Chenjie & David's Travels in China ~ July 2008

7 - 8 JULY : The flight from Heathrow to Amsterdam and then one via the great circle route to Beijing, over the Baltic then Moscow and the north Ural Mountains, was very good, and the sun hardly set because we were so far north. However, the weather closed in at Beijing and the flight from there to Wuhan was delayed by 2 hours. About 20 minutes before we were due to land the pilot came on the tannoy to say that Wuhan airport had just shut down owing to the atrocious weather and we were diverted to somewhere 300kms away - can't remember the name of the place, and even if I could I couldn't pronounce it! There we sat on the runway being very well fed and watered by the cabin crew for about 3 hours. By this time I was worried that Chenjie and his friends would have left Wuhan airport and gone back to the city 35kms away. Eventually we landed at Wuhan at 11-45pm and Chenjie was still there, together with some of his friends. After hailing a taxi we motored the 35kms to the city, by which time he asked if he could stay in my room because it was about 1-30am and we had been chatting a long time.

9 JULY : Today Chenjie’s professor wanted to see him and he went to the University at about 8-00am (I stayed in bed until about 10-00am) he then came back at lunchtime with a girl he knew from school, and we went out to lunch. I had some rather strange food and ate it with chopsticks. Some of the food I did not like, but the spicy hot pork, beef and lamb was very good. You cook it in a stainless steel pot at the table. There were one or two other things which I can not pronounce, which were fine, but some doughy things made out of mashed sweet potato flour did not appeal to me. Chenjie went back to see his professor at 2-30pm. The weather in Wuhan was hot by UK standards but not unbearably so and it was raining. The hotel was comfortable with air conditioning. For my first four days in Wuhan, I did not seen one western person. Mid-morning I went for a walk and sat in a park across the road from the Hotel.

Chenjie was everything I knew he would be - caring, gentle, considerate and full of fun, and I knew that our travels together would be wonderful and that our friendship would grow from this visit. Chenjie did not return to go out in the evening and he phoned me several times to say his professor wanted him to stay at the laboratory on some special work and he did not get home until after 11-00pm. He chatted to me then on QQ for about 15 minutes and then went to bed.

10 JULY : Had breakfast in my hotel room and later Chenjie called me on the cell-phone I had bought for use in China. He came to the hotel with his nephew and we went by taxi (a hair-raising experience) to the Yellow Crane Tower, originally built 1800 years ago. Since then it has been built and altered many times by various Emperors, including Kubla Khan. This is the most famous gold roofed building in the whole of China after the Hall of the Emperors in the Forbidden City in Beijing. It is a four storey pagoda celebrating the lives of Chinese poets with many small pagoda like pavilions. It is situated on Snake Hill. and is near the main railway-road bridge over the Yangste River built in 1975. The weather was not good - heavy rain to start out with and poor visibility, but I did take many pictures and some video. After walking for what seemed miles, I was taken for lunch at a Chinese Restaurant. After lunch we were met by Xia Shuang a childhood friend of Chenjie's who is studying to be a Hydro Biologist (he also speaks some English). Shuang took us to the new Hubei Museum this time by bus - though he did get on the wrong one and we went miles out of our way and had to catch a taxi (another hair-raising ride). The Museum was a fantastic place with 200,000 artefacts excavated from two huge graves found about 30 years ago. Some of the finds are golden objects of considerable weight; also a lot of Jade of many colours; spears; chariots; cross-bows; many strange cauldrons made of bronze and an ornately carved frame supporting many large bronze bells. The building itself is very modern and mostly constructed of polished light granite. After this we got on a modern double deck bus and again Shuang had chosen the wrong one and we had to get yet another taxi! This time we went to East Lake. This is a huge expanse of water surrounded by a forest right in the middle of Wuhan. Also in the lake are many pink lotus beds. A point Chenjie made was that the ratio of land to water in Wuhan is 50-50. The weather was still grey, but dry and we walked across many bridges and small islands to get back to catch a taxi to the hotel. By this time the sun had come out and the temperature had risen to about 34C. We all went back to the hotel in yet another taxi and I showered and changed before it was decided to go out for a meal. We soon became six!!!! Two more of Chenjie's friends joined us and we finished up at an up market Chinese Eating House. Many of the customers were exceedingly smart and the ladies wearing fine dresses. The six of us were in 'T' shirts and trainers, but were welcomed in just like the other people! Chenjie, his nephew and me walked back to the Hotel at 8-30pm while the others caught taxis home. One of them, a girl called Ding, lived on the other side of the Yangtse River - a journey of some 25kms. (no miles here). I still had not seen a single western face! Before we all parted company, Xia Shuang told me it was his birthday tomorrow and he would like me to go with Chenjie, of course, and hoped I would survive until Saturday when we were to catch the 10-16am train from Hankou to Chengdu! (Wuchang station was closed for renovation).

In closing this episode, I will just say that I have never met such friendly and generous people anywhere and stories of the police and army on every corner are utter rubbish. I saw very smart soldiers marching up and down outside the Hubei Provincial Government Buildings and other Local and National Offices - just like the guards at Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament! and the few police I saw were either on traffic duty, giving friendly advice or trying to control vast numbers of people at bus stops and other places.

11 JULY ; (last day in Wuhan until evening of 26th July) : Chenjie rang me at the hotel to say that today we would go to Hankou on the other side of the Yangtse River and he arrived at 9-15. It was a great experience travelling on the 701 bus full of commuters! I think faint hearted passengers would shut their eyes and pray, but I quite enjoyed us tearing along at breakneck speed in and out of the traffic. We crossed the Yangtse by the bridge the Russians sponsored and eventually got off at a place Chenjie had arranged with a couple of his college girlfriends! As usual by now things didn't quite work out, as the girls rang Chenjie to say they had got lost! So we got on another bus for about 5 minutes retracing our steps to a park entrance on the banks of the river that the girls said they knew. But they were not there and Chenjie rang them again and apparently they were in the wrong place - it is a very big park. So we jumped into yet another taxi and went back the way we had just come. Once we found the girls (one of whom had been with us on Wednesday - Peng Jie) we walked along the river in sweltering heat and then went into a shopping mall and I bought presents for the two guys whose birthdays we were attending later.

We then had lunch in a Restaurant where we had beef and vegetable dumplings in sweet vinegar. Also something I thought I would not like at all - rice porridge, it is delicious. You can either put sugar on it and have it as desert, or eat it with spiced and pickled vegetables as a main dish.

The river front in Hankou has many pre-1920s impressive Banks and offices built by the British in colonial style, some now are used for other purposes but the Hongkong and Shanghai was there (HSBC). The customs house was also built by the British as Wuhan was the main port for the whole of central China, also Britain controlled the port. Further up-stream large vessels could not proceed. (Hankou is one of the three cities which make up Wuhan).

By this time the sun had come out and the streets were being sprayed with water which was steaming once it hit the ground! The temperature had now reached 39C, but strangely enough I did not think it was too unbearable. The main thing to remember is to carry bottles of spring water with you at all times. After looking at a few western style shops we climbed into a cab and I was dropped off at my hotel - where I had a cold shower and turned on the air-conditioning which reduced the room to a very pleasant 22C. This taxi journey was the most insane so far, weaving in and out of buses, trolley buses, lorries and cars; with motor scooters, motor rickshaws and bikes going the wrong way!

At 6-00pm Chenjie and yet another girl from the University arrived at the hotel to walk with me to the party. There were ten of us in a special room and we sat down to eat all sorts of things - some of which I declined! At about 9-45pm some of them went home and Chenjie, Xia Shuang and two others whose names are unpronounceable, escorted me back to the hotel.

I put in an early wake up call in the morning as Chenjie would be at the hotel to meet me and go by taxi to Hankou railway station for our 27 hour rail journey, by soft sleeper, to Chengdu. His mother had prepared food for our journey and Chenjie told me before leaving that I am invited to a family dinner when we return to Wuhan at the end of July.

12 JULY : The day dawned reasonable fine and all packing was done the previous evening. Chenjie arrived at the hotel at 8-30am and we took a taxi to Hankou Railway Station - on the north side of the Yangste River. The main railway Station on the south side is Wuchang, but this is being rebuilt. At Hankou we joined a huge throng of people waiting for various trains at this large station. Our train was No. 1961 leaving at 10-16am for Chengdu, 1470kms away. Chenjie had booked soft sleeper which was very comfortable, we had agreed on this because the journey to Chengdu takes 27 hours! Along the way we travelled through miles of rice paddies; potato fields; various grain crops and cultivated beds of lotus - the seeds of which are
delicious and taste like chestnuts!

After going through several large cities the weather deteriorated and by the time we reached the mountains the rain was pouring down and the clouds hid the views - which are spectacular. This was a great disappointment as Chenjie had suggested the train journey so that we could see the gorges and mountains of this rather remote area. I did take some pictures and also a small amount of video, but it is sad for both of us that the weather clamped down.

This railway line which weaves in and out of the gorges and mountains on a ledge high above the valley floor, is single track. However, with the vast increase of both passenger and freight traffic, one of the largest railway building programmes is being carried out, and they are both electrifying and creating double track. The two do not follow close together and the new therefore can be photographed to show the magnitude of the project. The number of new bridges and miles of tunnels is astronomical.

As the weather was so bad everyone in our compartment (4 of us) turned in and went to sleep. Before carrying on I feel I should mention our companions in the compartment. There was a boy of 9 or 10 with his grandfather. This little boys’ school had been destroyed by the May 12 earthquake and the grandfather had taken him all the way to Wuhan to stay with relatives and they were returning to Sichuan loaded with supplies supplied by the Chinese Government.

13 JULY : When we woke up we were still in the mountains weaving our way in and out of tunnels and over bridges, and it was at this point that there was much evidence of the earthquake. Some properties - the older ones - had collapsed, but most of those remaining had so many structural cracks that the people were living in blue tents. It was a heart rending experience for me seeing whole families huddled round camping stoves at the entrances to these tents in awful weather conditions. I don't think I will ever be able to complain about any natural disaster in the UK after seeing these wretched people - it will live with me for ever. As we travelled on through the rain, evidence of mountain sides slipping began to be seen. I think it was meant to be that I could not photograph this misery and scenes of such dejection, and why people revel and sensationalise all this, is a complete and utter mystery to me. I was saved from seeing the worst as the railway did not travel through that, but I did see enough to create a lasting impression.

Soon the mountains gave way to the plain upon which Chengdu stands and the weather eased and the rain eventually stopped. Here again the land is taken over by the same crops that we had seen in Hubei Province - We were now in Sichuan Province.

We eventually reached Chengdu spot on time 1-13pm. The station is new and very modern and is obviously well looked after by its proud staff. A driver from the hotel was waiting for us and we eventually reached the Wenjun Mansion Hotel - an old building in traditional Chinese 'pagoda' style. We were met by the staff using our first names and Vicky, (who I had dealt with over the Internet for some time), gave us our itinerary for our stay in
Chengdu.

After putting our things in our room, we went for a stroll down Qin Tai Road where the hotel is situated. It is lined with buildings which will to western eyes, be the 'real' China. We eventually found a restaurant and had our evening meal. Sichuan cuisine is my favourite of all Chinese food, though you can't get the genuine thing in the UK - the British version is bland by comparison! In Sichuan Province it is extremely spicy but I like it, but you can drink soya milk or yoghurt first to line your mouth and stomach! After finishing our meal we walked back through a beautiful park, but the sun was setting and we have decided to return there before we leave Chengdu on the 22 July.

14 JULY : This was 'culture' day for us. We left the hotel early after breakfast and hailed a taxi which took us to the Zhuge Liang Memorial Hall Museum. The Wu Hou Shrine in Chengdu, initially built in 223AD, now covers 140,000 square metres. It consists of Emperor Liu Bei's mausoleum, halls memorising Zhuge Liang - his prime minister and other ministers, and generals of the Kingdom of She.

In 1961, The State Council chose it as a leading preservation entity of cultural relics and a museum was set up in 1984. With its rich cultural heritage, the shrine has been drawing people to it for the past 1780 years and thus has gained a reputation as a Sacred Place of the Three Kingdoms.

Chenjie and I wandered through the halls and gardens taking many photos.

On leaving this museum, we meandered through some of the most wonderful traditional Chinese shopping streets, and again took many pictures. After having a light lunch we again took a taxi this time to the Qingyang Gong Taoist Temple but here photographs were not allowed though we did take some external ones and a few in a hall containing massive golden images of 'deities' of the Taoist Religion. The pagodas and brightly coloured decoration externally made up for the lack of internal shots.

We then went back to the hotel and went into a supermarket to get some light meals for this evening and also for the flight tomorrow. After eating a very tasty dish (the name of which
escapes me) we got ready for the third cultural event of the day; a visit to the Sichuan Opera. This proved to be spectacular and though I did not take photos on this occasion I did take about 20 minutes of video. Chenjie however took some and I have included them here.

We returned to the hotel at 10-00pm and got ready for our travels again. Early in the morning - 6-00am - a taxi took us to the airport to catch a plane to Jiuzhaigou for 2 days, and more of
this later!

15 JULY : The early morning did not offer much hope for a decent flight to Jiuzhaigou. The rain kept us awake most of the night and if that wasn't enough we had thunder and lightening as well. We got up at 5-00am ready to be picked up from the hotel to go to Chengdu International Airport for the 7-50am flight. It was a long miserable drive through flooded roads, but at least the airport is modern with all facilities and we saw both Air France and Lufthansa planes there. Our plane was a Sichuan Airlines European Airbus, and before take off we were issued with plastic macs - not a very good sign! We took off on time and half way through the flight, which is a short one, the clouds parted to reveal far below, a landscape of high rugged mountains (some of 5800 metres), lakes and virgin forest. We landed at Abe Airport and were met by an English speaking Han- Chinese guide, Wu Weiping and our driver,v Mr. Pu.

This area was still not open to large groups of foreign tourists, but as I was invited to China by Chenjie this did not apply to me. The reason for the restriction on access being that the normal access to this area is by road, and this was destroyed by the earthquake of 12 May.

The sun was shining, but the temperature at 11,000 feet was a chilly 14C (the height was in feet not metres at the airport). Then we drove over one of the highest main road passes in Asia on a new road opened in 2001. The top of the pass is somewhere around 14,500 feet and there were patches of snow not far off the road. The hairpin bends and sheer drops of this road are frightening!

We eventually arrived at Huanglong Scenic Area - and all I can say is WOW! We walked from the car-park for many miles to a height of about 11,500 feet past waterfalls, and pools of crystal clear water of every shade of green, yellow and blue. We passed many Toaist pilgrims carrying bricks, timber and provisions to the many monasteries found in this valley and high in the mountains (their religion forbids photographs but we did catch some of them in the distance).

After taking hundreds of photographs and video we re-traced our steps through the virgin forest with trees festooned with long strands of lichen in the pure air. Our driver was waiting for us, and after our long strenuous walk - he was a welcome sight. We were then taken to our hotel 60 kms away ready for our visit to the Jiuzhaigou World Heritage reserve in the morning.

16 JULY : We woke to a sunny day and after an early breakfast our guide and driver arrived to take us to the entrance to the reserve.

Jiuzhaigou National Park is situated in Aba Tibetan & Qiang Region of north Sichuan. From here flow the headwaters of the Jialing River, a tributary of the Yangtze which enters the Pacific Ocean at Shanghai. Its mountains are part of the Minshan Range of the Himalaya. Valleys vary in height from 1996 metres to peaks at 4764 metres high. At 104 dg. East and 33 dg. North, the park covers an area of 720 km.sq, 38 kms by about 23 kms. Jiuzhaigou was known as Yangdong or Green Sea. The modern name reflects the nine Tibetan villages here. The Shuzheng Zechawa and Rize valleys form a Y-shape. Alpine lakes and waterfalls add to the scenery. The Tibetan customs and practices with this majestic Himalayan backdrop led UNESCO to add the area to the World Natural Heritage list on December 14, 1992. By 1997, it was included into the World Biosphere Reserve network. It received a Green Glode 21 Sustainability Certificate in 2002 and became an approved Chinese Geological Park in January 2004.

After returning from the visit to the Nine Tibetan Villages (Jiuzhaigou) ~ one of which we visited ~ we had a meal at the hotel and then were collected by our guide, Wu Weiping and our driver and were taken to an evening of Tibetan entertainment at an adjoining hotel. As with all the photos in our "Travels in China" sets, they are from both Chenjie' and David's cameras.

17 JULY : Rose late and went looking around the Tibetan shops in the back streets of Jiuzhaigou. At 11-00am the driver and guide arrived to take us back to the airport and we stopped on the way for lunch - still not used a knife and fork! An interesting point was that though noodles are widely eaten in Sichuan, they cannot cook them in the Jiuzhaigou area because the boiling point of water is about 70C. We caught the 3-15pm Sichuan Airlines flight back to Chengdu where a taxi was waiting to return us to the Wenjun Mansion Hotel.

18 JULY : Now came a change to our travel plans - an extra city! Got up early to be collected by a taxi to take us to Chengdu Station for the 7-56am train to Chongqing - a five hour journey.

Most of the journey was through high hills interspersed with valleys filled with fields of maize, barley, potatoes, rice paddies and lotus beds. Much to my surprise there were many trees of every type imaginable.

As with the previous train journey from Wuhan to Chengdu, there was much evidence of the massive railway modernisation programme that is taking place all over China. Up until now, a lot of the main line routes have been single track and because of a vast increase in traffic the priority is being given to 'dualing' these routes. The quality of these pictures is not very good because it is taken through the double glazed windows of the carriage.

We arrived on time in Chongqing - one of the largest cities in China (a metropolitan area of about 30,000,000 people) - incidentally the train was electric hauled and had double-decker coaches which are quite plush and very comfortable.

At the station we were met by Jessie, an old school friend of Chenjie's, and were soon joined by Jessie's boyfriend. We boarded an air-conditioned Mercedes bus to go to our hotel. After tidying up they took us into the city centre. Like all the cities I have seen in China, everything is on a vast scale..

After sampling some local food, we went to a very up-market shopping mall and leisure centre. Most of the famous international fashion houses were there together with Cartier and Garrards Jewellers. Then Chenjie spotted an ice-rink!!!!! and took off at high speed to hire some skates - the other two had a go but soon gave up, and I chickened out! Chenjie was very soon on his own, with us sitting at the side having a drink of Pepsi Cola and Ice cream. After this we went and had a good meal.

By this time it was getting dark and we were taken to an area of the city, a bit like Manhattan - a long spit of land covered with skyscrapers. At the end of this peninsular the Yangtse and Jialinjaing Rivers unite, and here on the waterfront are typical old Chinese style buildings, many turned into attractive shops, pubs and clubs - and all illuminated. After wandering around for what seemed miles, we went to the very end of the spit of land to look at the highly decorated and illuminated ferry and pleasure boats and cruise ships - then it was back to the hotel and bed............................

19 JULY : We rose reasonably early and Jessie and her boyfriend joined us for breakfast at our hotel. They took us to the Three Gorges Museum. This is a magnificent place where you could spend days - not hours, but they had other plans for us and we had to move on....... this time to bathe in a lavish palm tree surrounded hot spring spa. We spent the whole of this fantastic day in the open air in the middle of a large Chinese city surrounded by trees, flowering shrubs and bushes and bathing in ponds of water from ice cold to 43C. Each of these ponds was filled with different Chinese herbs, teas and natural health medicines. We also spent two sessions in a sauna and also relaxed in jacuzzis - all outside! Then we went swimming in the pool and played with large balls.

All this exercise wore us out, so we went indoors and were given Chinese style jackets and shorts and went into a large relaxing lounge where we were given all kinds of fruit - watermelon, plums, apricots, peaches, grapes, pineapples, pomegranates, mangoes etc ........................ we also played snooker and pool!

Then Chenjie suggested we should all go and repeat the whole "performance" of bathing, sauna etc........ not forgetting the most extraordinary experience of having your feet completely cleaned by tiny fish!

Eventually we left and took a taxi to the top of a mountain above the city - and here late at night, we had spring chicken and Sichuan spare ribs, together with a variety of vegetables, all washed down with several pints of the very good local beer - at about 1-00am we arrived back at the hotel and literally fell into bed........................

20 JULY : Just a few photos for our last morning in Chongqing. We spent much of the morning looking round other parts of this amazing city - but the heat was intense at 40C - so we spent some time in an extraordinary shopping mall. This was more like Disneyland than a retail place, and it was difficult to really see which was floor, wall or ceiling! Here we stopped several times for cold drinks and then we went to a restaurant for our midday meal. Chenjie and his friends opted for 'western' food and it was served in a way that would have done top London restaurants proud. Now came the problem!

We chatted for so long that we suddenly realised our train back to Chengdu was leaving shortly - we missed it! But Chenjie went to the Station Booking Hall and reserved seats on the next train.

Our friends had left us by now so Chenjie and me (to escape the heat) decided to go to the cinema where we sat like 'kids' drinking Pepsi and eating a bucket full of pop-corn, watching a Chinese film (with English sub-titles) called Red Cliff.

We then returned to the station and finally got back (in the pouring rain) to the Wenjun Hotel in Chengdu, at 11-45pm.

21 JULY : Had our breakfast on the balcony of the hotel overlooking the central courtyard and then after sorting out some flight details on 22 and 26 with Vicky the receptionist, we hailed a taxi and travelled out of the city to the Panda rescue centre. Most of the Pandas were out of sight asleep, but we did film and video six giant pandas and saw two small red pandas hiding in some trees. Everywhere we saw notices asking us to be quiet - the Pandas were pregnant! After wandering through many miles of bamboo we got a taxi and returned to the city to have something to eat - then back to the hotel to pack and get ready for our flight to Xi'an and the Terracotta Army tomorrow......

22 July : We took our last photographs in Chengdu before taking the taxi to Chengdu Airport and the flight to Xi'an. On arrival at Xi'an airport we found a friendly taxi driver who drove us along the expressway toll road the 40 kms to the city and what proved to be another fantastic hotel – the Xi'an Garden Hotel, all in Pagoda style built around a lake with fountains, weeping willow trees, ducks and peacocks. In the UK this place would cost in excess of 150 pounds per night per person – in Xi'an it cost 150 pounds for four nights for the two of us! After settling in, we went on a walkabout – and Xi,an is one of the most beautiful cities I have seen so far. Wide open tree lined pedestrian streets made of slabs of coloured, polished granite and marble. Fountains, pools full of golden carp and wonderfully happy and colourful people. It seems a very affluent place with many West End type shops and also many Italian and French Fashion Houses. Anyway, on with our travels – first the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. As the symbol of the old-time Xi'an, Big Wild Goose Pagoda is a well preserved ancient building and a holy place for Buddhists. It is located in the southern suburb of Xi'an City, about 4 kilometers (2.49 miles) from the downtown of the city. Standing in the Da Ci'en Temple complex, it attracts numerous visitors for its fame in the Buddhist religion, it is simple but appealing style of construction, and its new square in front of the temple. This attraction can be divided into three parts: the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, the Da Ci'en Temple, and the North Square of Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Though Xi'an is many hundreds of miles from the earthquake epicentre, this Pagoda was shaken to throw it about half a metre off the vertical. Then we found a restaurant and had spicy noodles with beef and bean sprouts and chicken and mushroom soup. The noodle dish was a variant on Spaghetti Bolognaise! Then to bed.

23 JULY : We had phoned our friendly taxi driver the night before and hired him for the day! After an early breakfast he arrived at the hotel spot on 9-00am and drove us the 160 kms to the ancient kilns that make replicas of the Terracotta Army and Horses – of all sizes.

After photographing various parts of manufacture, we set off again about 10 kms to the actual Terracotta Army. The scale of this ‘find’ is mind blowing and we actually met the farmer who found it about 30 years ago – he looked about 90, but his age was not revealed!

There are several vast halls containing all sorts of excavated items as well as the hall (about the size of four or five football pitches) filled with over 6000 warriors, officials, generals, horses and many other things besides … Chenjie and me were awestruck by the scene – and much to my surprise we were allowed to film and photograph without any hindrance whatsoever. After passing through many halls, we eventually found our taxi driver and started off again…

This time to the Mausoleum of the First Emperor whose army we had just seen. We climbed umpteen steps to the top in a stifling heat and there had a Magnum Icecream and a bottle of ice cold green tea. The bodies of the emperor and his various courtiers, horses and paraphenalia lie hundreds of feet under ground surrounded by a sea of mercury. This will never be excavated, but photographic probes and echo sounding equipment have mapped the interior….

The day was far from over however, and we left the Emperor and motored to Huaqing Chi Gardens with its lakes, fountains and beautiful trees and shrubs, from there an electric bus took us to the Li Shan Cablecar (built by Doppelmayr of Austria) – Shan is Chinese for mountain! We went to the top and took a few photos and some video, though there was a thick heat haze by this time.

We then got back into the car and were taken back to Xi,an where the driver dropped as at the South Gate of the old city – we then walked about 2 miles along the massive city walls – (every few hundred yards there is a pagoda type watch tower)

We did contemplate hiring a tandem bike and doing the full circle of the city of the walls – a total of 17.6 kms – but thought better of it and walked to the Bell Tower and then to the Drum Tower were we watched a performance of traditional Chinese Percussion playing.

By this time the pangs of hunger began to rise and we went to the Islamic quarter and had barbequed beef and chicken wings – Chenjie also had something called Mutton Paomo (I had had this for breakfast) and we also had egg fried rice and some delicious fresh plum juice. By this time we were extremely tired, so walked back to our hotel, showered and went to bed!

24 JULY : We again 'employed' our friendly taxi driver who took us from Xi'an to Huashan Mountain which is situated in Huayin City, 120 kilometers (about 75 miles) east from Xi'an City of Shaanxi Province, Mt. Huashan is known as 'The Number One Precipitous Mountain under Heaven'. It is one of the five sacred mountains in China. The other four mountains are Mt. Taishan in Shandong, Mt. Hengshan in Hunan, Mt. Hengshan in Shanxi, and Mt. Songshan in Henan. In ancient times, Mt. Huashan was called Mt. Taihuashan. From a distance the five peaks seem to form the shape of a 'flower' (hua in Chinese), hence the name 'Huashan'. It is famous for its natural vistas of steep and narrow paths, precipitous crags, and a high mountain range. It is home to several influential Taoist temples where emperors of past dynasties made pilgrimages, making Mt. Huashan the holy land of Taoism

We did not take very many photos on the mountain, because you are warned not to watch the scenery, but watch your walking!!!! One false step and it would be oblivion! On our return to Xi'an we went out for a meal of a whole spicy barbequed fish, toasted spicy fried bread which you dip in a garlic and chilli sauce, all washed down with an excellent beer.

Then we went ‘walkabout’ in the illuminated gardens until 9-00pm when we watched a Musical Fountain display near the Big Wild Goose Pagoda ..... Bed followed soon after!

25 JULY : This really was a day of wanderings around the city on foot! First of all we went to the Shaanxi History Museum (Xi'an is the capital of Shaanxi Province) and then went to the Small Wild Goose Pagoda, climbing the 13 floors to the roof. Then off we walked again for what seemed miles! By this time the heat was overpowering – no wind and a temperature in excess of 100F. So we decided to find somewhere cool, and for the second time during our travels, we went to the cinema armed with ice cold green tea and a bucket of pop-corn! The film was a bit of a romp called ‘Hancock’ (All in Chinese, but not difficult to follow!) When this had finished we went walkabout again and finished up at the Xi'an Beiling Museum – or the Museum of the “Forest of Stone Tablets”. Hundreds of large inscribed stone Memorials and other Tablets covered with Religious writings, poems, historical events and family histories. This was enough even for Chenjie who is proud of his Culture and Heritage and as we realised that we were hungry again, we went to a Korean Restaurant and barbequed our own beef, prawns, onions, mushrooms and tomatoes (all eaten with chopsticks) and washed down with the by now copiuos amounts of liquid! We then took a taxi to race across the city to watch the “Dancing Fountains” again. By this time we were worn out and went back to the Hotel where Chenjie made some China Tea, and then we went to bed……

26 JULY : After breakfast in our we got ready for our familiar taxi driver who drove us to Terminal 2 of Xi'an Airport to catch the 1-50pm China Southern Airlines flight to Wuhan where we touch-down at 4.05pm. We hired a taxi to take us the 40 kms to the Crown Hotel in Wuchang (one of the three cities of Wuhan). Chenjie had asked if it was OK for him to sleep at home because he wanted to arrange with his parents the dinner party they wanted to have for me. I decided to get in touch with two other friends, Luo Siwei and Jun Yi, and they joined me at the Hotel and we went out for a good meal. We made arrangements to meet up again when Chenjie arrives during the morning of the 27 July and to spend the day all together.

27 JULY : Chenjie and Chenhan arrived about midday and we had a good lunch. After lunch we went to a bowling alley and were joined by Siwei and Junyi and spent much of the afternoon there. At about 5-15am we went for a meal at a place which had connections with the beer trade. We stayed there for some time and then decided to go to a night club. It was late when we left, too late for buses etc., so Siwei and Junyi slept the night at the hotel in our room, together with Chenhan!

28 JULY : Chenjie had to go to his lab again in the afternoon.. So in the morning Chenjie, Chenhan and me just wandered around and did some shopping, then we got a taxi to meet his parents for lunch. Afterwards Chenjie took us to the Campus of his university, but he had to go to the lab again, and Chenhan and me took a taxi back to the hotel. At about 4-30pm we went back to a shopping centre to wait for Chenjie, Siwei, Junyi and several others who were joining us for an evening meal. We set off for the food venue to wait for about four more friends to join us. It was a good meal and it was great to meet up with Chenjie’s friends – some of whom I had already met at the birthday party on 11 July. After the meal each member of the group sent a video message to members of my family. Then some of us again went to a night club, and between us drank a litre of Lagavulin Single Malt Islay Whiskey - a great find as far as I was concerned! While most went back home, Chenjie, Chenhan and me went back to the hotel where Chenhan slept on the floor!

29 JULY : This was my last day in Wuhan and was going to prove quite shattering physically! We took a taxi to the Botanical Gardens, where we hired two electric buggies. And had great fun going round the gardens – many times coming either to flights of steps or dead ends! When we had over-run the time of hire, we got on a bus and made our way to the wooded covered mountain called Mount Mo which rises straight from East Lake, where we hired a three-seater tandem, this proved to be a bit of a mistake, for after a considerable amount of pedalling, grunting and groaning and much sweat, we reached many uphill gradients and had to push the bike instead of riding it. Eventually we returned to the hotel, where Siwei and Junyi joined us to bring the paintings and tea set. The paintings are by Siwei and Junyi and the tea set is a gift to me from Siwei’s father. Later we all had a meal and then Siwei and Junyi went back to their accommodation and Chenhan caught a bus to his home in Hankou. Chenjie and I then went back to the hotel, and I finished packing my cases. The holiday was rapidly coming to a close and Chenjie and I felt very emotional about it because we had become such close friends.

30 JULY : The flight to Beijing was at 8-50am, so an early start was required and we decided to get dressed at about 5-30am. Soon after this time, Siwei and Junyi arrived at the Hotel to see me off at the Airport. We called a taxi and got to the airport in good time so went to a coffee bar for a drink. By this time, it was obvious that emotions were running high and conversation became somewhat quieter, and we all became pensive. In the end as I got ready to check through security and the time came for goodbye, it was obvious that we all had tears in our eyes …. I was particularly worried about Chenjie because a real bond had grown up between us on our travels and his face showed such sadness that I had to hide my feelings as best I could, and it was a difficult and very painful parting and only showed how close our friendship had become. I eventually lost sight of Chenjie and the others and went and sat alone waiting to be called to the gate from the Departure Lounge.

Because of my originally flight to London on 30 July being cancelled, I was now not leaving China until 31 July. So I had booked into an airport Hotel in Beijing. In Beijing I had for sometime chatted on the internet to a guy Bruce Wang, and he met me at the Airport and came with me to my hotel. We then had a taxi into the City where he showed me round Tianamen Square, much decorated for the Olympics. We then found a restaurant and had lunch. Later Bruce took me to the Forbidden City, which was impressive and very interesting – but so tiring to walk round – it is huge! By the time we had walked what seemed miles, I said I was ready to return to the hotel and have a rest - we boarded the subway and after two changes got onto the high speed rail link to the airport, where I said goodbye to Bruce and he returned to the City and I took a taxi to the Hotel. Bruce, like all my friends in China, turned out to be such a wonderful companion. This turned out to be a very sad and lonely night for it was the first time for nearly a month that I had no company, but it did give me a chance to reflect on my wonderful travels around China with Chenjie and meeting so many wonderful people. Without Chenjie, these travels would never have taken place and this young Chinese man will always be in my thoughts.

31 JULY : I woke early and got ready for the 8-30am shuttle bus to the airport. Once there I checked in and got my boarding pass and went through Security and Immigration then waited to be called for the KLM/China Southern flight to Amsterdam. I don’t intend to describe the flight except to say it takes the shortest great circle route over Mongolia, northern Russia, just touches southern Finland, Estonia, across the Baltic and southern Sweden then Denmark. The visibility from 45,000 feet was spectacular and I saw the deserts and steppes of central Asia, together with the Ural Mountains. I had a quick transfer at Schipol Airport and boarded a KLM Cityhopper to Heathrow.