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In December 2011 I did an earlier trip to China with my step-daughter. You can read about that trip by clicking the following links to my "Off Exploring" blog:
Beijing - Silk Market and Forbidden City
Beijing - Summer Palace
Old Beijing
The Great Wall
Impressions of Beijing
Beijing - Silk Market and Forbidden City
Beijing - Summer Palace
Old Beijing
The Great Wall
Impressions of Beijing
China November 2015
.In the winter of 2011 Beijing gave me smog-free sunshine, clear blue skies and temperatures so cold that they chilled me to the bone and almost froze the marrow within. This time I came prepared with layer upon layer of Marino wool and possum fur, so my bones were warm and snug. But Beijing forgot to turn on the sun. Although the smog rating was relatively low due to a cold front clearing it somewhat, the skies remained grey and some rain and snow fell.
Not to worry. This was another adventure and the bargain priced holiday has begun with bargain priced weather, but not bad enough to stop us getting out and about and enjoying ourselves. Sue and I began our Trans-Siberian adventure here four years ago and it was great revisiting many of the experiences we shared then. This time Reg joined us, as well as our good friends and neighbours, Frank and Helen. This retirement life is great for taking advantage of holiday bargains and we joined a tour booked through Trip-a-Deal. It turned out to be very good value for money. |
We did all the popular tourist things like taking a trishaw ride through the hutongs, visiting Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Great Wall. We have bargained our butts off at the Silk Road markets, eaten like emperors at banquet after banquet, notched up quite a few kilometres to walk some of the calories off and enjoyed traditional Chinese foot massages to reinvigorate us.
The Forbidden City was just as breath-taking this time as last we saw it with its 980 buildings set out over 180 acres in central Beijing. The construction of the world's biggest ancient palace began in 1406 and 24 emperors lived here over time. One can't help but feel a sense of tranquility wandering through with buildings so named as the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Central Harmony Hall of Preserving Harmony, Palace of Heavenly Peace, Palace of Union and Peace, and Palace of Terrestrial Tranquility,
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Our trishaw ride through the hutongs was fun and the meal we had with a local family, delicious.. The hutongs go back almost 800 years and are in fact a Mongol invention. After Genghis Khan's unruly hordes reduced Beijing to rubble, the capital was redesigned with these narrow alleyways crisscrossing the city. Walled courtyard homes are the building blocks of the maze of lanes.
The Temple of Heaven was another interesting stop in Beijing. It served as the sacred place where emperors of the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) and Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911) held the Heaven Worship Ceremony and is 4 times larger than the Forbidden City.
Of course the highlight was the Great Wall, even if we climbed it in pouring rain and heavy mist. This time we visited a different section of the wall to our last visit, which was great for Sue and me. We got to see a section that was very different in look and structure. This was the Jugongguan section, set in spectacular scenic mountains (or so we are told). While we were there the mountains were shrouded in mist and the glimpses we caught of them looked lovely. Autumn colours draped the trees and the Wall followed the mountain ridges like a gigantic jagged snake. Fortifications here can be traced back to 770BC. As we began to climb the Wall, the rain began to fall, but we donned our ponchos, raised our umbrellas and met the challenge with a smile.
All that strenuous climbing caused much sweating under the poncho and several layers of clothing with which I had intended to ward off the cold. During the ascent I peeled off layer after layer, but it got very awkward carrying the growing bundle of clothes in my arms under the poncho while taking giant steps ever upwards and holding an umbrella. Coming down was not as strenuous, but far more dangerous - negotiating wet, slippery, uneven stairs.
They offer Hero certificates for those who climb this section of the wall and I can understand why. I was too wet and bedraggled to bother with getting one, but I certainly earned one. We would have gone further and enjoyed it far more in better weather, but we climbed so high we were treated to snow before we turned back.
The weather cheated us of beautiful views, but it was still a wonderful experience, and Sue and I at least had memories of a perfect day in perfect weather of another day on another part of the Wall.
The day did end on a high with a Peking duck dinner followed by an amazing Kung Fu show. |
The following photos give a quick overview of some of our other experiences in Beijing.
Part 2 of our Chinese adventure involved a journey on the fast train to Yichang - a trip of seven hours at speeds of over 300k/h. For a while I thought I might be left in Beijing due to security preventing me from boarding with the rest of the group because my ticket did not match my passport. After much angst I made the train, but it was an interesting experience to say the least. For the detailed version of this mis-adventure you can read my Off Exploring blog.
The next four days aboard the "Victoria Katarina" were lovely - cruising serenely down the Yangtze through spectacular scenery. This was the trip highlight so far. There is something very relaxing about sitting on a deck chair watching local life on the river banks pass by. When not in inhabited areas, the sheer cliffs of the Three Gorges soared above and took our breath away.
As this was the last cruise for the season, tourists were few. In fact our tour group of 35 had the whole boat to ourselves, along with a party of eight Chinese. Each day the boat would stop and take us on some very interesting excursions included in the fare such as the Three Gorges Dam, a trip in a smaller boat down the incredibly beautiful Shennong Stream, and a visit to the Red Pavilion at Shibaozhai. In addition there were optional trips you could pay for. Those who did the extra excursions told us they were great, but we chose to spend some time on the boat instead.
The Three Gorges Dam was built over 17 years at a cost of 28 billion US dollars. 1.4 million people were relocated. Length is 2309 metres and height is 185 metres. Storage capacity is 39.9 billion cubic metres. Shipping passes through a series of 5 locks to raise above the dam.
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A highlight of our cruise was the side trip up the spectacular Shennong Stream on a smaller boat. The tranquil waters reflected precipitous cliffs, lush vegetation and interesting caves. We passed isolated villages, monkey forests and ancient hanging coffins. which date back about 2,000 years. Ancient inhabitants buried their dead in hanging coffins in little recesses in the sides of the cliffs. How they got the coffins to these remote areas baffles scholars to this day. The coffins are now easier to see due to higher water levels since completion of the Three Gorges Dam.
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We loved our visit to Shibaozhai, crossing a long swing bridge to reach the island. Built in the Ming Dynasty, Shibaozhai consists of a gate, a pavilion and a temple. A surrounding wall has prevented the rising water caused by the construction of the Three Gorges Dam from submerging the base. We climbed the wooden stairs inside the first 9 stories and then took some steep stone stairs along the outside of the last stories. Before the pagoda was added in 1819, monks had to make the ascent by using an iron chain attached to the rock and foot nitches carved into the rock wall.
Our walk back to the boat was a little wet through empty streets lined with deserted stalls, but Sue nabbed a few bargains after some serious bargaining. |
As good as all our off-ship excursions were, the breathtaking views from the boat were really something special as we cruised the 660 kilometres between Yichang and Chongqing. I have had a hard time selecting only a few photos to capture this.
We left our boat in Chongqing and spent a day sightseeing here before flying onto Xian. I am surprised I had never before heard of Chongqing, one of the largest cities in the world. Including the rapidly growing rural outliers, the current city's population is near 35 million. Fortunately for us it it was not a heavily smoggy day and we could see the city through a mild haze. We even caught a glimpse of the sun during the late afternoon for the first time since arriving in China.
We flew into Xian after midnight and awoke to something that lifted our spirits more than anything we had done so far in our visit to China. The sky was clear and the sun warmed our hearts despite the below zero temperatures. We hadn't realised how much greyness and lack of clean air had influenced our outlook until we saw the sun again and breathed fresh air. Consequently, we thoroughly enjoyed our few days here and appreciated all the beauty the city had to offer. It was a fitting finale to our tour.
The Terracotta Army is regarded as one of the greatest discoveries of the 20th century. It had lain underground for more than 2000 years before farmers digging a well in 1974 uncovered what is now considered one of the greatest archaeological sites in the world.
Thousands of life-size, vivid terracotta warriors;in battle formation were revealed in the course of excavation of the earth and timber vaults - a whole army which would accompany its emperor into immortality. Historians think 700,000 craftsmen and slaves built the complex, but they and many others were put to death to keep the mausoleum a secret. At some point during the 3rd century BC, Xiang Yu, the leader of a rebellion against China's First Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, succeeded in getting access to the outer chambers of the imperial tomb. Xiang and his soldiers then stole weapons from inside and smashed many Terracotta warriors. After that, they set fire to the chambers. Today archaeologists have the painstaking job of removing soil from figures being unearthed and reassembling them.. Our day with the warriors had a perfect ending when we were blessed with a clear night sky and a full moon which we appreciated fully after a delicious dumpling banquet and entertaining cultural show.
The next day was another day of picture perfect sunshine and we enjoyed visits to the Wild Goose Pagoda and Moslem Street. The latter was a serene place of Buddhist temples, and the latter, a bustling hive of activity with tantalising smells of an amazing variety of foods cooking. Both were wonderful and I only wish we could have had longer to explore each place.
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We flew from Xian and overnighted in Guangzhou before catching our China Southern Air flight back to Australia. Thankfully we never had to open the gas masks provided in the hotels, but we read a newspaper article about dangerous levels of smog occurring in Beijing as our flight took off.
For anyone contemplating a bargain trip using Trip-a-Deal, I would say go for it. We had a fantastic trip, and couldn't have wanted better value for money. Now we are back home with our photos and memories and enough good luck to last a life time. I have crossed an ancient stone bridge in 3 steps, touched a longevity symbol in the Red Pagoda, rubbed a Buddha's belly, placed money in a jade wishing well, worn red often, and avoided the number 4. I will continue to wear my lucky coloured stone received as a gift somewhere along the Yangtze and try to find myself a dragon just to keep that luck sealed in. One can't be too careful, you know. Hope this blog hasn't been too tedious and I hope you will all be lucky enough to visit China one day if you haven't already done so.