When we left for China, I had no idea what to expect. Andy had warned me it would be like nothing like I’ve experienced before, and he could not have been more right! When you think of China, you imagine copious amounts of food like you find down your local Chinese takeaway, lots of tourist tat clearing stating “Made in China”, Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee wannabes adorning every street corner, and maybe some Ninjas jumping around a vast array of quintessential roof tops like you’ve seen in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon! Obviously, this is a bit tongue in cheek but really, it’s a country that surprises, often leaves you speechless, sometimes frustrated but more often than not really pleased you’ve experienced it.
Our biggest challenge was the language. There is little in the way of English outside of the big cities of Shanghai and Beijing so the logisitics of getting around and feeding ourselves were increased expedientially! Every train ticket booking was an adventure, and every meal ordered an experience. Fortunately, luck was on our side and we managed to get around pretty well, but we were not so lucky on the food front and ended up with either strange meat that looked like your dead pet, or food that looked identifiable but quickly turned to fluid in our intestinal tract!
Chinese cuisine is not quite the takeaway down the end of your road in the UK. In China, all parts of the animal/insect are cooked, and generally if it moves it will be turned into a meal. There is considerable choice so long as you are prepared to be adventurous. For example, you might want to give duck tongues a go, chicken gizzards or feet, or maybe the intestines of a frog. It’s all here for the discerning palette. If you want a chicken breast fried rice or sweet and sour roast pork then you would have to hope for a restaurant with sympathy for the western palette! That said, there are certain national dishes which are just divine. We developed a strong love for the Chinese dumpling – a small dough ball filled with minced pork, or veggies amongst other things. They were fabulous, and only needed a little soy sauce for dipping.
China is a Communist country, and the grand daddy of that movement here was Chairman Mao. Whilst Mao has been dead now for over 30 years, his legacy still lives on and the Mao personality cult is strong. As you travel around, there is certainly a sense of “Big Brother” watching over you. Around Beijing for example, particularly around Tianamen Square, there is CCTV, a strong police presence and armored vehicles parked up. It is obvious that the government do not want a repeat of the tragic student demonstrations, which occurred back in 1989. Even, near the countdown clock for the Olympic Games next year, where China will open its doors to the world, there are guards to stop you getting to close!
The irony is that Communism is supposed to consider all people within the Republic equal, but it is quite clear in China that some people are definitely more equal than others. In the major cities, there is stark wealth sitting pompous and proud along the impoverished and the hungry. There are cranes supporting new builds all over the cities, yet in the shadows of all this growth are people living in derelict buildings turning their living areas into makeshift street kitchens.
It will be interesting to see how they support the Olympic Games next year. At the moment, the government appears to be spending a considerable amount of the national wealth on updating the infrastructure in Beijing, and renovating the historical monuments, temples and palaces.
So, to the people. Andy and I spent our first day in Tianamen Square, what most would consider as a significant tourist attraction in China. I started to notice that some of the Chinese were pointing their cameras in our general direction, then noticed that some Chinese folk actually stood near us whilst a fellow countryman took a photo! This behavior was a little disconcerting at first, but soon became the accepted norm. You have to start considering yourself as the “Westerner traveling sideshow” and like any self respecting freak expect the attention that comes with being somewhat different! Having spoken to some Chinese guys and gals on our long train journeys, it became very obvious that many have never actually seen a westerner, let alone speak with one, so we fast became public exhibit A and B. You never felt alone, because every street walked down, you were guaranteed a song of “hellos”, the familiar sound of mobile phone cameras, and the odd brave soul approaching to practice their English! Indeed, teaching English and practicing conversation could have been a lucrative little earner for our traveling freakshow – everyone is desperate to learn. I have to say that on the whole, we found the Chinese people to be incredibly hospitable. There is a significant language barrier but this did not deter their want to help. Indeed, we often attracted a small crowd when asking directions with each person keen to do their bit in helping us find our way!
Our journey covered only a small area of China, yet we did over 50 hours on a train to get around. Our longest journey was from Xian to Shanghai, which took 20 hours. We opted for the soft and hard sleeper on all of our journeys. This means getting a bunk rather than a seat and given the length of our journeys, this seemed preferable. The soft sleepers were great you were in a cabin with 4 bunks all nicely decorated with lots of room to sit and sleep and eat. It made the long journeys very comfortable. So, when we could not get a soft sleeper for the first time, and had to rely on the hard sleeper, I was really nervous. In my head, I had images of feeling like a POW squeezed into a cattle truck on small uncomfortable hard bunks with lots of sweaty bodies all around me! Infact, we had the same comfortable bunks as the soft sleeper just less head room because 3 bunks were in place of two, and there was no cabin, just long corridors of bunks. More like a dorm than a POW cattle truck.
So to the key things we saw and loved:
The Forbidden City/Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace: These are 3 key sights in Beijing and each is a colourful reminder of China’s imperial past. You cannot help but fall in love with the extraordinary rainbow used to decorate these buildings. Deep red is the signature colour with vivid blues, greens and gold added for detail. Every temple, pagoda and palace has been lovingly decorated and meticulously restored (or is in the process of being restored). You cannot help but marvel at how much wealth and how much power the Emperors wielded because the opulence of these sights is right there in your face. Indeed one such Empress (Cixi), was so extravagant that she employed over 3000 seamstresses just to make her intricately decorated silk socks (a kind of Chinese shoe). Amelda Marcos – in your face!!
We visited the Simitai section of the Great Wall because it is the steepest and has seen the least restoration, so it is still in its raw form and very rugged, indeed somewhat treacherous in places where you have to climb up on all fours because of the incline! This did have the advantage of deterring large tour groups though so you felt like you had the wall all to your self. It was a truly amazing experience to stand on such an magnificent representation of man’s achievements, and the views were to die for.
The Terracotta Warriors were as spectacular as expected. There are several sites which have been excavated since 1975, but the most impressive is enclosure 1 where over 6000 warriors stand proud, all individually designed to reflect the Emperors guard of the time. To accompany the warriors are horses and weapons. There were also chariots but time has ravaged the wood. Its quite eerie, like they are waiting for a call to come to life and fight once more. There is certainly a air of realness to their still form that you imagine their eyes following you as you examine their parade. It was incredible to see.
Shanghai was big and in your face. Its no wonder that the rest of China has a smog problem from the coal fired generators, because Shanghai is sucking their power supply dry with its indulgent display of neon! Naujing Lu is one of the main shopping areas and it looks like Vegas and feels like Blackpool! Its got lots of tat shops, and lots of touts aggressively dragging at you to come look at their counterfeit wears. Its madness. The Bund was quite beautiful with all of its colonial buildings from the English and French occupation. It had a very European feel to it until you turned around and looked across the river to the new sector of Shanghai, with yet more skyscrapers and neon! There is a also a traditional market called Yuyuan where tourists can haggle for a bargain or two. It was good to get amongst the thick of it and barter for a couple of Chinese scrolls!
We climbed a Holy Mountain called Tai Shan so we could seal our commitment to each other with a lock at the top (a Chinese tradition). We worked hard for our love climbing 6600 stairs over 4.6km. The stairs were often steep and we needed regular put stops to avoid collapsing. It so worth it though. The views were extraordinary and we had a little private lock moment when we shackled ourselves together for life and beyond.
We went also went to a Hanging monastery precariously balanced on bowing stilts on the edge of a cliff, a set of caves with thousands of carved buddhi statues in from 3cm to 19m tall, and a little town called Pingyuo, which is the best preserved example of an imperial city in China.
China helped our beer cause massive!! Large beers were only 30p and a bottle of the local spirit (125ml) was also about 30p! Result.
So my friends, as you can see China is worth it and its got lots of wonderful experiences to be had, but you need to step outside of your comfort zone and go with the Chinese flow.
