Borobudur

Some shots from Borobudur Temple, Jogjakarta

How to get there?
1) Fly from Jakarta with AirAsia (recommended) for Rp 300.000 (USD 35) to Adisucipto airport, Jogjakarta.
2 a) Hire a car (it cost around Rp 500.000 include driver+gasoline for 8 hours).
It takes 45 minutes to go to Borobudur by car from the city. Recommended if you have limited time and want to visit other place like Prambanan temple, Parangtritis beach which is located outside Jogja.
2 b) Or u can take a public bus from Jogjakarta bus station. It will only cost you Rp 9.000

Entrance fee: Rp 30.000 (USD 4)

Enjoy!

Guangzhou, shopping

There are no many places to visit in Guangzhou. I recommend you to stay in Riverside YHA , a comfy hostel by the riverside of Pearl River.On the opposite side of the river (you can take the local ferry 1,5元) there is a  former foreign quarters called Shamian Island （沙面岛）. 


For shopping, you can choose Shangxiajiu Lu 上下九路

 or Beijing Lu 北京路

and One Link Plaza....

I'm not a shopaholic person. So I'm not that good at describing those places. 

When you shop in Guangzhou, you should have a partner who doesn't shop but willing to help you carry your belanjaan. Just don't forget to give them wang lao ji, they are usually happy enough with that.

Transportation
The easiest way to get around Guangzhou is by Metro, its lines has been widely expanded after 2010 Asian Games. It even connects all the train station and the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport. Other public transportation is bus, also very fast if you can understand the Chinese characters. What I not really recommend to go around the city is the taxi. It's more expensive, not easy to get, and the driver usually speaks Cantonese or nonstandard Mandarin which is not very easy to understand unless you are a local.
Besides K, T, Z train, Guangzhou is now connected with big cities by bullet trains (D and G train).
D train (dongche 动车) is bullet train which runs around 250km/h, while G train (gaotie 高铁) is bullet train which runs faster, around 350 km/h. 
With D or G train you can travel from Guangzhou to Changsha (the capital city of Hunan Province) and Wuhan (the capital city of Hubei Province) on WuGuang 武广 lines. Besides that, you can also travel to Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, as well as Hong Kong (Hung Hom station).

Summer Holiday (draft)

This summer holiday I travel around China. Yes, around China, from the Southern to Northern part, as well as from the Western part to the Eastern part, if Chengdu, Sichuan is categorized as West China.
It was so much fun! And yet, travel with different people gives different feeling!


I visited 10 different cities, including 2 China Special Administrative Region (Hong Kong and Macao) within a month. Well, it wasn't non-stop, it's actually divided into three rounds, all with different people. 


So below is my summer schedule trip (I'll post more after I finish with DNA extraction, holiday is over):


1st round:
August 27 - 29, 2011 - Guangzhou
August 29 - 31, 2011 - Yangshuo
August 1, 2011 - Shenzhen
August 2 - 7, 2011 - Hong Kong
August 7, 2011 - Macao
August 8 - 10, 2011 - Guangzhou


Go back to Changsha, washed the clothes.... August 11


2nd round:
August 12-14, 2011 - Chengdu
August 14 - 17, 2011 - Chongqing


Back to Changsha, cleaned the house, August 18 - 24


3rd round:
August 25 - 27, 2011 - Guangzhou (again..)
August 28, 2011 - Wuhan
August 29 - September 1, 2011 - Beijing
September 2, 2011 - Suzhou
September 3, 2011 - Tongli
September 3 - 5, 2011 - Hangzhou


September 6, 2011, I am glad to be back to Changsha, excited to finish the experiment! 
Jia you, Lisa!

1 D trip to Chibi 赤壁

Last year, during the Labor Holiday (1-3 May 2010) we went to Hubei province. We visited 2 cities, Chibi, which is famous for the battle area prior to the Three Kingdoms period and Wuhan, which is the capital of Hubei province.


Little introduction about Chibi and the Battle of Chibi:

Chibi City (赤壁市, Chìbì Shì ) was originally named Puqi (蒲圻). On 11 June 1998, the State Council renamed it to "Chibi" to tie the city to the famous historical Battle of Chibi.
The Battle of Red Cliffs, otherwise Battle of Chibi,known as the  was a decisive battle at the end of the Han Dynasty, immediately prior to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. It was fought in the winter of 208/9 AD between the southern warlords Liu Bei and Sun Quan and the numerically superior forces of the northern warlord Cao Cao. Liu Bei and Sun Quan successfully frustrated Cao Cao's effort to conquer the land south of the Yangtze River and reunite the territory of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The allied victory at Red Cliffs ensured the survival of Liu Bei and Sun Quan, gave them control of the Yangtze (de Crespigny 2004:273), and provided a line of defence that was the basis for the later creation of the two southern states of Shu Han and Eastern Wu.(Source: en.wikipedia.org)

Morning - Leaving to Chibi
We took D train (Guangzhou-Wuhan line) from Changsha to Chibi. We are used to take a hard seat train in China but since this was our first time on D train, so taking photo is a must! It only took less than 2 hours from Changsha to Chibi.

 Chibi train station. Chibi is a small town. It was only us who get off from the train that day.

After you get off from the train, you will meet small buses which can take you to the city. And the historical sites. It takes almost an hour to reach the battle area. (U need to know Chinese to go there!)

 At the gate of Chibi Battle Area. It was.....HOT!! that day.

 

They have a lot of Three Kingdom's heroes there. Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Guan Yu, and Zhu Ge Liang!! 

OK, I forgot the rest.. But it was fun to see the statues since we had Chinese history class at school.

 Finally, the famous spot. Actually there is a engravings on the cliff-side which has been engraved for at least a thousand years.

Na!! any idea where these people come from?! :p

We finished the visit in the afternoon. We went to the Buxingjie, but it was closed -_-"
It wasn't even 6 P.M.
But, as a compensation.... we found a cheap, luxury restaurant!!

Less than 30 kuai for pizza and steak!

Next: from Chibi to Wuhan

April 23, 2011_Go to Xi'an to see The Army! 去西安看兵马俑

June 30, 2010 - July 4, 2010, 4 days + 3 nights (+1 unexpected extended day) in Xi'An

Last summer we went to visit Xi'an, mostly only to see the Terra-Cotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shi Huang. I remember it was a quick decision, we kinda bored with school and the summer in Changsha, so we decided to do quick travel to Xi'an in Shaanxi province. As always, we do budgeted travel.

Day 1: We took a hard seat train to Xi'an, which was so hard~ after 19 hours. K 896 train left Changsha by 4.10 PM and we were arrived on Xi'an next day around 11 AM.

Day 2: Starbucks 星巴克 (Xīngbakè), Bell tower 钟楼 （Zhōnglóu）, Drum tower 鼓楼 （gǔlóu）, Muslim street 穆斯林街 (Mù sī lín jiē)

Xi'an city has rectangular shape bound by the city walls. This is the North City Wall by the train station, right after we finally got off.

 Took the bus (1 RMB) to the south gate of city walls then walked 10 minutes to our hostel. South gate of city wall.

We stayed at Xiangzimen International Youth Hostel, took a 4 beds mixed dorm, 25 RMB/person/day. Hostel is clean, comfortable and service was very good.

After showered, we started our trip that day. First stop, Starbucks coffee~

We passed Bell & Drum tower without went inside. It's 30 RMB to get into the two towers. So we decided to skipped that one, and directly walked to the Muslim street. Xi'an is not a big city. The tourist sights are all in walking distance except for the Terra-cotta warriors museum. They have a lot of traditional handcrafts in Xi'an, paper cutting, puppet, painting, and lots more. Don't forget to bargain if you like to buy some!

Monkey's brain nut?

Muslim street or Muslim quarter is located at the back of Drum tower. People here mostly are Hui people, one of minorities group in China.

 For sure, you cannot find any alcohol or pork here~

 

 The richness of Xi'an culture. Can u see Chinese characters and Arabian characters there?

 Visit China? You have to try 瓜子 (Guāzi), it is usually dried, but in Xi'an I learnt that it's made from sunflower.

Thirsty? have some orange juice. 看起来，你的生意很了不起哦~

Definitely good business!

 Drum tower! 鼓楼 (Gǔlóu)

 Right side is Drum tower, left side is Muslim quarters

Back to hostel!

Day 3: Huaqing hot springs 华清池 (Huáqīngchí), Army of Terracotta Warriors 兵马俑 (Bīngmǎyǒng) www.bmy.com.cn

The Army is easily reached by public bus. Go to train station and on your right side you can find a long distance bus station. We suggest you not to take the private minibuses, take the frequent bus 306 (7 RMB) which we took. The buses are air-conditioned and clean. We planned to visit the terracotta warriors only but on the way there the people on the bus tell us to go to Huaqing hot springs also. So we got off at Huaqing hot springs, took a look around and then got on the next bus to the Army. No worries, bus is regularly come every 15 minutes!

 At Huaqing hot springs. If you are a student in China, bring your student card, you will definitely get 50% discount. If you come from outside of China, you can still try since Xi'an is a tourist city. Ticket is originally 70 RMB but we paid for 35 RMB!

 I still don't have any idea why people try to touch the water. Does it bring good luck?

Continue to The Army!

Ticket are originally 90 RMB, and yeah we only paid 45 RMB! 谢谢中国人！By the way, you also need to take a small minivan from the main gate to the museum (6 RMB). Trust me, you don't want to walk that far~

 This terracota army was built by Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor in China.

 Archaeologists believe Qin Shi Huang expected his rule to continue in death as it had in life.

 The only spot you can take a photo with the Army, 10 RMB for a picture. Give your best smile！

 Awesome!

 Well, the man behind the army really ordered thousands of people to work on this massive construction project.

 Ah, finally, the bell tower picture! piaoliang ma? shi de!

Day 4: Xi'an city walls, Forest of Stelae Museum 碑林博物馆 (Bēilín bówùguǎn), Great Mosque Xi'an 清真大寺(qīngzhēn dàsì )

10 minutes walking distance from hostel to the south gate.

They needed to wait for me to go back to the hostel since I left my student card there. Half-ticket price is 20 RMB!

 On the city walls

U can go cycling around the city wall. Bicycles are rented for 20 RMB per hour with 200 RMB deposit. We didn't do that. But we did silly things!

 Like these~~~

 After city walls we walked about 20 minutes to the forest of steale museum 碑林博物馆 (Bēilín bówùguǎn) . It holds over 1000 stone steale (tablets). We were looking for this tablet.

 Nestorian tablet, the earliest recorded account of Christianity in China. By the way visiting ticket is 22 RMB.

 Last tourist spot we went is the great mosque, I think the ticket is 20 RMB. It's interesting to see how the cultures are mixed here.

 They have some Chinese characteristic here and there while they also have Arabian characters on it. God, you are praised!

 This is their prayer hall.

In the afternoon K decided to take the plane fly back to Changsha. Me and W stayed with the train. We were ready to get on board until the lady shouted at me: "Your ticket is tomorrow ticket!"