Returning home from a lovely, hot, sunny, relaxing week on the beautiful island of Tenerife, it got me thinking of past holidays and those yet to come.

We have been lucky enough to have had some wonderful times in some amazing places.

We started our adventures in China. In 1999 there were few Western visitors and we were quite a novelty.  Fortunately our friends lived there and could advise us and show us around. We started our journey in Beijing. The roads were gridlocked with cars and smog. Then there were the bikes. Amazing, rows and rows of them parked up while people went about their daily business. We were stopped a couple of times whilst visiting the Forbidden City, by locals wanting photos with the odd people. I wonder if our photos are still out there somewhere.

Tiananmen Square was closed in preparation for the parades to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Peoples Republic of China. We visited one of the local markets, where there was live food on sale. I was quite taken aback whilst looking at one of the stalls and a fellow shoppers bag started hopping passed me! My friend advised me that it contained live toads or frogs 🐸  to be taken home for dinner. In the evening we visited a local restaurant where customers could choose the fish they fancied from a fish tank which spanned the length of one wall. No sooner had the fish been chosen than it was caught cooked and served on their plate. I struggled with the use of chop sticks, so carried a knife and fork in my bag, otherwise I would have starved. We visited another restaurant where we ordered fish stew, and were faced with a bowl full of frilly slug like objects. 🐌 🤢 We the ordered Peking duck, we couldn’t go wrong with that, could we?…… Yep a whole duck, head, brain, feet and all was served, sliced straight down the middle and opened up. No pancakes or hoi sin sauce!

A friend who had joined us on our Chinese adventure, decided he’d like to buy a new pair of shoes. We found a shop and within minutes he was surrounded by all the female shop attendants. It was hilarious, we couldn’t understand why they were fussing so much. Our Chinese speaking friend went in to find out the problem and it turned out that they were amazed at the size of his feet. It appears Chinese men don’t have size ten feet!

The experience had obviously boosted our friends confidence, as later that evening in a bar, the normally very reserved man was dancing on the tables with one of the local girls.

We decided to head to Xian to see the famous Terracotta Army. It was an overnight train journey. Our friend suggested we travel via hard sleeper, which we found was carriages full of three tier hard bunk beds. The top one was so close to the ceiling I had to climb the ladder and slither along to the pillow. There was no turning over in the night. The toilet facilities were a hole in the floor with a handle either side to steady you. The buffet service was quite minimal and mainly consisted of noodles. However it was all very friendly and our friend ended up playing cards on the bottom bunks with some of our travelling companions. There was no staying up late though as around nine the military music started playing and the lights went off.

It was all worth it to visit the site where the Terracotta Army had been located. It was a very quiet and moving exhibition. Although its a relatively small site, we spent quite some time in awe of these life size statues.

We also found a KFC in Xian, so filled up with a meal of something we vaguely recognised. We couldn’t read menus in most of the restaurants and cafes as very few had English translations. We found one café that did and were eager to find out what was on offer, until I was confronted by cow face pie. I’m sure it would have been delicious, but I just couldn’t.

Then there was a trip to the Great Wall. We were going to have a toilet stop before we started the climb, but couldn’t face the thought of more holes in the floor! Although it was quite a hike to the top of the wall, and it was a very hot day, it was such a breath taking view. A-m-a-z-i-n-g. You can’t imagine how it was built all that time ago. The skies were clear and you could see for miles and miles.

There was only a fairly short section that you could walk along, but despite the heat we did it and it was so worth it.

It is somewhere I would love to re visit. I’m sure the cities have changed immensely since the Beijing Olympics, but the wonderful historic buildings and sites will still be just as amazing.

Whilst lazing by the pool in Tenerife, we contemplated taking a world cruise, which would incorporate not only a trip to China, but some of the other beautiful places we have been lucky enough to visit, plus lots more wonders of the world.

After writing this blog I think, maybe it needs to moved up the list of possibilities. 🚢