Jul 2007

A good night's sleep again - hurrah! [Note to self, this happens in all the best hotels?!] and how wonderful not to have to awake via an alarm to meet someone at an appointed hour (lastest time since I arrived being a 9.30am meet). A lazy start to the day with breakfast overlooking the Hong Kong Island harbour.

It seemed almost odd to see it in daylight today, having spent 25 minutes glued to my bedroom window last night watching the light and laser display, Bombay Sapphire and tonic in hand of course! Needless to say I'm not sure whether the photos at the end were more blurred from me trying to use all the different settings I found on my camera about a week ago (after having had it for 18 months or more) - "Firework setting" anyone? - or whether it was the large gin ......

Having the chance to set my own itinerary was tempted to do nothing but know that wouldn't wash with my parents at all and I have a week of that to come very soon, so I decided to head out to the ferry terminal and visit HK Island.

So took the ferry over (all of about 14p) and then a bus to the tram terminus to go to the point of Victoria's Peak. It is so steep that you feel almost as if you are lying on your back - quite scary! The most fantastic views on the way up and you alight in (yet another) shopping mall where there is a formal viewing platform.

Of course I thought I'd found it and then realised that in fact I was outside Burger King and standing on their terrace! So much for the adventuring spirit!! Views from the (proper) top were great. A little walk around the top of the peak and then headed down in the tram to visit the Botanical and Zoological Gardens. Luckily looked at a local map and realised that they were just around the corner from the tram rather than getting a bus back down and up again. What I hadn't realised, was that in 35C, 75% humidity (ugh!) and a 1:3 incline, a 10 minute walk left me absolutely drenched. Horrible.

Birds, flowers, apes, snakes, crocs etc all great and free and after some more walking found a taxi to take me down to the ferry terminal. Decided to explore the financial district a little more (some habits die hard!) and found another mall/office development. Cooled down over a salad and after more wandering headed back to the mainland about 4pm.

Have just spent some time chilling out and about to head out to find somewhere for dinner - cheap and cheerful on the menu tonight I think.

So .... Shanghai ... noisy, vibrant, developing, exhilirating ... and hot too! High of 35c today although the humidity is slightly easier than Beijing and other places.

A full packed day today starting with a trip to the Shanghai Museum which was fantastic; beautiful ceramics, furniture, bronzeworks, paintings, calligraphy. You name it, they have it and each piece displayed to its advantage with great lighting.

After my hour of culture it was down to the river for a cruise on the Huangpu River. The development along the river has literally taken my breath away today; there are so many buildings going up that you can almost see them growing in front of you. The farmers have come into the town from surrounding countryside to gain work and teams work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There is a 101 floor building being constructed which will be the highest building in the world and they are completing a floor every 3 days!

The comparison between old and new buildings (the majority of old buildings were built by the British, Canadians and French and so have that colonial look about them) is astonishing.

Another delicious lunch (at my table for one!), surrounded by more food than two people could eat, and then there was dessert! My guide came to see me when I was almost finished, the main course and told me that I had to eat more, I had too. [It is now 9.30pm as I write this and I still haven't had anything to eat since!] Bizarrely the two americans I sat next to yesterday on the flight from Guilin came in and sat on the table next to me - their next stop is home to LA. Interestingly they said that Beijing was too much for them, they preferred Shanghai.

After lunch more travels to the Yuyan Gardens which are 400 years old and right in the middle of the Old Town, which was confusingly built about 15/20 years ago! The gardens were beautiful and the ponds were full of goldfish/koi carp, who I learnt today are the patron saint of students ... never knew that!

After the gardens to the Jade Buddha Temple - another awe inspiring sight. The Great Halls have the most magnificent buddha figures and the Jade Buddha itself is made from one piece of Nepalese (I think) white jade and is about 8' high and 6' wide, encrusted with precious stones, with that knowing smile.

A little shopping and then back to the hotel before the acrobats tonight.

Acrobats - clever but hilarious too. Can you imagine a contortionist (sp?) to the strains of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, surrounded by 6 "swans" ... on roller skates!?!?!? what would Darcey Bussell make of that I wonder!! Highlights included 5 motorcyclists in the "Cage of Death', balancing acts, cycle tricks, hula hoops etc etc.

Another fun evening to remember. Off to Hong Kong tomorrow first thing and should reach my hotel by early evening.

Not a lot to report today as have spent all day travelling from Yangshuo to Shanghai - a 3 hour drive, wait at the airport and flight of 2 hours+ to Shanghai and meeting my fourth guide, Sindy before transfer to my hotel.

This time in Guilin airport I managed to utilise my new-found knowledge re boarding announcements and also managed to remember that China Eastern have clearly being receiving lesson from BA on their Deli service and remembered to have lunch before I got on the plane. Having received apple rings and some very odd tasting pickled something from Xian to Guilin, I remembered this time and spent as much on a bowl of beef noodle soup as I did on a coffee in Guilin before boarding!

Much cooler in Shanghai at only 30C and first impressions of the city are that the roads are as busy as London and its buildings are similar too. Lots of high rise apartment blocks, new office blocks and hotels - most of which have been built in the last few years it seems.

Needless to say the Four Seasons in Shanghai in luxury incarnate! I have been upgraded to a Deluxe room and within 75 minutes of being shown to my room had had a pedicure, manicure and head/neck massage! Just what this girl needed! Bliss!

It's now about 6pm here so am going to go out exploring and find somewhere to have dinner - wish me luck ...

OK, so it had to happen sooner or later - I was "Lost in Shanghai"! With my trusty Rough Guide in hand I had started walking the streets of Shanghai (strangely enough for those of you who know me, I managed to find the Furla shop very easily!) to explore and find a couple of restaurant options for dinner and I became well and truly lost. At one point, walking over a raised pedestranised walkway, explaining that I didn't need a fake Rolex to a very nice chap, and with it starting to become dusk, my Girl Guide instincts kicked in. Found one of the hotels marked on the map and started again. Failed. Twice.

Third attempt ended up in a narrower street where a woman was doing her washing in the downpipe of a gutter, so decided that the main road was a much better idea - ended up on the main 4 lane dual carriageway in/out of Shanghai! Complete with elevated highways!!

Resorted to Plan B - a taxi, which took all of about 4 minutes and 15 RMB (about 1GBP) to take me back to the hotel. Comforted myself with a steak in one of the hotel restaurants (somehow california roll didn't have quite the same comforting impact!) and drank almost as much alcohol in one night as I've drunk in the whole holiday put together - TWO glasses of wine!!

Anyway to bed to soak my poor blistered (although beautifully manicured) feet and to sleep!

Bill Murray had it easy ....

Hurrah - a good night's sleep - thank goodness! The bed which is as hard as a board provided about 8 hours' sleep - more than I've had in the previous 3 nights put together! At one point in Beijing I even managed to listen to the whole of Paul McKenna's 30+ minutes hypnotism and I've never managed to stay awake through all of that before, and here I was listening to it at 3am!

Met Sunny at 9am this morning for a trip to Fui Li, a small village about 20 minutes drive from Yangshuo to see the 'real' China. As expected, abject poverty, flea ridden dogs, unsavoury smells, some very dodgy looking puddles of water in the street and many, many smiling faces, particularly from the children. I had 3 children of about 3 years who followed me down the road saying 'hello, hello' and giggling when I talked to them and waved to them. [On the way back to the hotel my guide thank me for saying hello to the children, telling me I was very kind to do so - how could you not?]

The narrow streets of the village offered no respite from the heat and even though it was still early, I was glad to see that Sunny was suffering with the heat too after an hour's walking. I saw the paddy fields and against the backdrop of the mountains, it's a beautiful sight. Harvest time for the rice is once a year elsewhere in China and twice a year in Yangshuo and it's due to being tomorrow although I saw a few fields being harvested on the way to Fui Li this morning. The rice is cut by hand and the plants put through a wooden threshing machine which separates the grains from the leaves. The leaves are then tied together to dry and fed to the buffalo in the winter, used as bedding or as fuel for the fires.

My discovery for today is that peanuts grow in the ground! Did you know that? I didn't! I thought they grew in trees! You can imagine how much laughter that invoked in Sunny can't you? Happy to admit it and only found out otherwise when an old man walked past with a set of bamboo 'scales' balanced on his shoulder with the nuts and their leaves and roots still attached!! Oh well ... I shall know next time that comes up in a pub quiz.

Back at the hotel and have lunch with my guide at 12.30pm before an afternoon by the pool and dinner before the show this evening. A relaxing day before travelling to Shanghai tomorrow morning.

Hope you all have had a good weekend x

After yet another bad night's sleep - the last good sleep I had was on the plane from Heathrow - I was up and out of the Sheraton by 8.30am. No bad thing and looking forward to a calmer day today with the cruise down the River Li from Guilin to Yangshuo.

Beautiful scenery, trying really hard not to take a picture everytime we went round a bend as it will no doubt all look the same when I'm looking at them at home on the laptop! Kate and Rob (both geologists by background) would have been in their element so I even tried to take one or two 'interesting' shots in case they can help me identify what rock formations I spent 4 hours sailing through! I think it was limestone however it will take an expert to confirm it.

My guide has accompanied me on this 2 day trip to Yangshuo which is great as it meant he was pointing out all the main peaks to me so I could at least pretend that I recognised them from the map - I have to be honest I recognised 2 clearly in 4 hours worth of sailing! There's one 100ft cliff face with markings like horses and the Prime Minister of China saw nine (hence the name, you've guessed it, 'The Peak of Nine Horses Frolicking') whilst his 2-in-C saw seven; I managed 5 and that was with as much poetic licence as I thought I could get away with!! Don't think I even made the Chinese Cabinet!

The water is very clear and quite fast moving really. Lots of water buffalo in the river and cormorants too - amazing to see them in their natural habitat. Lots of boats making their way down river, some cruisers and other traditional boats made from bamboo with/without the lawnmower engine on the back.

Arriving in Yangshuo reminds me of all the worst Greek holiday resorts, bar after bar, club and souvenir shop after shop; admittedly when I was 23/24 that was the holiday that Susie and I had for quite a few years - does this mean I'm getting old?? ;-)

Made it to my hotel about 2pm and turned down the option of further excursions - humidity is worse today than yesterday although the temperature has dropped to 32c. Made it to the hotel pool for a couple of hours and after SPF25 and a few Kylie and Take That tracks, the world was put to rights again... I think the fact this is my fourth hotel in 7 nights has caught up with me a little today.

Out tonight at 6pm to have dinner to watch the cormorant fishing after dinner with my guide Sunny. Lovely chap, great english and knew the right place to go for dinner - 2 of us ate/drank for 60 Yuan - about 4GBP (can't find the pound sign on this keyboard!). Had the local speciality of beer fish but after last night's revelations my only other stipulation was that I didn't want to eat any pets - luckily beef and chicken appeared and very tasty too.

Cormorant fishing - fantastic! Fisherman had 11 birds, all of whom once they catch a fish, are scooped out of the water, forced to give him the fish and unceremoniously thrown back into the water! Sounds pretty harsh but they clearly are pretty happy, they all jump onto his bamboo raft for a rest every now and again. It's quite funny seeing them eat the tiny fish and swallowing them before the fisherman sees them gobbling them up. He's trundling along on his bamboo raft with 2 gas lamps to light his way in the pitch dark - very atmospheric. You're torn between wanting to take pictures and be bitten alive by mosquitos etc!

Back through Kos (sorry Yangshuo) town to the hotel - fingers crossed for a good night's sleep before exploring more of the countryside tomorrow and experiencing an 'extravanganza' tomorrow night which lights up all the peaks in the surrounding area. It has rave reviews and from what we could see on the horizon tonight, it looks fabulous.