We are in Nanning, waiting for our overnight train to Kunming. Nanning is close to the Vietnamese border and is famous for its Canine Cuisine District. We opted for a less exotic lunch.

We have been in China for 3 weeks now and are heading to Kunming to pick up our visas for Laos. That border crossing will probably be one of the hardest parts of our journey, but we are relaxed, well rested, happy and healthy.

One thing I forgot to mention was my karaoke experience on the 3 gorges boat trip. After listening to some screeching Chinese lady sing some tunes I decided to give it a go. The lounge went silent as they wathced the foreigner belt out Revolution by the Beatles. With lyrics like: "If you go around carrying pictures of Chairman Mao, you ain't gonna make it with anyone anyhow," I have no idea how that song got past the censors. Anyhow, I got a huge ovation from the local crowd, and even a rose from a female admirer. Definitely one of my finest karaoke moments.

Here's an update from Hania:

China so far has had it's ups and downs, right now we're in a fantastic little town called Yangshuo. The landscape is beautiful, the people are friendly , the food is delicious and we've got the best hotel room in town. Pete and I plan to stay here for about a week.

The boat from Japan was far better than we expected. We had a private cabin, the sea was calm and there was plenty of time to relax and get ready for the sensory assult of China. Going upriver into Shanghai was pretty amazing, with hundreds of ships and small boats, and the high-rise apartments and skyscrapers becoming more and more densely packed.

Shanghai was dazzling, with lots of great modern buildings, good food, and optimistic people. We stayed at the East China Normal University International Service Center - a dorm for visiting students , but it was more like a hotel, with a private bathroom and daily cleaning service, 24 hour security, the works. The campus of ECNU is beautiful: landscaped gardens and couples stolling hand-in-hand among the students. What an oasis after dealing with the traffic and noise outside the University's walls! Other highlights were cocktails at the Cloud 9 Bar on the 88th floor of the Jinmao Tower, walking along the Bund and stopping for a beer in the sunshine, Brunch at M on the Bund, visiting the fake market (Columbia, North Fake, Pashminas & Gucci...). Our friend Shin took us out for dinner at a Silk Road restaurant on our last night. Great food, impromptu music and dancing. People from Sanxi apparently like to have fun!

Hard sleeper train to Xi'an: hard to sleep. Highlights of Xi'an were the Muslim Quarter and seeing the Terra-cotta Warriors.

We booked a Yangtze river cruise with the hotal manager from Xi'an. Took the train to Chongqing, a hilly place. Checked out a temple, took a cable car across the Yangtze and hung out in a riverside park most of the day. Boarded our boat & began floating down the Mighty Yangtze.

On our second day of the boat cruise we transferred to a smaller boat and went to the Lesser Three Gorges, and transferred yet again to am even smaller wooden boat for the "Mini Three Gorges." The scenery was spectacular, though being part of a Chinese tour left much to be desired. We got back to the big boat and continued our trip, disembarking again in the eveing for a tour of the TGP: Three Gorges Project, a euphemism for the Damn (sic.) Without getting into details, that's where China and more specifically the tour, really started to gnaw on my patience. As soon as we got off the boat in Yichang, we got on a bus to Wuhan.

Wuhan seemed full of friendly people, smiling offering help and - even - lining up for tickets in the tran station! Yes, people in Wuhan stood in line! None of the elbowing and budding and pushing we saw elsewhere. We had a great lunch and got on yet another night train.

In Guilin we rested a bit, then got on a bus to Yangshuo. And now, here we are, climbing karst peaks and enjoying the relaxed easy pace of life in the most beautiful part of China.

Here's some photos from the last couple of weeks. They include shots of the Army of Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an.




The Three Gorges of the mighty Yangtze River.



And some pictures of Yangshuo, where we spent an idyllic week, cycling among the rice paddies and the karsts.





Enjoy.

Chinese tour groups. Yikes. If you want to know what it's like to be a sheep, herded about by yapping dogs, book onto one of these.

Our "English speaking" tour guide didn't speak any. Her main job as we saw it was to part us from our money for extras that were not included in the original price, then to ensure that we got off the boat when our trip concluded. I have painful memories of her banging on the door at 6AM, shouting, "GO! GO! GO!" only to have us wait around on lower decks for half an hour.

There's an expression that expats use here: B.I.C. - Because it's China. We are starting to understand.

So we saw amazing stuff, under less than perfect arrangements. All part of the adventure I guess. We learned a lesson, that we like to be in control of our time and what we do, which is why I think we will enjoy chilling out in Yangshuo for a while.

The journey is still good, we are still healty and having fun. More again soon.

The 3 Gorges are supposed to be one of the natural wonders of China, and they were inpressive indeed. In some places they rise 900 meters above the level of the river. But in a few years they will be no more. The 3 gorges dam being built downstream will raise the water level about 150 meters, cover most of the gorges, and flood much of the surrounding area. The idea is to create a water superhighway into the rugged interior of China.

Everywhere we passed by, there were abandoned buildings that are below the future high water mark. Trees are being clear cut, so they don't become future flotsam and jetsam. China's rush to industrialization and modernization kept reminding me of what happended to Isengard in the Lord of the Rings movie.

We also explored the little 3 gorges, a smaller set of gorges off the main river. These were great, especially in the small boats we travelled in. I will try to post sme photos later this week when I get them off my camera.

We've been on the move lately and haven't had a chance to hit an internet cafe for about a week or so. We are currently in Yangshuo, a dreamy backpacker village among some amazing karst rock formations. The closest big city you can find on a map is Guilin. Here's a quick update on where we've been since the last update:

In Xi'an we went to see the famous army of terracotta warriors. This army was made 2000 years ago to protect the tomb of the Qin emperor, located to the west, and buried underground. When the site was discovered about 30 years ago, the government built a large building over the pit, and has turn the whole site into a great museum. Excavations continue even today. The main pit is the size of 2 football fields, and holds about 5000 of the lifesize figures.

From Xi'an we took a train to Chongqing, on the Yangtze river. We spent the day there waiting for our boat cruise. Chongqing is a city of about 30 million people, but we couldn't find a single internet cafe or decent coffee shop. The main part of the city is built on a mountainous peninsuala, so trudging around for the day was a hassle as well.

In the evening we were taken to the boat that would take us down the Yangtze river, through the 3 gorges. Good news is that we had first class cabins, bad news was that we were part of a Chinese tour group ... more on that in a later post. We sailed downriver for 3 nights and 2 days, saw some amazing sights, before being deposited in Yichang, just below the massive 3 gorges dam.

From there, it was a bus to Wuhan, an overnight train to Guilin, them a local bus to Yangshuo. In this beautiful place we have the best hotel room in the city, and plan to spend about a week exploring the area.

Photos of Shanghai.





They include night views of the Bund, and the view across the river to Pudong. Also a photo that I took on the East China Normal University campus, which I call Morning Mao. Enjoy.

Someone let me know if you can see them. I still can't view my blog from within the Great Firewall of China.

Shanghai Impressions:

After living in Osaka for a year and a half, the thing that surprised us most about Shanghai is how much it felt like home. Staying at the dorm at ECNU and heading out into the fray that is modern China, reminded us of the St. George campus at U of T.

Shanghai is hosting the World Expo in 2010, 2 years after the Beijing Olympics. The city has this energy to it. I can imagine that it was the same kind of excitement that was present in Montreal during Expo 1967. A great city to party in, lots of great sights to see, and an international audience.

In Osaka, when you saw a white face, you could almost guarantee that the person was an english speaker. In Shanghai, I have heard so many languages being spoken, so many people doing business from around the world. Now I understand why everyone is so excited about China. Communism in the 21st century is totally different than what I imagined it to be. It seems to be working in China.

The people also seem more relaxed here. In Japan there was always the fear of making a cultural faux pas, but in China there's a laissez faire attitude that's quite enjoyable, if occasionally maddening. We're having fun with it.

Hello from Xi'an. After an all night 17 hour train ride from Shanghai, we arrived this morning in the ancient capital of China, slightly bumped up from the hard class sleepers we had.

Looking back on our week in Shanghai, it was great. We painted the city red, so to speak. Our friend Shin, formerly of Osaka, now a Shanghai entrepreneur, set us up in a great dorm at the East China Normal University, and showed us some of the best sights of the city. We really lived it up, going for 3 massages, having cocktails at the Hyatt's Cloud 9 Bar (87 floors up the Jinmao Tower,) we even had Saturday brunch at M on the Bund. A last blast of luxury before hitting the other parts of China.

Tomorrow we are off to see the Terracotta warriors, and some other sights around town. All is good and we are well. More soon.

Greetings from Shanghai. I feel as if I stepped into a sci-fi movie. Huge modern buildings are lit up in neon. Cabs race through the streets packed with thousands of people. The city has a vibrant energy.

Coming here was half the fun. The ferry ride took us through Japan's inland sea, with spectacular sunsets over the islands. The ocean was calm and the trip relaxing. Coming into Shanghai, past the industrial ship building areas, into the center of downtown, was spectacular.

We will spend about a week here, before heading to Xi'an. Will do my best to update when I can. The technology here is a little wonky. I can't access several websites (including this one) but I can post to it. Messages are all in Chinese. Someone send me an email if this ever gets published.