Thursday, September 6, 2012

Run, Run, Guangzhou Run!

1 week has passed and my FB wall is still flooded with the photos of my China trip. This was my 1st trip to China and I really had a great time. 10 days in China, seems short but its enough for the 15 of us to mix well together, too well in fact hahaha...

1st trip to China, I visited Guangzhou, Changsha, Zhangjiajie, Furong Zhen, and FengHuang Ancient Town. Everything over there is new to me and the scenery are so so so breathtaking. Either is the pond, the rivers, the waterfall, the mountains, the buildings and the technologies seems so amazing to me.

I had many 1st times over there. It was my 1st time to go holiday overseas with friends, and I do not really know most of them and it was my 1st time to chase bus for a few streets with 12 friends XD We ran without direction and had no idea we had to chase for how far. At last we boarded on a different bus which can also take us back to Fangchun. It is so funny to think back, 13 people running on the street like hell and I always thought this will only happen in movies XDDD

Sweaty faces after chasing bus 

Visited Huang Fei Hong Memorial Hall in Foshan and saw how they stretch and train wushu. All their stances were so low and stable. Their bodies are so muscular yet so flexible.

Save space while stretching 

Malaysia has tiger to represent itself, Singapore has lion and Guangzhou has 5 goats. Don't know the story behind it, what I know is we climb up Yuexiu Park just to see these 5 goats. 

Took a bullet train with the fastest speed I observed was 307km/h to Changsha and the train was super stable. I didn't even realize that I'm travelling in such a speed until I saw the speed indicator. The train was comfortable and I can say that RM157.50 for one way from Guangzhou to Changsha is really worth it ^^




The 1st impression Changsha gave me was - noisy! It is truly a noisy city with drivers driving by their own will without caring for the pedestrians. Drivers just honk all the way long and the zebra crossing over there is just for display. It is not a convenient city like Guangzhou as it is still a little behind compared to Guangzhou. However, the number of vehicles on the road had overtook Guangzhou. 


In Changsha, or I can say in Hunan, every time when we order food, we must stress on these 3 points: 
1. 少油 less oil
2. 少辣 less spicy
3. 少盐 less salt
or else, this is what they serve to you ^^


The straight flame reminds the people of Changsha to hold their stands firm
Yipu Street and Pozi Street

Then, it took about 3 hours journey from Changsha to Zhangjiajie and that was time when we truly enjoyed ourselves in Zhangjiajie. 

Went to visit Bao Feng Lake and Huang Long Dong for the 1st day. The lake was truly beautiful and we get to listen to the songs sang by Ah Mei and Ah Ge. As for in Huang Long Dong, it is a cave with various patterns of stalagmite and stalactite formations. Colorful spotlights shine on the rocks making them look lively. 



At night, we watch their cultural show, 魅力湘西 Charming Western Hunan. It was a good show with amazing musics and backgrounds ^^


"Pandora is far, Zhangjiajie is near", this is the slogan I saw the next day. We visited Wuling Yuan, which is where the movie "Avatar" took their outdoor scene! The entrance ticket for this place is really hi-tech. They use our fingerprints for recognition. Hence, our entrance ticket is not transferable. We get into an elevator built by the cliff - Bailong Elevator which travels 330m in just 1m 58s! The scenery was mesmerizing! It's just too beautiful to be real. I always thought that such beautiful place can only be seen in TV after all the computer effects and touch-ups. But now it appeared just in front of my eyes. China really has beautiful mountains and water. 

The Bai Long Elevator


The floating mountain in Pandora
 Then, we visited more mountains where we have to use our creativity and imagination
1 Malaysia?



After so many mountains, we visited Jinbian Xi on the following day.


The main attraction at Jinbian Xi - 神鹰护鞭

 We also took photos in their traditional outfit with our sport shoes, glasses, watches, and even braces ><



Glasses spoil the photo XD
After the elevator and then its the world's longest cable car. It took us 30 minutes to reach the peak. At the peak, we challenged the "Glass Plank" hahaha... Well, the glass are thick and stable, so, its not challenging actually. Just another new experience for us ^^




Later, we did stamina training by climbing 999 staircases XD Yes, it is the Tianmen Shan! We climb 999 staircases just to reach Tianmen Dong. It is a natural hole formed at the peak of Tianmen Shan. Thanked God all of us are young people, all of us managed to climb up to the top, phew!



Finally, the night we have been waiting for had arrived. We watched the outdoor musical of "天门狐仙 Tianmen Fox Fairy" with Tianmen Shan and Tianmen Dong as it's background! Loved the characters, songs, backgrounds, lightning.... everything! "Tianmen Fox Fairy" - Best show ever!!! However, our best show was interrupted by 2 drunkard sitting in front of us. Pity Kai Ping cannot concentrate watching the show... Never mind them now hahaha...





The tall Fox King. 200cm I suppose, or maybe more than that haha
Then its time for us to say bye-bye to Zhangjiajie and say hello to Furong Zhen and Fenghuang Ancient Town. Both Furong Zhen and Fenghuang Ancient Town are famous of their tall-legged houses. Furong Zhen has a double-staged waterfall and the houses are built by the waterfall. It's original name is Wang Zhen and it is now called Furong Zhen because there was a movie named "Furong Zhen" filmed there and get some kind of award. Hence, Wang Zhen is now known as Furong Zhen. 



Bought this for 10 yuan XD
Peach!
As for Fenghuang Ancient Town, the houses are built by the sides of a river. In the morning, Fenghuang Ancient Town is an ancient town with old houses and buildings. As the sun sets and the moon rises, it has a total different look. All the pubs and bars started to play their pop songs, and all the shops and hotels switched on their colorful lights to light up the whole town. It has a different feel in the day and at night. Love the night scenery soooo much <3 p="p">

Fenghuang Ancient Town in the morning


Fenghuang Ancient Town at dusk
Fenghuang Ancient Town at night



After 5 days of walking and climbing, finally its time for us to head back to Changsha and from Changsha to Guangzhou. While back in Guangzhou, we went shopping at Shang Xia Jiu Street. They have ample of shirts over there with very cheap prices. Grabbed 3 pieces and had some delicious 艇仔粥 and 云吞面at Shang Xia Jiu Street. 



艇仔粥 for lunch ~
云吞面 for dinner ^^
3 blouses only cost RM38.50!
Had a wonderful trip with a bunch of friends that has a lot of patterns haha... I made many new friends through this trip and get to know my old friends better. We shared a lot of jokes among ourselves. The best and funniest part is, the main language we used to communicate among ourselves is not Mandarin, but Malay LOL...

Looking forward for another trip ^^
张家界归来不看山。。。

Brochures, map and entrance tickets XDDD