China

I flew from Hanoi to Hong Kong and arrived in the late afternoon and set about to explore the busy city.  There were still many streets occupied by protesters of the "Umbrella Movement" and evidence of the violence inflicted on them several weeks ago. I made my way to the Harbor to experience one of the most amazing sky lines in the world and got to watch a later light show.  

The next day I went across the harbor to Hong Kong Island to check out the water front attractions. Every high end fashion brand has a massive store that lines the streets by the harbor and visitors come from all over to shop there. Some of the most popular brands have lines that wrap around the block with people waiting to shop.

The next afternoon I took a flight into mainland China, and the city of Chengdu. I got in fairly late so I was only able to walk around a bit by my hostel. 

The following morning I joined a tour of some of the local non-touristy sites of Chengdu. We started out at a local street market, then ventured to a large monastery and finished with lunch at a nunery.  We were allowed to eat with the nuns in complete silence as they devoured every last grain of rice and drop of soup that was put in front of them. It was hard to keep up and you were visually scolded if you left any food in your bowls.  I then did my own more touristic city tour to the biggest Mao statue in China, to the people's park and for coffee in a traditional back alley.

Bright and early the next day I took a bus to the Chengdu Panda Sanctuary to watch them feast on bamboo.  The cubs all ate together on a platform that was only a few meters away and since I got there so early, I almost had the place entirely to myself.  I then took a few more buses to the city of Leshan to see a giant Buddha carved in to the side of a mountain in a huge bay.  When I got back I traveled north to Xi'an arriving late at night.

After some much needed sleep I jumped on a bus to a small town outside of Xi'an where the pits of the famous Teracotta Warriors are housed.  Each warrior and horse is modeled after a real member of the army so each is unique and all standing in battle formation to protect the emperor after death. Then when I got back to the city I rented a bike and rode around the wall that surrounds the city for sunset. 

Early the next morning I took a bus to Mount Huashan for a hike along its 5 vertical peaks. Because I was short I time, I utilized the newly installed gondola for a spectacular ride to the snow topped mountain. The hike was almost all hand made stairs that were carved into the mountain itself, with the highlight of the journey being a navigation around cliff on a 2 food wide plank of wood bolted into the rock.  Upon returning to Xi'an, I jumped on an overnight train bound for Beijing. 

On my first day in Beijing I walked through the Forbidden City where the Emperor's family used to be the only people allowed in the massive area. We then walked around the garden area and through a lakeside village.

The next morning I took a tour to a remote portion of the Great Wall called  Jinshanling. The wall was unrepared there and looked as it did when it was built. It was awe-inspiring to stand on the top of one of the watch towers and see the wall stretch for miles in each direction over mountains and through valleys.

The following day I did a self guided city tour, checking out the markets and a few of the temples. The city of Beijing is rich with tradition and history and it was great to see.

I really enjoyed the small amounts of China that I saw.  There are so many peaceful places in its huge cities with millions of people and most of the sites I saw were incredible. I will now be flying to Kathmandu, Nepal for some trekking.