16th September 2018 Big Wild Goose Pagoda

We wake up on Sunday 16th September 2018 to a wet and cold Xian, dressed for the weather, we eat a hearty breakfast and head to the big wild goose pagoda, we walk up the pagoda 7 stories with awesome views. Part of a gorgeous Buddhist temple. A monk walked from China to India to bring back the Buddhist faith! Onto the Museum - Many many people at the Shaanxi History Museum, two hour wait so we head off to another museum where we see the relics of the Han and Than and many other Dynasties and continue to the Muslim Quarter. We go through a bazaar and end up in the Great Mosque, dedicated to the moslem minority in China. Minorities which include Mongolians, have many opportunities, every year the mosque receives financial assistance from the government for improvements - this has led to a really large, impressive and well maintained structure.

Lunch at a moslem restaurant, 6 story restaurant older than 100 years, very well known for its dumplings. No alcohol. Once again delicious food - beef and lamb kebabs, spicy fish soup, green beans with chilly, special Chinese salad lettuce with peanut and delicious dressing and dumplings, I had to try them but not my favourite. Michaels noodles stir fry beef eaten with chop sticks. Leftovers taken home in a clean plastic bag.

Back to the hotel, rest, pack and then a walk to our favourite Starbucks for our nightly caffeine kick. 

14th September 2018 Beijing to Xian

The next day was Friday the 14th September 2018 - after a good nights sleep, we checked out and drove through the traffic to the summer palace where we walked through the beautiful garden of virtue and harmony and took a boat ride back to the entrance. Lunch of Peking duck, bread duck and seafood stew, amazing the taste and the methodology of the pancake, onion, cucumber combination. The youngsters, adults, people in general are all well mannered and the only disagreement seen is after an accident, there is so much traffic, millions of bicycles, cars, tricycles, battery driven motorbikes and tiny bukkies in Beijing. Everyone has to have insurance - compulsory and either Police or the insurance companies arrive on the scene and take pictures. Most were bumper bashing’s yet people got seriously upset. Coco kindly took us into the station, into the waiting room for our bullet train and we boarded the bullet train for Xian. The bullet train peaks at 350km per hour and is so quiet. Once again people are considerate and everything is impeccable.

Arrived in Xian station promptly met by our guide Susan and our driver around 18:30 who took us to the Titan Hotel, well what an amazing standard suite, it had a separate sitting room, both hotels with king size bed, complementary everything from toothbrush to sewing kits which came in very handy. We went for a walk and found the corner of the City wall that divides the city into inner and outer city. We were a bit hungry so stopped at a local restaurant, pointed at two pictures and got what we pointed at. Hehe, mine was beef with two types of chili, red and green, hot hot hot. The picture looked like beef with green and red peppers. Still delicious and we ate every morsel. Michael ended up with cold bacon and cucumber chili salad - also incredibly tasty but both of us ended the meal with runny eyes and nose.

13th September 2018 Beijing - The Wall

The next day Thursday, 13th of September 2018, we travelled 2.5hrs to Jinshan ling to walk the wall. Certainly a different experience to what we expected. Wow - the first thing you notice is the lack of people, hardly anyone walks this section of the wall. The second is the absolutely awesomeness of this construction, it goes for miles and miles. Up and down and around we went, sections of slippery slate and sections of bricks arranged lengthwise - different to our wall construction technique. Clearly it works as it has been there since prior to the Kublai Khan invasion. We managed to go to the end and then took the scenic route down the mountain and exited out a different gate. Goes down as one of the great hikes ever!

Lunch was at a local house, I had beans and chicken and Michael had potatoes and beef. Plain and delicious, not spicy at all. Car broke down just outside Beijing, our guide was stressing a little and we were not allowed out of the car. Luckily we were off the highway. DI DI to our rescue, the China equivalent of Uber got us safely back to our hotel.

We duplicated our previous nights steps with a bit more adventuring into side streets - our orientation skills were tested and we passed. We are so full from lunch that there is no dinner requirement. There is always a need for a Starbucks Frappuccino and Soya latte so we generally walk with the idea of finding a Starbucks. Why do we not go to any other place??? The language barrier makes it difficult to explain that we want coffee or even tea, the answer is alway the same - ‘we don’t have’ even though we can see there must be. I asked for green tea on the train. Well that was my problem - there is hot water but you must be savvy enough to bring your own container and tea and then you can have it at no cost!!! Another example of differences is the coffee at Y31 equivalent 62Rands and a noodle and meat dish or a rice and meat dish at Y22 to Y28 so 44Rand to 56Rand clearly there are coffee taxes.

12th September 2018 Beijing

Slept very well even with the time difference, went down to the 2nd floor to a large restaurant for breakfast. Every vegetable and salad as well as eggs, soup, coffee, green and black tea - in my element I ate combinations of stir fry veg. Michael likes green tea and it now has pride of place beside Chinese beer.

Met our guide Coco in the lobby at 9:30 on Wednesday 12th of September 2018 to start our exploration of Beijing. We keep the same guide and driver for the 3 days in Beijing.

Our driver took us to the start of Tiananmen Square, traffic is crazy but it works, it just keeps moving. Very rarely have we experienced actual gridlock. The Chinese have crowd control mastered. Large areas to stand in, queues that always move forward. Everything is very modern and clean - people do not crowd you - no persistent hawkers. Even though in the middle of the city, the whole area around the square is very peaceful. We see the Mau Tze Tzung mausoleum from the outside, walk past the tower of independence and Memorial Day gardens. Many preparations in the various gardens for Memorial Day or it may be the day of independence, 1st October - with wire shaped constructions filled with plants and flowers. Works of art. We continued under the next road into the Forbidden City. The gate can be seen all the way from the start of our walk around Tiananmen Square, imposing in bright red.

The construction has 9999.5 rooms, as one of the emperor of one of the dynasties believed that god had 10000 rooms so out of respect..... so many colourful dynasties lasting different amount of years, for a foreigner you feel immersed in the history all around you. We can appreciate the relics and the amazing buildings but cannot keep the different families in order and give up trying. Every building entered had a threshold that did not open as ghosts cannot bend their legs, cannot jump so cannot get into the house.

Lunch at a local restaurant is an occasion - people here love food, order many dishes. A big discussion prior to ordering as to what each person wants after which one person places the whole order, that person also seems to be in control of dishing out the tea and soup. All of the dishes are shared. Whatever is not finished is taken home for the next meal.  Dishes of vegetables that we know and others completely foreign, stir fried noodles with either tofu, beef, chicken or pork, lots of different mushrooms and fungi. Fungi is a type of mushroom that is rubbery yet tasty, seems to take on the taste of the dish with which it is mixed. Lots of spicy food with such a a variety of flavors that it is impossible to describe. I am in my element, definitely part Chinese.

We move onto the Hutong tour in the Dongsheng District in a rickshaw, with visit to a local house, very narrow streets with one family living in one room of a courtyard and their parents, brothers or sisters having other rooms in the same courtyard. There seems to be a communal kitchen for the whole courtyard with communal bathrooms for the whole Hutong like you would have in a caravan park in SA. I have used normal sitting toilets and squatting toilets all clean. Only bad experience was in a Starbucks. People’s policies seem to be strict but fair. Incredibly disciplined in their outlook on life. Long work hours leads to better income. Everyone believes in hard work, no beggars or people living on the street. Children are expected to study hard as it is their only responsibility. Government is cracking down on gaming addiction with 10Cent a large gaming company setting the standards on identifying young gamers and restricting their gaming time.

Next was the Temple of Heaven where all the emperors performed rituals for a good harvest and if they got it, they went back to give thanks and if they had a bad harvest, they went back to pray for rain. Again you are back in history with beautifully decorated structures all arranged in the Meridian line, East to West as China was the Centre of the world and all else radiated out...

That night we walked out of our hotel and 20minutes later we were at a night food market. We walked and experienced the night life of the locals, we always felt welcome and included, everyone smiled or stared. Being a tall largish woman with white bushy hair definitely is head turning for the average Chinese person, I often smiled at people, they stopped whatever they were busy with, just to stare. No worries from my side as usually the stare was quickly accompanied by a smile.

11th September 2018, Trip to China, Arrival in Beijing

We arrived in Beijing late on Tuesday night after two eight hour flights, Cape Town, Dubai, Beijing. I love everything about airports, they are magical places that transport us on amazing adventures. Beijing is everything we imagined and more. Efficient and modern with large passages enabling fast throughput of passengers past passport control and customs. Luggage took some time as it was a large aircraft and completely full. Our driver and our guide Coco met us with a sign - our name, easy enough to find - no evidence of long queues or governmental control. Leisurely drive to Dongfeng hotel. Good hotel, clean lovely towels with complimentary bottled water, tea and slippers.

Air BnB in Tamboerskloof a bird eyes view

We stayed at the highest point in Tamboerskloof , we went for dinner at a gorgeous restaurant in which Carolyn’s sister is the head chef. Michael recons it was the best meal he has had in a long time. I agree 100%.

Wedding in Tulbagh in the Western Cape

Congratulations Chantelle, Gregg on your beautiful wedding. Mike and Fleur, you must be proud. Thank you for inviting Michael and I, we had a lovely time.