What an interesting country, culture and people!
I’ve been travelling to Asia for 30 years but had spent very little time in China, so my plan for this trip was to cover the highlights and fine tune my sense of what is most important for a 1st time visit to China.
I’ve been travelling to Asia for 30 years but had spent very little time in China, so my plan for this trip was to cover the highlights and fine tune my sense of what is most important for a 1st time visit to China.
Beijing is an 11 ½ hr flight from Vancouver, so checking with your travel agent about all the options like premium economy and upgraded seats is a good idea.
Standards may be different than expected. Hotels should be chosen carefully, some claim
3-4 or even 5 star ratings may not be what we normally expect. Some inconvenience may be necessary to
experience the unique culture.
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| Homes along the River |
Beijing is the capital of China and home to
11.5 million people. I think you need a
minimum of 3 days to visit the highlights.
We started at Tiananmen Square which stood out mostly for the extreme
crowds of Chinese tourist. Across the
road, the Forbidden City is much more interesting but expect long queues and a
lot of pushing. Pushing is like a
national sport, done in good humour. Despite
that, the Forbidden City is worth the effort and a truly impressive World
Heritage site.
Check out the following links.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/tianan.htm
Check out the following links.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/tianan.htm
I really enjoyed the Temple of Heaven, a
temple in a large park. I especially liked
watching all the elderly people practice Tai Chi. The park is very well used and a must visit.
We visited the Badaling part of the Great
Wall. This is one of the most popular
sections of the Wall and painfully busy.
Climbing the Great Wall is a moving experience but I’d recommend a tour
that visited some less popular section.
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| The busy, busy Badaling section of the Great Wall |
The Bird Nest Stadium and the Water Cube Aquatic Center were also on our itinerary. Both are impressive buildings but sadly they aren’t used and are saved to proudly show tourists. I thought it was a waste of time.
A Pedi cab ride through Hutong was
interesting. The homes are several
hundred years old, simple and clean but worth millions because they are in the
heart of Beijing. I found some very good
tours that can be booked in advance and include the Pedi cab ride as well a
visit to one of these most interesting family homes.
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| Visiting an old home in Beijing |
The food in Beijing was really good,
especially if you avoid the restaurants catering to large tourist groups. We
liked the jianbing pancake, a must try street vendor food and a Beijing specialty
found in many places in China. It’s a very thin large crisp fried crepe stuffed
with eggs, fried wonton, cilantro and several other ingredients plus hoisin and
chili sauces cooked on a large cast-iron grill.
We took a 2 hour flight to Yichang to join
our Yangtze River ship. Our cabin was
nice, on the third deck with a nice balcony.
They called it a 5 star ship but I’d give it 4 if I was being very
generous. The food was OK and the
variety was good. The 7 days cruise was
fascinating. We visited a different city
or new site every day including the huge Yangtze River Three Gorges Dam, the
largest hydroelectric project in the world.
Though an incredible feat, the tour is unbelievable annoying because of
all the individual tour leaders, yelling over megaphones to describe the
dam. It is worth doing but be prepared
for throngs of tourist and incredible noise.
Going through the three river gorges was a real highlight of our
trip. Seeing ancient coffins hung on the
cliff walls displayed cultural meaning dating back over 2,000 years. It was also amazing to find out how many
people were displaced and seeing the new cities constructed on the river banks,
with many empty condos waiting for people to come to live.
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| A view along the Yangtze River |
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| A model of the dam |
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| Panda in the Chongquing Zoo |
After disembarking our ship we took a bus to Chongqing and the zoo to see the pandas. It was even better than I expected. The animals were in great shape and there was lots of natural habitat. Chongqing is a beautiful mountain/river city with lots of vegetation and flowers. It’s hard to believe it’s a city of 34 million people.
We flew to Shanghai and were met by our
guide for the 1 ½ hrs drive to Suzhou.
We visited Tiger Hill with its leaning pagoda and the Lingering Garden
and really enjoyed both.
Our final destination was Hangzhou and we
stayed out of the downtown core in a walkable neighborhood to better connect
with the local culture. We took a boat
ride on West Lake and visited Lingyin Monastery; both were extremely busy and
commercialized. Finally we visited a
green tea plantation, where the famous “Dragon Well” green tea is grown and
harvested. The Chinese take their tea
seriously and the visit was interesting and the tea delicious.
Back in Shanghai we spent our last night walking
The Bund and enjoying the incredible view of this very modern city, a stark
contrast to Beijing.
Touring China is physically demanding and
demands that you accept large crowds of people almost everywhere. It is a destination where a good travel agent
can make the difference between a good and a great experience.
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| A walk along the Bund in Shanghai |
