Home again but still a few memories to blog!!

Well we've been home for 4 days and back at work for two and this is the first time I've had a chance to catch up with the blog.

We left our hotel at 6am on Tuesday morning (11pm Monday UK time) only to find on check-in that there was a 2 hour delay on our flight from Hong Kong to Shanghai. We were worried that we would miss our connection for the 12 and a half hour flight to the UK but all was well as this flight too was delayed by 2 hours - as a result of yet another typhoon to hit South-East China (there was another one 3 weeks earlier just before we were due to fly out to Shanghai).

The flight was otherwise uneventful and we eventually reached home around 10.15pm Tuesday evening - exhausted but with some great memories of an amazing trip.

We have started to download a few pics into the blog pages so look out for these as well as the new entries for Xi-an and Beijing. Photo downloads take quite a while so we'll only put a few on the blog but will set up a separate website for the rest of our pics - will post address in due course.

More to follow......

Safe in Hong Kong!

Well, you probably thought we'd disappeared from the face of the earth - I'm afraid we're still very much alive & kicking on our last day here in Hong Kong. The typhoon that has hit South-East China on Saturday/Sunday hasn't affected us as we left Shanghai on Saturday morning. In fact it's very hot & humid here and we're really enjoying the air-con in the hotel and shopping arcades!

As we suspected, once we left the cruise ship last Monday, our itinerary was extremely busy and Internet access has been impossible either due to lack of facilities or lack of time. We'll catch up on the events of the last week in separate blogs but may not have time to post all these before we leave for the UK tomorrow morning so keep looking. Will also post a selection of photos once we get home.

Hong Kong is an interesting place - much more western than mainland China. We are very impressed by the service and facilities of the 4* Eaton Hotel in the Kowloon district of HK where we are staying as compared to the 4* and 5* we have stayed in in Shanghai, Xi-an and Beijing and have particularly enjoyed the time to relax in the roof-top pool.

We arrived in HK on Saturday afternoon and were hit by the heat and humidity (approx 33 degrees and 55%) as we got off the plane. Shanghai had been hot (about 28 degrees) but not as humid. After some 'leisure time' the 6 of us who had taken the HK extension following the China tour (Pat & Jim, Mary & Brian and ourselves) ventured out onto the Nathan Road (one of the main shopping roads which leads down to the harbour (about 1.5km). We were accosted by vendors selling everything from "Rolex" watches, "Sony" & "Nikon" cameras, mobile phones & other electrical goods (authentic copies of the real thing!!), made-to-measure suits, massages, etc, etc. we got very good at dodging them and John collected a pocketful of promotional leaflets in an effort to appease them. Anyway we made our way, slowly, to the Avenue of Stars ( Chinese celebrities & film stars' hand prints in the pavement on the harbour front). The only one we recognised was 'Jacky Chan' (our Chinese guide's namesake) and we took a picture of this to send to Jacky on our return home.

We had been encouraged to get to the harbour-front in time for the laser show at 8pm - a synchronised display of lights and music played out across the tall buildings of HK Island.

This was rather disappointing as we had been expecting something with more impact but another 'must do' crossed off our list. We ate in a harbour-front restaurant and enjoying the sights and sounds of this busy city, before making our way back to the hotel.

John & I enjoyed a Mr Whippy ice cream about half-way back up the Nathan Road - I think it was the best I've ever tasted but maybe that was to do with how hot and sticky we were and the fact that it only cost 6 HK dollars ( about 40p)! After a long cold drink of ginger beer in the hotel bar we retired to bed, looking forward to our HK city tour in the morning.

We had the luxury of a 9.20am start for the half-day city tour on Sunday. After a number of hotel pick-ups in the Kowloon District we headed to HK Island through the Harbour Tunnel .....

..... and up to Victoria Peak with superb panoramic views of Victoria Harbour and the Kowloon Peninsula.

Although still rather hazy we did manage to get some reasonable photos of the harbour area and the vast array of skyscrapers that litter the landscape here.

From here we headed down to Repulse Bay which was named, not because it's repulsive (in fact, it's one of the most beautiful beaches on the island!) but as a memorial of the battle between the Chinese and the British in which HMS Repulse was sunk. It is also home to two huge statues of Tin Hau, Goddess of the Sea, overlooking the most popular and accessible beach on the island. Although we only had half an hour here we were determined to have a swim in the South China Sea. Mary & I had both worn our bikinis under our clothes so had a lovely swim (hoping that the surrounding shark nets were all intact, especially after our local guide had been humming the Jaws theme as we left the coach!) whilst the others paddled on the edge. We were a little damp when we got back on the coach but at least we kept cool for the rest of the tour!

Our next stop was Aberdeen, once a small (by Chinese standards!) fishing town but now home to numerous high-rise buildings and a large harbour - an interesting mix of the old and the new with sampans and traditional fishing boats mingling with modern millionaire yachts.

We took a sampan tour around the the small floating village in the centre of the harbour and were proudly shown traditional Chinese house boats moored alongside fishing boats and lobster nets. The sampans were all 'manned' by elderly Chinese ladies who had a great plan for making sure they weren't ripped off by the tourists - at the end of the tour they stopped in the middle of the harbour and would only make their way back to the quay once everyone had paid their fare in full, so..... unless you wanted to swim for it!!!

Our guide told us that many of the fisherman now work in local factories and that the fishing industry is slowly dying out - this seems to be the way of Hong Kong as the old, traditional ways are wiped out in favour of the relentless striving for the new and the modern - very sad! we returned to our hotel after a brief visit to a HK jewellery factory where we all resisted the temptation to make any purchases (very expensive). Another swim in the roof-top pool before heading back out into the city and the Star Ferry to cross Victoria Harbour to HK Island for dinner. This was more difficult than we thought partly because it was dark and partly because our map wasn't very detailed - our walk to the ferry terminal took us over an hour and took us through a large park with open-air municipal swimming pool and flamingos, hotel lobbies, subways and shopping malls.

However, we did see the Doulos Ship in dock - we had heard that it was on it's final journey before being decommissioned and had stopped off in HK but the local paper led us to believe that it had already left so we were delighted to come across it by accident!

After much walking in the evening heat ( still above 30 degrees) we eventually managed to find a rather expensive Italian restaurant in the IFC (International Finance Centre) overlooking the harbour - it was worth it to have some western food at last! Chinese food is great but after nearly 3 weeks I think we'll be giving the local takeaway a miss for a while!! Our journey back to the hotel was also eventful as we decided to take a bus from the Star ferry - once we located the right bus (they all seemed to go up the Nathan Road but we were told to get the No. 2) our lady bus-driver didn't understand English and when we showed her where we wanted to go on the map she indicated that she couldn't see - she wore thick-lensed glasses so this didn't bode well for a safe ride! We then discovered that most people have electronic bus passes and that the machine only accepted the right coins so we were scrambling around in our pockets for enough coins for the fare - we never did find enough and she eventually gave up on us and let us take the ride anyway. Amazingly we managed to get off the bus just a short walk from the hotel and made our way to the air-conditioned bar for the now customary ginger beer with ice before embarking on the beer and cocktails.

Today we are making the most of our first day of leisure for about 10 days - we got up late (at 9am) for breakfast - we have had so many early starts (at 6-6.30am) in the last week we had forgotten what a lay-in was! Now sitting in the Internet cafe in the basement of our hotel and enjoying the speed of the Internet once again - a real treat after the interminable slowness of access on the Yangtze. We're planning to do some last minute shopping this afternoon before having a leisurely evening meal with the remaining 4 members of our party and an early night before our 5am start tomorrow morning. Because of the way in which the itinerary has been arranged we are having to fly from Hong Kong to Shanghai and then connect to our flight for the UK rather than a direct flight from HK so we will be travelling for about 18 hours in total. Thankfully we've both taken Wednesday off so will have some time to recover a little before returning to work on Thursday.

However, it has been worth it - this has been a most amazing and fascinating trip and one which we will never forget!

Looking forward to catching up with many of you when we get home,

Lots of love

Carol & John xxxx

P.S. Our final Peking Duck dinner - Hong Kong style!!

Ode to Jacky!

ODE TO JACKY

by Laine Marshall

5th october 2007

Oh, what a holiday we have had in China -we've had such a good time

Especially with you, Jacky, as our guide - everything was just fine.

Such a small group of us - you thought you would have an easy job

But, unfortunately, you got the short straw - the rebellious, naughty mob!

From Scotland there was Catherine & Ken and Ann & Ronnie

Scots are renown for their kindness, whiskey and control of money!

Brian & Mary represented us with their ball-room dancing - they were ace.......

And John, with his quiet, subtle humour coupled with Carol, the lens in front of the face!

Sandy & Brian helped us all out with snippets of information we missed from the guide

And on Pat & Jim, Bill & Jane, for the beer drinking, fun and laughter we relied.

It is without doubt that we have seen many wondrous sights

And learned much about your way of life,

But one question remains unanswered about you

In the future will you take a wife?

I'm sure you will - with your good looks, wit, charm and prowess

With an invitation we could all return to wish you 'double happiness'!

The memories we will all take home about China and its culture

Will remain for a long time

But one particular memory will be of you when we hear the song

'You are my sunshine'.

So it is our thanks to you - remember us when you take the next group to the bar

From Pete & Laine and the rest of the naughty group -

Thanks, goodbye and......ding, ding, ding, ding hao!!!!!

Our final day in China!

Friday 5th October

Today was our last day in China - 10 members of our party would be leaving to return to the UK the next morning whilst 6 of us flew to Hong Kong for another 3 nights. However, there was still plenty to do and see. We checked out of our hotel in Beijing after breakfast and drove to the Forbidden City. It was still raining and we felt sorry for other tour groups staying at the hotel who were off to climb the Great Wall today! We had a photo taken of us under the 'hugging tree' - a must for lovers we were told!!

The Forbidden City was, until the last century, the seat of China's Emperors. The Last Emperor (see last film of that name) had 999½ rooms built which housed 3000 concubines. Why 999½ you ask? Well, apparently his father had 1000 rooms and, as his heir, he was not allowed to have as many as his father, so.......999½!!! We spent a couple of hours walking around this amazing city with Sally giving us interesting snippets of information.

Then it was off to the airport for our flight back to Shanghai where we were to spend our final night in China. As we would be arriving in Shanghai in time for the Friday night rush hour again (as on our arrival from the UK) and because we didn't want to have to sit in traffic for 3 hours again, we asked Jacky if it would be possible to arrange tickets for the MagLev train to take us from the airport to the centre of the city. This magnetic levitation train is another 'must do' in Shanghai and reaches a speed of 430km per hour taking only 7½ minutes to complete this journey. We were delighted that he was able to get us tickets - a real bargain at 40 Yuan (less than £3) each for a single and thoroughly enjoyed the experience of accelerating to such a speed - amazing. On the journey Jacky also told us that he had phoned ahead to the hotel and asked for us all to be upgraded as it was our last night in China and when we arrived in our rooms we weren't disappointed - we all had 6ft beds and most of us had suites as well - what a treat! Thank you Jacky!

And so it was with heavy hearts we all met up for our final meal together - Jacky was leaving us tonight as he had Saturday off to be best man at his friend's wedding. After 2 weeks together we all felt like a family and it was sad to say 'goodbye'. We all exchanged email addresses so we can share our photos and sat in the bar 'til late reliving all our experiences. Laine had written a poem for Jacky on behalf of us all which you can read in a separate blog along with photos of everyone - it says it all.......

Beijing and the Great Wall

Thursday 4th October

Another early start again today to ensure we avoided the worst of the traffic 'en route' for the Great Wall, which stretches for 6000 kilometres and dates back to the Ming period. We were glad that it was a warm, sunny day (around 22 degrees) as it had been raining the day before we arrived - not good climbing conditions. Sally, our guide, informed us that tourists were allowed to climb the Wall at different points but that we were going to the most difficult and demanding of them all - at Juyuonguan Pass! Here the Wall rises very steeply to 880 metres with stone steps (of varying depth & height - from about 10-45cms) stretching upward through various stages to the fifth one at the top. Because of the steeply curving angle of the Wall we couldn't actually see our destination until we reached the 4th stage - the photo on the right shows the Wall up to the 2nd stage (you can just see the 4th stage in the distance) ....

We were given 2 hours to get to the top and back down again and Carol was very proud to be one of the five of our group who made it all the way (even though she was 15 minutes late back to the coach). The views at the top were amazing although it was still rather hazy - as you can see from the photos! Thanks to Brian who waited to walk back down with her - John had got side-tracked with an Australian woman - typical(!) who pointed out that, the apparent Chinese fascination with his feet was nothing to do with their size but because they were covered in freckles! Anyway, Carol was delighted to have made it and had a small brass plaque engraved with her name and the date as a keepsake. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for her even though her knees ached for days afterwards.

After our exhausting but exhilarating morning we stopped off at a Cloisonne factory where we were shown how they make this enamelware - first introduced into China during the Yuan dynasty. First, a base is made of bronze or copper (usually a vase) and then thin copper wires are glued over the surface to produce a network of tiny cells. Into each of these cells mineral paints of different hues are introduced by means of a dropper. Once dry, the article is fired, the process is repeated then burnished. Carol quite liked some of the final products but John shared the view of many that this technique produces somewhat tacky, gaudy results.....

We had a very nice lunch at the factory, however, before heading for the famous Summer Palace and the longest corridor in the world (see below). By now it was raining again so, what should have been a rather pleasant stroll through this beautiful park of lakeside pagodas became a bit of a washout. We decided to take one of the dragon boats back across the lake to the bridge of seventeen arches but got very wet waiting to board.

We were glad to make our way back to the coach and on to our hotel passing by the new Bird's Nest Stadium and the rest of the Olympic 2008 village still under construction.

Tonight we were treated to a traditional Peking Duck Dinner at a local restaurant - a fitting end to another exciting day!