Another cool start to the day, and the sky not so blue, but still less air pollution than I was expecting. First stop was a jade factory, where the kids and I passed the time by trying to find the most expensive item in the shop. The most expensive we found was $US400000 for a jade fountain. Bargain.

The Juyongguan section of Great Wall was next. This is a section about an hour out of Beijing. We walked up a very steep section of wall, initially with lots of tourists, but in true Hunter style we kept going further than 99% of the other people, rewarding us with a section of wall with nobody else around and the opportunity for some great photos (I hope).

Lunch. Although not a typical lunch, it wasn’t far from it. Soup, mostly they’re insipid, flavourless watery soups, cold meats, 7 dishes including the obligatory steamed cabbage (yuck),rice,  tea, sprite, beer and flavourless watermelon.  At the lunch stop was also a huge tourist shopping area, specialising in closterine, a Beijing enamelled vase type thing.

The  Ming Tombs, built around the same time as the Forbidden City, was the next stop. 13 of 16 Ming Emperors are buried here. The building design is very similar to the Forbidden City, so it was lovely to wander around with no crowds. Our guide explained ‘Hell’s Gate’. When the emperor was buried the pall bearers had to enter the land of the dead, through Hells Gate. Anybody passing through the gate was never allowed to return, so the poor pall bearers were killed inside. When we went in we got to walk around the gate, so we were allowed to come out again. Coming out through the gate (we were allowed to go through it in that direction) we had to say ‘I’m Back’.

We had a short street walk while we waited for the acrobat show to begin. Some of the sops were very differnet to home; hardware stores, bike repair shops, but some were almost exactly the same; cake shops, shoe.

The Acrobat Show was amazing. Juggling, balancing, jumping through hoops and bike balancing, but Lauren says the best bit was the popcorn.

After the show was dinner, then back to the room to pack for tomorrow – leaving for Japan.

So, how has China rated?

The people are kind and considerate, but in a crowd (which is a lot of the time) they become pushy and loud.

The food has been good (and certainly better than Carol’s expectations). Much of it was bland, but after each guide got to know our tastes it improved until we got to the next city, where we had to retrain the next guide.

The history is fascinating. Every aspect of Chinese life, architecture, food, everything has meaning. It would be a pity if this was lost as China hurtles into the 21^st century

The traffic is amazing. Chaotic, line markings, signs and even traffic lights have little relevance. But it works. The traffic keeps moving. Beijing traffic is more ordered than elsewhere, but still crazy.

Some things are very cheap – Snickers bars for 4.5 yuan (about 70 cents) 2 scoops of ice cream in a waffle cone for 15 Yuan ($2.50ish), some about the same as home – a coffee for about 30 Yuan ($5) and other things very expensive, such as a swim in the hotel pool for just  100 Yuan (about $18.)

Language and navigation would be tricky without a guide. In most of the tourist places some English is spoken, but often just a few words. “Hello Hello T-shirt Hello”, “Hello Hello Rolex Hello”. But these street sellers were never too intrusive. I think I only offended one person, and that was in the official gift shop at the Warriors where they were charging ridiculous prices for souvenirs. I told the salesman I’d rather buy on the street. He said I’d be buying rubbish, so I told him I’d rather buy rubbish than pay his prices. He wasn’t happy.

China souvenir wrap-up:

Carol – A few books, Christmas Ball, Chopsticks (Y20, bargained down from Y65)

Lauren – Panda hat, panda teapot, panda key rings, panda, charm bracelets, epic cow voodoo (very traditional Chinese!),

Lachlan – Warrior (Y100 from Y180), Painted bottle and Dragon key ring

Colin – Set of Warriors – bargained from Y250 to Y50

With a forecast of 6 -13 degrees the first surprise of the day was the weather. We awoke to a clear blue sky. No pollution, no fog, just blue. We rugged up in lots of layers, headed outside into 3 degrees (first forecasting mistake) and headed toward the city centre.

First stop today was a short walk along Tiananmen Street, near Tiananmen Square. This street was a strange mix of Chinese and European architecture, and felt like a movie set.  Next was across to Tiananmen Square, the largest city square in the world. In 1949 over 1 million people were in the square to celebrate Chairman Mao’s official rise to power. We asked our guide about the events of 1989, and he was surprisingly forthcoming with information, but told us that during his guide training they are instructed to say they know nothing if tourists ask. He even pointed out where the tank episode took place.  We were able to do a quick virtual geocache here.

Next was the Forbidden City, the home of the Emperor for the last 800 years. Wow. These guys knew how to be extravagant. The place is huge, but also looking very run down. The guide said that not much of the $200 million annual entrance fees paid by visitors goes back into maintaining the City. Interestingly, he was quite openly anti-government in some of the comments he made.

Lunch was next on the agenda, followed by a visit to a Chinese Medicine Research Centre. There we were told about the basic principles of Chinese medicine, and a ‘doctor’ assessed the health of each of us. He then prescribed $474 worth of herbal remedies for us. Needless to say, we declined to Following our health assessment we headed for the ‘Temple of Heaven’, an impressive temple in a huge garden. Another geocache here, this time a real one, our first in China.

‘The legend of Kung Fu’ show was a highlight of the day. The staging and performances were amazing. For the 2^nd or 3^rd time on this trip we said Mr Burns from Cambe School should see the show to get ideas for future Wakakirri productions.

Forbidden City

Inside Forbidden City

A local at the Temple of Heaven

The Legend of Kung Fu

The Legend of Kung Fu

Fried scorpion

Dinner was followed by  a walk down some busy inner city streets, including a side street with food stalls selling all manner of delicacies, including snake, silk worms, scorpions and grasshoppers. Last stop, back to the room after a 12 hour day, lots of walking and some incredible experiences.

Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square

.

 The overnight trip went well in our tiny little smoky smelling sleeper. The population density as you travel is incredible. There was never more than a few minutes between villages. We arrived to a cold and cloudy Beijing, with our new guide and his sign outside our train window. The pollution was nowhere near as bad as we were expecting. The air pollution in Xi’an was much, much worse. The traffic in Beijing was also much less insane than Xi’an.

Our little sleeper.

We’re interesting aren’t we!

Our first stop today was the Emperor’s Summer Palace garden. The history of the last years of the Empire was quite amazing. Seems the Emperor wasn’t the one that held the real power. His mother controlled everybody in the imperial court with an iron fist. When the second last Emperor died at a young age she installed her nephew as the new (and last) emperor.  The revolution of the early 20^th century occurred when she, known as ‘the dragon lady’, lost her grip on the power. I’ll be keen to re-watch the movie ‘The Last Emperor’ now that I can put it all in perspective.

Next stop was a short stop at the 2008 Olympic site. The ‘Birdsnest’ and ‘Watercube’ were both incredible.

Lauren at the Birdsnest.

Lunch was at a family home in the Hutong (Old Alley), transport by rickshaw. The guide explained the strict social class system in old China. The number of beams above the front door indicates your social level, which in turn determines most aspects of your life, including jobs you can do and who you can marry.

Next stop was the hotel for a free afternoon to catch up on postcards, washing, blogs and relaxing with a glass of ‘Great Wall’ Cab Sav.

First up today was a ride around the Xi’an  city wall. The wall is 13.7km long and takes about an hour and a half to ride around, allowing for photo stops. Carol’s undercarriage is still recovering many hours later. Next was the Muslim quarter, which had been recommended by an American couple we were talking to the night before.  This was a tight network of crowded back streets, still very Chinese, but no pork.

A Buddhist temple, the wild goose pagoda was next, which was Lachlan’s replacement for the school excursion to Nan Tien Temple which he is missing while he’s away.

Last stop for the day was a museum, then off to the station to catch our overnight sleeper to Beijing. This was somewhat of a highlight for the kids – very excited – as they haven’t done an overnighter in a train before.

Another early start for an 8am flight to Xi’an (which we finally know is pronounced she-anne).  Upon arrival we were met by our guide and headed off for the 1 hour drive to the Terracotta Warriors. I was expecting the site to be impressive, but nothing really prepares you for the scale of the site. The main pit, Pit 1, where the warriors were first discovered in 1974 measured 230m x 70m. It is still being excavated.

After a fairly thorough look around we headed to the hotel then to dinner – the local specialty, dumplings – and a Tong Dynasty show. Again, spectacular.

We woke to heavy rain and low cloud on the one day when we really didn’t want either. We were heading off on a cruise down the Li River, with its limestone karst scenery. As the boat was departing the rain was bucketing down and visibility was close to zero. As we entered the area of interest the rain stopped, the cloud lifted somewhat and we were left in a magically fairyland of wispy cloud and gigantic formations. Words could never do this place justice, and I doubt my photos will either. With all the recent rain the river was high and flowing quickly. The 4 hour trip took only 3 hours, with the boat going sideways at times, often close, very lose, to rocky cliffs.

In Yang Shou we hired bikes and rode out of the city into the countryside. Rice paddies, market gardens, water buffalo working the fields, and the Hunters on 1950’s vintage bicycles peddling along a country road beside the river, with towering karst formations all around. This was a ‘pinch yourself – is this really happening’ moment.

Next stop was a coffee and ice-cream in a side street bookshop. Once again, it could have been a scene from a movie. While Carol, Kate and James did some shopping, I climbed a nearby formation in search of a geocache – my first in China. At the top, I was talking to an American couple and their guide. The guide had a friend was visiting Australia who had sent him some photos that day. As the guide was showing the Americans the photos I said ‘That looks very similar to where I live’. Next photo was a sign reading “Hyam’s Beach, Jervis Bay”. Small world.

Dinner – best one so far! – then the ‘Impressions’ show, a 600 cast show on water, with a natural backdrop of the karst formations lit up. The show was produced by the same person who designed the 2008 Beijing Olympic opening ceremony. Wow.

On the drive back to Guilin the rain started again. Some days you just get lucky with the weather.

After heavy rain overnight we were a bit worried about the trip to Longshen, a mountainous region with mountains terraced into rice fields, populated by an ethnic minority, the Yau. The Yau women never cut their hair after their 18^th birthday.

The 2 hour drive was in light rain and very low cloud. At several points we had to stop while earthmoving equipment cleared very recent landslides. Near the village of Longshen we began a 4km walk up the mountain, through the village to the top of ‘The Dragon’s Backbone” where we were meant to see a great view over the terraces. We saw cloud. As we descended the mountain we stopped in at a coffee shop – the first we’ve seen in days – for a cappuccino and hot chocolate. It was the type of place you could stay for months while you write a book, paint a picture or simply contemplate the meaning of life.


Next was a great lunch on the mountain (our guide ‘Tina’ is starting to get a feel for the types of dishes we like.) Most of the food prepared for tourists is SOOO bland.

At times the cloud cleared a little and we got a glimpse of what we were missing. But the lack of a view didn’t mean it wasn’t a great day. The people, the village, the colour and food all made it worthwhile.

Dinner was at the hotel – our first western food (except breakfast each day) since leaving home.

 With an 8.30 flight it was up early, breakfast on the run and off to the airport. Upon arrival in Guilin (Goo-lin) it was straight into it. Guilin is a city in the Li (pronounced Lee not Lie) river famous for its limestone karst landscape and formations. Our first stop was a limestone cave system, , which had great limestone decoration in huge caverns. It was lit by coloured lights, similar to how Jenolan Caves were when I first went there in the 1970s. The difference in lighting between here and Australian caves was interesting and speaks volumes about the difference in culture between the two countries.

After lunch we went to a touristy garden on the river bank and to a dance show. Nothing is quiet or peaceful. Even the gardens are busy and noisy. After dinner we went and watched a demonstration of how the ancient fishermen went fishing on the river on their bamboo rafts, using cormorants to catch the fish.