Tokyo

I love the Japanese. As a country and people they are so much more civilized than anywhere else. They have seemingly thought of everything. We spent only a day in Tokyo, basically due to the cost, but I would love to go back and see the rest of the country. My good friend Takashi and his fiance Nana met us in Tokyo and were good enough to show us the sites.
We spent the morning on a bus tour of Tokyo, visiting Tokyo Tower to take in views of the city and luckily get a great view of Mt Fuji which is usually shrouded in cloud. We also went to the outside of the Imperial Palace, some temple, and frankly I can't remember what else. Tokyo isn't known for its sites. After the tour we made our way to the Fish Market to try some fair dinkum sushi. Neither Leighanne or I had ever really tried sushi, so our first experience was to be at a small restuarant inside the market where the sushi is made right in front of your eyes. It was great, strange, but great. I have no idea what type of sushi we had because it was all in Japanese, but I have no doubt that we had the full sushi experience. Afterwards we visited the Sony Building with all the latest gadgets, minus Playstation 3, then spent the evening drinking amazingly expensive beer in Ikebukuro.

Now, as mentioned before, the Japanese have thought of everything. A few examples are the seemingly endless array of vending machines that provide a quick service for all your needs. One beverage machine can spit out 2C cold soft-drinks and 95C hot coffees, including latte, americano, etc... these all come in cans with special holders so you don't burn your hand. All trains stop at the exact same place on the platform at every station, so in a very orderly fashion everyone queues up and lets the other passengers depart then enter the carriages in an extremely civilized fashion, pushing and shoving is not in the vocabulary. You can even have your train ticket on your mobile phone, nevermind the pre-paid cards like the Oyster Card in London. You simply place your phone on the scanner and away you go. The examples are endless and I'm sure we only experienced a few, but it was educational nonetheless.

After our whirlwind tour of Tokyo it was time to board the long flight to America and Christmas time.

Superpower People

The Chinese are unique. Think back to the time when you were about 16 years old, that is pretty much how most Chinese adults act at all times. The difference is, where as at 16 years old most people weren't particularly clever, the Chinese are extremely clever. In a short time their country will rule the roost.
Their culture and the way people act in social circumstances is almost completely opposite of how people are supposed to act in 'Western' countries. The most glaring example that everyone knows is the spitting. Now this is not the 'I've got too much saliva in my mouth' type of spit, it is more extract part of your lung and stomach spit. The noise associated with the spitting is my soundtrack of China. Spitting is everywhere, on the street, in the train station, in the train, in the bus, in the restuarant, nowhere is of limits. No wonder every building has tile floors. It is not uncommon to see big globs of spit/chewed food scattered around the floor of restuarants.
The next noticable difference is 'queue' or 'line' etiquette, it simply doesn't exist. With over a billion people populating the country, the queues would be seriously long and time is money. So it's everyone for themselves, your best option is to sharpen your elbows and dive into the fray. It's important to remember that generally you are much bigger then the Chinese, apart from Leighanne, so you have to use your size to your advantage. Plus, the sight of a white person getting stuck in tends to shock the Chinese into inaction.
Other examples are constant burping, clearing nose of mucus without the use of tissues, exceedingly load talking, open mouth eating, etc...
Our ingrained example of Chinese culture is a train trip we took from Yichang to Xi'an. We had a foghorn snoring in one bunk, a chronic burper in the next, and a whole carriage of chain smoking spitting passengers swarming just outside the cabin. Ah the joys of public transport.
All these differences are a little off putting initially, but gain a certain endearing quality as time goes on. Before you know it your starting to join in, if nothing else then to get a reaction. The West will have to start getting used to the sight of more and more Chinese visiting their neighborhoods soon, because they have lots of money and aren't going to lose it anytime soon.

Beijing

Beijing is seriously on the move with the upcoming Olympics the main excuse to build a new flash skyscraper. The government has even gone to the extent of launching new weather satellites and is looking into weather influencing technologies. Above all the various quirky government policies, Beijing is a very cool city. There is an incredible amount of stuff to see and do and we were rushed to fit everything into our week in the city.

Beijing is the perverbial center of China, Shanghai and Shenzhen may be making most of the dollars, or yuan, but Beijing definitely runs the show. If Beijing is the center, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City is the core.

Tiananmen Square is massive, supposedly the worlds largest public space, but I'm not so sure, the Chinese have a fixation with everything the biggest and best. The square is lined with imposing government buildings and has the mausoleum of Mao Zedong at its center. The mausoleum is open for visitors, but you must jostle with the thousands of Chinese tourists making the pilgrimage to see their most influential leader and idol. For all the horredous acts committed against the Chinese people and culture during the Cultural Revolution, most of which is not taught in schools, Chairman Mao is worshipped as a God. His likeness is omnipresent, with huge statues and posters everywhere.

The Forbidden City is so called because it used to be the home and office of the many emporers that ruled China, and only the Emperor and associates were allowed within the impressive walls. The southern entrance to the Forbidden City is the Gate of Heavenly Peace, which is one of the most famous gates on earth. Above the main tunnel is a huge portrait of Chairman Mao that was damaged with paint eggs during the Tiananmen Square uprising in 1989. No such uprising would be possible now with many police, military, and undecover agents continually moving around Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Unfortunately, the Forbidden City is getting a facelift in time for the Olympics in 2008. Many of the main buildings are shrouded in scaffolding, however most of the bordering buildings have been beautifully restored and the new paint job sparkles in the sunshine.

There are numerous temples scattered throughout Beijing including some important Tibetan Buddhist temples. The most famous are the Temple of Heaven and the Lama Temple, but at this stage of the trip we are a bit templed out. Nevertheless we made the trip to see both and were suitable impressed. The Lama Temple even possess a 46m high Buddha statue, which rivals the huge reclining Buddha in Bangkok.

However, the thing that seems to draw the tourists the most is the two big clothing and gift markets. Seeing as a good proportion of the worlds clothes and shoes are produced in China, there are some seriously good bargains to be had. These are definitely not the fixed-price kind of market and the bargaining is not for the faint of heart. Most negotiating episodes last anywhere from 10-30min and generally involve a lot of pleading and puppy dog eyes. If you can keep your nerve in the face of stiff competition the goods are there for the taking.

Apart from seeing the sites, there are numerous culinary delights to be had in Beijing. The above picture is a few of the exotic type. The must eat is Peking duck, famous throughout the word from every Chinese restuarant. We had duck twice, once at a fancy restuarant frequented by Prince Andrew and George Bush Sr. and the other a local place were it's quite ok to spit on the floor. Both where equally good and the latter was much more pleasant on the budget.

Beijing is definitely one of the worlds great cities, apart from the claustrophobic smog it offers so much for every visitor. I'm sure the Chinese government will install every bell and whistle to wow the world come 2008.

The Great Wall

The Great Wall is definitely high up on the 'must do before you die' list and it didn't dissapoint. The Great Wall was built to keep marauding nomads from Mongolia out of the Kingdom. The Great Wall never really did it's intended job as a military barrier, but did provide an invaluable means of transporting men, goods and information over extremely treacherous terrain. As everyone has seen in pictures, the wall snakes for thousands of miles up and over mountains peaks into the distance.
Our trip out to the Great Wall started early on Thursday morning with a 3 hour bus trip through congested Beijing traffic. There are many sections of the wall surrounding Beijing, some completely restored and others crumbling to bits. We visited a bit of both on our trip. We arrived at Jinshanling to start our 10km hike along the length of the wall to Simatai. The section of the wall at Jinshanling is very much un-restored. Certain points are roped off due to the precarious state of either the wall or guard towers. Other sections are in remarkable good shape and have definitely stood the test of time. As you climb along the wall you can see it bobbing up and down in the distance as it peaks at the many mountain tops that dominate this part of China. Our day was wonderfully clear and crisp, which was a welcome retreat from the suffocating smog of Beijing. The first half of the hike was rather strenous with a few step climbs over crumbling stone, but the views were stunning wherever we stopped. A definite bonus of suffering the cold of a Chinese winter is that the wall was practically deserted except for the 10 or so people on our tour. As we neared Simatai certain sections of the wall have been restored and over a welcome escape from the previous scramble. A bit beyond the Simatai exit the wall ascends steeply up onto sheer cliffs. This section is not open for exploring, which is probably on smart because the fall from the side is immense. Our experience of walking the wall incredible and is a must for everyone who visits China. As Mae Zedong said 'He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man".

Army of Terracotta Warriors

It must be one of the grandest egotistical statements ever made. A Chinese emperor so full of himself that he builds a 8000 strong army of terracotta warriors, horses and chariots to defend his tomb. Complete in battle formation and weaponry the warriors stood guard over his tomb for 2000 years until it was discovered in the 1970's. The warriors themselves are incredible with stunning detail, with the varying ranks or infantry and officers each having the appropriate uniform, hairstyle, shoes, and armor. It is thought that the sculptures who made the warriors used themselves as inspiration for the faces and body style, so almost every warrior has slight differences between the others. Some stand very erect while others slouch slightly, some are broad shoulders while a few look rather scrawny. They are the perfect replica of a real army. When the tomb and army was discovered the warriors were in possesion of still sharp swords and spears that had been buried for 2000 years. It was found that the weapons had been coated with a protective chemical that was only discovered by the US and Germany before World War II. The history of China is immense, to think that they had highly civilized culture here when London was a grubby village on a bend of the river.
The rest of our time in Xi'an was spent viewing the sites around town and trying to minimize the impact of the thick shroud of smog. The pollution is so bad that some days it literally blocks out the sun. I also scored one of my great purchases on this trip, a 1969 authentic Chairman Mao 'little red book' complete with Chinese notations and all.

Three Gorges

After leaving the Pandas and Chengdu behind we boarded our '4-star' Chinese cruise ship for the 4-day trip down the Yangtze River and through the famous Three Gorges. During the winter months the number of ships plying the river greatly decreases, so the selection is a bit slim. We opted for the 1st class cabin and thank goodness we did, otherwise we would of been sharing with upto 6 other vodka swilling chain smoking Chinese. Not a bad thing in a bar, but in an enclosed cabin for 4 days it's not very good for your health. The cruise itself was rather boring and for anybody considering the trip in the future I would only suggest doing it if you can splurge on a fancy luxury liner.
The main reason for the trip was to see the Three Gorges, which by popular misconception are still rather impressive. I was under the impression that because of the controversial Three Gorges Dam the gorges were going to be soon submerged underwater. I think this is partly the work of the western press trying to villify the Chinese in their modernity drive. The gorges are all still there, just about 150m shorter. The dam itself is rather impressive and is a symbol for all that is modern China. Throughout the country the drive to modernise overtakes everything else, so the fact that almost 2 million people have been relocated due to the rising waters is of little consequence to the Chinese government.
After we departed out boat we made our way to Xi'an in order to see the Army of Terracotta Warriors, one of the highlights of any trip to China. However, on our 15 hour overnight train trip we had to endure the companionship of a constantly burping women and snoring man. Throwing in my sporadic coughing, Leighanne struggled a bit for sleep.