Welcome to the published part of my life!

Now we’ve spent three weeks in China (and Honk Kong) and will fly out to the Philippines tomorrow. To resume our trip a bit, here our favorites, a bit of the beaten track.

1. The 978 arts district in Beijing
   Its a bit outside and unfortunately we did it on our last half day, so we only had one hour to spend there, but it is really worth the effort (you have to take multiple public buses to reach it). There are a lot of galleries and shops selling art and many great sculptures on the Streets. It had been a electronics factory in former times.
2. The Great Mosque in Xian
   Most people go to Xian for the Terracotta Warriors. But we think the Great Mosque is even more worth the trip. Its so old and untouched. And you are nearly the only visitor there with all the Muslims still using the Mosque. Its hard to find, but also the Muslim Quarter around it is definitely worth a visit. And the foot sold on the streets is amazing!
3. The Rice Terraces in Ping ‘an
   The Lonely Planet recommends a hike around those rice terraces north of Guilin and it claims that its well marked and easy to find. IT IS NOT WELL MARKED and definitely NOT EASY TO FIND. At the beginning of our tour we asked two local woman for the way and they stiked to us like glue what annoyed me to hell. But I have to admit that we would have been totally lost without them. You definitely need a guide out there so you won’t be alone. But still you leave all those annoying tourists behind which are only in the villages and have a fantastic view over the terraces and walking through them. Its great but take the first bus, walk fast to reach the last bus home and be aware that you need a guide!
4. The Yulong River in Yangshuo
   We hiked along the Li River as well but this smaller river is definitely also worth a visit!
5. Hiking in Hong Kong
   Believe it or not hiking in Hong Kong is amazing! We hiked in the Sai Kung Reservate up to Sharp Peak today and it was just amazing. The view, the beaches, the countryside… Really breathtaking. But it was really really windy up there and if you leave the paved paths (what is recommended if you want to escape the crowds) you should be aquiped with good hiking gear. The pathes are fun but far from being easy. It was a great day, and I’m totally done now

PS: Since we are going to South East Asia now, I guess we will not have so good interent access there. So I guess I’ll post less….

If you ever come to Hong Kong you should check out this great Jazz Bar in Ashley Road on the Kowloon side of the harbour. We just stumpled over it and had a great time there! They have live Jazz every night and no entrance fee. A beer costs as much as a cocktail, but compared to other places in HK they are still quite cheap there.
The bar claims to be the best jazz bar in whole Asia… Well,I can’t proof that, but they are amazingly good, thats for sure!

We are in Hong Kong since Thuesday now, and it feels like we’ve left behind China when we entered. This city is nothing like China, it feels completely like a western city with an asian charm. We had to douple our daily budget to not only live on plain rise for the next couple of days and we are living in a 6 sqm room including the washroom… So very cosy
But this is all worth it! Honk Kong is amazing!
And since yesterday we got the sun back. It was pooring rain and freezing cold since my last post, but now its getting better.

… is a wonderful hostel in the countryside outside Yangshuo, which is run by a Dutch couple and is a wonderful place to stay at! We where lucky enough to find it and decided immediately to stay longer than we intended.

Since our travel plans changed in Xian (Trains where booked out forever) we decided to go to the south of China (Guilin) immediately.  Unfortunately the weather was quite bad during the last couple of days, so it was getting really cold down here and it was raining a lot.

But I guess this “cleaned out” all the tourists from this region, and we were nearly alone today when the sun came out. The landscape around Yangshuo is just breathtaking! And when you go with your worn out rented bicycle over those bumpy dirt roads trough those little, tiny villages along the river and through the rice and vegetable fields, along Pomelo- and Orange trees, you can not imagine that there is a more beautiful place in China. The peak mountains around are just gorgeous and the sun was pleasing us the whole day! Fortunately we have time to stay here for another four days.

So if you ever visit China, make sure to stop by the Giggling Tree in Yangshou. They have a restaurant with the best Chinese food I’ve eaten so far (even better than dumplings), it really feels like home far away from home and the landscape is unbelievably scenic. And make sure that the weather had been bad the days before you come, so you can enjoy the whole scenery all by yourself!

we are travelling for one week now, and that’s what comes to my mind, when I think about it

• cheap food tastes mostly better than expensive food and the staff is friendlier
• ABBA even found its way to Xi’an
• Smog is killing me – and is unfortunately everywhere we’ve been so far
• I managed to order Lian Mien (?) but I like Guan-Lus version way better
• Body language is awesome
• Numbers are shown differently with fingers here than in Europe
• Hostel staff is very friendly and speaks good English
• McDonalds is a reliable source of good Orange juice and Coffee
• Chinese Bubble Tea tastes as Vancouver Bubble Tea – Jammy
• Going by bus is sooooooooo cheap!
• I love dumplings! They are sold everywhere, they are so good, and they are soooo cheap!
• The great wall is amazing!
• The weather got better!
• People trying to sell stuff to tourist annoy the hell out of me
• Night trains are quite comfortable (if the speaker is not right above your ear) and they can be booked out 10 days in advance
• Travelling plans can change unexpectedly
• Construction works are going on everywhere!