Lovely and warm already, breakfast on terrace. Off on an all day multifaceted tour today, try not to fall in the river! 45 minute drive to Xingpeng Ancient Town Lots of bamboo, banana and other assorted tropical looking greenery, not seen in the north Lots of sweetcorn being grown, in what appears to be family …
Spent the night in a “cheap hotel”, (Travelodge style) near the next station. Remarkably good £28 for double room. Bed comfortable (compared to hard cruise bed) and excellent shower. Breakfast was ok but bland Chinese food, rice, vegetables and congee We have enjoyed trying to spot local dialects… This morning some domestic tourists swarmed the …
We started the day disembarking early for a 4hr transfer and tour of the 3 Gorges Dam, into thick fog (couldn’t see the shore whilst docked!) It mostly cleared into haze, apparently it rains up to 80% of days here (hence the Yangtze, the dam and local tea growing) The dam project to me was …
Unfortunately just as we approach one of the highlights of the trip, I’ve been struck down by a dodgy prawn, or salad or something so confined to the main boat So handing over to my deputy editor as my guest author for the day White Emperor City Essentially a hill in the middle of the …
Cruised circa 100km overnight but very misty foggy today so limited views Interspersed along the river are these towns/cities, many stemming from towns cleared/flooded by the dam construction Another temple! Ghost temple is quite famous throughout China Met other English speakers, Norwegian Mauritian, Pole and German. The guides were funny (!). All had mics and …
Currently wandering around trying to find the old streets After a big downpour we found coffee the the “old streets”. Rather invaded by tourist shops but I guess the nature of the hillside and intrinsic buildings remain even if reconstructed. Being wooden reminiscent of alpine village! Initially went to Shibati district going down then Shan …
Agenda: Self guided walking tour of city/meander. 1949 cultural show this evening Very overcast/misty today with risk of thundery showers. Oh well Prices: food very cheap. Full meals 20-30Yuan (£3) yesterday’s feast 138 Yuan (£14) for two. Only fruit is relatively expensive, closer to UK prices for apple and oranges Taxi (Didi) very cheap today …
Interesting fact: Population of England 56million. Combined population of just two cities, Beijing and Chongqing, 53million! Add Shanghai and it’s about same as whole of UK These boxes are everywhere. Basically power bank stations. Scan the code, pay about 3yuan (30p) and out pops a charger. Replace in another station Off to Chongqing today. Expected …
Two plans today if weather holds, warmish but overcast Wandered off to biggest department store we could find, by the Bell Tower. Mid/upper range. Most of cosmetic counters (all around entrance naturally) were international brands. Most of clothing franchises were local Chinese never heard of (but did include some western brands) Prices in that department …
Today off to see warriors. Surprised to know Xi’an is 13 million so not surprising to find it’s an hours drive out (with a lot of other buses) Due to early rise, it was noticeable the mix of vehicle changed and there are lot of bicycles and (electric) motorbikes, and “TukTuk’s” around with everyone commuting …