Los Angeles and Pasadena, California, USA

We arrived in Los Angeles from Beijing on Air China Flight 983 at around 6pm (although our bodies were still operating on Beijing time at 8am). The flight was uneventful, and we were soon out of the airport and in the shuttle bus on the way to our hotel at Pasadena. The wedding dinner we had come to attend went very well the next evening in downtown LA, and over the next couple of days we enjoyed meeting our Singapore relatives again, and our new American in-laws for the first time. Then it was time to turn our attention to rental cars and itineraries for our looming road trip. We picked up a Pontiac at the car rental agency in Pasadena, stocked up with an esky and food and other essentials, and hit the freeway at 4pm, headed north towards our first stop, Yosemite National Park, a few hundred kilometres north of Los Angeles. We made two overnight stops on the way, at Bakersfield and at Oakhurst.

Beijing, China

We arrived in Beijing at 6.30am on Wednesday on overnight train T56 from Xian. The journey was smooth and our bunks comfortable. We checked into a hotel close to the Forbidden City.

Over the next three days we strolled through Tiananmen Square, visited the Forbidden City (the home of the former emperors of China), and travelled 50 km north of Beijing to walk on the Badaling section of the Great Wall of China. We also made a couple of shopping forays to the fun Beijing silk market where just about any goods imaginable are sold by aggressive but good-humoured and friendly salespeople. Brad and Miriam also managed to squeeze in some cycling around the streets of Beijing. We fittingly ended our time in this pleasant city with a Peking duck dinner at an excellent restaurant on the top floor of the silk market.

In the early afternoon on Saturday 29 September our China trip came to an end and the remaining six of us headed for the airport where we went our separate ways; Dylan & Jane to Singapore, Brad & Miriam to Hong Kong, and Lee Tuan and I to Los Angeles. We had had a great time. China is a fantastic place to visit; a land of vast variety and fascination.

Xian, Shanxi Province, China

We would have liked to spend much more time in Lhasa, but it was time to fly to Xian where we arrived in the afternoon. There, Jon and Susan, having visited Xian and Beijing previously, left us to catch their planned flight to Shanghai and return to Adelaide.

Xian is a very significant archeological region in China, best known for the fabulous terra cotta warriors discovered in the 1970s by farmers digging a well. The warriors are part of a vast underground terra cotta army built at the behest of Emperor Qing to guard his tomb. Hundred of thousands of conscripts were involved in the construction that took decades to complete. Ironically though, within a year of Qing’s death there was a peasant revolt and the tomb was broken into and torched and the terra cotta warriors smashed. But over the past thirty years they have been pieced back together and are now displayed in the pits in which they were discovered. This is a great place, and a must-see destination on a visit to China.

Our time in Xian coincided with the date of this year’s Moon Festival and moon cakes were selling like hotcakes in all the stores. At one department store we saw an enormous moon cake encircled and guarded by 32 security officers with linked hands. The store manager said a few words, then the store staff carved off enormous chunks of the cake and distributed them to the excited and appreciative crowd.

Xian has a large muslim community and we had dinner twice at the muslim night market in the centre of town. The food here is excellent, particularly the kebabs.

Namtso Lake, Lhasa region, Tibet, China

Today we hired a minibus to take us to Namtso Lake, about three hours north of Lhasa. On the way we saw hundreds of yaks grazing the Tibetan grasslands and several nomadic Tibetan tent settlements. The highest part of the journey took us through a mountain pass almost 17,000 feet above sea level where the air was brain-addlingly thin. We came back down on to the plain and arrived at the Lake for a walk and lunch. The air was clear and the colours vivid, and we had an enjoyable time walking around the edge of the lake for an hour or so, admiring the water views and snow-capped mountains all around.

Lhasa, Tibet, China

The associate of the travel agent we had visited in Kunming to arrange our Tibet travel permits arrived at our hotel at precisely the time he said he would and took us to the airport and through the permit/ticketing process. Very soon afterwards we were winging our way over the Himalayas bound for Lhasa. The views out of the plane were spectacular with soaring snow-covered mountains and glaciers below. The approach into Lhasa was also impressive with the flight path following a valley bordered by very high mountains on both sides. Lhasa airport is about 80km from the city and we hire a minibus to take us there.

We checked into the Mandala Hotel, but not the Mandala Hotel we had previously planned to. We discovered a couple of days later that there were two entirely different hotels with this name within 500 metres of one another. The other one was right on the pilgrim circuit around the Johkang Temple, and it was here that we had planned to stay. However, our Mandala Hotel was fine too, and also in the Tibetan part of Lhasa, the only place to stay on a visit to Lhasa in our opinion.

Over the next few days we saw the sights in Lhasa. The highlights were certainly the Barkhor pilgrim circuit around the Johkang Temple, and the Potala Palace. The Barkhor circuit is tremendously exotic and atmospheric, with crowds of pilgrims from near and far dressed in all types of clothing, and many prostrating themselves on the ground as they followed the path clockwise around the temple. The Potala Palace was also an amazing sight (and site). This architectural wonder containing thousands of rooms was once the seat of Tibetan government, and also contains the tombs of many former Dalai Lamas from centuries past. All are decorated with gold leaf and precious stones, and the tombs and corridors are illuminated by yak butter candles.

Speaking of yaks, there are thousands in the countryside around Lhasa, and they are farmed here as beef cattle are elsewhere. At one café I had a delicious yak burger so good that we returned the following day for yak chow mein. Fusion food at its best.

The younger members of our group also found time to go white-water rafting on a river somewhere, and Susan continued to indulge her interest in temples and monasteries, catching a local bus out of town to visit a couple more including the large Deprung monastery.

Zhongdian (Shangri-La), Yunnan Province, China

Zhongdian was part of Tibet before incorporation into China and the town maintains its Tibetan look and feel. In more recent years it has also been given the name Shangri-La to cash in on the romanticism (and tourist attraction potential) that goes with that name. To further confuse matters, the official name of the local airport on the outskirts of the town is neither Zhongdian nor Shangri-La, but Diqing. Diqing is the highest commercial airport in the world.

We spent an interesting day walking around Zhongdian old town, looking at the very different buildings and the goods for sale at the extensive markets. Unfortunately there was very little hot water at the hotel where we were staying, a fault that the staff never fully explained. One normally placid member of our group was particularly dark about this, and I was glad that she hadn’t brought her dynamite into her room. Otherwise ….

Lijiang to Zhongdian, Yunnan Province, China

This morning was our last in Lijiang. We visited the beautiful Black Dragon Pool Park and the Dongba culture research centre in the park. The latter focuses on the culture of the Naxi ethnic minority, and in particular the UNESCO-listed ancient Dongba script developed and once used widely by the Naxi.

We said our goodbyes to our hosts, and thanks for their magnificent hospitality, then boarded the minibus that would take us on the four hour journey north to Zhongdian. I was hoping we could detour on the way to see Tiger Leaping Gorge, the deepest in China, but unfortunately landslides had closed the road to the Gorge. We arrived in Zhongdian late in the afternoon and checked into a hotel near the centre of town.

It is fascinating to read Hotel visitor information guides, and the different issues they focus on. This one included the intriguing directive that guests were not to bring dynamite into the room. As we had no dynamite on us at the time, this caused me no particular concern, but I did have a brief unsettling thought as to why, of all the directives management could issue to guests, they included that one.

Yulong Xueshan (Jade Dragon Snow Mountain), Lijiang, China

We travelled by minibus to the snow and glacier park about an hour north of Lijiang where Yulong Shan (Jade Dragon Snow Mountain) soars an impressive 18,400 feet into the sky. There we caught a cable car and then walked up a long trail of steps to reach the highest lookout at 15,200 feet. The air was thin and many visitors had purchased pressure cans of oxygen. From the lookout the views up towards towering Yulong Shan and glacier, and down over the surrounding countryside, were awesome.

After we arrived back at the base of the mountain and had lunch, our hosts took us to see the Lijiang Impressions performance. This was a song and dance show depicting local cultural themes presented in a large open air amphitheatre with a cast of hundreds. Unfortunately just as the show got underway the heavens opened and the entire audience scrambled to put on the ponchos provided at entry to cover just a contingency. The sight of hundreds of multi-coloured human condoms including ourselves huddled in the rain around the amphitheatre was a fascinating view itself. But the show went on, delivered with energy and colour.

We arrived back in Lijiang just in time for the banquet dinner our hosts had arranged for us. It was another great meal with many toasts of welcome and good wishes. Then we were taken to the local auditorium to see the Lishui Jinsha cultural show, a very colourful dance performance. We needed even less rocking when we collapsed into bed that night.

Thousand Turtle Mountain, Liming near Lijiang, Yunnan, China

We travelled by minibus to the Liming district about three hours west of Lijiang, encountering some minor landslides and pleasant views of the Yangtze River on the way. This mountainous area has some spectacular walks and is being developed as a tourist destination. Our objective was to hike to the summit of Thousand Turtle Mountain, so called because of the knurled pattern on the rock at the summit. Despite the rain and rough, steep terrain in places we made it to the top to enjoy the impressive views. On the way up we met three young children who said they were guides. Although the track was clearly defined, we hired the three of them. They were physically very fit, and moved fast up the mountainside. They told us they climb the mountain once or twice a day when they are guiding.

In drenching rain we arrived back at the base of the mountain late in the afternoon and returned to Lijiang early in the evening, just in time for the next banquet dinner. Nobody needed rocking to sleep that night.