Where on earth is Tim ?

西藏四川西部 Sichuan's Wild West aka Tibet's Back Door

I've spent a very relaxing three days climbing mountains and visiting the Buddhist monasteries in KangDing, Sichuan province. Which is just as well.

Stupa Above KangDing

To save costs on our trip to Tibet we hooked up with another traveller at Sim Cozy's. His name is Gennaro, he is from Italy and he seem like a nice bloke, although his English is sketchy. But no problem, my Italian is just as sketchy which means we get on fine. To further save costs, Gennaro managed to find Spanish Guy. He speaks pretty much no English. Nada. Which is just as well as I am at the point of using my elaborate french vocabulary in front of him ... or directed at him ...

First of all Spanish Guy could not make his mind up about if he wanted to travel with us onto Kathmandu rather than return to Lhasa and China (which costs more). Which was rather time consuming and annoying. He decided to go back to Lhasa and hey, as he's Spanish, he decided that as he wants to join our trip, he is doing us a favor. So he wants us to give him a special discount aka subsidise his trip. We sent him on his bike, or at least Sarah did. But, hey, he is Spanish and he can't take no for an answer. So he has been banging on about a discount. Numerous times. I am just waiting for super sarah to become super pissed off with Spanish Guy. I am now.

Watch this blog. Spanish Guy may well become a major feature. I am not planning to give him the address.

To get relief from Spanish Guy and as we had to wait for five days for our permit to come though, I headed for KangDing, West Sichuan, which is the start of the Tibetan plateau. West Sichuan is known as Sichuan's wild west and is essentially a Tibetan area which has escaped the worst ravages of the Chinese governments oppression in Tibet, as well as the Tibetian culture. Kangding has a frontier town feel and many refer to it as the gateway to the region. It was also a grueling 10 hour bus ride from Chengdu, with rockfalls littering the way, making the journey take three hours longer than normal. It also suffers from abnormally heavy traffic as much of the regions roads are still blocked after the 2008 earthquake.

But its a nice place. The hillwalking is superb and the town has a strong Buddhist community with three monasteries. Its a place that has seen plenty of cultural destruction by the Chinese Government during the cultural revolution and has also suffered from immigration of Han Chinese. But its also a place where I have seen hope and change. Such as the Chinese government allowing religion, culture and language to be expressed once more. It is renovating and rebuilding the monasteries. It is encouraging people to follow religions. It is allowing free trade, regardless of ethnic group. It is a place of some hope.

Young Tibetan Monk

But it is by no means free. The main Monastery has People Liberation Army barracks built right on the front door. I mean 10 meters in front. I'm told its for the 'safety' of the monks. I think not. Plus a plethora of CCTV cameras, the only ones I've seen in town. I didn't take a photo as I've heard the Chinese police cells are not too salubrious.

And then I'd heard about a Tibetian horse festival that is going to happen in a few days time ... in secret and at a secret location. Why ? because the Chinese government has banned horse festivals for fear of trouble or political rallying. Which is a real tragedy as its the place for the nomadic Tibetans to meet and greet, swap stories, trade, get news and find a wife/husband if you need one.

Finally I was met by a Monk and I greeted him in Tibetan; ''Tashi Delek" I said. At which point the 20 odd year old Han Chinese accompanying the monk turned round to me and said that I should learn Mandarin before Tibetan to understand Tibet !

Sarah and I are off to Tibet on Friday. Watch out for Spanish Guy.

Life from a bus window...

This week I've had the traveling blues. I've got stuck in Chengdu at Sim Cozy's Garden Hostel, which, all things considered, is not a bad place to spend a few days relaxing. Its given me a bit of time to reflect some four months into my trip.

I've been thinking about all the Fantastic Places I've Seen, People I've Met and Experiences I've Had. I can more or less remember every day of the last four months. I can't even begin to say the same about the prior four months.

Such as the day I spent cruising around Hampi on a motorbike; The evenings spent watching Hindu Brahmen go about their daily worship like nothing has changed in the last 2000 years; the week spent hanging out with Mathius in Kathmandu; two weeks trekking to Everest, meeting such interesting characters on the way; A few minutes seeing Baba the dentist in Varanasi; Meeting so many smiling Indian's; Getting such warm hospitality from the Pakistani's; The 'family' hospitality from OpenTV colleagues while I am passing through; having a laugh with some great people along the way; Seeing so much variety in the world.

I could go on, but most of all I enjoy the freedom of sitting on a bus watching the world go by, thinking about life with no concern about when the bus leaves or arrives. It gets even better with no windows, just fresh air to free the mind.

And then I've thought about the Things I've Not Done ... Cook; Sit at a desk; drive a car; take a bath; clean the house; use an alarm clock for more than a couple times a week; use a rain coat or even a fleece except within sight of Mount Everest!

And then There Are The Things I Miss ... Lazy sundays pottering round the house; Playing with power tools; Family; My own bed; A rainy day on the streets of London; A night out with my mates; a lie-in in my own bed; Proper Bacon, Avocado, a decent Cheese and all of the above in a monster size salad.

The list of Things That I Don't Miss ... which is not worth the time to write about, only to add that the thought of work is a mere blur. I've not been thinking about it.

Traveling has been a discovery which I am only just getting into. I can feel my outlook on the world changing. I can feel my views changing. I can feel my motivations changing. My only regret is traveling with a defined end. The thought of traveling until I decide to go home appeals right now. Allot.

Alas, on January 15th I'll be woken up by an alarm clock and will find myself sitting behind a desk in the morning. Probably wearing a fleece and rain coat. Or will I ? I hope this is an appealing concept in January. We all have to earn our way in the world and I made this choice before I started traveling. But then again, I will get a Bacon, Avocado and Cheese Salad that evening.

Before I left, I was wondering if I should spend more time in less places or less time in more places. Right now, I think that a mix of the two is perfect for me... Spend too long in a place and you get stuck. Speed around too often and you'll get 'templed out' thinking that one of the last places you visited would have probably been 'the' place to stop and enjoy it slowly for a week or two. Be flexible and if you really like somewhere. Stop. Enjoy. Take in Life and the people. Then move on once you feel stuck.

So I've decided that I am stuck in China and I have had enough. We are off to Tibet later this week, where we have a trip planned to travel across thought the alto-plano and on to Kathmandu. I am looking forward to a good Steak at the Everest stake house, washed down with a few Everest Beers. Oh and I will hunt down a supermarket that sells Avocados. I need some luck to find some.

By the way, many of you know it was my Birthday on Friday. We went for hot pot and had amongst other things, had pigs brain as part of a extravaganza. I can report that it is rather nice. I cant say so much about the Biju though, a rather vile spirit brewed by the Chinese. Finally note-o-fun for this blog:

I saw this sign on the way into the Panda Sanctuary in Chengdu. Says allot about some of the attitudes in China.

日食 Solar Eclipse on 22nd July 2009

At nine minutes past nine this morning there was a Total Solar Eclipse over China. The Eclipse covered several countries in Asia and was the longest eclipse of this century, lasting over six minutes at its greatest point.

The last time I was near an eclipse's path was the back in 1999 where it crossed over the south west of the UK. Back then, I elected to stay in Reading and saw only a 95% eclipse rather than head down to cornwall. I regret not making the trip. So, this time I was rather keen to see this spectacle and we planned our itinerary in China so that we would be right in the middle of the eclipse's path.

Sarah and I decided to base ourselves in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. We thought that the plains of China would be better than the mountains for good weather morning. We headed out to a town the size of Reading called Leshan in the hope that it would be away from the smog of Chengdu and that it would be a good bet for fine weather. We were met with a mixture of pollution and low lying cloud.

We resigned ourselves to seeing nothing other than darkness and waited. And then it started to go dark, very dark. I had the shivers as the surroundings plunged into darkness. It felt rather unique and special. The thing that struck me the most was how quick it went dark and once the four minutes of totality were over, how quickly it became light again. It was a special experience, which I hope to repeat one day.

UPDATE: Well, I just finished updating this blog and went downstairs. I met a traveler who stayed in Chengdu this morning to watch the Solar eclipse. They went to a local park and They avoided the 5.30am start that we had. For the lucky lot that stayed in Chengdu, the clouds parted. I don't need to comment much on how gutted I am.

1999 Eclipse as viewed by Tim

Checkout the 2009 Eclipse here as viewed by Tim

Digging around on the net, it seems that most of China was under cloud cover, including our 'plan B' to be in Shanghai. I now feel every so slightly better that fate had its way. It was a little troublesome to find out as the Chinese Internet is still in lockdown mode

Following the eclipse we did get to see the Great Buddha of Leshan. At 70 metres high this is rather large. I was a little spaced out to fully appreciate the Buddha, after the disappointment of not actually seeing the actual sun, the stifling heat and the result of a 5.30am start. But it was a nice place to visit and arriving early for the solar eclipse meant we missed the truck load of Chinese Tourists. Phew.

The Giant Buddha...and just his head

虎跳峡 The only terrorist with a Nobel Peace Prize ?

Since the rioting/troubles started in the XinJiang province a couple of weeks ago, the Internet in China has become frustrating. Twitter was Blocked. Then Facebook. Now Typepad, which means if you're in China, this blog is off limits. So is Paul's blog. And I can' t keep in touch as easily. I did however pay tribute to Chairman Mao this afternoon;

Away from Tiananmen Square, I had the freedom to pay tribute to Chairman Mao !

Thankfully Sarah got hold of a Proxy server which means I can get things updated, albeit very, very slowly.

For the past few days I have been on a hike along the amazing Tiger Leaping Gorge. In the process we met a group of other hikers, including a very lovely Chinese Lady. We got chatting about many things, including Tibet. When I mentioned the Dalai Lama, including my visit to his home in Dharamsala (India), she innocently commented 'He's a terrorist right ?' At least thats what she understands from the press and the Chinese government. Well, he's the only Terrorist I know with a Nobel Peace Prize.

I also met this guy along the way. His name was Solomon. You've got to wonder about people who have the misfortune to be called Solomon, without abbreviating their names. He's a head in the clouds, 20 year old thats been in China teaching and who's faffing has surpassed even the worst example I have come across to date, Reading University Caving Club who were the pinnacle of faffing! As we were in the mountains, he asked if he could use my iPhone to send a email to 'mummy and daddy', because there was no internet. They were concerned about him. Apparently he went on a bit of a bender in Shanghai. Like seven nights of partying without much sleep. Sounds like the average 20 year old to me. But no, after seven days, his parents told him to present himself to a hospital for a blood test. Then send the results to a UK Doctor! It came up clean, but I could not help laughing when Solomon went to great lengths to explain that the test was not for STD's !

The walk along Tiger Leaping Gorge was rather good with sheer precipices, towering peaks and the Yangsi river thundering down the gorge, which is only 25 meters wide at some points. Seeing the sheer power of the river was awesome and guaranteed to put you through a cheese grater if you fell in. We walked a high path along the Gorge sides, which was great to get away from the bus loads of Chinese Tourist who stuck to the lower parts of the Gorge.

Tiger Leaping Gorge

While I've been away, a number of my friends have started along the path to Parenthood. So to help them along, I have a parental tip from China; Here Children wander 'round with pajama's / trousers / pants that have a large hole in them, from crotch to bum. So, in case of a toilet stop or accident, no worries, they just 'stop' where ever they are. Which could be the street. Or the living room. Or the backseat of a rickshaw I guess. Well, I suppose it saves on nappy charges. Which reminds me, when I was hiking down to the Yangsi river in Tiger Leaping Gorge, someone (an adult) took a dump in the middle of the path. Why, why, why ? when there is better privacy plus hygiene in the bushes surrounding the path ? I think the brilliant book How to Shit in the Woods: An Environmentally Sound Approach to a Lost Art should be translated into Mandarin.

Proir to Tiger Leaping Gorge, we spent some time in Dali. Dali is nice. A backpacker chill-out town where you'll find plenty of western food joints, bars, decent lodges and foreigners smoking large joints. It was a rather nice place to spend a few days and as a result we decided to go for a Pizza in Dali. I opted for the 'Indian Pizza', which was rather good. But I did crack up when the Pizza was delivered to me ... with beef on it ! Try getting an Indian (80% of which are Hindu's by-the-way) to eat that !

Walking around the Old town of Dali opened my eyes a little more than it did in Pakistan ... to walk past a red light district. Apparently this is quite common in most Chinese towns, but in a state which controls so much of how the Chinese should conduct their lives, I was surprised. I also found it mildly hypocritical that China is trying to mandate anti-porn and violence software on all computers in China, when they tolerate red light districts, similar to they type you'll find in Amsterdam. Incredible.

On our final couple of days in Dali, we climbed Yu Ju Peak, near Dali. Rather good, even if the weather was a tad cloudy. We stayed at the Higherland Inn, which being in China, I wondered if its called Higherland after they misspelled Highland ? It was rather nice though and came with an energetic dog, who, apart from terrorising the Cat, followed tourists up the mountain. Apparently when there were allot of tourists about, he did seven days on the trot. Pretty impressive considering its a 1500m climb over some tough ground.

95 Year old Naxi man taking a stroll in the park.

In this blog, I've mentioned the Dalai Lama, Tibet, Tiananmen square, troubles in XinJiang and Chinese Red Light districts. I think its safe to assume that there is not too much hope of this blog, or Typepad, being unblocked in the near future ! I do like china though, its people, the scenery and the backpacker scene. Oh and Chinglish has me constantly tickled;

Anyone got a clue what this sign is advising ?

Everyone I've met has a desire to follow the west and develop China into a progressive modern country, which given how much the country has changed in the past ten years, I am sure will happen. I do wonder If things will change enough to allow the Chinese the freedom of speech which I am exercising in this blog. And finally close to my heart, it's also a caving mecca with large regions of limestone. The Caving potential is limitless and I must return to go caving at some point. I hope to be able to do some in Sichuan Province during the coming days

We are off to Chengdu to see the Solar Eclipse on the 22nd of July. Apparently its the longest eclipse in our lifetimes, with six minutes of totality at its highest point. I hope that the weather is kind to us ! After that Tibet...

公共旅游卫生间 Public Toilet Tourism

Don't you find it frustrating when you overhear a couple of the tube/bus/train talking and you just know that they are talking about you or the passengers around you ? Of course they are talking in Outer mongolian or some other obscure language, so there is no chance of anyone understanding. Well, for the first time in my life, I've been able to do this without the risk of a soul understanding me. Everyone speaks Mandarin here. Once you're out of town, virtually no one speaks english. Which is just as well. While in Yangshou, Guanxi Province, I have taken to criticizing the chaps plying Bamboo rafts on the Li River to their face. With a smile of course.

Karst Landscape with Bamboo Rafter on the Li River

Sarah and I decided to go for a hike along the Li River and we found the route finding a little sketchy in places. A lot of the time, you'll end up walking along the walls of the rice paddies. Eventually you happen to pass a pier where the path stops. When you ask for directions from a bamboo rafter, who just so happened to be milling around, he'll tell you the only way is by Raft. Really, there is no other way. Of course that'll be 50 RNB (£5) in his pocket but you'll have got there by the only way, never mind that the path continues, by some obscure route, I would hazard a guess that it was all designed that way. After the second time this happened, I concluded that they were all a bunch of unscrupulous guys in a driven pursuit to get your money. No way in hell were any of them going to help a couple of hikers get to their destination. Third time round, I told the guy what I thought. To his face, and then walked off. He thought I wanted a bamboo raft.

Thankfully 'the locals' reputation was saved, as once we were out and off the beaten tracks on our bikes, the Guangxi locals are great, helpful people, as was the lady who helped us find Dragons bridge from the work of fiction map we were trying to follow.

Yangshou is set in the middle of towering Karst peaks, making this a spectacular location. When we arrived, as the brown, turbid waters in the picture above demonstrate, we arrived to an area suffering from spectacular floods. The river Li was in serious flood, but apparently, unlike last year, we did not need a boat to get our breakfast in Yangshou.Thankfully the floods have subsided and we are able to get on with being traveling tourists in the area.

With so much Karst, Yangshou is also cave country. Limestone towers everywhere. Being a caver, I had to do a tour of the main sights. So there was 'Silver Cave'. A phantasmagorical coloured light show with thousands of Chinese Tourists bussed in from all over to examine the hundreds of formations, each having a unique name. They even piped in music at different location my favourite was the sound of crickets and birds when a stalagmite grouping named 'forest park'. Several passages of the cave bore neon advert placards for other attractions in the local area and I was particularly amazed to get a corn flavoured ice-cream at the end of the cave, from the ice-cream and drinks stall. And then lady tried to sell me some postcards.

Sweet-corn ice cream at the end of Silver Cave

Then there was 'Water cave'. This is your real 'cave experience' type of showcave. Boat into the cave (artificial lake mind you), and then go and play in the hot springs and mud bath. That is the mud bath made by building a concrete pool and wheelbarrowing in the mud from other parts of the cave, all to allow Chinese women to scream with fright _or_ glee when the wallow in the mud and get their photo taken. There is a photo studio, next to the mud baths allowing you to get everything on the spot, even though your current about 30 minutes into the cave. Despite this I was quite impressed with this classic river cave, it would have made a nice caving trip without the glitz of a 'cave experience'.

Finally we passed on Butterfly springs. This is a showcave with manufacturered formations, to look random objects such as butterflies and even romeo & Juliet. How easily fooled can people be ?

The rock climbing in Yangshou is also world class and attracts its resident climbers from all over the world. I spent a couple of days up on the walls, trying my luck. I can report that its pretty hard when you're drenched in the heat and 80% humidity.

On my final morning I decided to go an climb a peak surrounding Yangshou, which is great way to see the wonderful landscape, with Karst spires towering up all over the place. I picked my peak and after asking was told that the path led up the hill behind the local market. Great I thought, I get to poke around the local market as well. So off i went through the local market and was surprised by a 'beer fish' hitting my leg with a giant leap to escape its bucket. Then I came across a dog being roasted. With a blowtorch. With his fellow pack members, in cages, watching on. In silence.

I was taken back. A little disturbed. Seeing such an intelligent creature, 'mans best friend', being slaughtered and then roasted on the floor of a market, just didn't seem right. I left, climbed my mountain and vowed to learn the Mandarin Characters for Dog (狗肉), in an effort to avoid inadvertently eating the wrong thing. You never can tell in China, when you cant speak or read Mandarin. It was a very nice view from the top.

I was impressed with Yangshou and this part of China. Having just sat on the train for the past 10 hours and have seen nothing but limestone, there must be a huge potential for Caves and Caving in China, beyond what has been explored and discovered so far. No wonder this place has been designated a world heritage site due to the vast swaths of limestone. Having moved on from Yangshou, we just arrived in Dali, Yunnan Province and I was wondering if we will really enjoy our visit after seeing the following greeting:

Final note: After many weeks, I've just finished reading 'Freedom at Midnight' a history of India's Independence from the British, which I recommend. I came across a quote in closing pages:

'She [India], almost alone of the scores of nations who broke colonial rule, is a free society, respectful of the rights and dignities of its inhabitants, whose citizens have the right to dissent, to protest, to express themselves freely and openly in a free press, to select their government in free, honest elections. She has resisted temptations to follow her neighbor, buying progress by reducing millions to regimented robots, or the more numerous examples of cheapjack military dictatorships with carefully coached crowds of cheering citizens and their equally carefully concealed torture chambers.'

Apart from beautifully summing up the great success of Indian Democracy, it really brought home a observation about Chinese society to me, ‘buying progress by reducing millions to regimented robots’. It resonated with me that in China, people are organised to play their roles in society, not being able to really question why, at least in public. Of course there is the ability to dream and aspire especially when it comes to work. But freedom also comes with the ability to question and say no. I won't comment more here other than to say, I hope that time provides change.

请勿踩踏 Do Not Stampede. The Terracotta warriors are watching...

You know how the bigger supermarkets in the west usually have product teasers at the entrance to supermarket? Well, this usually means that when Sarah sends me to Tesco's for a pint of milk, I come back with an easter egg, that is two weeks after easter, a newspaper and the latest copy of FHM. Except in China, the teasers seem to consist of tropical Fish and turtles surrounded by ready-to-go vases-come-aquariums. Walk in to buy a pint of milk. Walk out with a Turtle, Goldfish and a prepackaged snack of some random part of some random animal. And I'd probably still have forgotten the milk.

Speaking of random parts of random animals, I recently blogged a photo of Chicken Feet snacks, with a a wry grin on my face in a kind of 'who the hell would dream of eating crusty chicken feet as a snack ... Gross ! Well, I now know that there is probably a Chinese tourist in London having the same picture taken with a big smelly block of Cheddar. Cue the family we met on the train to Guilin today. A delightful family who, made sure that we were in on their lunch. We couldn't refuse, of course, and not just because we cant speak Mandarin. We got given a latex glove ... really ... to get stuck into what we understood to be duck's neck. And then out came the Chicken feet. I can they report they are quite tasty, if a little chewy.

Thirty minutes later Sarah and I offered to share some of our lunch, a made-on-the-fly Ham, Cheese, Gherkin and Tomato Sandwich. We had a quite a bit of trouble finding the cheese, ending up at the import section in the only Wall-Mart in Xi'an. I don't need to explain that its not a staple food for the Chinese (excepting the proliferation of McDonalds, Pizza Hut and other american food chains plying cheese on their fare). I offered a slice of cheese to our host family. The look on the 5 years olds face said it all when he tried a taste. I thought he was going to throw up. Thankfully he just regurgitated the cheese. We did get our photo taken with our sandwiches. The gerkins did not go down too well either. All goes to show that what you eat is a product of what you're brought up on. To the Chinese, I am sure chicken feet are as ubiquitous as, say, cheese.

We could not visit Xi'an without a visit to the see the Terra-cotta warriors. I was impressed. Seeing hundreds of warriors lined up, ready to protect their emperor all with different expressions, dress and roles has to one of the highlights of my trip so far. Then think that they are only a small selection of the 8000 odd warriors buried in the site. Incredible.

Sadly, the warriors are suffering from their exposure to the atmosphere including the stifling pollution that this part of China suffers from, as well as my and the other millions of tourists breath as we view this exceptional sight. As a result the Chinese have reburied a number of the warriors and are leaving some pits unexcavated. Good move in my view.

It was a great sight to see, especially the painstaking work to reconstruct the warriors from the shattered fragments to complete figures. I also leant that the pit holding the Terracotta warriors is just an offshoot, a couple of miles to the west, of the Emperors tomb they are meant to protect. The Emperors Tomb itself is a huge burial mound which remains unexcavated, but apparently historical records tell of a vast city underneath the mound. HIstorical records suggested that within the mound was an entire city, replete with a representation of a river made from Mercury. While archeologists haven't excavated the mound, they have found unusually high levels of mercury, which seems to suggest that the historical records may be true. I wonder if they will ever choose to excivate the area. If the terracotta warriors are anything to go by it would be an impressive site.

A very satisfying day. I was also on my best behavior, after I heeded the warning entering the complex, I did not Stampede today.

On our final day in Xi'an i was tempted for a cycle round the City walls. I wanted to see if I could hire a motorised bicycle which are a really big thing here. You see them everywhere, wizzing past you at breakneck speed, making pretty much no noise. You even see larger version, basically electric scooters. They look quite dangerous mind you, like a motorbike driven by someone without a bikers awareness. Thanks to the plentyful supply of electricity in China they can be quickly and easily charged. I am a fan. One for my Christmas list I think. Hey, I might look like a numpty, but its a gadget and its got to be a technology of the future, as the oil price rises and we rely more on renewable electricity sources, which can recharge your bike. Unfortunatly they only had pedal cycles for hire, so hopefully I'll find anther excuse before I leave China.

Something for my Christmas List along with one of these

We on our way to Guilin, Guangxi province. Its a 28 hour train journey, which is a short journey by Sarah's traveling experience, but a long one by my standards. I have a lot of time to claw back her lead in the ongoing card game.

注意安全 BE CAREFUL THE SAFE (Especially if your wearing high heels)

I woke up this morning to see that my good friend Duncan Price had posted a video clip on Facebook, with the latest on one of his hot projects, a cave dig in Wigmore Swallet. Duncan's not much of a facebook user, so I figured this must be extra special. And Wigmore is one of  Mendip's finest tight wriggly mud infested holes for cavers to go and grovel in! Only I was not able to watch this clip as I am currently behind the Great Wall of China. The Great Firewall that is. Disappointed, I'll have to wait until Vietnam.

Sarah and I have just climbed the Mount Huà Shān near Xi'an in the Shaanxi Province. Mount Hua is a massive grannite peak, one which I can only compare to Half Dome in Yosemite. Is been a holy place attracting pilgrims over the centuries. With sheer faces in all directions, getting to the top was quite an experience. Thankfully the Chinese have carved a number of paths of steps into the granite to assist pilgrims to the top, which makes the place passable for tourists. Just. You'll need a head for heights as the steps are steep and narrow with precipitous drops on each side. In some places they are pretty much vertical. If I was in Italy, I'd have my Via Feratta gear on. But fear not, I took heed of the warning and was more concerned about when a safe was going topple onto my head:

Incidentally, I plugged the signs chinese characters into google; 注意安全 . And I got 'Be careful the safe'. Conclusion ? Chinese sign writers use google. But I guess that depends on if Google is currently inside or outside of the great chinese firewall. It must currently be in. More on our Chinglish encounters in a later blog.

Sarah and I turned with our hiking boots, water and lunch rearing to go. Since the 90's the numbers of pilgrims have declined and tourism has boomed meaning that the Chinese have vastly improved the Mountains accessibility with the installation of a cable car, knocking off the first 1000 meters of the climb. It was at this point that I quickly realised that I am now in the most populous nations on earth. One billion people up a mountain. At least it felt like it. And all in their Sunday best.

Posh Frock and High Heels navigates a near vertical section

This lady is climbing down one of the steeper, near vertical sections. She like most of the other Chinese women on this mountain is wearing her Sunday best, a posh frock with high heels. And she climbed a mountain 2150m high. Up near vertical paths. Really. Note the stone walkway at the bottom which now protects against a sheer fall ... to your death .. here you escape with multiple fractures. Notice the padlocks chained to the railings ... there must be millions of these littering the railings on the way up the mountain, locked by visiting couples in the belief that this seals their relationship.

Mount Hua Shan is some 140 km from Xi'an so we considered taking a tour. We'd both been warned of taking chinese tours ... make sure you know exactly what your going to get. Expect tours to shopping outlets with long lunches at favored restaurants and if your lucky a few minutes at the place you actually want to see. We thought a tour might cut some travel hasstle and time, but we were wary, so we queried this carefully with the hostel ... several times. We understood it was straight to the mountain, which took around 2 hours. We were a little surprised when we arrived at a temple. And then a shopping outlet. And the an obligatory lunch stop. Expected ETA 10am. Actual Time of arrival 2pm ! At least we could be social with the half a dozen other foreigners, all of who had been told the same ... So instead of bagging all five peaks, we only got the pleasure of two. But I did get the pleasure of raising a fuss, negotiating a 30% discount with our hostel and left them in a spiralling argument with the tour agency over who was at fault. If only I could understand Mandarin !

On the East Summit

On the way to Xi'an I decided I needed a pair of Croc's after experiencing the commotion I caused when I removed my tevas on the train. There was no need to understand Mandarin to realise what was being said. So Sarah and I wandered into town on the lookout for shops of the shoe variety. We found whole shopping malls dedicate to shoes. Really. Several floors of shops solely dedicated to shoes. But no Croc's, despite being a frequently sighted accessory on the Chinese. Eventually we clicked and decided that we were the wrong end of the Market. Best try the street sellers in the flea markets, who in the end we found flogging them for £2 a pair. The even looked the real deal. I bought a poorly fitting pair, to give up the search only to then walk straight past the real deal Croc shop on the way home ! Doh !

Another spotless street. This time in quaint PingYao.

Prior to Xi'an we visited Pingyao, a quaint village in between Beijing and Xi'an, our first stop off after Beijing. It used to be the financial capital of China in the late Qing Dynasty, and it was quite nice, remaining largely intact and preserved from hundreds of years ago. That is apart from the red concrete monstrosity of the Public Security Bureau (PSB), headquarers of China's organisation for Law and Order. Best behave if you live in PingYao then. The history and immaculate preservation means that Pingyao is a tourist magnet. Thousands of Chinese tourists descend on the place meaning you can't walk down the street without interupting someones photograph. I was polite to start with. Then I started to ignore the clicks and finally I couldn't help but pull silly grins everytime I interrupted someone's holiday snap. If it was your snap, I am sorry.

Incidentally, I saw a TV advert earlier this evening... I could work out they were advertising mineral water and in between the Mandarin blurb, repeatedly came the slogan ... 'Taste of the USA!' ... I challenge anyone to a water taste test; Chinese vs American. Good luck.

We are off to see the Terracotta warriors tomorrow. I have high expectations.

你好北京 Hello Beijing

I've just been to the Toilet in Beijing West station. I met a bloke who said 'Ni Hao' ( 你 好 ), which incidentally is also the first Mandarin phrase i've learnt, meaning Hello. Except this guy was taking a dump. With the cubicle door open. On a squat toilet. I was a little taken back.

Blue Sky in Tianamen Square. Watched by a Security Camera.

So I've arrived in China and met with the Sarah who has just arrived from Russia and Mongolia on the trans-siberian train. With India being the focus of my attention for the past few months, I've not really thought much about what to expect of China other than lots of difficulties with the English-Mandarin language barrier and lots of pollution. I was thinking a mix of third and first world.

First stop is Beijing and I have landed in what I think is probally the cleanest city in the world. Spotless. No graffiti, no litter, no chewing gum spots, no raw sewage, no dodgy smells, no crumbling buildings, no fly-tipping and no dirt. And surprisingly not much in the way of pollution that the city is famed for. I guess its a good week. It's all a rather sterile environment, especially compared to India. And its not because the Chinese are any less prone to littering like much of asia and the west. Here they have a small army of workers in tidy blue or orange overalls with straw hats dilligently cleaning the cities streets 24/7. And as for graffiti, I suspect that the Public Security Bureau provides ample incentive to avoid making a small part of Beijing yours. I also suspect that much of the effort also comes as a result of the spill over from the Olympics. Its clearly an event that Beijing and the Chinese are very proud of. You still see plenty of adverts proclaminig official sponsorship of the Olympics, one year on.

We've had a few language problems. Mainly Taxi drivers shrugging thier shoulders in a "Go away, your not worth the hasstle" kind of way. Then there is food. Understandably, all restaurants have menu's in Mandarin, as you would expect in China. But many are restricted to just Mandarin, meaning its a bit tricky, leaving you wondering if your ordering a starter, main or dessert. Nevermind if its Fish, Chicken or Beef. Or even Duck head, Pigs intestines, Chicken feet, tripe or any dish that seems a common delicacy here. Thankfully many places have pictures on the menu leaving you only half guessing if its Pork or Beef, never-mind if its the brain, intestines or some other part of the carcass. Are you vegetarian and want to stay that way ? Good luck !

Forbidden City. With a cleaner following us.

In an effort to help us get around, I've tried to learn a couple of basic phrases and resorted to dictating from the guide book to get somewhere. Its quite hard. Pronunciation is not important, I'm told, its all about the tone of the chinsese characters you are trying to say. And if you don't get that right, you end up asking for the guys shirt when really you want to go to a museum. or something like that. So we have ended up pointing to Chinese characters in the Rough Guide. Without this, Sarah and I would be totally stuffed. I mean right now, we'd still be outside the Forbidden City trying to get to our hostel.
Which reminds me. I've seen many book shops & hostels selling Lonely planets/Rough Guides. You can buy pretty much any country in the world. You name it; France, Mexico, Burma, Guatemala, even the Cook islands. Except ? ... errrrr ... China. Better not loose our Rough Guide then. Without pointing to characters, the only place I can honestly say correctly is ... Běijīng. Which would be a long and expensive taxi journey from the South of China. Thankfully I am only a text message away from help .... kindly provided by a work colleague in Beijing, Eric, who has bailed me out a couple of times !

Its also an efficient place to get around. Exceptionally so. The metro runs to time, is frequent and make me groan at the thought of a regular commute on the London underground. Taxi drivers take you from A to B. Ok, I know is obvious, but I now consider it a luxury compared the Indian Subcontinent.

And this place is the home of Gadgets. And gadget rip offs. Lots of them. Even the beggars come armed with gadgets. The blind beggars walking the carriages of the metro come with a huge battery powered amp system, back mounted, just in case you cant hear them, some four carriages down. My pick of the bunch is the calculators that speak as you type. And then they play little tunes when you get the total. Its a little like speak and spell. Just in Mandarin.

Sarah and I took the time to visit the Great Wall of China and walked a 10 km section from Jinshanling to Simatai. I cannot express just how utterly impressive this is. Then to sit back and think that this is such a small section of the wall. And to think of the amount of effort which must have gone into building the wall is simply staggering. This truly is worthy of its status as one of the seven wonders of the world. Well worth the visit.

Walking the Great wall of China.

Following Beijing we are heading south and are off to PingYao. A little lucky to actually be off as we missed the train, underestimating the traffic of Beijing during rush hour. We got jammy though, the train was late too.

Anyone for a snack ?

Of the Chicken Foot variety ?

Greetings from Beijing ! Its very nice here. Its clean, organised, smells normal, no horns, no hassle and well quite a bit different from India. In fact, its quite tame. But you do get Chicken Feet as a pre-packaged snack next to the crisps at the kiosk outside The Forbidden City. Really.

More to follow in the next blog as Sarah and I explore Beijing.