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Arms across the galaxy
A huge alien figure, one arm outstretched, a single finger extended - almost beckoning. Perhaps a subtle metaphor for the alienated soul of the Chinese giant finally reaching out to the rest of the world. Or then again, perhaps not. |
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The World's Biggest Buddha!
Hewn into the living rock of Leshan, the 71 metre-high sandstone colossus took a century to complete. This chap's big toe alone is 8.5 metres long and his finger nails a whopping 1500 millimetres. Zowee, fact fans! |
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Riding the Asian Tiger
Hmm, don't think you've quite understood the meaning of that phrase, Magnus. |
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A snack, Sichuan style!
Sichuan is famous for its spicy food so what better than a 'sampler' banquet at its best restaurant? A massive 40 dishes later, weighing approximately the same as a pair of fully matured beluga whales we staggered out, waving away the kind offer of a 'waffer thin mint' as we went... |
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The future of the Giant Panda
At a nature reserve dedicated to the survival and breeding of the Panda, we met this little chap, who Cheryl officially named 'oochy-cutie'. There's only 1000 left in the wild, spread over 30 isolated areas of ever shrinking habitat. We saw hope for the future: adults munching on bamboo, kids frolicking (trying to hump trees unfortunately, not each other - no wonder they're on the verge of extinction!) and a new born litter kept in incubators. Will there be any habitat to reintroduce these little guys into in 10 years time though? |
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'Rock the boat (don't rock the boat, baby)'
Cheryl tries to work out how she got the boat fully wedged between rocky outcrops. A free copy of the Just 17 Christmas Annual 2005 for the reader who can guess how Cheryl managed to escape this terrible fix. |
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Here's one I made earlier
Cheryl goes crazy in the kitchen at a Sichuan cookery course. Spicy kung pao chicken, red-hot crackling rice, sweet 'n' sour pork and steamed eggplant were concocted on a blazing wok with an aplomb and finesse that surprised all concerned. Now for the hard bit, trying to reproduce those results back home... |
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And to think, in some countries these dogs are eaten...
China being a case in point. Everywhere we looked cute pooches scampered round their masters, blissfully unaware that one wrong move (or the advent of the second half of the lunar month which according to superstition renders munching on deep fried Fido lucky) could well bring the call to 'fetch' the stick from the kitchen for that fateful final time... In deference to Mr. Tubbs, Misty and her offspring we declined this one rare delicacy. |
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'Moon Hill, Off to see the world, There's such a lot of world to see...'
The gorgeous karst limestone peaks of Yangshuo, framed by the natural geological strangeness of Moon Hill's giant arch. |
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'Row, row, row the (bamboo) boat, gently down the stream'
Continuing the inexplicable musically titled section of the site, we drifted downstream on the Jinbao He river on a bamboo raft while munching on sugar cane. Weirs were navigated by flying right over the top of them at maximum speed and crashing into the river below on the other side. There had been no fatalities in the previous 6 months we were not very reassured to hear from our guides. |
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'Could this be, the most beautiful place in the world?'
Stunning scenery, great weather and the bringing in of the harvest going on in the fields all around us. This place is really pushing Carlops too close to call - yep, it's going to have to go to the judges... |
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