored ancient town, walked around the city centre, and even had a go at "hotpot" again (Alex found a chicken foot and chewed on its toenail...ew!). The city is full of character and the lights at night are brilliant.
The boat cruise up the Yangtze river was incredible! We took the Chinese cruise (as it was much cheaper) and experienced the joy of waking up at 5am by our tour guide knocking on our cabin door and telling us to get off the boat in 20min to sightsee. The time schedule kept changing, so this pretty much remained the same for the rest of the trip. Falling asleep was also challenging due to the non-stop karaoke performances below us (not a rare occurrence in Asia so far).
Regardless, we met some great people and had lots of fun. We stopped at some temples along the way, including the "Ghost City" at FengDu. There were some demon carved statues and horrific scenes portrayed by smaller figurines. As Alex pointed out, it was just in time for Halloween! The main attraction of the cruise, and the most thrilling, was the Three Lesser Gorges. Awesome!!! We transferred to a smaller boat and experienced huge mountains of green, caves, and rock formations towering up on both sides. We even saw a few monkeys on the cliff face! Another transfer to smaller bamboo boats allowed us to continue through the mini Gorges where the locals sang and played music. It was really spectacular! We capped off our trip up the Yangtze with a visit to the huge Three Gorges Project Dam...interesting to see, but sad to think about the millions of people that will be displaced as a result.
Another bus ride brought us to Wuhan where we rested briefly before moving on to Shanghai. Wuhan was a nice spot, but our hostel, well, not so much. The main reason for this would be the mouse or rat that snacked on our food and pooped on Alex's bed while we were gone sightseeing. Jas set up a trap, we moved rooms, and we were given 4 free beers.
Shanghai - a very beautiful city and my favourite thus far. It is a great mix of old and new, cool architecture, and full of culture (the museum is awesome). Our hostel was situated in a great spot...next to the Ferrari dealership and down the street from the Peace Hotel and Ritz-Carlton. Fancy Schmancy! While in Shanghai, we were able to have breakfast at the Grand Hyatt (the tallest hotel above ground in the world), tour The Bund and surrounding sites, and catch a show of the famous Shanghai Acrobats (my favourite!). Jas, Amy, and Alex were able to do a lot more, as I ended up violently ill and in bed for 4 days recuperating. Oh China!!
One of their explorations, took them to the People's Park where they watched the "Tea Scam". The scam involves a friendly group of Chinese people who approach foreigners wanting to practice their English (not uncommon). After a casual conversation, they invite you to come with them to watch a tea ceremony. If you participate, they hit you up at the end of the ceremony for a ridiculous amount of money (the price). This could amount to $800, or basically, whatever you can give to leave safely. Bouncers are there to make sure you pay up! After watching them for some time, Jas ended up saving a lady who was going to be taken in...what a hero!!
Once I was feeling better, Jas and I treated ourselves to an anniversary dinner at the top of the Marriott hotel (despite our lack of proper attire). It was lovely...we each had a steak dinner (oh so sweet after so long without) and the view at night was spectacular.
After a 24 hour train ride to Hong Kong, we arrived. We found Hong Kong to be a bustling, multicultural city that is full of shopping and energy. It is very Western in feel and you can notice a big difference from mainland China. A few nights Jas went for walks to explore and see the nightlife-he even ended up in a gay bar by mistake! The things that happen when he's left to his own devices...
For our stay in Hong Kong, we settled in Chungking Mansions (quite the reputation). A very diverse crowd with mainly African and Indian shops and restaurants. Lots of different guesthouses...our first one ended up being a hole. Our room was basically a closet (we couldn't stand in it at the same time). We chose to spend a little extra money and upgraded to a much better place in the Mansion.
Apart from walking around and exploring, we visited the Hong Kong Museum of History where we learned about the Opium Wars and Japanese Occupation among others. We also rode the world's longest escalator, took the Star Ferry, watched a laser/light show by the water, and shopped (I couldn't resist!). For my birthday, we went to a nice Indian restaurant where we indulged on a good buffet. There was live music and they sang the Indian version of "Happy Birthday" to me!
Perhaps the highlight of Hong Kong for both of us, was meeting a few cool people. Firstly, we were able to get together with the family of one of Jas' close friends (Rachel). It was awesome! Her Uncle Manny picked us up and took us out for dinner along with his family. They treated us like royalty and the food was amazing. It was a birthday spread (for my benefit) complete with 10 courses and Chinese birthday cake! After dinner, Manny took us to Victoria Peak to see the view of Hong Kong at night. The lights were incredible, and we had drinks at a restaurant with a great view at the top. Everything was so nice, particulary Manny's company.
Our second meeting took place after Amy and I learned from our Granny that we had family living in Hong Kong, and that they worked at a bar! They were father and son and were both named David Colquhoun. While frequenting an Irish pub close to where we were staying, we ended up finding out where they were located and even chatted with the youngest on the phone. Crazy! All four of us took a trip twice to the bar (McSorley's) to meet them. They were both awesome people and it was great hearing about their lives and the Colquhoun family.
For our trip to Yangshuo (back in mainland China), we took an overnight hard sleeper bus. It is full of beds rather than seats...interesting. The bus beds were comfortable, but the ride wasn't. Once again, we all thought we were going to die with the amount of G-force and barreling around the corners at high speeds. It didn't help that we were videotaped after boarding...we found out the reason is so that they could identify us in case of an accident! Great, just great. Our washroom breaks were brief, and our bus almost left without Amy. Jas also had to improvise and pee in a bottle at the back of the bus.
We made it to Yangshuo and found the place to be one of the best spots in China! The scenery is spectacular with "Karst" landscape surrounding the city. We rented bicycles and rode through the city and out to Moon Hill. A climb to the top gave us a good view (a little foggy) and we observed many rock climbers. Loads of fun, apart from a little tumble that I took on the way down! We took a scenic route back to town and passed farmers, rice paddies, and lots of orange trees. We loved it.
We also climbed to the top of one of the mountains by way of an old stone staircase. The view was magnificent, and well worth the hassle of getting there. The stairs were out of the way at the back of houses...we got scared off by dogs on our first attempt, but found that they were, in fact, leading us to the staircase on our second. We also passed through a meat market - I've never seen anything like it (and never want to again). Ducks hanging upside down bleeding out, goats heads, live dogs packed into cages, dogs being butchered, dogs heads piled on the floor, and various other grotesque images. The smell was revolting and it took a lot of effort for me not to add to the gross things on the floor! Asia may perhaps turn me veggie once again...
Rain, rain, rain - it plagued us the whole time we were there. Therefore, we spent most of our time shopping, bargaining, and watching copied movies. Yangshuo has a shopping street called West St...cheap, cheap stuff. It's also full of cafes that offer both Chinese and Western food. A nice change! One particular place was called Drifters, and we were there often. Our hostel proved to be a poor choice...we ended up switching rooms, this time due to a flood we discovered in our room after a night of hard rainfall.
Whew...so there you have it! We are now in Guilin and will be here for the next few days. We can access the blog site here, but we may not be able to update you until we reach Vietnam (which will be in the next few weeks). We hope all of you are happy and healthy, and we miss you!
posted by JEM @ 4:36 a.m.
2 comments
2 Comments:
Hey folks,
Well that is one helluva an adventure thus far! Jas, first off, don't feel bad about the gay bar, you know I did it too in Roppongi..hey I even got checked out in the bathroom!
Nice stuff on the visit in Xian...what's neat, and hopefully in the future some time is they'll excavate Xian's tomb. I watched a special on it, and from the little they can tell so far about it, is that inside it, is a mini diorama of China...which means it ain't so mini! It's supposed to have real land, miniature trees, and holes to let light in to represent stars...oh! and waterways made out of mercury to reflect the light! Neat eh? And Em, meat markets ARE gross, in Tunisia, I saw a dude hacking away at a cow's head with an axe...mmmm severed head on the floor with it's tongue hanging out...ick.
I love burgers though!
Have fun guys and be safe!
Again I must say Wow. That's quite the adventure you guys are having. I must admit, I laughed out loud on a number of different occasions while reading your blog. China sounds so sketchy!!! Almost makes me want to go there and not go there at the same time. Anyway, keep up the good updates and don't forget to upload all your great pics. Looking forward to your next update and safe journeys.
With lots of love,
Nick
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