Author: Matthew McDonald

Delightful welcome from Dali!

We woke up at 8 o’clock to be welcomed by a noodle-filled breakfast awaiting us downstairs. It was really nice to have homemade food as it was a change from the food in the restaurants. This was the first time the bread wasn’t sweet and it reminded us of back home.

At 9am we made our way next door to hire some bikes to ride. We enjoyed riding the bikes around the local fields and villages. As we were riding along we were able to take in the beautiful sights and even the smells of what they were growing around in the farmland. It was the first time we were able to discover the agricultural side of China fully and have time to take in the towering mountains surrounding us on all sides. The bike riding took us to Erhai Lake through farmland and villages. The villages were very different from the way which we are used to living. It was interesting to see the fresh food for sale and the different way they sell meat. The bike riding was a nice change of pace from all the travelling we had done in the past few days, allowing us to relax a bit and get some fresh clean air. Paris’ bike, which had been nick-named ‘Larry’, decided not to work anymore and the pedal fell off. Norman our tour guide tried to help, but Larry ended up being taken in a car as he could go no further. Paris was able to ride a new bike and we were off again promptly.

We rode our bike to the docks of the lake. At the docks we took a boat to a fishing island called Jinsuo Island. The island was full of fisherman with a population of about a thousand residents. There were quite a few live fish for sale in buckets and lots of fish drying out on tarps. We made our way to a different type of temple where the people of the island worshiped a specific god. We soon took the boat back to our bikes and then rode back to our hostel.

For lunch we went to a local restaurant which catered mainly for the residents of Dali. The food for lunch was different to the others as it mostly came from the local cuisine in Dali. We were able to taste the vegetable products which we had been able to see on our bike ride.

Afterwards we took the bus to the Three Pagodas, one of the most famous sites in Dali. The middle pagoda was the oldest by 200 years and the tallest at 69 metres tall. The site was also home to a large Buddhist temple, but while impressive this was only 5 years old. While entering the Buddhist temple, we discovered that you have to step over the entrance of the door and bow to show your respect to Buddha. To go to the temple we took electric-powered carts, which sped their way up to the hillside, some finding it more thrilling than others. At the temple we lit incense and placed them in the offering stand and then followed it with a wish. Each different temple had different gods. The one at the top had Buddha while the others all had numerous other gods inside. We were able to enjoy the ride back down the hill before the ominous dark rain clouds made their way towards us. We managed to get back to the hostel just in time before it started raining. Luckily this was short lasting and didn’t effect our day.

We were able to visit the old town again for dinner tonight. In the old town, the dogs seem to walk themselves in the streets and cats inhabit the restaurants. We loved spotting the small dogs indoors wearing Chinese-style outfits.

To sum it up, today was another busy day, full of things to do and places to see. We have seen even more of the culture within China and learnt more about the country which we have been in for the past week.

By Sophie Tegg, Liam McLeod and Daniel Tesfai.

G’Day from Dali!

After a dreary late night flight, we arrived in the southern city of Kunming, our destination for the night. A short sleep ensued, before the all-too-soon wake-up call. We devoured another quick breakfast buffet. However, our jam packed itinerary ensured no rest, and once again we were on the bus for a long journey ahead. We soon left the bustling city to be met with the jaw dropping views of the countryside. From terraced rice fields to monstrous mountains, our eyes couldn’t stop staring at the beautiful scenery. We soon noticed the clearer skies and warmer weather, the clouds were actually visible above the polluted smog. In no time, we arrived at our lunch stop. The long ride forced us to quickly “untie our hands” (the local slang for going to the toilet), before we could indulge on the organic, fresh and unique produce.

We eagerly sat in our seats waiting impatiently for our delicious food. Our wishes were soon granted as the delectable and colourful cuisine appeared from all angles of the table. We frantically piled our plates high, and chowed down on the fantastic, clean produce. You could taste the freshness in the vegetables, and the meat was tender and filled with all the flavours of China. Shortly, all the food had been eaten, as usual, leaving us wanting more with our bellies full to the brim.

After another long stint on the bus we finally arrived at Dali. We were unsure at first about what to expect at the hostel, but we were soon reassured once we saw our rooms. It turns out that a hostel in China just means that the hotel is run by one family, and they have been very welcoming.

We walked to the Foreigner’s Street from our accommodation. This was where we had our dinner for the night. From delectable yak steak to a good old pizza, everyone had a great time, enjoying their meals and each other’s company. After the meal we walked around the old city, finding small goods for great prices. From the beginning to the end, it was a great way to finish off the day.

The long day of driving gave us the opportunity to think about our past six days in China. Reflecting back in the trip so far, we have seen some amazing sights, but also learned a lot about the history and culture of the country, and more importantly, about ourselves. We have experienced many fun filled moments which will stay with us for the rest of our lives. From the first day, when we visited the Great Wall, to today, where we have come to the more rural areas of China, it has just gotten better and better. From the incredible sweet and sour food, to the never-ending mass of Terracotta Warriors, there have been no shortage of highlights. Bargaining with the street vendors has also been a major highlight. While at first it seems an ominous task to get the price you desire, it becomes easier with a little experience under your belt. After all, who doesn’t love a good bargain?

We are so fortunate to be apart of a great school like St Leonard’s, that provides such a life changing adventure to its year 9 students. Without the school’s help, we would not be able to visit our great trading partner and fellow member of the Pacific region, China. So far, it really has been a Big Experience.

By Matt Percival and Peter Kouroulis.

Greetings from Xi’an!

Today was an adventurous day. We started it off with a refreshing 15km bike ride around the city walls that encircled the old town of Xi’an. The wall towers an amazing height of 20m with a width at the bottom of 12m, made up of long, solid stone slabs that gradually get smaller the higher they get, with the top decorated by lanterns and pagodas. It is evident that ancient Xi’an was very wealthy, as this ancient wall is definitely one of a kind in size and scale. As we rode we overlooked rooftops and the city moat to see we were surrounded by big grey apartment blocks and construction sites. The ride on the wall gave us a different perspective of the area around us. It was hectic to begin with as people got the hang of their tandem bikes.

Half the wall’s road was smooth and refurnished, while the other half were dotted with cracks and crevices, the reason being that the wall needed to be repaired because of the erosion that occurs because of the pollution mixing with rain. However, the repairers couldn’t use regular concrete due to its weight. The wall would simply crumble into pieces. The solution was a mixture of traditional sticky rice and rock powder. The use of this mixture made the wall more stable. The city wall divides the old Xi’an from the new, and glancing left and right showed us the dramatic way in which China has changed. It was quite astounding to see the difference in architecture, poverty and life-style. The ride was 18.8km which circled the city of Xi’an, and gave us a great feel for what life could be like in this bustling city.

After the city wall bike ride we were off to see the famous Terracotta Warriors. It was a couple of hour’s drive in the bus, but when we finally got there it was definitely worth the trip. There were three different pits, and in each there was a variety of different ancient sculptures. It was breathtaking to see such old historical pieces in their original condition. Even though at first glance most of them seemed to look exactly the same, each warrior had a unique face and features. Some of the stand out statues were the master general, the charioteer and the kneeling archer.

We learnt how the Terracotta Warriors were built by the Emperor Qin Shihuan as part of his elaborate tomb, of which the Warriors we saw was only a tiny portion. Anyone who had knowledge of it, including the thousands of people who built it were met with an ominous fate: death, in order to keep the tomb a secret. We were quite amazed of how these sculptors and artefacts were able to be restored so authentically. They made us realise just how cruel, selfish but powerful these ancient rulers could be.

We concluded the day by driving to the Xi’an airport. We checked in and soon we were on our way to Kunming to continue our Big Experience.

By Sascha Weichmann and Rob McLeish.

As we move into the picturesque mountain town of Dali tomorrow, wifi access may become more difficult to access. We will continue to update the blog as frequently as we can, but there may be some delays.

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Because of wifi problems we were unable to upload photos yesterday, so we are uploading them now in this post. Please find photos from Beijing airport, Xi’an orphanage and Muslim Street Market below.

Ni hao from Xi’an!

Today we arose bright and early in order to have breakfast and check out of our hotel before 7:30am. For some this was a struggle but with great effort we all got through it. After bidding goodbye to Terry, our much loved Beijing tour guide, we boarded our plane for the ancient Chinese capital of Xi’an. After a short lunch stop, we got on our bus for the one and a half hour bus ride to the orphanage for children with convict parents.

We were shocked to see the change of scenery compared to Beijing. After Beijing’s modern layout and architecture, we were surprised to see the dead and empty outskirts of Xi’an, with the tall, empty high rise buildings closely followed by the bustling city centre. The bus trip in allowed us to observe the strong sense of local community in the middle of the city; many of us were expecting a city similar to Beijing, where everybody keeps to themselves, but we were greeted by lots of small communities full of crowds of locals playing board games, dancing with fans to music and selling their wares by the side of the street. Unlike Beijing and Melbourne, where the shops are inside of buildings the streets of Xi’an are sprawled with small blankets covered in shop holders products ranging from socks all the way to bok choi.

On our way to the orphanage our bus travelled up onto a large hill and travelled along it for some time. We thought that it was just a natural mountain but our tour guide then told us that it was actually a man made tomb from thousands of years ago where an emperor of China was buried, and that the entire mountain was made by hand.

The ‘orphanage’ that we visited is aimed to help youth up to university age, but is most commonly for primary school aged children. These children are not technically orphans because their parents are in prison, and therefore unable to support them. The money that we have raised was used to purchase and entire van full of flour, 1000 kilograms of flour to be precise along with rice and oil. Even after buying this, we still had 5000 yuan left over which we donated to this non for profit organisation which will enable to children to visit their parents. The amount of food that we bought was so large that we emptied out the supermarket and had to wait an hour while it was loaded into the van.

When we arrived at the village we were shepherded into a hall where we were given a short introduction by the principal of the orphanage, who told us how this program got started and why. The Sun Village organisation was founded by a police officer who had worked in prisons all her life and in 1996 she finally took action on the growing problem of orphaned children who’s parents were in prison. In the past 15 years over 1000 children have been taken into the orphanage and then returned home. This orphanage helps these children a chance to “step out of the shadow of their parents’ criminal convictions” and gives them a chance at a much brighter future. After this short introduction we were greeted with a dance performance by the younger members of the community. We then felt obliged to give them a performance in return, therefore we got up and performed the school hymn in what sounded more like a football song than a religious melody.

After all of these greetings we were allowed to start distributing the gifts among the children. They were quite excited to see us and even got told off for coming in to the gymnasium before they were allowed to. The kids were fascinated by such simple things such as the writing on the back of Paris’s school jacket and had so much fun just tracing the letters. The youngest ones came and sat on the empty chairs next to us and cuddled up to the people sitting on the edges. We had a great time handing out the presents and eventually everyone had so much that they couldn’t even hold it on their own anymore. They had huge smiles on their faces and were very interested in trying out their new things. But even though the presents made the children happy for a little while, you could see that that needed other things more desperately and that’s why we were glad about the food we donated. Interestingly, even though the buildings looked rather old and the paint was coming off the walls in some places, we noticed a few very modern appliances such as a flat screen TV and air conditioners. This was because the orphanage gets most of its donations in the form of materialistic gifts instead of money. Sadly, while these donations were made with the best intentions, the orphanage isn’t able to use these appliances as the large amounts of power they require is too expensive. This experience helped us all to realise just how lucky we are, and how much ability we have to help the less fortunate.

Our day ended with a night time walk along the Muslim Street Market, a bustling relic of the old Silk Road trade that used to support this city. We weaved our way through crowds of people and everything was decorated with bright flashing lights. The main street was filled with little stands selling interesting food such as nut slices, shish-kebabs and sticky sweet rice cakes, while the side streets sold various artworks, souvenirs and clothing. It was a lively place and a great way to end the day.

It was a very busy and long day but it gave us a great first impression of how different the life and culture of this country is like outside Beijing.

By Simon Rodgers and Inga Steenblock

Salutations from Beijing for the final time!

Day three dawned bright and cold on us as we prepare ourselves for another day seeing the awe-inspiring sights this rich city has to offer. We would just like to say again, Beijing is a city of inconceivable size. Skyscrapers fill the air for miles and miles on end. It is a city that well and truly must be seen to be believed.

Following a hearty breakfast we set off on a 40 minute bus ride to the much anticipated Summer Palace. Yesterday’s visit to the Forbidden City was always going to be a hard act to follow. The Summer Palace was the emperor’s home for three months during the summer; however, he could stay there for three years with the permission of his empress. The Palace was built in 1750 and given to the emperor as a gift. Having walked around, viewed the sites and been in the presence of ancient Chinese architecture, we were all well and truly convinced that the Summer Palace soared past all expectations. Just walking in and around these buildings and architectural feats was a humbling experience. How such ancient builders built these houses, living spaces and gardens with such crude tools and little or no safety precautions made us realise how impressive this culture and history is. The Palace also boasts a huge man-made lake, acres of gardens, and a near endless series of courtyards and ornate walkways. A truly spectacular experience and definitely one of the highlights so far.

Having been left inspired by the Summer Palace, we made our way by bus towards the Old City of Beijing. We got off the bus at the entrance and immediately noticed the change in our surroundings. It seemed that we had left the skyscraper-dominated environment miles away and had stepped into a blast from the past. The Old City has been preserved and still lived in by some people in an attempt to save some of Beijing’s very rich cultural history. We then took a short rickshaw ride to a local family house. The ride wound its way through the streets of the Old City, passing random dogs, rabbits, small houses, little markets, narrow shops, rusty bikes and furiously contested games of mahjong. It was a priceless insight into the lives of the working class citizens of China in the olden days and today, which just highlights how privileged we are to live in Australia, and that we must not take our privileged lives for granted.

We stopped outside a very old, cramped and slightly ominous looking house. We were led inside to be greeted by a rather cramped looking room filled with round tables and paintings on the walls. But the owner then came in with delightful plates full of delicious, traditional Chinese dishes. All our previous preconceptions were washed away as we chowed down on home-cooked chicken, pork and vegetables in marinade. They told us a lot about Chinese culture and the kindness on display as they opened their homes to us and provided us with a lovely lunch. We stayed for a lesson in Chinese history about the origins of the Old City and the Huton way of life. It was very interesting and gave us a valuable insight from the real people. After this we enjoyed a lesson in dumpling making and the art of the Chinese Opera make-up. We got to paint our own masks and enjoy “letting out our inner artist” – some masks a bit more abstract than others! We enjoyed the short rickshaw ride back and onto the bus we went.

Due to the APEC conference being held in Beijing this year, we could not venture into the Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube – the home of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. However, we did get to see the national stadium from afar, and got close enough to take some photos. The afternoon’s activities included Naluoxiang road to do some shopping. We treated ourselves to hot, succulent, chocolatey churros; $6 for 12 churros, what a bargain! It is a great experience to visit these markets as we can barter for cheaper prices which is quite a skill!

We enjoyed a traditional Chinese dinner of sweet and sour chicken, noodles and steamed vegetables. We were treated to a great end to the night and our final day in Beijing with a rendition of happy birthday and a lovely cake to Simon Rodgers, who turned 15 today.

We have thoroughly enjoyed our time in Beijing and will remember every last memory of it. Beijing has been an amazing start to our Big Experience and we are truly thankful for the opportunities we have had. We now look forward to jetting over to Xian tomorrow to experience all it has to offer.

By Jamie Philander and George Hronopoulos