and arrived at 6h in the morning, 10h later, to Beijing, ready to sleep!!
we slept a bit and still used the afternoon by going to the Temple of Heaven
located in a garden filled with older people playing, singing, dancing...
before we went for dinner and to meet the group and the guide for the tour
monday we woke up early to go to the impressive Great Wall
built by mandate of Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of China
back to Beijing, we went to the Silk Street market (how stressing)!
and in the evening we still went to Wangfujing and the snack market
tuesday we went through Tiananmen Square straight to the Forbidden City
we spent the morning and had lunch together before climbing Jingshan Park
where we would have had a fantastic view, if not for the permanent fog!
afterwards we went north just the 2 towards the Drum and Bell Towers
where we went in, almost by chance, to the Nanluonguxiang hutong!
in the evening we still managed to go to the olimpic area (nice lights)
and we still went to Qianmen before going to sleep
wednesday, 12h, we were at the Summer Palace up to lunch time (very nice)
and came back to the centre to get the train to Shanghai (12h trip)
thursday, arriving early to Shanghai we left the bags at the hotel before lunch
we took a tour around the city and ended up in the Bund taking pictures
before we got soaking wet with the sudden torrential rain!!
friday we left early towards the Yuyuan Gardens and surrounding Bazaar
the garden is very picturesque with statues decorating the roofs and walls
and close by we visited the City God Temple (taoist)
before the day ended with the chinese acrobats show,
we still passed by the Shanghai Museum (and we though it would be quick)
still saw a kid taking a crap in the subway (into a plastic bag, of course),
and went again to the Bund to take more pictures and eat some chestnuts!
saturday, we crossed over to Pudong and went up the World Finantial Center
we spent the rest of the afternoon on the train towards Xi'an (10h trip)
sunday, 16th, we left our bags at the hotel and walked to the centre
where a fantastic and varied dumpling banquet was awaiting us
after that we went to the Southern City Gate and climbed the walls
where we spent a few hours walking and watching people in the gardens
(lots of people exercising and playing ping-pong!)
and, finally, we visited the Mosque and had dinner in the muslim quarter
monday we left in the morning by bus to see the Terracotta Army!
not only was it fantastic seeing al those statues (still under excavation)
but it is impressive that this is only a small part of the tomb
of Qin Shihuang (the same that built the Great Wall)!!
after coming back, we spent the rest of the afternoon in Shu Yuan Men
tuesday morning we took the plane (the only one in the tour) to Chengdu
after the check-in, we went for a tour of the teahouses
and there was still time to go to the Baihuatan Park before the Ópera
wednesday, 19th, was a full day, starting with the Giant Pandas!!
after many many pictures of this laid back animal (and the Red Vermelho),
we continued to Leshan to see the Giant Buddha (1h in the staircase)
and all the surrounding area, filled with temples and buddhist monasteries
and after continued to Emei Shan where we spent the night in a temple!!
the next day (after dumplings from the bag, at breakfast),
we went to the top of the mountain (and fortunately the fog was going away)!
on the way we saw the ingenious tibetan macaques harassing the tourists
that afternoon we did not do much, after all we also needed a rest!!
friday, we left by bus to Chongqing (6h always honking, very stressful!!)
where we dined and strolled around before taking President 6 in the Yangtze
saturday morning we docked in Fengdu where we visited the "netherworld"!
and spent the rest of the day enjoying the landscape and resting!
at night we still heard some chinese karaoke (1h was our limit)
the next day we went finally into Yangtze's 3 gorges
there we went, always surrounded by numerous cargo ships,
first Qutang (most impressive before the dam...)
then Wu where we left in Badong to visit the Shen Nong river
beautiful but completely different (before was much nicer!)
still that night we arrived at the Dam and went down the ship locks
monday, the 24th, we left the boat early and got a took a bus (5h trip)
to Wushan, where we got the train to Guilin (arround 15h)
tuesday morning we still got a bus (1 more hour) to Yangshuo,
were we had breakfast, still before doing the check-in!!
we did an orientation walk through the city and went up a hill
in the afternoon we went with the group to a local farmers' market
where we saw the local specialties (among which were snake, frogs and dog)
on the way to a ride in river Lijang (close to the picture in the 20 Yuans bill)
where we walked around the local farmers' fields and villages
in the evening, after dinner, we went to see the Impressions Sanjie Liu
an impressive show with too many participants!!
the next day was all spent on a bike, in the outskirts of Yangshuo...
we went past many rice fields, locals ploughing the land with Buffalos,
we took a swim in the Yulong river and some went rafting in the rapids
before we went for lunch at the house of a local farmer (very good!)
afterwards, we still went up the Moon Hill before going back to town,
back through the field, where we visited some farmer' houses
thursday we started the morning with a trip to the town's market,
(again impressive due to the animals there: dog and cat)
before a chinese cooking lesson in a local restaurant
in the afternoon we took again the night train towards Hong Kong
friday we arrived at Hong Kong after lunch (took a while, in the border!!)
the hotel was right in the mega populated area of Mong Kok
and we still took a peek in the markets in the Jordan area before dark,
when the popular Symphony of Lights started (what a disappointment...)
saturday, 30th, we spent the day in Macau (1h away by boat)
from the Harbour, we went to Kun Iam Tong temple and then to Guia,
where we went around the garden and visited the Lighthouse
afterwards we went to the Leal Senado and had lunch in the area
afterwards we went to the other side of the peninsula, to the A-Ma temple
and came walking to the centre through the Mandarin House (realy nice!)
towards the famous St Paul ruins (just a façade...)
we still went past the Lou Lim Ieoc garden before going back to the Harbour
back to Hong Kong, we still went up the long Escalator
and went to the bars' and shops' area of the Soho
sunday, the last day in Hong Kong, we left early to the Kowloon garden
and after some people watching, we kept going to Victória Peak
back down, we crossed the Hong Kong Park before going back to the Hotel
to get the taxi to the airport and the plane to Beijing,
from where we got the plane back to Frankfurt and back home!
this was a fantastic trip, both for the country and for the cultural shock!
and the tour was excellent both for the guides and for the group!
undoubtedly experiences to repeat (tours with G and trips to the orient)
