Last Day - Wednesday

It rained again so we went to Hong Kong Museum of History. Wednesday happens to be their free day. It is easy to find and absolutely fantastic and superb quality place to enjoy few hours. It does not have specific child orientated displays, but on the other hand you are in among the life in China from pre-historic stages till today.

There are ships and shops and houses to visit, Glo' "drove" a tram (a few large male wannabe drivers in the queue with her), we had a good look at Cantonese Opera and few other festivals, sedan chairs, weddings, baby carriers, costumes and rocks for daddy.

Another good place in the museum is their restaurant. We ate a super lunch of different noodle soups for around £10 for three. They have a colouring-in spot for the children nicely placed close to the shop (which I liked too).

Another child recommended place, the Science Museum is just across the yard, but I must say one museum a day is all we could take!

Still far too foggy to go to the Peak. So we had a nap instead and then a bus to the Airport Express. We had to buy tickets first but then we could offload all our hold luggage to BA desk at the rail station. I think next time we check the luggage in first thing in the morning and then have a day in Hong Kong.

Compared to China proper HK is dirty, people are not friendly unless they can get money from you, tea is disgusting (says daddy). There may be specific things I want to see in HK in the future, but as a holiday destination China wins every time.

One thing I like in HK is the airport bookshops. They may be hard to find but the selection of children's books is good and different from the city shops.

No internet

We were off to the HK train early on Tuesday morning. This time we did see the countryside in daylight and it was educating if nothing else.

Big overview made me think it was industrial all the way through but that is not the case. Every little bit of bankment and river side grows food for the people in the cities. Not rice, but many kinds of fruit trees and vegetables. Food grown in the shadow of heavy industry and irrigated from the heavily polluted waterways ...made me shiver.

HK was foggy. Our 5* hotel on HK island very unsatisfactory. Harbour Grand. Oh, it did look good but the service was appalling, the quality of rooms very poor and the "harbour view" available by perching on a window sill. NO Free Internet Either.

It rained and there was no point going to the Point, so we asked for the best book shop on the island and spent a good few hours choosing new books for Glo'. All of the books likely available cheaper here in the UK, but it is so important to vet them myself. My standards are pretty high and I want every book I buy to be an extension to her book collection, not a duplicate or poor quality item with very little long term value.

That sort of concluded the day. The clouds drifted away to show a reasonable sunset before the rain returned.

Monday Blog

All is well in the world, sales exist in China too!!!!

Today was the very necessary shopping day. Forecast was rain and thunder so a day indoors was just what we needed - problem being this turned out to be the only all day dry day we've seen.

Away we went to Beijing Lu where people have been shopping for the last 1000 years. When they were building the current setup they found old archaeology and in the middle of the pedestrianised street is large glass windows showing the old road and edges  of shops and houses. The modern shops are pretty good too. Very good quality and reasonable prices, sort of shopping in M&S at Asda prices. Naturally in Chinese style and Chinese sizes. But we did manage some brilliant buys and the first ever clothes shop for mum in China. Not even Beijing managed to produce a garment to fit me, but here I had a choice of three. Boutique prices, but still a lovely surprise and something I really liked. Bit disappointed with the book shops as they had nothing bi-lingual and no replicas of old propaganda posters which I was hunting for.

Later in the afternoon I started packing. It is like putting half dry washing into a bag. Even cardboard is soft and moist in the shop  packaging. The humidity is really high, nothing dries in the room and Glo's rain drenched socks from three days ago are still wet. Putting on damp clothes in the morning is no fun, but on the plus side I have not used our travel iron once as hanging clothes out for couple of hours sort of steams all the creases out.

This time we are looking out to a residential block of flats and people there hang their clothes out to the balcony and for good days they have strung out some extra long poles out of the balcony too. Lot of the cheaper clothes are man made materials and I keep wondering how dreadful they must feel against the skin. Fungus and mould grow very well, in Wuchuan even down the bedroom wall. It must be really difficult to keep the place clean. 

Everywhere you see an army of cleaners hard at work. China is in a way the cleanest place on earth, on the other hand they have the "squatty potty" system designed to drive any human insane. I can use it fine, I just do not like standing in the pee dangling my daughter over the hole. When we arrive to Hong Kong tomorrow I hope to leave the last one in the train....till the next trip.

Glo's picture from earlier town

Guard Cleaning In-Street Screen

Street

Happy Easter Everyone!!!!

The morning we could have slept in we were stomping for breakfast at 7 am.

Glo' chose to return to the puppet theatre this morning so we made our way there slowly through Shamian Island. We are desperate to find Glo' shoes as she grew out her travelling pair earlier this week and is now down to one pair of sandals. Wet ones to be exact. Unfortunately Jennifer's is no longer there and everything else is baby galore.

The rush to the puppet theatre was amazing. In general Chinese neither push or shout but when it comes to taking the little price or princess to a day out they scream the place down while beating each other to the ticket desk.

Naturally the show (452 seats) was sold out. The man before us with his princess threw a complete tantrum. The staff recognised us from earlier this week, quietly asked for 120 RMB, gave us a hand written note and pointed to the theatre door. They brought us separate seats to sit in the aisle. Very kind of them as they were turning dozens of families away from the door.

It was Pinoccio. Puppet theatre maybe but roles were played by adults in costumes. Some very clever puppets appeared at times as crowd in the back. This Pinoccio was not exactly as I remember it. Even with my language skills I understood it was about a man who was so desperate for a son he made one out of wood (how appropriate!). Many new and exciting characters appeared. A very gay fox, a Scottish cat in kilt and red toory, fairies and and a friendly fish in the bottom of the sea.....Not to mention the very Scottish ballads and Bollywood dance routines.

The real surprise came when the baddies in a boat pulled out a rocket propelled grenade launcher and shot Pinoccio not once but twice!!!! Gepetto then went round the stage picking up the pieces of Pinnocio.

All in all a wonderful show. Glo' enjoyed it, the cast and special effects were first class and the audience loved every minute of it. We laughed half the way to Lucy's restaurant (lunch) and to be honest we had missed all the language based jokes.

In the metro we we chatted to by Saudi business men who were very much hoping we would be interested in the same things than they were. Daddy's eyes were twinkling and when we got out he pointed out that they had thought us a Muslim family as I was wearing a head scarf:-))

It was more rain and this time a trip round machinery markets before hotel, supper and bed.

I'll send a picture later, now to eat.

Leaving Wuchuan

We were due to leave Wuchuan at 9 am but woke up 25 to 9. Uuups. We really got going and made it to the car at 5 past 9. Our exit was rather badly timed as we crashed with a morning wedding preparations. The road back was exactly as the road there. This time out guide suggested we stopped for lunch in Caiping city. It is between the boat museum and GZ. Caiping city is where USA employed men to build the great railway to the wild west. While many Chinese stayed in China some returned home and build huge mansions to live their pension age out in comfort.

For lunch we stopped at another tourist bus serving restaurant. They had a good sized vegetable plot there for the business and to my hilarity who did I find among the New Year decorations but Santa himself!! 

The staff was very friendly, obviously a family of four generations. The we looking at us eating rice cakes with raspberry jam for pudding. So we made them one too....a bite in front of us, she was obviously surprised that the taste was pleasant, and then to the kitchen with the rest of the family in hot pursuit where they all got a bite each.

Our destination was Zili village. It is a thousand year old place that reaches over a very large area. A preserved heritage site in China and a hot destination for tourists. We were so out of season and still had to share with five bus parties. The villagers still live there and farm the land as it has always been farmed. They are allowed to use their houses for business and many have "peasant kitchens" or a small trinket stall at their house. In the end of every financial year the government splits the profits with the villagers.

It really was a trip to another world. The houses are very  tall to minimise land waste. The one we visited had five floors and two roof terraces, one upon the other. Ground floor had a large kitchen, but two of the upper floors had one too. It was a floor per son, but there was a beautiful suite for the grandparents, a special room for the eldest daughter, a floor for nursery.Altar for the ancestors was at the roof terrace entrance. Between the houses the paddy fields expanded to every direction, there was a stoned village square, a communal threshing floor that still had rice stalks from the last harvest and narrow granite paths that twisted between the fields and houses.

From the roof tops we could see the next village and the one after that. Before the days of roads people moved around the countryside along the narrow, but surprisingly fast waterways and literally stepped off the boat at their own front door.

On the road away we stopped to photograph the local burial ground. The poshest we've seen. Often they are earth mounts on a hill side covered in white cement. These were beautiful brick structures and first one with it's own temple.

Again back in GZ. Another two road crashes. Cold, torrential rain. Let's see what tomorrow brings.

Santa

Wedding Reception

Restaurant Entrance

Friday In Wuchuan

Our guide calls Wuchuan an "underdeveloped city". It makes plastic shoes and rice cookers and seems to be the centre of a very large pig production group.

Like anywhere else in China the building work is ongoing and some people are making loads of money judging by the Range Rovers parked at the best restaurant car park, not to mention the fancy long dresses and fake designer handbags of the wife. Then there is the nanny to make sure the children behave well in public.

Most people still live in the traditional multi storey farmhouse type home where several generations live under one roof. They have a small vegetable batch at the back door and a very large front door (size important to usher the good fortune in). The New Year banners were still bright and intact, despite the rain. In addition most houses has a small chicken coop too, which explained the escaped chickens on the rather wide and grand central avenue.

Maybe one or two in ten houses has a solar panel, water tank and air conditioning unit on the roof. This was in the centre of town so I think it may be less common in the poorer areas and the standard in the big houses of the rich. They have limited internet access in Wuchuan, but mobile phones seem to work very well. Gas was deemed expensive, so many families had piles of firewood or coal at the back door for cooking fires. 

Just few miles outside the town a tarmark road was a recent addition to creature comforts. At places the country roads were washed away by swollen waterways leaving a ford crossing, not too far away all roads turned to dirt tracks. and I spotted hand pumps at garden wells.

Few blocks away from our hotel was a farmers market with many live birds in cages. I was just slobbering over the selection of vegetables available. Our guide had problems with the smell (what smell?) but we were fascinated by the butchers working to the customers exact requirements. Here you could still buy mopeds with two stroke engines as they are banned for pollution reasons in GZ

Houses In Wuchuan

Geese In Mart.

To Wuchuan

We woke up to a massive thunderstorm around 6 in the morning. Hotel view is directly to White Cloud Mountain so the setting was rather spectacular.

Everyone breakfasted and cases packed for 8.30, driver and guide late.....hmmmm

The drive was first through industrial suburbia that has engulfed once famous cities. Then we hit the countryside. Spring work is in full swing people planting rice everywhere, some places finished and some fields untouched after winter. Sweetcorn is very tall, we saw some bananas too, lots of fruit trees, fish ponds, ducks and hens. Soon we became to the black cattle and goats too.There were a number of livestock transports on the road, mainly pigs but also mixed wagons of goats and cattle.

In the morning the  driver proudly told us Wuchuan was 4,5 hours away. It took us 3.5 hours to get to the ship museum and another 3 and a bit to make it to Wuchuan later on. The rain was torrential most of the way and we got slowed by two road accidents. They drive far too fast, too close and have little idea of traffic laws - the police car speeding past on hard shoulder was followed by a stream of cars using it as an escort vehicle past the accident area:-)))

Our guide took us to the "best" restaurant in Hailing Island for our lunch. The area is under huge development for a holiday resort and this place could easily seat couple of hundred people, on concrete floor and under canvas. As we were near the sea the lunch was swimming in containers and one picked what one wanted....we wanted pork. The place was out of season the cooks allowed me into kitchen to see them cook. I had a real ball - for a woman without Cantonese I seem to speak cooking quite well. The cook was a young man and must say his fried rice was best ever, we finished a three litre bowl between us three.

Which brings me neatly to today's troubles. We have paid both driver and guide 100 RMB/day for food expenses  they ordered nice banquet of sea food for 200+++ RMB while our family was able to eat fried rice and steamed veggies...the disappointment was palpable when we decided to eat supper in our room!! As comparison three meat course meal in GZ for us three in a good restaurant was under 100 RMB.

The boat museum has wonderful architecture.  I loved the two lines in the wall for ticket sales: below bottom line is free, between lines is half price and above top line is full price! There was ver little to see, the cover for the boat excavation was closed, there were dozen or so vases on show, some old archaeological finds from Guangdong (Neanderthal tooth replica stuck to my mind) and that was that, took all of five minutes.

Outside, on the beach is similar restored Song dynasty boat. It is sometimes open to visitors, but not today. However the guard did let me climb the steps up and photograph it closely.

Out there on the beach is a kite museum too. I was most disappointed that the boat museum sold hand turned ceramic pots (ugly as anything) and the kite museum had no shop at all....they have a trick or two to learn about tourists....

This also was my first day of proper food tourism. As we have a guide I make him ask ingredients for every dish on every stall we pass (he must hate me by now) and this afternoon we tasted steamed rice and pork wrapped in a bamboo leaf. I'll have that again. Eating is a bit easier here anyway as rice noodles are widely available.

Last 50 km to Wuchuan. The wonderful smooth motorway turned to a roller-coaster ride (Should stop daddy complaining the way I drive the farm road!). It was rough to say the least. We saw many families on their motorbikes and the one mummy, one child we have become used to in  the city was more commonly one mummy with two kids and families with three or even four children piled on the moped with mum and dad were not that uncommon. It was not just small kids but families with children from babies to teenagers.

Our hotel is five stars in a way of stars in your eyes and dream on. No internet. The staff maybe all claimed to be fluent in English but never had to show their skills before today. The bathroom is basic, but does have a western toilet - we also have a wall sized window to bathroom and a large basket of complimentary condoms. Not to mention a note with a phone number for a "good night". At the front door there is a notice asking all people entering to be decently covered. LOL. This is the posh end of the town and if it stops raining tomorrow I'll take some pictures.

Beach On Hailing Island Where Ship Museum Is.

Lunchtime Restaurant Kitchen

Inside The Ship Museum 

Wednesday

We woke up after some sleep but Glo continued to sleepwalk all day long.

Great start as daddy found our luggage in the lobby. None of what I washed last night was dry so I was dreading getting dressed. So we all got clean clothes which we appreciated. Daddy got more tea bags too, he was down to his last two.

Our guide was very snotty about 'hotels in the east side of the town' last night. But I have to say Yanling is a fantastic place to stay. Breakfast is absolutely huge (better than their dinner setting) and beds better than average in China scale. I would say a soft brick, which is praise indeed. But best of all we are about ten meters from an underground and that means it does not matter at all what the address is, we are ten minutes from the town centre. And the only white faces in the tube or around the town in general bar Shamian Island.

We kind of thought it warm but overcast but as we were smooching round the jade markets the heavens opened and the temperature dropped dramatically. My mood was not improved by jade prices (starting 40p a small bead) or the sellers disinterest to bargaining. We were pretty much soaked through despite umbrellas and retreated to Maccy D's for lunch. Glo' now refuses to eat chips :-(

Got so cold we walked to the Shamian island Starbucks for a warm drink (complete with mock fire and jazz). Shamian has so gone up in the world. No more washing hanging from the side streets, the old buildings are mainly restored and Victory is now rather a posh bit. 

Feeling a lot better we headed across the river to the biggest ever puppet world. Not only shows for kids but a museum, workshops etc. Only it is not open during the week despite their website saying so. There was a lady there who kindly sold us Monkey King puppets. However the sun was out and it was nice to keep going down the streets looking at people around us.

Found the underground again and headed to the gigantic fabric wholesale market which was fabby dabby for mummy. I got some bits but usually smallest quantity was 100, sometimes 2000 for smaller items and no idea how many metres for fabric. Met the other western face of the day there too.

We cancelled this evening dinner meeting and headed to hotel. I emptied my cases this morning (wanted to see nothing was missing) and now needed to start packing for tomorrow. Glo' was exhausted so it was early supper for her. Daddy insisted of inspecting every dish on the hotel supper buffet and then decided it was no use - we headed across the road (another deadly pedestrian crossing across a four lane motorway) to see the restaurants there. Ended up with a Hunan kitchen. The staff had equal amount of English to our Mandarin, the food was spicy to say the least, but we got fed. 

Very, very tired...

48 hours later we made it to Hong Kong.....wish our luggage was with us.....BA send it couple of flights later and hinted that we could sit at the airport to wait it to arrive.

Took A21 bus from arrivals B and it took us directly to railway station, literally across the road from where our train left. A good hour to see Hong Kong. We were extremely lucky to get seats in the train as all tickets for that day were sold by 5 pm. Arrived to Guangzhou nearing 9 at night. No clothes, no adaptor so cannot charge anything. Washing clothes in sink with shampoo to have something to wear tomorrow. 

Raining hard, cold 20 degrees.

Day One

24 hours on the go and we are still in London. 2.5 hour delay made us miss the connection twice last night.

Yesterdays meals mounted to 30 g bag of crisps and a cuppa. 

Hotel never gave Glo bedding and today has given us the pleasure of fourth security check, body search and emptying all hand luggage.

And I thought charging my Samsung by sticking a Nokia charger into its ear phone hole was the worst thing that could go wrong.

On our way!!!!

Off to the airport. More when we land sometime tomorrow afternoon.