Fwd: Last day in Taiyuan

I missed a day in Taiyuan that I will add now! my last day a friend of mine in Taiyuan really wanted to go skiing, and taiyuan had a semi artificial snow slope, it was real snow and cold enough that it didn't melt, but they had snow blowers to try and keep it nice to ski on, although by late morning it was mostly ice! 

We went over in a small group but only me and one other Chinese guy dared to actually ski! It was £3.50 for ski hire and as long as you wanted sliding down the icy/snowy slope but quite good fun, they had some small slopes and some people from the far north of China hovering around offering basic lessons and then to teach you more for a fee. They also had a basic chairlift up one side of the biggest slope.

I went half way 5 times or so then decided to go for it and went right to the top, I hadn't skied before except once for an hour in a snowdome so it was an induction by far but it turns out its quite like ice skating, just a bit quicker, only one fall and I caught myself and recovered it pretty well. The top was really quite steep and then it mellowed out and after my one big run I thought I would quit while I was ahead! 

At the bottom the group had all decided to go to a KTV in town so we packed up and I was invited along too, we went to KTV and there was two rooms, one with a lot of old men in with young girls on their knees who apparently had paid for the KTV including all drinks/food etc and then another room that was for the young people. We went in there but I got dragged as a token foreigner into the other room to 'cheers' the older men and speak a little Chinese to say thank you, they were surprised but happy to see a foreigner and it turns out the guy who paid is the friend of one of the girl's father. After KTV most headed off but the guy who had paid invited me to join a smaller group going for dinner, I accepted and was whisked across town in a big Mercedes and taken to a very posh restaurant.

No open dining only private rooms and I hate to think of the price per head, when I had sat down and everyone was settled the owner of the place came in to join us, a personal friend of the rich guy who had paid, and the rice whisky began to flow, I tried to argue for beer but there was none of that and so I had to join in and keep up! Everyone had to cheers everyone else at the table and then be cheersed by everyone else and then the social drinking started! Madness! The food was amazing although very expensive, (I asked afterwards and the meal for 8 probably cost £600, in a country where you can eat a meal in a cheap place for £1!) 

After the meal they dropped me back and promised me another meal which they managed to fit in the next day in a FuJian restaurant. The food was quite like home and I got talking with another couple of guys who were Fujian people and talked about how I used to live very close, and ate food quite like what I used to eat often back in Lingxi! 

After this lovely farewell I headed back home to Ningbo. 

A few skiing pictures attached as well as a couple of the private dining room!

Fwd: Road crossing madness

So when I arrived back in TaiYuan from YunTaiShan I had to cross a huge road, and after I saw several crazy cars doing something which I am not sure photo's can really give justice to but I will try. They came from the opposite side and decided they wanted to turn around and go back the other way, so did a u-turn by the side of the road and then drove across the 8 lines of oncoming traffic to edge past a barrier and into the fast lane going back the other way.

First I saw a taxi do it and thought he was mad, then a huge lorry did the same and I KNEW he was!!

Linzhou restaurant

A quick note I missed, In linzhou I also went out to find somewhere to eat and managed to find a restaurant that looked nice, I walked in looking lost but the manager brought me upstairs to a comfy area with big sofas and helped me choose some tasty things and the service was very polite and good and the prices very reasonable too!

When the food came the waiter however tripped up and one of the dishes fell off the table onto the floor, nobody was hurt or even touched but he was mortified, they mopped it up and the manager and the staff member came to apologise profusely and bow! crazy! 
As I left they gave me a small keychain type gift as a thank you, a very nice restaurant, I would definitely go back there again!

Back to TaiYuan and then back home

I got up at 6 and checked out at half past but found out the guy I had asked to help me get down to the train station had changed his mind and already left on some other business, after some last minute calling I found out he had passed it to a taxi guy he knew, a bit more expensive but nevermind, acceptable. 

The drive down was fine and then switched to another taxi before arriving at the bus station, I had an hours wait in the freezing unheated bus station before the bus arrived but then luckily a heated bus ride (the first one since I came north) back over to TaiYuan, a 6 hour drive. 

When I arrived the driver recommended I get off at the motorway junction and find a car, I got off and tried to find a taxi to the place i had booked to stay but couldn't find anyone willing as they said they had to join the tollroad to get there and it was very expensive, blah blah blah. They all suggested I cross the road, the 10 lanes of fast traffic, to the other side and try there, I walked up to the toll booths and hopped across these to the other side and once there.. still couldn't find anything, they suggested that I walk down the motorway to the rest area 200m away and the other side of the barrier, but walking down a hard shoulder on a motorway with cars screaming along and sometimes using the hard shoulder as a passing lane I declined. Eventually I found a taxi willing to do it but for an expensive 30rmb, at this point I had no choice and he knew it so I just accepted it and made it back to collapse into a tired sleep.

The next morning I got up and got a taxi to the airport, got my flight without a problem and headed back to Hangzhou, I used the shuttle bus back which saved a taxi ride and took me straight to the station and from there I hopped on the train back to Ningbo, I got the late morning flight and got home at midnight, a long long day of travelling! but finally home safe and sound...

Mountain climbing on YunTaiShan

I got up early as I had to get a bus the next day and knew this was my last day here in YunTaiShan but when I looked out the window everywhere was foggy, and so hardly ideal for taking pictures, or in fact seeing anything at all! I got on the bus and since I was the only one on the bus they asked me where I wanted to go, I didn't know so I asked them, and they said that the place I went yesterday was the only real thing worth seeing on a day like today, as the mountain top would be covered in cloud. It also so happens it was the closest stop and so they would be back in the warm break room chatting with the other drivers again. I agreed but then half way changed my mind and said I wanted to go the top of the mountain, a 40min bus ride away! The driver complained but then radioed to say he would be doing the long trip. He then stopped at the first stop for half an hour for a '20 minutes stop to see if anyone else wants to come'. Since I was basically alone in the park surprisingly nobody did so he just read his book for half an hour and we waited. After half an hour I grumbled some more and he eventually left for the mountain top, and lucky he did, as we climbed higher and higher through tunnels and cliff roads cut from the mountain I realised it was actually quite a big mountain, and as I neared the top we broke out of the clouds into beautiful blue skies!

They drove me to the highest stop, about 75% of the way up the mountain, and dropped me off as the only person at a huge bus stop and I set off up the mountain! 

It was a lovely walk with some caves to explore (and since the no photos signs were in Chinese and the man was extra annoying i took a couple of pictures anyway) and I made it to a lovely small temple on the top, I took lots of pictures and looked down across the 'cloud sea' as the valleys were filled with clouds ebbing and flowing like the tide with a lovely blue sky above. 

I stayed at the top for a while (in a t-shirt! as the sun was that strong!) and there were some monks who shared some oranges and water without even asking for a donation! I saw around 3 other people in my time on the top.

I made my way down to find that the bus was waiting for me, I was last off the mountain and they put all of us 4 on the same bus back down to the hotel area. I again ate in the hotel and had a lukewarm shower and after some speaking with the guy at reception manager to sort out a lift down to the town nearby (an hours drive away) and from there I could get the bus back to TaiYuan for my flight the day after tomorrow.

YunTaiShan mountain

I went out from the hotel and bought my ticket, a little pricey 180rmb, but because it was winter, half price! and since it is a two day ticket and includes all bus travel from the hotel to the mountain and to all the different spots in the mountain, that wasnt half bad, especially by Chinese standards.

I first went to the most popular attraction at YunTaiShan, a valley with a river running through it over a series of waterfalls and then out into a valley. you drop down into the valley and then walk along a path cut into the side of what used to be the cliff wall up through this valley as the waterfalls get bigger and bigger. 
It was a beautiful place, possibly the most beautiful place in China so far. It was cold but with the snow and ice hanging on in patches and the clear water, it was amazing. The half frozen waterfall at the end and then climbing up past little grottoes and temples was really special. Usually this valley is packed with tourists and in all the promotional pictures it was very busy with hundreds of tourists but as it was just before the spring festival it was completely empty and so even more spectacular than usual. I just wish it was summer and you could swim in the isolated pools...

They had a permanent staff of cleaners walking around with nets on poles cleaning everything and every pool had a small boat tethered in it incase someone fell in, unfortunately this made photography without getting these in the pictures a bit more challenging, but I think I got some good results! 

After walking out of the valley you walk past a huge dam that made this valley and generates power, and around a huge reservoir and back to the bus stop. The last bus was at 6pm and I just made it, I got back to the hotel and ate something in the hotel, they were happy to have someone eating there apart from the staff! and then relaxed in the hotel as there wasn't much else around!