Going potty in Xian ...

Predicatable I know, but it was the best title I could think of ...

Maybe if it hadn't rained non-stop for the 3 days we were there ... we'd have found the time to scale Xian's city walls. Impressive as they are, what's contained within is just another example of China's rush to build high-rise apartment blocks, and glitzy shopping malls no-one seems to be able to afford to shop in.

Slightly different accomadation experience here - we stayed in a "hostel" we'd pre-booked over the internet from Pingyao. It actually turned out to be more like a homestay with Todd and his girlfriend Mei on the 5th floor of a brand new apartment block. Not exactly what we'd had in mind, but they made us very welcome. Good job too, as the rain kept us confined to barracks - almost to the point of cabin fever.

Of course we couldn't come to Xian without making the obligatory trip out to see the Terracotta Warriors - every bit as impressive as they promised. If anyone is coming here - there is absolutely no need to take a 30 quid tour to get there, we just took the local bus from the train station for 40p to make the 1 hour journey.

On the way out a perfect example of Chinglish ... well, I sort of know what they mean ...

Mel has covered the Chinglish phenomenon more comprehensively on her blog here.

Lastly - in China almost everyone has an "English" name they use with foreigners for ease of pronunciation. In Xian we had the pleasure of meeting a Chinese guy from Hainan (off their South coast) who'd picked the name Pigeon. We didn't really like to say so, but surely if you have the opportunity to choose a name for yourself ...

Pocari Sweat ..

So, first there was Cak-Bum.

Now I can bring you the delightful Pocari Sweat - straight from Japan.

The reference to sweat is absolutely intended - it's an isotonic drink designed to replace what you lose during exercise. Having tasted it I'm convinced they chose the right name.

I can't imagine something called Pocari Sweat would sell well back home, but the Japanese must love it as they sell it from vending machines on virtually every street corner.

Now my photos have re-emerged from behind the bamboo firewall, here's another uniqely Japanese item. Melon Kit-kat.

Mel bought these as emergency rations for our ill-fated trip to Mount Fuji. At least if we had been attacked by a bear, they might have been just enough to repel the attack ...

Baby Pingyao?

We took the sleeper train to the Ming dynasty walled city of Pingyao - so remarkably preserved you don't really even need to imagine what it would have been like hundreds of years ago.

Temples and impressive buildings aside (for photo's click here) there wasn't a whole heap else to do in Pingyao - architecture aside, the most interesting aspect of this stop was getting our train tickets out of there ...

Although China is moving toward capitalism at relentless pace, the railways remain state owned and highly planned. The impact of this for travel is that tickets (particularly "soft sleeper") can be very hard to come by indeed. Tickets only go on sale 3 days in advance, by which time many have already been pre-allocated to party officials, state enterprises and people with connections in high places. The remaining tickets are allocated somewhat arbitrarily to various stations en-route - with Pingyao having no of allocation whatsoever.

Enter the national pastime of getting round arbitrary rules. We soon discovered that guesthouses along the way are the best people to get the tickets you need - by emailing ahead to get round the 3-day rule. In this case it meant them calling someone at a station 90 minutes before Pingyao to buy a sleeper ticket from there.

On the day of travel the helper catches the train at the earlier station, exchanging the ticket for the bunk token. The guesthouse provides a photocopy of the ticket, which you swap with the helper on the platform as they alight .. presumably to catch a bus home. Ridiculously inefficient, but it works.

As I finish writing this from our hotel in Vietnam, at last I've stepped from behind the bamboo firewall and been able to get at my photos - the remaining Japan photos from Tokyo, Hemeji Castle and of course, Mount Fuji are all live now (including some rather better ones of the mountain than my blind guess for the post!)

While we stayed in Pingyao our friends Anna & Dave had a baby boy - so a big congratulations to the Vickers family. Although we still haven't heard whether or not they decided to go with our suggested name of Pingyao - come on guy's, you know it would be great ...

Climbing the Great Wall ...

We took a day trip to a section of wall about 3 hours drive North of Beijing to escape the worst of the crowds, allowing the opportunity for me to climb the 10km section of wall between Jinshanling and Simitai.

The day brought some light drizzle and mist, which, combined with the increased elavation it made for a thankfully cooler (but still 29 degrees) day for the climb. The weather definitely didn't do anything for the photo's, but it certainly made the experience more atmospheric.

We may have escaped most of the tourists, but this had a downside as we subjected to the most organised and persistent display of hawking (books, t-shirts, postcards) that I've experienced anywhere. The ratio of hawkers was about 1:1, which necessitated the golden bullet approach - they each targeted a single person constantly for about 2-3km (1 hour) up and down steep sections of the wall.

Despite the cooler weather it was so humid I must still have lost of couple of litres of fluid on the climb - still there was nothing too technically difficult, but the gradient was fairly relentless, and it required use of hands in quite a few places where the wall had partially collapsed.

Not only is the wall a great feat of engineering, but it's in some of the most rugged terrain that just getting to it would surely have put most potential invaders off.

Ironically the history books say it was so easy to bribe the guards stationed there, that the walls only real success was as a transport route. I for one wouldn't have managed nearly so well had I been portering 50 kilo's of rice ...

The hawkers aside, this was a really great way to see the wall - and an absolute breeze compared to our recent experience on Mt. Fuji ... You can see all the photos from the day here.

Well, it's just not cricket ...

In fact it's Grasshopper. Or rather 3 of them.

It all started with a superb meal in one of Beijing's Peking Duck restaurants. Then somehow, after a few late afternoon beers, we found ourselves at the famous night market daring each other to eat the more exotic skewers. After some negotiation we decided that my challenge was scorpions, and Mel would eat grasshoppers.

The technique is quite simple. Close your eyes. Imagine a nice salty beer snack. Pop the critter in your mouth whole. Then chew. Oh, and make sure you don't get a leg or tail stuck up your nose in the process. Actually they were suprisingly inoffensive.

We tried lots of new food during our week in Beijing - from the pretty tame water lilies, to the rather more exotic chicken heart skewers and duck tongue soup (finished with whole duck tongues).

Even after surviving these experiences, the sight of a small girl walking down the street eating a deep fried starfish 10 inches in diameter still managed to turn the stomach a little - and we definitely draw the line at dog ...