China

15th August 2002

Summary
We booked our holiday on the internet direct from Travelsphere having seen their ad in the Daily Mail. The company is extremely well organised and we had no problems at all with the booking, arrangements or travel details.

Travelsphere organise the tour exceptionally well - all tips at hotels are already catered for, suitcases are picked up and delivered to your hotel room, all trips and meals are already arranged. All of the flights we took had plenty of leg room and were smooth and trouble free. The only problem was the lousy food and awful service!

All hotels were very good and the Shanghai and Xian hotels were excellent. When we arrived at Beijing there were 47 of us in the party and we were split in to two groups, each with its own Tour Manager. Despite this split we all mixed very sociably at meal times, evenings and any time we were together. This was unusual, according to the Travelsphere Tour Managers, who expected us to remain in our little cliques. It was quite remarkable that so many people, from such a variety of backgrounds, got on so well together. There was no animosity anywhere and you could feel quite comfortable with whoever you sat near for meals.

Rachel and I made a point of always sitting at the first available table, and not looking for special friends. Both Tour Managers were very good and ours (Julie) was exceptional. The local guides were usually of a high standard although sometimes a bit difficult to understand. Local people were always very friendly and definitely curious about us.

Highlights of the trip: The Great Wall, The Terracotta Warriors, the cruise down the Gorges and the view of the new dam.

Criticisms: None really other than it would have been nice to be given an alternate meal (to Chinese) occasionally. Whilst we love Chinese food it did become a little bit too much when we had it lunch time and evening every single day (although the menus were varied and the food was generally very good.).

Diary

Thursday 15th

Saturday 17th

Our first full day. Reps arrange wake up call 6:30. Breakfast 7:00 then coach to Beijing for full day sightseeing. Very hot [even at 8 in am], very humid. Started at Tian an Men Square with Mao’s mausoleum.

No chance to go in - 3 hour queue even at this time of the morning! – We’re not bothered though. Tried to find the bloodstains on the square but they’ve cleaned them up.

Next stop, Forbidden City, previously the home of the Emperor, now a public place. Very large, but not really that interesting. No real sense of the history or splendour of old (but they did film part of The Last Emperor” here). Lunch and then final stop Temple of Heaven. Nice, but again nothing special. Most interesting bit was `normal` citizens performing street opera and music. Apparently this is standard Chinese behaviour. Where we sit indoors and watch TV they all spend their time outside chatting, playing Mah Jong, performing street opera and even eating.

Sunday 18th

Another wake-up call at 6:30. Today we are off to the Great Wall, but first the obligatory visit to a factory to see how they make stuff and then tempt you to buy. Also visited the Avenue of Statues, leading to one of the Ming tombs. Unlike the tombs of the Pharaoh’s the underground chambers are left sealed, as they don't have the technology yet to preserve the colours and condition of the artefacts.

The Great Wall is exactly that. Great - and awe inspiring. The bit we walked at Badaling has two routes, easy or hard. In fact they are both very hard work and especially tough on the knees coming down. The difficult route has some very steep bits - almost like climbing a giant ladder. Had some fun bartering with the inevitable stalls at the end of the walk. Thought we got some bargains but that's probably just because we were knackered!

An example of bartering in one of the shops: We bought some water, they tried to fleece us for 10 Yuan when usually only 5 (or even 3) and then tried to give us fake money as change. Lucky we had been warned and were wise to their ways. All of this for the sake of 50p – but great fun.

Tonight we have a Peking duck dinner.

This turned out to be nothing special, but we did have Chinese whiskey [fire water], which livened up the tables. Finished up drunk, having more beers in the garden bar with Ajay, David and Katrina. Excellent fun. David doesn’t drink beer (he’s a cider guy) so he decided to have a fruit punch. This turned out to be a bowl of fruit salad which (at the time) was hilarious and gave us the opportunity to take the mickey out of him throughout the rest of the holiday.

Monday 19th

Suitcases outside the room for 7:15, Travelsphere deal with pickup and transfer to next hotel – destination Shanghai.

Left hotel at 8:30 for trip to Summer Palace [in the rain!]. Very nice, picturesque gardens with vast man-made lake. Took 100,000 peasants 15 years to dig with spades. Also has a very Long Corridor decorated with 8000 paintings. Onwards to the airport for 13:30 flight to Shanghai. Another good flight and another nice hotel. This one even better for us as my note on the original booking form for a "double bed where possible" meant we were given a suite! Two toilets, large bed, separate sitting room, dressing gowns - excellent. Good view of park and sports stadium. You can get up early in the morning and go to the park or stadium and join in the ritual morning exercises. We didn’t bother, although I did stroll over one morning and was amazed to see a Doctor set up by the side of the road!

Only problem with this hotel is the food. Bland and uninspiring (Chinese).

Evening went to see Shanghai by night. This was an add-on but only cost 100 yuan [10 pounds] and was worth every penny as it included a trip up the Jin Mao Tower, 3rd tallest building in the world. Spectacular building with a fantastic interior view down the centre - from the 88^th floor all the way to the 44^th. The exterior view shows a lovely panorama with various tall buildings all lit in different ways, including lasers and spotlights. Shanghai by night is beautiful and the city is buzzing. The bunt [waterfront] is full of action and interesting people, and it is normal in Shanghai to go and stroll in your nightclothes!

Tuesday 20th

Another early start for a day tour of the city. Obligatory visit to carpet makers plus a visit to silk factory, the latter quite interesting. Best part of the day was Yu Yuan gardens, which occupy little actual space [relatively] but give the illusion of being enormous. Beautifully designed, very peaceful and a sheer joy to sit in when the crowds have gone. Nothing like an English garden, but Feng Shui with large water features and lots of koi carp.

The day also included a visit to the Jade Buddha temple. Not my cup of China tea, but some nice buildings and a couple of impressive statues.

Afternoon was free time for shopping but Rachel wasn't feeling too good so we cabbed back to the hotel.

In the evening we broke from the crowd and did our own thing with one of the others on the tour. He is an Indian travelling on his own, really nice guy called Ajay (mentioned before) who is an A&E Doctor. We took a cab into the city and had a really nice [normal] meal in the Shanghai Hard Rock Cafe. Excellent night out and [of course] bought a T Shirt.

Wednesday 21st

Another early start and a day full of travelling. Coach to the airport, flight from Shanghai to Wohan and then another coach for a 4.5 hour journey to meet the cruise ship. Deep joy! Still, once we get on board it will be nice.

The journey in the coach was interesting! The road looks like it is a motorway; two lanes each side and smooth looking. It drives like you are on a roller coaster. Put this together with a very poor driver who kept falling asleep at the wheel and you can understand how lucky we feel to have made it in one piece. The final part of the nightmare journey was classic. The drive went over a ditch in the road much too fast. This caused warning lights to come on, and buzzers to sound! He then had to use the handbrake to guide us down a lovely hill towards the water. Those of us at the front of the coach just shut our eyes and prayed. But we made it.

We then sat in sweltering heat (9:30 at night) and watched the locals loading the suitcases on to the boat. Amazing. Men and women carrying 2 suitcases on a waste basket strapped to their back – and they had to navigate down 30 yards of really steep steps. It was hard enough for us to walk down carrying nothing.

Finally got on board ship at 10:00 pm - 13.5 hours after we started from Shanghai. At least we were tired enough to sleep through the noise of the ship's engines.

Ship is very nice and the cabin is adequate if a little small. Food once again very good (Chinese)

Thursday 22nd

Our first day on the river started with a coach trip to see the construction site of the 3 Gorges dam. The first phase of this fifteen year project was completed a couple of years ago and consisted of providing a new, diverted channel for ships to use whilst they began the foundations of the dam. The second phase is due to be completed in 2003 when the dam itself is ready to hold back the river and the temporary channel will be filled. Once this happens the level of the water upstream is expected to rise by 135 metres! The final phase is due to end in 2009 when the level is expected to be 175 metres above the current level.

The dam is huge. An amazing, awesome feat of engineering, which is being developed mostly with China’s own people. Very little outside expertise is being called in.

After visiting the site we set sail up the river, passing through two of the beautiful gorges. This journey is beautiful and it is amazing to see the markers high up the side of the gorge showing you where the water level will be in one and seven years time.

Evening entertainment consisted of an introduction to the captain and crew; some traditional Chinese dancing; a couple of silly games; and some singing by crew members. The first sang a traditional song and wasn't bad. The second guy, Mr. Diamond the bartender, sang the Platters song "Only You" and was incredibly good - much to our amazement.

Friday 23rd

Air conditioning in our cabin is a bit too good! Woke up in the night freezing cold. Luckily they have extra quilts.

Today started with a trip up the Daning river to see the three Lesser Gorges. You have to transfer to smaller boats for this and the trip is beautiful. It's still amazing to think how much of this will be under water next year. The gorges are so deep it will be a shame if they become the "Insignificant Gorges". Highlight of the trip, other than the fabulous scenery, was the short stop we made on the riverbank to stretch our legs and take pictures. The inevitable "lookee lookee" man appeared [where the hell from?] and was chased by one of the guides - into the river. Excellent fun. Returned to the cruise ship where vendors waiting to sell water, beer, wine etc. Rachel bartered [badly] and got wine for 40 Yuan instead of 50. Once again we got fake notes back as change for our 100. They love to try it on.

Lunch back on the boat followed by the final Yangtze Gorge. This one is the smallest at only 8km long, but the most spectacular - called Qutang Gorge and famous for "KUI GATE" and narrow channel. We were lucky as it is not possible for two large ships to pass side by side so a Pilot in a house on the side of the gorge controls the flow. We had "right of way" but could have been made to wait 2.5 hours.

Evening spent in the ballroom again with more silly games [Rachel had to mummify me with toilet paper] and more Karaoke including Mr. Diamond.

Saturday 24th

Short trip in the morning [walking - boat docked overnight] to visit the ShiBaoZhai wooden pagoda. Despite the fact that this is set high up, it is likely to be partly under water when the dam project is finished. They are considering building a mini dam or quay around the Pagoda to protect it or maybe moving it.

Rest of the day spent on the boat as it sails towards Chongqing. The evening was a special farewell [to the boat] show featuring the crew and any of us who had "talent". First half was excellent but the second half ruined it by being tedious. Shame. Of course Rachel and I just sat and watched as we are talent-less.

Sunday 25th

Disembarked 9:30 and travelled by coach to our hotel - stopping on the way to see the Panda's [smaller than we thought but at least they were active] and the "People's Square". This has a copy style building of the Summer Palace in Beijing and a large square [surprisingly!] which apparently is full of locals dancing in the evening. The hotel [Holiday Inn] was the best so far. Superb rooms, excellent facilities and good food (Chinese). The rest of the day was free time - so we sat in our room and watched football - excellent! Liverpool beat Southampton 3-0 and the game was shown in full. After the evening meal Ajay suggested a trip into town to see the Square in action. Phil and Celia came too and we had a fantastic time. There really were a thousand Chinese all dancing to piped music with the fountains dancing in the background. Very enjoyable but very strange as we were definitely the "foreigners", but we were treated like film stars with mobs of people around us all wanting to practice their English and look at and learn about these strangers. We joined in the dancing and had a great time - such a fabulous atmosphere. Trying to get a taxi back to the hotel was a little bit tricky. Flagged one down showed him the card with the address and he shook his head and drove off. Same thing happened with the next one. We were starting to wonder how on earth we could get back, but the next cab seemed to understand and we got back to the hotel OK.

Monday 26th

Another travel day, heading to Xian. Obligatory stop at a couple of tourist sites, Ealing Park, being the highest point in Chongqing, and a temple. Neither particularly interesting but the view from the Pagoda was nice. Arrived at the airport 15:30 for 17:55 flight to Xian but half hour delay.

Arrived Xian 18:30 and now have 40 min coach trip to the hotel. This was interrupted by a "special surprise", only awarded to 10% of tourists - we were to be greeted by special ceremony at the city gates. Here we were given wine, a key to the city and an "original" passport. All very nice, and of course you have the chance to buy some bottles of the wine and the group photo!

Arrived at the hotel [finally - traffic was awful in the city due to broken down car and road works, very familiar] to find that we had once again been given a suite. This is a very good hotel so the suite is even better than the last one. Three rooms, sitting, bath and bed. The sitting room as large as previous bedrooms, with leather sofa, leather chair, writing desk and chair, coffee table and very large bureau with TV. Excellent room.

Tuesday 27th

Getting near to the end of the holiday but today should be one of the highlights - the Terracotta Warriors.

Once again an early wake-up call, breakfast and then out at 8:00 for the first stop. The Ban Po Neolithic village dating back 6000 years. Really interesting. Next stop the Hot Springs of the Emperor's winter palace and gardens. Really beautiful place. Chinese traditional dancing, more koi fish and lovely rambling gardens interspersed with buildings holdings the remains of the ancient bathhouses. After a rather mediocre lunch we were off for our final stop. The incredible sight of the Terracotta Warriors. There are three buildings that have been erected over and around the pits excavated to date. These hold the remarkable reconstructions of the warriors that had been [largely] destroyed during earlier wars. They really are an incredible sight and it's amazing how many there are. We even had a chance to dress up as Warriors and have our photo taken. Great fun, especially when I said "goodbye" to the Chinese attendant and walked out in full regalia. She just smiled and said "bye" but some of the people I bumped in to outside got a shock!

Tonight we are off to see a spectacular show - the Tang Dynasty.

Well, the show wasn't what I expected but it was certainly colourful. It was more music and dance where we were looking forward to acrobatics and magic. Nonetheless, the costumes were beautiful, the musicians very skilled and extremely graceful. We did get to see some acrobatics and they also had a tiny contortionist [probably only 12 yrs old] who did things that were very strange and almost unbelievable.

Wednesday 28th.

A fairly quiet day today as we are on our way back to Beijing. We must have our obligatory factory visit first, this time a Jade manufacturers. Fortunately this was short and was preceded by a visit to the 1300 yr old Goose Pagoda. 43 metres high, offering a nice view [if you can manage the rickety stairs to the top]. The pagoda has suffered from 2 separate earthquakes - the first splitting it down the middle and the second joining it back again! Lovely gardens again this one with local people practicing martial arts.

Our final night we spent with Ajay again, this time Hard Rock Beijing. Food not as good as Shanghai, but still a good night out.

Thursday 29^th

Our flight is at 14:05 so we only have a few hours left for that final bit of shopping. Rachel decided to get one of the traditional Chinese dresses and made sure it fitted OK by trying it on. She came out to show me and was greeted with a round of applause from half a dozen of our fellow travellers who were also shopping at the time. Understandable as she looked absolutely gorgeous.

The fight home was delayed slightly but was smooth and uneventful. The Chinese stewardesses would never get a job in the UK unless they change their style. They are all so miserable – and the service is really poor. Still, you do get a lot of legroom so it’s not all bad.