Comments on: China, Part 1

By: Margery Cairns

Margery Cairns — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:39:48 +0000

Hi Jon & Jack from Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province (Olympic soccer venue) Missed hearing you on 774 when we were were back in Australia for a recent visit. We have lived in China since February and can thoroughly recommend the experience. This area has scenic mountains, sections of original Great wall and lots of interesting villages. It is also where the wall meets the sea.
If you are interested in markets we recommend the Muslim markets in Xian ( fab. food, great atmosphere at night)and the Hongqiao in Beijing. Amely, stall 93 has great jewellery at bargain prices.
Enjoy the rest of your epic journey and take care on the roads- and the footpaths.

Margery & Jim Cairns

By: Ann

Ann — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 05:39:03 +0000

Dear Jon and Jack
am enjoying your website and loved the Asia photo’s Jack put up recently. I worked in China for a number of years (in the mid-West) so am looking forward to more insights and photos. Yes - as above - DO NOT DRINK the MILK…..
regards from a dedicated 774 listener
Ann
Glen Iris

By: Helen Rayson-Hill

Helen Rayson-Hill — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 09:56:28 +0000

Dear Jon and Jack

I am so glad you have eventually made it to China. Lijiang is an amazing village. My husband and I visited it last year and were captivated. We stayed at the Zen Hotel a traditional inn that we can thoroughly recommend. There are some great restaurants unusual entertainments and great shopping. We spent one evening being entertained by a local orchestra with many of the players being in their 70’s and 80’s. During the translations of the musical stories (presented in Manderin, the local dialect and English) many of them nodded off. Have fun. Lijiang is how China used to be enjoy it before you hit the 21st century.

Cheers Helen and Glyn

By: Ian

Ian — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:32:38 +0000

Ni Hao,

Ze Mo Yang A? We’re jealous of your opportunity to test the patience of the Chinese - Zhu Ni Hao Yun !!

By: Jen

Jen — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 03:56:33 +0000

Great to hear from you again although you are sounding tired. Axle deep in mud is not fun really, glad you made it

Cheers

By: Paul Wilson

Paul Wilson — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 03:02:04 +0000

HI Guys,

Great to hear you made it through into China with the vehicle!

I know you think haven’t gone exactly smoothly for you but I’ve just got back from the cycling trip and we had it pretty tough too (wars in georgia, bombs in Baku, earthquakes in tashkent etc). Also they rescinded the permit completely for the van to enter China (basically Xinjiang province is still off limits to foreign cars) so we had to hire another vehicle inside China.

I am back in Oz now, leaner and with bigger calves! The other cyclists are still going though and will be in Beijing in Novemebr so I doubt your paths will cross but you never know: http://www.istanbultobeijing.com

In Tashkent I met a guy from Venezuela who runs all the Mitsibushi expeditions. He is driving from Istanbul to Beijing and similarly had his Xinjiang permit rescinded so is now going via Kazakstan and Mongolia - ie pretty much your route in reverse - get in touch with him (his name is Rui) this is his website:
http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com.ve/cms/content/view/689/78/

and email: expediciones1@yahoo.es

mention me and I am sure he will happily swap info etc. I have sent him your website too. He is in Almaty now and you will probably be in Mongolia at the same time.

good luck

Paul Wilson
The Silk Roads
Trailblazer Publications

By: Jenny & eddie

Jenny & eddie — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:35:35 +0000

We are leaving Shanghai for Guillin on Sunday.It is great & the optimism of the young people is certanly obvious.

By: happysheep

happysheep — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 05:14:15 +0000

Enjoy your time in Yunnan - there more info about the area including Dali and Lijiang at http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/happysheep/shangri-la-la/tpod.html

By: Geraldine

Geraldine — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 01:32:22 +0000

Hi Jon, Excited to hear about your trip to Dali. I visited there about 15 years ago - won’t have changed much though. It’s a fascinating place - you feel like you are in the swiss mountains. Beautiful walled city - one of the few remaining. Walk the steps to the moon - fabulous. And go to the library - they were lucky to keep some treasured books and these are on display. The restaurants are good to. Dali is full of many ethnic minorities and the people are delightful, interesting, quite different to other parts of China. It took us 12 hours to travel from Kunming to Dali in a small bus, which broke down, transferred to a school bus which had a head on collision on the winding dirt road with a log truck, transferred to an ambulance which was transporting a man who had just had his leg amputated, and finally reached Dali about 10pm!! The roads are very, very difficult. Take care.

By: humphrey hollins

humphrey hollins — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 23:10:16 +0000

Great way to go into china folks.
It is a small world you guys,yesterday in phnom penh I took our daughter to the lady doctor who mentioned you out of the blue,family friends of her and her family.
Isabella(wrong spelling perhaps) is lovely and wishes you all the best.
Drive safely and dont drink the milk!