Traveling around China has been easier than either of us had imagined especially after hearing some dodgy stories from travelers in Japan who had come here and left pretty quickly. We left our hostel behind early on the morning and headed to the bus station via the metro. Its a bit of a walk from the metro station to the long distance bus station so be prepared for a walk of around 15-20 minutes with rucksacks. We stopped off at some shops along the way and bought some breaded goods for the journey.

Boarding the bus we were excited to be finally heading off into the country and away from the masses of skyscrapers and crowds of people. The bus left on time and we settled down to a five hour journey. The roads in China are some of the most deadliest in the world with a statistic of 500 deaths a day related to road traffic incidents. This is clear to see from crossing the road, you take your own life into your hands, drivers have little patience for pedestrians or road signs, and over-taking on the smallest of roads with blind hairpins is a fun filled adventure every time. The bus driver on this journey loved to put his foot down and over-take anything and everything. One more thing, they don’t believe in seat belts!

We arrived safely after a few hours and were dropped off right outside the Koala Huangshan YHA. There are two hostels in Tunxi with Koala in their name, according to the map we set off in completely the wrong direction and did a big u-turn to end up back where we started when we got off the bus only to see the YHA right there. It’s a pretty cool building, although in the winter there is no heating and as the space is so vast in the communal areas it gets really chilly. Central heating doesn’t make it much further south than Beijing either so you’re always relying on hot water, air conditioning heating vents and electric blankets. We had a double room booked here and it was bloody freezing!

From the hostel we sorted out our trip to Huangshan Mountain. You can do this from the towns closer to the base of the mountain but there is a good rail and bus link to Tunxi so it’s easy enough to get your sleeper train from here. We had a pick up for the next morning at 7am and from there we would get to the drop off point for the mountain trek.

So up until leaving we had a half day or so in Tunxi and wandered into the town to take a look around. It has a very old part to the town with some tourist shops, but the buildings and alleyways are particularly attractive and fun to explore. We watched the sun set over the river whilst the local ladies washed their clothes at the waters edge and others were leaving their pak-choi to dry out. Over the road was a little cafe tucked nicely into a backstreet called The Ying Yang Cafe, it is recommended in The Lonely Planet and offers a fairly decent range of western and Chinese food. It was a little empty when we arrived but the food was good in the form of a vegetarian pizza and tuna pasta. We’re really looking forward to getting the hostels and guesthouses that have kitchens and or cooking areas as it sucks to have to pay for someone to make it for you!

Back at the hostel we got an early night in preparation for the Huangshan adventure the next day.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

As we are staying in a Hutong it makes sense document the way of life here. On the surface many of these alleyways look pre-historic and worn, but we know that inside they may be completely the opposite and often you will see a huge 40 inch TV screen through the window. There is always construction occurring throughout the Hutong area and it seems that the community are the one’s who get behind the backbone of the work. Washing is left to dry on the street and many still don’t have wash/toilet facilities so every 50 meters or so there are public toilets. There is a huge element of trust and respect in the Hutong, children safely play in the streets whilst old women chat on the corner selling oranges or dried fruit. The alleys are always busy and where we are staying we’ve noticed a games room of a night time packed with locals playing the local board game. We’re not sure what they’re doing but it sounds and looks like they’re having loads of fun. You can get good street food and since we’ve settled into out area we often get the nod from our service operators for the apartment block. This is certainly an experience we will never forget.

In contrast to this we have The Village in Sanlitun. If you’re ever feeling homesick as a westerner in Beijing this is the place to go, however it’s very easy to forget that you’re in China at all. The Village is a huge shopping, restaurant and apartment complex with stores ranging from Adidas through to Prada. Although parts of the Village are bustling with expats, at the northern end the designer stores seem to be lost in an architectural maze of glass, lights and space. We walked around one of the malls at 6pm and it was completely empty. We’d been to see the Frank Gehry exhibition, which we enjoyed and Helen enjoyed a new hair cut, afterwards we couldn’t stop ourselves from photographing the empty vast spaces that surround us. It all seems a little eery but also as if everyone is waiting for something to happen. The designer retail market hasn’t quite hit off over here yet but we’re sure that in the next few years Gucci will be frequented more and more as the capital grows.

So tradition and culture versus modern urban living? We don’t think we could live in a Hutong area all year round but it certainly has character, charm and atmosphere. The Village offers comfort but you could be anywhere in the world in a sterile shopping mall with lift music ringing in your ears. We would rather have the crude neon BBQ signs and locals riding around on bikes shouting to collect your rubbish. They are protecting the Hutong around the Forbidden City which is a relief to hear as this is where the history lies and where the real Beijing exists.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)