Rosie & Jim's Travel Blog

A blog of all our travels

  |     |   China 2009   |   China, Shanghai
On arriving in Yichang, we disembarked the cruise and met our guide who was due to stay with us for the shortest period possible. We stopped to take some pictures for a bridge high above one of the Yangtze tributaries, and cruised through the centre of Yichang, stopping at an embrodery museum to see some absolutely outstanding embroidery. There were pieces there that were double sided, but had different pictures on each side, and many pieces that looked like very good paintings. All in all a surprisingly enjoyable 20mins. We then went to the airport. We arrived at the airport a little early, had a coffee and checked in early. When we went through to departures we discovered the flight was to be delayed a...

  |     |   China 2009   |   China, Yangtze
Our next day on the cruise led us into the first of the Three Gorges, the Qutang Gorge. Our friendly neighbourhood River Guide, Campbell, gave us a running commentary of our journey through the shortest of the Three Gorges. After lunch, we got off the boat again, but this time we were herded into small boats for a trip up the Daning River to see the Lesser Three Gorges. Here we saw the Hanging Coffins, and local monkeys :). About an hour and a half into the journey, we had to transfer to even smaller craft for the final section of the river, again a very interesting journey. We then reversed the boat hopping on our way back to the main cruise boat. After some...

  |     |   China 2009   |   China, Yangtze
Well we are now in Shanghai after a wonderful cruise along the Yangtze river, so now that we have an internet connection, here’s an update… Our last day in Chongqing was again a free day with the only event being the boarding of the boat. We walked into the centre of the city after checking out of the hotel and found a bookstore (Rosie has read all her books already). Rosie hunted around the English book section, while I looked around the Chinese as a foreign language section. Here I met an English teacher who wanted to practice her English, and wanted me to practice my Mandarin. She then recommended some of the text books. I thanked her very much, but decided against it in...

  |     |   Three Nations
We have finally started updating our earlier posts. The list below will grow as all the earlier posts are updated. Service Project Review Day (updated 15/08/2009) Gandantegchinlen, Heart Sutra and Back to Beijing (updated 17/08/2009) The Sights of Beijing (updated 17/08/2009)

  |     |   China 2009   |   China, Chongqing
In a change to our regularly scheduled programming, we went to Dazu today to see the rock carvings dating back as far as the 7th century. The carvings show stories influenced by Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist beliefs. We visisted one of the main sites at Mount Baoding. We finished up at Dazu in the early afternoon and headed back into Chongqing. As our tour to Dazu was booked as a full day, we were able to make use of the driver for a few more hours so our guide took us to Elin Park where we could see over most of Chongqing for some great shots. There was also a good musuem dedicated to the Three Gorges Project. Here we learnt about how the water...

  |     |   China 2009   |   China, Chengdu
So we have come to our last day in Chengdu. We packed our kit this morning and left it with the Concierge of the hotel for the day. We then headed out into the world to explore Chengdu. It seems to be a very organised city as all shops of the same type always seem to be on the same road. For example, on our way to the Tianfu Square, every shop we passed was a mobile phone shop, with a few food stops on route. Tianfu Square is just another big square like any other in China, with a big statue of Chairman Mao. We quickly moved on from here to Renmin (People’s) Park. In the park there were endless people dancing and playing...

  |     |   China 2009
Just to let the world know… I passed my exams!!!!! I’m now a fully qualified Health & Safety Officer!!! Now the trip can be a real celebration of both finishing studying as I don’t have to worry about doing anymore when we get back. :-) Thank you to everyone who has supported/put up with me over the last year.

  |     |   China 2009   |   China, Chengdu
Yesterday morning started off a whole lot better than the previous one. We had breakfast early and were waiting in reception at the right time. So when our guide arrived, we headed straight off to the Chengdu Panda Research Base just outside the city. On route, “Bob” told us why pandas like living in the Sichuan province. It turns out, pandas are very lazy and so are the people of the Sichuan province, so they get on brilliantly! We spent a couple of hours in the morning visiting the pandas at various stages of their lives, from 3 week old babies, up to the old adult pandas (12-15 years). We also learnt a little about another endangered animal, the red panda, which is related to...

  |     |   China 2009   |   Tibet, Lhasa
We had a very eventful departure from Lhasa the other day. On arrival at the airport, we were rubbed with some kind of cloth that was then Ion scanned before we were allowed in the building, then we were told that we were no longer due to check in for another 2 hours 40 mins as the flight was delayed. This was fine, except for the fact the departure board showed our flight departing on time. We rushed to the information desk, and they assured us that the plane had not even arrived yet, so could not be departing. We obviously felt better for this. Once we checked in, we went through to the departure lounge only to be told the flight would be delayed...

  |     |   China 2009   |   Tibet, Lhasa
Yesterday we were taken on a short tour of the countryside of Tibet finishing at Namtso Lake - the highest lake in the world (4718m). The 8 hour drive took us through some very dramatic scenery, with the Himalaya’s above us and numerous rivers snaking round us. The route to the lake took us over a mountain pass at a height of 5190m, a full 1490m higher than Lhasa (Yes, that is more than the height of Ben Nevis). That was the highest point we will reach during our stay here in China! During the course of our journey, we discovered many things about Tibetan driving. Firstly, they do not have speed cameras so to regulate speeding there are checkpoints on all the major roads....