China Trip 2011 - Dreaming Dragon - Chinese Martial Arts

China Trip 2011 - Dragons in Heaven on Earth

Friday 10th June

This year’s touring party was a smaller group, consisting of Master Zhao Junhui, Yoyo, Dipen and Errol, who was making his first trip to China. We met up at Heathrow Airport and where we were bid farewell by Master Huang Ping who was unable to join the trip this year. An afternoon flight was taken heading for China.

Saturday 11th June

We arrived in Shanghai in the morning, and had lunch at the airport before taking an afternoon flight to Chengdu. After arriving in Chengdu in the evening, we were met at the airport by one of Master Zhao’s closest army student and friend, Yong Xian. Yong Xian was delighted to be seeing Dipen again as they had met on a previous trip to China. Yong Xian had been a wonderful host on the last trip…and he continued in the manner on this trip. After checking-in to our wonderful hotel…it has to be seen to be believed…we went to a special restaurant in the city where we had dinner with Yong Xian and his family in a private banqueting room. As is the usual custom, there was a lot of happiness and toasting with expensive rice wine…which got the better of one member of the group.

Sunday 12th June

After such a long and arduous journey the previous two days, today was about taking it easy and taking in some of the sites of the city. However, Dipen had to take a visit to a local hospital for check-up after a small incident, however, this did not dampen his spirits and he was back to normal by the evening. In the evening, after already having had dinner with Yong Xian in a delightful restaurant near the old town in Chengdu, we were whisked away at short notice for a second dinner of the night with some of Master Zhao’s former army students and their respective partners. More food and copious amounts of expensive rice wine was drank whilst reminiscing on old times and forging new friendships. Master Zhao had pre-warned that he had hundreds of army students all over South-West China…and so should expect more of these nights in the days ahead.

Monday 13th June

Early start this morning and a nice surprise lay in wait for Dipen who was greeted by his old friend Zhang Qing in the hotel lobby before breakfast. Zhang Qing lives in Kunming and had flown into Chengdu in the early hours of the morning to spend a few days with the Dreaming Dragon group. After breakfast, we started our long journey to Leshan, which was the home of Great Buddha Statue built on the side of a mountain overlooking a river…the tallest Buddha statue in the world. After lunch, we headed off to check-in to a beautiful hotel resort near Emei Mountain for an overnight stay. In the evening, we went to a beautiful restaurant on a boat docked at the river where we were met by Master Zhao’s former Army students who were to be our hosts for the evening. Some very special dishes were on the menu as well as much rice wine.

Tuesday 14th June

Early start again and after breakfast we were met by our beautiful local guide who was going to take us to Emei Mountain. We walked up the mountain for a part of the way before taking a cable car to go further up and then walked the rest of the way to summit. Along the way, we visited many Buddhist temples, and had many opportunities to feed the monkeys on this sacred mountain as well having the monkeys attempt to steal food and other items from us. At one stage one of the monkeys jumped on to Dipen’s shoulders and attempted to steal his watch…this caused much amusement for the rest of the group as they took photos. But there was no danger and the monkeys are harmless as long as you are not aggressive towards them. Much fun and laughter was had, especially when Dipen pretended to a blind beggar on a mountain path whilst local tourist walked by. After our visit to Emei Mountain we headed back to Chengdu where we had dinner with more former army students of Master Zhao at a lovely restaurant and we had more potent rice wine.

Wednesday 15th June

After breakfast we headed off to Dujiangyan (Irrigation Project of China). Near Dujiangyan is an old Daoist temple which we visited first. Afterwards we headed off to the main waterway at Dujiangyan which is the oldest and only surviving no-dam irrigation system in the world. It is scientifically designed to automatically control water flow of the rivers from the mountains to the plains throughout the year. Afterwards we set off on our journey to Qingcheng Mountain which is one of the most famous Daoist mountains in China. We walked part of the way up the mountain before taking a cable car to head further up the mountain. The rest of the journey to the summit of the mountain was made on foot visiting various Daoist temples on the way. We had much fun and laughter amongst ourselves during the climb up the mountain as well as conversing with local tourists in Chinese along the way. In the late afternoon we returned back to Chengdu had dinner at the same restaurant that we had visited on the first night we arrived in Chengdu.

Thursday 16th June

Today was going to be a bit of a lazy day. A relaxing morning was followed by lunch in a lovely restaurant in the heart of Chengdu with Yong Xian. This was followed by shopping in the afternoon in the city centre and in the old town…before heading back to hotel for a bit of rest. In the evening we had dinner with a army students, much expensive rice wine, arm-wrestling competition.

Friday 17th June

This morning we packed our luggage and left them with the concierge at our hotel. After breakfast we visited a village just outside of Chengdu. We popped into some large market stores to see some large plant and fish-keeping shops in the area. We had lunch at a magnificent restaurant owned by Yong Xian’s friend and afterwards we were given a tour of the village on a small bus by the Yong Xian’s friend before spending the rest of the afternoon lazing around there in the cooling breeze with many other city folk. In the late afternoon we headed back to Chengdu city centre for dinner with more of Master Zhao’s Army students and some rice wine…but not too much this time as we were flying out that night. After dinner we made our way to the airport where our luggage had been brought there by Army soldiers in an Army bus…we were definitely getting the VIP treatment!!! We said farewell to Yong Xian and boarded our flight to Kunming where we were met by Pom Ge and Tang Jun at the Airport at quite a late hour. We were whisked away to our hotel…and straight to bed.

Saturday 18th June

After all the traveling done in the past week or so, today was an easy relaxing day. We first visited the Buddhist temple in the heart of Kunming city, followed by shopping in the main shopping areas. After lunch, we visited one of the large market areas of Kunming. In the evening, we went to one of the famous restaurants in Kunming called Lao Fangzi (Old House) where we were met by more Master Zhao’s former Army students: Kai Long, Tong Liang and Tang Jun. We were also joined for dinner by Dipen’s friend, Yaoyao. A lot of expensive rice wine was drunk…and as usual, Errol was the last man standing by the end of a very, very, very long night.

Sunday 19th June

After getting to bed very late the night before, we were able to have a well-deserved long lie-in this morning. After breakfast, we had a pleasant surprise this morning as we were greeted in the hotel lobby by Jian Hua, who was an old Army friend of Master Zhao Junhui and who had flown in from Guizhou province to spend the rest of the trip with us. Jian Hua has become a friend of many who travel on our China trips and he always looks after us well. We all then headed off to a Dai ethnic group restaurant for lunch, before heading out towards the Western Hills to visit a beautiful and peaceful Buddhist temple set in the hills. This was then followed by a trip to a place we visited last year and an area run by Kai Long. This is a recreational area where you can indulge in roller-blading on grass as well as sledging on grass. We decided on the easier task of walking bare foot on grass in a protected area with Kai Long and many other Master Zhao’s friends. After a very, very long walk, Master Zhao decided that Dipen should give a Nan Quan and Chen style Tai Chi performance much to the delight of the rest of party. Dinner was held at a very large restaurant on this recreational complex and needless to say everyone had great fun.

Monday 20th June

This morning we started out on the long journey to Lugu Lake in a large jeep...road trip!!! We stopped for lunch in Dali where we were met by Master Zhao’s brother and also an old Army friend of his, Yang Men, who is a very high-ranking officer in the Chinese army. The restaurant was build in the middle of some open area in Dali and surroundings were very pleasant to the eye. After lunch we continued our journey towards Lijiang where we were treated to some breath-taking views of the country. This is an area known for it mountains and beautiful scenery. We had an overnight stay in a hotel in the Old Town of Lijiang and we had a walk around the Old Town where we sampled the food in the market and restaurant.

Tuesday 21st June

After breakfast we continued our journey towards Lugu Lake. Along the way, we were met halfway by friends of Jian Hua who took us to have lunch with local dignitaries, including the Head man of the area and as is the local custom, they slaughtered a pig and cooked it in honour of our arrival. After lunch we continued journey to Lugu Lake. As the road to Lugu Lake was difficult and treacherous at times, we were escort to Lugu Lake by two of the Jian Hua’s friends…and roads were indeed very treacherous!!! As we approached Lugu Lake we were met by Yang Jian Lin, who was a former soldier serving under Jian Hua back in their Army days. Jian Lin took us to a large restaurant situated just outside of the town where we had a banquet with local friends and dignitaries. After dinner we visited the Mosuo village and danced around a large bonfire with Mosuo girls who sang songs. Dipen sang a Chinese song much to surprise of the Chinese people, with Errol helping to clap along to the song. After the dance, we all headed off for a BBQ at Jian Lin’s restaurant on the edge of Lugu Lake. After more food and wine we walked 20 metres to our hotel which was also on the edge of Lugu Lake…nice!!!

Wednesday 22nd June

This morning the weather was glorious with bright sunshine and very warm. We spent the day visiting various places in and around Lugu Lake stopping over to take photos. We visited a nearby town which was actually just inside Sichuan as Lugu Lake is on the border with Sichuan province. In this town, there was an old Tibetan temple and we had friendly guide who explained the history of the temple. Afterwards we took a walk to visit the Walking Marriage Bridge over the local wetlands. We took a small boat with one of the local Mosuo women, who sang Mosuo folk songs while she rowed the boat on the wetlands. After a little while Yoyo and Jian Hua walked on top of the grassy areas on the wetland…Dipen and Errol declined to walk on this grassy area feeling that they may be too heavy and would fall through!!! After stopping for some lunch back at Jian Lin’ Sister’s restaurant we got ourselves a boat and we rowed on the Lugu Lake itself…a dream come true for Dipen!! We all took turns to row the boat whilst admiring the beautiful view of the banks of the lake. Having rowed back to the shore, we went off for another banquet held in our honour and hosted by Jian Lin’s friend. Another evening of delicious food and much toasting with rice ensued. And if that was not enough there was more food and rice wine at Jian Lin’s restaurant afterwards. Dipen and Errol partied with the Jian Lin and his friends, where songs were sang by all …and a martial arts demonstration performed by Dipen and Errol. There was an almighty electric storm over Lugu Lake that night…the view was incredible!!!

Thursday 23rd June

Due to the storm and heavy rain overnight, we set off back to Kunming at around 5:00AM as we knew the roads would be difficult and there would be much traffic of large trucks later in the morning. We stopped over at small town on the way back for lunch at a local family-run restaurant having noodles with the locals. We then continued our journey having lunch at a restaurant just outside of Lijiang. After lunch, we drove to Dali where we were to have an overnight stay at a hotel set in the Old Town of Dali. Later that night we had dinner with Yang Men and Dong Ree at a beautiful, traditional Bai people restaurant.

Friday 24th June

We spent the morning walking around the Old Town of Dali visiting many of the shops and stall there. In the afternoon we had lunch with Master Zhao’s brother’s friend and his family…as is the custom, there was load of delicious dishes to try. After lunch we started off on the final leg of our journey back to Kunming. We arrived in Kunming in the evening and head straight Zhang Qing’s home for a delicious home-cooked feast and lots of expensive tea…a perfect way to round off the day.

Saturday 25th June

After the long road trip of the past five days, today was going to be a relaxing day of more shopping followed by lunch in the city centre. After lunch we took a taxi to a health centre for massage where we were well looked after by the staff until early evening. After feeling so relaxed we decide to skip dinner and head back to hotel to sleep.

Sunday 26th June

We had lie-in this morning followed by packing our luggage after breakfast. Later we headed off for lunch at a Jin Po people restaurant with Jian Hua which was nice and relaxing. After lunch we went back to the hotel to pick up our luggage. As is the friendly custom of Master Zhao’s friends, we were escorted to airport by Jian Hua, Chen Jun and Zhang Qing. At the airport we said our farewells to our wonderful friends before boarding a plan to Shanghai and an overnight stay at a lovely Airport hotel.

Monday 27th June

We flew back to London feeling very contented with our experiences on this trip. This was Dipen’s ninth visit to China and he was already planning the itinerary for the following year’s trip. Errol was contemplating on re-visiting China much earlier than that as he had really enjoyed himself and learnt so much more about China. The Bad Boys would return again for sure!!!

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