Hostel Bookers is running a game of photo tag and were kind enough to include us in their inaugural post. I love going back through photographs that I haven’t looked at recently. Each one tells a story and reminds me of a precious moment in time. Along with my fellow photographer friends, Bears and Beans, The Travel Tart, Traveling Canucks, Landlopers, Canvas of Light, and Virtual Wayfarer, we are kicking off the game and sharing our favourite Seven Super Travel Photos.

Play with us in 5 easy steps

1. Choose 7 of your own photos, one for each of the following categories:

• A photo that…takes my breath away
• A photo that…makes me laugh or smile
• A photo that…makes me dream
• A photo that…makes me think
• A photo that…makes my mouth water
• A photo that…tells a story
• A photo that…I am most proud of (aka my worthy of National Geographic shot)

2. Write a short description for each image.
3. Write somewhere in your blog post: ‘I am taking part in HostelBookers 7 Super Shots‘.
4. Tell us you have participated and tweet the hashtag #7SuperShots
5. Nominate 5 other bloggers by including a link to their blog in your post.

Hostelbookers will be retweeting and sharing the best posts from participating bloggers. Make sure to tag us on twitter with your 7 Photos so that we can tweet it as well!

Take a look at HostelBookers own list of 7 photos that… and see what photo we contributed along with our 6 other partners in crime.

1.       Photo that takes my breath away

Mount Doom and the Tongariro Crossing in New Zealand

It’s known as one of the best one day treks in the world. The Tongariro Crossing on New Zealand’s North Island certainly lives up to the hype. We started our hike early in the morning and the crisp air may have chilled our bones, but the brisk morning made for clear skies and gave the partially frozen dew a glimmering beauty. With Mount Doom looming in the background, I envisioned the Hobbits fighting their way up this epic mountain to return the ring. The colours and the beauty of the Tongariro Crossing took my breath away at every turn.

2.       Photo that makes me laugh/smile

Playing on a Water Buffalo in Myanmar

We were riding bicycles around Inle Lake, Myanmar when we came across these two little cuties. They were keeping watch on their water buffalo and when they saw us motioned us to come over and say hi. They didn’t speak a word of English, we didn’t speak a word of Burmese but they loved posing for Dave’s camera. The boy in the front was the real ham and kept shoving his little brother out of the way. Dave would snap  some photos, he would show them their shot on the screen and they laughed and giggled while motioning him to take another. It makes us smile because that was a very good day and these boys will always remain on our memory for the rest of our lives.

3.       Photo that makes me dream

Sunset in Chobe National Park, Botswana

Chobe National Park has one of the largest concentrations of wildlife in all of Africa.What is unique about a safari here is that you cruise the Chobe river to spot game. Elephants are a plenty in Chobe and we saw many as we rode our bikes along the famed Elephant Highway. But it was during our river cruise that we were truly at peace. As the evening came to an end, this bird spread it’s wings as if saluting sun while saying goodbye to another beautiful day on the continent of Africa.

4.       Photo that makes me think 

Malawi Portrait

We were visiting a project for Plan Canada, the charity we raised money and awareness for as we cycled Africa. The entire village came out to say hello to us and show off their schools, fields, well and medical centre all built with the help of Plan Canada. Today it is a sustainable operation that is independently run by the village itself. As swarms of children followed our every move, this young girl carrying a baby on her back caught my eye. Her calm manner stood out among the energetic group and I wondered what she was thinking about? I wonder what her future will be and where she is today?

5.       Photo that makes my mouth water 

The amazing lobster in Fiji

I don’t take a lot of food photographs, but while we were in Fiji, it seemed that food constantly caught my attention. We were staying at the Pearl Fiji and each night we were treated to a spectacular feast. When we entered the restaurant we enjoyed our welcome drink of Kava, sat down to a meal complete with local entertainment and enjoyed heavenly dished like this lobster. Mmm Mmm Good.

6.       Photo that tells a story

The Three Gorges Dam Project in China

China was a fascinating place to explore. The old is being erased to make for the new and modern 21st century. As we sailed through the Three Gorges, our guides explained how the massive feat of engineering, The Three Gorges Damn project flooded the entire area burying thousand year old villages under the later never to be heard from again. Ancient temples were destroyed and cultural monuments were lost only to be rebuilt and replicated for tourist to view. But there are pockets of China where people still cling to the past and a simple fisherman can be found working on the water. While cruise liners and luxury ships pass, rural families cling to their past and follow the traditions of their ancient ancestors.

7. Photo that I am most proud of (aka my National Geographic photo)

Sunset in Wadi Rum, Jordan

It seemed that every turn in Jordan offered an opportunity to take that “National Geographic Shot” but many have already seen my pictures of Petra. And I am more drawn to my time in Wadi Rum. Taking a camel ride in the middle of the Arabian Desert at sunset is something that I dreamed of doing as a child scouring through my parents National Geographic collection. When I think of the National Geographic of my childhood, I think of photos like this. Photos that give you a glimpse of the way of life in an exotic land.

I nominate:

• Fogg Odyssey
• Johnny vagabond
• Green Global travel
• Wild About Travel
• Aviators and a Camera 

When were traveling through China with Intrepid Travel however, one of the activities that was offered during our time in Yangshuo was to take part in a cooking course, so we thought we’d tag along.

The Day Started at the Market

The market was alive with activity. It was exactly what you would expect from a traditional Chinese market. Rows of stalls were lined up in the giant hall displaying fresh fruits and vegetables. We didn’t recognize a lot of the produce and were content to listen as our guide explained the use of each leaf, root and stem on the table.

We thought that we would be prepared when she asked us if we were willing to walk through the live animal market and ignorantly said that we were fine. In Asia, the people don’t try to hide where their food comes from. It isn’t tucked away in windowless factories and packaged in vacuum packed plastic bags to be displayed on our grocery shelves. They don’t use euphemisms like pork and poultry or beef in lieu of pig, chicken and cow. You see your dinner’s eyes while they are alive and well, it can be very traumatizing.

So if you do a cooking course in China, either be prepared for what you are about to see, or tell your guide that you don’t want to walk through the next room. It is a disturbing sight but it is hypocritical for me to have meat as a part of my diet and judge the people who sell animals for my consumption. I just hope that China works on making animal welfare a priority in the future and from what I understand from all our guides, the younger generation isn’t quite as keen on the practices of their elders.

Back at the School….

The Yangshuo cooking school ended up being a fun afternoon and a great way to find our inner chef. With our emotions melting away, we started off with learning how to make an array of stuffed vegetables. It was also nice to start with a vegetarian dish.

The class moved at a feverish pace. We had a lot of dishes to cook and there was excitement in the air. The woks were sizzling and smoking while we chopped our veggies with our Chinese Cleavers.

Book a Delicious Discovery journey before 29^thFebruary and carve 15% off your Mouth Watering Journey with Intrepid Travel 

Dave was a natural cook, so I took my place behind the video camera to capture him slicing and dicing and swirling and twirling.

We had an array of cooking utensils, pots and pans and bamboo dishes in front of our stations. If it weren’t for our instructor I wouldn’t know where to begin!

We learned how to properly heat a wok and when to toss our fresh vegetables into the sizzling oil.

We learned how to stuff veggies and mince garlic and ginger and we learned how to sear fish in a smoking hot pan.

We learned how to properly chop our veggies too! There is a proper time to cut large chunky pieces and another time to thinly slice the vegetable of choice. It is important to think about how each food item will be prepared for each dish.

We learned about produce from the region and how much spice is just the right amount of spice. You want your food to be filled with flavour. Spice should enhance the dish, not overpower it. However, each person has a different tolerance, so we all tasted our instructors dish after watching the amount of spice she added to decide how much we should put in our own.

Our afternoon feast consisted of beer battered fish to stuffed tomatoes, cashew chicken and seared vegetables, we had a feast and we cooked it from scratch. It was a satisfying experience to steam and stuff our own vegetables and display it all in one delicious array!

We learned a lot about Chinese cooking and gained a new appreciation for their fine cuisine. There is a lot of work and preparation involved in preparing the various dishes that were served at our table each day and this in turn made us enjoy our dinners even more during our tour of China.

It was an amazing way to spend an afternoon. We made such great friends on our Intrepid Travel, Grand China tour and our cooking class helped to bring all of us together quickly. It was still early in our three-week joureny through China when we attended class in Yangshuo and as the saying goes, “Those who cook well together, travel well together!” Ok, there is no such saying but it is a good one, because our group definitely travelled well together after spending an afternoon bonding and eating at the Yangshuo Cooking School.

Intrepid Travel is featuring Delicious Discovery destinations around the world and to celebrate their offering a 10% Discount on one of their featured food experiences. Book Before February 29th to take advantage of this offer.

Visit Intrepid Travel’s Global Foods Digital Brochure to book your culinary journey and quote promo code 6584

Want to the recipe for Yangshuo’s staple dish, Beer Fish or PiJiu Yu

Recipe:

100 grams of fish (firm white with skin on )
2 Tablespoons of peanut oi
Half tomato – chopped
Half Green, half red pepper – sliced
1 tablespoon sliced garlic tops or spring onions
1 tablespoon ginger – sliced
2 cloves garlic- crushed
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
Half Teaspoon of salt
Half a glass of beer.

Heat Wok, Add Oil and Heat. Put fish into wok fish side down, put salt on top of fish. Fry on each side for 3 minutes to make sure the skin is brown. Put all geggies, garlic and ginger on top of fish. Pur on soy sauce and beer, cover for 5 minutes.

Book a Delicious Discovery journey before 29^thFebruary and carve 15% off your Mouth Watering Journey with Intrepid Travel.

It’s been a year building a wonderful friendship and now we’ve taken it to the next level. Who says friends can’t work together?

Over this past year we’ve gotten to know the people at Intrepid and we are proud to be a part of  a company that has the same values as us. Intrepid Travel believes in supporting local guides and businesses, giving back to the community through the Intrepid Foundation and having their guests integrate with the community and culture. As a travel blog that promotes the motto “Adventure is for Everyone,” we feel that Intrepid Travel is an excellent way for those people who are unsure about traveling off the resort to step out of their comfort zone and see the world in a safe and exciting way.

Last year we joined one of their tours in China, The Grand China Tour, where we witnessed the incredible philanthropy work they are doing through the Intrepid Foundation  and were honoured to have them as part of our Mongol Rally team not only to giveaway a trip to Mongolia to one of our lucky readers, but to also donate our carbon offsets for the 13,000 km drive from England to Mongolia.

A tour with Intrepid Travel bridges the gap of independent traveler and package tourist. Not everyone has the time to travel the world independently, but that shouldn’t stop them from exploring exotic hard to reach destinations.

We Believe in Intrepid Travel

Our Group and Guide with Intrepid in China

Our travel to China was one of the best trips we have ever taken during our 11 Years and 56 countries of travel. We fell in love with a country that many of our friends and fellow travellers have had difficulty in and we credit that to being on our Intrepid tour. We connected with KimBofo of Reading Matters and London Cycling Diary and made a lifelong friend. We even met up with her and her man nearly a year later in England and it was like no time had gone by. We also stay in touch with our super guide Karen and are yearning to go back China again because we loved it so much.

The Partnership

Intrepid Travel and ThePlanetD together in 2012

Starting in February we will be heading out on another trip with Intrepid Travel. We haven’t decided on a destination yet and we’d love to hear what you’d be interested in reading about.

Thoughts for our first trip are:
Turkey Experience
Best of Morocco
Gorillas, Chimps and Gameparks in Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya

Private Group Tour

This summer we’ll be leading our own private group departure and we’d love you to come along. We’ll be putting out polls and feelers to see where you’d be most interested in traveling to. This trip is for you! We want to show you what its like to travel with Dave and Deb while visiting your dream destination.

The Best news is, All ThePlanetD readers will receive and exclusive 10% discount code!

Stay tuned for details!

More Travels

After the summer, we’ll be heading out on another tour to give you ideas for your 2013 travel plans. That is if you don’t think the world is going to end and hey, even if you do, now is the time to buy that trip that you’ve always wanted to take before the ancient Mayan Calendar ends!

Keep an eye out all year for amazing offers and news coming from Intrepid Travel all year long here on ThePlanetD.

Intrepid Foundation

In the meantime, head over to the Intrepid Foundation to give the gift that will change a child’s life. You can give a braille reading kit to a blind child in Tibet for $15 or a child in Mongolia one month of childcare for $110. There are gifts for all budgets and regions of the world and Intrepid matches every donation dollar for dollar.

For More information visit the Intrepid Foundation today

The Intrepid Foundation is a not-for-profit fund that supports non-government organisations in the places Intrepid visits. They support projects working with health care, human rights, child welfare and environmental and wildlife protection.

Toronto has the most inspiring and friendly travel community on the planet and they are proving it again by banding together to raise money for a great cause.

Toronto Travel Massive Monthly Meet Up

It was at the last Toronto Travel Massive meet up this past Thursday that Katy of Intrepid Travel  announced an amazing initiative.  

They will be giving away a trip to India (flight included) to the person who raises the most money for Depalaya through the Intrepid Foundation. The 15 Day Classic Rajasthan Tour is a gem and what a way to motivate our fellow travellers to make a difference in people’s lives. We believe in giving back to the communities that we travel to and so does Intrepid Travel.

We had the privilege of working with Intrepid Travel on more than one occasion and are always impressed by their commitment to the environment and the community. It was on an Intrepid Tour to China last year and had the chance to visit one of their projects first hand. The Hui Ling school in Xi’ian is a project to help people living with disabilities. Established in 1990 in the town of Guangzhou it has extended it’s reach to cities all over China and Hong Kong and is committed to people develop their personalities to achieve independence and to become an active member of society.

It was a very moving and inspiring day and we are thrilled to do our part to help raise money for the Depalaya Project in India. We visited India for 3 months in 2010/2011 and saw the poverty that millions in the country face each day. We had read about the estimated 100,000 street children in Delhi alone and witnessed the suffering that many homeless and abandoned children face each day. Children are forced into child labour, prostitution, drug trafficking and begging on the streets.

Intrepid Foundation, Giving Children Hope

Deepalaya was started in 1979 to help these children through counceling and placing them in homes where they receive an education and hope for the future. They are also trained in tailoring, computer hardware and software, electronics, air conditioning and refrigeration.  So far, Deeepalaya has educated 44,000 underprivileged children but they need your help to keep going.

Your support for Deepalaya will help to provide: food and board, health care, meaningful education and vocational training, counselling and career guidance. But most important for any growing child understanding, friendship, warmth and solace in terms of loneliness for these children.

We have been to India before and spent nearly a month in Rajasthan. Udaipur was one of our favourite cities we have ever visited. While another trip to India wouldn’t be turned down, we are not joining this initiative to win a trip. We are simply excited to be able to help Intrepid Travel in raising awareness for a worthy cause. We believe in the Intrepid Foundation having seen the great work that they are doing and we believe in helping the children of India who are its future.

Let’s show the world what the Toronto Travel Community can do and how powerful all of our reach is together. All it takes is $5 to change a child’s life.

To Donate Visit Our Donation Page through the Intrepid Foundation. 100% of proceed go directly to the foundation. 

We love taking the train. There is nothing better than watching the countryside pass by as you relax in your compartment while getting to know your fellow passengers.

Dave and I regularly hop on the train to take the popular Toronto/Montreal route. It’s the perfect long weekend getaway. There’s no better way to avoid the heavy traffic on the 401 and travel from downtown to downtown.

The best thing about train travel is that Via Rail now has free wifi. How times have changed since my first trip with my parents when I was just a little rugrat. Riding the train was a rare event I felt like we were going on a great adventure.

Today, when people take the train, they are watching movies and chatting on facebook as they sip a fresh and delicious coffee from the snack cart. It is still a great adventure, the trip itself is just a lot more luxurious and comfortable. We all travel to our destination without a care in the world feeling refreshed and ready to enjoy our destination. In Canada our trains are pristine and clean, quiet and safe. There is no better way to see the country than to ride the rails and explore the beautiful countryside.

As the Shredded Wheat resident travel experts we are excited to share our favourite train Journeys from Around the World to inspire you to get out there and ride the rails. There is nothing like it!

1. India

A Not so busy Platform in India

No country travels by train like India. It is a crazy experience. Trains are booked weeks in advance, trying to figure out how to buy a ticket or book a seat is a confusing experience and standing on the platform with thousands of other people waiting for the train to arrive is down right terrifying. Once it does arrive, you better hurry because people will push and shove their way through to the front of the line leaving you in the dust and stranded on the platform after the door closes. But if you make it on the train, it is an experience you’ll never forget. Chai Wallah’s walk through the cars ready to sell you a cheap hot cup, but make sure that you don’t pass up the tomato soup. It was my favourite snack on the long train journeys through this immense country.

2. Peru

Taking the Vista Dome from Cusco to Aguas Callientas was an outstanding experience. We booked a last minute trip to Peru when we decided to visit Machu Picchu so we couldn’t get ourselves a permit to hike the famous Inca Trail. No matter, we managed to hike many an ancient trail in the surrounding Sacred Valley and it gave us the opportunity to enjoy the magnificent views through our glass roof of the Andes of Peru. We even had ourselves a fashion show on the way back!

3. Switzerland

Snowboarding in Switzerland was on our bucket list and we had the chance to fulfill that dream early in our lives. It was nearly a decade ago that we skiid it’s slopes in Gstaad and one of the most vivid memories we had was taking the train through the Alps to all of the different ski areas and surrounding villages. It was some of the most stunning scenery we have ever seen.

4. Sri Lanka

The country is small and the train routes are short, but in the few hours that we spent on the train between villages in Sri Lanka we witnessed incredible views of tea terraces and mountains, enjoyed conversations with friendly locals, bought cheap snacks from the vendors that walked through the cars and held on to the handrail as we hung outside the train to look at the view ahead and feel the wind on our face.

5. Vietnam

The overnight train from Hanoi to Sapa was one of the most exciting trips of our lives. It was 2004 and we boarded the platform late at night. People in conical hats were huddling by fires and smoke and steam were billowing off into the night sky. The air was chilled and it felt as if we had stepped back to 1969. We hadn’t been to China at this point in our lives so we were excited because we were heading towards the Chinese border to witness to this date, the most breath taking rice terraces on earth.

6. China

Speaking of China, we finally made it there last December. We loved every minute of that country and we were amazed by the train travel there. It is so efficient, clean and organized. It is a country of 1.5 billion people and yet we never felt like we were in crowd. In India, we fought crowds every day on the train, in China we stood in crowds but never fought. The trains were fast and modern and our compartments were clean and ornate. Hot water was provided for our tea and we had a wake up call with fresh coffee in the morning. It was the most pleasant experiences we have ever had on the train.

7. Thailand

Who hasn’t taken the train in Thailand? It was one of the first overnight trains we ever took and we still love hopping on a second class sleeper when we’re there. we’ve taken it from Chiang mai to Bangkok, Bangkok to Singapore and back again. It is so much fun to have a Chiang Beer while looking out the window before setting up your bed to be lulled asleep by the rocking of the train.

We’ve spoken during their Tuesday night inspiration series on more than one occasion and we always pop in to see what’s new when we’re back in town. It is the perfect store for the adventure lover.

As part of Shredded Wheat Canada’s, Live Simply and Win Contest Post Foods Canada giving away a $100 certificate to Mountain Equipment Co-Op. As Post’s resident travel experts, we thought we’d share four of our favourite climbing spots around the world with you.

the climbing wall and MEC Store

1. Krabi, Thailand

Deb Climbing in Thailand 2011

The very first climb that we ever did in our lives was on Raleigh Beach, in Krabi, Thailand. We have since returned three times to beautiful Raleigh Beach to work on our climbing skills. It was here that we first learned to lead climb and took on our first multi-pitch climb. The amazing karst formations of Krabi have made it a world class climbing destination where the best of the best return regularly to tackle its hundred of routes.

Dave Lead Climbing in Thailand

The newest fad to catch on in Krabi is deep water soloing. A person free climbs up a wall and once they are finished the climb, they simply jump into the water. It’s definitely not for the faint of heart.

Tip: For reasonable accommodations stay at Tonsai beach next door to Raleigh, that’s where the climbers camp and within a couple of months you’ll find your expertise soar.

2. Alberta, Canada

Dave on a multi-pitch climb in Alberta 2009

The Rocky Mountains are the place to climb for the true die-hard. While Squamish, British Columbia may be more famous, we were thrilled to be able to climb in Canmore, Alberta. There are routes for every level of rock climbing and one of its areas is home to the highest concentration of hard routes in the Rockies! When we climbed there, we had taken a couple of years off to cycle Africa and build our new business of travel blogging so we were a little rusty.

Climbing with a guide from Yamnuska Mountain Adventures was an amazing way to re-spark our interest in the sport. James took us through a great day that was fun yet challenging enough for these two former weekend warriors. He could have stayed at the beginner’s crag, but he saw a hint of our former selves during our routes so we partook in a multi-pitch and a few of the more challenging top rope routes.

There is nothing more exciting in life than to be able to say that you’ve climbed in the Rocky Mountains.

3. Yangshou, China

Beautiful Kharsts in China just Waiting to be Climbed

Yangshou is one of the most picturesque places in all of China and it is also one of the world’s leading sport climbing locations. Thousands of giant limestone cliffs burst out of the landscape just beckoning you to climb them.  We didn’t have a lot of time in Yangshuo, but we knew that we had to take a day to get out and tackle some of its routes.

Like Thailand, it is a climbers paradise and people come from all over the world to spend months at a time tackling its routes. Yangshuo is also extremely cheap, so you can spend months just chillin’ out and working on your climbing technique. By the end of your stay, you will definitely be a pro. We can’t wait to go back one day to spend an entire season in this very cool area of China.

4. Ontario, Canada

Climbing at Buffalo Crag at the Niagara Escarpment

It may not be known as the mecca of climbing, but Ontario has some pretty awesome cliffs. We started climbing seriously here in Ontario at Joe Rockheads Climbing Gym and eventually worked our way outside to climbing the Niagara Escarpment. While we frequented Rattle Snake Point, Metcalf, Buffalo Crag and Glen Eden, there are numerous places to climb in Ontario.

Lions Head is the most popular among our friends who have outgrown our climbing abilities. They climb the most difficult routes that require you to rappel down to belay from a ledge or even from a hanging belay. As our friends move on to become expert climbers, we are content in the fact that because of travel, we get to try different climbing routes around the world.

For more of our rock climbing adventures

• Rock Climbing in Raleigh, The Adventure Continues
• Climbing Adventures in Thailand
• Climbing in Hampi, India. Who Knew?
• Via Ferrata in France

A view from The Bund of the Shanghai Skyline

Shanghai has the most spectacular skyline in the world and the best view is from the Bund which which runs along the western bank of the Huangpu River. From here you are treated to the view of Pudong, one of the newest cities in the world. It is hard to believe that 20 years ago, this was all farmland.

China decided that it wanted Shanghai to take over as the epicentre of China. I am sure that it will soon take over Hong Kong as the financial centre of the country.

Get there early as the crowds get heavy with photographers scrambling for a spot for the best view. When the sun goes down, the city lights up and it is spectacular.

Check out more photos of China at Night

A serious pose from a fisherman on the Li River in Yangshuo, China

We had just stepped off our bamboo raft on the Li River in China

It had been a glorious morning witnessing the incredible karst formations of Yangshuo. The pier was busy with fishermen heading out for the day and bamboo rafts getting ready for their tours.  We were grateful for starting our tour so early as we barely saw another person on the river.

As we walked up the river bank, this kind old man was sitting by the stairs greeting people as they walked by. As we walked near he smiled and waved. His toothless grin was contagious and I motioned to ask him if I could take his photo.

We was extremely happy to pose for me, Seriously.

As I set up the shot, he suddenly became very serious. You know the face that people do when they don’t have their pictures taken often? He put on his, “I’m having my picture taken,” face. This man’s entire demeanor changed as he sat for my photo. He stared into the camera concentrating on being a still and a good model, and a very good model he was.

Immediately after I snapped the picture, I showed him my camera and he started laughing and returned back to his jovial self. He slapped his knee, shook my hand and laughed and laughed at his image on my camera.

It was a very good day.

The Monument to the Peoples Heroes in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China

One of the advantages of visiting Beijing, China in December for taking pictures is the lack of pollution in the air. Another advantage of visiting at this time of year is the lack of crowds.
We bundled up to go for a tour of Tiananmen Square located across the street from the Forbidden City on a very cold winter’s day.

We had to pass through a security station to have our bags checked. We then emerged from beneath the underpass to enter the great square. After receiving our instructions to NOT mention “The Event” that happened in 1989 as it is rumoured that there is 1 spy to every 4 people sightseeing in Tiananmen Square, we were set free to explore the sqare on our own.

It was interesting that as we were being told not to mention the massacre, a man came up to listen in on our groups conversation. Our guide became a little uncomfortable and went silent and we all laughed uneasily before parting ways for an hour to check out the site.

Tiananmen Square is the World’s largest public square. It can hold 1 million people. But it is exactly that, just a square. It was large enough that we could spend an hour looking around, but there weren’t a ton of interesting things to see. That is unless you got there early with passport in hand to sign up to see the Mausoleum of Chairman Mao.

We gave that a skip and instead went to see the impressive Monument to the People’s Heroes. At 38 meters high, it stands out against the massive flat square surrounding it.  The monument is dedicated to the people who lost their lives during the Chinese Revolution.

Before traveling to China, I never fully understood why it was called the Forbidden City.

Chinese history wasn’t my forte and I never really cared enough to do the research for myself.  I just knew that the movie The Last Emperor won a bunch of Academy Awards and was based in the Forbidden City. I had also heard that there was a Starbucks that opened at one time right in the middle of it all.

While there isn’t a Starbucks there anymore, I now understand more of the history behind this famous site in China’s capital city and why it is indeed called The Forbidden City.

Our Tour

We gathered at the front gate with our tour guide on a very cold day in Beijing. Even though it was cold, the day was clear which for Beijing is a rare thing we hear.  December is the time to travel to China as we had many a blue sky during our visit.  We joined the rest of the tourists piling in to see what was behind these walls and we huddled around our guide to listen to a very long history lesson on the very old building.

A very Cold Day at the Forbidden City

I am going to have to admit right away, I didn’t care very much for the long winded explanations and Dave cared even less. He left to take photographs while I pretended to be interested for the next 4 hours.  Yes, we froze and walked through gate after gate looking at building after building for four very long hours. Every section looked the same to me and after looking at the 3rd or 4th room and wandering around the 3rd or 4th building, I had enough.

I just felt like finding a Starbucks and having a Chai Latte.

You have to remember, are the couple of people that told our tuk tuk driver to keep driving after pulling up to yet another temple at Angkor Wat.  We love visiting ruins and historical buildings, but we like to do it quickly and breeze by the highlights. Many people like the long history lesson, we like the crib notes.

But while we’re here, let me tell you a little bit about what I learned during the 4-hour tour.

Why is it called the Forbidden City?

Built in the 1400′s during the Ming Dynasty, the Forbidden City housed the ruling Emperors and their households for 500 years.  It has a whopping 980 buildings and over 8000 rooms. Commoners were not allowed in the city and many of the Forbidden City’s inhabitants were not allowed to leave.

The only people living with the inner walls of the city were the Emperor, his Empress, his concubines and his guards that were castrated men known as Eunuchs. Even male relatives of the Emperor were not allowed to stay over night in the inner circle of the city.

Eunuchs guarded the concubines.  Castrated men were the only other people that lived in the palace and allowed into the inner courtyards of the Forbidden City.  This was to ensure that the Empress and the concubines could not be impregnated by anyone other than the Emperor. Eunuchs lived a privileged life gaining power in politics and wealth. They just had to do without he hem…the other stuff that goes along with being a man.

By the time of the Qing Dynasty (China’s final dynasty) there were 20,000 concubines on the premises.  Some never even met or saw the Emperor, but were kept in the city until the end of their days. Other’s who were in favour with the Emperor lived a rich life and had enough wealth to spread to their extended families.  Competition was fierce to be in good favour though and many times lead to murder.  It was a cut throat and lonely life for the concubines. Only once a year were they allowed to look out from behind the walls and see their families and friends.

Inside the Forbidden City, today Nobody is Forbidden Entrance.

No commoner every saw the Emperor and if they tried to enter the city without his permission, they died a slow and painful death.  And so, in the middle of this giant city stood an impenetrable wall surrounding a lavish lifestyle.

Like many of the landmarks in China, The Forbidden City took one million men working tirelessly in dismal conditions over 15 years to make a massive self-indulgent monument for the Emperor. Unlike the Terracotta Warriors, I didn’t find any record of the artists being murdered after their work was complete.

The Layout of the Forbidden City

The Forbidden City is divided into many sections, but there are two main areas that divide the complex, The Outer Court and the Inner Court.

The outer court was used for ceremonial purposes and meetings and the inner court was the residence of the Emperor and the rest of the gang.   There are buildings with names like The Hall of Heavenly Purity, The Palace of Earthly Tranquility and The Hall of Supreme Harmony that made me laugh since there wasn’t a lot of harmony or tranquility during the time of these dynasties.

The artistry and work that went into the palace cannot be denied though and the Forbidden City is beautiful and certainly worth seeing.

Giant Marble Carving on one continusous slab

There is one work of art that is extremely impressive.  A solid 16.5 metre long marble slab weighing in at 250 tons can be found behind the hall of preserved harmony. It leads up the steps towards the rear entrance carved with dragons weaving their way towards the door.  It was moved 70 km from its place of carving. How does one move something so heavy at that time?  They formed an ice highway to slide the slab all the way to Beijing.  Waiting for winter to arrive, water was poured in front of the slab to freeze as 20,000 men and 20,000 horses pulled the slab to it’s final destination.

What else can I tell you?

We walked through some more walls and looked at some more buildings until we finally came to the end of the road.

The last portion of the tour took us to the Imperial Gardens. That just sounds too cool to say that we have been to the Imperial Gardens.  This was probably one of our favourite parts of the palace. The gardens were filled with rock sculptures and gardens. The most impressive is the Hill of Accumulated Elegance, or The Dui Xiu Shan. It’s a high rock mountain where the Emperor and his concubines would climb every ninth day of the ninth lunar month.  The amount and size of Rock Gardens indicated the wealth of a person in historic China. So as you can imagine, the Forbidden City had many rock formations of various sizes and scale scattered within the garden.

the Dui Xui Shan Rock Sculpture in Imperial Garden

Under different circumstances this palace could have been a place of great serenity and beauty. But at the time it was a prison for everyone. It was a prison for the concubines, a prison for the Eunuchs that were sacrificed at a young age by their parents and even a prison for the Emperor who was under the constant threat of assassination.

People may have been forbidden to enter, but its residents were doomed to never leave.

Each city bursts into a neon work of art to welcome the dark.  Historical sites, town squares, skyscrapers and street vendors. No one can escape the electric glow in a Chinese city and really who would want to.

Late evening was our favourite time of day in China. Walking through the while streets admiring the patterns of light gave us hours of entertainment and we weren’t the only ones.  Hundreds of people made their way down to the waterfront or the walking streets and squares with their tripods in hand to take that magic shot of a famous China city at night.

Here are our favourite moments after the sun goes down.

Hong Kong Harbour Light show.

Shanghai's Skyscrapers Light up the Night

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Chairman Mao's Portrait hangs at the Gate of the Forbidden City

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Downtown Yangshuo. This Motorcycle parked right in front of me while taking this shot. It ended up adding foreground interest to the photo.

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Bell Tower with Traffic going around the Square in Xi'an

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Xi'an City Square with Drum Tower in Back

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Shanghai's Shopping and Pedestrian Street

Muslim Quarter

Hawkers Cooking at Beijing's Night Market

The Bund, Shanghai, China

We have gotten off the bus and been completely lost without have our trusty Lonely Planet in Hand to tell us where to catch a public bus, how much a taxi should cost and what part of town we should stay in.

We have been doing a lot of legwork online and things like google maps on our iPhone has helped a lot.  While I am taking back my words that guide books will be replaced in the future by blogs, I do feel that guidebooks will instead evolve with technology.

Apps for tablets and smartphones will become more the norm and we will download sections of guidebooks as we go rather than carrying around our cumbersome and heavy South East Asia on a shoestring.

With technology evolving, that leaves room for more companies to break into the market and offer travellers a choice to get around during their travels.  We were given an app to try out while we were in Shanghai by MTrip and we found it to be a big help when deciding what to do with ourselves.

Carrying around information about the city in the palm of our hand we could make our way to a restaurant or bar, tourist attraction or hotel with a simple touch of the screen. All we had to do was click a destination and our mTrip app would tell us the location, address and subway stop.

One thing I liked was the attractions menu.  We could touch attractions and see what there was to do around the city. Once I clicked on the attraction, it woud give a little synopsis as to what it was, tell me what time it was open, give us a rating and review and how to get there.

I found the application very easy to use and follow.

It breaks everything down in different menus to suit your needs.  If you are looking for Asian Cuisine you can click on the menu and it will break down the restaurants listed by price and area.  If you are in the mood to see museums only, click on that. It will break everything into tidy menus for you to sort through only what you are interested in.

We didn’t take advantage of the automated trip planning but it looks like an interesting feature.  You can punch in your date of travel, where you are staying and you can either manually build your itinerary or let mTrip’s genius plan it for you.  All you have to do is specify the types of attractions you are interested in and the pace that you want to see them in.

Once you know the attractions you want to see all you have to do is use the map like a gps to find your way.  The map finds you automatically and tells you the best route by food or subway and how long it will take to get there.  The best news, there are no roaming fees or cellular charges.

You then decide where you want to go by choosing attractions nearby, by popularity or location. It is so easy.

At 5.99 it is also a great deal.

There aren’t a lot of destinations available yet with the majority of them being in Europe, a few cities in Asia and a few in The United States but more are coming.

I am looking forward to more cities coming and will use them regularly. I can search for a hotel in a new city that I arrive in by price – economy, moderate or all the way to superior.  All I have to do is find an economy hotel in the menu,(That’s my budget I’m afraid)  click on it and press locate and navigate and it will give me all the information I need to get there.

With the mTrip travel guide in conjunction with a little legwork on the Internet before your holiday, this could be all you need when visiting a new city around the world.

It’s the mother of all of China’s tourist attractions, the Pièce de résistance of the country and the coolest landmark in the world.  We all heard about it at an early age and the myth and allure of it draws 10 of millions of tourists to witness this new World Wonder.

You know what I’m talking about, The Great Wall of China.

Did it live up to the hype?

Your bet it did!

An Empty Great Wall of China

We were expecting hoards of tourists and chaos when we visited the Great Wall. Instead we got serenity and beauty during our time there.

That would be because we have smart tour guides at Intrepid Travel.  They brought us to the more remote section of the wall, a two-hour bus ride outside of Beijing.   The MuTianYu Great Wall section is far less crowded than the Badaling Section.  The Badaling Great Wall is the most famous and most Chinese tourists go there as it was the first and most heavily promoted as a national relic.  Significant events of Chinese history took place at the Badaling section of the Great Wall attracting domestic tourists. Emperor Qin himself visited this section of the wall and it was here that the Mongols crossed the Wall and took control of China under the Yuan Dynasty for nearly 100 years.

Great Wall snakes through the mountains

Foreign tourist will be very happy with making the trip to the MuTianYu section though. It has less tourists than the other sections and it is the most well preserved section of the entire wall.  Made from granite it remains one of the best quality sections of the Great Wall of China.

If you want to stay away from the masses of people, we suggest the MuTianYu Great Wall.

Be Prepared to Hike!

The Great Wall snakes over hills and rolling mountains so make sure to wear the proper shoes.  We saw a woman in heels!

There are 22 watchtowers at Mutianyu Section spanning 2.5 km.  To make the most of the view, you can easily catch a gondola up to watchtower number 6 to start your hike.  The gondola is a fun little ride to catch some panorama views of the wall and countryside on the way up.

Once you are up at number 6, you have the opportunity to either walk down the great wall or continue up to watchtower 22.   We chose to walk up to check out the spectacular scenery.

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The day was just about as perfect as it could get.  The brisk December air kept the clouds and pollution away and we had clear blue skies during our entire time at the site.

The walk is steep but not strenuous.  This section of the Great Wall is very well restored and the stone pathway is quite even and easy to walk.  I read that the Mutianyu Great Wall is narrower than other sections at 4 metres wide, but with very little crowds and 2.5 km of tourist free walking, it felt very spacious.

We stopped regularly to check out the watchtowers and look over the wall at what was once Mongolia.

The Great Wall of China actually consists of several different walls brought together after China’s warring states unified under the rule of Emperor Qin.  It was during the Qin Dynasty,over 2000 years ago that the Great Wall was unified and constructed.  Using hundreds of thousand of workers and prisoners, the wall was constructed over decades of work.  For over a thousand years the wall served as protection from the nomadic tribes to the north.  Later dynasties repaired and maintained the wall to keep their fortification in tact.

It wasn’t until Genghis Khan came along in the 13^th century that the Great Wall finally fell.  He unified the Mongols bringing together warring tribes and seizing control of land spanning from Eastern Europe and Russia through the Middle East and Central Asia all the way to China and South Korea.   The Great Wall was of little consequence to the now organized Mongols and once they decided that they wanted China, they broke through with ease.

The Genghis Khan Empire

They held power for 100 years as the Yuan Dynasty and since the ruling party was from Mongolia and part of the nomadic tribes that the wall was built to keep out, it wasn’t needed anymore and left to fall to ruins.

When the Yuan Dynasty fell, the Great wall was once again rebuilt and restored by the Ming Dynasty over a one hundred year period only to be breached again by the Manchurians.

This was the final nail in the over 2000 year ongoing project.  The wall was left and forgotten to fall into disrepair over the centuries.

It was almost destroyed completely during the Cultural Revolution under the Rule of Chairman Mao. Wanting to do away with the past and erase anything that seemed old fashioned or useless, the Great Wall was ordered demolished.

But in 1984 when a new ruler came into power, Deng Xiaoping re-opened its doors to the rest of the wold and opted to rebuilt the Great Wall to restore National Pride.

Whatever you may think of the Great Wall of China, it is an incredible feat of engineering.

With hundreds of thousands of men constructing thousands of miles of wall over the centuries, it is astounding to comprehend the history and events that took place over its lifetime.

Additional Information:

• Admission 40 Yuan
• Cable Car 45 Yuan One way
• Opening hours 8 am to 4 pm
• You can take a toboggan down instead of walking if you feel like a little fun
• The wall is 2.5 km long
• You can take a local bus from Beijing to the Great wall.
• If you go in December, dress warm, it is cold and windy on the wall
• If you take public transport remember that the wall is only open until 4 not giving you a lot of time to get there.

The Chairman Mao Gate at night in HDR

Our favourite time to take photographs in China is at night.

The cities come alive once the sun goes down and everything is lit up with every type of light imaginable.  The Forbidden City in Beijing was no exception.

We made our way down to the entrance gate once the sun went down to grab a photo of the famous landmark.  The night air was cold but the crowds were few and we could easily take a shot free and clear of the normal masses of people that you see in China.

Chairman Mao’s photo hangs front and centre like at so many landmarks in China.  Do not talk ill of Chairman Mao, he is revered by many in China today.

This Photo is taken as a High Dynamic Range image with a Canon 5D Mark II camera and a 16 mm lens.

Our Trip to China was sponsored by Intrepid Travel, The Grand China Tour.

But the city of Xi’an is worth a visit in it’s own right.

China’s original capital, Xi’an is the oldest city in the country.  With a history spanning over 3000 years, Xi’an has gone through many a ruler, seen many a dynasty, was one of the four great ancient capitals of China and was the origin of the famous ancient Silk Route heading west.  It’s most famous ruler Qin Shi Huang D, unified China and ruled from it’s city walls.  He also made the Terracotta Army using over 700,000 men to create his shrine over 38 years.

The Warriors we have already told you about, but did you know that Xi’an has the most well preserved original wall in all of China?  Qin was no stranger to Great Walls, besides commissioning the Terracotta Warriors, he also brought all of the smaller walls of China together to create the Great Wall of China.

It is no wonder the Xi’an has such a great city wall.

Today, there aren’t any Emperors enslaving peasants to build great monuments, but you can imagine what life was like as an sentry or an archer guarding the great city when you rent a bike and cycle around the wall’s entire 17 km.  For a mere 20 Yuan for 100 minutes you can rent a bicycle and ride on top of the most intact wall in all of China.  Surviving the elements for centuries, Xi’an’s wall even managed to stay intact after the devastating Earthquake of 2008 that killed 70,000 Chinese citizens.

Cycling the wall.

After giving our 200 Yuan deposit, we chose our bike and off we went riding over the bumpy cobblestones.  We stopped regularly to take a closer look at the watch towers.  They were spaced out perfectly at 120 meters allowing for the archers bows to reach 60 meters on either side.  The engineering is impressive.  I could see how this dynasty lasted for centuries. It would be almost impossible to break through Xi’an’s walls.

Surrounding the city in one big giant square, the inhabitants of Xi’an could sit comfortably knowing that their wall would hold.

For the first half of our cycle, we stopped often overlooking the city and popping into buildings above the gates and checking out the guard stations scattered atop the wall.  Soon things became monotonous and instead of stopping to look at the scenery, we started cycling simply for the joy of the ride.

It is funny how people (namely Dave and I) stop thinking about the price of things in their own currency when travelling for an extended period.  We had to pay an extra 10 Yuan if we were late and once we noticed that we only had a half an hour to go with almost half the wall to ride, we picked up the pace and went full tilt boogie back to the finish.

We whizzed by tourists who looked at us with odd stares.  Why are these people cycling so quickly on top of a wall?

The Good News?

We made it back and didn’t have to pay the 10 Yuan.  Once the adrenaline slowed down, we thought about our actions and asked ourselves, What were we thinking?

10 Yuan is a buck fifty Canadian.  We could have slowed down and enjoyed the last half of the Xi’an Wall at a slower pace and see the birds eye view of the city, but instead we had to high tail it back to save our buck. Dave said, boy, we really have to figure out how to make more money. If we’re panicking over a couple of dollars, we’re in big trouble.

• 1 CNY = 6.6 Canadian Dollars
• Cycling the Wall costs 20 Yuan and you will have to pay a 200 Yuan deposit.
• Entry fee to the Wall is 40 Yuan
• You can rent bikes at the East, South, Heping (Peace) Gates

Intrepid Travel sponsored our tour of China and we spent 3 days in Xi’an.  The Terracotta Warriors tour is part of the package along with a meal and breakfasts.  You are then free to explore the city on your own and renting a bicycle is highly recommended.

We had heard that the Chinese acrobats of Shanghai were some of the finest in the world and that their performance was not to be missed, but we didn’t want to give up a night walking around this exciting Asian city.  We wanted to explore the lights and walk along the shopping street free of traffic.

But it was booked and we had to go.  We quickly ran down to the river front to take a few photos of the Shanghai skyline and then hopped on the metro to make our way to the Yun Feng theatre.

Are we ever glad that we went!

The Shanghai Acrobats was one of the greatest spectacles we have ever seen.  From the moment it started we sat in our seats with our jaws dropped.

Talented performers with great athletic skil flipped around the stage with non-stop energy for a solid 90 minutes. As Kim from Reading Matters said, it all just keeps on coming!

Acrobats leap from pole to pole

The show started off with an astounding display of skill and balance as a troop of young men swung from metal poles. Leaping through the air, they made the audience gasp with their daredevil moves.

They set the bar high right off the top and we wondered how each act was going to top the other.

From foot jugglers to balancing on pipes, body contortionists to riders of trick bicycles, these gymnasts kept throwing new and exciting acts at us.

The most impressive moment came when a young girl performed an arial ballet. Balancing with one arm on a long pole high in the air, she bent her body in all directions displying not only amazing grace and flexibility, but outstanding strength and balance.

At times, the show was almost uncomfortable to watch as the performers bent their backs in abnormal directions.  As I squirmed in my seat, I couldn’t take my eyes off of the fascinating show going right before us.

The show slowed down for a few moments as a beautiful duet began to Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On.  A couple’s love story unfolded high above the stage swinging in the silks.  It was all at once cheesy and beautiful as the Titanic movie’s pivotal scene where Leonardo DiCaprio yells “I’m King of the World” played on the screens above the stage.

The performers and gymnasts did their job well and put on a magnificent performance for all.  With a balanced blend of  artistry and elegance with power and muscular strength.

All the glory went to the final act however.  As an incredible show of trick riding went on in front of our eyes where women road bicycles around the stage creating a pyramid of 15 people high, the motorbikes could be heard behind the curtain.

We were anticipating the Ball of Death.

I have seen this act on TV and in movies, but I have never witnessed it is real life.

You’ve seen it before. The motorcycle that enters the cage of death and whizzes around, up and down at lightening fast speeds.

I thought that one motorcycle would be impressive enough, but these guys kept on coming. One after another a new daredevil joined the party on stage. Revving his bike and stopping for a pause at centre stage to accept our cheers and excitement before joining his comrades inside the cage crisscrossing back and for at high velocity defying gravity.

It was awesome.

It was when a stunning lady came on stage last that I thought, now that has to be the coolest woman in all of Shanghai.

She paused to take her bow before joining the 5 other men circling inside the cageand then turned her bike around, revved her engine and finally packed that death trap with one final killing machine.

The Coolest Chick in Shanghai

The circled round and round some went up and some went down.  I held my breath and prayed that I wouldn’t be in the one and only audience that witnessed a dreadful accident…It never happened.

Then one by one they cam out of their enclosure, took their final ride around the stage and took off to glory.

It was one of the most exciting finales I have witnessed in my life.

If I have one thing to say about the Shanghai Acrobats it is to go see them. It’s true, they are some of the best in the world and it is a show not to be missed.  I am so glad that we took the night to see the show rather than walking aimlessly around the streets of Shanghai.  Besides, it ended early enough that we had the chance to walk back on the shopping street and take in the neon lights of one of the most electrically charged cities on the planet.

The Shanghai Acrobats are one of the included excursions in the Intrepid Travel Grand China Tour.  Intrepid Makes sure to include activities in each city that are unique and exciting to the destination.

Shanghai

Xi’an may be known for the famous Terracotta Warriors, but there is more to this city than clay soldiers and golden chariots.  The Intrepid Foundation is doing it’s best to improve the quality of lives of children, animals, women, people living in poverty and people with disabilities.   In Xi’an their project is to help people living with disabilities at the Xi’an Hui Ling school.

Established in 1990 in the town of Guangzhou, Hui Ling has extended its reach to cities all over China from Beijing to Hong Kong.  The Xi’an branch was established in 2002 and is committed to helping adults and young people develop their personalities to help them to achieve independence and to become an active member of society.

We entered the school on a cool and crisp day in Xi’an.  It was cold out side, but the mood in the school was warm and welcoming.  Fresh banana’s and tea awaited us as we sat down to be treated to a show by the students.  They were thrilled to have us their and seemed to thrive on performing their hearts out for us.

From a dancing duo to a couple of singing sensations, we had our own private performance.  The final act had us all out of our seats dancing in circles holding hands with the students as we changed from a traditional chinese song and dance to the Funky Chicken. Yes, I said funky chicken, you remember the Chicken Dance that you used to do at all your friends and families weddings?

Dave doing the funky chicken with the students

It was an uplifting experience.

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Not long ago, children with disabilities were shunned by society. They were hidden away from view and forgotten. Now, they are thriving. The school teaches them to read and use a computer, they learn how to take local transport, shop at markets and develop skill that will allow them to hold a job.

Social work is a new profession in China.

Our contact at the school told us about the work they are doing and how she has to explain to family and friends what her job is.  Social work is new in China. A few years ago the job didn’t exist.  In the new China, people are working to make the world a better place.  The disabled have a hope in their lives and with places like the Hui Ling school in Xi’an they have a bright future ahead of them.

One of the Hard Working Social Workers at Hui Ling School

After the performance, we were given the chance to walk around the facilities and look at the classrooms. The kids were doing their duties sweeping up the floors and wiping down the chalk boards before the end of the day. The ran up to us giving high fives and sneaking a hello or two and laughed until their hearts content.

We had the chance to browse their artwork and contribute in our own way by purchasing some handmade jewellery designed by the students.  They did some excellent work and it was a great deal.  We didn’t feel pressured to buy anything, but with such pretty jewellery on display we all bought an item or two and wore it back to our hotel with pride.

The staff at the school were grateful to have us stop by. They have a genuine respect for Intrepid Travel stating that Intrepid’s support helps the school to stay on its feet.

Intrepid Travel has always made it a commitment give back and support the communities that it travel to. In 2002 it officially launched the Intrepid Foundation and now matched dollar for dollar every donation made up to 300,000.

You can make your donation today at The Intrepid Foundation and see your money make a difference. Intrepid Travel pays all administration fees for The Intrepid Foundation so 100% of your donation gets to where you nominate it.

We saw the difference first hand that Intrepid is making and we can attest that they are doing great things for the world.

Built by Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of a unified China, this underground army lay undiscovered for over 2200 years.  You know this era better as the Qin Dynasty.

How on earth could something disappear when everyone knew it existed?

Well, the tyrant Emperor Qin killed everyone that helped to build the underground army. Millions of people were enslaved over the 38 years it took to build his self indulgent monument and 700,000 people were killed to keep anyone from revealing it’s location.  It was then buried and hidden from view.  Some people were buried alive. His 3,000 concubines were forced to self-sacrifice and others people were just plain murdered.

Nobody was left alive to tell anyone where the 8000 clay warriors and horses leading bronze chariots were buried.  They were all left undiscovered for centuries while they kept guarded the Emperor in his afterlife.

Pit Number 1 of Terracotta Warriors, Largest and Most Impressive

Many people tried over the centuries to find the tomb and many failed.  It was well hidden and even if you did find a way in, booby traps were set up to keep anyone from entering the mausoleum 35 meters underground.  It was like something out of Indiana Jones.

Emperor Qin’s tomb is also toxic.

Even today, scientists cannot open Emperor Qin’s underground palace.  They know it is there, but there is no way to open it because the Emperor is buried in mercury (they assume) an extremely toxic and dangerous gas. Until they find a way to safely open the chamber, China is stuck waiting and biding their time. Even the Terracotta Warriors excavation is put on hold.  All the original warriors were colourfully painted when they were unearthed, but soon after being exposed to the air, the colours disappeared and faded.  Nobody wants to unearth any more warriors until they figure out a way to preserve the paint.  Apparently, they have found a way and are starting to unearth the remaining army.

If you visit in a few years time, you may see thousands more warriors.

Even the water around the Terracotta Warriors is toxic and people are encouraged not to drink it.

I found this point to be very ironic since it was a farmer in 1974 that discovered the terracotta warriors while digging a well.

This was back in the days of Chairman Mao and the farmer, Mr. Yang was given a mere 50 Yuan ($7.50) for making the most significant find of the 20^th century.  Luckily times have changed in China and today Mr. Yang receives a monthly allowance from the government and even spends a couple of days a week at the museum to sign books. He was there during our visit to the Terracotta Warriors, but pictures of Mr. Yang are strictly prohibited. Instead you can pay a fee to have him sign your newly purchased coffee table book.

The site has undergone major restoration.

We were led through 3 different pits, the most impressive being pit number one. This is the largest containing 6000 life size warrior’s standing in formation. No two warriors faces are alike and the detail and craftsmanship that went into each piece is astounding.

No Two Faces are alike

It is incredible to think that someone had the audacity to build such a massive monument.  Each warrior has its artists name etched into its foot.  They were threatened with death if their craftsmanship wasn’t up to par and were forced to leave their signature so that their captors would know who built what.

Unfortunately they weren’t aware that they were going to be killed anyway.

The other two pits aren’t as impressive, so make sure to take all your photos before moving on.  We thought that each pit would become more impressive as we walked through but they become less impressive as you go.  We would suggest doing the door the opposite way around. Start at the museum, enter pit 3 and 2 and then save the best for last.  That way you will know all about the story and what you are looking at.

Pit Number three, the officers headquarters

Pit number two is largely unexcavated and pit three is believed to be the headquarters of the officers. I had to chuckle a little bit because as I searched the Internet to verify that I had my chamber numbers correct, people actually say that pit two is the most spectacular of the Warriors.  We didn’t feel that way at all, in our opinion the most spectacular pit is number one.

It is difficult to imagine what is real and what isn’t.  Every warrior that is excavated is restored to perfection. There isn’t a chip or piece of clay missing from their face.  We couldn’t help but think that there was barely anything authentic about them.

We wondered if any of them were original or if they were all replicas.

During our tour we were told that the underground army had been raided at one point in time and peasants burnt it to the ground.  It contradicts everything we were told by the same guide.

One minute she tells us that everyone who knew about the Terracotta Warriors and the Emperors tomb was killed, the next minute she tells us that peasants raided it and burned it to the ground.

Which is true we do not know. But if peasants burnt it to the ground, that means that people knew about it.

Terracotta Warrior Restored to Perfection

In China, history is interpreted differently depending on your guide.

We are told that the archeologists are the only people allowed to use the clay from a nearby mountain to rebuild the warriors. Okay, so are the warriors we are looking at have anything original to them at all or are they completely rebuilt by the archeologists using the genuine mountain clay that our guide so often spoke about?

We don’t know.

Unfortunately I don’t have any way of researching because we am in China and most of the Internet is blocked due to censorship.  For now I will blissfully accept anything that my guide tells me and believe it hole heartedly.

Note: This trip was sponsored by Intrepid Travels.  While we had a fantastic guide traveling with us, we had different local guides for each attraction and site that we visited.  Our guide at the Terracotta Warriors was not from Intrepid Travel,  and very often we would ask our Intrepid Travel guide Karen for clarification.  She is filled with knowledge and could put to rest most of our confusion. Thank God for Karen.

As travel bloggers it is important to stay connected while traveling.

It is our livelihood after all and if we were to disappear for weeks on end, people would stop visiting our site.

That is why when we left for China, we had a few concerns about being able to interact with our readers.

A good portion of Blogging is social networking and when sites like Twitter and Facebook are blocked in a country that has strict censorship, we could be in trouble.

Luckily we followed a fellow Bloggers trials and tribulations during her time in China.  Barbara Weibel of Hole in the Donut was very helpful discussing the censorship problems she was dealing with.  She smoothed the road for us making our trip hassle free.

What was the number one thing we learned from Barbara?

You can get around Internet Censorship.

We contacted WiTopia about using their service a Virtual Private Network (VPN)  in China and we couldn’t be happier with our results.

By signing up with WiTopia, we were able to log on to the Internet using an IP address outside of the country.  We found that the Toronto Network was the fastest.  We tried Hong Kong, Los Angeles, New York and Vancouver, but Toronto seemed worked the smoothest for us.

At first we felt that we should choose addresses close to China. That is why we started out with Hong Kong or South Korea. It seemed like a logical choice to make our IP address close to where we actually were physically.  We soon learned that it doesn’t matter where you log on to, just log on to a place outside of China.

This allowed us to go on to websites that China blocks and chat freely with our readers regularly.

Internet is slow in China and the VPN does make things even slower, but by traveling with our iPhone, we were able to stay connected easily.  We bought a SIM card with a data plan in Yangshuo and were able to use the VPN on our cell phone.  The 3G network was far faster than any Internet connection that we had in our hotels and we spent many a bus ride Tweeting and updating our facebook status freely.

It is a fact that these sites are blocked.

Whenever we tried to log onto Facebook, Twitter, Stumbleupon or even Wikipedia we were denied access.  Even Internet Movie Data Base is blocked in China.

Luckily, all we had to do was activate the VPN and we could browse freely. We even uploaded videos to our YouTube Account.

Find out about other ways to get around Internet Censorship at Foxnomad’s  ”How to Get Around Local Internet Censorship When Traveling Abroad.

We thought that our social media stats and readers would drop dramatically in China, but they held strong.

It was a challenge connecting to the Internet regularly, dealing with extremely slow connections and wifi and having to constantly use the VPN, but as a Travel Blogger, we managed to do our work and stay connected during our entire month in the country.

Would we recommend Witopia’s VPN to anyone travelling to China? Definitely.

Even regular travelers like to stay connected on facebook.  Many people told us that they would love to be able to update and check their facebook accounts.  We are an online modern world and everyone is addicted to staying connected and sharing their experiences with their friends and families instantly.

We loved being able to keep our presence alive by sending out twitpics and quick photos from our iphone.  Without our VPN, this would never have happened.

Starting at $39.00 per year, you can buy a VPN account from WiTopia. Go to their website and follow the instructions. It is extremely easy to use.  Just open your Internet browser, turn on the VPN, chose an address and start browsing.

So, if you happen to go to China or any other country that has strong censorship rules, make sure to buy a VPN, you never know what site will be blocked yet. It may be your own!

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A Romantic Afternoon at West Lake In Hangzou

Hangzou is China’s  Romance Capital and nowhere is more romantic than a stroll along West Lake.

Known for it’s touching love story “The Legend of the White Snake,” lovers and newlyweds flock to it’s shores to capture some of Hangzou’s romance and magic.

A well known folk tale in China, The Legend of the White Snake tells the story of a white snake  who came to Hangzou with her sister the Black Snake. They were captivated by the beauty of West Lake and decided to stay by turning themselves into beautiful women. The White Snake fell in love with a man name Xu Xian, they married and she became known as The Lady White.

It was not meant to last however. Xu Xian was told by the Monk Fa Hai that his wife was actually the White Snake.

One day during her pregnancy, the Lady White’s magic was weakened and she transformed into snake form in front of her husband. It was a sight he could not bare and died instantly.  Hoping to bring him back to life, the White Snake fled to steal the resurrection plant on Kunlun Mountain. She failed, but the owner of the plant was moved by here true love and brought Xu Xian back to life.

Remembering the warning by Fa Hai, Xu Xian went to visit the Monk but was forced to become a Monk himself in the Jin Shan Temple.  The White Snake begged for his release, but Fa Hai would not let her husband go.  Infuriated, she brought a great flood to the area. Fa Hai had magical powers himself and made the mountain grow protecting the temple from the rising waters.

Still in a weakened condition due to her pregnancy, she could not win the battle.

With the aid of the Heaven Emperor, the Monk Fa Hai imprisoned the White Snake in the Thunder Peak Pagoda by West Lake.

Several years later, the Black Snake’s magic finally grew strong enough to avenge her sister and destroy the Pagoda freeing the White Snake.

The family was reunited and lived happily ever after.

Their love was strong enough to endure years apart, and the romance and love story continues as couples stroll along the walkways of West Lake today in Hangzou.

This trip to China was sponsored by Intrepid Travel.  Hangzou is one of the many stops on the Grand China Tour and we spent 3 days in this enchanting city.