China

We arrived in China fully relaxed as the airline had messed our tickets up and to rectify this had upgraded us to business class, so we had 9 hours of champagne and a fully flat bed, the first and only time we had lucked out on a flight! We landed in Shanghai but only had the evening there as we had to head south the next morning to Hangzhou to arrive in time for the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century. Even though Shanghai is a megacity of over 26 million people we only had a limited amount of time so we decided to explore the the famous Shanghai waterfront and wow what a sight it is at night! That night we styed in a cheapish hotel near Shanghai South Railway Station ready to get our train in the morning.

The following morning we headed to Shanghai South Railway Station to get tickets and the train the 110 miles or so to Hangzhou where predictions had the eclipse at its best, there were also predictions that due to the solar eclipse Hangzhou`s river, the Qiantang`s tidal bore would also be huge (the river already holds the world record for the largest tidal bore that can be 4m high and 3km wide). Once in the station we couldn`t believe how vast it was and also how busy. We made several attempts to locate the right ticket office or ask ticketing staff about the train and ticket we needed but it was almost impossible as all signs were in Chinese (as you would expect), but also that absolutely no one spoke any English (which is really unusual for a major city). Finally a man noticed our frustration, and approached us with some broke English. He was actually Taiwanese, but spoke a little English and some Chinese and was remarkably going to the same place as us for the eclipse. He very kindly helped us to buy our tickets and find our train and once on board also promised to let us know which stop to depart.

Once in Hangzhou we also struggled to find accommodation as all the hotels were full due to the following days eclipse. So again Mr Taiwan came to our rescue helping us to find a room for the night, it turned out our room ended up in a brothel, it appeared to be more lucrative to empty the establishment of the ladies and rent out the rooms to desperate tourists for a premium price. Either way we had our room for the night. The following morning we got up early as the Eclipse was due at 9:35am. Crowds were already gathered in anticipation for the main event and the sides of the river were pretty full, but we did manage to get our spot and waited.

The only thing that could possibly let you down with a solar eclipse is the weather and sadly the sky was quite overcast and the sun was only making the odd appearance, but at precisely 9:35am the sun faded away and a bizarre darkness descended on us all, there was a definite temperature drop and even the birds became quiet for the event. We did get to see the odd teasing glimpse through breaks in the cloud and clearly saw the Baileys beads and the solar ring. The darkness lasted a record breaking 6 minutes and 38 seconds and an applause rang out with the return of the sun. Not long after the eclipse had finished the second show, the tidal bore came up the river, unfortunately this was unaffected by the power of the eclipse and rolled past us no more that a couple of foot high (a bit of a let down).

Following the Eclipse it was much easier to get back to Shanghai as we had a return ticket and already knew what train to take. So we took the train back to Shanghai south and then transferred to the airport so that we could get our flight down to Guilin. The flight was around three hours and with all the travelling we got into Guilin late in the afternoon. We had pre booked a hotel near the centre of town for a full week, so checked into our hotel which had a great view and then went out to explore and get some food.

We wandered down to the the river and decided to grab something to eat on a floating restaurant not quite expecting the experience we had. Much like in the Shanghai train station no one spoke English and we could not decipher the menus so we began a game of charades with the owner to try to make an order. The owner then brought all manner of things out of the kitchen from a live chicken through to fish and even what appeared to be a live turtle to try and tempt us, but we were never going to get our meal killed for us so settled for a bowl of noodles that we pointed out on another customers table. we thought this was a great idea until it came served full of chickens feet! Finally we returned to the hotel realising that a floating restaurant at night might not have been the best choice as we were both nursing mosquito bites.

The next day we decided to explore a bit of Guilin so went down to the river area first near the Xiangshan Scenic Area where there is an interesting promenade with concrete elephants in the river and a bridge over to a wooded hill with some large caves. The area is lovely and clean  is right next to the Riyue Shuangta Cultural Park, with large lake and pagodas. The people here are really friendly and there are quite a few tourists here to.

We spent pretty much the whole day exploring around this area, walking over a footbridge and up into the woodland through the Xiangshan Scenic Area hill. we also went down to the riverside here and explored the large caves. There was also people displaying traditional Guilin clothing and opportunities to have your photo taken. On the way back to our accommodation we booked a river cruise and day out for the following day and finished up grabbing food in McDonalds.

We were picked up early the following morning and taken to Zhujiang Wharf about 30 minutes from Guilin for our cruise along the Li River. The river is one of China's most famous scenic areas and was listed as one of the world’s top ten watery wonders by the National Geographic Magazine. The cruise takes you just over 50 miles through some incredibly beautiful scenery. The river is flanked by large cliffs and rolling tree covered hills and in places surrounded by farmland full of grazing water buffalo. Occasionally locals risk life and limb to intercept the cruise ships in their little boats to try to sell passengers a few souvenirs or some fresh fruit. Finally after around four and a half hours you reach your final destination, the ancient town of Yangshuo.

When we got to Yangshuo it had started to rain but that did not dampen our spirits. Yangshuo is a lovely town crammed full of souvenir and nicknacks shops so we spent a couple of hours exploring, we even found a McDonalds for another healthy meal before we met back up with out group to continue our tour by bus.

After rejoining our tour we boarded a small bus and went off to visit a local farm, clearly set up for the tourist trail, but interesting enough, with lots of traditional tools and things on show. We were invited to look through the home and meet the owners, one who insisted on challenging me to lift his weights with one hand and another lady who could no longer stand up straight as her back was so crooked. You also got to see the animals close up in the fields.