WHERE TO TRAVEL NEXT?: My month with the Chinese!

China, China, China…..

Where do I begin!?! First I will apologise for seeming distant but Facebook and Blogging are strictly blocked in China.

Nothing can prepare you for the sights sounds and smells that greets you everywhere in this gigantic country. No where else in the world have I heard a national sound quite like China's (I will explain what I mean by national sound). Walking down the street marvelling at the historical buildings and all of a sudden you hear someone hocking back their saliva and getting ready to spit that lurgy wherever they desire. China's answer to G-day mate I assume. So, if you think you can stomach the most obnoxious sound in the world, then China is the place for you to visit. All in all I have racked up a total of 18 UNESCO World heritage sites here in China and none more amazing and spectacular than the Great Wall.

The food in China in my opinion leaves a lot to be desired for. Lemon Chicken, Honey Chicken, Beef in Mongolian sauce, what the hell are they?? You can forget about all those familiar dishes we find at home. Here you will find dishes such as Crispy Boiled Godmother and Salt and Pepper Longsheng Pupae… don't even ask me what they are, you eat what you are given!

My month in China started in the New York of the West, Shanghai. Shanghai is filled with beautiful historical buildings from the British occupation in the early 20th century. The buildings along the Bund are a glorious site of Romanesque, Gothic, Neo Classical and Art Deco architecture. The must see sites in Shanghai are definitely the Yu Gardens, French district and of course the Bund. All will give you a good insight into the cities long history. From Shanghai the next stop was Guilin then onto Kunming, Lijiang, Xian, Tianjin and finally Beijing. Unfortunately I cant tell you every detail about each city, for fear of losing your interest (but i'm guessing i've already lost some people). So for those of you who are still with me on this journey thank you.

Guilin offers a number of attractions but the most interesting is the Li River which is over 100km long and flows into the Yangtze River.

Kunming is only good for one thing and that is the Petrified Forest also known as the Stone Forest. This forest of shard like rocks is believed to be formed over 270 million years ago and they are caused by dissolution of limestone, a must see!

Lijiang was by far the most beautiful city. Lijiang is a world famous old town and has a history going back more than 800 years. It was once a route for trade along the old tea horse road. The old town is famous for its systems of waterways and bridges.

Next stop was Xian, if you are not familiar with the town Xian I will forgive you, however if you are not familiar with Xian's most famous site the Terracotta Warriors you need to get out more. This is one thing in China I was itching to see and they certainly lived upto their expectation. It was so surreal seeing the warriors, something I have only seen in pictures and The Amazing Race. The warriors were built by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. They were a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210-209 BC and their purpose was to help the emperor guard his empire in the afterlife. What I find most amazing is that the 8000 terracotta warriors were only discovered in 1974 by three local farmers.

Final stop on this epic Asian adventure was Beijing. Unlike Shanghai, Beijing doesn't have any remarkable or spectacular large city buildings as the city is primarily a 'factory' city. Beijing does however have The Great Wall and it most certainly is Great. If you have been to Beijing you will understand how epic and how incredibly huge the Great Wall is (how can you some up one of the most famous sites in the World). Beijing also plays host to Tiananmen Square, the largest public square in the world - and it is large. Tiananmen Square is famous for many things but possibly none other than the riots in 1989 where over 800 protesters were killed, the famous image Tank Man was taken in Tiananmen Square during the protests. Next to the Square are many spectacular buildings including Mao's Mausoleum, Museum of China and the house of parliament. The square was also the gateway to The Forbidden City. The Forbidden city is the centrepiece of Beijing built in 1406 to 1420, the palace has 980 buildings with 8,707 rooms and covering over 7,800,000 sq ft. The Forbidden City was home to the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties, ending in 1912 after the abdication of Puyi, the last emperor. The other must see sites in Beijing, The Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven and the Ming Tombs.

Beijing is the last stop for me in Asia. I feel that it is a very deserving place to receive that title. Next stop is Dubai in the UAE, I am preparing myself for camel rides, dune bashing in 4x4's, evening dune buggy safari's and many glorious sunsets over the Al Maha Desert. (After Dubai its Sailing around the Dalmatian Coast off Croatia)

So until then thanks for reading.

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