A nation in mourning May 24, 2008
Posted by drewandlou in china.Tags: china, earthquake
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It was a very interesting time to be in China with the earthquake in the Sichuan province. Everywhere you turned their was press coverage of the recue effort.
On the Monday the country begin three days of national mourning and at 2:28pm there was a nation wide moment of silence.
We were at the top of Moon Hill when this occurred and all you could hear was horns blaring and all the Chinese at the top of the hill at a total stand still.
It was truly an amazing thing to be a part of and to see the way the country responsed to the disaster was remarkable. We really felt for all the people that were affected by the earthquake.
Yangshou May 24, 2008
Posted by drewandlou in china.Tags: china, touts, yangshou
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Straight off the bus and straight into the path of touts. We were collared by two guys striaght away and virually dragged to their place. 30 minutes later we are on a bus to Xingping and on a bamboo raft sailing up the Li River. These touts move pretty quick!
The river was crowded with bamboo rafts, big boats and fisherman all trying to get their hands on the tourist dollar.
We ended staying 4 nights in Yangshou and the last two days were spent riding through the beautiful countryside on bikes. Trying to ride through the rice paddies on a track frequented by water buffalos was pretty tough at times.
Along the ride it was also nice to see Louise embracing the Chinese language. With ‘hello’ and ‘thankyou’ in her armoury all you could hear riding along was Ni Hao to everyone we passed.
We moved hotel after 2 nights to a much nicer place as they lost some of our socks and undies!! Not good when you have a limited supply! Louise was very dissapointed and kept telling them if they really wanted her dirty underwear they should have just asked.
After four nights we jumped on a bus and headed for Nanning for our connection into Vietnam. A change of plans as we were going to head to Kumming and go to Sapa overland but the only way to get there was a 22 hour train which wasn’t too appealing.
We have enjoyed our China leg and it has been way too short but we are glad to be heading to Vietnam.
Big trouble in little China May 24, 2008
Posted by drewandlou in china.Tags: china, guangzhou
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China has been no trouble at all it is just that the title of the post is one of my favourite Kurt Russell movies. It actually comes a close second behind Tango & Cash.
After a quick stop in Hong Kong we made our by train to the city of Guangzhou for an overnight stay. Previously known as Canton this place was huge. While the rest of China closed itself off to the rest of the world Guangzhou would open its doors every year for an annual trade show and the punters flocked.
We found a place to stay on Shaiman Island an old colonial area with many buildings from the English and French occupation.
What surprised us was the amount of America couples adopting Chinese kids. The hotel they were all staying at must have been close by as they were everywhere you looked.
The following day we spent organising our bus ticket to Yangshou and also attended a traditional tea ceremony in the city’s orchid garden.
That night we headed on an overnight bus to Yangshou, glad to escape the crowds and mayhem of Guangzhou.
Chinese Beer of Choice May 24, 2008
Posted by drewandlou in china.Tags: beer, china
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So the obvious choice would be Tsingtao but with it costing almost double in most places I preferred to drink Li Quan a much lighter beer.
There was actually alot of types of Li Quan but the one that was served the most was Li Quan Ice. This is the one they guaranteed would be cold!
