The most amazing month ever ... the return to Zhengzhou

 Returning to Zhengzhou, I was apprehensive of what my family would think of the city that I have been calling my home for the past year. We stayed in the Novotel hotel in CBD, the new and modernised part of the city. In comparison to the main city, CBD is so much quieter, cleaner, more modern and spacious! It almost doesn’t feel like I’m in the same city when I’m in CBD! It’s the business district and I can’t help but get the feeling that only those with money live and relax there!

 We were staying on the fourteenth floor of the Hotel, the ‘business floor’ which meant we had access to free breakfast and mini bar every day!! The view of CBD was lovely from the free bar but they really needed to clean the windows!! 

                            

For the first night, we ate from the buffet in the hotel because we were too tired to go looking for food. It was expensive but good! However, I still need to learn how to eat at a buffet properly…in future I should not eat rice or bread and fill myself up on them!

On the Saturday, we had a small lie in and then set off towards the Shaolin Temple around noon. However, I forgot the amount of traffic that exists in the city. It took us nearly an hour to get out of the city only to have to travel for another two hours! Half way through our journey it started to rain. It rained….and rained…and rained…

We finally arrived at the Shaolin Temple, disheartened at the continuing rain! We put our umbrellas up and went out into the rain. We were hungry and hoped that if we ate, the rain might calm down. The only place to eat was Dico’s, China’s very own fast food chain. My sister is a vegetarian so all she could eat were chips. In China a ‘vegetarian option’ doesn’t usually exist. Also, due to my lack of Chinese, I ordered wrong/they took the wrong order and we ended up having to eat what we hadn’t ordered!

After eating, we realised that the rain had not calmed and was in fact continuing to fall hard and heavy. We were all feeling quite sad. I was especially sad because I had been looking forward to showing my family the sights that I had enjoyed there a few months before. Even the amazing night show, ‘the Shaolin Music Zen Ritual’ was cancelled due to the weather! I was disappointed!!

                                                              (The kung fu show).

We wondered if it was pointless to even pay but we did. We managed to see a martial arts show, which was held inside due to the rain! I quite enjoyed it. Some of the kung fu stunts were impressive. The loud audience in China always ruins the atmosphere of a show though. In the UK, we are used to being so silent in any performance, whether in a cinema or a theatre. In China however, it is completely normal for the audience to continue talking loudly while the show is ongoing.

                                                  (Smiling despite the weather)

We tried to see some of the temples but we didn’t last long. We took very few photos then made our way back to the hired car and the driver. My family are used to rain as we are from Wales, a country where rain exists on a regular basis. However, this rain was different!! After seeing so many amazing places around China, it was inevitable that something was bound to go wrong at some point!

The next day, our luck changed. The weather was so beautiful and hot! The bad weather the day before had cleared all the clouds and dust. The sun (which is unusual to see due to the pollution most days) shone bright in the unusual blue sky! My mum had been waiting so long to see the Longmen Grottoes and it was a perfect day to see them!

We spent a couple of hours in the hired car again being driven by the hired driver. This time, we left earlier and guess what… we still got caught in the traffic a little! I don’t think there is a time of day in Zhengzhou when there isn’t any traffic!!

The Longmen caves did not disappoint!! Obviously, it was a weekend and so the weekend and the sun had drawn out big crowds of people to the location! It was so funny watching people realise we were foreigners and come rushing over for photographs with us! My family got to experience what it’s like to be a foreign ‘VIP’ in China. It was so strange being able to see such amazing statues of Buddha’s and instead of taking pictures of these incredible monuments, Chinese people just wanted to take pictures of us!! My Dad started taking pictures of people taking pictures of us. It was very entertaining!

Here are a few photos taken of people taking pictures of us...

                                

(My Dad enjoying some VIP treatment)!

 There are as many as 100,000 statues within 1,400 caves. Some of them are tiny, others are very big. Many of the statues in the caves have unfortunately been damaged due to weather or theft. In the early 20^th century, many of the statues were beheaded or extracted entirely by collectors and ended up abroad. Others have had their faces completely destroyed due to vandalism back in the days of the cultural revolution. Therefore, many of the monuments are in ruin but are slowly being restored.

I was worried that my parents would worry about me being alone in China even more after seeing where I live. My neighbourhood is very...different in comparison to neighbourhoods in the UK. It is very Chinese! Living areas in Zhengzhou are made up of blocks. Each block has around three entrances. I can’t even guess how many people live in each block! The entrances are crowded with street food stalls and there are little shops surrounding every block. The apartments are all the same size. Whole families live in these small living areas. It’s small for me and it’s only me living here! 

To my surprise, on exiting the taxi, my family’s faces were in owe! They loved it! They couldn’t believe how Chinese my home was! They told me it was nowhere near as bad as I had been describing it to them on the phone! I was so glad that they approved of my living area! My mum was now relaxed having seen where I live!

I took them to eat at a restaurant on the corner of my building area. The food was great and my dad just couldn’t believe that six dishes of food came to the equivalent of around £5! We then went to a brewery that is also near my living area. It’s expensive there but the beer is apparently good. My dad then couldn’t believe that buying one beer cost more than our entire meal for four people! 

I'm so glad that my family got to see where I have been living for nearly a year now. I was even more glad that they liked Zhengzhou despite the pollution, ongoing construction everywhere, the noise, the amount of people and the dust.

My family went to the airport together and then went our separate ways. My parents went home and my sister and I made our way to Thailand...

The most amazing month ever ... Xi'an

Our next stop was Xi’an. After coming from a small city in Wales, every city I have visited in China seems massive in comparison to Cardiff! Once again, we weren’t in Xi’an for long so we had many things to do in very little time.

Our main reason for visiting this city was to see the Terracotta army of course! I had an idea of what to expect after seeing some friends’ pictures shortly before I visited there myself. However, nothing prepared me to realise the vast scale of the army.

Only a small part of the army has been uncovered. There is a mini sculpture of the area to show the size of what they believe the army to be. It is gigantic!! I couldn’t believe it! What’s even crazier is that they will not be able to uncover much of it for a very long time because our technology today just isn’t good enough!!

There are four zones full of terracotta statues (yet the forth has yet to open).

    

Many of the statues of soldiers, horses and people they have recovered from the earth so far have been either broken or discoloured. The broken soldiers are still visible for tourists to see. There is also a ‘hospital’ for the statues that are lucky enough to be fixed. It is strange to see the statues wrapped in what appears to be cling film and with holes through their bodies. There are many headless soldiers too!

(Broken soldiers)

                                           (The hospital).

We know that the figures have been discoloured after being discovered because on some of the statues there are vague colours to be noticed.

(Look at the detail!!!)

 It is also really amazing to see the tiny detail on every single individual masterpiece in the army.

 (There's a hole in the middle of the horse to stop the terracotta from cracking)!

It’s hard to imagine that all this was created for one man, an Emperor at the time.

The Terracotta army did not disappoint!!!

Leaving the Terracotta army however felt as though we were in a theme park. We passed endless stalls selling junk souvenirs and if we hadn’t have been with our lovely guide, we probably would have eaten at one of the rip off restaurants there. However, she took us a short distance by car from there to a local place that she knew well.

I advise that if you go to anywhere in China, you should hire a personal guide. They’re not that expensive and it’s so much better than following a large tour group!! They are always from the area too and so they know the absolute best places to go! The food was great. Our guide asked us what we liked and chose the best suitable things for us! I am so used to ordering pork, beef or mutton these days in China instead of my favourite chicken. The chicken is always so difficult to eat as it is almost always presented chopped up but still joined to the bone. Also, they serve you literally every part of the chicken possible…even the feet!

My parents were also shocked that a group of men on a table near by were completely drunk off baijiu in the day time! One of them was even looking after his young son while drinking shot glass after shot glass of baijiu!

Our hotel was lovely, situated in a lovely part of the city. Every evening, six girls dressed in traditional Chinese clothes played traditional Chinese instruments. It sounded beautiful!!

                                                        (Our hotel).

 The hotel was next to water fountains and a square for people to walk around. Every night there is a fountain show. There are probably better fountain displays to be seen in the world but it was still very nice to watch. The music was good too and the colours made it very pretty. It was difficult to see sometimes though with the amount of people there (obviously since it’s China)! So we stood on a bench to see it more clearly. A patrol woman came around every so often demanding everyone to get down. However, once she was out of sight, everyone was immediately on the benches again!

Walking around in the square after dinner and the fountain show was the nearest I’ve felt to being back in Italy. What I love about Italy is that everyone goes for walks during the evenings and it’s a great way to spend the night, to people watch and socialise. As we walked around we saw many people dancing, walking and talking.

What I do love about China is that in every ‘spacious’ part of a city, there are public dances. Anyone can join in. It’s like a way to keep fit for city people I guess! The music is always nice (or interesting) Chinese music and the dance moves can be amusing to watch. You also see people early in the morning practising Tai Chi in groups or practising with swords in local parks. It’s really nice to watch!

My father and I were watching some people dance and I turned to ask my mum and sister what they thought about it and realised they were gone. I looked around and realised they had joined the dance party! It was funny to see them as the only Westerners there to take part!

We were lucky to have more sunny and hot weather during our stay. We also went to see the city walls of Xi’an, the only remaining city walls still standing in all of China. During our stay in Xi’an we had another lovely guide to help us around the city and to take us to the best places. She said that the walls were a pain during the busy rush hour because the entrances into the inner city are small and therefore only a certain amount of traffic can pass through at the same time. However, she said the walls are what make the city special. You can walk or even cycle around the entire wall. My family were keen to cycle around it after the amount of cycling we had done in Yangshuo. However, it was far too hot, it was the middle of the day and there was no shade! So next time I visit there I will ride around the wall!

(Apparently the Chinese believe if you stand under a bell it will give you bad luck...unfortunately I didn't know this until after the picture was taken...oops!!)

Our guide took us to the Muslim quarter. Before I went to China I always thought that the whole of China was non religious. But since being here I have learnt that there are many Christian, Muslim and Buddhist areas. The Muslim quarter was interesting! There was stall after stall of touristy things to buy and there was stall after stall of street food! Our guide advised us to look after our bags to avoid being robbed and to not eat anywhere unless she advised that it was a good place.

We ate some nice sweet tasting food (approved and recommended by our guide of course). Don’t ask me what it was though, I have no idea!!

(The drum tower. The bell tower was in another part of the city ear by).

It was nice and interesting to be in a Muslim district and not see the women in strict clothing. At the most, the women wore head scarves.

We went to a dumplings restaurant and we saw a very good live performance of traditional Chinese dances, songs and instruments. It was a really beautiful show!!! Our meal was a variety of ten different kinds of dumplings. My sister had a vegetarian selection for herself. To be honest, having ten different kinds of dumplings was too much and I felt like I didn't need to see another dumpling for a long while after but it was something new and different! Inside the dumplings were many things, from pork to crab to tomatoes to fish.

 (I had never heard of or seen so many of the traditional instruments that were used in the performances).

Finally, before we left, we visited the Pagoda right next to our hotel. We were given a different guide just to look around the Pagoda. He was very good at his job. He knew so much information about Buddhism. He taught us things like; you should always enter a Buddhist prayer room from the left and leave on the right and you must never step on the high plank as you walk into the room. (You will know what I mean when you visit your next Buddhist monastery). We didn’t actually have time to climb to the top of the Pagoda as we had a flight to catch in the afternoon but we looked around the Buddhist temple surrounding it.

                  (The original Buddha himself).                 (People pray to this guy for wealth. My Dad was                               one of them!)

             

Before we left he showed us how to write some things in Chinese characters. He wrote down our country, Wales, in Chinese characters and also wrote the characters for Coca Cola for some reason!

After this, he turned into probably the best sales person I have ever seen! It was strange since he was meant to be a monk! He did a remarkable job at selling us original paintings painted by the monks. We ended up walking away with two paintings when we originally planned on having none! Seriously, he was the best at selling!!! They are really lovely paintings though to be fair!!

Xi’an was yet another city that I was fond of!

Our last destination during our three weeks of travelling around China was my home while in China… it was time to go back to Zhengzhou…