Chaozhou old town
Lot of hassle trying to access my blogs site so if the Chinese are trying to block me , there wasn’t really a lot of pollution yesterday ( only normal levels !) and it was a HSBC ATM machine that wasn’t working and a Travelex bureau ripping me off, I guess an American company not a Chinese one. And health inspections are a great idea.
Anyway now in the safety of an internet cafe. This place has a population of 2.5 million plus and all seem to have motorbikes, its mad out there. Worse they seem so surprised at seeing a foreigner that they forget to look where they going and run me over. Even the green man at the pedestrian crossings is shown running, they should add a few jumps as well.
Having got thru the pollution yesterday and the road chaos of the main city today, I spent the day visiting what I came for, the old town and Kaiyuan Temple. Situated along the Han River, the old town is a mix of colonial and traditional Chinese from Chaozhou days of being an important trading and cultural hub. With high city walls stretching along the river front its a pleasant area to wander and some great backstreets with old murials etched into the walls of people houses, even more surprising not a tourist around. But Chaozhou star attraction is the Kaiyuan Temple, dating back to AD738 and still in use and a good place to wander around and take a few pics. Whereas there were coach loads of Chinese surprisingly not a foreigner to be seen and given the reaction of the locals not too many come here. But a friendly place, lots of tea shops to sample various Chinese teas and an enjoyable way to spend a Sunday. Even bigger surprise is how hot and sunny it has been since arriving, long may that continue.
Tomorrow head to Yongding County, Fujian Province.
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