Wednesday 14 September 2016

Day 775-805: Luoyang to Qingdao, China

An ancient capital of several dynasties

The gate into old town








nice bike?

















Scribbles on the wall that says: Your whole family die if you pee outside my door

Artwork on wood burnt by fire






Free entry - Zhougong Temple dedicated to Duke of Zhou (周公)








Interesting family tree... are you his descendants?



The folks favourite past time... playing mahjong on the street

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Longmen Grottoes - here you'll find thousands of Buddhist rock carvings dating back to the 5th century. The entrance fee was too expensive and I figured a way to get a view for free :)













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Night food market

Bu Fan Soup, with more than 120yrs of history.
Yes, Luoyang people are fond of various kinds of soup.
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This wonton soup is soooo good... you can trace its history back to 160yrs...

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I was in Luoyang just because I needed to sort out my visa extension which was hardwork.
Cost RMB160... I had to stay at an officially registered place on the day of my application, itinrary required (hand written is sufficient), open a bank account and banking USD100per day for the length of your required extension.. so if its 30days, you'll need to bank in USD3000. It was a nightmare opening a bank account especially being a foreigner with their system not recognising foreign passport... glad a native friend help with lending me the money and after 5 working days I got my extension. Also thanks to the hostel owner who became friends and charge me next to nothing and even take care of my meals!

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Breakfast! Trying the last Luoyang's speciality before leaving the city for good...

I met her in Zhenzhou..bubbly young girl in her early twenties who secretly came out to travel on her own for the first time but unfortunately her mum found out and she had to end her trip and take the train home... Her dream is to travel and I hope she don't stop trying...
Its pretty common in China that parents restrict their children this way as they felt the world is a dangerous place

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 Another capital of 8 anient dynasties

 Drying peanuts by the road...



 Under a bridge














 Peanut cake - made here in Kaifeng for more than thousand year


 The biggest mooncake I ever seen



 Bookstore street


















Chrysanthemum is the city flower... if you like chrysanthemum tea, you'll find a huge selection of different varieties of chrysanthemum to choose from









 I was lucky to meet the owner of Trek bike shop who took me out for dinner to try Kaifeng's local delicacies

 Kaifeng steaming dumpling is said to be the best....

 Thanks to Trek lady boss my belly was full up... it was pleasure eating with them with her explaining each dish to me

 Night market

 Restaurant serving bbq Donkey meat

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 The hometown of Confucius








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Once a German territory.
At last.... arrived at my last stop!

 Fire wood court, now turned into food alleys



 Real pearls!





 I can never get enough of it... fresh beer!


 Pouring tea this way... a traditional skill to master






 Abalone







 Popular wedding shot location





 This is how you buy beer in Qingdao.. weighing the plastic bag full of beer

 Nice to smell the sea again....after Iran I have been inland till now




 Zhan Qiao, Qingdao's icon





My kind of breakfast with my favorite beancurd

 The first thing I did when I arrived was to treat myself to some beer and seafood...afterall its my final destination in China

My last night in Qingdao... thanks to the friends who whipped up this table full of yummilicious food! 

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 Onboard the ferry after much hardwork.... I had to carry the loaded bike onto a bus that merely did a turnaround to get to the other side of the road to board the ship... they wouldn't let me roll just a few steps across the road... then to get on board the ship I have to carry the loaded bike up many steps and more steps but luckily some helpful Mongolian men lend a hand... I just don't want to think about the same process of getting off the ship *faints*


Waited for hours onboard before departure...
Korea... here I come! After nearly 4months in China, getting to a new country really excites me!



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