Yangzhou

This little paradise was our last stop in China. We spent 2 days exploring rural China and we think it was the best way to end the trip.

We were staying at the Li River Retreat a little bit outside the town of Yangzhou. We had to ride our bicycles for about 10 minutes to get to the city center.

All we did was relaxing, biking and eating good food (the chef at our hotel what really talented)!



Arret dans une ferme ecologique pour manger la specialite du coin: un poisson entier a la biere.


Petite croisiere en radeau de bambous








Mah Jong et bieres apres une journee en plein air:)

Xi'an

After our stay in Beijing, we headed to Xian which is located in central China.
Xian was a bit less busy than Beijing, but still very lively and populated. Xian has a beautiful city wall which is known to be one of the oldest and best preserved in China. The wall was built around 1370 and is about 25km long!
Xian is also well known because it is the ancient capital of China and has the Terracotta Army Museum located at about 40km from the city center.

Promenade dans les rues de Xi'an.

Notre meilleur repas du voyage:)


The Terracotta Army: On our first day in Xi'an, we booked a tour to go see the Museum of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses. We first stopped at the Terracotta Warriors' Factory, where we were explained how they used yo make them. The soldiers are made of clay!

Then, we had a tour of the museum which is very big, There are 3 pits where the archeologists found the warriors and horses. The pits are representing the different regiments of an army. The archeologists have not finished their excavations, however they estimate that there should be about 8 000 warriors!

Le fermier qui a decouvert l'armee dans son jardin.

La fabrication des guerriers en argile

Un des trois sites ou les archeologues font des fouilles.



Les fouilles


Comme la plupart des guerriers et des chevaux sont brises, les archeologues doivent les reparer minutieusement.

Soldats en reparation

Site #2
La position des guerriers est differente que dans le site #1.


C'est le dernier guerrier a avoir encore un peu de couleur.


The City Wall: We rented bikes and cycled all around the city wall. It was super fun!

Beijing

After our first few days in Hong Kong, we took a flight for Beijing. We spent 4 nights and 3 full days there and explored the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Summer Palace and did some shopping (of course!).

The first evening: We looked for a very authentic Peking Duck Restaurant and we found it!
The duck was good, but the thick layer of fat below the crispy skin was not so great.

Behind Ken, the chef is preparing the slices of duck.


The Peking Duck is generally rolled up in small "pancakes" and garnished with cucumbers.

Le restaurant!

Direction The Forbidden City: On our first full day in Bejing, we thought of going to The Forbidden City, however once we got to Tianamen Square (opposite); we saw this huge line up. Therefore, following the recommendation of a local, we decided to head to The Temple of Heaven build by the Emperor.

La place Tienanmen juste en face de la Cite Interdite.

Ken et une chinoise qui voulait une photo avec lui!!! Wouhouuu!;)


Paysage asiatique

Une partie du temple du paradis.

The Great Wall: On our second day in Beijing, we joined a tour to go to the Great Wall. It took us about 2h-2h30 to get there. On our way, we visited the Ming Tomb (location of the tomb of a Emperor during the Ming dynasty).
The Great Wall experience was incredible. The scenery was beautiful and it was amazing to think that this wall was built approximately 2200 years old and that we were steeping on it!

L'allee qui mene a la tombe d'un empereur de la dynastie Ming.

Les telesieges qui nous amenaient a la Grande Muraille de Chine!


Hourra! Je suis sur la Grande Muraille de Chine!!!






Admirant les magnifiques fleurs de cerisier.




The Forbidden City & Summer Palace: On our third day in Beijing, we visited The Forbidden City. We magaged to get in quite easily using the back entrance and starting our visit by the Emperor's Garden. The City is very big and there was A LOT of people. We did not stay for too long, but we crossed the whole site.
Then, we took the subway to get to the Emperor's Summer Palace. Again a very big site with a lot of people. It was nice though to waslk by the lake and enjoy the sun.

Seulement une petite partie de la Cite Interdite.


La foule

Ken et des chinoises en visite a la Cite Interdite.
Plusieurs des touristes etaient chinois.


Photo du bas: Ou est Genevieve?

Pas moyen de voir a l'interieur des batiments!

Nous!:)


Les jardins de l'empereur

Ken posant avec le palais d'ete de l'empereur tout au loin.

Une bonne biere (Tsingtao) pour finir la journee d'exploration!


Other pictures:

Une artiste chinoise ecrivant nos noms sur les deux peintures sur soie que nous lui achetons.

une rue traditionnelle chinoise