Neehow!
And greetings from China, well Myanmar actually but as this post is about our time in China, let’s go with that instead. It had been difficult connecting to the Internet in China due to the obvious great firewall of China restrictions but do not fear the long awaited trip update is finally here!
We had been in China from the middle of January until the middle of February and because it’s such a large country we could only really visit the south, central and eastern parts. And even then we were only really scratching the surface. That said we certainly tried to make the most our 5 weeks there and set off on an ambitious itinerary.
Despite our unrealistic hopes, China started out extremely cold due to an unusual extreme cold snap (a polar vortex apparently), so the cold weather clothing we bargained for in Vietnam came in incredibly useful. Apparently temperatures in the south were the coldest for 60 years which was made worse by many of the buildings and infrastructure in parts of the region not really being set up for those temperatures and therefore the insulation was very poor.
We crossed the border from Vietnam by sleeper train to Nanning and thankfully our cabin buddy Bei Ling from Singapore helped us navigate border control in the middle of the night which was a bit intimidating when woken up by an abrupt Chinese guard in your bunk bed and told to get off the have to do this twice. Once for the Vietnam border control and once for Chinese immigration so it’s a broken nights sleep but generally the sleeper train is a pretty comfy, cheap and efficient way to get in to China.
Cabin fever
Nanning is a huge city and important for trade apparently (some call it the gateway to Asia) but there isn’t too much to see really (especially in a Monday when everything is closed) except a lovely park and riverside which were really good for running. However it was a nice gentle introduction to China and we had fun trying out our newly learnt Chinese phrases in the night food market where we also savoured some culinary delights such as random meat on a stick, squid balls and toffee apples.
After Nanning our first main stops were in the province of Guangxi and namely the towns of Guilin and Yangshou (and the close by village of Xingping). The scenery in Guilin and Yangshou is kind of similar to Halong Bay in Vietnam but surrounded by towns and open land rather than water. This doesn’t make it any more less spectacular and in fact some of the views from the top of the karst limestone mountains are phenomenal.
The dramatic landscape was apparently formed hundreds of thousands of years ago when the Indian tectonic plate hit the Asian plate and caused the land to rise out of the oceans. This land was formed of limestone rock and was then subjected to weathering from the elements which eroded and scoured the land around the peaks leading to the flat plains surrounding the mountains. We did quite a lot of walking and trekking up the various peaks you can climb for the views and the climbs were definitely worth it!
From Guilin we visited the UNESCO world heritage site of the Longji Rice Terraces, but unfortunately at this time of year it’s pretty foggy so the stunning vistas across the hillsides and down to local traditional mountain villages never really materialised. We made the best of it and did a trek around a couple of villages and hillsides and took in some green tea from a tea lodge but it’s one place I think we will have to come back to to see its full majesty. We visited the Dazhai area where the local population are of the Yao ethnic group.
Rice to see you to see you rice
Say, nice Ass!
Our first impressions of the people were very positive despite being told that they can sometimes come across a little abrupt or rude. For example we met a Chinese English teacher, while we were walking around the lovely twin pagoda park in Guilin, who heard us speaking English and he asked if he could chat to us and show us round the area. We agreed hoping we wouldn’t get scammed somehow but he was lovely and even took us to a local canteen for dinner and paid for everything and wouldn’t hear of us even paying for drinks or anything. I don’t think that would happen too often in the UK that’s for sure.
The town of Yangshuo, which we headed to after Guilin, is a pretty little town on the Li river and is famed for the bamboo boats you can get a ride on the river with. We spent a few nights there so one day hired some bikes and cycled around the surrounding countryside taking in some of the amazing scenery and local sights such as the Banyan tree, Moon Hill, old water wheel and many other amazing karst mountains.
Guangzhou was next up and it was a bit of a brief visit so not too much to say other than it is a huge sprawling metropolis (it’s China’s third biggest city apparently). As we only had a day here we decided to just try and find Bruce Lee’s childhood home; however as its not signposted and the area it’s in is pretty tricky to navigate, we couldn’t find The Way (of the Dragon)! We also visited the Museum/Mausoleum of the Nanyue King (Zhao Mo who ruled the area of southern China and northern Vietnam from 137 BC to 122 BC), which was excavated in the 1980s. It also has the biggest collection of porcelain pillows which sound about as comfy as they look!
With our money dwindling, we decided to hit the casinos of the Las Vegas of Asia and head to Macau! The city is actual a special territory and you therefore effectively leave China when entering. It has its own currency and governs itself except for matters involving defence and foreign affairs. The Portuguese settled there in the the mid-16th century and administered it until late 1999, when it was the last remaining European colony in Asia under Portugal. In 1557, Macau was rented to Portugal from Ming China as a trading port. The Portuguese Empire administered the city under Chinese authority and sovereignty until 1887, when Macau became a colony. Sovereignty over Macau was transferred to China on 20 December 1999.
After a quick look around the old town which is chok full of lovely Portuguese colonial buildings (including St Pauls church and Monte Fort to name a few) we hit the Gran Lisboa Casino. Being the low rollers we are, we lost all our stakes on the roulette tables and left with the wallet ten pounds lighter. Better luck next time.
The Gran Lisboa Casino
Being a big gambling city Macau is incredibly expensive and we spent the most money on a room per night than we have spent anywhere so far, and it was by far the worst! It was in a very old building, which although nice looking, had no heating (temperature was in the minus’s at night) and just partition walls that didn’t reach the ceiling. We were given an extra blanket but both slept in our clothes huddling together for warmth.
From Macau it was a short hop across the South China Sea to Hong Kong. We were both really surprised at how much there was to see and do there. As well as the fantastic cityscapes and architecture of the skyscrapers there – particularly the ICC building which we popped up to one of the top floors to have a cheeky drink in the Sheraton hotel there – honkers has some great hikes in the surrounding hills and national parks.
Despite some heavy rain we first set out to Lantau Island in west Hong Kong where there are some traditional fishing villages, beaches and some large hills and forest treks. We had the option of getting the cable car or the bus from the metro stop up to the big Buddha in the centre of the island, so as the hill was still shrouded in clouds we opted for the bus option. Thankfully once we got to the top, the clouds lifted slightly and we could take in the view along the coast and the full majesty of Mr Buddha himself. The big Buddha was built in 1993 and is 34 metres high and faces north to look over the Chinese people and apparently draws pilgrims from all over Asia.
He’s big and a buddha, the Big Buddha!
Once back on Hong Kong island, we met up with a guy called Mike who is a friend of a friend from the UK. He kindly took us on a hike to the West peak and Victoria Peak in the hills behind the city. As it was evening, the trail was dark, but that meant the views over the city and the islands were great wih all the lights. Well when the clouds shifted a little anyhow. After any good hike a visit to the pub is always on the cards and Honkers did not disappoint. Mike took us off to a couple of his locals in Soho where despite the £7 a pint price tag we knocked back a few drinks and grabbed some food. There is one street where all the bars spill out in to the road that is very popular with expats (or should that be immigrants – what’s the difference?) and tourists hang out to party which is pretty fun and deffo worth a visit if up for a night out in Honkers.
Before departed Hong Kong there was the small matter of running the China Coast Half Marathon which was held in a national park in the outer territories, but for more details on at see the race report at https://stravellingtheworld.wordpress.com/2016/02/23/china-coast-half-marathon-hong-kong/. To prepare for the race, we met up with the Wu’s (my old flatmate Jonny, his wife Ifan and their two month old son Sebastian) for a slap up dim sum (like Chinese tapas) lunch in Kennedy Town near where they live. Bloody lovely it was too. Both the food and the company of course!
So after a few great days we headed back to mainland China to meet up with the first of our series of visitors, Laura, in Xi’an!
Part 2 to follow…
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