Epically China part two..................

China is a country full of contradictions, and like the first half of the trip, the second half of the trip was both amazing and frustrating....

Sixth Stop: Chengdu........
Our time in Chengdu was both burdened and made more interesting because of Chinese New Year. New Years Day we went to a temple on the outskirts of town and it was absolutely packed to the rafters with people. We literally followed/got pushed through the doors and each consequent building. It was intense, people were throwing incense into massive burners while a man stood at guard with a fire hose actively trying to keep all the fires under control. I don't know how much of what went on was religious but more so tradition and hysteria.

Chengdu is an amazing city with a LOT to do (when everythings not closed for Chinese New Year). What we did do however was fantastic. Our first stop was the Panda Conservation Centre. The pandas were gorgeous, especially the little panda babies, who were so active and fat, climbing up their play pens and then falling on their butts. I've taken so many pictures of pandas now that it's bordering on stalking I think. Another big day trip we did was to climb Ching Chen Shan, or some random mountain north of Chengdu. The senery was really pretty, however the whole thing was paved and to me that doesn't constitute treking but as a tourism endevour. It was really cool however because there are monestaries built all the way up and into the mountain, it's pretty intense to think these monks live surrounded by constant tourism on a mountain. We also went on a day trip to see Dafo the Giant Buddha. The Buddha is huge, his toes are literally the size of a regular sized person. We saw it by boat and got to wear some hideous lifejackets and were in the best position to take photos. Chengdu was also the place which will never be forgotten for Tex-Mex food, amazing friends, cold/quirky hostel, the random new years festival with huge ugly mascots and the random cab ride back, my first snow experience, closed markets and malls and having to enrol for uni at 6am. Chengdu was my favourite city of the trip and I'm relatively certain Paul and Cinja would agree!!!!!!!!!!

Seventh Stop: Kunming (昆明).................
The train ride to Kunming was where we left Cinja and Paul and I went on. I was incredibly sick by this point, what with my cold getting progressively worse and worse. Bright-side, I slept through about 80% of the train ride which is a miracle considering we were on it for 22 hours and sitting on a hard seat with smokers!!! I liked Kunming but it's definitely a city of mixed reviews. To me it's a lot like Adelaide, or as much as China can be. It's pretty, warm, got some nature and yet it's still a city. We basically just spent our time exploring the city, we went to Kunming Park/Lake, a temple in the mountains, the bird and flower market (which co-incidently sells puppies not birds or flowers), ate fantastic Indian food and went on the eternal search for cold and flu tablets. Getting a cab in Kunming was a nightmare, but the city is small enough that we could walk most places, especially because it was warm and sunny. Our biggest dramas in Kunming revolved around getting train tickets back to Hong Kong, or Guangzhou anyways, unfortunately China is retarded and you can'y but tickets outside the town you want to leave and you can't buy tickets more than five days in advance. Long story short we had to do the rest of our trip first and hope to hell we would be able to get out of Kunming when we returned.

Eigth Stop: Lijiang (丽江).....
Lijiang is one of the few traditional Chinese towns left remaining, a world heritage site, and the Chinese governments favourite tourist site. The old town is really cute and looks extremely traditional, even if all the buildings are full of souveniers and tea, it's also extremely expensive for China. The highlight of being in Lijiang was treking through Tiger Leaping Gorge. (虎跳峡) It's a two day trek that is extremely hard (especially when sick) but made easier by being able to rent an Ass (or Donkey or Horse if you're Chinese). The gorge is spectacular, the mountains are so high that it wasn't until 11am ish that the sun finally made it over the mountains. There was snow on the tops of some mountains, the water was rushing below and although it was one of the hardest things I've ever done it was well worth it, even if I was in pain for the next week!

Ninth Stop: Dali (大理)......
We went through Dali on the way back to Kunming and HK and were only there a day but Dali is gorgeous. It's mainly farm land with one traditional town and a more modern town. We stayed in the walled town, which had been restored only recently when the Chinese government realised they could cash in on tourism. We didn't do a lot in Dali as we were both exhausted but we walked around the town, souvenier shopped, ate good food (predominantly western, opps) and relaxed in a hostel im relatively certain we had all to ourselves at very very low rates (they undercharged us). One of the most vivid memories I have from Dali is walking past all the restaurants and out the front there being buckets and buckets of fresh fruit and vegetables. Everything was so fresh and colourful, even the farms which were bright yellow and green with a few people ploughing in amongst it all. Dali was the perfect place to unwind after travelling through China for some twenty-six days.

The journey back to Hong Kong...............
The journey back home was a long and stressful one. Once we got back to Kunming first on the list was a train ticket to Guangzhou, FAIL, so we decided to train it to Nanning instead, VICTORY. From there we had to try and figure out how to get to Guangzhou, there were no train tickets left so we headed for the bus station. There are buses running every half an hour all day and at 8am the only bus out we could get was for 1030pm, Chinese New Year is nuts. By the time we got to Guangzhou it was the last day before our visa expired and resulted in us getting fines so we hoped straight on another bus to Shenzhen. Eventually we got to immigration and crossed the border back into Hong Kong, just in time. It wasn't easy getting back but we managed it with a few hours to spare.

Epically China part one........

Considering I've been home for almost three months this post is not so much epically China as epically late! China was a country full frustration, the language, the culture and Chinese New year proved to make China really difficult to get around. Despite all this is was without a doubt the most character building experience of my life.

First Stop: Beijing (北京)....
Cinja and I had already been to Beijing so we opted for taking the city slowly, and at -15degrees outside, who could blame us for not wanting to be out in it too long. Of course the Great Wall was on the list, especially for Paul who hadn't done it previously. We went to the typical tourist place, Badaling. It was really great to see a different side of the wall, after seeing the un-restored wall last time, Cinja even got herself proposed to. The next day was a real tourist day, we hit up the old drum and bell tower, the Beijing Zoo and Lamma Temple, of course my camera died though and so there is no photographic proof of my existance at any of those places. We also ate some amazing Tibetan food at a place near Lamma temple, really greasy but incredibly tasty, one of the best meals I ate in China without a doubt. Our nights were spent primarily indoors, we went to see Beijing opera one night, it's a strange experience, very shrill, very inaudible and very not my thing. Having said that it's something i'll always remember and something so very typically Chinese. We also spent one night going to the night market and on our way went to a huge food court where you pick what you want and pay at the end. Since I wasn't the mood for cicada on a stick (night market) we ate a fair bit of great Chinese food and it was INCREDIBLE not to mention CHEAP!!!! Although Beijing is a city full of wonder and amazing places possibly the most memorable situations are those which are intrinsically Chinese. There are of course the train issues, which resulted in us lining up for hours for tickets with disasterous results. The endless persuit for Taxi's. It taking an hour to get somewhere ten minutes away. And of course not being able to cross a road without ending up on the wrong side of it.... Beijing is a frustratingly beautiful place.

Second Stop: Xi-An (西安).......
Well after some twelve hours standing/sitting on someones suitcase in a sweaty, smokey, smelly, hot train we finally arrived at one of the most talked about cities in China. (see below for an excerpt from my diary on the train journey)
"The train ride from hell:
200 odd people crammed into one carriage, like cattles, most of which standing, everyone with luggage. People trying to smoke, people climbing over you, people with bad body odour, peple with no manners or sense of decency. An hour to trek to the bathroom and back. NO SLEEP. A cabin so hot I wasn't sure whether I was going to cry or pass out. Intense rage. People using me as an armrest. An inability to even stand at times, a suitcase wedged up my butt. One blocked nose, sore throat, dehydration, hunger as our food and drink was in our bags. Fear for my laptop and camera. No windows. Food carts pushing past and people refusing to put their luggage in overhead compartments. One uncomfortable Paul, one sleepy Cinja and one group of friendly, english speaking locals."

First thing on our list of things to see and do i Xi'an is to try and find tickets out of the city for a few days time. This was only half successful but we had a plan of action if nothing else, tickets to wuhan so we could bus to Yichang so we could boat to Chongquing. Sound stressful???? well it was!!!!!

Xi'an as a city itself is absoulutly incredible, well the walled part anyways. Inside the wall is clearly manufactured for the tourists and rich Chinese. It's clean, urban and incredibly well restored, with the wall itself being one of the most incredible structures I've ever seen. Outside the wall however is the exact opposite. It's dirty, industrial and poor, but hey it's China, can't let the truth get in the way of good marketing.... While we were in Xi'an clearly we had to go see the Terracotta Warriors (兵马俑). I don't think I have ever been so cold in my life. The pits were at least five degrees colder than outside and when outside is sitting well below zero it's safe to say i was in pain, and relatively grumpy. The pits were spectacular! There were three football feild sized pits all full of an entire army. It is an extremely impressive sight to be seen and although a lot of it hasn't even been excavated it was incredible and forever burned into my memory. I loved it!!!!!

We in total spent only three days in Xi'an but we crammed a lot into those three days. The Muslim Quarter, which although extremely cool was just another Chinese market located next to a Mosque. They did have good dried fruit and cheap cheap tea cups though. Also there was the drum and bell tour, shopping, bike riding around the wall, the Lamma Temple and great food at the Star Ferry Restaurant (yes it's Hong Kong themed and amazing!).

Third Stop: Wuhan (武汉).......
We got to Wuhan bright and early in the morning, ran around trying to find a train or bus or boat out of that place and left later that day. It was stressful and not even a little bit fun, especially considering we were all tired and grumpy.

BUT WAIT.... The Next 3 days get even BETTER

Fourth Stop: Yichang (宜昌)......
We made it to this amazingly clean and helpful city later the same night and ran around for ages trying to get ourselves on a Yangztee River Cruise. We failed at this and so went to bed in a noisy/expensive hotel room where the water didn't even go down the drain properly and we susequently flooded the bathroom. Early the next day we finally got ourselves second class tickets on a cruise. We were meant to be on a our boat by 6pm, in typically Chinese fashion this didn't happen which also meant we never got to see the three gorges. Our roommate, I'm relatively certain spoke english, yet hated white people and so scoffed everytime he saw us. The toilet didn't flush and the beds were hard and gross. Basically the Yangztee River Cruise was waaaay more stressful than it needed to be, but hey, can't turn back time.

Fifth Stop: Chongquing (重庆).........
We were only in Chongquing a day but I have to say it was a really cool city to see, even if it was just a city with the typical malls and consumerism in every corner. We found possibly the best hostel in China, it came complete with electric blankets, a cute kitten and the nicest staff who even watched the new batman with us! As for the city itself, we took ourselves to the three gorges museum (couldn't see the real thing, might as well try and picture us there), it was a fairly crappy museum but the building was huge and incredibly European. We also headed to an ancient town where we ate waaaaay too much but the food was amazing, banana pancakes, incredible cookies, intensely hot and sour noodles, rice on a stick and i'm almost certain other stuff I've forgotten to mention. We also walked/drove around in circles trying to find a good place to take photos of the harbour, but failed, funny memories though. I loved Chongquing!!!

Sixth Stop: Chengdu and Chinese New Year (成都).......
Our journey to Chengdu was the easiest stress free journey of the whole trip, one short bus ride and we were there just in time for Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year is an experience that has been burned into my memory as looking somewhat like a civil war zone as fireworks exploded in every direction. We met a great group of people, talked about our frustrating China experiences, watched what the Chinese watch for FOUR days for about FOUR minutes and at midnight went to the closest temple and throw incense around in the snow. (quick fact: it was the first time Paul or I had experienced snow) Chinese New Year night was insane, I can see why the transport system shits itself and you cannot get anywhere. But apparently Chinese New Year unlike Western New Year doesn't end at 6am it goes on and on.........

More epically Chinese adventures continue in Epically China part two..........................