How to keep yourself amused on a sleeper train

In China we have taken our fair share of sleeper trains; one lasting 20 hours long! But we have been very fortunate and met some amazing people on the way. 

On one of our long journeys, a guy from our group originally travelled to China to teach Kung Fu, so he decided to dress himself up and teach us a few moves (mainly for self defence). Not only did he entertain us for an hour, but Chinese people even came from different carriages to video the display. Becky was used as the demonstration model and spent most of the time on the floor. 

Or you could try getting really drunk and spend most of the night bent over a squatter toilet being sick (no names mentioned!).

On our 20 hour train, we were joined in our carriage by a theatre group who could speak some English (typical English can't speak any other language but all over nationalities can speak about 5). They shared with us their stories as well as their food. One girl shared some homemade dumplings which tasted delicious; another sung a traditional Chinese song and her voice was amazing! I have recorded the song but can't seem to upload it, sorry! 

The trains have been the perfect time to catch up on some reading; 6 books down and now I'm not sure what to read next. Any recommendations? 

My eye mask has definitely been my saviour on the Chinese sleepers, especially when they decide to turn all the lights on at 6am!

Only one more sleeper to go!

xx

Trekking along the Longji Terraces

I will openly admit I am not the healthiest or fittest person about, so walking the Lonji Terraces at points was difficult but so worth it!

We trekked along 18km of mountain ledge, taking in the breath taking views of the rice being grown in steps along the hillside, passing the tribe of woman who only cut their hair twice in their whole lifetime so at the time it reached the floor. The views were breath takingly beautiful and full of colour. This part of the tour was a complete contrast to the other places we have visitied and staying in a hut where the power kept cutting out so there was no heating at times or hot water (actually there was no hot water at all in our room) was a nightmare but so worth it!

xx

A trip to the Terracotta Warriors

From all the places we have got the opportunity to visit in China, the Terracotta Warriors have definitely been the one thing I have been most looking forward too. I missed the opportunity to see them in London when a few were touring the world, but finally I got the opportunity to see the real site! 

The Warriors were spread over 4 pits (however one pit was empty because the emperor didn't get the opportunity to finish his army), the first pit was the most magnificent to see as the majority of it is uncovered and easy to view.

The second pit had a small collection of warriors and horses to view, which were pretty spectacular!

The third pit was the largest of them all, but unfortunately the technology has not been created yet to preserve these magnificent masterpieces so there wasn't a lot to see.

Finally we got to see a few warriors and a chariot up close, it was crazy to see how much detail each statue contained and the different poses they were positioned in. Yet again, another thing ticked off my bucket list (however the list is forever growing in size)!

xx

Beijing continued

We got the opportunity to visit a Kung Fu Show whilst in Beijing. Unfortunately we were not able to take any pictures inside the theatre but the show was phenomenal and the men were way too flexible. I'm not sure I will take up back flipping using my head instead of my hands or having my body lifted up using just arrows! They were truly talented people.

To tell you the truth, my knowledge of China is pretty poor and I hadn't read up much about the country prior to the visit (unlike India). Luckily we are in a group with people who are quite wealthy in knowledge when it comes to chinese history and architecture (which makes me feel a little stupid!) but they all recommended a visit to the Summer  Palace. So that is where we headed!

I have never heard of the Summer Palace so I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived (on another note; we took the subway and if you thought London Underground was busy, try getting onto a tube in a city where 26 million people live!). We travelled around different parts of the palace and the views were spectacular, even though this meant we had to climb many stairs! We didn't have a guide for this part of the trip, so I'm not fully aware of the Palaces history or why they built a boat out of iron (surely it didn't move), definitely need to do some extra reading! 

Now a local from Beijing told us 3 things which are a must in Beijing; the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and eating Peking duck! So we couldn't leave Beijing without trying some Peking duck! Which I have to admit puts shredded duck from any Chinese at home to shame! Another must if visiting China. Now to prepare ourselves for another sleeper train, heading to Xi'an.

xx

The start of our trip around Beijing

As facebook and blogspot are both banned in China it has taken a while to get access to update my blog, so I apologise!

Anyway, we have spent 4 days in Beijing and visited many well known places. We started by visiting another world wonder (another one ticked off my bucket list), the Great Wall of China. I roughly knew the scale of this monument before we visited, but it isn't until you see it for yourself you can truly appreciate the vast size and work put into producing this amazing place. We climbed up the mountain side to the top of the wall, where we were able to admire the beautiful views. We then walked along the wall, trekking up and down the mountain wondering how long it would take to walk the whole thing (baring in mind we only walked along 6 of the towers out of who knows how many).

Now to get down from the wall we decided we had walked enough already, so as a group we decided to toboggan down (who knew your could climb aboard a metal sleigh and scoot down a slide to the bottom) and it was such a laugh. Sorry no pictures! 

The next day we explored the forbidden city (which is a must when visiting Beijing). This was another beautiful but massive monument, spread over a kilometre in length. Most of the buildings had been repainted which did spoil the history a little bit, but it was still worth the visit.

Fact of the day: Chinese Kings and emperors idolised the lion (instead of the tiger, which can actually be found in China) because lions are top of the food chain and have many partners where as a tiger one has one. This was clearly shown by a past emperor of China (who lived in the Forbidden City) who had 3000 wives! I actually feel sorry for this man!

xx

First thoughts of China

No horns are beeping, cars are indicating and sticking to their own lanes, eyes aren't constantly staring at you, definitely a lot different to India. Got to our hotel and collapsed after the long journey (definitely got ripped off by the taxi driver!). The next day we decided to go exploring round the local area, to find we are situated in the centre of a vary expensive shopping area; from Cartier, to Ferrari, to some Chinese brands which look ridiculously expensive. So we decided we could only afford to window shop but it did feel so much like London, for one minute we forgot where we were.

Tour starts on Monday, where we meet our new group and run through the itinerary for our visit. Our group has a lot to live up to if they are going to be on par with our last! I've attached the route we will be taking on our tour so you have a rough idea of where we are going :)

Starting to get a little excited now!

xx