Category: Far East

Kyoto is the heart of Japan, home to over 1600 temples 400 shrines and 17 UNESCO world heritage sites (just 7 less than the entire United States). According to Lonely Planet “Kyoto is one of the world’s most culturally rich cities” and is ranked alongside London, Paris and New York. Personally I would place it some leagues higher, it is, for its sheer range of temples and shrines far and away the most culturally amazing place that I have ever been.

Kyoto is a magnet for tourism and so I decided to split our two days between the super popular sites on day one, with the quieter, more isolated places on day two. There are literally hundreds of guides of where to visit in Kyoto, most taking in legendary behemoths, few taking into account the slices of Japanese perfection off the beaten track. Walking tours abound, all starting and ending at unfathomable places and taking in one particular writers sense of cultures. My advice, open a map and look where you want to go, then simply connect the dots and head off.

Travel within Kyoto

With a Japan Rail pass you are limited to JR routes, but the other routes throughout the city are inexpensive just a couple hundred yen per trip. Buses ply every major part of the city from Kyoto station, which is JR. Additionally, most stations within Kyoto have a dedicated information stand/booth maned by a little old lady that is flinging out maps and excellent information with a smile.

The subway/local trains within Kyoto are a couple of dollars per journey and typically Japanese in their insanely precise punctuality. Buses are equally cheap, just pick up a bus map from the train station upon arrival.

Taxis within Kyoto are eye wateringly expensive like everywhere else in the country.

Day one

The most popular places in Kyoto are as follows:

• Kinkakuji Temple

• Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine

• Arashiyama Bamboo Grove

Kinkakuji temple is often referred to as the golden temple due to its pretty obvious colouring of gold. It is where practically every single visitor to Kyoto has at the top of their ‘to do’ list. As a result it is heaving with tourists and virtually impossible to get a decent photograph. To get there take bus 101 or 205 from Kyoto station, or take the Karasuma line to Kitaoji station and jump on one of the many buses going from the station. Journey time is about 10 minutes. I understand why this temple gets the rage that it does, but for us all the culture was lost due to the amount of tourists there. Guards at the temple do try and keep people moving in a circular fashion, but it has minimal impact.

Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine is the ‘must do’ in Kyoto, lines of orange tori gates inscribed with Japanese make for gorgeous photo opportunities and something very different. Fushimi-inari is one of the most accessible major shrines in the city since it is situated directly opposite JR Inari. If you have a JR pass reservations aren’t needed. Just find the Nara line and hop on the next train. Out of the station you will see the temple, and of course, zillions of people. It isn’t as bad as you first expect however. The tori gates line a route that goes up and over a mountain, the whole walk being a few kilometers. The walk is steep in parts and suddenly you will see the masses of crowds begin to thin out as over enthusiastic travelers have blown themselves out and opt to retreat. Despite the crowds, I strongly recommend this place for a visit, even if you don’t walk further than the crowds. Writing this after leaving Kyoto I think this temple had the biggest impact on me personally. It epitomized Japan, and I remember seeing it in some book when I was a child. An amazing place and probably the one place in Kyoto you really cannot miss.

Arashiyama bamboo grove is the classic ‘cover photo’ from Kyoto. And is the leading photograph of this post. It is in many ways other worldly, but again completely over run by tourists. Let be honest, people come here for the photo opportunity and we were no different. Come with patience and a keen eye. Reached via the Sanin line from Kyoto, hop off at Saga-Arashiyama and ask the little old lady for directions, or walk out of the station, down the road to the London Bookstore before making a right, then left at the main road. Just follow everyone else if you get lost, it is only a ten minute walk. The bamboo grove is two-fold, at first you will enter the grove and be hugely disappointed and begin to convince yourself that you need to brush up on your Photoshop skills if you are to make anything of the view before you. But keep walking, and about 50 metres later you come to the actual bamboo grove. Getting a good photo I found was easiest from the far end, in other words walk all the way to the end. Then have your subject central, and if you get on the floor taking a photo upwards you can cut out the masses of tourists and get a very good shot. I suggest a play with vibrancy and contrast as a minimum post photo, some photographers have done amazing things with images from that grove.

Day two

The most popular area in Kyoto, and one which most people head straight to is Higashiyama. Divided into north and south and separated by Maruyama Park, it is the go to place for those seeking temples, shrines and doses of culture. Filled with more temples than you could shake a stick at, naturally some out shine the rest. Mammoth places such as Chion-in and Kiyomizu-dera swarm with tourists and turn over thousands of culture seekers each week, hundreds of thousands each year. This might seem like an odd place to head to when seeking tranquility with no tourists, but what these blockbuster temples do is draw the bus tours, the temple tickers and everyone else without an ounce of imagination. It leaves empty a majority of places overlooked and underrated. The very places that were on our itinerary.

We really did explore the Higashiyama area and beyond. We absolutely loved the Gion area, filled with Geisha’s and old buildings and found ourselves at some places that were busier than we had hoped such as the quaint Kodai-Ji which seems to be more of a business venture with a constant conveyer of tourists streaming through it than a temple. My two choices from the whole of Kyoto are as follows:

• Shoren-in

• Nanzen-ji

Our favourite temple in Kyoto was Shoren-in, just a stone’s throw from uber popular Chion-in. We had the entire place to ourselves in this completely overlooked slice of beauty. We relaxed in the halls, walked the gardens, and attempted Tai Chi but really only succeeded in making ourselves look like fools. It was beautiful, absolutely stunning and sets the bench mark very high. It isn’t a big place, but that is its attraction, a small slice of paradise overshadowed by behemoth attractions nearby. Reached from nearby Higashiyama JR station it is a 5 minute walk as you follow the signs for Chion-in.

Our second favourite temple was Nanzen-ji. A huge complex, probably large enough to make it feel like there aren’t too many tourists, which there was. It is just down the road from Shoren-in and difficult to miss with its huge, imposing sanmon. Many people probably get put off by the amount of steps needed to walk up and opt for the temples on the right side of the street, I don’t know. But Nanzen-ji is worth the 100mL of sweat I gifted it as I realised how desperately unfit I really am. Thankfully the Japanese have thought of everything with strategically placed benches on the walk.

We also used our second day to hit up some of the free things to do in Kyoto. There are passes that can be bought to make temple entrance cheaper, but I was paying around 300 – 500 yen per temple so figured I would balance the day with some free activities. Our favourite was the Imperial palace and the park which were particularly nice, the garden was actually really pretty and I found there was more locals than tourists which really added to the atmosphere. Be aware, I am not sure if it’s a culture thing of a one-up man ship where the Japanese never quite got over Karate kid, but when my son planted himself on a rock in the pond and began to think he was Mr. Miyage, some woman took major offence. I managed to nab a decent photo before the impending violence erupted and we were off as she put her handbag down in a huff.

Kyoto for us was difficult to love due to the overwhelming amount of tourists, but with a little bit of effort and lots of luck we managed to have moments of absolute beauty to ourselves. It was at times like being transported into a time of historical perfection, yet at times negotiating the masses of tourists was tiring and it felt more like being in Disney World than Japan.

Without doubt Kyoto is one of the gems of the world and somewhere everyone should visit at least once in their life time. It is at times tiring, but the sheer beauty of the city far outweighs any negatives. It is for me one of the most culturally amazing places that I have ever been, and probably ever will ever go to. Please explore Kyoto on foot, some of the most amazing places we saw were the places not in guide books or on maps, but were what we found whilst sweating ourselves around the city in near 100% humidity. Wearing a pair of vans trainers I gave myself blisters so come better prepared, but walk, explore, feel and love what is one of the most amazing places on the planet from your own perspective, not from those of a glossy £19.99 book from Waterstones.

In August 1945 Tsutomu Yamaguchi was sent on a business trip to Hiroshima with some work colleagues. Upon commencement of the contract they all decided to head home. Yamaguchi realised he had forgotten something so sped back to the office. It was at the moment the Enola Gay was flying high above and dropped ‘little boy’ on the city of Hiroshima. The atom bomb destroyed around 70% of the city and instantly wiped out 70,000 people. After taking into account radiation, the bomb named ‘little boy had killed up to 166,000 people.Miraculously Yamaguchi escaped the blast with burns, deafness and partial blindness and quickly fled the ruined city and headed home. Once back home in Nagasaki, Yamaguchi went to see his boss to explain what had happened, since the Japanese government had neglected to inform the Japanese people of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. As Yamaguchi was explaining how a city was wiped out, the second atomic bomb from the USA was dropped on Nagasaki. Amazingly Yamaguchi survived again and is believed to be the only person to survive being hit by two atomic bombs. Yamaguchi lived to the grand age of 93 and died in 2010 having gone down as histories unluckiest yet luckiest man.

Hiroshima today is a sprawling metropolis that save for the peace memorial park, bears no resemblance of that fateful summer day in 1945.

With a Japan Rail pass, Hiroshima is likely on the itinerary of most visitors and with good reason. Just 2 hours from Osaka/Kyoto it is easily a day trip via the Shinkansen. In actual fact it can be done in just a few hours. You can choose to walk from the train station to the peace park, which takes about 25 minutes. Or you can jump on the hop-on-hop-off sightseeing bus from the train station. Prices are about 100 yen per trip, or free with the JR pass.

The peace memorial park is where most people head to and is dominated by the atomic bomb dome, a still standing-ruin that was at the epicenter of the explosion. Haunting to look at, it is perhaps the starkest indication of the cities devastating history. Tour guides hang around, willing and eager to take you around the park completely free of charge. Walking up the river towards the flame of peace young Japanese give free hugs and the flame of peace continues to burn, something it will do until all nuclear weapons have been destroyed. Various memorials are built around the park, all impeccably manicured with flowers, origami or pristineness.

At the far end of the park is the peace memorial museum. This collection of thousands of items found after the bomb dropped is heartbreaking. A cruel reminder of the real victims of war – The innocent.

Beyond the peace park is a nice walk to Hiroshima castle via the children’s science museum. This was the first city we explored in Japan and so when we first saw Hiroshima castle we was mesmerized, hidden in typical Japanese forest it is beautiful. The science museum was closed as we arrived late on a Sunday afternoon. From the castle it was a short walk back to the train station before hopping back on the bullet train to Kobe…

We arrived at the Nanning International Tourist centre about 15 mins prior to our coach leaving. The coach was modern, air con and had a TV on playing some boring Chinese film. There were English subtitles but they were about a centimeter big and impossible to see.

We set off on time and bottles of water were handed round, as we left Nanning the scenery started to get pretty impressive. The closer to the Vietnam border we got and it got pretty breathtaking.
The coach stopped twice for toilet breaks and after about 3hrs we were at Chinese immigration.

We were booted off the coach with all our bags and loaded onto a golf cart, driven to Chinese immigration and after filling in departure cards breezed straight through in about 10 mins. Back onto a different Golf cart and then driven to Vietnamese Border control. I had to fill in arrivals cards and health forms. When I went to the customs officer he didn’t even bother to look at me or my passport or the kids just checked the visa and stamped us in, despite my visa being for 16 days he gave us 30 days from date of entry. Then we were ushered to a health desk, I handed over the form and the guy held a sign up saying “Please pay 2,000VND or 2CNY for health check” I asked him “what health check?” He didn’t have a clue what I was talking about so I paid and stood there waiting for this health check. He stamped my passport too and started serving the next person??? So yeah, I paid 6,000vnd for 3 health checks which never actually happened.

We were put back on a different coach and after about an hour sat waiting we were off. As an avid walker and someone who loves climbing mountains I have seen some amazing scenery. I have drooled over the Grand Canyon and pretty much most of Arizona/Nevada/Utah and everything they offer, have seen the deserts of Northern Africa and the most impressive scenery the UK has to offer. Nothing comes even remotely close to the scenery of Northern Vietnam. Huge mountainous rock formations all lush with tropical foliage, tiny little Vietnamese houses, and paddy fields – It truly was breathtaking.

About 3 hours after arriving at the Vietnamese border and awe struck with the beauty of the country and we were kicked off in Hanoi.
Instantly taxi drivers were all over us, so given that I needed a taxi I asked one how much to the Old Quarter, $10 was his response – Now, bear in mind Taxi drivers earn maybe $200 per month if they are lucky and this is work 26 hours out of a 24 hour day. So I knew he was pulling a fast one. $5 was probably twice what it should have been but I offered him that, he moaned and was insistent that it was $10 etc etc so I started to walk away. He came after me and we were off for $5.
As soon as we got in the taxi he started the hotel scam. Now, this scam has been around before humans roamed the earth, the dinosaurs perfected it some 50 Billion years ago. Basically what happens is you get in the taxi and they tell you either the hotel is closed for one reason or another or that it is a very bad place etc etc…. Of course the taxi driver knows a great hotel which is open and which isn’t bad etc… He drops you off there, claims his commission and disappears into the sunset whilst you get ripped off.

Now, there are a few ways to avoid this scam, I had expected and saw it coming before he even shut the door. Firstly never get in a taxi unless you are alone with the driver. Especially if you are travelling with kids or are female and alone. Never ever do it. If the driver insists his friend come along then you insist he doesn’t, if you get into a car with someone other than the driver then expect to be proper ripped off.
Secondly it’s important to let the driver know you are not a push over and that you are confident, people in Vietnam have been pushed to desperation and will try anything. What I did was when he asked to put our bags in the boot I insisted my bag travelled in the back with the kids, he was saying “no no, put in boot its fine” I was having none of it and told him the bag travels in the bag with the kids, he accepted and more than me being arrogant it showed him that I was confident of what I wanted from the start.

Ok, so I got in the car and the single first question was “So what hotel are you staying at” I told him and he said “Oh, are you sure…” I cut him off straight away and said “My wife is at the hotel and I am meeting her there” He said “Your wife is at this hotel” And I said “Yes, she has been there a few days and is waiting for us right now” His response was “Oh, ok” That was the scam cut short straight away.
In addition to the hotel scam there is other instances of drivers dropping you off and then claiming it wasn’t actually $5 but $15 etc so a way to avoid this, particularly on long journeys (mine was about 10km) is to ask for the drivers card. Which is what I did, I said “can I have your number and maybe I will call you” Straight away most drivers will see future business and not cause any problems which might jeopardize that. And that’s what happened. He dropped us off $5 see you later.

A point to note on Taxi drivers in Hanoi is their meters, they are not regulated by anyone and meters are well known to be tampered so that it goes up at a faster rate than it should, but many people still insist that the driver uses the meter, I’m different, I like to agree a price and then know what I’m paying. That way the driver can drive the longest way if he likes, he is still only getting the agreed price.

Anyway, so we arrived at the hotel approx 4pm (Mikes Hotel, Hanoi). We tried to check in but were told there was no standard room available. About 20 mins later I was told I could stay in a deluxe room for the night then move to a standard room in the morning. I was fine with that. We went to the room, the kids went to sleep and I sat out on the balcony with a few beers.

About 9pm the phone rings “Mr. Wilson we have your room available” I said “Its 9pm my children are asleep, are you saying I have to vacate this room” The answer was yes and that someone would be up to move our luggage. Instant knock at the door and some guy is stood there; I told him we would move our own stuff since my kids were still in bed. He said I needed to hurry up. I was fuming; I got the kids up, packed all our stuff and went to the lobby. I asked to speak to the manager and a woman came out called Lee Ma, I explained how this was ridiculous and she wasn’t bothered, she spoke to about 4 other colleagues in Vietnamese, I asked if she could speak English and she was having none of it. I said forget it and started to walk away, I turned round and she was laughing. With them. So I asked to speak to the manager, she was telling me he was unavailable and would speak to me in the morning. Normally I wouldn’t have stood for that, but it was 30 degrees plus, I was covered in sweat, the kids were knackered and so we went to our new room. I opened the door and Abi screamed. There was a lizard on the floor. I took a photo of it on my phone and went back to the lobby. I said what had happened and that I wanted refunding now and wanted to check out. I said if you don’t do it then I will sit on your doorway all night trying my hardest to convince every English speaking person not to stay. The manager appeared. I explained to him and asked if he had kids and how would he feel etc. he was telling me he couldn’t refund me since I had paid through Expedia but would put us back in a deluxe room for our whole stay, I was having none of it and was adamant about my refund. I knew we could afford to stay in any hotel in Hanoi – There was no reason to stay there. Then he said, “My Company owns 3 hotels in Hanoi, what if I move you to another one of our hotels at no extra cost” I agreed. He brought us to a hotel not so far away and showed us to our room. A huge deluxe room – Which is actually quite nice. Far better than the other hotel. After he showed us he was apologizing and saying that tomorrow we could sit down and discuss things. I told him to forget it, as far as I was concerned the matter was sorted. The problem was never with him and he had done what he could to help. He was very thankful and asked me “By way of apologizing and to thank you for your understanding, would you please come to my house for breakfast in the morning, my wife will make you very welcome and a really nice breakfast” he said there would be a car waiting for us at 9am the following morning.

The kids were straight to sleep whilst I sat and listened to Huddersfield Giants beat Saint Helens on Radio Leeds.

A tiring day – But one that ended well.

First of all it needs saying that I have loved the country, the kids have loved it too. So much so that Charlie has decide he is moving to China when he is older. But it’s hard to find the words to describe a country like China.

The Chinese authorities have created an elaborate show where anyone visiting Beijing and Shanghai will be treated to a new modern China. I’ll start with Beijing, since the Olympics China has tried hard to show Beijing to be a modern city set around impeccable historical places. And it tries hard and on the surface does well, very well in fact. On the surface Beijing is thriving international city worthy of a place in the World’s top 5 cities – I personally would place it on a pedestal high at number 1. I loved Beijing, from the ease of the subway to the madness of the streets to the amazing people. But delve a little deeper and what you find is a show. Behind the Forbidden City, the endless tours to the Great Wall and the uber-modern Olympic park you have people starving. People living in shanty houses and begging for life. You have people so controlled by their government that freedom of speech is nonexistent, web sites are blocked and the news is never unbiased. The sanitary system is nothing more than a hole in the floor.
It’s worth a mention that in 2005 the Chinese government executed 10,000 people or 27 people daily.

Shanghai is the ultra modern city. The skyscrapers tower above the Shanghai skyline looking out of place in such a historical country – Then again it’s easy to forget Shanghai is in China. The pearl TV Tower looks completely out of place amongst the modern Western buildings and as beautiful as the skyline is it is arguably the only thing that sings tunes remotely Chinese. It is intimidating by nature and could easily be any international city on earth. That said, when the lights go down it is inherently Chinese. Although while many people call Shanghai modern China I felt it was not the same or as good as Beijing. Beijing had warmth which Shanghai lacked, Shanghai was fiddly and too much like an attempt to be something it is not. Sure, the huge skyscrapers look great and the Nanjing Rd has to be seen to be believed, but in striving to be an amazing Chinese city through the billions thrown at it by international investors Shanghai lost its personality and were it not for the Pearl Tower it really could be any city on earth – Which is a shame.

That said both Shanghai and Beijing are the China show. It’s a show which is pulled off extremely well and one which masks the human rights issues and the actual suffering of millions of people. The people I met appeared happy and friendly, the people I saw appeared hungry and sad.

China truly is an amazing country which has no doubt progressed a hundred years in the last 2 decades. Sadly, and despite what you see, it’s still at least 50 years behind the rest of the modern world.

Annoyances:
Loads, from hawkers who would sell you their left testicle for 2 yen, to the fact that not a single driver pays attention to any form of road traffic measure, the green man – The most pointless thing in China, the smells – some absolute hyperventilating stenches that are like nothing in the Western World, The fact that every Chinese person who knows full well you don’t speak Chinese just continues to talk to you in Chinese, the endless tours, the blatant over pricing (although generally this is not common, there is always the odd shop keeper who will try and tell you the price doesn’t say 2 yen it says 10….hmmmm) food hygiene – Which is a real shame, we were hoping to really explore Chinese food but when you see a man who clearly hasn’t bathed this century scratch his arse and then touch the food… Well it’s a bit off putting, almost as off putting as the rust on the pan, or the dirt on the cooker which is so old it’s been registered by the Chinese historical artifact registration society. Beer, get a nice cold pint of Stella Artois, water it down 100:1 – That’s a hundred parts water to one part Stella, stick it in the oven and heat it up to about 60 degrees and then pass it off as Chinese beer – No one would tell the difference. In fact if you pissed in it too I doubt anyone would question it. Taxi drivers, come on mate, it says 2yen per Km, and I’m going 3km….. Now I know math’s is not my strong point but I just cannot get 3 x 2 to equal 200? The 15% hotel tax, I like to know what I’m paying up front not get stung at check out and the toilets – A hole in the floor, with no toilet roll – I don’t even want to think anymore about those disgusting places.

Loved:
The weather, at first it was too much but we soon got used the permanent steam room, history – There were things we did and saw which gave me goose pimples, we have experienced things I grew up reading about, things I saw in books and looked at in awe, The attention – Well Abi did, not a day went by when we weren’t the object of everyone’s attention, I forget how many times I have been told how beautiful my children are or that they’ve had their photos taken, or gifts given to them – From teddies to a hair brush (was they trying to tell me something?) the prices, generally things were bloody cheap. A huge bottle of rats piss (beer) for 4 yen, dinner including drinks for 100 yen (9 quid) in a water front restaurant set amongst the most beautiful Chinese gardens imaginable, a feeling of belonging – this might sound weird since we clearly didn’t belong in China, but not a single time did I feel intimidated or threatened – Even holed up for 30 hours on a train, whilst the kids slept I was sat on a lower bunk trying in vain to have a conversation with about 10 Chinese people, the people – The Chinese people are amongst the friendliest, happiest and most welcoming people I have ever known, the experience – Not really much I can say other than China was everything we hoped it would be and more. It was 2 weeks I know I’ll never forget and I’m sure the kids won’t either.

When we pulled into Nanning the kids were excited by the Blackpool style illuminated Hotels and whatever else.

We easily found our hotel since knowing we’d arrive late id booked a hotel near to the station. Let me just explain actually, when you book a hotel in China you don’t pay per bed, you pay per room or per person. For instance, if a double room costs 200yen and you stay in it alone you pay 200yen. If 1 adult and 2 children stay in a double room you pay per person. It seems that if the per person charge is higher than the room charge that’s what you pay – The higher price.

What I have been doing is paying for 1 adult and 1 child (Charlie) The reason is simple, Abi sleeps with either me or Charlie (mostly Charlie) and if the hotel ever questioned it I’d just explain she is 4 years old and under 1.1m which pretty much means everything is free for her in China and I had assumed hotels follows the same policy. As yet I’ve not been questioned.

The first day in Nanning and the main priority was tickets to Hanoi. I had fully researched this trip to the best of my abilities prior to travel and had to hand the Lonely Planet edition of China. I had heard that getting tickets to Hanoi were not that easy. We headed for the train station to see what a mission it was. We found the International ticket desk right at the end of the ticket hall and I asked how much for me and 2 kids to Hanoi for 9/8 he said 147yen for me, and 50% for Charlie but Abi was free. The journey would take from 5pm until 8am the following morning. There was plenty of availability. Now, the problem with that is the border crossing, the ‘Friendship pass’ as it is known is really and technically only open during day time hours for foreigners, and since we’d be crossing at night I felt maybe there would be Visa issues, not only that but we’d all developed a huge disliking to long train journeys! So we headed for the ‘Nanning International Tourist Centre (I think that’s the name) which literally is across the road and 100 m to the left with your back to the station. I asked how much for the coach and was told 149yen for me and 75yen for each child unless Abi sat on my knee in which case it would be free. No chance, for the sake of 7 quid she is having her own seat. Either way the coach takes a mere 7 hours which is much less than the train. I booked it for the 8am departure from the centre on 9th August 2009, meaning we arrive in Hanoi for about 2pm.Which is 7hrs but 1 hr behind China and +7 GMT, which, given GMT is now +1 that we would be 6 hrs ahead of the UK.

How anyone can call that process difficult, awkward or otherwise deserves a slap in my opinion. They should try booking tickets in Beijing, now that is bloody hard. Booking tickets to Hanoi from Nanning could only be easier if a personal chaperone came to my hotel room and sorted everything for me. Anyway, that was it; we were headed for Vietnam for the pricey sum of 26 pounds. It took no more than 30 mins to get prices for both the train and bus and make our booking.

Now, onto Nanning. So far my trusty Lonely Planet book had been great, but in terms of Nanning the writer deserves not only a slap but a good kicking. I fail to see how he climaxed over Shanghai yet found only a few pages about Nanning and even said “just enough to keep you going” He has never been to Nanning. It is a bustling city with over 2 million occupants, the lush greenery is everywhere, nowhere in a Chinese city have I seen so many trees and greenery. It’s like a city within a jungle.
Right at the heart of the city is a park – Or Garden as the Chinese like to say. There were people line dancing, hundreds of people all dancing – Oddly to rave music! The kids joined in, sort of – Clearly my dancing skills have passed onto them as Charlie looked like he was having a spasm and Abi attempted some type of break-dance….. I think?

The centre itself is like China I imagined, a huge market place. Thousands of market stalls all individual. I was talking to one girl who owned a booth which sold clothes she had designed and she was not alone, many had the same idea as hers. Not a Nike sign in sight, no Versace, no Rolex shop. Just back to basics Chinese markets. I have never seen so many food stalls, fruits, all surrounded by age old artifacts of China gone by. The photo above shows our modification to Nanning (Ok so sticking a piece of corn in the mouth of a thousand year old artifact may not be the best thing to do in the centre of Nu China – But it was funny at the time 😉 )
Charlie and Abi both tried Chicken feet (I chickened out – Geddit…. Ok exit stage left) anyway they both almost threw up. Odd, they had to taste it to feel like that. We were all left wondering what the point in eating a chicken’s foot was as we swigged Fanta and continued to dehydrate in the 32 degree searing heat.

Actually the weather has got so hot I’ve really had to keep an eye on the kids. The humidity is nothing like it has been and the sun is feeling more brutally hot as we get nearer to the equator. Basically there are many ways to check dehydration, but one of the easiest and earliest signs is to check the urine. In Kids it’s even more difficult and people talk of pulling skin, looking at the tongue etc… Well, watch them take a piss, if the urine is clear and like water this indicates a hydrated person, the darker the urine the more dehydrated the person is. I mean come on, we’ve all got up after a night out on the lash and had a piss and not only has it been dark yellow its smelled of sugar puffs – Well that’s a sign your in need of a few drinks of water.

Thankfully the kids are reacting very well to the system I have in place which is that whilst were out they have to drink one half litre of water every hour. Overnight they have to drink the half litre over night. I have found that they require more than half a litre over night and it is available for them.
Either way, as I write this we have one more day in Nanning then away we head to Vietnam. Since tomorrow will be only relaxing and walking round the most amazing market I’ve known this will be my last post from China.

Next stop Hanoi, Vietnam….

I had hoped to visit Chengdu and the Panda Reserve, but in Beijing we really did have trouble finding a train to anywhere and as such both Chengdu and Xian had to be ruled out. We tried to find the Zoo in Beijing but the subway route on which it lies was being refurbished. So I had hoped we could find the Zoo in Shanghai.
Whilst in China I have been using and 2 resources, firstly Lonely Planet China – Which is good. But (and I really find this unbelievable) when they tell you about the places to visit they don’t tell you what the nearest subway is, or what bus routes go there (Since in China buses run on a continuous route, unlike the UK where they go to a place and back, here they run on a continuous loop) But the second resource I have used, and it really has proven invaluable is http://www.travelchinaguide.com/

We managed to find out what buses ran near the Zoo and set off. A quick hop on the subway – Which is inferior to that of Beijing, since here you have to pay to a station and the fare is normally at least twice that of in Beijing (who have a flat rate of 2 yen and you can hop on and off wherever) We found the bus we needed and were at the Zoo in no time.

The first thing we noticed was how it seemed much cooler and a far more comfortable 24 degrees, it cost me 40 yen entrance and Charlie 24 yen (about 6 quid total) the Zoo is actually really nice, to begin with we weren’t too impressed, it was almost like a fish/bird sanctuary. But as you walk round the zoo gets better, probably the most unusual animals we saw were dogs. There were about 30 different breeds of dogs (which is weird for a zoo) then we got to the bears, now, in the UK we might have a Polar Bear and a Grizzly, at Shanghai zoo they had many different breeds of each animal – The polar bear looked less than impressed as he was forced to sun bathe in the ever increasing temperature and humidity – which by this time was in the low 30’s and very humid. We saw 2 beautiful Panda’s – all our first time seeing one. What amazing animals they are!

We saw Lions, Panthers, Tigers, Monkeys, Gorillas, Orangutan’s in fact really the only animal we didn’t find was the Rhino.
It really is a great Zoo – Ok, it breaks probably every animal law ever created, it stinks and is in major need of a cleanup but we loved it – I’m not so sure an avid animal lover would enjoy it as much as some of the states of the animals are pretty grim and many are obviously in great duress as the locals try and feed them crisps and hot dogs. But if you just want to look at animals it is perfect – Never have I known a zoo allow such close proximity.

And, I have to say – Last year I decided that Jackson Zoo in Mississippi was my favourite Zoo, but it’s now Shanghai.

After the zoo since it had got so warm Charlie and I had started to melt so we headed back to the hotel to attempt to peel our clothes off.

In the same way Dublin rests heavily on Guinness Shanghai rests even heavier on a place called the Bund. It’s basically a street which helped form Shanghai as its known today. All the guide books get turned on by the Bund, in the prose you can imagine the writers foaming at the mouth as they talk about how amazing the Bund is. Well, we went. And someone must have robbed it, because when we got there it was a letdown – A Street no different to any in London. That’s really all ill say about that. What was far more impressive was the Pudong, the Bund is a street which lies at the side of the river, well at the other side of the river is a skyline which I would say matches any skyline In the world. From the amazing Pearl Tower to the funky huge skyscraper which I do not know the name of. We saw it in all its illuminated glory and were impressed. In fact I think I shed a tear…. (Ok I didn’t but it was beautiful)

The remainder of the day and the following day were spent exploring the extremely interesting Nanjing Rd; it’s basically a street which is like something straight out of Hong Kong Fuey, huge oversized lit signs in Chinese, millions of shops from Rolex to Versace right down to KFC. A great place to be, even though you do get hounded by people trying to sell everything.

We arrived in Shanghai as we had left Beijing, in a thunderstorm. We decided that we would find the hotel first and foremost and check in.
The idea I had to wear sandals and shorts/dress coupled with a Gore-Tex jacket worked a treat. Everything I needed to stay dry did and those I wasn’t bothered about getting wet got wet.

I had purposely chosen a hotel near to a subway because of the hassle we had in Beijing. The walk to our hotel was about 10 minutes. Check in time was 3pm and we turned up at 9am. I went in and simply said “We have just travelled down from Beijing if our room is available may we check in” I was stunned to hear him say “of course”
The room was available and we spent the entire day in the room and really had a relaxing day where we took the time we had to catch up with sleep, sort the bags out, I had things to sort online, the kids had major TV to catch up on.
We did actually nip back to the train station so I could buy some train tickets, I bought tickets to Nanning which is about as far south as you can get in China before hitting Vietnam and near to one of the few border crossings in China where foreigners can cross. The train is booked for the 5th August, takes 30 hours and will hopefully take us to the last stop in China before we head for Hanoi, Vietnam. Where apparently there are either buses or trains which can be taken.

And that really is it, our first day in Shanghai and we did nothing really. It was great.