TRAVEL SCHEDULE
: early april - may 1999Note : Page reference, see Lonely Planet China 99
Day 1 : Flight Brussels – Paris – Beijing with AF
Day 2 : Beijing : Hotel Jinghua, 3 nights. Visit : Tiantan Park and Temple of Heaven. On foot. P.184
Day 3 : Beijing. Visit : Forbidden City, Jinshan Park and Beihai Park. Acrobatics Chaoyang Theatre. On bike.
Day 4 : Beijing. Visit :Great Wall Simatai minibus. Chinese Opera Qianmen Hotel
Day 5 : Visit : Summer Palace, Great Bell Temple and Lama Temple, on bike. Hardsleepertrain Beijing – Datong. P.461
Day 6 : Datong : Hotel Feitian, 1 night. Visit : Yungang Caves and Hanging monastery. Minibus.
Day 7 : Datong : Huyan Monastery and Nine Dragon Screen. Hardsleepertrain Datong – Xi ‘an. P.467.
Day 8 : Xi ‘an : 2 Nights. Hotel Jiefang was planned, but we changed to May First Hotel. Visit : Muslim Quarter, Bell Tower, Temple of the eight Immortals.
Day 9 : Xi ‘an : Terracotta Warriors and Huaqing Pool. Minibus.
Day 10 : Flight 9.40 h, Xi ‘an – Chengdu 11 h., p.796 – 814.
Booked in Belgium Taxistop. Traffic Hotel, 2 nights. Visit
Wenhua Park, Tomb
of Wang Jian. On bike. P.814
Day 11 : Chengdu – Leshan and back, minibus. Visit : Grand Buddha. P. 822.
Day 12 : Chengdu : Visit : Wenshu Monastery on bike.
Hardsleepertrain Chengdu – Pantzihua=Jinjiang, arrival next day
11 am.
Day 13 : Jinjiang : Arrival by train 11 am and immed. bus to Lijiang, arrival 9 pm. Hotel Shanhe, 2 nights. P.756.
Day 14 : Lijiang : Visit old Lijiang and Black Dragon Pool.
Day 15 : Morningbus Lijiang – Dali. MCA Guesthouse, 3 nights. Visit town.
Day 16 : Dali : Crossing Erhai Lake to visit Wase market. Boattrip. P.749
Day 17 : Dali : Visit : Three Pagodas. On bike.
Day 18 : Morningbus Dali – Kunming. Hotel Camellia, 2 nights. P.734.
Day 19 : Kunming. Visit : Daguan Park, Western Hills, Nationalities Village. Taxi, bus, boat.
Day 20 : Visit Bampoo Temple, minibus. Flight 17.30 pm Kunming – Guilin,
booked in Jinghua Hotel Beijing. Hotel Hong
Kong Guilin, 1
night.
Day 21 : Boattrip Guilin – Yangshuo. P.686. Hotel 3 nights.
Day 22 : Yangshuo : On bike to Moonhill.
Day 23 : Yangshuo : On bike to Xingping, return by boat.
Day 24 : Yangshuo : Green Lotus Park. Nightbus to Wuzhou and catamaran to
Hong Kong, has been changed into
nightbus
to Guangzhou and catamaran to Hong Kong. The initial idea was to take the sleeperboat
Wuzhou to
HK, but
this boat was cancelled early this year.
Day 25 : Catamaran Guangzhou (Canton) – Hong Kong. Hotel YWCA Kowloon, 4 nights. P.552.
Day 26 : HK : visit HK Island, City Plaza and Stanleymarket.
Day 27 : HK : visit Victoria Peak, walking down towards Aberdeen.
Day 28 : HK : Boat HK Island – Lantau Island, visit : Asia’s tallest Buddha and Po Lin Monastery.
Day 29 : HK : Boat HK Island – Lamma Island, walking from Tin Hau
Temple to Sok Kwu Wan (already done in the early
nineties). Walks cancelled due to heavy rainfalls. At 11.05 pm, returnflight
to Paris with AF.
Day 30 : Return flight Paris – Brussels.
PREPARATIONS
Visas for our individual travelling through China were easily obtained from the chinese embassy in Brussels. One week, I completed in their office the documents and supplied the pictures for 4 of us, paying 900 BEF each and one week later, these visas were ready available. Only one person ought to be there to sign.
Travevellers'cheques were used and after all the cost in China was less than expected.
We got the usual vaccinations.for these regions: tetanos, hepatitis B, malaria tablets starting with the procedure in the 2nd week of our trip.
Friends recommended not to travel in China because of the language problem. We bought the booklet Mandarin Phrasebook from Lonely Planet and I learned some phrases before leaving for China. But actually, we did not need this. In fact, the moment I spoke some chinese words to the chinese for fun, they looked at me with big eyes and I got the feeling not to be a human at all -so I gave it up. But it is after all wise to have it with you.
Most of the information we collected came from the Lonely Planet CHINA 1999 and from the internet. A small part from reports in Wegwijzer - not much, because the country has not yet been visited on a large scale. Before leaving, we bought 2 maps: one of the city of Beijing and one map of China and this was sufficient..
- After having read reports, we were mentally prepared to cope with: staring people,
noise, spitting, street fighting, queues, beggars, poor sanitary, dangerous driving,
counterfeit notes, price gouging, public toilets ...
After 30 days being in China, we may conclude that the situation is generally not as bad as we expected.
PARTICIPANTS
ERIC Sarlet: retired engeneer, born 1936, married to
LILIANE Bailliu: retired employee, born 1938. Both fond of travelling, skiing, mountains, making Bruges lace, BED & BREAKFAST at home ...
Adress: Grote Thems 3 - 8490 Varsenare by Bruges Belgium
| Tel: 32.(0)50.38 63 18 | Fax: 32.(0)50.39 29 46 | Email: sarletbailliu@skynet.be | Site: http://users.skynet.be/brugge |
GUY Sarlet: production manager DESIMPEL Peruwez, born 1968, married to
GRIET Daled: employee BAXTER, born 1966. Both fond of sailing, surfing, travelling ...
Adress: Briquetterie de Peruwez, rue de l' Europe ZI 11 - 7600 PeruwezTel: 32.(0)69.77 97 17 Fax: 32.(0)69.77 97 11 Email: daledg@baxter.com