Bad Blogger

So...someone has been very bad with blogging recently! To all family members and those who care, I am alive! I've just been busy seeing so many amazing things and places. It doesn't help that Chinese internet is, on average, rubbish and that I need good internet to get onto my VPN to post (complicated). But really it's all just excuses, forgive me readers for I have sinned.

Since I last posted we've raced up the country and now I'm sitting in the courtyard of my hostel in Beijing. We did it, we made it full circle. At some point I may go back a post properly about each place we visited, but for now I think it's better to give a summary of the highlights. 

❗️ WARNING: This is going to be a long one. ❗️

Kunming 昆明 

We came for the dwarf village, we saw the dwarf village (actually known as dwarf kingdom). 

It didn't quite live up to the hype. The story is that the dwarfs now live in this idealistic dwarf community after persecution in their own communities but the abandoned atmosphere around the little mushroom houses and complete lack of dwarfs until the show started made the whole thing a little weird. 

Kunming as a city is actually lovely. With a high percentage of Muslims in the community means that the food is amazing and it was a great city to wander around. 

(NB: the Kunming museum is a huge building with one corridor or exhibition. Maybe not worth it. On the plus side, it is free)

Tiny houses for tiny dwarvess

Dwarf show - note the dwarves dressed as fairies

A dwarf riding a dinosaur - only in China

Chengdu 成都 

Chengdu definitely didn't disappoint on the tourist front, but we did stay in the worst and dirtiest hostel I've even seen. At one point a mushroom was spotted happily growing in the bathroom. Sadly, even said mushroom couldn't make it through the night in such conditions. Sometimes you really do get what you pay for. My advice, splash out on one extra pound and avoid the Justice Leaugue Youth Hostel (unless living in a stoners hell hole sounds like your idea of fun!)

Despite the horrific accommodation, the pandas and Leshan made up for the trauma and potential long term health concerns. 

Pandas were an obsession of mine as a child and my mum always said that one day she'd take me to see the real pandas in China. Well guess what mummy? I did it all on my own! Chengdu is home to the Panda Research and Breeding Base, which is dedicated to preventing pandas from dying out. We all know pandas are reluctant breeders, but I never thought much more about it. I can safely say that now I know more about panda sex and breeding than I ever wanted or needed to know. If the panda base was anything, it was definitely informative. 

Our first hour or so at the base slightly panicked me because we didn't see ANY pandas, except through the tiniest crack in a door. As it turns out pandas are very heat sensitive and that in the sweltering Chinese summer sun they tend to get heatstroke, so prefer the cool of their air-conditioned rooms. Lucky them. 

Thankfully we eventually stumbled across the feeding room where 5 adorable pandas were stuffing their faces with bamboo. I was immediately in love. From that point it only went uphill, we saw toddler pandas playing together in rolling balls of black and white fuzz, and we saw a tiny new born baby panda that could barely open it's eyes. I don't think I've ever squealed and aww'ed so much in my life. 

Even though I would have loved to see the pandas out and playing, it was definitely worth the visit. It has confirmed for me that pandas are one of the most adorable creatures in the world and that, even straight after an 18 hour train journey, walking around a massive research base is awesome if there is something to squeal at. 

Pandas ☑️ off the China bucket list

After the pandas, the next main attraction around Chengdu is the Leshan Giant Buddah scenic area. First thing worth saying is that the Giant Buddah really lives up to his name, at 71m talk he is massive and breathtakingly impressive. Even though we had to queue for nearly two hours for the privilege of standing at the base it was worth it. The whole scenic area where the Buddah sits is phenomenal. It's a sprawling mass of temples and caves and statues, all full of incredible Buddhist art. Despite how exhausting it was from all the climbing we did that day, I loved it and would gladly go back. 

Hall of the 500 Arhats (Buddist equivalent of saints) - an amazing hall full of the seated Arhats, eaching with his own unique pose, clothes and facial expression.

Xi'an 西安

Xi'an is most famous for it's Terracotta Warriors and they were undoubtedly amazing, but so was the rest of Xi'an. 

First things first, the Terracotta Warriors. They are definitely one of the most important archialogocal finds of the decade and one of the things I most wanted to see in China. There is still debate - and I think there always will be - surrounding why such a vast army was created but no matter why they are there they are magnificent. No matter how much you read about them, or how often you watch programmes on TV about them the sheer number of the Terracotta Army can't be grasped until you're standing right there. The detail on each soldier is amazing and to think the we're made so long ago is just mind blowing. 

In Xi'an city itself I spent most of my time exploring the Muslim quarter. Mazes of little streets selling everything from bags to tasty little snacks on sticks, it was definitely an area to get lost in. 

On our last day in Xi'an we went up onto the city walls and cycled around them. It was great fun to cycle around and a nice change from climbing and walking. 

So sweaty!

Powering around the walls in a couple hours before rushing off to catch our train to Beijing may have actually have been a genius move. Exhausting yourself before a long journey on a hard seat sleeper definitely helps you to manage some sleep on the journey!

The Grand Mosque in Xi'an - the least Muslim mosque I've ever seen, but still beautiful

So here we are in Beijing 北京！I'll leave tales of Beijing for another day and leave our travels around China by sayig I've had an amazing time with some amazing people. There have been stressful times, travel in China is not for the faint hearted, but en mass it's been everything I could have ever hoped for. 

In a couple days Jenny and I head off to Vietnam for a couples weeks before going to Hong Kong to get our new visas and then returning to China to start the next chapter of our adventure in Yinchuan 银川, Ningxia Provence. 

Let the adventures continue!