A trip of a lifetime to China
JOYCE SKEET went east and discovered a world apart.
Last October we flew to China to celebrate my husband's 60th birthday and, on arrival in Shanghai, got onto the Maglev train to speed into the city at 460 kph hour to start our trip.
Shanghai is a modern city with shiny high skyscrapers alongside some very old buildings and gardens which have survived all the changes. One of these, the Yuyuan Garden with the Huxing Teahouse, was built in 1559 and is a classical garden complete with beautiful pavilions, ponds and bridges.
The Bund, alongside the river, is a must at night time with all the buildings and boats lit up. Hangzhou and Suzhou are considered the canal towns and the centre of the silk spinning industry. You can see it all - from the silk worms munching their way through piles of mulberry leaves to the cocoons being spun into spools before being dyed and then woven into the most exquisite cloth.
The Humble Administrators Garden is amazing with lots of pavilions, streams and ponds full of lotus flowers and fish, and represents a garden from the Ming dynasty.
The Huqingyutang Ancient Pharmacy, established in 1874 by a Qing merchant, is still open and sells traditional Chinese herbs and medicines for every ailment imaginable. Glass jars and boxes contain the most astounding selection of bits and pieces of plants, insects, snakes and animals. I was very glad I was in good health and was able to decline the services of the pharmacist!
Xian and the Yangtze
No one can prepare you for the size of the pits the Terracotta Armies are housed in - one is the size of a large aircraft hanger and people on the other side of the building look like ants! The detailed features of the warriors and their horses are breathtaking, and the artefacts are in such good condition.
Xian city is modern, but has managed to keep the old Bell Tower, Drum Tower and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda from the Sui Dynasty (581-618) which is the best preserved Buddhist temple complex in China and is visited by many.
A flight down to Wuhan and a coach journey to Yichang to join our ship for a cruise on the Yangtze River was also very interesting. I wanted to visit the Three Gorges before they were finally flooded forever and I'm so glad we did.
The dam itself is massive and the gorges are spectacular, but thousands of local Chinese families have been re-housed in huge new cities as their villages are now metres under the river. This, we were told, is progress and I did wonder how these people manage to eek out a living, having lost their farms. They have now been retrained to work in the many factories in the cities.
Dragons?
Years ago local people buried their dead in hanging tombs high up in the cliffs of the gorges and they can still be seen today. The mists swirl around the mountains and into the valleys surrounding the gorges and it's not hard to imagine local people believing dragons lived here!
Staying in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Pingyao, built in the Ming and Qing Dynasty, was such a privilege. The houses in the walled town are all built in timber with little courtyards at the back. Houses are all linked and a maze of narrow streets which twist and turn through the town to bring it all together. We stayed in a local guesthouse and our traditional cabin bed had curtains across the front!
Driving on to Datong to visit the spectacular Hanging Temple, built 1,400 years ago, we travelled through mountainous country and in the distance saw remnants of the Great Wall.
Its temple clings to the rock half way up a sheer cliff with bamboo poles and is uniquely dedicated to the three main religions - Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. Climbing up the narrow stairs and passageways glued to our guide was scary, but nothing compared to looking down into the ravine over low knee-high guard rails. Health and Safety would have closed it down in the UK!
Hanging out with the locals
A six-hour train journey from Datong with the locals was quite an experience and I won't comment on the loos! Families take over a group of seats and produce all kinds of food and drink for the journey. We were certainly considered the entertainment as everyone stopped for a look when they passed by.
Our last stay before Beijing was in Chende which was the Emperors' Mountain Resort and the Temples of Punning and Putuozongsheng are spectacular (the latter is modelled on the Potala palace of Lassa in Tibet). The gold on the roofs of the temples and the paintings in the buildings with dragons, trees, plants, fish and people are beautiful and colourful.
We left Chende early and were rewarded with being all on our own on the Great Wall. We walked for a few hours and enjoyed the solitude - something in short supply in China - before being joined by others trekking along the wall. It was here I met a man from Ireland! The wall is truly amazing as it snakes away into the distance up and down over hills and mountains as far as the eye can see.
Winding up
We had eaten all sorts of food as we toured around. Some was questionable as to what exactly it was since at times we had great difficulty in translating some of the menus, even with pictures! But I'm happy to report that neither of us was ill or needed the Cipro or Imodium I carried throughout the trip.
In Beijing we said goodbye to our guide and driver, and stayed with some friends which was a very nice conclusion to our trip. We visited Tiananmen Square, the Summer Palace and Gardens, the Temple of Heaven and some local markets where my friend Jacqui was having a dress made for a ball. I had a great time there, bartering with the stall holders for some gifts to bring home.
We finished our trip with a visit to the Birds Nest Stadium and Water Cube. Standing in the centre of the stadium looking around at all the costumes displayed from the opening and closing Olympic ceremonies was magical.
China is an amazing place and we have been left with many happy memories of the wonderful trip.