China travels
If you’d like to see more of my China travels you can check out this video
Xian // 西安
The first stop of our 5 week holiday （五个星期假期） began in 西安 after a 19 hour train （火车 ）journey that I had vowed to myself that I would never do again after the 上海 ( Shanghai) experience. When we were in 西安 we got to experience the more traditional China （中国） which was a huge contrast to the shiny, new, modern Beijing （北京） and Tianjin （天津） that we are surrounded by everyday. In the evenings we often went to the Muslim Quarter where there was a vast number of stalls with various streets food that you can only find in 西安 and with many sellers shouting at the top of their voices over the hustle and bustle of the street shouting 肉夹馍 which is a Chinese Burger originated from 西安. When we weren’t there trying all these exotic foods we were walking on the city wall which is 13.7km long it was incredible to be walking on such a great part of the Chinese history. We came at the best time as everything was being decorated for Chinese New Year and there weren’t many tourists about. One evening （晚上） I went down to see the water show at the Pagoda and after I found a huge street behind the pagoda and it was all lit up in Red with music being played, small trains going past and lights everywhere.
Chengdu // 成都
After seeing the old more traditional 中国 we were ready to see what perhaps a lot of people first think of when they hear the word 中国. Our next stop was the land of the pandas （熊猫）and spicy food. In our time in 成都 we first visited Wenshu Monastery which was built in the Tang Dynasty. Our second day there we made our priority to see as many 熊猫 as possible so it began with an early start so that we could see them when they are the most lively as in the morning the keepers give them bamboo for their breakfast. At the 熊猫 Base they had different sections for them so we first got to see some younger 熊猫 before going to see the adults and of course we left the best to last, the baby 熊猫 with her mum（妈妈）. The last day in 成都 we went to Mount Qingcheng where we were meant to have an amazing view but we were lucky to see 50 metres （米） ahead of us.
Kunming // 昆明
From arriving in 昆明 we got of the 火车 and we were hit with the heat and I immediately knew that we were actually on holiday （假期） . 昆明 was our shortest trip out of the whole holiday. We started off with seeing the famous stone forest. The stone forest is a huge area outside of 昆明 where there are rocks towering over you which were naturally formed over 270 millions years ago. The following day we set off to walk up the Western Hills （西山） to see the Dragon Gate（龙门） and we were able to see the whole city of 昆明.
Guilin // 桂林
We couldn’t travel 中国 without going to 桂林 to see the incredible mountains. We began with exploring the city seeing the Elephant Trunk hill and the Solitary beauty peak. During our time in 桂林 we made a trip to Yangshuo where we could visit the famous west street and to give us time for a day trip to Xingping where we climbed Laozhai 山 mountain where we were awarded a panoramic view of the mountains going on for miles all around us. Following our hike up the 山 we went to the location of where the photo in the 20RMB note was taken. Before leaving 桂林 and arriving in our last stop in 中国 we visited Reed Fleet Cave.
Guangzhou // 广州
Our final stop in 中国 was our longest and thankfully our well needed most chilled out one. In 广州 we felt a lot more at home （家） with so many European architecture around us especially when we went to the Scared Heart Cathedral and then Shamian Island which has a long history with the British （英国人）and French （法国人. On one of the evenings we went to see the Pearl River and went to see Canton tower. The Canton tower is the highest TV tower in 中国 and the third highest in the world whilst also being over 200 metres （米）taller than the Tianjin TV tower.