The end of China, told from the middle

China

Never have I been to a country with so many of its own people being such tourists. Chinese tourists do not just terrorize foreign populations but also their own. Lijiang is a shining example of this. The old town is a lot like Pingyao, apart from you can tell it is all faked, and new. It has a Disneyland feel to it, and every single building is a shop, a hotel, or a restaurant. God knows where anybody lives. We were there in December, and it was a bit cold, yet the streets were still busy with Chinese people with very expensive cameras snapping anything and everything.

 

That being said, the town is still really nice to walk around and take it all in. It may be fake old, but its still pretty. The cobbled streets wind around traditional buildings and small bridges arch over slow-running canals lined with willow trees. There are lots of impressive mountainscapes in the background as well, all adding to the effect.We tried some insects cooked on a skewer, which was...interesting. They didn't taste of much but they were crunchy and I wasn't a fan of getting wings/legs stuck inbetween my teeth.

The Tiger Leaping Gorge was next on the agenda, the highest valley in the world (maybe? I lose track. Everything seems to be the worlds something or other). We got a bus out to a dead end town and stayed the night in a hostel run by Tibetans. That's where it all went a bit Pete Tong. 

Alex was ill with food poisoning, so we agreed to wait a day to see if he would be better the next day. That was for the best as we realised we didn't have much money and the dead-end town only had ATMs which wouldn't take our cards. Ant and I had to take a 2 hour bus ride to Shangri-La just for a cash machine. The town has been renamed Shangri-La after James Hilton's "lost horizon" novel, another attempt to attract those Chinese tourists. It was a fun side trip though, and Shangri La looked nice (but not worth more than a fleeting visit). We got cash, had some yak meat noodles and got out of there. 

The next day Alex still wasn't better, and we had our first real argument as a group. 98 days in, so close to the 100 without a real dispute. Oh well. We were running out of time in China to do all the stuff we wanted to and the Tiger Leaping Gorge is a strenuous climb. Alex wanted us to wait another day, we argued that even if he felt better he would be feeling too weak etc to be up for it anyway, so we went without him. 

Turns out Alex wasn't well enough to do it the next day. I still felt guilty though. But...there must be a God, playing some sort of sick joke on me. Half way up the gorge there is a guest house where you spend the night. I spent that night throwing up and was completely drained with a fever the next day. That climb down was one of the hardest things I have ever done. When we got to the bottom I got into a bed with 6 layers of clothes, a hat, and gloves on and was still shivering uncontrollably. There is some justice in the world hey.

The first day up the gorge was spectacular though. What a great place to go visit, the views are astounding and the guest house (half way house) has the best views out of a bedroom I have ever seen and it was dirt cheap. 

We celebrated the 100 days of travelling apart, which is a shame. Ant was more interested in seeing the cities so headed to Macau and Hong Kong early whilst Alex and I wanted to see a bit more countryside. I can't really speak for Ant, so this is what me and Alex did...

We headed to Dali, which is a really cool town, although there are lots of weird ex-pats there and bars with weird atmospheres. This american guy who called himself "whisper" and dressed like a fool was one particular guy I was keen to avoid, despite him being hard to get rid of. This stop was only because of the bus schedules, so we didn't do any activities here, but I could have stayed a few days easily.

Guilin was a great place. I liked it there a lot. There we visited some rice terraces, which were nice but could have been missed out to be honest. I think we went at the wrong time of the year so they didn't look too impressive. If we had more time there were some good walks to do around the area with guest houses to stay in but we only had the one day.

The real highlight, which made fewer days in Hong Kong worth while was Yangshuo. The town itself is awesome, but mainly because of the scenary in the background. There are weird limestone peaks which I have no idea how they were formed but they look awesome.

We hired bikes and cycled around the river. Some of the best views I have ever seen, I loved that day. You are cycling down a dirt path, with impressive mountains all around you, a meandering river, and great villages. The only down side to the day was that Alex got a flat tire half way so he was really struggling to get back. We had to walk quite a bit back and cut the route short. Every cloud though...the short cut involved going over the river on a bamboo raft with our bikes. I even got to test out the underwater mode on my camera. 

Macau was okay, I didn't really like it that much. I don't gamble so I guess that doesn't help seeing as it gets more revenue than Vegas nowadays. It seemed like a city that was a bit run down but then had billions pumped into it to make these fancy casinos. However, the opulence of a few buildings does not hide the crap around it. We weren't there for long though so maybe I am being unfair and there was more to see.

Hong Kong is a great city. Its easy to see why so many people want to live there. We met up with Ant again but he was couchsurfing to save money so we didn't see him too much. He got on really well with his couch surfer and he was having a great time. We found a good hostel in a great location and not too expensive so it was all good. 

We saw a large Buddha (another) and went up Peak Hill on the tram to have a great view over the city. I had been trying to get a couch surfing place for me and Alex and one person who responded wanted to meet up although we couldn't stay at hers. Alex wasn't feeling up for it so I went alone and had a good time. We got some beers from 7-11 and sat by the harbour with an amazing view of the city at night then walked around Mong Kok night market. I may actually like couch surfing, its a good way to meet people who know the city inside out.

We met up with Ant again on the plane, it felt like a reunion.

We all loved China, it is an awesome place. Its very different to India so its hard to say which is better. Every place in India felt unique whilst Chinas big cities all felt a bit the same, as they are so developed. So maybe India wins, just. But then the countryside in China is amazing. I would like to go back and do a lot of hikes etc (geek, right?) Its a real shame we had to miss out Shanghai as well. The food is amazing (the street noodles are great and so cheap) and the people are really friendly. It can be frustrating when the language barrier hits you in the face. Being stood looking at someone with no idea how to communicate what you want, and seeing them wanting to know, but unable to ask. Its funny though at the same time I guess.

110 days down...bring on Thailand.