Holiday in China

We have had to take a short break from Nepal (for visa reasons) and have

for the past few weeks taken a whirlwind trip around China.  It has been

difficult to keep the blog updated, with both blogspot and facebook

being banned sites here...

Arriving in China was a real luxury after 3 months in Nepal.

Everything is very clean and organised, public transport is a breeze and

the hostels are so fresh and clean.  We have taken a quick trip from

Dandong in the north (on the border with North Korea) moving south to

Lhasa at present. All our travel has been by overnight train, with

sleeper tickets a true luxury.  We've stopped at the major cities on the

way, seen the tourist sites and attempted to get off the beaten track

(with difficulty).

Travelling through China has brought with it many interesting

observations.  The sheer scale of development and construction here is

phenomenal, everywhere there are cranes building new highrises and

roads/railroads overpasses and other infrastructure.  It all shouts out

progress and modernisation.  Despite this agriculture appears somewhat

backward, with most of what we've passed by being small blocks

cultivated by hand.  The sheer number of people here is also crazy.

Every city we come to easily has more people living there than the

entire population of NZ!  The city's are full of life and people, buses

and trains are always full.  Beijing West train station must've had

100,000 people there - and a good 3 or 4000 of them were on our train.

You couldn't move down the aisle.

China has clearly developed at a great pace, with the majority of the

population living in poverty till recently.  Now, the people have money

to spend, and are living in a very modern, in many ways western world.

Tourism here is very manufactured, with sites like the Great Wall

rebuilt as new rather than reconstructed.  Everything is crowded with

people (mostly domestic tourists), souvenier stalls and convenience food

and drink.  It is hard to find glimpses of the past, and untouched

nature.

China has been a brilliant glimpse into another culture, a country of

great food and diversity.  For the next few days we will travel overland

through Tibet back to Nepal.