China: Days 9-10 My Birthday and the end of the journey

On the bus Lynn the tour manager let everyone know that it was my birthday, and they all sang Happy Birthday. Lynn presented me with a book of papercuts of pigs, as I was born in the year of the pig. Our Chinese guide then told us that it is a Chinese tradition to eat noodles on your birthday for longevity, and that we would be able to have some at lunchtime.
We went to the Small Wild Goose Pagoda. There were lots of people doing Tai Chi throughout the different areas of the park. I climbed the pagoda with some of the others, and just about gave up close to the top when I started to feel really claustrophobic, but I’m glad that I persevered as the view was well worth it. My legs ached later, though!
The park the pagoda was in was beautiful, but the toilets were not! I really had to go, though, so I had to crouch over a Chinese style toilet behind a half-height door.

We went on to a jade factory where I treated myself to a jadeite laughing Buddha pendant. We then had a look around the Shaanxi Museum. I wished that I had taken my sketchbook into the museum because I would have had plenty time to sit down and draw.

When Lynn told us that we were going back to the Tang Dynasty Theatre to have lunch, I had some idea of what to expect after Freda’s birthday. After we had eaten a buffet lunch (including some noodles for longevity, of course) I heard Happy Birthday being played and saw a huge cake being brought in. It was decorated with pink flowers and crystallised kiwi fruit. The waitresses cleared space for the cake in front of me then added a plastic lotus blossom which when lit opened up to reveal the candles for me to blow out. I cut the cake with the large knife then had my photo taken with one of the girls who had brought it in. I was also presented with two sets of souvenir drinks stirrers.
In the afternoon we went to the city walls of Xi’an. We were lucky to be visiting when the walls were decorated for the lantern festival. There were dozens of brightly coloured lantern installations. We then flew back to Beijing and spent the night there.
The following morning we were off to the airport again. We had a little time for shopping, and I was delighted to find two types of Guerlain’s Cherry Blossom perfume.

We landed at Heathrow at about 2.30pm, and I had a long wait for my flight to Edinburgh which was due to leave at 8.45pm. But due to high winds there were long delays, and I eventually got on the plane at 10.30 and it took off an hour later and arrived in Edinburgh at about 12.30. My parents were waiting for me at the airport, and by the time we had waited for my luggage and driven home it was 2am!

China: Day 8

After a buffet breakfast we were off at 8am to the Banpo stone-age museum. We had a look around at what had been unearthed there then met in the grounds where there were beautiful magnolia trees in bloom. It began to get sunny and warm.

We went on to the factory where the official reproductions of the terracotta warriors are made. It was interesting to see the moulds used to make the reproductions and to see how much work went into making them.
After that we went to Huaqing hot springs and I loved the gardens and architecture which struck me as being typically Chinese. There was a lot more greenery here than we had seen elsewhere in China.
We had a wonderful buffet lunch near the terracotta warriors museum. As we walked in the chef was making noodles. We went on to the terracotta warriors. The sun and heat were by now very intense and I wished I had brought my umbrella to use as a sunshade like the Chinese women.
My first glimpse of the terracotta warriors brought a tear to my eye. They were even more impressive than I had imagined. We watched a movie about the discovery of the terracotta warriors, which was shown in a circular theatre. We were then free for a few hours to visit Pit 1 (the most impressive), Pit 3, and the bronze chariots museum on our own. We met up later at a teahouse.
We arrived back at the hotel in time to get dressed up to go out to the Tang Dynasty Show. The food there was delicious and very well-presented. After we had finished our meal two of the singers on the stage began to sing Happy Birthday and brought a huge birthday cake to Freda, one of the ladies in our group. She was then handed an enormous knife the size of a broompole to cut the cake with.
The performance was very beautiful, both the dancing and the costumes. I bought the DVD of the performance as I knew that the photos I took would not do the performance justice.

China: Day 7

We set out towards Beijing airport, which we reached about 4 hours later making only a few short stops along the way, one to take photos of an old section of the Great Wall. After a few hours hanging around the airport we boarded our flight to Xi’an and I slept for most of the 2 hour flight. When we arrived in Xi’an it was a bit late to visit the city walls as planned, so we headed straight to our hotel, the Gloria Plaza Hotel.

China: Day 6

Things were much more relaxed in Chengde because all the places we were visiting were quite close to the hotel. I even had time to draw a few pictures.

We went to the “Big Buddha Temple” (Puning Temple) where there was an enormous standing figure of GuanYin about three stories high carved out of five types of wood and polished highly so that it shone like gold. The place was bustling with activity, with monks and people praying and lighting incense.

We then went to a temple which was a replica of the Potala Palace in Tibet (Putuo Zongcheng Temple). It was quite different in style to the other temples we had visited, with its very austere exterior and elaborately decorated inner courtyard. It was quite a climb up to the top, but well worth it for the views.

After this we visited a school for 14-18 year olds where the teachers gave us a demonstration of Chinese painting and an explanation of some Chinese characters. I bought a painting of red and pink blossoms to match my cloisonné plate.

After lunch at the hotel we went to Pule Temple, high on a hill in an agricultural part of Chengde. It was unrestored and not in use as a monastery. This temple was the quietest place we had been – just our group and the people who work there. The place had a quite eerie feeling.


We went to a paper cutting business run by a family (Junfeng Paper Cutting), and the young niece of well-known paper cutter Shi Junfeng showed us how to cut out butterfly shapes. I bought a lovely papercut of two ladies stringing lanterns.

As we arrived back at the hotel our bus and a cyclist had a little collision – I’m not sure whose fault it was. The bus driver was most annoyed that his brand-new bus was scratched.

China: Day 5

We had a 4.45am wake-up call so that we could catch the 6.30am train to Chengde. We were greatly entertained on the journey by the saleswomen who tried to sell us ties, books, postcards, silk bags, scarves, cloisonné Christmas ornaments and much more.

We had lunch at the hotel then went to the summer palace and the lake which was still mostly frozen – it does not completely melt until April. The lake was beautiful with all its bridges and buildings and we enjoyed a lovely walk during which we saw deer by the side of the path.We were offered the chance to experience reflexology massage which I was keen to take up after all the walking on the Great Wall and the 4 hour train journey. After having my head, arms, legs and feet thoroughly massaged for an hour I returned to the hotel feeling completely relaxed.

China: Day 4

First we went to a cloisonné factory where it was really interesting to see all the craftspeople at work and the techniques they use. I bought a beautiful plate with red blossoms on it.

We carried on into the mountains and my breath was taken away by my first glimpse of the Great Wall. We went to Badaling and were free for a few hours to climb as much or as little as we liked. The path was very steep in places. Although it was a hard slog and my legs ached for days afterwards, it was well worth it. It was an awe inspiring experience and a great thing to be able to say that I have done. The wall was even more impressive in real life than in pictures or on TV. And the views were spectacular.

After working up an appetite, we ate a great meal at a friendship store, then in the afternoon we visited the Sacred Way with its statues of animals and people, and a museum of artifacts from one of the Ming tombs.

We went to a tea house for a tea ceremony at which we tasted numerous different teas including oolong, jasmine, puer, and lychee & rose. We went on to the theatre for an acrobatic show, then to a restaurant well-known for its Peking Duck.

China: Day 3

At 8am we left the hotel and headed to Tiananmen Square. As soon as we got off the bus we were hounded by people selling souvenirs and fake Rolex watches, and they followed us right along the street.
After walking around the square we had a group photo taken in front of Chairman Mao's picture, then walked through the Forbidden City, which is vast. The garden within the Forbidden City was very beautiful, and there were white and pink plum blossoms in flower. The weather was very sunny but quite cool in the shade. After all that walking we were very hungry and our lunch was at a nearby restaurant. This was our first proper chance to try real Chinese food.We went on to the beautiful Summer Palace. In the long corridor along the lake all the pillars are decorated with paintings. The marble boat was very impressive. Afterwards we drove past the Olympic bird's nest stadium and watercube and visited a fresh-water pearl centre.
I decided to go on the optional evening tour of the hutongs - the old style coutyard housing. We were driven around in two-seater pedal rickshaws. We went along the narrow streets and the riverside where there are many restaurants and bars. We were then taken to a typical family home where a chef cooked a meal for us.

China: Days 1-2

I flew from Edinburgh to Heathrow, and after a slight problem with my luggage being lost and then found, I headed to Terminal 3 to check in for the Air China flight and joined the huge queue. While I was waiting the tour manager Lynn introduced herself. After checking in I met some of the others in the tour group in the Servisair lounge, and before long we were off to China.

When we arrived in China the first place we went was the Temple of Heaven, with its beautiful red, blue, green and gold painted woodwork. As we walked towards the temple the place was a hive of activity with ribbon dancers, singers, instrument players, dozens of people playing cards and board games, women crocheting, and much more. The weather was a bit hazy, but it didn’t detract from the beauty of the place.

After spending time looking around the temple, we headed to our hotel, the Holiday Inn Temple of Heaven.

I've been to China!

I've just got back from a 10 day trip to China. I've got so much to say about it and so many photographs, so expect to see a lot of new posts here in the next few days.

The sound of tumbleweed blowing by...

It's going to be a bit quiet on my blog for the next few weeks but I should have some new fun stuff to post after that.

Mother's Day card

Some matryoshka dolls and a little pink birdie for Mother's Day. It's already been framed and put on the wall!

Little fish

Birthday card for one of my colleagues.

I got an award!

I'm so pleased to have been given this lovely award by one of my favourite bloggers, Meg. If you haven't already seen her drawing of a shoe, you have to take a look at this.

The people I would like to pass this award on to are as follows:

The very talented Mithi, whose experience of studying illustration at art school I am following avidly.

Mariana, whose coloured pencil drawings are an inspiration to me.

Mattias, whose drawings always make me smile.

Elsita, a wonderful artist whose recent posts about attending the Oscars I have been really enjoying.

The participation rules are simple if you'd like to keep this going:

1. If you get tagged (and want to play along), write a post with links to blogs that you love,

2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.