Dear All,
So, this the next excerpt from my travels in the East. I'm at the end of my stay in China now. Tomorrow morning will leave to go to Cambodia and explore that fascinating country for 10 days.
I think my last email left off on my arrival to Yichang, the boarding point for the Yangtze river cruise. After emailing, turned down the invitation to go look at sturgeons (fascinating though they are) and instead opted for a little bit of book shopping. Went to a couple of bookstores, a local one and the biggest one in town. Distressing lasck of big book places in Chinese cities, I've found. As it was a rather wet day, there were lots of people browsing and sitting everywhere reading. Gingerly picked my way through this studious throng to the English section. Most of the books there were textbooks or thin translations of popular Western fairytales or classics. Finally found a translation of Chinese ghost stories which promised to provide some entertainment. BAck into the rain and my guide took me to a local massage bar, where for the princely sum of £5, I was treated to a lovely 80 min foot massage and pedicure. Rather luxurious and almost fell asleep.
From there we went to the local museum which had some interesting stuff from the Ming and Qing dynasties before going to a local teahouse to while away the few hours before the cruise boarded. While I was there, snacking on nuts and trying to get to grips with their computers (which insisted on turning everything I wrote to Chinese - interestingly, all the keyboards here are in roman letters), the owner came up to me and asked me to help him try to convert his menu to an ENglish version. Took quite a bit of sign language, some pictures of plants and animals on the internet and a lot of help from the guide before we managed to finish, but helped to pass the time and was quite amusing overall. Fortunately, no really exotic dishes to translate.
Boarded our cruise ship, the Splendid China, around 7.30pm that evening, wet and dark as it was, was a great relief to be ushered to my cabin. Really spacious twin bedded room with good sized ensuite bathroom. Rather palatial compared to what I'd been expecting. That first evening had to pay for dinner as not included in the tour price. The maitre'd had suggested, before I was escorted to my cabin, that I would be fine with ordering 2 dishes. I duly ordered (beef curry with potatoes & chicken with peanuts and chilli) and came down to the dining room ready for a hearty meal. They seated me by myself at a table, since I didn't belong to a tour party, and brought out my first dish. I've never seen a bigger portion in my life! It could have quite easily fed a party of three. While I was sitting there contemplating how to manage even half of one of these dishes, never mind both, a friendly American came up to invite me to join him and his wife for dinner. Gladly accepted the invitation from Eliseo and Yolanda (their names) and began a friendship which I enjoyed throughout the rest of the cruise. We sat and chatted and manfully ignored the tremendous quantities of food we were wasting (though I had a few words with the maitre'd later about his portion recommendations and wastage of food). A lovely friendly couple who coincidentally lived about 5 mins away from my aunt and cousins in Texas. Small world and all that. Eliseo especially was a great person to chat to as he was interested in history, philosophy, politics and so on. HAd many a good conversation with him over the next few days.
Over the next 4 days, enjoyed the cruise down the Yangtze river tremendously. My first time on a cruise and thankfully not motion sick once. The next morning, went to view the famous Three Gorges Dam, under construction and due to be finished in 2009, it will be the biggest dam in the world (about the size of 6-7 Hoover Dams put together) and produce the equivalent of 18 nuclear power stations' output. The project had flooded a huge tract of the valley where the river flowed and about 1.3 million people have had to be relocated. As you can imagine, many mixed emotions regarding this dam and its consequences. The tour there lasted for about 2 hours and then we finally embarked on the cruise. The gorges we passed through were quite breathtaking and one can only imagine what it would have been like before the river level had risen an extra 150 metres. Very misty virtually the whole 4 days of the cruise, typical for the region. During that 1st day sat on deck, enjoyed the view over drinks. especially sunset and had a generally lazy time. Every evening the crew put on a show for us with lots of singing, dances and a great comedy pantomime. Very talented crew I have to say.
The next day we went on a 4hr excursion up the Shennong stream, a small tributary of the Yangtze. Even sheerer gorges and a narrow twisting stream. The last bit of the excursion we transferred into small wooden boats and were rowed by local oarsmen upstream. Quite an experience, though a little too mass touristy for my liking. Really impressed by the natural beauty of the region though. Plenty of entertainment as well, watching Yolanda buy up virtually the whole souvenir stick on the ferry boat, though she did bargain well. The hawker regarded her as a gift from heaven, I'm sure.
The 3rd day we went on a morning excursion to see the famous Fengdu city, renowned through China though the last 1000 yrs or so for being a city of ghosts and devils, where the soul could be judged. The Australian couple we'd met, Helen and Graeme (esp. Helen) wouldn't hear of taking the chairlift so puffed my way up the hill to the top where the city was. Glad I did as we saw some cool statues and figures on the way. Lots of fantastic and often quite grotesque sculputes, friezes and painting. Very colourful and lot of INdian influence quite obvious, especially in their depiction of the demons. I also learnt that the Shaolin fighting skills had originated in India, as did the classic Chinese pagoda architecture. Amazing how much influence trading had on these cultures in ancient times. On our way back to the boat we were challenged to lift a 180kg iron ball that one of the Chinese generals had used in training. Watched a skinny Chinese man about half my size manage this feat, though we were warned he was a master of various martial disciplines. I tried along with Thomas, a friendly Singaporean guy and Patryk, a Polish guy who all sat at our dining table. All of us failed resoundingly but were given some kudos for at least trying (got the impression most people too shy to try). Back to the ship and off to our final destination of Chongqing.
We reached there about 8pm, during the start of the last evening show. Interestingly, it is, if mot the biggest city in the world, among the top 5, with a population of 32 million! Yet I'd never heard of it before researching Yangtze cruises! Makes one wonder what other surprises are hidden away in China. Had a good evening with our dining table group, as we'd bonded quite well over the last few days. The next morning I actually made it to breakfast, mainly so I could say bye to everyone properly. Sad to see everyone split off as they were very congenial traveling companions. Was met a local guide who got me off the boat. I had 3 hrs before my flight to Shanghai left so I asked to see the Pandas in the local zoo, which was known for having the best exhibit outside of Chengdu (where the majority of the wild Pandas were). Rather a rainy foggy day so was warned might not see any pandas as they disliked the wet and cold. Still went there and gave it a shot and was rewarded with very close looks at 4 out of the 5 pandas there. This was largely due to fortuitous timing, as we arrived just when a rather large tour group bribed the keepers to tempt out the pandas with bamboo shoots. Not particularly approving of this but was did get wonderful views of them mock tussling and muching away rather placidly so couldn't complain too much. Very cute animals.
The airport was very clean and well maintained, English signs and announcements. A short 2hr flight to Shanghai and from the airport got a taxi to town. An old friend of mine, Sam, was living in Shanghai and had kindly offered to put me up for the week. He was busy at work when I arrived though he spoke on the phone to give the cabbie directions (my scribbled Chinese address had left the cabbie looking rather puzzled). Arrived at a large complex of 4 tower blocks of nice flats and let in by the maid to a lovely spacious 2 bed flat. Great views. Very hospitable welcome from Sam, who'd even got slippers and a spare phone with a Chinese SIM card for me! Great to see him again and the area he'd been calling home for 3 yrs.
Shanghai is well known as the most cosmopolitan city in China, with it's long history of trade and even occupation of certain areas by the colonial powers. With a population of 20 million, it's China's main city of finance and commerce, but remains quite laid back in its lifestyle and social scene. The most immediately noticeable thing about it was the skyscrapers everywhere. From high up vantage points, the whole city sometimes appears to be nothing but high rise buildings, with many more being constructed. Over the next week spend some time exploring Shanghai, Sam taking me on a culinary tour of the various foods from Chinas provinces. Got to see what ordinary life was like in China, thanks to Sam. Amazed even more now by how much determination it must ahve taken to come here without a shred of Chinese and make not only a home here but actually start a business! Took my hat off to him. Also stocked up on plenty of DVDs (at 40p per movie with excellent quality, the best bargain I'd ever find!) to keep me entertained through the next few months.
Wandered around a bit on my own when Sam was busy. Saw the Shanghai Bund - a stretch of colonial buildings from the days of the International concessions. Some quite beautiful lobbies and architecture there. Went to the top of the Jinmao tower, luckily on a nice sunny and clear day. Amazing views over the city though even on a clear day the smog reduced visibility drastically. On my wanderings had to fight off innumerable hawkers peddling watches, bags, DVDs and occasionally girls. Sometimes they can be quite persistent as well, with people grabbing your arms and following you for quite a way down the street. The number of street beggars had risen fast in the last 2-3 years as well, with the relaxation of local laws deporting them back to their home villages (a consequence of human rights activism). Nowhere near what the begging situation is like in India though.
The food in Shanghai is incredibly varied, not only with the various provincial specialities as mentioned before, but also western foods of all kinds. The Chinese have taken to KFC in a big way it seems (and it tastes better than in US or UK!)), with pizza following a close second. All in all had an interesting time there. Almost made it to Suzhou, a nearby town known for the beauty of its gardens but an impeccably timed bout of gastroenteritis put a stop to that.
All in all favorably impressed with the dynamism and sheer industry that I've seen in China and the friendliness of various random Chinese met on planes, trains, etc. Quite an autocratic society, but one that seems to function well and, more importantly, one that seems to have raised the standard of living of the average person substantially in the last 20-30 years. The only major problem is the communication barrier and even that seems destined to improve, with young Chinese in huge numbers learning English at school and college. Looking forward to coming back and exploring other areas of this huge country.
I hope everyone keeping well and enjoying life. Look forward to hearing news from you.
Siri.
So, this the next excerpt from my travels in the East. I'm at the end of my stay in China now. Tomorrow morning will leave to go to Cambodia and explore that fascinating country for 10 days.
I think my last email left off on my arrival to Yichang, the boarding point for the Yangtze river cruise. After emailing, turned down the invitation to go look at sturgeons (fascinating though they are) and instead opted for a little bit of book shopping. Went to a couple of bookstores, a local one and the biggest one in town. Distressing lasck of big book places in Chinese cities, I've found. As it was a rather wet day, there were lots of people browsing and sitting everywhere reading. Gingerly picked my way through this studious throng to the English section. Most of the books there were textbooks or thin translations of popular Western fairytales or classics. Finally found a translation of Chinese ghost stories which promised to provide some entertainment. BAck into the rain and my guide took me to a local massage bar, where for the princely sum of £5, I was treated to a lovely 80 min foot massage and pedicure. Rather luxurious and almost fell asleep.
From there we went to the local museum which had some interesting stuff from the Ming and Qing dynasties before going to a local teahouse to while away the few hours before the cruise boarded. While I was there, snacking on nuts and trying to get to grips with their computers (which insisted on turning everything I wrote to Chinese - interestingly, all the keyboards here are in roman letters), the owner came up to me and asked me to help him try to convert his menu to an ENglish version. Took quite a bit of sign language, some pictures of plants and animals on the internet and a lot of help from the guide before we managed to finish, but helped to pass the time and was quite amusing overall. Fortunately, no really exotic dishes to translate.
Boarded our cruise ship, the Splendid China, around 7.30pm that evening, wet and dark as it was, was a great relief to be ushered to my cabin. Really spacious twin bedded room with good sized ensuite bathroom. Rather palatial compared to what I'd been expecting. That first evening had to pay for dinner as not included in the tour price. The maitre'd had suggested, before I was escorted to my cabin, that I would be fine with ordering 2 dishes. I duly ordered (beef curry with potatoes & chicken with peanuts and chilli) and came down to the dining room ready for a hearty meal. They seated me by myself at a table, since I didn't belong to a tour party, and brought out my first dish. I've never seen a bigger portion in my life! It could have quite easily fed a party of three. While I was sitting there contemplating how to manage even half of one of these dishes, never mind both, a friendly American came up to invite me to join him and his wife for dinner. Gladly accepted the invitation from Eliseo and Yolanda (their names) and began a friendship which I enjoyed throughout the rest of the cruise. We sat and chatted and manfully ignored the tremendous quantities of food we were wasting (though I had a few words with the maitre'd later about his portion recommendations and wastage of food). A lovely friendly couple who coincidentally lived about 5 mins away from my aunt and cousins in Texas. Small world and all that. Eliseo especially was a great person to chat to as he was interested in history, philosophy, politics and so on. HAd many a good conversation with him over the next few days.
Over the next 4 days, enjoyed the cruise down the Yangtze river tremendously. My first time on a cruise and thankfully not motion sick once. The next morning, went to view the famous Three Gorges Dam, under construction and due to be finished in 2009, it will be the biggest dam in the world (about the size of 6-7 Hoover Dams put together) and produce the equivalent of 18 nuclear power stations' output. The project had flooded a huge tract of the valley where the river flowed and about 1.3 million people have had to be relocated. As you can imagine, many mixed emotions regarding this dam and its consequences. The tour there lasted for about 2 hours and then we finally embarked on the cruise. The gorges we passed through were quite breathtaking and one can only imagine what it would have been like before the river level had risen an extra 150 metres. Very misty virtually the whole 4 days of the cruise, typical for the region. During that 1st day sat on deck, enjoyed the view over drinks. especially sunset and had a generally lazy time. Every evening the crew put on a show for us with lots of singing, dances and a great comedy pantomime. Very talented crew I have to say.
The next day we went on a 4hr excursion up the Shennong stream, a small tributary of the Yangtze. Even sheerer gorges and a narrow twisting stream. The last bit of the excursion we transferred into small wooden boats and were rowed by local oarsmen upstream. Quite an experience, though a little too mass touristy for my liking. Really impressed by the natural beauty of the region though. Plenty of entertainment as well, watching Yolanda buy up virtually the whole souvenir stick on the ferry boat, though she did bargain well. The hawker regarded her as a gift from heaven, I'm sure.
The 3rd day we went on a morning excursion to see the famous Fengdu city, renowned through China though the last 1000 yrs or so for being a city of ghosts and devils, where the soul could be judged. The Australian couple we'd met, Helen and Graeme (esp. Helen) wouldn't hear of taking the chairlift so puffed my way up the hill to the top where the city was. Glad I did as we saw some cool statues and figures on the way. Lots of fantastic and often quite grotesque sculputes, friezes and painting. Very colourful and lot of INdian influence quite obvious, especially in their depiction of the demons. I also learnt that the Shaolin fighting skills had originated in India, as did the classic Chinese pagoda architecture. Amazing how much influence trading had on these cultures in ancient times. On our way back to the boat we were challenged to lift a 180kg iron ball that one of the Chinese generals had used in training. Watched a skinny Chinese man about half my size manage this feat, though we were warned he was a master of various martial disciplines. I tried along with Thomas, a friendly Singaporean guy and Patryk, a Polish guy who all sat at our dining table. All of us failed resoundingly but were given some kudos for at least trying (got the impression most people too shy to try). Back to the ship and off to our final destination of Chongqing.
We reached there about 8pm, during the start of the last evening show. Interestingly, it is, if mot the biggest city in the world, among the top 5, with a population of 32 million! Yet I'd never heard of it before researching Yangtze cruises! Makes one wonder what other surprises are hidden away in China. Had a good evening with our dining table group, as we'd bonded quite well over the last few days. The next morning I actually made it to breakfast, mainly so I could say bye to everyone properly. Sad to see everyone split off as they were very congenial traveling companions. Was met a local guide who got me off the boat. I had 3 hrs before my flight to Shanghai left so I asked to see the Pandas in the local zoo, which was known for having the best exhibit outside of Chengdu (where the majority of the wild Pandas were). Rather a rainy foggy day so was warned might not see any pandas as they disliked the wet and cold. Still went there and gave it a shot and was rewarded with very close looks at 4 out of the 5 pandas there. This was largely due to fortuitous timing, as we arrived just when a rather large tour group bribed the keepers to tempt out the pandas with bamboo shoots. Not particularly approving of this but was did get wonderful views of them mock tussling and muching away rather placidly so couldn't complain too much. Very cute animals.
The airport was very clean and well maintained, English signs and announcements. A short 2hr flight to Shanghai and from the airport got a taxi to town. An old friend of mine, Sam, was living in Shanghai and had kindly offered to put me up for the week. He was busy at work when I arrived though he spoke on the phone to give the cabbie directions (my scribbled Chinese address had left the cabbie looking rather puzzled). Arrived at a large complex of 4 tower blocks of nice flats and let in by the maid to a lovely spacious 2 bed flat. Great views. Very hospitable welcome from Sam, who'd even got slippers and a spare phone with a Chinese SIM card for me! Great to see him again and the area he'd been calling home for 3 yrs.
Shanghai is well known as the most cosmopolitan city in China, with it's long history of trade and even occupation of certain areas by the colonial powers. With a population of 20 million, it's China's main city of finance and commerce, but remains quite laid back in its lifestyle and social scene. The most immediately noticeable thing about it was the skyscrapers everywhere. From high up vantage points, the whole city sometimes appears to be nothing but high rise buildings, with many more being constructed. Over the next week spend some time exploring Shanghai, Sam taking me on a culinary tour of the various foods from Chinas provinces. Got to see what ordinary life was like in China, thanks to Sam. Amazed even more now by how much determination it must ahve taken to come here without a shred of Chinese and make not only a home here but actually start a business! Took my hat off to him. Also stocked up on plenty of DVDs (at 40p per movie with excellent quality, the best bargain I'd ever find!) to keep me entertained through the next few months.
Wandered around a bit on my own when Sam was busy. Saw the Shanghai Bund - a stretch of colonial buildings from the days of the International concessions. Some quite beautiful lobbies and architecture there. Went to the top of the Jinmao tower, luckily on a nice sunny and clear day. Amazing views over the city though even on a clear day the smog reduced visibility drastically. On my wanderings had to fight off innumerable hawkers peddling watches, bags, DVDs and occasionally girls. Sometimes they can be quite persistent as well, with people grabbing your arms and following you for quite a way down the street. The number of street beggars had risen fast in the last 2-3 years as well, with the relaxation of local laws deporting them back to their home villages (a consequence of human rights activism). Nowhere near what the begging situation is like in India though.
The food in Shanghai is incredibly varied, not only with the various provincial specialities as mentioned before, but also western foods of all kinds. The Chinese have taken to KFC in a big way it seems (and it tastes better than in US or UK!)), with pizza following a close second. All in all had an interesting time there. Almost made it to Suzhou, a nearby town known for the beauty of its gardens but an impeccably timed bout of gastroenteritis put a stop to that.
All in all favorably impressed with the dynamism and sheer industry that I've seen in China and the friendliness of various random Chinese met on planes, trains, etc. Quite an autocratic society, but one that seems to function well and, more importantly, one that seems to have raised the standard of living of the average person substantially in the last 20-30 years. The only major problem is the communication barrier and even that seems destined to improve, with young Chinese in huge numbers learning English at school and college. Looking forward to coming back and exploring other areas of this huge country.
I hope everyone keeping well and enjoying life. Look forward to hearing news from you.
Siri.
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