2002-2005 (c) GetJealous.com, All rights reserved. http://www.getjealous.com/richandlinda/rss.xml This time we're off on a whistle-stop of China - not so much a holiday as a route march! 8 different locations in 14 days form Beijing to Shanghai Apologies for the break in service - no wifi for the past couple of days! http://www.getjealous.com/richandlinda http://www.getjealous.com/blog.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=2704128&go=richandlinda Our last full day in China has arrived all too early. A lie in this morning as we were not being met by our guides until 10:00 so we able to have a leisurely breakfast for a change. Our trip this morning was to the Shanghai museum which with 4 floors is far too big to cover in our allotted 1.5 hours so we advised to concentrate on 4 exhibition halls - Bronze, Ceramics, Minorities and Jade. We s... http://www.getjealous.com/blog.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=2704128&go=richandlinda Fri, 20 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/blog.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=2703949&go=richandlinda Time is passing too quickly now! We had a bit of a lie-in this morning (07:00) as we didn’t get picked up until 09:00. It was so nice not to have to worry about packing suitcases for once. After weaving our way through the Shanghai morning rush hour we arrived at the Jade Bhudda temple which is the first we’ve been too where there are practicing monks (about 200). It was busy not only wi... http://www.getjealous.com/blog.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=2703949&go=richandlinda Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/blog.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=2703800&go=richandlinda This morning we were off to an exhilarating start with a rickshaw ride around the canals of Suzhou. The way these drivers negotiate the traffic has to be experienced to be be believed and the ride is not for the feint-hearted. We had only been going for a couple of minutes when we came face-to-face with a car coming from the opposite direction in a narrow street where cars were parked on both side... http://www.getjealous.com/blog.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=2703800&go=richandlinda Wed, 18 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/blog.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=2703598&go=richandlinda Great night’s sleep but still not enough! Nice not to be thinking about flights today as we headed off into the Hangzhou traffic for our boat trip around the West Lake. The traffic is even worse here than in Beijing, Xi’an, Chengdu or Guilin as many Chinese tourists visit here and our next stop Suzhou due to the reference in an old Chinese proverb “In heaven there is paradise, on earth th... http://www.getjealous.com/blog.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=2703598&go=richandlinda Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/blog.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=2703271&go=richandlinda Despite the late arrival we still had to be ready to leave the hotel by 08:30 so there are a few jaded looking people on the coach this morning. Still, at least we had a nice easy morning cruising down the Li River. The area around Guilin is famous for limestone karsts - around 280,000 of them that rise steeply from a level plateau. They form a spectacular backdrop as the Li River meanders amon... http://www.getjealous.com/blog.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=2703271&go=richandlinda Sun, 15 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/blog.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=2703270&go=richandlinda Left our lovely hotel room somewhat reluctantly as it was one of the most comfortable rooms we’ve ever stayed in. However, today we had a date with the pandas and as it was Saturday we had to make an early start to avoid the inevitable weekend day-trippers. Our local guide (Candy - oh yes!) took us straight to an enclosure where there were about 8 pandas. They are most active first thing in t... http://www.getjealous.com/blog.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=2703270&go=richandlinda Sat, 14 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/blog.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=2703066&go=richandlinda First stop this morning was the Small Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi’an - a 72 metres high Buddhist temple set in a beautifully peaceful park. In the park we watched people doing their morning Tai Chi - some using swords or small tennis racquets with large tennis balls (need to be seen). We were taken to a building in the park that sold Chinese art and there was a feeling of oh no hard sell again. O... http://www.getjealous.com/blog.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=2703066&go=richandlinda Fri, 13 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/blog.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=2703064&go=richandlinda Today started with a visit to the city wall around Xi’an - the longest most complete city wall in the world stretching to around 10 miles. Despite serious renovation over recent years - including a moratorium by the government where they paid people to bring back bricks rom the wall that people had used to construct houses - it’s still pretty impressive. It’s over 20m high and 15m wide. A... http://www.getjealous.com/blog.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=2703064&go=richandlinda Thu, 12 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/blog.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=2702469&go=richandlinda Great night’s sleep last night - bed was hard as nails but both went out like a light. Pretty chilly this morning - last night’s heavy downfall has certainly freshened the air. Outside 11C rather than the mid-20’s we’ve been used to and everyone is really wrapped up. We even had street vendors trying to sell us gloves. This morning our trip was just down the road - on the edge of the... http://www.getjealous.com/blog.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=2702469&go=richandlinda Wed, 11 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/blog.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=2702467&go=richandlinda An even earlier start this morning - we needed to be on the coach by 08:00 as we hd a long coach trip to the Great Wall. Whilst the Great Wall can be visited close to Beijing the wall is not complete there and there are many tourists so we headed north for a couple of hours to Jinshanling. We continued our education of China with a lesson in it’s history from our tour manager (Susan) and more Ch... http://www.getjealous.com/blog.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=2702467&go=richandlinda Tue, 10 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT