Dancing With The School Kids, Koh Lanta, Thailand

Another day, and more exploring on the scooters took us to a sea gypsy village and the Lanta Old Town on the other side of the island. Koh Lanta has a quite a large muslim population and we would often see people in full face-hiding outfits and hear the loud calls to prayer. The people are all so friendly and not averse to foreignors (or farang as we're called) ...yet. On our way home we stumbled across what seemed to be a schoolkids' field day, where 3 big teams of kids were dancing non-stop to loud music pumping on the stereo. Of course, all of you who know Michelle would know that she couldn't resist such an opportunity to jump in and boogie too! The kids thought it was fantastic and were absolutely ecstatic that we had joined in with them. We loved playing with them and probably enjoyed it even more than the kids! *Stub

Mud Puddle fun, Koh Lanta

It is so cheap to rent a scooter here that it is silly not to just have one so we rented ours for the whole of our entire stay and toured the entire island. We love exploring the little villages that we drive through... they are really just clusters of homes with grocery or fruit shops pegged on the front - mostly bamboo shacks or huts, and then numerous plastic-chaired restaurants that normally serve delicous food. One day we checked out some fancy resorts and investment housing opportunities (too bad we have so little money). In a way, sadly, there are many places popping up since the completion of the road last year. It'll be just a matter if time before the plastic restauarnats and the bamboo huts will be replaced by concrete and it'll be ashame - Lanta is such a lovely island and characters.

Another day of adventures - we toured to the end of the road, and then did some off-roading through mud puddles to get to the Southernmost beach in the Koh Lanta Marine Park. We had a good laugh at Kevin who got stuck in a huge mud puddle and lost his flip flops. Double click photo to see him successfully retrieving his shoes! When we finally got to the beach our chill-out time in the hammock was disturbed by an incoming helicopter, so Kevin and I went exploring and found them filming a movie up by the lighthouse. In typical Asian fashion, it was a fight movie called Mercury Man, and we watched the stuntmen film a fight scene. It was quite funny as Thailand is known for its 'Lady-boys' as they're called, and much to our amusement the stand-in for the female lead was male and dressed with the same underwear! Hmm! * Stub

Happy Christmas from Thailand!

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you all had a great time this year. We missed you and thought of you all. Our build up to Christmas was very different. There were so many things that we missed - our family, our friends, the social gatherings and tree-decorating parties, the turkey and trimmings, and of course, the snow and the skiing. It was very odd lying on the beach in the baking sun hearing Doris Day on the breeze 'Walking in a winter wonderland'. However, somehow we rallied, and had a great time with the people we had met this week. Also, a friend of ours, Kevin, who we'd met about 2 months ago in Pingyao, China, coordinated with us to meet up with us for Xmas and it was great to catch up with him. We spent Christmas eve with the friendly staff from the little bar on the beach called Moonshine Bar. They are really a lot of fun and we ended up boogie-ing the night away at a local dance bar.

Christmas day at 3am we walked home on the beach and encountered some very cool phosphoresence at the edge of the water. There were also some locals launching huge paraffin gas lanterns into the air - we don't know why, but presumably for some celebratory reason. Xmas day itself was chilled and we hung out on a small secluded beach followed by meeting up with a crew of people for Xmas dinner. Unfortunately, it wasn't turkey, but it was probably the next best thing - pizza!! And very good pizza too! The melted cheese was fantastic - we don't get that very often here in Asia! * Mush

Life on Koh Lanta, Thailand

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Life, Koh Lanta-style is pretty easy! Hang out, walk on the beach, eat huge Thai-style prawns, scooter to the next beach, eat more prawns, explore the next town.... The weather has been good, though a little unpredictable. Apparently, before we got here it rained a lot, after that it was nice and sunny until we had one day of rain. Ever since though, it has been really nice and super-scorching hot. We have explored our beach called Long beach which is about 2 miles long, and it has great sand and clear water. It also has lots of different bamboo 'guesthouses' and more upmarket resorts, and restaurants and bars right on the sand itself which we have only marginally sampled! We did do a day trip of snorkelling which was fun and we visited some beautiful islands with powder-soft sand. We even swam into a cave in the dark which opened up into a hong - a secluded beach totally surrounded by high cliff walls with access only through a tunnel from the water (or if you're brave enough - rapelling down the cliffs!). It was a very cool adventure. * Mush

Our Bamboo Hut, Koh Lanta, Thailand

After saying goodbye to Paul, Martin and I headed on down to the southwest of Thailand to Koh Lanta - a beautiful island off the Andaman coast. We had a crazy journey though trying to get a coach from the coach station. One bus that stopped didn't have any seats and we got offered the luggage compartment under the coach!! For seven hours! Can you believe it?!! Well, we refused that kind offer and decided to wait for the next one which actually had two spare seats next to the driver. The rest of the journey by minivan and two ferries turned out to be trouble-free, but we were grateful to get to our guesthouse so that we could crash out all day in the hammock on the little deck of our bamboo hut.

Sanctuary, where we are staying is a really nice chill-out place and our bamboo hut is four spots in from the beach. Our ensuite, outdoor bathroom is lovely and totally private with lots of exotic plants and lillies everywhere! A tropical loo! The food is absolutely delicious and I can't get enough seafood! All very good reasons to stick around - a welcome break from the rigours (yes, it's tiring!) of traveling! *Mush

Kiteboarding Lessons, Chumphon, Thailand

So, I got quite excited at the chance to finally learn how to kiteboard. We lived near the Columbia Gorge in Oregon, one of the best places in the world to kiteboard, and never got to do any lessons. So, now in Thailand, and at a quarter of the price, we made a stop in Chumphon on our way south to the islands and beaches. Unfortunately, after the instructors waited out the rains to eventually get too much wind to teach, we only managed to get in a beginners session on the trainer kite as the winds were too powerful to actually fly a big kite and try to board. Next time when we pass through we hope to try again. We did manage to watch the experienced kiteboarders enjoying the strong winds as we sipped our beers in the beach front bar, so not all was bad! I am keen to learn though, and then take up kiteskiing in the winter! *Stub

Friends in Bangkok, Thailand

When you're on the road as long we are, it's nice to have that feeling of ease and familiarity. For us that place is Bangkok - we funnel through it so often. And seeing familiar faces in foreign places makes all the difference! This time we met up with my friend Mandy from Portland who was visiting her friends who live here. Not only that, but our friend Paul (who we met in China) coordinated his life in Thailand so that he would coincide with us too. We visited a few of the must-see temples along the river (here we're making fun of the big statues at Wat Arun). And then of course, no visit to Bangkok would be complete without a cocktail at the very posh rooftop Vertigo bar on the 62nd floor of the Banyan Tree Hotel. Very nice!

Later on in the week we caught up with other friends - our tailor-tout buddies Veejay and Aran, and then friends Nina and Scott, and Claire and Ralph and their new baby, Ella. All in all it was a really pleasant Bangkok stop! *Mush

Large Taxi, Mae Teang, Thailand

How amazing is this???? After trekking through the jungle, we spent the night at the elephant camp, only to wake up to these gentle giants taking a bath! We rode our elephant Buka for about an hour. Here I am relaxing in the seat, but it is so cool to ride on the head of the elephant - you can really feel the power and stability in the shoulders, although, as Michelle says, a bit of an inner thigh workout!! There was a shack up in the trees where you could purchase a bunch of bananas to feed them. So, while sitting on the head, a very curious trunk would point towards you, searching for food. We would place the bananas in the snout of the trunk and the happy elephant would continue on. They even let out a deafening trumpet for us - unbelieveably loud! We got to hang out for some time with them afterwards, feeding and touching the trunks. A very memorable experience!

After the ride, we were swept away downstream on a whitewater raft with no real instruction (typical Thailand). Then it was on a rickety bamboo raft that could barely hold our weight, so we tried to tip the thing and had a blast trying to unload our guide. Good times! *Stub

Trekking into the Jungle, Mae Teang, Northern Thailand.

Our next three days were a lot of fun as we headed on a trek into the jungle. This entailed at least 4 hours of walking on the first two days. The first day was a real slog uphill and we could definitely feel that we were out of shape from the little exercise that we get while on the road. On our first night we stayed in a fair-sized hilltribe village (about 150 people) that was perched high on a ridge overlooking lush green jungle. Our guide, Wee, made fabulous food for us, and we sat on our bamboo balcony and enjoyed songs and entertainment by the village kids. * Mush

Dumb and Dumber, Pai, Thailand

The next few days we hung out with Renate and company, and hired scooters to get around. Driving around on bikes is great because we see so much more... driving through rice paddies and up to waterfalls, passing through hill tribe villages and waving hello to everyone. One day we came across a couple of elephant homes where the elephants, although tied up, seemed really happy munching away on banana tree stems. Pai is a very cool chill-out place with not a huge amount to do, and when we weren't on our bikes, we would be hanging out in the town and in the evenings we would go to bamboo cafe bars on stilts with lovely views over the river and the valley. We wished we could stay longer, but we wanted to do a trek into the jungle and get back to Bangkok to meet a friend of mine for the 12th. But yes, Pai got the thumbs up from us. What a cool place! * Mush

Off to Pai, Thailand

So it was off to Pai after Chiang Mai - a little funky town further north, set in a large valley surrounded by hills and ridges piled high with tropical rainforest. One of Martin's friends had been here a few years before and he remembered the sunrise over the rice paddies in the valleys... and the cheese you could get at one particular restaurant in town! Well, as we told him... it's changed a lot since then - we could get cheese pretty much everywhere! (thankfully, the sunrise and rice paddies were still there too). We headed up with a girl we'd met at our guesthouse in Chiang Mai, Renate. The drive up was stunning - the scenery reminded me of the island of Kuaui in Hawaii. It was a 4 hour winding road through lush green forest with the occasional village or food stall sitting on the side of the road. Renate and her friends, Sam, Billy and Liron, made it a fun journey and we managed to sing and dance most of the way up there! Later on we found out it was Billy's Birthday so we celebrated on the porch of one of our huts. * Mush

Thai Massage, Chiang Mai, Thailand

On our last day all together, we fit in a few more shops and a massage before Pat and Jules headed back down south to fly back to Australia. Pat and I had a light Swedish Oil massage, while Jules and Martin had a Thai massage. We were enthralled as we watched the last 20 minutes of Martin's : it looked horrendously painful - the girl was walking on his back and his legs with her knees, and then pulling him into all sorts of contortions!! Martin said it was the best Thai massage he'd ever had. Crazy!

That evening we bid a sad farewell to my two shopping buddies, Jules and Pat. Martin and I thought we were in for a chill-out evening, but some people from our guesthouse dragged us out for refreshments. Nothing super special there I know, but I have to tell you about our amazing burger that we had at 3 in the morning... It was at a little stand-up diner called Mike's and apparently his motto is he's 'trying to convert vegetarians'... well I think he certainly could with these burgers.. It was the best one I'd had since Portland (didn't eat any in England). The succulent beef and the sauteed onions were absolutely delicious! Mmmm. Just talking about it now is making my mouth water all over again! It's funny what you miss when you are away from home for a long time. * Mush

Exploring Chiang Mai, Thailand

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The next few days we crammed in a lot, walking around town visiting more temples and hiring a driver to take us around the beautiful countryside of Chiang Mai. We visited Orchid and Butterfly farms, the Princess' Palace (a beautiful summer home), and The Queen's Botanical Gardens with amazing plants.

Also, and perhaps, more importantly, we were successful in getting to the night bazaar without getting distracted by other shops, and were able to concentrate on more shopping! Pat and Jules certainly can shop, and shopping with them was great for me, but perhaps not so much fun for Martin as he would be waiting around patiently for us. The night bazaar also had great food and we ate there a couple of times. One evening, we enjoyed some performances by fire eaters, and then some singing and dancing by cute little kids dressed like little Thai princesses, followed by a couple of routines by some lady-boys! Hilariously interesting! *Mush

Master Chefs, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Today was a wonderful day... we didn't stop eating! The reason being: we'd decided to do a thai cookery course and each time we finished a dish we would sit and eat it! The day started with a trip to the local produce market with our cute little wicker baskets (double click for photos), looking at all sorts of rice, noodles and veggies - some very different to what we have. So, we cooked about 10 dishes between the two of us, including green chicken curry and basil chicken (our two favourites), finishing off with yummy fried bananas. Mmmm...Heaven!! We didn't think we could eat anymore, but somehow we heroically made it through! The cooking school was a real treat because Martin and I both like to cook and haven't cooked in months! One other wonderful feature of the course was that after we'd finished, as if by magic all the dishes would disappear and we didn't have to even touch the washing up! Now that was wonderful: as some of you know, I detest doing dishes! * Mush

Hanging off the back of a Song-thaew, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Along with Jules and her mum, Pat, we headed out for some sightseeing of the old city. Chiang Mai is pretty cool - fairly big, but definitely doesn't feel like it. It's cosy in places and the old city is surrounded by crumbled walls and a moat. We checked out Wat Phra Singh - a Wat or temple close to where were are staying in the old town with some cool ruins and elephants built into the side of the central monument. We then got a Song-thaew - a covered pick-up truck- and Martin and I had fun hanging off the back of it. We went to see Doi Suthep - 306 steps up to another stunning Wat set in the hills overlooking town. We loved the gold covered monuments and took a ton of photos! Our day should have ended with a trip to Chiang Mai's famous night bazaar, but we never got there. We were too distracted by all the great stalls and shopping to be had beside the outdoor food court where we'd eaten many plates of tasty Thai cuisine!!! * Mush

Jules and Patricia at Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai, Thailand

We are now back in Thailand for two months. After a short stopover in Bangkok to see friends Nina and Scott, we headed up North to Chiang Mai by overnight coach. Not a super-great experience this time: the drivers were horrible, playing music all night and driving the bus really jerkily so as to keep us awake. Martin then developed a migraine that lasted well into the next day. To top it all off, we arrived to find that our bags, which had been in the luggage compartment of the bus, had been packed differently to how we'd left them - which meant that someone had rummaged through them! We have heard stories of valuables going missing on long bus journeys from travelers. Thankfully, nothing was missing as we never leave anything of value for them to take!

We were meant to be rendezvous-ing with Martin's Australian friend Jules (who he met on his last travels) and her mum, Pat who were on holiday themselves. After they were stranded in Koh Samui for 4 extra days due to heavy rains, they found us by chance playing catch-up madly typing away in an internet cafe. After a first class dinner and lack of sleep from our overnight journey, we collapsed on our extremely comfortable (not!), rock-hard bed ! *Mush

Jumbo Floating Restaurant, Aberdeen, Hong Kong

Hong Kong island is not only the financial heart of Hong Kong, but it has many beaches and fishing towns on its south side. We took a hair-raising local bus over the summit to the other side of the island and explored the street markets of Stanley. At Aberdeen we saw its famous floating Sampan villages and the impressive Jumbo floating restaurants composed of three very elaborate boats linked together - all with different styles of restaurants onboard.

Unfortunately, we didn't have time to stop and enjoy its stylish rooftop bar as we had decided to splash out and see the latest Cirque du Soleil which was in town - Quidam. It was, of course, very impressive, though the costumes weren't as elaborate as usual, but it was still a great preformance with some amaaazing acrobatics. They are SO strong. Even the clowns are super strong and their acts were very well done and extremely funny. *Mush

Back in Hong Kong on Cheung Chau Island

We really enjoyed our two months in China, but we were feeling like we needed a break and that it was time to leave. We will be coming back again in the New Year to do some more major tourist attractions in the south and southwest, and maybe Tibet and Nepal.

We made our way South by means of a 26 hr train to Guangzhuo (Canton), and then across the border into Hong Kong where we spent a couple of days before heading back to Bangkok. We decided on a day trip to Cheung Chau - one of the 250+ islands of Hong Kong. It was a great day and we loved the activity around the harbour - fisherman busy repairing nets, the harbourside cafes full of tourists enjoying the delicious local catch, and shops selling lots of dried anything! The chinese love dried food - anything from seafood to animal intestines, to herbs and veggies will do. We even saw tons of shrimp, squid and all sorts of fish drying in the baking sun beside the harbour wall.

After a busy day exploring (including a spot of retail therapy as I ended up buying my first Chinese hat! - double click the photo for more pics), we thought we deserved some well-earned refreshment and caught up with a new friend, Alison, who we'd met in China at the Longji rice terraces. It was our first time seeing the nightlife of Wan Chai and Lan Kwai Fong - two of the trendy areas of Hong Kong which, of course, we had to check out! * Mush

West Lake, Hangzhuo, Jiangsu Province, China

We spent a few of days in the lively resort of Hangzhuo (pronounced Hung jo). Hangzhou felt different to other places we'd been to in China. Whereas most of the major cities are big and fairly modern, Hangzhuo felt like an upmarket destination catering for wealthy chinese tourists. Although the city has about 6 million people, it didn't feel that large and had a 'cosy' atmosphere. Its top attraction is the huge, natural lake that it sits on. We rented bikes and cycled the 7 miles around it. It was very busy, but beautifully landscaped and we explored the cool Six Harmonies Pagoda with beautiful gardens and miniature models of other pagodas and stupas from all around China.

One day we walked near the Ferrari garage (for Martin) and encountered a water fountain show going on. It was really cool with lots of coloured lights focused on the fountains and all dancing to loud (of course!) music. We also discovered lots of classy and expensive restaurants way out of our league! It didn't take us long though, to discover a little cheapie with nice people... and great sizzling beef! Also, as we strolled around the markets we found some delicous street food with pork and sweet potato in really cute little bamboo steamers . *Mush

Zhouzhuang Main Canal, Jiangsu Province, China

Two hours west of Shanghai is the little 900-year old water town of Zhouzhuang (pronounced Jo Juang) - a mini Venice of China. It was a pleasant day exploring the small alleyways, cobbled streets, shops and residences of the rich merchants with stunning furniture and decor. We had a good lunch of traditional dumplings with a table overlooking the main canal. Then it was off on a short boat trip with some other tourists we had met on the bus to see a view of the interesting little town from a different perspective. Some of the boat guides would sing traditional songs as they rowed. The boat ride ended at one of the many museums, and from here we also visited some temples and gardens of the area. There were some great shops there, quite tourist-oriented, but we also managed to see some of the more genuine chinese way of living. A small note, we ended up spending an extra day in Shanghai, as we were supposed to do this trip the previous day, only to end up at the bus station missing a wallet as "someone, who will remain nameless" left it in the room and we had to go back for it, missing our bus!!! Luckily, time is something we are not short of!!! *Stub

Shanghai Urban Planning Museum, Shanghai, China

During our 4 days in Shanghai, we visited the Urban Planning Museum. A good, informative place with the highlight being this full scale model of the city almost taking up the entire floor - quite impressive. We also took a walk along the Bund, the famous embankment along the Huangpu River, which literally means muddy embankment. Here are all the really expensive hotels and restaurants. In addition to this, we spent about 3 hours up the Oriental Pearl Tower to watch sunset and the lights come on from 350 m (1100 ft) up in the air. Shanghai is very modern, with tons of skycrapers all flashing with lights!
A trip from new to old, or almost old as we went to the old town. Apparently, it has been renovated to look like the old town, with pointy roofs, and bridges over water and gardens. We waited in a long line for the city's best jiaozi (pronuonced 'jow za'), little meat dumplings dipped in vinegar, and they were worth the wait.
While I am talking about food, we feel like we are cheating a little when I say we gobbled up plenty of Western style food whilst in Shanghai. But, after so much Chinese style noodles and dumplings, a big, juicy hamburger is a welcome treat. It is just not that easy to find. I justify this by saying that, if I was back home, I wouldn't eat burgers and steaks every night!! *Stub

Shanghai, China

Another overnight sleeper, this time to the east coast metropolis of Shanghai. We met up with friends Paul and Tracy (Canadians we met in Yangshuo) who live nearby - 4 hours away! Shanghai feels very westernised and is a huge, very modern city with about 14 million people! Thanks to Paul, though, who knew the city well, we saw interesting and diverse parts of it. We walked around the old French Concession area, then visited the fake market with lots of brand-named goods, the antique market (my favourite), and the bird market with the unusual but very popular feature of 'cricket fighting' going on. Very strange! Next, we walked Fangbang street - full of character ... and characters cooking and doing their washing outside in the street - probably more pleasant than the interior of their homes. Then it was off for a rooftop drink at The Captain's Bar, with views over the Bund and the Huang Pu river to watch the impressive dancing lights on the Pearl Tower and the highrises of Pudong. The district of Pudong was built in 1990 on a mud bank where the high rises are effectively built on floating concrete! Kind of scarey! Finally, it was off for some mexican food at Zapatas - our first since we left Portland, and it was delicious! *Mush

Confucius Burial Mound, Qufu, Shandong, China

About an hour away by bus from the foot of Tai Shan is the birth and resting place of Confucius. The Confucius Temple was interesting as we discovered the place where Confucius himself professed his teachings and wisdom in the various courtyards filled with gnarly knotted pine trees. Other courtyards had a vast number of large upright slabs of stone (steles) with impressive ancient chinese texts engraved upon them. Then on to his family mansion where later generations became treated like royalty - The Kongs. Finally, we walked on to the Confucius Forest to visit his tomb - a 2000 year old burial mound amongst all his descendants (you can see the grass mound behind me in the picture). There are apparently over 200000 trees in the forest, all planted one each by his followers. Inspite of all the chinese tour groups it was surprisingly peaceful and we even managed an uninterrupted game of backgammon, while we waited for privacy at his resting place. *Mush

18 Bends, Tai Shan, Shandong Province, China

Mount Tai, or Tai Shan, is the most revered of the five sacred Taoist mountains of China, and we decided we would check it out. We parted from Joy and Earl, only to endure one of those really fun, energy-draining travel days on 5-6 buses taking about 14 hours from start to finish! Next day we climbed the mountain. The well made, well trodden path was 4-5 miles long with 4,700ft of ascent and with 6,660 steps all the way to the top! It must have taken an army to build them. Making it a little more pleasant though, was the fact that there weren't too many people climbing, apart from a few little old ladies skipping along beside us trying to sell us their wares - lucky trinkets and very useful statues of Confucius! The climb was surprisingly okay, and it wasn't until the very last steps that we were ready to be 'beamed up' to the top.

We explored the village at the summit a little. The working monastery on the top was quite different from ones we'd seen before: the monks had lots of hair in a bun on their head and a chopstick going through it! We found a classy place to stay overnight with minimal heating and no hotwater, so that we could get up and watch sunrise. Unfortunately, we shared the experience with the other hundreds of chinese tourists who took the early cable car! As much as we have really enjoyed the chinese people when we make a connection with them, they have a few habits that our culture would find hard to tolerate, namely, making as much noise as possible at all times, hacking and spitting, and throwing litter everywhere. As a result, sunrise wasn't very peaceful, or for that matter, very sacred! * Mush

Our special Bar, Pingyao, Shanxi Province, China

Because we felt we had left our little town of Pingyao in a hurry, we decided to go back, taking along our new friends Joy and Earl. We spent a great couple of days continuing to explore town, renting bikes up on the city wall and cycling the 4 mile perimeter enjoying great views looking down over the courtyards and rooftops. Later, we toured around stopping for stuffed steamed dumplings on the street, and to meet more of the local people. There were some familiar faces amongst them, including our firecracker guy who instantly recognised us. We were also warmly welcomed back to our favourite street bar (pictured here) just outside the city wall. From here we could sit back and admire some of the good-looking local characters (check out our photo album for some portraits!), and also have a laugh with all our friendly vendors, including my favourite one (who you can see sitting facing us almost hidden in the far background on the right hand side). I thought he was a real sweetie and I think I made his day when I bought something off his stall for about 20p (50cents)! * Mush

Tayuan Temple, Wutai Shan, Shanxi Province, China

As it happens when traveling, we did a spur of the moment trip up to Wutai Shan. As we were paying for our bill in Pingyao, we met a French family and friends who were renting a van and driver to take them up to Wutai Shan, one of the 5 sacred mountains in China. They invited us to join them, so we quickly packed and hopped in the van.
Marc, Celine and their daughter Juliette live in Beijing and had friends Sylvie and Fabien visiting. We enjoyed spending time with the whole group of them, and Mush made a good connection with little Juliette, posing for silly photos along the way. The journey was a bonus to us because we visited some interesting temples and wealthy Chinese family courtyards and mansions along the way. Arriving in cold Wutai Shan at night, we had some trouble finding a decent hotel, but it all worked out in the end - at a price.
The little town of Taihuai was nothing special except for the infinite amount of temples and monasteries. The most noteworthy was the Tayuan Si which was home to this huge, white stupa - basically the symbol of the area. Loads of monks chanting in the temples, and just walking around town, made for an interesting feel for the area. We toured many of the temples, interacted as we could with the locals, and met some new Canadian friends Earl and Joy from Fenlon Falls. We would spend about 5 days with them, with plenty of laughs, traveling back to Pingyao in the process. *Stub

Fire Crackers, Pingyao, Shanxi Province, China

A 10 hour train ride from Beijing, landed us in Pingyao at 5:30 AM. It was cold, the coldest we have had on the trip so far. From the train station, we took a motorcycle taxi through the city wall and into the old city. Pingyao has a complete old city wall dating from the Ming or Qing or Something Dynasty, and it is all intact. It measures just over 6 km around. We met a Canadian guy named Kevin (pictured on steps), and the 3 of us rented some classy bikes to tour around the town. My bike was named "Forever" and had a leopard skin seat (Flickr for pics)!
First stop on the ride, the local school. We were mobbed by the kids and I think we disrupted the classes a little. After a couple more km's on the sweet rides, we found these old guys. They keenly spotted the fire crackers in Kevin's basket and their faces gleamed with delight. We let them at it, and this is the result. A couple of kids they turned out to be. It was so hilarious, we bought more and found the same guys later on in the day. They blew them up on the main street, only to have a shopkeeper come out and give us grief, wanting us to clean up the mess. I guess we did start it though!
The rest of the day we spent in the small alleys, just interacting with all the people we saw. It brings them great joy it seems to have us just say "hello" to them. There were some fantastic characters, and the children were a delight to play with. An excellent experience in Pingyao. *Stub

Peking Man Site, Near Beijing, China

As some of you know, I find the origin of the human species very fascinating, so we had to take a trip to the site of where one of the first fossilised human skulls was excavated in the early 1920's. 'Peking Man' as these humans became known as, are our ancestors (can you see the resemblance?). They lived 500,000 years ago and were identified as being well advanced and able to use primitive tools. It was cool to see the site and visit the small, informative museum.

On our last day in Beijing we squeezed in a trip to the Summer Palace - a retreat for all the Emperors and their Emperesses. More colourfully painted Ming architecture with curly-roofed temples and bobble-topped pagodas. Unfortunately, as with many sites in Beijing, a few of the buildings were covered in scaffolding being renovated in time for the 2008 Olympics, but this didn't take away from the beauty and grandeur of the place and it was worth the visit. * Mush

Forbidden City, Beijing, China

We had an early start to watch the Raising of the Flag Ceremony at sunrise in Tiananmen Square. We were a little disappointed as it was rather brief and consisted of soldiers marching around for about 2 minutes followed by the raising of the flag to the National Anthem, and that was it! It certainly was not worth getting up at 5.30 am - especially to be pushed out of the way by 'cute' little old Chinese ladies (tourists) trying to get a better look!

The advantage of getting up early, though, was that we were nice and early for our visit to The Imperial Palace, also known as The Forbidden City. No trip to Beijing would be complete without it. It was called The Forbidden City because it was off-limits to the common people, and was where the last 400 years of Emperors lived isolated from the outside world surrounded by their Eunichs and Concubines.

The architecture of the buildings was amazing most being renovated during the Ming dynasty (mostly due to fire). Our tour was fun and we rented out an Audio Guide and had the handsome voice of Roger Moore accompanying us as we explored the Palace. The Forbidden City is huge and so we took a break and I managed to slip in a quick nap jammed in amongst the other tourists on a courtyard bench (double click for the pic in our album). * Mush

Chinese Acrobatics, Beijing, China

Back in Beijing we went to see some amazing Chinese acrobatics. What strong athletes! Even little boys doing balancing tricks on each other. There was everything from hoop somersaults (pictured here), to girls balancing spinning umbrellas on their feet, to contortionists balancing stacks of glasses on each limb and heads. Impressive acts of guys free-climbing, jumping and somersaulting up large bamboo poles, juggling acts involving 9 guys etc, etc, etc. It was very cool. The audience were also allowed to take pictures and the flash photography did not seem to affect the acrobats at all. Wow!* Mush

Sunrise Sliver Over The Great Wall, Jinshanling, China

Wow! What a moment in time: sunrise over the Great Wall of China. It was a very moving moment - one that we just wanted to press the pause button so we could breathe it all in! It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and we couldn't get enough of it. We reluctantly met up with Sun Hai back at our tower for our breakfast of pot noodles and tea.

We spent the rest of the day walking along the Wall to Simatai, about 6 miles east. We bid farewell to Sun Hai and the other two girls who spent the night on another tower and took our time walking from tower to tower on the Wall. Some areas had deteriorated so much that you can no longer walk on the Wall. Other parts were particularly steep - 70 degree steps at times!!! We stopped multiple times for photos and picked a great place for lunch with a view. In all, one of the most memorable parts of our trip so far and highly recommended by us. The only drawback was being followed and hassled by many vendors who walk the wall wanting to sell you books, drinks, post cards, etc. *Mush and Stub

The Great Wall of China, Jinshanling, China

The next part of our trip I had been looking forward to for a VERY long time! One of the Ancient Wonders of the World, there are no words that can describe The Great Wall of China. It is truly and absolutely AMAAZZZING! And we had a fantastic experience. When friends Tracy and Paul and family left us to head back to Beijing, Martin and I had The Wall to ourselves. It was very humbling - just us and The Wall. We were going to spend the night right on the wall itself. Our guide, Sun Hai Long, was a funny, kind and gracious host with a really sweet wife and family who we took to immediately. After spending sunset on the wall, we had a feast of food back at his home. We then trooped up to the Wall with a couple of other travellers and organised our sleeping quarters on a couple of the watchtowers. Martin and I decided to sleep outside (you can see our watchtower hotel behind me in the picture). I think Sun Hai thought we were mad (he may have a point!) as it was rather cold! Before Sun Hai left us we watched the stars come up, and later could see the Milky Way. Then when we thought it couldn't get any better, the moon rose and changed the whole picture - making the Wall nearest to us glow, and in the distance, it became a wonderful silhouette. When we finally tucked into our sleeping bags (three each) it was around 1 am. We awoke once before the sun rose and the air temperauture was surprisingly warm and we stood in awe at the view around us. We had to remind ourselves that we were, indeed, on the The Great Wall of China. It was amazing! * Mush

Street Meat, Beijing, China

Once in Beijing we met up with some friends that we'd made in Yangshuo (Paul and Tracy from Vancouver now living in Nantong) and explored the city a little. Beijing is a huge city with large boulevards and shopping streets. 13 million people live here - it is hard to imagine that many people in one city! The infamous Tian'anmen Square is the largest city square in the world and was designed by Mao, the chairman of the People's Republc of China party, to hold a million people. His portrait presides over the north side of the square. Pretty impressive, although it is hard to wonder why he is so revered, as I have heard him talked about in the same light as Hitler or Stalin.

Our next few days took in the Hutongs - the backstreet alleyways and residential courtyards - by bicycle rickshaw, a couple of temples, and the night markets and street food. In China, any kind of food goes, and they will eat almost anything. Pictured here are starfish, sea horses, large grasshoppers, silk worms and scorpions. The latter still wriggling around on the skewers. Urgh!Sorry. But you wouldn't catch me even touching any of that selection, but the Chinese gobble them all up! * Mush

Tian'anmen Square, Beijing, China

A 28 hour train ride on what is known as a 'hard sleeper' got us to Beijing. A remarkably fun experience on the whole as we had heard it can be horrendous. Each bay of the compartment contains 6 bunk beds, 3 on each side. It was was not a bad journey and the time passed surprisingly quickly, sleeping, playing backgammon (Shesh Besh in Hebrew), writing postcards, and hanging out with our neighbours from Israel, Paz and Yifat. I brought out my Mah Jong set that I had bought in Yangshuo and proceeded to decipher the instructions. Suddenly, a bunch of little old ladies came out of the woodwork and promptly started to play with me. I think they would have prefered to push me out the way, but they were nice and tried to teach me how to say all the Numbers and Winds written on the tiles in Chinese, and then showed me how to play a game. It was very funny. Once in Beijing, we stayed in a little hutong (back alley) in Qianmen, very near to Tian'anmen Square. * Mush

Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces, Longji Region, China

We stayed in the area for a couple of days and had a great time. Our rustic corner bedroom at our guesthouse had first-class views across the valley and down into the village of Dazhai. One of the things we have enjoyed the most in China has been the people, and we hit it off with the locals at our Countryside Guesthouse making our time here even more special. Communication was interesting with their broken English and our very little pigeon Chinese. We found that actions and laughing go a long way, even managing to have a hilarious talk about 'making babies'! One of the women, Missa Pan, guided us on a long walk along the 'backbone' to the next village, Ping' an, since the maze of paths that link all the terraces make it tricky to navigate a walk without getting lost. Our four hour walk up and down the rice terraces was hard work, but worth it. With every step the scenery seemed to just get better and better! * Mush

Yao Long Hairs, Longji Rice Terrace Region, Guangxi Province, China

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About four hours north of Yangshuo we visited a very cool area still in Guangxi province called the Longji Region - the Dragon's Backbone - famous for its hillsides covered in rice terraces. These were built between 700 and 800 years ago during the Yuan (1271-1368) and Ming (1368-1644) Dynasties. The local people here are what are known as minority people - ancient cultures of Dong, Zhuang, Yao and Miao people still in existence today. The women of one of these cultures - the Yao people - are renowned for their long hair. They cut their hair about three times in their lifetime. As part of our initial introduction to the area they unravelled their hair to reveal its full length - on average about 5 foot. As they did so they broke into song - a ritual when welcoming new people to the area. But what caught us by surprise, was the fact that not only do they actually keep the previous cut-offs of their hair (the middle lady is holding one), but they keep them ravelled up on the top of their head! That's a lot of hair! * Mush

Pagoda Sunset, Xilang Hill, Yangshuo, China

Our last few days in Yangshou have been mainly relaxed enjoying town and the countryside. One day we did another (long) bike ride and another day we took a scooter out for the day. We rode through more rice paddies and farming villages. We noticed that there was more activity in the fields this week with lots of people harvesting the rice. As we would pass by, most people would tend to say or wave hello, but reactions to us have been varied: some say hello first and are very happy to see us, some, when we smile and say 'Ni Hao" just give us a nod, and then others who look quite miserable or serious, surprise us and beam right back and make it all worth our while!

In town we have gradually got to know people - natives and travellers alike. All the staff at our "Bamboo Guesthouse" have been lovely and nothing is too much trouble! We have our regular haunts too, for food and beer. Monkey Jane's rooftop bar has been one - especially for sunset with the sun going down behind the Pagoda perched on the local hill. Monkey Jane herself has given us some Chinese lessons too, with some useful survival phrases for when we get off the beaten path. Phrases like "can I have my egg yolk runny please?"!

So as you've guessed we are really enjoying Yangshou town and we will be sorry to leave, but I think we will be back again soon! * Mush

Life in Yangshuo, China

The markets in town are interesting as well as scary just because of the produce they sell! The farmers' market has everything - from dried spices and dried snake to fresh fruits and livestock - meaning anything from hens to dogs, including the carcasses and cuts of meat on display which can be quite a shock! Sometimes at night we go for food at the Night Market (as it is curiously called). It is basically an open-air market with different stalls cooking up things like rat, chicken feet etc. They even provide teeny little chairs and tables to sit at while you eat! We tried beer fish, stuffed snails and stuffed aubergine (eggplant) - all very delicious (and only stuffed with pork and not other things! - so they said!).

There are these children, that we have heard are orphans, that circle the streets and markets trying to sell flowers. One of our friends reckons there is someone called the 'Flower Master' who the kids answer to. Apparently they get fed and have somewhere to sleep every night, but no one really questions who is taking care of them and making all this 'slave-money'. They also have a quota to meet, which is why they can be seen selling from early morning to very late hours of the night.

One recent event in town has been a big blow dealt by the local government toward the local shopowners along the main street, West Street. Apparently, they want the pavement (sidewalk) to be free of restaurant tables and mechandise stalls, and also for locals to change the canopies and roofing fixtures to the council's spec (yet again!). West Street is actually pedestrianised and so it really doesn't make any difference. It's just the council's way of getting more money out of them and controlling them. On talking to the locals we know they are upset, but the typical Chinese way is to not to show their anger, and to conform and don't ask questions. This brings me onto the 'freedom of information' that China has, and how exposure to any kind of information that would allow them to formulate an opinion about things is not allowed. So much is screened and blocked on the internet, and even we cannot access our website in the way that you, our audience, does. Even though we can't view it, friends that we have met are really suprised that we can even access our site just to update it! * Mush

Mountain Biking through Local Village, Guangxi, China

Mush and I met up with a Canadian couple (Tracy and Paul) that live near Shanghai. Tracy had to get back to work, after a battle with food poisoning and a 38 hour bus, train, bus, taxi ride she was home. Paul decided to stay and enjoy the scenery of Yangshuo, so we decided to get out on a mountain bike and see the country side more. Now, I found out that Paul has actually competed in 5 Ironman Triathlons! Needless to say, I was a little worried about keeping up. A hot day, a very out of shape body, and I was exhausted. He took it easy on me, but I really struggled a lot of the way. 45 km through the hills and villages, with some amazing views from above the valleys. All the locals were really friendly, coming out to say hello, and excited when you reply! Through terraced fields of all different colours and all the while, the limestone pinnacles behind. Made for a pretty amazing ride, but I really enjoyed the final 10 km as most of it was downhill, heading into the sunset with the silhouetted hills around. Of course, I crashed hard when I got home! *Stub

Silhouette of Water Buffalo, Li River, Guangxi, China

An early morning rise of 6AM saw us on a local bus up to Xingping. Hop on a little boat and we were off on a sunrise tour of the Li River. First stop, the view that is pictured on the 20 Remnimbi note (Chinese currency). See pics of this in our photo page. As we puttered up river, the scenery was again, spectacular. As the sun rose over the pinnacles, and light dawned upon the river, the people were out fishing, doing laundry and walking their water buffalo. Some of the beasts were swimming in the river or just lounging around. Of course, the peaks were all named things like Nine Horse Fresco Hill, or Lion Looking Over Nine Horse Fresco Hill!
On the boat were 5 other Chinese people. Two were younger girls named Daisy and Joan (their English names), and I think they must have taken 200 pictures of each other in various poses on the boat. They even had to borrow our camera with their card, as their battery ran out. It was funny to watch, but they were really friendly and walked back to the bus station with us, buying us some street meat - little fish, shrimp or crabs on a skewer, deep fried to perfection!
Back by noon and we felt like we had a full day already. A relaxing afternoon, then we headed out that evening for dinner, then to Monkey Jane's Rooftop Bar and party it up with friends until 4:30 AM. *Stub

Hot Air Ballooning, Yangshuo, Guangxi Province, China

During our bamboo raft down the Yulong, we had seen a hot air balloon high in the sky at sunset, and had thought what a cool thing to do - especially in such a beautiful place as Yangshuo. So after a couple of days we decided to splash out and venture high into the skies. It was fantastic yet scary all at the same time. I had to force myself not to think of the various things that could go wrong (rules and regulations for most things in China leave a lot to be desired and are far from those in the western world). There was not a lot of room to manoevre around in the little basket: there was myself, Martin, our pilot, Sammy, and in the corners, four massive bottles of gas. Yangshuo's scenery is amazing at ground level, but it is even more stunning from the air. Beautiful greens and yellow of rice paddies in harvest, the rivers weaving their way through the terrain, and the towering pinnacles reaching out of the ground to nip at our ankles! All just made for a surreal experience.

The gas burners controlled by the pilot would rudely interrupt the peace and quiet, and make me jump. As we got to 1000m (3000ft) it was a little hazy and visibility wasn't as good. Apart from the scenery, for me the best bit was actually coming into land. We made several attempts at landing, but drifted off course, but we didn't mind - this prolonged our one hour's flying time! When we missed a landing, the waiting ground crew would have to hop back in the truck to the new location that the pilot would radio in. It was all quite exciting and as we got lower and lower we could see the villages and people working in their fields, and wave to the children who, of course, would get very excited at the prospect of a hot air balloon about to land in their back yard. So as we tried to avoid the bamboo treetops, orchards of tangerines and rice paddies, the kids would chase us clambering over sometimes rough terrain, screaming and yelling. When we finally landed we were greeted by about ten kids all beside themselves with excitement not only about the balloon, but that we were foreigners ...with cameras. And digital ones at that so that they could see how they looked on camera! The whole experience was brilliant and it was well worth it. * Mush

"Hello. Bamboo?", Yangshuo, Guangxi Province, China

Throughout our travels there have been various, different noises and sounds that have stood out in our memories: the obnoxious warning noises before doors close on the metros and trams of Europe; the bellowing snorts from the frogs, and funky kazoo-like noises from the geckos in Koh Samet, Thailand; the high pitched clicking noises of the pedestrian crossings in Hong Kong; and "Taxi! You want taxi?" and "Tuk Tuk! You want Tuk Tuk? Where you go?" shouts from the drivers in Bangkok. Well, China has its noises too and believe me, it has a lot, and loud! From the high decibels while speaking to one another whether in the same room or on the phone, to the hacking-type spitting in public, to the roads filled with horns constantly beeping:- in our little town even the scooters and bikes beep before they overtake each other.

Well, today we had a new sound... "Hello. Bamboo?" . This came from absolutely everyone we passed in the local river villages- from kids to grannies. We took a beautiful bike ride along the local Yulong River where we passed little farming villages and rice paddies with the stunning backdrop of limestone pinnacles that this area is famous for. What "Hello. Bamboo" really means is: "Do you want to take a bamboo raft down the river?". And after about 20 miles of riding along lumpy, bumpy dirt tracks in the unrelenting sun, I was ready for a 'Hello. Bamboo'! So we did, bikes and all!

Bamboo rafting down the river was wonderful, and we could sit back, relax and admire the view. It was so serene and peaceful (at least, no one could ask 'Hello. Bamboo?' now!). Our 'driver' Man Chu Foo, punted us down the Yulong for 3 hours in the lazy late afternoon sun. Every once in a while we would have to cross over weirs and would have to heave the bamboo raft over the ledge until it see-sawed down to the water on the otherside, and then we would hop back on just in time before the raft slid into the water. We arrived at our pull-out with the glow of the setting sun gone, and only the light of a slither of moon and a big fat juicy star. What a great day! Even though I was worn out from the ride and the heat, it had been good to get up close to see Chinese rural life, and what a great way to end the day on the water! *Mush

Martin's Birthday Sunset, Yangshuo, Guangxi Province, China

Sunset from Xilang Hill
Originally uploaded by Martin Callum.

Our next destination was Yangshuo in Guangxi province, and as we got on the ramshackled bus we were greeted by two layers of narrow chrome bunkbeds in three neat rows down the length of the bus. The sleeper bus was obviously not a tourist bus and was quite an experience! And so much for being a 'sleeper bus' - I didn't sleep a wink! It rattled and jolted and the horn beeped for 13 hours landing us in Yangshuo at 2.30 in the morning. We had not anticipated this, but thankfully finding a bed wasn't too painful as there were touts waiting for us even at that time in the morning. Martin had wanted to be in this area for his Birthday and you can see why from the pictures - beautiful karst rock formations and limestone pinnacles everywhere we looked. We spent the afternoon walking up one of the steep hills just in time for sunset. Afterwards it was off for some delicious food to celebrate his Birthday.

On our second evening in Yangshuo we watched the local cormorant fishing, where the fisherman use their cormorants to dive for fish. The birds are not able to swallow the fish as their throats are tied which means the fisherman can shake the fish free. It's a pretty ingenius way to fish and the birds seemed well looked after. *Mush

San Bu, Guangdong Province, China

We left Hong Kong by boat and headed to see Frank, a friend we had made in Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic, back in July. Frank had only just recently got back from finishing his Masters in Edinburgh and so it was great timing. He and his family made us feel so welcome and nothing was too much trouble. It was great because we were able to appreciate first hand the Chinese family way of life, and homemade chinese food. And yes, dog did get served at table (they are farmed for food like pigs here), but I couldn't try it. We had a great day out with some of Frank's family. Frank's Uncle was the man with the connections and he got us in to a couple of (Chinese) tourist areas famous for Diaolou architecture: castle-like-towers that are a mixture of southern chinese and 19-century western european architecture. There were no western tourists here or where Frank lives, so people were definitely staring at us, but we in turn were able to see what a Chinese city was like without the tourists! It was great. *Mush

National Day Fireworks, Hong Kong, China

National Day Fireworks, Hong Kong
Originally uploaded by Martin Callum.

We went our separate ways on the Friday morning, me to the library (to use the internet, not read), and Michelle to her Feng Shui course. When she returned, she explained to me what she had learned. Of course I got a little lost when she started talking about 'nine flying stars' and how they are in different positions in the home giving your home positive or negative energy. Apparently, these stars move around every year and the five elements (earth, fire, water, wood, metal) are used to enhance or downplay the energy of the flying stars. All makes sense to me!?????

Back to hard facts. In this photo, you can just see the Expo Centre under the tallest building. It is an impressive sight, with a curved roof and 7-storey glass window on the front. Apparently this was the place where the ceremony was held to hand Hong Kong back to the Chinese in 1997. We tried to sneak around the building for the view, but unfortunately, it was all closed off.
As we were lucky enough to be in town for National Day, I decided I wanted front row seats for the fireworks spectacle to test out my new camera. So we waited many hours at the fence and the result was some good views. They let off tons of fireworks over the city for 25 minutes. All set to music and it was quite the show. Then the masses poured out into the streets to return home creating a mass of moving people along the closed off roads. They figure about 400,000 people were at the waterfront for the show. *Stub

Hing Fat Restaurant, Hong Kong

Hing Fat Restaurant
Originally uploaded by Martin Callum.

As we do like our food, of course we found a favourite restaurant in Hong Kong. They made a scrumptious sweet and sour seafood dish at this crazy restaurant called Hing Fat. When you walk in, the guy calls over a microphone and points you to a table. The guy would direct us in English so, of course, the whole room would look around and stare at us! It is absolutely packed at lunch time and you have to weave through the masses to find your spot. We returned here multiple times. Of course no good restaurant is complete without cooked chickens and ducks hanging in the front windows!! * Stub

Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong, China

Duk Ling Sails
Originally uploaded by Martin Callum.

We had an opportunity to sail around Victoria Harbour on an old Chinese Junk. I don't know why they are called 'junks' - seemed pretty solid to me, although it's not quite the Melges 24 that I'm used to racing on! But I didn't have to hoist any sails and we could sit back and relax and enjoy the impressive view - literally sky scrapers as far as the eye could see even as we toured further up the harbour. What a great way to see more of Hong Kong! *Mush

Double Decker Streetcars, Hong Kong, China

Double Decker Streetcars
Originally uploaded by Martin Callum.

The business area of Hong Kong island is just a mecca of shops, but it is well designed and caters to the pedestrian with its elevated walkways and connecting bridges which also allows the traffic to flow unimpeded. Public transport is also great and we took several trips to the crazy markets streets of North Point and Shau Kei Wan on the cool double decker trams which only cost 12p or 25cents every time!. Unfortunately we didn't manage to get round to the south of the island to chill out on the beaches. Maybe next time on our way back through. * Mush

Hong Kong Lights, China

Hong Kong Lights from Above
Originally uploaded by Martin Callum.

Hong Kong is a crazy place - always busy with lots of noise, and lots of shopping malls! We noticed that all people seem to do here is shop, and shop a lot! So we decided to do likewise and explored the street markets of Graham street and Li Yuen East and West in the business district of Hong Kong. As most of you know I love oriental artefacts and antiques so Hollywood Road in Soho was my favourite! But I was only allowed to window shop doing some pricing up ready to compare to mainland China. On our travels we decided to shop around for a digital SLR camera for Martin's birthday. Martin and I laugh about this, but .. it is assumed by many that Martin has been taking all the pictures on our website, and he has gladly enjoyed taking that credit. However, the time has come to reveal the truth... initially, he didn't take very many at all with my old camera, then once we got the new digital in Europe, he took a few more with that. Mostly, up until now he has been using his trusty old 35mm film Canon Rebel SLR to take pictures. But, don't worry, from now on you'll be able to enjoy more of his pictures coming from a Canon EOS 350D SLR. Hope you enjoy them all!

One afternoon we caught the Peak Tram to Victoria Peak which is up above the business district on Hong Kong island. We walked around the lush, jungle summit and hung out, and once the evening city lights came on Martin got to work: this is one of his first shots with his new toy! *Mush

Bank Of China Tower, Hong Kong, China

Bank Of China Tower
Originally uploaded by Martin Callum.

We have been touring a little more of Hong Kong. Starting with the worlds longest escalator, which runs 800m (half a mile) up from Central Market into the mid-levels of the Hong Kong business district. An interesting ride through some local streets. The heavy rains made for some great views of the side streets. All with their brightly lit signs hanging above their shops.

From here, we passed through the zoo and aviary tucked away in the hillside. A small zoo with some interesting creatures like the Chinese Porcupine, Orangutans, and Jaguars to name a few. Also, some exceptionally colourful birds including Red Ibis, American Flamingo, and Crowned Cranes. We continued our walk into town as the city lights came on. This is our favourite tower, the Bank of China building. As you can see, the lights make a beautiful effect against the sky. *Stub

Hong Kong, China

Asia
Originally uploaded by Martin Callum.

Hong Kong is actually attached to mainland China and its 1092 sq km are divided into four areas - Kowloon, Hong Kong island, the New Territories and the Outlying islands (243 of them!).
So for those of you like myself who have a poor knowledge of the history of Hong Kong, here's the lowdown:
After over 150 years of being a British colony, Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997 (this bit I did know), but Hong Kong remains an independent economy and will do so for the next 50 years. European trading with China stretches back more than 400 years, but European demand for silk and chinese tea grew in the 18th century. China, being quite self-sufficient, was not really interested, that was, until the British (apparently with their inexhaustible Bengal poppy supply) started running opium into the country. Although China had long known opium, addiction spread like crazy. After having enough of this trade, the Chinese government decided to stamp it out, provoking the British, and two 'Opium Wars' ensued: one in 1841 and another in 1860 (the latter included the French). The British gained Hong Kong island and Kowloon. Finally in 1898 a 99-year lease was granted to the Brits for the New Territories.

Understandably, even though Hong Kong seems quite western, there is fierce pride that the people are no longer under British rule and 90% of the population are ethnic Chinese. The few westerners we have seen have mainly been tourists. * Mush