Friday, December 31, 2004

The Yangzi River

Dec 28th 2004 - Dec 31st 2004

We left Chengdu at about 7:40am on a 2-3 hour bus ride to Chongqing. Seven hours later we arrived in Chongqing a city of 6 million people built on the Yangzi river. The bus trip was crowded, not by people, everyone had a seat. It was the fact that everyone brought all of their possessions and that we didn't store luggage under the bus where it should go(Who knows what crap was under there).The aisles were piled high with bags and a variety of stuff which made toilet stops interesting as everyone climbed on and over the seats to get off the bus. We were the first to get on so our bags got put to the back of the bus on the floor where they were to be covered in loogies, sunflower seeds and chicken feet bones. You can pretty much buy anything in a vacuum fresh bag here: Chicken feet, whitebait, duck necks, wings and feet, squid, a variety of fish (whole), swallow feet (small birds), marinated kebabs, and anything else you can think of. The whole 7 hours were filled with a series of Chinese kung-fu movies, made in Cantonese, dubbed in mandarin, and subtitled in mandarin. It was a good thing that the volume was at the maximum, so we could really hear the Bruce Lee like screams and sound effects. Even though we couldn't understand the language I think we would have had a hard time following anyway as the movies seemed to have 3 different plots completely unrelated to each other. They were not however lacking in acid-wash denim.

Our group (3 Aussie couples) got off the bus near the port, but not near our guide. We just stood there for 10 minutes or so until he found us. I think we were pretty easy to find, just follow the touts. We left our bags at the tour office and walked around Chongqing to get some food and money. We were taken to a 'cablecar' where we paid 2 yuan each to descend down the river bank 30 metres. Despite the fact that there are stairs.

The Yangzi

The Yangzi is the 3rd longest river in the world. It is 6400 kilometres long and it supports 400 million people. The Three Gorges Dam near Yichang is the largest Dam in the world, and when completely finished in 2009 it will back up the Yangzi for 550 kms, flood an area the size of Singapore and wash away the homes and livelihoods of up to 2 million people. Relocation packages are offered at about $3000US. It sets out to move economic growth away from the coastal cities into central and eastern China. The hydro-electric production will be the equivalent of 18 nuclear power plants and will be about 1/5th of China's current generating capacity. The construction of the dam has been controversial for many reasons, loss of homes, damage to the environment, and the loss of over 8000 cultural sites. Environmentalists claim that the Chinese are building the world's largest septic tank. The loss of river flow, agricultural and industrial run-off and untreated waste that pours in to the river will potentially create a giant sewer.

The cruise boat was like an oversized house boat. Painted in baby blue, it certainly wasn't a cruiseliner but was ok. We were in 2nd class and decided to pay a bit extra to have our own room, which meant we had two bunks to spread our crap over. We opened one of the cupboards and found our life vests, kindly donated by survivors from The Titanic. The boat left port at 8 o'clock and we briefly went out on deck to look at the lights of Chongqing.

Day 1 we were up at 5:30, and disembarked at 6:30 for our first stop, Guicheng (the abode of ghosts). Kel turned on the boat radio only to hear the love song from the Titanic, a bad omen? We walked through a small abandoned town full over crumbling apartment buildings that are being torn down before the river rises. It looked like a bombed out city in Europe during the 2nd world war. But there were still people living in the remains as there was laundry in the windows and plenty of touts along the way. Walking in the dark we travelled through the abode of ghosts said to be the place of devils. There were temples decorated with demons, devils, and grotesque things all built since the Tang dynasty (618-907 AD). There are also statues of various gods, the god of sunshine, the god of thanksgiving, and the god of health. The view of from the top was great, the sun was just rising over a foggy Yangzi. We walked by ourselves trying to stay ahead of the large Chinese tour groups with their guides blasting the history through their megaphones.

On the other side of the mountain was a place called Ghost Street. Historically a bazaar for the dead, but now a tout alley selling all the same crap. 'Hello, hello, you look, hello'. We walked up the 99 Immortal Stairs (I counted 114) and into a cheesy carnival-like series of rooms supposedly a re-creation of the netherworld and hell. There were many rooms each depicting a different legendary story, much like mythology. As we entered each room a sensor triggered the lights and screams. The displays were of demons and devils torturing those who had been bad in their previous lives. Oddly most of the torture victims were women. It was like a haunted ghost ride at the county fair (or Royal Show for the Aussies), complete with scary music, dark lighting and figures popping out at you (very slowly and jerky like). We reached the end and since we had been good in our past lives we were allowed to leave hell and back into reality. Maybe because we have been bad in this life, we had to make our way back past the touts and down to the boat.

We kept cruising down the river, and cruised right on past one of the sites we were supposed to stop at, the Stone Treasure Stockade, or Stone Village. It is over 2000 years old. There is a 12-storey wooden temple build to look something like a stone seal (a Chinese 'chop' used like a wax seal to sign artwork and documents). A Chinese man we were speaking with on the boat says that this site will be completely underwater once the dam is completed.

We spent the afternoon and into the evening out on the boat deck, enjoying the view of the Yangzi. Much of is hilly/mountainous covered with farmland and scattered homes here and there. We enjoyed a few beers and tried to conquer the Chinese art of cracking sunflower seed shells. We stayed out until dark, when we moved into the boat's 'poker room' to defrost, a room with small card tables covered in green felt, used for cards, mahjong, and Chinese chess. We sat and chatted with an American guy named Dave. He is from Colorado, and has travelled around the world twice, so it was great to hear some of his stories. We then tried the boat's dining room for dinner. We ordered cao fan, pretty much just steamed rice with some bok choy, but still tasty, and a nice change from instant noodles.

Around 8:00 pm, we got off the boat (in the dark, again) and explored an old temple along the banks, full of ancient Chinese calligraphy carvings, mainly made of stone and wood. They were pretty, especially the lettering, but we wished we could read them. There is a huge old 6-foot bell outside the temple, which Nige rang a few times by swinging a log into it (apparently a traditional method). He had been wanting to ring one of these huge temple bells ever since we saw our first one in Shanghai.

Back on the boat, we found out (after some effort) that there would be another stop around 2:00 am. So, off we went to bed, the alarm set for 1:45 am. Kel woke up, got dressed, and made her way out into the boat lobby to see what was going on. No one was around. After several trips around the boat, she finally went back to bed.

Day 2 we got up around 6:45 am after hearing a lot of activity going on. We got up on deck, only to find that we were going through the first of the Three Gorges, Qutang Gorge. No notice had been given to us. I had found out that there had been another stop the previous night around 11:00 pm, but we weren't given any information on this. The light came out just as we were leaving the gorge, enough so that we could see the spectacular view--steep cliffsides jutting out of the river along both sides. Qutang Gorge is the smallest of the three gorges. High up one of the cliff sides is Bellows Gorge where nine coffins were found high up in the cliffs. Some contained artifacts dating from as far back as 220 AD. We stayed out on deck all morning, again just enjoying the scenery, until we stopped at 8:30 am to transfer to a smaller boat.

We travelled up a tributary, heading for the Three Little Gorges. Flanked by towering cliff walls, it was so beautiful. The water here was no longer muddy brown, but a beautiful colour of cloudy jade green. We passed a few shack homes and farmers in their fields. These homes are literally in the middle of nowhere, and we could see no roads leading to them, just a small boat tied up on the river at the bottom of a steep path. In most first world countries, you'd pay $10 million for homes in these locations. We went through all three little gorges, the Dragon Gorge (or 'Drgon Gorge'), The Misty Gorge, and the Emerald Gorge. We even saw several monkeys along the cliffs. We were a bit suspicious when we noticed a pattern: the monkeys all congregated around the signs indicating 'The Abode Of Monkeys' and realised there was a huge pile of peanuts or something scattered all over the ground. Maybe a Chinese version of enhancing the Yangzi experience?

After the third little gorge, we then transferred to even smaller boats after stopping at a temple built high up in the cliffs. These were traditional-style fishing boats, seating about 20 people. Just to authenticate the experience, we all donned fluorescent orange life vests. We travelled up a tributary, only about 20 metres wide. We were able to get a closer view of the rocks, plants, and water. Along the way we passed many locals still living the traditional ancient lifestyle--we passed a small fishing boat with 3 women and 2 men singing a fishing song through megaphones directed straight at us, as well as an old man high on the rocks playing a Chinese flute (he only started as soon as he saw the boat approaching). As we turned around and headed back for the larger boat (not the main boat), we looked back and saw these traditional Yangzi inhabitants being picked up in motorboats to return to the docks. Also along the way were several men sitting in small huts, scattered along the banks at intervals. There was a 2-man blowup dinghy tied up in front of each person. They all had on the 'traditional costume' of fluorescent orange life vests, complete with a light, and a whistle. We can only assume that this is their version of surf lifesaving (I don't think many Chinese people can swim). Unfortunately, there was no Pamela or Yasmine running in slow motion along the banks. We returned to the larger boat, back up the Three Little Gorges, and returned to the main big boat.

We again spent the evening out on deck enjoying the views. We went through the Second Gorge, Wu Gorge, and the Third Gorge, Xiling Gorge. Out on the deck, there were 3 young guys from Tibet, who Nigel and Dave managed to speak with by using mostly charades. One of the guys went to his bunk room and returned wearing his traditional Tibetan dress and hat. They wanted photos with Nigel and Dave, and then gave them their addresses (in Chinese only) so that they could send a copy of the photo. One of these guys totally reminded us of Shannon Anderson from Sturt Lacrosse-he could have been his Tibetan twin. We really hit it off because the only thing they knew how to say in English was "I love you." They all had a few drinks and sang some Tibetan songs. Eventually a Chinese man who has lived in Sydney for 15 years came out on deck and kindly played the role of translator for both sides. Mai was travelling with his 10-year old son, Michael, an Aussie. Michael translated the Tibetan addresses from Chinese into pinyin so that we could read them. We found out the Tibetans were travelling to Shanghai to sell their wares. It took a bit of asking, but we found out their 'wares' were various animal products (all illegal in the West), used for medicinal purposes, i.e. tiger's penis and parts of other endangered species. We went back to their room where they showed us their passports, and one of them had photos of the Dalai Lama in it, though not the one we all think of, who is actually living in India. They had 2 photos: one was the old Dalai Lama, who died about 5 years ago, and one of a young boy who was chosen as the next Dalai Lama (now the current Dalai Lama). They explained that their old Dalai Lama that died around 5 years ago and the Dalai Lama in India are actually related in some way. They don't acknowledge the D.L. in India as their Dalai Lama, but recognize the boy as their Dalai Lama. Dave also told us a story about the Indian-based Dalai Lama: in India, a guy once said 'Why is the Dalai Lama travelling around the world when he should be here for his people?' Soon after, that person 'went missing' and has never been seen again. Interesting.

Around 10:30 pm we had the option to get off and take a tour of the dam. We thought that this fee was included in the fees we had already paid, but apparently it wasn't. We tried to sneak off the boat anyway, but were stopped before we even reached the gang plank. Nice try. We didn't want to pay the fee again, and didn't think it was worth it to see the dam in the dark anyway, so we just skipped it. After all, it will be here next time we're in China, whereas most of the other sites we've seen along the river will not. Nigel stayed up and watched the boat go through the first 2 of 3 locks, and Kel went to bed to try to get over her cold. Each lock held 4 boats/ships and went down approximately 15 metres each.

Although we had some frustrations with not getting what we paid for, and not being able to communicate with ANYONE about this, we still really enjoyed our few days on the Yangzi.

Monday, December 27, 2004

Camo Monks and Sub-Tropical Snow

Boxing day we didn't do too much. We slept in walked around Chendu and Renmin Gongyuen Peoples Park. It was nice to relax a bit and have no plans for the day. The park was like a city gardens, with differnt gardens sections, a lake with boats, a childrens fair, a tea house and lots of people out with their families on a Sunday afternoon.

Today we got up early to get the tour bus to Qingchen Shan, Azure City mountain. It is a Taoist monastery built during the Han dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD). There was a 2 hour hike up the mountain through sub-tropical forest and various temples. There are still approximately 100 monks living there. Most have shaved heads wearing brown outfits (karate style top and pants) trimmed in the 'traditional' camo material. They offered everyone a lift up the mountain in a bamboo stretcher/chair. It was a beautiful place, very lush and green, and quiet except for the monks. For the first half of the hike the sounds of traditional music could be heard through the fake rock speakers that lined the path. The higher up we hiked the foliage began to be covered in snow. By the time we reached the top at 1600m everything was cvered in 2 inches of snow. It was strange seeing tropical type plants covered in snow but was very beautiful. Planted by one of the temples was a huge 1000+ year old Ginko tree. Before we started the climb we noticed locals loading bricks into their basket backpack things. Throughout the day we passed men and women carrying bricks to the top where they are renovating one of the buildings. Some of them looked so old that we thought they would collapse along the way. We will remember them next time we complain about our jobs.

After reacing the top and looking out across the half frozen mountains we stopped and bought some instant noodles from a skanky old man and sat and ate them to warm us up. We hiked back down a different way through some bamboo forest, over a lake, where the ferry stopped working for repairs the trip before ours. We were picked up by a guy in a suit captaining a small dinghy with an electric motor.

Back at Chengdu we set out to get some dinner, but lacking a clear translation of menus we ended up at Pizza Hut. We paid way too much but we knew what it was. We think. We did some shopping, went to Kodak to burn some CDs and had another $2.50AU massage before heading to bed.

Saturday, December 25, 2004

Christmas in Chengdu

Christmas Eve, we checked out of our hotel and went straight to the train station. Since we had "first class" tickets (soft sleepers), we were admitted to the secretive world of the soft ticket waiting lounge. It was extremely nice to sit away from all of the crowds on soft seats in relatively nicer conditions. When our train was boarding, the girl came and told us, where we were escorted out a back way onto the platform, thus avoiding the pushing and shoving previously experienced. It was a luxury.

We shared a cabin with an older Kiwi guy who now lives in South Korea teaching English. He told Nigel his name is "Ellen" but thinking back now, Kel said "Are you sure it wasn't 'Alan' but sounded like 'Ellen' with his Kiwi accent?" Hmmm...maybe. Anyway, he was nice enough. There was also a Chinese army guy in our cabin, but we think he may not have had a soft sleeper ticket, and only slept in our bunk by showing his red army book. Nige had a 'conversation' with him using our phrasebook. It was fun. At one point, he made a phone call from his mobile and handed it to Nigel. It was his 6 year old daughter on the phone. She spoke pretty good English and the guy seemed to be very proud of her.

The first part of the train journey was in daylight, so we were able to enjoy the views. We travelled through mountains, many tunnels, and along the top of deep valleys. All of the trees were bare, but due to the snow and ice, they were completely white. It was very beautiful.

We woke up Christmas morning around 4:30 a.m. by the train ladies as we got closer to Chengdu. The train stopped around quarter past 5:00, and we weren't sure if it was our stop or not, since the train was due to arrive in Chengdu at 6:00. It was our stop, so we headed out and caught a taxi to the hotel. Unfortunately, it didn't open until 7:00 am, so we spent over an hour waiting outside under a Christmas tree that was in front of the fancy hotel next door (we tried to wait in their lobby, but the bitch lady wouldn't let us).

We checked in, had a quick shower, and boarded a bus to the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base, just north of Chengdu. Spending Christmas morning with the pandas was fantastic. They have about 20 pandas, kept in large, open 'enclosures' like a wildlife park. We were there for feeding time, which was perfect because they were all active. We saw big ones, about 4 'toddlers' and 2 teeny tiny infants, one curled up with her mommy, the other in a newborn incubator. The 4 toddlers were all together in the same place. They were very energetic as far as pandas go, and acted like any 2 year old human. One of the keepers was in with them, trying to rake up loose bamboo leaves, the remains of their breakfast. One of the pandas kept latching on to her legs, trying to steal her rubber boot and take the rake away from her (he seemed to enjoy chewing on the end of the handle). Standing on its two hind legs, the panda was about 4 feet. She was very patient and continued working with the panda latched on to her, but when she couldn't rake any more, she kept trying to get the panda off of her. Anywhere she walked, the panda chased after her, jumping at her legs and tackling her (she didn't fall once though). She finally gave up, let the panda have the rake and went off to do something else. Like any 2 year old, the panda became uninterested in the rake as soon as he knew she didn't want it any more, and climbed up in the tree for a nap after exerting all that energy. We saw some more munching pandas, some red pandas, and then saw a fabulous movie on the Breeding Station. It is fantastic that they're trying to keep our pandas alive, since there are only about 1000 left in the wild. We could have stayed there all day watching them.

We headed to find some lunch after returning to Chengdu. Since it was Christmas, of course we wanted McDonald's. Not really, but we also didn't want noodles. So, we set out to find a McDonald's, where we could get some iron from the beef (?) hamburgers and some calcium from the cheese and milkshakes (since most Chinese are lactose intolerant, there is very little dairy to be found). After walking for an hour, we still didn't find one, which is probably a good thing. We passed a young boy who had McDonald's earmuffs on, so Nigel asked (in charades form) where is McDonald's by pointing to the earmuffs. She and her husband collaborated and pointed to a location on our map, which was just down the street. Sure enough, it was right where she said. We enjoyed our lunch sitting inside overlooking an extremely busy intersection full of people out for a Saturday afternoon.

We then treated ourselves to an hour long traditional Chinese massage. We were both so stiff from all of our train rides and carrying our packs around that they had a tough time loosening up our shoulders. It was fantastic, and definitely worth the AU$2.50 that they cost (well, $3.00 with the Chinese "medicine" oil they put on us). Being sneaky, they completely relaxed us and tried to upsell our massage by offering various other treatments to tie into what we originally agreed on. This could have potentially tripled the price. We refused the extras but still walked out of there feeling like new people.

A little while later, we took a "tuk tuk" thing (a bicycle with a little canopied seat on the back) to a restaurant we wanted to go to for Christmas dinner. It was a fun way to travel, but also heartstopping as we had several close calls with cars, pedestrians and bikes. We had a great western dinner of chicken schnitzel, steamed veggies, baked macaroni and cheese, apple pie a la mode and hot fudge brownie sundae. It was a cute restaurant with actual decor to speak of (unlike most stark and bland Chinese restaurants). They had a Christmas tree and Christmas music playing. The place was packed, but believe it or not, we were the only westerners in there, save for a few others in the back room. There was a little girl there who appeared to be related to one of the owners, as she pranced around the whole restaurant, chatting with each table and all of the waitresses seemed to know her. She was fascinated with us. She was only 6 but spoke some English. She liked our phrasebook, and my blond hair, which she kept touching.

After a huge meal, we walked back to the hotel. There were tons of people out on the streets walking around. The younger people all had these blow up bats and hammer things that you get at carnivals. They seemed to be hitting random people on the street with them in some sort of strange Chinese Chengdu Christmas festival ritual. We're still not too sure about it but will attempt to find out.

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. We certainly enjoyed ours.

Thursday, December 23, 2004

6000 Warriors and 100 Touts

On the way back to the hotel last night we saw some people piling up trash on the side of the street. I thought that they must drop it here and then it gets picked up and taken elsewhere. A bit further down the street we saw another pile of trash except this time there were a few guys standing around lighting the pile on fire, plastic bags and all. I guess it gets burned through the night and by morning it is gone, with just a bit more pollution and a bit less ozone.

This morning we had instant noodles for breakfast, breakfast of champions, and 80% of China. We went to the Xi'an tourist office to get some information about our train tickets. On the way there we passed a group of taxi drivers waiting for passengers. There had been quite abit of snow overnight and the snow had collected on top of the cars. A couple of them near us were collecting snow and having a bit of a snowball fight. We watched for a few minutes and then they noticed us. They encouraged us to get involved by throwing them at us and giving us some snow balls and pointing at others to throw them at. As we werer walking away Kel got hit on the shoulder spraying snow everywhere. The snow was so light and fresh that it wasn't hard and just exploded on impact. It was good fun and I think the drivers enjoyed having the Laowai (foreigners) join in. We reached the safety of the tourist office where Arnie was extremely helpful in writing down in chinese 2 tickets to Chengdu, Soft Sleepers, in the same compartment for the 24th. Leaving the tourist office I was handed another snowball to throw at someone. Not being an experienced snowballer my throw was slightly off. It hit a taxi's windscreen and exploded all over another guy that was not involved. oops. He just alughed and smiled at us as we walked away. whew!

The tickets office was packed and we joinded one of the 'queues' (mobs of people in disorganized lines). Previously when we have tried to buy tickets we either can't get them, mei you (there aren't any) or get directed to another line only to line up at the back of another 'queue'. With our note in hand we made it to the front of the line, elbows out trying to defend our position. The lady took the note, our money and gave us the tickets. SO much easier. Thank You Arnie. Having said that we went back to Arnie to get him to confirm the tickets were what we wanted. They were.

We quickly juped on the next 306 bus to see the Bingmayong (Terracotta Warriors). The trip was only about 30 minutes through the suburbs of Xi'an and out into a slightly more rural area (ie. population less than 10 million). We got off the bus and it was snowing, walking to the entrance we stopped many times to look at the perfect snowflakes falling on our cheap ass black jackets. We could make out each flake's individual detail. There is a park surrounding the site which was covered in snow and was absolutley beautiful.

The Terracotta Warriors were discovered in 1974 when peasants were digging a well uncovered a few pieces of pottery. It turned out to be a massive underground vault filled with thousands of lifesized army of warriors and horses in battle formation. It was built during the Qin dynasty; their purpose is still unclear.
The first building we entered was the Museum, not knowing this as there wasn't any pinyin (spelling of chinese characters using roman lettering) anywhere. There was some good pieces in here but not much information was given so it wasn't that great. Moving on we entered pit 2 that was discovered in 1976. Most of the warriors were still in ruins as they were discovered. The excavation is still ongoing. It was great to see how they were discovered. Some were in thousands of pieces others had large recognisable parts. Amongst the rubble we could see a faces, hands, feet and horses asses. There is also 3 different ranking warriors on display here in glass cases. We could get really close and see all the detail of the craftsmanship. There are a few replicas of weapons here also, arrows, crossbows, tomahawk type axes and swords. The thousands of bronze weapons found have been moved to another location not for public viewing. A lot of the weapons were still sharp due to a chrome plating techique making them resistant to rust and corrosion. This technique was "discovered" by the US and Europe in the 20th century, 2000 years later.

We then moved to pit 3, found in 1986. This pit has suffered the most damage. It is believed to be the command post of the warrior army, because there are more generals horses and chariots here.

Pit 1 was discovered in 1974 by the peasents digging the well. It is the largest of the 3 and is amazing. It is covered by a room the size (and appearance) of a hangar for a 747. It is 210m by 60m, and there is believed to be 6000 warior statues here. At the entrance most of the warriors have been restored and are standing back in formation. Each warrior has a different face and some believe them to be modelled on the craftsmens coworker or themselves. There are 11 rows full of soldiers, all standing on perfectly paved floors. Walls made of rammed earth separate each row, supported by wood beams and once covered with a roof made of woven mats to conceal the entire army. We were surprised to learn that they were all once painted in bright colours with lifelike characteristics. Looking at them now you can make out slight tinges and patches of colour on a few of them. The middle section is still being unearthed and at the rear of the building there are rows of warriors in mid-renovation. A lot of them with holes and cracks visible. It is surreal to be looking at somethjing that was built over 2000 years ago. We often tried to picture the craftsmen shaping or carving individual pieces like a finger nail or button. Unfortunatly our pictures wont do them justice, the detail is amazing.
Before we left the pit we had a quick chat to John, and aussie from Perth. He had been travelling around India, Nepal and China for about 4 months and was about to head home. It was nice to swap stories and get some advice about India, from a guy with similar interests and views as us. We also saw Matt(from Leeds UK) quickly, we roomed with him in Beijing. He was on a tour so had keep mioving.

At the exit of the warrior complex we met our greatest challenge yet. A sea of touts. There was a group of 5 people in front of us leaving so we tried to duck in behind them and then dart off to the right, thus avoiding the touts. This failed. We were accosted by women and men selling replicas of the warriors and chariots, postcards of course and cheap bookmarks. One guy even offered me a foot high warrior for 1 Yuan, thats about 17 cents AU. We made it through them saying Bu Yao (I dont want) only to make it to the safety of the stalls where we could browse and be pestered by stall owners individualy. They were all selling the same crap. Because it was the middle of winter and snowing we were the only people there. They seemed pretty desperate to make a sale so we could have bought anything for dirt. not wanting to weigh down our packs any more we refused and made our way back to the bus. The last few stalls were food tents and we bought what was like a vegetarian chinese taco thing. It was made fresh and warmed us up a bit for the bus ride back. It is hard not to feel bad for these people after they have packed up their stuff in the cold first thing in the morning walked in the snow and ice to set up a tent in the freezing cold to try and sell food to a handfull of tourists.

We arrived back in town and Kel was freezing, so we took a taxi to a shopping mall where we could walk around inside and warm up a bit. We had a coffee and sat in the centre of the mall, watching people. Nigel tried one of the sausage/hot dog things on a stick we had been seeing practically everywhere. It tasted like a sausage/hot dog thing on a stick. We headed back to the hotel and bought a crabapple kebab we had also been seeing everywhere. There are about 5 mini crabapples on a skewer. They're dipped into toffee stuff and then into ice water so it will harden. The girl then rolled ours in coconut. It was quite tasty, very sweet on the outside, the apples a bit tart on the inside. We had a quick dinner at the hotel restaurant and are now headed to bed. It was a very average meal, but it didn't make us sick either.

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

The Black Lung

We woke up yesterday morning to the lovely town of Datong. Datong sucks big time. It's a coal mining town. The air is thick, blackish, and it smells like fireworks burning and concentrated car fumes, to say the least. And, it is colder than Beijing. Today's high is -2 degrees Celsius, with an overnight low of -16C.

Despite Datong being a complete hole, there are two incredible ancient sites nearby. We booked a tour through CITS, the Chinese Information Tourist Service. They tend to over charge foreigners, but in this case it was the best option to see both options in one day (we wanted to get the hell out of Datong). There were four of us--Yvette (the Aussie girl who we were rooming with), Luke from South Africa, and the two of us. Our "tour bus" was actually a taxi. We drove about 2 hours to the Xuankong Si, the Hanging Monastery. It is an incredible structure built more than 1400 years ago into the side of a cliff face in a canyon. We had the whole place to ourselves (no one else was stupid enough to be out in that weather-it was probably -10C out there). The monastery is a series of pagodas linked with wooden bridges, stairways, and narrow corridors, and many shrines to Buddha. In one room, the Three Religions Hall, there was a statue of Buddha, Laotzu, and Confucius sitting side by side (the three major religions of China today). It was incredible. While we were up there, it started snowing quite heavily with huge soft snowflakes floating down. We were especially haggled by the touts at the bottom, since there were only four of us for them to hassle. I did buy some yin/yang Buddhist bell things, which Nige bargained for a cheap price.

Next we headed back through Datong and on to Yungang Shika, the Cloud Ridge Caves. On the way, everyone in the car fell asleep except us-that includes the driver. I saw his eyes get heavy and start to close through the rearview mirror. Nige tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Hey. No sleep!" He nodded in agreement, rolled down the window and lit a cigarette. The smoke was better than dying. We gave him some lollies we had left over from Jackson's birthday party, which he seemed to enjoy, especially the Redskins. He wouldn't take the lollypop though-he just laughed at it, probably because it's for kids.

The Cloud Ridge Caves are just outside Datong. They are a series of shallow caves stretching over 1 kilometre and contain over 50,000 Buddhist statues carved into the sandstone mountain. It was amazing how detailed they were, chipped slowly out of the rock between 460-494 AD. There were tiny Buddhas, medium Buddhas, large Buddhas, and a few huge Buddhas over 15m high. We could see a lot of influences from Indian Hindu dieties like Shiva and Vishnu. The Wei Dynasty used the caves as a place to pray for rain. They were truly magnificent, despite the damage from the coal mine that is literally right across the road.

Arriving back in ghetto Datong, we ate some lunch at Mr. Lee's California Beef Noodles, U.S.A., a Chinese fast food type chain we've seen a few times. The logo of Mr. Lee has a striking resemblance to Colonel Sanders. It was okay, but greasy in true fast-food fashion. The food was missing a few of the 11 secret herbs and spices.

We said farewell to Luke and Yvette and went to get the hell out of Datong. It is a 20 hour train ride to Xi'an, our next stop. We had booked hard sleepers, hearing that they are suitable. However, we had different opinions once we got on the way. There are open cabins with 2 3-tiered bunks across from each other. I had the very top one, giving me both claustrophobia and vertigo simultaneously. Nigel had the very bottom one, which is shared by just about everyone as a seat while they're not sleeping. Nige trekked off to find out about an upgrade. It would have been tolerable, but smoking is allowed in these carriages, and our lungs were already filled with the nastiness of Datong, layered on top of the pollution from both Shanghai and Beijing. Nige got us an upgrade to soft sleepers. They are closed off cabins, with 4 beds each (2 bunks). Although we both had the top bunk, there was plenty of room for us to sit up comfortably and spread our stuff around, breathe, and sleep. It was not too bad, although a bit stuffy. The guys below us were quiet. If anything, we kept them awake with our coughing efforts to expunge the crap in our lungs.

The 20 hours passed not too slowly, and we arrived in Xi'an around noon. Despite the foot of snow on the ground, it is a bit warmer--only -2C today. We found a hotel near the train station and headed out to find a post office. The streets and sidewalks are so icy, covered with about an inch of compacted snow and ice, so we skated around Xi'an. Xi'an is a pretty nice city, although almost anything would be better than Datong. We walked along the streets, full of shops and restaurants, had some dinner and found an internet cafe (where the internet use is dirt cheap, but drinks cost over 30 Yuan).

Monday, December 20, 2004

Taxi Trouble

This morning we took a taxi to Beijing Central Railway Station to catch our train to Datong. When we tried to buy tickets, we found out that the Datong train actually left from Beijing Eastern Railway Station (the girl at the hostel was incorrect). We caught another taxi there, but just missed our 10:10 am train. So, we bought tickets for the 1:40 p.m. train and settled into the lovely waiting lounge for a few hours. We were bummed, but what can you do? Nige had a beer for breakfast, and we shared some instant noodles. We tried to get into the "fancy" waiting room, but since we only had hard seat tickets (the lowest class of tickets, and the only thing available on this train), we weren't allowed without paying, so we kicked it with the locals. The waiting room wasn't too bad, but there were cigarette butts, trash, and copious amounts of spit all over the cement floor. We had plenty of stares here too. We were definitely the only Western people we saw the entire time, including on the train. We have created our own little game called "Spot the Whitey" which we play while waiting for transport or walking around the streets. Although it was a long wait, there was a bit of entertainment. There were paralysed beggars sliding around on the floor on a piece of cardboard, headbutting people in the knees until they gave him some money (amazingly, he skipped right past us). At one point the stares shifted away from us to 2 rival bums, engaging in a bum fight over territory. It was short-lived when the security came and took one away. There was a small girl about 4 or 5 years old, going from group to group asking for money in a little song. She was cute, but filthy. I really wanted to give her some money, but I knew her mother was probably just around the corner to take it from her. The guy next to us gave her a pocket full of pistachios.

When it was time to board the train, you would have thought there was a sighting of Chairman Mao out on the platform, as everyone rushed, pushed, shoved and collided their way through the gate. This is something we've gotten used to, as any queue may have designated structures, but the people just jump in front of you and shove their way to the front, even if you're in the middle of a purchase at a counter. The Chinese people in general give the apperance of being very impatient. Having said this, there is no aggression or foul language because this is just the way it is (although we tend to get a bit annoyed). I didn't walk through the gate to the platform so much as get carried like in a mosh pit.

The 6 hour trip to Datong wasn't too bad. The hard seats aren't actually hard. They're like Greyhound bus seats, but there is little leg room and they don't recline. There were 2 seats facing 2 others across a small table, and 3 and 3 on the other side of the aisle. I sat across from 2 old guys and a mum with a 2 year old who we weren't sure if he/she was a boy or a girl, but he/she was cute and slept on the table the entire time. Nigel sat next to a young girl called Shung Li, a Chinese girl from Datong, and across from a young Chinese couple. The trip could have been a lot worse, as smoking is allowed in hard seat carriages, but no one around us was smoking. There was however ear-splitting Disney-like Chinese music blaring from the speakers the whole time.

When we reached Datong, our bad luck with taxis continued for the day. It was easily -10 degrees Celsius out if not colder. We got into a taxi and pointed to the hostel we wanted to go to. He took us to some building closed off with a gate. We think he was trying to tell us the hostel was closed, but it may not have even been the right place because it was on a different street. So, we pointed to another hostel but he seemed not to understand. After several attempts, we just pointed to the train station. After more driving, he took us down a dark, deserted dodgy alley, at which point we shouted "No! Please turn around!." I won't even describe the images that went through my mind. He pulled back out onto the road and down the next alley, which turned out to be a monument we had on the map in our book. Since we wanted a hostel, not a monument, we pointed at the train station again and Nigel kept saying "You. Take us Here. Now. Drive. Go." We ended up completely in the opposite direction at another tourist site. We finally managed to get him to drive away (almost being side-swiped by an oncoming taxi), and had him drop us off at a fancy hotel we had passed earlier. We were just glad to get out of that taxi. The staff there was helpful but we couldn't afford it, despite Nigel's fantastic bargaining skills. He's becoming quite the expert at it. We got in a different taxi and pointed to the train station. He took us directly to the hostel we wanted to go to after finding out the first one was closed. So, 1 hour and 40 Yuan later, we checked into the hotel directly adjacent to the train station.

It was a cheap place, but the showers were communal stalls, divided by low tiled walls and no doors. The water pipes ran along the cement walls and ceilings. The lighting was very dim, which was probably a good thing. It reminded me of photos I have seen of Nazi gas chambers. Eerie. But, they were hot, and we went to bed after chatting over a beer with the nice girl from Melbourne who we shared a room with.

Sunday, December 19, 2004

The Great Wall

Today we had an early start. The tour bus picked us up at 6:50am at our hostel. After picking a few others up around Beijing we set out on our trip to the Great Wall. The drive to our drop off point was meant to be around 3 hours, but as the roads were so icy we drove slow and it took nearly 4.5 hours. We saw the results of a few trucks that had slid off the road and even saw an accident happen in front of us. A guy in a mini-mini van honked as he passed us on the freeway and when he was about 150 metres in front of us he started to slide across the road. He slid right then over corrected and slid left, sliding into the median strip, bounced, and the van flipped on its side and finished in the middle of the road. Of course we drove around it and kept going. As we passed the driver was trying to climb out, I guess he was OK.

Arriving at Jinshanling (a small village) in one piece we unloaded and set out on a 30 minute walk to the Great Wall. We were led by some local women from Jinshanling and a few old guys with snow shovels. The hike was up a single trail through a valley covered in fresh snow. Absolutely beautiful. To get on to the wall we had to pay 30 Yuan each ($5 AU). We climbed some stairs and there we were on the Great Wall of China. The section of the wall we were on ran along the top of the mountains, mostly unrenovated. The view was amazing and we took a heap of photos throughout the day. The 10K hike led us along the wall to Simatai, another small village along the wall. About 3 inches of snow covered the wall making it slow going at times. We climbed up stairs, down stairs, crawled up extremely steep stairs, slid down flatter sections, ascended towers, and fell on our butts only twice. Whoever said the Chinese were short were wrong as some of the steps are about 2 feet high. (Kel was at a major disadvantage here). The day could not have been better, we actually got some fresh air although the wind was a bit chilly at times. At a guess it had to be about -5 Celsius, not including the wind chill factor, but clear and sunny. Our new (already falling apart) down jackets served us well and we were actually hot while hiking. If we got lost we could have followed the trail of down feathers escaping from our crap jackets back to Jinshanling. It was too cold to stop for the picnic we had planned, instead settled for a (frozen) Snickers to keep us going. It was so cold that the water in the tube from our Camelbaks froze. We had to bend and crack it like a glow stick to get some flow. The hem of Kel's pants were frozen stiff and she couldn't roll them up.

We were surprised at the colour of the older sections of wall, it had a distinct reddish tinge not like the grey that you see in all the photos. The first part of our walk was renovated about 25 years ago with perfect steps. After about 2 kms the wall had not been renovated and we walked along and through collapsed sections, and divert off the wall at times to get past badly crumbling parts. For us this was the best part as it truly reflected the age of the Wall. It wouldn't be the safest hike at any time and the snow and ice certainly didn't help. We could see why so many people leave with injuries (or die) after hiking the Wall. Kel thought she would be one of these people after nearly being blown off the wall by the wind a couple of times.

The wall is about 3 metres wide with the 'castle-esque' type sides running all along. On the Mongols' side there are small rounded hatches every few metres. Probably to roll boulders down or pour hot oil on the attacking forces, or something barbaric like that. Certain sections of the wall were flat bricks even if the section was steep enough for stairs. (This was the sliding part). The watch towers we very regularly spaced, but closer together than we thought. The views from some of the towers are amazing. We really were in the middle of nowhere and thought 'Who the hell would want to climb these mountains just to invade a country?' Kel says if she was a Mongol she would have taken one look at the stairs and said "Hell no! I'm going home."

The 'friendly' village ladies from Jinshanling followed us for half of the journey and then their true motives were revealed. "You buy book, we farmers, very poor." We had been warned about this earlier and were told not to pay more than 30 Yuan for it. Her initial price was 520 Yuan!! All this for a coffee table book that had about 5 different languages but very little English. We said 'we can't read this, there is no English.' She then said 'Yes Engrish' and pointed to "Der Grosse Wall"-A paragraph written in German. We felt bad for them but didn't want the book, so we gave them 11 Yuan for some postcards that we didn't want either.

The final section of the wall near Simatai is newly renovated for the quick trip tourist. We reached a river where the wall stops and begins again on the other side. We wondered what type of contraption had been there originally to get across. We had to pay 5 Yuan to cross a suspension bridge (the only way to cross-What if we didn't have 10 Yuan? Hike back 10 kms to Jinshanling?). We hiked through 2 more watch towers and had the option to walk another kilometre to Simatai or (pay to) take the flying fox back over the river leaving us with a 2 minute walk. Only fools wouldn't take the flying fox at this point. So we did, bringing us to ponder after the fact how reliable the 'Made in China' caribiners are.

After a quick cup of tea we boarded the bus for the ride back to Beijing. After freezing all day on the wall we thawed and then roasted in the bus. Conditions were better and the trip back was a bit faster but still worrying after this morning's trip, especially in the dark. At the toilet break I asked the driver if he had ever slid out on the ice before. He replied 'This is my first time driving on ice.' Thankfully we didn't know this on the outbound journey. He was a young guy with a thumping stereo in the bus. The radio was tuned to 'Hits FM, the international station' playing a mix of Chinese pop, and 'today's western' hits, which apparently include Justin Timberlake, Nelly, Alicia Keyes, Dannii Minogue (Kylie's sister, for all you Yankees), Hanson (Mmm Bop), Wilson Phillips and Debbie Gibson.

We pretty much went straight to bed when we got back.

What a fantastic experience!

-N

Saturday, December 18, 2004

A Bus to Buddha

Today we had a late start. We took the subway to a stop, then looked for the bus we needed. After asking a few people (who didn't charge us), we finally found the bus stop and got repeatedly harrassed by a guy trying to give us ride in his dodgy van. But we patiently waited for the bus and had a long ride out to Tanzhe Si, the Cudrania Pool Temple. It is the oldest and largest Buddhist temple in Beijing, up in the mountains, built in the third century. It was a beautiful ride up the mountains full of snow. The temple was a beautiful place to walk around. We were the only people left on the bus by the time it reached the temple, and weren't quite sure where to go. We started walking along a path, but ended up amid some pagodas with monks living in them. Oops, wrong turn. We did manage to find the right path, and spent the afternoon walking among the different pagodas of the temple. We both lit some incense for Buddha. It was freezing out, probably at least -4 degrees Celcius.

After the long ride back on the bus and subway, we stopped for dinner in the food court of a shopping mall (Chinese food court) and bought some groceries for the next day. All in all it was a slow day, but nice.

Friday, December 17, 2004

Chainsaw Wielding Scottish Bear In Beijing

Warning: a grizzly bear of Scottish origin has been let loose on the streets of Beijing. Last seen at the Jade Hostel, 5 Zhide Beixiang, Beijing. The bear is considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached. May appear tame during daylight hours with a light Scottish accent and polite manner; however, do not be deceived.

Okay, so we thought Garlic Man was bad...We shared a room last night with a Scotsman who snored like you wouldn't believe. Honestly, he soundled like a grizzly bear with a chainsaw. We got NO SLEEP AT ALL!!! We even put our iPod on all night, but not even our heaviest rock music could save us. There was also a young Chinese girl in the room with us, and all three of us were awake all night. Nigel even started throwing heavy items on the wood floor and shouting out the dude's name to stop him from snoring, but to no avail. First thing this morning, we changed rooms (so did the Chinese girl) so hopefully we'll be well rested tomorrow.

We set out to find some breakfast and wandered through a pedestrian mall with lots of Western stores and Chinese clothing stores. To get to the Summer Palace we took 2 metro trains and one bus. Built in the 18th century for the royal imperial court to escape the summer heat in the Forbidden City, it is a huge park of temples, gardens, pavilions and a huge lake. It was gorgeous. Needing a snack after all of our walking, we decided to try something new. I (Kel) saw a man eating a mini loaf of what looked like sweet bread, and decided to try it. The only English on the package said "Fneshness in evenyday, itis the best choice heal thiness." This Engrish is really cracking us up. The closest thing we can relate it to is a McDonald's hamburger bun (no seeds)-bread, but slightly sweet. Except this had a slightly toxic finish to the palate, bringing to mind paint thinners. So we got some Chips Ahoy cookies to wash it down with.

We managed to catch a bus directly back to Tienanmen Square to try to catch a glimpse of Chairman Mao in all his dead glory, but it was closed, so we wandered through the square again, watching people fly kites and dodging the same touts we saw yesterday. We went back to the mall from this morning and wandered through the back alley market stalls. We ate a Chinese burrito and a Chinese taco for dinner. Though this image sounds revolting, they were delicious. Then we both spent some hard cash on some quality down jackets (we hadn't thawed out since we stepped off the train yesterday morning). Mine is 'Happy Every Day Sort' brand, complete with the stylish fur-lined hood that all the Chinese girls wear. Nigel's is a North Face jacket, actually spelled correctly, unlike the one we saw earlier spelled something liked "Glorwe-Tek." I also bought a handbag and Nige bought a Chinese character scroll. Sum total: AU$70. Bargain. And now we're warm.

On the way back to the hostel, we went through the Donghuamen Yeshi Night Market. We had a huge array of scrumptous kebab snacks to choose from: snake (2 varieties), snails, frogs, grasshoppers, silk worms, centipedes, scorpions, tarantulas, sea horses, sea stars, testicles of various animals, shredded brains (spaghetti style), cow stomach, intestines, sparrows (de-feathered), crickets, and the boring lamb, chicken and beef. We decided to let caution to the wind and had a fried banana. Amazingly, Kel did NOT vomit.

We have some photos to upload, but we're having some trouble, so stay tuned...

Snow White, Red Square

We booked a soft seat (as opposed to a Hard Seat, Hard sleeper, or Soft Sleeper) Guaranteeing us a seat and no smoking. The train was actually pretty luxurious. We had consecutive numbered tickets but the seats were not together so I had to negotioate with another passenger via hand signals and bad charades to ask if we could swap seats. He finally got the message and I thanked him in Mandarin (one of the two phrases we have mastered), he replied "No Problem" in perfectly clear English. Thanks!

The train ride was comfortable and we actually got sopme sleep in fits and spurts, despite the fact that the lights were on the whole time. We sat across from Lu, a Phd student from Beijing. He spoke very good english and between our Lonely Planet and his mini atlas we showed where we all came from. It was nice having some extra company and he was extremely gracious when we arrived in Beijing by buying us a map so we didn't have to dig through our bags for the cash. Thanks Lu!

To make a long story short the hostel we had in mind didn't actually exist any more so we walked a bit turned around, went through the staff only area of a fancy hotel, got a recommendation for the Jade Hostel and took a taxi back in the same direction we had been walking. Oh yeah it was snowing!!

Little did we know, it was Beijing's first day of snow for the winter. We were going to have a hot shower and take a nap, but decided against it. Walking around Beijing in the falling snow was so beautiful. We went to Tianenmen Square, saw the Mao Zedong Mausoleum (didn't go in yet) and The Forbidden City, built in 1421 for the residence of the Ming and Qing Dynasty Emperors. It was freezing cold, but so much fun! We were practically celebrities in Tianenmen Square as several groups of people approached us to be in their photos. Famous again. I think we may have seen 10 other Westerners the entire day.

One thing we are getting used to in China is being approached by endless 'touts.' These are people who make eye contact with us and rush right at us to either sell us some crap (postcards, kites, guided tours, Beijing 2008 Olympic paraphernalia, misspelled clothing rip-offs etc) or to lead us to a certain store. We had countless offers by younger Chinese people to see their Student Art Exhibition. They dragged us into conversation by first asking where we were from, how long we are staying in China, do we like China, and what are we doing for the rest of the day. After about 15 of these, we noticed a pattern forming, and just started telling them, "Yes, we have seen it already." This seems to work rather well, and suddenly they are not interested in us any more.

We went to a nice restaurant for dinner (paid $5 to get stuffed instead of $3) then headed back to hit the sack.

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Are you eating the paste Ralph?

This morning we woke up a bit tired because we shared a room with Garlic Man. This guy in our bunk room totally reeked like rotten garlic. At one point I got my Hawaiian Tropic sunblock stick out, took a chunk off and stuck some up my nose. We nearly choked from the thick garlic air.

We ate breakfast at the same place on the corner from our hostel--potsticker things, and an "egg cake" which was a delicious omelette with green onions. We managed to do some laundry, though whether or not it is clean we don't know, as all of the writing on the washing machine was in Chinese. We then packed our things up at the hostel and set out on a quest to find a post office. We wandered into another huge shopping mall and sat on the top floor in the food court overlooking the People's Square to write a few Christmas cards. After pointing at the Chinese characters for "post office" to several people, we finally found it. The cards we had to mail had no adhesive glue on them, so we weren't quite sure what to do until we walked into the post office and saw a pot of paste with a paint brush in it, just like at pre-school.

Walking back to the hostel, we passed SongSong Massage, where we treated ourselves to a 20 minute chair massage for $5. It was great, but they used so much force that we're now bruised and feeling sore. Finally managed to get a taxi to the train station where we battled the masses of people again and easily made it to the correct train for the 12 hour trip to Beijing.

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

To Hell and Back

Today we decided to start of the day a bit cheaper and went to the corner restaurant for breakfast. We went in and approached the counter where there were pictures of all the dishes. The girl immediately handed us the english menu. The restaurant was neat and tidy and the staff had an almost McDonalds type uniform on. I dont know the name of it but it has a smiley face as a logo. We sat down and started to read the menu. There were noodle dishes, rice dishes, duck blood dishes and drinks. The descriptions were vague at best so I decided to just point at the pictures on the board. We chose a serve of steamed dumplings, potstickers and a bread type looking thing. The bread came first. It was covered with sesame seeds that as soon as you touched them dispersed themselves all over the table. It was quite sweet, and hard as a rock, but not bad. The potstickers were next which were great, nothing scary here. Kel had a bit of trouble with the type of chopsticks they gave us, or she just woke up a bit spastic. The steamed dumplings came in the traditional steaming vessel and again were great. We survived breakfast.

Now full of energy we walked up Fuzhou road to the Shanghai Museum. It is built to represent an ancient Chinese ding vessel.....yep! The museum contained traditional calligraphy, jade carvings, ceramics, official seals (the red stamps you see on chinese documents and art) and coins. We spent a few hours strolling around here and enjoyed the seals and calligraphy the most. It is here we saw the highest concentration of 'whities' besides our stop at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. As we left I waited at the front of the building while Kel visited the bathroom again. As I waited I was approached by three chinese teens who asked if I would be in a photo with them. Doing so I felt quite famous. When Kel returned another couple approached us and the guy asked if we would pose with his girlfriend, which we did. Smiling at his camera we noticed that it was suspiciously tilted at Kel. We were pretty sure his girfriend wasn't in the picture at all. Taking a short rest in the Peoples Square we were offered countless number of kites, black with flouro orange bats on them. Boi Yeow (NO THANKS!)

Next stop the Pudong New Area across the river from where we were staying at the Bund. To get there we took the Bund Tourist Tunnel. We boarded the small pod like vessel, a 'futuristic' train type thing. Now, Shanghai used to be the Opium capital of the world, and judging by this experience there must be some heavy users still about. The tunnel was lit with flashing lights spiralling forward as we moved along....at a snail's pace. Accompanying this psychadelic experience was a fragmented english narration describing what we were 'experiencing.' We moved through a star field, the earths crust, melting magma, fossils, paradise through to HELL!! In hell apparently there are spiderman, a clown and a funny smiling guy, depicted here by those stupid fan blown waving figures (the kind you see out the front of used car dealerships). Safely making it through Hell we emerged from the ocean and a meteor shower to stop at our destination.

First stop the worlds biggest shopping mall EVER!! (according to us). Walking through the department store with more shoes than a shoe factory. The main brand being 'No Name'. Kel was harassed by a young lady trying to sell her a handbag which was offered at 55% off the original price. Kel bartered by stealth which involves not bartering at all. She didn't want the bag. From the Sony Digital Dream World we saw a beautiful sunset overlooking Starbucks, the river and central Shanghai.

The Jinmao building in the Pudong area is a highrise that has been built to the traditional specifications of a Pagoda. The Hyatt Hotel starts at the 54th floor and in the lobby has great views back over Shaghai.

We decided to get our train tickets to Beijing from the Shanghai Train Station. OK, so we found all the people. There were masses of people sitting in front of the station with their luggage waiting to catch a train somewhere. At a quick guess maybe 3000 people. Surprisingly we found it easy to get our tickets.

Returning to our hostel we had dinner and a drink on the top floor. Australian beef burger a Carlsberg and a Pina Colada. Delicious.
-N

Monday, December 13, 2004

Toilet Attempts: 6 Toilet Failures:2

Our first full day in Shanghai has been filled with many exciting things.

Went to Old Shanghai and walked around. Ratio of bicycles to cars: 300:1. Actually, I think we may have seen maybe 4 cars all morning. The people live on these narrow streets and closely packed houses and sell their produce right outside their homes. Peeking inside, we could see tiny one-room apartments. Everyone hangs their washing out from their windows. Their kitchen sinks are literally on the street. Despite all this, the stench was not there as we expected it to be. That's not to say that Shanghai doesn't have a distinct odour, it just wasn't as bad as you'd expect looking at the streets. And we got less stares than when in the more touristy areas. A little boy of about 7 years old was the only one to approach us. He looked to be on his way home from school for lunch. He was wearing shorts, a tan collared shirt and red scarf tied around his neck, boyscout style. He was carrying a composition book. 'Hello, it's very nice to see you' he said. After saying hi back, he looked me in the face with a full bright smile and said 'Do you like dog?' Terrified that he was going to offer me an afternoon snack, I said 'No,' to which he replied 'Then what do you like?' I had no answer. He asked where we were from, but didn't know Australia or kangaroos, but said he was from Shanghai. Then Nige said, 'This is our first day in Shanghai.' At first he looked confused so Nige repeated it. His face lit up and he said 'Oh, happy birthday!' He said it again a few times, then said 'Goodbye.' As he walked away, he turned back and yelled 'Happy Birthday!' again.

We then found the Yu Gardens Bazaar area with lots of tourist shops, lots of saying 'No.' When we say 'tourist,' 90% of them are Chinese. We found a large restaurant (or 'Shanghai Designated Tourist Distributed Restaveraw' as the window read) and decided to give it a go. We worked our way through the crowds, and bought noodles and fried rice (SAFE). It was good, and we did great with the chopsticks. We were the only westerners among at least 200 people.

Went into the Yu Gardens, built in the 16th century by the Pan family, rich Ming dynasty officials. They were damaged in the Opium War in 1842 and by the French, but are now restored. They are 'traditional' Chinese gardens, and absolutely beautiful. Cobblestone paths, various tea rooms and pagoda-like buildings, and pond swarming with genetically modified koi. They were massive. And Nige discovered they don't like Westerners, as they came up to the surface of the water for everyone but him. Throughout the gardens there were caves and tunnels linking various pathways and gorgeous lanterns with paintings on the paper sides. Since it is autumn, the trees were orange, red and yellow.

We then went to buy tickets for the circus, the Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe. The theatre just happens to be in the same building as the Ritz Carlton--thank GOD!!! Nige had to go number 2, and there was no better place. My previous attempt at a public toilet that day ended in utter failure. I paid 5 jiao to get in, only to be called back and given a few pieces of tissue by the man at the front. I walked in and there was a trough along each wall. 'Cubicles' were separated by partitions no higher than my hips, and no doors. The women all just drop their pants and go for it. They don't use paper either, so I'm assuming my blond hair and green eyes gave me away to the man at the entrance. Well, despite the fact that I was busting, stage fright won and I couldn't go. That and the fact that everyone was staring at me (blond hair fails me again). So by this time, the Ritz is like heaven to us. Nige even took some of the paper because it was like 10-ply. We're rationing it.

While waiting for the circus to start, we went to find beer. Unfortunately, the only place we could find nearby was 'Malone's American Cafe'--started by Canadians of course. It was a bar with gridiron on the TV and the largest selection of burgers on the menu I have ever seen anywhere. But we did drink Chinese beer, Tsing Tao and Tiger. Very satisfying. Unfortunately again, there were a few American businessmen at the next table totally perving on the hot young waitresses. One man was between 40 and 45 years old, the other was at least 50. They were total sleeze. So once again, I wanted to claim the Maple Leaf country as my home.

The circus was a great night. I think Nige and I were 2 of only a handful of Westerners. There was lots of juggling, flexing, balancing and a bit of magic. There were 2 young girls who completely contorted their bodies with their flexibility. One girl balanced on one hand on a pole for at least 10 minutes while doing stands in various positions. The other girl balanced chandalier-type things while twisting and balancing. At one point, she had one on each foot, in each hand, her forehead and one in her mouth. It was amazing, and all performed to the soundtrack of panpipe versions of 80s love songs.

After a long day, we fell into bed exhausted. But, the joys of paying for cheap bunk rooms surfaced that night when 3 people stumbled into the room after a long night at the pub. They reeked of alcohol, cigarettes, and garlic. Dave, who sounded English, would not turn the light off as he was already in bed. The two girls told him he should have to get up since he was in a bed at floor-level rather than a top bunk. He said no way, they should turn it off. A few minutes later, the light was still on. Dave said, in an American style accent, 'Turn the light off mother-fucker.' Still, the light stayed on. A few minutes later, 'Turn the fucking light off.' All of this in a light, giggling humour. The one girl still not yet passed out replied 'I don't respond to 'turn the fucking light out.'' Finally, someone got up and turned it off. But then the girl giggled and said 'I'm not tired yet Dave,' but he just farted in reply. Gotta love hostels.

In the middle of the night, I got up to use the toilet (surprise surprise). As we had been out all day, and in a single room the night before, this was my first trip to the shared toilets. I slithered out of my sleeping bag, found my flip flops in the dark and went down the hall. There were about 6 empty stalls, complete with flushing toilets and stalls WITH doors. But, oh my gosh! NO TOILET PAPER! So, I trudged back to the room, found my flashlight, found the roll of toilet paper I had in my bag, trudged back to the loo and was wide awake by the time I lay back in my cozy sleeping bag. I wish we could have afforded the Ritz.
-K

Sydney to Shanghai

We have reached our first destination Shanghai, CHINA. We spent 2 days in Sydney with my sister Toni and her family. Our timing worked out well as we were able to be there for Jackson's 4th birthday party. It was a fun day with Buzz Lightyear being the theme of the day. There was a Toy Story jumping castle and 15 3-5 year olds, lots of candy, lots of energy. The young ones certainly tired the adults out and we were in bed by 9:30 which was good because Jack wakes up at 6 most mornings. It was nice to spend a few days with family before we left.

On Sunday Mike and Jack dropped us at the airport and we were on our way to China. We were still on our way to China 5 hours later as our incoming flight had been delayed. The flight was about 10 hours but it didnt feel too bad as Kellianne and I are used to the 15 hour Aus to USA trip. The comfort level was great as we had the new Airbus with extra room and individual tv screens in the back of the seat in front of us. We got to Shanghai at about 9pm local time, about 2.5 hours later than scheduled. We got through customs and immigration without any trouble. I was trying so hard not to cough as I have a chest cold at the moment. I didn't want to get hauled of to the quarantine rooms and tested for SARS. (no I dont have SARS ....yet)(Kel may have Malaria already as the one mozzie in our room last night did manage to find her).

Anyway the second we walked out of immigration it started, 'you want Taxi?' Making our way through the Taxi offers we changed some money, bought a map and boarded the no 5 bus to The Peoples Square, in Shanghai. The bus was nice, it was a typical 'coach.' The driver was a little crazy with lots of honking at, well, nothing, and the regular habit of sudden brake checks. (yes we have whiplash too)
Arriving at our stop we decided to get a cab, well that decision sucked as the cabbie didn't know the road we wanted to go to. We decided to walk. Not really knowing where we were were we managed to find the road we wanted. Shanghai at night is fairly quiet considering the population. There were a few people walking, some cycling, construction in progress, spitting police officers, and a group of 6 Military dudes out for a late night march. There was a group of 4 girls hand in hand that passed us and then were whistled at by the group of 4 guys going the other way. (guys are the same the world over)

We reached the Captain Hostel at around midnight (3am Sydney time) only to find our beds were taken due to our late arrival. I managed to negotiate a cheaper rate for a twin room for the night which worked out well as we could just spread out our stuff and pass out. We woke this morning to cars, horns, clocktower bells, bicycle bells and a constant whistle (it sounded like a raver in full swing). The source of the whistle turned out to be the policeman directing traffic and bicycles just down the street from us. From our room we could see the Huangpu river and the Oriental Pearl tower.....just. Shanghai is pretty smoggy this morning but maybe that is everyday, we will find out tomorrow. Kel reckons it should be called Shang-High as sometimes it smells like pot, among other things not to be mentioned.(ok, shit)
This morning we wanted to have a more traditional chinese breakfast but the only thing we could find on the MEMU was French breakfast, English breakfast and SANDWOICHES. (yes we have found evidence of Engrish already). So we went for the English breakfast and swore that tomorrow we will find a traditional chinese breakfast. Failing that McDonalds is down the road, but we swore that it is for emergencies only. Oh yeah Starbucks is in the same building.
-N

Wednesday, December 08, 2004

Zen and the art of packing for 12 months


Packing Mess
Originally uploaded by wapstar.
Yes this is the current mess of mid-packing. Most of the stuff we are taking is in this photo....somewhere. Our jackets are missing from this photo, but we will definitely be needing them when we get there. The weather forecast for our day of arrival in Shanghai is 16C, thats ten degrees warmer than Beijing. I think we will be making some quick purchases of down jackets at the markets.

I have also booked our first nights accomodation in Shanghai at the Captain Hostel. I tried to reserve a room online but the form kept wanting me to book in the year 2010 or 2013, so I got on the phone instead. The girl was quiet but spoke english very well. I just hope there isn't too many Nigels booking in on the 12th and we loose our beds.
~N

Monday, December 06, 2004

Brrrr...

We were watching a documentary the other day--the guy was in Tibet in the winter. I think we'll need some extra layers. We're off to purchase a few fleece items in the hopes that they will save us from wind burn and frostbite. The current high in Beijing (our first destination after a stop in Shanghai) is ZERO degrees celcius--brrr.

Sunday, December 05, 2004

No Turning Back Now

Our trip has now been christened--we had our "going-away-drinks," a smallish gathering at The Edinburgh hotel for drinks in the beer garden. The day ended in a few broken glasses and lots of spilled beer, officially ending a great afternoon.

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Unemployed and Loving it!

Yesterday was our last day of work. So now that we're slipping out of the daily grind, it's starting to feel like we'll be taking off soon. Unfortunately it is close to the holidays & school's out for summer, so on all of our errand-running today at the mall & around the city we were accompanied by half of Adelaide. But things are getting checked off of our list.

We also just picked up our airline tickets from the travel agent. Well, "tickets" is a bit of an understatement. They're more like little novels.

Now I just hope that there are no floods, fires, earthquakes, thieves before the 10th of December, when our travel insurance kicks in.