China & Tibet

5th to 19th September 2018

China

Day 1/2 - Leave Heathrow to Beijing -

Wednesday 5th and 6th September 2018

Top of Page

Just a quick e mail to let you know that we have arrived safely in Beijing...... been here a while now, but only just got the WiFi sorted!

Two good, but long flights, via Hong Kong, a 20 minute taxi from landing to the Terminal at Beijing airport, and about a 45 minute coach ride to our hotel. We’ve now had dinner and will be off to bed shortly..... yesterday morning seems a long time ago when we left Paddington!

So, first off, have to mention Phil hasn’t lost his magnetism for the Chinese people! We went for a very short stroll outside our hotel.....and stopped to look at the map at a bus stop, and a very helpful local came to see if he required some help!

No of steps walked days 1/2.... 12890

Top of Page

But onto today... glorious sunshine, and clear blue skies... I think we are very lucky, no signs of the smog and pollution we had heard about. We met our local Chinese guide in the lobby of the hotel and a short bus ride before being dropped off near Tian’an Men Square. This was closed off due to an International conference that had been on for a few days, so although it was disappointing not to actually be able to go in the Square itself, it did mean looking across from the parallel road you could see right across to the other side. We all had been given separate ear pieces from our guide, so it did mean you could wander around while she was giving us our history lessons, and take photos, which was good.

Our next stop was a group photo, with Chairman Mao’s picture in the background, and then into the Forbidden City. This huge complex dates backs to the 15th Century, and was where the Emperor and all his family, servants etc lived. I think she said there were 9999 rooms all told! We went through a series of courtyards, gateways and terraces, with very intricate designs decorating the surrounds of the roofs in particular - hopefully the photos will do them justice. However, we weren’t able to go into the rooms, apart from a couple.

The Forbidden City was very busy, full of people and that’s with a limit of 80000 per day!

Having exited the Forbidden City, at the opposite end to where we went in, we were picked up by our bus and taken for lunch. All (13 of us with our Scottish guide) seated around a round table, with a large glass ‘party Susan’ in the middle, with lots of different Chinese dishes to help ourselves from. It was very nice, and luckily forks were laid as well as chopsticks, although I think 3 managed to use them!

After lunch, back on the bus and off we went for a Chinese Tea Ceremony. This was similar to what we had experienced in Sri Lanka, but with some different teas. It was interesting and some were nice to drink - we tried 5 different ones.

Then we had about a 40 minute drive through very busy roads to the Summer Palace. We passed lots of interesting new glass sky scrapers, making Beijing much like many other major cities around the world, also, masses of huge blocks of flats.

Reaching the Summer Palace, we walked around one side of the huge man made Lake, for quite a while, and then went on a boat across the lake. If it is wet or windy these boats aren’t running, and so it isn’t known until you get there if you are able to do this. Luckily for us they were running this afternoon, as it was good fun. We had a lot more history about the various Chinese Dynasties from our guide, but I’m afraid I can’t remember a lot of it! Again another full place.

Eventually back to our hotel, after another busy journey, lots of cars, bikes and people. We have free time now so need to decide what/where we have dinner in a bit.... We walk up a long road with big shops and 3 shopping malls, we could have been in any large city, except for the Chinese writing. We saw McDonalds, K F C, Starbucks and a large Costa.....we did not go inside!

After a good walk and no luck with a restaurant with English sub titles, we strolled back to have a buffet from the hotel.... very nice.

No of steps walked today.... 17414

Day 4 - Beijing, inc the Great Wall of China

Saturday 8th September 2018 

Top of Page

OMG we’ve walked the Great Wall of China......well, a very small section of it!

We set off from our hotel reasonably early this morning, 7:30 am, to try and avoid some of the busy Saturday traffic and the queues when we arrived at the Wall. It was about an hour and a half to get there, through tower after tower block of flats in Beijing, and then on Toll roads. Finally through a more rural area into the mountains.

Reaching the large ticketing area, the hope had been we could skip the shuttle bus, as we had lunch reservations at the top, but to no avail, some problem with the road, so we had to walk through to the shuttle bus and wait, but not too long. After the shuttle, another walk up quite a steep hill to the Gondola station, where we had a good ride up to the Wall itself.

We had a couple of hours to do what we wanted before all meeting up again at the bottom of the Gondola for lunch. First impressions of looking at the Wall were it really was just like all the pictures you see....with lots of ups and downs, and very little flat. The section we were at, seemed very well maintained, it wasn’t as rough under foot as I was expecting, although you had to be very careful, as there were lots of steps, some shallow, some really deep, and quite hard going. We walked along a small section of what we could see, for about half an hour, and then turned back, having gone through 3 of the Watch Towers. It is built right on the ridge of the mountains, with steep sides falling away on both sides, that were covered in trees. It is really incredible to imagine how this was built In such a place and so long ago. Definitely something to tick off the Bucket List!

Back down the Gondola and into our lunch venue..... a small building advertising Subway.... but we were upstairs in the Chinese restaurant, again a lovely selection of various dishes on the large ‘party Susan’ to help yourself from.

On the way back to Beijing, we stopped off at a Cloisonne factory where we were shown how they make this ware. You would swear it was China, but in fact was copper based, with very fine wire stuck on to make the outlines, then painted, the small sections by dropping the colour on with a pipette, quite a few layers done, then sanded with three different levels of charcoal to smooth it all out. The end products were very beautiful, and very expensive! Because of course, the last part was the obligatory walk through the showroom where you could buy...... we didn’t!

Back into Beijing and a quick photo stop of the Birds Nest from the 2008 Olympics. Because the capacity of this is 90000, and the Chinese government are afraid of terrorism in an area holding such a large number of people, this venue is hardly ever used! It has pretty much become just a tourist attraction. The trees had too much foliage on them for us to see the Water Cube, could just pick out the corner. It was good to see some of the Olympic Park.

Our next stop was the optional extra, that everyone had gone for, the Rickshaw ride around the Hutongs.....an area of old Beijing with narrow streets and was traditionally the homes of nobles and wealthy merchants. On the way there we passed the old Bell and Drum Towers. These were used to tell people in the area the time, the bell rang out the hour in the am and the drum the hour in the pm.

The Rickshaw ride (or more accurately a Trishaw, as it was a bike) was great fun. We set off down the narrow streets in convoy, although there seemed to be some competition between the drivers as to who could be in front which made for a few interesting manoeuvres. The brakes, what there was of them, weren’t terribly effective, and squeaked a lot! We had a couple of stop offs during our ride, the first to a traditional family home, one that was owned by the same family for at least 5 generations. During the strictest times of Communism these homes had to be shared by many families. It was interesting to see the small rooms and the courtyard, although it was very full. Our next stop was by the two lakes, which were connected by a small canal with a bridge over. This was creating a traffic jam of small pedaloes trying to get from one Lake to the other. It was a very pretty area, and very busy, being a lovely sunny Saturday afternoon.

We then had a quick return to the hotel, just over an hour, before heading out for dinner, of Peking Duck. It was a nice meal but we were expecting a bit more panache with the serving of the duck... it was lost a bit in the general serving of all the other dishes. Another good full day of sightseeing.

No of steps walked today 11928

Day 5 Beijing and Xi’an - Sunday 9th September 2018

Top of Page

Our last day in Beijing, well morning only.... and we set off from our hotel, with our small coach already loaded with all our bags - it was a bit of a squash, and our guide told us he has requested a bigger coach for the rest of our trip!

This morning we visited the Temple of Heaven, which is set in a huge park. It was fascinating to walk through this area and see all the activities that were taking place......tai chi, badminton, dancing, card playing, Chinese chess playing and many more. The government give all ‘seniors’ a free pass to enter the parks and for the public transport, and they use the Parks as their recreation areas. As we stood around watching some of the activities we were encouraged to join in by many of the groups.... some of our group joined in dancing and others - Phil and I included - in batting with a sort of shuttlecock with wooden bats slightly larger than table tennis bats - not very successfully initially, but soon improved and were batting around to our Chinese experts and ourselves. They were also using a slightly larger version of this shuttlecock and kicking it with their toes and heels. As we walked on, we came across a group throwing rings to each other and catching it, very successfully with their heads. We also saw tai chi, with swords and a small group mainly women, practicing this skill. Fascinating.......

After a stroll through the Park, or at least a very small portion of it, we went through to the Temple of Heaven. This was built in the 15th Century, of wood, and was before there was any religion in China, and so is a Temple built to the different gods - Heaven, Earth, and so on. Lily, our Chinese guide was very prolific in her explanations and history, as she has been the whole time, but unfortunately it doesn’t all sink in!

The actual Temple itself, we weren’t able to go in, only look through three openings, but you could see the huge wooden columns supporting the structure. Again, an incredible feat when you think how old it is.

The weather was much greyer today, a touch of the pollution you hear about, you can see the difference in some of the photos.

Back through a different part of the Park to our coach, and onto a Silk factory. This was interesting to be told the process of how the silk is woven by the silk worms, to the cocoons, and then taken and used. There was a huge area of merchandise for sale, and as always they are quite persuasive, but we resisted! We could have bought anything from pillows and duvets, to the covers for them, rugs, scarves, ties, all manner of clothing, pictures and so on....all made from pure silk.

After this it was time to go to Beijing South Train Station. This is huge, and we had to queue, with our passport and train ticket to get in and go through security. Once inside we could sit in the large waiting area - there were a few of them - and get something from one of the many small shops there for our lunch. We then could go to board our train about half an hour before it departed. This was when we said goodbye to Lily, following a very informative few days with her in Beijing. Let’s hope the rest of our local guides are as good.

The train is very fast up to 308km per hour for a lot of the time. It is also very quiet and smooth. We are going 1216 k in 4 hours 20 minutes. We head, sitting in first class, south to ZhengZhouDong and then West to Xi’an. On route we saw many areas of huge tower blocks, either side of the track - all of which is on raised platforms. The countryside is pretty flat to ZhengZhou, with arable crops, or else towns of high rise buildings. The second part of the journey is hillier, and we go through quite a few tunnels, also arable and high rise. We haven’t seen any animals at all.

On arriving at Xi’an station we were met by our local guide Jason, and went off to find our coach. Our guides hassling of this morning had obviously worked, and we had a small van to put our luggage in and so more room to breathe on the small coach. Although it was about 7 o’clock by this time on a Sunday evening the traffic was very bad and it took us about an hour to get to our hotel, not the 20 minutes or so we were expecting.

This evenings meal wasn’t included and so we had to sort something ourselves. Jason had recommended a local Chinese restaurant nearby, or there were a few places you could eat in the hotel complex. Another couple and ourselves decided to try the Chinese, and Bill our Tour guide, and Jason came with us, which was great as he suggested various dishes and did all the ordering.... it was lovely and so much better than a Chinese at home! Among the dishes we had was the best sweet and sour pork ever, a very spicy beef dish (I didn’t try that one!), lotus root stuffed with pork, cabbage and noodles and a dish of large prawns...first time I’ve ever dealt with the head, shell and tail to eat them! It was a really lovely meal, and good to have a short walk back to the hotel after eating.

Looking forward to the Terracotta Warriors tomorrow.

No of steps walked today 13013

Day 6 - Xi’an and the Terracotta Warriors -

Monday 10th September 2018

Top of Page

Today was a reasonably early start, 8 am to leave the hotel. On route to the Terracotta Warriors, we stoped off at a Jade factory in Xi’an. I never knew before that jade came in other colours than green, but it does! It was interesting to see the different types of stone and how the different hardness obviously determines what can be done with it, particularly when it comes to intricate carvings. One of the fascinating pieces is a jade ball, with up to 6 individual balls, inside each other, all carved from the one piece of stone.

Next onto the highlight of today...the Terracotta Warriors. We caught a shuttle buggy from the car park up to the complex, and spent all morning learning about the history and looking in the different large buildings that house the excavations. They are really amazing, especially when you remember they were made over 2000 years ago.

Lunch was in a cafe on the site and following this we walked the route back to the car park through the maze of street stalls, all very colourful and vying for your custom.

Back into Xi’an and we made our way to the Small Wild Goose Pagoda. This is set in a small park, and was very pretty. The large bell set up was being hit often, as you could pay 5¥ to have 3 hits, so I hope nobody was trying to time keep by it! The other odd thing, was the grass..... small clumps were planted in very straight rows, and cut into short humps....all very strange! The Pagoda itself was quite a plain structure, with fancier buildings around it. There was also a small courtyard with a craft centre, and we were given a quick Chinese calligraphy lesson, and then our name written in Chinese on rice paper. There was also a man painting on rice paper, mounted with silk.

After this it was back to the hotel for an hour to freshen up, before out into the old city centre, to wander down a very busy, noisy, colourful street full of stalls selling everything, but mainly street food of all descriptions. Part way down we turned off down a very narrow side alley, full of bikes, doorways into the properties and some very dodgy looking wiring! This was taking us to the Mosque, and we were in the Muslim area. Our guide had kept telling us that the Mosque wouldn’t be like any we had seen before, - and he wasn’t wrong, this had a very Chinese feel to the buildings.

Back down the alley and onto the busy street till it ended at the Bell Tower. Then it was to our restaurant for our 16 course Dumpling Banquet! And yes, I’m sure we did have at least 16 courses, although each one was a small dumpling, with lots of different fillings, and some shaped to represent their fillings, especially the duck ones! There were also some other side dishes as well. It was all very tasty, and extremely filling! Coming out of the restaurant we were greeted with the sight of the Bell Tower, and the City Wall Gate, all lit up and looking lovely. The whole area was very vibrant and full of life. Then it was back to the hotel to get ready for a really early start tomorrow.... our guide had booked us all a 4am alarm call, as we need to leave for the airport at 4:45am!

No of steps walked today15150

Day 7 - Xi’an and Xining - Tuesday 11th September 2018

Top of Page

So this was an eventful day, in many ways!

We were up bright and early, 4am!, collected our breakfast bags from Reception, and off to the airport. Bill had arranged porterage for our bags, so off they all went together, under his name - so he was hoping nothing got picked up in scanning or else we would all be going back to sort it! He was anxious about me getting through security with my insulin and needles, but all was well.

After a very short wait in Departures we were boarding our plane, after about 4 checks of passport and boarding pass. The flight was just an hour and 20 minutes, so just long enough to be served a bottle of water and a bread roll. We were met by our local guide, Nancy, who told us our train to Tibet wasn’t at 2:05, but 5:30 pm! So, instead of going straight to the hotel that was serving us lunch, to sort food for the train journey, we set off to visit the Kumbum Monastery.

This was an interesting visit, once more a shuttle buggy from the coach park to the entrance, and then walking up through the complex, stopping off to look at various buildings and temples as we went. We weren’t able to take photos inside the buildings, but could outside. It was very crowded, with lots of people making offerings of money to the various Buddhas. The monastery is famous for its 3D embroidery, its printing presses- we didn’t see these, and Yak Butter Carvings. We saw some of the embroidery on decorative panels.

Yak butter seems, from what we have seen so far, more like a wax, and is used for candles, and sculptures - coloured and carved. We saw some wonderful yak butter flowers carved and exhibited in a recently restored, very brightly decorated temple. This was definitely, for us the highlight of the complex. We then made our way back down to the entrance, and caught the shuttle buggy back to the coach.

It was then onto the Sofitel in Xining, apparently one of the best hotels. We were having lunch here - 4 courses of their best Western food! It struck us as odd that this guide seemed to think this was what we would want to try, and not local fare. We also met our Tibetan guide, Basang, at the hotel....and were told that the train we were catching was now the 7:30pm one!

So, we had the rest of the afternoon to go to the local supermarket to buy supplies for the train, and then relax in the coffee lounge of the hotel...which was great as we hadn’t had a coffee yet for the day!

We set off to the supermarket with another couple, which worked well, as we pooled the 12 pack of water, and the 4 pack of tissues - essential supplies! I walked in with the camera around my neck, and was chased by a supermarket employee - I had to put the camera in a special bag, which was electronically tagged in order to carry it around the shop! At the check out at the end, the tag was removed and I got the camera back out of the bag.

We bought various packets of food, - not really sure quite what! Also a plastic mug each. Bill had told us early on in the trip to start collecting the coffee and tea from our hotel rooms, and to buy a mug, as there would be hot water available on the train. The couple we were with had picked up during our trip so far, that Cucumber didn’t agree with Phil, and managed to find him a large pack of cucumber crisps! He politely declined! Phil was befriended by a very short chap who spoke some English and was trying to be very helpful... and after bumping into him a couple more times as we wandered around, he asked if he could have a photo with Phil! Fame at last!

After completing our purchases we went back to the hotel and had coffee. Things then got even more fraught regarding the train.... apparently tickets are issued at the station on the day, and you don’t actually know what you’ve got until then! Also, all arrangements are made by a local company, not the Great Rail Journeys in the UK. So, the latest was that 2 people had tickets for the 7:30pm train - our UK guide, and a lady from one of the couples! The rest of us had tickets for the 8:30pm train! And on hard sleepers, not soft! This meant 6 to a cabin not 4, and only squat toilets! Well, our poor guides spent a long time trying to change tickets and sort this mess out.

We finally left the hotel about 6 pm and made our way to the train station, a very large modern building, went through security, where one of our party had to open his main luggage, that had passed airport security that morning and they confiscated a small fruit knife! We still didn’t know what was happening train wise! It seemed they had managed to get the two earlier tickets changed so we were all on the same train, which was good, but it wasn’t till we actually got on the train and started to find out our allocated places, with a bit of switching around so couples were together, that we discovered they had actually managed to change the hard sleepers back to soft. Fantastic.

In fact the train was more comfortable than I was expecting... haven’t seen the hard sleepers so I can’t comment on them. We were all on the same carriage and had compartments of 4. Phil and I managed to get in the same one, and our UK guide swapped with our Tibetan guide and joined us. A Chinese lady was already in the cabin, but disappeared shortly after we arrived with all her luggage, and eventually a younger Chinese lady joined us. She immediately climbed on the top bunk and went to sleep!

We had a bite to eat from our bag of goodies and settled down for the night. A pillow and duvet were provided. About midnight the train stopped at a station, and after a while a bell rang.... I’m guessing as a warning we were about to depart. All of a sudden the Chinese girl in our cabin, jumped up, grabbed all her stuff and shot out, leaving the door open, and talking very animatedly to someone... anyway she must have made it off the train as she didn’t return!

After that all went quiet again, and back to sleep.

So off we go on the next stage of our journey via the train route known as across the top of the world to Tibet

No of steps walked today 15465