Fullboy - China - Beijing & Shanghai - Roast Duck & World Expo

Lots to do, lots to see, lots to eat!! We arrived early in China's capital city and made our way to Leo's Hostel, a very friendly and social place in a great location down a pedestrian street, just down the road from Tiananmen Square. We were so early that we had to wait a few hours for our room to become vacant which gave me chance to scope out the area. I walked around the quiet, dusky streets and found some great street food stands selling what I eventually called Beijing Egg Muffins, two greasy flatbreads with a fried egg between them, perfect for soaking up alcohol the morning after! This was to become our regular breakfast in Beijing as there were many late nights watching the World Cup!!

One morning we did try something different, there was a restaurant a few doors down from the hostel selling cheap noodle dishes. One of the bowls we had was simply called 'Beijing Noodles' and consisted of thick, ribbon like noodles with shredded cucumber, beansprouts, thinly sliced pink cabbage and a fat dollop of black bean sauce. Mixed together, the combination was a rich yet refreshing sensation and definitely a memorable bowl of noodles.

We ended up staying just over a week in Beijing as there was so much to do and we were really enjoying ourselves at the hostel. We met nice groups of people from all over the world, UK, Mexico, Germany, Holland and we enjoyed watching the football together. We went on a great hike of a relatively unknown section of the Great Wall, away from the tourists. Other than the group from our hostel, we were the only hikers on it and after 10km of walking up and down very dilapidated and overgrown sections of the wall, we ended with a nice meal at a local's house and went back to the hostel to watch more football.

Another typically Beijing food experience is of course duck. There was duck everywhere and of course, we had to try one of the famous Beijing duck restaurants. I have to admit, the decor was all a bit glitzy and ballroom for a restaurant, especially after some of the shacks we'd visited on our travels, and I felt pretty scruffy sitting in there with my overgrown beard and hippy hairdo. It was a lovely treat for us though and the initial shock of regality soon evaporated as the chef arrived with the duck. He cut some of the prized crispy skin off first and arranged it neatly on a plate. He then went to town on the rest of the duck leaving us with a plate of juicy shredded meat. We took care in making the perfect duck pancakes and had a great time polishing off the meat. We also enjoyed some duck liver pate and other duck bits. Great fun!!

A few days prior to our duck feast, we spotted a butchers at the bottom of our hostel's road that was selling all sorts of duck products. Duck breast, duck sausages, whole ducks, duck legs, duck skin, duck arse, duck neck, pretty much everything. He had a couple of tables and chairs in the butchers so we thought we'd try a more rustic duck meal. We sat down, ordered an ice cold beer from his fridge and got stuck into a couple of juicy duck legs. With grease dripping down our chins and the smell of roast duck swirling around our nose, I have to honestly say that I preferred our duck butchers!!

I really enjoyed Beijing. It's a vibrant capital city with so many things to see and do. As a city we enjoyed it far more than our next stop, Shanghai. Getting a train to Shanghai was a nightmare because of the World Expo. They were booked for weeks in advance and we ended up having to get a seat ticket on one of the slower trains to Nanjing and then onward to Shanghai on the superfast Maglev bullet train ( I watched the speed hit over 300km/h!). We arrived in Shanghai and made our way to our pre-booked hostel, the Captain Hostel, located on the Bund, a beautiful stretch of old, grand buildings lined on the waterfront, overlooking the famous Shanghai skyline. The hostel could not have been located any better and the view from the bar was incredible, especially at night, looking straight out over the river with the famous Oriental Pearl tower standing alongside countless other tall buildings with their neon lights flashing and shining through the smoggy haze. It's a shame there wasn't many other good things to say about the hostel. We were in separate male female dorms, the staff were very rude and there was very little in the way of a jovial atmosphere there. Probably a good thing we weren't that comfortable there because it was also downright expensive, just like everything in Shanghai. There were a few cheap restaurants around the corner from the hostel and we ate there mostly as our outgoings were skyrocketing. The food was simple Chinese and we enjoyed our breakfast won-ton soups. The highlight of our trip to Shanghai though was the fantastic World Expo. We were lucky to get in to the UK building without having to queue for four hours by using our UK passports to get us to the front of the queue! After walking around for nearly 12 hours and eating foods from various different countries, we crashed back at the hostel and watched some more world cup matches, drank beer and ate crisps, being careful not to upset the grumpy staff!

Fullboy - Xian & Datong - Chinese Muslim Food!

Xian, home of the famous terracotta army, was our next stop. It's a large, modern city home to over 8 million people and our hostel was right in the middle of the action. There's a small population of Chinese Muslims who reside in the city and we were located right next to the Muslim quarter. The food was hearty, heavy and delicious and we had a great time sampling the local delicacies in the night market. The stuffed lamb flatbreads, toasted and generously filled with cumin spiced meat were a standout. The meat was strong tasting, more like mutton than lamb. We sat and ate our sandwiches on small tables right next to where the meat was grilling on the BBQ and enjoyed taking in the bustling markets sights and smells. I still had room for a delicious quail egg snack on the way home. Five eggs were cracked into a specially moulded griddle, and basted with sesame oil. A stick was then inserted into them like a kebab for easy eating. So delicious!!

The next day we thought we'd go back to the market area. The market was only on at night but there were many restaurants serving up delicious food during the day. We sat down in a simple, cheap looking restaurant and ordered several dishes, including a spiced lamb shank, a bean salad and some lamb dumplings. The food was great and we felt like we'd made a good choice in choosing our accommodation right next to the Muslim Quarter!

I don't think we ate anywhere else in Xian other than the Muslim Quarter other than on one occasion where we visited an old, famous restaurant named Tong Sheng Xiang that made an unusual soup called Yang Rou Pao Mo. It involved breaking soft, thick flatbreads into small pieces and dropping them into an empty soup bowl. The hot, muttony broth and glass noodles were then added to the bowl that resulted in a filling, tasty and heavy soup. It seemed to take an eternity to finish our bowls but it was a great experience. It's always a good experience to be an active participant in the making of your food, even though you're not really making it and the ritual of breaking the bread into the bowl was great. It's always refreshing to sample a cuisine uncommon to the country you're in, yet local and authentic at the same time. I think I'll remember Xian for it's food even more so than it's famous Terracotta Army! But I suppose that's just me!

Our one month Chinese visas had nearly expired and we planned to renew them at our next stop, Datong. I'd read horror stories about renewing the visa at Beijing so before we arrived I did a bit of research into how we went about renewing the visa in Datong. In terms of the language barrier, China was definitely the most difficult place to get around and it was always an adventure getting off the train in a new town or city. Upon arrival, we wondered around aimlessly until we found a hotel. It was another 'by the hour' place but it was cheap, relatively clean and had air-con which was definitely needed as it was very hot. Fortunately for us, there was a restaurant about three doors down from the hotel that had what we referred to as 'the food bible', basically a dictionary that had thousands of Chinese dishes translated into English. We'd just look for something we liked and point, if only it was that easy everywhere! Still, that would be taking away half the fun. The food we ate was simple, mainly consisting of noodles and vegetables and was very good quality. To be honest though, after the range and quality of food in Xian, we weren't getting too excited about the options in Datong. Datong was not really on the tourist trail, although there were some great attractions in the surrounding areas, namely the Yungang Grottoes and the Hanging Monastery. The Grottoes are a UNESCO Heritage site and were very well preserved caves containing many statues of Buddha. They were spectacular and one of the finest sites we'd seen on our travels to date. The Hanging Monastery was also a very interesting spectacle and it's amazing that it's still standing as it's built precariously into a cliff face.

Another major event in Datong was replacing our camera (AGAIN!!) as the photo quality had gone from bad to worse. We got a good deal on a Casio camera so hopefully from now on, the blog photos will look a bit better too! We had to wait in Datong around five days as our visas were being processed. The police were keeping a watchful eye on us (suspicious foreigners!) and on one occasion in the local internet cafe, my computer switched itself off. I noticed two police officers talking to the lady at the till and I later found out that I had been banned from the internet cafe!! I have no idea why... I can only guess it was because one early morning (around 4am), me and Melissa went there to watch the England Vs USA world cup match, quite possibly one of the worst football matches I've ever seen! After sorting out our visas we headed to the giant capital city of China, Beijing.

Fullboy - Chengdu & Langzhong - Brains, Trains & Automobiles

The sleeper train from Kunming to Chengdu was infinitely more comfortable than the buses and we both thought to ourselves that from now on, travel in China was by train all the way! We managed to get a couple of hard sleeper tickets, basically two beds in an open bay consisting of 6 bunks, upper, middle and lower, 3 on each side. There are fold out seats in the aisle either side of a small table. There is even a hot water dispenser at the end of the aisle where you can get water for your pot noodles!! Chinese instant noodles are as good as, if not better than the delicious Korean Shin Ramen. It was great being able to have a stroll up and down the carriages, wash your hands, brush your teeth, go to the bathroom, have a snack, read a book, have a bed with clean linen in a no smoking carriage. Make no mistake, even though this was technically third class sleeper carriage, this was five star, bling bling luxury compared to the buses.

Arriving in Chengdu after an 18 hour, 1100km, peaceful and enjoyable train journey, we got a taxi to our hostel. It was afternoon and we didn't really have any plans for the day other than getting some delicious Sichuan food so we chilled out until the evening time. About a five minute walk from our hostel was a delicious hotpot restaurant. Similar to the Capitol Satay restaurant in Melaka, we had to get our fresh ingredients on kebab sticks from a refrigerated area at the back of the restaurant and plunge them into a deep red, fiery, bubbling chilli broth at our table to cook them. The spicy sauce was not for the feint hearted and packed a serious punch. I love this way of eating and I particularly enjoyed the quails eggs on a stick dipped in the Sichuan broth. Mmmmmmmm!

It was so good we went twice, the second time we ordered a different broth that was separated into two sections, one spicy and one mild. The clear broth had nice looking chunks of fish and vegetables floating around in it to give it some flavour, but after the sensation and experience of the original spicy broth, the tamer version was a disappointment. We noticed everyone in the restaurant was drinking small bottles of what looked like milk. I ordered a couple and saw written in English on the bottle, 'peanut milk' presumably to sooth the fire of the chilli in your stomach. If only we knew about these the first time round! I also spotted a couple of teenagers dropping what looked like raw brains into their hotpot (maybe it was exam time!) Curious as ever, I had a look around the refrigerator section for them and there they were, plates of raw pigs brains. I'd never eaten them before and Melissa was not going to help me out, but if teenagers eat them, how bad can they be. Looking at the plate of brains, the next factor I had to take into account was 'how long does a brain take to cook'? Noone around was going to answer this question for me so I thought it had to be a case of 'trial and error'. I slid one of the brains off the plate into the bubbling hotpot. It seemed to be cooking ok. After a few minutes I tried to get it out but succeeded in just breaking a piece off. I tried it and it tasted like a very mild liver, albeit a gooey liver. Unsure as to whether or not it was actually cooked I let the remainder of the brain boil away for another few minutes and then broke off another piece with a combination of my spoon and chopsticks. Melissa looked on in amusement at my struggle with the brain. For all the effort, it actually tasted quite bland, and still had a mushy texture. Next time I think I'll just keep to the kebab sticks!!

We travelled further into the Sichuan Province and visited the quaint old town of Langzhong. We stayed a couple of nights and enjoyed the local delicacy of preserved beef, locally known as Zhang Fei beef. The beef is packaged in small individual wrappers with a picture of the famous Chinese general Zhang Fei. Before I tried it, I never thought I'd be a fan of a piece of pre-packaged, cold beef but I have to say, it's an amazing snack and the beef somehow remains really juicy and tender, not chewy like jerky. We stocked up at one of the many shops selling the delicacy before we left. We also tried the local beef at a restaurant by the river one night and it was served to us sliced on a plate like meat from a deli, very delicious!

Fullboy - China - Yunnan Province - The Road to Shangri-La

It felt liberating carrying only our small backpacks as we got on the bus for the journey up to Lijiang, located near the foothills of the mighty Himalayas. Our main backpacks were getting heavier and heavier with all of the extra items we were picking up and it was nice to give our weary shoulders and back a rest. The bus journey was smooth and we even had a movie to watch, 'Red Cliff', a Chinese war epic complete with English subtitles! The bus stops along the route were pleasant and we picked up some wonderful dried fruit and nut snacks. We eventually arrived in Lijiang around 11 hours after leaving Kunming, we realised that travelling in China was going to take a long time.

It was night time and we didn't have to look around too long to find a guesthouse. It was a simple room around an old courtyard. Lijiang was a touristy town, popular because of the 'old Lijiang', a town dating back over 800 years and retaining much of its stunning ancient architecture. Intricate waterways sliced their way through the town and it was a pleasure meandering through the old streets and walking over the old bridges. We had a great nights sleep and work early the next day to a pleasantly cool morning due to our altitude of over 3000m. We had a lazy stroll around the old town's streets and found a wonderful little cafe where we had a fantastic breakfast of grilled goat's cheese, thickly cut ham, a potato pancake and toast. Believe it or not, this continental style breakfast was a local dish, 'farmers food' popular with the Naxi People, an ethnic group who inhabit the foothills of the Himalayas.
Lunch was similarly rustic food, a delicious blood sausage kebab, grilled on a stick along with some griddled baby potatoes. After two months of noodle soup in Vietnam, this heavy, hearty food was definitely a welcome change.


Feeling rested, fortified and ready for a challenge, we took a bus to the gateway of the majestic Tiger Leaping Gorge. The weather was cloudy and drizzly and we had been warned of landslides in the area. We'd also heard rumours that the hiking path was officially closed but we weren't going to turn back, not after coming this far. The trek was long, steep, winding and the weather in places was horrible. We were pretty soaked through and our cheap camera we bought in Thailand was definitely feeling the strain. A delicious bag of spicy ginger candy that we bought in Lijiang was our fuel and munching on this gave us the energy we needed to get to the top. Upon reaching the top of the gorge, the clouds parted and tired, soaked and hungry, we managed a smile as we finally saw the rich, blue sky. For most of the trek it seemed we were the only two people on the path, apart from the occasional goat. We walked across the top of the gorge and found an old, traditional house where the owner offered us rooms for the night. We were the only guests and the kind lady who lived there cooked us up a delicious meal of hand-cut ham and onions, fried potatoes and stir fried chicken. Facilities were basic but the views of the snow capped Snow Dragon Mountain and the raging Yangstze River deep in the gorge were breathtaking and it was a meal we'd never forget.






























The next day's weather was perfect and the trek down to the road was obviously far easier than the arduous journey up. Unknowingly however, the most dangerous leg of our journey was now upon us. We got on a minibus to take us along a narrow gorge road to the main road and our path was blocked by a landslide that had occurred the previous evening due to the bad weather. We had to get out of the bus and clamber over the fallen rocks with the raging river roaring far below us. The path we had to navigate was probably around a foot in width and to make matters worse we had to crawl under some rocks whilst Chinese builders were drilling all around us trying to clear the debris! Watching small pebbles giving way under our feet as we navigated the precarious path was one of the most nervewracking moments of our travels thus far and we were grateful to get to the other side of the landslide in one piece. After experiencing this it's easy to see why there are so many building accidents in China, our safety was not once taken into account by the crazy builders who wouldn't stop working whilst we passed. Shaken but in one piece, we got on another bus that took us to the main road.




























We were waiting for a bus to take us up to Shangri-La and an enterprising individual who saw us waiting offered to give us a lift, for a price. We managed to find a couple of others to join us in his little minibus and we set off. Not long into the journey, his minibus broke down!! It didn't take our driver long to fix the problem and before we knew it we were on the road again. The journey was very scenic and we passed wonderful meadows of wildflowers with immense snowcapped mountains dotting the landscape. The temperature was noticeably cooler and the air fresh. Shangri-La was a quiet town and we found a great guesthouse with the best hot shower I think we'd ever had. After our soaking on the Tiger Leaping Gorge, it was just the place we needed to get our head down for a few days before we made the journey back to Kunming. The bed had thick, warm blankets and we had a wonderful nights sleep.

























The next day we had a walk around the town and had a great breakfast of assorted meats and veggie kebabs with delicious flatbreads. The weather, at around 3000m high, was cold enough to warrant jackets and the hearty food was warming and comforting.









































Shangri-La is located where Tibet, Yunnan Province and Sichuan Province meet and is settled by Tibetan people. The cuisine is heavy, Tibetan fare and we had several great meals. Our favourites were the Tibetan stuffed breads, similar to an English pastie, filled with minced meat and onion. Also, the barley salad was fantastic, like a heavier version of the Arabic Taboulleh. Another great snack was the dried yak meat and there were countless shops selling this local delicacy. It is very similar to beef jerky and came in many different varieties. Our favourites were the original and the Sichuan pepper coated types. We also tried the yak yoghurt drink which, made from yak milk, was thick, delicious and very tasty.






















Our trip to the large Tibetan Buddhist monastery, Songzanlin, was a very peaceful way to end our expedition into the mountains and our bus journey back was memorable as we sat next to some old, local Naxi ladies who were dressed in their colourful, traditional garments. They were sniffing something off their hand, and, noting my curiosity, offered me a go. One of the ladies put some dusty looking substance on my hand and encouraged me to sniff. When in Rome I thought..... SNIFF!! It immediately made me cough and splutter, then my eyes started watering. The rest of the packed bus all turned around and found it immensely funny and before we knew it, everyone was roaring with laughter, including Melissa! Don't think I'll be trying that again in a hurry!