Week 111 - Wutai Shan, Datong, Beijing (China)

After our manic night trying to find a bed in Wutai Shan, we treated ourselves to a lay in. When we did venture out, we realised just how closed up the town was. The season ended a week previously and it seemed like everyone had packed up and left. We waited for a shuttle and before long an empty bus pulled up to take us a couple of stops to the centre where we bought chairlift tickets and headed up to Dailuo Peak for views over the valley.

View from the chairlift to Dailuo Peak, Wutai Shan.

Wutai Shan is a sacred Buddhist mountain range, with five peaks enclosing a small, grey, bland tourist orientated town, with a river running through. The area is thought to be the earthly abode of Manjusri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, and in the Ming Dynasty, Tibetan Buddhists, for whom Manjusri is important, starting arriving and building new structures in place of the hundreds destroyed in the 9th century official persecution of Buddhism. Now there are still over 50 temples in the valley and dotting the surrounding mountains, with a high concentration in the town itself. Since we only had one day we decided to concentrate on seeing the larger, most important sights in the centre. 

After Dailuo Peak and a wander around the temple at the top, we walked back down to the main road and headed north. We stumbled upon a newer, brightly painted temple where we were the only visitors, before walking further to a couple of striking pagodas in a disheveled complex. Turning back towards the centre and after an expensive lunch stop at one of the only places that seemed to be open, we found the white stupa of Tayuan Temple, shown on every poster of Wutai Shan, and walked around spinning the prayer wheels, before discovering the entrance to Xiantong Temple. Xiantong Temple was beautiful with huge buildings set around serene courtyards with the central halls painted with murals and filled with golden statuary and a small Bronze Hall cast and gilt in 1606 and weighing 50 tonnes. 

Tayuan Temple stupa, Wutai Shan.

Inside one of the temples in the Xiantong complex, Wutai Shan.

The Bronze Hall, Xiantong Temple, Wutai Shan.

By then, Rhys was tired and jumped on a shuttle bus back to the hotel. I wandered around a few other smaller temples in the centre before visiting Shuxiang Temple where the main hall was closed but the sounds of the monks inside chanting and drumming reverberated around the courtyard. Next, I decided to hop on a bus a couple of kilometres south to the Nanshan Temple. The bus dropped me at the side of the main road from here I had a 20 minute walk up a steep hill through the forest with no one around, it was incredibly peaceful. The temple was worth the walk, with steep staircases leading though stone carved arches to seemingly never ending courtyards with views across the valley.

Nanshan Temple complex, Wutai Shan.

By the time I was finished at Nanshan the sun had dropped behind the Western Peak and it was time to head back to the hotel, struggling to find a shop open and selling anything but mushrooms to pick up pot noodles for dinner.

We had the alarm set for an early start as we hadn’t been able to find reliable information for bus times online. We ended up waking up the hotel staff to refund our key deposit before walking the kilometre south to the bus station. We had a very cold hour wait at the station before the minibus left and in -6C temperatures, lost the feeling in our toes. Thankfully, they turned the heater on on the bus and before long we were roasting and content, passing through stunning mountain scenery and frozen streams, to Datong.

Once in Datong. We jumped off the bus and made our way to the hotel we’d booked. Although a little far from the centre, we were impressed with the room, considering our hotel in Wutai Shan was supposed to be 4 star, this place had a lot more going for it, including 24 hour hot water and a heater in the room.

We were only in Datong for one night and for one reason, to visit the Yungang Grottoes. After getting directions to the bus stop using a translator app with the receptionist, we headed out to brave the cold. The bus took about 30 minutes and at the end of the line we wandered around until we found a ticket office. We then had to enter the complex through a brand new theme park-esque temple area. The grottoes date from the 5th century and contain upwards of 51,000 statues, the oldest collection of Buddhist carvings in China. 

Buddhist carvings in the Yungang Grottoes, Datong.

Although not as big as the Longmen Grottoes, there were more larger statues, some set in niches and some inside caves. Out of the 45 caves open to the public (there were originally 252 caves), there were two that were particularly impressive, one with a 17m high golden Buddha surrounded by hundreds of smaller images with carved and painted surfaces, and one with a square pagoda you could walk around with every inch of surface carved and decorated and with more giant Buddhas in niches. 

Huge carved Buddha, Yungang Grottoes, Datong.

Once out of the park, we caught a bus back in to Datong and having not eaten all day, were drawn to the stalls of fruit and cakes lining our road. We ended up buying bags full of goodies and spending the rest of the evening in our room snacking and enjoying the hot shower.

The next day an English speaking guest at the hotel wrote the name of the bus station we needed to head to in Mandarin for us to show to a taxi driver. Before too long, we were at the station and buying tickets for the next available bus to Beijing. We had an hour to wait, grateful that this time the station was heated, before boarding our coach for the 5 hour drive. Once away from the huge coal mines and chimneys that surround Datong, we drove along spookily dead modern highways, passed field after field of yellow, dry crops edged with perfectly straight, leafless trees and sandstone mountains in the distance. 

The bus pulled in to the station and we followed the signs to the metro. Before long we were at the hotel. Rhys loves duck and we figured being in Beijing, a Peking Duck dinner should be on our to do list. A bit of research and we found a restaurant in walking distance of our hotel with great reviews and it didn’t fail to impress. It was a small restaurant with not much atmosphere on a back alley but the duck was delicious despite the screaming Chinese family next to us. Rhys finished the meal with the duck brain, considered a real delicacy.

The next day we decided to head over to the Forbidden City, one of the biggest tourist attractions in Beijing. The City was home to the Ming and Qing dynasties and for 500 years, entry uninvited was forbidden and punishable by death. It was a playground for the ruling classes. After queuing for 30 minutes with thousands of people to buy tickets we were herded through the main gates and into one of the huge courtyards that fill the complex. The sheer size of the place was impressive but we found it got quite repetitive with alley after alley of orange, green and terracotta walls punctuated by courtyards centred with huge halls. We probably would have got a lot more out of it with an audio guide but we just meandered through the maze of buildings and gardens, stopping at a clock exhibition and a treasures exhibition, trying to avoid the crowds for a few hours before deciding to head back to the hotel.

Me in the Forbidden City, Beijing.

Posing by one of the many orange, green and terracotta walls, Forbidden City, Beijing.

For dinner that evening, we walked around trying to find a night market we’d read about. When we finally found the right street, we were a little disappointed, unlike Xi’An it was very regimented, all the stalls looked identical and were in purpose built carts and the food they were selling were more curiosities than good food, starfish, spider, snake and scorpion kebabs and overcooked meat and tasteless dumplings.

Unidentifiable meat kebabs at the night market in Beijing.

It was Sunday the next day and i’d read about a weekend market that sounded like our cup of tea, we’d been talking about buying yet another vase and had enjoyed the time we’d spent browsing antique markets in Xi’An and Pingyao. We caught the metro south and found the huge market which took us hours to work our way around, astonished by the number of beads stalls and stalls selling nothing but polished walnuts. The walnut craze has been something we’ve seen everywhere we’ve been in China, they sell for stupid amounts of money and people buy them as status symbols, looking for perfect symmetry and age and then roll them in their hands to aid circulation. A vase had caught our attention early in the day but we were quoted £150 so left it to look elsewhere, when we couldn’t find anything we liked as much we headed back to try our bargaining skills, walking away with it for £40, feeling rather chuffed with ourselves.

Browsing the antiques market in Beijing.

After stopping back in our room for the afternoon, we had tickets for an early evening acrobatic show at the Chaoyang Theatre. The show only lasted an hour but the time was filled with men tumbling through hoops, women balancing and twirling parasols with their feet, contortionists, 12 people on a bicycle and then the finale had 8 motorbikes in a cage, lit up and somehow managing to dodge each other.

Still talking about what we’d just seen, we jumped in the metro to find another restaurant i’d read about, Mr Shi’s, this time one of the highest rated dumpling restaurants in the city. It was in a lively area crisscrossed with hutongs (alleys) to the north of the Forbidden City with lots of bars and restaurants. When we arrived we were surprised to find it empty (until we realised it was the second restaurant and the original was few doors up), but again, my research had done us well and we ended up ordering a second helping they were so good.

We had to collect our tickets to Mongolia the next morning and walked over to the CITS office. As most of it was closed for the APEC meet, we’d been given instructions to pick them up from a guy in finance who didn’t speak English. 

Next, we walked over to Tiananmen Square. Although we’d been nearby when we went to the Forbidden City we hadn’t actually seen it. The Square is the world’s largest public square and is nothing more than a concrete grey expanse, with serious security, surrounded by Soviet style buildings with a giant poster of Chairman Mao at one end. Although visually it wasn’t very appealing, everyone has seen the videos of the 1989 army tanks standing off with pro democracy demonstrators and we felt we had to visit.

Giant flower arrangement, Tiananmen Square, Beijing.

Guards, flags and a Chairman Mao portrait, Tiananmen Square, Beijing.

Rather than spend longer in the centre, we then decided to take the metro out to the Summer Palace on the outskirts of town. It was nothing like the Forbidden City. Set around a large lake, there were pavilions, bridges and gardens with the southern bank lined with temples, palace buildings and intricately painted corridors. We made the error of circling the lake first so by the time we got to the buildings we were getting tired and only picked a few of the larger ones to visit.

Me on one of the bridges by the lake of the Summer Palace, Beijing.

Pagoda on the southern bank of the lake at the Summer Palace.

We had another sightseeing day planned the following day, this time to one of the Seven Man-made Wonders of the World, the Great Wall of China. Although we’d initially hoped to get further out to less restored, quieter areas, as it’s a fair way from Beijing and not easy to get to in off season, we opted for a tour from the hostel around the corner from where we were staying. After a free breakfast, we boarded a bus and spent 2 hours driving out to the Mutianyu section of the wall. We paid extra to take the cable car to watchtower 14, to allow us more time on the wall and immediately knew we’d made the right decision. Far from being a busy touristed and overly restored stretch, the wall was quiet. Our guide had recommended walking west, passed watchtower 23, the boundary to the Mutianyu section, and passed the signs telling tourists not to go any further. From this point on, we were on the unrestored 700 year old wall and it was beautiful.

The first version of the wall was built during the Qin dynasty in 221-207BC, when China was unified for the first time, joining together smaller walls from previously individual kingdoms (the same guy who ordered the Terracotta Army for his tomb). The wall was intended for defense but performed better as an elevated highway. The wall was rebuilt and strengthened several times over the coming centuries and was eventually abandoned when the Manchu armies invaded. The tourist industry has saved it from turning to dust and there are sections that have been heavily restored with theme park-esque additions, for the domestic tourist industry. 

Rhys on the restored section of Mutianyu, the Great Wall of China.

The section of wall we visited in known for it’s Ming Dynasty guard towers and mountain vistas with the wall snaking off into the distance, winding over craggy peaks. It was far more popular with westerners than domestic tourists so was free of shouting tour group crowds. After we passed the tourist-no-go signs, we found ourselves on a crumbling, overgrown path and at one point the wall became so steep and was covered in crumbling loose rocks that we practically had to climb on all fours. We set ourselves a target of reaching watchtower 29 in the limited time we had and ended up walking so fast, to ensure we had as long as possible on the unrestored part, that we made it all the way to 37 before having to turn back to meet our group for lunch. The view from 37 was the highlight of the whole section and well worth the hike.

Me clambering up one of the unrestored sections, Mutianyu, Great Wall of China.

We had a decent Chinese buffet for lunch and a chat to some of the other people on our trip before boarding the bus again for the drive back to Beijing. 

As it was our last night in China, we’d already decided to go back to the hutong duck restaurant for dinner and were treated with pancakes as good, if not better than the first visit and with out the accompaniment of the screaming Chinese family we had the previous time.

Week 110 - Luoyang, Huashan, Xi'An, Pingyao, Wutaishan (China)

By midnight our train had been 4 hours behind schedule, by the time we pulled in to Luoyang station it was 8 hours late. We’d been on the train for 20 hours with the only pro being we had our own cabin and an electric point. The full day of sightseeing we’d planned to squeeze into our 13 hour change over in Luoyang went out of the window.

Out of the train station we found a bus that took a ridiculously long time to take us across town to the highspeed station where we dropped our bags after some language difficulties in the left luggage room and jumped in a taxi. We still just had enough time for a quick run around the Longmen Grottoes before we had to be back at the station. Luckily the entrance wasn’t far from the station and a fast walk through 600m of souvenir shops and food carts selling nasty pancakes and we arrived at the ticket booth. 

As we were buying tickets Rhys realised he’d left his itouch in the taxi. Leaving me to go into the attraction as we’d already paid, he ran back to the taxi rank on the off chance it might still be there. I’m told lots of shouting ensued with the group of taxi men just laughing and telling him to go to the police if he wanted.

While he was having difficulties with the taxi men, I had time to run around the site before it closed. The 1,500 year old grottoes are niches cut into the rock face along a 1 km stretch of the Yi River. Filled with more than 100,000 Buddha images, the site is considered one of China’s few remaining masterpieces of Buddhist rock carving. It was impressive to see with the star cave, the Ancestor Worshiping Temple, centered on a 17m tall Buddha with 8 other huge statues guarding him.

View of the Longmen Grottoes across the Yi River, Luoyang.

Leaving the grottoes we took a taxi back to the train station. Our bullet train left on time and reaching speeds of 305kph, we were whisked to Hua Shan where we caught another taxi to our guesthouse. We were dropped at the junction on the main road and after asking a few locals, found the right neon lit shop front that the rooms were behind. By that point it was getting late and having eaten at Luoyang station, we settled in for the night.

The next morning we woke early to catch a taxi to the ticket office where after a bit of confusion we purchased our extortionate entry tickets (all national parks in China cost a fortune to visit, this one was £28 for entry, bus to the cable car and cable car ticket). Although it’s possible to walk up to the North Peak, we opted to take the cable car to give us time at the top to complete a circuit of the East, South and West peaks before walking back down to Hua Shan village. 

Me on North Peak, Hua Shan.

Hua Shan is one of Taoism’s five sacred mountains and sees hordes of tourists visiting everyday to walk the trails, lined with pine trees and chain barriers covered in padlocks and strips of red material, with views of the valleys stretching out below. As the cable car ascended, we passed through a cloud and couldn’t see more than a couple of metres in front of us and were worried it might stay that way all day. Luckily, the peaks were above the clouds and we were rewarded with mystical scenes of mountains floating among the clouds. Even though we’d decided to skip most of the climb, we were still faced with hundreds of stairs and steep ascents to reach the other peaks, the South being the highest at 2,160m with the cable car only taking us to 1,615m. The further we got from the North Peak, the fewer tourists there were and we managed to get away from all the shrieking to enjoy the scenery. 

Clouds at Hua Shan.

One of the biggest draws for us that took us to Hua Shan in the first place, was the Plank Walk on East Peak and when we got there, there was no queue and only a few people on the trail. It’s known as one of the most dangerous hikes in the world but since the introduction of harnesses, is perfectly safe. The path only stretches for about 50m and is a mix of niches cut into the rock face, steel bars fixed to the walls and planks of wood to balance on, with sheer drops of hundreds of metres to the valley below, just the kind of thing me and Rhys love to do.

Rhys balanced on the Plank Walk, Hua Shan.

Rhys on the Plank Walk, Hua Shan.

By the time we’d walked back down to the village we were tired and our legs were shaky from all the steps, from North Peak to the gate there were over 3,000 and that’s not including the steps between the peaks at the top. We grabbed a late lunch and walked back to our room, getting a bit confused on route and walking into the wrong building first. After an easy, fast food noodle restaurant dinner, we turned in for an early night.

We had a bit of a lay in the next day before our 10:30 train to Xi’An. We had booked in to a dorm at a top rated hostel and looked forward to being in one place for 3 nights. Xi’An is a walled city and was once the terminus of the Silk Road. It’s now a modern bustling city but tucked in amongst all the shiny buildings are narrow cobbled streets, pagodas and temples. We arrived at lunch and ate in the coffee shop at the hostel before walking south, passed the Bell Tower to the South Gate of the Walls. The 18th century Bell Tower is on a traffic island and originally held a large bell that was rung at dawn while a drum, at the Drum Tower further along the road, was sounded at dusk.

Once at the South Gate, we paid and climbed to the top of the wall where we hired bicycles to cycle a full circle of the old city. Built in 1370 during the Ming Dynasty the 12m high walls run for 14km and although they have been heavily restored, it gives a feel for how imposing the city would have been.

View of Xi'An from the City Walls.

Rhys cycling on the City Walls, Xi'An.

We walked back to the hostel via the Drum Tower and stumbled upon the entrance to the Muslim Quarter, an area of narrow, cobbled alleyways, full of souvenir and food stalls. After a few laps we headed back to the hostel, tired from another active day.

The Bell Tower, lit up at dusk, Xi'An.

The next morning we took the metro south of the city walls to the ZhuQueDa Antiques Market, the largest in Xi’An. We’d decided we wanted to buy a blue and white vase while in China and hadn’t seen anything that really took our fancy in the souvenir areas. It turned out to be a great experience. Xi’An has quite a lot of Western tourists but all of a sudden we found ourselves to be surrounded by locals as we wandered along the road where stall owners had spread their wares out on blankets on the floor. We spotted a few pieces we liked and bargained as hard as we could with no Mandarin skills. It was only later, back at the hostel that we realised we’d missed the bulk of the market, but had still managed to spend 2 happy hours with the stall owners delighting in dealing with white people.

Traders at Zhuqueda Antique Market, Xi'An.

Back at the hostel we had a quick turn around before heading out again to catch a bus to the train station. From there, we had directions to find the bus to the world famous Terracotta Warriors. The bus took about an hour and dropped us in a car park from where we muddled our way to the ticket office. After a rubbish 360 cinema, we ended up at Pit 1, the most impressive of the three open pits. We joined the masses and entered what looked like a huge aircraft hangar, built to protect the ongoing excavations. The sheer amount of warriors, all standing in rank in separate channels was staggering and it was interesting to see areas where they’re recovering and piecing together fragments of yet more statues. 

Pit 1, Terracotta Warriors, Xi'An.

The Terracotta Warriors, Xi'An.

Lines of Terracotta Warriors, Xi'An.

The other two pits held other figures, horses and chariots with Pit 2 having five soldiers in cases for you to see up close and the exhibition area showing soldiers where the colour with which they were originally painted is still visible and two solid bronze, half size chariots unearthed nearby.

The Terracotta Warriors are a life size army built by the first Emperor of a unified China, Qin Shi Huang, to stand guard over his tomb, he died in 210 BC. Although history suggests he was a tyrannical ruler, his achievements were great, standardising measurements, currency and writing, introducing a centralised government and greatly improving infrastructure by building thousands of kilometres of roads and canals.

No one really knows why he ordered their creation, but for archaeologists, they offer a great insight into the world of ancient China, following their discovery in 1974 when a local farmer was sinking a well. For something so old it really is incredible to see the level of detail and realism in the warriors and it really makes you wonder what was going through the Emperor’s mind. It’s even more incredible when you realise how little of the site has actually been excavated, the tomb itself hasn’t even been opened yet, although they believe it was looted shortly after the Emperors death.

Leaving the Warriors and the stalls of dog and cat furs behind, we caught a bus back in to town and back to the hostel where, after trying a persimmon (squidgy tomatey fruit), we headed back to the Muslim Quarter with one of the girls from our dorm for a street food dinner. We walked up and down the alleyways sampling skewered meat, breads, tofu, noodles, stretched sugar candy, burnt sesames and pomegranate juice, a little off put by the sight of a skinned dog in a butchers, before it was time for bed.

Dinner in the Muslim Quarter, Xi'An.

The next morning we’d booked on to a trip through the hostel to see the tomb of Emperor JingDi, a Han dynasty emperor who died in 141BC. You can’t get to the tomb easily by public transport so we joined two other people for a private car. Within an hour we were at the complex and we donned the obligatory plastic shoe covers and entered the museum. 

As at the Warriors, only a small portion of the site has been excavated so far, about 21 of the 81 pits that have been found surrounding the burial mound of the Emperor. The building has glass floors that allow you to walk over many of the pits peering at the slightly eerie doll sized terracotta figurines below - all missing their arms as they were originally made of wood and have disintegrated. Over 50,000 figurines are thought to be buried there including warriors, servants, eunuchs and domesticated animals. We sat through a random holographic short film and came out not really knowing any more than when we’d gone in but still enjoyed our visit. On the way out, we walked around the burial mound to the south gate of the mausoleum, taking in the sheer size of the plot, before getting back in the car for the drive back to the city.

Terracotta figures, Jing Di's tomb, Xi'An.

We were back in Xi’An earlier than expected and after lunch at a cheap Chinese buffet on our street, we walked to another antique market, at the Western Gate of the City Walls. This time it was an arcade of proper antique shops with real antiques and high prices to match. We wandered around pointing out pieces we liked before getting sucked in and buying yet another vase to add to our collection, fingers crossed that they all make it home without cracking.

Happy with our purchase we wandered back to the hostel where we had a couple of hours to relax before dinner. Although we intended to walk back in to the Muslim Quarter, we decided we couldn’t be doing with the crowds and instead I took Rhys back to the Chinese buffet where i’d had lunch.

Although we’d really enjoyed Xi’An and could definitely have stayed longer, we had a train booked to Pingyao the following day and took an early morning metro north to Xi’An’s highspeed train station where in three hours we found ourselves 486 km north. 

As always, the highspeed train station was in the middle of nowhere. We left the building and found a bus in the empty parking lot and asked the driver if he was going to the Old Town, showing him on a map. He said he was so we boarded and tried to work out how much to pay him. When we reached the outskirts of the town the driver told us to get off. We had no idea where we were and walked along a highway towards the city walls. When we finally found a road to cross through the wall we discovered we were at the southern entrance, our hostel was in the north. A 40 minute walk with our backpacks feeling ever heavier, we finally found the right place.

We didn’t stay in the room long before wandering back to the main pedestrianised street to explore. Pingyao is an ancient walled town and is considered to be the best preserved in the whole of China, bursting with beautiful buildings, alleyways and courtyards. Founded in the Ming Dynasty, it wasn’t until the Qing Dynasty that Pingyao really began to thrive when it became the home of the first banks. The streets are all cobblestone and lined with lanterns. It’s pretty touristy but wasn’t crazy busy and we spent a couple of hours browsing the antique shops in the centre, laughing at the English translations of menus (stewed maternal grandmother anyone?) and eating strange egg wrapped meat parcels.

Browsing the shops, Pingyao.

The main street with the City Tower in the distance, Pingyao.

Back at our room we had a couple of hours to chill before dinner. The temperature dropped and we had to get in to bed fully clothed waiting for the central heating to be turned on.

That night we wandered back into the centre, passed streets lined with lanterns, to find somewhere with English menus or pictures we could point at. Rhys had been craving sweet and sour pork so we found somewhere with it on the menu and ducked in, after being laughed at for trying to order rice we were a bit on edge and happy to be walking back to the hotel.

Lanterns in the centre of Pingyao.

The next day we bought tourist tickets which permitted entry to 19 historic buildings within the town. The old city walls are only 6km in circumference (with 72 watchtowers!) so enclosing an area about a mile square and easily walkable. We spent the whole day walking up and down the main cross roads stopping at every building we came across included on the ticket. We visited many merchant houses, Government offices and the first exchange house, all with series of courtyards and basement safes. Pingyao was at the centre of Ming and Qing dynasty trade routes and after issuing the first remittances to put an end to the dangerous practice of carting huge amounts of gold and silver all over the place, the town became the centre of the banking industry. The restored buildings hold museums and artifacts from the towns, and key families, histories. And in case that’s not enough, there were a few temples just to top it off. 

Rhys at one of the may temples, Pingyao.

By the end of the day all the buildings, although beautiful, were starting to look the same and we decided to stop for a coffee before walking back to the hotel to collect our bags.

We had an evening train heading to Wutai Shan and walked around the city walls to the station. The train we boarded was crowded and we were grateful to have ticketed seats, although we were less happy about the amount of staring we attracted. We’ve been looked at and laughed at in so many countries for looking different but here it feels uncomfortable for the first time, the people we’ve come across are so rude and think nothing of shoving a camera in your face without saying a word of warning or just staring for hours without even a smile, and Rhys had a guy practically sitting on his lap trying to watch his laptop over his shoulder for most of the journey.

We reached Wutai Shan train station which is actually 50km from Wutai Shan at around 11pm. We’d hoped the shuttle buses in to town might still be running and since there’s a real lack of any sort of information, hadn’t been able to find out otherwise. When we got there though it was clear we weren’t getting any further on public transport and ended up taking a taxi. 

The roads were empty and the driver roared around the mountain passes at full speed until we reached the ticketing office and road block. To enter the Wutai Shan area, you have to buy a ticket and me and the driver ended up knocking and shouting at the kiosk until the lights came on and I was able to buy one. 

The next piece of fun started when we arrived at the hotel we’d booked. The driver luckily knew where it was and took us straight there, but it was all locked up. We managed to wake someone who didn’t speak a word of English and we have no idea if he was a guest or the owner. Who ever he was, he practically threw us out of the courtyard miming that we couldn’t stay there and the taxi driver took it on himself to find us a bed for the night. We ended up at another, supposedly 4 star hotel that was twice our budget but the staff, when we woke them, were incredibly friendly and checked us in and gave us a warm room. We were so lucky to have the taxi driver we did otherwise we would have been at a loss and when the temperature is in the minus outside you can’t just camp out until morning.

Week 109 - Yangshuo, Wulingyuan (China)

After an extremely bad nights sleep on the train due to a snorer in our carriage, we were woken at 5am when the ticket collector knocked on the door. We had 40 minutes of our journey left before arrival at Guilin station. It didn’t take long to find a bus waiting outside heading to Yangshuo and although we had to pay white person inflated prices we were happy to be on the final leg of our journey. An hour later and we pulled into Yanshuo. 

We were at the hostel before 8am and they kindly let us check in to our room where we took a quick shower and climbed into bed for a well needed nap. We were only woken by the cleaner knocking on the door and took that as our cue to head out to explore. First we needed to do laundry which our hostel offered free. We bundled our clothes into a machine before realising we had no idea how to work it, over an hour and a half of flicking switches and turning taps on and off with help from a kind lady, and it was finally ready to hang out. Luckily, we had the view from the roof top terrace to entertain us while we waited, and what a view it was. Yangshuo is an extremely touristy town located on a bend in the Li River and famous for the towering limestone karsts that fill the horizon in every direction, and we had 360 degree views from the hostel.

When we finally left, we walked over to West Street, the main pedestrianised road with lots of alleys and smaller lanes leading off of it. The street is filled to bursting with shops selling all kinds of cheap and cheerful souvenirs, calligraphy sets, carved jade seals, polished rocks shaped like pigs trotters, sausages and cuts of bacon, and weird and wonderful sweets and jars of chopped chili, all intermingled with hundreds of bars and restaurants. 

After a lap of the town we grabbed a mango shake in one of the 50 different shops selling just mango drinks, all next door to each other, and walked down to the Li River. It was like a motorway with big boats bringing hundreds of tourists down from Guilin. We walked to the ferry port and back to town, stopping for Rhys to have his photo taken with a cormorant fishing bird. We had hopped to see the fisherman using their birds to catch fish but when we found out they didn’t do it anymore and it’s purely a show for tourists we decided against paying to see it.

Rhys with fishing cormorants, Li River, Yangshuo.

We sat on the roof terrace at our hostel to watch the sunset before wandering out again for dinner and found a cheap option on a side street with English menus where we could sit at a table on the roadside and watch the world bustling passed. 

The next day we’d decided to attempt the walk from Yangdi to Xingping, drawn on every tourist map of the Yangshuo area we’d seen and detailed in the Lonely Planet. We were out of the hostel early for a bus to Yangdi where we found the pier and tried desperately to get someone to take us across the river to start the hike. The pier is mainly for bamboo rafts taking people down the Li River to Xingping and on to Yangshuo and they weren’t keen to take us the short trip across the river, offering us the trip for £9.40, to go literally 20 metres, the same price it would cost to go halfway to Xingping. After spending an hour trying to find a boat for a reasonable price and meeting a lovely Chinese guy and a Swiss woman, also trying to do the trip, we ended up agreeing on £8 each to take us a quarter of the way, missing out the first stage of the walk and combining the first and second river crossings that were part of the hike.

Once we’d agreed on a price we still had to wait for 45 minutes as there’s a designated time when the rafts have to be off the river for the big ferries from Guilin to pass. We were desperate to start walking by the time we actually set off. The bamboo raft was a bit of a disappointment, it was made of plastic pipes with motors on the back and although the views of the Li River were spectacular, the noise took away from it.

View of the Li River from our raft, Yangshuo.

Finally we were off the raft and on the path, along with Jesse, our new Chinese friend. We followed the trail for a couple of hours, along the riverside and through villages and orchards growing thousands of oranges and huge fruit that look like giant pears but are more like grapefruits. Although the karsts were impressive and seeing rural life was really interesting, there was the sound of boat engines and electric lines strung across every view.

Rhys walking through the orchards, Yangdi to Xingping.

We had one final river crossing, this time at an official ferry that cost about 90p before the final walk to Xingping. Having missed the turnoff to the footpath we walked along the road and although it was empty apart from the electric carts running people from the boat to the village, it wasn’t the most interesting part of the hike. All up, it was a very expensive walk for what it was but the scenery and company made up for it.

Just before we reached Xingping we came across groups of people holding up 20 yuan notes and taking photos. It took us a moment to realise we’d found the view that’s engraved on the back of the note and we joined the throngs to take our own photos. Continuing to the village, we were a little disappointed to find so much building work on the Old Street, detracting from the peaceful beauty of the place and didn’t stay long before saying goodbye to Jesse and boarding a bus back to Yangshuo.

View of the Li River from Xingping.

Having walked around 20km we were pretty tired and after a quick shower and turn around we rushed out to meet Barbara, the Swiss lady who’d joined us on the raft at the start of the day. She’d traveled the transmongolian the other way to us and had Mongolian money to change. We sat in a restaurant on our favourite pedestrianised side street and swapped travel stories before we had to leave her to try to buy train tickets.

Internet research had informed us there was an official train ticketing office in town despite there not being a train station and we knew one of the trains we were after only had a handful of seats left. Unfortunately the office was closed so we were left hoping the train didn’t sell out before we could get there in the morning. After dinner we walked back through the hordes of Chinese tourists who had appeared blocking the streets, although the town was relatively quiet in the day, at night it was heaving. 

The next day our first stop was at the train ticket office where we managed to book most of our remaining China trains. Happy, we walked over the bridge and were offered a scooter for a cheap enough price that we agreed without a second thought. We consulted the map and headed south to Moon Hill, one of the karsts with a hole straight through. When we arrived, we were shocked to hear it cost £4 each entry and turned around, it was only looking at a guidebook later I realised they’d said £1.20. 

Checking the map we decided we’d try to follow one of the suggested cycle routes that seemed to be marked as a lane on the map. It certainly started out that way but after we stopped at ancient Longtan Village, strewn with electric wires, and after a wrong turn and a nice local lady pointing us in the right direction, we squeezed between some sheds and, following spray painted red arrows, we found ourselves on a rock strewn footpath. We persevered for about a kilometre, Rhys doing a superb job balancing us on foot wide paths between flooded paddy fields until we decided we were being stupid and turned around. It was a shame because the Yulang River valley is undoubtedly one of the nicest, quietest places in the area but on a motorbike it just wasn’t feasible.

Orchards on the cycle route in the Yulang River Valley, Yangshuo.

We then decided to drive to the north of Yangshuo to the Yulang Bridge, bad choice. The roads were horrific and we spent the next hour and a half being rattled and shaken within an inch of our lives. By the time we got to the bridge we were pretty much done and if we were closer to home I think we’d have just taken the bike back. Instead, we found a riverside cafe and sat down to wipe off some of the dust coating every inch of skin. We watched a wedding dress photo shoot in amongst the throngs of tourists on much more relaxed bamboo rafts than we’d seen the previous day (actually being made of bamboo and not having motors), before climbing back on the bike to head back to town.

View of the Yulang River from the Yulang Bridge, Yangshuo.

Unluckly, but unsurprisingly, all the rocks we’d hit on the cycle path had cracked the faring and we lost £8 of our deposit. Tired and frustrated from a long ride with very little karst scenery, we walked back to the room.

Sunset from the hostel roof terrace, Yangshuo.

We had a train booked for 7pm from Guilin the next day so even allowing a couple of hours for a bus and finding the right waiting room at the station, we still had most of the day for sightseeing in Yangshuo. We’d initially thought to go to Guilin early as there are things to do there but were too caught up in the thought of a lay in. 

We ended up renting bicycles and heading south to Fuli, a nearby village, before deciding we didn’t want to follow a main road all the way and trying to find a cycle path instead. We couldn’t find the path and after a few wrong turnings and a random trail that didn’t really bring us out anywhere, we turned around and headed back. Rhys picked up some fast food for lunch and we stopped by the river before heading back to the ferry and further along the Li River bank. Deciding we were just riding for the sake of riding and not actually getting anywhere we turned back and returned the bikes. 

We had a couple of hours of the day left to waste before it was time to catch the bus back to Guilin. All up, I was impressed with Yangshuo, it was incredibly touristy but incredibly beautiful and the views from our roof terrace where among the best in town. We probably would have got more from the place if we’d planned it a little better and we didn’t even do the big draws that lured us in the first place, rock climbing and the cormorant fishing. 

Once we reached Guilin we headed in to the train station, passed the very lax security checks and found the right waiting room with no issues. Our bullet train was spot on time and at a speed of 200kph we rocketed to Liuzhou from where we had an overnight train to ZhangJiaJie booked. Although not the most direct route from Yangshuo it was the best option to allow us a nights sleep. 

We dived in to a small local restaurant and ordered pointing at photos on the wall, fingers crossed we wouldn’t be presented with plates of unidentifiable animal parts (we saw braised dog on the menu in Yangshuo along with all manner of innards). Dinner sorted, we found the waiting room and with a few points and laughs at the whiteys in the train station, boarded the train. We shared our cabin with a Chinese couple who seemed really sweet until the lights went out and the guy started snoring like a rhinocerous. Bring on another night with no sleep.

We were grateful to get off the train at ZhangJiaJie City and using detailed directions from a blog i’d found, we headed outside, passed the signs telling the ‘6 foot tall people to please go forward’, to the bus station where we then followed the signs for the ‘Pit Mouth’ and found a bus leaving straight away for Wulingyuan. One of the highlights of China so far, even more so than the stunning scenery, is the English translations.

After checking with the other passengers by pointing to the map that we were on the right bus, we pulled in to Wulingyuan Village 40 minutes later. It only took 5 minutes to find our hotel and again, they kindly let us check in early. Despite the lack of sleep we were too excited to get to the national park to nap and we headed out to find the ticket booth. It wasn’t far away and before long we’d scanned our thumbs and were on a bus headed for Tianzi Mountain. As we’d had a hard night we didn’t want to do anything too challenging so started with a cable car ride to the top of the mountain. Straight away we were could see some of the sandstone pinnacles covered in subtropical rainforest that gave the creators of Avatar a basis for the planet Pandora.

We spent the next hour wandering around the peak taking photos at the various viewing platforms before climbing to the top of a pagoda and choosing a path to head back down towards the village. 

Mystical Avatar karsts through the haze, Wuilingyuan.

Sandstone karsts in Wulingyuan National Park.

Rhys in Wulingyuan National Park.

We ended up taking the popular 10 Mile Gallery route that’s also serviced by a monorail, a bit misleading as it was more like 3 miles but it took us passed some spectacular scenery and passed lots of screaming Chinese tourists - they must be the loudest nationality we’ve met so far, everything is said at a volume at least 4 times louder than it needs to be. 4 hours after we entered the park we were back at the entrance gate near our hotel.

The sun disappearing behind the mountains, Wuilingyuan National Park.

The next morning we woke early to the alarm having intended to spend a full day in the park. A quick look out of the sky light and we changed our minds, we could barely see across the road it was so hazy. Although we knew the park was often clouded in fog and obscured views were the norm, the weather had cleared in the afternoon the previous day we decided to spend the morning at the hotel. 

Just before lunch we realised we couldn’t wait any longer and a walk in the park would be nice even if we couldn’t see as much as we’d hoped. We headed to the bus station in the village and took a shuttle to the main entrance in ZhangJiaJie Village. Once in the park we were lured in to a food stall where Rhys bought cured ham on a stick and I got a bowl of roast potatoes. Satiated and ready to walk, we found the start of the Golden Whip Stream path and joined the masses. The trail was incredibly well maintained, a paved track that followed a stream, winding at the base of the tall pillars that towered overhead. As it was flat, it was one of the most popular for tour groups and there were hordes of them, all screeching and yelling. 

Walking the Golden Whip Stream, Wulingyuan.

We were glad when we came to a junction that gave us the opportunity to leave the Golden Whip, just before the Zicao Pool. Crossing a bridge, we joined the Shadao Gully Trail and all of a sudden, the crowds disappeared. It was beautifully serene as we wandered along the moss covered pathway, listening to the sound of the birds and craning our necks to look up at the towers, until we reached the stairway to the upper level of the park. It took about 30 minutes to climb to the top where we found some deserted view points of the First Bridge of the World and a road leading to the Bailong Elevator, a major attraction of the park but a bit of an eyesore, a giant elevator fixed to the side of one of the towers.

Freestanding karst with First Bridge of the World int he background, Wulingyuan.

After walking along the road, we found where all the tour groups had been hiding, a collection of walkways hugging the edge of the cliff with views out into the valley, billed as one of the shooting spots for Avatar. Not wanting to miss out, we bundled out on to the platforms amid the shouting and screaming to peer through the haze at one of the most spectacular natural wonders we’ve seen in the two years we’ve been traveling.

By this time it was 4:30pm. We had no idea what time the last buses ran within the park and had two options to get back to the entrance closest to our hotel. The first was to queue with the masses to use the elevator at a cost of £5 each, the second was to walk back down to the lower valley and rejoin the Golden Whip Stream at a point a little further than where we left it. We chose the latter option and estimated we had about 8km left to walk, hoping we’d cover the ground before we lost the light. 

Although we’d lost the views in the dusky light, the monkeys had come out to play in their hundreds and when we reached the Golden Whip Stream we were treated with magical images of the towers silhouetted against the sky. At the bus stop, most of the people had already left and it wasn’t long before we were on board, as darkness fell, and out of the park.

Leaving the park at dusk, Wulingyuan.

As we reached our hotel the rain started. We ducked out for dinner, where Rhys mistakenly ordered inedible intestines, before heading to bed, legs sore from a decent 7 hour walk.

We had to check out of the hotel the next day and had planned to catch an early bus back in to ZhangJiaJie to ride the longest cable car in the world and spend the day at Mount Tiamen. Peering out of the skylight we could see that the rain hadn’t stopped all night and was showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. Grateful we’d been able to walk in the park with only haze to deal with, we decided that spending £23 each to go up a cable car in the rain was a waste of time and money and instead hung around at the hotel until the early afternoon.

Still raining, we walked to the bus station and caught a bus into the city. Disappointed that MacDonalds was closed (atleast we can understand the menu there and don’t get charged tourist rip off prices), we headed through security and found a space on the floor, in the cold, for the 2.5 hour wait for our train. Then the train was delayed by over an hour and a half. Having wasted the entire day and getting cold from sitting on the floor, we jumped at the chance of paying £1.20 each to sit in the soft seating area when space became available. There were a lot of train delays and the station was heaving. 

When we finally boarded the train, we found our carriage and settled in. Luckily, we had the room to ourselves for the first couple of hours and for a change it was chilly so we could wrap ourselves in our duvets and get a decent nights sleep. Other than a visitor who decided to come and stay on one of the spare beds at 2am, and who got moved at 5am, we were alone and didn’t have to suffer with a snorer keeping us awake. Checking our progress as midnight we realised we were already 4 hours behind schedule.