Good food and a walk whilst in north east China
A couple of years ago, after my friend Jon and I climbed Mount Changbai in Jilin Province we took a bus down the mountain and there was an entrance to a forest and even though we were rather tired once we saw the beautiful red, orange and yellow coloured leaves, we decided to take a walk.
Luckily for us, it was only a forty-minute route along a boardwalk so a lot easier than climbing up and down the 1000 plus steps of the mountain. 
The well-made boardwalk followed the canyon rim through the forest affording us the opportunity to see the beautiful autumn colours and large rock formations.
After our walk we hopped back into our transport and returned to our hotel. After a quick break, we walked down a lovely set of wooden stairs lit with fairy lights to an area near our hotel where we had previously seen a few restaurants.
The interior of the restaurant interior was ‘interesting’ with its fake plants and coloured flags on the ceiling and floral chair furnishings but it was clean; the food was fresh and most importantly it was really good. Jon enjoyed a local beer and I stuck to soda water as Chinese wine is definitely not to my liking! 
We enjoyed a few vegetable dishes including my favourite eggplant dish (Yu xiang qie ze) as well as a fresh chilli tofu dish (ma po do fu), a plate of mushrooms and noodles and a couple of meat dishes for Jon.
Inexpensive meal; great day; very tired – time to go to bed!
Just over a year ago, I returned to China with my friend Jon. I arranged for us to travel to various provinces; some I had already visited and others for the first time. It made me think of how many provinces I had seen throughout China so whilst travelling along the Yangtze River from Sichuan to Hubei Province I made my list and there are only two provinces I have not visited; Tibet Autonomous Region and Hainan Island.
Wuhan is a city of around eleven million people making it the seventh most populated city in China; amazing to think how different that is to my home town, Canberra which has a population of around 390,000!!
The trip only took about forty-minutes but it afforded us good views of the city and also of East Lake Park which is located in the midst of the city. We also saw several bridges in the Wuhan downtown area; some traditional and others modern.
This was not exactly a thrilling boat ride and the boat was rather old and rusty but it was a good way to see buildings and bridges that we would not have seen from a vehicle.
Whilst visiting Sichuan Province our friend Peter took Jon and I to a famous alleyway called Kuanzhai Xiangzi which consists of a wide alley (Kuan Xiangzi) and a narrow alley (Zhai Xiangzi). There are actually three parallel ancient city alleyways and forty-five courtyards along them and I am sure most Sichuanese were out on the same day as us [it was a Sunday so it is lovely to see everyone out and about]. But boy oh boy; so many people!!
There was plenty to see along the way including lovely entry ways to courtyards and shops and beautiful large wooden doors with brass knockers…
And of course ‘interesting’ figures. But I feel this one made some sense [much more than others I have seen] as the province of Sichuan is known for its spicy chilli dishes and the figure was outside a shop grinding fresh chillies…
One thing that the alley has is plenty of food stores selling all sorts of wonderful hot and cold dishes to eat like beautifully displayed tofu with lots of chilli, sweet fried balls and bread along with cold rice and noodle dishes.
The history of the alley way is dated back to the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911 AD). At that time, the area was a city called Mancheng City or Shaocheng City where its residents were troops. As with most places left unrestored, the city decayed but in 2003 renovations began and the alley way opened in 2008. It has small restaurants/souvenir shops created to look like those from the Qing Dynasty and of course tea rooms selling delicious Chinese tea.
I really enjoyed seeing the local drinks and desserts as they are very different to what we enjoy here in Australia. Pretty drinks with what looked like hot ice coming out of the top of a very large plastic cup.
And all flavours and colours of ice cream (some more interesting than others), ice blocks, small rice cups, cups full of cream and fruit and of course watermelon.
We walked one length of the alley on the right hand side and then turned around and walked up the other way to make sure we saw all the shops…a lovely afternoon out even though most of Chengdu was with us!!
Whilst in Liaoning Province last year, my friend Jon and I went to Benxi Water Caves for a visit. These caves are about an hour’s drive from the capital Shenyang so again using a trusty guide and driver, off we went. 
The caves are located in Benxi National Park and our guide told us they are the longest underground water-filled caves found in the world and that they contain the world’s longest underground river at 5.8 kilometres. Of this, only 2.8 kilometres are accessible by boat. I never think our guides are untruthful, however I have heard many [many] times during my travels around China that some structure is either the oldest/biggest/longest/tallest so I am not sure of the accuracy of this statement.
My photos are not great [or even good] as I only had my mobile telephone with me in the caves which were quite dark. The ride in small boats took about forty-five minutes and wearing too small life jackets we boarded and then on occasions we had to duck our heads as the stalactites were quite low. Was a fun time though with the usual bright and colourful lights highlighting the cave.
Little bit of interesting information on how to remember which are stalactites and which are stalagmites…the word stalactite has a ‘c’ for ‘ceiling’ and the word stalagmite has a ‘g’ for ‘ground’…an easy way to remember I think..
After our visit we hopped off the boat and took a short walk through part of the cave where at the exit we were met by our driver and taken to lunch. We arrived at a typical Chinese looking building with basic interior but enjoyed an ok lunch[I say ‘ok’ as it was not some of the best food I have had in China] consisting of several Chinese dishes including an egg dish, rice, a meat dish for Jon and the usual eggplant dish for me.
Before returning to our hotel we took a quick tour of Shenyang city; not an awful lot to see but we got out of the car to look around and seeing as it was very warm, got a good spray of water from the fountain in the city centre.
Then back to our hotel after another great day in China!
After a relaxing evening, early the next morning Jon and I were picked up by our tour guide and driver and taken to Jinyue Lake Forest National Park. The park covers an area of 200 square kilometres, with over 4.3 square kilometres water surface and 80 square kilometres planted forest. We told our guide we wanted to walk quite a distance within the park so our driver dropped us off at the main entrance. Firstly to see as much as we could and secondly to ensure we reached our 12,000+ steps for the day.
The park also had some cartoon character statues – no idea why they were there but I have come to enjoy seeing these statues in many places around China!! Pepa Pig and family were first to greet us followed by some other characters I didn’t know and then Mr Fox and Ms Rabbit…
Although after about four hours, we were a little tired and rather hungry so we cheated a little and had our driver pick us up from another entry/exit point to/from the park. A great day out to enjoy China’s surprisingly beautiful bright blue sky.
The next day we visited Museum of the Imperial Palace of Manchukuo. 
The palace was the official residence created by the Imperial Japanese Army for China’s last emperor of the Qing dynasty, Puyi. It was where Puyi lived as part of his role as Emperor of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. The Chinese refer to the museum as the Puppet Emperor’s Palace & Exhibition Hall and are not particularly complimentary about Puyi with his ‘defection’ to Japan.
HISTORY – [source: Wikepedia] In 1931, the Japanese took control of the Northeast of China, the area of modern-day Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces, which were historically known as Manchuria. The Japanese created an officially independent state in Manchuria which they named Manchukuo which was in reality a puppet state of Japan. In an attempt to lend legitimacy to Manchukuo, the Japanese installed Puyi as Emperor of Manchukuo.
Finally, in 1945, the Second World War was brought to an end and the Japanese surrendered to China. At the same time, the Manchukuo ceased to exist and Puyi returned to the status of an ordinary citizen.
But back to the palace – it was designed as a miniature version of the Forbidden City in Beijing and is divided into an inner court and outer court. The outer or front court was used for administrative purposes and the inner or rear court as the royal residence. Both the front and rear court were maintained beautifully and the furniture was stunning. You can imagine an emperor living there…
The palace grounds cover an area of 43,000 square meters. We spent most of our time in the royal residence but also took a short stroll around the grounds.
Our guide kindly made us a dipping bowl of oil, shallots, ginger, garlic, sesame seeds and sesame oil. This fabulous concoction we used to dip our cooked food into before eating. Jon added more chilli to his bowl and told me he regretted this as it was ‘so’ hot, but he still ate all his meat and some vegetables.
I cooked and ate so much food; incredible noodles, bean sprouts, sweet potato, cabbage, three types of mushrooms, some tofu and delicious tofu skin. What a meal!!
Then it was time to hit the traffic and head to the ship. Once on board we were asked if we both wanted to upgrade our rooms to suites; we did! And really glad as the standard rooms were very small but the suites had a lovely lounge area with a little balcony.
Usually non-Chinese are seated in a different eating area to the Chinese which I didn’t like so Jon and I asked to sit with the Chinese and we met some really lovely people. We sat on the same table for each meal and enjoyed the company of a range of very friendly Chinese. These two gorgeous little girls were our favourites – they spoke some English but loved it when I spoke Chinese to them.
I had previously taken this cruise in 2013 and was lucky enough to travel through the five ship lift locks but we were told now-days passenger ships cannot travel through the lift locks. This is a photo from 2013 looking out the back of our ship as we had travelled through the locks. It was an amazing experience.
Our ship sailed through three gorges; Qutang, Wu and Xiling over four days and three nights. 
The views of each of the gorges was lovely and some better than others due to the time of the day or just plain bad weather.
The crew put on a show each night which was lovely. Wonderful costumes and great singing and dancing.
One day we took a smaller boat to a part of the river that could not take the larger boat; so beautiful!
Such a wonderful relaxing time as after four weeks’ travelling around China, I think we needed this.
Whilst in Hong Kong, my Chinese friend had told me about Lee Tung Avenue to visit to look at the Chinese lanterns and have a cup of tea. On my last day I decided to walk from my hotel and try and find it without a map of any sorts ie paper or smart phone. I knew the general area so I set off.
Walking along and looking up, I loved the juxtaposition of the old apartments on the next street and the brand new shops along the avenue.
There are also some pretty cool people just sitting around enjoying the lanterns…
The cafes are quaint with beautiful displays of gorgeous pastries, (over priced) jams and other beautifully wrapped and bottled items. 
It didn’t take long to walk along this avenue but its so pretty that it is definitely worth a visit.
And of course one of the the ‘must’ do’ things in Hong Kong is a visit to The Peak. One very warm afternoon, my friend Naomi and I walked to the tram station but as it was 2pm there was a huge line for the tram so we decided we would return the next day when the tram first opened and miss the lengthy queues.
If you are wealthy enough, then a home on The Peak is for you. The more privileged residents of Hong Kong not only have the great views but also an escape from the scorching summer heat. When I lived in Hong Kong I was lucky enough to get invited to the home of the Australian Consulate General which is on The Peak; beautiful home with stunning gardens…wow I would have loved to live there!
I did a little bit of research and found we could take the larger ferry from North Point to Kowloon city. Only thing was I had no idea where to go from Kowloon as I had not previously been there and our map didn’t cover Kowloon but I thought there would be signs…wrong!! 
Outside the ferry terminal was the bus station and I asked for help but no-one knew which bus would take us to the Walled City including some of the drivers. Finally a lovely man approached us and offered assistance. He found out which bus we should take and off we went. He approached us at the bus stop once again and asked if we knew where to get off. We both laughed as we hadn’t even thought of that…thank goodness for this lovely gentleman.
We walked to Kowloon Walled City Park; about ten minutes from the bus stop. From the 1950s until 1994, over 50,000 people lived and worked at Kowloon Walled City. It was a massive complex of 300 interconnected buildings that took up an entire city block. A government survey in 1987 showed an estimated 33,000 people resided within the City and at its peak there was an estimated 50,000. Based on this survey, the Walled City had a population density of approximately 1,255,000 inhabitants per square kilometre making it the most densely populated spot in the world.
(source: South China Morning Post)
(source: Greg Girard ‘City of Darkness Revisited’)
Once you enter the park, you immediately come across a model of the walled city; it’s amazing to see how many buildings comprised the city. 
The park has many beautiful gardens, statues, terraces and floral walks.
Every plant and tree is beautifully manicured and maintained including bonsai and one long bush shaped as a dragon…
There is also an educational aspect which was really interesting. We watched a few videos on the city and its occupants. There were dozens of alleyways often only 1–2 metres wide with poor lighting and drainage. Construction in the city went unregulated, and most of the roughly 350 buildings were built with poor foundations and few or no utilities including electricity. 
We decided to take a taxi to the Star Ferry terminal to get back onto Hong Kong Island; one of my favourite things to do in HK, enjoying the views of the well-lit buildings along the harbour front. 
And also passing by one of several junk boats on the harbour…
After hopping off the ferry, we decided to walk back to our hotel and along the way we stopped and bought pineapple cakes, which really are fresh milky bread with a sweet topping – not a pineapple in sight but delicious anyway.
Another great day out in fabulous Hong Kong!
Its body is made of white stone and there are sun, moon and flame engravings on the surface of the tower. It was destroyed in 1679 by an earthquake and rebuilt the following year, and restored again in 1976 because of the Tangshan earthquake near Beijing.
There are also beautiful buildings around the park with the usual large gorgeous Chinese lanterns.
And to the south of the Five-Dragon Pavilion lies the Nine Dragon Wall.
Whilst I was studying Mandarin in Beijing in 2010, friends of mine invited me to a weekend away to Chengde to see the Imperial Summer Mountain Resort and its outlying temples, which is about a three to four hour drive from Beijing. I thought this was a great way to see somewhere out of Beijing and escape the heat and pollution, so off I went with five others in a hired bus complete with tour guide.
The Mountain Resort is a summer palace for the Emperor during the Qing dynasty and was built between 1703 and 1792 and took eighty-nine years to complete. The resort is ‘huge’…it’s as big as the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace combined. It’s surrounded by a ten kilometres long wall and covers 590 hectares.
Emperors often spent several months a year at the resort to escape the summer heat in Beijing and the palace area in the southern part of the resort was designed to resemble the Forbidden City in Beijing. It consisted of two parts: the front where the emperor received high officials and foreigners and the imperial family’s living quarters in the rear.
When we arrived in Chengde we first taken to our hotel to check-in then after a quick lunch went to visit the resort. We took a lovely boat ride along one of the lakes and enjoyed the surrounding scenery. The boat staff were dressed in traditional Chinese clothing and parts of the boats were painted ’emperor yellow’.
The resort is known for its seventy-two scenic spots which were named by two different Chinese emperors. Many of the scenic spots around the resort’s lake area were copied from famous landscaped gardens in southern China. For instance, the main building on the Green Lotus Island called ‘Tower of Mist and Rain’ is modeled upon a tower in one of the lakes in Zhejiang Province.
The resort also has a seventy metre tall stone Chinese pagoda, said to be one of the tallest in China and built in 1751. The pagoda is shaped with an octagonal base, while the pagoda’s nine stories are decorated with colorful glazed tiles and the steeple is crowned with a gilded round spire.
After the boat ride we were given time to ourselves to walk throughout the grounds and the ruins of the palace. A very beautiful place to stroll although because it was summer time and there were many parts of the grounds without shade, I found it pretty warm albeit not anything like the heat in Beijing.
After a very long day, we returned to our hotel for dinner, followed by another day in Chengde which I will post on another time!!
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