Teppanyaki

Because the guys had been such great friends and were caring so much about me when I was sick in Tibet, I decided to invite them to dinner once they had gotten back. We went to a Teppanyaki restaurant.

Unfortunately, Flo is taking this picture, therefore he is not in it:

There is a cook in each room who cooks the food in front of the guests. At this restaurant you pay 150RMB per person and get an all you can eat and drink dinner. Depending on how much you eat/drink, this can be a very good deal ;) We usually start with Sushi and then eat almost everything that they have got on their menu. Here is the Chinese guy who was cooking for us that night:

It’s really fun to watch him cook! I like the atmosphere and the variety of food which you can get. There are all kinds of seafood, steak, vegetables, etc. available and of course the fried banana with ice cream at the end is a good finish for the night.

Since you usually don’t eat rice, noodles or potato, it seems like you can keep eating forever. Well, actually just until 11pm because that’s when they close. After dinner we went to sing Karaoke with some other Germans who we had met at the same restaurant. Great night!

IN: Good food combined with nice people

OUT: This kind and amount of food is going to be very expensive once I get back to Germany :)

Beijing #2

After staying in bed for two days recuperate I decide to go to Beijing again. I didn’t make it to the Great Wall on my first trip and that’s one of the things which I really wanted to see while I am in China. Besides, my three German friends are still in Tibet at that time and I am jealous because they are travelling and I’m not. I don’t want to go by myself so I call a friend who I had met in Beijing during my first trip and who also wants to go to do this trip.

There is more than one place where you can see the Wall and go hiking, but the one that we pick is supposed to be the least touristic. It is a 10km hike from Jinshanling to Simatai. We take the public bus from Beijing, but after the final stop we have to change into a “black taxi”. It is not really a taxi, just a minibus with a driver who is going to take us to the entrance of the Great Wall. Then he is going to wait for us at the exit and take us back to the bus stop. After a little bargaining, we take off and the hiking can begin.

The weather is not as clear as it was supposed to be, but there are still some nice views!

The hiking feels good. I like it especially because there is almost nobody there with us. Unfortunately, some Chinese people decide to walk with us. They probably only want to sell stuff, but they explain a few things about the Wall and its history. And they take a few pictures of the three of us.

Sarah, Tobi and Anne (my friend who is studying in Beijing)

By the way, it is St. Nicholas’ Day today. That’s why Sarah is wearing the hat. On the way, we stop for a German “Brotzeit”. I have brought some bread from the German bakery in Shanghai. We all love it and the cheese and sausage.

Some parts of the Wall are rebuilt and look very new. But the further we go, the less of the Wall is restored. I like that a lot more, because it looks more authentic. In the next picture you can see the difference between old and new.

At the end of our walk, we see a nice rope bridge which we have to use in order to cross a little valley. I am very glad to have come here. This hike was not very tough, but definitely worth going there!

Once back in Beijing, we meet up with another friend and eat at a Korean restaurant. It’s my first time and I really like the food and the company of my friends.

On the next day, I go out sightseeing on my own. There are a few things which I wasn’t able to see during my last visit. One of them is Beijing underground. It is a city [Lonely Planet description]. Sounds very interesting, but unfortunately it is closed. I do have a chance to see the Lama Temple, though, but it is not as impressive as I had expected. Maybe that is because I have seen much better ones in Tibet. Here is a picture:

In the evening, I meet the other guys and we have dinner and desert together. That’s the end of this trip. My flight leaves in the morning and I have to go back to university.

Tobi, Dian, Anne and Sarah after eating doughnuts for desert. Yummy!

IN: spontaneous travelling

OUT: having to go back to Shanghai because of university classes and upcoming exams

Tibet

On Saturday, November 28th, the four of us finally enter the so-called “Tibet Express”. After lots of preparation, comparing prices, getting the permission to go and buying the train tickets, the longest train ride that I have ever been on begins. The train goes from Shanghai to Lhasa (about 4340 km) and it takes around 51 hours. There are a few stops on the way, but only every four or five hours.


We have got a “hard-sleeper” ticket. This means that there are 6 beds in one compartment and each ticket costs some 80 Euros. It feels good to have so much free time. During the day I read and play games with the other guys, eat instant noodles and talk to Chinese people who are very interested in the four German students. After about 30 hours we stop in Golmund (2890m above sea level) and the railway locomotive is being changed.


From here on, the landscape is breathtaking. Whenever I look out of the window, it amazes me and I take a few pictures.



No more trees at this altitude...


On the way, the train goes over a pass at an altitude of 5000m. I begin to get tired during the day, a headache is on its way and I start feeling sick. While the other guys are feeling fine, my body is not doing great. My stomach is not feeling well and it gets worse, but I think you don’t need to hear any details.
Once we have arrived in Lhasa, I feel a little better. There is a driver to pick us up and this is the first time for me that someone is waiting for me with my name written on a sign :) He takes us to our hostel where we are going to stay for the next two days. Unfortunately, the heating system doesn’t work very well and there is no hot water in the shower.
In the morning we meet our Tibetan guide. He is a very nice guy and knows a lot about Tibet, its culture, history and Buddhism. His English is also a lot better than expected and we all like him. We start our sightseeing at the Yokhang Temple and afterwards go to the Sera Monastery.


Although I am feeling sick again, I really like what I see and I am happy to be here.


People praying:

Here are a few more pictures which I took in Lhasa:


Prayer wheels next to a temple:


Busy life in the streets of Lhasa...


The Potala Palace:


We go on a short hike around a monastery which – although it is only a few kilometers long – is killing me. My body doesn’t feel normal, everything is exhausting and my headache is not going away. Something has to be wrong and I guess it is the acute mountain sickness. The symptoms match 100%. Here is what Wikipedia says: “Altitude sickness, also known as acute mountain sickness (AMS), altitude illness, hypobaropathy, or soroche, is a pathological effect of high altitude on humans, caused by acute exposure to low partial pressure of oxygen at high altitude. It commonly occurs above 2,400 metres (8,000 feet). (…)” If you have never experienced it yourself or never even heard of it, you should read about it. Maybe that will help you understand the next part.
Once we are back at the hostel, the other guys want to get some food, but I’m not hungry. I need to lie down and sleep. When they come back, I feel so bad that we all decide that I should go to the hospital and get some oxygen for one hour. It’s very cheap and it turns out help a lot. However, I am still worried about myself at that time. And of course, I do want to keep staying in Lhasa and then towards Mount Everest Basecamp as we had planned it. During the next night, I cannot sleep at all and in the morning we decide that it is best for me to go home. I am too weak to pack my bag and just getting dressed is almost too big of a task. I have to go to the hospital again in order to get more oxygen into my body. It will get dangerous very fast if I stay at this altitude much longer. That’s why my friends book the next flight to Shanghai for me while I enjoy my oxygen treatment.
They escort me to the airport, I take my last picture (see below) and am very disappointed that I have to return home early. Once I am in the airplane, I go to sleep and after changing flights and getting back to Shanghai, I feel a lot better. Still, it was the right decision and I don’t regret it.


A picture taken from the airplane:



The guys went almost all way to the Mount Everest Basecamp and brought back the left bottle. They had closed it at the high altitude and it is a great way to show the pressure difference between the bottom of Mount Everest (left) and Shanghai (right). Now I understand why my body was going crazy.


IN: Andi, Flo and Sven. Thank you so much for you help and for caring about me when I needed it!
OUT: AMS (acute mountain sickness)

The Bund

Hey everyone,

before I start writing about the Bund in Shanghai, I need to say I'm sorry that I haven't written anything in such a long time! There was a lot going, but now I want to concentrate on writing a bit more and especially more frequently. My girlfriend Josi was here to visit me in January and we have had a great time in China, Thailand, and Hongkong. However, I would like to catch up with everything else first, before I am going to write about the most recent trips.
Hannah, a friend – whom I had met in Beijing – came for a visit last year. Together with her mother she spent a few days in Shanghai. On one night we went out to a bar at the Bund and of course I also want you to be able to enjoy the view from up there – enjoy! (Sorry for the bad quality...)

The Bund:


Pudong:


Flo, Sven, Tobi and Hannah:


Nice cocktails:



IN: Shanghai's Skyline
OUT: high prices at places with a nice view