Yang Shuo - My Shangri-La

25th - 29th December 2007 Eighth-Twelveth Day

Our initial plan was to go Huang Shan in He Fei Province after Phoenix Capital. We realized that we didn't have enough money for the trip and Huang Shan was too far from Phoenix Capital. Moreover, we heard that some of the tourist spots in Huang Shan were closed due to heavy snow storms. After we had a discussion, we decided to go to Gui Lin instead of Huang Shan. If I had known that I would go to Gui Lin, I wouldn't tell my friends that Gui Lin is only for veterans.

We reached Gui Lin city at 6am and we went straight to Yang Shuo by bus and the journey took 1 1/2 hours. We stayed in a 3-star hotel and the room cost RMB50 per night. I felt it was extremely cheap. The hotel owner (a couple) was kind and friendly and they treated us to dinner. They provided us a lot of travel information and they even helped us to get local tickets which were cheaper than those for the tourists. They had a 4-year old daughter who was cute but she was quite matured when she talked. She kept on complaining that Chee Ying and I ate too much and she told her mom that she didn't want to be 'big' like us.

We hired an old lady as our guide for our bicycle ride. I wasn't good in cycling. As a result, I couldn't kept up with the guide and Chee Ying. We passed through villages and farms. Then we took a ride on the bamboo raft along the river. The view was beautiful and there were a lot of ducks swimming in the river. The river was not deep enough as it was winter and there were a few occassions, the boatman asked us to get down from the boat and wait for him at the shore while he pushed the raft forward with his bare hands.

Unforgettable...

Fifth - Seventh Day 22nd - 24th December 2007


Lao Xu sent us to the Zhang Jia Jie bus station where we took bus to Phoenix Capital. He was so nice that bought us 'San Xia Wo' for our lunch. ' San Xia Wo' was a local dish which was quite similar to 'Ba Kut Teh'. I was told that Phoenix Capital is a nice place therefore I was eager to go there.

I had a stomachache at the bus station. I wasn't sure whether I should go to the toilet as I had heard a lot of unpleasant stories about the bad state of toilets in China. Chee Ying told me that there was a toilet for which a fee of RMB1 was charged. I expected that the toilet to be in good condition. When I stepped into it, I was shocked. There were a few compartments but the walls were only up to dado level and there weren't any doors. There was just a drain and it was full of 'rubbish' as there wasn't any water supply. I stood next to the door and contemplated whether I should enter the toilet. I thought to myself "I need to wait for another 4 1/2 hours before i can find a toilet. But the toilet here is too dirty and embarrasing. It will be wasted if i don't go as I already paid RMB1." In the end, I still chose to use the toilet. I went to a compartment which was opposite the main door but it had a small door which I thought wasn't too exposed. When I went into the compartment, I only found out that the lock didn't work. I needed to hold the door with one hand. It was so embarrassing. I quickly ran out from the toilet after I had completed my 'mission'. I saw the lady who was collecting money from me eating noodles there. It was disgusting! Chee Ying was laughing after hearing my experience.

We reached Phoenix Capital at night and stayed in one of the guesthouses which was next to the river. The view was amazing.

I like this town very much but it was a pity that my camera was stolen here. I was so depreseed as all the photos that i had taken were gone. Chee Ying didn't take many photos as her camera was faulty. I was upset that didn't take a bath but went straight to the bed. Suddenly I remembered that I bought travel insurance last year. After confirming with my insurance agent that it covered the loss of camera, I quickly lodged a police report in order to get a police statement for claim purposes.

I bought a camera with film for RMB120. I didn't dare buy a digital camera there. I was worried that the camera didn't work. As a result, I tried it by finishing a roll of film just by taking photos on a street. After seeing the photos that had been developed, I was confident to continue using it.

We spent our afternoon at one of the cafes. We made 2 new friends - Given and Ah Fong. Both of them were from Dongguan but Given was working in Macau. Both of them were cute because they kept on saying that they were just friends. We chit-chated for almost 2 hours. It was relaxing as we weren't rushing to any tourist spots unlike those who were joined tour package. I really had a pleasant afternoon with them.

On Christmas Eve morning, we left Phoenix Capital and headed to Huai Hua in order to get on transit bus to Gui Lin. We met a guy from Changsa - Sheng Bin in the bus. He was friendly and caring as he gave some sweets to the girl who was carsick. Sheng Bin and I kept on exchanging information about our own country, just like in an international forum. He was very kind in helping us to buy our bus tickets to Gui Lin after we reached the Huai Hua bus station. He even invited us to his aunt's house for lunch.

The bus to Gui Lin was fitted with 3 rows of berths in 2 levels. This was my first experience taking it. I slept on the lower one and there was a man on the top level. He kept on smoking and even threw peanut skin down as the dustbin was next to my bed. The men in China smoked a lot everywhere, they even smoked in the bus! Some of them kept on talking loudly in the bus at midnight. I was frustrated but I couldn't do anything as this was their culture.

Zhang Jia Jie

Third -Fifth Day 20th-22nd Decemeber 2007

I woke up at about 7am in the train which heading for Zhang Jia Jie. There wasn't anyone in the train except the two of us. I was looking out from the window and trying to figure out where we were but I couldn't. The scenery out there was breathtaking.

We reached Zhang Jia Jie station at about 10am. We were late for almost an hour from the expected arrival time. We niticed that the trains in China are always late for an hour to reach the last stop. Our local tour agent who we had contacted earlier was waiting for us at the station. We called him Lao Xu. We went to the entrance of the Zhang Jia Jie Park by van. The weather was cold and cloudy. The tour package for 3 days 2 nights was RMB500 per pax which included accommodation, entrance fee of RMB248 and food. I felt it was cheap!

After buying the entrance tickets, we walked from the entrance to the place that we would stay. The journey would take more than 3 hours. There were some famous tourist spots along the way to our guest house. Every tourist spot had a theme and Lao Xu explained to us the story behind it. Because of winter, most of the trees were bare.

Then, we reached a junction where Lao Xu told us that there were two routes to reach the guest house. One was a 1 1/2-hour normal walk followed by a cable car ride which cost RMB56. The second route was 1-hour walk on the staircase. Chee Ying insisted on taking the second route. When she told Lao Xu of our decision, he was shocked as it was a difficult trek and we were carrying heavy bags. Chee Ying walked very fast with her 8-kgs bag. I really saluted her. I think she can participate in the Amazing Race. I walked very slowly as my bag was too heavy. It was a 10-kg bag! I felt exhausted. The local people offered to carry my bag for me but I declined. People might think we were crazy to decline the offer and I thought so too.

We met an old couple during the walk on the staircase. The husband was carrying a tripod and the wife was carrying a water bottle. The husband helped his wife to take a photo if the scenery was beautiful. I felt that they were very healthy and even stronger than me. They told me that they could stop anyway they liked as they had plenty of time. I asked myself whether I could have this lifestyle when I get old.

It was cloudy there so we couldn't see the scenery clearly most of the time. The guide would tell us what this rock resembled. We needed to have a good imagination. Most of the time I couldn't visualize as my imagination and visualization were poor.

Patriotic Chinese

Second Day 19th December 2007

We reached Changsa in the early morning. It was very cold and misty. Our train to Zhang Jia Jie was a night one hence we joined a day tour to Shao Shan - Mao Tze Tung's hometown. The tour also included visitation to Liew Siao Qi's hometown. Frankly, I really don't know who Liew Siao Qi was untill I had visited the place.

The local people really respected Mao Tze Tung. They even treated him like God and believed that he would give them good luck. People in China are very sensitive about political issues and they know their country history very well. They are very patriotic and they pround to be a Chinese in China. In contrast, most Malaysians don't bothered about the political issues especially the youth. They don't even fulfill their obligation as a Malaysia citizen by voting, let alone make an effort to know the history of the country. Honestly, I voted and I always pround to be a Malaysian. How about you?

1st Day of the China trip

First Day 18th December 2007

Our flight to Shenzhen was at 6:50am. This was the earliest flight that I have ever taken. My brother sent my friend-Chee Ying and me to the airport. Once we reached Shenzhen, we went straight to the railway station to buy train tickets to Zhang Jia Jie. The taxi fare from the Shenzhen airport to the railway station was about RMB200 which I was felt was extremely expensive.

We quickly queued to buy the tickets based on the information that I had downloaded from the internet. The ticketing officer told us that there wasn't more berths for the transit train and asked us if we wanted to buy tickets for one seating and one standing as there was only one seat left. We agreed as it was only a 3-hours journey anyway. When we about to pay, we only found out that the journey wasn't 3 hours, it was 27 hours. We were shocked and felt lucky as we had found out earlier. Imagine standing or sitting in the train for 27 hours! This inciddent happened because the information in the internet only showed the departure and arrival times and it didn't show the duration. In China, the ticketing officer will not provide you any travel information. There was a "customer service" officer who just sat right in front of the entrance of the railway station. She wasn't friendly and we were scared to ask her more. After running up and down, we finally managed to get a railway schedule and arranged our routes accordingly. We bought tickets for the night train from Shenzhen to Changsa - the capital city of Hunan.

We went shopping at Lao Jie. The fesyenable clothes were cheap and stylish but all are winter clothes. I controlled myself not to buy any as this was just the first day of the trip. I needed to spend within my budget and considered the weight of my travel bag.

The train to Changsa was an old one where the facilities were bad. Every compartment had 6 berths and the there were 2 rows. We slept on the top berths and there weren't any railings to protect us from failing down and there were only 2 nylon trips holding the bed from the ceiling. The space was limited, we couldn't even sit or turn our bodies. After we went up to the bed, we didn't go down and go to the toilet untill we reached Changsa the next morning.

From Nepal trip to China trip

"God must have given you signs not to go to Nepal and there were three signs in total. You should follow the "instructions" given by the God" This was the advice given by my friends. There were really too many obstacles for me to go to Nepal:-

1) Firstly, I coudn't get any flights to Nepal.

2) After I managed to get the flight, the ticketing company couldn't issue me the ticket as the airline compang had cancelled the flights from mid December to January 2008 without prior notice.

3) Then, the ticketing agent managed to get an alternative flight for us - Biman Bangalesh Airline. After discussing with my friend and agreeing to take the risk, we decided to take the flight. A few days before our tickets were issued, Bangladesh was hit by cyclone. More than 3,000 were died and more than 100,000 people were evacuated.

After my friend and I had a serious discussion, we decided to change our plans and go to China. Many people were shocked after hearing our plans. Our trip would take 16 days and would cover Zhang Jia Jie, Phoenix City in Hunan and Huang Shan. In addition, we planned to have our year end countdown party in Hong Kong and to end our trip in Macau.

Mountain Hiking at Irau Mountain

When I stood at the entrance of the jungle, I asked myself that whether I could turn back and stay in one of the cozy apartments. Why do I want to"torture" myself? Instead, I should go shopping at The Garden and The Pavillion but not hiking. However, I still followed the other friends into the jungle.

This mountain is called Irau Mountain which is 2110 meters high. It is located at Cameron Highland. There were no water resources. I treked in this jungle 4 years ago. At that time, I was 24 years old and it was my first trekking or hiking trip.

The trek was muddy and wet. It was a difficult trek as there were many roots along the trek and it was slippery. In addition, all of us needed to carry a bag of at least 5 kgs which included of 3 liters of water. Of course, guys needed to carry a heavier bag each. I pity them but I wouldn't help them, haha... At first I advised them not to carry so much water (based on my experience) but they didn't listen to me and said that they won't let me drink the water but will sell it to me. In the end, we kept on asking each other if we wanted to drink the water to lighten our burden.

We reached the base camp at about 5pm after 3 hours of hiking. I hoped that we would camp there and not continue with the trek because it was about to rain and it was getting dark. Suddenly it rained. We quickly wore our thin disposable rain coat and our leader - Seen asked us to continue our trek. It rained cats and dogs as the result the muddy trek became more slippery. There were a few times when I almost fell down because I accidentally stepped on my own rain coat. My rain coat was torn because of this. It was cold and my whole body was dirty. As I was very tired, the dirtiness didn't bother me. I just stepped on the muddy path whereas my friends were trying to avoid it. There was one incident when my foot was stucked in the mud. My friend helped me to pull out. It was do dangerous!

Finally we reached the camp site after 4 1/2 hours of hiking. We were starving and cold. Then we quickly set up our tents and started to prepare our dinner, but it rained again. There was nothing that can be used to tie the corners of the canvans. In the end, some of us held the canvans at four ends and the others cooked dinner under it. We had our simple meal in our tent. We had rice with bake beans and chicken in vegetable saurce. We were so contented with meal under such circumstances. The night was chilly and there were a few times I woke up because of the cold.

The next day after breakfast, we started our return journey. As our bags were lighter because we had eaten most of the food and used up the water, our return trek became easier. Among seven of us, I was the second youngest. But it is very embarassing that I was the last person to finish the trek. I was tired and the pain in all my muscles was excruciating. We took 3 hours to reach the exit. I was exhausted but I was pround of myself.