Shanghai - 17 April 2009

When we got to the train station in Hang Zhou we were the only two ‘Westerners’ it seemed. We had to take a photo (!)… just as ‘hilarious’ was the fact that the departure board saying ‘Shanghai’ was written all in Chinese and if it wasn’t for the train number and 11:07 departure time in standard numbers too, we would have never known what train was departing when. As it happens, because there was a big gap between departures, we just followed the crowds when everybody got up.

I think we were in standard class as it wasn’t as posh as the one I’d taken last time (with carpets and paintings on the wall). But at least it left bang on time and arrived bang on time. Max speed was 169km/h but by next year they will have built a brand new track with levitation magnets and the speed achieved on such lines will be up to 420km/h (half of what a plane can do !!!). So instead of taking 12 hours to go from Shanghai to Beijing, it will only take 4 hours, and commuting time from the airport to downtown Shanghai will shrink to 8 minutes I seem to recall. Quite impressive.

Our new guide was quite young, quite tall, and, according to Nathalie, ‘quite gay’. I can never tell but she was adamant J The poor chap was worried as there’d been severe restriction access to the platforms… then our car broke down and we had to get a new driver and car… then Nathalie & I needed to get on-line urgently to book our aisle seats as close to the ‘24H before departure’ as possible but the business centre of the nearest hotel was ‘closed for lunch’ so he had to get help… then we got to our lunch break and his face was a picture when I dropped in passing the ‘bombshell’ that I was ‘vegetarian’…he turned to Nathalie in a panic and said ‘how about you?’… and sighed a big sigh of relief when she said she could eat meat -- you could guess the pre-paid set meals were not designed with vegetarians in mind. Poor chap, it was going to be one of these days.

Our first stop was the beautifully Yuyuan garden of the old town. They used to be privately owned and featured some lovely temples, ponds with the compulsory goldfish and would have been a truly relaxing spot and a green oasis in this bustling city but for the fact that it was packed with tourists.

Shanghai, believe it or not, only experienced a massive boom fairly recently…. Only as little far back as 1840 it was just a fishing village and it expanded because of the opium trade… today, it has a 18-20 million population that increases to 25 million during business hours as many commute from outside. The population density is so high that most people have to share flats or facilities. Space is a luxury here and our guide said that when he lived in a flat with shared facilities, he would often have to queue in the morning to use the toilets, and then queue to have a wash, etc. In fact, space is so scarce that most people in China are simply used to having no privacy at all. Students can share a small dorm between 8 of them and have to dress and undress in front of one another… parents have to make love in front of their children, and there is nothing offensive about bodily functions either because nothing is shameful it seems. I’m sure that in a way it must be quite freeing, but for anyone who’s not used to being this liberal, it’s quite a shock and something that we simply cannot imagine. How can anyone feel ‘romantic’ when one is being watched? It just boggles the mind for us. It goes totally against our ‘instincts’. Made me realise just how much what makes us cringe or not cringe is totally cultural and not primeval.

We then walked around the old town which is the gem of Shanghai and totally exquisite. Delicately carved buildings that left us in total awe… and yet, our guide said that when Shanghai ‘exploded’ population wise, bull-dozers knocked down entire streets of such beautiful old buildings to make room for tower blocks. Only a fraction of what once was remained and it really sounds criminal to think that so much more has disappeared forever. I could have wept.
Shanghai, as you would expect, is incredibly polluted but we had the perfect day when we were there, with blue skies and bright sunshine. It also seems to have more beautiful modern buildings than Beijing. At night, it is certainly much more atmospheric with beautiful lights coming on at the top or on the side of many buildings (rainbow effects, etc).

The Bund area was being renovated for the 2020 World Exhibition unfortunately, otherwise, we could have enjoyed a stroll there. We heard they will plant back the flowers that were once on display on the waterfront and had been uprooted to make more room for another lane. So, if you do visit Shanghai, make it 2011 and it should be perfect :)

Nathalie had forgotten to recharge her video battery unfortunately, and had run out of disc space ('can't get the staff these days') so we don’t really have any videos of the old town but I took lots of photos to make up for it. In fact, I was impressed with myself as I was able to play with my exposure settings to get just the correct picture that would really show how it was – you just could not use a flash, you’d have totally ruined the ambiance.

My main disappointment is that the beautiful square I so loved (with the pond in the middle, by the oldest tea house in Shanghai) was totally spoilt by banners advertising the Tea Season (Spring being the best harvest of all for top quality). So they had stalls all over selling fresh tea and the banners were in bright yellow and green when the wood was red/brown and decorated white… it totally clashed visually. I was absolutely gutted… I had certainly not banked on that and you know how utterly fussy I am when it comes to such matters !!! We were also being constantly pestered by people wanting to sell us bags, etc. Our guide explained that due to rifling corruption at the top, to set up a business in a proper shop can cost up to $120,000 equivalent, whereas in Europe it might be 1/4 of that. Therefore, people have no option to set up stalls or try and sell things 1:1 to avoid these astronomical fees.

Our guide had advised us to come back to the old town at night as it becomes magical and though we were really tired by 5pm, we did make an effort and went back, and sure enough, at around 6.45pm, when it starts to get dusky, they turn on all these little lights that you never knew were there, and it highlights all the structures and shapes of the buildings of the old town. It was a real ‘wow’ moment… like Disney but real :)

We were also taken to a silk factory and though we hate tourist traps I told Nathalie that to see silk in the making was so interesting that she shouldn’t miss on the chance to check it out. She sighed ‘but I know they’re bound to want to sell me something and I’m broke!’… still, we went and sure enough, she fell in love and bought a beautiful gold duvet cover for her Lombok four- poster bed (women can be so predictable, hey?).

They had displays of the moth that lay eggs and then as they turn into worms, they make cocoons and they explained there were 2 types, the one with 1 worm in it, and another with twin worms in it. They use the 1 worm cocoon for duvet covers and silk garments but use the twin cocoons for padding the inside of quilts. They showed us how they put the cocoon in water where it’s easier to stretch on a small wooden arch and then a few minutes later, it is moved onto a much larger arch to stretch it further. The silk is then left to drip dry. The next step is for 4 women to stand on each side of one bed, and place the silk pocket in the middle and pull on the fibre so that it matches the length and width of the bed. They will repeat the process 72-250 times, depending on the duvet quality that’s needed. The fibre doesn’t break, oddly enough, it just stretches. It is also better than duck feathers because they don’t end up in one pack on the side but are evenly stretched. Silk is also able to keep us cool on a hot day but warm on a cool day. It doesn’t burn as easily either, etc. They did say that they can get ‘1km’ of thread out of a good cocoon. We argued that we’d heard 3 days earlier that it was up to 5KMS, the guy smiled and said it was definitely not true… drat. It would have sounded really good as a trivia question otherwise…

We then went into a room that was a showcase of beautiful paintings done with embroidery. Flowers, birds, fish, pandas, Angora cats, tigers, lions, people… and most stunning of all: dogs. People had brought pictures of their pets and they had printed the photo on silk and matched every hair of the dogs with a silk thread. It was just the most exquisite portrait you could have wished for. The dogs’ ear seemed to move in the wind and the portrait seemed ‘alive’… as silk changes colour if you move it from left to right. Just as amazing was the fact that the portraits were placed on frames that spin round so that you could see that it was equally perfect recto or verso. No knots to be seen anywhere. HOW do they do it I just have no idea… Nathalie & I were just in awe. It almost moved me to tears…and I really do mean that... to think that we have something so utterly creative about us made me realise I was, indeed, created in the image of THE Top Artist up there. It spoke volumes to me, as a Christian person.

Our guide explained that the first 'wealthy' immigrants to move into China were the French and they left behind the 'French Concession quarter' which has some of the nicest houses in Shanghai. If anyone stays there, you just know they have the best quality houses and something really nicely designed inside. After that, the Brits and the Americans moved in and after that, the Japanese but their buildings were very mediocre and anyone who stays there is not going to have a good quality of life (thin walls, thin roof, shared facilities -- and it's where our guide had been staying for a year. No privacy basically). He showed us the Japanese quarters and you could tell that the houses were completely run down. The side facing the main street was 'nicer' as the government felt they shouldn't let on just how bad they are and had them all repainted, but if you could find a side opening from a back street, you could tell the facilities were dire with the main sink in a courtyard, etc. Nothing like what you'd expect right in the middle of Shanghai. It was like going back 100 years in 10 seconds. Quite bizarre.

At 7pm it was time for us to try and find a cab to go to meet our Chinese/French couple (I'd met them in Palau just 3 months earlier, as fate had it). By then we knew that hailing a cab was useless as someone was always going to beat us to it, so we just stood by the side of the road and hoped that a cab would pull up right where we were to let someone else off. It worked... we only waited 5 minutes. Phew. By then we'd also relaxed about personal safety and had stopped dreading kidnapping plots, etc. We had the name of the restaurant and street written in Chinese, we showed it to the cab driver who nodded and we just had to assume all was well and that we would indeed end up in the right place ! :)

I hardly knew this couple as I'd only spent one day with them but it turned out they were really interesting and we had the most wonderful time. She had started learning Chinese in France at the age of 13, over 20 years ago, when no one was doing this (fate or what??) and then took 2/3 of a degree in Chinese law !!! IN Chinese. However, she did say that the written word is so complex that she still struggles to read it, 20 years on. She first came to China, all on her own, at 19 (pretty impressive) and went blank when she landed... unable to ask for directions, etc. She said she had to get on a train to go somewhere but had missed her direct connection and so had to change and stay overnight in the middle of a place that wasn't even on a map. She asked where the nearest hotel was, she was told 'no hotel here, only dorms'. She then asked where the nearest bathroom was hoping for a decent shower and was directed to the 'public house'. She said that she had the biggest shock of her life when she opened the door and found one big room with shower heads all around, no curtain to hide behind and dozens of women washing each other, completely naked, from 9 to 95. She said that there she was, very French, prim and proper, brought up to be quite prude, hiding behind a towel that got soaked in 5 minutes as water was going in all directions and when she realised nobody cared at all, she dropped the towel and just got on with it. She said that strangely enough, she actually found the experience quite beautiful and thought provoking because in Europe women are taught to believe that when you get to the point when your breasts are drooping and drying out it's so ugly that you can't possibly show any 'private bit' off and yet over there there was no concept of beauty vs ugliness or anything like that. It was just a social occasion like any other and everybody saw past the body shapes. Not one critical eye - which women in the West are so quick to do, especially towards other women ('has she got more cellulite than I have?', etc).

All in all we had a really fascinating evening and they were both very charming and seemed so suited. Though they did say they went through a rough patch when they had children as they clashed on the best way to bring them up as the two cultures are worlds apart when it comes to upbringing.

They had both travelled extensively as they earn far more than the average (he is a partner in a law firm and she set up her own business re-intellectual property for foreign companies who want to get into the Chinese market + they live in a house in the French concession quarter too which says it all over there) and she told me that the most beautiful places in the world that she has ever seen were all in China.

She mainly loved the Yellow Mountains (only 1H by plane from Shanghai) and Xinjiang, in the West. She said the Yellow Mountains were thin high mountains with tiny temples at the top and looked just like the famous paintings, totally stunning -- I then realised to my horror that I'd made a huge mistake by going to the Stone Forest as I actually meant to go THERE !!! ahhhh... (didn't I just say 'can't get the staff these days', applies to me too, ooops).

Xinjiang she said was more rugged, very green on one side, very dry on another, at the border of 6 countries and the skies are so blue and the scenery just breathtakingly beautiful. However, it can go from 20C to -20C as soon as the sun goes down so you need thick coats for the night (that they sell you at the border for $18, ex-army coats). They slept in a tent once in a national park, and they were taken to this tent and when she lifted the blanket she said a few rats squattered around, ahhhhhh.... and it was SO cold at night that she said she was literally shaking. However, she reckons it was still worth it !!! As Nathalie & I heard this and looked seriously horrified she said that you can no longer stay overnight in the national park anyway, so you'd get a hut not so high up now. But she warned us that the food was absolutely disgusting, mainly lard and fat and mostly meaty. She said it was really a struggle to eat it so we may need to come over with quite a few muesli bars in our suitcases !!!

And you thought I was brave? Not that brave. However, she made it sound so magical and unique that it is tempting in a slightly masochist kind of way... maybe in another 5 years when tourism over there has boomed a bit more. She said a few French tours are already running there but it's still relatively unknown and totally unspoilt.

We also discussed working conditions and I was stunned to find out that annual leave only became compulsory in China last year, starting with 5 days of paid leave in the 2nd year (you get nothing at all the first year !). She joked that her husband was quite tough and stuck to this with his own employees but being French, she was more leniant and gives the 5 days from year 1 to hers and then adds 3 days as of year 2, etc. Up to now, people were allowed to have time off, but at their own costs basically. No wonder most didn't take more than two weeks off per year.

We went to have dinner in a beautiful Spanish restaurant called El Willy, on Dong Hu Lu street and it was very popular with Westerners. Food was superb and SUCH a welcome relief for Nathalie. She was SO excited. It was quite expensive though (it came to £25 a head with drinks), so double what I'd spend in the UK basically but as it was our last night, so we felt we'd go with a bang... Originally we were going to go to the famous Lost Heaven, 38 Gaoyou Lu, Xuhui, nr Fuxing Xi Lu, but it was fully booked. Maybe next time? She reckoned the ambiance there is absolutely wonderful.

Outside that, we had the usual conversation with our guide about the Chinese thinking that 'white is beautiful' and us thinking that 'white is sickly and tanned is healthy'. We told him that in the West we sell self-tanning lotion and he looked seriously shocked as if we'd willingly chosen to spoil the gift of natural whiteness... it was almost cute... another told us that when he took tours abroad, he could always tell where his female tourists were because they'd the only ones who, on a hot day, would hide under umbrellas !

When we got back to our hotel Shanghai looked really nice, and we had a superb view from our hotel window.

Still bright sunshine when we left the next day and when we got to the airport, we found a post office there (our last chance to buy stamps for postcards) but... wait for it: they had none left. Shock and horror. We had to give the guy the cash and he issued us a receipt promising that "he'd buy the stamps later". We looked seriously suspicious. Our guide said 'it's ok, he works for the government, he's honest'... and strangely, this made us even more uneasy as it seemed like a contradiction in terms ! :) I told Nathalie 'I think we should mail our postcards from the UK if we want to have the slightest hope of our friends and family getting them at all' but she plain refused saying it's not the same. So, if you don't get your postcard, blame her - and corruption. She sent 25 but I only wrote 5 as I'm personally convinced I've wasted my time. We'll see...

We found cigarettes at 90p a pack in their Duty Free section so smokers would be happy here, we used the internet for an hour (surprisingly reasonable at just 10Y for an hour !! it could be 30Y for 15mins in a 5* hotel) and then flew off on time... but BA's "on demand" entertainment system had broken down so we had to make do with 1/5 of the usual selection. We didn't get much sleep on the plane either. Food was disgusting too and gave me a nasty stomach upset.

I got home at around 7pm (by the time we got our suitcases, etc. - mine was still the last one !!) and I managed to stay awake till 9pm and then just brain crashed. And I mean brain crashed... as in: dead to the world... I woke up 14 hours later. Unbelievable. I still don't know if it was the feel of my nice soft bed that made my body relax so much more or catching up on lack of sleep, but it did me good. I was still a bit dopey on the Sunday, managed to sleep another 9 hours straight Sunday night (amazingly) but was still not quite 'with it' at work (no energy to talk much) but slept another 9H straight on Monday night and by Tuesday I was back to normal. Phew. Nathalie took a lot longer to recover as she kept waking up at 4am.

The next exotic adventure we'll share will be Peru & Argentina (28 Aug - 7 Sept 09) but before that we'll also go to Chamonix with our parents mid-June (most of my foreign friends have been to the French alps, but we haven't !). Making up for lost time as kids... we figured that at least our parents would understand the menus ok there ! :)

Till next time...

Hang Zhou, China

It was only 1H50 to get to Hang Zhou and it was absolutely glorious when we landed. In fact, it was positively TOO hot. Blue skies and at least 28C but it felt like a lot more in the sun. You could tell just by the quality of the tower block and their architecture that the standard of living here was much higher. We really wanted to do something as the weather was so good but it was 3.45pm by the time we got to our hotel and our guide felt it was too late to start anything.

So I thought I'd do some hand washing before Tian arrived. I'd asked our guide to call her so that she'd know we'd be at the hotel a lot earlier but Tian didn't turn up before 6pm as she had her 3 friends in tow so we just had to hope that the weather would hold. We all headed to the local market and then went to a nice restaurant at the top of a tower block, where we had a private section just for us (we felt like VIPs but it's quite standard here in half decent restaurants). I'd have enjoyed the meal experience a lot more if I hadn't had a headache I think but it was lovely catching up again and her friends gave me more travelling tips and suggestions of other places to visit. By 9.30pm Nathalie & I were just brain dead and just grabbed a cab to go to our hotel.

I have to say it is the most awkward feeling when you are in a cab with a complete stranger and cannot understand a word of the language. He took us through a long tunnel at one point (a different route than the way we came out to the restaurant) and Nathalie & I both had this sinking feeling that we may never be seen again. She was telling me 'if he takes us down a deserted road or drives out of town, we'll have to jump out of the car at the first red traffic light'. Of course, the guy was honest and dropped us off ok but I can't tell you how relieved we were to see the hotel sign. It seemed that the ride had been endless and we felt so very vulnerable having absolutely NO directional clue at all.

The next day our guide picked us up at 9am and we headed for the West Lake to start our mini cruise (about 40 mins). It was packed with Korean and Japanese tourists, as well as zillions of Chinese so we joked that our guy didn't need a flag as Nathalie's blonde hair in this sea of dark hair was like a flag in itself. As usual, she got endless stares... but also great compliments. One guy stopped and told our guide 'she is more beautiful than the lake' :) Mother will be well pleased. I just advised her to enjoy it whilst it lasted :)

Our boat was very pretty, looking like a dragon, but the cruise was most disappointing as it was far too noisy (many tour guides with loud speakers on top of the usual chit-chat) and, sadly, the dreaded mist was back and made it pretty much impossible for us to see all the temples and pagodas on the shore. The only 3 we sailed by were the mini ones that are on the lake to show where it is the deepest (4m when the average is 2m). The mini pagodas are also used during the moon festival as part of the celebrations and they are the design for the 1Y bank-note here. So quite a famous landmark.

We then went to the Pagoda of the 6 harmonies (I think it was the name), built in the 10th century. The design was interesting because from the outside you could count 13 storeys but inside you only walked up 7. This is because in Buddhism, 7 is the highest number. However, the steps were quite steep, didn't always have hand-rails, and the mist was so thick that we felt it was pointless going all the way to the top as there was no 'view' to enjoy. We therefore felt we should just spare our legs and only went up three storeys.

The next stop was the beautiful Buddhist Lingyan Temple. It was a huge complex and has the highest statue of Buddha in the world (76m). It had a lot of very beautiful craft, it has to be said, but I personally found it quite distressing to see so many bow to these statues of several Gods and to give offerings and incense when it's so totally against my own religion but Nathalie would argue I'm not tolerant enough... hum. We had to agree to disagree on that one. I think that only my Christian friends will understand what I mean.. I don't really expect anyone else to.

We really wanted to swing by the zoo to see some pandas (as it was nearby) but our guide felt it was too cold for the pandas to come out of their sheds as they prefer the sun. So, we reluctantly had to pass. It was indeed, quite cold the whole day. The temperature had probably dropped to 12C.

We got back to our hotel for 4.45pm and I really wanted to go for a stroll around the West Lake (Hang Zhou's most delightful feature) as it was our last chance but I felt it was best waiting for Tian to arrive. Because of the traffic and drivers changing their shifts between 4.30 and 5.30pm she didn't get to us before 6pm again so it was getting quite dusky by then.

Still, we hopped in a cab and got off at the most scenic spot and really enjoyed our stroll. It was getting harder and harder to see the countless beautiful azalaes though but thanks to my camera's long exposure function I was able to take some photos that looked like daylight !!! Then we'd look at the screen and go 'oh wow, so this is how much better still it looks by day'.

They had a bit of a light show over the waters, but a bit too far. Still, it made the skies change from white to purple and was quite pleasant enough. We then went to a restaurant where only the locals eat - very good value for money and very good food. Not ONE word of English thoug. Not even on the Coca Cola or Sprite bottles (I took photos for my album).

And next door to this was Hang Zhou's oldest street. Most of it had been destroyed over the years and re-built so it wasn't as old as it looked but it was extremely beautiful with lots of wooden facades. It was full of souvenir shops and restaurants but it was really nice and was probably the part I enjoyed the most in Hang Zhou (as the lake was a bit too dusky to 'see' it properly -- though, admittedly, it was a lot more peaceful in the evening than by day when it' s completely packed).

By 9.45pm Nathalie was really brain-dead and needed to hit the sack so we had to say good-bye. We had a 9am pick up again to get our train to Shanghai next day. We felt a lot safer in the cab the 2nd time round as we knew what to expect. Cab fares here are incredibly cheap - a big help as you need to use so many (getting on a bus is just too challenging with people fighting to get on we were told). It's about 20Y (GBP 2) for 20 minutes in a cab (but only half for just a few minutes), when you'd pay more than that in London just to open the door. No wonder people were always fighting over cabs !

Yangshuo, China - cont.

On our last morning in Yangshuo, as requested, we had our 'countryside' tour. However, it wasn't quite as I expected as it was more of a motorised vehicle. It was quite open at the back and could sit about 8 people, when last time I had a much smaller type of tuk-tuk for just 4 people, incl. the driver. Still, we had to make do with it and we spent 45 minutes (no more !) going down smaller track, observing the many labourers in the field, who still use cows to plough the field (and are bare foot in thick cold mud). They all seemed to work so hard and it really made our commuting to work in London look like a breeze ! The scenery was spectacular, though a lot more misty in the morning. In fact, I'm amazed they even conduct tours before 2pm as the light improves so much after lunch, but in our case, we didn't have a choice.

The downside of the motorised vehicle is that we didn't really get the chance to get off it very much and so missed out on all the interactions with the locals. I really felt we'd missed out big time. I'd saved all my smaller notes over the last few days for that moment, and didn't have the chance to hand out any for photo ops.

We then got back on the mini bus to get to the airport and the scenery along the way was so spectacular that we did quite a few small videos. However, we ended up being an hour earlier than needed at the airport as there was almost no traffic on the road, which totally frustrated us as we could have spent twice as long in the countryside :(((

When we had to pay for the tour, our guide said it was 120Y per person, I argued that in 2002 it had cost me only 40Y for 3 hours so how could it have become SO expensive for a mere 45 mins? She then quickly revised the quote to '120 for two' minus the cost of the tour in Guilin that we missed out (only 17Y x 2 = 34). We sometimes felt that in this country, you're either in a position to exploit people (if you bargain too much when really, 100Y for us is neither here nor there) or to be exploited.

Guilin gets top marks again ! 14 April 09

We left our hotel at 8.30am and boarded the cruise at 9.30am. The weather didn't look that great to start off with... you could see the sun was trying to pierce through the mist but the mist was so thick that you couldn't really really see the limestone peaks very clearly. Nathalie was starting to fret about a potential repeat of the Great Wall disaster...

However, thankfully, as the cruise progressed, the sun did a good job of burning most of the mist away and we were able to enjoy a truly spectacular day. She totally loved it and agreed it had been the best day so far. The cruise is 4 hour long on a good day but only took 3H30 today because the currents were quite strong.

We skipped lunch and just had a sandwich and apples on the top deck as it was just mesmerising... We kept thinking 'how can it get any better?', but it did. Every corner was different and seemed more striking than the previous one. The Li River is truly the jewel in the crown. It's got to be THE most beautiful scenic spot in the whole China...

We took lots and lots of photos (that's the beauty of digital, you can click away to your heart's content. Back in 2002, I only had a film camera and had limited myself to ONE roll as I needed to be selective). We were still shooting in the sun though, which isn't great, so sometimes I made a point to go to the back of the deck and shoot backwards to give myself the best chances of a nicely exposed shot that would reflect the Li River's true spendour because it is timeless beauty in its most spectacular form. Dramatic and poetic at the same time. No wonder it inspired countless artists.

Nathalie, being very French and not one to stick to rules decided to go over the railing and sit at the front of the boat. It's supposedly forbidden (though we swear we never saw the signs) but it was the best seat on the whole boat (as they do not provide chairs for you to sit on, on the top deck, so you'd have to stand for 4 hours basically). I later joined her and the railing gave us a back-rest and it seemed less noisy too. The boat was packed with French tourists (80% of the tourists we have seen all over here have been French!) and so it didn't exactly feel like we were miles away from home... but we soon switched off and just focused on the scenery unfolding in front of our eyes.

The one thing wrong with the boat were the toilets... only turkish style, no seat. So, try and squat and keep steady on a moving boat... yeah, exactly. No handrail to hold onto either. Believe you me, you really had to be quick !!! Plus there was some water/pee on the floor that made it extra slippery as well. I reported back to Nathalie who felt she'd rather cross her legs and pass. Toilets aren't brilliant in China. Though we usually have a better experience using the disabled toilets as much as possible.

Anyway, I disgressed... When we got to Yangshuo we wandered through the streets that seem to only be made of souvenir shops or restaurants but we really loved the atmosphere there. It was very quaint and you could still see the beautiful peaks at the end of every street.

We checked into our hotel by 1.30pm, the gorgeous Dragon River Retreat (we have views of the peaks from our bedroom windows, just fab !!!) and by 2.15pm we were ready to go out and explore the scenery.

I had hoped that we'd go for a ride in the countryside but we first cycled to the Banyan Tree (a huge tree that was planted 1,400 years ago) but it was most disappointing as it was packed with tourists. It sounded promising in the brochure but Nathalie felt it was more like Disneyland in reality and really wasn't happy there. Too gimmicky and people were using animals in all sorts of ways to make money - little monkeys dressed up in small costumes, peacocks on stands, camels dressed up, horses too and Nathalie & I found it most distressing. The peacocks seemed to be gasping for air as they had to stand on a perch in the hot sun, with no shade and I desperately wanted to give them some water but my guide assured me they were fine. Hum. I felt like saying 'how do you know? do you speak peacock?'. The body language said it all, if you'd asked me.

Our guide is nice but her English is most basic. She really struggles to understand our questions. She's very sweet and dedicated but we do have a bit of a language barrier problem.

The next stop was Moon Hill. It's basically a crescent shape hole that is totally natural and is in the middle of a limestone peak. Our guide asked if we wanted to climb to the top and we thought 'sure, we're fit enough, we can handle it'... but we didn't realise before we set off that it was well over 400 steps all the way up. PHEW.

So, you start off great and then by step number 200 you think 'oops, big mistake'... we were half tempted to turn round when a couple of Chinese ladies decided to follow us and use their fans to cool us down. It was a particularly hot day today (and was the nicest in a loooong time as it had been pouring down with the rain the whole of last week and is due to pour down again in 2 days' time) and so it was actually most welcome.

One lady was 40, the other was 71, but they could climb the steps like goats. You could tell they were doing it every day. They spoke little English but were actually quite delightful. Not pushy and quite funny. They were amazed at how tall Nathalie was. We also did some videos with them and showed them how they looked and they were giggling away. It was actually the nicest experience we'd had meeting locals - besides our guides. They kept us going and though it was tough going up and up and up and up for 30 minutes (minus 2-3 small stops) we were very pleased with ourselves when we eventually reached the top and could enjoy stunning views over Yangshuo city and all the neighbouring hills. It gave us a whole new perspective to the topography of the region. We took fantastic photos so it was definitely worth it.

By the time we had walked all the way down, our knees were shaking though - literally. All of us had the same experience.

As the day progressed, the light seemed to get better and better still and the hills looked clearer and clearer so we were SO happy. We really enjoyed cycling around too - great excercise. And we felt quite safe too as they have dedicated cycle lanes everywhere - quite wide ones too.

There's no way we could have done as much as we did today if the weather had been atrocious. I praised God every hour as it did feel like a miracle in a place where it rains 300 days a year, and March-June is the rainy season on top of it all ! Nathalie & I were just SO grateful. It was the ONE day when we really needed good weather and we had the best weather so far... though maybe a touch too hot for cycling !

We then had to get back to our hotel for a quick shower as we were drenched - I came back looking like a lobster as I'd forgotten to put my suntan lotion on... silly girl.

After that, we went out for dinner, back in the heart of Yanghuo and enjoyed a really nice meal. And immediately after that we went to see how fishermen use cormorans to fish for them. We boarded a boat at 7.30pm though so it was already dark by then but we soon caught up with a fisherman's boat that had spot lights at the front for us to see the cormorans' activities. They dive effortlessly, come back with a fish, then the guy hands them a pole and they climb on top of it, and he grabs them by the neck, makes them spit the fish and throws them back in the water. We felt they were being mishandled and we didn't enjoy that side of things at all but Nathalie hoped they were used to it by now. The boat evenly stopped and we all got on shore to take a closer look at the birds - very fluffy and beautiful. They were keen to dry their wings and both Nathalie & I got the chance to have one on our arm to help them dry up. They are quite heavy birds but I love birds so much, I felt quite comfortable and safe with them. It was too dark for our cameras to work though (sob!) but the videos worked fine, thankfully.

We then got back to the city and strolled the streets some more -it was even prettier with all the red lanterns lit up everywhere- and Nathalie purchased a beautiful big fan, painted with red cherry blossoom and also a silk ornament that had a painting of typical Guilin scenery. They were amazing bargains for the quality. She'd have paid at least 10 times more in England for what she got. She was so pleased as she really wanted to decorate her flat with an Asian style and has furniture to match. I didn't buy a thing because I don't have enough wall space and it wouldn't go with my tropical fish and rainforest pictures!

We got back to our hotel at 9.00pm and here I am, giving you one more update while I can (free internet here, so might as well !). Tomorrow we decided to cancel our tour in Guilin to spend more time around this beautiful area as it's just one of the most spectacular landscapeS on the planet (take my expert word for it!).

I really wanted to do the tuk-tuk ride again across the countryside again to show Nathalie how the locals work, see the water buffaloes up close, etc. etc. I remember I had enjoyed it just as much as the cruise so I was gutted not to do it. Climbing Decai Hill (the original plan, on the way to Guilin airport) would have meant more steps up one more hill to see something similar to what we saw today (but with fewer peaks) so I'm convinced I made the right decision. I just pray the weather holds but so far, it looks good as we can see many stars.. clear skies.

Then at 1pm we'll be flying out to Hang Zhou, a charming city by a lake, with many bridges. Marco Polo called Hang Zhou 'Heaven under Heaven' as he was so taken by it. So, I figured it'd be a good place to visit (a new one for me too). Besides, my good friend Tian will be in town so she'll be able to spend time with us. She's already arranged for us to have dinner with her friends as they're all keen to meet us. My next 3 nights will therefore be quite busy. Not sure I'll have much time to update my blog until I get home now, but who knows? Maybe at the airport at some point?

Love from beautiful China... you really don't know what you're missing! :) [and I'm not talking about the toilet experience !!!].

Green Lake Park, Kunming, 13 April 09

This morning, we had nothing booked, as we wanted a free day in the middle of our week to try and recover from the jet-lag. We slept till 9.00am, grabbed a quick breakfast, packed, checked out and grabbed a cab for the Green Lake Park, about 10 mins away from our hotel - the very nice U-choice, by the river. The cab ride was only Y8 (i.e. 80p !!!) and saved us quite a bit of time.

We really enjoyed our time there, we found it quite relaxing. They call it the 'Central Park of Kunming'. - Lots of temples, ponds with gold fish, stalls selling all sorts of things, people playing cards together, or musical instruments in a corner (some quite beautifully, some not so gifted, but it all added something special to the atmosphere to hear this Chinese music in the air)... and lots of alleyways with willows on each side... a few ducks here and there... All in all: a very different world from the bustling main streets.

We found a little cafe with a roof terrace and got a couple of milk-shakes (with real fruits) and just watched the world go by for a few minutes. Perfect setting. We could have stayed there a lot longer but next on our list was Yuangton temple, only 5 mins walk away from the Green Lake Park, but as we came out of the park a different way, we got totally lost. We did have the name Yuangton written on a piece of paper, and tried to ask for directions, and people would nod and point and I'd say 'szhe szhe' (thank you) but we still got lost.

This is my big chance to say that though many people assume that English is spoken the world over, believe you me, this is definitely not the case here. Even though we approached young people, we usually got a blank look if we just said 'English?'. Even in restaurants, it was very difficult to get a menu in English (hence McDonald being so convenient as they are prepared for foreigners and have everything in photos and we just point !!). Thankfully my travel agency had done some forward planning and given me a list of menu items that *we* could ask for. But if we pointed to an item on the menu, people would usually shake their head as if to say 'no, we don't serve this dish'... but we couldn't then say 'ok, maybe instead of crispy duck, can we just have another type of duck?'... you soon got stuck. Hence our guides being an invaluable service here. Money well spent !! It's a great time saver. And Murphy was so nice, very friendly, caring, polite, saying it was 'an honour to be our guide' and looking really sincere. We really took to her.

We're currently at the airport, waiting for our flight to Guilin. Tomorrow morning should be the highlight of the trip (the Li River Cruise) IF we have good weather. If we don't, I think I will cry... I've wanted to come back for sooo long (6 years) that I just cannot conceive it going all horribly wrong. I'd feel extra gutted for Nathalie as at least I've seen it once in full glory, with bright sunshine.

On this note, I'll love you & leave you. Our internal flight is just an hour 10 minutes so I hope we can enjoy beautiful views from the air (should be quite lush) and can do some bamboo rafting when we get to Guilin tonight as we should have time to enjoy the sunset :)

The Stone Forest - 12 April 2009

After a not-so-good breakfast (we were the only 2 white people at breakfast out of 80 !) mainly catered for Chinese people, we swiftly headed to the Black Dragon Pool park.

It was a fairly serene park, famous for its many azalaes and beautiful ponds with countless goldfish. It also had a Tao temple -- though I didn't really investigate about what their religion entail.

Murphy told us that we would be visiting the Yi minority today, who are the largest ethnic group in China (4 million of them). They have their own script and culture, choosing to express their feelings in music when courting. Their hat design also reflected their marital status, i.e. if they were single, engaged or married. They called the Yi minority's culture 'paradise for men' because the women do ALL the work. They have mastered the art of multi-tasking and taking it to extreme. Women wake up before dawn to go and collect grass for the domestic animals, then work so late that it's dark when they get back home (they are the ones earning the living) hence their expression: 'women see the stars twice in one day' and when they get home, they are still expected to do all the cooking, washing and everything else that a woman is 'expected to do' in most cultures !!! Whilst the wife is sweating away, the husband stays at home and just entertains the kids, or writes poetry and plays musical instruments. To qualify for becoming a wife, a woman must be able to embroid her own wedding dress. If she cannot even do that, she's not deemed intelligent enough to get married (i.e. probably not having enough skills to make a living!). The guys, to pass the test, only have to show that they can hold their liquor !!!! How unfair is that ??? They also have a 10 month calendar of 36 days and spend 5 days celebrating the new year. The first month in their year is the 'month of the tiger'. Chinese start their year with the month of the mouse as they think it's the most intelligent animal.

Whilst we were driving we noticed a bloke throw out of his car window a few round yellow pieces of paper. Murphy explained that it must mean he's in mourning and is paying the fee to the Gods so that the dead person can make it to heaven. It seemed so incredibly simplistic and yet the Chinese are utterly supertitious. Everything has a meaning... colours, numbers, shapes... it all matters. Yin and Yan and harmony, etc.

We eventually reached the Stone Forest (about 1h15 away) and hired a little open 'bus' driven by one of the Yi women. 200Y (about $20 equivalent) and it was ours for 90mins. She drove us around the outer circle so that we could see most of the 5km2 (the Stone Forest is much much larger and only 15% is accessible to the public).

There were lots of scenic spots, some with ponds, but we saw very few Westerners. In fact, we were such a rare breed that Nathalie & I ended up posing for a LOT of photos. People were just queuing to have their photos taken with her in particular, being blonde. And though she's shy I told her it was best to enjoy the ride and go with the flow. It made them so happy. And it just gave us a glimpse of what it's like to be famous... just for a week or so. We've been asked the same thing in most places we've visited. It's kind of cute. I've taken some photos of her with tourists and we also did some videos as people queued to sit next to her for a photo... I've already warned her that it will be very odd to go back to Europe and be totally anonymous again!

We really enjoyed it, but I guess I expected it to be a lot more accessible. I can now understand why my travel agency said '2 days will be far too much, half a day is enough'. Considering it takes 90 mins to get there, going back was not an option. Plus, we felt we'd 'been there and done that now'... and I'm not sure I'd want to see it again. It didn't have the X factor for me the way Guilin has. It was very pleasant but wouldn't come in my top 50 'must see' I think.

But our guide kept pointing out various rock shapes to us and said 'can you see Queen Elizabeth there, with her crown? can you see the elephant ? the pig ?' and it's like the Chinese are obsessed with such things.

We did have fun dressing up as Yi women. They all wear beautiful costumes, very colourful - mainly pink or yellow, with a hat full of pearls, and I just love dressing up like locals, given half the chance. So we took some great photos for the record with a basket on our back full of yellow flowers. Very neat indeed.

We then went back to Kunming via one stop at an embroidery factory. Nathalie was keen to see the process and even I was fascinated, though I didn't think I'd be. What an amazing craft again. It totally reinforced to me that we were created by an amazing God, a true artist, who did create us in His image - with countless skills. The guy who owned the shop loved France, had lived there and had learnt French from the age of 7, so he was delighted to be able to practise. It was great for us too as sometimes it's not real easy to understand our guides due to pronounciation being a little bit 'off' at times. He said he used to sell a lot of embroided frames but had to get rid of half his staff due to the world crisis as people can't afford to travel as much, nor buy as much. They start the process with a photo or a painting (say the Mona Lisa) and get it printed on silk. Then they skitch the silk with thousands of thin threats of dozens of colours to find the exact match. Sometimes, to embroid a face they only use 1/16th of a thread so that it'd almost be invisible to the naked eyes, making for a very smooth complexion effect. Just an amazing feat. We were totally mesmerised. It can take up to 8-10 months to create a 60cm x 70cm portrait (and yet they only charge $100 for one month of work !!!). They also had a carpet section, for the finest of them, the girls manage to squeeze 1,200 knots per square centimer. The carpet felt so soft and the design was so intricate and delicate it was UNBELIEVABLE. A 30X50cm piece would take 2.5 YEARS to produce... and yet only cost $3,000 to buy. But such pieces are seen as work of art and meant to be put on a wall to be admired, not to be walked on, needless to say. He told us he pays his employees an average of $20 a month based on 4 hours work a day (at the moment, due to the present financial crisis). He said 4 hours is better to minimise eye strain as you have to be SO precise.

What also amazed us was to learn that with just one cocoon from a silk worm, they manage to extract up to 5KMS of treads !!!! what ??? how ???? totally mind-blowing...

That was mainly it. Then we swang by the flower market, which was also pretty impressive and beautiful done and is one of the most famous in China. They mainly use dry flowers so if you buy bouquet it is expected to last months or even years if it's good quality. Each flower has a meaning (rose for love, carnation for mother's love) as have numbers (1 rose = you're the only one, there is no other... 3 is 'I-love-you' (3 words), 11 is 'I'm in love with you, etc.).

Dinner was McDonald as we had a not-so-good Chinese lunch and Nathalie felt she couldn't face another one tonight - sorry to disappoint !!!!

THE Great Wall - 11 April 2009

We started the day with a great breakfast. Very decent buffet selection and lots for Westerners, incl. croissants! Ricky, our guide, picked us up at 10.30am and it took us about 1h45 to get there. The road leading to the Great Wall was very boring, and even more so as it was so misty, you couldn't really see much. It certainly didn't look promising...

In fact, when we eventually got to the bottom of the wall, and looked up, you could barely see it... Nathalie was so crushed. This is something we had NOT banked on. We took a cable car to the top of gate 18, so that we could actually be ON the wall and see it up-close-and-personal but you just couldn't gage how endless it was as you could just about see from one tower to the next (and they are about 100 meters apart, if that). What was particularly frustrating is that all the neighbouring hills were full of trees covered in white blossom and if it had been a perfectly blue sky, it could have looked truly amazing. And there was nothing we could do... the fog / mist, whatever it was, never cleared for one minute. So we didn't spend too long on it. We just walked up to 3 towers, took quite a few photos and got back down to browse through the souvenir stalls. The craft on display was very pretty, but we got harrassed so badly, that we ended up hurrying back as you felt terribly guilty that you couldn't spare $1 to help everybody. Some of the items were incredibly cheap and remarkable value for money, it has to be said, but it was more a case of 'do I really need this? what would I do with it? and WHERE would I put it???'. Nathalie and I both have hardly any furniture at all, and almost no shelves, making it impossible to collect any souvenirs really. But try and explain that to them all...

We did find out some fascinating facts about the wall though. Namely that it took 2,000 years to complete and that it is a staggering 7,300kms long !!! (that's about 5,000 miles or so). Obviously, as it's impossible for the Chinese government to maintain the structure over 5,000 miles, most of it has crumbled down by now, some sections are entirely covered in grass now but the bit that are well maintained are quite impressive - fairly steep and with many small wide steps. It's also packed with H&S hazards with some drops not protected by railings in some areas, etc. making it a death trap for anyone with a visual impairment in my humble professional opinion.

We did see a litter of gorgeous ginger angorra kittens (and they even looked Chinese as their eyes were almond like, I swear !) and Nathalie spent a while cuddling them but they looked really lean (though real cute) and children passing by had a tendency to want to throw stones at him. In fact, a little kitten even took cover under Nathalie's legs for protection, as she squatted down to stroke it. It was quite heart breaking ...

We then had lunch and were taken to an enamel factory. An art that was inspired by the French we were told but perfected by the Chinese. I worried it'd be yet another tourist trap but it was actually quite interesting. I'd never realised how many steps were involved in making an emanel vase and how incredibly difficult it was. The vases are all made of copper so that they don't break and the gold drawings are not just painted on, as I had wrongly assumed, but are actually very thin threads, about 2mm high, painstakingly glued on by some expert hand so that the drawing can actually been 'felt' with fingers, not just seen. Good hand and eye coordination are crucial to be able to do the job at all. Then each section was filled with respective colours (up to 30 to choose from) to make the designs. 8 coats of paint then need to be applied, no less, so that the colours can withstand the tremendous heat that the vase will need to 'endure' in an oven. After that, it is polished with stones to make its exterior perfectly smooth. To see these women pick up the copper threads with twizers was quite an art in itself. The threads were pre-cut into tiny pieces and twisted in all sorts of ways to match all sorts of shapes that had been previously drawn on the copper. You had to see it to believe it. In fact, Nathalie was in such awe and found the process so amazing that she bought a vase as a momento. It took us ages to decide on which one as they were all absolutely gorgeous and had very different designs on (though the most popular in China were a phoenix and a dragon, representing the empress and the emperor, symbol of family). Each colour had a meaning too ('green' means 'peace', etc). She settled for one with a red dominant colour and a beautiful blue bird with a long tail.

They all had a seal underneath stating it had been drawn by a master and a guarantee that the vases will never break.

We then had to go back to the airport, drive a further 1h30 and check-in for our flight to Kunming. It was an hour late and the flight was 3H10 long meaning we would not be able to check-in at 10.30pm. Phew. Thankfully, our luggage arrived promptly and our guide was there, waiting for us. She was called Murphy and was very sweet. She told us all about the town and how it had 'exploded' as of 1999 when they had the horticultural world expo, with 98 countries represented. Kunming is known for its amazing flowers and they are sold by the kilo here as they have so many ! The city is expanding very rapidly and was full of tower blocks - but rather nice ones. It had lots of neon lights everywhere too, making it more like the Las Vegas of China (well, not quite as OTT). The air was also very clear (one of the purest 'city air' in China) and I had gathered that even before we landed as I could see the street lights from the plane -- good sign.

We couldn't wait to get to check in to feel the mattress on the bed, praying it'd be a bit / a lot softer, but, unfortunately, it was just like a board all over again. Nathalie sighed 'if a 4* hotel cannot have decent beds, I think we've had it, we're just not going to get a good night's sleep here at all'. We ordered another 2 quilts, that she kept, and we folded them in 4 so that it'd feel like 8... and she slept on that and it helped (as in: 'how to make the best of a bad job') and I basically pulled the armchair, the foot rest and another chair, lined them up in a row and slept on that !!! It was fairly comfortable actually and I just told myself 'pretend you are sleeping in business class. You are horizontal but cannot afford to move much'... It worked. I didn't fall off anyway. And with 2 sleeping pills, I even managed to sleep 7H...

The next day we had planned to see the Stone Forest, so we desperately needed blue skies !

Getting to China - 9 April 2009

Well, I seem to have more and more problems when I travel and this was no expection. Our BA flight was nice enough (lots of great movies and surprisingly good food) but took off almost an hour late and my veggie meal had not been ordered - however, they had a spare meal. Phew. Then when we landed my sister's luggage arrived immediately, but mine didn't. Considering that we both checked in at the same time, it does make the mind boggle as to how such things can ever happen! Anyway, thankfully there was a girl on standby to help and she was able to radio the luggage room and check if they had a spare luggage in a container and they soon sent it up. But we wasted yet more time (having already landed 30 mins late). So, as I kind of feared, by the time we got out, our guide was nowhere in sight. I walked back and forth across the hall, looking at every board, no 'Macle' names. Slight panic. Nathalie wanted to grab a cab, I urged not to as we had no idea how far the hotel was and it could have ruined us... (it turned out it was 1h15mins away !) besides, we had already paid for the service. We asked if they could make an announcement, no such thing were possible. We had no choice but to buy an expensive phone card (my mobile wouldn't work) just to make one phone call to the guide's mobile (thankfully we had an emergency number) and he said he was on the wrong floor and would come straight up.

Then, once we got to our hotel, the room wasn't ready and we had to wait a further 15 mins. But at least they gave us complimentary soft drinks. In a way, this made me realise that if we had landed on time and found our guide straight away, we would have gained nothing as we would have just waited in the hotel hall for over an hour instead. So maybe God worked in mysterious ways ! :) We eventually checked in at 9am and by then we were starting to feel quite tired as we had not slept at all on the plane due to the incredible choice of movies that we wanted to watch.

We agreed with our guide that we should try and sleep at least 90 mins before heading for the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace. He said he'd come back and pick us up later. It was going to cost us 80 pounds for the day + 30 pounds (all for both) in entrance tickets but we didn't have much choice. It was the only way we could see everything in one afternoon as the Summer Palace was about 1h15 away from the Forbidden City. Considering that some people here only earn 20 pounds per month, I guess our guide must have been very happy!

The Forbidden City was actually just 10 mins walk from our hotel (as the name suggests - as we stayed at the Days Inn Forbidden City hotel!) and we passed Tianemen Square on the way there.

I must say that I had forgotten how HUGE a complex it is: 900m x 800m (72 hectares). The last emperor himself used to ride around from one area to another (bicycles were introduced to China by Westerners, as were pianos and all of this had been taught to him).

Since 2002 (when I was last there) the Forbidden City's main houses had been renovated to beautiful standards, all the gold had been put back on the designs, fresh coats of paint on the walls and they had opened some new areas too, namely a beautiful garden full of blossoms. However, because of the enormity of the task the renovation works will continue till 2020. Some sections were still closed. Our guide suggested we watch 'The Last Emperor' as it was filmed here and was a pretty good picture of how life was, back then. The main downside is that it was a LOT busier than when I last visited though, with hundreds of people going through the gates - 80% of which were Chinese, though we also heard a lot of French spoken too.

The emperor had 3,000 concubines and some women he'd only sleep with once in 20 years. The last emperor got to the throne in 1911 and it is said that he used to look at pigeons with envy as they could fly over the city walls whereas he remained trapped inside. Concubines were selected for their beauty and intelligence, they had to be very gifted at some artistic skills too. He had a governor who would ride all across the country to select women for him. Some would end up cooks, maids, or others would share his bed. Some had a choice to refuse the governor's offer but it could be seen as a honour for the family. They were several ranks (up to 10) I seem to recall, and if you were lucky and climbed the ladder you could one day hope to become the empress. Quite a few bore him children. It seemed like a very weird, secluded world... one that we just cannot imagine. Lots of enuchs worked there too, of course.

They had also opened up a new section on various artifacts that used to belong to the royal family - vases, clocks, culteries, etc. none of which I'd seen before.

We spent a good 90 mins walking around and even had a quick lunch inside too as they had a new small cafe. It all helped save time.

Our next stop, just 10 mins drive away was the Temple of Heaven complex. It was from the Ming dynasty and the most beautiful temple is mainly blue, to reflect the colour of the skies. It was not the original version though as the Temple had been struck by lighting 3 times and was first rebuilt from memory. It had burnt completely as it's made of timber, so is extremely vulnerable to fires. There were many sacrifices made to the God of Heaven in the complex (but it was a different God from the Christian God who rules the universe). Their God of Heaven was only in charge of a few (key) things like rain and thunder, but other lesser Gods were in charge of other matters. The sacrifices had 18 steps and different temples were used for different Gods -- I think (don't quote me!).

The Temple of Heaven was also even more beautiful than I remembered because it had been totally renovated in 2006-2007. We saw photos when it was surrounded by scaffolding... Good job we didn't visit then. In fact, most key buildings in Beijing were being renovated in 2006-2007 then because of the forthcoming Olympics when they wanted everything to look perfect for tourists. So, unknown to me, it looks like I timed my 'come back' pretty neatly! :)

There was a nice park nearby where many people were dancing or playing cards together. You could really sense a strong sense of community among the elderly in particular (the only ones who had time to spare!). They'd first meet to practice tai chi together at around 6am and then spend the rest of the day together. People looked so cheerful and happy, it was quite inspiriting actually. It beats any British Day Centre any time! (and I've visited quite a few of them in my line of work as quite a few of my blind clients to there for distraction and companionship). But here it was like they had found a whole different dimension to growing old graciously and still found lots and lots of activities to enjoy.

There was a nice smell of pine trees in the air and pretty blossoms everywhere. Our favourite was a pink small tree that I'd never seen anywhere else but looked just spectacular. I took lots of photos but none seem to do it justice. It just stopped you in your tracks kind of blossom. We felt we had really picked up the most colourful month of all. It was awesome.

But the smog in Beijing is such that it looks misty everywhere... with grey overtones and just NO blue skies at all. In fact, pollution is such a problem here that they have this system whereby you cannot drive your car on certain days of the week going by what car number plate you have. For instance, if your plate ends up with a 1, you cannot drive on Mondays in January, on Tuesdays in Feb, on Wed in March, etc. if it ends in 2, you cannot drive on Tuesdays in Jan, on Wed in Feb, etc. etc. It's quite clever but not really working... it seems. I believe our guide said they will soon abolish this system anyway. We could actually feel the grit at the back of our throat and seemed to be constantly dehydrated as the air was so thick. We both felt that 2 days and 1 night was more than enough, due to the pollution level.

Our next stop was the Summer Palace and it was very crowded too. This is where the emperor used to spend his summers when the heat in Beijing was just too unbearable due to the pollution. We first climbed up a hill to see a Tibet temple close-up and enjoy a view of the man-made lake, but because of the smog, saw very little! We then took a stroll by the lake, to enjoy the hundreds of paintings on the longest outdoor corridor in the world and when we came out of the park, at about 5.30pm, we were seriously peckish so headed for the McDonald next door. I know that you will most likely frown upon this but I was quite happy with a fish burger ! Nathalie wasn't even hungry at all. All the travelling seems to have supressed our appetite. GOOD.

We then went back to our hotel and tried to find a call box to call our parents as the phone card we'd bought at the airport was only valid for Beijing so it was a case of 'use it or lose it'. Our guide said that you cannot transfer phone cards from cities to cities -- I'd never seen this anywhere else! It was SO frustrating though we had already got quite a lot to say ! :)

We then tried to sleep but mattresses in China are rock hard and it proved very difficult as a result. We kept waking up throughout the night as we were so uncomfortable. You just couldn't find a decent position where you wouldn't be sore after 15 mins. We had even asked for 2 extra quilts to sleep ON, and the receptionist laughed and said all foreigners find beds too hard in Chinia. But even with that, it was still way too hard... especially for poor Nathalie who has a bad back and can easily end up crippled with a neck-ache. I think we slept 4 hours but only because you get to the point of sheer exhaustion when your brain switches off, regardless of how uncomfortable your body is...

The next day was going to be our Great Wall experience.... China's top landmark.

China Tour Itinerary - Easter 2009

I'll soon be flying off to beautiful China... yiipiee... can't wait. Having visited in 2002 I remember vividly being enthralled by its striking landscapes (Guilin's Li River is still, to this day, my 3rd favourite place on earth) and fascinated by its medicinal knowledge -- SO far ahead of the West. I mean, their first anaesthetic was performed in the year of Jesus Christ, the first British one took place in 1846. Need I say more?

Here is below a skeleton summary of what my sister Nathalie & I will soon be up to:

9 April - BA day flight from London (LHR) to Beijing. Dep 12.50.

10th - arr. Beijing at 5.45am. No plans, but hoping to have the time / energy to visit the Forbidden City & Summer Palace.

11th - Great Wall expedition. Would love to slide down it !
Flight to Kunming (18.05 - 21.30).

12th - Kunming: Stone Forest expedition (Black Dragon Pool, etc)

13th - Kunming, at leisure. Stone Forest again?
Flight to Guilin 18.20 - 19.30.
May do some bamboo rafting at sunset?

14th - Guilin - Li River Cruise to Yangshuo (my soul will soar !!). Explore surrounding area on bicycle. After dinner go and see cormorant fishing by locals, at sunset.

15th - Guilin a.m. (Diecai Hill) and then off to Hangzhou - 13.05 - 14.50. Going to visit the Lingyin Temple and then have dinner with my good pal Tian who's currently based there.

16th - Hangzhou - boat ride on the West Lake, Six Harmonies Pagoda, etc. See Tian again.

17th - 10am train from Hangzhou to Shanghai (arr. 11.18). Visit the beautiful old town and the Yuyuan Garden. Having dinner with a French/Chinese couple I met in Palau !

18th - back to London on the
11am flight out of Shanghai, arr. LHR 16.05 on Saturday 18th.

In case of a plane crash, natural disaster, etc. pls contact:
Ling Todd @ Emperor Tours Ltd, tel. 00-44-(0)1580-212-609.
Email: info@emperor-tours.co.uk

Everything is private and tailor-made so we have our driver and guide waiting for us when we land, showing us around, putting us on the next flight, etc. Best way to travel ! :)

Watch this space ! :)))