13/7/10 - Final Destination.

With another epic train journey behind us we arrived in Hong Kong, the last stage of my travels.

After going out for our final meal as a group, we headed to the waterfront to watch the light show that they play every evening. It uses all the largest buildings, and was quite impressive. I apologise for the photographs (don't enlarge them), I didn't have my gorrilapod with me.

Afterwards we wandered around looking for a bar to spend the rest of the evening. Unfortunately we found a karaoke bar. I wont want to hear Lady Gaga again for some time...

Later than was advisable seeing as most of us were either switching accommodation in the morning or leaving for home, we said our final goodbyes and returned to the hotel.

11/7/10 - All the Hair.

After a breakfast of a pancake which was actually a crepe (the difference being that crepes suck) and a hastily ordered scrambled egg with toast we set off on our walk through the Longi Rice Terraces.

Near the top of a hill just outside the village we experienced one of those random acts of kindness that every so often make people seem worthwhile. Sharon was struggling somewhat with this uphill portion of our walk when an older man passed by. Seeing that she was having some difficulty he whipped out his machete (I'll admit that this was initially alarming). He then disappeared into the woods and returned with a large, sturdy branch for her to use as a hiking pole. I was impressed.

At a village half way along our walk some of the local women were doing a demonstration of how long their hair is. They have three sets which they tie together. They grow their hair without cutting it until they reach adulthood at which point they have their only haircut. They keep this hair. Next they have their new hair which they don't cut, and finally they have all the hair that falls out over time. They tie these three sets into one uber ponytail and wrap it around their heads. This came across as a mix between impressive and, to be brutally honest, disgusting. In my humble opinion that is too much hair...

Anyway, the rice terraces are a spectacular place to go for a walk. As you move around the side of the hills you can see hundreds of terraces. It must have taken a considerable amount of time to construct them all.

My one major complaint about the experience came from the people in general. They have a stunningly beautiful home, and yet they litter constantly. Even the elderly were just dropping wrappers as they went. I was surprised and disappointed by this.

10/7/10 - I know kung fu.

In the morning the group split up to do a few different activities. By split up I mean everyone else went to try Tai Chi while I went to try Kung Fu. I'm pretty sure I made the right choice.

Most of the moves I was familiar with from karate (except for the Dragon stance which no amount of explanation will make less silly) with the major difference being the reasoning behind the moves. In karate they are explained as being how your body works best to generate power while in kung fu it is the same but with a lot of Yin and Yang being mentioned. What it boils down to is that kung fu uses soft and hard movements so you can use it all your life while martial arts like Muay Thai are not of much use to older people as they rely only on the hard moves. It was interesting enough that I may look into it again at some point.

After a hurried return to the hotel and a quick shower we were then off to the rice terraces.

The brief trek up to our guest house for the night was pleasant and ,as it was at the top of one of the hills, the view was excellent. While we waited for dinner we unleashed the glory of balloons upon the unsuspecting children who lived here and watched them mess around with them. The smallest boy was remarkably adept at bursting them with his entire body weight and landing flat on his face to no apparent detriment. We ran out of balloons quickly with him there.

The best meal I've had in ages was the dinner here, although that may have been partly due to the White Russians I taught them to make. They had the components...

9/7/10 - Moon Hill

Today most of us went for a bike ride outside the town (the terrain was a lot less treacherous than my last ride). Our guide was a local named Terry. I'm guessing that's his English name.

The landscape was even more impressive once you left the main part of the town, but none of it compared to the hat I saw a child wearing. It had a solar powered fan on it, which, in this heat, might just be the best thing ever invented.

When we arrived at Terry's home his parents (they have the whole extended family living under one roof thing going on) made us a very nice lunch. During the course of the meal we discovered that the house was built by Terry and his friends, and that the reason this and many of the other buildings had an unfinished top floor is because it avoids paying some sort of tax required of completed buildings. This has to be one of the more moronic laws I've heard in quite some time.

After lunch we cycled to and hiked up Moon Hill where once again the saleswomen descended upon us, despite us showing them our large bottles of water. Their's was cold, the proclaimed in broken English.

I caught a break on this climb, however, when I heard the one that had latched onto me panting. Upon the sudden realisation that I was fitter than she was, I was off. Walks in China are very pleasant without the ambient noise produced by people trying to sell things.

8/7/10 - Calligraphy.

Now rested I went for a wander around Yangshuo in the morning and it is only improved by daylight. The scenery is the type you often see in Chinese films.

After my wandering I went with a small group to try calligraphy. It is a pleasant enough pastime. Only with the complexity of kanji could you turn the aesthetics of writing into an art form. We learned to write the numbers 1 to 10, various symbols meaning health, wealth and happiness, and how to write our names.

I am MaKu.

In the evening we all went to a bar to celebrate Aurora's birthday where she made use of China's lack of a drinking age. The American 21 seems like a ridiculous time frame to me.

7/7/10 - Yangshuo.

After a 25 hour train journey and a 2 hour bus journey we arrived in Yangshuo with the mindframe, "this better be worth it."

Fortunately it is. The surrounding landscape is spectacular, with a huge number of mountains surrounding the town.

We arrived late and most of us were shattered (save for Dustin who can sleep through anything for an indefinite period of time) so we had a quick wander around followed by a meal before turning in.

5/7/10 - Pointlessly Impressive/ Impressively Pointless.

Today I went for a wander around Shanghai with Rick the token Australian on our tour. We visited the People's Park (they like names like this) which was a pleasant enough place. Here we were acosted by a group of students wishing to practice their English. I don't think they'd counted on Rick though. The man can hold every side of a 6-way conversation.

Once they had fled in abject terror (lucky sods) we continued on to the Shanghai Museum. It was an interesting enough museum (I'd recommend avoiding the seal* section though). The iron section was my favourite. They could get remarkable ammounts of detail into their work.

In the evening most of us went to see an acrobatics show. The acts varied from very impressive to very impressive but you've wasted your life learning that. Some skills just do not look good no matter how hard you work to learn them. Seriously, I don't care how many plates you're spinning, that guy just did a triple backflip through a hoop higher than I am.

My favourite act thought so much of itself that they had to give themselves a handicap (it was to Celine Dion's The Heart Will Go On) just to make it fair to the other acts. Two people messing around with two long pieces of cloth coming from the ceiling, using them to fly around the place. It looked great fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w-4vQWBsOU

That is an example of it though not quite as impressive and with a less cheesy soundtrack.

The final act was also good. They had a large, spherical, metal cage in which they put increasing numbers of motorbike riders answering that age old question of how many motorcyclists can you fit in a giant metal sphere. Five apparently.

*The stamps, not the animals**.

**Unless you think they're interchangeable, you monster.

4/7/10 - The Floor is Lava!

Once more I stepped out of an airconditioned room and had my glasses instantly steam up. There is a possibility that this'll happen for the rest of the trip...

We spent the morning wandering Zitang again before catching a bus back to Shanghai. It is an impressive city and I like it considerably more than Beijing. I still find the lack of what I consider common courtesy (as well as the homicidal nature of the drivers; pedestrian crossings are merely targets) odd. People can collide with you, hit you with bags or umbrellas without saying a work or even look apologetic. I watched dozens of people pass a woman struggling to get her luggage up some stairs before I reached her and helped out. People will force their way past without saying "excuse me" or the equivalent and you can forget about queueing.

They are nice enough people when you talk to them though, and I am enjoying my time here. It is just the most different place I've been culture wise.

On a lighter note, we were walking down a busy street when a few drops of water hit the ground. Anyone familiar with the game "the floor is lava!" will have an idea of what the next part looked like. Suddenly people were screaming and there was a mass exodus towards shop doorways (which I of course followed). A few seconds later and some of the heaviest rain I've ever seen started falling. Even with our umbrellas up in testudo formation the rain splashing from the pavement drenched us up to our knees. Salespeople appeared with umbrellas of course.

3/7/10 - From a Postion of Power?

We arrived at Shanghai today. I stepped off the train and my glasses immediately steamed up. It was incredibly humid. Thankfully we were heading straight to Zitang.

Not before a thunderstorm hit us of course. Rick held to his principles as he bargained over the price of an umbrella while getting absolutely drenched.

One bus journey later and we were in Zitang where is was ludicrously humid but not raining. We got to our hostel via rickshaw; the only way to travel. China continued with its relentless torrent of stupid bathrooms, this time having the entire room being a shower with the added bonus of no working light. Fun times ensued.

This town is described as the Venice of China, and it is very pleasant.

Some of MI3 was filmed here apparently. Never saw the film.

The day ended with some of us in a bar watching Germany decimate Argentina.

2/7/10 - Cats.

Nothing much happened today other than the beginning of the sleeper train journey to Shanghai. We played Euchre.

For Tuomo I post this:

... and for the sake of it I post this:

1/7/10 - Mecha Terracotta Warrior.

I finally got to see the Terracotta Army today.

They have only excavated a small portion of what exists and it is still very impressive. There are about 8000 warriors apparently and they've only uncovered about 1000.

Progress is slowed by the desire to avoid oxidation that ruins the colouring of the soldiers.

Each of the soldiers is unique, but my favourite is mecha terracotta warrior, who was clearly only ever deployed in times of desparate need.

Also of note today is that I learned to play the card game Euchre. We have a 17 hour train journey coming up...

30/6/10 - And Safe.

I'll admit that after the huge overcrowding, horrible sales approach and polution filled skies I was not particularly impressed with Beijing and was worried that the rest of China would follow suit. It came as a relief to find that Xi'an was more to my liking. Far less crowded (though still having a population greater than that of Scotland) and with visible blue sky and more laid back sales people I was much happier here.

After settling into our hostel, which has our first sensible bathroom of the stay*, a group of us went to the city wall and hired bikes to ride around the top of it. An enjoyable if very hot time.

In the evening we tried Dim Sum which turns out to be exceptionally average, before heading over to see Asia's biggest musical water fountain show. This was immense fun as you can wander into the fountains and get completely drenched. I have videos, but uploading them here would take an age.

*Having the shower be the entire bathroom is stupid. All you end up with is a very wet toilet.