The following morning we arrived at the bus station to be hustled onto a bus with about ten or so local Chinese tourists. It turned out we’d somehow booked ourselves onto an actual day tour, conducted in Mandarin. We also found out that the 150 Yuan only covered transport to the Tian Chi complex and that we would need to fork out an additional 180 Yuan for the tour (totally about $50 each) which included a few other attractions, lunch and transport to the lake itself.  Our outdated guidebook advised there was a 15 Yuan chairlift to the top of the mountains however we were informed this had been shut down.  We caused quite a bit of commotion and amusement on our bus, being the only foreigners and also our adamant reluctance to pay the extra 180 Yuan to join the tour (after a few months of travel every penny counts!).   Anyway, having no better option, in the end we joined the tour. Funnily enough, one of the highlights of the tour was one of the friendly Chinese tourists, Yu, she seemed to be the only person who spoke a bit of English and was helping us with some of the translation. The tour itself was quite a disappointment after having already visited Central Asia.  The Tian Chi region is populated by local Kazakhs and as such the Kazakhstan culture was on show.  There were a few yurts set up for tourists to take photos inside, a costume section where we could dress up in traditional wear, a Kazakh song and dance show, a traditional fighting event.  Lunch was a merely a plate of plov which was disappointing.  In general, the tour was rushed, the tour guides were super loud as each wore a speaker set trying to talk over one another and there were just so many tour groups. After travelling independently it was quite painful to be told “times up, next site”.  It was, though, interesting to observe the local Chinese tourists enjoying their holidays.  It is clear that a growing number of Chinese are enjoying higher levels of income and as such domestic tourism is booming.

Anyhow, the lovely blue lake itself is stunning, located over two thousand metres high in the mountains.  A few yurts lie atop the hills, owned by Kazakhs. We had a pleasant chat to a local Kazakh man who told us that during peak season 20,000 Chinese tourists visit the site.  We also visited a temple as part of the tour, which we found out, was built only last year.

In the spirit of organised tours, our last stop was a massive three-level handicraft shop selling everything from jade to perfumes.

Urumqi is a large gateway city connecting Central Asia to China, we didn’t spend too much time in the city, but did enjoy the People’s Park with leafy surrounds, pond and the pavilion in traditional Chinese architecture was a nice change from the Islamic architecture we were now used to.

The highlight was  a day trip to Tian Chi (Heavenly Lake).

Any traveller wishing to visit Kashgar should make sure their trip runs over a Sunday, as it is early morning on this day each week the local Kashgari men bundle their most valued livestock and display it for sale. The massive market, located about ten minutes from town comprises of sections for cows, sheep, goats (including a particularly favourite billy goat area), donkeys and horses. There were animals everywhere. I tried to avoid thinking about their fate. It was smelly, dirty and overwhelming, yet wonderfully intriguing to watch the interactions – a local Uighur man inspecting a potential purchase by squeezing the udders of a goat and finally, when the sale was made – the respectful handshakes between buyer and seller.

At the large Sunday market (which sold everything from Uyghur hats and knives to all the usual Chinese goods) we also found street food – plates of noodles for three Yuan, chuchura (steamed dumplings) and samsas (samousas) for two Yuan each, watermelon slices for one to two Yuan depending on size, and our favourite, freshly fried fish served with seasoning for five Yuan.

That night we headed to Kashgar’s night market for dinner, featuring street food of Uyghur cuisine, there was more than one dish being sold that made us a little queasy.  This included stuffed intestines, trotters and tripe.  We started with some tame chickpeas and capsicum and then a plate of noodles with a vinegar sauce. We then went for some cheap one Yuan skewers which we thought were chicken. However, after eating them we think they may have been goat’s bottom, which explained the ridiculously cheap price. After passing the halved goats heads a number of times, I decided to try one for eight Yuan. The cook observed me trying to work out what to do with this goats head on my plate, and kindly helped me crack the skull and remove the “good bits”. It was mostly all tendons with a bit of meat, I couldn’t bring myself to eat the lips which still had the jagged texture.

We finished the night with Uighur dessert named durap (yogurt, shaved ice and lemon juice all sloshed together), quite tasty.

We visited Id Kah Mosque, the largest mosque in China, a yellow exterior facade, the design was distinctly different to the mosques we had only recently seen in Iran and Central Asia. From the mosque we visited the Afaq Khoja Mausoleum, the holiest Muslim site in Xinjiang. The mausoleum featured colourful mosaics on the minarets and dome.

One of the interesting things was the time zone, in Kyrgyzstan the sun was setting around 8pm local time. Now even though Kashgar is a few hundred kilometres from Kyrgyzstan, all of China uses Beijing time, which is a further two hours ahead. This meant that the sun would be setting around 10pm, not something that we were used to.

The highlight though was the Uighur food.

Our initial transport was a marshrutka (Russian for ‘Fixed Route’), a small slow bus, that stops many times and doesn’t go above 60km/h.  In three hours we reached the Barskoon junction, a measly 80kms from Karakol. We decided to hitchhike as there was no sign of public transport.  Fortunately within ten minutes, two friendly young Kyrgyz men picked us up, who were making pharmaceutical deliveries around Lake Issyk Kol and were then heading back to Bishkek.

The Lonely Planet recommended taking transport from Balykchy, and then towards Naryn and onto Osh.  However we further read that from October to June the Fergana Pass was closed, presumably due to snow cover, this meant we could no longer take the direct route through the centre of Kyrgyzstan and needed to go via Bishkek, an extra 200km journey.  Fortunately, our drivers were going that way.  We stopped for a lunch of traditional Kyrgyz dish beshbarmak (literally ‘five fingers’ as it is traditionally eaten by hand), it is a dish of noodles with lamb and a small slice of horse meat. It was the first time Sonya and I had eaten horse, the way it was cooked was quite spicy.

We reached Bishkek at around four o’clock and headed straight for a tour agency.  During the ride we also happened to read that during May 1^st to May 10^th the border was closed due to a number of national holidays, we wanted to confirm if it would be open, we were informed that it was, but also reality struck that there wasn’t enough time to reach Sary Tash. We had done the Osh to Bishkek route previously and knew it took around eight hours in daylight.  Osh to Sary Tash would a further three to four hours, then there was the time need to go from Sary Tash to the border, reaching for a planned 9am crossing. If we did attempt it, we would be cutting it extremely close, the driver would be driving all night and through two mountain passes, there was a lot of risk.

After much thought and great disappointment, we eventually decided to fly to Kashgar via Urumqi instead, it was a hard decision to make, but we believe we made the best choice for us. It was particularly painful knowing that if we had planned it a little better this may have worked out differently.

In total we spent a little under $10,000 Australian, for two people, 21 nights. Most of this consisted of airfares, $3000 return to Macau from Perth, and all domestic fares between China’s cities totalling about $2000. The hotels averaged about $100 a night due to being 4 to 5 star.

If we do plan to do it again (and we do), we would prefer to stay at inexpensive accommodation, as we both think expensive hotels are a waste. Time permitting; savings can be made on trains between cities.

The holiday served to give us a broad view of China most famous tourist sites, next time we will skip the big cities and immerse ourselves in more of China’s unfamiliar history and culture.

We have finally finished updating posts with our travel adventures.

Restaurante Platão

Restaurante Platão was a cozy restaurant located off a side street from Largo do Senado.

We started with an entrée of traditional sardinhas assadas (grilled sardines), and a large bottle of Mateus wine. For the mains, again, two traditional foods were ordered; Potato and Bacalhau (codfish) pie and bife com um ovo a cavalo (literally meaning steak with an egg on horseback). The food was nice and a good change from noodles and rice. The bill ended up costing 500HKD, which we thought was quite acceptable.

Historic Centre of Macau

As previously mentioned, Macau has immense Portuguese influenced heritage. The Historic Centre of Macau consists of a number of historic Portuguese buildings and landmarks; with the most famous being Ruins of St. Paul’s and Largo do Senado (Senado Square). It was a bit of a shame that we had to view these at night, the bright building colours were not as evident as hoped and any photography was quite difficult. The lighting did make the Ruins of St. Paul’s look even spookier and Fortaleza do Monte (on a hill next to the ruines) which had minimal lighting was even scarier walking around at night.

The Venetian

Finally, how can you not venture into a casino when in Macau? With the name Eastern Las Vegas and actually having a higher gambling revenue than Las Vegas itself, you really can’t. From stepping out of the airport and being presented with the luxurious casino hotel’s courtesy buses, to not being able to turn anywhere without seeing in your face flashing lights and over the top buildings, the casinos in Macau are very evident. Sonya convinced me to check out the Venetian stating it as a must see. She was right, and it was quite enjoyable walking through the lavish interiors and manmade canals.

The following morning we flew back to Singapore and then finally Perth, all sad that our great China trip was all over.

Muslim Quarters (Beiyuan men Islamic Street)

Xi’an has a large number of Muslim Hui people, so we thought it was a good idea to sample the Islamic influenced cuisine. After watching Chuanr of lamb and beef cooking on the street, we stepped inside, took a seat, and waited for the sticks of meat to be served. We tried numerous, various dishes, mostly trying to pick the more traditional food as recommended by the Lonely Planet.

Bell Tower

Situated within walking distance from the Muslim Quarters is the Bell Tower. We took a few quick photos before calling it a night.

Terracotta Warriors

The number one reason for visiting Xi’an was to see the Terracotta Warriors. The Terracotta Warriors is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, described as the most ‘significant archaeological excavation of the 20th century’, and over 2000 years old.
Unfortunately, due to our flight being delayed from Hangzhou we had only 4 hours to see the Terracotta Warriors and Qin Tomb. We arrived early in the morning to the museum and were one of the first there. Upon entrance of the first pit, we were left awestruck by the expanse of warriors all gazing at us. As we further read the history, walked between pits and then finally the museum of weapons well preserved warriors, the privilege of being able to see it all set in.

Emperor Qin’s Tomb Mound

With a little time to spare before needing to catch our flight back to Hong Kong, we quickly visited Emperor Qin’s Tomb Mound. At this time it was snowing which made it all the more enjoyable and a nice way to end our trip.

By the time we had left Shanghai, half of our group had completed their leg of the trip so it was just five of us remaining. I will never forget our taxi ride to the train station. We had underestimated the length of time it would take to get to the Shanghai Railway Station from our hotel and were blessed to have found a helpful, quick but sane taxi driver. We arrived at the station just in time, and gratefully tipped the stressed driver, who had given us all a lecture about allowing enough time to travel during Shanghai’s peak traffic.

The train ride from Shanghai to Hangzhou was fast, smooth and prompt. We arrived tired but were pleasantly surprised to find our hotel was comfortable and had internet access.

West Lake

Our first full day in Hangzhou was slightly disappointing. Our hotel was located very close to the famous West Lake so we planned to walk there and spend a day exploring the area. Much to our dismay, the city was suffering from extremely foggy weather and the lake was barely visible. Unwilling to declare defeat, we continued walking around the lake taking photos, hoping that the fog would subside, but it did not.

Travis and I walked around the city centre, as there was not much else we could do.

That night we had noodles and wandered around the city once again. We had an interesting time trying to communicate with a pharmacist whilst searching for panadol. She had a tiny English-to-Chinese cheat sheet which had the symptoms written in English (e.g. sore head, tummy ache) and the corresponding Chinese medication next to it. Slightly concerned about the potential communication breakdown, we opted to continue looking.

My favourite part of the day was by far our visit to the night markets behind our hotel. I had curiously observed the hustle and bustle of the markets the night before from our room window. Turned out to be the best markets we had been to in China! There were a lot of brilliantly handcrafted goods, the standard designer bag, purse and keyring copies, and lots of kooky knick knacks. Plenty of locals around the place indicated that prices could be bargained to reasonable amounts.

Liuhe Pagoda (Six Harmonies Pagoda)

Travis and I decided that we would organise a driver to take us to a number of key sites during our second day. We organised it with our hotel, and agreed with the driver that he would take us to 3-4 places in 4 hours and then drop us off at the Hangzhou airport, all for RM300. Turned out to be a great deal.

Our first stop was the marvellous Liuhe Pagoda. We were literally the first tourists to arrive, and had the place to explore for ourselves. The pagoda faces the Qiantang River (which we could hardly see due to the persistent fog), and was constructed during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127 AD) for navigational aid purposes for ships.

Tea Plantations and Longjing Tea (Dragon Well Tea)

We drove a good 20 minutes further to arrive at the famous tea plantations of Longjing. This region is said to produce some of the most famous, finest green tea in China and thus we decided we would sample some of this tea. Our driver brought us to what we hoped was the famous Dragon Well Teahouse.

I had brought along plenty tourist guides/brochures and my invaluable Lonely Planet which recommended tea tasting at the Dragon Well Teahouse, but the driver insisted that the Teahouse had long closed and the residential house which he had brought us to was now the infamous tea producing location of all of Hangzhou.

With much reluctance to try the tea, Travis and I sampled the Longjing tea provided to us by a lady. She pushed us to purchase RM500 worth of tea to bring back for our families. We resisted, stating the tea was not to our taste. We were unsure we were even drinking Longjing tea. After we expressed our frustration at being not brought to our desired Teahouse, and after she expressed her frustration of not being able to sell anything to us, we left the house. What an experience!

On the way out of the region we stopped at what appeared to be an old Teahouse village in renovation. We spent an hour exploring the village, taking photos and satisfying our tea desires.

Lingyin Temple

Next was the Lingyin Temple, a Buddhist temple famous for its religious rock carvings. This place was quite amazing, and we spent quite some time exploring the numerous caves filled with rock carvings dating back from the Song Dynasty. We also visited the Hall of the Heavenly Kings, the entrance of the Lingyin temple itself. The temple is one of the largest and wealthiest in China.

Leifeng Pagoda

With a bit of time up our sleeves, we decided to make a trip back to West Lake to visit the Leifeng Pagoda. Leifeng Pagoda is one of the ten sights of the West Lake and is famous for the Legend of the White Snake, a story of a scholar who falls in love with a beautiful woman, unaware she is a white snake. The white snake is cast into the Pagoda by a Taoist monk.

A popular tourist attraction, the Pagoda has been renovated to allow for escalators up to the Pagoda, and lifts inside it.

Despite the unfortunate weather, Hangzhou turned out to be an interesting experience and a fascinating place to visit. It would be lovely to visit again during the Spring.