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Month: October 2019

  • November 1 – River Cruise

    It’s a rest day today.

    Yesterday was a 5ish hour bus journey from Emei Shan to Chongqing. Chongqing is a huge, beautiful city and we got to spend a couple of hours there before boarding the river cruise. There are many many many skyscrapers. We had dinner in an area that was recreated to look like the historical residences of where people used to live, but is now markets and restaurants. It was build in memory of the way people used to live in the city; everyone now lives in apartment towers.

    The river cruise is much like other cruises, or at least like the one I’ve been on. There are several dining room, a bar, a gym, a cruise director, etc. My group has elected to pay for upgraded meals so we can have an assigned table in a quieter dining room. There are also several extra dishes per meal compared to the un-upgraded option, and drinks are included at mealtime.

    We have docked at the moment for an on-shore excursion. Most of the boat is participating but not me. I know that everyone is gone because I went for a wander and all the lights are off around the boat, and all services have shut down. Also, I only saw staff. Very quiet right now. I’m resting in my room with my roomie. We ate some vegetable crackers for a snack to hold us over until lunch at noon.

    Fun thing: we are all woken up at 6:30am by misic playing over the announcement speaker that we can’t turn off, followed by daily announcements in Chinese. The Chinese announcements went on for five minutes, while we only got the date and weather in English. We have a printed sheet with the announcements we can read on our own.

    I’m at the point of the trip where I’m tired and am ready to go home, (just shy of the two week mark, which is the usual time for this) but I still have a week of interesting things to see so I’ll make due. I’ve sent some laundry to be done, so that should help me feel better, especially if it comes back neatly folded. I always have a secret fear that I’ll never see my laundry again… but I filled in the sheet with my name and room number, so that should help.

  • October 30 – Free Day at Emei Shan

    Our free day started at the guesthouse about 1/2 hour bus ride up the mountain. It was cold and wet. There was some mildew up in corners of our room and so my nose was running the whole time we were there. It was only an overnight stay from late afternoon yesterday until early this morning, so I didn’t suffer too much.

    We were all up early because some of the group wanted to attempt the summit again. I wasn’t one of these, and joined the group going for a shortish walk near the guesthouse to look at scenery.

    After we got all the photos we needed, we walked to the bis station to return to our monastery at the bottom of the mountain. (It’s Our Monastery now since we have stayed here twice.)

    The rest of the day was, in this order: nap, lunch, shopping, massage, hot shower, writing this. Next up is dinner.

    Also, this morning’s bacon and eggs breakfast at the guesthouse included fried bread. So good! And also a big bowl of noodles and broth from which we could help ourselves. I described it as “mild” which everyone decided was just a nice way of saying “tasteless” bit I don’t want too much flavour in the morning anyway. I’m liking the asian-style breakfasts I’ve been able to try so far. I still haven’t attempted the rice porridge, though. Maybe soon.

  • October 29, 2019 part 2 – recounting Panda Day,

    Flashback to Sunday, October 27.

    The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding is located about a 1/2 hour drive from Chengdu. We were meant to leave at 7:30 but then the bus was delayed so we all our rooms to use the washroom but then the bus came! So we were on the road by 7:40, arriving at the Panda Base about 1/2 an hour after that. I don’t remember.

    You can read about the Panda Base here.

    We walked around and looked at Pandas.

    There were long queues to observe baby Pandas. They were all behind glass, and by the time we were at the front of the queue and passing by, we got about 20 seconds to see them. Less if the guards started yelling at us to move along.

    There were wee 2-week-old newborns, but I didn’t get a picture because the line was too fast. I got a look at them on the screen of someone else who was taking a photo on their camera, and they looked like pink rats.

    After the pandas we went to a Chinese Opera in Chengdu. It was mostly delightful. I didn’t get any photos of the performance because the phone on my camera didn’t like the light (everyone in the audience was taking photos, or just video-ing the whole thing, so that wasn’t an issue here.) But we were allowed to see a bit of the dressing room with the actors putting on their make-up.

  • October 29, 2019. Emei Mountain.

    It had been a bit of a strange day. Original plan, and that which is on the itinerary was as follows:

    1) Up and ready to go at 6:50am so we could walk down to Emei Shan town for breakfast

    2) 2 hour bus ride up Emei Mountain to cable car station

    3) Ride up cable car to peak of mountain, enjoy Golden Summit temple and views down the mountain.

    4) Cable car ride back to station; bus down portion of mountain

    5) Light lunch

    6) 3 hour hike to monastery for the night. (A different monastery than last night.)

    It was going to be a glorious and rugged day.

    Items numbers 1 and 2 went fine, and we were lined up at the front of the queue, waiting for our turn. And then we waited, and waited and waited. Eventually, our guide came to let us know that the car was broken, and was being fixed. We waited a long while to see if it would get fixed so we could ride up the mountain. After about a 1.5-2 hour wait (i can’t remember exactly) we decided to go get lunch and see if we could try to get on later. But as we were down in the parking lot/outdoor food area, it was announced that there was no certainty that the cable car would be fixed today, so our guide called it off.

    Itinerary has been amended as follows:

    3) Wait in queue for cable car for 1.5-2 hours.

    4) Street food lunch of questionable sausage and a cob of corn

    5) Stand around waiting while the fog gets thicker and colder – the cable car station is probably 3/4 up a mountain.

    6) Decision to go with back-up plan: no cable car and hike to monestary is postponed; immediately sun comes out – but it’s still cold because we’re 3/4 the way up a mountain

    7) Bus for 1 hour or so; dropped off a portion of the way down the mountain

    8) Walk 20 minutes to guesthouse, ending with like 100 killer steps

    9) currently stationed at guesthouse on Emei Mountain, where it’s cold but there are electric mattress pads on the beds

    10) Supper at the guesthouse will be at 6:15pm.

    The plan for tomorrow has changed, since we were meant to be descending from the monastery. Instead we have the option to hike there and back if we want.

    I was cold up the top of the mountain. I’m wearing six layers including my raincoat, all of which I am still wearing because I am still cold in the guesthouse.

    [Brief pause in writing to discuss Hong Kong with roomie].

    I knew it would be cold, but I didn’t want to pack a big jacket just to use for a couple of days. In the days leading up to this part of the trip I suggested that I was going to just wear all of my clothes as a solution to staying warm, and it may have sounded like a joke, but I was serious. I’m wearing all my warm things, cardie/hoodie/ rain jacket over a tank top/t-shirt/long-sleeve shirt combo. It would have been fine if we’d done all the walking we were supposed to do, but a lot of the time was spent waiting, first in a cold queue and waiting room while waiting for the cable car, and then later outside while figuring out what to do next.

    My fine new cashmere scarf helped a great deal.

    I wasn’t too bored waiting in line for the cable car for the first little while because I had a good chat with a teacher from Inner Mongolia. He is traveling around China with his 4-year-old son. He noticed my wee Canada flag on my backpack and asked if I am from Canada, and we started discussing our travel itineraries; and good food; and Buddhism: and good places to visit in Canada. He explained to me the TV show that was playing in the waiting room (a bunch of young women describe themselves without being seen, and then a young man chooses from among them; also, there are experts to help.) He said he prays at temple to help him deal with stress and anxieties and life, and that Buddhist temples will help clean your heart. I agreed with this last part because that is often how I feel when walking through them, even without praying.

    [Longish pause in writing to hbe dinner in the dining room of the guesthouse – very delicious. Also, while out, our room and electric blankets had a chance to warm up. Cozy warm!]

    At dinner our guide provided some changes for tomorrow’s itinerary, which produced much talking over one another in the group. There is now the option to try to get up to the summit again. Otherwise, we can go for a walk down here towards the monastery but not all the way and see a nice view, and then descend the mountain with enough time for massages in the town. I’ve decided that I don’t need to see the summit. As fancy as it looks.

    On the way up to the cable car station, there were monkeys.

    I didn’t want to get too close, but they’d run up to the path and steal snacks. (Not my snacks.)

    Side note: no western toilet in our room at the guesthouse. My roomie and I are dismayed and whining about this.

    Administrative note: I forgot to write about the pandas. I’ll backtrack and write about that soon. Maybe now if I don’t get distracted.

  • October 28 – Monastery at Emei Shan, China

    I’m at a monestary right now where there aren’t any western toilets and we can only take a hot shower between 5:30 and 9:30 PM. But there is the music of a Buddist prayer surrounding our dorms right now, and we are away from city noises and bustle.

    Also the hot shower was really hot and everyone feels better for taking one in a place with no heating.

    Also, very good wi-fi.

    Today on the way here we visited the Giant Buddha at Leshan. It was another scary trip down and then up steep stairs to get a view of the whole Buddha. A beautiful sunny day, and not too crowded, relatively speaking.

    Tonight we exit the monastery for an evening walk around Emei Shan town and to get some dinner. It’s cool at night and I have four layers of clothing so far. I didn’t bring a big jacket, but I have bought a fine cashmere scarf so this should help. We’ll go higher up the mountain tomorrow so I hope this is enough, though the daytime looks to be warm.

  • October 26 – Train from Xi’an to Chengdu and reflections on yesterday’s Terra Cotta Warriors experience.

    The train isn’t too long today, just 4 hours to go to Chengdu. The train ride the other day was 5.5 hours, so a bit of a haul. There’s an overnight train coming up later in the trip, for which we get beds.

    I’m snacking on crab-flavoured peas as I write, and am quite enjoying them. I thought is was a curious flavour combo when I saw them on the shelf in the store, but I like both peas and crab so nothing can go wrong. Also, the words “peas,” “crab,” and “flavor” are all in English so that is helpful.

    The terra cotta warriors were amazing. There are several levels of history, with the original creation on behalf of the first emperor of China 2000 years ago, their subsequent destruction by an invading army not long after, and then the discovery of the remains in the 70’s. The recreation continues to the present day. It’s all presented in a huge and crowded museum complex with massive structures built up around the open archeological pits. Our tour concluded with a meal prepared by local farmers.

    This afternoon is a walking tour of Chengdu. Tomorrow is pandas.

    Right now I’m going to listen to a day-old CBC News at 6 I’ve downloaded. So excited.

    **Side note: Xi’an – pronounced “shi-an” and the “n” at the end it so soft you don’t even close your mouth to pronounce it.

  • October 24 – On the bullet train to Xi’an – in which I will reflect upon yesterday’s trip to The Great Wall

    Part 1 -The Great Wall – October 23, 2019

    Great Wall day started with my lying awake between 3 and 6am or so as I had not yet adjusted to the 15 hour time change yet. I think I fell asleep for a bit because I woke with a start when the alarm went off at 6:30.

    There was a bus journey to the wall that took 2.5 hours. During the ride our guide gave is our first Chinese lesson: we learned how to count from 1 to 5. He then gave us a lesson on the geography of China and a history of the of the Great Wall (I’m going to refer to it as “the wall” from now on.)

    He also strongly suggested to us that instead of hiking up the mountain that we pay to take the cable car to the start of the wall. Some people were curious about the hike, but I had spent the day before complaining about going up too many stairs, so I was getting my money counted-out to pay for the cable car.

    After getting off the bus at the site of the wall, we appreciated the size of the hill going up to the wall, and why they cable car was a good idea. To my eyes it looked like the height and steepness of the blue chair at Mt Washington- though it’s probably not as tall. I have no sense of these things and it’s been a few years since I’ve been skiing. Either way, it had a gondola type cable car that looked like it went straight up. Everyone got tickets.

    **Side note: I’m really digging a packet of Prawn Crackers as I write this. I’ve had them before, but these are special because I have purchased them in Beijing. I’m not having any troubles eating in China so far. The only problem is when buying snacks in convenience stores I can’t read any ingredients. I’m being pretty cautious but I do ok: some dried fruit, fruit cocktail, fresh bananas, instant noodles. I tried some “purple sweet potato bean paste lunch buns” that turned out to be safe but they were really sweet. I’ve left a mostly uneaten package back in Beijing because I didn’t think I’d be able to finish them.**

    The cable car slowed down but didn’t stop so we had to load into a moving car, and then whoosh started going really fast up the hill. Some of my tour mates in the car with me were scared but I wasn’t.

    The Great Wall is long and winds up the mountain like a dragon. There are gates along the way that act as markers, 1 through 20. The cable car deposited us at gate 14 (to be fact checked – I can’t remember), which, according to our guide is the best section as it has been nicely restored.

    It was a beautiful day for a walk on the wall. It was sunny and the sky was (mostly) clear. Entering through the gate, I was overwhelmed with the sight of the wall winding up a mountain of trees and vegetation just starting to turn colour for the fall. Also: many many people having their photo taken against this view.

    The wall is a crazy walk. There are nice smooth bits but these come between steep steps, low steps, gates, and groups of people holding photo shoots. I had some trouble going down some of the high steps because the were steep and high and had nothing to hold onto! I would ‘bum down’ at the very top and then I’d be fine after that.

    Our guide told us to walk at our own pace, and we didn’t have to walk the whole wall if we didn’t want to: we could do whatever our bodies could handle. He also explained how the last (maintained) section of the wall was the steepest.

    It took about 1/2 hour to walk to the last gate before the steep part. I was walking with a woman from my tour group, and we decided to have a break and a snack before attempting the steep part. We were both secretly thinking to ourselves that we might not go up, but after a fee minutes we started up.

    The steep part of the wall is a big staircase made up of stairs of varying widths, heights and depths. It is covered in people of varying levels of fitness going up and coming back down.

    My tour mate and I went up pretty slowly, stopping to rest quite often. Sometimes I’d sit down to look back – it gets very very high and I didn’t want to go into shock when I got to the top.

    I did have a mild panic attach around 1/2 way up as I thought about how high I was and how tired my legs were getting, and worrying I wouldn’t make it back down. I stopped thinking about that and kept going.

    OMG the last part of the stairs to get up to the last tower was nearly straight up and you get up by climbing up high, and super narrow steps. Some people can climb these like normal steps. Other people climb them with hands and feet like a salamander up a wall. I used the latter method.

    At the top of the “last” tower there are a lot of people celebrating, catching their breath and taking photos of the view. It is not really the last tower, bit is the end of the section that has been restored and it maintained.

    I was out of breath and shaky from being tired, but also from being terrified of the height. I was OK though.

    ** Pause in writing to watch scenery from the train, have a snack, listen to a podcast, have a wee snooze, and to take a walk along the train to find a western-style toilet **

    We spent a little while at this tower to rest, and to greet other members of our group who had already made it, and who arrived while we waited. The mountain view was beautiful and it was nice to take the time to admire it while catching my breath.

    Another thing I did here was to look down at the stairs I had just climbed, and felt a bit nauseous about having a go down them again. Very steep and very high. I didn’t cry. Another of my tour mates assured me it was perfectly fine to ‘bum down’ if needed and go very slow.

    For the very steep first part down, which I had just come up using my hands as well as my legs, I took many many very deep breaths (Dad suggested “take a deep breath and go” as his advice before I left for my trip and I applied it here) and bummed down very slowly for the first bit, and then a little quicker for the last few steps.

    My legs were very shaky on the rest of the way down from over-use. I’m sure everyone could see how much they were vibrating. I had to sit down a lot to rest, and I clung to the edge a lot of the way down. At some point, however, as it got lower and the stairs were a bit more even I figured out that just focusing down at the stairs immediately in front of me helped- not looking up at the view that might be distracting and maybe make me miss a stair. I made it down safely.

    The walk back along the wall was easy after doing the steep part, but a bit annoying with shaky-tired legs. Just walking fast seemed to be the solution.

    After we finished walking down the wall and met up with some other members of our group we found a magical cave that was all lot up like a fairyland inside. It was a tranquil place to recover. It was also nice and cool – it was a warm day.

    Then lunch at the wall, the bus back to the hotel, and the rest of the evening was spent exploring Beijing with my group – our last night in the city.

    Part 2 – On the Bullet Train to Xi’an – Present day.

    I’m on the bullet train between Beijing and Xi’an. It’s a 5.5 hour ride, giving me ample time to write. I was worried for a whole because I needed to pee, and I had only seen a squat toilet at the front of our carriage. But it’s ok! I walked back a few carriages and found a western toilet. There was even toilet paper! (I had taken a supply of my own just in case.) I was good to get up and stretch my legs.

    In Xi’an the plan is to get organized at our hotel and the have a walking tour of the Muslim Quarter. Then dinner, I hope. I’ve heard dumplings are the thing here.

  • October 22 – Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City

    I’m very tired and my feet are sore. I’m going to spend the evening my my hotel room with a pot noodle and maybe some colouring.

    Today was a big walking day. First was a walking tour of Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City provided by our tour guide. It was very, very peoply. I expected lots of people all the time, and understand intellectually that China has a large population, but these things have nothing to do with actually being jostled about in an actual crowd of people. At one point, as people had to go through a narrow gate, there was a river of people and I just had to walk along with the flow. Lucky our guide was just on the other side of the gate with his flag.

    However, I have found that at 5’6”, I can stand on my toes at the back of a group who are looking at a particular exhibit and peer over them. Handy.

    After a lunch of dumplings, some of my tour mates and I went to Jingshan Park, which is immediately adjacent to the Forbidden City. There’s a hill one might climb (rocky, uneven stairs are provided for your convenience) to get a view of the Forbidden City from high up. I climbed the stairs. I took the picture. Now my legs hurt.

    We also visited The White Pagoda, which is in another park. The White Pagoda parks was more beautiful than Jingshan Park. Evidence: when I entered I said “Wow! This is amazing!” Also, there are many weeping willow trees surrounding a lake, so it’s hard to compete. Oh, also, the admission price to get into The White Pagoda park was 5 times the cost of Jingshan (10 yuan vs. 2 yuan) so you know it’s something special.

    There were more stairs to get up to the white pagoda. Legs might be sore tomorrow. Does not bode well because tomorrow we’ll be walking THE GREAT WALL.

  • October 21 – McDonalds on Wangfujing Pedestrian Street

    1:15pm

    It’s jet lag day and this little McDonald’s hamburger is really satisfying. I’ve been craving one since I saw a McDonalds during my walk this morning. Of course they were only serving breakfast this morning so now I’m back at lunch time.

    I was out too early this morning, walking along Wangfujing Street (it’s a pedestrian shopping boulevard – 15 min walk from my hotel) and nothing was open yet. It didn’t matter: I had to bail anyway to go back to the hotel for a lie-down. Jet lag! So tired! Can’t sleep!

    Chinese McDonalds! Where the kiosk lets you make your order and sends it to the kitchen before showing you half a dozen forma of payment that you don’t have! Not even an option for cash. Lucky this is a tourist area and the nice girl came up making cash signs and prompted the machine to let me pay that way (like at home, I took my little slip to the cashier). For revenge, I paid with a 100 yuan note. Haha I’m such a tourist. (My order was 26).

    There’s like, totally a mall connected to this McDonald’s. I’m going to look at it.

  • October 21- Jet Lag

    I’ve arrived safely in Beijing.

    My forever-hour plane ride wasn’t as painful as I expected. I just one short layover in Vancouver. Enough time for an egg salad Subway, a quick change into my airplane-ride lounge wear (aka pyjamas. It wasn’t an overnight flight but, well, f it) and then to realize they had started boarding ten minutes early and I still hadn’t done my 5-6 last minute emergency pees. Everything went fine anyway. I was texting with Mum this whole time too, in leiu of a calm phone call from the gate. I ofter have a three or four hour layover and this one was about 1.5 hours so there was no resting. One the bright side, there was also no excessive waiting around either.

    When I got to my hotel last night it was about 7:30 and it was definitely time for bed for me. I had an admittedly half- hearted plan to go exploring and find some food and water and such but I was too tired. Also, it was pretty dark. Also, I was (and still am) still on BC time so I was falling asleep. One thing: the beds are really hard here. I slept anyway.

    Now it’s 4:06 am and I’m awake and ready to go. I slept pretty good from 9pm to 2:30. I tried going back to sleep, but couldn’t stop wondering if maybe I should organize my suitcase a little better? So I’ve organized I that into a more bearable state. Now all i want to do it sleep a little more.

    Images of China so far: big busy highways! I didn’t study the lane changing and merging ettiequte to close because it was stressing me out, but I’ll be happy not to drive here. I had a car and driver team waiting for me a the airport so I didn’t have to stress about anything. They kept good care of me in the transition between airport and hotel and even spelled my name right on the sign they held up at arrivals. So extra points.