Xi'An.
We left Beijing airport for Xi'an late. The flight was delayed then the gates were changed at the last minute. When we arrived, we were already tired and had another hour coach jounrey to our hotel. Frank introduced himself and he was very funny.
Frank the Tour Guide. Comedy classic. Wish my brother recorded Frank's many ramblings! Ancient Chinese Capital City!!!!!
Frank had this ability to cram as much fact into one sentence and repeat it as much as possible.
The hotel was very nice, with rooms and areas split according to animals. It was also built right next door to the 'Big Wild Goose Pagoda'. LOL - you had to be there to understand the joke. Really looking forward to Xi'an and the terracota army and the next day, I was not disappointed. The coach through Xi'an took ages since Xi'an like most Chinese cities has a chronic traffic problem. There is a nice touch however, the traffic lights all have a little digital countdown that informs drivers how long before the light changes. Nice that.
We arrived at the Banpu neolithic village first and had a good few hours around this ancient discovery and then it was off to a terracotta factory. This place used the same materials as the ancient builders and they created terracotta figurines of various sizes. The factory also did a roaring trade in lacquer furniture and Joanne managed to get a £2500 table for £500; I don't think she told her husband though! Another couple of hours here and then we were off to the day's highlight. The weather was horrible and it was raining but luckily we were inside once we arrived at the dig site.
The terracotta army dig site is still a work in progress with a huge stadium like enclosure erected over the site. The site itself is split across three 'pits'. Pit 1 being the biggest and most well known while pits 2 and 3 smaller but more varied. On entering Pit 1 - there was the prize. Row and rows of soldiers. Wonderful. Breath-taking.
I took a lot of photos and had a great time. We visited the other pits and finally visited the gift shop where the original discoverer of the warriors was there signing books! We all got an autographed copy. Sweet.
The evening had us watch the Tang Dynasty Performance. I was skeptical to be honest but once the curtain was raised and the show began, it was captivating. The food we had wasn't bad either.
Xi'an is a lovely city, well planned with a lot of the old architecture preserved. This included the old city walls and gates and watch towers. The city walls are all lit up at night and is spectacular. There is also a very commercial downtown area with the latest shops in place.
When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends. [A Japanese Proverb]
Showing posts with label china. Show all posts
Showing posts with label china. Show all posts
Friday, October 12, 2007
Thursday, October 11, 2007
China - Sights and Sounds - Part two
The hotel was the Novotel - nice furnishings and beds. Quite pleased with it. The tour group numbered 30 with a young guide called 'Summer'. Notables in our tour group include Peter and Jo, two Geordies (uncle and his nephew) and a Jo and Alisdair and a father and son team, Bryan and Nick.
Waking up early, had breakfast and it was Tian'anmen Square the first stop. Magnificent place, huge and packed with people. Little did we realise that it was the national holiday for the PRC. The square had 1000s of people there and it was easy to get lost. The square had Mao's mausoleum on one side, the forbidden palace at the North and the People's congress on the third side. All quite impressive.
Most people got a bit lost there!
The Forbidden palace was next and we passed under a big painting of Mao. The city itself was very impressive and one can remember the scenes from the film, 'The Last Emperor' to appreciate the scale of the city. The tour was brilliant however, we got a peek at what the emperor and his entourage had in terms of furnishings and how they lived, all isolated from the general population. I had the roughguide to China's history with me (borrowed of my brother) and it proved to be an interesting and illuminating read.
Lunch was so-so.
Weather was starting to rain too.
The Great Wall was a visit that was amazing. However, the place was HEAVING with people, the wall was chocka with people all struggling to get onto the wall. Me and bro' made it the wall and walked along it for a few towers. Amazing place though. The climb was hard and some of the steps were very, very steep too. However, it was a magnificent feat of human engineering and seeing the wall stretch for miles and miles off into the horizon is breath-taking. Seeing it crawling with humans was another breath-taking scene too. Two for the price of one.
Coming back we then went to the summer palace and the Ming tombs. Very impressive too.
The night was chinese opera and then off to bed. I was knackered.
Last day in Beijing and I decided with some others to visit the zoo. It was chucking it down and it took some time for the hotel to arrange taxis....even if they were parked outside! However, for 20Yuan we were off to the zoo. I don't much like zoos anymore, the attraction of seeing caged animals has lost it's appeal for me. The main draw would be the pandas but with it raining, the panda refused to come out. Except one who promptly turned around and stuck his head back into the house. Leaving it's arse outside. Typical.
The other animals were housed in what I consider to be poor condition, in fact, the Beijing zoo itself looked tired and dilapidated. The animals were caged in far too small enclosures. Sad to see a magnificent leopard pacing back and forth in his tiny room. One stride and he had to turn around and one more stride, he turned around again. So sad.
However, what can zoos like this do? They certainly can't just release the animals now can they? Over time, they'll change and the animals will probably die off. Such is their lot in life.
We returned to the hotel and prepared to leave for Xi'an....ancient Chinese capital.
Waking up early, had breakfast and it was Tian'anmen Square the first stop. Magnificent place, huge and packed with people. Little did we realise that it was the national holiday for the PRC. The square had 1000s of people there and it was easy to get lost. The square had Mao's mausoleum on one side, the forbidden palace at the North and the People's congress on the third side. All quite impressive.
Most people got a bit lost there!
The Forbidden palace was next and we passed under a big painting of Mao. The city itself was very impressive and one can remember the scenes from the film, 'The Last Emperor' to appreciate the scale of the city. The tour was brilliant however, we got a peek at what the emperor and his entourage had in terms of furnishings and how they lived, all isolated from the general population. I had the roughguide to China's history with me (borrowed of my brother) and it proved to be an interesting and illuminating read.
Lunch was so-so.
Weather was starting to rain too.
The Great Wall was a visit that was amazing. However, the place was HEAVING with people, the wall was chocka with people all struggling to get onto the wall. Me and bro' made it the wall and walked along it for a few towers. Amazing place though. The climb was hard and some of the steps were very, very steep too. However, it was a magnificent feat of human engineering and seeing the wall stretch for miles and miles off into the horizon is breath-taking. Seeing it crawling with humans was another breath-taking scene too. Two for the price of one.
Coming back we then went to the summer palace and the Ming tombs. Very impressive too.
The night was chinese opera and then off to bed. I was knackered.
Last day in Beijing and I decided with some others to visit the zoo. It was chucking it down and it took some time for the hotel to arrange taxis....even if they were parked outside! However, for 20Yuan we were off to the zoo. I don't much like zoos anymore, the attraction of seeing caged animals has lost it's appeal for me. The main draw would be the pandas but with it raining, the panda refused to come out. Except one who promptly turned around and stuck his head back into the house. Leaving it's arse outside. Typical.
The other animals were housed in what I consider to be poor condition, in fact, the Beijing zoo itself looked tired and dilapidated. The animals were caged in far too small enclosures. Sad to see a magnificent leopard pacing back and forth in his tiny room. One stride and he had to turn around and one more stride, he turned around again. So sad.
However, what can zoos like this do? They certainly can't just release the animals now can they? Over time, they'll change and the animals will probably die off. Such is their lot in life.
We returned to the hotel and prepared to leave for Xi'an....ancient Chinese capital.
Monday, October 08, 2007
China - sights and sounds - Part One.
China Trip - Images of China Part One China is an amazing country - have been there a few times but this time, I took the plunge and decided to go with a tour that managed to cram an amazing amount of sights and sounds in nine days of traveling.
I suppose only with a tour guide can one forget about planning but try and wake up and keep up! The itinerary was quite intense once we had arrived and settled into the Novotel Xianqiao after a 14 hour flight via Doha. Exhausting.
The hotel was great and on arrival into Beijing, one can feel the energy in the air. This was a place that was happening...either now or very soon in the future. The place is buzzing with construction work however, all in anticipation of the Olympics.
Buffet Psychology
Interesting why some people, when faced with a buffet queue pile EVERYTHING onto their plate. Mixing food items that simply won't do: rice and chips and mash potatoes with curry chicken and sushi topped off with a spring roll and barbeque sauce and ravioli?
I think peeps are secretly scared that they might not be able to get all the food, that some other greedy git would somehow, consume all the food leaving none for them. So in order to combat this - they themselves try and eat as much as humanly possible. I find the wastage absolutely disgusting to be honest. The food is usually quite poor too.
Chinese Food
First: chopsticks can't pick up each grain of rice. Bring the bowl to your mouth and SHOVEL (yes, shovel) the rice into your mouth. Or use a spoon.
Second: Do not pile stuff onto your rice bowl. It isn't a buffet.
Third: Chopstick use does take practise but the trick is that you don't try to move both chopsticks at the same time rather; you anchor the bottom one and move the top one.
I suppose only with a tour guide can one forget about planning but try and wake up and keep up! The itinerary was quite intense once we had arrived and settled into the Novotel Xianqiao after a 14 hour flight via Doha. Exhausting.
The hotel was great and on arrival into Beijing, one can feel the energy in the air. This was a place that was happening...either now or very soon in the future. The place is buzzing with construction work however, all in anticipation of the Olympics.
Buffet Psychology
Interesting why some people, when faced with a buffet queue pile EVERYTHING onto their plate. Mixing food items that simply won't do: rice and chips and mash potatoes with curry chicken and sushi topped off with a spring roll and barbeque sauce and ravioli?
I think peeps are secretly scared that they might not be able to get all the food, that some other greedy git would somehow, consume all the food leaving none for them. So in order to combat this - they themselves try and eat as much as humanly possible. I find the wastage absolutely disgusting to be honest. The food is usually quite poor too.
Chinese Food
First: chopsticks can't pick up each grain of rice. Bring the bowl to your mouth and SHOVEL (yes, shovel) the rice into your mouth. Or use a spoon.
Second: Do not pile stuff onto your rice bowl. It isn't a buffet.
Third: Chopstick use does take practise but the trick is that you don't try to move both chopsticks at the same time rather; you anchor the bottom one and move the top one.
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