McJam & Moomin do China - The Short Version

[McJamweasel]

Went to China, first Beijing, saw Tiananmen Square (bloody big), saw the Forbidden City (bloody old), ate Peking Duck (bloody tasty), went to the Great Wall (bloody long), proposed to Karen (bloody great), got a sleeper train to Xi'an (bloody long).
Xi'an (Sian) - saw the Terracotta warriors (bloody impressive), got another sleeper train to Suzhou (a bit bloody shorter).
Suzhou (Sujo) - saw the Venice of the East (bloody pretty), had a Gondala ride (bloody relaxing), went to an Aussie bar (bloody expensive), got a coach to Shanghai (bloody empty).
Shanghai (bloody hot) - went for a walking tour (bloody long), saw the skyline at night (bloody nice), went up the Oriental Pearl TV Tower (bloody tall, went on the Maglev Train (bloody fast!), went home (28 bloody hours).

Full story to follow. Maybe.
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[JonB]

Did you tell the Chinese to stop making crap cars and bikes while you were there?

Cool pics.
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[Flip]

Bloody hell.

For McJ and K.

All the best my friends.

Oh yea... cool holiday.

[Rookie]

Looks great fun, and congrats.

[Robby]

I wanna go...

Were the clubs and casinos in Beijing good?

[Mister James]

My little Starbucks waitress wants to take me there next time she goes back. (I think you drooled over her picture once Robby)
I'm quite keen but I'm a little concerned about being somewhere where I can't speak any of the lingo beyond 'how are you', 'crazy boy' and 'pretty girl'.

How did you guys find it re. the language barrier? What are the prices like for accomodation and travel?
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>Soultrader Mister James, I bet you are a copper
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[Shaun]

Congratulations you crazy kids!

[Mr.Everready]

Did she say yes ?
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[Flip]

Luckily.

[andrea]

Wow, would love to travel China

Congrats you two

[Didge]

Good on yer McJamweasel. Obviously enjoyed the whole trip, which is what it's all about.

[byke95]

Congratulations to both of you!

[Annabella]

Bloody hell!


Congratulations to the pair of you!!


I'm awaiting a full write up
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[lozzypop1]

Sound like you had a great time!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!
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[karen_moomin]

It was amazing, we had the best time ever.

We travelled with Intrepid (for the second time), who I can highly recommend. You get to see all of the main sites but because it's a small group with a local leader, you get to see how the Chinese live and you go to proper "locals only" restaurants etc.

I said yes, of course. McJam got down on one knee and everything, I didn't think he had such romance in him!! We are looking to marry in July 2008.

[Robby]

[zaknafien]

Very nice, can't wait for the full write up. Was it expensive?

\o/ to colin for joining the bearded party.
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02 Firestorm.

[yambabe]

Congrats guys, sounds like it was a great experience.

/me dusts off hat collection..........
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Sod falling in love, I wanna fall in chocolate.

[WildGoose]

cool!

and congratumalations
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So in other words, he stopped you for being flagrantly in posession of a motorcycle in direct contravention of the Hippies, Darkies and People Whose Face I Don't Like The Look of (Police Powers) Act. 1976

[queen of string]

class proposal Colin. Congrats to you both.
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"Eat food, not edible, food-like items. Mostly plants."

[McJamweasel]

[karen_moomin]

China is cheap once you get there, for example, a nice meal out is between 60p to £2.

We had a traditional Chinese breakfast at a local cafe which cost 10p.

Travel in China is also cheap. The overnight trains (12 hours and 16 hours) were around £18 and you can hire a bus and driver for £20 a day.

Then again, in touristy parts such as Shanghai, things were more expensive. To go up the Pearl Tower it was £9, and eating out was a tad more expensive in comparison to the non-tourist places. Still cheap though.

[queen of string]

£1100 for a tour is very reasonable, would you recommend going with a tour or could it be done independently fairly easily ?
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"Eat food, not edible, food-like items. Mostly plants."

[karen_moomin]

[Yoshi]

Cool Always wanted to visit China, not sure why but it's always appealed! During my uni holidays I'm gonna go around the world on a bike (long way round style!!!) and include China then ride down towards Australia???
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Present: GS650 Katana - Getting ready for summer touring!
Past: TS50, RS50, ZXR400, LT80, TS250