life is hip

Mt Hua Shan

tarub — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:42:00 GMT

Mt. Hua Shan is located in the Shaanxi Province of China. It is located 120 km from Xi'an. Mt Huashan is one of the five sacred mountains in China.

Mt. Hua is home to several influential Taoist temples where emperors of past dynasties made pilgrimages, making this mountain the holy land of Taoism. Many emperors came to pray and sacrifice to the God of Mt. Huashan.
Huashan consists of five peaks (East- 2096.2 m, Middle, West- 2087 m, North- 1614.9 m and South- 2154.9 m).

Do you call it climbing or hiking? Well, I would definatelly say hiking, but a few bits were scary, so climing gear was definatelly needed. Maybe the way to describe the route would be to say Hard Core Hiking.

I was hiking with 2 nice guys from Finland. Both working in Beijing as expats. Jarno - 34 and Harri- 31.

The staying in a hotel by the West Peak. The hotel resembled the movie Shining! Empty, cold, spooky. The electrity went out and we ate outside by a terrace. A true candlelight dinner, heh.

Was it hard? well, at least my legs were shaking by the end of the day. See the photos in the photo gallery.

Mt HuaShan - China

tarub — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:46:00 GMT

Climbing on Friday, here are some links of the place.

http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shaanxi/Hua-Shan/blog-336006.html

http://blog.hotelclub.com/huashan-trail-worlds-most-dangerous-hiking-trail/

Terracotta Warriors

tarub — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 03:44:00 GMT

Ranking up as one of China's top historical sights, the 2000-year-old Army of Terracotta Warriors remains stunningly well preserved.

The 6000 figures of warriors and horses face east in a rectangular battle array. Every figure differs in facial features and expressions.

Ok. Been there done that... time to be heading home. Wonderful trip. Can't wait to plan the next one....

communication problems

tarub — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:55:00 GMT

I wish I could speak chinese. So many people come and talk to me but all i can do is smile. I wish I could hear their stories. How frustrating!!!

It is actually impossible to get by here without speaking Chinese. When ever I find an English speaking person I ask them to write notes in Chinese that I need, like 'taxi to Panda Research Center', 'I want to buy a train ticket to Xi'an' and names of the places I want to go to. I am carring around An Jun's list of food in Chinese and I show the list when I go to a restaurant. I bought a bus ticket by using my Chinese friend and a mobile phone ;-)

Breakfast at a monastery

tarub — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:49:00 GMT

I was an early bird and headed up to the monastery bright and early. I thought that monks would be up for their morning prays.

When I was wondering around the monastery and lady came to talk to me and offered if I wanted to join them for a breakfast. Talking about primitive conditions! but what an honor! I had traditional bread and yak/butter tea. I was fighting against the feeling of not vomiting - very strange taste... I didn't have my own cup with me and one of the nunns gave her cup to me. Damn I wish I could have spoken Chinese with them!

Dinners

tarub — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:43:00 GMT

I don't like eating by myself so i easily start skipping dinners if I tracel alone. So far, I have been very lucky and found company to enjoy dinner with me.

In Kangding I went to a pub (which I normally don't do while I am backpacking..) and met a nice 28 year old Tibetan girl who owned the pub. She told me great stories about Tibetan life / for example it is still very common that when a girls marries the future husband the families can agree that she marries all the brothers. The actual husband is allowed to have kids with the wife but anyway, she'd be the shared happiness of all brothers.

Kangding

tarub — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:36:00 GMT

The Sichuan mountains to the north and west of Chengdu rise above 5000 m with deep valleys and rapid rivers.

For me this was an opportunity to visit Tibet without actually crossing the official border.

Tibetans live here by herding yaks, sheep and goats.

When I arrived in Kangding, there was a tangible sense that I had reached the end of the Chinese world and reached the beginning of Tibetan.

Kangding is historically the capital of local Tibetan Kingdom of Chakla. Plenty of Khamba people shopping and selling + monks wondering around.

The sun is bright, blue sky and the nights are COLD.

Mount Emei

tarub — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:33:00 GMT

Dotted with monasteries and temples. (I would say a tourist trap. Then again the monasteries were peaceful and beautiful.

but.. I will tell you about Mt Emei over a bottle of beer...

Giant Buddha in Leshan

tarub — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:30:00 GMT

Carved into a cliff, overlooking the Dadu River. The Buddha is 71 m tall, 1200 years old and qualifying to be the largest buddha in the world.

pandas

tarub — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 16:22:00 GMT

See the photos. They are so cuddly, so cute, so friendly and sooo playfull..

(it took me 2 hours to upload these 5 photos... I've had one heck of a day...)

Chengdu

tarub — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 15:00:00 GMT

Arrived。 Finally。 i was late arriving so I could only get a room, sharing it with 3 other people, all very nice.

I had a beatiful hot shower. You can't imagine how wonderful a shower feels after a long 32 hour trainride. just heaven.

I met a nice Danish couple and we all decided to go for one hour full body massage. (clothes on) I tickle, so I had to communicate with the girls why I started wiggling in a middle of the massage every time she touched my legs or feet, so I went "ha ha haa". Somehow She got it and every time she felt me wiggling, she said 'ha haa' and giggled. Massage was 2 euros!

We had an excellent dinner at one of the food stalls at the street. 1 euro! The food was so good. I hope my stomach can take it.

train ride

tarub — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 14:50:00 GMT

It took 32 hours! Frigging 32 hours! It is soooo long. I woke up this morning thinking 'an other 10 hours....' but it actually went fast. I couldn't stop staring out from the window. I listened to Finnish pop and China passed by eyes. I wish I could share some photos... I woke up this morning and I saw amazingly beatiful China. Hills, rivers, fields, bridges and old houses.

I had a hard sleeper. They are made up of doorless compartments with 6 bunks in three tiers. Sheets, pillows and blankets are provided. I took the lowest berth -mistake! That is used as a seat during the day. Anyway, I was able to change to a middle berth :-) It was a win-win.. the lowest the most expensive and the guy with the middle berth, had his friend in the other lower berth, so they could stay up late chatting.

train friendship

tarub — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 07:08:00 GMT

One of the fellow passangers showed clear interest towards my trip and we tried to communicate using a few english words, lonely planet, translator and sign language. I found out that he was 32 year old opera singer from beijing opera. The moment he started flirting i told him my age and started showing photos of the girls. Works every time :-D

prices

tarub — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 07:02:00 GMT

first night accomodation 7 euros, 45 min taxi ride 3 euros, breakfast 1.5 euros, bottled water 30 cents, train ticket Beijing-Chengdu 46 euros.

trainstation

tarub — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 06:45:00 GMT

west trainstation was on the other side of the town, so it took me 45 mins to get there. Gladly i had reserved time. The place was HUGE. Thousands of people. I was the only western. I had to ask 4 people before i could find my platform (no english). All luggage was scanned. (wh y not in finland?) i was at the right platform 1.5 before departure and hundreds of other people were already queueing to get in.

Beijing

tarub — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:24:00 GMT

Arrived in Beijing。 I had a great day. It was raining, Beijing is polluted and I spent a bit of time in Taxis, but overall, a wonderful day.

I visited the Nokia office, which is situated in a middle of nowhere. Many familiar companies around that area; LG, ABB, BMW, Dole, Perlos, etc.. but very few having their headquarters there. I must admit, Nokia has very nice facilities here, but they are so darn far.

I had a very nice lunch with An Jun and Oliver from China legal. They took me to a Sichuan restaurant and tought me what to order in Chengdu.An Jun also gave me many good tips where to go and what to visit. Much appreciated!

After lunch I tested the Nokia facilities. I was able to beg a massage in a massage center (normally fully booked, and I actually came late for my first appointment :-( ). I felt like a totally new person after 15 minutes massage and 20 minutes fysio chair. (what a backpacking trip..)

Then I rushed to Ya'show. Visited the tailor and a framemaker - all orders made before the trip, hopefully ready to be picked up when I return to Beijing.

In the evening I had a dinner with Jing Liang. She used to work as an assistant for NEBU in China. She had kindly bought me a ticket for my train to Chengdu. We spent the evening yapping and eating Chinese yummy food.

Backpacker breed is one of the kind, I arrived in the youth hostel and immediatelly a nice English girl offers that I could join her and her gang for dinner.. nice.

(midnight, better get some sleep..)

Itinerary

tarub — Sat, 7 Feb 2009 13:17:00 GMT

11.2. Leaving Helsinki

12.2. Arriving in Beijing

Staying in Beijing Zhaolong International Hostel(北京兆龙国际青年旅舍)
Address: 2 Gongtibei Lu Chaoyang District, Beijing
Phone: 86-10-65972299

13.2. Arriving in Chengdu

http://wikitravel.org/en/Chengdu

Staying in Backpackers' Accommodation, Guesthouse & Youth Hostel, Address:No.23 Xing Hui Xi Lu, Ren Jia Wan, Wan Fu Bridge, Chengdu, Sichuan, P.R.China. E-mail:mixhostel@hotmail.com.

Things to see/do in Chengdu

Panda Research Base - This is the biggest facility of this kind in the world. Due to habitat destruction and other reasons, the Giant Panda is maybe the most famous endangered animal. The Research Base is home to some 60 giant Pandas, but also has some Red Pandas and a colony of black-necked cranes. The Research Center affords views of the pandas from much closer than is possible at many Western zoos.

Mount Emei - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Emei

Mt. Emei stands at 3099 meters (10,167 feet). Ever since Buddhism arrived in China, it has been an important center of refuge, and the mountain contains more than one hundred temples and monasteries. The mountain is a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Hiking is the main attraction but things to see (and stay the nights):

Wan-nian Monastery - a large monastery with a fantastic statue of Puxian Bodhisattva, who is depicted as riding a white elephant with six tusks. The monks there are great, and they add a good deal to the ambience of the mountain.

Leiyin Monastery - this temple, and some of the others temples tucked away in the seams of the mountain, are worthy of exploring.

Baoguo Si Temple - Contains a massive bronze bell, said to be heard from 10 miles away when rung

Jin Ding Si Temple - Near the summit, there is a terrace with a fine view

The Giant Buddha in Leshan is probably the most popular nearby destination. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leshan_Giant_Buddha

17.2. Train to Xi'an

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi%27an

Here is the famous Terracotta Army http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terracotta_Army

I am hoping to go hiking at Mount Hua Shan

Mount Hua http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Hua

20.2. PingYao

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pingyao

21.2 Train to Beijing

23.2. Leaving Beijing and Arriving in Helsinki