Chinese mountains

 Today we started the day with a visit to the Zhanjaijie Grand Canyon. It is an extremely popular place to visit and has the world's longest glass bridge.

The whole area is set up for tourists and it is more like an amusement park rather than a natural area, and there's nothing wrong with that.

I was very nervous about crossing the bridge, but it only has glass down the middle so I could walk down the sides, although I did venture once on to the glass for a photo.

Darren being much more logical than me just walked happily along the middle all the way.

The canyon had vertical sides and from the bridge we could see the views, and also tiny people in the distance on an unbelievably high zip wire.

We then had a choice, do we catch the glass lift down the mountain or do we do the zip wire?

After queueing for over two hours our choice became clear.

After my knees stopped knocking we slid down a giant slide to the valley floor. At the bottom was a short boat ride, past a very pretty waterfall.

The only way up was by elevator, the first two were inside the mountain, and the third had a glass front.

The visit took longer than expected, so then we had to rush to the next destination, and got there just as it was closing. 

We were at the Tianmen Mountain National Forest Park. It was lovely and peaceful and we walked towards a cable car that whizzed us up the mountain.

On the way up were amazing mountain views, but mostly we stared at the 99 bends road that also went to our destination.

I have already mentioned that the number nine is lucky in China, but this place takes it to extremes.

We arrived at a big square and then reached the 999 steps to the final destination of Heaven's Gate.

It was too cloudy to see it from the bottom so we went up on the escalators. These were huge and absolutely packed full of people coming down. 

Our guide said that it was five escalators to the top with little walks in between them. We, along with almost everyone in our group came to a flat area

but we just carried on walking and in the end, after about 12 escalators we reached the end.

Darren took a photo of the view.

Mystified we tried to find the Heaven's Gate and in the end, started on the long ride down.

Again we reached the flat area and lots of people were taking photos. 

We did too, and then belatedly realised that we were standing in the Heaven's Gate right at the top of the 999 steps.

We caught the five escalators down and arrived very late at the group meeting point. Fortunately we weren't last as loads more of the group had done the same thing too. Maybe we did the 1999 option.

In the end it worked out very well because we were so late that it had got completely dark and the clouds started to clear.

The actual Gate is enormous and is lit up in the last photo and looks like a giant egg.

Terracotta Warriors

 It was hard work getting to Xian, and we didn't arrive at the hotel until after midnight. Then we had a wake up call from reception at 6.30am.

It was totally unnecessary to get up that early, but I don't think that the guides ever amend their schedules. Breakfast was packed with every other hotel resident, as we were all woken at exactly the same time.

But no more moaning, we were going to see the warriors.

First we stopped off to visit a mosque. There are 77,000 Muslims in Xian out of a population of over ten million and there has been a mosque on this site for over 1,000 years.

We weren't excited as we have seen lots of mosques over the years so knew what to expect.

However, this one was a surprise as to the untrained eye it looked exactly like a Chinese temple. Although it was a very lovely one.

With the addition of two superb jars at the main entrance.

Back on the bus and to the factory shop to see how the warriors were made, and to have the chance to buy a replica.

The warriors were buried over 2,200 years ago, and scientists have discovered exactly how they were made in pieces and then fitted together after firing.

The heads are dropped into the neck hole and each one is individual. It is now possible to get a computerised image of your own head that can be custom made and delivered to your home.

We didn't do that and instead just got a photo.

This is exactly what we did 18 years ago when we last visited, the only difference is my hair colour.

Then on to the real thing.

The warriors were buried to protect the emperor and apparently he died unexpectedly before it was completed, so in one corner the warriors aren't finished off properly.

Most of the warriors and their horses were damaged over the centuries because the wooden beams holding up the soil above them collapsed and they got squashed.

In 1974 a 19 year old farmer found part of a body in his field and reported it to the government who then realised what an important find it was.

In the years before that farmers had also found pieces but thought that they were bad omens or haunted so they destroyed them.

We were very lucky because the actual farmer was in the gift shop and was signing copies of his book!

He looked more like the Godfather than a farmer and his life must have changed so much. However, the cynics in our group wondered if it was really him and not just a selling opportunity.

Great Wall of China

 Today we climbed a very small section of the Great Wall. 

Beijing is in the north east of China and very close to the wall. We joined our tour group for the 70 kilometres journey, then we took a group photo at the shopping village at the bottom.

Then the climb began, it wasn't very busy and we made good progress.

It started to flatten and out a little so we stopped for an ice cream then carried on until the car park was just way below us.

Getting back down was harder on the legs, but what an amazing experience.

At the bottom was a huge display of spears that were used for a recent display, but I couldn't understand quite what the guide meant, so it may have been for a serious memorial, or maybe it was a tiktok?

Afterwards our guide took us to a restaurant that took longer than expected and then there was a huge traffic jam. It looked for a while as if we would miss our bullet train and the guide was looking terrified, but the bus driver drove like a demon, we all raced through the station and we are now safely on our way to Xian.

Missing the top sights of Beijing

We set off this morning and caught the Metro to a station that was fairly near to Tiananmen Square, then walked through a very attractive shopping street towards it.

This photo is actually quite unusual because it includes a little child, and we have noticed that since we arrived in Beijing we have seen very very few children. 

We reached a major road and in the distance on the other side of it was the side of Tiananmen Square, but it was cordoned off and we couldn't get near to it.

We followed the crowd that moved parallel to it through a police check point and then down through a subway.

Then we walked a long way and through a bag and passport check, eventually reaching another check point that we hoped to get through, but they turned us back because we didn't have a ticket.

We knew that we needed one but had hoped to blag it through using our passports, but no, we had to do the walk of shame back.

We then headed to the Forbidden City hoping that we could do better there. It was a really long detour and then we joined the exotic looking crowds heading towards the entrance.

Again we didn't have tickets but the internet said that we might be able to get some at the gates. However, the queues were long so we changed our minds and just decided to leave. 

We found what we thought was an exit, and were surprised that they checked our passports, x-rayed my bag and body searched me before letting us out.

However, we weren't out, we had actually arrived in the Forbidden City pleasure gardens.

It was very peaceful and beautiful and I felt very privileged to be there. We strolled around and found a lovely building with a twist - instead of having windows it was filled with aquariums full of pretty fish.

Wandering on we enjoyed the views and found a café. Darren asked for a hotdog, but I think that the waitress must have liked him because she initially handed him a big sausage on a stick that he was quite happy with, and then reappeared with a hotdog as well. I bought a Magnum and with two drinks it all came to less than a fiver.

We eventually worked out where the real exit was and walked to another lovely garden called Beihai.

Then back across the road to yet another garden that was packed full of tourists. We followed them all and climbed a hill to the top where hundreds of people jostled for the best spot to get a photo of the Forbidden City.

At least it gave us a view of where we didn't go today.

Finally we walked to a Hutong district. This is where the original small buildings of Beijing are located, and the area that we found was very touristy.

I bought a row of strawberries on a stick that were covered in toffee. All went well until I bit too hard into it and a bit of my tooth, or probably filling fell out.

This is our route, and when we come back to Beijing, which I am sure that one day we will, we will buy the tickets in advance.