Part One - A Mountain Getaway

It's time again now to sit down and write my blog for this month, and I'm looking forward to this one, as the blog for this month is all about the wonderful holiday we just had! It's a great opportunity for me to tell you all about our exciting travels. There’s a lot to say about October which is why this blog is in two parts – this first part will discuss our holiday (with lots of pictures included) and part 2 will be everything else that’s happened this month, along with my responses to the great questions sent in by the pupils at Stirling High School!

I mentioned last month we were just preparing to go away for our week’s holiday - we were given a whole week off from the 1st to the 7th to celebrate Chinese National Day, to commemorate the founding of People’s Republic of China with this year being the 70th anniversary of modern China - an exciting time to be here! Often known as Golden Week, it’s very common for people to take this holiday as an opportunity to travel around China. Some of our scholars made plans to go to Qufu (the hometown of Confucius), Beijing (the capital), or do a few others things for their holiday, but I was part of a group of 10 who decided to pack up our things and head all the way to ZhangJiaJie in Southern China. We had the option to pay for a planned, guided tour to this city but instead chose to organise it ourselves, which was very trying for those of us tasked with booking all the accommodation and train tickets! But it was definitely worth all the struggle, as we had the freedom to choose what we wanted to do each day and had the experience of staying at two lovely AirBnBs. Our holiday in total was 7 days; however, a lot of this was spent travelling as we had a 23-hour train journey there and a 28-hour journey back. There were highs and lows, but it was definitely a week full of wonderful memories that I will look back on for a long time to come.

To the pupils at Stirling High School; thank you very much for your questions, and I'm delighted to hear you enjoyed my blog last month! I'll be answering your questions in Part 2 of this month’s blog post, and I’m looking forward to thinking about all that you’ve asked me and I hope my answers will be helpful! In the meantime, do any of you know anything about ZhangJiaJie already, such as where it is and what it's well known for?  If you don't recognise the name of the city, maybe you'll know the movie ‘Avatar’ instead - do you know the iconic, floating mountains from that film? Look up some pictures of ZhangJiaJie and see if you notice anything - obviously these mountains don't float, but they're nevertheless a sight to behold!

Now, onto our holiday... This is a long blog post, because there’s simply so much to share and to tell about the things we did! I’ve included lots of pictures as well, so I hope you find it an interesting read.

MONDAY（星期一）

We had classes on Monday like normal - a 6AM start for some studying and homework, before having two morning classes and another class after our lunch break. Straight after class, I headed out to buy some last-minute things for holiday - this included some new clothing, travel sized toiletries, and a backpack for travelling. After a few more errands it was time to head home and start packing, as I hadn't done any yet and still wasn't quite sure what to pack for a week away! By the time evening rolled round, I’d packed a week’s worth of clothes and necessities in my small suitcase and then, after setting a 4:45AM alarm, decided to get an early night - that is, until I was invited round to watch Spirited Away with three of the other scholars going to ZhangJiaJie and ended up staying awake the full night instead! I had five minutes of shut-eye afterwards to try and trick myself into thinking I was well rested, before starting to get ready to leave around half four.

TUESDAY（星期二）

The Tianjin underground opens at 6am, so we set off at quarter to after making sure everyone was gathered with all their possessions and important documents. The first subway train of the day was uncharacteristically quiet compared to the usual crush of people, so we made it to the main train station with no problems; however not everything went so smoothly, as we found out at the station that there was an issue with the passport number on one of our sets of tickets, meaning they were invalid for both directions of the journey; we managed to half-sort it, but I suppose it's not a real holiday if there isn't at least one thing that goes wrong! Anyway, we boarded the bullet train which was a fun, comfortable, half-hour-long journey to Beijing, followed by a bus ride through the city to the next train station. We bought some snacks and settled down to wait for our next train - this one looked a lot older than the bullet train and was reasonably comfortable inside with its big covered seats, but it was definitely a squeeze fitting ten people and all their luggage into one small section of carriage! We set off, marking the start of our 23-hour journey at around 1:20pm - I read for a bit, planned to do some studying but ultimately didn't (sorry, 老师!), listened to music, played some DnD for the first time with Morgan, Henry, and Maya, and eventually tried to sleep as we hit nightfall. But remember last month's blog, when I said I slept for five minutes on our ten-hour flight? It seems to be a trend - by the time the next morning rolled around (Wednesday) and the others were well rested, I had slept for a grand total of 15-20 minutes! I'd like to say I at least managed to be productive with my hours awake and did some revision, but 'fraid not - I did however get to see the lights of all the cities we passed through flashing by the windows, and I kept track with our progress across China on my Maps app - my geography is pretty bad, but I like to think it helped put into perspective the sheer size of China and the distance that we were crossing. I also had a wee conversation with a Chinese man sitting across the aisle from us - I explained about our journey from Tianjin to Beijing and how we were now on our way to ZhangJiaJie, then brought up a world map on my phone to show how we came from Scotland and had flown to Tianjin to study there for a year. I understood enough of what he was saying to answer his questions, and while I didn't have the language skills to converse all that much further, it was a good way to practise some of what I knew and pass the time.

Jack, Emily, and I on the bullet train, and my Maps app showing Beijing and Tianjin (the two stars), where we were at half 3 in the morning (the blue dot in the middle) and our destination!

WEDNESDAY（星期三）

In the morning, after the sun had risen, we switched around seats and I eventually managed to sleep for an hour or so, which let me be awake enough to appreciate the sights of ZhangJiaJie that started to pass our windows shortly before noon. The artificial, almost hospital-like overnight lighting on the train was replaced by sunlight which helped lift the mood onboard, and we began to get excited to disembark and start our day. The train arrived around half twelve, and we quickly got off and went to the rendezvous point to meet our AirBnB host, who took us on a coach to where she lived near the foot of the mountains. Getting off the coach was when we got our first good view of the mountains - I've attached a picture showcasing them and the clear blue skies, quite a change from the city air we often get in Tianjin.

We bought our passes to the National Park which would give us access for the next few days, and then went straight on a public coach up to the AirBnB. I got separated from the others on the coach, and ended up at the front as the only 外国人 (foreigner) in a big group of locals, who all simultaneously whipped out their phones and started taking photos and selfies which was quite a shock for me, and a little embarrassing to be the centre of attention! But they were very friendly, so I got off the coach just a little perturbed at the experience. The woman's AirBnB was delightful - a lovely little home with an open dining and lounge area at the front and comfortable bedrooms further into the house, and great views of the mountains. We unpacked our things and spent some time talking to the woman, who told us about some of the places we could visit and said she would take us to the areas with the least tourists - she also told us about a waterfall she knew where we could go swimming (which was something we very much wanted to do), so that same evening we all walked up to a secluded waterfall and pond and spent a happy time swimming in freezing cold water in one of the most picturesque places we could possibly have chosen. We walked back after nightfall, before having dinner and turning in for the night.

The waterfall, and the view from the same location shortly after sunset

THURSDAY（星期四）

After having breakfast of some delicious noodles, our hosts drove us up the mountains to a section of the National Park, where we went through the queues and security (PACKED with people!) before getting on buses to go to a specific section of the ZhangJiaJie mountains that our host told us was just as beautiful as the one the tours go to, but with way less people. We got off the bus and walked along a little path through some forest, before coming off the path down a little staircase and turning a corner to get our first amazing view of the mountains. We stood in a small section surrounded by a wooden fence, with just enough space for the 10 of us, and from our vantage point we could not only see out at the incredible mountains but could also look down into the valleys beneath. A few of us sat on a large overhanging rock just outside the fence, appreciating the heights - both the height of the mountains in front of us, and how high up from the ground we were! I'll stop trying to describe it now and just attach some pictures, so you can take a look for yourselves. (Note: to any parents or relatives reading, we were very safe on the rock, don't worry!)

Afterwards, we walked further along to another, larger section, which was a big circular area surrounded in three directions by incredible views of the mountains.

Wish I had this much leg room on the train.

Then we got on another bus, which took us to a section that was a little busier with a couple of Chinese families that we got photos with! We also took a great group photo with the mountains behind us that I’ve attached.

Two group photos with the Shetland flag, and one that Morgan took!

Then it was back down the road on the bus, to get some food before going to the section of the Avatar Mountains popular with the tourists! It was a lot busier here, and there were a few stalls where I bought a golden coin/medallion customised with my name in both Chinese and English. We then headed to WuLongZhai where bandits used to live, which was quite an interesting walk followed by more amazing views when we reached the top – this part was one of my favourites, as I sat on the fence looking out at the view for a long time, higher up than the other vantage points we’d been to so far.

I wrote both of my names down for the man and he carved them right there and then, 30RMB!

Colin, Maya, and I on the fence – I'm trying to make a joke here about ‘being on the fence’ and being indecisive, but I can’t decide on the best way to word it!

Quite a few of us managed to video call our families from the mountains – my call with my mum was quite pixelated for her, but it was interesting to be climbing up a thin, narrow, staircase in WuLongZhai in Southern China while on a video call with mum, who was standing in the doorway of our kitchen at home!

Finally, we started our descent down the mountain...

A German sticker I found on the walk back – it reads, “Nice here. But have you ever been to Baden-Württemberg?” and then underneath, “We can do everything. Except High German.”

...until Maya sprained her ankle, leading to the group splitting up with some people walking down the mountain and the rest of us taking a cable car! This was my first time on a cable car so I wasn’t sure what to expect – after the doors shut, you crawl along for a few moments before a sudden, massive increase in speed which throws you for a bit, and we’d just about settled into the speed of it when we saw how much the line suddenly dropped down ahead of us, which turned out to be a lot steeper than we’d anticipated! We were waiting for the drop with that mix of fear and exhilaration you get on rollercoasters when you underestimate just how high up you are, and also with quite a lot of yelling. It was great fun though, and the views, particularly at that time in the afternoon, were just incredible. When we reached the bottom, we met up with the others and started walking from the cable car station to our accommodation which turned out to be a peaceful fifteen-minute walk downhill, then had dinner and a wash before bed.

Views from the cable car!

FRIDAY（星期五）

We had to pack our luggage on Friday morning as some of us were being moved to the accommodation next door, so that was a good way to try and get a bit more organised and also lament at all the dirty laundry I had to carry in my suitcase – we hadn’t yet been able to use a washing machine! After breakfast we set off for the mountains again, and at the foot of the mountains Henry, Colin, and Morgan spent some time looking for fish and other creatures in the river. They found quite a few fish and frogs but also saw a snake, which was a rather unnerving albeit very interesting find.  The sight of three 外国人 wading around in a river with bright, plastic fishing nets also drew quite a curious crowd!

Not pictured; the groups of people next to me wondering what they were doing down there!

After that we started walking up the mountain, with the path this time consisting of many, many, many stairs up a section of the mountain inhabited by monkeys – I made it up the first set of steps, then Morgan and I decided to turn around and take the cable car instead; asthma is a good excuse, but really I just wanted to have another ride in the cable car, as it’s such great fun! We got ice cream and then bought our tickets; we ended up in a cable car with a Chinese couple and their two young daughters, and in spite of the language barrier we all laughed together at the way the car rumbled noisily when it passed one of the supports, and at the amazing views and heights.

Morgan and I with our tickets – we took a similar photo right after this, with the food we got while the others were still climbing up the mountain!

It took a while to find the others at the top, but eventually we met up and spent some time eating leftovers that we’d brought with us from breakfast and watching the monkeys! I video-called my best friend Emma back in Scotland who was luckily awake at that time, and although the picture was quite pixelated she got to see some of the monkeys and the views around us. Chinese 4G at the top of a mountain is very impressive! When it was time to go down again, we all took the cable car which was just as fun as the first time although considerably steeper at some points, which Morgan and I had noticed on the way up. Then it was time to head home once again, and after a nice dinner a few of us moved our suitcases along to our new rooms in the next building, and slept very well after our long day.

I’d never been a fan of monkeys, but I was quite charmed to see them in the wild so close up! Better than the zoo in so many ways.

SATURDAY（星期六）

This was our last morning at the AirBnB, so we packed all of our bags and took group photos before heading down the road to the car park, where we had a look around the stalls and I bought a hand-drawn map of ZhangJiaJie for 10 yuan (it’s stuck up on my wall right now, next to all our holiday train tickets). We then took a long taxi drive into the city, and were dropped off outside our new AirBnB accommodation and given time to drop off our suitcases before getting in the taxi again to go to a traditional TuJia clothing shop! The TuJia ethnic group is considered the eighth largest ethnic group in China, with many living in the area around ZhangJiaJie.

A dress I tried on – you won’t find these in Primark! It’s glad we had a chance to see a little bit of their culture, we were very grateful to our host (and the shop) for sharing it with us.

We tried on different dresses and clothes and a few of us bought some, then we left the shop and walked down through the streets before getting another taxi to a shopping area for lunch. The city area of ZhangJiaJie was lovely to see after our time spent in the mountains, it was definitely different from Tianjin but I was surprised at how very metropolitan some areas were! Then we went back to our accommodation and got ready to leave for our next trip, up to TianMenShan – this meant a 15-20 minute walk through the city to reach the cable car station, where we got our tickets and waited for an hour or two in the longest queue I’ve ever been in in my life, filling two floors of the building! Eventually we got in a cable car and started our ascent up the mountain, which was fascinating as we rode first in a straight line over the houses and buildings below, then started our ascent upwards. We reached quite a height before seeing a station come up ahead of us; we thought we were about to get off but it turns out it was just a station halfway up where they use a mop to give the cable car a wee clean as we pass by! We kept going, and before long we were in the clouds, with nothing but white all around us.

 Francesca, Colin, Morgan and I in the clouds!

Eventually we reached the top – I only found this out after I was back in Tianjin, but we’d just finished the longest cable car journey in the world! The four of us started walking, and we stepped outside into the clouds of TianMenShan. I’m glad I hadn’t seen pictures of this place beforehand, as I didn’t know that most people try to go on a clear day so they can see for miles around. But our day was thick with clouds and mist, and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way because of how amazing it made everything look! We walked around through some paths and tunnels and trees, I video called my mum and brother, and we generally explored the area before eventually meeting up with the others and walking around together. We also took some pretty dramatic photos – is there any other kind when you’re in such a place as this?

Very cloudy, which is to be expected when you’re inside a cloud.

Dramatic photo #1

Dramatic Photo #2 - poser alert!

We arrived at TianMenShan at around quarter past five in the afternoon, so by the time we’d met up with the others it was already getting dark. We walked around some of the forest area with our phone torches at nightfall, went back to the cable car station to find out where the buses back down the mountain were, and then walked all the way around to where we were told to go in almost pitch-black darkness. Our phone torches were lighting up the rain in the clouds around us, so it was very atmospheric! We made it to the building we were directed to, then took about six flights of escalators down to another area which we later found out was the famous Heaven’s Gate – I had absolutely no idea though, as everything was surrounded in fog! There were two options here, paying for another escalator or taking the long staircase down to the bus area. Myself, Morgan, Jack and Colin chose the stairs, so we set off down a long, partially lit set of thin slippery stairs, and it took us quite a while to reach the bottom. Again, I didn’t know the significance of these stairs – I found out later on YouTube (back in Tianjin) that these were the famous 999 steps up to Heaven’s Gate, a popular and significant place for cultural reasons and for tourism. For us it was quite a challenge to not slip and fall, but it was an accomplishment when we reached the bottom and we rewarded ourselves with some very dramatic photos, included below. Then it was another queue for the bus down; the bus ride consisted of us being driven very fast down an incredibly long, winding road in the darkness and fog, which was enough to give any sensible person some fears about making it down to the bottom in one piece. As for me though, I realised halfway down that I’d forgotten to put my seatbelt on, so it stands to reason I wasn’t one of those people and greatly enjoyed being thrown around all 99 turns of the 10,906m road! We reached the bottom safely, then walked to a food street and had dinner and a good long chat before heading back through the streets to our accommodation. I made a bit of an effort to pack for leaving the following morning, but I was so tired I had to just listen to some music (which I hadn’t done for most of the holiday, songs sounded even better while finally having some down time after all the things we’d seen and done) and then just go to sleep.

Visibility was poor, but the colours were rich!

The stairs were almost completely empty, with only 3 or 4 other people around.

Colin, Sammy, Jack and I - I suggested standing on the raised stage area at the bottom of the steps to be silhouetted against the light, Morgan took the camera and we made a photoshoot of it!

Drama queens.

SUNDAY（星期日）

I wasn’t sure what time to wake up this morning, so after waking up nice and early I thought I might as well rest until people start moving around, and I ended up sleeping until five minutes before we had originally planned to leave. But everyone else was a bit late as well, and our host hadn’t taken Scottish tardiness into consideration when planning for our day so we ended up skipping our visit to an exhibition of TuJia culture and instead going for breakfast then spending time packing our suitcases and going to the shop to buy supplies for our return train journey. We walked along to the train station we’d originally arrived at which turned out to be only 10-15 minutes away, bought our tickets, then had a panic as our train was due to leave in half an hour and we still had to go through all the security checks, find our platform, and board! We made it through in record time, and were on the train five minutes before it left the station. I’d been hoping to bagsy a window seat this time so I could sleep, but I ended up in an aisle seat with five other Chinese people, meaning it would be even harder to get to sleep than it was last time. I looked through photos that I’d taken of the holiday and listened to music, and after midnight started doing some studying and homework – a week off from classes can take its toll, so I wanted to be prepared for starting to learn again!

MONDAY（星期一）

At one point, the old woman sitting across from me pointed to the fold-up stool that Maya was using (as she had to buy a standing ticket, due to mix-ups with the seating) and started saying something about it. The man next to me spoke English and translated for us, saying she was asking how much it would be to buy it from her! Maya ended up giving it to her for free, and then the other people sitting around me started chatting; I overheard the guy say he thought we were French! So we started chatting a bit in a mix of Chinese and English, as his English was very good. At that time I was practising doing character writing, so we talked a bit about studying before I eventually put it away to try and get some sleep. This train was different to the last one in the sense that because we were headed to Beijing instead of away from it, it got steadily more packed as time went on. I made the grave mistake of standing up to attempt to go to the bathroom at one such time when the carriage was full, and despite the best efforts of everyone around me to try and help me through all the people and suitcases I ended up stuck, squished between all the people standing due to no seats and standing waiting to get off at the next stop, which is what I also had to wait for. I eventually managed to switch seats with Sammy who had a window seat, and while morning had already risen at that point and I was pretty miserable and incredibly sore from sitting upright and uncomfortably for so many hours I finally managed to sleep for a while. I’m really selling these long-haul train journeys, aren’t I? They definitely have their charms, but next time I’m on such a long journey I’m splashing out on a comfier carriage!

Eventually we arrived at Beijing, and most of us managed to get our bags off of the train quickly enough, and stood waiting on the platform for the others. But when half of us were outside standing with the bags I noticed the train was starting to slowly move forward – it wasn’t my eyes playing tricks on me, because the others noticed too and started pulling at the door, banging on the windows and yelling to the four that were still inside that the train was moving! We got the doors open and everyone made it off with almost everything, but it was still quite a shock. After that, we went outside to get a taxi to the other Beijing train station, and it was a relief to get on the bullet train knowing it was just 30 minutes in a comfortable seat before we’d reach Tianjin. Then it was a subway and a three-minute walk home, and we arrived back on our floor with lots of shouting and hugging, as we hadn’t seen the other scholars for a week and were so excited to share all about our holidays! We had ordered food while we were still in Beijing, so after literally racing to the washing machine to throw in my week’s worth of dirty clothing, all that was left before bed was a shower, cauliflower rice, and a lovely message from our teacher letting us know that from then on, classes started at 8am every day, half an hour earlier than they had been before! The next morning in class was great fun on 6 hours of sleep and while still recovering from the train journey, but nevertheless it was good to be back in Tianjin, back in our own rooms, seeing familiar faces again and getting back into the routine of class and studying.

So that was our holiday! I set up a little collection on my wall of maps, tickets, some postcards I bought, and a little bracelet and keyring made of seeds that I bought after one of our cable car journeys. I might have to move it to make room for some other places when we travel more, but for now, it’s there as a reminder of our first big holiday while living here in China.