13. We are leaving....has it been a hoot? Maybe yes: Maybe no.

Le meridian hotel has an air conditioning unit in the room that can heat it up to 19 deg but only cool it to 20 deg, nonetheless the air conditioning was not working so the room was preparing us for a return to Melbourne at a balmy 22 when we woke up.   Waste of the fluffiiest and softest bed we had got.

Our last morning in China, was spent with a brisk five k walk around the hotel area, discovering new things all the time.   One thing very noticible about Chongqing is the pollution.  There is much heavy industry around the area, so the fall out, as indicated by the smut on the leaves is quite overwhelming.

The black stuff is the pollution.

Everything in town is coved by a layer of soot, and itis a constant exercise by the locals to keep things clean.   The visage of the sun is also a rarity (which is why I couldn't find a pair of sunglasses to replace the ones I broke here)....they never see the sun.     

But the street art and sculptures are interesting...

During the walk we heard a  whip cracking sound, and then saw this fellow with some big heavy spinning tops, a piece of rope on the end of a stick. He would start the top wrapping the rope around the top, then would whack then with the rope keeping them going..... Quite interesting, and just excercise for him.  

On the bus to the airport, arriving  at Chongqing to find that the scanner for the passports was broken so the 200 or so characters on the ID lines had to be manually entered by the checkin staff.   Then one of the group was overweight (baggage) and they wanted to argue the toss.....you just don't.   That's what the scales are in the hotel rooms for.     

As with any airport world wide, prices are extravagant...a cup of coffee at one shop was $21.72.... Didn't go there.....but even paying $7.00 hurts......but we have to use all our yuans less than the 100  Mao, as we can't exchange notes less than that.

Two hour(ish) flight to Guangzhou then wait for a bit for a flight to Melbourne....or not

On our way home...and some sun.......if this missive is found with our belongings, Andrew is the one with the pink and white elephants round his neck 

Guangzhou airport is appalling.   There is obviously a problem with air conditioning keeping things cool.  It would have been 25 deg and 80% humid all through the terminal.   The departure lounge A05 is downstairs and somewhat like a cattle yard.....pending getting on a bus to our flight.   

Highlights....

First would have to be the Great Wall in the snow...

Then...the city of Xian, such beauty, clean, and colourful.

The Terra Cotta Warriors - although not as vibrant and colourful as we expected.

The Yangtze - particularly above the Three Gorges Dam- the scope and expanse of the works and co-ordination that would have had to take place to make this happen would have been beyond anything we could understand.    That 300 ks upstream they still had to move whole cities and build from scratch new ones, is amazing.  Could have  never happened in a democratic country.

The number of Chinese people here is amazing....more than in Bendigo.

The traffic is not as bad as in other Asian cities/ countries...inter city transport seem not to be a big ticket item.

The accommodation was top class.   Very much not what we are used to, nor would want to do all the time, as it ends to remove you from the local peopl.  If  we had purchased it independently would have cost us the entire value of the tour package.  

The local people.  The ones we met were plesant, helpful, accommodating, and willing to share their stories.

The SNA tour group we went with were a good bunch.  Present company excluded;they weren't whingers, they were punctual,  they coped with present company, they were fun. interesting and generally well travelled.  The ones who could have been problematic left the tour to go in other directions early on.

The guides we had were top class: they were funny, entertaining, very knowledgeable about China, and prepared to share.  Henry in Xian would have been the best.

Lowlights

The still repressive govt control of information which meant that many 'open source' internet services are blocked...

That the tour company couldn't warn us to develop contingencies for altnative communications before the tour.

Being taken to shop.....it is apparent that there is some form of gratuity to the company when purchases are made....and the reality (surprisingly) is that things are not really that cheap in China... Who'd have thought it.

The food....certainly feel that we were taken to experience the food that they expected we westerners would cope with....some of the places we were taken to, were downright bland.  The boat food was horrid...fried, fatty, and repetitive.

Chongqing on the Yangtze -

Ask us;.  Are  we having fun?

 All big baggage was collected from outside our cabins last night, so we had to make do with what we could carry in our 'carry on'.   Up at 0630,  breakfast in the claustrophobic and stinking hot dining room from 0700-0800 hrs then we were motivated to leave our cabins and wait to be hereded off the boat showing appropriate gratitity to the river guides who had apparently done much but actually nothing. 

Amy ( which we suspect is not her birth name) is our Chongqing guide.   

Bridge at Chongqing - one of the many across the Yangtze -Train underneath 

300 year old temple in Chongqing and bridge in background.

Clearly Andrew has to learn to play with others in the group.

But there was a mutiny.....

It is apparent that our itinerary was not the only one of the group that did not have today's proposed tour of old stuff, a zoo (containing some Pandas) and a park..with lunch included....this was sprung on us.  

The guide Amy, did not quite know how to handle the eight Australians who did not want to visit more parks and zoos...and wanted to do what our itinerary said.. ..we decided we wanted to do our own thing, as had been described in our itinerary.  Accordingly we were dropped off at the hotel. Le Meridien, at about 11 a.m..  They even managed to get our rooms ready for us....alas not all in the same floor..,,that we can handle.

All the accommodation on this trip has been first class...this is no exception,

Chonquing is a small hamlet of 30 million people with about seven million living in the inner city area.   Once dropped off we began explorring.  The hotel is in the middle of the 'downtown' area, many people, lots of shops.  Found a wet market everything a traveller could want...

Don't  think they are for eating snails in the garden

Don't think these are pets either

Children in a basket.  Not a very commercial commodity with the recent one-child-policy

Had a wonderful time just wandering...every sub way expands into huge underground shopping/market centres....almost a city under a city....  The was also a huge outdoor area where the locals were playing cards, drinking tea, dancing, skating, and having fun....it is a Sunday.

And watching the fact man do some sort of healing trick....not quite sure what it was...although pretty sure the female who's hand he's holding was part of the gig.

Decided to go native for tea, but it was great not to have any English language menus. We were doing ok.....or so we thought until these lovely girls fellow diners cane to our aid....and we pretty much got what we had anticipated....

Having difficulty ordering .....these girls were helping us.

Shrink wrapped plate glass, bowls and chops ricks

Black peppers green peppers red peppers, ginger, and a tad of chook.

It was very very spicy.  And some.   Eyes watering nose running and mouth numb.

This is a vibrant and busy city, having monorail, railway, subway, cable car and lots of very confusing roads, but seems to get the people where they need to be 

11.Utterly forgettable except for a few re-memorable memories ....so this is contemporaneous

The only excitement was Nathalie misplacing her jewellery and then finding it exactly where it had been put.  Only after it had been reported to the crew.   Pretty much over the food, everything fried or baked.....   Visited a temple of ancient proportions except that if had been relocated when the Dam had been put up.   This temple's claim to fame was that it is supposedly haunted....

Above repents fertility rites. The half sphere in background represents the girl bits and weights 185 kgs and the bit in the middle represented the boy bits. A good man is supposed to be able to roll the half sphere around the pointy bit and then balance it on the pointy bit.  Is that clear? 

For a Buddhist temple, it was a great disappointment.   It was dirty, exceptionally commercial, and there was absolutely no reverence shown..... And at the very top of the hill, was a Taoist temple.   

He did get to stand in the Yangtze, and had we had more time would have gone for a swim.

The Yangtze.

and it was crowded too.....

There is so much construction going on along the river, so many bridges, roads and complete towns still being completed.   Some of the bridges are very impressive too.  The unusual thing to get used to is that every city looks the same has multiple high rise buildings with no occupants, and are all less than 15 years old.    

That's an enormous crane on the top.

One of a dozen similar towns, all lit up in a similar if not brighter fashion. 

After the final meal, served to us by our lovely waitress Wendy (don't think this is her birth name.) we had another cabaret show, put on by the crew and a few of the more different passengers.   Mostly the big noses, and a five year old Chinese girl.   Some of the performers were very prepared and polished for this 'impromptu' performance.   

The penny has just dropped.       There are some people this cruise stuff suits.  It seems that there is a cohort of people who relish the concept of being held in close confines with hundreds of other like minded people, answering and obeying the bells, transported to extremely commercial locations, and being force fed trans fats high carbohydrates, and life threatening crispy bacon for EVERY meal, and being herded like cattle on on and off the craft, being sent off and greeted by twenty staffs each telling you to have a 'rovery' day, and 'mind your head 

'and 'watch the step' EVERY time and having an extremely irritating crew photographer nearly having a very expensive camera deposited somewhere inappropriate.

'Wind in your hair wind in your hair'move like a tiger' smile...that will be 50 yuan thanks.

It works for some...but. At least fifty percent of the Andrew and Nathalie cohort will be dead before he gets on a cruise any longer than two hours.  It is so un-natural to be civil to strangers for so long.

Having said this, we feel that we are extremely fortunate to have such a great group of people that we have been lucky enough to have been travelling with.....and obviously they with us.

10.More Yangtze and some.....

Feeling a bit like herded cattle, but go one we must.  Through the locks last night and then woken up at 0630 to see,us go through the second gorge.....in essence it is gorge shaped, with water inn the middle, like the Grand Canyon but in China.

The city of Wusan, another of the relocated towns..

We then got on a smaller ferry to see a smaller gorge....

One of the locals, in traditional boatman garb.

Showing themmarkmofbthenwater 175 metres above where it used to be.  In summer the water level drops about 30 m below this.

The sun...something we hadn't really seen for any length of time since arriving here 

Getting somewhat stir crazy, back onto the boat for more Bee Gees in the bar, the excitement can hardly be contained....the internet in the ship is less than optimum, so we can not communicate with the outside world....so we had a nap.  Pretty damn exciting..

Sunset on Yangtze.

After dinner, the crew put on a cabaret show....unlike the last cabaret show Nathalie took the author to, they all retained their clothing...very refined, graceful and well polished, We felel much cultured after this show.  Being bilingual in the explanation, it took twice the time. The drum dance was a bit interesting though....

10 ks yesterday.....but one if we were lucky today...

9 Still looking for the Pandas on this Flight.

UEarly start to xi'an airport, just in case the traffic is a bit dodgie, but it wasn't so we got there quite early.   The flight had all the charms of a cattle truck, and the crew personality of drovers, but not as colourful.

But no Pandas on this flight

Internal flights here have a total ban on electronic devices, unless you are Chinese.    Well that's the way it panned out.

Landed at Hubei airport for the province within the town of Wuhan.   Two tour groups met up on this flight, so the bus ride contained about forty people. Hellren is our guide for the 4.5 hours bus journey to Chunking where there is apparently a boat waiting for us. 

The main highway between Wuhan and Yaching was virtually deserted: the road we travelled on was pretty well maintained, but in many places, there are large parts of overpasses, and side roads which stop in mid air or go nowhere.  

The petrol stations are virtual ghost shops, didn't see one filling up.   

Once at Yaching we stopped at a restaurant and had the standard meal on the lazy Susan.  Prior to getting on the boat we were advised that it would be cheaper to get drinks and snacks before hand.  There is a shabby small convienience store, which obviously the guide gets a kickback, as I would imagine in a city of several million people would have a better, wider selection, and cheaper supermarket...will note for feedback.   

Arrived at the boat at 1930 hrs, which is a 14 hour day...bit long for a tour and still had to endure more sales (they call it a safety briefing) pitching to 2100 hrs.     The whole process is designed to seperate $$$$ £€¥¥₩ from us....coulor me surprised.

And there is a balcony beyond the curtain

The Yangtze Gold One is a big boat.   Six decks, 12000 tonnes, 134 m long. Lots of Bling. Lots of staff, Chinese medicine doctor, Tai Chi Master.....etc etc....

Overnight cruising.

Arriving late not really interested in any sales pitch, it was almost o ypthe point of having to be rude to escape to our somewhat lavish cabin.  Woke up at 0600 when the boat started and moved a kms up stream to a tourist village where we went for a walking tour of the Tribes of the Three Gorges.  Basically a Soverign Hill, without the Gold, the mines, the horses, the period buildings, and hands on activities, it was exactly the same.  Most it was nothing like it.

Native in her natural environment 

Back to the boat for a bit of lunch and to move further upstream....then.....

Three Gorgeous Dam.

Impressive, big, ingenious, but not all that pretty at all...  If you are expecting something as visually spectacular as Hoover etc, thi isn't it.   It is utilitarian and functional.   And big.  Highest power out out of any dam in the world.  Sandopin is the town nearby,  1.3 million people were displaced in the making of the dam and the rationale to sell the move to the locals is that eight people saved for each displaced person(uncontrolled flooding), irrigation and electricity.  1.4 miles in length, 185 m high. 3% power for China 

Had to walk through security.as in airport, and weren't allowed to take in lighters or knives....

Camelot...it's only a model...

Anyway to get to the top of the dam for the tour we had to walk through security and them up several long outdoor escalators to get there 

The back side of the dam, with the ship elevator in the foreground.

The locks-five sections up and downstream.

Later that night we travelled through the five sections of the locks, the following photos show some of scale of the operation.   Literally able to touch the wall, from the deck and the barge touching, the lock fills at a rate of six meters a second...it is an impressive piece of engineering, and skillfully driven by the captain.....

You can just see the step ladder on the right side of one of the lock gates.

Max the guide we had for the dam, was very funny, her always referred to himself in the third person, but he succinctly explained that in Australia we queue up, in Americal they line up, in China you push and. It in....how true that is...it is not because they are rude ...it's just China...

8. Musea and other stuff. Xi'an

Went for a walk early am to the local park, called the Forest.  Thousands of locals doing tai chi, dancing, calisthenics, singing, playing instruments walking, running, walking etc.  

Off for a later start around Xi'an, to the museum.  

With every respect, if we have seen one museum displaying ancient art, and artifacts, we have seen them all.   This museum shows much about the ancient living conditions of the people 6,000 years ago.  And on through the Stone Age, Bronze Age, porcelain age,  iPhone Age.  

Two and a half hours, and we're out of there.  Clearly well cultured up.  Off to an average lunch, then to the old city and the Muslim quarter.  This is a bit of a highlight with food vendors especially sweet makers.  Very busy and colourful, and the mosque in the middle is huge, and quite old.   Would have liked to spend a bit more time there....which is one of the downsides to this type of travel...and having to be social.

Making sweets Muslim quarter.

Xi'An mosque 

Sago cake

Wild Goose Pagoda

7.Blessed are the Cheese-makers.....and allusion to Big Nose- vs Round eyes

We would call it a racist slur...well some would....here it is an ancient and acceptable descriptor of those who would not be from these parts.    China in many ways has a great approach to political correctness.....it doesn't exist.   So if you don't like it...don't visit.   As totalitarian as the regime is here...it is a embracing the 'western ways' with all three hands.

Collars are a bit stiff though.

Terror Cotton worriers.  

Basically it is Empror Chin shu Hons grave.  He ruled from age of 13 to 49, and died from self inflicted over medication.  Built 2200  years ago is 56 sq kms  and only a tiny bit uncovered.     He unified China, built the Great Wall, but he really annoyed and killed lots of people to do it.   The warriors were built over four decades to protect him from revenge in the afterworld.  They are  facing east as most of those he annoyed came from that direction. 

The guide told us that like Chairman Mao the emperor washed their minds   Chin shu horn had scholars killed.

The warriors were discovered by nine, now famous, farmers in March 1974 whilst they were digging a well .   Two of the farmers, cousins, They took a found head  to local council, where they sat for two months until  an archeologist realised what it was.  They were given what equated to $1.00 for their find. 

This was during the Counter revolution so it was kept secret.  They initially thought there were skeletons inside the terra cotta, but this does not seen to be the case.  

At the site it is a huge attraction, the car park is a long way away as they can't be sure that the aren't more bits and pieces buried underneath.   Pit number one is enormous and the building containing this is a feat in itself.  There are apparently  6000 warriors here, but only 2000 have been uncovered. It is a huge process of jigsaw puzzlesputting together.   

Allegedly....no two warriors are the same, they are different heights, stances, girth, faces and expressions.   They were actually armed with their usual weapons.  These have been stolen or rotted away over time.   There are even some crossbows, where the trigger mechanisms are still intact and demonstrate a very advanced knowledge of metal craft, and technology.

Before the party

After the party.

How were they built?

Right, Henry tells us that the pits were dug, and rammed earth walls put in place.  Between these walls the warriors were assembled.  Then a roof was put over the top and earth packed on that.   In some of the places, rebels or grave robbers broke in and destroyed, stole and then in places burnt the gravesite and the rooves caved in, or over time the roof collapsed and earth filled in the places, and then they remained forgotten about for 2000 years.    

The colours are vivid until they are uncovered and the colours fade in a matter of days.  Vivid blues, greens, gold and reds and these are also leached into the soil nearby.

Back to the hotel through the choking traffic but not bezerk like Beijing, and fifty minutes before heading out for the evening tour to see the night lights of Xi'an.  But first to a dumpling restaurant, where we tried 12 different types of dumplings and a taste of the local spirt, called spirit, 46% proof.  Then for a walk through the cultural centre which was lovely clean, and impressively lit, with statues of some of the famous emperors.

One of them on his horse

And another emperor.

There were a number of huge pillars which were running light shows akin to the light shows that are put on in Melbourne at Christmas..

Then to South lake which was a lake used by the emperor some one or other, as his summer home and has several,pavilions on Islands there in.

Next of to the nightly water show at the wild goose pagoda watrer park.   It is the largest water show; fountains lights and music for 30 minutes every night.... It was huge and well frequented by the locals as well as tourists.  

So'in summary Xi'an is as bright and bubbly as Las Vegas, but without the  sleaze and gambling.  It is clean, bright and very colourful.

The ancient city wall, well lit up.