our+travels

[|flickr china tour]

30/4/11 Today we visited the city wall - Xi'an has the oldest, complete city wall in China. We spent most of the morning there. Many chose to either take a rickshaw or ride a bike - some made it around the whole wall by bike (13.5km approx)!





From the city wall we went to a Tang Art School, where the girls did some calligraphy and we learned about different styles of Chinese art. After lunch we visited the Wild Goose Pagoda built in the Tang dynasty (about 1300 years ago). It know has a slight lean, but is still standing! It is also a Buddhist Temple - in one of the temples there was a magnificent Gold buddha, and another wooden one in another pavilion. Also amazing were the carvings and inlaid art work depicting stories about Buddha and the pilgrimage of the monk Xuanzang to India. We then saw a dance performance depicting a legendary Tang dynasty love story - that of Emperor Li and Lady Yang. It was beautifully done... sigh. Back to Beijing tomorrow after a relaxing Sunday morning.

29/4/11 Such an amazing day! After a very long day yesterday (which I will get to later...) today we saw the Terracotta Warriors!! Such an amazing sight - it is truly remarkable. The extent of the army is mindboggling, and to think it was all created around 221BC. I don't have the words to describe it, so have uploaded some photos.

After a late lunch of local style food we went to Huaqing Springs which are hot water springs (43 degrees) as opposed to Jinan's cold springs which are 19 degrees. This was the winter palace of Emperor Xuanzhuang and his favourite concubine (Lady Yang) during the Tang dynasty - a tragic love story... Tonight was early to bed, after we bought donuts for the girls - we have all had a grumpy day despite the amazing sites we have seen. After only 4 - 5 hours sleep. its a wonder we weren't even more grumpy! Our flight from Jinan to Xian was delayed by 45 minutes due to traffic control issues. By the time we actually got on the plane, we didn't end up leaving until 10.30pm! We arrived at 11.50, and then had to get to the hotel and check-in. The girls didn't get to bed until 2.00, and wakeup was at 7.00... I think we all slept on the bus this morning! We did manage to see the wedding as well - caught it when we returned to the hotel to freshen up before dinner - some of us needed to decide whether to have a shower or watch the wedding. A difficult decision... Well - I must get to bed myself. A bit of a sleep in tomorrow morning - 7.30!

27/4/11 Another busy day starting with school in the morning. The middle school girls learned about Chinese festivals, did some calligraphy and paper cuts. We met the senior school girls at the new campus of the Senior School, located on the outskirts of Jinan where we had lunch. This school caters primarily for year 12s, but as it is a boarding school, also has a small number (relatively speaking) of Yr 10s and 11s. In total there are 3-4000 students boarding at the school! They have classes from 7.40 - 12.00, 2.00 - 5.30, 6.30 - 9.30. In the afternoon the senior school students stayed and had activities with some Yr 11s - sport and interaction time. The middle school girls returned to the middle school and also participated in either sport, English class or handicraft lesson. They then learned to play some traditional Chinese games. The students have coped really well with their celebrity status at school here - so much so that I don't know how they will cope next week back at school! It will seem very tame and boring I am sure...

26/4/11 A quietly busy day today, the highlight being visits to Chinese families this evening. The hospitality they were shown was tremendous! All the students had wonderful experiences and returned with many interesting stories - the noise in the hotel lobby was deafening! If their suitcases weren't overweight before, they will be now with the amount of gifts many were given. They were also overwhelmed by the amount of food they were fed. A number of girls learnt to make dumplings with their hosts (some were asked to 'rest' after it became obvious that this wasn't a skill they had...). Many of the girls were also surprised at the quality of the housing - it being much better than they had anticipated, as many live on modern apartments. With us only having one more night in Jinan, it was a wonderful experience to finish on. We have been treated so well here - the teachers and students at both schools have welcomed us with open arms, and friendships have been made. The earlier part of our day was spent at school - I went to the middle school today and the girls were learning a chinese song and then we walked through the local open-air market which was really interesting. After lunch (McDonald's for the girls) we visited an orphanage which was a confronting experience for some of the girls. Many of the children had been abandoned because they were disabled, but they also look after orphans and children who have been rescued from human traffickers. On a lighter note, while the girls were at Macca's most of the staff were treated to a banquet lunch by the staff of the middle school. This was followed in the evening by yet another seafood banquet, this time hosted by the senior school, and we had a chance to meet the new Principal of that school - he has only this week been appointed. Both meals were superb and included a range of beautiful seafood including sea cucumber soup (at both banquets...), prawns, and a variety of other fish dishes. Needless to say, I don't think we will need to eat for the rest of the week! It is hard for us to believe that we only have one more night here - the time has flown by! The girls were so sad when they realised - many have felt really comfortable here, and have enjoyed the welcome we have received. They leave Jinan with many positive memories!!

25/4/11 Back to school this morning, and then this afternoon we went to Daming Lake. A beautiful lake in the middle of the city, covering 80+ hectares. It has been recently (2008) 'renovated' and the parks surrounding it are truly magnificent.

After Daming lake we visited the old town of Jinan, and had a glimpse of life as it used to be in Jinan (and still is for some). Lunch today was at a Hotpot restaurant, where we all got to cook our own food. It was great to have the opportunity to choose for ourselves, and have a hand in the cooking. Dinner was, again, buy your own. A number of us ended up buying dinner at McDonald's or Pizza Hut... needed a change from the Chinese food. We also visited another shopping centre, including an underground market. It turns out that these underground markets and shopping centres we keep visiting, are actually Cold War Bunkers, designed for protection from both the Soviet Union and America! I also discovered that it is hollow underneath the large gold buddha, as there is another underground bunker located there!

I am running out of room on Flickr (I only have a free account, so am limited to 200 photos), so will start deleting some of the earlier photos when I get a chance in the next few days. Apologies if your favourite photo disappears.

24/4/11 Another World Heritage Site visited today as we climbed Mt Tai. While most managed the first half (5000 steps and about 6kms) some climbed the last, steepest part as well! Congratulations to Kate who was first to the halfway point and second to the top, and Sally who was second to the halfway point and first to the top! Also special mention to the 2 smallest members of our group - Jojo and Zoe - who climbed the whole mountain! That's a total of 7000 steps and about 9kms! Well done to all girls (and teachers) - its by no means an easy climb!



23/4/11 Our travels today took us Qufu, home of Confucius - a 3 hour bus ride south of Jinan. We visited both Confucius' Temple and Confucius' Mansion. It was interesting to note that even though he isn't a god but a philosopher, people were praying - apparently for good exam results - should have got the Year 12s to pray! I was also interested to discover that Confucius himself didn't live in the Mansion, but in a small 3 room house next door - he was only a teacher and so didn't have a lot of money. However, in order to maintain control of the country and power, successive emperors promoted Confucianism as a belief, and posthumously conferred many awards on him and his family. Descendants lived in the mansion until 1936 when the 74th generation residents fled to Taiwan with Chiang Kaishek. Dinner tonight was in an amazing restaurant which had indoor gardens - we were all seated in different 'garden booths'. While the food is fabulous, some of the girls are getting sick of Chinese food for breakfast, lunch and dinner - don't be surprised if they don't request chinese takeaway for a while after they get home!

22/4/11 Class this morning, then after lunch today a couple of us walked to Black Tiger Springs which is just behind the hotel. The water was beautifully clear and we were amazed to see a swimming pool there as well. The river banks have been restored so that you can walk alongside under the trees - it truly was beautiful! This afternoon we visited Thousand Buddha Mountain. First stop was the magnificent, huge gold buddha at its foot. There were bikes on the plaza surrounding the buddha, and many of the students enjoyed riding around on tandem bikes or even on three person bikes!



From there we went to a different place in the park and climbed the mountain. Some of the students came down on the toboggans while others walked back down. Dinner tonight was in a food court - they were all given money and had to get dinner themselves. We managed to keep the girls out of Macca's and KFC, and they bought Chinese or Japanese food - the noodles were a popular choice.

22/4/11 Yesterday afternoon, after lunch at KFC (a hit with most of the girls!) we visited Baotu Springs. Jinan is a city renowned for its natural springs, and this park is beautiful. It was wonderful to see the springs full, as when I was here last in 2005, the water level was very low as Shandong province was suffering after 3 years of drought. Also yesterday we finally managed to track down some sim cards for a couple of girls. Only when at the shop did they discover that as of January 1 this year, the government was going to restrict the number of international sim cards available, and had put a price of RMB2000 on them! (that's approx $290!) Fortunately, after much wheeling and dealing by our guide and a local teacher accompanying them, the owner managed to 'find' some old sim cards under his desk... Last night was the official welcome banquet - so again we needed to be in school uniform. The food was superb, although possibly a bit exotic for some of the girls. As Shandong is renowned for its seafood, we were served a number of seafood dishes, including Shandong abalone (beautifully cooked, but I don't think the girls were brave enough to eat it), prawns and an amazingly succulent whole steamed fish. The beauty of eating Chinese style food, means that for those who weren't keen on the seafood, there were other options to choose from! This morning the girls are back at school for their classes. The middle school girls yesterday learned how to talk about the weather, and had an opportunity to learn about Peking Opera try on some of the costumes. They also visited a classroom and talked to some of the students. The Senior School girls had more formal classes, particularly the most advanced class (Yr 12s, 11s and a couple of 10s). They also had an opportunity to visit classrooms and talk with the students. The girls are continuing to impress me with their behaviour and the way they are interacting with each other, the boys and the Chinese people they meet.

21/4/11 Yesterday we had our official welcome ceremonies at the 2 schools we are visiting here in Jinan. The girls looked wonderful in their uniforms, although many found wearing them a bit strange after so many days of being in casual clothes! The Middle School girls went to the Shungeng Middle School and the Senior School girls went to the Senior School Attached to the Teachers' University. Our relationship is just beginning with the Middle School, while we have been visiting the Senior School for nearly 15 years now. Apart from the Welcome Ceremonies, the girls were also given a test to work out which classes they would be in. As always happens, the test was much too hard for Aussie kids, but they have managed to put them in appropriate classes, which then began this morning. Also while at the school, the girls had an opportunity to meet some students and play some sport. Some of the Senior girls were disappointed that they were not allowed to play soccer (it is a boy's sport...) and had to do dancing or tai chi instead. After dinner last night we walked to Quancheng Square which is only 10-15 minutes from our hotel. We found a supermarket, the girls found McDonalds so everyone was happy! Some of the girls are craving fruit - we are being well fed, and have fruit available to us, but there is only so much watermelon we can eat... It was good to see bananas, pineapple (already cut), apples (one enterprising girl bought a peeler so she could eat it!) etc. I think we might go back again tonight!





19/4/11 Our last morning in Beijing was spent at the Temple of Heaven - a magnificent temple and it is surely the serene heart of Beijing. It was a peaceful and calming place, where we saw groups of people dancing (ballroom and disco), doing Tai Chi and playing music. Residents over 65 have free entry and this is how they spend their morning. After lunch we went to the train station to catch the bullet train to Jinan. The trip was only 3.5 hours, compared with the previous 7 or so. In July a new train system will be in place which will make the trip only 1.5 hours! The journey was comfortable, uneventful and passed quickly. On arrival in Jinan we were met by our host Mr Wang Jinggui and taken to the hotel. As the girls are all very tired we have had a quiet evening getting ready for tomorrow - making sure school uniform is all presentable etc. Although sad to leave Beijing we are very glad to be here and are looking forward to settling in to a routine and a slower pace over the next few days.

18/4/11 Our stay in Beijing is almost at an end as we leave for Jinan tomorrow afternoon. It is amazing how quickly our time here has flown! We are all exhausted and are looking forward to a slower pace when we reach Jinan, but have had a wonderful time here and leave with many fond memories. How fortunate we have been to have had such wonderful weather - today was another gorgeous blue sky, clear air day. I don't remember the last time I was in Beijing and had so many blue sky, clear air days...Even in October 2008 after the Olympics the air wasn't this good! Today we began with a tour through the Hutongs (Beijing's traditional lane-ways) on rickshaw and visited a courtyard home. The girls enjoyed learning some of the history of this courtyard home which has been in the same family since the 1930's. The rickshaw ride was a highlight as our drivers navigated their way through the narrow Hutongs, avoiding bikes, motor bikes, pedestrians and parked cars, while giving the girls a glimpse of Hutong life. Lunch was mainly dumplings - for some it even rivalled the Beijing Duck dinner as a favourite! Then it was off to the Silk Markets where we successfully demonstrated our bargaining skills. As their teacher it was rewarding to hear that many of them used Chinese - some even speaking Chinese while the sellers spoke English! Needless to say, their bargaining skills are getting better. It is going to be interesting to see if they can get it all in their suitcases when we pack to return... Our final stop before dinner was a tea centre, where we were shown how to make and drink a variety of teas, and were able to taste them. This was a hit with the girls, many of whom I am discovering are quite the connoisseurs! It was nice to have an opportunity to sit down and relax.... As it was Kate's birthday, we had a birthday cake after dinner and sang Happy Birthday in Chinese. I have updated the photos, and moved the link so that it is more accessible. I have also ordered the photos so that the latest ones appear at the beginning, so that should make it easier for you to find the latest ones.

17/4/11 I was amazed to wake up to a blue sky this morning! - haven't seen so many blue skies in Beijing for many years - we have been so fortunate! Although it was cooler (19 degrees) it was also windy and we had our first taste of the sand that can hit Beijing at this time of year. As it was also Beijing marathon day (no - we didn't join in!) our plans needed to change slightly. As we were stuck in traffic on our way to the Forbidden City, we actually got to see some of the runners run past. The Forbidden City was amazing, and we learned about the last emperor and his life in the Forbidden City (aka Imperial Palace). Although we didn't get to all 9,999 rooms, we saw quite a few, including the 'coronation hall' and the emperor's 'banquet hall' - 2 of the main halls in the palace. Many of the buildings have been restored over recent years, so we were amazed by the colours. As we entered the Forbidden City from the North Gate, and walked through to the South Gate, we then walked under the Avenue of Eternal Peace to Tiananmen Square. The square is the largest city square in the world and can apparently hold 1,000,000 people. Fortunately there didn't seem to be that many people there today... In fact, compared to yesterday, crowds were generally down. After a vegetarian lunch (interestingly, most of our girls are carnivores and so this wasn't the favourite meal...) it was off to the National Theatre for a photo opportunity (and that is all it was) before going to Qianmen street for shopping. After some swift negotiation with the guide was managed to get 1 hour instead of the allocated 30 minutes which please the girls no end! Our mantra is now: 'We came, we saw, we shopped'! While the girls enjoyed shops like Zara and H&M, the teachers wandered down the side streets and explored the old style shops and some bargaining (Sorry Mrs Arnfield... who was annoyed to later discover she missed out on shopping at Zara....) It was then off to a silk factory and finally dinner before returning to our hotel and being told we needed to pack up as our cases are being taken tomorrow morning, while we aren't leaving until the day after! We travel with too much luggage, and it needs to be sent on a different train to the fast train we will take Tuesday. This has sent a few girls into a bit of a panic as their rooms probably resemble their bedrooms at home! A number of girls and Mrs Lanthois also had massages this evening - our guide organised some girls to come to our rooms and do this (in pairs). They enjoyed this experience and are looking really relaxed now! I need a foot massage after all the walking we have done over the last couple of days... We are also starting to get to know the boysand their teachers a bit better as we start to spend more time together. I have updated the photos on flickr with today's photos - I need to rethink how they are organised, but as it is late, I shall leave that for another day. The girls are having a wonderful time and I know they will have many stories to tell you when they return.

16/4/11 Such a busy day! The girls are really tired but have had a fantastic day. For most of them the highlight was the Great Wall - we had beautiful weather - crisp and cool, and relatively clear - and many of the girls took the opportunity to walk/climb as far as they could. It was also their first experience at haggling! Mixed success there... After a visit to the Jade factory and then lunch, we went to the Olympic Green and walked around the Bird's Nest and Water Cube. Our final visit was to the Summer Palace. If we thought the Great Wall was crowded, then the Summer Palace was more so! We were amazed by the architecture, the long corridor and the marble boat, and the size of the manmade lake blew us away! For photos from today, please follow the link below to our flickr page.

15/4/11 Well, here we are in Beijing at last! I am so impressed with the girls' attitudes - they are marvelling at all they see and noticing everything! It is amazing to be with them. We had a wonderful dinner this evening after our arrival at the airport followed by a long slow drive into town down the airport expressway in peak hour friday afternoon traffic! We went for a walk once we had checked in to get a sense of our surroundings and make our first purchases (snacks and water...)

Tomorrow we are off the great wall and summer palace. I am hoping to have an opportunity to upload some photos to the flickr site below after dinner tomorrow night. I can't access the blog and the facebook page, so shall just try to use this page and flickr for photos. Before I turn in, here are my thoughts from earlier today:

15/4/11 As I write this I am reflecting on how well the girls have settled into the groove of travel already. They have been responsible with their passports etc, and are showing independence. They are keen and enthusiastic, and are generally listening well. I was impressed with their maturity yesterday when we hit quite a rough bit of turbulence over Indonesia, and the girls just took it in their stride. Despite the turbulence, yesterday’s flight was without drama, and as I write this as we are flying somewhere over China, today’s has been the same so far – with one major difference - the girls are so much more settled and quiet today! The short night’s sleep in Kuala Lumpur is showing its effects with many of the girls sleeping or quietly writing today. Their diaries should be interesting for them to reflect on later – some are already onto their 5th or 6th page! It was an early start this morning after a late night by the time we got to the hotel and checked in etc (with Mrs Andrews showing her expert critter chasing skills to remove the poor thing from one room). Breakfast was at the airport and many of us ate at Delifrance - a last fix of pastries and a much needed cappuccino for the teachers! Less musical chairs in the plane today – they are starting to work more as a group already as they get to know each other better. I am really looking forward to the next couple of weeks – I am already impressed with your daughters’ behaviours and attitudes. They are going to be great travel companions!



Our group just before leaving Adelaide.

And on our arrival in Beijing.

We will be writing a diary and posting photos on this page. I am hoping that at least one of the methods on this page will enable you to keep up with our adventures. There is also a link to our blog site.... [|Wildy's Chinese Adventures 2011 Blog]

and our facebook page.... [|china tour facebook page]

and the china tour flickr page.... (please note that the link has changed slightly)