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China 2017

November 2017
A 12-day adventure by Johanne Read more
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  • TravelerChina 2017
    Day 6

    Last Morning in Pingyao

    November 9, 2017 in China ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    We are going off for last walk around the city walls before returning to the station. A less good night's sleep; too warm again and the bed is a bit firm, according to Marina one lot of guests each demanded 8 pillows - so they could line them up and sleep on them. Breakfast was slightly better today - we found the omelet man. A walk around the walls and reduced sleep - I will need to set an alarm so we don't sleep past Xi'an. A last look at the hotel too - the music is off again, I wonder if it drives the staff nuts - the equivalent of constant Chopin or something. I confess that the appeal is wearing thin for me.Read more

  • TravelerChina 2017
    Day 6

    Last Observations in Pingyao

    November 9, 2017 in China ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    "The police will do neat police, at neat pace, three in a row, in twos". Sign outside Pingyao police station... Part of a whole series of information about how the police will behave. There is a similar set for the fire station and also because the whole town is largely wood on brick bases there are reminders that "fire watch is on everyone's head" on lots of buildings and at junctions.

    We have walked stretches of the wall inside and out. Out by the south gate there is a large park where people do Tai Chi, fan dances (must be something different in China!) and other exercises. Today is looked like teenagers from school doing some sort of PE.

    Inside the walls large sections are still clay rather than brick, and cheerfully, at various points where there is nowhere to run but into people's houses, there are sections which tell you that it is dangerous & do not stop. And on the opposite side of the road there is often a large heap of clay, so the warnings are not scaremongering.
    The road just inside the wall is full of winding alleys, ambling dogs and of course people appearing out of nowhere on those sneaky electric scooters. So it is interesting in its own right. I popped into a small shop and bought unidentifiable snacks for the train. One might be fried chicken flavour pringles.. But who knows...

    Eventually we came to South Street, one of the four main roads (guess what the others are called) that cross the town. We turned down to head back towards our hotel and ran straight into a procession of some kind - wedding we think, although there was no obvious bride. Though after the dancing people and decorated carts there were a number of dark cars with red ribbons on them she could have been in one of those.

    FYI according to Marina the shops that front onto the main streets in the central pedestrian core cost around 100,000¥ per year. There must be a fortune to be made from souvenir hawking otherwise they couldn't command that price. South Street and the others sell principally lacquer boxes (often subject to import restrictions), carved chunks of glass (or nuts or something that appeared to be a dried potato... (When carved it produced a white bead too)), and what look like old ornaments: Buddhas, Maos, mahjong, old coins, and other random brass objects. Probably all brand new and carefully aged somewhere... I will think of these stalls every time I look at my little brass Mao.

    Finally a fridge magnet was purchased along with a "burnt cheese" tart for me and a baked apple for dad and we set off back to the hotel... And ran into the wedding party, where I glimpsed an elaborately decorated young woman in one of the cars.

    Back to the hotel to await our lift to the station. Whilst waiting we heard what sounded like fireworks?? . When Marina arrived we asked her about the procession - yes it was a wedding, there were a number in Pingyao today because it is a lucky day in the Chinese lunar calendar. This also accounted for the noise firecrackers to celebrate the wedding. Apparently the are no longer allowed in big cities but out here in Pingyao it is fine.
    Last car ride here; this was another hair-raising ride through new Pingyao. The new city is being expanded at the rate of knots and a big new attraction is being built - Water Town, not an aquatic theme park but a vinegar production tour. At the station we were guided to the security barrier - there is x-ray baggage scanning at all stations and carefully initial ticket/passport checks just to get in. You get checked again before boarding the train.    Read more

  • TravelerChina 2017
    Day 6

    2nd Class Train Travel

    November 9, 2017 in China ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    As Pingyao is a small stop it wasn't possible to get first class tickets first this leg... They are all booked by through travellers from Beijing. So we are in the busier 2 class this time. Smaller seats they squeeze in 5 to a row, 3 on one side and 2 on the other. Fortunately we are on a two and I have a window although the air pollution means nothing much can be seen.

    At the station we were carefully marshalled to the platform and once there we were all stood behind a line 2m back from the platform edge, with a guard patrolling to make sure we were in the right place. Each carriage position is marked on the platform.

    From the window you get so many intriguing glimpses; a trafficless country road that winds through trees but has a red banner across it with what is probably a socialist slogan on it.. Maybe it is the biggest road in the area... Maybe it is keep out message... Who knows.

    The landscape we are travelling through seems to be a plateau cut by intermittent canyons. There could be hills quite close but the awful air quality prevents you seeing them. You can taste the dust and something metallic in the air every time we stop at a station.    Read more

  • TravelerChina 2017
    Day 6

    Xi'an First Impressions

    November 9, 2017 in China ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    Waiting for dinner. We are behind the Drum & Bell Tower in the Muslim quarter. Xi'an is different again from Beijing and Pingyao, lots of traffic, lots of street life and the sadly the first beggars we have seen. We walked from our hotel about 200m to the tower and all of a sudden we were in a crowd of people all shouting to sell food, queuing for food and generally having a good time. Loads of stalls selling things on sticks including, I think, whole crab but as it was covered in batter it was hard to tell. As it is raining a little we have come inside to eat, Chang'An (Xian used to be called Chang'An) chicken for me, shrimp meat with nuts and vegetables for Dad and eggplant with long beans to share. As it is the Muslim quarter we are washing it down with a jug of water melon juice.... The whole lot is costing about £17 which about usual for dinner.
    On the table next to us they are settling an argument with rock paper scissors!
    Oops I seem to have ordered the long beans with chilli. All good though.
    As it is raining back to the hotel without lingering. This time we have studio apartment on the 11th floor inc mini kitchen (but I am not intending to cook!). It's quite a contrast from our courtyard room.    Read more

  • TravelerChina 2017
    Day 7

    Waking up in Xi'an

    November 10, 2017 in China ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    Another "firm" Chinese bed- it was like sleeping on a dining table. But it was cooler - we actually have an opening window. And I could listen to the sounds of Xi'An This morning we've had a brief look at the roof garden . It gives great views over the city; last nights rain has washed out the pollution. That was before investigating breakfast: Fried chicken with black pepper and vegetable rice nice if not very breakfast'yRead more

  • TravelerChina 2017
    31
    Day 7

    Pagoda, Warriors and more

    November 10, 2017 in China ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Another fabulous day Lily & Mr Li picked us up at 8:30 and our first destination was the Big Goose Pagoda. Xi'An traffic seems to require nerves of steel - I can't suss much in the way of road rules and Mr Li in common with all our other drivers is happy to sneak in front of buses and create an extra lane if it would be faster. Lots of the cars are local Chinese brands but because they make all the bits for European manufacturers all the buttons are labeled in English. The Pagoda was not far away just far enough to fit in a conversation about the Pope. How do you answer the question "what is the use of the Pope?" I went for a response about people believing he was God's representative on earth. Which then led to "how do they know? "does he have marks /signs...?" Fortunately we arrived at the pagoda so I was saved from further theology..for a bit...

    The pagoda was first built 1300 years ago but rebuilt in 1987 - I like this practical approach to monuments - it doesn't matter at all that it has been reconstructed. It still has 1300 years of history. It was founded by the Buddha who brought Buddhism to China - he spent 17 years in India and came home with 640 books of Buddhist teachings - and then set about translating - sadly he only got 30 or so done before he died. I felt some sympathy for him my "to read" pile always exceeds my abilities to keep up. There were also halls for other Buddhas including the one who looks after people - lots of arms each ending in a hand with an eye on it so they can hold everyone and see everyone. After she had told us all about it Lily then knelt and spent a few minutes making her reverences to the Buddha - which I found just a little disconcerting. It seemed like an oddly private moment for her in the middle of our visit. We wandered around various other halls and we heard how after he died his remains were shared around various temples in China - they have his finger bones here, although Lily pointed out that as Buddhists cremate their remains it was a little hard to be sure...

    Back to the car where we discussed which pope was which, what church was in England, and sundry other religious details I was a little hazy on. Much discussion about the pope with a beard who came to Xi'An....on reflection that might have been Rowan Williams I think...but I really didn't want to get into the Church of England, the Reformation and its relationship to popes.. Lily has read a lot of Buddhist texts but now she isnt convinced and she wants to read more about other belief systems. The drive up to the Terracotta warriors took about an hour but we didn't run out of conversation!

    The Warriors are out in the foothills of the Chingli mountains - the range that divides northern China from Southern China. This area apparently has hot springs and it is the pomegranate centre of the universe - every 10 yards or so there were stalls selling just pomegranates. Arriving at the warriors it was like arriving at a theme park, a huge parking lot an enormous ticket hall and then a vast 20 lane security gate system. As it is relatively quiet now we really didn't queue at all but I can imagine what it must be like when it is busy, apparently on the 1st October - Chinese national day there were 70,000 visitors - completely horrible apparently - Lily was there guiding!

    The warriors in their pits are astonishing - three pits of which pit 1 is the most impressive 6,000 warriors and they haven't finished excavating it yet! I knew they were all individual but I didn't realise they were crafted by convicts - very talented convicts - as Lily pointed out they hadn't spent 4 years getting fine art degrees like today's sculptors. also they have taken the decision not to restore any of the warriors - if they cant find the head/hand etc they leave it off. Some are too damaged to be restored - you can see these in the pits. Only one warrior has been found intact - a kneeling archer, all the rest have had to be put back together.

    The mass of people and the jostling to get to the edge of the pit was quite something, so how it must be in the busy season doesn't bear thinking about. After the seeing the army we went for lunch in a large quite fancy restaurant on-site, nice food, a buffet, 2 kind of noodles and about 5 other dishes. We skipped on the noodles otherwise we'd have been waddling. I had tea which pleased Dad - he could have two cups of beer because tea is free. The tea was subtly different here - slightly minty maybe the Arabic / Muslim influence?

    After lunch we went to look at some chariots they had excavated - Lily tried to sneak us in via a back door ..we descended into the pitch black on slippy marble steps....and then found the way was closed for renovations so we had to take the usual route after all. These chariots were small - about 1/4 to 1/2 size but beautifully detailed - dragons painted on the outside. When they were found they were each broken into over 1000 pieces and it took years to rebuild them.

    After the chariots we headed for the exits - past lots of souvenir shops and an orgy of hawkers - selling warriors and persimmons - apparently that's what the farm that the warriors were found on grew! Once past the first ring of sales people there are large plazas with fast food shops, some local, some western and also a range of weirdly unrelated exhibits - "Rock and Snow World" amongst others.

    Back to the car and back to the city. The drives have been interesting in themselves apart from discussions with our guides they always provide the opportunity to glimpse everyday life. Not so much here but in Beijing and Pingyao, street washing to keep the dust down was a regular feature. The car was very hot and it was an effort to stay awake - dad did better than I expected!. My wakefulness was rewarded by noticing a delightfully named hotel - "The Golden Showers Hotel"

    Soon we were back at the city walls - they are huge 12m high and 14m wide at the top and they still encircle central Xian. We had a bit of a walk along them and you can hire bikes and ride the 14km circuit -they have tandems - we might do that tomorrow... Whilst walking we talked more with lily - she has two cats 1 dog which strictly belongs to her boyfriend but she is the one who spends time with it and feeds it and we bonded over a shared fondness for books and reading.

    Our last stop was the Grand Mosque in the Muslim Quarter - 60,000 Muslims live in the quarter and there are 9 mosques of which the Grand mosque is the largest. The Muslim quarter is a warren of narrow streets and alleys and felt quite souk like - tons of people selling stuff - you cant go more than 10 steps without someone trying to sell you a warrior, a t-shirt or a knock-off bag. The mosque itself was very Chinese - it could have been another temple - a succession of courtyards gardens, gates and pagodas. Only when you get to the main hall do you see a traditional carpeted hall. It was very busy - Friday prayers were due soon and they were playing some recorded calls. Lily must be here regularly, she excused herself briefly because she had been asked to get some medicine for one of the people based at the mosque and she went off to deliver it. The recipient came over and exchanged a brief greeting with us whilst profusely thanking Lily. I wanted to ask so many questions about why she was getting the medicine and how the health system worked but I didn't want to be too intrusive. And that was that - we emerged on the street behind the drum tower, Lily made sure we knew where our hotel was (about 50 yards away), gave us a map and said she would see us early on Sunday for our flight to Hong Kong.    Read more

  • TravelerChina 2017
    1
    1
    Day 7

    Dumpling Banquet

    November 10, 2017 in China ⋅ 🌙 8 °C

    Stuffed, completely stuffed. Lily gave us a map of Xi'An and armed with that we set off to find one of the recommended places to eat - De Fa Chang - navigation is interesting because unsurprisingly they dont put names in the European alphabet...so we followed the instructions, got to the right area but seemed to be at a sort of dumpling MacDonald - bright pictures over cash registers..so we wandered out to the next restaurant similar but not dumplings, we must have looked like dumplings because a helpful person pointed us back to the one we had just left...we went back and stared at that one through the windows and then noticed people were coming down from upstairs - so we went for a look. An enormous dumpling restaurant!

    We had a choice of 2 menus - so we picked the cheapest! Pomegranate juice was recommended by our server as a drink - nice but very sweet! and we waited. First out was a selection of largely unidentifiable vegetables and some weird chewy meat with gelatine... a slightly unnerving start but we are brave ..so we waited.
    Round one one was a fried meat dumpling each and a sweet fried persimmon dumpling each. Next we had a "cereal" dumpling (rice in a black, licorice flavoured dough) and two other sorts from there they cam thick and fast including a plate of plain meat dumplings - about 8 each. The rest were in ones and two..but there were 6 courses. And at that point we were stuffed and we could see the watermelon for desert waiting for us. But no, out came a brass pot on a burner - there was yet another course. This final one was a lucky dip soup cooked at the table...we had to wait for it to cook and our server added small raw dumplings. Once cooked she explained that the number of dumplings you got in your bowl told your fortune 1- for happiness, 2 for double happiness, 3 for wealth, 4-6 I got promotion, dad got double happiness. Utterly stuffed.. we wobbled home via the 24hr shop (for beer - Dad didn't want 2 dry nights). I might have been tempted by wine but it was £8-23 a bottle! Four beers and a tube of pringle like snacks was £2.40!    Read more

  • TravelerChina 2017
    Day 8

    Slow start in Xi'An

    November 11, 2017 in China ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

    No guide today so no driving urgency to the start of the day. I am having a cup of tea - our little studio apartment is nicely set up. dad is debating his sartorial choices. Sam & he went shopping before we came away and he is still finding clothes he hasn't worn - He has deep bag so it takes a while for them to surface. I am smugly organised with all my clothes in packing cubes - deeply irritating I am sure.

    Breakfast awaits - fried chicken and rice I expect though Dad is sure he spotted an omelette station yesterday. Either way we will be well fuelled for the day ahead. It is going to be quite chilly here today max about 12 degrees - which is about the lowest peak temperature we have had. Which will make 25 degree HK a real shock tomorrow! But as I have a snuffly nose - which might be pollution driven but could be the start of a cold I will be happy with 25 degrees.    Read more

  • TravelerChina 2017
    111
    Day 8

    Free Range in Shaanxi

    November 11, 2017 in China ⋅ 🌙 7 °C

    So on an impulse and after reading the Lonely Planet Guide we decided to trek out to the Tomb of Jingdi. Lonely Planet's 2nd must see after the warriors. Buses were hourly from the Xian public library so we had to go and find the metro to get there and then find the No.4 bus. The metro was perfectly straight forward and cost 3RMB each (about 30p) for a 10 minute journey. We followed the LP information and found the bus stop quite easily. For the sum of 2 RMB each we rode out towards the airport for about 3/4hr. Fortunately Jingdi's tomb was the last stop so we were ok. As ever just traveling about was fun and an opportunity to observe life. Traffic was as expected and the bus driver drove like Mr Li, The rate of development is furious - Lily had told us about the power station built far outside the town that was now in the suburbs but the bus took us past enormous tower block construction sites - 5 - 10 at a time with all the roads and drainage etc going in. There is no shortage of capital investment here.

    Jingdi is the opposite of the Terracotta warrior King Quin Shi Huang, he believed in non -interference. His tomb id filled with small figurines (about 50,000!) that depict everyday life in the 2nd c BCE- there are pigs, people etc etc. It is an active dig and so you have to put shoe covers on and it is all dim and climate controlled. The pits are impressive and best of all in some areas you can walk directly over them on a glass floor so you can see the contents in detail. These are thousands of small statuettes of workers animals officials - everyone the Emperor would need. The statuettes originally had jointed wooden arms and silk outfits.

    After the dig we walked to the south gate past children having pony rides on the grass outside it. The south gate is a modern construction to cover the tombs of the emperor and his wife. We had a wander, admired some photographs, exchanged greetings in English with a family who obviously wanted to get a bit of practice in and decided to call it quits. We could have spent longer there but we wanted to be sure to squeeze in a bike ride so we headed back for the bus. There were a few people waiting but not a bus full so we didn't worry too much - but the buses only ran every 50 mins or so. Eventually the bus turned up and the very grumpy driver would not come into the bay until everyone was behind the tape that denoted the waiting area...so there was some shoving whilst everyone re-positioned themselves. he then brought the bus forward at which point it turned into a complete scrum, Dad and I were virtuously behind the tape and so handicapped when attempting to get to the door area. I have never been in such a crush and the driver was shouting and the people were shouting and gesticulating whilst pressing en-mass towards the steps...but mostly few people were moving - there was obviously a tunnel somewhere that loaded people on the bus because the bus filled without the crowd subsiding. And then he announced he was full and threw some people off his bus! We hadn't moved but we'd been intimately introduced to all the other passengers... So the bus disappeared off down the road leaving us and a reduced crowd at the bus stop. Two blokes then came along obviously running some sort of car scam to take people back to Xi'an, we couldnt understand what was happenning so we just stayed put but after nuch discussion two people wandered off with them looking very dubious...much arm waving and discusson...we settled in for a long wait - obviously we didn't dare leave our spot or we'd have no chance again next time. And lo less than 5 minutes later another bus turned up ..and we all boarded in an orderly fashion and trundled back to Xian. Where we spent a happy 30 mins in the queue for the metro ticket office because we didn't have the right change for the automatic machines and we were through security before we discovered this. Eventually we got tickets and made it back to the stop by the Bell Tower, as we headed to the Muslim quarter for lunch we got stopped by another bunch of surveying students....Questions this time included did you have culture shock on arriving in Xi'An? They were much less fluent than their Pingyao counterparts but charmingly pleased to find us- we were photographed as proof of existence...

    Anyway after that we hit Muslim Street (that's what it is called) and (for balance we passed one on the way to the warriors called Christianity...but nobody else gets a look in). I was rather hoping dad might fancy battered squid on a stick - they looked almost sculptural but he wussed and opted for deep fried banana and freshly pulped pomegranate juice. I had spiced meat of unknown origin (but I think mutton) on a stick of unknown origin (it still had its bark on but my tree knowledge is limited). I hope the stick was fresh but we did see people gathering them up out of the bins.... We then hoofed back to the hotel to drop our coats and rucksacks before making our way to the South Gate of the city walls - it was the bit we'd been to with Lily but it was close to our hotel and the light levels were dropping, it stays open till 8 but given minimal street lighting I didn't think a ride round a 12m high dimly lit wall would be smart.

    It took about 10 mins to walk to South gate and then climb the steps up - yet more steps, it does rather feel by now as if we have been on a week's step aerobics holiday. at the top Dad and I argued about wearing a cycle helmet. I was in favour - Dad refused. I had to remind him repeatedly about the insurance consequences if he had an accident and hadn't worn the helmet. He still didn't care...but eventually I wore him down...Helmet was worn; I am sure they were decorative rather than functional but the principle was important...otherwise I'll never be able to take him abseiling.

    The ride was fun, we didnt go very far - about 75 mins riding, stopping at various points. The bikes were single speed mountain bike style but they don't bother to adjust the seat height and it wasn't a quick release - so I rode with my knees almost coming under my chin. Easy riding though - very flat if a little uneven in places, we probably did about a third of a circuit - about 5km.

    Back to the hotel for a little recuperation before a little shopping and dinner. I bought a tiny warrior for the princely sum of 50p and a couple of other bits. It is mayhem down in the alleys of the Muslim quarter - I think it will make Temple St night market in HK look like an oasis of calm. Dad hasn't been wild about the food here so we went back to the only restaurant that we had found that served shrimps. Dad had shrimp dumplings I had Muslim meat pie. Which was minced mutton and onion spiced and served between two crisp pancakes.
    A last walk through the alleys and back to the hotel to pack, we leave at 7:30 tomorrow morning for our flight to Hong Kong.    Read more

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