Bidding a fond farewell to China

So since you last heard from us we have been very well behaved and thankfully don't have any near death experiences to report on! From our adventures in the jungle near Jinghong we travelled swiftly east, spending 3 solid days on buses from Jiancheng, to Luchun and finally ending up in Yuanyang. This is a relatively inaccessible part of the Yunnan province which has escaped heavy development for tourism, and so far has been overlooked to a certain extent.These are the sort of places in which you end up entering the kitchen of the place you've chosen to eat in, and pointing at the ingredients you fancy because not one word of English is spoken there, and even if it was, they don't have a menu anyway! Sows and their piglets, Water Buffalo and wild dogs wander the streets freely. The main ethnic group that reside here are the Hani people who have a traditional dress that is quite vibrant in contrast to the dusty grey streets of the towns themselves.Yuanyang is renowned for its rice terraces which were sculpted by bare hand over a thousand years ago. Glancing at the terraces its hard to believe they're man made, they fit so perfectly into the surrounding landscape. The 1000 meters of mountain slope terraces are still in use today. In the winter the terraces are irrigated in preparation for the next crop and this is without doubt the most spectacular time to see them, as at sun rise and sunset, each pool reflects the sky above them perfectly, resembling acres of pockets of liquid gold. Fascinatingly, although these terraces appear quite endless, China is actually the second biggest importer of rice in the world, and the rice that is harvested is only consumed within Yunnan.

From Yuanyang we headed further east to Yangshuo. In contrast, this is the sort of destination that will be on 99% of backpackers agendas when travelling through China, never the less it was still well worth exploring and gave us a chance to feed our new found love for extreme sports. Here we dabbled in more off road cycling, hiked up moon hill, gave rock climbing a bash and even discovered caving. While climbing we very sensibly hired an instructor instead of attempting to scale the rock face all by ourselves. (Side note: Most Chinese people have English names as well as their Chinese ones, which could be considered a slightly patronising way of saying 'you'll never be able to pronounce my actual name so here's something a little easier to digest', ashamedly this is quite accurate. So far we have come across a Frank, a Wendy, a Susan and a Spiderman, which as it turned out was pretty apt.) So with Spiderman's encouragement Abi and I pushed ourselves to our absolute limits and although exhausting, climbing was one of the most exhilarating experiences we had during our time in China. Best of all I have counted 64 different bruises on my legs as a result of this pursuit, which although look quite hideous, make me feel like a bit of a hero! Caving was similarly quite extreme and we found ourselves squeezing through tunnels only an inch or two wider than ourselves. Right in the middle of the cave was a mud pool which we had the opportunity to swim in, turning us into mysterious sea creatures, zombies and many other bizarre monsters our imagination conjured up whilst wallowing.

Not only was Yangshuo a fantastic place to simply have fun, it is also visually stunning. The landscape is dotted with karst peaks (eroded limestone) and orange groves, with the Li river winding its way through the middle of them, giving the area an almost Jurassic feel. This was a perfect place to end our Chinese adventure, as we bid farewell on a complete high. We left wanting more, which, although a little frustrating, can only be a good thing after spending two months in one country.

So from Yangshuo we had two brief days in Hong Kong where we stayed with a couch surfer for the first time. You will be pleased to know we have not been chopped up into little pieces and so far this seems like a really useful way to get to know a city. Michael is a economist by day and an extreme Frisbee player and comedian by night, and most importantly he provided us with free accommodation which was fantastic given how expensive Hong Kong is. On first impression Hong Kong is clean, stylish and wealthy, so much so anybody would think the opium trade was still in full swing!It seems backpacking here is like being taken out to eat in a really posh restaurant when you thought you were going to MacDonald's and realising you're wearing flip flops and jeans while the chick next to you is donning her finest pearls and her Louis Vuitton. The city is so scarily neat and tidy it feels like its been designed by a desperate house wife with too much time on her hands and a bad case of OCD. Every last little detail, of every street, corner has been cleverly thought out to be as pleasant as possible, and even the tube stations contain message boards with helpful suggestions like: 'Take care of the young and old, make safety your priority, lets do more for others! '

From Hong Kong we endured a 29 hour journey, door to door to LA, which I'm convinced was designed by Mrs H Kong's cousin who also had a love for the pristine. LA however, has another more gritty side to it which gives it a little more edge, a side I'm sure we would have discovered in Hong Kong also, had we have been there longer. There is clearly a huge divide between the rich and poor, and it seems the city may be in need of a Robin Hood of its own. Still the fact that cars have seat belts, and people actually stop when there's a red light was definitely a culture shock when we first arrived. I also had to keep reminding myself that talking openly about the person next to you having a bad case of BO is no longer acceptable as they actually understand what you're saying! We spent a week in the USA getting our western fix, and naturally had to par-take in our fare share of touristy activities such as eating burgers in a diner, visiting the Getty centre, Venice beach and of course the Hollywood sign. Here we also couch surfed with another boy called Joey who again turned out not to be a serial killer but in fact a very talented illustrator and a welcoming host. We are beginning to actually have faith in this rather obscure way of travelling. Ironically we managed to get ourselves lost far more than we did in China, as Americans seem to be incapable of giving clear directions, mainly because they drive everywhere! Thankfully this urban jungle turned out to be a lot less scary than its leafy brother, and had we been forced to sleep outside I'm sure there would be a bum to lend us a blanket. Interestingly enough, in the 1920s there was an efficient public tram system connecting this sprawling city but a large Californian based car company bought up all the public transport and dismantled it so everyone had to buy cars, which have now become an extension of their feet.

We have since escaped the USA in fear of turning into complete gluttons and have crossed the border into Tijuana in northern Mexico. Today we were greeted by Rudolf the red nosed rain deer being played on steel drums outside our hotel. I like this place already!

Survival!

The following blog was written about three weeks ago but I've been unable to post it until now... sorry folks! Hope its worth the wait.

The last time I wrote I left you in Dali, which now seems like a life time ago. In reality little more than a fortnight has passed but both Abi and I seem to have lost all concept of time recently, a common symptom of spending, what feels like, eternity stuck on a bus. There we bid a fond farewell to Ali and made our way to Kunming, where we gave Izzy (Abi's friend from uni) a warm welcome. After my rant about development we have endeavoured to immerse ourselves in as much Chinese culture as possible and therefore were forced to par-take in the traditional Chinese fashion of getting a chair lift up yet another mountain as opposed to using our legs. We also attempted to eat huo guo (hot pot) which is where you get given your own stove with a large pot of boiling broth and dip vegetables (or meat) of your choice into it. We didn't get very far with this though as south west China is famous for its spicy food and within a few mouthfuls we had anaesthetised our tongues and killed several taste buds in the process.

We continue to get ourselves into mischief, and committed the cardinal sin of sitting on the grass in a public square whilst in Kunming. This was swiftly put a stop to though as within a few minutes three police men, riding in what can only be described as a golf buggy, armed with a mega phone, approached us and gave us a stern talking to. It seems the sole purpose of these officers is to patrol the area, a quarter of the size of Trafalgar Square, in search of trouble makers such as ourselves, unsurprisingly all three officers where a little tubby to say the least. Ironically whilst journeying around this area (which is suspiciously wealthy) we have come across acres of cannabis plants which seem to have gone conveniently un-noticed. Sell the grass and nobody bats an eye lid... sit on it and you might as well of sat Mao's grave... that's if he wasn't preserved in a glass cabinet.

So from Kunming we took a night bus to Lijiang, this is a rather convenient way to travel as you are provided with a small bunk and a duvet, although the last time it was washed doesn't bare thinking about. This time we were spared the pleasure of listening to the symphony of snorers, but instead experienced the delights of someone having a night terror. This involved them wailing very loudly and unexpectedly in the middle of the night causing all drowsiness to be shaken from us and the disappointing realisation set in once more that a good nights sleep on public transport just isn't an option. Still this experience seems of little significance compared to the following night bus we caught a few days later which left me projectile vomiting from a small window for the first 3 hours of the journey. Note to self: heavy drinking + no sleep + rolling hills = Negative impact on body... must not repeat! This was particularly awkward the following day when people had to collect their bags from the side of the bus that was sprayed with the contents of my stomach.

Anyway on a more pleasant note, Lijiang itself was a pretty little town with cobbled streets and a maze of small canals running through it, naturally it was incredibly touristy, but the sun shone brightly the entire time we were there, giving the place a relaxed timeless feel. This made us quite susceptible to over indulging, which is not really acceptable behaviour when you're a budget back packer, but there's no denying how good it feels to be a giddy consumer every now and again, sucked in by the allure of anything aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Inevitably we came away with heavier bellies and bags. But before this begins to sound like an extended shopping excursion our actual motive for visiting this neck of the woods was Tiger Leaping Gorge. The gorge is one of the deepest in the world and given our new found love for burning calves and sweaty backs, it was a must on our to do list. The walk took two days to complete and was nothing short of breath taking. We were quite spoilt with flora and forna along the way, ranging from over sized butterflies, exotic flowers, and humming birds, to mountain goats, and crickets. In fact our travels have been met with an abundance of wild life recently. From Lijiang we headed back to Dali for one night where we experienced cormorant fishing. This is where a fisherman takes you out in a small wooden rowing boat, on the edge of which a family of birds perch mysteriously content, until you reach open water where they proceed to dive into the water and vanish from sight. A few moments later they resurface, settle themselves on the fisherman's arm and regurgitate several whole fish into a bucket. At first we marvelled at how obedient these creatures were and pondered why they wouldn't just consume their catch themselves. Rather disappointingly it soon became apparent that the cormorants were not in fact mans new best friend but actually had a small piece of string around their necks preventing them from swallowing. I can't make up my mind as to whether or not this counts as animal cruelty as despite the fact this must be an incredibly frustrating predicament for the birds they seemed in no way distressed, and actually appeared quite content.

From Dali Abi and I swiftly made our way to Jinghong, leaving Izzy to explore the area in more depth. Jinghong is set in the south of China, bordering Burma and Laos and is therefore heavily influenced by its neighbours culture and dialect. The tropical climate, abundance of palm trees, pineapples and minority groups gives the place a wholly different feel to the north of China. We embraced this laid back South East Asian vibe by treating ourselves to a visit to a blind massage school, set up to provide a sustainable income for blind/partially sighted people in the area. This was a painful but enjoyable experience, although my masseuse made a suspicious amount of eye contact for someone who isn't meant to be able to see. We also took another bike ride through yet more crop fields, which left me feeling like I'd died and gone to vegetable heaven. Had we had access to a kitchen I would have no doubt got myself into more trouble through pillaging from the poor. We also came across a school where a very over enthusiastic English teacher insisted on showing us around, ironically and perhaps a little worryingly, we struggled to communicate with him because his English was so bad.

But now we must move on from the quaint and picturesque, to a more rugged and treacherous tale! The main attraction of Jinghong is the Jungle that sits just a few hours bus ride south of the city. Please note before reading the following couple of paragraphs: besides the large hole in my foot, we are both alive and well.

Lets be honest, though always based on truth, some of the tales I tell throughout these blogs are inevitably embellished slightly for your entertainment. This story however, needs no aid of imagination what so ever, and will be told purely based on facts. So where to begin?...Abi and I fancied the idea of a jungle trek in which we could pretend to be avid explorers of a dangerous land, but with the aid of a local guide to navigate, put plasters on our grazed knees, and generally do all the hard work. The only problem being that guides don't come cheap, and after much searching we couldn't find any other travellers willing to share the expense. We did however, meet Serge from Tel Aviv. Given the two year compulsory military service Israelis are required to under take, Serge had the demeanour of someone who was used to having to survive, an essential jungle trekking quality... or so we thought. He assured us that he had trekked many times and there really was no need for a guide. The following morning we arranged to meet him at the reasonable hour of nine, spend a day trekking, then sleep the night in a small village where we had been told if you knock on villagers doors they will happily put you up for the night. Given this plan we felt there was no need to weigh ourselves down with sleeping bags or any other un-necessary creature comforts. No maps that we know of exist of this area, but we had read that you can simply wonder into the jungle, find a small path and eventually it is sure to lead you to a village, be it the right one or not (what the author failed to mention is that there are actually hundreds of paths throughout the jungle, some made by man, others made by beasts, and that distinguishing between the two is actually quite an art). So when Serge arrived twenty minutes late, wearing flip flops and a sleeveless top and proceeded to tell us that he had gone to bed at 5am and was therefore a little worse for ware, although a tad concerned we were not deterred from setting off. It later transpired that the only food Serge had brought with him was a packet of dried super noodles because he thought there would be shops along the way, had we have known this our decision to persevere may have been abandoned.

Still we spent the day feeling quite exhilarated by our exotic surroundings and although we were faced wih dead ends on more than one occasion, where the path would simply disappear, we thought nothing of it. It was only when six o clock came around and we had taken our umpteenth wrong turn that fear set in. We decided to accept defeat and started to make our way swiftly back to the original village we headed out from. Just as we were debating in jest, who would be spooning who, if the ludicrous situation were to occur, in which we'd have to spend the night in the jungle, we quite literally bumped into two guys in full camo gear carrying rifles and machete's. Communication with these gents was strained to say the least as we spoke not one word of the local dialect, nor were they able to humour our feeble attempts at mandarin. Still through a lot of rather flamboyant hand gestures on our behalves, and a great deal of repetition of the name of the local village pronounced in various ways we managed to gather that they would take us to the second village we had originally been aiming for. This glimmer of hope was short lived, as after an hour of being frog marched back down the path we'd just been down, our guides quite unexpectedly, just as the remaining evening light faded away, left us. The point on the path in which we were abandoned was wet under foot and hosted grass a good meter above our heads on either side. We continued down the 'path' for around half an hour before giving up all hope of finding salvation and found a small clearing under a tree where we sat, quite gob smacked at our predicament, we were actually going to have to spend the night in the jungle. Thankfully Abi, being the resourceful woman that she is, had bought a lighter that morning and with the help of a few worthless bank notes we had in our pockets we were able to start a fire. It was a long and cold night, with a few stories rather desperately exchanged between ourselves and our Israeli friend in order to pass the time, a ban on all tales involving wild beasts was established but this didn't deter our minds from conjuring up all sorts of terrible fates we might be met with. We put in place a food rationing system of one biscuit every hour, and begrudgingly shared them with Surge. Still we survived our night in the wilderness, and managed to make our way back to the original village the following day, a little fatigued but with little more than hunger to complain about. A few days later we discovered another trekker had come across several deadly snakes and spiders while in the area. It is at times like these that I end up asking myself why on earth Abi and I were ever allowed to leave the country together, and wonder whether it would be safer for us both, and potentially the rest of the world, if we had our passports removed and for some form of tracking device to be inserted underneath our skin.

The Wild West

When we left you last we were just about to climb Mount Emei with our new found friend Ali, an experienced mountain climber and generally very useful person to have around... or so we thought. Now don't get me wrong, Ali is a well travelled intelligent individual, however from time to time he does play the part of 'stupid tourist' rather well. One of the main attractions of Mount Emei is the fact that half way up you are likely to come across monkeys. Throughout the climb there are constant signs stating the obvious like 'don't tempt the monkeys with food', 'don't pet the monkeys', 'don't attempt to take a monkey home in your back pack' etc. So what would any sensible person do 2 minutes before entering monkey territory... buy an ice cream of course! For those of you who are as naive as me (I know you are few and far between but humour me please) monkeys are not the cute mischievous little creatures you might imagine. They are evil, or at least these ones were! Now let me set the scene, Abi and I are wondering across a very wobbly rope bridge with Ali in tow, kitted out in a baby blue baseball cap, a tee-shirt proudly stating 'I climbed the great wall of china', a camera in one hand and the infamous ice cream in the other. In slow mo I watched in horror as we were homed in on from all angles, stranded on the bridge of death with no-where to run! Thankfully Ali had the sense to throw his ice cream away but it was too late and a dozen hairy fanged beasts were heading straight for us. Just as one launched itself at Ali's back, out of nowhere a small Chinese lady with the agility of a fox appeared with a catapult, threw herself onto the bridge and started pelting rocks at the approaching enemy. She was our saviour and as it turns out is employed specifically to protect stupid tourists such as ourselves. It was a good couple of hours before any of us dared to mention the idea of lunch.

The mountain itself was no mean feat, being 3077 meters high. It took two days to get to the summit, 8 hours of climbing each day and most of the way the inclines were so steep they made you want to throw a paddy just by looking at them, let alone tackling them! Which to be totally honest I did, more than once! Despite the pain this was not simply at endurance test and once again we were rewarded with breath taking scenery, when we weren't in the middle of cloud forest that is. Our first night on the mountain we slept at a Buddhist monks monastery which would have been the perfect setting for a horror movie. The monks themselves didn't seem the slightest bit enthused by our company. This combined with the thick mist that had quickly descended upon us, creaky wooden floor boards of the monastery and endless dark corridors which you had to venture down every time you needed a wee, made it a pretty scary place. However the next morning we awoke, not on a sacrificial stone slab but in our nice warm beds and eventually after much huffing and puffing made it to the summit where a hugely over-weight giant gold Buddha sat proud, quietly mocking our efforts.

Since the mountain we totally reassessed our route and made the decision to follow the exotic allure of the west. This is a little naughty as the official government warning is that foreigners aren't allowed in this area due to the current political instability, however like a lot of China things aren't always what they first seem. So armed with bobble hats, matching thermal leggings and altitude sickness tablets our journey on the road to Tibet began. Though the journey wasn't easy we spent the best part of a fortnight village hopping on the border of Tibet, from Baoguo to Kanding, to Tagong, and finally to Litang, birth place to two Dali Lamas. Many of the bus rides proved to be a little hairy and putting blind faith in complete strangers has been essential in order to get off the beaten track. The first bus we tried to get the staff refused to sell us tickets because we are white, a Chinese lady then approached us gesturing that she could get us there but a security officer soon came over to observe what was going on. We ended up having to get a taxi with her to the side of the road in the middle of nowhere where she then flagged down the bus for us so that officially we weren't on it. On another occasion we had to negotiate in Chinese with a private mini bus driver to take us to our next destination. This time we weren't allowed through the barrier leading out of the town (again we assume because we are foreign) so the driver paid a villager off to use their pot hole ridden dirt track instead. As it turned out the road was in such a bad condition and the incline was so steep that the vehicle started to roll backwards at quite a speed, luckily we all jumped out just in time before the bus ground to a halt inches away from a large brick wall. This has not been the only time we have had to get out and walk half way through a journey as land slides are common, which combined with narrow icy tracks, could easily prove to be fatal. On the other hand snow capped mountains set against brilliant blue skies make for a pretty spectacular journey and the fear of dribbling on your neighbours shoulder is no longer the only incentive not to fall asleep. Even if my body is lulled into a semi conscious state through the motion of the bus my eyes refuse to shut, fixated on whats laid out before them.

Most of the towns themselves have been basic but beautiful. Its exciting to travel to destinations with no other westerners and staying in guest houses makes for a much more interesting experience than the comfort of a hostel where everything is provided for you. The Tibetan people themselves tend to be beautiful with high cheek bones and chiseled features, and often we found ourselves staring at them with just as much curiosity as they have for us. The population is largely made up of monks, cow boys and women in traditional dress and therefore simply wandering around the streets kept us quite content in most places. In Tagong we trekked on horse back through the rugged terrain we'd spent so long eyeing through frosty windows, which was a great way to explore as at 4000 meters above sea level our lungs weren't really up for any more hiking. Throughout the journey Abi and I bonded with our horses rather well, although mine did have a particularly stubborn nature, permanently straying from the rest of the group in search of tasty shrubs. He also had a terrible flatulence problem, I wonder, can the same be said for horses and their riders as is suggested about owners and their dogs?! In Litang we visited a monastery that was completely free of any other people except for a lone monk who showed us around his living quarters. Areas of the monastery were still being built which was quite fascinating to watch as their attention to detail is quite admirable. While Abi and I were surrounded by coloured prayer flags, friendly monks and paintings of exotic gods, Ali attended a sky burial. In order for you to understand why Abi and I chose not to join Ali in this 'cultural experience' let me paraphrase the lonely planets description of it, 'This is an ancient Buddhist-Tibetan burial tradition that begins with laying the dead body on the ground at the foot hill of a mountain. The religious master of the ceremony then proceeds to cut the flesh of the body into large chunks and the bones and brain are smashed and mixed with barely flour. The smell then draws a large number of vultures that circle impatiently above. Eventually the religious leader steps back and the huge birds descend into a feeding frenzy, tearing at the body and carrying it in pieces up to the heavens.' ...On an up note I suppose this is a very ecologically friendly way of disposing of a body!

Our taste of Tibetan culture was brief but by far the most invigorating experience in china so far, and the last few towns we have ended up in have been a little disappointing in comparison. Shangri-La is supposedly one of the most beautiful ancient cities in China, but like a lot of places deemed worthy of a visit by the Chinese, the place is now a neatly gentrified museum where it is easier to order a pizza than authentic Chinese cuisine. From Shangri-La we visited a similar town called Dali but thank-fully stayed outside of the city walls. We took a bike ride through a stretch of paddy fields surrounding a lake, and for a brief moment kidded ourselves that we were in the deepest darkest depths of rural China, then we returned to our hostel and I ordered a snickers smoothie and began writing this blog. Mind you, three quarters of the way through the electricity went and I lost everything I had written. Development is a strange but fascinating thing, and as a back packer I feel I have a love hate relationship with it. We are constantly seeking more remote destinations, the more culturally diverse from the west the better, yet when it comes down to it we are totally reliant on the home comforts we moan about ruining the authenticity of a country so much. This reliance is something that's hard not to feel a little ashamed of at times, but one I doubt many people escape.

The danger of dumplings!

Although there are many adventures I intend to cover during this blog let me first draw your attention to a couple of social observations that I can no longer ignore. Firstly Chinese people spit a lot, no I'm sorry 'spitting' just isn't an accurate description... hacking up great balls of flem from deep within their lungs and propelling it from their mouths at a rate of knots is more like it. Squat toilets I can deal with, crazy traffic I'm getting used to, I can even cope with fruit salad served smothered in salad cream, but never, EVER will I be ok with this social norm.

Secondly, middle aged Chinese men snore a lot! I appreciate you may be a little concerned as to why I know this, but I can assure you these encounters have been entirely Innocent! I am now highly qualified in differentiating between each category of disfunctioning nasal cavities. Firstly there was the sporadic snorer whom we had the pleasure of sharing a dorm room with in Beijing. This kindly gent would wait until you were just drifting off into the land of z's when all of a sudden he'd let out an almighty whistle, just loud enough to startle you back into an uncomfortable conscious state. We were then greeted in our next dorm room in Pingyao with the constant grunter (admittedly he was actually Argentinian but he was in China so he still counts!). This tune persisted all night long and became rather rhythmic after listening to it for 6 hours straight, it sounded rather like there was a small animal trapped inside him, and judging by the size of him, I wouldn't be at all surprised if this was in fact the case. Finally there is the snoring symphony which sounds from every carriage of every night train we ever journey on. This is an amalgamation of around 40 individuals unique squeals, grunts and snorts all cutting through my silent slumber at once, resulting in me having obscure dreams about smothering strangers with pillows.

Perhaps I should now reassure you that we are actually loving china, and have had many positive experiences of Chinese people. Only today Abi and I had the pleasure of taking part in a public aerobics class in the park and then a delightful encounter with two elderly ladies in their 80's who taught us how to ballroom dance. We have also conveened with several young enthusiastic Chinese lads and lasses our own age, a couple of whom even joined us in a rather muddled game of cards, many of the rules were lost in translation! It seems in general that most of the population have one of two responses to our existence in their country, extreme curiosity, or complete refusal to acknowledge our existence, the latter of the two, frustratingly, is normally demonstrated by taxi drivers.

So from Pingyao we headed further in land to Xi-an. The city itself was a little lacking in character to say the least, but it was a destination that simply couldn't be missed as this is the home of the Terracotta Warriors. Of course being one of the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century this site is naturally very touristy, but regardless of the hoards of people gawping at what essentially is a paranoid tyrant's ego trip, this is the stuff found only in legends, and is quite simply fascinating. In a nut shell in 200BC Emperor Qin Shi Huang ordered a tomb to be made (the largest in the world to date) in preparation for his death. Given that at that time it was commonly believed that you take everything with you to the after life, not only did he surround himself with 8,000 terracotta soldiers, 130 chariots with over 600 horses he also insisted that 1000 of his precious concubines were also burried alive when he went! Thousands of workers dedicated 40 years of their lives to building these figures (no two warriors faces are the same) only to find that thier reward was also to be burried alive! This man was a real meanie but as a result something truly spectacular was created.

While in Xi-an we made the most of our hostel's many free-bees including a class in dumpling making which we then got to eat afterwards! Unfortunately soon after Abi was struck by a mysterious illness which left her incapable of climbing Hua Shan with me, a near by mountain. Like the loyal friend I am I abandoned Abi for one night and replaced her with an English guy called Ali who had not embarked on dumpling making the night before and therefore was fit and healthy! This mountain is twice the height of Snowdon and an absolute killer to climb... in some cases quite literately. Within 20 minutes of setting out at the foot of the mountain Ali and I witnessed a group of men carrying a dead body on a stretcher down from the exact route we were about to embark on. As you may imagine this didn't exactly fill me with confidence, but persevere we did, and besides a sever pain in my gluttonous maximus for several days afterwards, I remain unscathed. The landscape really was breath taking, the contrast of the Autumn leaves and white rock constantly drawing my eyes away from my feet, a dangerous allure! At the summit we had a rather surreal encounter with a black and white domestic cat, which was quite fearless and sat happily on a rock edge staring into an endless abyss, slightly dizzy from the altitude, I did wonder if this moggy was a figment of my imagination, so just in case I took a photo.

We stayed the night at the summit in a very basic hostel and then after much insistance on my behalf we got up bright and early at 5am the following morning to watch the sun rise, only to find that dawn doesn't actually break until 7! I remained as excited as a kid at Christmas for the entire two long, dark, cold hours, which Ali endured through gritted teeth!

From Xi-an we have travelled even further in land to yet another big city called Chengdu. This morning we went to a Panda reserve, which would melt the heart of the coldest of folk, and truly did turn Abi and I to mush. There are only round 1000 giant pandas left in the wild which is mainly due to the fact that copulating takes too much energy! Captive breeding is therefore essential to the survival of this majestic creature. We were privileged to watch pandas from one month old to 20 years of age going about their daily business which involves eating a lot of bamboo, play fighting for the kids and sleeping all day for the adults, what a life!

Today we are off to see the largest buddha in the world and then to climb another mountain, which hopefully will involve no dead bodies!

What a load of pants...

Well we are a fortnight in and all is well. As suspected we are now quite familiar with the feeling of being a foreigner, and we even wave when people 'discreetly' take our photo when walking down the street. We are now more curious when browsing in shops not to appear too interested, as the last time we did that Abi got physically assaulted by a woman who continuously hit her over the head with a bag while shouting 'buy,buy,buy!'. Ironically it had be I who had been enquiring how much the bag cost! We are also aware of the fact that green lights don't mean anything if you are a pedestrian, and therefore tend to get tubes and buses which is no mean feat as the ratio of people to space is entirely different here and people will happily risk losing a limb to squeeze on board. Oh and we have a Chinese sim card! So if any of you fancy chatting to us we suggest you buy a phone card. Our Number is 15010477110 we think the dialling code is 0086, although to be fair you might want to check that out before you call!

We spent the remainder of our time in Beijing completing our whistle stop tour of all the other must see sights including the Olympic stadiums, a collection of art galleries called Factory 798, and an area of town called Bar street which was filled with Chinese business men getting blind drunk after work. Each bar had a different 'show' (not quite like Thailand... I can assure you there were no ping pongs involved), we had the delight of listening to a live act sing Chinese power ballads on a stage draped in gold fabric, which would then switch to techno in between every song! We also spent a day ambling around The Summer Palace which is where The Emperor and all his concubines would retreat to in the heat of the summer. Its set around a stunning lake lined with weeping willows and was a perfect escape from the hustle and bustle of the city. Then there was the Wall, which I'm afraid requires a whole paragraph all to itself!

In order for you to fully appreciate how immense The Great Wall really is, the geek in me must first provide you with a few brief facts! Firstly parts of it are over 2000 years old, secondly rumour has it that one of the building materials used was the bones of deceased workers, and thirdly it took over a hundred years to build. Abi and I decided to visit an unrestored section of the wall to avoid the tourist-orientated areas. We booked ourselves on a tour with 8 other adventure seeking travellers from the hostel and set off early in a rickety but functioning mini bus with a driver who spoke not a word of English. Two hours later we stopped at the side of a deserted road and a random old man hoped on board (we later found out he was 72). A few miles down the road the driver stopped, ushered us all out of the vehicle and proceeded to drive off. The old man then said 'ni hao', and with a smile begun wondering into the wilderness! Luckily one of our group spoke Chinese and was therefore able to inform us that this was in fact our guide. This man was half the size of Abi, with legs the width of my fore-arm and wrinkles so deep you could barely make out his facial features, yet while the rest of us struggled up the mountain side, red faced and out of breath, he appeared to glide, with not a bead of sweat on his brow... I was in awe! He even offered to carry one girls bag when he saw that she was struggling. We ascended from an altitude of 675 feet to just over 1000, with the climb providing breath taking views of the wall snaking across the land scape every step of the way. Once we reached the Wall there was not another person to be seen for the rest of the three hour trek, except for a loan man of similar age to our guide who was situated at one of the highest points of the wall selling a random selection of souvenirs, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to complain about my journey to work again! I cannot explain how exhilarating this experience was, and best of all it ended with a Chinese feast in a local village which was definitely well earned.

The only other experience we had in Beijing worth mentioning was a slightly surreal one to say the least. But first, some background information. One of the main reasons we are in China is because Abi is fascinated with factories and mass production, from an artistic perspective. Abi's sister makes knickers. Abi's sister is so talented that a Chinese company that mass produces underwear emailed her shortly before we left with a business proposal. Abi's sister is not remotely interested in pursuing getting her underwear made in China and therefore had not bothered replying to the email. Abi then took advantage of this situation and emailed them back to say that she was coming to china on behalf of said underwear label and would like to arrange a visit to one of their factories. I had questioned Abi as to whether or not the story she had told the companies representative was a little fictitious, but she assured me she had just 'bent the truth' slightly. Personally I would suggest that being told to say that I am a research assistant for a London underwear label, was not really bending the truth as such, but in fact a complete lie! Given that my knowledge of knickers starts and ends with putting on a fresh pair of primark specials each day you might like to conclude I was a little nervous at this point. So the following occurred... we were picked up by a driver in a car with blacked out windows, taken to their board room, and spent the best part of an hour talking pants. Our business associates brought out a range of packaging they can produce and a selection of catalogues demonstrating their work. One of which entitled 'alternative costumes' had a picture of a male model donning an black outfit embroidered with the word 'coroner' zipping up a girl in an all in one body bag outfit! After asking a number of questions she had scribbled down the night before, Abi then turned to me and asked if I had anything to add!! Funnily enough I felt she'd pretty much covered everything! We were then taken by the departments manager personally to another part of town to have a look around their factory, at which point one of our hosts took the opportunity to quiz me about my role in the company, which resulted in me telling her some bullshit story about only working for the label a month and therefore being a bit new to it all while going a deep shade of scarlet! Our tour finally ended with them taking us to a plush new restaurant and plying us with gifts. Admittedly by the time we were finally dropped off I'd got quite into my new role and even found myself saying 'we'll be in touch' while making a phone gesture with my hand. After a few minutes of walking in silence Abi said, 'I feel like a bad person now'.

We have since travelled in land and are now currently residing in an ancient walled city called Pingyao. We took a 12 hour over night sleeper train to get here, which is a less than desirable experience but necessary as the country is so huge. Today we intend to hire bikes and cycle to a near by temple, so lets hope the traffic here isn't quite as crazy as Beijing or we might end up being served up as road kill to some unsuspecting tourists!

Beginning in Beijing

All good adventures start with a journey, and therefore I will start ours right at the beginning with the flight from Heathrow to Beijing. Ours began with an introduction to Chinese culture by watching Kung fu Panda and ended with having a beer and a curry at 6am... nothing is more disorientating than a forced time change, and being light weights anyway, any alcohol consumption at a great altitude is destined for trouble... thankfully our light heads seemed to disappear as we hit the ground!

When we finally arrived in Beijing we managed to navigate our way to the city centre by bus, but once we arrived and realised quite how manic the city really is, particularly on a public holiday, we decided to take a taxi to our hostel. This was our first introduction to the Beijing traffic system, and one I will never forget. After receiving a blank expression from several taxi drivers as we tried to pronounce our destination we finally managed to find a man who understood us (actually to be perfectly honest we resorted to showing him our lonely planet!). The centre of Beijing mainly has four lanes of traffic running in each direction which is intimidating itself, let alone the lack of seat belts and sporadic lane changing. To add to the stress of this drive our taxi driver decided halfway through that he was heading in the wrong direction and without any warning tried to do a u-turn across all 4 lanes!! He then got stopped my a police-man, who he then proceeded to have a fully fledged argument with in mandarin. Finally 24 hours after we left our homes we arrived, all limbs in tact.

A little dazed and confused we checked into our hostel, situated in one of the Hutongs in the centre of the city, only to find that we were in different dorms. This wouldn't have been a problem, however I have a terrible tendency to sleep talk... a lot... particularly in unfamiliar places, and I was counting on Abi to poke me if this situation were to occur. Luckily I no longer sleep walk, as the last time I did this I meandered down to the kitchen and proceeded to pee in the bin (I was only 5 at the time but I live in fear that one day this may happen again!).

So Beijing is a complete attack on the senses. It will be of no surprise when I say that the food often appears quite alien and we are still mastering the art of eating every meal with chopsticks. There are all sorts of weird and wonderful options that are sold on every street to tease the taste buds, including crazy mini toffee apples, chestnuts, corn on the cobs and live scorpions! Many of these delights we found at a night market, but very few have we been brave enough to try. One of the most amusing observations to be made is the translation of mandarin into English. This evening we had the following choices from our menu: 'explode the belly' 'the brilliant colours chokes the vegetables' or 'slightly fries of pond' .... brilliant!

There are endless sights to see in Beijing, so in fear of boring you, I will only talk about them very briefly. On our first full day here we visited The Temple of Heaven, mainly because it had a park which we could sleep in, and with a 7 hour time difference we needed to have the option to crash and burn at any point. When envisioning our visits to such locations I suggest you cast your minds back to Mulan the Disney movie (for those of you that haven't seen it I strongly suggest you do), this will give you a pretty good idea of the type of architecture we are fortunate enough to be feasting our eyes on daily. Within The Temple of Heaven, and in fact many of the parks we have visited, it is common for the older generations to 'hang out' partaking in card playing, dancing, singing and generally having themselves a gay old time! Yesterday we met with a Chinese girl called Chen Qi (who we met through Couchsurfing). She took us to a park which contained a small exercise area with various obstacles. Here we witnessed a woman in her 80s doing chin ups and a man of similar age lift his leg above his head... sprightly just isn't the word!

Meeting up with Chen Qi was very useful, as we were able to ask her all sorts of questions we are unable to ask fellow backpackers, such as why do all children under 2 have a huge split in there pants showing their bare bums and why do the lamp posts play music?! After quizzing her half to death during a pleasant peddle boat ride across a lake, to our delight she offered to take us for dinner in a traditional Beijing restaurant. To our horror she ordered Abi Cows stomach soup. This came with a selection of other Chinese delicacies which to be perfectly frank were disgusting. I have never been more grateful to be a vegetarian in my life, and couldn't help but smile as Abi politely sipped her way through various tubes and bones!

Other than that most of our experiences probably don't differ from any other tourist, lucky enough to visit this enchanted city, with necessary stops to Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City and a flea market, where you are never entirely sure if you are paying the right price or not. We have got to know a couple of other backpackers, one of which projectile vomited within a few hours of our company, but luckily (touch wood) we have not been struck by illness ourselves as of yet. The air pollution seems to vary greatly from day to day and generally this city is a bizarre mix of modernity and tradition. Being a minority once again is a strange feeling, but one I'm sure we will acclimatise to.

We have a budget of 15 pounds per day and 15 kilos to carry on our backs... wish us luck!

Jaz and Abi x x x

Zaijian!

Abi and I are off on another adventure. We will not let our fears of the unknown hold us back, although I am very much hoping giant wasps don’t reside in china, or in fact any small flying creatures that sting… wishful thinking perhaps.

After spending a week in each others company at the beach hut, we are reminded that we can tolerate each other for more than 24 hours (provided that Abi is fed on a regular basis). The fact we have known each other since we were seven years of age is bound to pay off, as there is very little we don’t know about each other. I know a few of you are concerned that we are two small blond girls who are a tad naïve to what the wider world has to offer, but I can assure you we will be just fine, particularly as today I learnt how to say 1,2,3 and tofu in mandarin (yi,er,san…doufu).

Before we embark on our adventure there are a few last minute things we need to do like sorting out getting injected with rabies and investigating these things called malaria tablets, which apparently are quite important. However once the nonsense is sorted we finally depart on the 1st of October… first stop Beijing.

If you want to hear about our adventures and tales of panda wrestling, cat munching or this army they talk of which is made out of terracotta then please continue to check this from time to time. If however you find you don’t have the time we won’t hold it against you (with the exception of Hils G and Maggie O who are expected to check it daily!).

We hope you are all happy and well and look forward to seeing you in 2009.

Jaz and Abi x x x