GWoC: 4.11.15 Beijing to Newquay

Wednesday 4 November 2015

We had to meet in the Rainbow Hotel lobby to leave at 07:30 on this, our final morning in China, so we got up about 06:30, ate breakfast and got ourselves ready. We checked out and got on the bus for the final time bound for the airport.

We had enough time to have a bit of a wander around Beijing airport before boarding the Finnair flight which took off on time at 11:10. There were loads of spare seats on the flight so we all moved around to give ourselves more space. It was an 8 hour flight so I watched a movie called ‘True Story’ starring James Franco and then had a bit of a doze.

Our Finnair plane

Reindeer and mushrooms: delish!

We landed at Helsinki on time and most of us went to the Nordic Kitchen for something to eat. I decided to try reindeer, which was really tasty, similar to parma ham, and had a blueberry smoothie as I had done when we had visited 2 weeks before.

Back aboard our final Finnair flight there were again plenty of spare seats so we could spread out. 

After 3 hours in the air we landed on time at Heathrow and claimed our bags from the carousel. The only person who was missing her bag was Amy and this was because she had left a battery inside her duffel bag when she checked it in at Beijing. The rules in China are that all batteries must be in carry-on bags and, because they had detected a battery in Amy’s bag, they had kept it back to remove the battery. The bag would be put on a later flight and delivered to Amy at home. 

We went to the coach area of Heathrow and said our goodbyes to our trip leader, Dean, and our coach arrived about 5 minutes later. We then had our final coach journey of the trip, back along the M4, M5 and A30 back to Cornwall, stopping at Gordano Services en route. We finally pulled into Air Ambulance HQ about 23:30 exhausted and jet-lagged. We had been awake for 26 hours!

GWoC - 3.11.15 Last day in China

Tuesday 3 November 2015

This morning our alarm went off at 08:00; a lie-in! We got ourselves ready and packed our bags for the flight later. We went down to breakfast about 08:45 and I had my usual rice, egg, tomatoes and melon.

We met the rest of the group done in the lobby about 09:30 and we got onto the bus. We went to the Muslim quarter and looked around a mosque.

To get to it we had to walk through a bustling street market with stalls selling all sorts of different foods. There was an amazing atmosphere there: hustle, bustle, sights and smells. It was exactly what I had expected China to be like. Xi’an most definitely gives a better experience of China than Beijing.

The mosque was a tranquil haven amongst this really busy area and, amazingly, you couldn’t hear any of the street noise whilst walking in the garden.

Wild birds! The first ones I had seen in urban China

The cat who pretends to be friendly and then attacks!

The mosque

Would you trust this drinking water?!

There were sparrows pecking in the grass and a friendly skinny cat that had an evil side just waiting for an opportunity to get out! After our peaceful time here, we slowly walked back through the market. I wasn’t tempted to buy anything but many of the group did. Sarah bought a Batman t-shirt from a young woman who seemed desperate for a sale. When they finally agreed on a price, she told Sarah that she was her lucky first customer of the day.

Bev and Kate's food was nearly as big as them!

We ate lunch in a local restaurant and I ordered beef stew with vegetables, which was quite nice but there was something in it that made my lips and tongue tingle. Faye, Amy and Leroy all had the same. It was weird. The sensation soon wore off so it was all fine but it was a little worrying to start with!

Fried crabs

Fancy a massage by the blind?

Pig's trotters

We walked back to the bus and headed out of Xi’an to the airport. We got there in good time and checked in. We were only taking carry-on luggage rather than checking in any bags to make it easier and quicker at Beijing. This was potentially problematical though because of the restrictions of what can be taken onto a flight now i.e. maximum 100ml of all liquids and, a new one on me, was only being able to take a portable battery (phone) charger up to a maximum of 160MH. The security checks were pretty strict but thankfully I was fine with all that I had packed. We all got through but some had to ditch toiletries.

We only had 30 minutes before we were due to board so we went straight to the departure gate. The flight took off on time at 16:05 and was only 90 minutes long so passed quickly.

We landed on time and waited a short time for Alan to arrive as he was stuck in traffic. Back to the delights of Beijing traffic jams! I got a delicious mango frappe juice while we were waiting. Alan arrived and we boarded the bus. Thankfully the traffic wasn’t too bad on the way back to our hotel, certainly better than when we drove from Beijing airport 2 weeks ago.

We returned to the Rainbow Hotel and were allocated our rooms for the last time. Sarah and I were given Room 304 which was a small suite! We said our goodbyes to Alan as he wouldn’t be around the next morning to wave us off. He’s such a nice chap and had been a great guide who really looked after us.

I wasn’t feeling great, with a headache and really tired. I sorted my bags out for the journey home and went down to the lobby to try and get some wi-fi, without success. I gave up and returned to our room to go to bed as I was feeling pretty grotty. A few people including Sarah had been suffering from a stinking cold during the trip and I had a nasty feeling that I had caught it too. 

GWoC - 2.11.15 The Terracotta Army

Monday 2 November 2015

This morning my alarm went off at 07:30 following a great night’s sleep. I certainly needed it! We went to breakfast about 08:00 and then met everyone in the hotel lobby at 08:30. 

We piled on the bus and went to a terracotta factory, where they make all sorts of different souvenirs, like figures made in jade and terracotta as well as furniture and rugs. It was a big place and I bought a couple of figures.

Di & Leroy try the figures out for size outside the terracotta factory

Our guided tour inside the terracotta factory

The massive kiln

During the bus ride to the Terracotta Army musuem Jackie Chan decided to do a quiz, telling us a load of facts about Xi’an and then testing us. He also tried teaching us to count from 1 to 10. He particularly picked on Kevin today, or should I say Helen! Dean ended up telling him that he doesn’t need to talk to us during all coach journeys as he was getting a bit full-on. If allowed, he’d talk to us every minute of every bus ride!

The main gallery area

Some of the figures that are being restored at the back of the main area

There were 3 galleries at the Terracotta Army site: the main huge one and 2 smaller excavations. They were amazing but I was a little disappointed. I had expected the largest area to be all warriors but it wasn’t. The first section does contain rows of warriors but the 2 back areas are where they carry out restoration work. I actually preferred the smaller galleries because they gave a better idea of how deep below the ground they were.

Jackie Chan took us to a 360 degree round cinema/theatre next to the main gallery area, but this was a complete let-down. The quality was rubbish and it wasn’t at all engaging. It was very poor. We stood in the half-dark waiting for it to get going and it never really did. The only thing I learned from watching it was that it took 40 years to build the Terracotta Army.

The second, smaller gallery

A model of the whole army

I particularly liked these beautifully displayed figures

It was a phenomenal place to visit and I can understand why they’re calling it the Eighth Wonder of the World, but I had expected to be more blown away by it. Maybe my expectations were too high?

It was another beautiful day with glorious sunshine and, after we had finished looking around the galleries, we had lunch in a restaurant there. The food was good, as usual. 

After, we had time to wander around the many stalls outside and I bought a few souvenirs. We were chased by a stallholder who was desperate to sell us a box of bronze (brass?) statues. He assured us that they were bronze and kept throwing the horse from the box onto the floor to show how solid it was. Sadly for him, we didn’t buy it. 

Funky arm/body warmers that loads of the moped riders were wearing

We got back to the coach and set off bound for a temple. We were on there about an hour and the traffic was horrendous. At one point I saw a taxi drive down the pavement to bypass some of the traffic! The traffic here is mad. There seems to be little, if any, order at junctions but, because there is so much traffic, no-one can go anywhere very fast and so, although cars and bikes etc enter junctions from all directions they don’t seem to collide.

The bus stopped around the corner from the temple because of the heavy traffic and we walked through a small outdoor area with lots of locals selling junk and random things on stalls, as well as two groups of men playing mah-jongg.

We got to what looked like a temple and then Jackie Chan got us to turn around and go back. Maybe the temple was closed? I never found out but we all enjoyed browsing the stalls.

We returned to the bus and drove back to the hotel, arriving about 17:30. We had an hour to shower and get ready for dinner and then met in the hotel lobby. Dinner wasn’t included in our trip costs for today so we went to a restaurant that Dean and Jackie Chan had chosen earlier. Rather than having a buffet of dishes in the centre of the table to choose from, we all ordered our own choice of meal. I chose sweet and sour chicken with rice. It was very good and I was pleasantly full when I left about 20:00. We walked back to the hotel, via a shop and over a huge circular pedestrian bridge. I really liked being in Xi’an because it has a great feel to it: busy and vibrant but safe.

The streets of Xi'an

A street vendor in Xi'an

Some people went back to one of the hotel rooms to drink and play cards and some of us went for a wander around the streets. 

Pick your creature and they cook it for you

Every type of seafood that you'd never want to eat was on offer

I just wanted to let these poor toads out so they could be free

I really enjoyed strolling around the streets looking at the street stalls which sold a variety of seafoods, toads, fish, crayfish (most still alive) as well as fruit, veg, clothes, shoes and underwear. Finally I felt like I was experiencing Chinese culture. 

GWoC - 1.11.15 First day in Xi'an

Sunday 1 November 2015

My alarm went off at 07:00 and I got myself up and packed. The train pulled into Xi’an about 08:15 and we got off and met our new guide Jackie Chan. He was quite a character! 

He told us lots of Chinese history during all our bus journeys making reference to movies to illustrate his point. Films I can remember he mentioned were Braveheart, Battle of Britain, Shawshank Redemption, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Ghost and Titanic. There were probably more! He kept telling what he called ‘jokes’ but they weren’t always very funny! He was charming, to begin with.

We hopped on a small coach and went to our hotel for breakfast. Luckily our rooms were ready by the time we had finished eating. Sarah and I had Room 437 and the room was fine, with electricity, hot water, opening windows and a shower with a tray so the water didn’t cover the entire Bathroom floor: luxury!

We hopped back on the bus and went to the city wall. It’s 13.7km long and 6 of us hired bikes and cycled around it, which took 2.5 hours. It was good fun even though the bikes were pretty clonky.

On top of Xi'an city wall

Spinning prayer wheels on Xi'an city wall

There was a real contrast of old and new

Inside the city wall were much older buildings than those outside

The architecture inside the wall is very different to that on the outside. Inside it is old and dilapidated whereas outside it is modern and high-rise. 

Leroy, Sarah, Janine, Kevin, Dean and me on hired bikes on the city wall

We left the wall and, after a short bus ride, ate lunch in a restaurant. The food was really good and it was probably one of my favourite meals. We left there about 13:30 and headed for the Shaanxi History Museum. We had to queue for ages to get in. 

A child standing in the queue for the museum was wearing these funky trousers. I really liked the message on them: Curiosity must be kept alive. Life is meant to be lived.

Jackie Chan gives us yet another talk!

It was quite a big museum but with only 3 galleries. There were a few pottery horses like I have at home but obviously not exactly the same! I wandered around but didn’t find it that interesting really and the displays weren’t particularly engaging.  It probably didn’t help that the museum was quite dark and we were all tired from a disturbed night’s sleep on the train.

We left there about 16:00 to return to the hotel. During the bus ride Jackie Chan told us lots of facts about Xi’an. He lives on permanent transmit!

We got to our room about 16:30 and went to sleep for an hour before getting ready to meet everyone in the foyer at 18:30. We hopped on the little bus and it took us to a restaurant where we had a rather bizarre meal. Jackie had been raving about this hot pot so we were all curious to see what it would be like.

Hot pot, Chinese style

We were all given individual little cooking pots with burners underneath and the waitresses put plates of uncooked beef, lamb, rice noodles, leaves, potato slices and eggs onto the Lazy Susan and we all had to cook our own food. Apparently it’s called ‘Hot Pot’ and it was pretty bizarre! I didn’t particularly enjoy the food so all round I didn't think it was that great really.

Not a sign you'd see in a UK loo cubicle!

The hotel foyer

Signs in the hotel lift: Please don't slap the door and force it open. No leaning. No playing and jumping. Please don't push the buttons randomly.

We left there about 20:30 and went back to the hotel. I was chilly and tired so decided to stay in and have a shower and write my blog while Sarah popped out with some of the group about 21:00. Sarah returned at 21:45 and I went to bed while she went to one of the others’ rooms. There were some pretty noisy Chinese people in the room across the corridor from us and they had their door open so the noise spilled out. This had happened in previous hotels, so I wonder whether it is customary in China to leave your hotel door open until you go to bed?!