Made it to a wet H.K after 12 hour overnight bus journey but luxury bus so no hardship. Arrived H.K and  for once British passport seemed to be an asset which makes a nice change and all very straight forward.

Coming across from China had expected to see a high rise jungle as seen in the pictures so was surprised how green and undeveloped things were. Until that is you reach the bay area and then it hits you and with a mass of steel and glass you know this is Hong Kong.

An American guy on the bus showed me a good place in Kowloon to stay so easy enough and room has internet so no complaints  – and a black and white kitten, hope they don’t charge me extra for that..  Then had a plan to take the Star Ferry over to Wan Chai at 12 lunchtime, have a couple of beers and go to the Vietnamese embassy there and come back and catch up on sleep.  Succeeded on the first two but went back to the bars and finally left 9am next morning, getting back for a curry in Kowloon. Old habits hard to break.  But it was fun and the Pilipino bands very good and with so many Filipina girls around good to catch up on news from the P.I and the provinces. And having lived their long enough great to bring back memories of all those years ago.

New Years eve main event the fireworks. So many people couldn’t move but personally found the fireworks a let down, bit of a budget job to me and would expected more from H.K. Then after weren’t allowed to go anywhere for another hour due to the crowds so had a needed quite one and went back to the room.

New Years day did the tourist thing and took the train up to the Peak. One and a half hour queue so wasn’t the only one, massively popular but the views at the top impressive and worth it. Then wandered back down and around.  Being a holiday the place becomes Manila and Jakarta in one, there are Filipinas and Indonesians everywhere, singing, dancing , eating and just stretched out over every available space – hard to believe there can be anyone left over there. I remember back in the handover days it was a worry in the P.I that all those jobs would be lost to the Chinese but from what I could see hasn’t happened. Also surprised how many expats still work here, have to admit far worse places than here to work.

Yesterday went back to Central\ Soho area, again being a Sunday place packed with the Filipinas etc enjoying their day off. Central the main business area with the most impressive buildings, the banks and financial institutions – figured I might as well see them as I will be spending the rest of my life paying for it courtesy of G.B and his “lets save the(ir) world.” Then ended up in the bars in WanChai so had a good evening out.

Had to admit enjoyed Hong Kong. As a travel or tourist destination little reason to come here and certainly not a cheap place but then even east coast China isn’t cheap anymore. But its still good to see, the skyline awesome especially at night and the way everythings works so well is impressive. Even I seem to get around without getting lost. And yes it is crowded but equally some great parks to relax, clean and plenty of good bars and eating places and friendly. And if I was rich I would say some good shopping as well but thats something I left for the Chinese who seem to be the ones will all the money these days. Another plus the weather, warm which after the cold of the last few weeks good to have.

Tomorrow, all being well pick up my visa and back to China.

Tomorrow take the overnight bus to Hong Kong so have to face another city.Would be easy to stay here longer if I wasn’t so lazy to find a better hotel as I like the place. Very laid back and plenty of charm and must be doing something right as certainly pulling the tourists in even in mid winter.  Just nice to wander around getting lost.  With its old buildings in varying states of repair, ancient trees and colourful gardens its kind of cute, a few degrees warmer and even the beach would be tempting.  Theres even a few sites to see but I am a lousy tourist and ankle giving problems so easier to just relax and watch the world go by.  And don’t they love doing their wedding photos here, someone is doing good business.  Mao mustbe turning in his grave, all these girls in western flowing white wedding dresses with a backdrop of the old british consulate.  All a long way from the cultural revolution !.  The place has a good future and as more buildings are restored will surely only improve. Good place and good seafood.

Now in Gulang Yu, Xiamen in Fujian Province,  in my younger days referred to as Amoy.  A long slow train journey to get here and about 26 hours.  No fast train this one, would have done British Rail proud and food to match. At least few people on board and there were only a few of us in the carriage so all friendly enough.  Little in the ways of views except the usual non descript Chinese towns which one would hope they never have to visit.  But the usual road, railway construction going on and probably won’tbe long before a new high speed railway line completed.  Given how slow it was coming into Xiamen I think they were laying the track as we were going along.Arrived Xiamen and first sight was a TESCO, nearly tempted to go shopping !. From th erailway station to here no major hassles, the locals friendly and soon got me on a local bus and to the dockside for the quick crossing here.  The big downside is that for the first time the tourists have been out in force, I guess being further south a tempting location for Christmas/New Year  and finding an available room hard going. Probably for the first time ever had to pay full rack rate for a room so expensive and not even nice with no hot shower. Like so often with Chinese hotels the foyer looked really smart so you think the room must be good only to find they spent all the money at the entrance !.Also one other big downside, its rained since arriving.  Not cold, I am in a t shirt but just wet. And this place must be a big wedding photo destination as there are lot of couples having there wedding photos done and white flowing wedding dresses don’t like the wet any more than in the west.Anyway Gulang Yu. Nice place, another China lite destination.  A small island with lots of old colonial buildings, a few churches, very clean and kind of chic.  Wandering around the small alleys pleasant enough and some good seafood so no complaints.  An historical aside. Like Shanghai it was a treaty port which basically meant we turned up with our gunboats and threatened to flatten them unless they gave us some of their land and traded with us.  So Gulang Hu like the Bund was for our sole use and under our control.  We were then able to use the concessions to push opium onto the population. Then when they objected due to them all becoming heroin addicts, we flattened them until they gave us more concessions – the 2nd opium war saw us doing an excursion to Beijing to totally destroy the original Summer Palace, which they remind everyone on entry – still a sore point in history.Next plan was to go to Hong Kong for New Year but might go sooner. 

Yesterday did a day trip to Shanghai just to get a glimpse.  Early morning train and about 1 and a half hours so nothing too difficult even if train station ticket offices are a bit like facing NHS doctors receptionists at 9am on a Monday morning to ask for an appointment.  Then my first chance to try out their metro which thankfully easy enough.

Checked out the French concession area, old town, Bund and main streets so a lot of walking and for some reason seemed to get lost more than normal, surprise given the landmark tower buildings are tall enough. French concession area nice.  Tree lined streets with fairy lights, chic shops and a touch of elegance.  Could do with a few more French concession areas in China  – ouch, shouldn’t say that.

The old quarter nice enough but seen many of those places now in China so not too bothered.  Biggest disappointment was the Bund and waterfront, my main reason for coming.  The whole area just one huge Chinese size building site for the EXPO 2010.  Not sure when it is but in any other country would say its 5 years away from completion but this is China so it will be completed.  So whole riverfront closed off and the buildings being renovated or knocked down.  Couldn’t happen anywhere else but here.  So anyone planning to come to Shanghai best wait until after 1010.  It has to be said even without the pollution and building work the Bund had a slightly depressing feel, large gloomy buildings with a back drop of grey skies.

After that the plan was to do the tradtional English thing of having a few beers on Christnas Eve and trying to get the last train home ( actually second to last train).  Actually not easy, Shanghai night life might be ok but the Chinese drink tea and a tea crawl not quite the same.  So I thought find one bar by which I mean not the expensive place serving imported BUD, failed at that so ended up by drinking cans from the shops.  At least cheap and had the same effect.  Then it was a case of trying to get back worse for wear,  which on a British Rail cattle truck is no problem but on one of their ultra smart jobs I felt a bit embarrased – their trains very good, even at 170km per hour didn’t feel like we were moving.

Missed the last bus back to the hotel by 6 minutes so then a long walk home. Then went night clubbing until 4am but can’t remember much about it.

Probably a late one tonight and then an early start and a 27 hour train journey to Xiamen.

Been a hectic few days since leaving Wuyuan.  What I planned to do in 10 days somehow got narrowed down to 4. After leaving Wuyuan took the bus to Tunxi and then to Xidi. Some pleasant scenery on the way with rollings hills and woodland.  Arrived Xidi about 5pm.  Its a small village but a UNESCO world heritage site and very popular with the Chinese so was expecting a buzzing place.  Instead it was more like a ghost town, quite spooky with its maze of narrow alleyways and high concrete buildings.  It derives its fame due to dating back to 1047AD and its Huizhou architecture. In days of yore the boys would be kicked out at 13 to make their fortunes elsewhere and having done so built fine buildings here and in many other villages in the area.  With numerous ancient buildings the place is basically a living museum now dolled up as a major tourist attraction, helped by its attractive setting and in summer probably very scenic surroundings. Stayed 2 enjoyable nights there, helped by having a not so ancient room as it was very cold at night. 

Next day did a trip to Hongcun, another UNESCO site.  Surrounded by a splendid lake it is another ancient Huizhou village of large concrete buildings and a maze of alleyways and full of budding Chinese artists.  A very photographic place surrounded by the lake and wooded hillsides so easy to relax and thankfully few other tourists. 

Then Sunday morning an early start from Xidi with a bus to Huang Shan, China’s premier mountain and one of China’s top sites and my main reason for coming to the region. Given the cold I decided to opt for the cable car up, stay a night at the top and then walk down.  Didn’t quite go according to plan, got out the cablecar, went to walk down the steps and went flying on the ice. With a full pack plus food and water my ankle made a horrible crack and I had visions of being at the top of a mountain with a broken ankle.  Thankfully it did eventually settle down enough to continue walking but after that didn’t fancy risking a night on the top. To make it worse minutes before I had bought metal grips to attach to my trainers but hadn’t bothered to put them on. But all was not lost and for the next few hours had an awesome time  treking around the mountain with a lovely couple from Shanghai and the girl had been twice before so knew her way around.  The scenery was wonderful, harsh and rugged in the cold winter air with snow falling and despite the cold, the slippery paths hard to beat.  The ancient towns and historical places are nice but for me China is at its best with its stunning scenery, even in midwinter.  At least with the snow it felt like December and Christmas.  I have to add whereas any mountain presents challenges this being China there are steps and hand rails most of the way so nothing to difficult and they do try to keep the paths clear to a reasonable degree.  And with an ATM machine and police station at the top hardly wilderness, but given the entrance fees and costs the ATM machime probably a wise move.

After a few hours slipping and sliding and with snow falling I took it for granted the Chinese couple would take the cablecar back down and give me a good excuse to follow.  But this is China and not ASEAN, so no “I’m tired , I’m hungry” after 10 minutes of walking.  So it was a hard, extremely painful slog to the bottom.  But a wonderful day out, great scenery and just the thrill of being at the top and making it down again hard to beat.  But with a swollen ankle checked into the first hotel only to find there was no hot water – or maybe it was solar heated !,  a freezing cold shower and its hard to believe how water can actually still flow when its so cold.  At least the food was good.

Next morning having buried myself deep into the duvets I missed the alarm so had the hotel staff banging at the door and a bus waiting outside to take me to Hangzhou, not a good start !.  But the -9 degrees outside soon woke me up.  Arrived Hanhzhou wanting everything to be easy as wasn’t in the mood for hassles.  So everything was hassle.  The bus station on the edge of the city and nothing seemed to flow, not helped by having no clear idea where I wanted to go bar its famous West Lake.  Luckily a local took pity and gave me a lift.  But then spent the next 2 hours trying to find accommodation, the hotels being at the high or  mid range end and more geared up to groups, certainly didn’t seem to want to discount their prices and by the end started to hate the place.  But eventually found a nice place near the lake and if I win the lottery can walk outside and buy a Rolls Royce, Lamborghini or Ferrari if I fancy !.

Hangzhou is nice.  If any one wants to come to China but scared of the imagined hassles, fly into Hangzhou.  This is China lite.  A beautiful lake surrounded by hills and forests with pagodas and bridges and all things nice it is a loverly, spotless, manicured China and worthy of its reputation. Excellent views, walks, scenery and bilingual signs  and all the western names its hard not to be seduced especially after after too many hours on buses.  A great place to relax and enjoy Christmas and certainly no shortage of Christmas trees, decorations and never ending Christamas songs.  However might do a quick side trip to Shanghai for Christmas Eve, I take it trains do run at Christmas in China !.

Have to be on my best behaviour and not saying anything bad as the internet cafe copied my passport and took all my details, lot of hassle at 9am just to check my email !.

Anyway now in Wuyuan in north Jiangxi Province. Just spent the night in Little Likeng, a charming ancient picturesque Huizhou village on a river with some lovely old buildings and bridges with red lanterns hanging along the rooftops.  Had a lovely room with balcony overlooking the action so a chance to enjoy the scene.  The Chinese give it a AAAA so popular with them but at this time of year not that crowded.  But it is a bit of a put off to have to go thru turnstiles and have your finger prints printed on a pass just to enter a village .  And like everywhere in China the entrance fees are horrendous so does restrict how many similar places to visit as every village charges. Easy money for them but unless on a big budget does become a bit expensive and restrictive. 

The journey from Liulian was quite tough.  First had to go to Lonyan and then another bus to Nanping. Then a train to Yingtan, arriving at 3.30am .  It was bitterly cold there and raining so quite awful and with the cold, tiredness and hunger wanted to check into the nearest hotel and crawl into bed.  But instead took the 8am but to Wuyuan and then a bus to Little Likeng.  At least the journey along the back roads thru the sweeping hillsides of Fujian Province and then Jiangxi Province. High above our road the Chinese in the process of building a massive expressway, displaying their incredible road building skills, the road cuts straight thru the hills and then across the valleys on stilts.  They love their roads and railways out here.

Now waiting for a bus to take me to Tunxi in Anhui Province.  Unfortunately missed the last bus by 10 minutes so have to wait 4 hours, shame as a beautiful sunny day  ( they are just putting up their christmas tree up in the internet cafe)  so would rather be out sightseeing. But night was cold and heavy frost this morning.  Glad no solar water heater here, I think ice cubes would have come out.

Rain stops play so a chance to catch up on the internet.  Now in Liulian, a small village near Yonding. Despite this area being on the UNESCO world heritage sites and the Chinese give it a AAAA tourist award, tourism is still in its early days but plenty of construction going on so big plans for the future.  Certainly from the westerners point will be a while before it becomes mainstream. 

Its prime attraction are its Tulou, large earthpacked roundhouses numbering over 30000 in the region and occupied by the Hakka people. Probably an early version of a high rise density housing cum fortress, the buidings are massive circular constructions with rooms built into the walls like cells and a communal area in the center for cooking etc.  Many ways more like a prison than a settlement but at least provide safety.  Some attractive surrounding countryside, described by L.P as stunning but in mid winter that would require a vivid imagination.  The paddyfields are dead and not a lot of colour this time of year plus the general mist.  Also tea growing big business with the locals spending their time either sitting around sorting it or trying to sell it to tourists.

If I was a good tourist/backpacker I would have told you whats its like to sleep in one but I’m not so opted for a room with heating and a heated bathroom instead and it actually all worked.  Just a shame some Californian 4×4 driving enviromentalist told the chinese that solar heating is the way to go so my hot shower will have to wait for next summer.

Been doing my sightseeing yesterday afternoon and today, fortunately in good weather but now its looks to have changed.

The journey here no great problems bar thinking I was on the wrong bus going in the wrong direction for the first couple of hours. The ticket office insisted there was no bus to Yonding so when we headed inland rather than further north to Lonyan I thought we must be going to Longchuan towards the south west.  Thankfully it was just taking the scenic route to Yongding over the hills.  Admittedly the early stages not that scenic, a few of the old settlements had some charm but generally poor and ugly.  For any youngster with a brain, the bright lights of the coastal cities or even better, abroad, must have great appeal.  Even worse, as elsewhere in China the kitchen white tile man has done a great trade in selling them and which now cover most modernish buildings.  I am sure Mao for a joke told everyone to go out and cover all their buildings with white tiles, so they did. Dirty and ugly they make most chinese towns and cities horrendously unattractive especially combined with their 1950s style housing blocks.  Fortunately once out into the country you get into far more idylic surroundings.

Tomorrow go to Longyan and then hopefully north but where will depends on connections.

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.

Tonight arrived in Chaozhou in Guandong Province.  Been a long day as too lazy to get out of bed so missed the early bus.  The ticket clerk was on about going somewhere else first as it was a long wait for the next bus so I agreed.  She gave me a bundle of tickets but I didn’t pay attention as was more interested in a caffeine injection. So after breakfast went to the buses, they looked at my ticket and put me on a bus.  It wasn’t until we started that the conductress looked at my ticket and informed it was out of date so deapite my best efforts to tell her I had only just bought it was kicked of the bus.  So then had to tell a Chinese speaking ticket clerk that they wouldn’t let me on the bus to a place which I didn’t know the name off and the ticket was out of date.  The joys of travel !  As it was there was a good ticket amongst the others and the bus I had got on was to somewhere totally different.

Journey out of Shenzhen slow, first two hours heavy traffic thru a urban high rise jungle.  Then expressway, even the motorway service station had a McDonalds so certainly in the developed part of China.  Approaching here horrendous pollution and never ending ceramic factories and would appear to be where a lot of the worlds supply of toilets come from – cant be that highly rated, my hotel has the squat version.  Was dreading the bus stopping as the place looked a pit but on a arrival actually quite nice and will check it out more tomorrow.

Last 2 days in Pattaya quite heavy going, went out Tuesday night with an old work friend who has been out here for a while but does nothing but drink. Not saying it was a heavy session but one ago go bar tried to refuse us entry because he was drunk – he couldn’t actually walk – so I had to explain that it was no problem, he was always like this. Wednesday night planned a quiet one. Stopped for one beer,  a few hours later and a few more beers got home to face a trip to China. So all my efforts not to head for China with a hangover wasted –  when the bars sometimes charge double the price for mineral water as beer its very difficult to stick to water !.

Air Asia flight to Shenzhen their usual good selves, only shame was the 11pm arrival time.  Entering China a bit nervy as they are quite heavy with the medical questioning and with people in white coats waiting as we exited the plane didn’t dare cough or sneeze and prayed no one else did as didn’t fancy a week in quarrantine.  Airport itself easy enough, only let down was the ATM was working so once again had to do my bit to support bankers bonuses and paid over 5 pounds in charges  to change a few dollars, outrageous.

Had hoped to leave Shenzhen that night but nothing happening and got fed up being hassled by touts, hasslers and pimps on dark streets not knowing where I was so checked into a hotel and ended up staying 2 nights.  Shenzhen nothing special, just a huge manufacturing zone of over 14 million people producing exports for the west and bordering Hong Kong.  But from a travel point of view user friendly and gave me a chance to get my bearings before moving on.

Tomorrow a day sightseeing. 

All being well will get my passport back tomorrow with a Chinese visa and then fly out Thursday night.  Look forward to getting out, here is very good but after a bit you need a break.  Too many late nights and lack of sleep !.  I would have hoped to have planned where to go in China but have yet to get the guidebook out so will have to make it up as I go along.

Here the sun shines and the place getting busier  as we approach Christmas.  They had the world jet ski championship here on Sunday so took a look but if anyone wants any insights they would be better off watching it on Sky as bar watching jet skis racing around a course it meant nothing to me but must be great fun to be doing it.

In my previous blog I mentioned about the police going easy at the moment.  Maybe not, someone posted a letter in the newspaper complaining about how bad the police had got for finding petty bribes.  One bar was fined for playing the wrong kind of music and a motorcyclist was found to have all the correct papers etc so they fined him for having the wrong coloured crash helmet.  Anything for a bit of cash from “stupid” foreigners.

Hopefully next entry will be from China.