Day 55 - Yangshuo

15.09.09

Arriving in Yangshuo early afternoon, the town seems very much like Guilin, except smaller and with more impressive scenery. The main street is nicknamed foreigner street and it has your favourite western hot spots such as a MacDonald's and even better, Sally's Bar, Wendy's Place, etc... On the river front you can see mountains and bamboo outcrops, bamboo rafts and it is actually quite lovely. The weather is quite misty, so visibility is poor and I am sure the mist is following me around China, although the epic downpour at about 4pm clears most of the mist and also leaves everything soaking wet. After monsoon season, I take a walk out of the touristy area and to the outskirts of the town and time is just right to see a local school release its students, who are wearing the brilliant school uniform of ... combat camouflage gear, Love China.

I brave a meal in a local 'hole in the wall' restaurant, which I know will be great food and costs me only 90p for as much rice as I can eat and then a plate of vegetables and meat of my choice stir fried up in a wok. It's such a good deal and they are everywhere in China, but you never see tourists in them as there is no English menu and it's quite intimidating if you have no idea what is going on, (I have no idea what is going on). In my room back at the hostel is a Chinese girl called Wu Ming and a guy whose name I have either forgotten or I like to think he never told me. His pictures of Tibet look amazing and although I will never be able to get into Tibet, maybe I can make a journey nearby.

Day 45 - Zhangjiajie, Wulingyuan National Park

05.09.09

The train gets into Zhangjiajie a bit late, but it's still reasonably early in the morning. After a brief spell of confusion of how to get to the park, I am pointed in the right direction by a Chinese girl who just comes over to help me out. We get on our different buses, as Juste is staying in the city as she has an early train the next day, while I have an evening one so can stay in the park. Once I get to the park gates, I get several different stories as to the location of the hostel some people saying it doesn't even exist, but eventually I get it marked down on a map and then I set off. It's 248 Yuan to get in, which is the most expensive entrance ticket yet, but it's valid for two days and they even scan your fingerprint (I'm unsure as to whether it's to keep tabs on you in case you commit any crimes, or identify your body if you fall off one of the peaks...). Once inside the park the buses are all free to use that run around inside, but I decide to walk mostly as I want to see the scenery, I should also mention that I have my whole pack with me at the moment and although it's heavy, I think I am getting used to the weight as it feels a lot better than when I first started over a month ago.



Once I eventually reach the hostel, it's location is perfect, set in the middle of the park and around some stunning scenery, the peaks of the park rising up like pillars all around. In the evening I get talking to some of the other guests, a couple from Canada who have been traveling for around 9 months and are doing another 9, a guy who is from Guangzhou and a few students from the local area. I get some good tips on where to go and if I want to see it all, then I will have to wake up very early tomorrow. As I walk around at dusk a dog also decides to follow me and I keep thinking she will bite me and I'll end up getting rabies, but I guess it just likes my company.

Day 34 - Xi'an

25.08.09

Getting off the train at Xi'an feels like breaking out of prison. The station is just outside the north city walls and I decide to walk to the hostel which is at the south gate, once again the Lonely Planet map is way off and an hour and a half later I rock up at Shuyuan Hostel. It's set over three lovely courtyards with a cafe at the back courtyard and a lively bar in the basement underneath it all. It is a lovely place and I'm glad I'm booked in for 5 nights as it will give me time to get over my cold and see the surrounding sights.

After I check in, they tell me my bed isn't ready yet, so give me a free coffee voucher and let me store my luggage, after my first coffee in a month I decide to get the terracotta warriors done as it's still early and make my way to the site about an hour out of town. It's blistering heat and the sun has decided to just be offensive, so the air conditioned air craft hangers the warrior pits are set in are a god send. It's a massive complex and is really impressive, especially inspecting some of the warriors up close and seeing the details on the life size models. I decided to take an audio guide to get some more information, in the pits it's quite interesting, but in the exhibition halls the masses of Chinese tour groups push past you and you can't see anything, also the audio guide gets a bit boring here. I am determined to listen to all 74 tracks, which means I end up sitting down on a bench for about 20 mins just playing them one after the other. I didn't actually listen to them and day dreamed for most of it, but I had to get my monies worth.

Once back at the hostel I crash in a pile of exhaustion through illness, and the sun's barrage of burning rays. I later meet my room mates, Jenny from Germany, Javier from Chile and Alex from the UK who lived in Hong Kong, it's an eclectic bunch and we ending up discussing life, the universe and the Chinese until about 3.30 in the morning.

Day 31 - Pingyao

22.08.09

Dodging the onslaught of taxi drivers at the station who literally stalk me as I cannot possibly walk for some reason, I trek around the town's intact 600+ year old outer walls and in the north gate in search of my hostel. It is like walking through some kind of time warp as you enter the town, the buildings all look original and the streets are cobbled and narrow. I can see why it is a Unesco World Heritage Site, the town is really beautiful and to top it off my hostel is located right in the middle of town in a Ming dynasty courtyard house.
Once I've checked in I take a walk around the town and as it approaches 9am, the town starts to pack out with Chinese tour groups and weird electric large scale golf carts. You aren't allowed 'engined' vehicles inside the town, so electric buggies are used instead of taxis or coaches to ferry all the tourists and tour groups around.

My first foray into the world of Chinese hostels and I'm sharing my 3 bed room with one guy called Marcus who is from Italy. He's got some good stories about the places he's been and gives me some tips about where to visit, but says the best place in Asia is North Korea. It's hard to go and costs a bomb to get into, but he says it is an amazing and a fascinating place and makes everywhere else seem boring.

Today I am again stunned by the domestic tourism market and how many people there are in Pingyao on tour groups. Where do they all come from and how can they afford to all go on these expensive tours.

Day 32 - Pingyao

23.08.09

Another day in Pingyao and I'm sure I've already done most of the sights. I get chatting to two people from the hostel, Graham from Newcastle and Kieron from Cork in Ireland. Kieron is in his 40s, but every year since his mid twenties, heads off for a few of months and travels around a different region of the world, then comes back and finds some work so he can make some money to do it all over again. Graham is the same age as me, but didn't finish Uni and then worked for a year before motorbiking it around Europe and camping for several months.

I get chatting to Graham, who tells me that China's death penalty rate is higher than the rest of the world combined and it's normally carried out by local official, using a gun to the back of the head. They are now Implementing 'Death Vans' that will come to your house and do it by lethal injection as it is easier, less traumatic for the official and guarantees a clean 'result'. Also there are apparently forced labour camps which anyone can be sent to, including tourists.
In near enough the same conversation a man who works at the hostel talks about how China is extremely poor and all we see is the tourist side, we will never be allowed to see or go to the the real rural China, away from the cities or tourist areas. It's an interesting conversation and he says that Chinese people might not appear poor as they spend their money on making themselves look comfortable and image is very important. He contrasts it with India, where he says it is more spiritual and people care about within, rather than their external appearance. He says that there has been violence and protests due to the inequality between the rich and the poor and that the government are trying to build temples and increase the spiritual focus of the nation to try and calm people down.
It turns out to be a very interesting few hours and it's quite rare to get people talking about the political state of the country, especially with any kind of negative view. China is definitely not all rosy.