Back from Holiday

You can imagine how I feel after spending 15 days in China and Hong Kong on our recent holiday. That being said we had a really great time but quite busy!!!

Starting off in Shanghai for a few days we were guided around an assortment of temples and visited the famous “Bund” (daytime and evening) which characterises Shanghai. We also managed to fit in an evening with the Chinese acrobats which were very good indeed. One of the female performers demonstrated her extreme flexibility (if you know what I mean) – quite popular at parties I imagine.

We also checked out he the Chinese opera (Carol has some photo’s of this) and whilst it was quite entertaining the 1 hour that it lasted was quite enough.

With military precision from our tour guide Nick - who was an absolute star and without whom we would have been totally stuck on more than one occasion - we then went on to Beijing where we spent a few days packed with excursions, city tours and of course the famous Tiananmen square and forbidden Palace. Bought a dragon kite here but still to try it out at the beach. One of the evening excursions was to try Peking duck which was very good indeed, although Carol wasn’t too impressed!! Nick tried to add another excursion but there was a minor mutiny so he gave up at that point and allowed us the night off. Managed to fit in a view of the CCTV (Chinese Central Television Centre) and the “Birds Nest” stadium built for the Olympics next year. Carol acquired a Jade bracelet – the first of a few purchases that we made during the trip.

Of course I couldn’t forget to mention the visit to the great Wall which was particularly good. The weather was really hot but Carol and myself managed to climb the wall in both directions which is no mean feat as it is very steep in places. You may not be able to see it from space but you sure as hell can see it from the ground – it’s massive.

Suzhou was our next stop and if I am honest my least favourite. Weather was a bit rainy and the places we visited didn’t really “light my candle” too much but the rickshaw ride was fun.

Then for (me at least) was the highlight of the tour (with the Great Wall coming a close second) was Xian and the Terracotta warriors. They were fantastic and you couldn’t actually believe you were seeing them. Only pinching myself and looking at the photos reminds me that I was there. At one of the other museums we visited I bought a model dog which was made in the same way and using the same materials as the objects that were buried with the emperor - “Terry” is sitting pride of place in the lounge at the moment.

Guilin was very interesting too although the weather was overcast and this made the colours a little subdued on the photos that we took on the river cruise. Having had around 11 days in China by now the whole group was well into “Barter Mode” and the poor Chinese didn’t stand a chance really, it was quite cruel to watch as Kathy reduced the price of a “Kipling” bag from 480 Yuan to 130 Yuan. (15 Yuan = £1.00). Cheap copies of watches, bags and sunglasses were everywhere and I even picked up a pair of “Oakrey” sunglasses for 50 Yuan (From 420 Yuan). Bruddy Good Varue” I say.

It was also a retail opportunity and Carol bought some Sea Water pearls from one of the ubiquitous factory shops.

The evening had us watching Cormorant fishing – that’s fishing with not for Cormorants. Carol didn’t make this as she felt unwell with a cold but I told her all about and showed the pictures.

Then it was onto Hong Kong for the last few days and this was a great laugh. I should mention that we had a particularly good group (well I was part of it wasn’t I) and this really made the holiday special. As the holiday progressed you know when things are going well when you start having the Pi$$ taken out of you or taking it out of someone else. Yes I know everyone does the same thing you say that you are going to keep in touch but I really think that this time it will happen.

In HK we didn’t have Nick to guide us so Kathy and Steve were promoted to impromptu tour guides. We spent a really nice evening at Victoria peak watching the sunset followed by a great night a the Hard Rock Café. The next day we went to a region of HK called Aberdeen and I temporarily lost my temper with a guy on a Sampan who kept pestering us.

The night market was wild and we picked up a few last minute pressies as well going native and eating at a local’s restaurant.

The last day of the holiday meant that I had the last chance to but a present for myself – which ended up being a Canon 100-400mm L series IS USM lens and a 2x converter to match.

Hotels varied from very good to excellent and the food was much better than I expected – typically being “Chinese Buffet style”. We all mused at the sexual connotation of this and guessed that it must involve the use of a revolving table and several participants. I did get a little tired of the Chinese food after a while though and we had the opportunity to grab the odd Pizza and McD’s on certain occasions during the trip.

John was the group victim and he seemed to be stopped at every airport security check point. When I saw him appraising a set of Samurai swords I had to suggest that it might not be a good idea to buy those and carry them in his hand luggage.

The trip from Hong Kong filled us with despair – a 12.5 hour flight but as it was a night flight I managed to get some sleep and with food and movies the journey didn’t go too bad at all.

The trip was really well organised and the little extras like having someone sort out the luggage, flight tickets and booking in to hotels really made the difference.

So what was left to do... sort out the photographs of course and here they are under Our Photographs/China 2007 on our web site. Note there are two links this time as Carol's photographs are listed separately to mine - actually they are better than mine so please sure you take a look at both sets.