Mad dash to the sea (and beyond)

As mentioned in the previous post, we travelled from Wudang shan to Luoyang (one transfer in Xiangfan needed) which was the first city of our 8 cities 2 showers 8 days 'are-you-on-crazy?' tour concluding our three-weeks-long trip. In these eight days we visited all imperial capitals, birthplace of Confucius, swam in the sea, the best part of Great wall, climbed yet another Taoist mountain and indulge in tea culture and tea plantations of Hangzhou. The sleep was scarce and time for shower virtually non-existent. Some days we could not stand ourselves, such was the effect of 35 degree weather and constant movement from one historical sight to the other. On the other hand, we covered crazy amount of kilometers and anything worth of visiting in the below described cities (only exception is Beijing). Looking back, I would do it all over again, anytime :)

Luoyang
Capital of 13 dynasties (several dynasties had more than one capital city - e.g. Tang) was center of Chinese empire up until 10th century and the decline of Tang. Importance of Luoyang in the history of China magnifies number of temples in the city proper including Bai Ma Si (White horse temple) - the first Buddhist temple in China (built in 68 AD). We arrived late in the evening and happily accepted train station hotel offered by station staff (its all connected as usual - uniformed men and women instead of taking care of trains offer accommodation to anyone getting off the train). Heavy bargaining and two near walk-outs ended in 70 RMB (7 EUR) De-luxe bedroom. My guess is that this was lower price than Chinese people, who got to the hotel first, paid (talk about bargain power :).

We dedicated the first day to visits of temples and important sights such as Longmen caves. Longmen caves are member of the famous triumvirate of Buddhist grottoes (with Magao and Dazu carvings) dating back as early as 5th century. There are another Buddhist caves around Datong, which are even older then Longmen caves, but as I have not seen them I would not dare to comment. Grottoes here were created over two centuries following relocation of capital from Datong in 494 AD. Size-wise, the caves are the biggest one from the above mentioned triumvirate with over 100,000 statues stretching along banks of Yi He (Yi river). Beauty-wise, Longmen caves are the most beautiful and the most tourist-friendly of the three, offering best value for money as well. Dazu is too small compared to these caves and Magao is by far the unfriendliest one as you can visit only pre-selected caves your tour guide will take you in. In Longmen, you can enjoy walking from cave to cave and only thing you have to worry about is the amount of Chinese tourist groups. Although no statue is as big as 50 meters high Magao Buddhas, some of the caves offer wonderful 20 meters high statues and carvings. Work done by chisels is precise and detailed, representing top of grotto art in China. Unfortunately Longmen caves were the closest and the most convenient for Red guards to visit. During their reign of cultural (or rather uncultural) terror great amount of statues was damaged and beheaded (talk about saving art and history for the future generations). Although heavily damaged, undisputed beauty of Three Binyang Caves, Ten Thousand Buddha cave and Lotus Flower cave are preserved (more detailed description can be found on the web so I will not bother you here). Opposite bank of the river offers some more grottoes, freshly renovated temple where you can still enjoy fresh paint aftertaste and tomb of one of the most revered Chinese poets (don't ask for his name).

After some hopeless search for forgotten / stolen camera of my friend we used public transport to get to the Guanlin temple. All major destinations in Luoyang are served by public transport; Longmen and Guanlin temple by line 81 starting at the train station and Bai Ma Si and the old town by lines 56 (starting at the train station) and 58 (from Guanlin temple). Guanlin temple is dedicated to general Guan Yu of Shu kingdom (my beloved Three kingdoms period), whose head was allegedly buried here. His bravery and fearlessness brought him posthumous title of the Lord of War (something like 1,000 years later). His fame was spread mostly after his life when he became revered by people and both Buddhism and Taoism embraced him in their pantheon. You can recognize him in most of the temples you visit as red faced, mostly angry looking statue with long thin mustache. Temple is rather big complex of buildings and halls with simple round tomb at the end.

From Guanlin we moved towards Bai Ma Si to see some real stuff. Name of the temple comes from legend of how Buddhism came to China. Legend has it that two Indian monks brought first Buddhist sutras on two white horses. They stayed in this temple built for them and translated scriptures into Chinese. Since then temple housed the most important and oldest relics and became center of Chinese branch of Buddhism. If Guanlin is big, Bai Ma Si is huge. Besides main halls on the south-north axis complex includes living quarters and special buildings to host sutras and scriptures. Most buildings are dating back to Qing and Ming dynasties but new worshiping halls are introduced. The motives are mostly Indian (I guess legacy of monks lives on) with some of shrines being built and financed from India (as a proof of friendship).

After Bai Ma Si we had left some time and energy for exploration of night market and choosing of restaurant for our highly deserved dinner. Ah, those restaurants of Luoyang! The quality and price of food is one of the best in China and I would rate it as the best food on our trip. To discover and explore just get off at Bei Da Jie and walk along Zhongzhou Dong Lu. You can either follow Lonely Planets recommendations (night market looks awesome but recommended restaurants look pricey and half empty) or do as we did - follow the locals and walk into the fullest one. First day we enjoyed Beijing duck for quarter of the price in Beijing (normally just half but that day was some special festival) with free beer and other three dishes altogether for 86 RMB (less than 9 EUR). Unfortunately this was the first time when we left something behind and did not destroy the food within seconds. It was just too much for us. Next day we visited neighbor restaurant and again were overwhelmed by how cheap and huge are the dishes. Both restaurants can be found on Zhongzhou Dong Lu - left side if you walk eastwards - and are easily recognizable by huge crowd inside. The best thing is that kids (you cannot call them otherwise) working in these restaurants are so nice and excited that some foreigners walk in that they will make the dinner all worth it (and you will be attraction for rest of hosts).

Xian
We get off at Xian after overnight train from Luoyang and after dropping our bags at train station immediately went to visit Terracotta army, Big goose pagoda, Bell and Drum towers and concluded our day at Big Mosque and by dinning at Muslim quarter night market. Besides extensive walking through old and new town (outside and inside city walls) I have seen all sights (see previous posts) and thus we can move on.

Kaifeng
After yet another overnight train ride we spent pleasant day in Kaifeng exploring this Song dynasty capital. Considerably smaller than Xian and Luoyang, all major sights are within walking distance from train station. In one day we visited Iron pagoda (the oldest glazed pagoda in China), Old Guanyin temple (currently under full renovation), Sacred Heart of Jesus Church (my first church in six months or so), Dongda Mosque (old mosque open for all visitors in the middle of Muslim quarter), Longting Park (site of former imperial palace hidden today under two enormous lakes and pavilions), Shaanshangan Guild Hall (old guild house built by wealthy merchants in good old imperial times), Temple of Chief Minister (pleasant oasis in the middle of old town housing four-faced four-thousand eyed arms Guanyin statue and other notable Buddhist treasures) and Yanqing temple (small and not-much-to-see Taoist temple).

We dined in the western style restaurant and reached all tourist attractions either by foot (Kaifeng is conveniently small town) or public transport (lines run between main tourist attractions). Old town around Muslim and Jewish quarter offers particularly pleasant walks in between stalls of peddlers and family run restaurants. Also worth paying the visit is exhibit in Guild Hall where you can compare models of old and new Kaifeng. Somehow we both ended up siding with old one as the more beautiful. While admiring old buildings we felt sadness about newly built theme and entertainment parks luring Chinese tourists. After spending day in Kaifeng we hoped on another night train to Qingdao, so called Chinese Switzerland and coastal town promising some true beach culture (a'la China).

Qingdao
Coastal city in Shandong province was under German concession for all 16 years from 1898. Still German influence on city architecture, spirit and people is palpable. Besides architecture which very much resembles Europe (German part of it) as both old and new building blend together unlike nowhere else in China, it offers beaches, parks and most of all brewery (the most famous and the biggest in China). Basically in day spent here we managed to see everything worthwhile except for that brewery. We explored streets (almost as hilly as those in Zizkov in Prague), churches (small and simply but still very much admired by gasping Chinese), parks (nice and very nicely located on hills of the city, offering good views of harbor and coastline) and beaches (crowded). Basically, besides churches and former German governor villa where Mao once spent his vacation and discussed plans for China's future, we just wondered freely from street to street in general beach direction. The best advice is to obtain some general simple map of Qingdao and walk around - all interesting (unless you enjoy business districts) is located within walking distance on peninsula on which Qingdao is spread.

We realized we are not in ordinary Chinese city immediately when we got off our train as train station is situated in historical building right in the heart of town. What a difference to enormous glass / steel / concrete behemoths of other places we visited (with only exception of Dunhuang with its classy modern train station blending traditional characteristics with modern materials and needs). After walking around city we parked ourselves at beach no. 1 for a quick swim in the sea and shower afterward (what a relief!). Getting our hands dirty munching on crab meat we realized it is time to run for a train or we would miss our trip to Tai shan. Of course, last minute arrival was at hand once again. Qingdao meant also end of our dash to eastern seashore as from now on we turned back to accomplish one last magnificent loop back to Shanghai.

Tai shan
We arrived to Tai shan around 10.30pm in accordance with our plan to climb this holly mountain of Taoism (the most visited one) in one long overnight hike in time for sunrise. We started our climb after refilling our supplies at c. 11.30pm by long walk across town. Although originally we were afraid whether there are any such fools like us to attempt the climb at night (Lonely Planet only briefly mentions that some of the Chinese do it) we learned very soon that our idea is not so original. Further up the mountain it looked sometimes like on Tian'an men square in the middle of day. Traffic jams ensued as apparently half of Shandong decided to climb Tai shan that night.

80 RMB (8 EUR) ticket gives you opportunity for four hours climb up the mountain and some shivering at the top. Surprisingly early morning was cold even though mountain itself has only 1,545 meters. Probably our totally sweated through T-shirts did not help as well. The climb is strenuously long and after first six kilometers of relatively modestly steep hike you start some serious step hoping. Steps seem to be never ending (similar to crowds) and when you think you reach the top you realize you have somewhere else to go. On your way you pass obligatory three gates to heaven (First, Middle and South Gate to heaven), extending hand greeting pine (as usual on all mountains in China) and other notable hills, sights and temples. Nature is rich in pine forests (but nowhere near the beauty of Sanqingshan - see next post) and temples which are mostly located on top.

Upon climbing to the top we decided to borrow (5 RMB / 0.5 EUR) army looking coat which must have remembered the Long march. After one hour of shivering and waiting for sunrise we ended up totally empty handed as with first rays of sunshine huge mist sprang along the cliffs and covered any view possible. We healed our hurt souls by visit to Dai Miao - temple where emperors started their climb up. Unlucky and still unsatisfied we returned down and hoped on the first train to Qufu.

Qufu
Qufu is an old small town and the birthplace of Confucius. Yet another quasi-historic town which got lucky as one of his former citizen and dissatisfied bureaucrat started what is today one of the three most important philosophies in China. Although he lived his life in poverty wandering from place to place around several provinces, his family - Kong - became over generations that followed one of the richest people in China, rivaling the court. Kong mansion and temple are both huge complexes located next to each other. Temple offers one-sided history of sage's life casting extremely positive light on his achievements. The philosophy suited (and still suits) perfectly those on top as it emphasizes hierarchical structure of society as wife respects husband, son respects father and commoners respect officials (pyramid goes on). The popularity of Confucianism shows perfectly that history in China is written not by the winners but by bureaucrats. Thus Qin emperor and the first one who united the whole China was viewed as malice and Confucius is revered. Although his philosophy is embraced even today, commercialization, capitalism, and individualism win the hearts of young generations (especially apparent in the cities).

Both temple and Kong family house offer nice view of Chinese traditional architecture with several halls impressively decorated and marvelous carvings on pillars of at least two major halls rivaling those at Forbidden city. After visiting both (ticket for about 150 kuai / 15 EUR) we transferred ourselves to his tomb. More like a family cemetery, it is where all members of Kong family are buried. It appears that this tradition will be broken as the eldest male heir of 78th generation escaped to Taiwan... Tombs show progression of ornaments and burial customs over the years and dynasties. Confucius tomb is simple small hill with single stone tablet marking it.

Beijing
From small, walled town Qufu we went to Beijing to see some wall. Basically we had one day in Beijing to spent as we were forced to return to Shanghai on fourth or third and we were planning to see Hangzhou on our way as well. As I have already seen Badaling part we decided to try Jinshanling. It is one of the longest parts available for hiking and connects directly to Simatai part. Taking bus 980 will bring you to Miyun. Of course local clique worked here as well and we were dropped in the middle of nowhere at bus station turned minibus station of some taxi drivers. We bargained hardly for rental of a car and we got best price of 25 per person (one way) to Jinshanling. Together with two Spanish girls we met in the bus from Beijing we set off.

Road to our destination should have give us warning of what to expect later but we happily ignored minor congestion and progressed to the main gate. Paying tickets (80 RMB / 8 EUR - no student discount available) opened wall of opportunity for us. We spent something like four hours hiking along the most beautiful part of Great Wall I had seen yet. Unlike Badaling it is not so renovated (only towards the end, near Simatai) and by far less populated. Ever present hawkers, if you push hard, offer decent discounts for drinks (just double the price in your local Walmart) and shirts (you can get one for 15-20 kuai (1.5-2 EUR). I would not even start with views and pictures I have taken - just wait till I upload something. Jinshanling part of the Great Wall spreads along horizon wherever you look. Sharp ascents and breathtaking descents are good for hikers. Don't worry about 'proper' equipment as it is possible to walk this part of the Wall with only sandals on. Upon paying another 40 RMB (4 RMB) at Simatai part of the Wall and another 5 RMB (0.5 EUR) for crossing rope bridge over river (no other option - we checked) we finished our journey by taking local bus (2 kuai / 0.2 EUR) to Miyun. This bus goes allegedly once a day at 2.30pm and is unknown to any foreigner (we are still grateful to local hostel stuff). Unfortunately, perfectly planned journey which should have enabled us to visit both Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven turned into five hour nightmare where we were really scarred to make it on time for our train again (we managed to squeeze some picture time at Tian'an men square).

Hangzhou
Night train (first class after three days without no shower) took us directly to Hangzhou where we managed to walk around Xi Hu (West lake), Lingyin temple (local super temple which turned into touristic gold mine as coach after coach after coach full of Chinese tourists turn at its gate) and Longjing village. This village is epicenter of the best green tea in China (Longjing - Dragon well). Plantations are all around hills south of Xi Hu and public transport buses run there. Anybody visiting Hangzhou should pay it a visit as calm environment is in as big as possible contrast to overcrowded shores of Xi Hu. Of course, that was a time to run again to the train station to catch our last one train to Shanghai (close but we did it).

Finally, last post about my crazy trip all over the middle China. Although, incredibly exhausting it was all worth it :) Next will follow the post about Sanqingshan - probably the most beautiful trip since I am in China. Stay tuned :)