We had a whirlwind tour through China. It was go go to the whole time and while we didn't have time to venture far from the main cities and towns to some quiet bush, we did have plenty of time to eat food. So that's what we did! Arriving in Beijing was great. We were really excited for the buzz of a city after the wide open spaces and isolation of Mongolia. Mostly, we were looking forward to some not mutton!
We stayed in a tiny apartment of the Sanyanjing Hutong in the Dongcheng district of Beijing. We were walking distance from the forbidden palace, beautiful gardens, restaurants, street food and cafés. We were in heaven!
The first tourist attraction we attempted was the Forbidden Palace which isn't so forbidden! it felt like the whole population of China wanted to see this place with us. We pretty much moved around in a queue the whole time. It had no vibe about the place or what vibe it had have was lost in the sea of flag waving, matching shirt wearing tour groups. The garden at the end was pretty beautiful though (thanks Nick!) but again it was so packed we didn't get a chance to sit down and chillax there.
We didn't end up getting to the Great Wall because we got the bus times wrong (really wrong!) And wouldn't be able to make it back in time for our next train. Well, we may as well go see Tienanmen Square then! "That sounds great!" Said the whole population of China and they met us there. We left them to it and wandered around the Hutong instead! Sometimes you feel l like you have to see the sights because, well, that's what tourists do! But it just didn't seem worth it in the heat.
The hutongs are bloody beautiful and we got some street food on our stroll back through the tree lined streets. Ahh now this as better! Closer to our Hutong was Jinxiang garden. It was filled with lush green grass and tall trees. We climbed up some leafy green lined stairs and to the top for views over the city and forbidden palace. I loved walking around Beijing parks and streets particularly at night. Chinese people are like kids at night. Good kids!I know there's a better word for what I'm trying to say but I don't know it. In the evenings they come together in groups to play mahjong, or paint, play musical instruments, watch people play musical instruments, badminton, listen to music on tiny radios with a group of buddies, tai chi, meditation, and you often see big groups of ladies practising dancing. The best of all was the guys cracking the whips next to the people trying to practice tai chi! They're so social and carefree it was really good for people watching.
We stayed in a tiny apartment of the Sanyanjing Hutong in the Dongcheng district of Beijing. We were walking distance from the forbidden palace, beautiful gardens, restaurants, street food and cafés. We were in heaven!
The first tourist attraction we attempted was the Forbidden Palace which isn't so forbidden! it felt like the whole population of China wanted to see this place with us. We pretty much moved around in a queue the whole time. It had no vibe about the place or what vibe it had have was lost in the sea of flag waving, matching shirt wearing tour groups. The garden at the end was pretty beautiful though (thanks Nick!) but again it was so packed we didn't get a chance to sit down and chillax there.
We didn't end up getting to the Great Wall because we got the bus times wrong (really wrong!) And wouldn't be able to make it back in time for our next train. Well, we may as well go see Tienanmen Square then! "That sounds great!" Said the whole population of China and they met us there. We left them to it and wandered around the Hutong instead! Sometimes you feel l like you have to see the sights because, well, that's what tourists do! But it just didn't seem worth it in the heat.
The hutongs are bloody beautiful and we got some street food on our stroll back through the tree lined streets. Ahh now this as better! Closer to our Hutong was Jinxiang garden. It was filled with lush green grass and tall trees. We climbed up some leafy green lined stairs and to the top for views over the city and forbidden palace. I loved walking around Beijing parks and streets particularly at night. Chinese people are like kids at night. Good kids!I know there's a better word for what I'm trying to say but I don't know it. In the evenings they come together in groups to play mahjong, or paint, play musical instruments, watch people play musical instruments, badminton, listen to music on tiny radios with a group of buddies, tai chi, meditation, and you often see big groups of ladies practising dancing. The best of all was the guys cracking the whips next to the people trying to practice tai chi! They're so social and carefree it was really good for people watching.
It was pretty hot, it being summer and all, so we thought it would be a good idea to go to the Olympic stadium they converted into a water park!! Sweeeeet! It was two expensive. Ohhhhhh. So we went to a normal pool instead. Which was a massive taxi drive and walk away and turned out to be a sport training centre with table tennis, squash, swimming, basketball and probably others.
Paid our fee and entered our respective change rooms only to be faced by lots of flesh! The indoor pool had fast and slow lanes and what looked like a beginner lane where people just splashed around pretending like they knew how to swim. Frosty jumps in and straight away the life guard is waving him down.
"Where's your cap? You have to wear a swimming cap. Go ask her" he points to a bored looking lady. Frosty gets us both a rent-a-cap and we look ridiculous together. With frosty's massive beard he looks a bit like a Seik bobbing up and down the lane. Everyone is staring at us because we're the only whities there and when we start cutting laps they realise we're heaps better than them. We got a few offers to join swimming clubs and so on but we politely declined because frosty didn't want to have to shave his beard.
Later that night we sat down to an amazing feast of dumplings before wandering through the park for some people watching and then taking the 'short cut' home.
I was lucky enough to be travelling with an open minded vegetarian who let me try all different restaurants for tasty local food. The highlight in Beijing was the Peking duck. Ermahgerd it was good! So good! Yum I want some now!! It was the whole experience of the restaurant too. Our waiter was really helpful, the cook the duck to order and then our waiter shows us how to eat it by shovelling pieces of neat into frosty's mouth who is too polite to say no! because the duck is cooked to order we have an hour to fill with beer and cheap vodka drinking which added to the 'this is the best thing I've ever eaten' feeling.
Paid our fee and entered our respective change rooms only to be faced by lots of flesh! The indoor pool had fast and slow lanes and what looked like a beginner lane where people just splashed around pretending like they knew how to swim. Frosty jumps in and straight away the life guard is waving him down.
"Where's your cap? You have to wear a swimming cap. Go ask her" he points to a bored looking lady. Frosty gets us both a rent-a-cap and we look ridiculous together. With frosty's massive beard he looks a bit like a Seik bobbing up and down the lane. Everyone is staring at us because we're the only whities there and when we start cutting laps they realise we're heaps better than them. We got a few offers to join swimming clubs and so on but we politely declined because frosty didn't want to have to shave his beard.
Later that night we sat down to an amazing feast of dumplings before wandering through the park for some people watching and then taking the 'short cut' home.
I was lucky enough to be travelling with an open minded vegetarian who let me try all different restaurants for tasty local food. The highlight in Beijing was the Peking duck. Ermahgerd it was good! So good! Yum I want some now!! It was the whole experience of the restaurant too. Our waiter was really helpful, the cook the duck to order and then our waiter shows us how to eat it by shovelling pieces of neat into frosty's mouth who is too polite to say no! because the duck is cooked to order we have an hour to fill with beer and cheap vodka drinking which added to the 'this is the best thing I've ever eaten' feeling.
We left Beijing by a bullet train to Xi'an. The trains are like fancy planes with air hostesses, nice toilets and a restaurant cart. We treated ourselves to an ice cream after some drama of being dropped at the wrong station and getting harassed by taxi drivers before finally finding one who kindly floored it the whole way after seeing our time restrictions and impending departure. No problem!
We made it to Xi'an in the evening, played the waiting game with taxis and made it safe to our hotel room. You heard it, hotel! Oooh it was nice! Our first hotel of the trip that we somehow got for $25!
Xi'an was an ancient city that was surrounded by a giuant wall from the 16th century maybe? It stretched for 14km around the centre of the city and you could hire push bikes at the top! I lined up waiting for our bikes. People pushed in but I finally got to the front of the line only to realise there was a massive deposit required which we didn't have. "You can afford the tandem bike" the guy said. I groaned and he gave me a 'I know but what else are you going to do' look.
So we powered around 14km on a bicycle built for two. They are surprisingly tricky to get used to and any shifting from the back seat would turn the bike, usually towards a ditch or another oncoming bike.
We had a beautiful view of the city as the sun was setting giving off the perfect light for a bit of happy snapping. Ready? Smile! 1, 2, camera died. Oops!
XI'an had a famous snack street in the Muslim quarter filled with restaurants and stalls selling Hui food. Needless to say the majority of our time was spent there!
Frosty made a side trip to the terracotta warriors while I preferred to avoid the crowds and stay cool in cafés and stroll the tree lined streets. The warriors were interesting but the crowds and heat were pretty mental.
We made it to Xi'an in the evening, played the waiting game with taxis and made it safe to our hotel room. You heard it, hotel! Oooh it was nice! Our first hotel of the trip that we somehow got for $25!
Xi'an was an ancient city that was surrounded by a giuant wall from the 16th century maybe? It stretched for 14km around the centre of the city and you could hire push bikes at the top! I lined up waiting for our bikes. People pushed in but I finally got to the front of the line only to realise there was a massive deposit required which we didn't have. "You can afford the tandem bike" the guy said. I groaned and he gave me a 'I know but what else are you going to do' look.
So we powered around 14km on a bicycle built for two. They are surprisingly tricky to get used to and any shifting from the back seat would turn the bike, usually towards a ditch or another oncoming bike.
We had a beautiful view of the city as the sun was setting giving off the perfect light for a bit of happy snapping. Ready? Smile! 1, 2, camera died. Oops!
XI'an had a famous snack street in the Muslim quarter filled with restaurants and stalls selling Hui food. Needless to say the majority of our time was spent there!
Frosty made a side trip to the terracotta warriors while I preferred to avoid the crowds and stay cool in cafés and stroll the tree lined streets. The warriors were interesting but the crowds and heat were pretty mental.
Next stop, LLanzhou. It had been a while since we had been lost so we decided to do it here. With our packs on. We got on a wrong bus, twice. Missed taxis and took wrong turns for two hours. We made up for it by buying an overpriced dinner haha
Lanzhou was famous for it's hand pulled noodles and we went to the best place for it, 100 metres from our hotel yessssss! Men were grabbing balls of soft dough and strateching it between their hands, folding it back on itself and stretching again an again until it resembled noodles. Easy peasy! They were served in a deliciously spicy broth and it cost us $1!!
From here we caught a bus to Xiahe which was an old Tibetan town with a giant monastery. Before boarding the bus I could feel the pangs of a headache beginning but my drugs were in my big bag in the bus storage. Uh oh. Stay calm, drink water, keep sunniest on. I can see a bin I can use if I'm sick but I'm not sick, I feel fine. I don't have a headache. Man thus bus is taking forever!
Get ooff and my head is pounding. I can't even lift it. then in he swoops! Its Steven Segal to save the day! He gets us a ride up the road, swoops off to find a room and comes bounding back to carry my backpack to our cheap room. "Is there a toilet in the room?" I'm not feeling too good. "Ahhhhhhhhhh. I don't remember." Steven c'mon! No loo. I quickly look for some signs and make a dash for it! I'm punched in the face by the most disgusting toilet smell ever and let loose from where I stand. Just to be clear, I. Was being sick, not other stuff. The toilet was a pit that looked like it filled a basement below. I'm not sure how they'd empty that.
Poor Steven had a lonely dinner while I had drugs (that were in my little bag the whole time! Idiot!) and slept.
The next day was much better! We upgraded to a nice restaurant and made the long pilgrimage walk around the monastery. We even found a restaurant that did vego Tibetan food. I ordered a nomad black tea that was made with sticks and had a smoky flavour while Frosty had a glass of Tibetan milk tea which was salty. Hmmm interesting. We came to the conclusion that nomnads don't have the best food in the world.
Too short a stay in Xiahe because we were back on the bus before we knew it. They even played a kung fu movie for us.
Lanzhou was famous for it's hand pulled noodles and we went to the best place for it, 100 metres from our hotel yessssss! Men were grabbing balls of soft dough and strateching it between their hands, folding it back on itself and stretching again an again until it resembled noodles. Easy peasy! They were served in a deliciously spicy broth and it cost us $1!!
From here we caught a bus to Xiahe which was an old Tibetan town with a giant monastery. Before boarding the bus I could feel the pangs of a headache beginning but my drugs were in my big bag in the bus storage. Uh oh. Stay calm, drink water, keep sunniest on. I can see a bin I can use if I'm sick but I'm not sick, I feel fine. I don't have a headache. Man thus bus is taking forever!
Get ooff and my head is pounding. I can't even lift it. then in he swoops! Its Steven Segal to save the day! He gets us a ride up the road, swoops off to find a room and comes bounding back to carry my backpack to our cheap room. "Is there a toilet in the room?" I'm not feeling too good. "Ahhhhhhhhhh. I don't remember." Steven c'mon! No loo. I quickly look for some signs and make a dash for it! I'm punched in the face by the most disgusting toilet smell ever and let loose from where I stand. Just to be clear, I. Was being sick, not other stuff. The toilet was a pit that looked like it filled a basement below. I'm not sure how they'd empty that.
Poor Steven had a lonely dinner while I had drugs (that were in my little bag the whole time! Idiot!) and slept.
The next day was much better! We upgraded to a nice restaurant and made the long pilgrimage walk around the monastery. We even found a restaurant that did vego Tibetan food. I ordered a nomad black tea that was made with sticks and had a smoky flavour while Frosty had a glass of Tibetan milk tea which was salty. Hmmm interesting. We came to the conclusion that nomnads don't have the best food in the world.
Too short a stay in Xiahe because we were back on the bus before we knew it. They even played a kung fu movie for us.
Back in Lanzhou for an afternoon of eating dumplings before catching a 25 hour train to Urumqi, our last stop in China. The train we got was like a torture train. It was an open carriage with no doors or private berths. They kept the lights on until late at night and they played really loud, really terrible Asian pop from seven in the morning until midnight. It was just so relaxing. China runs on Beijing time so even though we were in west China with a different time, everything still ran with Beijing.
Urumqi had a large population of Uighurs so there were lots of mosques and Muslim food. We spent our last days in China getting lost and not eating at the places we wanted haha before getting on a plane to Kazakhstan. Very nice!
China was awesome! The food! Oh lordy it was good. Mongolia had adventure, China had food. I wonder what the Stans will have?
Urumqi had a large population of Uighurs so there were lots of mosques and Muslim food. We spent our last days in China getting lost and not eating at the places we wanted haha before getting on a plane to Kazakhstan. Very nice!
China was awesome! The food! Oh lordy it was good. Mongolia had adventure, China had food. I wonder what the Stans will have?
Crunch 'n' Sip
China was off tap for delicious eating. Not all of it is here but all the best bits are :)