A View of Hong Kong - WOW!

Wednesday 30 August

We were at breakfast almost as soon as the doors opened at 07.00 as a tour of Hong Kong had been booked for us as part of our itinerary. The documents we received at Reception last night told us to be ready for 08.20.

The coach picked up at a couple of other hotels on the way and then met a “confusion” of other coaches - just made up the collective noun here, but it sounds right, as the place where we convened, had coaches parked higgledy-piggledy all around the parking area of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. This is the building where the hand-over to the Chinese by the British Government took place in 1997. It is a large round glass and stainless steel structure situated along the waterfront, with a shiny roof that looks like the wings of a bird – think of how a child draws a bird, a sort of soft “v” shape, and you’ve got the shape of the roof.

Getting back to our trip – we changed coaches to meet up with five other people booked for the “Deluxe Tour of Hong Kong!! – parents and two teenaged daughters from California and a single Aussie guy. Soon on our way, the first stop was at the Man Mo Temple, built in 1847, a Taoist temple, dedicated to the gods Man (literature) and Mo (martial arts). Taoists believe that you should live life to the full and enjoy yourself, the exact opposite of the Buddhists who believe that life should be a hard struggle in trying to become a Buddha yourself, based on self denial and prayer. At the end of the 1890’s this temple was the centre of the community, and a meeting place outside, for street traders, fortune tellers and the like. From the money earned by the temple, fourteen schools were set up in Hong Kong and many are still receiving donations from here today.

On entering the front door, there was a large red and gold screen, to keep out the devil, who apparently can only travel in straight lines. Traditionally you should bang the drum and ring the bell to ensure that the Gods are awake and know you are there as you enter and ring the bell when you leave, just to let them know you are going. Going round the corner of the screen we were confronted with a very smoky scene. There was a huge brazier in the centre, surrounded by statues of the gods, which was being used to light large coils, that looked like springy cones, made of similar material to incense. These could be purchased for 380 HK$ each. Inside the cone there was a string with a red label on which the person could write his name, and the names of the loved ones whose souls he was trying to contact, or wishes for himself and family. Once lit these could take several months to slowly burn away. Behind the brazier was a large altar with a god covered in gold, where worshippers could take food offerings for the gods – if they took fruit or vegetables, they left it there, if they took a chicken they could take it away and eat it at home at the end of their devotions, as it would be have seen by the gods and blessed. At the four corners of the temple were more gods, standing on altars, where people were more traditionally lighting incense sticks and praying.

I visited the public loos here – they were Chinese style, but very clean and had the old overhead cisterns with a pull chain, which seemed completely out of place.

The next stop on the tour was the Victoria Peak – which is 373 metres above the harbour, where the views are spectacular. We were taken to pick up the funicular railway – two red San Francisco style cars – one running each way. This is the world’s steepest funicular railway rising at an angle of 27 degrees, so steep that the floors are wavy to stop anyone standing from slipping backwards. Each coach holds about 50 people. We slowly climbed up the tracks, even stopping at stations on the way – it’s a good job the brakes were good!

At the top we stepped out on to a plaza where the first shop (and meeting point for all the groups) is the Hargan Dartz Ice Cream shop, with a very interesting pulsing fountain in front. There is a multi-storey shopping mall here (where is anything not multi-storey here) and they are in the process of building a new centre where you will be able to take in the 360 degree views from one platform – it will also double as an exhibition hall and concert arena when it is ready in November. We went along a path round the side of the hill and – WOW – the view is breathtaking. The whole area from the harbour and container port,right round the bay to Causeway Bay and beyond was spead before us. Sky scrapers on both sides of inlet – Kowloon on the far side and Hong Kong Island on this side - as far as you can see, while fishing boats, ferries, pleasure boats and multi-million pound cruisers all ply up and down the waterfront. We took loads of piccys of course, but it really was just amazing to just stand and take in the view. We wandered to the other side of the plaza area where you could look out to the mouth of the inlet to the nearby islands.

Having feasted on the views till our eyes ached, we returned to the coach awaiting us up at the top of the Peak, and wound our way all the way to the bottom to the fishing village of Aberdeen. (Its strange to see place names that are the same as at home – Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Victoria – but of course the British influences are still very strong here.) Aberdeen is an old traditional fishing village, where families live on junks in the bay. We were taken around the bay on a sampan, driven by a lady (I am tempted to say elderly, but in fact she was probably younger than me!). There were lots of comments from the male passengers about women drivers when we actually bumped into another sampan! The boat had been decorated with flowers and lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Some of the fishermen use sampans to go out daily and return with their catch each evening. Others use much larger boats and are away for a week or even months at a time. The junks that they live on are all very basic wooden structures, moored in clusters in the centre of the mainstream of this harbour – but most seem to have television. I wouldn’t be easy to live life here.

After disembarking from the sampan – not an easy task as there are so many of these tourist boats coming in and out from the landing stage, the wash makes the boats rock quite violently at times – we went on to visit a gem factory. Here we were shown how the jewellery was made, seeing men with tweezers adding gem stones to gold and silver settings and polishing the jewels till they sparkled brightly. This was, in fact, a smaller operation than the factory we had visited in Thailand, but the object was just the same. Our family of four bought a ring for one daughter, but the single guy and ourselves disappointed our guide and purchased nothing – she earns commission from all the sales her group make.

We were then back in the coach again and drove on past Repulse Bay – named after a British battleship that was once docked here – but it is now a very up-market and expensive area with large houses and lush gardens around a beautiful sandy cove where lots of people were in swimming. We were all feeling quite hot at this stage, as it was yet another hot sunny day in the 30’s – and we would have welcomed the opportunity for a dip in the sea.

Our last stop was Stanley Market - a typical area of market stalls and small shops huddled together, selling the usual range of souvenirs, particularly clothes and sportswear, jewellery, paintings and chops as well as the usual postcards and nic-nacs. I bought a chop as a memento of my visit here – a rectangle of jade, with a carved dog on the top (my birth sign here – it is the Year of the Dog this year too – my attributes are honest, faithful, gregarious, amiable, loyal, intelligent, courageous, sexy, good with money – does any of these ring any bells??!!? ) which has been engraved with my name in Chinese calligraphy as well as in English. We strolled around and were also tempted by some Chinese pictures depicting Longevity, Good Health and Happiness, but thought about weight of our suitcases already and the ability to keep them flat, so we decided against it.

This was the end of the tour – our family of four opted to stay at the Market to do more shopping! – while the three of us remaining were returned to L’Hotel. Along the way we arranged a couple more tours to ensure we saw as much as possible of Hong Kong. One of these was a Seafood Dinner Sunset Cruise. We would be collected from the Hotel at 17.00 and it was already 15.00! So just time for a quick . . . yes we succumbed to a Maccy D’s meal from across the road to the hotel – two Big Mac Meals with drinks cost 44 HK$ - about 3.20 GBP! – a shower and change and we were off again.

Once more we collected people from other hotels and this time convened at Queens Harbour to await our “cruise” boat – a large yellow flat bottomed boat, looking very Chinese with its curvy roofs. We sat on the top deck and enjoyed the evening sun as we cruised down the harbour towards Causeway Bay (the area we are staying at) and further. We watched the sun set behind us, turning the sky from orange to pink, to lilac and finally dark blue, as night fell and the lights came on. We landed at Victoria Harbour to visit Lei Yue Mun Seafood Village where would have our supper. We wandered along the quayside to an undercover market, where all stalls sold live fish and seafood – so many different varieties, it was a challenge to see how many you could recognize. There were of course clams, oysters, prawns, razor fish, and huge crayfish and scallops. There were crabs and lobsters in an array of amazing colours – pink and purple striped and blue crabs, and multi-coloured lobsters that looked as if their shells had been studded with gemstones. There were even more that we couldn’t recognize – large clams with a long whitish trunk (it looked just like a small elephant’s trunk) hanging out of the side of the shell. It didn’t look appetizing, but the sellers told us it was delicious sliced with wasabi. There were “poonies” which looked like oversized whelks with large round brown meat, oozing from the shell. As well as shell fish, there were ordinary fish – from trout sized carp and bream to huge great fish in tanks by themselves – why do fish always look very miserable – is it because they know they are going to be eaten soon?

Interspersed between the market shops, were restaurants, all laid up ready for customers. The idea is that you select the fish you would like to eat, barter for it with the traders and take it to the restaurant where it will be cooked for you according to your taste, for 15 HK$. Our supper had already been chosen and prepared for us, so we sat down to steamed prawns, deep fried squid with chillis, battered oysters, scallops with angel hair noodles, steamed white fish (not the usual bony variety), sweet and sour pork and steamed pak choi (some people on the trip didn’t like fish and seafood!!) and of course rice. It was all very delicious, washed down by more local Tao Tsing beer.

As we wandered back through the market, feeling fully fed, we inspected the fish even more closely, but were glad we hadn’t had to choose our fish.

The next stop on this tour was the Avenue of Stars – like a mini Hollywood street – where stars have laid their hands in the cement. There were about 30 or so “stars” here, but we had only heard of Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee. It afforded yet another photo opportunity to snap the brilliant waterfront with its beautiful display of coloured lights – it seemed much brighter than when we arrived yesterday – perhaps the vantage point here is Kowloon was better, but most of the lights here are static, not the ever-changing lights of Shanghai.

The last stop tonight was at Temple Street Market – lots of streets of stalls selling more souvenirs, clothing and trinkets and even the opportunity have your fortune told. It was extremely busy, but most people seemed to be just mouching, out for an evening stroll, not making many sales. The atmosphere was buzzing and felt very similar to Pat Pong Market in Bangkok – without the entertainment on the sidewalks.

It was then time to return to the hotel – about 22.30 by the time we got back to the hotel. It has been a very interesting day, exploring lots of different aspects of Hong Kong – and we haven’t even visited the large shopping areas – we drove through Kowloon and Central tonight, both had lots of designer stores, and apparently there’s another at Causeway Bay. Hong Kong has an exciting feel and is very friendly and safe. The traffic is far more restrained than we had been used to in China or Russia. It seems odd to be able to cross the road at zebras on the green light and know you will get across safely.

Tomorrow is a surprise tour, so it’s off to bed to be ready in time.

Two Pancakes and a Pizza

Tuesday 29 August

Today was a day of calories. It started with breakfast, when the China Café agreed to let us have banana pancakes instead of the usual greasy spoon fare. Not sure that the calorific content was that different, but it probably wasn’t a healthy start. They were scrummy.

We had the morning to ourselves again but not feeling too energetic, so decided to stroll around Yangshuo again one more time, taking some more piccys. I bought a jade flower necklace to remind me of our stay. It was another quiet morning. The sun was almost through the mist by the time we awoke – it was going to be another scorcher, and the humidity was very high.

We had intended to repack our cases and try and lighten the load, but the thought of it was enough to make us abandon the idea – we would just have to pay, if necessary, Juz had phoned us in the middle of the night again – she really must try and work out the time difference – so we sent a few emails and struggled down the stairs for the last time with our suitcases – well Colin did. I think they need to rethink the porterage system in the hotels in Yangshuo – there doesn’t seem to be an elevator in the whole town. As we were leaving we met another couple who had been deposited at the Magnolia with their suitcases, although they were actually staying at another hotel at the end of the street. A man on a bicycle with a wooden box on the back, came to collect their luggage, three suitcases and several pieces of hand luggage. The couple were amazed at the antiquated practices here, and trotted off after the bicycle to ensure their belongings arrived at the right place.

For lunch, we decided to share a pizza, cooked in a wood-burning oven – pizzas are on every menu here, it’s almost a national dish. The one I chose was called Autumn in Mexico, and had peppers, tomatoes, sweetcorn, cheese and minced beef as a topping – not sure how it got its name, except they give you Tabasco sauce to shake over the top. It was a bit like a Pizza Express style pizza and tasted very good, although full of yet more calories.

Jeremy arrived at the hotel early to collect us for the airport – I think he was concerned there wouldn’t be enough time at the airport to complete the questionnaire about his performance – he needn’t have worried, we gave him top marks – he did take us rafting and bought me that awful taro – but we did make a few suggestions for improvements to the hotel here – just basic things like if you provide a kettle and cups, some tea or coffee would be good.

The journey back to Guilin airport would take about an hour and a half. We traveled along some very long, very straight roads, but the mountains were always visitble, if not close by. In some areas the farming was obviously more prosperous than we had seen yesterday – some of the houses looked like plantation houses from the Caribbean, surrounded by lush vegetables, orchards growing oranges or even bonzi trees. Gradually the landscape flattened out, and all we could see was road, with very little traffic. After passing through a very modern town – new houses and shops, quite western in style – we suddenly left the freeway for an unmade bumpy road. It seemed as if the Council had run out of money to finish it. The road deteriorated and even became an unmade road, before we rejoined the main road to the airport once more – only trouble was we had to travel about five miles to find a gap to let us travel in the right direction. Still we made the airport in plenty of time.

In fact, at Guilin airport, most of the flights take place in the evening or nighttime. We had to wait for staff to come on duty to see us through at each point - emigration, passport control, booking in and security checks. Even the shops at the departure lounge were only just opening as we arrived. We had never seen an airport so empty – but it soon filled with several large tour groups, also going to Hong Kong, including one set from America, who held the queue up while we were getting on and they were trying to sort out their seats, and held the queue up when we were getting off because they couldn’t remember where they had put their ‘carry-on’ luggage – there was so much of it - we had nothing to worry about with our bags. The flight was uneventful , except that I got that sought-after seat by the emergency exit with all the leg room which one large American guy was trying to persuade the hostess to let him sit in - and the food on the plane was terrible – a dry roll and a drink.

I had heard that coming into land at Hong Kong was special – flying in low over the water to land on a specially built peninsula, before stepping on the brakes to stop in time – well it was exactly like that.

Getting out of the airport was quite a challenge. I suppose there were several flights all landing at the same time, and immigration was a flood of people queueing in orderly lines waiting to go through passport control. (Its hard to believe it was so efficient in Beijing – perhaps that was because most of the plane was filled with Chinese nationals).

Our itinerary stated that we should check in at gate B13 when we arrived – it turned out to be on the other side of the arrivals hall – but after a quick check they ushered us to a waiting Mercedes (large black and shiny, and verrrry comfortable leather seats), which sped us to our hotel – the L’Hotel Causeway Bay. It took about half an hour to reach our destination.

Hong Kong was so much larger than I had ever envisaged – I thought it was a small island with the settlement built around a small bay. But, in the dark anyway, it seemed huge. Almost every building is a skyscraper over 20 floors high, and there are just hundreds of them, and the bridges and tunnels seem to be as long as the buildings are high. There were lots of lights on the buildings, particularly in the city centre, but I didn’t think it was so pretty as Shanghai – perhaps because the area in Shanghai was more concentrated. It will be interesting to see it in daylight tomorrow.

We checked in and were taken to a room on the 21st floor – I think this is another first – I have never stayed so high up in a hotel. The room is quite spacious, nicely furnished with all the usual accoutrements – the beds are still hard, as they have been all over China –it’s a toss up which is softer, the floor or the bed – and everything seems to work. This will do us fine for the next few days. Unfortunately the swimming pool isn’t finished yet, but the gym works (no takers here I think)

As it was nearly 21.00 by the time we had booked in, so we decided, that as we haven’t a clue where we are and what’s around here, we would eat in the hotel. The restaurant is on the 1st floor, and we opted for the buffet. The food was delicious – I had a range of seafood and salads to start, followed by chicken and pork with different vegetables and rice. Then came the third calorific event of the day – yet another pancake (I don’t even like pancakes at home, I just make them for Nick and Colin) – this time with vanilla sauce with a splash of strawberry coulis. Yummy scrummmy again. I had a glass of red wine with my meal, as I haven’t had a lot of wine lately, but Colin stuck to Sprite.

We have to be up early again tomorrow – we have got out of the habit these last couple of days – as we have to be ready to go on the tour round the island by 08.15. The time is now midnight, so I will say goodnight and my mantra must be “tomorrow I must start my diet, or eat less, or just don’t eat!!”

The Real China at Last

Monday 28 August

As I have mentioned previously, we were to have a leisurely day today. The girl in Reception yesterday said she would take us to breakfast, any time after 08.00. So we ambled down the eight flights of stairs about 08.30 and asked for directions. We were given a voucher and told food would be served at the China Café (how imaginative) at the top corner of West Street, about 100 yards away. Walking up the street, it was deserted – very different from last night when the crowded bars spilled out over the street, their music vibrating from every direction – some old classics, others belting rock and roll. Now everyone appeared to be sleeping it off.

In the Café there was a party of Australians, halfway through their fry-up and a young Chinese girl, eating banana pancake (which looked delicious) but she kept looking at her watch and in the end couldn’t finish her meal – on her way to work, I suppose. We sat down and were each offered a bowl of natural yogurt (I didn’t take mine) and some orange juice. We ordered jasmine tea, which promptly arrived in a large mug full of floating flowers. I asked if I could have a pancake, but was told my breakfast had already been ordered! Shame – but there’s always tomorrow. They brought us two fried eggs – cooked over easy, how did they know that’s the only way I like them – bacon, hash brown with tomato and cucumber garnish, and two slices of toast and one portion of butter – lucky I don’t usually eat butter, so Colin could have mine.. Needing some exercise after all this food, we decided to wander the streets and explore Yangshuo some more. We started off down by the river where we had arrived yesterday. The market traders were just setting up their stalls – its about 09.30 by this time – but hardly anyone else was around. We stood and watched over the wall for quite a while, as several women were doing their washing in the river – some had soap in a plastic bottle and a crude type of scrubbing brush to clean their clothes, while others just dunked their clothes in the river and pounded them on the pavement, until they were clean. They then rinsed them in the river again, put them in a bucket and walked off home. It was just a normal Monday morning washday for them.

A little further along the river we came across an exercise area – crude metal machines painted yellow and bright blue, being used by what looked like elderly Chinese women – a running machine, an exercise bike-cum-rower, a twister, a stepper and a contraption that looked like two long poles with metal trays for your feet – you then swung each leg forward in back like giant steps – straightening your legs to reach out front and back as high as possible – Colin would have benefited from one of these when doing his hip exercises a few months ago – perhaps we should have a set of these in the garden – might encourage me to exercise more – eeerrrrr , it would probably end up a five minute wonder like the Gym,. But I had a go on most of them here, just to see how they worked.

By now we were near the outskirts of the town, so we walked up several side streets to find the vegetable market. This was bustling – people eagerly displaying all sorts of fruit and vegetables, some I have never seen in England – Taro being one of them –when its growing it has very large nasturtium type leaves on long stems, but you eat the root, a big round dark brown globe, that looks a bit like a cross between a rough skinned celeriac and a swede. As it happens, later in the day, Jeremy bought me one to try – when it was cut open it was white with purple streaks inside and very dry to taste - a bit like an overcooked roast chestnut, powdery. It has a strange flavour which tastes like nothing I’ve eaten before - aain a bit like the chestnut, but with something else in the background that I couldn’t define. I didn’t like it, so he took it home. But there were plenty of other weird fruits and vegetables on show on stalls set out in the middle of the road. Flowers too, but I think they were bought for cooking, not to admire in a vase.

The town was beginning to come to life now – the traffic increased with lots of cars and motorcycles presumably taking people to work, and tourists hiring bicycles as this is a popular way to see this area. Shops were opening and setting out their goods along the pavements. Many of the restaurants were already open as they serve breakfasts – usually a version of the traditional English fare – but other eateries, selling take away food, were lighting their stoves and preparing their foodstuffs for later in the day.

We walked back round to the main high street and on to the hotel, where we took a break, doing emails, writing blogs and Colin – still feeling weary – had a bit of a rest.

Around lunchtime, we decided we needed to cash some more travelers cheques, to pay for dinner tonight, and lunch tomorrow before we go to the airport, and Jeremy and the driver’s tips (the itinerary suggests 10 pounds GBP per day for the guide – three days – that’s 400 yuan and 200 yuan for the driver – I know Dave will think we’re barmy, but its what the information pack says is expected. We had each put in 50 pounds GBP for tips for the tour from Beijing to Shanghai and it had been much easier than everyone tipping individually),. The bank wasn’t as bad as at St Petersburg, but was very precise over the form filling, and I felt I was signing my life away – why is it that some places there’s no problem changing money and others just make difficulties for themselves. Anyway, they paid up eventually, so we were solvent again.

It was nearly lunch time by now, so we strolled up and down West Street again, to find a suitable venue. Colin is suffering a bit at the moment and on the immodium, so he didn’t want much and ended up with a banana milk shake. I had a sarnie and a beer.

We met Jeremy at 14.00 at the hotel, complete with driver, and he took us around the local area, stopping off to explore some real Chinese villages, with their diverse range of houses – from the old wooden shacks, almost falling down, to the new brick and tile houses, that look quite smart from the outside. But glancing in through the open doors and windows, they are both much the same inside – bare, dark, only a few pieces of furniture and a television. They look dirty too, but that may be just an impression because they are so dark. These villages are the exact opposite to the large cities in that the ground around the houses is strewn with debris and litter, while the streets in the city are constantly being cleaned. There is no graffiti here, only the remnants of some signs painted on the walls from the days of Chairman Mao. There are the usual few shops in front rooms or in tents on street corners, and at one point, some little old lady came running out of her front garden (it was quite a posh house) and followed us for at least a quarter of an hour as we roamed through her village, trying to sell us postcards, back scratchers, small Buddhas, and getting no positive results, ended up by giving me a handful of the jute she had been drying at home.

We saw a very primitive, but very effective irrigation system to keep the paddy fields watered – water swirled into a stream from the river and was caught in a couple of concrete whirlpools, which forced the water upwards through narrow rusty pipes, about ten feet high, to the irrigation channels – not being a techy, there is probably more to this, but it seemed extremely clever, if very basic, to me. The river here was a tributary of the Lijiang River we were on yesterday, and the setting was idyllic – green fields, with a few water buffalo munching away on some grass, a weir cascading white water down the river, and large pointy mountains in the background. It was so peaceful. We saw several of the large butterflies again, some striped brown and white, some inky black with a sapphire blue blobs on each of its wings. They are about the size of my hand when flying around. We still haven’t seen a lot of birds, but we heard several different varieties today, both in Yangshuo and out in the country, chirping merrily away in the trees.

After the villages, we stopped in the rice fields to see a demonstration of a water buffalo tilling the land. It walks around, ankle – should that been hoof – deep in water, pulling a plough type device that turns the ground over. Its all very muddy. The driver is able to squat on the top of the device, so as not to get his feet wet.

We then went on to see the Moon Rock – a large hole in one of the mountain peaks, that, due to the position of he mountain peak in front, looks like a crescent moon from one particular angle. A village has grown up around the viewing site to cater for the tourists that now come here and see it.

Our next stop was further along the tributary river – this time to have a ride on a bamboo raft – getting in practice for Thailand. A young lad had a long bamboo pole to punt us around on a large square raft, with a little house and seats on it. The water was warm (of course I had to paddle my toes), and the river full of tourists having a rides – at one point it was a bit like Piccadilly Circus in the rush hour. Before we got on the raft, some small boys tried to sell us some long plastic tubes that looked like bicycle pumps, but we declined. Later we saw these poles in action – they were water pistols, - you filled them up from the river and pumped out jet sprays of water at another raft. They looked great fun and Sandy, Adam and Alex would have loved them.

Further downstream, a man was using cormorants to catch fish – carp again, I think – the birds had a necklace round their necks to prevent them swallowing the fish and they had been trained to return to the raft when they caught a fish. It seemed a bit cruel to me, but the birds sat serenely on a log on the raft, just popping into the water now and again to dive and return with a fish. It was obviously an effective way to catch the fish, that were then either sold, or put into the fishpools nearby for farming.

I had a go at punting the raft – the pole was about twice the height of me and you had to keep it in a small hole in the middle of the front section of the raft and push down as hard as you could as well as guide it to the left or right to steer. I think I did a good job, but the three males just smiled smugly. Later we saw someone else having a go, and he nearly caused a major traffic jam on the river.

We then drove back to the hotel, to cool down once again. The day had started very misty, but by lunch time, the sun had burned off the fog and the day was yet again hot and very humid. I did a few more emails and posted a couple of blogs while Colin listened to Sherlock Holmes.

Around 17.00 we wandered back round the town, taking piccys as a reminder of our time here. I am sure everyone on our tour last week would have loved the scenery and atmosphere of this area – so relaxed and easy going compared with the rat race of the cities - the food and the people who are so friendly – I am so glad we decided to come here. (They may not have been too keen on the hotel, but after all we are only sleeping here and using it as a base.) We found a quite sophisticated restaurant to eat in tonight, called “Café Del Moon”. We sat on the balcony, under some fans, and watched the people wandering by, listening to the snatches of their chatter in lots of languages and with music in the background. We saw the sky turn from bright blue to indigo, to inky black – there were no stars which surprised me. On walking back to the hotel, lots of the shop workers put folding chairs along the centre of the street, so they can all chat to each other, (some even seem to be asleep), but are ready to serve any customers instantly. Its probably the best time to browse as they are not on your back trying to get you to buy.

This town is a cross between Chaweng and Bophut, on Koh Samui - not quite so large or glitzy as Chaweng, but just as buzzy, and bigger than Bophut, but with that same alluring atmosphere and charm. It makes you want to stay and be part of it for longer.

We have to leave here tomorrow for Hong Kong, but these last couple of days have definitely been one of the highlights of the tour so far for me.

Cruising Down the River on a Sunday . . . . . Morning

Sunday 27 August

We were awakened about 06.15 by my phone ringing – it was a marvel we got the call, as my phone was only switched on because I had put it on charge the night before. Juz, Jean and Ray were singing down the line, while out celebrating my birthday at home. It was great to speak to them, and they were in great spirits even if I was a bit dozy this end. My cold is definitely at its worst in the mornings – I think the air con aggravates it.

We were only spending one night here in Guilin, so we had hardly unpacked anything from our suitcases, but they still seem to be getting heavier as we pushed them to the lobby. This morning we were going to cruise down the Lijiang River to Yangshuo, which meant we had no time to wander around and see anything of Guilin town – I had been told it was really nice here, so I had been looking forward to seeing it – but we had to keep to the schedule.

It was still raining when we got up, but by the time we left the hotel, it had stopped, and was just misty. Jeremy emphasized that the mist is caused by the weather conditions, not pollution.

When we arrived at the “docks” there were six large river cruisers all lined up. We were booked on the one furthest away from dry land and having traversed across all the other boats, we found our seats at a table sharing with six other people – only four arrived – a young Chinese couple and I think a German couple – we never actually got to have any conversation with either couple. Most of the journey was spent up on the top deck or the mezzanine deck over the kitchens at the back of the boat. There weren’t that many people on our boat – a large group from Angola who were in great demand by the Chinese to have their photos taken with them, a few Europeans and some Chinese - which was good as it meant you could get to watch from either side of the boat very easily.

The river rises in the Cat Mountains north of Guilin and runs down, about 100 miles to join the West River and eventually spill out into the China Sea. It is about 83 kms from Guilin to Yangshuo and here the river winds between thousands of towering limestone peaks (karst I think this landscape is called), some looking just like elegant hills seen at home, others like grotesque statues rising above you. The river is a deep green colour and very fast flowing, and although there is plenty of water here at present, there are stretches where it is quite shallow. The area is, of course, a well know beauty spot, and there were lots of people here today to see it, mostly on the other boats.

We all set sail together in a long crocodile line, but after a short while, other boats came up close behind, sounded their horns, and overtook us – once we had boats on either side – the channel didn’t seem wide enough to take three across, but they slowly passed us to go single file again. We carried on with this cat and mouse game, all the way down the river – I suppose it gives the pilots some fun.
The scenery was spectacular in places, and because all the peaks are pointed cone shapes, you could see inland to loads more coned peaks – there literally were thousands of them. The area reminded me of The Three Gorges trip, condensed into one morning – there were towering cliff faces of sheer rock, but there were lower peaks, covered in trees and bushes as well. Further down from Yangshuo there are even locks, but I am sure they are not on the scale of those at the Dam. I think the actual scenery was more interesting than the Gorges, although not so grand, but more interesting – lots of things to watch. All the way along the river, men on bamboo rafts would ride alongside the boat, hook up and try to sell their wares – usually jade Buddhas and vases, or lumps of crystalline rocks. I don’t think anyone actually bought anything, but they were fun to watch, as they balanced with one foot on the raft – about five bamboo poles tied together – and one foot on the edge of the boat. Also at one point, a fishing boat hooked up to the back of the boat and sold panfuls of shrimps and small black crabs that would be cooked and offered at lunch time. They fry them both whole and you eat everything!! Not for me, thank you – but the Chinese couple had a plate of the shrimps – eating heads and eyes and tails seemed very crunchy. There were also lots of ducks and water buffalo (several in swimming) as well as women doing their washing, boys fishing, and hikers and trekkers making their way along the river bank. We still saw very few birds.

We passed a few villages, where people were gathered on the bank waiting for the river taxi to collect them. These were the usual sampan style boats, with wooden shelters and fast motors that sped up and down the river. We also saw bamboo rafts with chairs affixed that were taking tourists for pleasure rides – customers lazing back watching the world go by while two men poled the rafts up and down the river. At one point there was a deserted village which could be easily seen from the boat - most were hidden behind dense foliage - where the wooden houses were rotting away – apparently about ten years ago there was a massive flood in this area and it covered this village and destroyed the settlement. Many lost not only all their belongings, but their families too.

We had lunch about twelve – another buffet – with aubergine/egg plant, featuring heavily. There were also some delicious corn cobs, deep fried onion rings, and beef with chillis. Another helping of this very bony fish which we keep encountering everywhere (I think its carp) – but it is worst than kippers for bones – and of course the obligatory water melon – delicious at the end of a meal.

We arrived at Yangshuo at about 13.00 – after three and a half hours of gentle cruising and watching the world go by. My first impression as we approached Yangshuo was of a tiny cluster of white buildings on the river bank. I knew this was going to be provincial – but just how provinicial?

We soon disembarked and walked to the hotel! (As I said small town.) Paddy Burt report now on the hotel (for those who don’t read the Saturday Telegraph, she reports on her visits to hotels, mainly in England, but some around the world:

“The Magnolia Hotel is in a street just off the river front. Our luggage was waiting in the foyer which was a great relief – the driver must have found his way. The first bad news was that there was no lift/elevator and we were on the fourth floor! As I have said before my case is getting heavier and heavier – it was over 27kgs at Shanghai airport! Two small Chinese women stepped forward to carry the bags!! The first – obviously a sensible woman chose the blue case – blue for boys – and started to struggle up the stairs. When the second lady tried to lift mine, she muttered something that sounded like “heavy”. Colin offered to take it, but it is her job, so off she struggled, up eight flights of stairs – even I was puffed at the top – she was nearly passing out.

Our room is clean, with white painted walls and looks out over the roofs of nearby buildings, but at least being up top we can see the sky and the peaks of some mountains. We can also see next doors washing hanging out to dry if we look down a floor. There are two beds – large singles - one with a slightly sprung mattress (the springs feel as if they are coming through the cover every time you move, a television that does not receive any English speaking stations, a desk (with enough room for Colin to stand up all my cards so I don’t forget how old I am), a chair and a stool. We do have a bedside light each, that works, and one bedside table between us. There is a large mirror on the wall over the desk. All the wood is very dark brown, but with a large window it is very bright. The bathroom is a revelation – quite large, with modern style round glass bowl for the sink, large corner shower and European loo, with paper. There is no wardrobe or space available to hang your clothes – although if desperate to unpack there is a cupboard under the television. There is no safe, no refrigerator, and no toiletries in the bathroom. Described by Oriental Travel as a 4* hotel, we feel this is somewhat lacking, but the staff are friendly, so perhaps it is better than being at the Best Western.

We were really hot when we arrived and although there is air con, it is somewhat antiquated and takes more than five minutes to kick in. It’s a bit slow, even then, but eventually the room cooled down and so did we”.

I took the opportunity to write some postcards and do a bit on the blog, after Colin had downloaded some of his videos (he has used nearly all his seven hours on the hard disk already). We filled the disks we had with us and will have to purchase more in Hong Kong. Around 17.00 we thought it might be a little cooler and went out to explore the town and find the Post Office.

The town turned out to be much larger than we thought – a small cove alongside the main river, proved a natural place for a settlement hundreds of years ago. There is a small tributary with lots of small pagoda style bridges, around which the buildings are clustered. Around the corner to the hotel is a pedestrianised street - West Street -lined with small shops, some selling really nice goods – clothes, shoes, bags, etc – good for browsing - and loads of bars and restaurants. This area is backpackers paradise as there are loads of small hotels and hostels over the shops advertising cheap rooms available. None of the hotels (including ours) does food. The Magnolia has a vegetarian restaurant attached to it, but all the restaurants have their menus outside, desperate to attract your custom – and they all do Chinese, Italian, British and Mexican food, cheap, but good. Many are now offering free internet access and air conditioning as extra incentives to eat there. We wandered around in what is a bazaar like atmosphere. There are lots of tourists here, of all nationalities, but most people speak some English, so we could be understood.

At the end of West Street, is a KFC – we’ve not seen a Maccy Ds yet. Opposite here was the street with the Post Office and post boxes, so we were able to send our communiqués back to Blighty. This street turned out to be the main high street, with lots of banks, mobile phone shops and lots of traffic – bicycles (single and tandem) and small motor bikes are popular here – they seem to ride together in great gaggles – so crossing the road has not improved.

Having wandered around for a couple of hours, we decided to find somewhere to eat. We perused all the menus in West Street – about thirty or more – and finally selected one that looked promising – called Marco Polo. I decided I would like duck and sweet and sour pork, but ended up with sechuan chicken with cashews and sweet and sour pork, and noodles. We ordered a couple of pina coladas, and although thin, they were decorated with lemon and cherries, and you could taste the rum – delicious, but when you are thirsty, quite lethal. We also tried yet another local beer – all the towns and cities seem to have their own breweries, and most seem to taste OK.

The standard of accommodation has deteriorated as this tour has progressed, and this definitely isn’t what I thought we were booking. To be fair we have only seen one or two other hotels here that may be of a higher standard (and I don’t think they have lifts), but I think they Oriental Travel should have been a bit more honest about the standard we should expect. Its clean and tidy and we are reasonably comfortable so I am sure we will continue to enjoy ourselves.

We have an easy day tomorrow – in the morning, at least – we are free to wander and please ourselves. I think we will probably just explore the town a bit more. In the afternoon Jeremy is taking us walking – it said motorized rickshaws in our itinerary, but apparently they have been banned by the local council as they cause too many accidents. He offered us bicycles, but Colin doesn’t ride a bike and a few hours at a time would be too much for me. We are going in the afternoon, to let the morning mist clear first.

Better get some rest before our next exercise.

Happy Birthday to Me

Saturday 26 August

Well today’s the big day - the actual 60 – the real reason for coming to China - I have managed to stand on the Great Wall, and had lots of other great experiences in China with a crowd of really nice people. But my actual birthday didn’t exactly turn out as I had thought.

As mentioned in yesterday’s blog, we had to be up early – 05.15 and out of the hotel by 06.30 to catch a flight from Shanghai to Guilin – a few hundred miles north of Hong Kong I think – someone told us it was very pretty and relaxing. I had time to open my cards about 06.00, although it would only have been 23.00 in England (thanks to all of you who sent cards and messages to wish me Happy Birthday), but Colin wanted to make sure we had time, as the tour so far has been extremely hectic and time at a premium.

Dave and Lei got up early too, to see us off – very sweet of them – and with our cases, hand luggage and two picnic boxes as we were too early for breakky (nowhere near the Kempinski standard – just hard boiled egg, roll, banana and water) we were soon speeding off to the airport with a young university student as our guide. The airport was crowded – although not a Bank Holiday here as it is at home, it is the last Saturday to go away before schools go back and many people seemed to be taking the chance of a short break – or perhaps they were returning from a city break here in Shanghai? But the plane to Guilin wasn’t full, so we had plenty of room to spread ourselves.

The food on the plane was odd – for a start there were mint gum drops (which as I have a cold, rapidly changing to a cough, were very welcome), then there was hard peas with a batter-like coating, raisins and some squid slice – yellowy with little tentacles that looked like a centipedes feet – it said it contained sugar – but I didn’t try it. There was also a roll with a coconut filling inside (was it supposed to be a doughnut? – if so there was no sugar. Also another type of fairy cake – not me at all. Colin had pistachios, apple chips and gum drops with the roll and cake. There was water to drink. I don’t think I will recommend Shanghai Airlines for a award for airline food.

When we arrived in Guilin, our new guide, Jeremy (not at all like Jeremy Paxman! - rather a dumpy little Chinese man who speaks to us all the time over his shoulder) was at the gate to meet us. My lovely pink suitcase is now very dirty and has lots of black marks all over it – as well as several sets of numbers written on it –but it is still easy to recognize on the carousel!

Jeremy whisked us off to an awaiting people carrier (have I said it is just us on this part of the trip?) to take us directly to Longsheng – where the famous terraces of rice paddies are found. It was to be a two hour journey (we had already been two hours in the air), but we settled in the back with our bottles of water, and listened to Jeremy’s commentary on the way. We had one short stop for the rest room (actually not too bad even if it was Chinese style) and eventually arrived at the bottom of this “mountain” about 12.30. Jeremy got the pass and as we were in a small vehicle we were allowed to continue up the hill. The road twisted in sharp hairpin bends all the way up the hill – it reminded me of the chase in “The Italian Job” where the road is adjacent to the sheer side of the mountain, and it was very hairy when we met another vehicle coming down! I could see Colin was trying to avoid looking down.

We reached the parking place and Jeremy told us we would walk for about half an hour before we had lunch – he omitted to say - upwards. The path started quite gently (just to fool you), but the sun was out and it was Hot. As we continued to wind around the mountain the steps got steeper and seemed never-ending. There were some “sedan” chairs at the bottom, but Jeremy just waved them away – they weren’t like the ones at Temple Hill, they were more like loungers with poles either end for you to laze on while two little (and usually old) Chinese men carried you. But hey, I had conquered the Great Wall, so what’s a rice field! Little did I know. We continued upwards passing lots of local people selling their hand-made goods of bags, blankets and socks all knitted and embroidered in rich colours. There was also lots of silverware (I saw many dragon bracelets like the one I bought on Ebay for 45p + 19 pounds GBP postage!! It probably would have been even cheaper than19p here, but I couldn’t face asking, as they would have wanted me to buy a second one). Also on sale was local foodstuffs – red chillis are very popular here – heaps of them were strewn out on the steps of houses to dry in the sun, and when they were ready women sat by the pathway, chopping them finely and putting them into jars – they looked the same as the ones I bought in Sainsburys. They were also barbequing cobs of sweet corn – they looked nearly as black as Uncle Ray’s! But after they are cooked they put them through the milling machine and the black husks are separated from the flesh inside, which they then pack and keep to eat at a later date.

The women here never have their hair cut, and wear round knitted Russian style hats to keep it all from view. They then ask you to pay anything from 1 yuan to 50 yuan for them to show you their hair. Some girls were also dressed in traditional costumes and looked very pretty – but again you had to pay to photograph them. Colin and Jeremy were ahead of me urging me to keep up, so I didn’t actually have time to stop and find out more. The people here exist on very little – some have meat to eat, but the rest exist on the rice and vegetables that they grow. Tourism is now beginning to bring big changes to this area - as has happened over most of the rest of China – and lots of the young girls are leaving for the big cities, hoping to find rich husbands from the west. The rest of the community are trying to earn as much as possible from this new enterprise.

One enterprise is the hotels and lodges that are rapidly springing up to cater for tourists. Many backpackers and hikers come here to stay for a few days. They are out in the fresh air and the walking is really good, if you don’t mind a few hills! Jeremy thought that the Government should soon step in and regulate the number of hostels and lodges allowed to be built or the natural charm and culture of the area would be lost – he’s probably right – but everyone wants a piece of the cake from the Government officials to the workers in the fields.

Our aim was to reach one of these lodges for lunch – ours was the highest one of course. It was a wooden structure built into the side of the mountain. The ground floor was a large restaurant where tour groups as well as guests, eat their lunch and presumably other meals.. We had a thin chicken and greens soup, followed by spicy chicken, beef with potatoes, bamboo shoots with chilli, and rice. Bananas for afters, all washed down with some Sprite. It was too hot to drink beer – we had to make it all the way down again.

We spent about an hour here, admiring the views, munching and cooling down. When Jeremy collected us, he pointed out a single tree high up at the top of the mountain, and said that is where we were going!! Not down? No – definitely up! I know it’s supposed to be good to walk after lunch, but this was silly – uphill in the heat. But I plodded after the two men round and round, but always up, and eventually I crested the top. The views were phenomenal – terraces of rice paddies round the sides of mountains, as far as the eye could see. There were a few people working in the fields, but mostly the farmers are now waiting for the rice to ripen.(They are busy building, rebuilding and repairing their homes and tools.) The vista was a brilliant green that made the hills look like lush Devon vertical fields. It had definitely been worth the effort of climbing. We took lots of piccys as we caught our breath, and bought some postcards that they stamped with a ‘chop’ to show we had reached the top. After about half an hour we started our trek down again, not stopping on the way this time. Several ‘sedans’ passed us – a tricky manoevre as there’s really only space on each step for one person, but going down was far easier than going up.

Once back in the van, we had another two hour journey to Guilin and the hotel. Black clouds could be seen as we were leaving the hills, and just as we arrived at the hotel it started to rain, The hotel, another 4* was a great improvement on the Best Western, but we were both utterly exhausted. Our room was all dark mahogany with a huge round golden dragon shield over our bed. We could see an outdoor swimming pool from our window as well as a lake with lots of lights in the surrounding trees – it looked very pretty. We sorted ourselves out and went to find the bar. We found a very light ‘Western’ restaurant where a waitress pointed to a black hole in the wall – it turned out to be the bar – only lit by a TV showing a Chinese film. They lit a candle for our table and made us some very good cocktails – if they can do it here, why not in Shanghai?

The problem came when we went looking for food. By now it was thundering and lightning outside and the rain pouring heavily – not the time to venture out. We found two Chinese restaurants in the hotel – but both were being used by tour groups and we didn’t seem to be invited to the party. So back to the Western Restaurant, which was like a large gallery looking down into the Lobby on the floor below. We were the only people there!, although there were several staff around, but by this time (about 19.30 they had starated laying up for breakfast). Anyway a nice young man bought us the menus and we chose our food – Caesar salad and steak for me, minestrone soup and lamb for Colin – both with chips of course. It was a bit different to the night before, but edible.

When we got back to the room, there were more texts and voicemails for my birthday, which was lovely. I suppose I must now accept I am old enough for a bus pass. By now we were both so tired (that sounds like oldies, doesn’t it) and my cold was worsening, we flopped into bed and slept soundly, until being awoken by . . . . .

Downtown Shopping and a Heavenly Meal

Friday 25 August

Yet another lie in this morning – not due at the coach until 10.00 – so a late breakfast was called for. On arriving at the dining room, no tables were laid up. There was a large area of buffet food, but cutlery was hard to find – in fact we never found any spoons at all – and everything was help yourself – find your own plates, cups, saucers, etc. The food wasn’t all that great either. Colin decided to have his usual cornflakes, rice krispies and fruit, followed by boiled egg and soldiers – but where were the spoons? One of the waitresses provided him with a Chinese soup spoon – all she could find – quite a feat to eat a boiled egg with one of those.

When we arrived in the Lobby, our group were waiting in the “non-drinking’ end of the bar. Two female bar staff were standing by glaring at the group and we heard that Dave had been playing with Dilan (aged 5) – high fives and the sort of games that amuse youngsters – when he had been told in no uncertain terms to ‘be quiet’. This is just another example of just how bad this hotel is. I am sure all the group will be putting their thoughts about the trip on email to Oriental Travel, and one point we will all agree on will be that this hotel should be changed for any future itineraries. (We had yet to find out later this evening that no cocktails could be served – no reason – just NO cocktails). I would be interested to know which hotels others have stayed in – they must be better than the New Century Best Western.

The first stop on our sojourn today was The Bund – basically the Embankment along the Hungpo River that courses its way through the centre of the city. I was a bit disappointed – I had heard of The Bund before, as a highlight of Shanghai, but it was full of market traders (where isn’t in China, and families promenading, with great views of the Manhattan style buildings of the Finance Centre and hotels across the water. But is this very different to what you can see in London? Or many other cities with rivers? Anyway we were only given half an hour, so we wandered along with everyone else and returned in plenty of time.

Our next stop was a walk through the underpass to cross the road to the main shopping street – Nanjing Road. We could spend all day here – we only needed to be back to hotel in time to go out tonight at 19.00! My first impression was this was a cross between the glamour of the old, but extremely dirty, colonial buildings (mostly hotels at the start of the street) – a bit like Regent Street in London - and any high street in England – further along the shops became a mix of modern department stores and small individual shops. The six of us (Sue, Dave, Avril, John, Colin and me) decided to stay together (none of the men were interested in shopping so could have a good gossip while we ladies browsed). Our first stop was a very nice coffee bar, where we rested for half an hour drinking cappuccinos, jasmine tea or smoothies. We then got down to serious shopping – looking in all the ladies departments – I was looking for more cut-offs – the zip has broken in one of mine, so would have liked to replace them. Avril was looking for dressy black trousers and tops, and Sue was looking for presents for their grandchildren. Avril and Sue both bought parasols to go with the silk outfits from the factory. Its quite demoralizing looking for clothes – they definitely don’t cater for HUGE American / European sizes – I suppose most Chinese people are petite and most ranges only go up to an English size 10! Avril did manage to find a nice fuchsia coloured top, and then we gave up and went looking for shoes.

I found a pair of white ‘Betty Boo’ sandals with sparkles and Avril bought a glittery pair of blue sandals. That was the extent of our purchases. Very restrained – it was hot and lots of people were crammed into the shops – it was just too uncomfortable. So we decided it was time for lunch. We went to a ‘sandwich bar’ and had super size paninis – no wonder we can’t fit in the clothes. Then a short stroll to work off a few calories and it was a taxi back to the hotel – he only charged us 20 yuan this time – we were definitely caught last night.

Tonight we were going to the fourth tallest building in the world to have dinner – at the Hyatt Hotel. It occupies floors 54 to 88 of one of the skyscrapers (the rest is Finance Offices) along the river front. We met in the bar, and as previously explained had to make do with beers - NO cocktails. The coach took us on a ride around town to see all the lights – the Government only allows the lights to be on from 19.00 till 22.00 – saving electricity (although they were still on when we got back to the hotel around 23.15 – someone must have forgotten to pull the plug). Coloured lights are very alluring and it was great fun just watching some of the adverts change – Aurora (not sure what that is) had a large display of different flowers – daffodils, orchids, roses, peonies, etc – just rolling round. Several buildings kept changing colours. The top of the Hyatt was like a wedding cake – tiers of white lights up to a central spire – not necessarily one of the most spectacular, but it was high up. The Oriental Pearl TV tower is like Telecom Towers in Berlin, Auckland, and many other cities – it looks like a spaceship from Star Trek with a large round globe at the base and another smaller globe very high up – that contains a revolving restaurant – and a long, long spire on top – its actually taller than the fourth tallest building in the world, but doesn’t count as it’s a spire! In between the two globes here are five smaller globes which form part of a hotel, with only 20 rooms – 4 to each globe. These rooms have no windows. I dread to think how much it would cost to stay there, but it would be mighty interesting to see the rooms – is it claustrophobic? Or are the rooms so large it doesn’t matter that there’s no windows?

I thought the restaurant was going to be on the 84th floor, but silly me, hotel restaurants are on the first floor (54th in this case). We had a secluded corner in this semi-circular restaurant all decorated in black and gold. We could still watch the lights, including the boats sailing up and down the river, whilst eating our dinner. In fact, between first and second courses there was a spectacular firework display on the river, almost right in front of us. This went on for about twenty minutes – lots and lots of coloured lights exploding from both sides of the river. (It was god of Lei to arrange this for my birthday treat!!)

The food here was out of this world – it was buffet style – and I chose lots of shellfish to start – mussels, scallops, lobster claws, clams and my favourite – oysters. I know there were other starter dishes, but the seafood was sublime. For main course, I chose rare (and it was really red) roast beef with a selection of salads. But there were lots of other dishes to choose from – Colin had lamb as part of his meal, and lots of people selected the Roast Duck Peking style. For dessert, I had cheese and fruit – but Colin, and I must say most of the men – sampled all the gateaux, cream caramels, cheesecakes, etc. It was all very delicious and exquisitely presented. We were on a table with Harry and Lucinda and Harry chose a bottle of very smooth Shiraz to drink – I think it was very expensive, but he insisted on paying, which was very kind.

Then came cake time! After we had all stuffed ourselves, Lei produces a massive round, creamy, choclolate covered creation, with sponge at the base and just one candle on the top – he said he understood European ladies do not tell their age! So I had to cut the first slice – it was just like cutting a wedding cake – and everyone had to have a slice. As I went to sit down, the Restaurant Manager of the Hyatt came up with another cake and a birthday card from this Hotel – the cake this time was chocolate. But it was just too much – we were all full – so I took it back to the Hotel (in fact I had to leave it for the lady who cleaned our room).

Then it was back to the hotel on the coach, where everyone sang Happy Birthday, and we said our Goodbyes – our flight was to Guilin was at 08.15 tomorrow morning so we would be leaving the hotel at 06.30 – just when everyone else was getting their wake up call. Sadly no one else is going on the Hong Kong extension, so we will be on our own for the next week. Harry and Lucinda, with Aaron and Natalie, are going straight to Hong Kong for a couple of days – to shop. Lucinda has been Queen of the Shops during this trip. She has never been known to pass a store without popping in and coming out with a carrier bag. Harry can’t complain though – he went shopping for buses for the Prime Minister of Trinidad! – who he apparently kept in touch with throughout the holiday!

It is strange to think of everyone returning home while we are still traveling – deja vue from the train. But we met some really nice people and as a memento of our trip, Lei presented us all with little embroidered pouches containing everyone’s email address, so hopefully we will be able to keep in touch.

Shanghai is a very cosmopolitan city which, to us, didn’t have a lot to offer to tourists – a museum, a Buddha, and shopping - perhaps it was just that Jasmine, our guide, was quite unapproachable and didn’t share her thoughts and feelings about China with us as other guides had – so we didn’t feel close to the city. She did her job efficiently, but we garnered no extra information about Shanghai – she was a Souzhou girl and enthused about that city, but still shared very few personal details with us (on the train Ian told us to try and get the guides to talk about themselves – if they do, they will be good). Shanghai is definitely not a city I would put on my list to return to in a hurry – although Souzhou was delightful – best hotel of this tour, so far, as well - and I could see us enjoying a city break there.

Tomorrow it’s yet another side of China – Guilin – a rural region, where more people are farmers than live in the city.

What Shanghai Has To Offer ?

Thursday 24 August

We were treated to a long lie in this morning as the coach didn’t leave until 10.00. We were on the move again, this time to stay in Shanghai city, about 2 hours away. We retraced our steps along the A20 but this time in daylight. The low buildings of Souzhou soon changed to higher six storey buildings, which became ten and twelve storeys as we got nearer to the city. Most of this was new development, and much of it quite smart, with red roofs and white walls, looking a lot like our town houses, but twice or three times as tall. Here there was still some agriculture, mainly vegetables, on small plots between the housing estates. But for the last twenty or thirty miles into the city centre, the area became more industrial and the quality of the buildings deteriorated – they were grey and flat and very dirty and the number of storeys went up to twenty storeys and more.

Once in Shanghai city itself it is like Manhattan – all skyscrapers – each trying to be more exotic than its neighbour. There are many weird and wonderful designs – some just the tops of the very tall buildings, but some are curved and bendy, others have chunks cut out of the sides and look very unstable. The impression is of glass not concrete. Most of these are either financial empires or hotels. Tomorrow we are going to dinner at the top of the fourth tallest building in the world – a hotel, of course, but the view should be terrific at night, when its all lit up.

Our first stop in Shanghai was to see a jade Buddha. On entering the temple you are immediately in a large courtyard, with large, typical temple buildings on each side. The centre is taken up by two huge braziers where loads of Chinese people are lighting their incense sticks, not one at a time, but large clusters, which look like a smoking bunches of flowers – and the smell is overwhelming. The large jade sitting Buddha is upstairs in a square room that everyone files through. It is very dark, lit only by a few candles around the actual statue, and guards patrol to ensure you don’t take any piccys. The Buddha was brought from India by a wealthy lord in the 1800’s – he actually brought five statues – another of which is in another room here, which is much smaller and reclining – but the other three were lost. Hundreds of Chinese were praying in the temples where there were more usual huge golden Buddhas, and a little man with his dustpan and brush was going around sweeping up the coins in front of the statues.

Lunch was in a restaurant at the Shanghai Embroidery Co. Displayed around the wall were “paintings” that turned out to be superb embroidery. There were many typical Chinese designs – junks on waterways, dragons, peony flower arrangements – as well as some copies of classic works of art, such as the Mona Lisa, The Kiss by Gustav Klimt, and Sunflowers by Van Gogh. We all scrambled through lunch so that we had enough time to browse – many of our group bartered and bought piccys. I had left my credit card locked in my case on the coach, so I took it as a sign I was not meant to buy. Our guide, Jasmine – who has not got an obvious sense of humour - was very worried by this time about overweight cases, although the largest of the purchases were being shipped.

Next we were taken to the Shanghai museum. This is an impressive large modern building with a glass cupola and escalators and stairs on either side of a large central square. Exhibited here are many of the old Chinese artifacts.

We looked at:

the Jade Hall – mainly small pieces of very intricately carved jade in all colours dating back to between 2,500BC and the end of the Ming Dynasty in 1644. The objects ranged from small buttons and decorations for clothes, to larger household items such as bowls and vases, to even larger weapons, such as halberds.

the Chinese Seals Hall – these are mostly stamps bearing individual signatures, again dating from earliest times and varying in size from the that of a pinhead to the size of your hand. The most interesting feature was the parts you hold – decorative jade animals and even whole scenes from their history carved around a central handle, to bronze and gold figurines. When the Chinese put seals on documents and paintings they have to balance each other – ie they will not put just one on a page, there must be a pair and one side must match the other – all to do with ying and yang – or it will be unlucky.

the Calligraphy Hall – this contained many old manuscripts showing the development of Chinese writing through the dynasties – they only use about 4,000 symbols today (out of 40,000 as set out in the old manuscripts) – there’s a different symbol for each word, which children learn to read around the ages of 3-4 years of age. If there isn’t a symbol for the word they want, they use the phonetic sounds to make up the symbol. They have four different tones for each word and therefore the same word can have four different meanings, ie: Mummy, happy, tired and field, which all have the same symbol, but different soundings according to the intonation. When using a computer they spell the word phonetically and use our keyboard, and like prescriptive text, choose the word they need. Apparently it is quite easy for Chinese people to learn English, but not at all easy for us to master Chinese.

the Chinese Painting Hall – again depicting paintings retrieved from the earliest settlers through to the Ming dynasty. The style of painting does not appear to have changed hardly at all over the centuries – Chinese scenes including water, trees and mountains, flowers and birds, or fabulous animals, such as the dragon and the phoenix – just different techniques to apply the ink and paint to the paper.

We ran out of time after this as the coach was waiting to deposit us at the Hotel – a Best Western in the north-east section of the city. The actual hotel is OK – just about – for a 4*, but the staff are distinctly unfriendly – they definitely do not like groups. One of our families was sitting at the edge of the bar area, waiting to go out in evening and they were told to move or buy a drink. Service was extremely slow in the bar and we nearly had to leave before our drinks arrived, and when they did, they would not accept payment on the room tab, but insisted on cash! The cocktails were very poor anyway.

Tonight’s entertainment was an Acrobatic Show. It was a wonderful circus experience, with unbelievable balancing acts – of course many of the girls are contortionists, but it still surprises you at how they can bend and move their bodies into positions that make your eyes water, whilst balancing lighted candelabra on feet, hands, mouth and forehead all at once. We also saw amazing tumbling, juggling acts with balls, skittles and badminton racquets, magic and illusion acts, and flying acts using long swathes of silk – this was similar to what we saw in Xian, but even more electrifying as both the girl and the man were at some times being held by just an ankle or a wrist as they flew around the stage, up and down – and at one time they were just foot to foot! But the loudest applause probably went to the spoof knife throwing act, with a member of the audience as the target! The children loved it and the audience gasped and laughed and clapped like mad. It was a very colourful and professional spectacular which we all thoroughly enjoyed.

Once outside we were taken to the French Concession area of Shanghai – a small street, with 18th century French architecture, consisting mainly of bars, boutiques and restaurants where you can eat European style – it reminded me a lot of Covent Garden. We were left to find ourselves some dinner and get back to the hotel. We went along with Dave and Sue, and Dave was desperate for something English (he couldn’t wait another couple of days till he was home) so we found a cosmopolitan restaurant (La Luna) serving burgers and chips and onion rings. I was the only one not having a burger, I had a house salad with avocado and prawns (delicious), but I still had chips and onion rings too. The bill came to 800 yuan with a tip – over three times the night before, with half the number of people, but the food was really delicious, the loos clean and the atmosphere great – there was a live band singing rock and roll. It was really worth it.

We managed to get a cab to take us back to the hotel – despite what Jasmine had told us, the taxi drivers are not ‘au fait’ with where all the different hotels are, out of the city centre and our driver spent a few minutes checking our destination. But perhaps he was just play-acting - Jasmine had told us the journey baack to the hotel would cost 30 yuan max, but we were charged 54 – I definitely think he saw us coming! But it didn’t spoil our evening one bit – we just had a laugh and put it down to experience. For the first time since leaving home the blog had to wait till the following day to be written up. I was just too tired.

What a Difference a Day in Souzhou Makes

Wednesday 23 August

The whole party was feeling more refreshed this morning when we set out to see the Lingering Gardens here in Souzhou. Like the hotel, the city (only 6 million people) has a definite laid-back, easy-going feel to it. We passed along leafy boulevards, crossed canals, and wound our way through small side streets to reach these gardens that had once belonged to a wealthy businessman back in the 1600’s. The town itself dates back 2,500 years and parts of the city wall from that time still remain.

As soon as you entered the gate to the gardens, there was a feeling of peace and tranquility. A young lady in Chinese costume sat playing one of the old traditional musical instruments – the flat harp – much the same as the ones we had seen in Mongolia. The tinkling music definitely added to the charm. The gardens are a series of corridors and rooms which look out on to courtyard style gardens, with lots of granite and water and trees and large rock sculptures all arranged in typical Chinese style. We wandered around – our guide, Jasmine accused us of “lingering” too long in places, and found the ice cream shop – where I had a salt water lolly! (not like me at all) – it wasn’t at all salty and tasted more like frozen lemonade. But the temperatures were again in the middle 30’s, even at 10.00 in the morning, so I needed something to cool me down. Colin found this place frightening, as it offered up lots of ideas for the pond and pergola in our garden. I think he was almost pleased to leave.

From here we went to Temple Hill to see – what else – but a temple! Actually it was the burial site of the first Emperor of Wuhan Province, whose capital was at Souzhou. His actual tomb is under the pagoda at the top of Temple Hill. There are about 100 steps to the top but there were three sedan chairs parked near the entrance which would take you up, and down, for 50 yuan (about 3 pounds GBP). Three of our party quickly jumped in these and they were off up the steep steps towards the hill. Between the three chairs they were a man short, so they had resting places where one man would come back and take the third chair to catch up. They invited Sanjit (one of our party) to try and lift the chair carrying Harry, our Trinidadian Dad. He not only managed it, but the other carriers had to chase after him to get him to stop. Needless to say all those who were walking spent most of their time laughing.

On the way up, via several steep stairways and a series of courtyards all with large camphor trees in the centre, and students sitting around the edge painting, we found a hidden Bonzi Garden. You entered through an old wooden gate in the centre and found yourself 50 or so feet above a large garden laid out like a maze with the small trees – some of which were over 300 years old, but still perfectly formed. It was very simple, but the effect was stunning.

We continued climbing up and around and down and back up the steps until eventually we came across a “sword hole” where the Emperor had made all his subjects deposit their swords, because after he had found the best sword in the world, he didn’t want anyone to possess a better one than his! It is now a grotto, with a shallow pond with goldfish.

Onwards up to the top and the site of the Pagoda which was built between 959 and 961 AD - much later than the Emperor was buried, which was about 2,500 years ago!. The structure was unusual for its time as it was made of bricks and wood (the wood was burned in the inevitable fire at a later date) but the brick building still remains. It is just under 50 metres tall, has eight sides and seven floors, and leans almost 4 degrees to the north, a result of there being no foundations to the building (they have tried to get the top floor upright, but all attempts have been unsuccessful so far). Nobody knows why the pagoda was built at this particular place, as the tomb was only discovered by archeologists during the last century. They have made preliminary excavations inside the tomb to confirm the date of the contents, but there are no plans at present to open it fully – bet there will be one day.

Only Harry braved the sedan chair back down to street level – apparently it was extremely hot and airless inside and the chairs tip and swing wildly as they descend. But he made it safely easily passing us on the way.

After lunch at a restaurant beside the canal, we went to the Silk Factory – a highlight for everyone visiting this area, as it is a chance to spend big money. We were shown the silk worms at the various stages of their life and then taken to see the workers and machines separating the threads from the cocoons and spooling them ready for weaving. All the threads are dyed before they are woven into the most intricate designs. There are various types of silk from those mixed with polyester to the heaviest brocades.

As I mentioned this was the time to spend. First stop is the bedding shop where they show how the filling for duvets is made from double cocoons, by taking the outer covering from the cocoons, soaking it in water and stretching it over lasts, like elastic. This is then dried and stretched once more to make a very light, but warm, filling for the duvets. Four of us had a go at stretching a piece - it was a bit like pulling pizza dough – and it split in several places. Colin and I had experienced these bed covers before when staying with Juz, and I particularly like them as they are very light, but seem to keep you at the right temperature – just what a duvet should do. We bought one with cover and pillow cases and cushion covers in a red dragon design that Colin particularly liked and have had them shipped home – so I will feel like Suzy Wong now when going to bed! Most people bought several items here before moving on to the fashion shop.

When struggling with my packing before we came away, I tossed out my dressing gown, but I have really missed it, so I purchased a new one here with three shirts for Colin – he wore one last night and his comments were that it didn’t crease and was very comfortable – so sounds like a good buy.

After about two hours we all clambered back on the coach with our purchases – our guide was absolutely gob-smacked at how much we had bought and has threatened to take our wallets away so we have money left at the end of the trip.

Back at the hotel, I went for a swim – the water was much warmer here than in Beijing – but couldn’t stay too long as we had to be out by 19.00 and we wanted to partake in Happy Hour before we left.

This evening’s entertainment was a ride in a gondola along the canals of Souzhou – nicknamed “Little Venice”. Much work has been done in this area to develop it for tourism and it is now very pretty with lots of buildings outlined by coloured lights and red dancing lanterns along the sidewalks. There are lots of restaurants where you can sit outside and people-watch, so I am sure it is going to grow in popularity as tourism here increases. The narrow canals were very dark, only lit by the bridges (which are numerous), but showed up the swarms of large midges attracted to the lights. The gondolier stopped at one point to allow us to wander along the side streets, to “experience” the area, where we noticed there were lots of bats zooming around, presumably feeding on the midges – they need to eat a bit faster because as soon as the boat was anywhere near the lights the midges would appear in their thousands.

We were all hungry again after the boat ride (well may be the men were a bit peckish), and the coach dropped us off in the narrow main shopping street of Souzhou. By now it is nearly 21.30 and all the shops here are still open, so it is like Christmas in Oxford Street, with loads of visitors and locals browsing the shop windows. There is a Shamrock bar and a Red Lion pub in between all the assorted Chinese shops. We went to a local Chinese restaurant and took over a couple of tables. Our table consisted of eight – Dave and Sue, Avril and John, June and Alan and Colin and myself. We studied the menu – which luckily had an English translation of all the dishes – and managed to order a delicious meal that suited us all – some spicy, some with and some without garlic – soups, meats and shellfish, rice and noodles. All washed down by a dozen large bottles of local beer. When the bill came it was 259 yuan for the eight of us – the equivalent of 3.50 pounds GBP each! We were amazed – there had been so much to eat and drink and it cost us less than one dish at the local take away at home!

We wandered back to the hotel through the residential streets where some front rooms (or only room downstairs) were small shops still open selling fruit and vegetables and groceries, and there was even a barbers shop with customers still waiting for a haircut. On arrival back at the hotel we settled in bar for a couple of drinks – the girls with short skirts were there again, singing lots of western songs and even asking for requests. On reviewing the day, we all decided it had been one of the best days of the tour, and the hotel is definitely the best we have stayed in so far on this trip – in China that is – it doesn’t quite match up to the Metropol and Kempinski in Russia. Souzhou is one of the nicest cities we have visited – the pace of life seems relaxed and it is pretty with its canals and no high rise buildings. Many of the houses are two storey white buildings with black roofs.. Industrial areas appear to have been moved to the outskirts of the towns, where many of the houses are still poorer and need redeveloping.

Its a Long Way To . . . . . Shanghai

Tuesday 22 August

Another early morning as we prepared to disembark for the final time. Breakfast was at 06.30 when cases had to be outside cabins, ready for collection – its always a bit of a panic trying to get everything back in the case.

I forgot to mention the last couple of days that every time you leave the boat, the staff line the gangplanks and walkways and each one wishes you a happy journey. This was the case again today, and the Operations Director also met us in the Lobby to wave goodbye. Most of the other passengers were not leaving until after lunch.

As soon as the luggage was loaded on the coach, we drove to the dam, crossing yet another spectacular suspension bridge. They really are the champions at building bridges.

Something else I forgot to mention about the Gorge area, was that there were several new bridges under construction across the river – the bridge at the entry to the Daning River, which will have to be dismantled soon, as the water will come up to the arch span, is being rebuilt a couple of miles downstream. At present it is a large scar reaching hundreds of feet up the mountains on each side of the river, with tubes leading down to connect with tanker style boats that take away the rock and debris. Halfway up one side there was a large café umbrella (more than100 feet up) – presumably the office of the Site Manager. We could not see any roads – or even goat tracks -connecting with this area – maybe they still have to be constructed too, over the top of the mountains.

There is a lot of coal mining along the Gorges, We saw blue trucks (all trucks seemed to be blue) disgorging their loads into almost vertical holding “pits” halfway up the mountain sides – usually about three or four pits together. When boats arrive to carry the coal away, a small JCB and a team of men would move the coal towards the tube through which it would travel down to river level. Very primitive, but quite effective.

But back to today:

We arrived at the Dam Visitor Centre where there was a small scale model of the layout of the dam – the project is so large, a crowd of about 200 people could circle round the outside This definitely helped to understand the layout – the position of the locks and the area to be flooded for the lake, in relation to the dam itself. There were coaches arriving all the time, so it was just a quick five minute look before climbing up to the viewing point. This would have been great on a clear day, but with the mist/pollution thicker than ever, we could hardly see the dam, or the bridge we had just crossed, from this point.

It was then off to “see” the dam itself. We crossed another huge bridge during our descent to the water level - this one was specially constructed to take the enormous weight of the building materials when they were being transported to the site. As the road wound its way down, we passed another area still under construction. This is going to be the “Ship Lift” – a device that will carry medium sized ships from the top level to the bottom of the dam in just 40 minutes – instead of the usual 4-5 hours. It will not be ready until 2011, but it will look like a concrete elevator! At the base of the dam it was still extremely foggy and difficult to see to the far side of the dam where they are still constructing an area containing twelve turbines. But the dam is an extremely tall concrete structure (200 metres), with turbine areas for the hydro-electric power on each side of a giant spillway. The water closest to us was a series of whirlpools where fourteen turbines are already in operation.

Why did they build the dam here?
Because there was already an island in the centre of the river which slowed the speed of the water. During the construction the top of the island has been demolished!
Because there was lots of granite in the area, required for making strong concrete apparently? - all the concrete has come from China itself – I cannot imagine how many billion tones it has taken.
Because there was plenty of room for the lake – just one town to be displaced at this point. They have built hundreds of new houses for the workers here which will be underwater when the project is finished.

The cost of the project is about $US280 billion!!!!! That’s quite a lot of pocket money! There’s been lots of foreign investment of course, but also the Chinese Government put an extra 1 yuan on the cost each therm of electricity, so that the whole country made a contribution.

When we had all feasted our eyes on the dam sufficiently, we were back in the coach for the long haul to Wuhan Airport – a drive of over 4 hours! There is an airport closer to Sandouping, but apparently the flights are “unstable” so it was felt it was better to travel on to Wuhan before taking to the skies once more.

Our first stop after about an hour, was at Yichang – a medium sized city – only about 800,000 people - there was a large square in the centre surrounded by grass, which said “Keep Off”! Either we are getting good at crossing roads or there was far less traffic here than we have been used to so far in China (I think this is probably the case) - anyway we strolled around for just 20 minutes, many munching ice creams from MacDonalds! and stretched our legs. We actually had to pay to go to the loo here – 0.30 yuan – about 2 ½ p! They were still “Chinese” style, but at least clean and provided soap. We then took to the roads once more.

This area is much more rural than we have seen so far. Large open fields of rice, potatoes, sweet corn and lotus (they look like really large leafed nasturtiums, about 2ft across, in clumps like rhubarb). Many of the farmhouses were actually two storey dwellings and looked quite smart, but as we drove past in the coach you could glimpse people inside, sitting on the floor in empty spaces – so perhaps they weren’t really any more sophisticated than the huts we have seen elsewhere. But most had satellite dishes outside the front door. Some houses also had large square ponds for front gardens - for fish (about 60 ft square – needs a boat to get to the feeder in the middle – a little bit bigger than the pond I am thinking of for our garden – in fact they are probably twice the size of our garden!). A few cattle were grazing on the grassy levees between the fields. All the workers we saw in the fields were the exact epitome of the pictures we have seen – conical straw hats, small brown wizened faces, bent over tending the crops – it was like a page out of my school geography book.

It took over four hours to reach the airport, and when we arrived we had three hours to wait for take off. So Colin and I settled into the Lounge area and tried to get connected to the internet – fingers crossed that it would work – we now had about six blog entries to post. It did, so we passed most of the time posting the blog entries and responding to emails. But at least we caught up. The plane then delayed was over half an hour which meant we didn’t arrive at Shanghai until 20.30. Coming in to land over Shanghai, the city looked like Fairyland, all coloured lights over a huge area – you could see the roads are built on a grand grid pattern. But as the plane was coming down we were getting closer and closer to the roofs of the houses – we could see no sign of the runway – and it really felt as if we would be landing in someone’s back garden! – as we passed over the last fence the wheels touched the ground and we were down – and in the airport. LIGHTNING

It was 21.15 by the time we had collected our luggage (all arrived safely thank goodness) and we were on yet another coach with another guide – Jasmine/Mo lee. It took over two hours to get to the hotel – along the A20! – were we really on our way to Souzhou or Sidcup? On our way into Shanghai on the plane and for most of the way on the coach, we were treated to a splendid lightning display – lighting up the whole landscape with streaks of white light for seconds at a time – but no thunder. Going by the large puddles and muddy car park, where cars wheels were spinning in the mud, there had been some heavy rain before we landed, but luckily for us it had stopped by the time we emerged from the airport.


Everyone was completely shattered and all they wanted was a bed. The hotel looks great – much better than the 5* in Xian – its called the Bamboo Grove and the bedrooms are built around a large pond with bamboo, white ducks and a tall fountain. There were 2 girls in short dresses, singing in the bar – it served to perk the men up for a few minutes. Its such a shame we have arrived so late – it has definitely been a coach journey too far today. As we missed dinner, the hotel provided us with picnic boxes – better than those we had at midday with hard boiled egg, roll, a slice each of spam and cheese, and banana and apple! Tonight we had smoked salmon salad, rolls and butter, a tuna club sandwich, banana and orange juice – a bit more up market.

Now its time for bed – to dream of gardens and silk markets for tomorrow.

Gorges and Be Dammed

Monday 21 August

We were up early again this morning – about 05.45 – and dressed in time to see the first of the three large gorges we would pass through today. The weather was distinctly cooler – comfortable in the mid 20’s – still with a strong warm wind and extremely hazy. I don’t think the inhabitants here ever have a clear day and see the sun.

The Yangtze was about five or six rivers millions of years ago. Originally, the area of Chongqing was a watershed and rivers flowed both westwards (towards what is now Tibet) and eastwards to the China Sea. As a result of two dramatic movements of the land, one over 100 million years ago and the second about 72 million years ago (give or take a few years) - which resulted in the creation of the Himalayas and the Gobi Desert - the Three Gorges were formed – unusually no glaciers were involved here. The rivers that originally flowed westwards changed direction to flow towards the lower eastern lands and eventually the largest rivers linked up with the main river flowing east.

Only the final part of the river, around the delta, was called the Jian Zi (other parts were called such names as the Sun river or the Golden river) and supposedly in the 18th century, when some English missionaries asked the name of the river near Shanghai, they were told it was the Jian Zi. These missionaries reported back to the Church and authorities in England that there was a very large river in China called the “Yangtze”. So the whole river has become known by this name outside of China – though some of the rural areas still refer to the old names.

There were hundreds of abandoned dwellings along the water’s edge of the Gorge and small areas of crops that had been lovingly tended, to provide food. We could see vegetables, wheat, sweet corn and fruit trees - in some cases, the men were still tending their crops, despite the fact that they will soon be under water. Everything within twenty metres of the waterline will be submerged in about six weeks time.

The water is much greener today – less silt travels through the twists and turns of the river – but we saw no birds or signs of wild life at all in this first Gorge. One of the operations staff gave a running commentary about the Gorge and things to look out for – such as navigation aids, tributaries joining the river that provided important landmarks, and tall peaks. Most of the upper slopes are forested with bushes and small trees in between the limestone outcrops, and the whole environment is dark green and eerie in the mist.

We passed out of the Gorge just as breakfast was being served! The boat chugged on and about an hour later we docked at a tributary – River Daning - and transferred to a smaller vessel which took us to see further gorges in this region. To enter this new gorge we passed under a concrete arched bridge some twenty metres (60+ feet) above us where the traffic was trundling across. It is amazing to think that when the second phase of the Three Gorges Dam project is complete at the end of September, this arch will be at water level. We chugged downstream, round the precipitous mountains watching for markers showing the 156 metre and the 175 metre boundaries, which indicate the levels of water for October 2006 and early 2009 respectively. We did see a couple of monkeys in one spot along the river bank.

Where the gorges end there are new settlements built precariously on the hillsides (not quite so steep as the mountains in the gorges) to house all the displaced people – this amounts to millions along the stretch from Chongqing to Sandouping where the dam is being constructed. These buildings themselves will be only a few metres above the 175 metre line – you can imagine adverts for riverside apartments in the future – only they won’t be like Docklands, more like the slums of the East End – at least from the outside.

After about an hour and a half, we arrived in the area of the Three Mini Gorges and we changed boats again, this time to sampans – each holding about twenty people. They are rickety wooden boats – many people donned their life jackets - with not very comfortable, narrow seats and plaited roofs to keep the heat out – not necessary today. We sped up the first of the small gorges where we did actually see a couple of birds (not sure what variety) – this took about 20 minutes – until we reached the end of the first mini gorge and could travel no further due to the low level of the water – when the water rises in October, you will be able to travel to all three mini gorges. We then turned round and went all the way back again, and re-embarked on the larger boat, which took us back again to our cruise boat (lots of getting on and off boats) in time for lunch.

During the afternoon we went to a lecture by the Cruise Director about the pros and cons of the Dam Project. Everyone here supports the Dam Project – it has bought jobs and wealth to the area and one turbine will produce enough electricity for a city of 1 million people per day! – and there will be 26 turbines in all when the project is complete (14 operating at present). Most of China will have some dependency on this project and should it fail (or be destroyed by terrorists - the effect would be worse than the Tsunami – more than half of China would disappear under the flooding as most of the principle cities of China are situated on this river! The deeper water in the river will allow larger boats and cruisers to go as far a Chongqing thus increasing the trade and tourism in this area. The cons are that it will affect the weather patterns over the whole of China and beyond, millions of people have been displaced and age-old communities lost, and the project has affected world prices in steel, copper and concrete. The resulting lake at the dam will be larger than Austria!

By now we were passing through the final Gorge, but the weather was so misty that we could not see very much at all. We reached the dam and the 5 Locks to transfer us from 136 metres to sea level about 18.30. The locks are absolutely huge structures (can’t imagine how much concrete has been used here) – huge concrete structures rise over 175 metres high. The “boxes” are wide enough to take two of our cruise ships or medium container ships, and five boats lengthwise – 10 boats in all – and they were queueing up! Each of the five locks drops about 20 metres – over 60 feet – but we only needed to use 4 locks as the water is only at 136 metres at present – 175 metres in 2009 will require all five locks to be used. The whole process took four hours – we had the Captain’s Farewell dinner and the staff put on a cabaret show on Chinese music and dancing before we finished passing through. Two of our group also took part in the cabaret – Shreya aged 9 did some riverdancing (though they didn’t have the music) and Lucinda (Trinidad Mum) sang the Titanic song – she has a really beautiful voice.

We have another early start tomorrow to see the Dam itself – breakfast is at 06.30 – and then it’s off to the airport to fly to Shanghai.

NEXT DAY

Will write today’s blog later, but currently in the airport at Wuhan and can get connected again at last! Hurray!!!!
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