Having lived in Nanjing for almost a year and with my visa coming to an end I decided that I wanted to see more of China…I investigated a couple of tours and realised quite quickly that the cost of said tours for foreigners was seriously prohibitive to a simple teacher earning Chinese Yuan.
So I embarked on playing travel agent….and what an effort it was! I certainly have a new found respect for the work that a travel agent actually does to ensure that your trip works smoothly end to end.
Finally my last day arrived and I set off bravely to Nanjing airport, bags in tow and my heart in my mouth….
Why you ask?
Well as all my friends know I have limited attention to detail..well ok I have no fucking attention to detail… and here I was setting off on an adventure around China that I had personally organised and I didn’t speak Chinese!!
So how did it go?
First up, Yunnan Province, (South West China) exploring Kunming, Lijiang and Shangri-La.
From forests of stone to mountains covered with snow, wandering around old cobbled streets full of colourful shops and more colourful locals, seeing this incredible show featuring local performers with their horses in an outdoor theatre with the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain as the back drop, riding a Tibetan pony on part of the old Silk Road and boating on a lake beneath the mountains
Oh and Shangri-La, yes from the novel Lost Horizon, a place I had dreamt about since I was a little girl enraptured by the notion of a magical land far far away hidden in the mountains of Tibet, and at first I admit I was a little disappointed…it was a construction zone with most roads being rebuilt for a commemoration ceremony later in the year but just outside of the city was the most spectacular scenery I have ever seen with roaring rivers, stunning lakes and mountains littered with wild ponies and yaks wandering around peacefully, grazing together and the largest Tibetan Buddhist Temple outside of Tibet high up on the mountain top where the air was thin, the atmosphere peaceful and the views mesmerising.
On to Xi’an, in Shaanxi Province.
Xi’ an, an ancient capital of China, is a really beautiful and surprisingly clean city surrounded by a complete and ancient wall.
My accommodation booking said I had views of the wall and thats for sure – my window was only 10m from the wall!
Of course Xi’an is most famous for the The Terracotta Warriors, depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China.. a marvel to behold. There are 3 pits to view with hundreds of restored warriors and horses on display but but what is really did my head in is how they have been reassembled as most of the statues are broken and lying under several metres of dirt in hundreds of pieces …it has to be the worlds hardest jigsaw puzzle.
I didn’t spend many days in Xi’an but I did get to see the most exotic local market in China, known as the Muslim Quarter and the oldest mosque, build during the Ming Dynasty, a combination of Islamic and Chinese architecture and artwork.
From Xi’an to Zhangjiajie, the home of Avatar.
I was seriously speechless!
Sometime referred to as Buddha Mountains or Finger Mountains, the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is a massive area with thousands of jagged quartzite sandstone columns some more than 200m tall covered with plant growth.
Over 7 days I bumbered around the park taking different routes just soaking in the atmosphere and amazing sights.
I hiked for 4 hours up several thousand steps to get to the top of Tianzi Mountain.
I strolled under the mountains following the Golden Whip Stream .
I took a boat trip on Baofeng Lake, a fresh water lake in the middle of the stone forest.
I made it up to Huangshizhai by way of the cable car and made my way around what appears to be an island in the sky surrounded by more stone mountains.
I caught a local bus to the Grand Canyon Glass Bride…twice, the second time I actually made it onto the bridge!
Too soon it was time to leave this magical place and I know I have to go back because there are so many more places to explore and mountains to climb!
Last stop…Beijing!
I was determined to play tourist in the capital for a couple of days before leaving China…I mean it was going to be a little weird to have lived in China for a year and not see those incredible historical places.
Tiananmen Square is simply enormous and of course houses Mao’s Mausoleum which was closed!
The Forbidden City seemed to go on forever! Apparently there are 8000 dwellings within the walled city where countless Emperors lived and died!
The Summer Palace, the preferred residence of Empress Dowager Cixi was my favourite place in Beijing. It has an enormous lake surrounded by towering trees, sculptured gardens and bronze statues, hidden paths and corners to sit in and stunning pavilions. The Tower of Buddhist Incense stands on a hill overlooking the lake and the view is spectacular and well worth the walk.
My final destination was The Great Wall, Mutianyu section, which is about 2 hours out of Beijing. The Great Wall is of course one of the most famous landmarks in the world running more than 6,700km from East to West and words and photos fail to describe the feeling to not only see it but to walk on it’s ancient stones.
The burial place of thousands it is also known as the largest mausoleum in China.
‘He who has not climbed the Wall is not a true man’, a quote attributed to Mao is somewhat easier to do these days. There is a chair lift that takes you to the wall itself and a toboggan ride down which is heaps of fun.
Once you are up on the wall itself, there is plenty of walking and climbing to do but with limited time I only explored a short section of the wall and a couple of watch towers but even that was an incredible experience – some of the steps going up to the watch tower were seriously steep but so worth it…the view is unparalleled
So that was my magical mystical tour of China …an experience of a lifetime and now onward to Vietnam for new adventures!
