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China (Part 3) (Part 2 Here)
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22nd-24th December 2005 - ChongQing - a non-cycling Chinese city - Shocking! ChongQing has definitely a good feel about it, especially at night when all the lights are switched on an the entire hill is literally flashing away. The mingle of roads and hills make it much more interesting than the other modern flat and straight Chinese cities we have visited. This is shopping paradise and the contrast between the poor villages of Northern Shanxi and the bustling cities is at its peak in the "Mountain City" as it is known locally. Our friend WangJun took us on a tour around the city and we were particularly impressed with the brand new three gorges museum, which features many cultural and architectural objects salvaged from the banks of the river Yangtze before flooding.
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Chongqing - what happened to all that mud? We left in the evening of the 24th. To our surprise, the whole city was ready to celebrate Christmas but in a rather strange way. Everyone had a giant inflatable hammer and were chasing and hitting other people with it. We asked a few times but could not get any explanation about this strange christmas tradition. |
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Christmas lights of ChongQing |
24th-26th December 2005 - Cruising on the river Yangtze We chose to book a Chinese cruise, which is much cheaper than a Western cruise with English guide and western food. What the seller did not tell us is that with a Chinese cruise also comes a lot of hassle and the smallest room ever even in first class. The toilet is worthy of mention: in a small plastic cubicle you have toilet, shower and sink. Great skill is required to enjoy your wash: avoid stepping into the dark, slippery toilet hole, which is directly under the shower head. The toilets to all the cabins are all connected to the same pipe, no U bend or water trap so one can clearly hear all manner of bodily motions of fellow travellers, it is probably possible to hold a conversation by talking into the hole - we'll have to try that next time! As for the hassle, it was total madness from the moment we boarded. First we had to dissuade the hordes of men who wanted to carry our bags and bikes, then we had to pay for a key to our room and for a pass to go on the top deck. Lambs to the slaughter... no rest for tourists even on Christmas eve.
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On the boat we rapidly met a few other tourists, a bit dazzled like us by their arrival on the boat. Thanks to them we had a fabulous time. Isa managed to feast on 13 deserts, as the Provencal tradition dictates, by biting into the cakes that our german friends brought for Christmas (yup, we have no shame!). They also cooked some mulled wine, so we all managed to feel pretty festive (right)Christmas in China - it's celebrated just like the UK, trees, carols and the opportunity to sell stuff to gullible punters |
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But let's go back to the cruise itself. After days of smoggy weather and many sun dances, we woke up on our first cruise day to a sky as grey as ever. But worse than the weather was the Lonely Planet guidebook description of the cruise. We were both clearly left with the impression that it was our last chance to see the three gorges before they get totally flooded (in 2009). We quickly realised that the water level has already risen to 140m (the maximum will be 175m) and the towns on the river banks are all of the modern, concrete and ugly type. No more cliffs, no more small villages, no more rapids. This however does not seem to be a loss for the Chinese authorities. They have re-baptised the site "The new three gorges" and are already selling souvenir books about them. We also heard on a pre-recorded video that the site is better now because everybody can see the top of the mountain peaks, which were not visible before. China can definitely put a spin on anything! |
We tried to be as festive as local conditions allowed!
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One of the temples on the 3 gorges tour, the timing of the tour seemed to create a situation where the points of interest were in the very early morning or in the dead of night. This temple had been moved before the flood waters inundated it
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The visiting during the cruise happened at the strangest hours: very early in the morning or very late at night. This would not have been a problem if it was not for the loudspeaker getting everybody out of bed at 5.30 am, in order to pay for breakfast in the restaurant at 6.30 and to be ready for the 7.30 visit in the dark. With the Chinese voice and one song on repeat for three hours, it was hard to keep our sanity and it really did feel like a workcamp! One of the best visit on the way was the cruise on the new small three gorges. They are quite impressive, even though the flooding has made them wider. But we were much surprised to find that the tour has been extended and now included an add-on cruise of the three mini-gorges. Some people saw a business opportunity in the flooding of a small stream. This was the best part of all with orchids growing on cliffs and we spotted our first wild mammals in China: two haunts of monkeys! |
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Isa the Viking on the way down the three small gorges - very nice |
New Gorge No 3, 140m shorter than it used to be but very impressive anyway |
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The top water level will be 175m, which will reach the white sign on the left - or just below the hotel building. Most of the gorges are now submerged under the 140m of water |
Half a dead pig on a chinese boat |
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27th December 2005 - Visiting the 3 Gorges Dam & Train to GuandZhou 4km The cruise ended in Yichang, which is now famous for the three gorges dam. As we had the day to spend in town we decided to visit the dam. We were told that the visit lasts three hours, so we were very much looking forward to an in-depth explanation to how it all works. We joined the compulsory bus tour and we started by visiting a memorial garden to the dam (and it is not even finished yet!), with it's tourist tat shop. Then we visited a garden with a view over the back of the dam and finally a platform with a view on the front of the dam. The closest we got from it was 300m from one side and with a visibility of 200m at the best, we hardly saw anything! Our guide did not speak a single word of English, so we were left utterly disappointed. Even the Chinese tourists seem deeply bored by this tour of gardens with no view on the dam. Our advise: do not go to Yichang to visit the dam. We had a much better view of it while passing through the almighty locks the night before on the boat. |
One of the 5 enormous locks to allow navigation around the three gorges dam |
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Still a building site with poor visibility, useless explanations and unnecessary tourist rip off diversions - score 1 out of 5
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Christmas dinner no 2, Germans, French, Russian and lonely Englishman (the photo of Christmas Dinner No 1 was accidentally deleted so apologies to our Australian friends) |
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28th December 2005 - Train to GuangZhou & Boat To Hong Kong 5km We took the night train from Yichang to Guangzhou, previously known as Canton. We got off the train under the rain and our first challenge was to retrieve the bicycles, whom we had to put in the luggage wagon (see our bicycle section). The luggage office was cleverly hidden far from the main station and after struggling to find it, we spent half an hour walking there carrying our all our loose bags. Once there, we were greeted by a repeated "MeiYou" or "No Have". We nearly had a heart attack as we were unsure to whether the bikes were on the train with us. It is only thanks to a friendly chap who spoke a bit of English that we managed to get into the luggage store building and found our bikes there. Three hours after our arrival in Guangzhou, we were finally on our bikes, after having lost our karrimat, our best tyre pump and our morale in the process. We decided to investigate ways of speeding our route to Hong Kong. And this for once was easier than expected. We went to the China hotel, which arranged for a minibus to take us to the Ferry port and sold us two ferry tickets to Hong Kong. One hour later we were queuing for the Ferry and filling our departure form. We did not expect to leave mainland China so promptly, but we definitely needed a break. |
Even the ferries in China have the individual booth system - here we paid 50 yuan each for seats with a good view - it turned out to be reminiscent of out karaoke experience; but the murky weather meant no view anyway.
Arrival in the skyscrapers of Hong Kong
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Not surprisingly christmas is fully celebrated in Hong Kong |
29th Dec 2005- 6th Jan 2006 - Visiting Hong Kong & Planning the next move Have we left China or not? Officially not, but once pass the border crossing, it is like stepping in another world and it took us a few days to adjust to our new surroundings. Hong Kong really is the perfect blend of Asia and Western culture. Language is rarely an issue, you can listen to the BBC here (it was not possible in China), buy any kind of good you can imagine be it in a posh Gucci shop or in a food street market, where live fish, tubes and some strange living things are on display. We were not keen on the shopping side of the city, for which many people seem to come, but we were happy to cruise on the harbour ferry and visit some of the quieter islands with our friends Julian and Michele, who had the great patience to put us up for 9 nights. It took us some time indeed to decide where to go and how. We first wanted to travel by boat and towards Vietnam, but time, Isa's feet and money considered, we opted to buy a plane ticket to New Zealand (for more information on bikes on plane and all the scrubbing we had to do, see our section in the NZ page).
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The green and tranquil Lamma Island - it seems along way from the skyscrapers of Hong Kong island
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A big new year toast from the roof of the 35th floor
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Our kind, patient and generous hosts in Hong Kong, Julian and Michelle, photographed at sunset on the beach on Lamma island
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One of the tiny temples nestled amongst the skyscrapers and steep, winding streets of Hong Kong
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Leaving Asia and the Northern Hemisphere On the evening of the 6th of January, we took off from Hong Kong. It is with a pinch in the heart that we said Bye bye to Asia! Please follow the link to our next destination - the southern cross, kiwis, penguins, volcanos and glaciers of New Zealand |
Dubiously named shop on top of Victoria peak, perhaps something was lost in the Cantonese / English Translation
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The weather at the beach was much better for Isa's feet, but the sand does tend to get everywhere |
Both China and Hong Kong use bamboo scaffolding - this particular monster was cantilevered out across the pavement and the main Kowloon high street |
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