China travel

Holidays used to be full of buzzing around and activity and it seems we booked this trip to be much as we remembered without much concession to having Alex in tow. On the first flight out it dawned that maybe we had been a bit optimistic in our plans.

Our first stop was Zhangjiajie, a national park with stunning limestone scenery that you will all be familiar with as it formed the backdrop of the film Avatar - constant reminders were provided. We had borrowed a backpack for Alex while we walked and he soon perfected the art of falling asleep on the move

One walk down a canyon turned out to be an expensive stroll. To exit everyone had to take a small boat along a narrow lake to exit at the car park. As we often do with Alex he was playing a game on my phone while we waited to depart, stood between me and the edge of the boat. Half way across I couldn't find my phone - no sign on the bench or on the floor. Strange. We waited until everyone got off and had a good hands and knees search - still no joy. The floor boards of the boat were loose so I pulled one up to reveal my phone bobbing up and down in a puddle of water underneath - apparently Alex had been unable to resist posting the phone through the slot between the floor boards and the side of the boat. This turned out to be a terminal activity for my phone despite several days drying it out.

We got quite a few miles in the legs and some distance in buses getting around the park. One bus ride will probably be remembered more than most. With Eleanor at the front and Colin and Alex at the back of a swaying, packed bus, Alex took the opportunity to be heartily sick. Quite hard to contain in such a cramped environment! Those small mishaps aside the scenery was fantastic and luckily being early in the season the queues for lifts and buses were reasonable according to our guide.

To round off our stay here we went for a boat ride around a beautiful lake. It was a stern stroll to get up to the edge of the lake but a relaxing float around - no phones for Alex this time. Getting off at the pier we saw a guy being kitting out in diving gear from the 60's - the full suit, metal helmet and big metal boots. Fascinated was hung around as he was blown up and then jumped into the lake. At the very least I found this fascinating - I didn't think anyone in the world still used this sort of gear anymore.

Our next stop was further south to look at some Tulou houses. These are round and normally a large extended family would live there, at most 200 people. They generally had three levels, the ground floor for cooking, the next floor for storage and the upper floor for sleeping. Each small family unit would have a vertical slice of the house and conditions were compact to say the least. However, it afforded good protection from what ever nasties were roaming around outside and so the design was successful and many remain today, often with some families still living in them. We stayed the night in one which was open for tourists.

From Tulou houses to the coast and Xiamen. Here we hopped straight onto a ferry to a small island in the harbour which is a classic tourist spot for locals. Dragging our bags across the tiny island - no vehicles are allowed - we were pleased to check into our room which was possibly the tiniest we have ever stayed in but room is tight here. We were not so lucky with the weather which ranged between a fine mist and proper rain but it did give us a chance to try out Alex in his rather cute wet weather gear (thanks Stacey!).

For Alex the highlight of this quirky little island was the aquarium which was pretty impressive and well worth a look on a damp day. Mind you his favourite bit was the moving walkways rather than the fish - he is a bit fickle in his attentions at times. The rest of the island had lots of promenades along the sea front and cafes to sit in and is clearly a very popular day trip from most of Xiamen given the numbers of people everywhere.

Our last stop was Hong Kong, we couldn't resist seeing what they had done to the place since we gave it back. I have to say we enjoyed Hong Kong a lot, everything was still Asian but the fact that everyone speaks good English and it all seems more ordered and efficient made a big difference. It also helped that we found a Marks and Spencers food hall which had us giggling in delight at all the home comforts we could buy (no M&S in Beijing) and lunch was suddenly a picnic of pork pies and cheese in the hotel room. The weather was a bit mixed and at the start of the few days very damp so we went out in search of dry entertainment. This turned out to be a winner - we found a dinosaur exhibition which contained some state of the art special effects dinosaurs which moved very realistically. To prove the curator had a sense of humor we came to a big Tyrannosaurus Rex with a sign saying it had a number of different moves and was activated by movement - the challenge was to find out the moves to explore all the possible actions. Cue lots of messing around and stupid gestures. Once bored we continue on and it takes us around the back of the exhibit, only to find that the dinosaur is not in fact automated but controlled by which ever member of the public is at the controls looking at the video of the next hapless victim trying to fathom the mind of a child to get the dinosaur to perform.

Aside from playing dinosaurs we also went to a museum on the history of Hong Kong and to be honest it doesn't put the UK in a great light. Essentially to make up for the fact that we were buying so much from China we decided to sell them drugs, opium to be exact. After getting half the population hooked China tried to block the trade in much the same way as we resist hard drugs in the UK today. However, the UK went to war for the right to continue the trade and largely succeeded and carved out Hong Kong to be the trading post to continue to feed the addiction we had started. Not a blistering advert for our empire building behaviour.

Talking of empire building we jumped on a ferry to visit the close by Macau, formerly owned by Portugal whose influence was very present with churches and open squares to give it a very European feel.

A tall modern tower gave good views of the island but even better good views of the bungy jumpers plummeting 230 meters from the floor above. A J Hackett had paid a visit and set up some interesting activities! Luckily there was a long queue so there was no chance we could try take the jump by the roped climb to the top of the tower had looked tempting, but the subsequent swim back to Hong Kong less so.

Back in Hong Kong the weather picked up and we had a very sunny trip up the ridge behind the main town for stunning views

Alex of course was not impressed by this but the park and small zoo that followed turned out to be a winner, especially the slides and the small boy blowing bubbles

After this exhausting holiday around southern China we flew back home ready for a rest but somehow I doubt that the next trip will be any less frantic!

Christmas trip

Just one photo - Dean in his reffing gear :-)

Pies and ales

It's not often the magic combination of pies and ales are combined together for one glorious event. Well, actually in Beijing it is once a year but what made this year different is that I was going - yay! There is a strong home brew scene in Beijing, mainly staffed by ex-pats. We have three (that I know of at least) small pro breweries which help support this. But the main thing is that good beer can be found! Held in a small traditional low rise building down one of the many long back alley's of Beijing it isn't the easiest to find. So imagine 4 of us walking there, one carrying a canister of CO2 to sell to the home brewers when a random English lad pops out of the crowd and asks if we knew if there was a bar in the area where he could get a beer. My lad your luck is in, just walk this way. He may have been wondering if we were about to lead him into a mugging or an early grave given the maze we entered but Mike our foremost beer sniffer led us straight through the door and into the promised land - pie and ale.

It was a reminder just how much the ex-pats in Beijing tend to congregate around the ex-pats - almost no locals could be seen. However, the pies were good and the beer strong so maybe we could leave learning the language for another night. Curiously we got talking to one group who asked what we did, turned out that they also work for Schlumberger in the office across town. Given we didn't even recognize them maybe, just maybe, our cross site interaction isn't quite what it should be.

If you plan to visit Beijing then you could do worse than target May (not too hot, not too cold) and google 'pies and ales Beijing' and look for a link like http://thehutong.com/pies-ales-on-the-terrace/

Bike races in China

So my first bike race in China. With the list of sponsors looking very flash hopes of slick professional organization were high. The reality was more of a slightly British ‘make do’ attitude. To be fair the indications started early on. The event was a short flight south of Beijing, closer to Shanghai. After all the normal packing anxieties that are associated with putting your pride and joy into a flimsy cardboard box and getting to the airport we had a nice, if a little delayed flight. We had organized our transport from the airport to the hotel via the event organizers who confidently claimed they would send a 19 seat bus for 6 people and 6 bikes which seemed ample. When picturing the airport do not think of Heathrow, think more of a park and ride car park – not too much space to hide a 19 seat bus so when we couldn’t see anything fitting our quite large expectations a couple of calls established that the 7 seat van we were looking at was in fact our ride. Way too small. The driver was happy to find us but his eyes bulged a bit when he saw our bikes and started some frantic calling of his own. Eventually the bikes went into the back of his van and most of us jumped in a taxis which seemed like it was going to work out. Of course plans are rarely that simple in China and after 20 minutes of driving down back lanes and tracks the taxis driver all but threw us out at a roundabout – a long way from the hotel. He sped off and left us a bit confused until another car pulled up – the drivers boss – to pick us up the rest of the way. Finally at the hotel at 11.30pm there seemed to be some more confusion. Looking at their paperwork there were expecting a party of 6 (check) today (check) and we had just turned up, a party of 6 (check). But they were not convinced we were the right group (uncheck all previous answers). By this point it was hard to establish what the problem was exactly but eventually it went through. When we concluded by asking about the chances of getting some food it seemed that was pushing our luck.

There were two choices of hotel when we booked, one right by the start line and the one we were currently in, only 9km from the start line. For the first day we just needed to roll in and register at the start line. The weather was warm but wet but on the other hand – just 9km right? 19km later we arrived and for those wags amongst you, no we did not get lost. Worryingly it seems that their distance estimation leaves a little room for error bars. Still we registered and found a nice little coffee shop run by an Australian guy to perk us up.

Back at the hotel we had a competition to see who could abuse the facilities to dry their clothes the best. Hair dryers and infra red lamps in the bath room being the tools of choice – I dare say it wasn’t the best fragrance but still dry socks are dry socks.

Fast forward to the start line and the rain had held off so that we could gather in the dry and listen to a long line of local officials give speeches in Chinese. They managed to keep this going until the moment it started to rain and then we were off, regretting the chance to get warmed up in the dry at least. The rain kept up all day which made for damp conditions but the temperature was quite warm so not too much bother until we stopped.

Just before we had started I’d slipped off my bike on some greasy tiles, squashing my store of bananas for the day. As you can imagine I was looking forward to the first food station with some high expectations. This came just after the first timed climb of 6km at about an average 6%. What I was dreaming of was power bars, energy gels, isotonic drinks, sports massage…..the reality was a chunk of bread and a piece of chocolate washed down with water more fitting a kids picnic.

At this point the rain did it’s best to fill in the gaps between all the raindrops with yet more rain and looking out it was hard to imagine getting any wetter. With the big climb out the way we were onto the big descent made somewhat sketchy with the standing water, low visibility and soggy brakes. Tarmac was bad but the section of smooth concrete was too much for many a tire and there were plenty of stories of being dropped to the ground. Following this the next obstacle started off by looking like several bikers stood by the side of the road, then a coloured streak across the road and then finally a small land slide of sharp stones came into focus. I pulled the grabbing brakes, waving for those behind to slow down and general swerving all over the place rip cord and luckily got through without a puncture.

From here the rain eased up, or at least I stopped noticing it so much, and the km’s flowed by. At the finish we huddled under a tent eating the provided lunch and soon moved onto the bus and some dry clothes. Back at the hotel the same game of drying our kit was played to varying degrees of success. The weather the next day promised to be dryer so at least it was worth starting dry unlike today.

Day two – a bit odd is my best summary. Only a 60km day so not much of a challenge on the face of it. The start line was surprisingly muted without the same fanfare as the day before and all we had before we started we a short notice saying we were going to led off from the start. A motorbike pulled up and indeed led us off at a modest pace. This bunched up the crowd somewhat and not being professional bikers the peloton was fraught with weaving and swerving. Not really sure how far this would last everyone was gamely trying to stay near the front of the pack.

Nearby the start line was a famous small village that had been kept in the same condition for hundreds of years. Think cobbles, narrow alleys and sharp corners. We were led into this maze and soon were bumping along in single file less focused on over taking and more on staying on the bikes. Of course this provided much entertainment for the locals and it seemed that this was part of the entrance fee for the event. Scrambling and slipped along we got back to the road only to be formed up for another mass start.

Again we were led off and kept from spreading out and confusingly we were led down the same road the day before we had belted down at top pace so clearly safety was not the concern. We hit the next town and here the crowds were lined up to enjoy the, mostly foreign, bikers pass by. Feeling a bit like an animal in a zoo we plodded on until eventually the front bike left us and the pace picked up. Only to slow down as the road got narrow, then narrower still and eventually turned into more of a track. This ended when the front riders had turned round and waved everyone back the way we had come.

We found an official and it was time for mass start number three. Luckily the last. Finally on our way it was time for head down pedaling into a head wind and then up the big hill for the day. The day was warm and dry and the biking was fun. We got off the big roads and were heading through small villages with the last quarter of the ride slowly climbing up a valley with the finish at the top. Of course everyone had added a couple of km onto the race distance with our detour earlier but even so we were still climbing way past 60km – somewhat dis-heartening when you have been counting down the meters to the finish line. Even the final ‘5km’ was by most reckoning, and GPS systems, about 7km from the finish.

Legs burning and cynical levels rising we passed the 1km marker and only a short mile later crossed the finish line.  Food greeted  us at the end which was great. However, a bus did not. It seems that the buses were too big for the small roads and had refused to come up and pick anyone up. So we added about 12km onto the last km to roll down the hill and pedal to the hotel.

Overall perhaps my description reads a little negative. The bottom line is we had a good ride and the ‘features’ of bike races in China just gave us something to smile about – looking forward to the next one!

The start day one. Handsome lot :-)

In the saddle again

After a winter flirting with my turbo trainer to turn some pedals inside the weather has picked up to get outside into mainly fresh air for some riding. I’ve got out three times in the last couple of weekends - a bit of crash preparation for a race in a few weeks. First ride out there was some disagreement between my clothing and the current temperature which had been quite toasty the afternoon before but in the morning was dipping below freezing. It’s been a while since I’ve jumped off my bike to wobble along on completely numb feet – still lesson learnt and I was well wrapped up next time out.

I did have the chance to try out my 140 decibel horn which had a pleasing effect on, well basically everyone and everything in the near vicinity. Biking has just got a step safer but definitely a notch louder given that everyone expects a toot to let them know you are there.

A couple of other things jumped out which I hadn’t spotted in the past. I think I have figured out what a learner drivers car looks like. I’d seen these white sort of cheap looking police cars before – basic white car with a light on top and some blue stenciled writing down the side. However, this time I saw one stalled in the middle of a busy cross roads with a young lad gripping the wheel in terror staring straight ahead with an older guy going apoplectic in the passenger seat. Certainly matches my expectation of the learner/teacher dynamic in China.

The other point had always niggled me – why were the forests that I biked through so dry and dusty. I assumed the wind cleared out the leaves to stop any sort of mulch forming to leave the dirt exposed. However, as I rode out I spotted a small army of people in the same uniforms as those who sweep the snow in winter cleaning up the leaves with big brooms. My guess – job creation gone slightly too far. Either way it must be a soul destroying job, sweeping the leaves out of forests has a pretty predictable pattern to it!

Feeling slightly fitter than I started last year I’m looking forward to the moderate temperatures of spring to stretch further out of Beijing before the heat of the summer takes it toll.

Apology post

Ho hum. Um. Er. Well dear readers on a recent trip back to the UK it was pointed out to us that a blog is really only a blog if there are posts to read and that, cough, it had been a while since our last. Indeed, on further investigation it has been quite some time so let me introduce you to the catch up mechanic called the 'apology post'. Let's skip the grovelling, the humble pie eating and rush ourselves through quite a few months of activities.

The summer was a hot as promised and can best be described as living inside a hair dryer while camping around a warm fire for a couple of months. Of course the air conditioning makes the indoors relatively sane but long walks in the sunshine can be a bit of a stretch. Eleanor casually mentioned that a lot of ex-pats send the non-working partner away for the hottest month and I can't help but feel she is laying the ground work for next year....

During this time Alex was stubbornly refusing to learn to crawl but showed much interest in getting on his feet proper, with a little aid of course. By the time autumn arrived and we were on a plane to Japan for a weeks break he was happily staggered around with a little support...

We spent a few days in Tokyo which exposed us to the crazy but somehow organized world of Japan. It felt like all the exotic charms of Asia in a country where everything runs to time, is easy to figure out and everyone just wants to help rather than sell you something! In our time there we wondered around as much of the city as we could manage but two highlights for me were firstly the view from the Sky tree

This is an impossibly (ok, almost impossibly for all you pendents out there) tall tower from which you can view the city which looks more like a screen shot from Sim city at this angle.

Of course for the geek in me the second clear highlight had to be seeing the Honda Asimo robot. This is a cool little robotic chap which has to be tightly programmed to perform and has an amazing sense of balance and range of actions.If you have no idea what I'm talking about then google 'Asimo' and you will get the idea :-).

We had planned a morning looking around the seafood market and then trying some sushi at a nearby restaurant where we assume that the fish would be fresh. We managed the first part of our plan. The fish markets are very much a working market and we got the impression that tourists were tolerated but not really encouraged. Certainly it was no place for Alex to practice his wondering around with lots of trucks flying back and fro with produce either just purchased or about to be laid out to be sold. There was a huge array of fish, most of which I didn't even recognize and everything was pleasingly haphazardly laid out to add to the sense of chaos.

After all the up close inspection of fish and the overwhelming smell that came with it we decided to veer for a more meat based lunch in the end - not quite living the Japanese life but certainly helping us keep our lunch from bouncing!

For Alex Tokyo roughly marked the start of the regular book at bedtime as administered by Daddy and occasionally he even has the good grace to look at least a little bit interested.

From Tokyo we headed out to Hakone, just outside the city but in the hills next to Mount Fuji. Our hotel was up the side of a very steep hill and we were thankful for the hotel pick up service to get us and our bags up the potential well. In the evening we were a little confused wondering into town - food seemed very hard to come by. Most restaurants were shut and a small place we found open had a flustered owner telling us food would be over an hour away. We still had optimism at this point  and the other diners assured us that an hour was an under estimate as they were still waiting so we headed out again. Turns out that the national holiday in China co-incides with the same in Japan and tonight was not the night to be working. We bumped into another tourist who was desperately searching for food as well and we both eyed up the garage and their selection of snacks but decided to leave that as a last resort. Eventually we headed back to the hotel who phoned around and found a place a couple of kilometers away that was open for the evening. Thankful and trying to placate a hungry Alex we got a lift there and filled our boots.

One attraction of Hakone is to get a cable car over the main ridge and then down to a lake on the far side. With nice weather blessing our trip over we wrestled the pram onto the cable cars and headed up. At the top of the ridge some hot pools were used to boil eggs which looked like fun but clearly not as much fun to Alex as sticking his head through the hole in the board with a beer on...

On the lake we had a nice trip across on a boat which looked like it had been borrowed from captain Hook and as a nice touch the clouds parted on Fuji

With Fuji and Japan behind us let's fast forward a little over the weeks before the Christmas break. During this time we did get out and about local to Beijing for some walks in the surrounding hills and got to try out our baby backpack - this was great for letting Alex see where we were going and equally good at exciting the locals who could see him coming and get their cameras ready. How he will cope without all this attention from every stranger we meet when we move to a more western country time will tell.

Sadly before going on holiday we also had to say goodbye to some other expats who were moving back home in December. This included Thomas and Ceri who we came out to Beijing just a month or so before us - the goodbye parting photo of the girls in, where else, the Blue Frog...

Right, the Christmas trip will have to wait but I will mention that several people wondered where our posts had gone so thanks for reading :-).