More of China holiday

More pictures from China

Speed of the Maglev train from Shanghai centre to Pudong airport. Max speed 431km/h (267.5 mph)- this journey took just over 7 mins. Once the maximum speed is reached the train starts to slow down again . The train going the other way and this one pass each other at about 340km/h each, approx 680km/h (423 mph) closing speed and there is a momentary shake of the carriage and a whumping noise. There is a competion to win money for the first person to photograph the front of the approaching train whilst on the other train - a bit mission impossible I think.

Vertigo inducing view down the inside of the tallest tower in Shanghai-the Jin Mao tower,  the top 35 floors (of 88) are a Hilton hotel. and all the rooms are on the outside of the building leaving an atrium in the middle- if you look carefully, you can see the reception at the bottom.

As well as the normal black and white Panda, the Chengdu sanctuary has red pandas- they are much more active, and smaller than the Giant Pandas.

This was a group (probably office) outing spotted in the park near the Little Wild Goose Pagoda in Guillin. They were dancing to music and we stopped and watched them for a while, then they asked us to join in a circular dance, where we all linked hands and danced around and around, much to the hilarity of the Chinese dancers.(we were exhausted and they just carried on after we left!)

Also at the Little Wild Goose pagoda in Guillin- we were given an elementary Tai-Chi lesson.

Cormarant with neck tied to stop it swallowing fish- taken at night on the Li River in Guillin - the traditional cormarant fishing is now mainly for tourists but some does still go on. The fish that were caught when we watched, about four of them, would be given to the cormarants for their evening meal later.

Silk worms eating mulberry leaves. They grow rapidly and are fully grown at about 25 days or so. They basically eat, sleep and grow.

Silk worm cocoons being sorted- some of them are double cocoons and this is the most expensive silk- two silk worms spinning near each other join up to make a bigger cocoon.

A semi automatic silk spinning mill- the coccons are kept in hot water and the strands from 8 cocoons are combined to make one silk thread and wound on to a bobbin.

Scenes from China

A few key pictures from the China trip.

The route we took- 21 days in total

The weather was expected to be cool to cold, instead it was warm and humid in the South, Cooler in the Middle and very cold in the North of China by the time we got to Beijing.

Guillin featured in the HSBC advert with the Cormorant fishing - it was a misty day when we sailed down the Li  river. The river was very shallow as the rainfall in the rainy season was not as much as normal.

Some of the Karst scenery on the Li River

We had a delightful time in Yanshuo the town at the end of our Li river cruise. It is a backpacker mecca and many westerners have settled there.

Chengdu is the home of the Panda sanctuary, where Panda numbers have been increased by artificial insemination as Pandas in the wild breed very rarely being very solitary animals.

Panda without a care in the world.

The highlight of Xi'an is the Terracotta warriors. Part of a mausoleum built for the first Emperor of the United China, Emperor Qin, the warriors are his army in the after life. When first discovered they were vivid in colour with lifelike painting on their body, armour, faces and hands etc. but this faded quickly. Once this was discovered then excavation stopped and it is estimated there are another 6000 or so to still be found. All of them are damaged by a destructive peasant revolt, a fire and the ravages of time, so none are complete and have to be re-built from fragments. Every face is different and so far about 1600 have been uncovered.

Just one of the many warriors found.

In Beijing came Tienanmen square, the forbidden city and outside the city, The Great Wall- first started by Emperor Qin.

Tienanmen square and Forbidden City gate picture

Great Wall and the final tower on a long climb- took 1.5 hours to get this far- only 40 minutes to get back- would have been quicker back but very slippery.

There were many other amazing sights- took 1700 photo's and some video, so plenty still to work through.