Treasures of China

Travelogue

It all started with a family discussion. What to do for our Ruby wedding Anniversary - the children wanted a party, “You will be too old to want one for your Golden Anniversary!” - we wanted a holiday of a lifetime. The children won and we won - they arranged a party for us and we went to China.

We flew to Beijing. Our first excursion was to Tian’anem Square and we promptly got separated from our group. Quite frightening being lost in strange country and not speaking the language. However we remembered that the group was going on to the Forbidden City and amazingly we found them amongst all the other tourists, thanks to some very helpful tour guides from other holiday companies.
The Forbidden City covers 175 acres and contains 9000 rooms, from there we went to the Beijing

Summer Palace for a soothing lake trip. That evening we visited the Chinese Opera, all I will say is that it was VERY loud
An interesting visit was arranged to a Chinoiserie factory to see the various procedures, from applying brass wire and different coloured enamels to the firing process. The day continued to the Sacred Way where life size stone animals and warriors guard the tombs of 13 Ming Emperors
No trip to China is complete without a visit to the Great Wall of China, 2600 years old and 3800 miles long, one of the few man made structures to be seen from space.

An internal flight to Chongqing to join our River Yangtze cruise aboard the Princess Elaine, which proved very comfortable with wonderful food and amazing entertainment. Before boarding we visited the local zoo and saw our first live Pandas.

The cruise down the Yangtze was breathtaking. We visited the City of Ghosts and had a trip up the Shennong Stream in a “pea pod” boats pulled by four very slightly built Chinese called trackers. We felt rather guilty as several people in our boat, us included, were rather overweight. The deserted villages which will be flooded by the new dam were a very sad sight. 1.5 million people are being re-housed, each household is given the equivalent £5000, the young are pleased but the elders are not so happy.

The Three Gorges are truly awe-inspiring, with the Qutang Gorge being the most dramatic of them all. The Yangtze river, third longest in the world, is

6300 kilometres long and the Yangtze Dam Project (also known as the “Three Gorges Dam”) will create a reservoir 600 kilometres long and engulf 30.000 hectares of farmland, it is a truly amazing feat of engineering.

We then flew to Shanghai, the largest city in China, for a modern city, it is amazingly beautiful.
Then onto Guilin, famous for its landscape of ancient limestone hills. The River Li winds through magical ‘willow pattern’ scenery, so often depicted in Chinese Paintings with river life being played out along the banks. After this tranquil boat trip we went on a very bumpy motorbike and sidecar ride into the farmlands seeing water buffalo ploughing the paddy fields, the outdated, but very efficient irrigation system and cormorant fishing. This was China off the typical tourist track.

Our next internal flight was to Xian to see the Qin Terracotta Army built 221 B.C.
Nothing can prepare you for the scale of this incredible site with its thousands of life size figures and horses - so beautifully crafted. We also had the opportunity of being some of the first foreign tourists to visit The Yangling Mausoleum of Emperor Jingdi (circa 142 B.C.) - a tomb in the same vicinity but with pottery figurines and farm and domestic animals - dogs, chickens etc.

The holiday was a holiday of a lifetime, with nothing but happy memories. The kindness and friendliness of the Chinese people, whether it was is in an Hotel, a market or in a re-housed settlement. The food was varied and delicious.
My wife’s most unforgettable memory was practicing Tai Chi at dawn (with a Chinese Instructor) on the upper deck of our river boat at as we drifted through the magnificent Three Gorges.


Treasures of China
*By N Shepherd, UK*

Destination China
Categories Singles, Over 50's, No Kids

Travelogue It all started with a family discussion. What to do for our Ruby wedding Anniversary - the children wanted a party, “You will be too old to want one for your Golden Anniversary!” - we wanted a holiday of a lifetime. The children won and we won - they arranged a party for us and we went to China. We flew to Beijing. Our first excursion was to Tian’anem Square and we promptly got separated from our group. Quite frightening being lost in strange country and not speaking the language. However we remembered that the group was going on to the Forbidden City and amazingly we found them amongst all the other tourists, thanks to some very helpful tour guides from other holiday companies. The Forbidden City covers 175 acres and contains 9000 rooms, from there we went to the Beijing Summer Palace for a soothing lake trip. That evening we visited the Chinese Opera, all I will say is that it was VERY loud An interesting visit was arranged to a Chinoiserie factory to see the various procedures, from applying brass wire and different coloured enamels to the firing process. The day continued to the Sacred Way where life size stone animals and warriors guard the tombs of 13 Ming Emperors No trip to China is complete without a visit to the Great Wall of China, 2600 years old and 3800 miles long, one of the few man made structures to be seen from space. An internal flight to Chongqing to join our River Yangtze cruise aboard the Princess Elaine, which proved very comfortable with wonderful food and amazing entertainment. Before boarding we visited the local zoo and saw our first live Pandas. The cruise down the Yangtze was breathtaking. We visited the City of Ghosts and had a trip up the Shennong Stream in a “pea pod” boats pulled by four very slightly built Chinese called trackers. We felt rather guilty as several people in our boat, us included, were rather overweight. The deserted villages which will be flooded by the new dam were a very sad sight. 1.5 million people are being re-housed, each household is given the equivalent £5000, the young are pleased but the elders are not so happy. The Three Gorges are truly awe-inspiring, with the Qutang Gorge being the most dramatic of them all. The Yangtze river, third longest in the world, is 6300 kilometres long and the Yangtze Dam Project (also known as the “Three Gorges Dam”) will create a reservoir 600 kilometres long and engulf 30.000 hectares of farmland, it is a truly amazing feat of engineering. We then flew to Shanghai, the largest city in China, for a modern city, it is amazingly beautiful. Then onto Guilin, famous for its landscape of ancient limestone hills. The River Li winds through magical ‘willow pattern’ scenery, so often depicted in Chinese Paintings with river life being played out along the banks. After this tranquil boat trip we went on a very bumpy motorbike and sidecar ride into the farmlands seeing water buffalo ploughing the paddy fields, the outdated, but very efficient irrigation system and cormorant fishing. This was China off the typical tourist track. Our next internal flight was to Xian to see the Qin Terracotta Army built 221 B.C. Nothing can prepare you for the scale of this incredible site with its thousands of life size figures and horses - so beautifully crafted. We also had the opportunity of being some of the first foreign tourists to visit The Yangling Mausoleum of Emperor Jingdi (circa 142 B.C.) - a tomb in the same vicinity but with pottery figurines and farm and domestic animals - dogs, chickens etc. The holiday was a holiday of a lifetime, with nothing but happy memories. The kindness and friendliness of the Chinese people, whether it was is in an Hotel, a market or in a re-housed settlement. The food was varied and delicious. My wife’s most unforgettable memory was practicing Tai Chi at dawn (with a Chinese Instructor) on the upper deck of our river boat at as we drifted through the magnificent Three Gorges.

Must See Attractions Tian’anem Square Forbidden City Chinoiserie Factory Sacred Way Great Wall of China River Yangtze Cruise City of Ghosts Paddy Fields Qin Terracotta Army The Yangling Mausoleum of Emperor Jingdi


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