1st September 2009 – Trans Mongolian Railway

Here we are! Finally on the Trans-Mongolian railway after years of talking. I am so excited about finally getting to see Mongolia and getting to experience the nomadic lifestyle first hand. I am not really sure why this remote country fascinates me that much. Perhaps it's its glorious history, or perhaps it's the unchanging lifestyle of the people over the past 3,000 years. Perhaps it's the raw beauty in its natural environment. Either way, I am dying to see it and make this stop one of the highlights of this big overseas trip.

First thing first, after we left Beijing 2.5 weeks ago, we travelled to Ji-nan, Qingdao, Tai-an, Nanjing, Suzhou then Shanghai. I have to admit China was a lot more bearable outside Beijing. The train ride was still mostly unenjoyable (until we coughed up double the price for the deluxe express train from Suzhou to Shanghai!). However, these cities have their own special charm. Qingdao was especially relaxing with its port-town vibe. The only thing funny about it was tonnes of seaweed on the beach and hundreds of people collecting it for dinner. It also has an abundance of seafood. We saw this guy walk up from the beach with a whole bucket of pippies that he collected from the beach. We also had a grilled seafood platter and a few seafood sticks for like $6.

We climbed Tai-shan in Tai-an. It was a bit small for our current standards at 1,545m (although Naomi nearly gave up after we almost reached the top). It is one of the 5 sacred peaks in Taoism and there were heaps of temples along the way for people to worship. We saw some people carrying incense that were literally longer than 2m. Very devout people. I would have given up after the first 5 minutes! We caught the local buses there and back which only cost us Y1 each one way (bus no3).

Nanjing was interesting too. We went to see the Nanjing massacre museum which was in memory of the 300,000 plus people who died during the Japanese occupation. We also made a visit to the Confucius temple complex and saw some old style Chinese canal boats. We could have easily spent another 2 days in Nanjing to visit former Ming dynasty palaces and the Nanjing museum but we just didn't have the time.

We rushed to Suzhou after just 1 full day in Nanjing. We were very lucky to find accommodation that night as there simply weren't any cheap hotels around Suzhou. We somehow ignored all these touts around the station (they were soooo annoyingly persistent) who tried to sell us expensive hotels (as Naomi is supposedly not allowed to stay in normal guest houses) and jumped on a random bus (happened to be the last bus of the night) and got off in the middle of nowhere and found a great small hotel (Yin-Chun Guesthouse) just right next to the bus stop. The owner was very welcoming and hospitable. She even told the next door restaurant to deliver our dinner to our room while we could have showers and unpack as it was quite late at night. It was just so random and we were so lucky. We got a huge room with wooden floor, ensuite, air-con and TV and all for Y110 (A$20) per night.

Suzhou was another must-visit little town in southern China. It's well-known for its traditional gardens with ponds and man-made hills etc in them. We took a stroll in one of the famous ones (Garden of the Master of the Nets) and spent a few relaxing hours there. Rich people in the old days had great taste I have to say. We also climbed up the tallest temple in Suzhou (Beishi Ta) which was first built in 502AD. It was really quite amazing to walk on the same ground that people from the ancient past once walked on. We also went to the Silk Museum at Naomi's insistence. At night, we went for some Suzhou specialty food at some street (Shi-jie) that was on the other side of the city.

Shanghai was a lot bearable than Beijing. After a successful start with the express deluxe train that went around 240km/h we were all pumped and ready for Shanghai. We spent much of our time there shopping in celebration of Naomi's 28th birthday. Despite our enormous effort, I think we visited around 5% of the shopping malls in Shanghai! We also visited the famous Bund and the Oriental Pearl tower there. While Naomi was having a rest day, I went to visit Yuu Garden (300 year old garden) and the French concession area with my friend Cheng Hang. It was quite interesting to compare the ancient buildings in the Garden to more modern (100 year old) Chinese brick houses to the grand traditional European style housing all within the same suburb.

Cheng was very generous in showing us Shanghai and took us to the best local eating places. She studied in Australia before her job in Shanghai. I think she really misses Australia and want to return ASAP. Apparently it is quite difficult to get a visa for Chinese nationals.

We flew back to Beijing on the 30th August. With strings of good luck comes unfortunate events. I managed to lose my camera somewhere in Shanghai. I was certain that I left in the hotel, but the cleaners claimed that they never saw it and they also never saw my earplugs and some other items that I accidentally left behind too.

It was unbelievable. I was sooooo upset that I nearly caught the next plane back to Shanghai and search for my camera in the room! I only pray that my travel insurance will cover it.

Besides this event, our 2 week trip to the south was fun. I think it was also quite lucky that I speak some Chinese and was able to communicate to a certain extent. I only wish that we could have spent time to see some of these places properly!

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Being of Taiwanese heritage, it is sometimes pretty difficult in China. Chinese people tend to believe whatever their government says and believe that Taiwan and China are the same country. Well, I believe otherwise. Because of this issue, I usually tell people that I am of Singaporean heritage or Malaysian heritage when Chinese people ask to avoid confrontation.

When we were eating in the street stalls in Qingdao, the chef just randomly asked me where I am from and I of course said Australia. He then asked me which province in China did my family originally come from. When I replied that they weren't Chinese and were Singaporean, the chef suddenly got excited and said he's from Singapore too and he lived in some suburb before he moved back to Qingdao.

I was gobsmacked and was speechless. He then continued asking me how Singapore was going lately etc which I have obviously no idea and just made up some story on the spot based on what we saw in Kuala Lumpur. He then got all the nearby vendors over to talk to us and suddenly I was the tourism hotspot of the night. They wanted to know everything about me including my ancestry, what language they speak in Singapore, where in Singapore did I live and what I was doing in Australia etc. We bolted as soon as we finished our seafood platter. Boy, I think I made record time in skulling down that plate of seafood. I have to develop a story in case this happens again.