THE LAST MUST SEE - PHENOMENAL CHINA

Just back from China, which was fabulous.  Tiananmen Square fascinating even without the tanks. The Great Wall was great, old China still exists (the Houtongs in Beijing and French Concession in Shanghai.  My preference was Beijing. District 798 which sounds like something out of Solent Green, was wonderful, what Covent Garden would like to be, but a creative hub right in the heart of a city with 20 million population. Never did I feel the place was  crowded or felt suffocated, something I usually do when I go to central London.   Phenomenal history.   The Forbidden City, with it's 8700 rooms plus, 24 Emperors, 3700 concubines, and approx 8 - 10000 population left me awe struck. The black and white pix of the last (child) Emperor were hypnotic as were the pix of the Dowager Empress - known as the Dragon Lady because she had a level of ruthlessness which makes our own businessmen look like Andy Pandy. She was a grade A bitch, but she had to be to deal with the male dominated environment in which she was born.  She killed off three emperors including her own son because they threatened to have minds of their own, thereby I suppose with one swoop turning the tables on the male race for once.   See how they liked it!

The Great Wall is in fact a huge tomb, filled with millions of bodies of slaves and prisoners who died building it.    I'm told the crowd usually make it a difficult trek but if you join it at the right place you'll miss the traffic, and go up by chair lift, down by toboggan and still be able to bargain for chopsticks for a fraction of the price they were originally offered (in my case  4th).

Visited the drum tower, where we listened to six guys play huge drums and learnt how they could tell the time in those days (by use of a water clock)   - I've attached pix.

Special thanks to Frank who showed us round the Houtongs and was an excellent guide. Trishaws around the narrow streets, and watching the locals play Mahjong and practice tai chi and the women crochet little pagodas and visiting the market selling 100 year old eggs which are only a couple of years old, smell of ammonia but taste fine (ish).

Tried fish lung soup and sea cucumber but not snake or dog.  (the dogs are not scrawny things, they look unnervingly like the dog I'm looking after at the moment (Beethoven cute and gorgeous), but with more meat on. They tell you everything makes you beautiful, stronger and is brilliant for the skin so people eat it, even if it does taste and look odd. But the vegetable dumplings I tried in Shanghai were amazing.

Wouldn't touch Chinese food here if you paid me to, but in China, it is some of the best food I have tried in the world. It's clever, not prissy and beautiful. Not as much ceremony as the Japanese nor as fragrant or subtle as the Thai, but clever. And they eat everything.  My favourite is Indian food in India  but I'd be happy to frog hop from India to China and back again to sample some of their amazing ingredients.

The Chinese are also brilliant at fakes.  I didn't buy a handbag but the women I went with know their designer handbags and I almost bagged a £1000 purple clutch for £50 which cost £1500, but I didn't want or need it, so I didn't get it.   I got a Longchamp lookalikee because I needed something to carry the chopsticks in. I paid £5 but am told it's £150 here.  I think it was a Longchamp just without the certification.

Saw largest wooden Buddha in the world, actually possibly the largest Buddha in the world.   Monks make sure people don't take pix when you are at the Lama Temple where it's situated, but it looms up into the dark anyway, so get postcards.

Went on the fastest train in the world from Beijing to Shanghai - 430kph or 280 miles her hour, five hours 655 miles.  Incredible.   We were on time.

Shanghai is another Hong Kong, but why do you need another one when you have the original.  But we toured using 30s vintage style motorbikes with side cars.    Fascinating and fun especially around the French Concession but you are exhaust fume height for the main roads.    Architecture fascinating.

My lasting impression.   The culture and history of this country makes America look like a superficial, shallow spoilt brat of a country.   They like their power, they know how to get it, and learn fast.   They will end up far better at capitalism than the West. But I hope they don't let go of the past. It's fascinating to visit.

Full reports in the Richmond magazine in July, August and September and in The Steeples Times.