A real highlight of our time in Shanghai was going to a performance of traditional Chinese acrobatics. Some of the stunts they were pulling were unbelievable and we had our hearts in our mouths watching them defy the laws of physics. One performer stole the show however with an old-school Nuneaton robot dance. Check out the pictures and see if you can spot her 
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The 1st October marks National Day in China and is a three day holiday to celebrate their independence. We had been warned that this would be a nightmare to travel in so decided to take ourselves off to Hangzhou’s West lake for a bit of R&R away from the chaos of Shanghai city life. Unfortunately for us everyone else in China seemed to have exactly the same idea and at times walking around the picturesque lake was like trying to cross the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury after the headline act has just finished.
Nevertheless, we walked for 6 miles round the circumference of the lake and despite the crowds it was beautiful and really well cared for. Being the active couple that we are we also hired bikes and followed a path into the tea fields and bamboo forests. The scenery was beautiful and we went to a villagers house to sample the tea she had hand picked in the hills. The bikes were built for the Chinese market so even with the seat and handlebars fully erected we still felt like Brand from The Goonies with our knees around our ear holes.
To our delight the local Carreforre supermarket sold red wine and cheddar cheese along with French bread. We stocked up on supplies and had a picnic by the side of the lake. The Chinese tourists looked horrified at our food - now they know how we feel when they tuck into eyeball soup!
We may well have been stranded at the lake due to holiday transport nightmares if it hadn’t have been for Jim and Lucy. We met them on the train on the way over and they offered us a ride back with their car and driver. Thanks again guys, we are really grateful!
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We caught the Lhasa to Shanghai train as it passed through Xi’an. Each compartment had its own oxygen valve which is used when the train makes high altitude passes in Tibet. Celebrity status was notched up another gear on this train with both sexes fighting for photographs with Mark and to tell him in broken English how handsome he was.
Arriving in Shanghai in stifling heat amongst the chaos of crowds and traffic, the city seemed much less effected by Beijing’s Olympic makeover. As we explored the streets and alleyways we felt we got a far more realistic picture of everyday life in a Chinese metropolis. There is a stark contrast between old and new with the colonial architecture of the Bund and the old town’s traditional dwellings being overshadowed by an ultra-modern skyline.
We sipped cocktails on the 87th floor of the Jin Mao building in the world’s highest bar. As the sun set and the city lights sparkled beneath us we were reminded of how tough the backpacker life can be sometimes 
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We stopped off en-route to Shanghai for a brief stay in Xi’an to visit the Terracotta Army. Strolling through the night markets in the Muslim quarter, we ate delicious steamed dumplings and haggled hard with the shop keepers for a Xun.
The fountain show at the Big Goose Pagoda would make the Bellagio jealous and we never got bored of watching people getting drenched unexpectedly by a new jet of water.
We joined some other travellers on a public bus to the Warrior’s excavation site and clubbed together for our knowledgeable guide Jason. What the archaeologists have uncovered so far is very impressive but the vast majority still remains buried until more advanced preservation techniques are developed. We were surprised to learn that the warriors are decoratively painted and this quickly decays when they are exposed to air. We imagined that it might look a bit like this.
We took a night sleeper train from Beijing to Pingyao; a small walled city that has retained it’s traditional architecture and way of life. The buildings are all made from the same grey stone and no building except the pagodas exceeds two stories. It’s often used for movie sets and we could easily imagine Chinese warriors running across the rooftops Crouching Tiger style.
The old-world charm was slightly dented thanks to an International photography exhibition taking place on the same weekend. The village was rammed with photographers sporting some of the most impressive looking camera equipment we’ve have ever seen. They seemed as interested in photographing us as the scenery, though we’re getting used to our new found celebrity status in China.
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Hiring a pair of bikes was a great way to travel around the city and get a taste of everyday Beijing life. The junctions are slightly hazardous though; even when you’re on green other traffic can still turn right into your path, so when in doubt we got very close to the locals and followed exactly what thy did. We saw lots of smaller temples, bell towers and Hutongs (small residential alleyways) that you could never see in a car. This architecture is under threat as they modernise the city however. Foreign architects have built some really exciting work here (see photos of ‘The Egg’ performing arts space and CCTV headquarters) but it would be a real shame to loose any more of these traditional areas. After 4 hours our bums had had enough so we traded the bikes for beers.
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Since being in China we have had some fantastic food and you begin to realise that the Chinese takeaway menu we know in the UK really doesn’t exist here. Generally the food is either much simpler like enormous watery soups with delicate flavours or really weird like feet, stomach and intestines of any animal you care to mention. Obviously when in Peking we had the obligatory duck, but also enjoyed delicious BBQ fish, dumplings and an interesting hotpot which we shared with our new friends Caz and Asa.
The small round cake you can see is called a moon cake and this is what everyone eats during the Mid-Autumn festival which we celebrated last Sunday. It was a time for families who live apart to either get together or if that’s not possible then to at least eat these cakes whilst looking at the same moon their loved ones looked at. Some were disgusting and Mark summed it up perfectly when he said it tasted as though they were filled with ear wax. Others however we delicious and filled with dried fruit and nuts.
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We visited a very famous Tea House that all the visiting politicians and celebrities attend. The walls were plastered with their photos and one of the focal ones at this time was of a group of women who were big wigs with the Olympics, Mark thought it looked more like the Spice Girls. We shared a table with a Chinese family and watched the performance of Chinese art; silhouette puppet show, man balancing plant pots on his head, dancers with tea pots, magician, singer and comedy duo. They were all very high quality but the best of the lot was the face changing lady who with the blink of an eye her mask had changed. Throughout the 2 hours we had our green tea continually topped up. It’s an acquired taste and a far cry from Tetley.
Later in the day we had a Mahjong and Manderin lesson from Bonny, the lovely guide at our first hotel. The Mahjong I now get, it’s just like rummie but the language leaves me totally cluless although Mark is making a valiant effort at every possible opportunity.
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We were really lucky to get tickets to the Birds Nest to watch the Athletics on Tuesday as they were nearly all sold out. At £4 per ticket including all of your transport I am not surprised and the place was packed giving an electric atmosphere. The journey there was interesting on the underground; usually a fantastic service but today totally rammed. They actually employed staff to push people into the carriages. The only reason I didn’t faint was because the Chinese are so small that Mark and I were head and shoulders above the rest so although our bodies were squashed we could at least breath.
The whole site was really impressive, the Birds Nest and Water Cube especially. We arrived as a British guy was being awarded his Silver medal and then no other Brits appeared so we began to cheer for the home team. They seemed to win everything, most importantly the relay, so the crowd were going wild.
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Though impressive, the temples in Tiantan park play second fiddle to the masses of retired Chinese folk gathered there to take part in social events. With ballroom dancing, Tai Chi, fast Tai Chi with rackets and balls, Chinese chess, cards, music, singing, ribbon throwing, calligraphy, knitting, and many more we spent the morning walking from one group to the next. One game had group of people kicking a weighted shuttlecock between them. Mark was asked to join in and all went well until he hoofed the thing into a nearby tree. It sat there firmly stuck until a man got it back with the aid of his shoe and lots of throwing.
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Later in the week we took a tour out to the Great Wall and after being herded through the obligatory tourist shops we got our first glimpses. Despite seeing many pictures of it back home it was more spectacular than we had imagined and much steeper too! The Disney style ride we had to take to get up and down slightly ruined the authentic feel of the place but nevertheless it was a fantastic experience. Some sections were very busy but on other more strenuous sections we had it almost to ourselves.
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