A few things we have learnt about China and its people during our visit:
IT SNOWS IN BEIJING - We arrived in Beijing via a stinking hot Singapore hopelessly underdressed for the -4 degrees and snow which greeted us. The changeable Beijing spring relented a little to enable us to trek between the isolated Jinshaling and Simatai along the Great Wall of China. This part of the Wall has both restored and unrestored sections and thankfully no McDonalds in sight, unlike sections of the wall closer to Beijing. The snow returned a few days later and we had a spectacular night trip to the Olympic Green to see the Bird Cage and the Water Cube.
ANYTHING IS EDIBLE - After 2 months of vegetarianism in India and Nepal which we are sure would make Lou proud, we returned to our carnivore origins. The famous Peking Duck was first on our menu, followed up the next day at a street food market with meat on a stick. Here, Rodney also indulged in Scorpions and Kirsty enjoyed the safety of toffee Strawberries. Needless to say, we turned down many other weird things including seahorses, cockroaches, chicken feet and dog.
MANDERIN IS NOT JUST A FRUIT - China presented us with our first real language challenges as not many people speak or read English. Whether it be directing a taxi, finding our hostel or ordering food, sign language and pointing to Chinese characters in the Lonely Planet had to be relied on to break down the communication barrier. Even then, our hostels took longer to find than they should have and weird food turned up on our table.
QUEUEING IS UNHEARD OF - People simply do not line up in China and it is a case of everyone for themselves in a push to the front. For example, at the Summer Palace in Beijing Kirsty and a Canadian friend Mel lined up to use the facilities. The locals soon realised that it is unwise to push in front of a Canadian and a New Zealander busting to go - boney elbows will be used at the offender's peril.
THE CHINESE PACK LIGHT - With the promise of an awesome sunrise, we traveled from Xi'an to climb Mt Hua Shan and sleep on its eastern peak. The trek is famous for its steep gradient as it climbs over 2000 metres in less than 7 kilometres. With reports of poor facilities and cold nights we packed our gear into one of our packs. The sight of Rodney carrying our pack generated much excitement amongst the Chinese, who had mostly caught the cable car three quarters of the way up the mountain on a day trip and were therefore carrying next to nothing. We were later informed by an English speaking Chinese guy that Rodney had gained legendary status and that he was being talked about as "that strong [crazy] foreigner".
TOUR DE CHINA - We found that the awesome karst peaks, rivers and villages surrounding the town of Yangshuo were best explored by trekking and cycling. While we thoroughly enjoyed our local bicycles, unfortunately, even though the vast majority of the worlds cycle helmets are manufactured in China, none are available for use in the country itself. Towards the end of our ride, we passed a group of local women who obviously resented being overtaken, as they immediately reacted with several counter attacks. Our competitive nature took over and before long, Kirsty was in the middle of her first bike race sitting on Rodney's wheel as they chased down and attacked Team China Mobile to take victory at the pedestrian crossing on the entry into town. Not long after, Rodney decided to take advantage of the many mopeds and work on his leg speed with a little bit of motor pacing through the main street of Yangshuo.
We are currently eating our share of French bakery items in Hanoi before travelling to Halong Bay tomorrow, followed by Sapa later in the week. If you are interested in seeing all of our China photos, check out www.flickr.com/photos/rodneykirsty/sets
Hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Easter,
Love Kirsty and Rodney.
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