Day 80: Lu Gu Lige

Mood: Cheery
Music: Some random Chinese music with lots of strings on in the hotel
bar

Today started bright and early when I woke up hearing next door's alarm clock (6:30am). I was up and about by 7 and had time to take some photos of the lake on which the hotel is situated. After that I had time for a buffet chinese breakfast and then was met by my guide / driver.

Today's destination (Lugu Lake) was 300km away by car and it was going to take us a good 7 or 8 hours to cover that ground. The roads were rough, to say the least, and the little VW Polo was bouncing around at times. Although there was lots of overtaking today it was a lot more controlled than my last drive.

Soon the trucks we were passing changed into tractors and for a small while horse driven carts as we drove deeper into the countryside. The terrain was still steep clay hills and mountains but in each valley people were tending the soil, at times I saw large water buffolo pulling ploughs. Just as you might expect in images of such places. The landscape was quite a bit browner than I'd imagined. Mostly because it's the start of spring and everything has just been plowed.

We stopped for lunch in the only small town we passed through and I ate Gong Bao Dou Ding (Kung Po Pork Cubes) with rice and a couple of other vegetable dishes. The food was good and really rather cheap.

After a little more driving we came upon the lake. My hotel is situated on a very small peninsular connected to the land by a thin spit, On the is are a number of small hotels, each with 6 or 8 rooms. All of these face out onto the lake. My room has a balcony that sticks slightly over the lake.

I've been told that the sun rises facing the rooms, I'll let you know / see tomorrow if that's the case.
I'm going to leave it here for today, I'll spare a brief mention for the American / German couple who kindly ordered food in the restaurant next door, as they speak Chinese. We also ended up chatting for a large protion of the evening.

Day 79: Bumpy plane rides

Mood: Not too bad (as in "How are you?" "I'm not too bad thanks")
Music: Baggage tunes (The 4 tracks I listen to getting off every flight and waiting for my luggage)

Today was another fairly long day of travelling. I was picked up at 8:30am in order to be taken to Shanghai Pudong airport for my flight to Chengdu. I landed not long after 2pm and wondered through the airport (ahead of the slow crowd) to find my bag just arriving on the belt.

I'll stop here to make some comments about the Chinese at this point. I've a feeling nobody could find them unfair. From what I've found they are fairly used to having to push to get what they want. This goes from their driving to their sight seeing. Barging people out of the way seems just to be par for the course in everyday life.
When getting off the plane today, for example, everyone had stood up and made a bee line for the door before the plane had even fully stopped. Getting off my second flight I really annoyed the guy behind me as I blocked the middle passageway for a good 5 seconds while grabbing my bag from the overhead locker. He seemed determined to push past me to the point he very nearly got the full weight of my camera bag on his head as it actualy came out of the locker. Needless to say, I'd caught up with the person in front by the time I reached the front of the plane (and was only a few rows back) and proceeded to walk past everyone else once we were off the plane.

As for the sight seeing comment, I noticed this first in the Forbidden City, where there were large numbers of domestic tour groups going through the site. When it came to taking photos of specific things or loking through the tinted windows into some of the buildings, the crowds turned rather savage with pushing and shoving galore. It's only because I'm less easy to push out of the way then most of the people around me, and that I can be quite bony when I want to be, that I managed to see any of those things at all. Once I'd gotten my photo it was then a struggle to get out. Like being 10 deep at a free bar trying to get served back in the UK. We just don't do that when at static tourist attractions.

Anyway... After collecting my bad I went back up to domestic departures and checked in for my flight to Xichang. The plane left just past 5pm for the 50 minute flight. On arrival I was met by my guide for the next couple of days (Sammy). He drove me up to my hotel and then took my out for a bite to eat. I'm trying to learn the correct names for the things I'm ordering but it's taking a bit of time. Many of the sounds in Chinese just simply don't exist in the English language and as such I'm having to try to get my tounge around making these noises so I can say the words!

I'll leave it here for now. Apparently my hotel does have internet, I just don't have an RJ45 cable with me to plug myself in. It's quite unusual not to provide one in the hotel room but there's noting much I can do. I'll see what I get tomorrow :)
Night all.

Day 78: Gardens

Mood: Laid back / Terrified
Music: Royksopp - Junior

Today started with a little more washing before making my way down for breakfast. I was then picked up and taken to the train station for my short bullet train transfer to SuZhuo. On arrival I met my uide for the day and was whisked to one of SuZhuo's many gardens for a brief look around before being shown the only original section of the city wall (over 2000 years old) and both a land gate and a water gate (for entry into the inner canals) side by side.

From here we went to a silk factory, where I saw silk crysalises spun into threads. Each thread is made from 8 pods that are unwinding the whole time. As one runs out the people running the machine simply pick another out of the pot and add it to the flywheel drawing up the thread.

After lunch we headed to another beautiful water garden and then went for a boat ride around the old canals in the city.

From here it was onwards for a look around Tong Li, an ancient water village, filled with canals rather than roads. On the banks of the canals you can pay to watch a man comorant fishing. The birds catch the fish but hold it in their gullets, to be retrieved once they are back on the boat!

It was then time for my drive home. I was told this would take  up to 2 hours depending on the traffic. The driver seemed to set about it at some pace. Now, I know that most road users sem rather suicidal in China... The bicycle and e-bike users seem to weave randomly amongst traffic in cities, paedestrians saunter over 6 lanes of traffic etc, but I have to say I'd not witnessed anything like this before. The driver we had was weaving over all lanes of the highway (they have no lane discipline here but this was serious tight turn weaving) at high speeds, passing most cars with no more than a few inches to spare. I'm normally quite a laid back passenger, but I have to say, I felt quite shaken up when I got back to the hotel. It was as if the guy had seen the film Taxi (the French one) and taken notes!

I've now got the rest of the evening to kick back and unwind from the trip home. All day I've been in an awesomely chilled mood. Wondering around those beautiful gardens just made me more so. I'm going to go have a beer and see if I can recover that feeling.

Tomorrow I'm travelling most of the day so I'm not sure when the next update will be.

Until again...

Day 77: So... did anyone see where I left my table?

Mood: Cheery
Music: Pendulum, Sub Focus, Zero 7 & Royksopp

Today I had a free day. That meant a nice lie in, followed by another large load of hand washing in order to give me socks and underwear for the next week. Once I'd got that out of the way I went to Subway for brunch. I know it's a bit cheating but it didn't really taste the same as back in Europe. I had my standard Italian BMT with southwestern sauce and it tasted very bland. I'll hopefully not need to do that again though.

From there I walked to the other end of the main peadestrian shopping street. From there I wondered into the People's Garden. At the south end of this is the Shanghai museum. Although it's free to enter, the staff maintain a one in, one out policy after capacity has been reached. This meant a fairly long queue to get in.

The museum has a large number of exhibitions, from bronzeware to paintings and sculptures. Some of the bronze pieces are from the 11th to 13th century BC where som of the pottery on display dates back from between 5800 and 6200BC, along with the Ming and Qing Dynasty pieces. Rolf is pictured next to a pottery dog, dating back to around 200AD.

Once I'd explored all of this I headed back to my hotel quickly. From here I waited a few minutes while the sun went down and then headed out with my tripod into the now lit up city. My target was the TV tower the other side of the river, one stop away on the metro line near my hotel. This is a major feature on the skyline of the city and, unbeknownst to me, also hosts the highest revolving restaurant in Asia. I bought myself a dinner ticket and headed up to the dining level, 367m above the floor. It was only after I had left my seat to look over the various food stations, picking out a starter for myself that I discovered that it was only the circular section of floor holding the tables that rotates! When I sat down I was near a gap in the glass fence seperating the diners from the food stations. When I returned I was rather confused, seeing no gap anywhere near my table and also it lit up very differently! Only after I sat down again did I figure out which part was actually rotating...

After dinner I went to the observation lounge and took a couple of photos of the skyline, including the ever present Shanghai trading tower.

After that it was time to come home and sort through the photos for the day.

I'm up earlier tomorrow so I best go. Night all!

Day 76: Hanyanling Tomb and... well... being sat in a fog bound airport

Mood: Bored now
Music: The Beatles - Blue best of album

I was up today in plenty of time to both pack my bags and have breakfast. Not that surprising really, as I was only picked up at 10am. I was then taken to the airport via the Hanyanling, a museum covering the excavation site surrounding the burial mound of the 4th Emperor of the Han Dynasty. In the pits were pottery models of not just soldiers, but also other figures, from musicians and dancers to eunuchs. Also in the pits were clay animals of many kinds and various pots.

The museum is a low light underground centre with glass walls and floors separating the public from the excavated archaeological site. The clay figures are naked and have no arms, this is as they were originally closed in silk and their arms were made from wood. Obviously both of these have perished in the 2000 years since they were put in the ground.

From there I was dropped off at the airport for my flight. Once through the security checkpoint, I could see the fog rolling out over the runway. This caused a series of delays to my flight and once we got on board, we had to wait for the backlog of planes to clear before we could take off. This put me back almost 3 hours.

I as met at the airport and taken to the Maglev station in the airport. It is in front of this train that Rolf is shown today. The train speeds back to Shanghai from the airport at 300kmph and as such the time taken is rather short. From there (after walking almost the whole way around the train station looking for our driver) I was taken to my hotel. The Sofitel is just off what looks like a main shopping street. I have been for a brief walk, but as I arrived after 9pm all I wanted was to find food. In the end I walked into KFC, only to find the menu rather different than I'd expect. Instead I returned to my hotel and phoned down for room service.

Tomorrow I have a free day to explore. I think that mean I get a nice lie in ;)

Day 75: Some clay men and horses and things

Mood: Impressed
Music: Traditional Tong Dynasty music performed live

Today I woke up (several times) on the train but we pulled in just after 8am. One notable thing about the trip was that I ran into another couple of Audley customers as I boarded the train last night and had a quick chat to them this morning as we got off and searched for our respective guides.

I met Amy, my guide for the next couple of days and was whisked to my hotel to shower and have some breakfast before setting out.

The first stop on the tour was a cycle tour of the city walls. These are a good 20m tall and apparently stretch for total of 14.6km in a rectangle around the centre of the city. I have to say, it seems a lot further on an old chinese single gear bike with a saddle set nowhere near high enough for a tall man!

From here we set out away from the city, towards the museum of the Teracotta Warriors (and horses). These lay buried for a couple of thousand years until, in 1974, a local farmer dug into one of the trenches while trying to sink a well, and pulled out a pile of clay parts.

The museum on the site now has 3 main buildings, each holding an excavation site. The first I went to was P2 or pit 2, the second to be dug. This contains a flexible flighting force consisting of archers, (both kneling and standing) some infantry, and a number of charioteers. P3 seems to be the excavation of a control area, as the soldiers are more senior and are facing another rather than being in a batlle formation, as in the other areas. P1 is the main attraction and we visited that last. They are still excavating this area and the building covering the site is over 200m long and almost 70m wide. The room contains 6000 warriors, mostly still buried in the ground, some of which are being pieced back together in the rear section of the hanger like structure.

As we had entered the building from a side entrance, the sheer scale of the rebuild soldiers only became apparent as we approached the front. Hundreds and hundreds of completed figures stand lined up in the trenches that have held them for centuries.

On coming back to the city, we had a little bit of time to kill and I was asked if I would like a foot massage. I thought I may as well and this took up most of the rest of the time before this evening's entertainment. I was booked into a theatre show in town and the performance of Tong Dynasty music and dance, was preceeded by a large amount of dim sum dumplings, for which the area is known. After eating almost two person's worth of these I sat back to watch the show.

The performances were great and mixed music and dance with some comedic music. Each piece telling a story or adopting a strong theme.

I took quite a number of photos here and have published a few of them, trying to show quite how much movement and colour was on display.

Now I'm back in my hotel trying to sort through and post photos and post the blogs :)

Time for bed now I'm finished!

Day 74: Summer Palace

Mood: Pensive

Music: REM - Out of time

Today I got a lie in! (hurrah!) I was to be met at 1pm by Stephen. I surfaced in plenty of time to wash and dress, then pack up my bags once again. The few things that I have bought over the last few weeks are starting to have a serious impact on my ability to close my bag with everything in it. The amount of time required to close the zip seems to grow each time I  have to try doing so. At this rate I'll be buying more baggage just to stop me going mad trying to fit everything in this one.

An admission I failed to make previously, was my purchase and use of what amounts to a man bag. This was initially used to carry that which was living in my pockets. In Malaysia it was far too hot to have all of my pockets full to bursting with the things I would need for the day and as such I bought a small satchel to hold these things. Anyway, it started to also function as an overflow bag on days I was moving hotels, but can no longer do so due to the books I bought in HK while in transit. I guess I now need something that I can check in that will also hold this bag!

We started today at the Hutongs in Beijing. This is an area filled with traditional small houses and small alleyways. The living areas are interspersed with communal toilet and shower/wash areas. It was slightly odd at 2pm to see people in pajamas walking past on their way home from the shower. I had an explanation by a local guide as to some of the local history and the meanings of some of the features of the home gateways.

I was then transported by trishaw to the house of some locals who welcomed me in, sat me down and poured me copious amounts of tea. I was free to ask questions about the housing and the area but could not think of much to say. Instead I asked about the legacy of the Olympics to the people of Beijing. I was told that things had got better for them, from improved transport (the underground system is growing at a massive rate) to cleaner streets and air.

I have to say that I didn't see a single clear day in or around the city but this might be to do with the time of year. It has just finished winter here and everything is very dry. It has been growing increasingly warm over the last few weeks (22C today) but has yet to rain done winter ended. That might explain why there is so much dust in the air. On a side note, the dust is making it hard to photograph anything as the whole sky is a very diffuse light source, appearing washed out every time as that is what the eye actually sees.

After a while of talking to the lady and then her husband I returned to Stephen to be driven to the Summer Palace. We walked around the grounds for a while, him talking about the history of the palace and gardens, while I listened and took in the scenery. The palace was the summer residence of the Empress Dowager, who ruled over the last 3 (puppet, as she held the power) Emperors of the Qing dynasty. It has a huge lake, occupying three quarters of the park's size.

This evening I was taken to the train station for my overnight train to Xian. It is from on this train that you see the picture of Rolf, looking down over me, and me scribbling this entry into my phone.

I'm sure that this is the most disjointed blog post yet. I'll stop rambling now and try to get some rest...