Right then. Lots to catch up on.
First things first, my two week beard is going pretty well. It has turned from stubbly to furry. Next step full on carpet.
After our night train slumber time, we arrived in Qingdao. We arrived in the morning, showered and headed out to the beach. This was the beginning of an immense relaxing/party time. After a kip in the sun, a few sips of a few Tsingtao's (local beers), anda dip in the icy cold sea, we headed back. Indeed, over the next few days this kip, sip and a dip formula would prove highly successful.
We met a whole host of people that evening from around the globe- Ben (Welsh) and his girlfriend Cecilia (Danish), Blake (a pleasant Australian chap) and 3 Norwegian girls, whose names momentarily escape me. After quite a few beers in the hostel bar, we chartered two local taxis and asked them to take us to another watering-hole. In the taxi we cranked up the stereo and me, Stu, Vinny, and one of the norwegian girls (Christina - perhaps) sang along heartily to Celine Dion's 'My Heart Will Go On'. This was clearly to the absolute delight of the our taxi driver (let's call him Pedro for argument's sake). After a rip-roaring taxi thrillride, the taxi driver certainly dropped a bollock, as we ended up at Club New York. This place was dead. And was closing in 5 minutes. And was incredibly expensive (for China prices). But we got a few down us. The highlight was indeed a miniature train which inexplicably circled the top of the bar. After this little soiree we attempted to fit 7 people into a taxi. The driver was not pleased. Especially since Vincent was lying across people's laps. Understandably, another taxi was swiftly flagged down. No Celine Dion this time though. Disappointment!
Qingdao day two was similar to the first. Same beach, same activity, same beer. However, one vital difference. The Chinese X-Factor equivalent audtions (sponsored by Sprite no less) seemed to be kicking off on the beach. Before this really got going though a Chinese rock-classic cover band rocked the stage like your dad drunk at a wedding. They gave us hearty renditions of Bryan Adams' "Summer of 69" and that song which goes "I want it all, I want it all, and I want it now". It was pretty funny. However, after we had obeyed our thirst for cheesy rock tunes, we resumed our day of rest. Later on though, after the X-factor gubbins had finished, and just as we were leaving the beach, we caught a few songs from some local emo band and then after that 4 young roister-doisters started pulling some seriously dodgy moves, as they attempted to body-pop on stage. Before heading back to the hostel we strolled through the Qingdao Botanical Gardens, and walked up to the highest point of the city next to the TV Tower.
We headed back via a night market which had sprawled over the high-street. Here we saw little puppies being sold/man-handled willy nilly by enthusiastic shoppers. I neglected to purchase a little dog and got some black low top Converse for 3 quid instead. Bargain.
That night we hit the notorious eastside of town to go drinking. After a few quiet ones in a place called Jack's Bar, we stumbled across La Banga. 80 yuan for all you can drink! 2 hours. Job done. We made friends with a Colombian girl called Catalina, who then directed us to another place called the Corner Jazz Club. No jazz was to be heard but some modern day English/American pop. I ended up chatting to some local kids. There names were- Chemi, Jimi, Will, Mia and Power (incidentally I now want to change my name to Power as soon as physically possible). They taught me some Chinese swear words and I returned the favour. Providing them with a few choice English words of my own. Then we chatted about the Nanjing Massacre and learned a bit about the history of the city where we would be heading next. We got a taxi back, and Vinny was at his "SoCo Vincent" best. Meandering walk, sweaty, scottish incomprehensible banter and vomit. All the trimmings! Indeed, we have missed you so "SoCo Vinny"!
Qingdao - day three. Hungover to say the least. This was a serious bed-day. Stu and Vinny slept longer though, so I went for a stroll to a local food market. Saw some dogs in cages, chickens in cages, what looked like doves (also in cages) and then loads of weird fish and shellfish, which incidentally were not in cages. I decided to not buy a weird looking fish, but got some steamed pork buns instead. The rest of the day was spent hanging out at the hostel. Then that night me, Stu, Vinny, Blake, Ben and Cecilia headed out to a local Steak restaurant called Jazzbeefsteak (all one word). I'm not gonna lie, it was quite a strange meal. For a 35 yuan set meal we got a fillet steak, with a super peppery sauce, a fried egg, pasta and a shot of sweet wine to accompany it.
Qingdao has an absolutely different atmosphere to anything else I have experienced in China so far.
Roll on Nanjing.
Thursday 14 May 2009
Sunday 10 May 2009
Just a quick one - Contact details-wise
My pay as you go sim card won't work in China, but it will do in Australia. Until then, please text me if you wish on my old phone number. This is gonna be available until May 12th when my contract runs out.
Also if I have said I was gonna email you recently, or contact you on Facebook, then I can't for a bit. I am in Qingdao at the mo, and the internet at the hostel is free, but it is a bit poo. So I can't seem to access my email or facebook, I will contact you asap though.
I'll post a blog soon about Qingdao soon. I'll just say now though that it is an awesome city. The people we have met are super cool. Must dash though as I have certainly exceeded the 30 mins max internet time and I'm getting angry looks from other potential bloggers.
Toodlepips x
Also if I have said I was gonna email you recently, or contact you on Facebook, then I can't for a bit. I am in Qingdao at the mo, and the internet at the hostel is free, but it is a bit poo. So I can't seem to access my email or facebook, I will contact you asap though.
I'll post a blog soon about Qingdao soon. I'll just say now though that it is an awesome city. The people we have met are super cool. Must dash though as I have certainly exceeded the 30 mins max internet time and I'm getting angry looks from other potential bloggers.
Toodlepips x
China: The Palace, The Nest and the Night Train
Hello.
Just a quick note about or last day in Beijing.
Having already booked our train ticket to Qingdao for that night, we really tried our best to cram as much as possible into our last day in the capital. So we got up earlier than we should have done considering the night before's drinking extravaganza. Feeling like someone had tried to fit the entire Great Wall into my head through my left ear, it was safe to say that we were all hanging out our respective arses. But we truly 'got aboot town' in a bish bash bosh kinda fashion.
First stop- the Lama Temple. This was an actual working temple. Incense was being burnt everywhere, locals were praying and the resident buddhist chaps engaged in hypnotic chanting. We got to see the world's largest buddha statue which is made from one single piece of wood, and is huge enough to feature in the Guiness Book of World Records.
Stop number two - the Summer Palace. Massive park with a beast of a lake. It was all rather tranquil, so we got on a pedalo and dashed around the lake, managing to take a ridiculous amount of photos and saying Ni Hao to other pedalo-ing charmers. At one point we changed who was pedalling, and as Vinny moved towards the front of our vessel, we started to take on water. For a minute, I certainly thought we would be the first people to actually sink a pedalo at the summer retreat of Chinese emperors. But it just turned out that the weight balance was altered, and the boat was tipping forward slightly.
Stop three - The Olympic Park. We arrived at night and the place was lit up like a christmas tree. The Bird's Nest and the water cube were as futuristic and impressive as they were on television. We were literally there for about 45 minutes though as we had to get back to the hostel and pick up our bags and rush to the train. When we got to the train station we only had ten minutes before our train, and literally all the information was in chinese script so we couldn't understand a thing. It was all getting a bit hectic until a young lady pointed us in the right direction, and we finally managed to get on right train.
The Night Train is an awesome experience. We got hard sleeper tickets, which were actually rather comfortable bunk beds. Probably about 50 beds in each carriage, seperated into groups of 6 bunks, 3 high and 2 abreast (hehe). We all got middle bunks, which is clearly the best option, as people will hang out and sit on the lower bunks and the top bunks have less headroom. We left Beijing at 10.48 and would arrive in Qingdao at 8 am the next morning. There is something ace about going to sleep in one city and waking up the next morning in another, with the infectious sounds of Chinese dance music ringing in your ears from the train's speakers.
Next stop Qingdao. Ace.
Big love
Jack
Just a quick note about or last day in Beijing.
Having already booked our train ticket to Qingdao for that night, we really tried our best to cram as much as possible into our last day in the capital. So we got up earlier than we should have done considering the night before's drinking extravaganza. Feeling like someone had tried to fit the entire Great Wall into my head through my left ear, it was safe to say that we were all hanging out our respective arses. But we truly 'got aboot town' in a bish bash bosh kinda fashion.
First stop- the Lama Temple. This was an actual working temple. Incense was being burnt everywhere, locals were praying and the resident buddhist chaps engaged in hypnotic chanting. We got to see the world's largest buddha statue which is made from one single piece of wood, and is huge enough to feature in the Guiness Book of World Records.
Stop number two - the Summer Palace. Massive park with a beast of a lake. It was all rather tranquil, so we got on a pedalo and dashed around the lake, managing to take a ridiculous amount of photos and saying Ni Hao to other pedalo-ing charmers. At one point we changed who was pedalling, and as Vinny moved towards the front of our vessel, we started to take on water. For a minute, I certainly thought we would be the first people to actually sink a pedalo at the summer retreat of Chinese emperors. But it just turned out that the weight balance was altered, and the boat was tipping forward slightly.
Stop three - The Olympic Park. We arrived at night and the place was lit up like a christmas tree. The Bird's Nest and the water cube were as futuristic and impressive as they were on television. We were literally there for about 45 minutes though as we had to get back to the hostel and pick up our bags and rush to the train. When we got to the train station we only had ten minutes before our train, and literally all the information was in chinese script so we couldn't understand a thing. It was all getting a bit hectic until a young lady pointed us in the right direction, and we finally managed to get on right train.
The Night Train is an awesome experience. We got hard sleeper tickets, which were actually rather comfortable bunk beds. Probably about 50 beds in each carriage, seperated into groups of 6 bunks, 3 high and 2 abreast (hehe). We all got middle bunks, which is clearly the best option, as people will hang out and sit on the lower bunks and the top bunks have less headroom. We left Beijing at 10.48 and would arrive in Qingdao at 8 am the next morning. There is something ace about going to sleep in one city and waking up the next morning in another, with the infectious sounds of Chinese dance music ringing in your ears from the train's speakers.
Next stop Qingdao. Ace.
Big love
Jack
Friday 8 May 2009
China: Food Stalls, Great Walls and Beijing Bar Crawls
Hello. It has been a few days since my last post, so incidentally there is quite a lot for me to talk about. I'll cover a few days in Beijing here and then post a bit more stuff later.
First of all, just a quick note about chinese people in general. We have encountered a bizarre mixture of character types on our travels so far. It seems that Stu, Vinny and myself are treated somewhat as minor celebrities in China owing to our pale complexion. A handful of times already we have been approached by young couples who wish to take a photo of themselves with us. We have certainly obliged and posed with great gusto, making v-shaped peace signs, as is the custom across the country it seems. We are continually gawped at in the street, especially by young children. Also absolutely everyone who approaches us in this sense is wholly charming. Examples include- a three-year old girl (approx) who enthusiastically yanked on the pocket of my shorts, whilst on the subway and chimed "Ni Hao!" with great delight; and a young boy in a park at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, who was fascinated by a 2 pence piece which Vinny produced at one point. We gave it to him and he was incredibly grateful. Furthermore, a multitude of people will just simply say hello in the street as we walk past, and people are always so unbelievably helpful with directions too. Obviously, there a few attempts at tourist scams too, but we are beginning to be able to identify such signals early, and we are also beginning to play the game ourselves. Haggling is becoming second nature now!
On our second day in Beijing, we slept through our alarms and slept until about 1pm. It seems that we neeeded our sleep after being awake for 36 hours. After we eventually left the hostel, we walked though a high rise shopping district to the Temple of Heaven and it's surrounding parks. After a relaxing stroll through the gardens, and having played a small chinese lady's guitar type instrument, we left and began to weave our way north through some of the Hutong (slum-like but quaint housing for the many poor people residing in Beijing). As Vinny pointed out, it was a little like an asian 'City of God', but it was exciting to experience a little bit of the 'real China'. From here, we made our way to Tiananmen Sq again and made it just in time for the flag lowering ceremony at dusk. Sitting on the square, as it got progressively darker, the city lit up before our eyes, and even the forbidden city became aglow with bright lights.
From here we went to the Night Market on Wanfujiang Street, a bustling food market with a plethora of food stalls, which sold a huge range of different foodstuffs. These ranged from your standard delicious Chinese delights, through to skewered kebabs with either locusts, grubs, seahorses, or live scorpions. We ate a squid kebab and some miscalleaneous meat kebab, which could have been anything including dog. But we thought it was pork most likely.
After an early night, we awoke to a hearty breakfast before a trip to the Great Wall. In order to avoid the big crowds, and to see the best views, we travelled to Jinshanling and trekked across the wall for 4 hours to Simatai. It was absolutely amazing. Possibly the most beautiful place I have been. Amazing. We finished our walk sweaty, and tired. But it was certainly worth it.
That night we made our way to the bar streets of Sanlitun. Here we managed to haggle our asses off. Our best deal was getting 6 beers for 5 yuan (90p each), whilst other people we met were paying the equivalent of 4 quid a beer. We met a whole bunch of people- 'Tony', a chinese chap who was a massive fan of "Snuck" (snooker) and was keen to get us to visit a nearby "lady bar". We incidentally declined (for the record- Mum and Kirstie). But he was charming all the same, and we had a few beers with him. Then we met Dirk, a ridiculously charismatic Dutch chap who smiled the entire time, and his girlfriend Margeruite (we can't actually remember her name - so we gave her one). We got drunk with them and then took them to an Irish bar to watch the Chelsea vs Barcelona game at 2.45 in the morning. This resulted in me and Stu going mental when Iniesta smashed in the winner, high fiving equally excited Chinese barca fans. Good times.
Jack
First of all, just a quick note about chinese people in general. We have encountered a bizarre mixture of character types on our travels so far. It seems that Stu, Vinny and myself are treated somewhat as minor celebrities in China owing to our pale complexion. A handful of times already we have been approached by young couples who wish to take a photo of themselves with us. We have certainly obliged and posed with great gusto, making v-shaped peace signs, as is the custom across the country it seems. We are continually gawped at in the street, especially by young children. Also absolutely everyone who approaches us in this sense is wholly charming. Examples include- a three-year old girl (approx) who enthusiastically yanked on the pocket of my shorts, whilst on the subway and chimed "Ni Hao!" with great delight; and a young boy in a park at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, who was fascinated by a 2 pence piece which Vinny produced at one point. We gave it to him and he was incredibly grateful. Furthermore, a multitude of people will just simply say hello in the street as we walk past, and people are always so unbelievably helpful with directions too. Obviously, there a few attempts at tourist scams too, but we are beginning to be able to identify such signals early, and we are also beginning to play the game ourselves. Haggling is becoming second nature now!
On our second day in Beijing, we slept through our alarms and slept until about 1pm. It seems that we neeeded our sleep after being awake for 36 hours. After we eventually left the hostel, we walked though a high rise shopping district to the Temple of Heaven and it's surrounding parks. After a relaxing stroll through the gardens, and having played a small chinese lady's guitar type instrument, we left and began to weave our way north through some of the Hutong (slum-like but quaint housing for the many poor people residing in Beijing). As Vinny pointed out, it was a little like an asian 'City of God', but it was exciting to experience a little bit of the 'real China'. From here, we made our way to Tiananmen Sq again and made it just in time for the flag lowering ceremony at dusk. Sitting on the square, as it got progressively darker, the city lit up before our eyes, and even the forbidden city became aglow with bright lights.
From here we went to the Night Market on Wanfujiang Street, a bustling food market with a plethora of food stalls, which sold a huge range of different foodstuffs. These ranged from your standard delicious Chinese delights, through to skewered kebabs with either locusts, grubs, seahorses, or live scorpions. We ate a squid kebab and some miscalleaneous meat kebab, which could have been anything including dog. But we thought it was pork most likely.
After an early night, we awoke to a hearty breakfast before a trip to the Great Wall. In order to avoid the big crowds, and to see the best views, we travelled to Jinshanling and trekked across the wall for 4 hours to Simatai. It was absolutely amazing. Possibly the most beautiful place I have been. Amazing. We finished our walk sweaty, and tired. But it was certainly worth it.
That night we made our way to the bar streets of Sanlitun. Here we managed to haggle our asses off. Our best deal was getting 6 beers for 5 yuan (90p each), whilst other people we met were paying the equivalent of 4 quid a beer. We met a whole bunch of people- 'Tony', a chinese chap who was a massive fan of "Snuck" (snooker) and was keen to get us to visit a nearby "lady bar". We incidentally declined (for the record- Mum and Kirstie). But he was charming all the same, and we had a few beers with him. Then we met Dirk, a ridiculously charismatic Dutch chap who smiled the entire time, and his girlfriend Margeruite (we can't actually remember her name - so we gave her one). We got drunk with them and then took them to an Irish bar to watch the Chelsea vs Barcelona game at 2.45 in the morning. This resulted in me and Stu going mental when Iniesta smashed in the winner, high fiving equally excited Chinese barca fans. Good times.
Jack
Monday 4 May 2009
China: Departures, Arrivals and First Day Survivals
Ni Hao! So we are here. We are in Beijing. I have now been awake for the past 30 hours, although it seems like a lifetime. Consequently, I am pretty darn cream-crackered as you might expect, but it's been a rather eventful day by anybody's standards.
First of all, we nearly missed our flight to China! The incompetent people at Apostrophe (Heathrow Terminal 5) seemed to take much longer than expected in giving us three cheese and tomato paninis. But we made it, panini in hand, bum in seat, cheese in mouth. The flight was a pleasant affair: 10 hours of excited banter and blockbuster films made it pass quite swiftly. Vinny managed to sleep for at least two thirds of the journey Stu didn't even bother to try and sleep; and my excitement got hold of me so much that everytime I closed my eyes, I would be awake within a matter of seconds.
Anyway, we finally got to Beijing. It was super hot and smoggy. We found the hostel without too much trouble, which was located just north-west of the central train station (incidentally my compass got its first airing of the trip - 1-0 to Jack). Unfortunately, the staff seemed to have lost our booking; but with a bit of arguing and humid contemplation we managed to sort out some rooms. Before we got things sorted though, we tried to find our booking confirmation in the hostel's internet cafe. This is where we met our first nemesis of the trip! A pompous stereotypical 18 year old fellow, who firstly asked us 'why' we were travelling, as if it wasn't obvious already, talked incredibly sincerely about a gorge he had visited, bragged about smoking marijuana; and then to put the proverbial turd-flavoured cherry on top, proceeded to describe himself as a 'Gappie' (presumably short for gap year adventurer).
After a revitalising shower, we strolled to the Forbidden City. On the way we were continously approached by hawkers and chinese students who were trying to persuade us to go to expensive art shows. It was pretty bizarre but cool to chat some locals despite their intentions to sell things to us. The Forbidden City was much more than I expected. It was just absolutely vast, and seemed to go on and on. Courtyard after courtyard, of impressive architecture and wide open spaces. After the initial swarm of tourists near the entrance, there was a certain sense of grandeur and calm about the place.
After that we walked across to Tiananmen Square. It was pretty big, it was pretty square, and it was pretty Tiananmen. In the words of Forrest Gump, that is all I have to say about that.
Back to the hostel, two hour nap, ate a mass of chinese food in a restaurant just north east of the city centre. Now we're back hanging out at the hostel with a few super cheap chinese beers. Ace.
Summer Palace tomorrow, the Great Wall the day after. It's gonna be sweet.
Big love
Jack x
First of all, we nearly missed our flight to China! The incompetent people at Apostrophe (Heathrow Terminal 5) seemed to take much longer than expected in giving us three cheese and tomato paninis. But we made it, panini in hand, bum in seat, cheese in mouth. The flight was a pleasant affair: 10 hours of excited banter and blockbuster films made it pass quite swiftly. Vinny managed to sleep for at least two thirds of the journey Stu didn't even bother to try and sleep; and my excitement got hold of me so much that everytime I closed my eyes, I would be awake within a matter of seconds.
Anyway, we finally got to Beijing. It was super hot and smoggy. We found the hostel without too much trouble, which was located just north-west of the central train station (incidentally my compass got its first airing of the trip - 1-0 to Jack). Unfortunately, the staff seemed to have lost our booking; but with a bit of arguing and humid contemplation we managed to sort out some rooms. Before we got things sorted though, we tried to find our booking confirmation in the hostel's internet cafe. This is where we met our first nemesis of the trip! A pompous stereotypical 18 year old fellow, who firstly asked us 'why' we were travelling, as if it wasn't obvious already, talked incredibly sincerely about a gorge he had visited, bragged about smoking marijuana; and then to put the proverbial turd-flavoured cherry on top, proceeded to describe himself as a 'Gappie' (presumably short for gap year adventurer).
After a revitalising shower, we strolled to the Forbidden City. On the way we were continously approached by hawkers and chinese students who were trying to persuade us to go to expensive art shows. It was pretty bizarre but cool to chat some locals despite their intentions to sell things to us. The Forbidden City was much more than I expected. It was just absolutely vast, and seemed to go on and on. Courtyard after courtyard, of impressive architecture and wide open spaces. After the initial swarm of tourists near the entrance, there was a certain sense of grandeur and calm about the place.
After that we walked across to Tiananmen Square. It was pretty big, it was pretty square, and it was pretty Tiananmen. In the words of Forrest Gump, that is all I have to say about that.
Back to the hostel, two hour nap, ate a mass of chinese food in a restaurant just north east of the city centre. Now we're back hanging out at the hostel with a few super cheap chinese beers. Ace.
Summer Palace tomorrow, the Great Wall the day after. It's gonna be sweet.
Big love
Jack x
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