Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,

With seventy two days before you to play,
Where does one begin the 2011 'Beers N Noodles’ Adventure?
Once again my time has ended in my beloved Shaowu city school.
It is therefore time to find a new school and move to a new province in which to play.

Even though I have already started my summer vacation I decided to rest for a few days and slowly ride through the surrounding mountains and rice fields to reflect the year gone. I actually still have no idea where to travel so as always a first destination continues to elude me. As both Lisa and Catrine are flying out from the Wuyishan airport I decided to tag along and see if it helps flick the ‘travel switch’ in my head.

I know most people are thinking, ‘why don’t you just buy a bloody ticket to anywhere!’
I don’t actually travel that way, I mean I could just as almost anyone could.

I though, usually travel by Theme or Minority etc, for example last summer it was the Miao and Dong Minority Peoples from Hunan, Guizhou and Guangxi Provinces along with their Wind and Rain Bridges. Winter break this year was the Mindong Region of Fujian Province which is considered the ‘birthplace’ of the Fujian people and from where many families in Taiwan originated along with their dialect come from. Last winter it was Guangdong and the later generations of the ancient Fujian Hakka Peoples along with the wealth they returned home with from building railroads in countries such as America and Canada.

So this year I am simply waiting for a little spark of direction.

Thursday night, after a cramped ride due to both Lisa and Catrine having all of their belongings with them we arrived at Wuyishan airport where we said a sad ‘Seeya Later Mate’ to Lisa. After being away for three years (two and a half years in South Korea and half a year here in China) Lisa was finally returning back to London where sadly she will have to get a ‘real job’.

Friday and Saturday I introduced Caterine to Wuyishan ‘Eddakath’ style.
A huge day walking followed by a relaxing bamboo raft ride.
Evenings spent down at Beer & BBQ Street.

As I always come to Wuyishan with ‘First Timers’ I usually do the same huge walk followed by the bamboo raft ride the following day. So Sunday I decided was going to be a day spent going to and doing as many new things as we could possibly squeeze into one day and out of our wallets. After hiring a taxi for the day we were soon on our way to ancient Xiamei Village (blog to follow). We then sped across the country side to climb the beautiful Qinglong Waterfall (pictures for this blog) and then half drowned ourselves smashing our way down through the Longchuan Grand Canyon in a circular rubber raft.

Qinglong Waterfall

Found twenty kilometers from Wuyishan the Qinglong waterfall, (Green Dragon Waterfall) is located to the west of Grand Canyon Park and is supposedly the ‘Number One’ waterfall in East China. It is forty meters across, cascades downhill from a height of one hundred and twenty meters above and has a total length of over two hundred meters. After a steep yet short climb, at the top of the hill can be found an abandoned Silver Mine in which you can lose yourself in for an hour or so.

The Longchuan Grand Canyon

 The Longchuan Grand Canyon is twenty one kilometers away from the Wuyishan Tourist area and from what I can gather is a new addition to the Wuyishan area. There is a lot you can do in the new area but due to trying to squeeze as much in as possible in one day we chose the rafting which as I have already written above, would have been much more fun after more rain. When we weren’t stuck on rocks and actually in the raft we actually had a blast. During each downwards section you become the little silver ball in a pinball machine and are sent spinning and bouncing around smashing into the huge boulders on either side.

All the while giggling like insane taxi drivers speeding out of control.
Well worth money and time it takes to get there.

Here is what the Chinese have to say about the area: The moment you step into this canyon world, you enter a realm of gardens and waterfalls. Ancient trees with giant vines entwined thrusts into the sky. Elegant water fountains runs along the rugged surface of the mountains. Silvery water curtains bounce off the mountain just to reflect the colorful sunshine. All makes you feel you have entered a fairy land and you can go there any time of the year.

The Xiamei Ancient tea Village Adventure

Xiamei, a small village nestled in the mountains six kilometers east of Wuyishan City in southeastern China’s Fujian Province, is historically considered to be the starting point of the Ancient Tea Road. See my next blog for photos and a complete historical description.

The Eddakath Wuyi Mountain Tea & Temple Walk (In Black & White)
Click the above for one of my Wuyi Walking Adventures

Wuyi Mountain area is said to combine the uniqueness of Huangshan Mountain, the elegance of the Guilin peaks and the grandeur of Mount Tai. Apart from the natural scenery, Wuyi Mountain area contains many historic sites. Suspended planks and boat-shaped coffins can still be seen on the precipices on both banks of the Nine Bend Stream and on the northern side of the mountains. From the Qin and Han dynasties, Taoists and necromancers visited the area to preach their doctrines. More than three hundred monasteries, towers and pavilions were built, and over seven hundred inscriptions carved into the red rocks.

The Jiuquxi River, Nine Twists Bamboo Raft Adventure
Click the above for one of my bamboo rafting adventures

The river originates from the southwest foot of Huang Gang Peak, which is the main peak of Wuyishan. It has nine twists, hence its name, Jiuquxi River (Nine-Bend River). The total length of the river is nine and a half kilometers running through an area of eight and a half square kilometers. Short as it is, the river journey is far beyond picturesque and every twist does actually offer a new and breathtaking scene.

There are only two photos of the rafting adventure (the one with the triangle houses and the next one) as I wanted to save my camera and not drown it. This doesn't happen often but within the first few minutes I was glad I left it with our trusty taxi driver.

Beers N Noodles toya…..shane
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The soundtrack to this entry was by The Dave Graney Show
The album was ‘Heroic Blues’
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