CHINA

A Scenic Route

By Justin Tang

May 24^th, 2017

Journey to the west

And we back, baby. This is a goood one. I almost made it to two long travel-less years. I lost jtjourney so it's journeyjt now, hope that's okay.

Planning

I've known that I've wanted to properly explore China for quite a while. As soon as I found out my friend Tim was free and keen on going, we were set. Sacrifices must be made in planning a country so big with only a month and there definitely were some devastating exclusions (notably Yangshuo and Luoping). I booked a lot of it on-the-go to avoid getting locked into anything other than a return flight but the plan was there from the start.

China is cheap which allows for flexibility and I was keen to see some Kung Fu Panda level shit.

BRISBANE ✈ BEIJING

Beijing

First stop, Beijing. After a shocking plane ride, the country's capital didn't amaze me. The pollution was pretty nuts and tourist sites were overcrowded. The Peking Duck here is legit. I get that you should always go beyond the main tourist spots but I was super keen to get out of the smog ASAP.

People have since told me that you need to spend more time here to really appreciate it but for someone who is used to much cleaner air, I'm not so sure.

Beijing → Jiankou

CAMPING THE Great WALL

This is where the fun stuff begins. The Great Wall of China is what put Beijing on the map for me. Though not technically legal, I knew as soon as I'd heard it possible that I had to camp on one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Once we'd booked flights, I organised some guides to take us up there for a night. It was spectacular.

No doubt, building this wall from end to end is one of the greatest accomplishments in human history. The two most famous restored sections of the wall are Badaling (the overcrowded one) and Mutianyu (the other overcrowded one) so we avoided both. In Jiankou, our small group got to experience the wall in it's natural unrestored form with not a person in sight. Tim and I found a great camp spot nestled beside an old guard tower. The seemingly endless wall is stunning in every direction.

It's a bitch of a hike up though.

Beijing -> Shanghai

SHANGHai

Compared to Beijing, it's hard not to get a sense that Shanga's should be the capital city of China. Brightly lit metropolitan feel, amazing views and some unrivaled crispy dumplings. They also have some seriously big ass traffic lights here - worth seeing. The view of the Bund is pretty amazing. Tim's extremely hospitable cousin, Tao, showed us the right places to eat.

"Justin, eat." - Tao Shen

There's a lot of places for a good view around Shanghai. Overall, a great place to kick back and rest some calves.

Shanghai → Huangshan

Huangshan

You know all those traditional ink paintings you'll see in a typical Chinese restaurant? Well, a lot of them are based on this beautiful range of mountains. Sunrises and sunsets here are some of the best I've experienced. It's all pretty damn stunning. We spent two nights on the mountain exploring the views this area had to offer and we definitely weren't disappointed.

Fighting through the massive hordes of Chinese tourists is easily worth that surreal feeling of being in the clouds.

We had some great fortune with the weather. My lucky red shirt was doing it's job.

Huangshan -> Changsha -> Zhangjiajie

Nothing of note in Changsha, really. My wallet was lost/stolen at the train station, which was a bit of a bummer but then some guy on the train was wearing a cucumber on his face. Ah, the equilibrium of life.

The Mountains of pandora

The mountains of Zhangjiajie National Park were used as inspiration for James Cameron's 2009 film Avatar - only the highest grossing film of all time. From what we saw, they were actually pretty meh. Really visually stunning for about twenty minutes but then after a while it's all the same. Tim's mum had mentioned that it sort of resembled the landscapes of home (QLD) and she was very right. We were a slightly burnt out at this point so that could explain why we staled on Zhangjiajie.

We had planned two full days to properly explore the park but in the end decided we had seen enough on the first day and relaxed for the second. Wulingyuan makes some delicious Szechuan-style potato and eggplant.

ZHANGJIAJIE ➝ HUASHAN

HUASHAN

Commonly referred to as one of the deadliest hikes in the world, Huashan luckily did not live up to it's reputation. Apparently to get the definitive experience of this sacred mountain, we had climb up at night and watch the sunrise from the East Peak. Looking up from the bottom at night, the well-lit summits of each of the five peaks blend in well with the stars.

Though extremely strenuous on the ol' thighs, the long hike up was relatively safe - consisting mainly of well-built stairs. What we didn't anticipate was the freezing cold winds in the middle of the night. I don't think I've ever been as salty at the sun but after a long, frozen night of no sleep, I was not at all pleased when it rose twenty-five minutes behind schedule.

The Plank Road in the Sky

Watching the sunrise put us right at front line of the famous Plank Road, found just beside the East Peak. Once again, the weather was perfect. Though you do get harnesses, it all ends up getting pretty messy on the road.

It's not meant for the faint of heart but I still did it.

Huashan -> Xi'an

XI’AN & THE TERRACOTTA WARRIORS

Really, really, really good street fried Chicken in Xi'an. Like amazingly good for almost no money.

The Terracotta Warriors are pretty great as well. Considering they were only discovered as recent as 1974, when some farmers decided to dig a well, it really makes you wonder what else is hidden right beneath the surface. Xi'an probably had the best cost-quality food options on this trip.