The next two weeks are as we drive across China! 6000 km of the 21000km are going to be as we cut across China!

Interesting fact: China geographically crosses through 5 different time zones, because it is such a wide country. But, they adapt only one time zone (Beijing time zone) to avoid confusion.

Day 32: Jinghong

We had got to the China border from Laos. The day was dragging on and on at the immigration control. We were trying to pull ourselves together….. ‘Enough of the drama, now!’

Ni Hao!!!! WoooooHoooo! Get ready for China, Ninni!

WoooHooo (again)! We had crossed the border – the hardest one so far! It took us 8 hours to get through. I really couldn’t have done it without playing dumb charades with my gang.

Day 33: Kunming

Travelling on one of the highest bridges of the world – The Grand Bridge of the Red River – was thrilling. Seeing picturesque sceneries was amazing. Driving on narrow mountain roads …. not so great!

Check the video out – whilst we were travelling on one of the world’s highest bridge!

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The good … in fact fabulous news was that for the first time ever, we reached our destination in daylight hours. (We have been driving everyday for 12+ hours – we normally hit the road by 8 am and get to the night halt between 8-9pm) On top of that, I also began a new year of my life! Yes, I turned a whole year older!

Day 34: Xichang

Today, we saw this place called ‘The Earth Forest’. Not much of earth, but more like cliff formations. It is caused by earth movement and erosion. It takes the form of pillars which from a distance give the impression of a forest. The tallest of this cliff formation is 40 metres high. They are between one and two million years old.

What a beauty it was!

Day 35 & 36: Chengdu

On our way to Chengdu, we saw a colossal Buddha in sitting position.  254 feet high, more than 1200 years old and carved out of the mountains!

Finally, we had a break after 9 days of continuous driving of 12+ hours almost every day. Celebration times, come on!

On day 36, a bit after midnight, my mama (mummy’s brother) gave us a surprise visit. He came super early in the morning. So, I hid behind the sofa because I was wondering who would come at this time of the night! :_( Nana and Tai were so happy to see him.

I got a lie in as it was our rest day. In the morning, I literally cried (in happiness) because I was told that we were going to see cute and adorable fur balls of  black and white. Yes, I am talking about giant pandas!

After a lovely day with the pandas, I better have a good night’s sleep because tomorrow is going to be one long day!

Day 37 and a bit of Day 38: Ruoergai

Today, it was a 13.5 hour drive plus 3 hours extra. As I mentioned earlier, we usually start at 8 am (though nana, tai and me were ready to roll by 7.30 🙂 ). Some of the others in the gang took an hour longer, so we left by 8.30 (8.32 to be precise!) The extra 3 hours was because of the breaks and some sightseeing that was planned. We visited a dam – Dujiangyan Irrigation System. One of the three oldest projects in china – about 100 years older than the ‘Great Wall of China’.

After visiting the irrigation system, we had country roads all the way through. On a highway, it would  have taken us only 7 hours. But, it took us 13 hours because of the narrow, winding country roads.

And on the way, there were my favourite type of mountains – SNOW mountains! It was snowing very heavily by the time we reached the hotel. We reached Ruoergai at 1 am and I got only 5 hours of sleep! Back on the road at 8 am, the next day!

Most of Day 38: Xining

Snowball fight – Part ONE!

So, in the morning, we woke up to this place -Ruoergai – at the top of a mountain full of snow. We had some sing-along Hindi songs in the freezing cold and to our surprise, some chinese people in the parking lot started recording us. We asked them to sing some Chinese songs for us. We got two volunteers! It was so much fun!  Check this video out.

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Then even more thrilling was that we had a snowball fight! Yay!!!  And we, also made a snow man!

Day 39: Jiayuguan

Snowball fight; returns!

We had another snowball fight. This time (don’t ask me why), I threw so many snowballs without any gloves on and my fingers went numb!

Today, was a landmark day for us! Check this video out and you would know why:

The last 48 hours, I have seen all sorts of mountains and ever-changing gorgeous landscapes. We went from this….

Ending this week’s blog on another interesting fact:

80% of the world’s pandas are bred at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Chengdu.

Until next time!

-Ninni

P.S.: I am fundraising for head and neck cancer rehabilitation and YOU can make a difference by donating on my Just Giving page. I have currently raised £2290.48 (until 2nd May).

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