Back to Osaka and home

16 November, Toyoko Inn Juso, Osaka

Had a great night in Dotondori. This is Osaka's answer to the Ginza and Times Square. Not that it isn't great fun, but it is a long way off either in reality. Aside from the bright lights, there are the street stalls selling octopus balls, which are not exactly what we thought they were. What you get is a small bit of octopus, rolled in a fish-flavoured dough, with mayonnaise on top. Never, mind, we did again manage to chance upon another great little restaurant and as a bonus, it was happy hour, so the beer was half price!

 On our second last day in Japan, what else could we do but visit a castle? Yep, we had one more castle left in us. Osaka castle is another reconstruction. After the havoc of WWII, Osaka, like most cities in Japan, was a wasteland. Today, standing at the top of the reconstructed castle, looking out over the enormous city that it once defended, you have to admire what the Japanese have accomplished in just one lifetime.

 

17 November, JQ Flt 20, Osaka to Gold Coast

Our flight left at 8:50pm fairly well on schedule, as you would expect, even from an Australian airline operating in Japan. As it was our last day, we had a late start and headed off to Kobe, just a 25 minute train ride from Osaka. Kobe was about the last city in this part of Japan that we had not visited before, so it was more or less a have-to-do just for the hell of it! As it turned out, it was just that - a nice enough city, but very much like dozens of other cities we have visited. Consequently, we were back to Osaka and out to Kansai Airport well before our flight time. So what else could we do? We just had a few beers and a last taste of original Japanese food and jumped on the plane. Just 8 hours and 45 minutes to go...........

 

 

Think we're turning Japanese?

14 November, Route Inn, Awaza, Osaka

(Later same day)

Just had dinner at a little back street noodle bar. It reminded us why we love travelling. This place had space for 15-20 people at a stretch. A little old grandma, hovering at the doorway, grabbed us and ushered us in to the bar seats. When we ordered two beers she tried to explain that they were BIG beers, but we won out. Everything was in Japanese, so we just pointed at what the people beside us were just finishing up. As they left, they gave us the thumbs up on their selection, so all was good. The young guy doing the cooking spoke a little English, so we discussed the meaning of life and other stuff and drank on. The end result was a great experience that would never be found in a main street, Western style Japanese restaurant.

15 November, Route Inn, Awaza, Osaka

We've just about had enough of museums, but it was a bit wet this morning so we headed off to the Transport (read Train!) and the Ethnological Museums. As might be expected, the Transport Museum was a big hit. We even got to drive some model trains!

In spite of a fair bit of museum overload, it must also be said that the Ethnological Museum was well worth the time. It has an enormous collection of artefacts from around the world, ranging from tools to yurts, with photos, videos, statues and all manner of things. Even though English signage is limited, it is extremely well presented. An added bonus is that the museum is located in the Expo Park, accessible by monorail. It was a while back now, 1970, but the park is still a reserve and this time of the year it is in all its autumn splendour. One of the centrepieces of the Expo still stands at the entrance to the park - a huge and extremely ugly statue called Tower of the Sun.

This close to the end of a trip, we usually do a review, but as this is our third trip to Japan for a total of six weeks of Japanese experience, there isn't too much more to add, except to say that there is a lot to be said for repeat visits. Perhaps our best comment on this trip would be 'We think we're turning Japanese... we think we're turning Japanese... we really think so!'

Shinkansen Heaven

13 November, Shinkansen Hikari 462

Our train today is due to arrive at Tokyo station at 12:40. You can bank on it! Every train we have been on has left exactly on time, to the second. Even local clunkers at the end of a 2 hour journey, will come to a stop as the clock clicks on to the scheduled arrival time.

Every few minutes, a flash of blue and white at the window announces the passing of another 16 car train travelling in the opposite direction. Closing at close to 600 kms/hr, the flash lasts no more than a second or two. We have done this trip before and so we are prepared for the amazing sight of almost solid high-rises for the remainder of our journey. Mt Fuji also awaits, an hour or so before we hit Tokyo. Good visibility in the area is rare, but it is a very clear day today, so we are hoping for a better view than we had last time.

As a treat on our last night in Okayama, we took ourselves off to a sashimi restaurant. A mixed plate of seafood and red meats, including horse, arrived at our table – after we had convinced our waiter that we understood what we had ordered was, indeed, raw. Enjoyable, but far from filling. Our emergency supply of snacks was raided as soon as we got back to the hotel. Food prices, at least where we have been eating, are extremely reasonable. $35 for last night's delicacies included two beers.

Sadly, cloud obscured our view of Mt Fuji. Maybe our return journey will offer a better view?

14 November, Hikari Shinkansen 473 to Shin-Osaka

Given the number of these blogs written on trains, readers could be forgiven for thinking that we only come to Japan to ride on trains. Not true, but it is a big part of the fun.

 

Our hotel in Tokyo last night was a bit further out of town than we had expected, if there is such a thing as 'out of town' in Tokyo. As a result we just ate locally rather than having a big night out in the city. We spent the morning wandering about Akihabara, the district of Tokyo know as 'Electric Town'. Just after the war, this area was the home of a large black market in radio parts. It has grown into what can best be described as 'geek central'. Electronics stores and electric component stores are still here, but the dominant business is now in the popular Japanese culture of anime. Multi-storey stores feature thousands of models of fantasy characters. Other stores have rack after rack of computer games featuring the same characters, but the weirdest of all are the comic book shops where grown men in business suits and raggedy teens stand side by side, browsing fantasy comic books. And of course, the roar of the Pachinko Parlours floods the streets every time one of the doors to these houses of “fun life” opens.

Okayama Day Trips

11 November, Shiokaze 5 Train to Matsuyama

Yesterday, our first truly wet day saw us on a five hour return train journey through the mountains to the western Honshu city of Matsue. We left Okayama in the rain and it just got worse as the day progressed. A bit of a shame, as the autumn colours increased as we ventured further into the mountains and small villages emerged from the mist. Matsue boasts a fine castle with one of the few remaining original castle keeps. We elected to take the tourist circuit bus to avoid the rain and so were treated to an extended tour of the back streets of Matsue!

Okayama itself is quite a nice city with wide, tree-lined streets and, of course, a castle. We have based ourselves here for a few days to do a few day trips that are a bit off the regular Western tourist trail. As we write, we are crossing the enormous bridge that island hops between the main island of Honshu and Shikoku. It's a much nicer day than yesterday and we are amazed at the mile after mile of heavy industry which seems to be creating almost no pollution. The air is clean and the sky clear. Yet again, we are the only Westerners on the train. Yesterday, amongst the thousands of locals out for a miserable rainy jaunt to Matsue, we saw only one other Westerner the whole day.

Away from the coast, Shikoku opens up to intensive farming. Late crops of vegetables and rice are ripening in a race to beat the encroaching winter chill. Farms are extremely small, with most plots looking to be no more than an acre or two. Yet the farming villages and the individual houses are indicative of a fairly wealthy life style. Food prices are not unusually high in Japan and export is not a factor, so there must be a fair bit of heavy government subsidising going on.

After shoving our bags in a luggage locker on arrival at Matsuyama, within minutes we were on a connecting train to the small town of Uchiko, another 25 minutes away. What a pleasant spot! Walking about a small Japanese town is a real pleasure, especially today (Monday) when most of the usual array of tourist stalls were closed after a hectic weekend. All we needed to do here was walk around a street that has been preserved in all its 19^th century grandeur. Because we had the place fairly much to ourselves and it was an extremely nice day, this was a relaxing highlight to a long, but interesting train trip.

 

For lunch today, we did as we have done every day on our three trips to Japan, hunted out a Lawsons Station. Lawsons is, in Western terms, a convenience store. 7-11, Family Mart and a range of smaller players offer convenience store services all over Japan, and in some parts of China. Unlike their Western counter parts, their prices are not as high in comparison to the larger supermarkets. In Japan, convenience stores offer a much wider range than we experience at home. In addition to what we would normally expect, these shops offer all of the more basic survival needs as well - sandwiches, packaged salads, Japanese food, hot food, coffee and, most important, beer. We usually grab a packet of sandwiches and a salad or a tray of sushi for between $2.50 - $3.50. The really amazing thing about these stores is that their fresh food is delivered every day all over Japan. To get some grip on what a logistic miracle this is, you need to know that Lawsons alone has more than 10,000 outlets across Japan.

 

Settled in the APA Hotel, Matsuyama, right across the road from Matsuyama Castle, we are all set for a castle visit and a trip back to Okayama tomorrow. For the princely sum of $77, we have a great view of the castle as well.

12 November, APA Hotel, Okayama.

Back in Okayama after our overnighter in Matsuyama.

The Matsuyama Castle was probably the best we have seen in Japan. Mind you, the weather always helps. It was another beautiful day, though the autumn chill is biting more each day. The castles that we have been visiting have all been mostly rebuilt or significantly restored since WWII, but the restoration work has always been faithful to the original. The Japanese have a great commitment to preserving their culture and, as with everything they do, it is done to the highest standards.

 

On a much less grand scale of workmanship, the hotel we stayed in last night had a tiled bathroom, a little unusual in the sort of hotels we stay in where most bathrooms are 'drop-in' pre-fab cubes. The trade work was near perfect. We have stayed in hotels in Europe and especially in the US, where the equivalent work looked like it had been done by highly skilled monkeys.

We are not averse to dramatic changes of plan on our travels. In a large motorhome, travelling through Germany in 1987, with three young children in tow, we made a spur of the moment decision to go to East Berlin. It was the depths of winter and well before the Wall came down. Our recent choice was nothing so dramatic. With a few days up our sleeves, we have decided to make a dash north to Tokyo for lunch and a dinner. Not too sure of the distance, but it is close to 4 hours on a Shinkansen travelling at close to 300 kms per hour.

And.. just never miss a Decoy Smork! 

8 November Sukara Shinkansen

Yesterday we travelled to Nagasaki to visit the Peace Park. Nagasaki was only the secondary target on that fateful August day in 1945. Cloud over the primary target, Kokura, sealed the fate of the city, resulting in the death of close to 200,000 people.

Historically, Nagasaki had been an early trading centre, boasting two foreign enclaves, one Dutch and the other Chinese. Despite centuries of persecution, Christian denominations have managed to survive in the city through to the present day. It was directly above the Catholic cathedral that B52 Bockscar dropped the second atomic bomb on 9 August.

Today we are barrelling along at Shinkansen warp speed towards Kagoshima, the southern-most city on Japan's main island group. Like Nagasaki, Kagoshima has had a long history as a centre of trade with China and the West. This southern-most part of Kyushu is a long way from Tokyo. Centuries ago, the journey could take months. This isolation encouraged a certain degree of independence in the good folk of Kyushu, and not just with respect to trade and religion. Well before US Commander Perry's 'Black Fleet' sailed into Tokyo Bay, forcing an end to Japan's isolation, the Shimazu Clan of Kagoshima was smuggling students out to the West to study science and engineering. The clan went on to play a significant role in the political and military development of modern Japan.

Heading back to Hakata this afternoon, we were able to grab an early train and avoid the crowds heading into town for a Sumo competition. We were a little naughty because we had reserved seats on a later train, but we took a chance on grabbing a non-reserved seat.

We have consistently said that using the rail network in Japan is easy. However, there are a few complexities that can confuse the novice. To begin with, there are several different kinds of trains. Subway trains are probably the easiest to understand, they generally operate the same as anywhere else. Then there are Local, Limited Express, Express, Super Express and of course the Shinkansen. Adding to this complexity are the different seat types. Shinkansen trains have a First Class, known as Green Class. Many Express and Limited Express trains have reserved seats. The cost of the reservation can sometimes be greater than the ticket price. Some trains are reserved seats only. While all this sounds daunting, it is all extremely consistent once you come to grips with it. Some may also find the process of actually getting on a train a puzzle on the first few attempts and there are some fairly serious protocols to be observed as well.

This being Japan, it will come as no surprise that queueing is a serious business. We had some real problems with this initially. Queue markers are printed on the platform. Seems simple enough, but the queue locations vary with the number of cars in each train. Not only that, but on some platforms where trains leave for multiple destinations, queues have to be made for multiple trains. Different queues are designated by shapes - circles, triangles and squares. Woe betide any punter who joins the wrong queue! They will feel the silent wrath of hundreds of fellow travellers, which is a bit like ... well nothing at all really.

The over the top politeness of the Japanese was again demonstrated to us this afternoon. As we lined up a photo of a monument across a main road, we were astonished when a bus driver slowed up his bus to avoid spoiling our shot. If you want to test this out sometime, just put one toe on a pedestrian crossing. Traffic from all directions will come to an immediate halt and will remain so until you leave the crossing.

9 November, Shinkansen 456

Just a travel day today, back on the train, headed for Okayama, so it is probably a good chance to comment on some 'weird stuff'. Japan abounds in weird stuff, at least weird to us. For example, toilets here never cease to amaze and mystify. We thought we had seen all the weird toilet stuff Japan had to offer, until we came across the little gem below. When the toilet is flushed, the cistern is refilled from the top by a spout that runs into a small bowl. The bowl has no plug, so the water runs directly on to fill the cistern after each flush. Our best guess is that this is some water conservation device that you can use to wash your hands, so using the soon to be flushed water twice?

 

Pachinko is a weird Japanese gambling game that has millions of Japanese of all ages addicted! The game is played in multi-storey 'Pachinko Palaces' with names like “Fun World Just” or “Wild Happy Land”. We have tentatively explored several Pachinko joints. The first thing that hits you is the noise. Thousands of machine tunes blast you as you open the doors. Hundreds of earnest, serious and totally focused adult Japanese sit transfixed before these machines, throwing fistfuls of small silver balls into contraptions that look like poker machines on steroids. Anime characters on the screens respond to the numbers of balls won by doing little dances or in the case of more adult versions, progressively dis-robing. Good players are not just rewarded by the various on screen anime antics, they also accumulate veritable buckets of little silver balls. What they do with these is still to be determined.

 

Weird signs abound throughout Japan. To those of us who don't read Japanese, their meanings will probably always be a mystery. From time to time though, we do manage to get the general idea.

 

One special sign was explained to us in Hagoshima in southern Kyushu. High on a hill side, on an enormous rock, the Chinese characters for Sanjingan are visible for miles around. The characters were carved into the rock in 1814 by 3900 workmen who laboured for 3 months to complete the job. So what was the important message conveyed by the characters? Sanjingan means, “Very Large Rock”!

5 November, Hearton Hotel, Osaka.

Travelled out to Nara today, only 50 minutes from our hotel in Osaka, but another world. Once we were past the usual tourist-y streets that take you from the station to the local attraction, Nara Park opened up to some tranquil open fields and forests that were just turning to their autumn colours. Thousands of deer roam the park, stalking tourists for food or just lounging in the warm autumn sunshine. Nara was the first permanent capital of Japan. Before then, the capital was moved with the death of an emperor. Many of the temples and other buildings in the enormous park are reminiscent of Kyoto, the other major ancient capital.

 

Crowds of school kids attempt to terrorise the park's deer. But the deer have their measure. Signs throughout the park warn children to beware of deer butting, kicking and even 'mounting' unsuspecting young folk!

Now that we are able to find our hotel from any point of the compass, we are due to leave tomorrow. We are off on our first Shinkansen trip of this visit to Japan, to Hakata in the north of Japan's southern island of Kyushu.

While on the point of compasses - awful pun- we noticed a very simple, but extremely useful, little inset in the footpath as we left the subway yesterday. A North direction marker - simple, but effective. There is nothing, short of a carnival ride, to disorientate one as absolutely as a subway station. Your directions or map might say go north-east from the station, but how useful is that when you emerge from its nether regions?

6 November, Sakura Shinkansen 553 Shin-Osaka to Hakata

On our first trip to Japan in 2011, we purchased a JR Pass for just over $700 AUD. This trip, the same pass was just $473 AUD. These passes allow unlimited rail travel on the extensive Japanese Rail network, including the original 'bullet trains', the Shinkansen.

 

We are big fans of long distance rail travel, having hit the rails in Europe, the US, China and Japan. Subway systems the world over have also both baffled and enthralled us since we first climbed on board a London Underground train in 1976. But the greatest thrill of all is a journey on the Shinkansen. Travelling at close to 300km/hr in cars with seating that is superior to most economy class airline cabins, the world slips past extraordinary quickly, but you see far more than from an aircraft. Our trip to Hakata today is 640kms, two and a half hours. No trips to the airport at either end, just a 5 minute subway ride from our hotel to the Shinkansen station and a walk across the road at the other end in Hakata to our hotel. Why would you fly? There has been talk at home in Australia of building a super-fast rail link down the east coast. To quote from a famous Aussie movie - “Tell 'em they're dreaming.” Even along the most populous corridor of Australia, the population density would never support such a service in competition with the airlines.

(Later)

Now settled in our hotel, just across the square from the JR station, we have planned our day trips for the next couple of days and booked our trains. Surprisingly, we found our hotel in minutes, so we had an easy afternoon scanning the web for extra information on our trip to Nagasaki tomorrow. What would we do without our technology?

Osaka, Japan

4 November 2013, Hearton Hotel, Umeda. Osaka, Japan.

First off, how about a short lesson?

How to meet Japanese people.

Meeting the locals can be one of the most rewarding parts of the travel experience, but for most, overcoming language barriers or just striking up that initial conversation can be difficult. So. Here's how to do it in Japan. Assume a puzzled look, stand on a street corner, preferably in the rain, have your partner scowl at you while you consult a map and generally look hopeless.. This also works best if you are a little past middle age and present as totally non-threatening.

We used this ploy most effectively last night, for an hour or more in both the dark and the rain, as we 'pretended' to be unable to find our central Osaka hotel!

In most other countries, following complete strangers up dark alleys late at night could be considered rather foolhardy. But this is Japan, and you just know that the older gent who suggests you follow him or the young student who knows his hotel is near yours, are just doing what Japanese do, being welcoming, courteous and helpful.

This is our third trip to Japan and there is something to be said for repeat visits. We feel perfectly at home. Everything is relaxed and pleasant. You know that the hotel will be clean. You are sure that everybody you deal with in shops, ticket offices, hotels and on the street will be polite and pleasant.

Just off the back of a couple of weeks in China, we are hit by a number of contrasts. On one hand, China is way more crowded and moving about the cities is more stressful than in Japan. The Chinese just don't have the same culture of civility that pervades in Japan. In China's favour however, everything there is brand new! Subways, city buildings and motorways are all built for the future. While Japan is still impressive, it is falling back; things are looking a little worn - always clean, but just a little shabby. What is interesting is that price wise, at least in the cities, things are just about on a par, except for public transport which in extremely cheap in China.

The threat of rain restricted our sightseeing today to indoors attractions. Aquariums are not usually high on our 'to do' list, but the Osaka Aquarium is world-renowned, so we made an exception. Good call! Despite the crowds, it was fantastic. The remainder of the day we were on the usual museum circuit, “doing” the Osaka History Museum and the Osaka Museum of Housing and Living. As with all things Japanese, extremely well presented, both featured detailed models of city life though history. However, a few more English explanations would have helped.

And,oh yes, we did eventually find our hotel. And, (sorry for the squeamish... BUT... it is so-o-o-o good to use Japanese toilets) today, in our hotel lobby, Janita was washed, dried and deodorised, all while sitting on the toilet seat. :)

And.

Just another late night thrill! From our hotel room in Osaka, we programmed our Foxtel Box, that sits under our TV in Brisbane, to record a TV program that starts an hour from now!

It's a wonderful world...

China - Last Days

20 October, Pacific Hotel, People's Square, Shanghai

Shanghai's Bund is the city's old waterfront. Lined with late 19^th century and early 20^th century buildings, it is another of the iconic Chinese sights.

We wandered out of our hotel this morning and took a nice coffee and breakfast entertained by locals practising their ballroom dancing moves on the street at the top of the Nanjing Road pedestrian mall. As we sauntered along with the usual throng heading down to the Bund, we could have been in Paris, Vienna or Prague. All the big brands were there, plus many more Asian up-market stores we haven't seen before. But just wait for them!

 

 

Down at the Bund, the river was empty and the view across to the commercial heart of the city was fantastic. We did the Sunday morning Bund stroll with the well-heeled locals and larger numbers of foreigners than we experienced in Beijing.

Just as we were about to head off, a convoy of barges turned into our reach of the river. Obviously they have specific times to travel on the river. What were they hauling? Yep coal, all the way from Australia. We waited for 30 minutes or so for a good photo and they kept coming, more than fifty by the time we left.

 Our other targets for the day were a couple of older areas of the city. Tianzifang is an area of narrow lanes and streets that represent what large parts of the city were like well into the 1970's. Again, the need to maintain the area is supported by commerce. German bars, British pubs and European food outlets mix with Chinese shops selling mostly to the local and foreign tourist market. All the same, the area still has an authentic feel and it was miles more interesting than the other area we visited in the French Concession area, Xintiandi, which was purely European, a place for expats and locals seeking a Western experience.

We actually found more local colour wandering about looking for an antique market. The back streets of some parts of Shanghai still provide some authentic old city vistas, but you have to wear out some shoe leather to find them.

 

As the afternoon wore on, more and more locals hit the streets. The atmosphere was much like big cities everywhere. Where were we? Sometimes it was hard to tell this afternoon. As the number of people on the streets grow, the power balance between the cars, buses and bikes and pedestrians swings in our favour. As numbers build up at crossings, the crowds edge forward, progressively blocking off the vehicular traffic. Once the 'people flood' starts, that's it, traffic just stops and the roads are ours! When we don't have the numbers, the lights and pedestrian crossings don't mean much. You have to bluff or just wait. We have been to South-east Asia. We can bluff with the best of them!

Oh, by the way, the TV just reminded us that Shanghai has a Hooters Bar!

 

21 October, Pacific Hotel, Shanghai.

Last full day in Shanghai and China. What can we say, but WOW!

 Took another walk down Nanjing Road to the Bund this morning after another coffee and pastry while entertained by the Chinese version of Dancing With the Stars, well the old stars. These oldies meet every day on this corner and trip the light fantastic. Some of them are very good. Others are just in for the company.

The Chinese are nowhere near as easy to engage as the Vietnamese, Cambodians or Laotians, all of whom are up for a chat anytime. But from time to time you get to connect and share a laugh or a photo opportunity. These are confident people who don't feel the need to interact with the few Westerners who roam their streets. And why should they? When we reflect on what happens at home, it is a bit rich to expect a warm welcome from everybody you meet. On Australian streets, travellers from foreign lands are generally simply ignored.

Smog closed in as the morning drew on and by the time we took the ferry from the Bund (AUD$0.30) across the Huangpu River to Pudong, visibility was poor but not as bad as some days in Beijing. On a clear day, this would be one of the great value river crossings in the world. On one bank the 19^th century buildings of the Bund; on the Pudong side, one of the most spectacular skylines in the world. The riverside walk on the Pudong side of the Huangpu was almost deserted as this is the commercial heart of the city and except for lunch time, things are fairly quiet on the street. It was low tide as we enjoyed the rare solitude. Interestingly, the exposed muddy river flats were near spotless, as is most of the city.

The Oriental Pearl Tower  is an iconic Shanghai landmark. A trip up the tower would have been a bit of a waste on a hazy day like today, so we opted for the Shanghai History Museum in the basement of the tower. As with everything here in China, it was extremely well done and, for us, informative and interesting.

 

 

This narrative has skipped over many of the places we have visited in both Beijing and Shanghai, but be assured we haven't missed much, as we walk as much as reasonably possible. We have seen a lot of places most travellers or tourists miss, although this might be as a result of getting lost, often, despite the use of our faithful Samsung and its GPS linked maps. The following comments are based on experiences most visitors to China don't have.

 

China in Review

Guess the first thing that comes to mind is an unlikely meeting with a couple of European travellers we met a few years back in Sapa in the north of Vietnam, close to the Chinese border. These guys had just crossed over from China and they were staggered with the difference between China and Vietnam. To them China was just so developed in comparison. It stuck in our minds, because we had an image of China as much the same as Vietnam. Wrong!

Sure, Beijing and Shanghai are not representative of all China, but from what we have seen, including a 1500 km train trip between the two cities, this place is just amazing. We are no wide-eyed novices. We have been around a bit. Most of Beijing and virtually all of Shanghai is as developed as any Western city we have visited. Beijing is more traditional Chinese in its ways. Shanghai is very Western, more cosmopolitan, sophisticated and progressive.

Hundreds of millions of Chinese have moved into the middle class and tens of millions into the upper middle class, Hundreds of millions more will achieve dramatically increased standards of living in the very near future. What this all means for China and the rest of the world, who can tell?

 

22 October Pudong International Airport, Shanghai

 Postscript

 Standing on the queue this morning outside the Shanghai Museum, we recalled some of the things that probably are not to love about China. Queues are a bit of an issue in themselves, but even more of an annoyance is the behaviour of some Chinese people in queues. Queue-jumping is endemic in China, at least the parts we visited and, generally, tolerated by the locals. In Shanghai the odd voice is sometimes raised in protest - not that it makes much difference. An allied niggle is the constant pushing. Waiting to cross at the lights, getting in and out of doors, mounting escalators, it seems that every Chinese just has to be at the front of the line, first in or first off as the case may be. Universal subway etiquette is that exiting passengers go first while those entering stand aside. Not in China. Getting off a subway train is a bit like a rolling maul in Rugby, bind tight, head down and barge forward. All this might reasonably be attributed to the crowded nature of the mega Chinese cities, but it quickly becomes tiresome.

Spitting in the streets and even on the floors of restaurants is something we Westerners just can't come to grips with. To be fair, the habit is far from universal and some have learned to walk to the nearest rubbish bin to let loose. But, the pre-spit hawking, getting it all up from the toes, is still stomach-retching. Chinese mobile phones must have very poor microphones if the way people yell into them is any indication. Yelling at each other in public places is also widely practised. Finally, the tendency for every slightly secluded corner to double as a urinal warrants special mention. At times the smells in some subway entrances or underpasses can bring tears to the eyes. We have extended our lung capacity greatly by holding our breath and bolting through the offending area at top pace.

 As for the squat toilets, AND for those western toilets used as squats … enough said.

All that being said, for those considering a trip to China, just do it. The minor annoyances fade  to insignificance in the light of the truly unique experiences that await the visitor to China. For the experienced independent traveller, it is a breeze. Even for the novice it is easily achievable. Expect good value for money but China isn't a cheap destination by Asian standards.

 We will be back next year to see some more of China and take the China-Mongolia railway up into Siberia to connect with the Trans-Siberian Railway through to Moscow and St Petersburg.

The greatest adventures are always

ahead.

 

 

 

Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai

10 October 2013, The Dorsett Mongkok.

Took a long train trip out to Tin Shui Wai this morning to do what is advertised as a 'heritage walk'. To be fair, in a city as modern as Hong Kong, it was ok as a heritage experience, particularly so as the whole thing was the work of two local families who wanted to preserve some of their past. The distance from the city has probably kept most tourists away and is perhaps a good thing in some ways. Sadly, the lack of visitors has meant that some areas of the walk have been let go a bit. As an historical experience it was a bit of a fizzer, but just to get out to this small remnant of rural village life in old HK was worth the effort for us.

Hong Kong is, of course, very compact, which probably amplifies the impact of the infrastructure and buildings. In some places it is just overwhelming. Freeway ramps cross over multiple metro lines, trams and buses flood the streets and the housing and business towers fill the sky. Tokyo staggered us on our first visit and for vastness it still makes New York look like a country town. HK's impact is different. The harbour is a great setting, much like Sydney and San Francisco and the surrounding hills somehow soften the harshness of the hundreds of tower blocks.

 

Later in the day we took the Star Ferry from Hong Kong island back to Kowloon for one of the best harbour views in the world. The omnipresent haze was fairly light and so we had some great views of both sides of the harbour.

Even later on, we had a great dinner at an unnamed cafe just up the road from our hotel. Obviously not a tourist hit, the locals led us here. It was full-on packed and the food was fantastic and they had beer! The damage was about $20 for three courses and two very large bottles of beer. Who said Hong Kong was expensive?          

11 October, Bridal Tea House Hotel, Mongkok

Due to a minor error in booking our hotels, we had to move from the Dorsett to another hotel just around the corner. Ouch! This is is probably the worst hotel we have stayed in in our many months of travelling Asia. One night won't kill us, but what a shocker! Old, half complete, across the road from a major construction project (not their fault we guess) but at more that AUD $100 a night, easily the worst value we have ever had in Asia.

Not phased by our digs, (you only sleep there) we set off to the outer island of Cheung Chau on the fast ferry. A 20 minute ride for the grand sum of $92.40HK for both of us ($13AUD), we were among a small handful of western tourists destined for a day on an island. When the ferry landed it was pandemonium; for some reason everybody has to be off first. We headed around the small harbour away from the crowds for a look at the more original parts of this fishing village. Hundreds of fishing boats of all sizes bobbed about in the harbour and if we imagined the smog wasn't there it could have been a Greek island (well, almost).

 

The markets were full of stalls with fresh (read alive) seafood, just in from the boats. We were easily seduced by an old dear at a sea front restaurant, and settled in for a four course seafood lunch. All good except that eating extremely small crabs is more than a simple skill!

Wading in the warm waters of the almost deserted beach on the other side of the island, it was hard to imagine that Hong Kong was just 20 minutes away.

This is our last night in Hong Kong. It has been fun and not at all as expensive as we had expected. For example, this morning we dined on danish, muffins and buns from a bakery just over the road from our hotel. Total cost AUD$2.60. Our seaside seafood lunch was AUD$30, including a big beer. And, while on money issues, the 2 way MTR Tourist Pass is an absolute bargain. We had our return airport express fares and 3 days travel on the MTR for AUD $35 each, then we got AUD $7 back on returning the card. The return Airport Express fare is AUD $10, so we got 3 days MRT subway and bus for AUD $18. Insane! And did we use it!

Off to Beijing tomorrow..

 

12 October, Tian An Rega Hotel, Beijing

After the usual confusion getting tickets sorted on arrival, we finally hit the subway and found our exit station. More confusion on exit, as there always seems to be; stations are so disorientating! Weaving our way through the crowds on the street, we realised we were going the wrong way when the Main Gate to the Forbidden City emerged from the chaos. The Chairman was our clue. We were definitely in Beijing.

Now settled in our hotel, which is a major step up from last night's disaster, fortified by a couple of Tsingtao beers, we are doing our washing and preparing to conquer the Middle Kingdom!

 

13 October, Tian An Rega Hotel, Beijing

Sadly, the first thing that hits you about Beijing is the smog. The pollution is unbelievably bad. Our eyes were stinging after the first few hours and visibility was no more than a couple of hundred metres. The second thing is the people - zillions of them lining up for the main attractions in our area, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Tens of thousands of black heads were swarming along the broad footpaths every where we went. In the subway, things are reasonably civilized, but crowded nevertheless. And it is Sunday!

We skipped the square and the Forbidden City today and jumped the subway for what we thought would be a serenely peaceful few hours wandering about a couple of temples and the ancient Beijing Drum and Bell towers. The temples were temples... sorry but Asian Buddhist temples all start to look alike after a while, a bit like European Cathedrals. The Drum Tower was quite fascinating, with several crafty ancient machines used to measure time so that the drums could sound out the hours to the good folk of old Beijing. We were treated to a great display of drumming on replica ancient drums. Apparently, some nasty western colonialists took great pleasure in puncturing all the original ones with their knives and swords in the very early 20^th century. Such a civilized bunch.

A wander through the hutongs, the original urban villages of Beijing, took us the rest of the day, ending with a stroll down some beautifully wide boulevards that would do Paris or Vienna proud, except for the dense smog!

 

Most of the hutongs have been destroyed and replaced with high-rise apartment blocks,. But some areas are now being preserved and others are being 'reconstructed' in the old style. It also seems that the hutongs don't have sewerage connections to all dwellings as there are public toilets every 100 m or so. From the smell, a visit to one is not a recommended part of the hutong experience.

The poor in Beijing seem to face a wealth gap that is much greater than faced by their counterparts in the west. Affluent middle class Chinese are able to pay big city prices that are not too much out of line with the west, while the millions of urban poor seem to live in a parallel economy where vastly inferior food , clothing and general items are all they can afford. It also seems that the socialist ideal of a reasonable life for all is failing many as homeless people live on the fringes here, much as they do in large western cities.

We have mastered some Mandarin and are able to say thank you, 'Seeya, seeya', not too hard for Australians to master. Now we are on a quest to teach some manners to 1.3 billion Chinese. We might have to come back.

 

14 October, Tian An Rega Hotel, Beijing

Chatting with our 8 year old grand-daughter about our pending trip to China, we asked her what we might find in China. Expecting things like the Great Wall or Pandas, we got instead, “Chinese”. We probably shouldn't have expected anything less than the obvious from a fairly precocious 8 year old. But she was right on the mark.

Today we tackled the Forbidden City, the dynastic home of the Emperors of China. Not much of a trip for us, because our hotel is right beside the Forbidden City and just up the road from Tiananmen Square. The crowds were nothing like the day we arrived, but still a challenge for us. The City is just enormous. We had to shuffle along at a fair clip to get through it all because it closed at 12:00 today.

For some crowd relief, we grabbed some rolls and a sort of Chinese pizza from a street stall and walked through the new park that borders the walls of the Forbidden City. Peace at last.

Up until today the smog has been terrible, but with a drop in temperature and a bit of a wind, the sky gradually cleared. What a difference! By the time we had trained it out to the Olympic village just after lunch, there was blue sky and sunshine.

It takes a bit to get a real WOW out of us these days, but much of what we have seen in Beijing is WOW territory. Just the scale of everything is jaw-dropping. The newer parts of the city (and that is most of it!) are open and spacious. High rise buildings are set back from the streets, with gardens, wide footpaths and main streets that are a normal city block wide. Of special mention are the subway advertisements that flash past in the tunnels between stations. Imagine the old flip card moving pictures you could create by flipping the corners of a pad to create the illusion of movement. Now envisage a line of illuminated screens in a darkened subway tunnel as your train speeds past creating a moving video image using the flicker factor of the carriage windows. Just.. WOW.

 

Almost 40 years ago we visited Europe for the first time. We were of course enraptured with the history, architecture and culture. But we also remember feeling that Europe then was very much the 'old world', just a little less dynamic and modern than home (Australia) was. Since that first visit we have been around a bit and seen a lot of the world and in more recent times travelled extensively in Asia. So where exactly do we think is the New World of the 21^st Century? Our bet is definitely not in the West.

America beware the rise of the Dragon!

 

15 October, Tian An Rega Hotel, Beijing

Up early today to catch the local local bus out to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. We had been told that the bus station was difficult to find and the journey was too complicated for non-Chinese speakers to attempt. So of course we decided to go. Aside from the challenge, the fare was an attractive $1.20 each way for the two and a half hour trip as opposed to $100 or more for a tour bus. Having checked out the bus station yesterday afternoon, (it took us an hour to find it!) we caught the subway to connect to the bus stop in plenty of time for the 08:30  'Special Tourist Bus 867'. Confusion reigned supreme at the bus station with hundreds of country folk rolling in with bales of 'stuff' to sell on the street and a few bewildered tourists, both Chinese and European, studying maps and tablet devices. Very soon, however, we were all pulled into line by a four foot nothing Chinese conductress who sat us all down in a neat waiting queue. Any attempt to move position or stand up was greeted with a torrent of Chinese which could only be interpreted as threatening.

We fell in with three young guys, an American, a Bulgarian and a German who had attempted this journey yesterday, only to spend the whole day roaming the outer suburbs of Beijing on a series of bus-lines that led them everywhere except the Great Wall. Understandably, they were a little 'gun shy' of the whole Beijing transport system and managed to transmit some of this to us as the arrival time of the bus slipped past. About 40 minutes after the appointed time we were finally herded onto the No 867 Special Tourist Bus by what was probably the last of Mao's soldiers of the Cultural Revolution.

Our long journey through the suburbs of this enormous city was well worth the price. Mile after mile of well-laid out, wide streets and motorways lined with modern factory and housing blocks slipped slowly by as we negotiated extremely heavy traffic for the 50 kms to the Great Wall.

The smog that had greeted us on our first day in Beijing was totally gone today. The sky was crystal clear and visibility was almost limitless. Just 50 kms from the city, the  Mutianyu sector of the wall is in a beautiful, rugged area of natural forest that seems to stretch on forever. The Wall was, of course, constructed to keep out the Mongols, but given the nature of the terrain, they would have done well to even get to the Wall.

The very hearty, or very silly, can climb up to the Wall from the carpark/bus station, but almost everybody jumps on the cable car to the top of the ridge to walk along the Wall. Walking the Wall is strenuous enough. It is extremely steep in most parts. The downward journey can also be made by chairlift or the more adventurous tourists (like us) take the 'Chute' which is a luge ride of a couple of kms down the steep side of the mountain. What a hoot!

The good old 14:00 867 Special Tourist Bus was early for the return journey, but the more crafty of us were in line well before the scheduled arrival time and so, once again, foiled the dastardly Communist plot to befuddle and confuse innocent Westerners.

 

16 October, Tian An Rega Hotel, Beijing

Mao's mausoleum in Tiananmen Square is just across the road from our hotel, so we had a bit of a leisurely start to the day and headed off to see the Great Leader. It was about 9:15 by the time we joined the end of the queue, 10-15 people wide, that seemed to stretch for at least a kilometre,  winding left and right across the enormous square that was the scene of the tragic quashing of public dissent by the Red Army in 1989. Perhaps the most lasting image of those tragic days, at least in Western minds, is that of the 'Tank Man' who alone confronted a line of tanks in the square. There are no monuments here to these events of course, and the identity and fate of the 'Tank Man' is not clear to this day. Many believe he was just heading home with his shopping (he had a grocery bag) and was moved to make his statement. Whatever his story, it is not celebrated here and he has vanished into the swirling sea of humanity that is China.

As our queue shuffled on, we were initially amused by the need of most Chinese to queue-jump wherever possible. Four foot high little old ladies ferreted their way around us, teenagers slipped through any gap available and pint-sized men shoved and elbowed their way on. After the first hour of this shuffling tide, our tolerance began to fray and we commenced our own rolling blockade. What was their point? The Chairman wasn't leaving town! Fruitless as our efforts were against the 200,000 Chinese in the queue, we gave it a good try and it kept us amused. Some Western support might have helped, but there were only a score or so non-locals in this enormous crush. As the second hour approached, we finally had the last security check before entering the sacred tomb. At last the crowd settled and some degree of solemnity descended on the masses as we approached the revered Chairman.

Yep he was still there.

Once out of the mausoleum, we were able to get some perspective on the size of the crowd in the whole square. A conservative guess would be around one quarter of a million people and just over the road at the Forbidden City another 100,000 or so were making their pilgrimage to the seat of the old Emperors. Lucky we picked a weekday for our visit, apparently it gets crowded on the weekends.

For some reason, every one of the dozens of large flag poles lining the street around the square and Forbidden City today had both a Chinese and Australian flag. Surely not just for us?

Our afternoon activity was far less of a test of patience. The Imperial Summer Palace was once located well out of the city. Today it is an enormous oasis on the fringes of the inner city. Most of the Palace and the surrounds have been reconstructed, much of it in the late 1940s. Seems that the Europeans who were granted special trading areas in China during the 19^th and early 20^th centuries took great pleasure in destroying important Chinese cultural monuments in retribution for any attempts by the Chinese to take back control of their own Empire. The reaction to the Boxer Rebellion in 1901 was especially devastating as much of the vast assemblage of palaces, temples and other buildings here were torched by the English and French. Seems they can work together on some things.

Touts pushing tours of attractions are a mild annoyance in most countries, but we have finally developed a fail safe method to cut them off short. Given the fact that 99% of the tours offered here are in English, we have taken to feigning a lack of knowledge of our mother tongue by responding to touts in French, German, Italian, Spanish or any other language of which we have even the faintest knowledge. It stops them in their tracks! “Pardon, pas d'Anglais, parlez-vous Francais'?”gets them every time! With some practice we might even try Khmer.

Just before leaving on this trip, we read an article that suggested that the Chinese government needed to be more active in promoting and facilitating foreign tourism. Our observation would be, why? From what we have seen, domestic tourists are pushing the system to capacity. Western tourists are less than 1% of those who jostle with us at every attraction. Who needs more foreign tourists when there seem to be more than enough locals with the cash to be big spending tourists in their own country?

 

17 October, Tian An Rega Hotel, Beijing

For our last day in Beijing, we decided to take it easy and visit the Chinese National Museum which is just beside Tiananmen Square. The smog today had built back up to eye-watering intensity, but that didn't stop the crowds. The queue to visit Mao was even longer than yesterday, but the Museum line was only a 10 minute wait and we got free entry as foreigners.

Security in most parts of Beijing has, on the surface, been tight, but really, anybody wishing to do serious harm would have no problem. Bags are checked at all subway stations, (can you imagine that in NYC or London?) but the person on the other side of the screen is often asleep.

At the museum, though, they were a little more attentive. Everybody entering must go through a personal check with a metal detector wand and a 'light' pat down.

The museum is enormous and well laid out, but to be frank, unless you are really into Chinese art and history, it is a bit too much, even when it is free for holders of foreign passports.

For a bit of retail therapy, we visited the Pearl Markets in the afternoon. Not just pearls here, everything you might imagine. Great fun to wander about and take in the atmosphere. Store holders are mostly good humoured and enjoy a good haggle as much as we do. As a basic rule, start at 10% of the original asking price and don't move too far above that. For example, for a little dress for Abby, our granddaughter, we were offered 250 yuan ($50) first up. We got it for 35 yuan ($7) and the guy wasn't crying, so we probably could have got it for even less. Great fun!

Off to Shanghai on the Chinese Bullet Train tomorrow.

 

18 October, People's Train G13, Beijing Nan to Shanghai-Hongqaio

Current speed 301km per hour.

The journey from Beijing to Shanghai is roughly the same distance as Brisbane to Cairns. It will take 4 hours and 50 minutes (give or take). We had no trouble getting tickets (AUD$110), as we booked a few days ahead, but our train is full and so were all those that left Beijing every five to ten minutes between 9:00 am and 11:00 am. After 11:00 the frequency drops back to once every 30 minutes. These are 16 carriage, high-speed bullet trains and they run both ways on this line on this schedule 7 days a week.

Smog was so thick in Beijing as we departed that it had rolled down into the tunnels of the subway. We have been lucky with only the first and last days of our stay in Beijing being marred by heavy smog.

More than 3 hours into our journey and visibility has improved, with city smog now replaced by much lighter haze from millions of small fires set by farmers burning off the remnants of the stubble from the corn harvest. Larger urban areas have, on the most part, been replaced by thousands of rural towns and villages both new and old. Every now and then a forest of highrise apartments looms up over the plain that is chequered with small plots of corn, wheat, rice, vegetables, cotton and millions of fruit trees.

Many of the older rural villages are rather attractive, set amongst windbreaks of birch and poplar trees. Frequently, we pass large industrial towns that scar the landscape. Guess these are where all the stuff we in the West consume so ravenously comes from. We have also passed a few enormous 'Ghost Cities', hundreds of complete and partly complete high rises complete with roads and other infrastructure. Thousands of cranes tower like their bird namesakes everywhere you look. But nobody lives there. Yet.

Super 4-6 lane highways, yet unopened, cross the railway line every 50 kms or so. Even those that are open, and there are plenty of them, have very light traffic away from the city centres. Much of the infrastructure has been built for the future. Already, more cars are sold each year in China than in the USA.

The countryside we are passing through is obviously heavily populated and intensively farmed, but there is still a surprising amount of open space and virgin forest.

 Arrived in the mammoth Shanghai-Hongqaio station just before the advertised time and hit the ultra modern Shanghai Subway with a minimum of hassle. We have shouted ourselves to a 4.5 star hotel for the last few nights in China, very nice and way cheaper than at home, but we are in the commercial area so we are in the midst of the very Western part of the city. Pizza Hut, McDonalds and KFC are all within striking distance. Rest assured we won't be eating there. There are actually a few back streets that we can explore for some real local food. 

 

19 October, Pacific Hotel, People's Square, Shanghai

Shanghai city seems a lot more cosmopolitan and sophisticated than Beijing. People are generally better dressed and (just) a little better mannered. We took the subway out to the old suburban enclave of Qibau first up this morning. A lot of the buildings are original, but as with many of these areas in cities all over the world, commercial interests dominate at street level. While this may ruin the historical validity of the area, it does draw in the crowds and finance restoration and maintenance.

Food is a little different here in Shanghai. The amount of meat in the diet is way greater than we observed and experienced in Beijing. Last night we ate at a large restaurant in a back street behind our hotel. The servings were enormous and the amount of meat was beyond even confirmed carnivores like us.

Just across People's Square from our hotel is the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre, yet another jaw dropper. Over four floors, the exhibition features the history of urban development of this enormous city. The influences of periods of 'occupation' by the Western powers in the early 20th century and the more turbulent times of the Japanese occupation are presented in multi-media and photo displays. Naturally, the period of the Communist revolution is also there, with all its over the top rhetoric. But the centre piece of the whole thing is an enormous model of the city as it will appear in 2020, just 6 and a bit years away. Simply breath-taking!

While we fairly much had the streets to ourselves this morning when we set out at 9:00 am, this afternoon the streets around the square were packed. Saturday night in downtown Shanghai looks like being a buzz.

 

Costs in China have been mentioned from time to time so far in this blog, but it is probably time to pass some comments on prices and value for money. Firstly, it must be noted that we are basing our comments on three big cities, Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai. Overall, prices in China are more akin to Japanese prices than general South-east Asian prices. It would be very easy in big Chinese cities to spend as much as you would in the US or Australia. However, China is a multi-level economy and if you step off the main streets you can access a second tier price structure that is fairly reasonable value for the budget traveller. Go another step and seek out the poorer parts of town and if you can overcome the communication problems and what exactly you are eating, you can get prices that approach south-eastern Asia prices.

Clothes, electronics, souvenirs etc can cost as much as in the west if you want legitimate brands and shop in the big Malls, but take a trip out to one of the enormous 'Fake Markets' in most cities and bargain a bit and you can do extremely well.

Some actual examples of costs may help. Dinner with two beers in a clean, back-street restaurant can cost  from A$12 - A$30 for two. A main street restaurant will set you back A$60 plus for the same thing. With care, costs can be kept well down by grabbing a sandwich or a street store roll for A$1-A$2 each. Japanese convenience stores like Lawsons and Family Mart are everywhere in Shanghai (but not in Beijing) a good pre-made sandwich costing A$1. Bargain level Hotels can range from $30-$120 and you get what you pay for, particularly with regard to location. Most hotels throughout Asia are of a much higher standard, at all star levels than in the West and from our experience, they are universally clean.

On the transport front, subways and buses are extremely cheap. Most subway trips will cost less than $1. In Beijing, you can travel the whole system for a flat rate of  A$0.40. All the cities we have visited have an IC Smart Card system like London's Oyster Card. For convenience alone it is well worth the effort to buy one at your first subway stop.

In summary, by Asian standards, China is not a cheap destination, but with care it is good value and still much cheaper than most Western destinations.