Ni Hao ! (Hello in chinese :-)
After 2.5 weeks in China, I am finally able to update my blog !!!
As you may remember the chinese have many web sites blocked, such as Facebook and Blogspot…so NO UPDATE possible during the last 3 weeks !!
Anyway I was very busy trying to find my way and find some food in China…haha yes I must say it has been AN ADVENTURE !!!
Just one thing: if you want to go to China and you don’t speak chinese…go with someone who speaks chinese…or don’t go ! Like my Mexican friends would say: “ESTA EN CHINO !”
A quick snapshot ?...My “CHINADVENTURES” in few words:
- LOST IN TRANSLATION: Except in Shanghai and Hong Kong where you can actually find people who speak in English, in most of the other places I visited, it was impossible to communicate in English…they did not understand a single word!! Crazy…so you can imagine my struggle for transport, hotels, and especially food (and particularly considering they eat so many starnge things…)!! So I was constantly trying to mime (like the mime of Marcel Marceau…haha ;-) And I was alone so even more frustrating…1 day I got so frustrated in a restaurant that I just cried and shouted…ups ;-(
- YOUTH HOSTELS SAVED ME: Ahhhhh the famous Youth Hostels where my base in every city…at least they could speak english there (well…very little in some!) and were a great place to sleep (quite clean) and meet people (even chinese)..and plan the trip !
- BERA ACTRESS IN A CHINESE MOVIE!: One of the highlights of the trip ;-) I played as an actor in a chinese TV series !!! Hahaha yes yes…I had a figurant role in a 1930’s TV film famous in China, and with my other fellows Europeans we were dressed like in the early century and had to come and go with other chinese actors…so HILARIOUS and FUN!!
- AVATAR FOREST…JUST AMAZING: I discovered the best kept secret of the Avatar movie: the famous forest where the blue creatures fly around huge mountains and peaks…yes IT DOES EXIST, it is called Zhangjiajie…and it is impressively beautiful !
- VILLAGES, NATURAL LANDSCAPES, METROPOLES AND SPORT: most of my trip was dedicated to visit natural parcs (like UNESCO heritage ones), charming villages, and modern cities…a really great mix. And as you know me..can't stay still ! So China is the bicycle paradise...so that was my preferred transportation!
- CARRYING MY 18 Kgs BACKPACK FOR 2.5 WEEKS: yes that was almost a competition, running for 2.5 weeks to try to visit evererything (well...not everything in China!), changing places every day or every 2 days and twice for 3 days in the same place (wouahhhh…;-)
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So now let's see the pictures...
I started in Hangzhou (near Shanghai) cycling around the famous lake of the city...1st day in China and already going on a bike ride :-)
Next day I took an express train to Shanghai (I let you read the indications of the train station board below...! Esta en Chino ! @#$%&*).
Shanghai is an impressive city, China wanting to show her superiority in technology and modernity...but still coexisting next to traditional little chinese streets...a land of contrasts !
I LOVED: sitting on the bund at night looking at the Shanghai skyline illuminated...and listening to my i-pod...
So now let's see the pictures...
I started in Hangzhou (near Shanghai) cycling around the famous lake of the city...1st day in China and already going on a bike ride :-)
Next day I took an express train to Shanghai (I let you read the indications of the train station board below...! Esta en Chino ! @#$%&*).
Shanghai is an impressive city, China wanting to show her superiority in technology and modernity...but still coexisting next to traditional little chinese streets...a land of contrasts !
I LOVED: sitting on the bund at night looking at the Shanghai skyline illuminated...and listening to my i-pod...
I took a plane to Xian (but first have a look at who is in the middle of the airport runway ??...a guy on a bicycle !!...so funny). Xian is tha famous city where a farmer discovered by chance the vestiges of a whole terracota army burried for 2000 years...amazing...thousands of statues reconstructed (I posed with my favorite one ;-).
And guess what is doing this farmer now ?? He is signing autographs in the shop of the museum !!!!!! Haha those chinese ;-)
And guess what is doing this farmer now ?? He is signing autographs in the shop of the museum !!!!!! Haha those chinese ;-)
Next day (yes yes...I was taking a new flight everyday) I went to Chengdu (the Panda city).
I finally met the cute little (big!) pandas...only few hundreds in China still - the only place in the world !
They spend their whole day eating bambous and sleeping !!! What a life !!
In another city, Kunming, I went to visit a place called the Stone Forest, geological curiosity of Mother Nature... but wonderful, I just took small little path - alone with NO other tourists !! - and enjoyed the parc...
I actully climbed a the top of a rock (and had some trouble going down...;-( ) and I LOVED: listening to my i-pod, looking at the beautiful landscape, and enjoying the sun going down !
I actully climbed a the top of a rock (and had some trouble going down...;-( ) and I LOVED: listening to my i-pod, looking at the beautiful landscape, and enjoying the sun going down !
Then.... THE HIGHLIGHT of this chinese stay !!
I played in a Chinese TV movie....hahaha !! Yes yes...I was a figurant in this TV series of the years 1930's, with other europeans, in a old train station, with other chinese figurants and actors...SO COOL !!!
I know..I always find myself in strange situations...but it was a great experience :-) So my hairstyle was OK, but my dress was awful (I looked like a meringue!) but did not matter...we acted as professionals...hahaha!
I played in a Chinese TV movie....hahaha !! Yes yes...I was a figurant in this TV series of the years 1930's, with other europeans, in a old train station, with other chinese figurants and actors...SO COOL !!!
I know..I always find myself in strange situations...but it was a great experience :-) So my hairstyle was OK, but my dress was awful (I looked like a meringue!) but did not matter...we acted as professionals...hahaha!
My next stop was...the famous AVATAR forest...
Yes...you may not know, but the forest of Avatar where the creatures fly - huge peaks and mountains - is actually a computer "digitalization" of a real forest in China (called Zhangjiajie and UNESCO heritage)...and it is amazing ! Just look at the pictures and you will understand.
I even did a trek to the top a of a peak one day...and went to a place called: "Freightened of heights?"...you will now which one I am talking about...2 cms to put the feet between the rock and the cliff...
At the end of the day...why not a good massage ?? And a great food ?? (this one was easy...I had all the ingredients in front of me and I just had to say what I wanted..and he fried it!).
Yes...you may not know, but the forest of Avatar where the creatures fly - huge peaks and mountains - is actually a computer "digitalization" of a real forest in China (called Zhangjiajie and UNESCO heritage)...and it is amazing ! Just look at the pictures and you will understand.
I even did a trek to the top a of a peak one day...and went to a place called: "Freightened of heights?"...you will now which one I am talking about...2 cms to put the feet between the rock and the cliff...
At the end of the day...why not a good massage ?? And a great food ?? (this one was easy...I had all the ingredients in front of me and I just had to say what I wanted..and he fried it!).
After the natural parc...a charming little town, with small houses on piles (maisons sur pilotis)...really enchanted like in the fairytales !
At night it transforms in a Chinese karaoke paradise !! Yes you know how chinese like karaoke..well in Fenghuang, you can find bars all along the border of the river...but still charming ;-)
At night it transforms in a Chinese karaoke paradise !! Yes you know how chinese like karaoke..well in Fenghuang, you can find bars all along the border of the river...but still charming ;-)
The day after, I took a night bus (see my bed below !) to Guilin..and met a new friend, Lorene, a great french girl, with who we spent the next 2 days traveling.
First day we visited the rice fields, where a chinese minority lives: look at their hair...to the feet !!
First day we visited the rice fields, where a chinese minority lives: look at their hair...to the feet !!
After the rice fields, Yangshuo...
Yangshuo is a small town near Guilin (Guilin is famous for the cruises on the Li river, where huge karstic peaks come out of the water from nowhere...).
My 3 days stay was great: cruises on a bambou boat, bicyle in the countryside, mud bath, and even a light show on the river...choreography by the same guy who organised the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics 2008 !! Amazing...
And last but not least...Hong Kong !! My last stop before going to the Philippines...
It was a bit rainy...but had a nice afternoon: I met a nice German guy, Tim, at Victoria peak and we shared a huge ice cream in front of the view !! Haha after suffering from the food in China I had to compensate ;-))
It was a bit rainy...but had a nice afternoon: I met a nice German guy, Tim, at Victoria peak and we shared a huge ice cream in front of the view !! Haha after suffering from the food in China I had to compensate ;-))
But China...I will not be back until I speak chinese ;-)
Bera.
Bera.
Hi Girl! How are you doing? Where in the world are you now? Miss you!
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting on my blog my dear Maew ;-)
ReplyDeleteAre you coming to your home country soon ?? This is my next destination in november !!