Anyway, got to the very nice city of Xi'an which was once China's capital city, and went to see the Terracotta Warriors, a vast underground network of 6000 lifesize soldiers protecting the tomb of the first Emperor of China in about 200BC I think, but only discovered in 1974. The scale of it is immense and must have taken tens of thousands of men to complete. Each individual piece is unique and manufactured to a very high standard, probably because if the craftsmanship wasn't up to scratch then the poor craftsman risked having his head lopped off. Anyway, all very impressive and worthy of its "Eighth Wonder of the World" tag.
Also went for a bike ride around the 14km city wall surrounding Xi'an. Nice city, shame we've only got one night here really.
Slight issue within the tour group emerging. The female half of the Canadian couple is a feisty little one and as she keeps reminding us all, has done 12 trips with this tour company before. Anyway, she reckons a couple of the entry fees that we've been charged for should be included within the overall cost but the way she puts this to our Chinese tour leader David has all the subtlety of a knee in the crotch. It says in our tour notes that one of the worst things you can do to a Chinese person is disrespect them in public, but that doesn't stop her from shouting her mouth off to him in front of the rest of us. He seems a pretty easy going guy but I wouldn't blame him for slipping some superstrength laxative into her noodles.
Anyway, we climbed up Mt Emei today, where we were promised spectacular views from the summit. Sadly, we could barely see each other by then, thanks to the persistent rain and mist. Hey ho. All good training for a longer 2-day trek next week.
Anyway, Kunming is an intermediate stop before getting into some of the prettier, more traditional Chinese towns and villages in southern China. Everyone was starving by the time we arrived at 2pm, so tour leader David took us to a local restaurant for cross-the-bridge noodles - you get a big bowl of boiling chicken soup and then raw noodles, meat and veg, stick it all together, and get busy with your chopsticks. It was pretty good. But then we had 5 new members join the tour today so did the sociable thing and went for a group meal about 4 hours later. David took us to a different place and we told him we just wanted something light, so he rabbited away at the waitress in Mandarin and what should turn up 5 minutes later but exactly the same dish we were still digesting. You can have too much of a good thing. There was also some weird performance going on while we were eating which appeared to consist of Chinese people dressing in different world costumes (cowboy, Mexican etc.) and singing badly. So we repaired to a nearby bar and got stuck into a bottle of Absolut vodka. Everything seemed much better then.
Lijiang was the base for our 2-day trek through Tiger Leaping Gorge, about 2 hours away by bus. As its name would suggest, the Yangtze River surges through a Canyon in the mountainous terrain, and we trekked high above it along mountain paths for about 17kms, overnighting in a guesthouse halfway along. The views were spectacular, and it felt a bit surreal playing cards and having a couple of beers as the sun set on that landscape, with a couple of the Danish boys in our group playing their harmonicas. Think Sound of Music meets Deliverance!
All in all a very enjoyable few days. In fact the last week has been great, and it really feels like we're seeing proper China now. Yangshuo is our next stop, and promises more of the same, so fingers crossed.
Then yesterday a few of us went kayaking down the Li River which was good fun and a nice peaceful way to appreciate the landscape. It's been good to have 3 full days here - the town itself is not as pretty as Lijiang but is still a very enjoyable place to stay (in spite of a rat running across the floor of our restaurant yesterday!) In fact the last week or so has been brilliant - I'll be sorry to leave China when I get on the overnight train to Hong Kong tonight.
That all gives it a very different feel to the rest of China, but the disappointing thing (apart from the cost of everything) is that if you're not into shopping, there doesn't seem to be a great deal to do here. Once you've been down to the harbour and admired the skyscraper-laden vista, and been up Victoria Peak, there doesn't seem to be much left. And at 6 quid a pint, even drinking doesn't hold the same appeal as it did on the mainland! Though that didn't stop a few of us going into Soho on HK Island to celebrate Richard's upcoming 50th birthday with several long island iced teas at a live jazz club. Nice.
Anyway, overall I've really enjoyed China. It still has some major political and social issues to sort out but as a visitor I've found it to be a country with a proud and fascinating history, the food has been great, the scenery beautiful and the people hospitable. If they would just stop spitting everywhere it would be even better! My tour group have been great for the most part too, with the exception of the demanding Canadian and the slightly spooky guy from the Isle of Man. So it's with a slightly heavy heart that I move on, lightened by the fact that my next stop is in Penang where I'm meeting my mum and her husband Bob for a few days of R&R in a 5-star hotel.
There isn't actually a huge amount to do in Penang, and the weather has been a bit variable, so 4 nights is probably enough. Did a tour of the island a couple of days ago, and then took the ferry over to Langkawi yesterday and toured around there. Well I say toured, the guide was bloody useless, preferring to use gestures to words (obviously a fan of legendary 80s quiz show Give Us A Clue), and opted not to take us to Underwater World because "it's school holidays and it will be too busy" (in mime) so took us to the Malaysian version of TK Maxx instead. Thanks, I really sat on a ferry for 2 hours to buy a discounted pair of socks.
Anyway, nice hotel, though between Hong Kong and Penang I've now spanked more cash than I did in 7 weeks in India. Possibly.
Oh, and as a footnote, I think my parents have started regressing in age since hitting 60. My mum went parasailing today and I got an email from my dad saying he'd been to a Madonna concert in Vegas! Whatever happened to knitting needles and Werthers Originals?
Friday 10am - leave hotel in Penang1pm - flight to Singapore3pm - arrive Singapore8pm - flight to SydneySaturday 6am - arrive Sydney, for 9am flight to Christchurch (so far, so good)9am - announcement that there's a problem with our plane's engine, and they need to find another aircraft. Should take 4 hours.1pm - board new aircraft and taxi to runway. Pilot then announces there's a problem with the take-off flaps and we need to go back to the gate and get it checked3pm - told that the flight is cancelled and we'll overnight in Sydney and catch the 9am flight tomorrowSunday 9am - taxi to runway. Pilot announces there's a problem with the flaps and we need to go back to the gate and get it checked (seriously)11.30am - not a major problem (thank god) and we finally take-off4pm - arrive in Christchurch
So that was fun. Thanks Qantas. They were all very nice with free food vouchers and use of their lounge etc. but what they really need is to get some planes that aren't held together with sticky tape.
Anyway, finally on NZ soil. Christchurch is a very nice city, with a substantial English feel to it. And I don't mean it's full of hoodlums spilling out of pubs and vomiting in the gutter, or 15-year-old girls smacking their crisp-wielding offspring. It's green, has a charming punt-filled river running through it, and has statues of Captains Cook & Scott and Queen Victoria. Quite right too. And the weather is distinctly English, with the suggestion of rain at any time, though the heavens haven't opened yet. But I'm not staying here long. Got a bus ride to Dunedin in the morning then going to do a 150km bike ride towards Queenstown over the next 2 days. It's along a disused railway line and is supposed to offer some beautiful scenery. So fingers crossed the rain holds off.
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