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| We visited China over Easter 2001, starting in Hong
Kong and then making a twenty one day tour, ‘Yangtse and the South
West’, with Imaginative Traveller.We concluded our trip in Beijing
with extra time there to explore before returning home…….
"We stayed in hotels (which varied in the quality of facilities provided and style – some very basic and with somewhat unreliable electrics and water supplies) and experienced a wide range of transport, including lots of walking. There were eight of us on the tour plus our guide, starting in Hong Kong (too noisy and brash for our liking) and then we flew to Guilin in Southern China." We had a wonderful day cruise on the Li River to Yangshuo through limestone karst scenery. Yangshuo is a small town (compared to most cities in China which have populations in the millions) and very friendly. A cycle ride (motorcycle rickshaw for those not so fit)
to Moon Hill which has a hole in the middle – has to be seen to
be believed, plus a visit to a local school to speak to the children
and answer questions (lots of amazement when I told them I had three
children).Back to Guilin by minibus (and visit to the Reed Flute Caves)
to fly to Kunming in the southwest – where we went to the amazing
Shilin stone forest – eroded rocks of the most fantastic shapes,
and visit to the Bamboo Temple, with its surfing Buddhas. Overnight
train (with couchettes) to Leshan (more temples and Buddhas) and then
to Chengdu and the Panda Research Institute. Although the enclosures
were larger than in most zoos they were nevertheless enclosures and
quite bare compared to the Pandas’ natural habitat of bamboo forests. By overnight train to Luoyang and more temples (White
Horse Temple and Buddhas in the Longmen Caves - by then we were starting
to feel ‘Buddha’d out’!). On to Xian where we arrived
in snow, but warmed up the following day when we visited the Terracotta
Warriors – awe-inspiring (and so were the sheer numbers of souvenir
sellers!). Finally to Beijing and visits to the Forbidden City, Tianamen
Square, the Summer Palace and Chairman Mao’s embalmed body in
his mausoleum and then perhaps the overall highlight of the trip –
a 12 kilometre trek on the Great Wall. We were blessed with a beautifully
clear day and sunshine and could see for miles. However 12k on an uneven
surface which goes up and down at 45º angles is very tiring and
hard on the knees and legs. |
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