China - Beijing, Xian and Shanghai

CHINA 29th April - 7th May. Chris and I decided to do a guided tour around China. In our group there were six people, Bob and Ruby, a retired New Zealand couple and George, Marjon, Jeroen and Floris, a Dutch family.

We went for nine days and was quite an experience. I was surprised to see what a huge difference there is between Japan and China. Japan and China are as different from each other than Australia and China.
I have found it difficult to write this entry because there were some fantastic aspects of China but also some bad aspects too, that I was unprepared for. One such aspect is the living conditions of the poor. It is one thing to see poverty on TV and another in person. There also seems to be a huge distinction of class between the people. The lower class are treated inferior by the higher classes. I am not sure if it is so distinct but it definately felt as if it was. Anyway....
Beijing was covered in dust/sand. This was because a few weeks previous to our trip they had sand storm which you may have heard about. At Beijing we went to Tian'anmen Square, the Forbidden Palace, the Great Wall, the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, a silk factory and a pearl factory. My favourite places were the Great Wall, for obvious reasons, the Summer Palace, as there was many beautiful paintings on all the structures, and the Temple of Heaven. At the Temple of Heaven we were able to see some Chinese traditional culture. People played music, sang and played traditional games. Whilst in Beijing Chris and I went to a Kung Fu show (recommended by Ria and Terry) and it was amazing. It was one of the best performances I have seen. You may think I am biased because of the martial art aspect, but Chris really enjoyed it too!
At Xian we saw the Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses, Wild Goose Pagoda, The Bell Tower and the city wall. The Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses were fantastic. There has been so much work done and still being done to restore them. Only one soldier wasn't smashed. The Warriors and Horses were only discovered 30 years ago. I am still quite amazed that something that legendary was forgotten. One quirky thing was most of the road signs to the site say "Terra-cotta Worriors". You would think someone in the government would know! Inside the city wall there were some markets and more traditional housing/shops which were lovely to see. Many houses in other areas have been replaced by large unattractive apartment buildings. We also went to a beautiful traditional dance performance from the Tang Dynasty.
Shanghai is the most modern city I have ever seen. There are many new building and so it is obvious to see the economic status of the city. Influences from all over the world can be seen there. In Shanghai we saw The Bund, the Shanghai musuem, the Yu Garden and an Acrobatic show. The Yu Gardens were very nice. Most of the gardens were rock and stone. It was amazing to see the "cement" of the time. Sticky rice! The Acobatic show was great. There were many fantastic acts, too many to mention but four motorcyclist in a cage will always amaze me.
I had mucked up our flight which worked out well as it gave us an extra day to go shopping. We went to the markets and bartered our way through. It's so CHEAP in China! It was very tiring but enjoyable. Only after we had bags of things did we return to the hotel. On the Thursday and Saturday night in Shanghai we went out and danced about the town. We met two Chinese guys who were really nice. Seeing that we didn't know Chinese, and they only knew a little bit of English, we actually talked in Japanese. It was so very cultural! On our way back to the airport Chris and I chose to go on the fastest train in the world! It only holds its top speed for a few second because by that time it is time to slow down again.
I forgot to mention taxis in China are incredible cheap. When Chris and I first got in a taxi we thought it was wrong. So for about 15 minutes in a taxi it cost about $3 (AUS).
Favourite quote from China "Don't buy the watches here as later I can tell you where to buy a real fake watch". Obviously there are levels to fakeness!