Once again, I used the excellent facilities provided by Kenneth MacLeod Travel to arrange this trip. With the help of their representative, Michelle Gemmell, flight arrangements were quickly adapted to suit the changing conditions created by the conflict in the Middle East. I had originally booked to travel with Emirates through Dubai to Melbourne, but this was no longer possible, which could have resulted in me cancelling my trip. Michelle stepped up to the mark and was able to get me rerouted through Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne, where I planned to stay with my son Graeme and his wife Briony for 4 weeks before moving on to Beijing. This part of the trip went really well; I had a great time with them and met up with many friends during my time there. You can read all about that part of the trip in an upcoming post.
On arrival at Melbourne Airport, I discovered at check-in that my Air China flight was fully booked, and I was unable to get an aisle seat. I said my goodbyes to Graeme & Briony at the security gate, thanking them for hosting me for what was a brilliant month.
Due to the full flight, being unable to get an aisle seat was a bit of a letdown. My seat in a row of 4 was quite cramped to say the least, the entertainment choices were very limited (unless you like Chinese movies), and the lady in the aisle seat fell asleep right away, trapping me for almost all of the flight.
Saturday 11th April – Beijing
I arrived in Beijing Capital International Airport fairly early on Saturday morning, and was quite pleased to be able to stretch my legs after almost 12 hours in a cramped aircraft seat. After spending an hour and a half to get through the usual immigration, baggage collection and customs rigmarole, I entered the arrival hall expecting to see my name amongst the many displayed by the many waiting transfer drivers. Despite going around several times and getting assistance from a couple of waiting drivers (with the help of Google Translate), it looked like I was on my own. I reviewed my options,
- I could wait at the airport until Jim arrived, some 14 hours later
- Try to contact Michelle to arrange another pickup
- Jump into an airport taxi to the hotel
I chose option 3 (no surprise there) and was quickly whisked into the city to my hotel by a friendly and helpful driver; he even waited around until I could get some cash to pay him. I found the experience of using the taxi service to be honest and efficient, and at no time did I feel that I was being exploited or messed around in an expensive service.
When I arrived at the Grand Millennium Hotel, in the centre of Beijing’s CBD, it was too early to check in, so I left my luggage with the concierge and went for a walk around the area and to get a feel for my time in mainland China. To be honest, it was not in any way what I had expected. I was unprepared for how quiet, peaceful, clean and friendly it was; everyone I spoke to was extremely welcoming and friendly. After a bit of shopping and lunch, I returned to the hotel and eventually checked into our large, spacious and comfortable room on the 19th floor. Thinking about my experience with the lack of the expected transfer, I thought it best for me to return to the airport to help Jim get sorted, so after a short rest, I went to the nearby subway station and took the train to the Airport Express line straight there, again I found this to be a very good, inexpensive and efficient service.
Just like me, it took Jim the same time to clear immigration, etc., before he emerged into the arrival hall, and I think he was quite pleased to see me waiting for him. He told me later that he did not find solo travelling to be much fun.
What surprised us both was the appearance of both transfer drivers to collect us, although mine was some 14 hours late, and after much discussion between them, we eventually made our way back to the hotel, where we caught up with each other’s travel tales over a welcome glass of wine before bed beckoned.
Sunday 12th April – Beijing
A good night’s sleep and a good hotel breakfast set us up for our first full day in Beijing. After reviewing a map of the city, we made our plans for the day, including the places we wished to visit, ensuring that we wouldn’t visit any that we would visit on our forthcoming tour. We thought we would use the city’s metro system to get around, and following our day’s travels, I would highly recommend it. The service is extensive, with 30 routes and 423 stations, the staff are very friendly and helpful, and the tickets are cheap and easy to obtain from the concourse machines or from manned ‘self-service’ booths. The station nearest our hotel, Jintai Xizhao, on Line 10 of the Beijing metro system, was very similar to Glasgow’s 15-station Subway in that it runs as a loop; however, with 45 stations, it is a slightly larger loop.
After obtaining a wonderful map from the hotel concierge, we selected a few places to visit. For our first outing, we chose to go to Area 796. Named after the 798 factory, which was built in the 1950s, the 798 Art District is located in the northeast corner of Beijing. It is also known as the Dashanzi Art District (DAD) because it is located in the Dashanzi zone. Characterised by modern art, it has become the exhibition centre of Chinese culture and art and a world-famous centralised area for the cultural and creative industries. For me, this was a good choice, after a wonderful coffee in the Coffee Museum and some shopping in the quirky shops, I found some of the city’s only murals, loads of unusual bars and cafes, all spotlessly clean and well maintained. Being a Sunday, it was full of families taking in the sights in bright sunshine, and after sampling a couple of the local craft beers in a fun bistro, we returned to the subway for our next stop.
For this visit, we chose to go to the Lama Temple. I don’t know if this was to relive our visits to such places when we were in India and Sri Lanka, or whether it was the nearest on the map, but we are glad we went. After paying an inexpensive entrance fee, we were handed a bunch of incense sticks before making our way through the various temples, before reaching the final one, which holds Beijing’s latest golden Buddha, which stands at 26 metres (85 feet) tall and is carved from a single piece of white sandalwood. It really was a most impressive visit and one we both enjoyed.
After we visited the temple, it was time for lunch, and this is where we came across a problem that many international travellers experience in China. International credit cards are not routinely accepted in China; they prefer to use Alipay or WeChat, so cash became the preferred method of payment for us. Another problem was that many restaurants we encountered required you to order through an installed app with the payment method attached. Looking for a wee rest and some lunch, we gave in and went to a Costa Coffee shop, which did accept our Visa card.
Back on our wanderings again, we headed to see the Drum and Bell towers, but unfortunately, due to it being a Sunday, the area was closed to the public. Our next choice from the map, the Houhai Lakes, was also out of our reach, as we were unsure how to use the local bus system (you may notice latee that we visited these areas before we left Beijing). By the time we discovered this, it was time to head into the city centre to hit the main shopping street, Wangfujing Shopping Street. This turned out to be a busy and vibrant area after dark, when groups of people gather to dance, some in traditional costumes. It was great fun to watch, especially when members of the public joined in. The street is home to many of the world’s upmarket brands, many of them fronting large malls full of interesting shops and restaurants. Feeling the need for some refreshments, we visited the West Central Mall, where on the 5th floor of the Mandarin Oriental hotel we found Mo’s bar, we decided to forego the £650.00 room and settled for a couple of beers instead, once refreshed and rested, we went back onto the street in search of the fabled street food, which we were unable to find, so it was back into one of the mall for a lovely meal before heading for our hotel. Jim was really pleased while on the street to find the Lego store and a Starbucks next door to each other, so this year’s Dan Challenge was completed early and easily, unlike last year’s Alaskan venture.
Monday 13th April – Beijing
After a leisurely breakfast, we returned to our room to repack our luggage and get ready to check out of the Grand Millennium. We were sorry to be leaving this hotel, but it was soon time to leave and to make our way to the Chongwenmen Hotel to join our tour group. A short, inexpensive taxi ride quickly got us there, and after checking in to our much smaller, but perfectly adequate room, we went out to explore our new part of the city. The Chongwen District of the city was so different to the big modern buildings of the CBD; surrounding our hotel were large shopping malls, shops and restaurants, especially bakeries, the city is full of them. One lucky find for us was the Red Star bakery just along the street from the hotel; their version of a Pastel de Nata was really something special.
Aware that we needed to be back in the hotel for our welcome meeting, we decided to stay as close to the hotel as possible. For our first visit, we chose to visit the Hongqiao Pearl Market. This turned out to be a large bustling market with many interesting things on display, but with the constant touting and the need for aggressive haggling, we decided to leave and go somewhere gentler.
Having heard so much about it, we took to the subway system and headed to Qianmen Street, this restored street with features reflecting the area’s 600-year-old history, is full of quaint shops alongside the many tourist souvenir shops, cafes and restaurants, all in traditional buildings. All along the street, which leads you to the edge of Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, is lined with impressive bronze sculptures of characters from the past. Off the street, it looked like they were gearing up for a festival of some sort, as they were erecting stalls, stands and stages. This was a really good place to visit, Jim was delighted to find a post office where he spent some time buying a range of bright, colourful postage stamps.
All too soon, it was time to leave and return to the hotel, where we had a short rest before going to meet the rest of the group we would be sharing our Intrepid Beijing to Hong Kong adventure with. Unfortunately, Doris Wang, our tour guide, was unable to attend the meeting, so a representative from Intrepid came along instead. After this brief meeting, a few of us decided to venture out for a meal. On finding a nice noodle bar, we made our choices and had a lovely meal.
Tuesday 14th April – Beijing – Great Wall
In the morning, we were met by Doris, our Intrepid tour leader and the rest of the group. This is a mixed group, we have the Christian & Julia from Reading, Magugu & Mumbi from the USA, Medina from London, Galway girl Ciarraí, Cailin from Melbourne, and of course Jim & I from Glasgow. Doris came across as a bright and bubbly personality, and from first impressions, it looked like we would all get on very well.
Once the introductions were over, Doris took us through the plans for the next few days as we made our way north to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, for about 2 hours by private coach. We travelled to this section as it is known for being one of the best-preserved parts of the Great Wall and is popular for having fewer crowds than the other available sections. On arrival, we had the choice of walking up or going on a cable car; we wisely chose to go by cable car up to one of the watch towers. When you consider that it would take 18 months to walk its complete length, we decided it would be sufficient to walk and climb a short and not too steep section. Our stopping point was the Zhengguantai Pass, which is a historic pass once used as a defensive stronghold. Its watchtower design and panoramic mountain views make it an ideal spot for us to linger and take our photographs. Walking through its stone pathways, you could almost feel the echoes of the ancient builders who created this masterpiece and the soldiers who walked before us.
The cable car and toboggan facility at the wall reminded me of the Luge in New Zealand and Singapore, which I enjoyed, but both Jim and I were disappointed to discover that we couldn’t go down on the toboggan as we are over 60 years old.
For lunch, we visited a buffet restaurant where we were able to sample the many regional dishes on offer before boarding the coach for our return to Beijing, with a brief stop at Taetea for a tea tasting session. This was great fun as the lady who presented it was a wee bit cheeky, continually making jokes as she served the many different teas. Not being a tea drinker, most of it was lost on me, but many in the group were impressed enough to buy some tea and accessories, which I did like. For our next stop, Doris had pre-booked tickets for a Sichuan Acrobatic show in the afternoon. This show was spectacular, the performances were unbelievable, extremely skilful, it had it all, acrobatics showing great strength and flexibility, extreme balancing acts, all topped off with a fantastic motorcycle display where 5 riders entered a large metal globe for a wall of death display.
This very full day was completed when Doris guided us to Du Wan Ju, a local restaurant for a Peking Duck dinner, which was glorious, with the added benefit of Doris giving us a demonstration on how to create the perfect pancakes. We thought that we would only have the duck served, but what arrived was a veritable banquet with course after course of delicious food. We were all surprised when the bill arrived, as the whole meal was extremely inexpensive.
Wednesday 15th April – Beijing – Xi’an
We had another early start this morning, having to check out at 7 am, leaving our luggage behind as we made our way to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Before leaving home, We left early to try to miss the crowds, but even then, it was still mobbed. Security is very tight in the area, and the checks were more stringent than airport ones; plus, as we moved through the complex, we had to go through further checks. Every time we stopped to let others catch up, we were moved on by the security detail. Due to a visiting dignitary, Tiananmen Square was closed for security reasons, so we could only see it in the distance as we passed along in front of Mao’s mausoleum.
After passing through another security check, we made our way through the courtyards to view the many staterooms, again, unfortunately we were unable to go into them, viewing them only from the outside, which somewhat diminished our visit. I think we would have needed to spend more time than our tour allowed to visit the exhibitions.
Leaving the Forbidden City behind, we boarded a local bus (another excellent service) to the area around the Houhai Lake, where we stopped for a coffee before visiting the Drum and Bell Towers. These towers, built in 1272 & 1420, were an early method of telling time; the bell would ring at dawn, and the drum would sound at nightfall. Jim and some others from the group climbed the drum tower. He told me later that the stairs were very steep, but the climb was worth it, as at the top there was an interesting museum of timepieces, and there were also great views over the city showing the meridian line running from north to south through the city.
Whilst the group went climbing, I sat in the park in the sunshine, watching the locals playing games and exercising, where I was joined by a young Chinese man, Eisen, who wanted to speak with me in an attempt to improve his English. We chatted for half an hour about all sorts of things. He wanted to learn about Scotland, and I wanted to know more about life in China. We had more experience of this when we all went for a stroll around the lake. We were approached by 2 girls who wanted to teach us a Chinese song and then film us performing it. We certainly drew some looks from the crowds around us as we sang our hearts out.
We returned to the hotel to collect our luggage, then made our way to the Beijing West Railway Station for our Overnight train to Xi’an. The train, which was configured in the same style as those I had travelled in whilst in Vietnam, was very good indeed. It was spotlessly clean, very quiet, and the onboard facilities were excellent. Jim & I shared a cabin with Christian and Julia, and after sitting chatting for a while, we all settled down for a reasonable night’s sleep. As we left Beijing, Doris told us that we would arrive in Xi’an at 08:23 am. We were a bit sceptical about this, but we were proved wrong when we did indeed arrive bang on schedule at 08:23. All in all, this journey was a good experience.
Thursday 16th April– Xi’an
On arrival, we dropped our luggage off at the hotel before driving out of Xi’an to visit the Terracotta Warriors
We left the hotel early to try to avoid the crowds, stopping off for lunch at a restaurant that was more like a family home. Once again, there was food in plentiful supply, and we all had great fun with the candied balls, each of us lifting higher to see who could get the longest candy thread. The family looked as though they were extremely proud to be serving us such wonderful food.
On reaching the Terracotta Warriors site, we found that our early start was in vain as there were massive crowds, at times, you felt that you were standing about 8 rows back from viewing rails, but a discreet and well-administered Glasgow elbow got me through to the front to get a better view. We started our tour at Pit 3, the smallest of the three pits. I think this is a good representation of the whole place, just on a very small scale. Part of the uncovered section still has warriors and horses in fragments, and you could see signs that a restoration team was painstakingly putting them back together again, and I could see some in various stages of restoration. I could see the benefit of visiting the pits in reverse. Pit 3 was really cool and interesting, but it would have been less impressive had I seen Pit 2 first, as most of this pit is still underground, but they’ve used X-ray or something to see where and what everything is. There were a great many on display, while you could see large areas where they are yet to be uncovered, I was told that they are trying to preserve them with their original colours, as the pigments fade as soon as they are exposed to the light.
Then I went over to Pit 1. This is actually where it all started about 40 years ago. Some village farmers were digging a well when they found some pottery, and on further inspection and digging the discovered this hidden treasure. Pit 1 is enormous, and with the exception of the main entrance, it was relatively uncrowded, so I was able to walk completely around the pit and take pictures from all angles. In fact, I took so many photographs that it was difficult to decide which ones to include here.
Before leaving the complex, we were taken to meet Yang Zhifa, one of the farmers who discovered the site with his brothers. He was a really nice man who made us most welcome.
On our return to Xi’an we checked in to our accommodation, The Days Inn Central, got cleaned up and had a short siesta before venturing out with Doris to the Muslin quarter, a bright and vibrant part of the city’s night scene, we wandered around taking in the sights, sampling some street food before visiting a restaurant whose speciality was XiAn JiaSan Tangbao Zi Guan (HuiMin Jie), these are dumplings with soup inside, and once again, as we have found in China, meals are never simple affairs, there is always copious amounts of food, I must admit though that the concept of soup filled dumplings was a new one on me, soup dumplings have actual liquid soup/broth inside, so when you bite into the dumpling, there is a gush of hot liquid, and then you get to the filling, they were delicious. We were glad to get back to the hotel after such a busy and packed day.
Friday 17th April – Xi’an
For our free day in Xi’an, we decided to walk the city walls. The walls are very impressive, at over 14 km long, 12 metres high and 15metres wide. We started our walk at the North Gate and after watching all the girls in colourful traditional costumes getting their photographs taken, we climbed onto the wall hoping to find the bicycle hire shop, we met with Medina and Ciarraí from our group and continued walking together, we came across a guy who wished to speak with us, telling us that he was an English teacher and wished to hear the language as spoken by native speakers, he was a very nice guy and amazed us all by quoting Shakespeare at us. We eventually found the cycle hire shop, only to be told that we were too old to hire a bike. Disgruntled and discovering that there were very few exits, we all left the walls at the first opportunity and made our way to the Grand Mosque of Xi’an, passing through an area where fake cherry blossom trees were adorned with little messages of love, and more girls were posing in traditional costumes. Once we reached the mosque, we were a bit disappointed as we had arrived at the start of daily prayers, so we couldn’t enter the prayer hall, but it was pleasant strolling through the grounds.
Whilst in the Muslin Quarter we decided to visit the restaurant we had dinner in the previous evening, when we requested our food choices we were told that it was unavailable, we thought this strange until we were told, by using Google Translate, that the kitchen was closed, so we made our way back to the hotel for a quick siesta before joining Doris and the group to make our way to the Empress of Tang Dynasty music and dance show and Dumpling Banquet. On entering the theatre, we were shown to our table and presented with a never-ending supply of food, with emphasis on the many types of dumplings. This was a colourful display with many of them shaped like little animals, such as green frogs, brown hedgehogs, etc. During our meal, we were entertained by a troupe of actors and dancers replicating the rise and prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, accompanied by a classical orchestra, and individual solo pieces by talented musicians, especially the Pan Pipe player (at least, that’s what Doris told us). The performance includes stunning dances, live traditional Chinese orchestra music, and elaborate costumes, creating an immersive historical experience. This really was an enjoyable experience and one not to be missed when in Xi’an.
I didn’t take too many photographs while here. After our dinner, I was too engrossed in the show and forgot to take any. I have included a YouTube video which provides highlights of the show.
(Thanks to @aroundtheworld4723 for the video)
Visits to Xi’an’s highlights are never-ending, so after the show ended, we travelled by public transport to see the Wild Goose Pagoda, which looked fabulous at night, lit up. The Pagoda was near our next stop, the Great Tang Ever Bright City, a large mall, at over 1500 x 500 metres. The pedestrian street is brightly lit at night, and is crowded with people, many in traditional costume, again, a must-visit place while in Xi’an.
Saturday 18th April – Chengdu – Mount Qingcheng
Up and at em’ again this morning as we made our way to the station to catch our train to Chengdu, where on arrival we boarded our bus to take us up to the Taoist holy mountain, Mount Qingcheng. On the way, Doris handed out great big mandarin-type oranges grown by our driver; they were delicious. Mount Qingcheng and the Tai’an Ancient Town, where the Anping Hotel sat on the riverside, was our stopping point. This hotel is glorious, we were allocated a large, spacious and well-equipped suite with balconies overlooking the river. We found this mountain tourist town to be full of local tourists, and it looked like we were the only foreign visitors. We found the local people and shopkeepers to be super friendly and welcoming, although I must admit that I didn’t like the look of the smoked meats on display. While the main part of the group took a trip up the mountain and trekked back down, Jim and I stayed in the village soaking up the sights and meeting the locals, having fun on Tonglinggou Bridge, the large swaying rope bridge in the town, we quickly made a friend in the lady who ran the store that sold beer and Baijiu Chinese Whiskey, which Mumbi from our group asked us to source.
On the group’s return, we gathered for a meal in the hotel, and yet again it was a veritable feast with an endless stream of dishes arrayed on a Lazy Susan. This was a great way to experience authentic regional Chinese food. The addition of the local beer and Baijiu carried on into the night, and it was an enjoyable way to come together as a group.
Sunday 19th April – Mount Qingcheng
The food experience continued the following morning when we were served a Chinese breakfast, which consisted mainly of vegetables and Congee rice porridge, which Jim loved.
This set us up nicely for our return to Chengdu to pay a much-anticipated visit to the Dujiangyan Giant Panda Base. This park, with around 40 giant pandas and 5 red pandas, they even had a couple of orphaned brown bears. This was an ideal place to see giant pandas in a natural habitat. We were lucky to get up close to a large number of pandas; however, we were unable to see any red pandas. As we were there in the morning, the pandas were quite active, sitting outside their enclosures munching their way through piles of bamboo for breakfast, one little youngster delighted with its antics, climbing the trees and just having fun, it was also interesting to see 2 brothers in the same area, and just how different they behaved, one was quite shy and reserved, while the other as a bit more active annd boisterous.
Everything in the park was panda-related, from the souvenirs on sale, our ice cream was also panda-shaped, and it was delicious and most welcome in the heat of the day. There is a volunteer programme where you can get up close and personal with the pandas, gaining an understanding of the entire process of giant panda breeding and conservation, and experience the daily life of a panda caretaker, plus help make panda snacks. Due to the nature of our tour, we were unable to take part in this, had we wished.
Again, I took so many photographs while here, it was difficult to choose which ones to include.
After our visit to the Pandas, we made our way into the city where we checked into our hotel, the Chengdu Furong Hotel in the city centre. Again after a short rest, we gathered to make our way to Shoo Loong Kan for a hotpot lunch, this meal was highly anticipated and didn’t disappoint, Doris made a wise choice to split our hotpot into three broths, with the traditional really hot chilli, plus tomato and mushroom varieties, we each made our own sauce from a variety of available sauces, herbs, vegetables and spices, before adding the various meats and vegetables into the respective broths, we quickly realised that the chilli version was a little bit too spicy for us, so the tomato and mushroom ones went down well with us westerners. This method of serving a meal, similar to the Sukiyaki meals I experienced in Japan, was another memorable meal in China.
After lunch, we set off for Tainfu Square, but when it started to rain on our walk, we abandoned that idea and went to the nearby People’s Park to see the local population enjoying their Sunday playing music and singing in bands dotted about the park, and playing Chinese Chess and Mahjong. It was fun to be taken to the Matchmaking Corner, which is famous for parents seeking partners for their children, pinning resumes on frames, pink for girls and blue for boys. We strolled through a bonsai garden to Heming’s, one of the traditional tea houses to make our choices from the wide list of available teas and cakes, Jim was particularly taken by the Chrysanthemum tea, which went well with the tiramisu style cake he chose, I however was disappointed that there was no coffee on offer, something that I have noticed whilst in China, we coffee drinkers are somewhat neglected, with only chains like Starbucks or Lucken Coffee available. We were all delighted to see a demonstration of the traditional art of long spout tea pouring.
From the park we made our way, by a couple of taxis (while Doris cycled), to the Sichuan Cultural Opera show. This truly was another experience not to be missed, our entrance ticker entitled us to a free gift, a massage or an ear cleaning session, we both chose not to have the ear cleaning, Jim chose the gift of a nice tote bag, while, just like Christian, I elected to have the neck and back massage to ease my tight right shoulder, after a good work and a pummelling, I left feeling much better and ready to see the show. Our seats, around a tea table, where we were served with copious amounts of tea, and large supplies of sunflower seeds, while we watched the show, which blends acrobatics, puppetry, music, dance and the famous local art of face changing, again a truly wonderful experience.
On our return to the hotel, tired and weary after such a long and busy day, it was wonderful to find, directly across from the hotel, a bar serving local craft beers; a glass of their chocolate Java stout was the perfect finisher.
Monday 20th April – Chengdu – Yangshuo
A full day of travel today, firstly by high-speed train to Guilin, before transferring by bus to our final Chinese location, Yangshuo. The weather was not kind to us when we arrived in the evening, and we checked into our accommodation, the Yangshuo Hanting hotel on West Street, before going for a meal in a nearby restaurant serving the local delicacy of chicken, steam-cooked in a length of bamboo. The uniform of the staff was interesting, it almost reminded me of a similar outfit I had seen years before in Peru, and as night fell, the local women wore ponchos that were similar too. After our meal, we then visited West Street, the local shopping street, which evolved into a night market and ‘beer street’ I especially liked the chocolate factory where they had giant chocolate sculptures of pagodas and temples. A couple of local beers in a neighbouring restaurant finished off the day.
Tuesday 21st April – Yangshuo
Due to the wet weather, our programme of outings and visits became a bit more flexible, fitting in activities which were suitable for the weather, so we started off the day with a cycle tour of the town on our way to the riverside to take one of the bamboo boat trips that are popular in the area. We were unsure how Jim would cope as he hasn’t cycled for quite some time, but it was me who turned out to have the problem, my balance centre has gone to pot, I think mainly due to my ear problems, and I keep on losing my balance and couldn’t steer straight. Rather than holding the group back, Doris arranged a Pedicab for me to travel alongside them, my driver, a lady called Wangmei, was great fun and took great delight in describing all the local attractions. When we reached the riverbank, we discovered that due to the high-water level and fast river flow, our cruise was cancelled (they also said that as we were European, we were too heavy for the fast river flow).
Despite our initial concerns, Jim rode his bike perfectly and had a wonderful morning of fun.
After spending some time at the riverside viewing the surrounding limestone Karst formations, which dominate the landscape, very similar to the limestone formations in the adjoining Vietnam’s Ha Long bay, we especially liked the Moon Hill with its large round hole through the middle. We returned to town and our hotel, where we all split up to take part in various activities.
Jim, Christian and I were met by Lui and Andy, to be taken to the local market to see the ingredients required for our cookery course. Whilst there, we were joined by 2 girls from another tour; after visiting the market, we went back to Lui’s school to have some fun. The school staff washed the ingredients and divided them into the correct portions, ready to get started cooking, so after a good hand washing session and donning our aprons and chef hats, we were fully prepared to start our class.
Lui carefully explained how to use the gas burner, chopping block, etc., on our personal cooking station and then instructed us on all the “secret” techniques to employ to guarantee the tastiest outcomes for our labours. During the class, we learned how to properly chop the ingredients by the heavy Chinese cleaver, and how to cook vegetables and meats over a sizzling and smoking wok, etc. We quickly got started preparing the ingredients for the 4 dishes we were going to cook. Our first dish was a cucumber-based soy sauce with garlic, ginger and chillies. Once prepared, it was put to the side while we created a pile of pork-based dumplings. They were put into steamers to be cooked while we continued assembling a Gong Bao chicken dish and an eggplant stir fry. All too soon, the dumplings were ready, so we retired to the dining room to sample our efforts for our evening meal. Although eggplant is not my favourite, the stir fry was OK, but everything else was good, and I’m sure I will cook it again.
Once the cookery course was finished, Jim returned to the hotel, while Christian and I were joined by Julia and Ciarraí for our calligraphy lesson, this time it was Andy who was our instructor and we had great fun learning the basic stokes from him before spelling our names and home countries, he seem to be fascinated with Scotland and bagpipes so we had to write that too. I found this activity to be great fun, so much so that I purchased a calligraphy set later in the trip to practice at home.
Wednesday 22nd April – Yangshuo
As the wet weather continued, our plans were changed again, and the Silver Cave complex became our morning visit. It is called the Silver Cave, but in reality, it is actually a route of joined caves running for 2 kilometres through 12 of the Karst mountain peaks. This was a welcome visit to see the various formations of stalagmites and stalactites, and how they had used projected light shows to tell a story. The cave coffee part of the way through was very welcome indeed.
A refreshment break at the hotel and a quick lunch were next on the list, before we travelled to the Ruyi Peak Cableway to take a cable car up to the top of the peak. We felt that we were heading into the clouds up through the mist to the peak in the car. This attraction is a series of routes to cross and traverse a few of the peaks in the limestone karst mountain range near Yangshuo. It has amazing views of the surrounding mountain range. It was just as well I wore a good pair of shoes, and was prepared to walk a LOT of steps up and down and across! Due to the rain and mist, the visibility was so poor; however, after a short time, the mists cleared and we were presented with stunning views of the surrounding countryside. The engineering on this complex is immense. We climbed multiple stairways, crossed a superb suspension bridge, and the red ribbons tied along the bridge for luck looked lovely as they danced in the wind. We then made our way along a winding mesh/glass bridge (the glass section was closed off due to the rain), and then climbed even higher to take the cable car back to ground level. Along the way, there were several shaded and comfortable places to sit and have a snack and a nice, warm and welcome hot drink.
This was a great visit, although at times, I found it difficult to manage so many stairs, but I am glad I made the effort. One thing I did like during the visit was the sight of a little Chinese woman on the side of a mountain in the pouring rain sweeping the path; it typified China to me, they are fixated on cleanliness.
In the evening on our return to the hotel we cleaned up and rested before visiting ChunJi Roasted Goose Restaurant for yet another feast of a meal, this is one of Yangshuo’s oldest restaurants and it is difficult to get a table, so Doris excelled herself in getting us a private room, where we all had a great time over our meal, which was in reality our final meal together.
Overall, the food we have eaten during this trip has been very good; each region presented us with different flavours, such as the spicy Sichuan Cuisine, the much milder Cantonese cuisine, and the combination of spicy and sour flavours of Hunan cuisine. There were surprises along the way, the fiery chillies in the Xi’an Hotpot, soup-filled dumplings and multi-coloured dumplings shaped like little animals, and the quantity of food served at each meal. In each city we visited, wonderful little bakeries were serving glorious treats, the array of fresh fruit on offer was astounding, the mandarin oranges and apples were huge compared to ours back home, there really was something for everyone.
The bright lights of West Street beckoned us as we had some last-minute shopping to do before leaving mainland China, and after picking up a few bits and bobs, we made our way back to the hotel. What we didn’t realise was that there are several Hanting Hotels in Yangshuo, and that West Street is a long street, so we subsequently found ourselves at the wrong hotel. The staff there were extremely friendly and helpful, and they quickly got us sorted out with a taxi to our hotel, tired and ready for bed.
Thursday 23 April – Yangshuo – Guilin – Hong Kong
A slow, leisurely breakfast this morning before packing up and leaving Yangshuo to go by bus to Guilin to catch the China high-speed train to Hong Kong. Again, we witnessed the efficiency of the Chinese railway system. Once through the airport-style security system and our passports were checked, we were allowed onto our platform a short time before the train arrived. Again, Doris excelled by positioning us in the right spot to enable us to board quickly and to get our luggage stowed in the limited spaces available. Our journey, at times at over 300k/hr, went smoothly and we arrived in Hong Kong bang on schedule.
Once in the city, we transferred by taxi to the Travelodge hotel on Saigon Street in the centre of Kowloon. The hotel, although in a very central location, was possibly the worst hotel of our trip; the room was very small, and the facilities were very poor.
Temple Street Night Market was our next destination, so after an orientation stroll around the area to visit an exchange shop (Doris eventually changed our Chinese cash at a better rate), we went to visit this typical Asian night market with its souvenir, food stalls and bars. None of us wished to visit the many fortune tellers dotted about the area. After a quick beer, we returned to the hotel and sadly had to say goodbye to Doris, this girl was a star, by far the best tour guide I have had the pleasure of travelling with, she made our tour truly memorable, bright, cheery and bubbly, she was able to cope with everything that was thrown at her and was quick to adapt the programme when we experienced bad weather or difficult situations.
Friday 24th April – Hong Kong
This morning, we took a taxi to transfer to our final hotel, the Harbour Grand, to find that our room on the 18th floor of this 5-star hotel gave us upgraded facilities in the Harbour Club Lounge on the 19th floor. We discovered that this gave us access to a private breakfast, afternoon tea and evening drinks and exclusive check-in/out facilities, all of which were so much different from the Intrepid hotel and very welcome indeed.
In the afternoon, we took a wander along the waterfront and around Hung Hom, the local area, which includes the Whampoa, a large mall built as a cruise liner in the middle of town, before returning to the hotel for dinner. Looking to do a little more shopping, we took the metro back up to the Temple Street market, where we bumped into Ciarraí from our tour group. We returned to the harbour front to watch the nightly Symphony of Lights, where all of the buildings on the island side put on a light show with multi-coloured lasers and fancy displays of cascading lights on the buildings. There is usually a musical accompaniment, but due to a festival on our side of the harbour, this was cancelled. When the show was over, we returned to the hotel and relaxed over a couple of glasses of wine before retiring for the night.
Saturday 25th April – Hong Kong
Feeling a wee bit weary following our travels, and with no activities planned, we took advantage of a long lie-in this morning. After lunch, we took the metro to the Star Ferry terminal and crossed over to Hong Kong Island, on the Northern Star (not to be confused with Shaw Savill’s liner of the same name), to make our way to the Mid-Level Escalators, stopping off on the way to take a ride on one of the ‘Ding-Dings’, one of Hong Kong’s famous trams, to Happy Valley. I found that the escalators had been upgraded since my last visit, and that they were still extremely busy. Once we reached the top, it was time to take the trek back down the steep streets (with 2 pairs of painful knees). On the recommendation of my friend Thomas, we decided to visit the Mong Kok ladies’ night market. This market was no different to the other night markets I have encountered in Asia, all selling similar products. A beer in a rooftop bar, the Subtle Island, finished off a nice, relaxing day.
Sunday 26th April – Hong Kong
We did a bit of travelling today, taking the metro to Tung Chung to catch the Ngong Ping Cable Car up to Ngong Ping village to see the Big Buddha, one of the largest bronze seated Buddhas. The cable car ride is pretty spectacular as it is one of the longest in the world, climbing over the many hills in the area, from which you have a clear view of the Hong Kong to Macau road bridge/tunnel system. Once we had explored the village and stood at the bottom of the extremely steep staircase up to the Buddha, both of us declined the urge to climb, since I had previously been to the top on my last visit.
We took a local bus for a short journey to the Tai O fishing village. We were intrigued by the number of dried fish products on sale around the village, but resisted the temptation to try some. We took a boat trip around the stilt village before going out into the bay to try and spot a White Chinese Dolphin to no avail, but we did get another view of the Macau bridge/tunnel system. Once off the boat, we boarded one of the local buses back to Tung Chung to return to the city via the metro. After a light dinner and drinks in the Harbour Club lounge, we had a couple of drinks in the waterfront bar before bed.
Monday 27th April – Hong Kong
Leaving day, today. When we went up for breakfast, Vicky, our hostess in the Harbour Club Lounge, told us that she had extended our checkout time until 4:00 pm and that we could check out in the lounge with our luggage and that they would get it delivered to our driver when he arrived. This gave us almost a free day. We returned to the metro station to return our Octopus card and get a refund of the unused funds. With this extra cash, we did a little shopping. I wanted a new neck cushion for my flight home, while Jim hunted out the local Post Office to pick up some nice Hong Kong stamps for his collection.
The remainder of our time in the hotel, we spent on a lounger at the rooftop pool, soaking up the last of our Hong Kong sunshine. All too soon, it was time to check out, so we took our luggage up to the lounge and enjoyed a nice afternoon tea while we waited for our driver.
Conclusions
I thoroughly enjoyed this tour. I entered China with no real expectations of what the country would be like. I only had memories of old movies and TV shows, and of my trip to Hong Kong in 2018, to refer to, so I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. I found the country to be a unique and interesting place to be in. While Beijing and Hong Kong are more international, Chengdu, Yangshuo, and especially Mount Qingcheng and the Tai’an Ancient Town feel more like deep China and are mostly unknown outside of the country; this made them, in my opinion, interesting places to visit. When I was in Japan last year, I experienced overtourism in places like Kyoto and found it to be a bit uncomfortable moving through crowds of people. Apart from the Forbidden Palace and the Terracotta Warriors, which were a bit crowded, there seemed to be a more relaxed pace to the tourism elsewhere, giving me time to enjoy the experience of being there. I had 3 must-sees on my list before going to China: walking on the Great Wall, the Terracotta Warriors and seeing Giant Pandas in their natural habitat, and see them I did, they were wonderful experiences to be added to my memory bank.
The Chinese people I met along the way were, on the whole, polite, friendly, helpful, and inquisitive about us, with many opening up conversations, displaying very good English language skills, and others were quite happy to use Google Translate (the wonders of technology crossing boundaries). The cities, towns and villages were all very clean and free from litter; they were relatively quiet, mainly due to the proliferation of electric vehicles in use. I used a variety of transport methods during my time, and I found them all to be extremely efficient, dependable and very inexpensive. On the whole, the hotels we stayed in were very good, with nice, clean, large rooms with excellent facilities .
As many readers of my blog know, I have travelled with Intrepid many times and found them to be a great company. Their tours are extremely well organised, taking you to places you would never consider going to when travelling alone. Great care is taken by the guides to ensure you have an enjoyable and safe tour at all times. Our guide for this tour, Doris Wang, was a perfect example of a highly efficient guide. I don’t think I can sing her praises highly enough; she was wonderful, bright, bubbly, attentive, and caring. Her knowledge of the areas we visited was extensive, keeping us informed at all times of the history and highlights of the places we visited. She was able to quickly adapt the programme to suit the changing weather conditions and also change timings according to expected crowds in locations. Her choice of restaurants and diners displayed detailed local knowledge, ensuring that we were able to eat without worry, and she did it all with a happy smiley face. Doris certainly made the tour informative, enlightening, safe, and most of all, fun. I would certainly recommend this tour to anyone with an interest in visiting China.
We were a small group of nine tourists who gelled together quickly, and we all got on famously, taking care of each other when needed. What made it special for me was travelling with my mate Jim; we shared so many highlights along the way, having great fun. We were sorry to say goodbye to Doris and the rest of the group, but I’m sure we will keep in touch in the future. I would like to thank them for allowing me to use some of their photographs in this blog.
Jim's travels 