PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA 2012

PART 1, General Information

PART 2, BLOGS Pictures and Gallery

PART 3, VIDEO CLIPS

PART 1, GENERAL INFORMATION

Capital city: Beijing

Population: 1.400.000.000

Currency: Renminbi (RMB)

Km travelled: 4840km

Days in China: 30

Languages: There are between 7 and 13 main regional groups of Chinese of which the most spoken by far is Mandarin. Important to note is that (most) Chinese do not understand Tibetan.

General

China the worlds most populous country with around 1.4 billion people, all governed by the Communist Party of China. It now also includes Hong Kong and Macau. China’s economy has been one of the fastest growing in the world. For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest and major famines, military defeats and foreign occupation. After World War II, the communist regime under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring Chinas sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by the year 2000, output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the opportunity for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight. China`s population is around 1.4 billion. China is rich in coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminium, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world`s largest). It has a lot of environmental issues to address; air pollution and greenhouse gasses; reliance on coal produces acid rain; water shortages, particularly in the north; water pollution from untreated wastes; deforestation; estimated loss of one-fifth of agricultural land since 1949 to soil erosion and economic development; desertification and trade in endangered species. They have a lot to contend with as they move forward. China also has a lot of natural hazards like frequent typhoons (about five per year along the Southern and Eastern Coast); it also has damaging floods, tsunamis, earthquakes and drought. During our visit we experienced floods and in another part of the country and an earthquake.

We also covered Tibet in a separate trip from the Kyrgyzstan border to Nepal border. (CLICK HERE)

TOURIST HIGHLIGHTS

Ever since the world discovered China through the writings of adventurer Marco Polo more than 700 years ago, we’ve come to regard this large Asian country as the embodiment of all that is mysterious and exotic. The contrast between China’s ancient customs and the new ultra-modern state that is developing is amazing.

THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA

“Nobody can be a true hero unless he has been on the Great Wall” goes the popular Chinese saying. The magnificent Great Wall of China (known in Chinese as “Changsheng,” or the “Long Wall”) stretches more than 6,000 kilometres from the fortresses of Shanhaiguan in the east all the way to Jiayuguan in the west, passing through Hebei, Tientsin, Beijing. The best-preserved sections of the wall can be visited, however, if on a tight schedule, the most visited section of the wall is near Badaling Pass northwest of Beijing, easily reached by public transport or organized tours. Other restored sections worth a visit include the section near Gubeikou, 130 kilometres from Beijing, and in Mutianyu, just 70 kilometres northeast of Beijing.

BEIJING

The forbidden City and the imperial Palace, China’s largest and most important building, is many superb palaces in one. It was built as the residence of 24 Ming and Qing Emperors, whose presence forbade the entry of anyone other than the imperial family and their courtesans. It is protected by 10-meter-high walls. Not far away is Tiananmen Square and the Temple of Heaven. On the outskirts of Beijing is the Summer Palace, more than 700 acres of beautiful parkland, and is one of China’s most visited attractions. While the palace itself was built in 1153, its large lake was added in the 14th century to enhance the gardens.

XIAN

The capital of Shaanxi Province in north western China with a population of 12 million. It is one of the oldest cities in China and the oldest of the four great ancient Capitals. A Chinese farmer was digging wells on the outskirts of Xian in the 1970’s when he stumbled across what was to be China’s most important archaeological find: The Terracotta Army. Although some were severely damaged due to the passing of time, many of the statues unearthed have been painstakingly re-assembled and stand as testament to the importance bestowed upon the emperor and the afterlife.

GUILIN

Located in the northeast of China. It is situated on the west bank of the Li River and borders Hunan to the north. It boasts some of China’s most beautiful countryside and is famous for the Li River, which meanders through the town and surrounding Karst mountains.

CHENGDU

Chengdu is the capital of China’s southwest Sichuan Province. Located in the west of Sichuan Basin and in the centre of Chengdu Plain, the city has a population of over 11 million. No visit to China would be complete without at least a panda experience, at the excellent Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Chengdu, located in the province of Sichuan. Here, you’ll have the chance to watch as many as 80 pandas go about their daily routines, from foraging to playing in the facility’s large park-like setting. Just outside Chengdu is the spectacular 71-meter-tall Leshan Giant Buddha.

THE YANGTZE RIVER & THE TREE GORGES

Known in China as Chang Jiang (“Long River”), the mighty Yangtze River extends more than 6,000 kilometres, making it the longest and most important river in China and the third longest in the world after the Amazon and the Nile. While its immense length ensures the river can be visited at numerous points in China, by far the most popular for tourists is the beautiful Three Gorges part between Fengjie and Yichang. (a 200-kilometer stretch). One of the tributaries of the Yangtze River, Shennong Stream is an important attraction that is renowned for its special virtues of serenity, uniqueness, primitiveness and wilderness, with a total length of about 60 km. Other outstanding parts are the Qutang Gorge, Wu Gorge and Xiling Gorge. Qutang Gorge or Kui Gorge, though the shortest one (8km), is considered as the most magnificent and awesome gorge among the three gorges with its steep cliffs sticking straight into the water. Wu Gorge is known for its zigzag’s turnings, deep valleys and forest covered mountains. Xiling Gorge is the longest gorge among them, full of shoals and rapid currents.

SHANGHAI

More than 25 million people call Shanghai home. Famous for its European feel, a fact owed to the district’s past as the location of the city’s International Settlement, the Bund is popular for its 52 preserved English- and French-influenced buildings, many now restaurants, cafés, stores, and art galleries. Visit the 468-meter-high Oriental Pearl Tower on the Huangpu Jiang River.

HANGZHOU

Just south of Shanghai and a busy city with 21 million people. Much of the rich collection of buildings in Hangzhou is gathered around lovely West Lake, a six-kilometre-square stretch of water in the heart of the old city, which is surrounded by numerous hills, pagodas, and temples. Divided into five distinct sections by man-made causeways dating back as far as the 11th century, a marvellous area to explore on foot as you cross from one stretch of water to the next, only to be met with another cluster of fine old buildings

SHENYANG

This old city is home to the Mausoleum of light. (Northern Imperial Tomb) It’s included on the UNESCO World Heritage Site’s list of Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is a combination of traditionally arranged Chinese burial sites and castle-like buildings of the early Qing period. Buried here in a vast site covering more than 180,000 square meters that took eight years to complete is Emperor Huang Taiji.

ZHANGJIAJIE NATIONAL FOREST

Hunan Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is a unique national forest park. It is one of several national parks within the Wulingyuan Scenic Area. The Bailong Elevator with the 326 meters is the world’s tallest outdoor lift. It can transport visitors to the top from its foot in less than two minutes. The structure is composed of three separate glass elevators, each of which can carry up to 50 people at a time. The forest is a stunning natural beauty, its many unique pillar-like rock formations look like some incredible alien landscape and one of the tallest pillars is standing at an impressive 1,080-meters. During our visit they were building/planning a Grand Canyon type glass bridge

LIJIANG

The town is a well-known city that is famous for its grand mountain view, serenity lake view, steep valley view and peaceful old town view, multi ranged scenery, and anyone interested in ancient people groups and their customs. 60 km north of Lijiang is one of the deepest valleys in China, it is called the Tiger Leaping Gorge.

SHANGRILA

Zhongdian was named officially Shangri-La in 2001. The beautiful scenery with towering snow-capped mountains, lush forests, vast gorges and idyllic lakes enjoys the reputation of “Highland Garden” and “Realm of Living Creatures” by the Chinese.

ERENHOT

It is here where we entered China from Mongolia (Mongolian town is called Zamyn Uud). For Chinese standards Erenhot is a small town with just 100000 inhabitants. Typical border town, it is a rail port city and the largest hub for cross border trade between Mongolia and China. When authorities opened the town up in 1992 to international trade, Erenhot underwent a transformation growing from 8,000 people then to an estimated 100,000 people including migrant workers. Erenhot is also a stop on the Trans Mongolia Railway. Once you enter China the rough dirt road becomes a superb highway. (CHINA NATIONAL HIGHWAY 208)

DATONG

The town of Datong is known for its Hanging Monastery, built on a cliff 100 meters above the ground. the Hanging Temple is one of the main tourist attractions and historical sites in the Datong area. (65km north west of Datong). Built more than 1,500 years ago, this temple is notable not only for its location on a sheer cliff but also because it is the only existing temple with the combination of three Chinese traditional religions: Buddhism Taoism and Confucianism. The structure is kept in place with oak crossbeams fitted into holes chiselled into the cliffs. The main supportive structure is hidden inside the bedrock. The monastery is located in the small canyon basin, and the body of the building hangs from the middle of the cliff under the prominent summit, protecting the temple from rain erosion and sunlight. Coupled with the repair of the dynasties, the colour tattoo in the temple is relatively well preserved.

DALI

The town is known for the Three Pagodas. The Three Pagodas are made of brick and covered with white mud. The Three Pagodas, visible from miles away, has been a landmark of Dali City and selected as a national treasure meriting preservation in China. Around 20km away is the town of Xizhou a mix of 13 small villages with a population of around 2500 people mostly Bai, but also Hai and Han residents. The town is known for its high concentration of beautiful restored Bai houses and other architecture

ZHAOTONG

This area is one of the poorest in China and basically 100% agricultural. Around 2003 around 650000 people moved out of the area towards the East Coast looking for a better life.

PINGYAO

This ancient city has well-preserved Ming and Qing urban planning and architecture. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A great market tower was constructed in 14th century.

SHANGLANGDE MIAO VILLAGE

This ethnic minority village is fascinating and located around 50 km north of the town of Kaili. Miao Ethnic Minority is both mysterious and exciting. The Miao people are identified by their dialect, dress, location and other customs. In dress we have Long Skirt Miao, Short Skirt Miao, Black Miao, Flowery Miao and Long Horned Miao. By location there are River Miao and Mountain Miao. The villagers in Langde wear long skirts, hence they are “Long Skirt Miao”. The Miao style houses “Diaojiaolou” and its featured and creative festivals are amazing. Festivals are occasions for the Miao people to get together and show off their culture. They have many traditional festivals all year round. But Lusheng Festival, Sisters’ Festival and Dragon Boat Festival are best known. Miao girls ‘costumes are used in their dance, during which you could hear their silver ornaments twinkling lightly. The Miao-style houses are of wood and high above ground. Each has several wood pillars as support. Therefore, it is called “Diaojiaolou” in Chinese. Homes are usually two to four storeys. The upper layer is used to store the provisions; people live in the middle; while fowls are sheltered under the house.

JINGHONG

This area is occupied by the Hani People. The town isn’t that interesting but around 50 km away is the Wild Elephant Valley where around 300 wild elephants live. For those who like to see the “Snake eats chicken show”, see elephants play soccer, or see elephants walk on a balance beam or sit on a chair, this is for you. We enjoyed the park but not the elephant or the snake eats chicken show.

CLIMATE

China’s climate is mainly dominated by dry seasons and wet seasons, which lead to pronounced temperature differences between winter and summer. In the winter, northern winds coming from high-latitude areas are cold and dry; in summer, southern winds from coastal areas at lower latitudes are warm and moist. The climate in China differs from region to region because of the country’s highly complex topography.

Beijing

Summer: Night-time temp 15 degrees to 35 degrees during the day

Winter: Night-time temp down to minus 20 degrees, Day time temp to 0 degrees

Rainfall: Most rainfall is between May and October (80%)

Erenhot

Summer: Night-time temp 14 degrees to 25 degrees

Winter: Night-time temp down to minus 10 degrees. Day time temp to 8 degrees

Rainfall: Most rainfall is in the June to Aug period

Xian

Summer: Night-time temp 16 degrees to 36 degrees during the day

Winter: Night-time temp down to minus 5 degrees. Day time temp to 10 degrees

Rainfall: Most rainfall is between May and October (70%)

Chengdu

Summer: Night-time temp 18 degrees to 32 degrees during the day

Winter: Night-time temp down to 3 degrees. Day time temp to 13 degrees

Rainfall: Most rainfall is between June and Sept (70%)

JINGHONG

All year round between 28 and 32 degrees during the day

Winter: between 10 and 15 degrees at night

Rainfall: Most rainfall is between June and September

PART 2, BLOG Pictures and Gallery

For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest and major famines, military defeats and foreign occupation. After World War II, the communist regime under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring Chinas sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by the year 2000, output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the opportunity for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight. China`s population is around 1.4 billion. China is rich in coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminium, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world`s largest). It has a lot of environmental issues to address; air pollution and greenhouse gasses; reliance on coal produces acid rain; water shortages, particularly in the north; water pollution from untreated wastes; deforestation; estimated loss of one-fifth of agricultural land since 1949 to soil erosion and economic development; desertification and trade in endangered species. They have a lot to contend with as they move forward. China also has a lot of natural hazards like frequent typhoons (about five per year along the Southern and Eastern Coast); it also has damaging floods, tsunamis, earthquakes and drought. During our visit we experienced floods and in another part of the country an earthquake.

MONGOLIA BORDER -NORTHERN CHINA

Well we thought we were on our way but our guide (minder) directed us to an old hotel owned by the Chinese Customs, that is Government. We had to wait here until all the paperwork that we received this morning was approved by the provincial authorities before we could drive into China.

This involved sending all paperwork away to the capital city of the province of inner Mongolia (Huhehot) to be approved by the authorities. This could be tonight or tomorrow. Our guide said this was the rule in China. Our truck was not to leave the compound. We decided to spend the time wisely and organized a Data card, phone card (This took 90 Minutes) went for Lunch (huge lunch with pork, chicken and beef dishes including fried rice and a litre of Coca Cola AUD8.80 or 6 Euro for 3 people).

Then back to the hotel where our truck was parked, and the waiting time started. At 6pm the phone call came – “not today” so we could stay and sleep in the car-park. But yes, we were in China! The next day nothing happened until 5pm when someone must have decided to place the all-important stamp. The town of Ehrenhot is located right on the border with Mongolia and a big rainbow arch marks the road border crossing entering or leaving China. With 17000 people, it is a very small village. After two days in Ehrenhot we left late Friday afternoon, filled up with fuel (1.00 a litre for diesel) and drove around 95km out of town.

When it started to get dark we pulled off the road and set up camp. Our China adventure had now begun! It was a still, starlit night, without any people around, but we were told this was going to change as we head south. We have just lost two days, so we had an early start. It would become a very long day. A day later, just before dark, we arrived at Heng Mountain. By this time the rain pelted down. We just started to cook dinner and the Dam Manager turned up and gave us five minutes to leave because he said the dam could start to overflow in the next 30 minutes! As we had had torrential rain and we have heard of major flooding only 100Km away; and added to this, earthquakes, landslides and a great of loss of life, we did not hesitate and moved on. I am sure we have never packed up so quickly. In the dark, we negotiated the mountain pass downhill and on very slippery red clay, competing with trucks that had no lights. We found a car park at the bus station and this was the stop for the night We weren`t going anywhere! The expected torrential rain stopped at around midnight. We were woken up the next morning at 6am by about 100 locals wanting to know “what this truck was all about?” Chinese are nosy, and I mean very nosy. Clary was at the toilet while they just marched in to the living quarters and had a good look! Opposite our truck, we were entertained by people doing Tai Chi. We drove back onto the mountain and walked up to the hanging temple, a masterpiece that was built over 1500 years ago, scary and high hanging off a cliff. We decided to climb up before all the crowds arrived. Next was a visit to a 1000-year wooden pagoda before heading to the ancient city of Pingyao. Pingyao is the most well preserved of the four ancient towns in China. Inside the intact Ming Dynasty City Wall is this traditional town, whose buildings date from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is exceptionally well-preserved, and just as it was hundreds of years ago. The village is a hive of activity and many. Chinese guest houses and restaurants cater only for Chinese customers. The City Wall is about 12 meters high and 3 to 6 meters wide on top. The City Wall has a total length of 64 kilometres. The wall is made of compacted earth covered by bricks and stones. There are six city gates allowing the only entry. We camped at the City Wall, right at the entrance to the old ancient town so It was not the most secluded spot. It took around 60 minutes to get rid of the crowd of nosy Chinese. I am sure more photos were taken of our truck than of the city wall in that 60-minute timeframe. “House on Wheels?” “Electricity?” “Water?” “Shower?” “Toilet?” “Kitchen?” “Hot water?” And all this can move and drive around China! “Impossible!” And the questions kept on coming. After all this, it was time to visit the village and we finished up having dinner in an old authentic Chinese restaurant. Dinner for 3 including drinks (you could not eat it all) was 12 Euro or AUD 15 for the 3 of us. We got back to the truck at around eleven o` clock. Tired, we went to bed after a full day of excitement, perfect scenery and very nice people

CENTRAL CHINA

Early start, again, for another long drive to Xian, home of the Terra Cotta Warriors. The distance was long, but driving the freeway made it easy and fast. We arrived at 3.30pm and the complex did not close until 7pm, so we had enough time to stretch our legs. It may be touristy but a must to visit. It was the first time we saw foreign tourists (mainly French) while in China.

The greatest archaeological findings of the last century: the army of terra-cotta warriors and the bronze chariots entombed in vast underground vaults at emperor Qin’s tomb. We were told it was only discovered in 1974 by a local farmer who was digging a well while coming across the parts of what he thought was ancient pottery. He notified the local authorities and in fact it was the start of digging up more than 2000 terra cotta warriors, plus horses and weapons. However, the total could be up to 8000 when all the digging has finished. Tonight, it was BBQ night in the car park of Terra Cotta Warriors, once we got rid of the nosy locals. Our next destination was the controversial Three Gorges Dam. We crossed the Yellow and the Yangtze rivers today but despite the much better weather (hot and muggy) the pollution is a real problem in China and the views were minimal. During early stages of the day we passed some very pretty country but unfortunately the smog and pollution spoiled it all. Our plan was to camp on the Yangtze River, but this was not possible and at 7.30pm, as it started to get dark, we pulled up at a petrol station and called it a night. We continued to the Three Gorges Project, one of the largest construction projects ever undertaken in the world, which has changed the face of the Yangtze River. By far, it is the largest hydro-electric project in the world. It does have utilization benefits mainly for flood control, power generation and navigation improvement. It will be a vital and important backbone project in harnessing and developing the Yangtze River and we understand measures have been taken to preserve and relocate the historical and cultural relics found along its banks. However, many scenic spots and farms have been adversely affected. The dam site is 27 miles upstream from Yichang City, at Sandouping Town. We were stopped by security and not allowed to travel any further despite having a permit for the area. The car had to be parked in the car park and we had to continue by organized transport. The tour was very disappointing and little, or no information was given except on signs placed along the walkways. The weather was lousy; hot, rainy with lots of pollution obscuring the views. We took the bus across the Three Gorges Bridge, which leads toward the top of the hill for a birds-eye view from the observation deck. We observed the five-step ship lock, the diversion canal, the dam in construction, and the power station. It is a controversial project, but we felt a little disappointed and felt it was not worth the visit. Next time, we would prefer to do a Yangtze River cruise, if the weather is nice. That night, we camped in a Chinese community, newly built for poor farmers. It included a medical centre, school and shop. It did not take long before we were the film stars again even while having dinner, people came up close to our plates. You would think they were going to join us. Clary had to close the security door to stop people wondering into the truck, while the BBQ also attracted a lot of attention.

By 9pm, we had a visit from the village elder who delivered us fresh grapes and water melon as a gift. We were the first foreign visitors to come into his community. We drove over poorly maintained roads to the town of Zhangjiajie. Unfortunately, our lovely guide Ying Chu had no idea how to get to this town, so we found ourselves lost and were three hours late arriving in Zhangjiajie. An absolute stunning area, however the Chinese government asked a huge USD 75 for 2 people to enter the park, plus USD30 to use a cable car to get to the top of the mountain! A bit expensive we thought.

As for most major attractions in China, it is only the rich who can enjoy this. Having driven all the way here we forked out the money, but it was not value for money; nothing to explain in English or any information available. However, Ying Chu explained that the pass was valid for 3 days. No good if you only planned one day and all other attractions cost additional! After a few days we were glad to get back on the regional roads, the “off the beaten track” type of roads in China. Fenghuang, an ancient town situated about 200km south of Zhangjiajie, was next on the agenda. We are told this town is known by the Chinese as one of the most beautiful towns in China, located on the Tuojiang River, with stone-made streets and old buildings. Unfortunately, the travel agents have no idea where to camp and you really must rely on word of mouth from other overlanders who have stayed there before. But very few visit China and the guides have no idea. We found the local bus station after we walked around town and parked for the night. Another morning in beautiful Fenghueng. In the afternoon we set off to China`s South Eastern region visiting many small and remote villages. This area has a lot of Miao buildings and most villages still have cobblestone roads, making driving difficult but very much worthwhile. We past Congjiang and we were surprised that there were no men anywhere. It was explained to us that they are out hunting during the day. Next and last stop in the valley was Xijiang, but before we arrived there we had enjoyed a perfect riverside bush camp. In Xijiang we noticed signs in English. Therefore, we assumed this was on the tourist trail, but we never saw any foreigners. Xijiang is the largest Miao village in China and now we are only 50km from Kaili and 10km from the freeway that would take us 1100km further to the west of China. Today turned into a long trip and reluctantly we left the country roads for the expressway.

Like always, even on a 10 year around the world trip, time is always an issue. To explore China properly, it would require more than twelve months. Tonight, we stayed near the Huang Guo Shu Waterfall, just south of the town of Guanling. Again, we became the star attraction and around 50 to 60 people from the local village came to say hello and brought us food. We could stay in the local car park and at 10pm we received a fireworks display. Fireworks in China are a daily event, celebrating birthdays, weddings, passing exams, but also during funerals, house warming and the start of the building of a new house. Next day we drove to Dali, another 700km ahead of us along the expressway. We never made it because after 250km of good progress, we came to a halt and it took four hours to travel just 20 km. We never found out what happened, except for the fact that there were two toll gates. As we were trying to get through the toll gates (complete mayhem as only 3 out of 15 worked) we had our first accident. The car in front of us tried to cut us off and we drove into the side of his car. Both his front passenger and rear passenger doors were dented. He looked… I looked… and off we went! No use arguing. This is China! As it got dark we pulled into a service station, had a well-earned beer, dinner and a good night`s sleep after 12 hours behind the steering wheel

SOUTH EAST CHINA

Next day Dali and this became our shopping, washing and internet day. Dali is a tourist town and we even found a hamburger joint with WIFI. Mid-afternoon, all the hard work was done so we decided to visit the old city. It was nice but very touristy after everything else we had seen in China. Our parking spot was a beauty, right in front of the three Pagoda`s just outside of the old town. The weather changed and the 4000 meters plus high mountains around Dali disappeared into the clouds. In this area, there are about 1.5 mil Bai people, mainly living around lake Erhai. We received more bad news. Tibet was closed for foreigners travelling overland with less than five people of the same nationality! We asked why. The answer was; “Tibet is a sensitive area!” Yes, fine, but you can travel with five people of the same nationality! The answer didn`t make sense to us and nor did anyone explain. We had a permit to visit the Yunnan province, but we were advised by our minder/guide that as of yesterday you could no longer drive your car north of Tiger Leaping Gorge. The far northern part of Yunnan borders on Tibet. The Chinese and Tibet border issue is very sensitive and there are many army check-points. So, we did see Tibet, but only from a distance. We are hoping the rules will have changed by next year as we are planning a 40-day Tibet trip ending up in Nepal. We heard horror stories from those over-landers currently stuck in Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan-Nepal. Also, those who had to completely rearrange their itinerary and now must travel via Mongolia. I suppose this is over-landing; it is not all smooth sailing. We continued north towards Lijiang.

The Old Town as it is known, was originally built in the latter period of the 13th Century. It has an elevation of 2400 meters. The population of the Old Town is over 25,000, most of whom are Naxi people. What is interesting is that Lijiang Old Town is the only Chinese historical and cultural town built without a city wall. That night we camped in the Old Town car park, which is just two minutes’ walk from the Old Town. It is very, very touristy and expensive, but not to be missed. Last stop for this week was Tiger Leaping Gorge. We were told it is a contender for the world’s deepest river canyon.

Around 15km in length, the gorge is located where the river passes between 5,596m Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and 5,396m Haba Snow Mountain, in a series of rapids under steep 2000-meter cliffs. The weather has still been poor and this is now the sixth day we have been driving at altitudes between 2000 and 3800 meters, however we have still not seen the snow-covered mountain tops. The gorge is worth a visit and we decided to stay the night in the gorge at the newly built car park, over- looking the old bridge and the Gorge. Early this morning for the drive back to Lijiang and visited Baisha Village on the way. As we had still not seen Yunlong Snowy Mountain which towers 5600 meters, we decided to drive the extra 15km and camp at the foot of the mountain that night in the hope of a clear day next morning. Once we arrived torrential rain and thunderstorms made us change our mind and we decided to drive back and stay in the old town square of Baisha. Unfortunately, we never got to see the snow-covered mountain tops and as the weather didn`t improve, we reluctantly decided to travel south once we had checked our emails in Lijiang. Arriving back in Dali the weather was nice, and we decided to stay one night at Lake Erhai, the seventh largest fresh water lake in China.

SOUTHERN CHINA

Next day we left for the far south and the area just north of Myanmar (Burma) and the Laos border. The rain didn`t leave us alone and after shopping in Dali, we continued south and the weather began to clear and progressively started to get warmer. The scenery was nice and slowly we could see that we were getting closer to the tropics with the vegetation and the temperature changing. We found a very nice camp spot right between the rice-fields, mountains and a mural site. For the first time in seven days, this was our first camp below 2000 meters. More rain overnight. We drove further south and passed an area that was badly damaged by floods a week or so ago; 14 people died, and many are missing. Along the way we saw emergency tents for those who lost their houses and we were driving through deep mud where the road was washed away. Landslides were another problem with many detours. Looking at all the development we were not sure if much consideration is given to the environment or the people living on the hill sides or just below. We never reached our end destination due to the slow going and torrential rain. That night we pulled up in Simao and stayed next to the local sports stadium. The far south east of the Yunnan province is also called little Thailand.The area is still home to wild tigers, leopards, elephants and gold haired monkeys. Poaching is hard to control in this area, but the Chinese government has allowed compensation to those who have their crops destroyed by wild animals. Yunnan Province in South West China has become a tourist hotspot and places such as Lijiang and Dali are overrun by hordes of Chinese and more and more foreigners. However, the far southern part of China, south of the Yunnan Province, is only visited by Chinese tourists; Burmese and Lao people and merchants who cross the border to sell their goods. This area is where the pace slows down to the South-East Asia pace we know. Our area of interest was in the Xishuangbanna region and our first stop would be Sanchahe Nature Reserve and the Banna Wild Elephant Valley. Located in a beautiful rainforest, the park boasts approximately 70 wild Asian Elephants, although we didn`t see any. We did however see an elephant show which made us feel very sorry for the elephants. We also found a snake pit complete with two live chickens waiting to be eaten. Clary wanted to pay the warden to buy the chickens and let them go free. That night we were told to move by the rangers who said the elephants were too close for comfort. We moved to the car park of a nearby guest house, but we never saw a single elephant. Better to be safe than sorry as the elephants are known to damage cars when they feel they are in the way. Jinghong, for Chinese standards, a sleepy village on the Mekong river.

: Elephant show?!?!?!

: Elephant show?!?!

: Snake show??? 2 chickens try to survive?!?!

This is just north of the border with Myanmar and Laos. Jinghong is an area with around 800,000 people made up of approximately 300,000 Dai people and 500,000 Chinese, plus other minority groups. We took a round trip around Jinghong and drove to Damenglong. It is hard to believe that we are still in China! We drove along the three-country corner, China-Burma-Laos, and we were warned not to make any mistakes and inadvertently drive into either Myanmar (Burma) or Laos, (Myanmar in particular) without a visa.

Cars will be confiscated in Myanmar. The villages around here are nice and very peaceful, nothing like the hectic pace of the parts of China we have visited so far. We met Lahu women who shave their head. But they are very hard to photograph. They told us the young Lahu girls do not want to shave their heads and hide their hair behind caps.

The last stretch to the border was very pretty and the impression we got when we arrived in Mohan was that they were trying to make an impression for new arrivals. Modern, clean and lots of palm trees. Overnight we stayed at a not yet finished fuel station to enable us to be at the border before 9am when the Chinese side opens.

See below our China View

Our four weeks China has come to an end. What an amazing country, with amazing people, amazing rules and ideas. As a foreigner I would love to work and live in China for a few years. China requires 12 months of travel to see it all. We have only just scratched the surface in our four weeks there. This is our second trip to China after having done the East Coast 4 years ago. This time we did the North-Central and Southern Part of China and next year it will be 40 days Tibet. Can`t wait! But next time we will take a different approach. All we really need is an English-speaking translator and we can do the rest. Compulsory Tour guides are not very well trained and have little or no knowledge.