Happiness as a function of expectation

Happiness is relative, relative to many factors including, freedom, agency, and importantly to this note, expectation. Travelling in developing countries it is not hard to find genuine happiness in the people, even though they may have little food, no TV, no night clubs and street cafe's. With little to expect from life, each small thing received, experienced and gained can bring happiness. On our TV's we have seen the tears of happiness of a person who receives a gift we wouldn't look twice at. If it is unexpected, the smallest event can bring genuine happiness, even in circumstances of great poverty.

For the developed world, with its many distractions and opportunities, a crisis of happiness seems to be a topic of increasing concern. If people with so little can gain happiness why, when we have so much opportunity and freedom is it so hard. I suggest the following.

In today's media driven the world, a principle driver of expectations is what we see on the TV, and advertisements. These foster an expectation that certain emotions are delivered through consumer spending and the acquisition of goods. This consumer culture is criticised as being the source of unhappiness as it supplies an instant gratification but not a sustainable or meaningful happiness. This consumer culture is further embedded, due to a critical mass living a consumer life. In addition to the media, it is the drive to live as ones peers do that drives a consumer happiness culture to become a larger collective movement.

However the consumer culture may not be the direct source of this unhappiness but an indirect source. Maybe it is the expectation that surrounds that consumerism that is the problem. By presenting images to the community, that bear no resemblance to that of the average life, we build expectations that we should be living the life presented even though it is an artificial construct.

When the purchasing of goods fails to deliver the lifestyle as presented, or we are unable to purchase to goods to get the lifestyle that we believe others seems to have, our expectations are unsatisfied leaving us depressed. A sense of inadequacy and failure can enter the mind against for what is in reality a false idea in the first place.

With so much of our information about our world, viewed through the lens of media, rather than directly and personally, are we able to discern what the normal and real life of others really is, so that we can set our expectations more realistically?

Fast trains and bureaucratic encounters - the end (Asia trek pt 28

We'll we are almost there, unfortunately I keep on thinking of more things to write, and so it seems like it never ends.

After another night of watching the football, I woke up in preparation for my tour to Suzhuo. thinking that there would be more people from the hostel going on the tour I was surprised when I was the only one to rock up in the morning. Provided with my own personal van taking me to the centre of the city where the tour bus was waiting. Something clicked. I did not see any other foreign tourists in the area and certainly none of them were getting on my bus. It turns out, as I should have realised given that most of the tourist industry in China is local, that it was a Chinese tour delivered entirely in Chinese. It would have been nice if the person I had booked with had let me know!!

As a result it was a quiet day for me as I did not talk or listen much. I just followed the herd as best I could, with the tour guide helping me out occasionally with the little bit of English she had. The drive from Shanghai out to Suzhuo takes about an hour through the flat but developing area west of Shanghai. On arrival into the city which is not exactly clear the bus winds through small streets before dropping us of at the first garden. Suzhuo is famous for it Chinese garden though there aren't many left is what the tourists come to see. And they come there on mass. The peaceful tranquility of these gardens is largely lost as the masses of Chinese tourists herd through them, with guides carrying flag and trying to use portable loudspeakers to the best effect. But despite this unique insight into Chinese style tourism, the gardens are impressive in their complexity and beauty, if there weren't another 100 tourist walking around at the same time.

The tour is built to be entertaining but also to make money. As can be found on tours in other countries, part of the cost of the tour is subsidised by companies paying for tourist to come through their shops and hopefully buy something. This was entertaining as I was taken to a silk factory (interesting to see the difference between handmade silk in Laos and Vietnam and the fully industrialised process here), a tea pot factory, which sold tea pot that were air tight and very expensive. In addition a short boat tour through the canals, and row boat exit out of one of the gardens and temples with hefty nine storey pagoda's. These provided view across grey skies over the small part of the old city that are left with the newer buildings in the backgrounds, which stand out in there repetitiveness.

All these things were entertaining but the most eventful moment was being watched by all the others as I struggled with the menu at lunch. With a little help I managed to get there and actually enjoyed a good meal. but that stage people started to warm to me and though they couldn't communicate with me smiles of acknowledgement and a willingness to try an help became evident. Back on the bus the afternoon viewing continued before some confusion about who was on what bus heading back (i had no problems here) to Shanghai. On the way we passed an endless stream of in progress apartment block, high voltage transmission lines and roads heading in different directions. It is clear from this stretch of road why the Chinese are consuming so much concrete and other resources even though on a per capita basis the people of
China are not being showered with wealth. May you be blessed that you have a backyard.

Arriving back in the evening, the coming night was the big clash between the Netherlands and Russia to qualify for the semi-finals of Euro 2008 (yes I am a little late in writing this). By this stage I had made substantial contact with a few long term residents of the hotel and we arranged a big night ahead culminating in the game at 3am in the morning. The evening started off with a few drink at the hostel before heading off to one of the more foreigner dominated clubs in town, and at 100 yuan entrance fee you can understand why. however, given that you are located on a top floor balcony on the Bund overlooking the river and Pudong business region all lit up like times square on the it is kind of worth it. the club had a good DJ with a live saxophone player wandering and mingling with the crowd throughout the evening. Outside on the deck the chilled atmosphere and warm air made for quite experience. The night wore one and I was becoming increasingly anxious about the match, so I hassled my companions to leave and leaving some behind took of in a taxi to the French Concession, where there was a supposed expat bar. My sidekicks new a bit of Chinese making it easier to navigate but even then we could find the exact place so we got dropped of on the street

Now, we hard heard that there was quite a party going for the European championship at a ex-pat bar in the area. So we walked around, got half lost , asked for directions and eventually ended up in the right place. It was clearly evident we were in the right place as we descended into a sea of Orange with hefty chants going on between the majority Dutch and a small but centralised group of Russian. the game was a up and down but the Dutch weren't playing the football that was winning many fans in the earlier matches. This led to an increasingly subdued Dutch crowd as the game wore on, only spurred by the occasional chance on goal. Eventually the Russians ran away with the game an dreary Dutch fans started filtering out of the bar on to the streets, where for the following hours you could see small bands of orange men wandering with head bowed to find the scarcely available taxi's

That night was the beginning of my last day in Shanghai. After returning to the hotel, after a stop a Macdonald on the way, I pulled a few hours sleep before go out to check off a final few things. first on the list was the Maglev. Shanghai has the only commercially operational (i doubt viable) Maglev train in the world, which transports people to the airport. Beginning at one of the exterior metro stations in shanghai it makes the 30km journey in 7 min and 20 sec reaching a top speed of 431km. I was full of expectation of a very fast comfortable ride in a whisper quiet space age train. Unfortunately reality was a little more, well? Reality! Far from being a smooth ride the Maglev bumps a jots the same if not more than an average train. It is however a special ride especially when the two train across with a cumulative speed of over 600 km per hour. The train almost hits you as it comes past and is gone before you know it. Hoping to take some photo's I pulled out my camera only to realise that I had left my batteries back at the hotel.

those short 7 min ended and I got out of the train and wandered off to get some batteries while a significant amount of other passengers walk out of the exit and straight back through the entrance. I guess I am not the only one to take the train for no reason. My batteries secured I got on the returning train, where I was able to take some blurry photos of the country side whizzing past with car almost looking like they are driving backwards. But to no surprise the return trip was much the same as the way there on these almost entirely computer controlled trains.

Back in the city I headed back to the hotel to do some shopping in the local area. I shoe shop I had walked past everyday for the last few day, provided the perfect opportunity to picking up some new footwear. The Chinese branded shoes, i expected, would fall apart immediately, however six month later they are still providing sturdy ankle support. It seems the Chinese can make good product, they just don't export it, as with their electric motorcycles?

The other shops provided nothing of interest, so I packed my bags are prepared for the trip back to Beijing at the end of the evening. I shanghai the metro provides easy mobility at the train station is sufficiently indicated in roman text, that I was able to navigate my way to the right platform and train. Another comfortable overnight sleeper to Beijing, where I pretty much woke up as we were pulling into the station.

Arriving in Beijing the public transport situation is much less desirable with buses incomprehensible and the metro network not being anywhere near the train station. So taxi is pretty much the only option but the lines are long. Seeing the initial line I was hoping that it would diminish after a while so I went and sat on the vast station square and watched the people walk by. After an hour though the line hadn't diminished so I joined the line like everyone else, leaving behind a now superfluous pair of shoes for someone to collect. In end the wait was not long as there were many taxi to pick people up.

I asked him to take me too an area just south of Tiananmen square, a despite my best efforts to speak in Chinese, only the lonely planet could save me from ended up in the middle of nowhere. The are has a lot of 'hutong' which are small streets that used to occupy a large section of Beijing but since the modernisation began a lot has be replaced. However this small area, popular with tourists still provided a lively impression of what was one more common in Beijing. Walking down the street, busy with builders preparing the city for the Olympics, I made my way to my pre-booked hotel for one night before my flight the next day.

Finding the lively and friendly hostel I walked to the front desk to check in. Handing over my passport all was well until she checked my visa. While the 30 day visa had today as the final day on it, officially the via expired the previous day, and anyway my flight was the tomorrow. I had without a doubt overstayed my visa. I did this knowingly, and I had checked the Chinese government website and foreigner were officially given 10 days grace to get out of the country. After showing my flight ticket the next day she and her manager that was brought to assess the case they were still unconvinced. So they called the local police bureau in order to get clarification on the rules, but after multiple phone calls and explaining there was no option for it. I would not be able to stay there. Dejected and a little angry I left to find another hostel, but after trying two other hostels each had the same response, all that was left for me to do was go to the PSB to try and get my visa extended.

I left my baggage at the hostel, which they kindly put in a store for me and hopped in a taxi to the PSB office at the other end of town, Kassa-ching!! Arriving at the large bureaucratic office building with a fine fitout, I walked upstairs to the visa section, where I found an enclave of ex-patriots waiting in line to apply for/extend visa. Fortunately the overstayed visa section had no line so I skipped to the front and awaited my turn.

As I walked to the desk, watching reams of paperwork being signed an copied by the preceding person I was not counting my luck. I approach the lady behind my desk and pleaded my case, handing over passport and ticket and evidence. After a moment she pass and clarified, 'you are leaving tomorrow?' 'Yes' I replied hoping for a break. Then she looked at me a said, I can't do anything as it takes ten days to create a new visa, you need to call this number. She scribbled a number on this paper. I took the paper with little clear idea as to what the number was for and headed down to the front desk where I was told there was a public phone.

I managed to get my message across that I needed to make a phone call to the lady behind the counter and dialled the number full of trepidation. The person on the other end of the line spoke and understood a broken English and to this day I am not sure what message I got a across and what it achieved, but I got the assurance that everything would be fine if I left tomorrow and there was nothing more they could do. this was all good and well, and I was somewhat reassured but it still didn't help me find a bed for the night. I returned to the area where I had left my bag but further discussion yield no opportunity to sleep. So once again leaving my bags I wandered the area in hope of finding a not so smart attendant that would not look too closely at my passport and allow me to stay.

I found one a little out of the way that asked the question but when I said I was leaving the next day were happy to take me in. I think that while I personally was not in any great difficulty the police that could come around and check who was staying at the hotels, could slap the hotel with a hefty fine or revoke the licence if found to be housing foreigners who had overstayed their visa's. I had secretly hoped that something difficult and distressing would happen on my trip and on the last day in Asia I managed to achieve such a thing. I checked in to a dorm room where two other girls were sleeping, but after about a minute I decided to leave that room and take a whole room to myself. There is something about travelling in plane that makes you want to have a bit of privacy and a good night sleep before you fly.

After checking in and freshening up I took the new beijing metro to take me to the pearl market for some cheap shopping. There I bought a few t-shirts for the family kids and and a few other small things. With a light rain falling through the grey clouds, I walked into the nearby temple of heaven park to pursue a last errand for myself. A week earlier I had seen some paintings apparently painted at a school in Xian, but being shown and sold in the park. I um'd and ahh'd at the time to buy it and had since decided while in Shanghai that I I would purchase the four paintings at $40 a pop (which now after some internet research seems to be overpriced) . The painting each reflecting one of the four seasons, was quite an impressive set. However now walking into the park and going to the store I was to found it shut. With a wad full of cash in my hand and nothing to do with it, disappointed I returned to my hotel.

Dropping off my new found goodies I headed out for my last meal in China. Fortunately there was a hot pot restaurant in the alley where I stayed who warmly coaxed me inside. Sitting down I ordered with some assistance from the waitress. What I ended up with was a big bowl of hot water and endless vegetable and meat to cook in it. It was a feast for four, but there I was on own. Drawing the gaze of all those that entered the restaurant. I took me well over an hour to get through the food without leaving too much behind and I was thoroughly stuffed. I waddled around the streets for a while looking for somewhere to drink another beers. However the long day got to me and instead I returned to my bedroom, to rest and get a good night sleep before my flight the next day.

in the morning after check I wandered up the alley, to the main road to get a taxi to the airport. The long 40 min drive to the airport is the only accessible via taxi,
which are luckily still very cheap. Crossing over onto various ring roads, it was my final salute to China and Asia as I left after 6 months of wanderings. The greyed out and polluted sky still unrelenting, despite a mere month until the Olympic games. Arriving at the the Beijing airport, which is a model of simplicity I was almost out of the country when the lady behind the check in counter got concerned about my overstayed Visa. I explained the situation and after she brought the manager over and all was sorted. Immigration didn't even blink a eye at my passport as I moved into airside, neutral territory, ready to depart. Hoping to do some duty free shopping on the way out, I was disappointed that the airport had almost nothing to sell that was of interest to me, as I could not buy liquids as I had a connecting flight in Europe. This was further exacerbated when my flight was delayed for a few hours. So I sat there and waited. Once on the flight as went as usual as I peered out the window as a final goodbye.

The six months had been interested, perspective changing and fun, even though at times I was tormented with loneliness and had to stave off my demons. But I got through it, with nothing negative of significance occurring. A pocketful of memories to take with me, I knew and know that I would miss Asia and wish to return particularly to China, where I only had one month to explore the vast country. There is so much more to these countries than I have been able to tell you, but I hope I have given more than just a travel diary, but more of an isight into how these countries work and what makes them tick.

I thank all who have stayed will me on this journey and taken the time to read these at times excessively long narratives. Also, I would like to thank those travellers and people that accompanied, advised, guided and put up with me over those six months. May you travels and lives be as lucky as mine.

Thank you for reading! :)

P.S Don't forget the actual website were additional materials and photos can be found in abundance! "ignatris.blogspot.com"

Scammed in Shanghai (Asia trek pt27)

My last stop, Shanghai the most metropolitan city in China and aslo the city the most vareid skyline I have been to. With every building trying to outdo its neighbour leading to stunning vistas of the river from the Bund. Arriving at the train station in Shanghai, I was confronted with the first substantial rain that I had experienced in a while. Unfortuately for me I had to walk through it pack and all to get to my hotel. Doubly unfortunate the instructions to the hotel said I had to walk north which sent me in the wrong direction as it was actually northwest and only after walking in the rain for about 15min did it dawn on me that I walk probably not heading in the right direction. Backtracking, and trying to find clues as to where I should be I finally made it to the right place and checked in without hassles.

The continued inclement weather and unreliable forecasts made it difficult to plan when to do things. On the agenda was a day trip to Suzhuo to visit the old Chinese gardens. But with the uncertainty regarding the weather the planning became difficult.

After changing into some fresh clothes I decided to take on the weather with my umbrella and go explore the city. Shanghai thankfully has a very good and easy to understand metro system that transports you seemlessly around the city. I decided to make headway for the museum in the centre and after arriving in the centre, was unable to find it, until half an hours of wandering. By this stage the weather cleared (as it would everyday) and I decided to walk the main street down to the harbour overlooking the Pudong district and the Bund. The Bund is a row of early to mid century buildings built for the financial district of which parallels have been drawn with Wall street in the US but I have not been there! On the whole the view is impressive and Shanghai for me is right up there with best skyline in the world, particularly due to the odd rocket shaped building that is the communications tower.

Watching the view and people taking photo's of people in front of the view, I was approached by three young Chinese students that spoke reasonable English. They are part of a scam that is also found in Beijing to sell cheap art work a inflated prices (according to the lonely planet, which I didn't rally read.) they invited me to look at their collection and with nothing better to do I went with them all the while to to there gallery on the 7th storey of an office building. They showed me through their collections of works highlighting those works that they created themselves. the work on the whole was pretty ordinary, however some works which were created by the teachers were actually quite good. I wasn't intending to buy, but was eventually compelled to buy a set of four seasonal painting. Unfortunately I didn't have enough money (precisely to avoid losing too much money on scams) I had to make a deposit and then go all the way to my hotel and back to the city with the additional money. Upon my return, a little late the bill was settled and my three little assistants escorted to a relatively fancy restaurant, where I sat awkwardly on my own consuming my meal with a beer. I am still not sure why the girls escorted me to the restaurant. I did invite them in but they refused, saying they had a prior appointment.

Afterwards tired and with little else to do I returned to the hostel, The hotel thankfully had a very nice common area in which to relax and heading toward the final stages of the European championships, I made good use of the projection screen with other football fans in the hotel. Supporting Germany in their quest towards a win.

Going to sleep early in the morning I woke up a little late and was lacklustre in my energy, and so hung around the hotel for while, eating breakfast. With wet weather still predicted I was in no hurry to get out there. As the day wore on the temperature increased and the sun started intermittently shining through the clouds. This compelled me to re-evaluate my plans and I decided to go wander through the French Concession, and area of Shanghai that was setup along side other international settlements in the latter 19th century. this area which retains a lot of it low rise buildings and tree lined streets is good for shopping and wandering , with many boutique shops and cafe's. Me being on my own, I didn't stop to hang around and spent the time wandering, staring into peoples compounds and wandering past Sun Yat Sen's residence, before finding a seat in
the nearby park for a few hours. There I watched people dancing, practicing tai-chi, playing with their kids, talking and seeing a group of loud mouth foreigners making a mockery of a statue of Lenin.

As the evening rolled in I left the park and walked to the nearest metro station and returned to the hotel. Back at the hotel I started talking to some of the other guest. Interestingly China seems to draw a different type of tourist than the rest of south east asia. Many of the foreigners I met at the hostel were looking at staying in China for a long period of time and many were also intending to work. Something that I rarely came across in south east asia. They kept me occupied for the evening before returning to bed frustrated that the scheduled rains that were supposed to come, weren't arriving continuing to a vagary to my plans.

The next morning I woke up with a conviction that in-spite of the weather I would take a tour to Suzhou, on the recommendation of Anson the tour guide, so I went to the front desk and booked the tour with no difficulties. I thought I would spend the rest of the day at the Shanghai museum, which again cam highly recommended. Now fully proficient with the excellent metro system I took the long way to get to the centre, to see a bit more of the city. Stepping out of the metro station I walked towards the museum. By this stage I was somewhat ready for scams, having been had by one, so when the first group of students approach me to share a traditional tea ceremony with them I declined, however the second group convinced me, mainly because I was curious rather than I wanted to lose my money.

For a supposedly very old and traditional tea house, it happened to be located on the third floor of a shopping centre. hmmm? Anyway, I was led into a small room where the students continued with their idle chit chat, before asking me to pick number between one and ten. Already a bit suspicious of their intent I refused to give an number until they told me what for. turned out what ever number you said was the amount of types of tea you would be trying. With the number trick failed we agreed that I would pick one and the other three would pick one each.

They then handed me the menu with the tea selections on them and the prices. I can't remember what exactly what they were, but they ranged from reasonable to 'hello, I am not a rich man!!' Anyway we selected our teas, with the cost being split evenly between the four of us. As we progressed through the whole ceremony with it's sniffing, eye moisturising and eventually drinking, we continued to share stories. By this stage the individual character started to emerge. There was a very self confident female that was starting to annoy me, a relatively nice and easy going girl and a guy, obviously new to the game, that was being harassed in not so subtle language by the two girls. time and tea rolled on and I was starting to get a little concerned about the price and some rather 'special' teas were starting to appear on the table. I made it clear to them that we should stop as I could not afford to pay. They said, 'its okay, just put t on your credit card!' Now it had been a policy of mine throughout my travels not to carry around my credit or bank cards in case I was mugged and to use cash as much as possible. It turned out to be a real blessing as I could clearly see how much money I had and that was the limit. Due to this the tea drinking was cut short and the bill was brought. This was lucky too, because after paying the bill I had little more than a few dollars left, which would be just enough to get me back to the hotel. One more tea and I would have been in debt which may have caused all kinds of problems!

The whole thing is a scam, but it was actually quite fun and at most I only lost about $30 on the whole exercise, due to me not having a credit card. As we left the tea house I got given a green something, which was immediately attached to my bag which was no doubt to indicate that I had been had and the others waiting didn't need to bother try me again.

Anyway the Shanghai museum is free, so I was still able to go. the museum is mainly a collection of artistic artefacts from the various periods and minority groups of Chinese history. I spent most of my time viewing the Chinese calligraphy, with examples showing the different styles and evolution of the centuries. But other areas included traditional paintings, pottery and a section on minority group clothing with an impressive section of masks used in the theatre and ceremonies of the minority groups. It is an impressive museum and worth going to. I am told it is one of the best in China

Returning back to the hotel to get money, I then stepped out in the local district where a street market had popped up selling all kinds of clothing and food. None of the clothing really inspired me , so I stuck with the food, feasting on various BBQ skewers. Wandering the streets with an absolute sense of safety, much the same as I had experienced in China.

In the centre of the world, 2008 (Asia Trek pt 26)

The overnight train was comfortable as usual and by 7am, I was finally, in the city that is the centre of the world attention this year. Home of the Chinese Communist party, location of the 2008 Olympics and capital of China. Only moments into the taxi ride you realise how large and expansive the city is. six lane roads are not uncommon, blocks the length of a kilometer, large buildings and endless construction. The city has five rings roads that circle around the forbidden city. Even this is not sufficient to keep traffic problems out with car usage thoroughly embedded in the city's culture.

There was little time for rest as the gecko tour had scheduled 2 days to do Beijing and the great wall of China (which is a few hours drive from beijing itself). After dropping our bags at the hotel, splashing the weary face with water and brushing our teeth, we hopped straight into taxi's to take us to the forbidden city. The forbidden city is not the only forbidden city in Asia, as it is merely the term used for the emperors residence, and signifying that the common person is not allowed to enter. The taxi drive took us on road tour, past remains (or replicas?) of the old city wall, Tiananmen square, Chairman Mao's mausoleum and the southern entrance to the forbidden city, iconic with the painting on Chairman Mao of the main gate. Here we were in the political heart of China.

The official name of the Forbidden city is now the Palace Museum, which is also the agency that manages the complex. The complex is 72 hectare and takes a good hour just to walk from one end to the other. Smart as always, Anson, our guide took us to the rear (northern entrance of the forbidden city), entering from the opposite side that the majority use and thus walking in the opposite direction to the crowds. This was a as we got to see the most interesting parts of the city (the royal gardens and residences) without a large conglomeration of tourists which we meet as we reached the end of our tour. The forbidden city is full of stories, and it is worth taking a guide for the experience. As a museum it also contains numerous artifacts and art works from the previous Chinese dynasties. Though a large part of the collection in now in Taiwan, removed by the Kuomintang when they lost to the communists. Even after walking a few hour we still missed most of the complex, much of which is still unaccessible to the public. Unfortunately some of the main building were undergoing restoration as part of a project to restore the whole city.

Our guide through the city, a middle aged lady with walking stick, had studied Chinese history and provided a multitude of interesting stories and information about the museum. Entering from the northern end, first is a series of gardens which built around the symbolism of Chinese mythology; such as Dragon = Emperor, Phoenix = Empress, the Crane and Turtle = longevity. This kind of symbolism in animals, design and action is a big part of Chinese life and construction. All in an attempt to control life. The belief in all these symbols and precedents are still important for the Chinese people today.

After walking through the gardens, some small museums and a short walk through the emperors residence (as in the Qing (pronounced 'ching') dynasty, as the Ming dynasty residence was in another part of the palace) we arrived in the ceremonial district. This area was where the emperor interacts with his advisor, business men and the public. The ceremonial area is mainly large buildings and court yards built on the central axis of the city. Here there is not a lot to see, but to walk through it as it goes on and on from courtyard to courtyard.

Exiting from the southern end you emerge from underneath chairman Mao where a six lane road sit between you and Tiananmen (Qian Men) square. Entrance to the square is only available through underground tunnels, still under maintenance to for Olympics, these conduits allow for easy closure of the square at night and bag searching and interrogation for people entering the square. Tourists get little attention from the security guards. But middle aged ladies, tended to get the most attention, as suspected members of Falun Gong, I was told.

Tiananmen square is politically sensitive location and thus also one of the most watched places on Earth. The square s covered with lamp post in thirty meter sqaures. Each lamppost post has 2-3 security cameras on it, monitoring the movements and actions of those on the square. Other than that there is not so much that is interesting about the square, except that when dignitaries enter the 'Great Hall of the People" a third of the square is closed to the public, putting around 100m and a road between the public and the dignitaries.

Walking across the square and out the southern end, past Mao's Mausoleum we got in a taxi to take us back to the hotel. Beijing is a very un-walkable city. The afternoon we had free, so Tobias and I walked down the road into the Temple of Heaven park. Set in a large park the Temple of heaven consists of three building complexes set in a much larges park. The dominant feature of which if the circular construction of the taoist temple buildings. Having recently undergone restoration, the buildings are resplendent and for me more attractive than the buildings of the forbidden city. The three main buildings are in a line down the central axis of the park. for me the most interesting is the central complex called the Imperial Vault or Heaven. the out wall of which is circular and called the echo wall. The stupendous thing about the wall is that you can stand at one end of the vault which is probably 40 meter in diameter, and yet you can have a conversation with someone at the other end even though there are two buildings between you. the voice of the other person sounds like it is emanating form the wall right next to you. Strange but true.

On the way back we were greeted by a young student who wanted us to come and look at their artwork collection, as they had a small exhibition on the park. Supposedly from a well known art school in Xian, with nothing else to do we had a look. This scheme is listed in the Lonely Planet as a scam, but one the whole I have to say the quality of the artwork was quite good. And it is probably because the prices are expensive (but still cheap by European standards) for the quality. We spent a while looking around and Tobias bought some artwork. There was a four piece set of paintings representing the seasons (a common form of work in China) that I really would to have liked to buy. However I didn't have enough money and was unable to get back to purchase it at a later time. (I would later be caught out by another set of students in Shanghai, where the scams are more prominent)

After the long walk and discussions on the way back to the hotel, frustrated that there was no one selling drinks on the footpath just when I needed one, we changed to go out to a Kung Fu Show. This is a show that uses Kung Fu artists instead of dancers to present a theatrical story, mainly through music, movement and narration. Again the athleticism and accuracy of movement is impressive and I was somewhat surprised not to see more of them in the Olympic Ceremonies. Details of the show are freely available as it is a standard on the china tour route.

The following morning it was an early start, for a day at the wall. You know the one! The drive is about 2hrs from the city a takes a mixture of highways and country roads. About two thirds of the way, one of our tour group had to go to the toilet. With no toilets around what was required was a roadside stop, which the Chauffeur was initially not willing to do, much to the surprise of those in the back. But after some negotiation we stopped and the deed was done hiding behind the vehicle while the driver went off to have a cigaratte.

We continued on as the weather to continued to deteriorate, so that by the time we arrived at the entrance there was a constant light rain. To which one person in the car responded "This is going to be awful". Now I figure if you've travelled a few
thousand kilometers to get here, your not going to let a little light rain get in you way. So on with the rain jacket and all smiling and singing I stepped out of the car.

I of course had my expensive Goretex jacket to keep me dry, however for those that forget there is a set of entrepreneurial shop owners that can always pull ponchos and umbrellas out as soon as it starts to rain. Not familiar with Goretex, all the shop owners eagerly tried to sell me a cheap poncho and umbrella. It was not until I demonstrated that I could shake the water off me that they understood that I did not need a jacket. So with everyone dressed up in new ponchos and umbrellas we headed up to the Wall.

The locals here pull the same trick as in Yangshuo, loaded with refreshments they follow you up the hill in the hope that you will feel guilty enough to buy something. I avoided this by pretending I could only speak German and thus could not understand what they were saying. Mildly confused they just laughed and me and left me alone. Our erstwhile companion however did not fare so well with his indecisiveness.

There are in fact to sections of wall available to tourists. One is a fully restored section, giving you the impression of how it once was. The other section is the remains of the original wall. Our tour took us to the latter. That section of the wall is quite substantial and we did not walk the complete length and the low mist meant there was little more to see except the wall itself which began to get repetitive. The lack of vision was disappointing as you could hardly see the wall winding away into the distance, however it did clear up a little as we left the wall, back to the carpark.

It was a pleasant walk in the rain and on the wall, though the slippery walk back challenged our footwork. Back in the carpark we headed straight back in the van and back to Beijing. This was the last day of the tour and to finish it of, we were to go to an acrobatic show and then our final dinner together.

Dinner was of course Peking duck, which was delicious with some extra dishes on the side. Again we stuffed ourselves, had a few drinks and toasted our fearless leader. Then paying the bill we headed off to the Acrobatics. What was interesting is that we paid about 30 yuan per person for the meal which was plentfiul. However the next day we ate there again with the three remaining tour members (and no Anson) and suddenly the price was 80 yuan per person. Not quite sure what was going on there?

The acrobatic show was the least impressive of the shows that we had seen, but still of considerable quality. Some of the kids (they all looked young) in the show were surprisingly strong. Anson our guide was supposed to watch the show with us, but after dropping us off in the hall he disappeared. At the conclusion of the show he was also nowhere to be seen except for an unanswered phone call. A little confused we walked back to the hotel , a little confused, checking the pub on the way. Only after we arrived at the hotel did he suddenly appear from the street, all done up with a new haircut.

We went to the pub and ordered drinks and prepared for a big night of Karaoke. To my surprise everyone sang individually and properly and it didn't descend into to the usual Summer of 69 chaos that usually accompanies westerners doing Karaoke. And so after three hours of karaoke we decided to go out to a night club, with a final goodbye to Anson who left us for the last time.

After that we caught a taxi to take us to the nightclub area, which was about 30 to 40 minutes drive form where we were. After walking up and down the street and not finding anything interesting we headed to another nightclub area down the road a few blocks. This turned out to be another 30 min walk before we got to an incredibly loud nightclub but spectacular nighclub. After dancing there for a few hours and reaching 3 am we got back in the taxi and went to the hotel.

The following morning we said goodbye to Sarah and some others, before Tobias, Lynette and I headed out to see the Olympic Stadium (the bird cage) and the Summer Palace.

The time was the end of June and the Olympics was less than two months away. However the stadium was still surrounded with a fence and you could get within 100 meters.
Unlike the Sydney Olympics where the stadium went through a variety of trial runs, the Olympic stadium in China would first be used in the Opening ceremony, and as we all know this turned out not to be a problem. So the construction site that was the
Olympic park, was completed with Chinese speed to be ready for the Olympics.

Onto the Summer Palace, a large park and building complex built over many centuries until it finally became the summer palace of Empress Dowager Cixi, in 1888. IT is a
large park complex surrounding kunming lake an is a popular place for tourists and local to enjoy the good weather. We walked and sat on the waters edge for a while recovering from the night before, before heading up the stair in to longevity hill and over the top to the other side. The buildings and garden layouts a prime example of Chinese architecture and design, went most of the time just wandering and talking, and losing our way to the toilet. Once on the other side we descended alongside the river to have something to eat and start a conversation with what looked like a ten year old girls whose English was surprisingly competent before being laughed at for our bad Chinese pronunciation.

After that if was off to the pearl market for a bit of shopping, and for me lots of waiting, as one person went somewhere just before the other returned. However finally we were reunited and went for dinner.

The following morning we were down to two. With nothing on the plans we decided to explore two other parks just behind the forbidden city. Again more general walking, a
quick walk past the rock where the last emperor hanged himself, a watching a security guard try and find the right ringtone for his mobile. In the afternoon in Beishan park we hired a waterbike and cycled around the lake for an hour. By this stage the weather had improved and we basked in the sun, with some water and biscuits. Some more wandering around the park and some shopping at an Olympic store completed the afternoons entertainment.

It then became time to think about food. Nearby was a street market where a smorgasbord of food was apparently available. It turned out to be a line of red and white striped stalls alongside a main road, selling BBQ everything and more. Cockroaches, Spiders, Squid, Chicken, Pork. After warming up on some chicken and pork skewers and some noodles, and a fuming sugar drink, I decided to get into the exotics. SO I took a skewer of snake. This was mighty difficult to consume as it was tough and definitely did not taste like chicken. In fact I could barely get the thing down but I did.

Then it was off for drinks, in one of the more flashy shopping districts, and then a 45 min walk in the rain for a taxi as the ones there refused to use the meter. I am surprised they can still make money out of tourist that willingly pay exorbitant prices for taxis. But after finally haling a taxi we returned back to the hotel and bought some more drinks. But both tired at the end of a long day. We headed towards bed.

Guarding Xian with Walls and Terracotta (Asia Trek pt 25)

In the morning we had time to kill before taking the train to Xian, so me and Tobias walked the streets to the train station and back with little to report. We ended up walking further than I expected and were in a bit of a rush to get back to the hotel so we had no opportunity for lunch. The group coalesced and then got in the Taxi to go to Xian. The next week was hectic as well traveled with a full schedule to Xian and then Beijing. The train ride to Xian would also be the longest, but bearable in the soft sleeper.

In fact we were probably a bit raucous as the girls had acquired some portable speakers so we could continue our party and games and chit chat late into the evening. After bed time I stayed up a little longer with Anton and few beers and talked more things China. Only when we started getting complaints from others in our groups about the noise did we finally go to bed. Woke up in the morning and stepped out onto the platform of Xian, which arrived a little earlier than expected.

Exiting the train station, we saw the old city wall right in front of us and many people hanging around on the square waiting to buy a train ticket. This is common at most major railway stations. Taxi's took us too our YMCA hotel, where if you damage anything you pay, because it is private! Other hotel are government managed and do not suffer this indecency. Given the short amount of time Anton thought it best to guide us around personally, rather than let us do our own thing as is standard. So he took us up the street to the bell tower before catching a cab to the city wall. The wall is from the time when Xian was the capital of China, though I can't remember when that is. It is in fact one of a few complete city walls in China and was the largest that I saw. I recall that the area is 12-16 square kilometre, and the wall is 20 meter wide at the top, 30 meter wide at the bottom with guard houses and other building dotted around the perimeter. The usual trick is to hire a bicycle and cycle around on the Wall. So as a group we cycled casually around the wall stopping at the generals offices to view the inside of some of the building and some old military artifacts. Continuing on to the opposite side of the city we stopped there to save time, thus completing only half of the full circumference of the wall. As we stopped a group of traditional military guards walked passed us, for our phototainment.

Descending down off the wall again passed the fake old city recreated for tourists, we walked a country mile to a restaurant for a feed. This time sweet and sour pork was ordered for those that had enough of the 'exotic' food (I can't imagine a more boring chinese dish than sweet and sour, but anyway!), and many cups of tea later we left again.

In the afternoon we headed to the Muslim district were there is an old Mosque from again a long time ago. These thing can of course been search on the internet if you are interested. This was actually very interesting as it was built by Chinese Muslims in 742 AD and bears a much closer architectural relationship to Chinese Buddhist temples than Muslim Mosque, while retaining many of the strucutural ideas of Mosque. A true mixture of religious culture into something that is wholly unto itself. I found this very intriguing watching chinese muslims walking around and conveniently they were called to pray while we were there. However there was no access to the prayer hall for visitors. The Muslim area also contains a tourist market around the Beiyuan Mei Islamic street, with some very cheap terracotta warriors if you want them, though I think you can get then even cheaper in Beiing. Here I was lured into a shop by a young lady who liked my hat. A big wide brimmed straw thing that on of the members in my group had bought for someone else but his head was too big for it. Given that my head was, and still is nice and small I inherited it. She wanted to try it on and then keep it. I didn't really like so I said Okay. However just as I was leaving she changed her mind an then managed to coax me into the store. There was actually a study done recently that if you allow men to fondle womens clothing, the sligh buzz they might get from that is enough to make men accept a worse deal than they would normally. Hence it is no surprise that most of the stall in China and South East Asia are operated by young women. and this one managed to sell me a bad quality shirt for twice the price it should have been. This was not expensive but other places started at much cheaper prices. Flatery goes a long way, in this cut throat business world.

Having bought my t-shirt for the show that night, I walked through the Muslim district and the back to the hotel, where I rested for the afternoon, reading the news paper outside my room as my room mate had gone off to see a pagoda with the key. He returned
20 min before we had to be ready for the show that evening. Anton collected us and we walked to the "Tang Dynasty Royal show" which was set in a theatre of old styling (that is an acedemic term!). Of particular interest to us was the fact that before the show we would be given a meal of dumplings, of both the decorative and tasty styles. It was all you can eat aswell and included in the price ticket for the show. The decorative dumplings were presented first in various animal and plant shape. And while these looked impressive in different colours and shapes, the taste was lacking. After that we recieved plain looking dumpling with execellent taste and these we could eat as many as we wanted. However the dumplings were so filling that we could only manage one extra portion before relaxing for the show.

While we were eating a lady came out and played the zither for about 15 minutes which was pleasant background music before the show started. The show was a typical show present to the Tang dynasty emperor and consisted of music, dancing, some acrobatics with some love stories thrown in. The costume elaborate Again a very good show, with high quality dancers and technical production

After the show, we returned to the hotel, as firecrackers went off somewhere downtown. The following day was the day of the terracotta warriors, one of the must see things in China. The warriors are about and hour and half drive out if Xian, and the tour included a guide whose duty it was to make more money of us and talk a lot with an Chinese American accent. So before we got to the original warriors we stopped at a small house that was were the official government approved replicas of the warrior are made. You can buy models of the warrior ranging from 10cm to life size. Of course you pay a premium price in comparison to those you can buy in the market, and after we left there were many more stores selling terracotta warriors and also stated that they were officially government sanctioned. I don't know what the truth is but, I also have no need for a life size terracotta in my backyard, though I have since seen a couple in Europe.

Onto the actual warriors. The first thing which impresses (an impressed me the most) is the way they are looked after. After seeing many relics in south east asia with minimal protection or investment in infrastructure, I was not expecting the elaborate complex that the have built to enclose all the warrior in football field size buildings, accompanying museum and multiple shopping centre complexes still lying dormant. Our guide took us through the three separate pit where you could see the variety of statue types; archers, infantry and the one general, who is no encases in a glass display unit. Interesting to note is that in the design of the warriors the heads are are separate and thus each statue is able to have an individualised face, suggesting that the faces are in fact replicas of the emperors army at the time. The second thing is that unlike the gray statues that you see, in fact all the warriors were created with colour, which unfortunately disappears shortly after the warrior are uncovered . Due to this many of the warriors will remain covered until they can develop a technique to preserve the colour once the covering is removed. All that you can see of the colour are images on the wall within the complex.

The whole complex is impressive in it scale and in it care exhibited to the warriors and their preservation. No doubt China will make much money out of the complex making a handsome return on investment, but it is great to see the effort and care that the Chinese are giving this piece of world history.

Leaving the complex the commercialism of the place become truly apparent, as the exit takes you past empty building after empty building which will at some stage be filled with shops to sell all manner of goods. Luckily for us they were all still empty so that we could walk through straight back to the hotel. On the way out though, there were some hawker selling small sets of terracotta warriors at ever decreasing prices. I wasn't interested but again one of them was interested in my hat, and jokingly asked if I would swap the hat for a set of warriors. Then his friend joined him and said he couldn't do that. After a few minutes of confusion, laughter and discussion, I walked away hatless with a box of terracotta warriors. I was as surprised as anyone with the deal. We headed further towards the exit when about a minute later the guy ran after us, wishing to turn the deal around. He didn't want the hat after all, so I gave him back his warriors and I took back my. Something about wearing the hat seemed to turn people off.

That was the end of two busy days in XIan and after lunch back in town we picked up our laundry, packed our bags and headed off to the train station to go to our final destination of the tour; Beijing

Up the Yangtze and back again (Asia Trek pt 24)

The overnight train to Yichang, finally took me out of the tropics and in to the food and industry belt of China that revolves around the Yangtze river. A river whose economic impact has a long history, and a major role in Chinese industrial exports to the rest of the world today. But it is but one part of the industrial and agricultural production of China, which exceeds the rest of mainland south east Asia in scale and sophistication and has left a significant scare on the landscape where ever you go. Even in the mountainous areas of southern China, which are less affected due to limited access, have been significantly worked to facilitate the agricultural production, most spectacularly brought out by rice terraces which are now a major tourist attraction. It looks as though this level of development is leaving the natural environment hurting. But it is not just the farmers that are to blame as the huge growth in construction and the transport routes that criss cross the country to facilitate internal and international trade. This is also eating up agricultural land (i suspect reclaimed by the government) with farmers hanging on and continuing to use very small sections of land in the middle of road construction sites to continue growing crops. On the whole China is busy, busy building and growing and it is not surprising it is driving the world economy.

Arriving in Wuhan by train and then transferring onto a bus which took us up the Yangtze river to Yichang, was the first really large scale city I traveled through. A massive concrete jungle split by the Yangtze delta into three different parts, one dominated by government, one by business and one by industry. Traffic jams here are as bad if not worse than anywhere in the world and even the use of electric buses cannot resolve the problem or pollution. This was also Anton's current home town. The smog and concrete made the city look less than impressive, though the first crossing of the Yangtze is always impressive, like crossing the Mekong in Vietnam. The 1 and half hour drive to Yichang is not worth noting, but the arrival at our hotel was particularly notable. Again our lazy tour tour guide arranged to have us dropped off near the hotel instead of the bus station. This probably happened while talking with the bus driver to keep him awake after his head started dipping. The road where the hotel was located had been turned into a construction zone and the adjacent building flattened. All except for one household which seemed to be holding out against the march of progress. So we ambled along the dirt road, around construction debry's with our heavy backpacks to the hotel. Another over priced and not spectacular three star hotel.

Yichang is not a city with sites and is little more than the starting point for tours up the Yangtze river and the three gorges. The Yangtze runs along the side of the city at about twenty metres below the shore line level. Leaving a large concrete sloping wall exposed on both side from which the locals fish and observe the passing water. Along the shore there is also part where after dark the people coalesced, had a small fair, and sent fire lanterns into the sky. Weary after such a lot of travelling and shopping for three days food we rose to our lofts and watched the late night workers do further destruction on the paper walls that posed as buildings.

The following morning it was up early, some quick fresh hand made noodles at a street stall, before hopping in a taxi to the dock. Getting on the boat was easy enough but the boat itself was less than impressive. The boat had seen its fair share of use, the cabins were small and weathered even in first class, and poor Anton as tour guide had to pay for his own room other wise he just gets a piece of floor somewhere. The boat is also aimed at Chinese tourist as opposed to the wealthy westerners, that come past, so that we and a few other represented the western world on the boat.

After setting into our cabins we endeavoured to go to the foredeck and were promptly refused entry as it was a VIP zone. A quick word to Anton and ten minutes later we had new passes giving us access to the foredeck were we watched the city of Yichang pass by. Going back to the aft deck we got a look of looks from the Chinese population and a whole group of them burst out laughing when they saw my hairy legs. I didn't really appreciate that as at first I didn't know what they were laughing about and then be came very self conscious. I am sure that was not their intention though.

The Yangtze river is of course the site of the infamous Three Gorges Dam which is the largest dam project in the world. There is plenty of information available online about the size and scale of the project and so it was with anticipation that we progressed upstream. At first you pass through the locks of a supplementary dam which was built to test the larger three gorges dam, and see if it was possible to dam the Yangtze. Apparently so!

A further 30 min upstream you approach the locks of the dam, which sits on the other side of a small hill to the main wall. As we went through the lock the boat was quite quiet as the rest of the passengers left to have a guided tour of the Dam (our guide advised us not to take the tour as it was in Chinese and not very interesting) So we went with the boat through the five locks of the dam with 5 other boats simultaneously. Each lock is a couple of hundred meters long and 40 to 50 meter wide. The locks raised us from 56 meter to 145 meter above sea level as we progressed through the first four locks. The fifth one has been built but not in use as the last stage of filing the dam occurs in 2009, which will raise the water level to 175 meters. I could write more about them but I think the pictures say enough. The thing is huge. The only thing that disappoints is that due to the supplementary dam you can't see the full extent of the height of the front dam wall. There has of course been much criticism about the dam and it impacts but it remains a stupendous piece of engineering.

Finally passing the the final lock several hours after we had entered the first, it is interesting to note that even with this delay it is quicker to put trucks onto boata, ferry the through the locks and upstream to Chongqing than it is to drive there directly. One of the sub projects of the three gorges dam is to improve the road infrastructure along the Yangtze to facilitate increased trading up and downstream
(the other is a pipeline transferring water to Manchuria a few thousand kilometers away.)

Well after sunset the rest of the passengers invaded the boat again and we retired to our rooms for some card games and chit chat. The next morning we cruised further up the river stopping at various point to allow the Chinese tourists to get off to tour the various temples on the way. Anton had advised us that it wasn't that interesting and it also gave us some time alone on the boat, at which point Anton also discussed China with us. At one such stop for a few hours we lamented the fact that we had an Ipod but no speakers to attached to it. But somehow through a sequence of events that I can't remember we managed to get hold of a Megaphone on the boat. With this tool in our hands and a little bit of sticky tape we manage to create our own PA system. Which proved to be quite effective and we held our own little party with this improvised contraption for the rest of the day and night. There is a video of us somewhere, partying on the back the back of the boat.

During this time we also proceeded through the three gorges. The three gorges are three consecutive regions of the Yangtze where mountains and cliffs become prominent on both side of the river. The area is too moutainous to house large cities so there is a lot of natural forest, some farmland and many temples and traditional buildings. Of course there used to be more in the region as many buildings were destroyed before being submerged in the lake formed behind the dam. The area is quite beautiful and one of the gorges appears on the 10 yuan note. In some sections you can see coffins placed on ledges high in the cliffs that have been there for thousands of years. Some of these will be submerged in the final stage of the rise of the Yangtze, and work is apparently being undertaking to remove these coffins to protect them. This process is apparently being undertaken in accordence with the wishes of the traditional communities in the area from which they arose.

The one additional tour that we did take was into the mini three gorges as Anton advised that not only is it interesting but will be totally a submerged after the final stage of the dam is complete. This involved transferring to another boat which took us up a side river for a few hours. The whole time we were given information in Chinese about the gorges and everybody packed the outside decks to see things. Anton filled in a few bits for us he thought was significant. At the entry to the mini three gorges we transferred to small 20 person boats to head up the small gorge. The small river with cliff and steep mountains on either side is beautiful but apparently it is already not as impressive than it was before the dam was built. More entertaining was the very enthousiastic guide, on our small boat, who sang for us and also gave us the opportunity to dress up in traditional clothing including spear and sheild for a photo opportunity. Some of the Chinese took up the opportunity but we westerners balked at the prospect. Turning around and heading back down the mini three gorges, we where greeted with the singing by three staff from the main boat who had left before everyone else to prepare for their performance. Sometimes the tourism here seems very contrived.

On the return trip to the main river, the Chinese were encouraged/told to stay on the downstairs floor of the boat where product were offered for sale with accompanying commentary, and occasional singing, all projected through the ships PA system. After about 30 min of this it became rather annoying and wearying, that the only option was to wait outside on the upper deck in the light rain, to escape the noise. The deck was now empty which meant that it was much easier to appreciate the scenery.

Returning to the main boat we headed further upstream to a city were we had dinner on
shore. we ate fish, which was hot and very delicious, though not to the taste of all. Returning to the boat, we prepared for the long haul back to Yichang. Originally we would continue further up the Yangtze to Chongqing, however the earthquake prevented us from going as the government closed the area for tourism. So we saw many of the sites that we saw on the way up the river and travelled through the locks a second time. Much of this time we talked, played cards, amongst ourselves and with some of the locals.

We returned to the same hotel, still in a construction site that we stayed in before and went out to dinner eating some snail, which again were very spicy, messy and worked up a considerable sweat. The after a little free time the youngn's of the group went out to a nightclub across the road and sang 'Country road, take me home' with the locals. Early in the morning Anton decided he wanted to take two of us to Karaoke and so we left the other to find a karaoke bar. Unfortunately the prices in the area were two high and so that plan quickly fell from the table. and instead Anton became hungry again so we went out for another late night snack. More delicious spicy fish and bbq lamb skewers. Mmmmmn! I love the late night Chinese snack!

Cycling and Eating in Yangshuo (Asia trek pt23)

And so we came to one of my biggest disappointments of the whole trip; a flight. The tour required a flight from Kunming to Guilin in order to keep the travel time down, so after travelling ten of thousands of kilometers by land and sea o make it to China, I had to catch a domestic flight as part of the tour. My aspiration of at reaching Beijing or Europe by land was finally destroyed in practice.

But not one to dwell on these things, I settled myself down for the flight which included some of the worst Airline food I have eaten in a long time, but otherwise as
uneventful as flights tend to be. Arriving in Guilin we again hopped on a private bus for a three hour drive to Yangshuo, passing the immense crowds of dutch people that seemed to be everywhere! A mere kilometer from the airport we ascended onto a rough dirt road before reaching a proper road about ten minutes later. Something tells me it wasn't the main road to the airport. As night fell we could see the faint outlines of the limestone karsts that the region is famous for. However by the time we reached Yangshou there was little left to see but the street lights of 'foreigner street', where we stopped at a restaurant for a late night snack and beer.

After a good night sleep in my own room, we awoke for a days cycling around the region. The area has similarities to Halong bay, but instead of the water the area surrounding the karsts is flat farmland used principally for rice. the area is flat which makes cycling easy. Making your way through back roads and villages is charming, though you never feel like you can get away from the people (a more general problem in China, surprisingly!) as there are buildings everywhere. Along the way a guy was teasing a yabby with a stick, and people cruised down the Yulong river on a Bamboo raft complete with rainbow coloured umbrella. While it looked very appealing, not enough people in our group were interested enough to partake. We continued cycling through more rice fields before arriving at our final destination; Yueliang Shan - otherwise known as moon hill. Actualy a few hundred meters before we arrive a group of Chinese ladies passed us in the opposite direction, before they all stopped turned around a followed us. I thought they had just figured out the directions of where they wanted to go and changed direction. But no! the ladies followed us for business! Moon Hill is a limestone karst that has a spherical shaped hole right through it, making the shape of a moon from a distance and good viewing platform for the surrounding region. Walking to the top we were warned by our guide that ladies (who followed us), with eksy on the shoulder, would follow us all the way to the top of the hill, offering drinks all the way. The further up the hill you go the higher the price, though this can be bargained back down again. On the one hand you can view this as excellent personal service, however most tourists find them annoying. I assured the lady that tried to follow me that I would not buy anything as was promptly left alone. However another person in the group did not have as much conviction and was followed all the way to the top. Two people in the group decided to play a game with her and started walking up in a very fast tempo. She tried her best but could not keep up. but rather than give up she continued, and caught up with them near the summit.

At the top we rested as is was a sweltering hot day and the walk took it out of us. Unfortunately we saw another tourist give the lady that followed him a handsome tip without taking a drink. Hopefully not too many people do this otherwise they might get the impression tourists are a fountain of free money rather than just a fountain of money. We took in the views and walked around the summit area before descending. By this stage I sympathised with the lady who had walked up the mountain, and was thirsty so I bought a coke, negotiating the price back down to a reasonable price. The descent was much easier that the ascent and quickly we were back at the bottom for a quick lunch before cycling back to the city.

Back at the city we had registered to do a cooking course. Anton handed us over the the cooking lady and we negotiated the meals that we wanted to cook. After this we walked to the local market. This market was similar to many others I had been to in Asia, with food laid out on heshan carpets on the floor, and meat hanging in the wet markets, but to one of our group who was a first timer. this was a shock to him and he asked me if I had seen this kind of market before. I said that this was the standard manner of trading agricultural products in south east asia. this took him by surprise and needed a moment to deal with it. What was unique in this market was that you could purchase dog and cat and other animal which were hanging there and live animal could be seen in small cages against the wall. this was also and little confronting for me, but it is the way it is.

We picked up a few vegetable and headed back to the restaurant, to the rooftop kitchen to commence our cooking. the three meals included dumpling, Gong Bao chicken (chicken chilly and peanuts) and eggplant. we started with the dumplings and after mincing the chicken set ourselves to work with the folding of the dumpling with moderate success. Some clearly more talented than other. Mine were somewhere in the middle. Next the eggplant, which was the first time I had cooked eggplant successfully, under the watchful eye of our trainer, who was a mother and had never undertaken cooking training in her life. Still the food turned out very pleasing. Last of all we cooked the chicken, on of my favourite dishes in China which we consumed alongside the dumpling, which had subsequently been steamed by the Chef. By the end of the afternoon we were all fat and happy and dinner was not really on the cards as nothing more would fit.

That night we ended up in another night club with Anson, entertained by a good quality DJ. I spent most of the night rolling dice in a rather simple drinking game, while others in the group started dancing with another group of locals. They eventually got invited out to do some karaoke, but I was enjoying myself too much to go, so I passed. And luckily too because and hour later Anson got hungry as he does often in the middle of the night and invited the last two of us to go eat some seafood with him. So we came to this little streetside restaurant at 1 o'clock in the morning and Anson ordered some sublime BBQ oysters (I think?)for us, as well as some other food which was delicious. While we waited we got talking to a couple sitting on the table next to us. After a bit of cultural exchange they left offering their left over oysters (as above?) to us which we consumed with joy as they drove of in some brand of expensive car. Again well fed is was time for bed so we headed home satisfied.

The next day we awoke early checked out and went for a cruise on the Li river. While beautiful in itself it was similar to much I had seen so I spent the time recovering from the night before and catching up on sleep. In fact the more interesting part of the trip was the short walk through the village needed to get to the pier. There were a variety of small businesses particularly those specialising in making fans. Also many local people coming to and from the market from the surrounding villages gave the area a lively yet untouched feel, which I found particularly interesting. But the heat was too strong that I had to retire to the bus for some respite.

Back in Yangshou, where I was finally getting a feel for the layout we had a few hours to arrange things before we left. From there we caught the overnight train north to Yichang, leaving the southern part of China.