Airport fish
Since my last blog post I've covered some distance across China and am finally with internet access again after a few days aboard a boat, but let's start at the beginning.
I arrived into Beijing early from Shanghai so decided to make the most of this rare experience of being up and around early in the morning and having checked in headed straight to the Forbidden City which is a walkable distance from the Youth Hostel. It's a vast complex but if anything looks largely as you might expect although the main buildings seem rather sparse and if anything the side palaces offered more character and an insight into court life. Several of the main buildings are being renovated in time for the 2008 Olympics which means annoying that you can't visit them whereas smaller palaces seem to be left to peel and decay.
Wasting no time on the second day I took a trip to the Great Wall which involved being bussed to one place, walking some miles along and being picked up further down. The stretch I went on was largely unrestored and combined with the steep gradient made for tricky and tiring going, not least in the heat, but the five hours allowed for the distance were more than adequate and it meant I could slow down towards the end. As the tour went from the hostel is was filled entirely with foreigners and interestingly it seems that the Chinese have no interest on tackling the stretch of wall we did, leaving it nice and quiet while they all crowd other restored sections of the wall. My guidebook said the stretch would be the most satisfying and what you would most expect from walking the wall and it was indeed correct. The views were tremendous, the walk challenging but overall immensely satisfying. The locals did bug us along the way trying to sell water or books but it was little detraction from the experience. I've uploaded some photos to give some impression of the nature of the wall.
In Beijing I met some Brits in my dorm room and since we've had largely the same itineraries we've been travelling together since. We've had something of a rollercoaster ride in that we've visited some amazing sights together but also had to deal with the often incredibly frustrating Chinese transport system which generally involves queuing only to be told you've been queuing in the wrong queue and need to queue again elsewhere. Quite why they can't arrange things so that any ticket or service is available from any window I just don't know, but that's the way it works here. We encountered this especially in Beijing when due to a glacially slow bus, taxi drivers not knowing where they're going and rickshaws trying to rip us off we missed a train. The process of buying a new ticket and getting refunded for the first took around two hours and was fraught with frustration, however we got there in the end, even if it did mean that we had to sit on seats on the overnight train to Xian as all the sleepers had gone already. Although not the top experience of China by any means it gave an insight into this country as much as anything else we've visited.
So it was that from Beijing we hit Xian, a pleasant city and much more manageable than the sprawling masses that are Shanghai and Beijing and of course the base from which to visit the Terracotta Warriors which were superb both in quantity which number in the thousands and the intricate craftsmanship that had gone into them, giving each unique features. Goodness knows how they would have appeared all new, intact and freshly painted.
Trains from Xian to Chongqin, our next destination and the start of the Yangzte river cruise were non-existant so we had little option but to fly, as we didn't relish a repeat performance of trying to sleep in a hard seat carriage on another overnight train. As it was the flight cost only around 40 quid so didn't break the bank and took 1 hour rather than the 15 needed by the train, even if it had space.
The Yangzte river cruise no longer spans the distance it once did, due the construction of the "New Big Dam" across the Yangzte river which makes it unnavigable beyond a certain point, however it still takes in the three gorges, some particularly spectacular scenery and soon to be considerably reduced once the dam comes into operation and the water level rises some 8 metres. The cruise, which was on something of a passable ferry with lots of windows lasts three nights and stops at points of varying interest along the way. This includes Ghost City which features some rather grotesque statues and a walk-through ghost-train like experience explaining both Chinese folktales involving gods and demons and a torture chamber showing people in hell having all manner of unpleasant acts done to them. The highlight of course were the three gorges which required transfer onto a smaller boat for navigating the 'little three gorges' and also a short outing on small wooden boats for the even littler three gorges. Lots of necks cricked skyward were the order of the day. It was also interesting to see which buildings would be submerged with the completion of the dam as signs showing certain water levels were placed along the route.
The days about the ship might have been dull if it hadn't been for the good company of some other Westerners on board. The English level of the vast majority of Chinese is non-existent so communication with them as nice as it would have been simply wasn't an option. Happily a couple of Norwegians, Germans and a group of Brits made the time fly by with games of cards, dinners together in the onboard restaurant and the odd evening off sitting on the deck in the pitch black with beers after the boat staff had turned all the lights off enjoying the atmosphere and usually the refreshingly cool breeze generally lacking from the poorly air-conditioned cabins. Highlights of the ferry included an occasion one evening on an outside deck where one of the Brits leaded on a tap which suddenly came on, and trying to turn it off resulted only in the water pouring out at an even greater rate. A stewardess rushed to the scene and the water could only be stopped by tying the pipe down to another pipe. Fine workmanship indeed. The restaurant menu also provided some amusement, our favourite being the 'airport fish'. It's description in English read: "A kind of very famous rough hot fish near the airport". Apparently even the Chinese translated as Airport Fish which was baffling. The Norwegians tried it one night although I suggested we enquire as to which airport it lived near before comitting ourselves.
Following the Yangzte cruise we had a day of travelling taking us from the final stop for the ferry to the nearest town, the nearest city and eventually overnight on sleeper bus to Guilin. Yes, I kid ye not, in China there are sleeper buses in addition to the trains. These consist of beds arranged in three rows running down the length of the bus facing the direction of travel with upper and lower decks in the middle. As with other sleeping transport experiences we found mixed success in getting any shut-eye but it's another weird and wonderful type of transport to strike off the list.
Not stopping to Guilin we headed straight for Longsheng yesterday morning which turned out to be a pleasing if not terribly interesting town but which offered some worthy sights nearby in the form of terraced fields extending the entire height of the hills in the area. So today we set off on what turned out to be a six hour walk including breaks and were sufficiently impressed by the stunning landscapes. To add colour to the day the area is inhabited by an indigenous people whose most notable feature is that the women-folk, or at least the old women-folk all have tote outrageously long hair which is wrapped up in something vaguely akin to a turban. The proved to be more of a pain than anything, forever trying to sell silver coloured (but certainly not real silver) bracelets, postcards and other items which as with so many of their kin lacked any appeal to us whatsoever. Still they were more colourful than the poor offerings the locals were trying to sell on the Great Wall and if you're going to clearly spend a good deal of your morning dressing up in local dress and sorted out impractically long hair, you might as well get something out of it, right?
As with this the events in China are brought up to date. Tomorrow we're heading off to Yangshuo, something of a backpacker haven and featuring some of the finest scenery China as to offer. The guidebook also promises lots of Western food which, after it seems a week of eating little but noodles, might prove somewhat tempting.
I arrived into Beijing early from Shanghai so decided to make the most of this rare experience of being up and around early in the morning and having checked in headed straight to the Forbidden City which is a walkable distance from the Youth Hostel. It's a vast complex but if anything looks largely as you might expect although the main buildings seem rather sparse and if anything the side palaces offered more character and an insight into court life. Several of the main buildings are being renovated in time for the 2008 Olympics which means annoying that you can't visit them whereas smaller palaces seem to be left to peel and decay.
Wasting no time on the second day I took a trip to the Great Wall which involved being bussed to one place, walking some miles along and being picked up further down. The stretch I went on was largely unrestored and combined with the steep gradient made for tricky and tiring going, not least in the heat, but the five hours allowed for the distance were more than adequate and it meant I could slow down towards the end. As the tour went from the hostel is was filled entirely with foreigners and interestingly it seems that the Chinese have no interest on tackling the stretch of wall we did, leaving it nice and quiet while they all crowd other restored sections of the wall. My guidebook said the stretch would be the most satisfying and what you would most expect from walking the wall and it was indeed correct. The views were tremendous, the walk challenging but overall immensely satisfying. The locals did bug us along the way trying to sell water or books but it was little detraction from the experience. I've uploaded some photos to give some impression of the nature of the wall.
In Beijing I met some Brits in my dorm room and since we've had largely the same itineraries we've been travelling together since. We've had something of a rollercoaster ride in that we've visited some amazing sights together but also had to deal with the often incredibly frustrating Chinese transport system which generally involves queuing only to be told you've been queuing in the wrong queue and need to queue again elsewhere. Quite why they can't arrange things so that any ticket or service is available from any window I just don't know, but that's the way it works here. We encountered this especially in Beijing when due to a glacially slow bus, taxi drivers not knowing where they're going and rickshaws trying to rip us off we missed a train. The process of buying a new ticket and getting refunded for the first took around two hours and was fraught with frustration, however we got there in the end, even if it did mean that we had to sit on seats on the overnight train to Xian as all the sleepers had gone already. Although not the top experience of China by any means it gave an insight into this country as much as anything else we've visited.
So it was that from Beijing we hit Xian, a pleasant city and much more manageable than the sprawling masses that are Shanghai and Beijing and of course the base from which to visit the Terracotta Warriors which were superb both in quantity which number in the thousands and the intricate craftsmanship that had gone into them, giving each unique features. Goodness knows how they would have appeared all new, intact and freshly painted.
Trains from Xian to Chongqin, our next destination and the start of the Yangzte river cruise were non-existant so we had little option but to fly, as we didn't relish a repeat performance of trying to sleep in a hard seat carriage on another overnight train. As it was the flight cost only around 40 quid so didn't break the bank and took 1 hour rather than the 15 needed by the train, even if it had space.
The Yangzte river cruise no longer spans the distance it once did, due the construction of the "New Big Dam" across the Yangzte river which makes it unnavigable beyond a certain point, however it still takes in the three gorges, some particularly spectacular scenery and soon to be considerably reduced once the dam comes into operation and the water level rises some 8 metres. The cruise, which was on something of a passable ferry with lots of windows lasts three nights and stops at points of varying interest along the way. This includes Ghost City which features some rather grotesque statues and a walk-through ghost-train like experience explaining both Chinese folktales involving gods and demons and a torture chamber showing people in hell having all manner of unpleasant acts done to them. The highlight of course were the three gorges which required transfer onto a smaller boat for navigating the 'little three gorges' and also a short outing on small wooden boats for the even littler three gorges. Lots of necks cricked skyward were the order of the day. It was also interesting to see which buildings would be submerged with the completion of the dam as signs showing certain water levels were placed along the route.
The days about the ship might have been dull if it hadn't been for the good company of some other Westerners on board. The English level of the vast majority of Chinese is non-existent so communication with them as nice as it would have been simply wasn't an option. Happily a couple of Norwegians, Germans and a group of Brits made the time fly by with games of cards, dinners together in the onboard restaurant and the odd evening off sitting on the deck in the pitch black with beers after the boat staff had turned all the lights off enjoying the atmosphere and usually the refreshingly cool breeze generally lacking from the poorly air-conditioned cabins. Highlights of the ferry included an occasion one evening on an outside deck where one of the Brits leaded on a tap which suddenly came on, and trying to turn it off resulted only in the water pouring out at an even greater rate. A stewardess rushed to the scene and the water could only be stopped by tying the pipe down to another pipe. Fine workmanship indeed. The restaurant menu also provided some amusement, our favourite being the 'airport fish'. It's description in English read: "A kind of very famous rough hot fish near the airport". Apparently even the Chinese translated as Airport Fish which was baffling. The Norwegians tried it one night although I suggested we enquire as to which airport it lived near before comitting ourselves.
Following the Yangzte cruise we had a day of travelling taking us from the final stop for the ferry to the nearest town, the nearest city and eventually overnight on sleeper bus to Guilin. Yes, I kid ye not, in China there are sleeper buses in addition to the trains. These consist of beds arranged in three rows running down the length of the bus facing the direction of travel with upper and lower decks in the middle. As with other sleeping transport experiences we found mixed success in getting any shut-eye but it's another weird and wonderful type of transport to strike off the list.
Not stopping to Guilin we headed straight for Longsheng yesterday morning which turned out to be a pleasing if not terribly interesting town but which offered some worthy sights nearby in the form of terraced fields extending the entire height of the hills in the area. So today we set off on what turned out to be a six hour walk including breaks and were sufficiently impressed by the stunning landscapes. To add colour to the day the area is inhabited by an indigenous people whose most notable feature is that the women-folk, or at least the old women-folk all have tote outrageously long hair which is wrapped up in something vaguely akin to a turban. The proved to be more of a pain than anything, forever trying to sell silver coloured (but certainly not real silver) bracelets, postcards and other items which as with so many of their kin lacked any appeal to us whatsoever. Still they were more colourful than the poor offerings the locals were trying to sell on the Great Wall and if you're going to clearly spend a good deal of your morning dressing up in local dress and sorted out impractically long hair, you might as well get something out of it, right?
As with this the events in China are brought up to date. Tomorrow we're heading off to Yangshuo, something of a backpacker haven and featuring some of the finest scenery China as to offer. The guidebook also promises lots of Western food which, after it seems a week of eating little but noodles, might prove somewhat tempting.
posted by Daniel at 2:04 pm
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