12-25 December '03

Beijing is alive!!!

After two months in the more sober Russia and Mongolia, Beijing is like a huge neon-lit fair, where everything you always wanted can be found in large quantities: candied fruit in all colours, shiny silk outfits, water and mountain scenes on paper scrolls, glittering electronics (to replace the digital camera that broke...) and many, many North-Face Jackets and McDonalds. Consequently, we spend lots of time in shopping streets and restaurants, and for Christmas we were invited for a "party with traditional Christmas count-down" but, off course, there was much more than that.

Our hotel was located in an authentic courtyard house, in one of the oldest "hutongs" in Beijing. In these alleyways, the traditional city life is still preserved: street restaurants, the butcher and baker and little shops can be found here as well as the regular inhabitant walking his "Pekinese" or a 4-year old relieving himself in the middle of the street.

Beijing is also a mine of culture of which we visited the following: the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace and out of town the Great Big Huge Wall.

The two main residences of the last emperors, the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace, are complimentary. The Forbidden City, mainly winter residence, is a stone complex with a variation between large squares and halls and (relatively) small courtyards with palace-rooms. The Summer Palace, on the contrary, is an immense garden with green and water (ok, brown and ice is what we saw), hills and temples in which life seems a lot more pleasant.

In the Temple of Heaven, special ceremonies were held by the emperor once a year. Its magnificent garden is now a place of leisure, where one does exercises or meets up for a game of chess or cards, where once it was as forbidden as the Forbidden City.

We chose to visit a part of the Wall that is still in its "original", unrepaired state and also less frequented by tourists. This section of the Wall, between Jinshanling and Simatai, provides for a ten km hike in a spectacular environment. Photos show what we cannot describe with words.

25-26 December '03

The 250 kilometre journey to Chengde was our first experience with Chinese trains. Sitting on a narrow bench with no legroom between very noisy and spitting Chinese was not as bad as it sounds. They were very friendly and always ready for a "chat" with the foreigners.

In Chengde, a Summer Palace was build by the first Manchu-rulers. Again, a huge complex in an even more enormous park, surrounded by a wall, was to bring coolness upon his majesty if Beijing was getting too hot due to summer temperatures or hostilities. Outside the wall, numerous temples can be found, once built to welcome convoys from all over the country. Here, a copy from the Potala Palace in Lhasa can be found as well as a small copy of the Temple of Heaven. Moreover, a strange stone, standing straight up like a club on its top end, can be seen in the distance from many sites.

After a day of touring the temples and a night of train in the picture, we decided to make sure we had a good diner. We asked in the restaurant for the dish our neighbour was having, because it looked delicious. Luckily, Fabrice still asked what meat it was. It was dog...

26-29 December '03

After having survived the hard seats on a Chinese train we now decided to test the hard sleepers. Hard it was indeed, because the top-bunks we had, located at a 3^rd level, were hovering some two-and-a-half meters above the floor, which is quite a climb. Though not as comfortable as the Russian soft sleepers, the open bunk-compartment passed the test successfully.

The next morning, in Shijiazhuang we found ourselves swiftly a hotel where we booked a room and dumped our bags. Then we headed for Zhengding, an old fortified city and one of the highlights of the area. Here we spent the day, wandering through the streets. The temples and pagodas from the guides did not attract us very much but just walking and enjoying the sun while sitting against the city wall was very pleasant. Fabrice made friends with the Polaroid camera and could practice his Chinese as well.

Once back in Shijiazhuang the hotel-manager came, in person, to our room, to say he was very sorry. The reason was, that the hotel did not have the license to host foreigners so we had to leave. They were very friendly and helped us find another hotel nearby. It was more expensive but in return Cornelia had her first bath in months that night.

The next day, we wanted to visit the Hanging Palace of Cangyan Shan, which is praised to as beautiful as all sacred mountains together, but the bus had ceased to exist. We tried everything and finally found a bus towards a village with another bus to the site. The complex was nearly deserted, and we even did not have to pay the entrance fee. Having assured the bus back left at 5 PM, we walked the valley at leisure and visited the Hanging Palace and surrounding temples, glued to the cliffs. When we headed home, the bus was loaded with school-kids who could not stop looking at these strangers. Unfortunately, the bus dropped us in a village in the middle of nowhere, in the dark. There, with a few locals, we waited for the bus to Shijiazhuang but it never came. So finally we hired a cab with two others to drive us to our destination.

29 December '03 - 01 January '04

Taking the train to Pingyao was harder than we thought and we ended up in a bus to Taiyuan, a large city near Pingyao. Because it was quite expensive, we thought it was a luxury-coach but we were mistaken. We spend three hours in a fully loaded minivan, between one farting and twenty spitting travellers. To our relieve, there we could get an ordinary train-ticket to Pingyao.

Some other travellers had recommended a very nice hotel in a very authentic setting. After a bargain we ended up in the largest room in the guesthouse, in the largest bed we ever slept in: at least two meters wide and three meters long! Moreover the bed was warmed from below and we declared ourselves emperors of the WOE-dynasty (WhereOnEarth).

Pingyao is an amazingly well preserved town and it gives you the impression you walk around in ancient China. Streets built up by courtyard houses, filled with pedestrians, bikes and tricycles made our day. Getting lost in Pingyao is O.K.!

The second day we visited the nearby Qiao family courtyard house where the movie "Raise the Red Lantern" was filmed. This walled complex in the countryside consists of six courtyards. The woodcarvings used for decorations were amazingly rich and rivalled decorations of the Forbidden City. The Qiao Family had done good business!

New Year's Eve was spent quietly in Pingyao where the streets were dead at ten PM. Chinese New Year is only on the 22^nd of January! On the first day of 2004 we left for the old capital of China: Xi'An.

01-07 January '04

Xi'An still maintains an air worthy of a capital. It's riches in ancient relics is enormous and the emperors have made the city and themselves immortal by building the most fantastic tombs one can imagine, creating an environment to compete with the Egyptian "Valley of the Kings". The famous terra-cotta army is only a fraction of one of the tombs unearthed.

When we arrived in the morning we quickly dumped our stuff in a hotel and went to explore the city at leisure. We mounted the city wall, which is more of an ancient fly-over race-track: the 12-meter high wall is over twelve meter wide, allowing space for at least three carriages to pass over the vast pavement of which most is still intact. Pit stops can be made at the numerous defence towers where once archers would shelter. Outside of the walls is the old channel surrounding the old town and between the channel and the walls is a little park where Xi'An plays pool under the trees and gathers for a game of cards or brings it's pets, mainly dogs and nightingales, for some sun and air. That was the first day of "spring" we had during our voyage and we enjoyed it fully.

The next two days were designated to visit other sites in the town. The "small wild goose pagoda" and steles-museum, which has beautiful tablets and "the heaviest library in the world" (stone engravings of which reproductions are made by rubbings) were really nice places to visit. Nevertheless, the most striking was the Large Mosque and the Muslim town. Xi'An, the "Gateway to the Silk-Road", has had intensive contact with the Muslims at the other side of the famous trail. Not only is the Muslim area the best-preserved place of old Xi'An, Muslims in Xi'An do everything the "Arab way". In a Chinese surrounding, this creates fascinating elements: Chino-Arab music, Chinese Kebab and a Chinese Mosque. Even a little "market-street" can be found in the area, although it has touristified lamentably.

The Terra-Cotta Army was visited as well, of course. It is a huge site, but much of it is still unearthed. Thousands of statues stand in a large vault, their buddies still in pieces on the floor, being rebuilt by archaeologists in the back of the vault or, perhaps most of them, covered in meters of soil. All of it was impressive, even the pit where they do not dig up the figures, because the roof has collapsed upon it; only the collapsed roof can be seen. One of our questions was, "how do they know the visitor's hall is not built upon another squadron of terracotta's?" because two other smaller vaults have been opened up only tens of meters next to the largest site.

Our plans for China have changed for a third time. Tomorrow, we will head for Yichang where we will do it when still possible: a cruise on the famous Yangtse.

07-08 January '04

Getting tickets for the train to Yichang, from where we wanted to start our trip on the Yangtze River (by the way, the Yellow River is the other one) was harder than we thought. Chinese New Year approaching, the entire country was getting on the move and we could only get expensive soft-sleeper tickets.

During the quiet fifteen hours trip, we shared our cabin with a friendly Chinese, Floyd (at English lessons, Chinese choose themselves a Western name). He was very exited to meet us. He was also very proud of his son back home, who spoke English very well. As a result, we ended up in a fifteen minutes telephone conversation with the 10-year old Tom. Tom explained us that Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) was fantastic: diner with the entire family and then you watch TV!

08-12 January '04

The Yangtze has always been a source of inspiration for painters and poets throughout Chinese history. The highlights of the river are the "Three Gorges", the root of many of the famous "water-mountain" paintings and described as: "a thousand seas poured into one cup". Hence, it should not come as a surprise that many junks have hit the cliffs and sunk. Moreover, large floods have claimed millions of lives throughout the years. However, soon this will all be past. The Project of the Gigantic "Three Gorges Dam" will give better control over the river, improve navigation, produce electricity.... and drown hundreds of villages, relocate millions of people and destroy loads of cultural heritage. The total water level will rise 175 meters; the reservoir will be hundreds of kilometres long. So we wanted to see the gorges before the dam was finished.

In Yichang we finally found tickets for a boat upriver that allowed us to see the gorges. We bravely booked third class tickets. While waiting for the boat, we got acquainted with the transportation on the river: a large amount of boats, transporting people and cargo. The cargo is being loaded and unloaded by hand, tens of men crawling up and down the 50-meter high stairs from the water to the town, loaded with very heavy baskets.

The first gorge we saw was very impressive and as it should be, in drizzling clouds, exactly like in the paintings. Then we came to The (partially completed) Dam. We passed four locks in two-and-a-half hours, and in each one the water rose twenty meters, accounting for eighty meters of water already filling the reservoir.

The next day, "unfortunately", the weather improved: with the sun, the magic effect of the gorges was gone, but they were still impressive. We got off the boat in Fenjie, a newly rebuilt town. The old walled town is already drowned. From there, we took a hydrofoil (faste boate) that took us to Chongqing, where our river trip ended. We did not linger in the 30-million inhabitant agglomeration (largest in China) but took a bus to Chengdu straightaway.

13-14 January '04

Chengdu is the capital of the Sichuan Province, which is the home of the remaining giant Pandas. The alive cuddly Teddy-bears are not as innocent as they seem: "Harmful Animal!" was posted all throughout the breeding centre to disencourage live hugging events.

We are not surprised that these charming giants are on the edge of extinction: they are clumsy and very slow (if they are not eating or sleeping) and apparently, their libido is abnormally low. Nonetheless, we saw some 3-month-old babies, the pride of the breeding centre. Far more fun were the red Pandas, running and playing, giving a good show despite the rain.

After the visit to the breeding centre, we took the night train to Panzhihua, where we were comfortable in a brand new, air-conditioned hard-sleeper wagon.

15-20 January '04

From Panzhihua we took a spectacular 10-hour bus ride to Lijiang. The province of Yunnan seems to consist solely of high mountains and deep valleys and the bus did it all: climbing up from a river to an at least two-thousand meters higher pass, only to descent again in a deep valley!

Yunnan borders Tibet and Lijiang was on our route the closest point to that mythical place. The old city proclaimed itself Shangri-la, and it is a Walhalla for those earning from tourism. The city, criss-crossed by tiny canals, is amazingly beautiful and we will remember it as one of the highlights in China. Tourism has claimed a part of the city with lots of bars and shops in the old, traditional houses. Nonetheless, the local population still washes clothes in the canals and elder women still wear traditional costumes of the Naxi minority, to which they belong. Although outnumbered by Chinese tourists, the amount of Westerners came as a shock for us, as since Beijing, foreigners were rare.

Near Lijiang is the Tiger Leaping Gorge with a stunning landscape: snow-capped mountain peaks rise nearly four-thousand meters above the small Yangtze river below. We did a three days hike in the gorge, away from city life, sleeping in local farms. It was lovely to be out in the nature and breathe fresh air after all Chinese pollution. The 25-kilometre hike was a benefit for both our mental and physical condition.

20-24 January '04

South of Lijiang we visited Dali, a town with very interesting surroundings. Dali is also a traveller's hub, with western food and backpack cult. The city not being as impressive as Lijiang, we biked in the countryside through small traditional villages and along the lake.

On the second night of our stay we celebrated the Chinese New Years eve with a lovely Tibetan meal and lots of firework in the street. The Chinese went on lighting firecrackers during at least a week to celebrate the year of the monkey (and to play with fire). Dragons danced in the towns and villages for days and folk-dance performances of the Bai (local minority of Dali) were given abundantly. As the 10-year-old Tom had said on the phone: Spring Festival is fantastic!!

24-27 January '04

Yangshuo lies about one-thousand kilometres east to Dali and getting there was not evident. The first step was to get to Kunming, which was not a problem. Once arrived, we immediately wanted to buy a ticket to Huaihua and consequently discovered the negative side of Spring Festival: the whole of China is on the move. We started to wait outside the ticket office (not yet open) with hundreds of Chinese. At 6:30 AM, the doors opened and the lions were released; backpack loaded we swam in a flood wave of people running towards the counters. Ever since, we have been wondering why China is not a rugby nation: queues do not exist; only scrums and the law of the elbows rules! Fabrice got so fed up with one evil little pushing man that he literally picked him up and threw him away! But somehow, within the hour we had our tickets for the Huaihua night train. Quite content we visited the Kunming Bamboo temple where a famous Chinese sculpture made controversial (to Chinese art) statues of the five-hundred arkhats (the saints who followed Buddha).

The 20-hour train ride was comfortable but in Huaihua, things changed. We wanted to visit Longshen on our way to Yangshuo. We spent, again, two hours in a pushy crowd to get the train tickets, only to hear "mei you" which means "no have". Disillusioned we found the scruffy bus station with an even more scruffy bus to Guilin, that lies between Longshen and Yangshuo, because Longshen "mei you". But at least, now we had a chance to try the sleeper bus.

The bus trip could have taken only ten hours, had the driver not stopped for an 8-hour nap. And poor Cornelia and Fabrice: confined to our fifty centimeters wide and one-and-a-half meters long beds, we did not sleep a wink. Upon arrival in Guilin we were so broken we decided to skip Longshen altogether and took a luxury coach to Yangshuo, where we arrived one hour later. The final score: Dali-Yangshuo: sixty-five hours!

27-31 January '04

The region around Guilin and Yangshuo is famous for its amazing karstic landscape and we enjoyed it well. The first morning we ran in to John, whom we had met in the Tiger Leaping Gorge already. With him, we explored the lovely area during three days of hiking and three nights of beer drinking. With only a miserable map we followed trails and rivers, crossing rice paddies, hills and valleys.

31 January - 02 February '04

We thought getting to Yangshuo had been rough, but it was nothing in comparison to getting out of there! Only "open" tickets were available to Nanning, our first stopover, so we did not have reserved seats or beds. It being only a 7-hour trip, we were not worried about that. That is, until we tried to get on the train. There were just too many people with an "open" ticket like us, and too much luggage. Actually, it was physically impossible to fit everyone in, but somehow it did (sort of). The first three hours, we stood on one foot (no place for the other), hanging over our seated neighbours, in between bags of rice (or whatever) and screaming toddlers.

Halfway, in Liuzhou, many people got off and we managed to get a seat. Then we discovered the state of the wagon: as if a bomb had exploded in a garbage container! A 5-centimetre thick layer of food remains and plastic wrappers, glued together with spit and vomit, paved the floor. And it smelled bad, but at least we were sitting.

After a night in Nanning we took an early train to Ninming. There we spend a pleasant afternoon on a sampan exploring the river and the wall paintings on the cliffs of the Hua Shan.

The next day we headed for the Vietnam border, which we crossed by foot.