Beijing

Tian'anmen Square

The day of arrival was spent recovering, but we did manage a walk into Tian'anmen Square and a visit to Zhongshang Park which was very peaceful compared to the bustle and rush on the main thoroughfare. On our return to the hotel (the Xidan - very good food!) we went into the Beijing Books Building - an enormous block of a building, 6 floors crammed with books!

Our first guided visit was next morning to Tian'anmen Square: truly vast but singularly uninspiring - too big, I think. At the south end is the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall with wonderful heroic figures at all four corners (above).

It was smoggy here, and very hazy. The major road between the north end of the square and the Forbidden City was a sufficient width to make for a very hazy impression.

The Forbidden City (left and right) is again vast - nothing is on a small scale here it seems! Reputed to have 9000 chambers its name derives from the Chinese people being forbidden to approach even the walls of the complex. Begun in the reign of Kublai Khan - descendant of Genghis Khan - in the thirteenth century, the buildings today date mainly from the fifteenth century Ming dynasty. It is a built to a rigid geometric plan at the centre of a city considered to be the centre of the universe.

One or two of the buildings were under wraps being renovated/decorated for the Olympics in 2008 but most are finished. The colours are fabulous - mostly blues, greens and gold set off by the dull red painted walls. The base of the buildings is intentionally high to give an impression of power. Visitors are not actually allowed into any of the buildings but several interiors can be seen from the outside, including the throne room (right). The Imperial yellow silk shines out in the dimmest interiors.

The corners of the roofs are occupied by a procession of figures - the more numerous they are, the more important the building.

Later, on our own, we took the subway to the south gate of Tian'anmen Square and wandered through the hutongs - apparently in danger of being completely wiped out in order not to present a poor impression come Olympics time. A shame, because these are fascinating places, more really Chinese than anything we have yet seen. Here are the people, in their shops and stores - selling everything from slippers to silks (or maybe not!).

The Great Wall

 

We were most looking forward to two things on this holiday: the Great Wall and the Terracotta Warriors. So it was with a great sense of excitement that we set out early with our guide for the 2km Mutianyu section of the Wall, and increasing worry that it was going to be too misty to get a good sense of the spectacle. We needn't have worried, even though the mist cleared only slighlty on the ascent in the cable car, it continued to clear through the morning and gave an incredibly atmospheric introduction to this immense structure. With the farther hills shrouded in mist you could get a real sense of the isolation of the soldiers posted here to guard the empire.

Nevertheless, we felt we really ought to see the wall as most tourists see it - snaking over distant hills. So the following day we visited the longer Badaling section in sunny and clear conditions. Now it was possible to appreciate the immensity of the task of those ancient builders, as the wall stretches literally as far as the eye can see.

We had some really good food in Beijing - in our hotel, restaurants and in a family home, which we were a bit apprehensive about, not liking touristy stuff - but we needn't have worried. This was run by the family, a lunch time spot for Chinese as well as tourists , and the food was excellent. We variously had, throughout our stay in Beijing, dim sum, king prawns, duck (and other meats) feshly griddled to order at the hotel, pork ribs, squid, meat balls, fried aubergine. Not to our liking is tofu and one or two vegetable dishes.

The Drum Tower

Temple of Heaven

In the Long Gallery, Summer Palace

Beihei Park

We also visited the Drum Tower in Beijing - the drumming is fantastic, apparently an ancient method of letting the citizens know the time! A kindergarten was on our schedule, again a little apprehensively visited, but mercifully the children are all asleep.

The Ming Dynasty Temple of Heaven, freshly painted, is another beautifully colourful structure regarded by many as the supreme example of Ming design.

Huge Beihai Park is pleasant to wander through and is curious for the white dagoba, built in the seventeenth century to commemorate a visit of the Dalai Lama. East of Beihe is Jingshan Park - created from the spoil from digging the the palace moat. From the top of the hill here the views of the Forbidden City are fantastic - looking right down over all the buildings spread out south and giving a real idea of the huge scale of the place.

The Summer Palace is another beautiful spot to wander, very much the creation of the notorious Empress Dowager Cixi. Infamous for creating a huge marble boat (which remains at the summer palace) with funds originally destined for the navy! The 900m Long Gallery, decorated with paintings over its entire length, is said to be built so that Cixi could walk outside even in poor weather. De rigeur to take a Dragon Boat across the lake!

A final recommendation for food in Beijing: the Beijing Qangjude Hepingmen Roast Duck Restaurant. Vast is, again, the only word to describe this place, 15000 square metres of dining including banquet halls and more than 40 separate dining rooms.

Impossible not to have the Beijing (Peking) Duck. Wonderful pancakes with plum sauce and fabulous roast duck carved at the table. You can tell we're not vegetarians, can't you!

Xi'an

The Terracotta Army

An early flight from Beijing to Xi'an for a much anticipated visit to the Terracotta Warriors. We were met by our next guide and driver - throughout these were very friendly, though our Xi'an guide was less efficient than the others, though very knowledgable in the museum in Xi'an.

We departed immediately for the Warriors, being told that the afternoon would be less crowded than tomorrow morning.

First a visit to a factory with an interesting description of how the warriors were made. Solid only up to their thighs, the hand and heads were made separately and attached to the mass produced bodies. Each face is different. At the back of the factory, and obligatory to walk through, was a large shop - I really wish they'd drop this kind of thing! We have an atrocious meal in what is supposed to be the best nearby restaurant - what on earth must the others be like!

Created to guard the tomb of the emperor Qin Shi Huang (who began the construction of the Great Wall) around 200BC, the underground vaults of the Terracotta Army were discovered in 1974 when peasants were sinking a well. We were indeed very lucky as the place was almost empty and we had unrestricted access to the edge of the viewing platforms. Entering the first large vault is unforgettable - a stunning experience. This is one of the greatest sights in the world.

 

There are two large vaults and one smaller one. Vault 1 (above) is the largest with over a thousand figures facing as you enter. The rear of Vault 1 is a 'hospital' area where warriors are reconstructed ready for redeployment.

The soldiers are depicted wearing knee-length tunics, those in the vanguard have no armour or helmets - most seem to have a topknot of hair. They originally carried real weapons such as spears and bows and arrows and there were chariots, of which only the horses remain.

The second vault gives a better idea of how badly damaged most of the warriors are on excavation, lying smashed into many pieces. It also has four figures exhibited for vistors to see close up, the most beautiful of which is the archer (right).

Not lovers of museums, the one here is absolutely essential for the two half-life-size bronze chariots it contains - absolutely stunning. The chariot in front, the Imperial Fleet Leader's chariot, has four horses and a driver, the one in the rear was the Emperor's and is furnished with beds and seats. The detail is incredible - according to the Rough Guide even the fingerprints are shown!

Xi'an City Walls

At the Big Wild Goose Pagoda

Xi'an

Xi'an, at the start of the Silk Road, has suitably impressive Ming Dynasty walls. Inside the walls is a Muslim quarter, which bears very little evidence of traditional Islamic art or architecture. A fine Drum Tower stands imposingly at the south-east corner of the Muslim quarter.

It was so tremendously hot when we visited (indeed has been so far throughout the holiday) that we eventually retreated to an air-conditioned shop before meeting up with our guide.

Another stiflingly hot day to visit The Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Built as a storehouse to protect precious Sanskrit sutras from fire and is not particularly attractive. There is a very beautiful jade carving, however, depicting the life of the Buddha.

The Shaanxi History museum is really rather good, illustrating the history of the dynasties. I particularly like some wonderful models of people.

On this day we had lunch at the Theatre restaurant, which was better than yesterday's (couldn't possibly be worse!) but not as good as the food in Beijing. However, on the evening of our stay we have the Sofitel buffet - highly recommended! And the Dragon Seal Cabernet is not so shabby either.

A flight from Xi'an takes us effortlessly to Guilin.

Guilin and the Li River to Yangshuo

Rice Terraces

Vibrant green paddy fields...


...and rice terraces

Guilin Park Hotel between Karst and Lake

Climbing through the rice terraces

Tantalising view of 'Seven Stars and Moon'

We arrive in Guilin as it is getting dark, met by Lily and Mr Lo our new guide and driver. As we drive to our hotel - the Guilin Park on the lake - we can see that the surrounding landscape is beautiful with huge karsts dominating. These limestone karsts are a distinctive shape, usually tall and narrow with a rounded top.

The following morning we woke to rain. It was, after all, the rainy season, so not entirely unexpected. A long drive to the rice terraces through magnificent scenery: brilliant green paddy fields, tea plantations, clouds drifting between mountain peaks.

When we arrive at the village where we are to have lunch it is raining heavily. Lunch is authentically local: young pea pods with smoky bacon, fried white cabbage, bamboo shoots and egg, seaweed and egg soup, rice - all good and in huge quantities. We do not wish to offend but really cannot do justice to all this good food. The girl serving us is lovely, a student at Xi'an University studying English and Tourism.

Despite the rain we climb to the top to view the terraces, passing farmers working the paddy fields oblivious to the rain. A horse drawing a manual plough pushed by a farmer covered in plastic, wading to the ankles in water. At the top we have a thunderstrom which was quite worrying. However, the clouds cleared sufficiently for us to glimpse the beautiful landscape of rice terraces named "Seven Stars and Moon" before the weather closed in again.

This is a place we will certainly return to but what time of year is best? We love the green at the moment but always at this time of year you run the risk of rain storms!

On our return we stopped at a Tea Plantation and the second tea tasting of our visit. One in Beijing had been exceedingly messy - here it is much better and we tasted five different teas: green (smelly and tasting of gooseberry, much stronger than hotel tea), lychee and black which is quite sweet, jasmine, ginseng and oolong, osmanthus (local flower - Guilin means "osmanthus flower") and oolong - we both liked this and the green tea best.

Back in Guilin the river is flooding. Quite a climb, the view from the top of Fubo peak is impressive.

Li River

Reed Flute Cave

In the Guilin Market

The following day the rain has stopped but the river is very high and there is some discussion as to whether the boats will be allowed down the river so we are able to spend some time on our own exploring Guilin while it is decided what will happen.

At 8a.m. lots of people are eating noodles (I suppose this shouldn't surprise us!) in numerous cafes: very basic wooden tables and chairs usually. We came across a market which was fascinating: sacks of rice, counters covered with meat, vegetables, mushrooms, spices, duck (we'd seen duck farms on our drive the previous day) - some of the smells were rather strong!

Back at the hotel the river trip is on. Before arriving at the jetty we visit Reed Flute Cave - amazingly lit seqeunces of stalagmites and stalactites.

At the jetty a very large number of boats will go in convoy down to Yangshuo. We share our table with six friendly Japanese/Korean gentlemen.

The scenery is spectacular, especially with the mist drifting between the karsts, but, here again, we feel we must come back. The river was running so fast that we made the journey in only two and a half hours - normally it is four! A short walk to our hotel - the Paradise (best in town, naturally Bill stayed here!).

Yangshuo

Yangshuo

We wander around Yangshuo which is great for bargains, then decide we have had enough Chinese food and opt for pizza and a bottle of wine. Not bad at all, and the crepe suzette is excellent.

Rained all night and in the morning the small courtyards in the hotel look flooded, though not yet reaching the covered walkways. We walked down to the river, borrowing hotel brollies, and it is speeding along.

Enjoyed a very scenic drive to the airport: lots of karsts to see and also water buffalo (good climate for them!).

We had an excellent lunch at the airport: beef/onion/peppers - quite spicy, chicken in a crispy coating (but quite bony!), beans and very good egg fried rice.

Shanghai

The Bund from the Panorama Bar

Fireworks on the Huangpu river

The Jade Buddha Temple




In Yu Yuan Gardens

We were able to choose the end point of our holiday: either Shanghai or Hong Kong. We weren't too keen on Hong Kong - its main attraction seems to be shopping which does not appeal, and we'd heard good things about the Bund so we opted for Shanghai. We were not disappointed and both really liked this city.

Met with the usual efficiency at the airport, the drive to the hotel revealed a city, like Beijing, with a lot of construction work going on. Whereas the architecture in Beijing is massive and blocky, here it seems much more modern. The Shanghaiese are obviously sensitive on the subject of the Olympics and keen to point out that they host the World's Fair in 2010 with the theme "Better City – Better Life"!

Our hotel is the Panorama at the north end of the Bund, close to the Huangpo river, and the view of the Bund from the bar on the 31st floor (which also does an excellent Tequila Sunrise), especially at night, is fantastic. We have a beautiful serviced apartment which is great - lots of space to spread out.

The Bund is certainly an impressive street - it gets its name from an old Anglo-Indian term bunding: the embanking of a muddy foreshore. It was the heart of old Shanghai's commercial district in the British concession, and a working harbour in its heyday.

I like Art Deco so we set out on our first day to track down a couple of examples: the Peace Hotel, which turns out to be closed for 18 months for renovation, and the Metropole Hotel, which is open. It's nice, and does a good cocktail, but for Art Deco go to New York, and of course London has some fine examples. We don't see any fine decorative detail such as can be found on Art Deco buildings elsewhere.

Although M on the Bund comes highly acclaimed, we didn't find anything to tempt us on the menu. In the same building, albeit in the basement so without the views, is Lin Bar & Grill, which does excellent fillet beef and Spanish Suckling Pig, washed down with a more than acceptable Tuoling red.

Walking back along the Bund is extremely pleasant. The waterfront Promenade is popular with the locals and there are lots of food vendors, including candied plums which are fantastic - messy but fantastic!

The restaurant in the Panorama is on the 30th floor and a window table has excellent views of the river, which is a fully working river. A continuous convoy of huge barges laden with sand, gravel, coal, timber makes its way upstream.

The Jade Buddha Temple is our first guided visit. It is a lovely building, corridors festooned with red lanterns, fierce gods and trees with red prayer ribbons. The white jade Buddha is truly lovely. On to the Yu Yuan Gardens, a classic Chinese garden with pools, bridges and rocks; Ming Dynasty architecture, with circular entrances typical of the south, and the usual annoying Rolex sellers - the only brand in the whole of China it seems! We lunch here in a tea house but it is not as good as other Chinese food we have had. On the way back to the hotel we visited the Confucious Temple, where we prayed with incense sticks and were prayed for by the monk with three strikes of the bell - actually very moving.

On our own in the afternoon we crossed the top of the Bund and made our way to the Beijing East Road. This is full of shops which, as we have seen throughout our travels, line the street completely open, and are closed at night by a by an iron shutter.Here all kinds of hardware is on sale: nuts, bolts, cable, string, tubing, car radiators, gaskets, electronic components. We see bicycle tyres being repaired and the usual mass of humanity hurrying along.

An evening boat trip on the Huangpu river is a must - a stately promenade down and up the river in front of the Bund on an illuminated boat. Followed by a very good meal at TSens on the Bund: prime rib of beef with extra chips (albeit delivered after we'd finished the meat!), California Merlot and freshly baked bread. Finish off with a drink in the Panorama with the view of the Bund that I doubt can be bettered.

Zhujiajiao Water Village

The following day we visit the water village at Zhujiajiao with dire warnings of not to eat anything as the river water, none too hygenic, is used for washing fruit and vegetables. It's a very picturesque place, and we have time to wander on our own, visiting a small museum which has a lovely little exhibit on the development of the plough from a simple stick used to dig a hole, adding a cross-bar to stand on (i.e. a primitive spade), to a curved stick for digging a furrow. Discover that what we thought was ploughing on the rice terraces was probably ploughing in manure to enrich the soil. The pharmacy is very interesting too.

On to the silk factory for lunch, though we decline a visit to the factory itself where we can see ranks of looms spinning thread from cocoons. Chinese food, after 12 days in a row, is beginning to pall!

We freshen up at the hotel then take the subway to the French concession to see the colonial housing areas. The Sun Yat-sen house seems very British in its interior and lawned garden. Mr Morris's Tudor-style house (he was a newspaper magnate) is a peaceful oasis and now a fine hotel. In the parks, very English, kite-flying is very popular.

We travel to the airport on on the Mag Lev train - only 7 minutes to travel 30 km, with a top speed of 431km/hr - there's a display on the train of its speed. A fitting way to end a wonderful holiday.