Wandering Fractal

Fish pond in the Forbidden city. We stayed a week in Beijing, capital of China. We went to see the Forbidden city. The number of entries per day is limited. You can buy the tickets on the spot, but we wanted to be sure to have a ticket, so we booked them. The issue is that the web site is only in Chinese and only accept Chinese credit cards. We had to go trough an agency for a small fee. It did save use the queue at the entrance. The palace is impressive and you could spend a whole day walking inside the massive compound. On another day we went to the National Museum of China. It's close to the Forbidden City on the Tian'anmen square. The gigantic communist style building host artifacts from all over the country and from all its periods, from the prehistoric age to today. It's one of the most impressive museum I have seen and it's completely free ! If you stay in Beijing, don't miss the Hutongs. They are traditional quarter of small brick houses. ...

The walled city of Pingyao has retained it's old architecture. Being there feels like you have traveled to ancient China. The main roads are full of touristic restaurants and shops, but you can also go away and witness locals playing majong in front of their house. If you are there, try the local vinegar. I found it had a taste akin to balsamic vinegar, even if it's made from completely different ingredients.

Xi'an is one of the end of the silk road. This position has given the city a multicultural vibe. A friend of Switzerland joined me in China for a week and a half. We stayed in the Muslim quarter. It's inhabited mainly by the Hui people. They are the descendants of the Persian and Arab merchants and still practice Islam. Since they where well integrated into the Chinese culture and marriage with the Han were frequent, it's hard to differentiate a Hui from a Han if it wasn't for their clothes. Men's wear white caps and women wear scarfs. They also have developed their own cuisine and it's delicious. The Muslim quarter is always bustling with people and I would really recommend staying there. Another attraction in Xi'an is the wall that protected the old city. You can walk on it and go around the city. But of course the main reason travelers come to Xi'an is to see the Terracotta Army. The site is located outside the city and can be reached by publ...

Giant Buddha statue carved from the cliff. The city of Leshan, south of Chengdu, host the world largest Buddha stone statue in the world. Carved in the cliffs of the Minjiang river, the Buddha sits peacefully. It's size is awe inspiring and the fact that it was constructed more than 1200 years ago makes it even more impressive. To go there, I took the first bullet train from Chengdu to Leshan (booked the day before). It was too early for the subway and I had to take a taxi to the train station. After taking a bus from the Leshan train station, I arrived at the Buddha just for the opening. It wasn't too crowded and the air was still cool. I had plenty of time to admire the statue. After that, I walked in the park, where they have tombs and temples. To go back to Chengdu, I took a bus from the terminal next to the train station. It was a perfect day trip from Chengdu. Stairs leading to an old abandoned house. A dying caterpillar dangling from its thread. Mol...

Spicy noodles. Chengdu, capital of the Sichuan province. I must confess I went there mainly for the food. Spicy, sour and the numbing effect of the Sichuan pepper. The cuisine is varied so you never get bored. Chengdu is also a good place to drink tea in one of the many parks. One day, with a fellow traveler, we went to the Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. It's one of the main attraction of the city. We were expecting a natural reserve where they take care of the animals, but it was just a zoo. The Pandas lives at high altitude were the air is cooler, but in Chengdu it's crazy hot. The animals mostly stays in their caves with air conditioning. You need to queue to see them behind a glass. The worst was the 2 hours we waited to see the baby pandas. If you have time, moving to the reserves in the mountains of Sichuan looks like a better option. If you really want to go to the Research Base I would advise to go for the opening. We arrived at 10:00 in the morning a...

The roaring Jinsha river. On the second day of hiking I finished the trail and arrived at Tina's guesthouse. It's the place where you can catch the bus back to Lijiang and also the starting point to go down the gorge. You can take a free shuttle at Tina that will drive you to the start of the trail. You need to pay a small fee to local people that maintain the trail. It's a steep way down to reach the river. Until now I only saw the river from fare up. Getting close make you realize the size and power of the water that has carved the gorge. You can walk along the river and then go back up by another trail. The way up is though, especially after a day and a half of hiking. I got back at Tina's guesthouse and had a cold beer  while waiting for the bus. One of the best thing about this hike is that you meet other hikers on the way. Even if some goes faster or slower than you, you will bump into each other many times, sharing a meal, a beer or the place you are stay...

The Tiger Leaping Gorge is one of the most famous scenery in China. Fortunately if you go there to hike it won't be crowded like other famous place in the country. I met other foreigners on the trail, but not a single Chinese tourist. They all take the bus and only go at the bottom of the gorge. According to the legend, a long time ago a hunter was chasing a tiger. To escape, the animal has leaped over the river. Hence the name: Tiger Leaping Gorge. To do this hike I first took the bullet train to go from Nanning to Kunming. I stayed one night in the capital of the Yunnan province. Kunming is at 1892 meters of altitude and thus the air was cooler. I found that this city had surprisingly a lot of character. It might be due to the diversity brought by all the ethnic minorities living in the province. At the Kunming West Coach Station, I took a bus to Lijiang. The bus terminal is on the line 3 of the subway system. It took around 8 hours to reach this town in the mountains...

Women doing traditional dance in a park of Nanning. From Hanoi I took the train to China. Terminus: the city of Nanning. Before I explain how I crossed the border, I need to explain how I got my visas. From the very beginning I knew that the visas would be some of the biggest challenges. I explain in my first post  that the main obstacles on my road would be : Finding a boat to cross from New Zealand to Australia. Finding a boat to cross from Australia to Indonesia. Obtaining a Chinese visa Obtaining a Russian visa I already gave up on the two first points and flew instead of using boats. It didn't change my itinerary and saved me a lot of money and time. But not obtaining the visas would have been a big issue, forcing me to cut a large chunk of my route or taking another path to Europe. I knew I could make the Chinese visa in Hanoi easily, but the Russian one was another story. If you apply for the Russian visa, you need to do it from your home country. That me...