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Meant to be my last bigger trip within the Borders of the Peoples Republic I happened to visit the Ancient Capital City Xi’an followed by an old town hopping in the very south west of China called Yunnan Province. The trip ought to last 10 days before we came back to Shanghai on the 25th January. It was a quite important day for the Chinese as it marks the beginning of the Year of the Ox and therefore the start of Chinese New Year itself. Coincidently I’m born in the year of the ox which returns every 12 years, as there are 12 different Chinese zodiac signs.
So Felix, the other Austrian from Vienna EBA, Greg and David, two Belgiums, and me went to Xi’an first of all to see the world famous Terra Cotta Warriors that had been discovered by local people during digging a well. Although it was really impressive I expected slightly too much of it. Nevertheless we spent two nice sightseeing days there fully packed with Chinese tradition and characteristics. It was remarkable that somehow all of us had the feeling that the Chinese language was easier understandable in Xi’an in comparison to Shanghai where the local dialect sometimes is giving us a hard time.
Additionally the dumplings there were 很好吃 (very delicious) owing to being Xi’an’s most famous culinary output. On Sunday evening we took the plane to Kunming serving as the capital city of Yunnan province which’s south-western part counts to the Mekong region.
As Kunming only served as a hub for us in order to reach the northern located old towns, the Belgium- (in the meantime expanded by Chloe and Laure) and the Austrian crew left to Dali by bus after having spent only one night in Kunming.
The upcoming two days were really enjoyable as on the first day we went to a huge waterfall on horsebacks (a rather new experience to me ;) and explored the local Erhai lake by bikes on the next day.
Several little villages gave way to the quite stretched lake which was a great experience for all of us.
Arriving in Lijiang after another bus ride from our last destination Dali was quite nice for us, as it is probably THE MOST ADMIRED old town among Chinese people. We checked-in our hostel in the heart of the more than 800 years old town and immediately went off to the hill of Lijiang to get a first impression and overview of this lovely place. It convinces of its nice waterways, different architecture and the population of the local ethnic group – the Naxi.
The Tiger Leaping Gorge is a canyon on the Yangtze River that lies 60km north of Lijiang and is surrounded by a few more than 5.000m mountains. We mainly went to see the famous rock, where according to a legend the tiger leaped to the other side in order to escape the chase of a hunter.
…is actually only a fictional name of the county in the north of Yunnan province just to attract tourists. It’s very close to the border of Tibet and therefore places an important hub for travellers. The altitude is already slightly above 3000m.
We saw a huge Buddhist monastery where more than 600 monks are supposed to life. After only a one-night-stay we went back to Kunming by the sleeper bus for more than 12 hours (which was a horrible ride…). From Kunming our plane to Shanghai awaited us where we arrived on the 25th under heavy fireworks to herald the Chinese New Year.
On Dec 25th right in the morning at 7 am – after having an amazing Christmas party with my fellow students – Raphael, Mikkel and me took off to Hongqiao airport to fly to Shenzhen. With light luggage we urged to spend a great time in the Pearl River Delta. As we arrived in Shenzhen we met with an old friend of mine (I was in secondary school with in my Upper Austria times) unfortunately only for a cup of coffee. Still we had the chance to have a glimpse on this very young, rich and economical grown city called Shenzhen which is situated just in the north of Hong Kong and counts to the fastest growing cities in the world.
Under the ‘Opening Up’ policies of the Chinese reformist Deng Xiaoping this city as a Special Economic Zone mainly contributed to China’s economic liberalization. Former to the start of this to the Chinese economy vital opening up process Shenzhen was only a fishing village and now adds up to a population of 12 million.
Nevertheless Shenzhen would be an interesting place to spend more time we went to the Customs and stepped across the border on territory of Special Administrative Region Hong Kong. Hong Kong belongs to China mainland but has a high authority in decision making owing to the line ‘one country, two systems’. This place used to be dependent territory of the United Kingdom in colonial times and an important harbour for the Empire starting from the mid 19th century. More than 10 years ago in 1997 the territory was returned to the Peoples Republic of China.
Driving through the so called New Territories breathtaking sceneries opened up to us till we reached Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon, where we checked into our by far to small hostel room. Nevertheless it didn’t detain from taking a glimpse at the amazing skyline of Hong Kong Island at night. On the next day we mainly explored Hong Kong Island itself including the Victoria Peak and the famous Lan Kwai Fong, a very touristic bar and club area.
On Saturday we went to Lantao, the biggest island of Hong Kong, to see the Tian Tan Buddha aka Giant Buddha. We reached that place by MTR (the local metro) although we could have also gone by ferry. At the cable car station we unfortunately had to wait for approximately an hour to finally enter the cabin and go up to Ngong Ping 360 where the Buddha is located nearby an idyllic monastery.
In the evening we went back to Kowloon to enjoy the noisy commotion at Temple Market and Mong Kok.
On Sunday we took the Ferry to the 60 km west of Hong Kong located Macao. Through the Portugese settlement in the early 16th century Macao is the first and last European colony in China. The old part of the city reminds of colonial architecture especially the ruins of St. Paul’s Church on the top of the hill.
It is the second Special Administrative Region next to Hong Kong and thanks to its monopoly in gambling license and concessions the highest-volume gambling centre in the world out ruling even Las Vegas in terms of revenue. Therefore Las Vegas casino owners want to enter the market which leads to a remarkable rocketing concerning the number of hotels and casinos built there. One of the most mentionable things I probably have ever seen in my life was the Venetian Macau, one of the biggest buildings in the world.
As Raphael, Mikkel and me enjoyed ourselves there so much we decided to stay over night (without hotel room) just strolling around and visiting the casinos.
To sum up this trip really paid as it was a great experience and the areas we visited are fun places to be.
