Travel Location: Xi’an,China

We did not get Thanksgiving day off from school so we planned to make the most of our weekend. Four of us traveled to Xi’an, China, about a two hour flight from Hong Kong. It was time to take a look at the amazing archaeology site of the terracotta army of Qin Shihuangdi, the First Emperor of China. We arrived Friday night and checked into the Sofitel Hotel on Renmin Square. Saturday morning we were up early, enjoyed the buffet breakfast, and met our driver and English speaking tour guide in the lobby.

We drove out of the city of Xian to get to the archaeological site. The grounds were well organized, allowing tourists to get a good glimpse of the warriors. The terracotta army of the First Emperor was discovered by surprise in 1974 by farmers who were working together to dig a well. While digging, they found pottery fragments, bronze arrowheads and crossbows. The immense project, that archaeologists continue to uncover, is mind boggling. The Emperor’s tomb site is located outside of the city of Xian and had been known for thousands of years from the Chinese written record and the tomb mound had long been visible above ground. The terra cotta army was a complete surprise because there was no written record of it. The whole tomb complex area is estimated to cover 50 sq. km and is considered the most important tomb site in China.

Why would someone need such an elaborate army to guard him in the afterlife?

King Zhen of Qin was born in 259 BC and became King of the state of Qin in 246 BC when he was only 13. By the time he was 38, he had taken the name Qin Shihuangdi or Great August First Emperor of Qin. From the time that he became King of the Qin state, he started the construction of his tomb complex. It is assumed that it was unfinished when he died suddenly in 210 BC because one of the terracotta pits was found empty. The terra cotta army is buried in four pits and seemed to be placed in a formation to guard the tomb from attack. The total number of warriors and horses is estimated at about 8,000. The warriors are life size sculptures that vary in costumes, hairstyles, hand positions and facial features. It is estimated that over a thousand people may have been involved in the making of the terracotta army. Many of the laborers probably died of overwork or were possibly buried with the terracotta warriors when they were complete. All the warriors originally carried life-size weapons which disappeared when the pits were looted and burned in the rebellions after the death of the First Emperor. The warriors were originally painted but the exposure to the air caused an immediate loss of color. They are trying new techniques now in the attempt to preserve some of the colors during the ongoing excavation. Why would someone need such an elaborate army to guard him in the afterlife? Why was there no written record of this immense project? How could this army be created on such a grand scale during that time period? Seeing this site just created more questions.

That night we headed back to the city center for dinner. We went to a recommended local Chinese restaurant. We got the recommendation from a young man on the plane who is from Xian and he was very enthusiastic about his home town and he was happy to make suggestions. The restaurant was an experience (did I mention that Chinese food is not one of my favorite Asian cuisines?). I can always get a good dish of Chinese stir-fried greens with garlic. The rest that we ordered, I could have done without. After dinner, we walked around the Muslim Market area to people watch and window shop. It was fascinating, so many people out and about selling their wares. Xian was once the capital of China. This city feels so much more “Chinese” than Hong Kong. We saw very few “westerners” in this area.

Back to the hotel and up early again on Sunday. We took a taxi to the Xi’an City Wall. It’s the most complete city wall that has survived in China. The existing wall was started by the Ming dynasty in 1370 (which was an enlargement of an earlier wall). The wall now stands 12 meters (40 feet) tall, 12-14 meters (40-46 feet) wide at the top and 15-18 meters (50-60 feet) thick at the bottom. It covers 13.7 kilometers (8.5 miles) in length with a deep moat surrounding it. We rented bikes up on the top and biked around the entire wall returning just in time to get back in the taxi and head to the airport. This was a quick weekend history trip that was well worth it.

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Travel Location: Hong-Kong,China

Travel About: big-city

Hong Kong Day 1 16 May 2009

Our time in Hong Kong began the instant we walked through customs the way the next two days unfolded. Kathy’s friend Su, running towards us with open arms of welcome and excitement, despite the fact that she herself had only just returned from New Zealand on the very same flight 6 hours ago!! The next two days were action packed and full, but so enjoyable.

After a trip back to Su’s apartment via the wonderful, clean and efficient Hong Kong rail system, and a welcome opportunity to freshen up we were off with Su to see Hong Kong. Firstly, a visit to the Stanley Markets via a bus up over the hills to the other side from where we were staying. We had the most wonderful traditional Chinese lunch in a very old and traditional restaurant. Then a meander through the market with many stall holders and some “Italian style jewellery” made in China which were uncanny replicas of the jewellery we sell. At least the owners were honest with us and their customers.

Then we met up with a long standing friend of mine from NZ, Bill, who has been living in Hong Kong for 7 years and loves it there. He takes a taxi to work every day (as does Su) and so it was just natural that we took a taxi to “The Peak” which is a high point with views all over Hong Kong. As it was so hot, we firstly enjoyed a lovely Haagan Das ice cream before taking an unexpected and beautiful walk through the “bush” that surrounded this area. It was lovely to walk in the shade, listen to the birds singing and see wonderfully coloured butterflies feeding on the nectar of flowers. It really was a highlight of our trip, or should I say, one of many. So refreshing and tranquil. Hong Kong has regulations about the amount of ‘green space’ and that is good. There are 7 million residents in this city and they pretty much all live in high rise apartments, some of which are truly impressive “bee hives”, with the majority living in such small areas that we in NZ would find it difficult to imagine. Then a return to the city in a taxi, all of which are the same model of vehicle, the same colour scheme and are purpose built Toyota’s, that allow the driver to open the opposite passenger’s door, which is a nice touch!

Next was a tour of the harbour on a traditional Chinese junk. Not a single nail was used in the construction of this vessel using traditional methods. It was a wonderful experience, as we sat on the upper deck of this vessel and toured the harbour at sunset. It was truly stunning to see the light on the many high rise buildings. Pity I can’t show you any of the photos I took, but that’s another story. They will have to wait until I get home. We enjoyed a cold drink and just soaked up the experience.

The day was capped off with a fantastic meal of Spanish tapas at a restaurant in the night club district of Hong Kong. So colourful and vibrant. It was a great experience to not only share this with Bill, but also to meet one of Su’s friends who is an Australian Italian. She also works with Su at the school. An evening of wonderful food and intense conversation!

Hong Kong Day 2 17 May 2009

The next day dawned a slightly clearer day, with some rain overnight to clear some of the smog away which drifts in from China and mingles with the locally generated smog, although Hong Kong is a wonderfully clean and safe place. We set off on the bus again over the hills to visit the Buddha (it was Sunday after all!!). This is an impressive sight, standing up tall and was one of the things we wanted to see in Hong Kong. We mixed with throngs of Buddhist worshippers and also visited the local monastery. The Buddha stands about as high as a 4 story building and sits on the top of a hill. Visiting the Buddha up close did involve climbing up about 200 steps in the heat and did involve a lot of perspiration, but it was worth it. After another ice cream for lunch we boarded a gondola to take us back to the city over the mountains and harbour. It was in itself a fantastic experience and the view of the city and airport that unfolds as you go over a ridge is amazing. It sweeps into a terminal that connects with the sub-way train, which we took back to the city. All beautifully clean, but people here are very conscious of the swine flu etc and it was not uncommon to see people wearing face masks, including ticket office booth holders. I will always remember the sight when we exited the subway. It was unexpected, but an impressive barrage to all senses of colour, sound and a density of people as far as the eye could see. Every where were shops of electronics and camera equipment and throngs of locals all reviewing the latest equipment. Kathy and Su went of to the “Ladies Market” which was also near by, while I browsed the array of electronics on offer. Every piece of hardware being manufactured was there. Apart from a 8GB SD card (which I got for about half the best price I have seen on Trade Me) I was also tempted by some good quality clothing on sale as well.

We then rounded off our sampling of Hong Kong public transport (which is excellent), with a ride on one of the trams to a place Su knew that would enable me to get some new open toe sandals and Kathy also was not shy to avail herself of an opportunity! My purchase was for only $20 for some leather sandals. Assuming they last, great buying.

Then off to our last venture of the holiday in Hong Kong, being another dinner out with Su, her friend Bruna, Bill and views of the harbour, including the famous laser light show. It rounded off a fantastic time in Hong Kong, and we so felt the love of Kathy’s friend Su, who had only just returned from NZ from being at her much loved step mother’s funeral.

We were up early the next morning to head off to the airport and it was quite a wrench to leave our dear friend Su, whose kindness to us in the context of her own grief was just wonderful in the root meaning of the word. We taxied to the train terminal to check in and found that the flight was delayed by one hour!! Dang!! We had got up at 5:15am to make sure we got there in time, but never mind, it was wonderful to deposit our bags in the station and head to the airport on the lovely clean train, knowing we had plenty of time.

The flight to London was full and not a memory I wish to recall! However, flying over China and Russia was a new experience and broadening to the mind to appreciate the vastness of these two countries, with many city names I had no consciousness of.

We were nervous to ensure we had sufficient time to clear immigration and customs at Heathrow, collect our bags and then change terminals to check in for the flight to Milan, but we made it fine. Being surrounded again by Italian speakers was a foretaste of what lay in store.

We arrived at Malpensa in Milan slightly ahead of schedule, tired, but excited. The airport shuttle bus to the city was miles further than either of us expected and took nearly an hour mostly on autostrada. We were just collecting our bags from the bus when our determination and concentration was broken by a cry of greeting from our dear friend Simona. What a lovely fresh surprise to embrace the warmth of her welcome and meet her lovely boyfriend Emmanuele. After packing our large bags into a small car it was a short trip to our hotel to farewell our friends and collapse into bed after the longest, most exhausting day.

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Travel Location: Beijing,China

Our final stop in China was the capital, Beijing. We had both been here before and seen all the star attractions so this time we chose to relax a little more and just experience the city. The Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and the Summer Palace were just some of the many sights we would be skipping this time around.

Our fast train from Qingdao took us into Beijing South late at night. Not the most conveniently situated station in the world it was then a 15km taxi ride to our hostel – 9 Dragons Youth Hostel. This is a great place to stay. Well placed among the Hutongs and very close to the subway it was clean, modern, friendly and excellent value.

They were so good that in one sitting Shannyn managed to yam down 30 of them

The Hutongs are the narrow alleyways dotted around the city full of old courtyards with crumbling single storey houses in each. We visited quite a few of them in various areas of the city. Some, especially near Houhai lake, were authentic looking. Others such as in and around the Nanluogu Xiang tourist street looked fully restored with many turned into shops and restaurants. Modernisation of Beijing has meant a huge decline in the amount of Hutongs still standing. Although demolished areas were evident as we walked around there were still many Hutongs to be found and they give you a good insight into the old way of living here. One of the better areas for observing this was around the tacky and overpriced `antique` street of Liulichang Xijie. Just beyond this huge tourist trap were local shops and Hutong dwellers everywhere, good for taking photographs.

Our sight seeing in Beijing took us to the atmospheric Lama Temple with its 55 feet tall Buddha and incense burning worshippers, the Temple of Heaven with its new-looking coat of paint, and the Olympic Village with its excellent eye-catching Birds Nest stadium. All of these as with most sights in this vast city are easily accessible thanks to the superb metro they now have, and at only 2 Yuan a journey it`s a bargain. This is the most overpacked train system we have ever been on though, so crowded that Shannyn got elbowed in the face one time. Ride it at your peril at peak time.

While here we took a trip out to the Panjiayuan Flea Market (also known as the Dirt Market). This is a huge outdoor market selling everything from old “antique” furniture to cultural revolution nik-naks. A lot of what you see is fake but there are still many things worth buying here, and at reasonable prices too (after negotiating). It was at this market that I heard something I thought I would never hear, something I would have rather heard 11 months ago before we started this trip: “I`m sick of shopping”. Yes this did come from Shannyn but sadly it was a one-day only feeling, probably never to be repeated.

For food in Beijing we tried the famous Peking Duck. Our first attempt (Beijing Dadong Roast Duck) was recommended in several books. It`s a popular place requiring almost an hours wait to get in. Once inside though we got to experience how the locals go about their duck eating. Being introduced to the little fella before he`s carved up wasn`t the ideal start but we had a great meal in the end. We enjoyed our second effort even more as we tried a less fancy looking place near our hostel. For a quarter of the price we were treated to a bigger duck with a more generous supply of accompaniments, just a bit more fat to remove from the duck if you are health-conscious like me. For 100 Yuan (10 pounds / 20 Aus Dollars) we got a whole duck plus two other dishes and drinks, a great deal. I don`t know the name of the place but it`s right outside exit C of the Zhangzizhonglu metro station, you can`t miss it.

While in Beijing we re-visited the bar at the Harmony Hotel, the place where Shannyn was lucky enough to first set eyes on me two and a half years ago. Not the liveliest bar in the world but good to go back and see where it all began. Just across the road was another great dumpling restaurant, our last and possibly best ones in China. They were so good that in one sitting Shannyn managed to yam down 30 of them.

Our time in China was at an end and to be honest in this stage of our trip we were ready to move on to a more developed country. The food has been great, the sights amazing, and some of the people fantastic but after six weeks of children weeing in the streets, adults spitting everywhere and a complete lack of common sense by a large percentage of the people it was time to go. I`m sure we`ll be back though… I hope so.

Gary

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Travel Location: Beijing,China

From Wuyuan we headed back to Hangzhou (having booked in advance) and stayed there a few days. Ian is not really a city person but hangzhou has a really nice area called west lake which is very similar to the summer palace in Beijing. We then got a night train to Beijing which was suprisingly comfortable. We hadnt planned on staying long in Beijing but the May day holiday came up and it was recommended we go nowhere (no tanks seen in tinnamen square though Jacky Chan did sing) We spent our first day in the not so Forbidden palace which was very busy with tourists in the main areas, though could be really quite quiet in other parts. Our second day we went to the Summer palace (where the Emperors went during the hot summer months) this was much nicer than the forbiden city. the next couple of days were split with walking around some of the older parts of Beijing, shopping on silk street and going to the famous kung fu show where monks would split slabs on there backs while laying on a bed of nais using a sledge hammer. It was the young kids who really made the show they were dextrous enough to pull off no handed backflips using there heads and when they would fight with weapons you could see they were getting more than a bit carried away. We then planned our great wall trip. we wanted to go on a weekday to avoid the crowds as well as an area where alot less people go. (we also wanted to do something a bit more special and sleep the night on the wall). We decided to trek on the wall from Jinshaling to Simati sleeping on the wall near Simati. It was quite a good job that we planned on sleeping on the wall we started the trek quite late in the day and many areas are like a near vertical obsticle course, the wall has recently been repaired in places but rubble was still all over the place. During the evening we slept in one of the guard towers (which Ian said made pretty good bird hides.) We had great views of an Amur falcon here. We continued the trek early that morning and we passed the toll bridge and entrance gates before they were open so we didnt have to pay a second time. From Beijing we got a train to xi’an we wanted a sleeper but they were all booked for three more days so we got a cheap hard seat. This was the worsed journey of our lives.

Jacky Chan did sing

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Travel Location: Hong-Kong,China

My first breakfast in Hong Kong consisted of an egg and cheese sandwich on toasted wheat bread. I cannot express my shock that such a western style breakfast could be found in a random little restaurant around the corner from my hotel. Even in Shanghai and Beijing last year, only specifically western-style restaurants seemed to serve these sorts of food. Eggs are very popular and common in China, but they are generally eaten hard-boiled (which is also yummy)

Anyway… It was a beautiful day, with blue sky and plenty of sun, so we decided to visit one of the smaller islands, where no vehicles are permitted. We took a ferry to the island and walked around for awhile. We visited a temple, and looked longingly at the beach, where many people were swimming in clear water. After about two hours, we headed back, this time using a ferry and a subway, to get to the museum of history. This was a very general museum, with detailed displays about traditional Hong Kong culture (including traditional ethnic cultures) and even the physical environment. Between the heat and humidity, jet lag, and lack of lunch (a meal we would not see much of during the next month), I was pretty tired… actually, ready to curl up on the floor and go to sleep. At 6:00 pm we waited outside the museum for Ray, and then headed to dinner at a very nice restaurant. The food was very good (unfortunately I cannot eat sea food, even Western-style seafood dishes, so I didn’t enjoy some of the dishes) but there was sweet and sour pork! This is shocking you see, because most real Chinese food is nothing like the Chinese food we have in the United States, however, many of the Chinese restaurants here were founded by Cantonese immigrants, and some of the dishes in Canton province are actually similar to what we have here in the US. So don’t go looking for egg rolls, cheese wontons, or sesame chicken if you travel to China.

I cannot express my shock…

After dinner, Ray was kind enough to invite us to the roof of his apartment building, where we had an amazing view of Hong Kong, including the harbor. At night many of the skyscrapers put on a light-show, so we stayed up there and enjoyed the view for awhile.

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Travel Location: Hong-Kong,China

My third day in Hong Kong began with a similar breakfast as the day before…although Dr. Allard was busy checking his e-mail at the hotel so I had to try and order for us, since none of the others speak any Mandarin or Cantonese. Well, I don’t know any Cantonese, and our waitress was one of the few people in Hong Kong to not speak any English, and she didn’t understand my Mandarin at all (a not terribly uncommon occurrence, sadly enough) so our breakfast was….interesting, but it all got sorted out in the end.

Megghie had spent the night coughing and woke up with a headache, and because of the panic H1N1 was causing people, Dr. Allard decided she should stay in the hotel and rest while the rest of us visited the excavation site of a fellow archaeologist and a storage for archaeological artifacts. Before we went to those places, we visited the museum of an ancient ruler of the area (it was actually quite small, just a building around the tomb that had been excavated, and you couldn’t go inside it, but just look at it through a glass barrier) and then we went to another temple to the Sea Goddess. It was lovely and ornate like most of the temples, though I did see some adorable stray cats, which made my day, although I hope the poor things are looked after somewhat. Then, we found an internet cafe, where I contacted my family for the first time since leaving Newark, to let them know I was alive and well. (I had left my cell phone at home, since we planned on buying cheap cell phones in China)

as we were walking down a busy pedestrian-only street, people began gesturing at us vigorously.

The excavation site and storage were quite interesting, at least to some extent, in the sense that they were new for me. I’ve never been to an archeaological site before, and I was terrified of stepping on something important, but it was very neat to actually see the extremely old artifacts being found (mostly pottery pieces, but also some bones from graves) and the storage was also fairly interesting, although it mainly consisted of lots, and lots, and LOTS of pottery (which all starts to look pretty much the same to non-archaeologists, or at least to me).

We returned to the hotel to check up on Megghie, who seemed to be feeling better, relaxed for a bit, and then joined Ray at a pizza hut for a Western style dinner.

Now, about my cameo… the night before, when we were walking back to our hotel after dinner, as we were walking down a busy pedestrian-only street, people began gesturing at us vigorously. We had no idea what was going on, and saw lots of people standing on the sides of the street, as if watching something. At the last moment we moved to the side as well, and suddenly realized a group of teenagers (or people dressed as teenage schoolchildren) were racing down the street straight towards us… and they were being filmed! I have no idea if it was for a movie or a tv show, but we all thought that was pretty cool.

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Travel Location: Beijing,China

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Today I hope to see the Great Wall of China.I’ve heard so many things like how years ago, some slaves who died while building the wall, and now the remains lay deep within the depths of this fascinating piece of architecture.One of the main things about Beijing, is that the clouds hover above the landscape like a heavy blanket suffocating all those who live beneath.This will definately take some getting used to.

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Travel Location: Beijing,China

6:00 am:

As I was waiting to go on my flight to start and for me to start an adventure in china I thinked about all the vaccines I have had in the past three weeks. I have had ones for: typhoid, hepatitis A, diphtheria, tuberculosis, hepatitis B, rabies, cholera, and yellow fever. Today I will be travelling on virgin flights.

3:00 am (china time):

As I stepped out Beijing airport I saw a crazy sight in front of me. Lights flash before me as I struggled to find a taxi. When I find one I stepped into it and went towards my hotel called Grand Hyatt Beijing. I had a great night sleep and I cannot wait for tomorrow.

12:00pm:

I took a few photos of the hotel

9:00pm:

i got a leaflet about the great wall, it looks really interesting

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  Today was great I went to the Great Wall of China. My day started at 6:30am as I had a fairly long journey to the landmark. Tourists tend to go to the wall because of its historical significance to t...

Travel Location: Beijing,China

Today I went to Tiananmen Square. It was really amazing but it was so crowed. It’s going to take some getting used to! The building was breathe-taking. It towered high above the surrounding area. The roof was my favourite all the individual beams shaped to fit the magnificent structure. It has been an amazing day so far.

For dinner I went to Xiao Wang Fu restaurant the food was really good especially the duck. Although the menu was MEGA hard to read! Hundreds of dishes all in Chinese! HELP!? Luckily my Chinese phrasebook had a few things to help my so I managed to order some things I wanted! I had many recommendations and they were right it was a great experience. The atmosphere was great I would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves great food, great atmosphere and China!

I need to be getting to bed now as I am still recovering from my l

ong journey.

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Today was great I went to the Great Wall of China. My day started at 6:30am as I had a fairly long journey to the landmark. Tourists tend to go to the wall because of its historical significance to the society. This tourism helps the area because for every person that goes to the great wall of china has to pay a 45 Chinese Yuan (£3.9939 British Pound) it may be a small amount but because the many people that go there it makes a big difference in the community.

The Great Wall of China is by far the most amazing thing I have ever seen. It is completely different to Beijing. I went to a non-touristy area of the wall last and I couldn’t believe I was actually still in China it was crazy! All of its sections are unique. The building stands out as a great monument in our world. It was a bit confusing because all the people were buzzing in all directions. But I managed to get through. I went on a busy day so it was a bit hard to see all the views.

Their not joking when they say Great!

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