Month: November 2008

An unusual School’s out Friday this week. No YouTube video, Just a pic from China and a bit of an update about the travels we are undertaking. It’s a beautiful day here in Xian. We have walked around in T shirts and shorts and have thoroughly enjoyed seeing a blue sky again. It’s a vast contrast from our initial arrival when there was a brown haze that greeted us. Today we had a late start and made our way to the city wall. There we hired bikes, some tandem, and rode the 14.7 km circuit of the wall. It was great fun, particularly given the idyllic weather conditions. After this we had a really wonderful lunch, one of the best so far. Dish after dish came out with the finishing touch being a plate of potato covered in sticky toffee. Sounds like a weird combination but it was delicious. We are gearing up now for our overnight train journey to Beijing. A day’s sightseeing tomorrow at all of the major city sights then off to Simatai for two days trekking the wall. I feel truly grateful that I am able to experience this with a wonderful group of students.

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Wow, have we had a couple of big days.

Yesterday we left in the morning for our pilgramage to the Terracotta Warriors museum. It’s an hour long drive fron Xian and we used the time in the bus for some karaoke singing. I don’t quite know if you’d call it singing, but it was a lot of fun. The Terracotta warriors didn’t fail to disappoint. It is a real moment to walk into Pit 1 and see them laid out before you, row after row after row. The girls were all very impressed. It is wonderful to see them gain such an appreciation of the historical significance of this find. Olive, our new guide, was terrific. She gave us commentary as we walked through the pits and we were in command of knowledge that gave us greater insight. Once again we seemed to be the main items of attraction at times with many a Chinese person wanting to photograph us. The girls got canny in the end and started turning our cameras on them which was enough to discourage a few! We left the museum after 2.30 and made our way to Mt. Huashan. We didn’t get to the Gondalas that took us up the mountain until nearly 5.00pm so we knew we would be completing part of the climb in the dark. The gondalas themselves caused much excitement- they go up 1600 metres on a steep incline and the girls were surprised at the height. We started the climb just after 5.00pm and it was pretty much everything I remembered from last year – up and up and up! The girls were great. It was hard, but all of them showed strength of spirit and put their all into getting to the hotel at the top of the mountain. By 6.45 most of us were at the hotel, and a few of us bringing up the rear made it by 7.00pm. It was dark but it just made for a more interesting experience. We got to see the lights of the surrounding area below.It is truly a magnificent mountain; well worth the monumental effort that is the climb up.

The hotel was basic, but it is simply amazing that there are even hotels up there. Everything on that mountain needs to be carried up. We all went to bed early ready for our 5.15 start to the day to see the sunrise. We hiked to an area where we could see it but cloud cover prevented us from getting a view. The girls were happy to begin the descent, and even happier to finally get back in the coach and sleep on the way back to Xian. On our return we celebrated with a visit to Starbucks! So nice to get a real coffee at last. Quite a number of people were accessing the free wifi there too. Bonus. We freshened up, had a lovely lunch and hit the Muslim Quarter market for the afternoon. Picked up a few nice items that will serve as fond memories from my time here. I’ll try and get a quick post in tomorrow if I can. We ride bikes around the Xian city wall tomorrow. The wall is over 600 years old and it is great hopping on a tandem bike and experiencing the 14.5km circuit. We leave in the late afternoon to catch a sleeper train to Beijing. The girls are having a wonderful experience here and we are enjoying their company. They are a pleasure to be around (when they aren’t squealing that is!) Once again I’m writing this from the hotel lobby and I can’t get pictures posted. I promise to include some of Mt.Huashan once I can use the mini PC again. Hopefully our rooms will have wireless access in Beijing.

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Woke in Yangshou to no rain. Wait a minute! Am I seeing right? I was, but it was only momentarily. Rain returned happily to see us off from this very friendly town. The girls really enjoyed their time here. It gives them an opportunity to interact with the Chinese poeple in a way that is not possible in the bigger cities. We bid farewell to Dragon and Mr. Moore, extra guides who accompanied us on this part of the trip. Before we left we sent off some postcards that will probably arrive after we return home. Amazing that I can update this blog and give almost instaneous feedback, but a postcard still takes an age to travel to its destination!

We had a two and half hour bus trip to the airport for our flight to Xian. Then it was an hour and a half flight to this city centre. We had to farewell our guide, Stony, at Xian airport. He has had to return to his family due to a situation there. He handed us over to our new guide, Olive, a lovely young woman who is more than capable. She has a very happy outgoing manner and has already endeared herself to the girls. We settled into our hotel, The Bell and Drum Tower, and headed into the Muslim quarter for dinner. Xian is a city, not a small town like Yangshou, and the girls were very aware of the difference. Many more people and beggars on the streets. Dinner was an interesting variety of tastes and we were thankful to not have any garden variety molluscs make an appearance!

Differences I’ve noted since my last visit in September last year. The pollution problem here seems worse. You can make out that there is a blue sky up there somewhere but the brown haze colours everything to a drab outlook. Big LCD screens dominate the city centre far more than they did last year. It has a mini Shanghai at night feel about it that was not apparent a year ago. Another interesting thing today has been the numbers of Chinese people who stop and stare at us. At the airport it was like being in a zoo. People were openly taking photos and recording video footage of us. To be honest, it was a little disconcerting. This is very different from my experience last year.Very different from the reactions of the village people with their open welcoming reception. We visit the Terracotta Warriors tomorrow and then tackle Mt. Huashan for our overnight stay on this mountain. I climbed this mountain last year and it certainly is no walk in the park. It’s a steep uphill climb for at lest two solid hours. I’m pleased to report that in my discussions with the students all realise that it is going to represent somewhat of a challenge, but they also recognise that it is going to be a challenge with great personal reward at its completion. I won’t be able to post tomorrow, but will try and do so on Thursday. Sorry no photos today. The hotel has no wireless so I’m having to use their desktops for internet connection. All of their screens are written in Chinese and I can’t figure out how to read the USB to retrive the pictures I copied to it. I’ll try and get some up on Thursday. Just when you think you’ve got a handle on technology they go and throw a barrier like language up at you!

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Today we woke to the sound of…….no rain! Short lived unfortunately. It was back to drizzling while we ate breakfast. This meant we were off on yet another rainy bike ride, this time to Moon Hill. Did it discourage us? No, onward we charged!!

The ride was an easy, albeit wet, one. When we got to the Karst mountain that is Moon Hill we ascended to the peak where we saw some spectacular views. Great photo opportunity. It was a steep and steady climb that is good preparation for our Mt. Huashan climb that is coming up. We took our time coming down due to the drizzling rain and we all made it unscathed. On our return we went to a very traditional Chinese restaurant and attempted some very interesting cuisine. On the meat eating table snails were on the menu. It’s amazing what the lure of 10 Yuan will do to a person’s interest in consuming a new taste sensation. Five of the girls were up for it and succeeded in downing the mint flavoured mollusc. I did it too for absolutely no reward, just the satisfaction of meeting a challenge! I don’t think any of us are in any danger of foraging around the backyard for an alternative dinner option anytime soon.

In the afternoon we visited the Wisdom School for Girls here in Yangshuo. It was a highlight of the trip so far. We broke off into groups and visited classrooms where we were able to answer questions and ask a few of our own. The girls loved the opportunity to talk to girls of a similar age and I’m sure they realised we share much in common with the Chinese girls. The afternoon ended with our girls singing ‘Spirit’ (one of our school songs) and with the Chinese girls singing to us. A wonderful experience for both cultures.

Dinner was had and then it was off to West street for our last shopping opportunity here. Tomorrow we leave for Xian and the possibility of more exciting adventures as we make our way through China.

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Yesterday we left the rice terrace fields and the village of Ping An. We all loved interacting with the people from the village and seeing life lived differently from the experiences we have in the domestic bliss that is life in Melbourne. Our morning began with a walk out of the village and a three hour bus trip into the village areas surrounding Yangshuo where we began the bike riding part of the journey.

Mr. Long provided us with our bikes and we set off down a dirt road that led through small villages. The Chinese people were very amused by our presence and happy to shout out a hello to one and all. The children are especially keen on making some contact. The girls are delighted with the interest and respond wholeheartedly with loud ‘nee hows’ (I have no idea of the Chinese spelling of this!). It got me thinking. How would I react if a group of Chinese people were riding past my house. For a start, it’s highly unlikely I’d see them behind the fence that guards my home and if I did, I doubt I’d be excitedly running along near them to catch their attention with a smile, a welcoming ‘hello’ and a friendly wave. A shame really, the world would be a nicer place if this were our reaction to newcomers in our neighbourhoods. I know that I have felt very welcome from the villagers in China. After the ride we journeyed to our hotel in Yangshou. It is picturesque, surrounded by Karst mountains. It’s a bustling tourist precinct and has the West St market as a big drawcard. We had another delicious dinner at a local restaurant and then walked down to the Li River where we hopped on a boat and ventured out to see a fisherman and his cormorant birds engage in the traditional Chinese way of catching fish. The birds are tethered and then released. They dive into the water and catch fish, but can’t swallow them as they have a ring around their neck. The fisherman aids them in regurgitating the fish and feeds them after the work is done. Quite a few of the girls had pictures taken with a Cormorant bird on their shoulder. Today we woke to the sound of consistent rain. We had breakfast at the hotel and got ready for our bike ride. 17 kms today to a village near the Li River. We set out on what was a made road and fairly flat which made for easy riding. The rain didn’t let up and we were pretty wet. We were supposed to hike along the river but altered our plans in light of the weather conditions. We instead caught a ferry and travelled the Li River by this means. Back to the hotel and the girls were given some time to shop in the neighbouring street. Needless to say this was a highlight for them!

Dinner was a western style meal at a local restaurant and then we were off to the Water Puppet Theatre. Thankfully the rain abated somewhat and we were able to enjoy the show dressed in our complimentary ponchos. It’s a show that was directed by the man who organised the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics so it gives you some idea of the spectacle that it was. Lots of massed performance all based on the water with a love story as its central theme. Ice-Cream for all on our return and then off to bed, ready for another bike ride in Yangshou tomorrow. Hopefully little to no rain when we awake. I really would like the students to have fond memories of this place. *It’s now morning, but I couldn’t post this last night because the free wifi I was accessing dropped out. I suspect the friendly coffee shop around the corner had shut up shop for the night! Guess what? Still raining but not as heavy thank goodness.

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