Pingyao
From Beijing we travelled to Pingyao, which is an old walled town, supposedly one of the finest examples of a traditional Chinese town. It is impressive, and a lot of fun just to walk around soaking it all in. There were lots of tour buggies as a lot of Chinese tourists come here but I guess we were a bit out of season as it was fairly quiet. There is lots of things to visit around Pingyao such as the underground castle but we didn't get around to doing any of it. It was a bit expensive anyway. We spent our days wandering around the town (not even bothering to pay to go up on the city walls) watching (and sometimes laughing) at the locals going about their day. There were lots of old Chinese men in flat caps playing Chinese chess or Mahjong Tiles. The hostel was impressive, being a 500 year old building with courtyards and big rooms (and a great pool table). The dorms were in the eaves of the building and were very 'atmospheric'.
The thing I enjoyed most about Pingyao was buying a new laptop. I was getting jealous of Ant and Alex being able to watch films on theirs so I splashed out. No easy task in China when the staff don't speak English. Firstly they did not accept cards so 1 lad in the shop took me on his motorbike to an ATM. Then I had to take it back to get them to try and install Windows in English (again, hard to explain). It was solved by sitting infront of a PC on a free translation website speaking through that. I waited whilst they put English on it and sat for an hour on this free translation website with about 5 staff sat around speaking to me. It was pretty funny, especially as the free translation does not translate very well. I asked if 1 of them wanted to visit England and he 'yearns for it with his heart'...apparently.
Xian
The Teracotta Army...the eighth wonder of the world. I was left feeling a bit let down. I don't know what I expected, to. be blown away I guess, but I wasn't. When you consider the history behind it, with each warrior being different, and how old they are, etc etc, then it is impressive. I think it would be better if you could walk closer to them (which I guess isn't possible) rather than just see them from above in their pits. It was still worth going to see, but has not left the impression that the Great Wall left on me. We met an English guy, a Dutch guy, and an English girl who we went there with, and we have been travelling with the 2 guys for a while now.
We went to the Imax to see Tin-Tin at an empty cinema. The Dutch guy, Kev also had found a snooker hall so I went and played snooker with him. The best thing about that was the electronic scoreboard with a remote so you just press the colour ball you potted and it adds up your score. Great!
Alex and I went cycling around the city walls. That was a lot of fun to do, even though it was knackering because of the rubbish bikes you get given and the bumpy ground.
Chengdu
At Chengdu there was the 3 of us and Kev and Tom (Dutch and English guy). Chengdu is famous for its Pandas. We spent a lot of time in Chengdu drunk or hungover. One day consisted of getting a KFC bucket and watching Full Metal Jacket. Some days just drifted by watching Sopranos on my laptop. I didn't even go to see the Pandas (although Ant and Alex did) because I had seen them in Beijing and apparently its very similar.
The reason we were going out so much is because of CC club. Westerners get free entry and free whisky all night. We asked how much the whisky was...85pounds per bottle. Madness! The club was great. Every now and then a group of Chinese girls or guys get up on stage and mime and dance to Lady Gaga or Justin Bieber. Pretty funny.
We did walk around the town a lot, go out for food etc. However, we did so little that the staff at the hostel took a picture of us all on our laptops (adding speech bubbles like 'internet cafe????') and printed it out as a leaving present. It is stuck in my journal alongside my polaroid picture of the day.
I wanted to go climb Mt Emei Shan, a 3 day hike, but Alex and Ant didn't. Luckily Tom and Kev did so I left Ant and Alex at the hostel and went off. Firstly we stopped off at Leshan to see the Giant Buddha. He is the largest stone Buddha in the world and mighty impressive. We didn't have much time to catch our bus so it was a bit of a whirlwind visit. The town looked like a dive anyway.
Mt Emei Shan
I loved Mt Emei Shan, it might be my favourite thing I have done whilst travelling yet.
We left our big bags at the hostel in the village of Baoguo and set off with our day packs, ambitiously aiming to complete it in 2 days rather than 3. That was out of the window pretty early on. We got lost and ended up back at the base but at a different place. I didn't mind though because it ended up taking us through this awesome valley. The path wound around lakes and streams with clear blue waters, over rope-bridges and between temples tucked into the mountainsides. I Loved it. There were various stone carvings as well, from times the Emperors had visited. Add the fact that we dallyed about taking photos as well as getting lost, there was no way we were going to be able to do this in 2 days.
You get to a certain point walking through a valley over wooden bridges and walkways (feeling a lot like Robin Hood hah) when you get to the monkey section. There are loads of monkeys here, which can be a bit aggressive. There are staff with slingshots incase the monkeys get out of hand. We had our bamboo walking sticks the hostel had lent us so we just banged our sticks to get through. They weren't really bad to be honest, and its always fun to see monkeys so close up.
The next bit was a bit hellish. There were endless steps, forever winding up the mountainside. You would turn 1 corner to see steps as far as the eye could see dissapearing into the mist. That was demoralising. The views were ace though. Eventually, out of the mist appeared the monastery where we were spending the night. It was certainly an impressive setting - a Chinese style monastery set infront of misty mountains. It felt very surreal. Saying that, the rooms were awful. The whole place was very quiet and felt a bit like a horror film. The rooms were shitty and it was so so cold that high up that I piled about 5 blankets on me.
The next day was more climbing steps still. The scenery began to change, and I spent the 1st of December surrounded by snow covered forests with no-one else around for miles it seemed (apart from Kev and Tom). The monasteries we passed looked even more impressive covered in snow, and I think I took more photos than the rest of China put together. The monastery we stayed in that night was less basic than the first, and the beds had electric blankets which were a welcome addition.
The last day was an easy climb, resulting in the most impressive summit I have been to yet. Everywhere you look there is something to see. In front of you in the distance are snow-capped mountain ranges. To your left the other peak of the mountain with a temple perched perilously on the top. Below it the cliffs vanished into the blanket of clouds. Then you look behind you, at 'the golden summit' which has a huge golden statue of Buddha and a golden temple. I think I had a grin on my face the entire time I was up there.
Okay so its a lot of steps, whereas some people like to be on more of a trail. And the peak is busy as it can be reached by a bus then a cable car. But it's awesome to climb, the views are amazing and you still get that sense of acheievement. Its over twice as high as Snowdon.
When we got back to Chengdu we had another night out at CC (so much for the 3 day detox) and then moved on. Next stop...Liajiang in Yunnan.
Again...Phew. Hope you all enjoyed it. I cannot upload any photos as the internet is a bag of s**t here. I hope everything is good (and christmassy) at home.
From Beijing we travelled to Pingyao, which is an old walled town, supposedly one of the finest examples of a traditional Chinese town. It is impressive, and a lot of fun just to walk around soaking it all in. There were lots of tour buggies as a lot of Chinese tourists come here but I guess we were a bit out of season as it was fairly quiet. There is lots of things to visit around Pingyao such as the underground castle but we didn't get around to doing any of it. It was a bit expensive anyway. We spent our days wandering around the town (not even bothering to pay to go up on the city walls) watching (and sometimes laughing) at the locals going about their day. There were lots of old Chinese men in flat caps playing Chinese chess or Mahjong Tiles. The hostel was impressive, being a 500 year old building with courtyards and big rooms (and a great pool table). The dorms were in the eaves of the building and were very 'atmospheric'.
The thing I enjoyed most about Pingyao was buying a new laptop. I was getting jealous of Ant and Alex being able to watch films on theirs so I splashed out. No easy task in China when the staff don't speak English. Firstly they did not accept cards so 1 lad in the shop took me on his motorbike to an ATM. Then I had to take it back to get them to try and install Windows in English (again, hard to explain). It was solved by sitting infront of a PC on a free translation website speaking through that. I waited whilst they put English on it and sat for an hour on this free translation website with about 5 staff sat around speaking to me. It was pretty funny, especially as the free translation does not translate very well. I asked if 1 of them wanted to visit England and he 'yearns for it with his heart'...apparently.
Xian
The Teracotta Army...the eighth wonder of the world. I was left feeling a bit let down. I don't know what I expected, to. be blown away I guess, but I wasn't. When you consider the history behind it, with each warrior being different, and how old they are, etc etc, then it is impressive. I think it would be better if you could walk closer to them (which I guess isn't possible) rather than just see them from above in their pits. It was still worth going to see, but has not left the impression that the Great Wall left on me. We met an English guy, a Dutch guy, and an English girl who we went there with, and we have been travelling with the 2 guys for a while now.
We went to the Imax to see Tin-Tin at an empty cinema. The Dutch guy, Kev also had found a snooker hall so I went and played snooker with him. The best thing about that was the electronic scoreboard with a remote so you just press the colour ball you potted and it adds up your score. Great!
Alex and I went cycling around the city walls. That was a lot of fun to do, even though it was knackering because of the rubbish bikes you get given and the bumpy ground.
Chengdu
At Chengdu there was the 3 of us and Kev and Tom (Dutch and English guy). Chengdu is famous for its Pandas. We spent a lot of time in Chengdu drunk or hungover. One day consisted of getting a KFC bucket and watching Full Metal Jacket. Some days just drifted by watching Sopranos on my laptop. I didn't even go to see the Pandas (although Ant and Alex did) because I had seen them in Beijing and apparently its very similar.
The reason we were going out so much is because of CC club. Westerners get free entry and free whisky all night. We asked how much the whisky was...85pounds per bottle. Madness! The club was great. Every now and then a group of Chinese girls or guys get up on stage and mime and dance to Lady Gaga or Justin Bieber. Pretty funny.
We did walk around the town a lot, go out for food etc. However, we did so little that the staff at the hostel took a picture of us all on our laptops (adding speech bubbles like 'internet cafe????') and printed it out as a leaving present. It is stuck in my journal alongside my polaroid picture of the day.
I wanted to go climb Mt Emei Shan, a 3 day hike, but Alex and Ant didn't. Luckily Tom and Kev did so I left Ant and Alex at the hostel and went off. Firstly we stopped off at Leshan to see the Giant Buddha. He is the largest stone Buddha in the world and mighty impressive. We didn't have much time to catch our bus so it was a bit of a whirlwind visit. The town looked like a dive anyway.
Mt Emei Shan
I loved Mt Emei Shan, it might be my favourite thing I have done whilst travelling yet.
We left our big bags at the hostel in the village of Baoguo and set off with our day packs, ambitiously aiming to complete it in 2 days rather than 3. That was out of the window pretty early on. We got lost and ended up back at the base but at a different place. I didn't mind though because it ended up taking us through this awesome valley. The path wound around lakes and streams with clear blue waters, over rope-bridges and between temples tucked into the mountainsides. I Loved it. There were various stone carvings as well, from times the Emperors had visited. Add the fact that we dallyed about taking photos as well as getting lost, there was no way we were going to be able to do this in 2 days.
You get to a certain point walking through a valley over wooden bridges and walkways (feeling a lot like Robin Hood hah) when you get to the monkey section. There are loads of monkeys here, which can be a bit aggressive. There are staff with slingshots incase the monkeys get out of hand. We had our bamboo walking sticks the hostel had lent us so we just banged our sticks to get through. They weren't really bad to be honest, and its always fun to see monkeys so close up.
The next bit was a bit hellish. There were endless steps, forever winding up the mountainside. You would turn 1 corner to see steps as far as the eye could see dissapearing into the mist. That was demoralising. The views were ace though. Eventually, out of the mist appeared the monastery where we were spending the night. It was certainly an impressive setting - a Chinese style monastery set infront of misty mountains. It felt very surreal. Saying that, the rooms were awful. The whole place was very quiet and felt a bit like a horror film. The rooms were shitty and it was so so cold that high up that I piled about 5 blankets on me.
The next day was more climbing steps still. The scenery began to change, and I spent the 1st of December surrounded by snow covered forests with no-one else around for miles it seemed (apart from Kev and Tom). The monasteries we passed looked even more impressive covered in snow, and I think I took more photos than the rest of China put together. The monastery we stayed in that night was less basic than the first, and the beds had electric blankets which were a welcome addition.
The last day was an easy climb, resulting in the most impressive summit I have been to yet. Everywhere you look there is something to see. In front of you in the distance are snow-capped mountain ranges. To your left the other peak of the mountain with a temple perched perilously on the top. Below it the cliffs vanished into the blanket of clouds. Then you look behind you, at 'the golden summit' which has a huge golden statue of Buddha and a golden temple. I think I had a grin on my face the entire time I was up there.
Okay so its a lot of steps, whereas some people like to be on more of a trail. And the peak is busy as it can be reached by a bus then a cable car. But it's awesome to climb, the views are amazing and you still get that sense of acheievement. Its over twice as high as Snowdon.
When we got back to Chengdu we had another night out at CC (so much for the 3 day detox) and then moved on. Next stop...Liajiang in Yunnan.
Again...Phew. Hope you all enjoyed it. I cannot upload any photos as the internet is a bag of s**t here. I hope everything is good (and christmassy) at home.
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