China Tour 2013

Trip back to mainland China was pretty easy, we boarded the bus in Wanchai which brought us to the border, walked via the immigration and looking for our bus on Shenzhen side. A bit tricky, but with the stickers they had given to us a guy found us, put us into a buick bus with another Chinese guy and 45 minutes later we arrived at Shenzhen airport.
Flight was more or less on time and when we arrived in Guilin our pick up was already waiting there to drive us the 1.5 hours to Yangshuo where we arrived shortly before midnight.
The hotel is outside of town on the opposite side of the Li river, a 20 minutes walk and a short ferry crossing and than you are almost in famous West street.
Very nice landscape here, the carst mountains and green hills can be seen from our hotel room, amazing.





The first day we rented some bikes and drove through the rice fields direction to Long bridge





and only after short time out in the countryside Markus bike had a flat tire.



Would have been a problem in Europpe, but not in China, as just 100 m further a small bike repair shop offered his service and fixed Markus bike for a few RMB



during we had a cold beer (really hot and humid here!).
After arriving at Long bridge




a thunderstorm came up so we waited until the shower became less and started a bargaining battle with the locals to take a bamboo raft back towards Yangshuo. We finally agreed to 180 RMB for the 2 hours ride, incl. 2 cold beers and so we started.



Its a nice and relaxing tour, great views while floating downstream.






We reached the destination, grabbed our bikes to drive back to Yangshuo when another thunderstorm came up and hit us badly: Soaked with water and dirt (bikes had for sure no protection around the tires) we returned the bikes and took a taxi back to hotel to shower and change some clothes. Evening was quite easy, had dinner and enjoyed the view of Yangshuo nightlife.

The next morning we were wandering around in town and decided to go for a kayaking tour on the Li river, luckily at a part where the big boats dont go and so also here it was a quiet and beautiful ride, just us two with these little kayaks.







But again: Thunderstorm,



so at the destination we were completely wet and had to go back to hotel first.
For dinner we decided to go for a Western selection in a small bar/restaurant with an Austrian owner and as the gin tonics had been too good and we had some good company with the owner and a New Zealand guy we stayed until 2 am to celebrate our last night before returning to Shanghai.
Next morning started a bit with a hangover, but not a problem as it anyhow was raining outside and not really much to do before catching the taxi in the afternoon to head for Guilin airport for our flight back home (at least for me).
In general Yangshuo had changed a lot since I had been here 2006 with Wolfgang and Armin, much more tourists, more noisy, but its still ok (just bargaining more than usual in China).

The next morning we enjoyed another breakfast in N'kitchen and headed for Lijiang airport.
Maggie had the same flight with us to Kunming, there she changed to another plane back to Shanghai (see you in a week!) and Markus and me went on for Hong Kong.
We arrived in the late afternoon, we had booked a hotel on Hong Kong Island and the location was pretty good: a bit up the hill but easy and cheap to reach by taxi either from Central or Wan Chai (name is "2 Mac Donnell"). We walked down from here to Wyndham road, one of the bar areas in Hong Kong and met my very good friends Ian and Gisi, an Australian couple which I know since many years from Shanghai and Beijing. We had some drinks and a good Italian dinner together, was really great to meet them here. Afterwards Markus and me had some beer in Lan Kwai Fong, party area just down from Wyndham road,



before getting prepared for the Champions League final between Bayern Muenchen and Borussia Dortmund. Game just started at 2.45 am local time,



but in Wanchai area the bars still have been packed with people. The day ended with a glorious victory of Bayern and happy and tired we went to bed around 5.30.

The next morning we made a slowly start, after getting up we took the bus to Stanley on the south side of Hong Kong island. I love this place and usually come here when I am staying in Hong Kong. There we met Christine with her husband Florian and the two girls, another old friend still from high school time in Garmisch. She is living in Hong Kong since a couple of years and usually we meet when I am around. We enjoyed the sea view with some beers



and afterwards took the bus to North Point with a short look to the specialities of the seafood market



and changed to the old tram railway which is running through Hong Kong Island.



We met Christine again for a typical Dim Sum dinner and afterwards took the star ferry to cross the harbor to Kowloon. Here they have currently the worlds biggest rubber duck (5 stories high!), a big photo shooting happening.



Also the view of the skyline of Hong Kong Island from here is really breathtaking, even if the weather was not too good.






We checked out temple street night market,



but honestly not really anything interesting there, the usual touri stuff. We took subway back to Hong Kong island and reached the hotel shortly before midnight to have a good sleep on our shared queen size bed.

Monday morning we woke up again in misty weather but at least no rain. Decided to go for a visit of famous IFC mall, one of the big and usual shopping malls in Hong Kong. As both of us are no shopping maniacs we kept the visit short and boarded a bus up to the peak. As further the bus drove up as less we could see and when we finally arrived, even the observation building was hardly to see in this misty fog.



Made a small walk and took the old cable car (now running since 125 years) down to Garden road, grabbed a quick lunch and already it was time to get our luggage from the hotel and take the bus which brought us from Wan Chai over the border to Shenzhen airport. From here we take our last flight to Guiling, Yangshuo and the rice terraces before our trip comes to an end and we will have to fly back to Shanghai.

The next morning leaving the hotel at 7 am for the bus to Qiaotou, which is the starting point for the 2 day hike of the upper way through the Tiger Leaping Gorge.
The bus ride was 2.5 hours so we (Maggie, Francesco, Markus and me) arrived around 10 am and started the hike. Weather was cloudy and misty again, but at least not too hot. The Jiang river runs through this gorge, on one side you have the trail which starts in 1800 m above sea level on one side of the gorge. In the beginning it winds up slowly and not too steep, a nice mountain walk. On the other side of the river the snowy mountains rise up to more than 5000 m, a breathtaking view (this time we could not see too much due to clouds, but I made the tour already once in 2006). After 2 hours we made a small lunch break in one of the little guest houses along the trail,



to get prepared for the more steep way up the so called 28 bends to the highest point of the trail in 2600 m altitude.



Doesnt sound too high, but the 28 bends a rocky, steep and sweaty. We made it



and afterwards the path is slowly going down and around 3 pm we arrived at another guest house and as it seemed cosy and rain clouds were getting more dark we decided to stay here. Rooms were ok, Francesco negotiated the beer price down from 10 RMB to 8 per bottle and eventually we meet some other travelers from USA, Canada and Israel and together we had a good evening at this mountain place.



The next morning we found the weather like the day before, but at least no rain. From here we continued hiking down for another 2.5 hours,





until we reached the road which leads back to Qiaotou at so called Tina's guesthouse. From here you can descend to the bottom of the gorge and reach the river, so after a short break we decided to do so. Honestly, for me and Markus not such a good idea: The trail goes down extremely steep, partly climb down (and later up) some ladders,



in total about 400 m down on a very rocky trail. We reached the bottom of the gorge, the wild water was amazing and the sound, whooa!



The way down already brought us to the limit of our physical fitness, but we still needed to go back up, as our bus back to Lijiang was scheduled for 15.30.



Gasping for air we climbed up, tempted to use a horse for the last third part back to the street, but finally we both have been to proud (main reason was I think, that this lady of the horse said we have to pay extra with a clear look on our bellies...) and walked all the way up back to Tina's guesthouse. Arrived there extremely exhausted, just waiting for the bus back to Lijiang.
In the evening we had a real nice dinner with Francesco:
He had convinced the owner of the hostel where he stayed to leave his kitchen to him



and he prepared 2 very nice pasta dishes for us: Penne with a mango/bell pepper sauce and another one with tomato, chilli and mint leaves, fantastico Francesco, thanks a lot for this nice dinner!

The next morning we were lucky as we could afford to sleep until 9 am, great feeling!
Enjoyed the (also western style) breakfast in the hotel with real cappucino and left to the Chengdu airport to catch our flight to Lijiang in Yunnan Province.
About 1.5 hours later we arrived in Lijiang airport where we were supposed to meet Maggie, who took some days off to join us for the old town of Lijiang and the hike through Tiger Leaping gorge.
This time Maggies flight was delayed so we took first the booked taxi and drove to Lijiang. A young girl from the booked hotel picked us up at the entrance to the old town and leaded us to a really lovely place: a small hotel in a courtyard in the middle of the old town, just a few rooms, a family run business by a Shanghainese guy who moved here. Rooms were simpe but cosy and we immediately liked the place.
Markus and me were strolling around the little streets, packed with Chinese tourists and were waiting for Maggie to arrive. Around 6 pm she finally made it to Lijiang and I was so happy to see her, after 3 weeks!
Together we continued sightseeing and window shopping (no windows there, just many many shops...) when I got an email from our Italian friend Francesco whom we met before: He also arrived in Lijiang so we caught up with him and spend the rest of the evening together.

The next morning early picture session by Markus















and afterwards we enjoyed a nice breakfast in N'kitchen, a small cafe/restaurant place at one of the quieter squares in Lijiang. Afterwards started a nice walk out of Lijiang to another old town, Shuhe. In principal it is a smaller version of Lijiang, same kind of shops, just smaller. We had lunch in a small place, no menu, you just go to the fridge and show the guys what you want to eat and they cook.



Delicious food (veggie, I loved the eggplant) and unbelievable cheap.
Back to Lijiang was a small hazzle as we were to stubborn and stingy to pay more than the double price than the locals for the small taxi (they asked for 5 RMB per person instead of 2), but with the convincing negotiation skills of our friend Francesco (I dont leave your car if you dont drive for 3 RMB and playing this game for 20 minutes until the driver gave up)



we made it. Immediately invested this huge saving into the next beer...
Evening was quiet as we went to bed early to be prepared for the next morning, our way to Tiger Leaping gorge.

Again a early wake up and taking a taxi to the so called JiuzhaiHuanglong airport, about 40 minutes driving from Songpan and to my surprise driving up into the mountains, as this aiport lies on 3500 m! Weather was cloudy and misty, close to snow and as a frequent passenger of China Eastern Airlines I expected to hear my most loved announcement on Chinese airports: "We are sorry to announce, that flight xxx is delayed due do late arrival of the aircraft..."
I was right, no airplane there, but finally the delay was just about 40 minutes (I guess Deutsche Bahn counts this as still in time...).
A very short flight to Chengdu, where we arrived around 10 am at 28 degrees, what a temperature shock.
A quick drive into the hotel (yes, this time a real hotel, not a hostel or a B&B without breakfast), took a marvelous hot shower and went off to the panda breeding base near Chengdu.



There we saw the downside of the warm weather: Too hot for the giant pandas, none of them outside, all staying inside the air cooled houses and cages.



Only some of the red pandas were crawling around on the trees, but also them quite lazy.



After the base we decided to enjoy the pool in the hotel, before we went out with my old friend Huang for an original Sichuan hot pot dinner, my god was this spicy, after about one hour eating I couldnt feel my lips anymore. But very tasty and with a lot of beer we cooled it down as much as possible.



Afterwards went for singing in a nearby KTV place, again a lot of beer and when we thought its time to call it a day to return to the hotel, Huang had a better idea: Time for street food barbeque (you can find many of them in Chengdu and they stay open till late, or better said early).



Finally around 3 am we made it to our nice hotel and enjoyed a clean and comfy bed.

Guess the next morning wake up time? You are right: 6.30 am! Jiuzhaigou National Park opens at 7.00 am and we managed to be part of the first ticket purchasers and hopped on one of the first small busses heading up.
The park has actually 3 valleys, 2 of them starting from the main tourist center 14 km away from the main entrance. Our bus directly headed up the valley to Swan lake, about 17 km from the tourist center. We got off the bus at 8.00 am and started our walk down. Again wonderful forrest area, the trees were so green and healthy, its long time ago we had forests like this in Germany.





Our plan was to walk down the whole 17 km to the junction, but unfortunately part of the trails had been restricted due to forest fire danger. In the morning it was still pretty cold, but after the sun was climbing over the high mountains the first rayons warmed us up.
As more we descended as more tourists (mainly tourist groups) showed up, but as our intention was to hike as most as possible we could find enough places which were remote and had spectacular places to take photos.
The color of the many lakes here was even more blue and green than we experienced in Huanglong and the best was that our prayers had been heard and we got perfect sunshine to enjoy this unique place.







Betweem two lakes we also found a nice waterfall, its not the Niagra falls, but great to see.





After about 3 hours we arrived at the junction and took another bus up the 2nd valley. Honestly this part of Jiuzhaigou is not as interesting as the 1st one, only one lake at the top and another nice one about 3km more down, afterwards quite dry area.



So we did not spend too much time here, after the 2nd lake took the bus back to the junction and had a rest in front of some nice waterfalls (beer was cold!).





So far we already had walked for about 15 km today and the way to the entrance was still 14 km away, so we decided to walk as much as possible back, as the landscape according to our guidebook was much more promising than the 2nd valley before.
The book was right, walking through the forrest along a wild water river and from time to time again nice lakes with almost the same great color as on the top.
At km 10 on the way down we had to give up (badly blisters on my feet),



hopped on the bus and driving the remaining part back to the entrance. From here still 3km to walk to our hostel, luckily we find a kind of beer garden with really cold beer to reward us for this fantastic day in one of the best nature scenes I had ever seen and with 27 km our longest hike during this trip so far.
We spent another night in the hostel, missed the only bus at 07.30 am to Songpan the next morning (really couldnt get up again so early), hired a taxi and spent a relaxing day in Songpan before we will take our first flight during this trip to Chengdu.

We woke up the next morning at 6.30 am (holiday!) with the typical bai jiu after taste and the feeling we would like to change our head. After looking out of the window (rain) a short hesitation if to stay in this warm bed or to follow our original plan to go to Huanglong national park. We did the 2nd way and at 7.00 am sitting in a full bus directed to Huanglong.
The bus winded up a narrow road from 2800 m in Songpan to almost 4000 m and the rain was changing to to snow and ice, even the road was fully covered with about 10 cm snow. Luckily after the highest point the bus descended again to about 2800 m level when we had to get off the bus at the visitor center in Huanglong.
The condition of our heads had still not really improved so we decided to rest a bit with a couple of glasses of green tea before starting the hike.
Huanglong is a mountainous forrest area, covered with a lot of ponds (more than 600) which hold crystal clear water which runs down in cascades from pool to pool. The way from the start to the highest point in 3576 m is completely built on wooden planks, so comfortable to walk, even if a bit slippery during rain.
Ticket was 200 RMB per person and the lady at the ticket offices informed us that only the upper pools are filled with water, but anyhow we took the effort to come here so we bought the tickets and started our hike.
The path is going through intact forrest area, winding up like a snake, crossing and following parallel the water ponds, which in the lower area were really unfortunately empty or almost empty.



It was raining and as more we ascended the rain was changing to snow and getting really cold. The good side effect of this weather was that our heads were ventilated with fresh mountain air and by sweating on the way up we got rid of the barely liquor of the night before.



We were asking ourselves why we are doing this, until we reached the upper and finally the highest part of our trip: An amazing view to the ponds which were really full with crystal clear blue water and surrounded by snow.









In Garmisch we also have a lot of small lakes and ponds in the mountains, but the colors here are really great.
After picture session at the top we descended and were glad to arrive again at the visitor center to warm up with green tea and dry our clothes.
At 15.00 we were lucky to catch the last 2 remaining seats on the direct bus to Jiuzhaigou (3 hours driving) and were hoping the weather will be better the next day.
We arrived in Jiuzhaigou, checked in a small hostel place and just went out to get some food before going to bed early on this day.

Another early morning wake up (this is far away from being a relaxed trip as some have asked me) to catch the 7.00 am bus to Zoige (no direct bus to Songpan). Already at the bus station we met Francesco, an Italian traveller who has already finished 3/4 of his round the world trip and about one month in China. He was not sure where to go, but during the drive to Zoige he decided to further go down together with us to Songpan. Had to wait a bit more than one hour in Zoige before catching the next direct bus to Songpan, so we took the chance for a quick chinese breakfast in a nearby place (too much to call it a restaurant). Finally after about 5 hours bus driving we arrived in Songpan in Sichuan Province, a small touristy town, famous for horse riding tours, but for us just a small stop over before going to the famous sightseeing spots in Sichuan.
We had a walk through old town which looked a bit like Lijiang (but much smaller)





and afterwards ended up in Emma's kitchen, a traveller restaurant beside the main road.
So actually we were sitting here, drinking tea and beer with Francesco, a true and very funny character who even could speak German after living one year in Dresden. He knows a lot of funny stories and we had a very good time with him, hopefully we will see him again in Lijiang.
We also took the chance to taste local dried yak meat (delicious) and Tibetan liquour made from barley (not delicious, typically chinese bai jiu style).



The evening ended in the nice hotel (Old house), which had a big open area in front of the rooms, just talking about good old times (i am sure the other guests hated us...).