Sites
One thing I'll say, and keep this in mind as you read: there are A LOT of people, everywhere, all the time. And I mean all of those things. I knew there would be a lot of people there, but I don't think it can truly be pictured until you're actually there. Sure, there may be a slight lull around 3 or 4am (I'm guessing), but that's about it. Otherwise you can't even walk down the sidewalk in a straight line; it's constant dodging and weaving.
The best word to use to describe China, to me, is dichotomy. The country is charging forward in terms of the economy, growth and globalization, but there is still a lot of the old way of doing things. You've got a fancy store with $1000 items beside an old guy's run down beef liver shop (Bob's favourite analogy). You've got very regal women in cutting edge fashions mixed in with people regularly spitting on the ground (usually outside). You've got BMWs going by every five to ten seconds and then you walk into a public bathroom with squatter toilets and no walls separating them. A lot of it seems generational. The young people are very friendly and helpful, always on their space age cell phones and in fashionable outfits. The older people are the ones that are spitting or staring at tourists, and it's a 50/50 chance when you ask for help whether they will be grumpy or not. Overall everyone was very helpful. They say there are 1000 new cars on the road everyday and I swear half of them are either Audi, Mercedes, or BMW. I've never seen so many anywhere. The food was great, not like what we normally get here. See the website later for food pictures. Also, I got a lot of funny food captions which I'll post but there's only one in this email. We were constantly being asked to be in people's pictures at tourist sites. Maybe it was the time of year we went, but 99% of the tourists were Asian; we were a bit of a novelty. Mandarin doesn't sound at all like the stereotype that we have of it here. Bob and I had sore throats shortly after arriving in Beijing and they continued for a while. They'd go away when we went out to the countryside but would return when we returned to the city, so we assumed it was pollution related. Internal flights were about $100, often booked the day before. Entrance fees are some of the highest I've ever seen anywhere, and they are charged on absolutely every single thing you'd ever go to see, and they're rising fast. My guidebook (2009) had sites listed for 60 yuan (about $10) and when we showed up the price had risen to 150 yuan (about $25). We skipped going to one waterfall because my guidebook said they were debating a "heart stopping" admission fee of 220 yuan, plus the mandatory shuttle and cable car fee of 60. So almost $50 to see a waterfall. In Iceland (my previous trip) all waterfalls are free. We didn't end up going to Tibet because for three days looking around the capital city it was going to cost around $700, not including the flight. This is because you must always have a guide with you at all times.
A lot of the time I was pretty exhausted; it was hot (the last third of the trip involved a humidex of over 40 degrees celsius), there were people everywhere, there was a strong language barrier, we were walking/hiking a lot, and we were moving around a lot. Since foreigners can't rent a car without a residency permit we were reduced to moving from city to city and doing day trips. This involved a lot of searching for train and bus stations, learning new public transport systems, and also a lot of time in cities (which start to blur together) instead of seeing sites. Not having a car also affected my ability to get good photos since we couldn't get to sites during the golden light of early morning or late afternoon. Either the buses weren't running at the right times, or we were too far away to feasibly get there. I didn't my best, but don't expect any world class shots. Bargaining was the norm, which is another thing that is tiring for me.
Some headlines from the English language China Daily newspaper:
~ The ex-chief of the tax bureau has been given the death penalty for accepting bribes
~ During the next 5 years Beijing will eliminate 1200 heavy polluting businesses
~ Since January China has reported 11 major bus accidents, each killing more than 10 people
I could (and probably will some day) go back for another 5 weeks at least. There's still a lot that we didn't see:
Shanghai, water towns, famous rice terraces, Shaolin Temple, Longmen Grottoes, Tibet, giant waterfalls, more ancient villages (with less tourists hopefully), more of the Great Wall, more Yangshuo, more different foods, the desert, take some tai chi classes, covered bridges, world famous national parks, the fish massage/spa (look it up), the Harbin Ice Festival, etc, etc, etc.
On a side note: If you've been to Hong Kong you can't say you've been to China. It is sooo different that you're practically just walking around Europe. Prices triple, there are foreigners everywhere, the bathrooms have toilet paper (!!), and you're surrounded by Luis Vuitton and Armani shops. Even the subway announcer has a British accent. But, if you can get out of the big city you'll probably get a taste of what China is like.
Read MoreThe best word to use to describe China, to me, is dichotomy. The country is charging forward in terms of the economy, growth and globalization, but there is still a lot of the old way of doing things. You've got a fancy store with $1000 items beside an old guy's run down beef liver shop (Bob's favourite analogy). You've got very regal women in cutting edge fashions mixed in with people regularly spitting on the ground (usually outside). You've got BMWs going by every five to ten seconds and then you walk into a public bathroom with squatter toilets and no walls separating them. A lot of it seems generational. The young people are very friendly and helpful, always on their space age cell phones and in fashionable outfits. The older people are the ones that are spitting or staring at tourists, and it's a 50/50 chance when you ask for help whether they will be grumpy or not. Overall everyone was very helpful. They say there are 1000 new cars on the road everyday and I swear half of them are either Audi, Mercedes, or BMW. I've never seen so many anywhere. The food was great, not like what we normally get here. See the website later for food pictures. Also, I got a lot of funny food captions which I'll post but there's only one in this email. We were constantly being asked to be in people's pictures at tourist sites. Maybe it was the time of year we went, but 99% of the tourists were Asian; we were a bit of a novelty. Mandarin doesn't sound at all like the stereotype that we have of it here. Bob and I had sore throats shortly after arriving in Beijing and they continued for a while. They'd go away when we went out to the countryside but would return when we returned to the city, so we assumed it was pollution related. Internal flights were about $100, often booked the day before. Entrance fees are some of the highest I've ever seen anywhere, and they are charged on absolutely every single thing you'd ever go to see, and they're rising fast. My guidebook (2009) had sites listed for 60 yuan (about $10) and when we showed up the price had risen to 150 yuan (about $25). We skipped going to one waterfall because my guidebook said they were debating a "heart stopping" admission fee of 220 yuan, plus the mandatory shuttle and cable car fee of 60. So almost $50 to see a waterfall. In Iceland (my previous trip) all waterfalls are free. We didn't end up going to Tibet because for three days looking around the capital city it was going to cost around $700, not including the flight. This is because you must always have a guide with you at all times.
A lot of the time I was pretty exhausted; it was hot (the last third of the trip involved a humidex of over 40 degrees celsius), there were people everywhere, there was a strong language barrier, we were walking/hiking a lot, and we were moving around a lot. Since foreigners can't rent a car without a residency permit we were reduced to moving from city to city and doing day trips. This involved a lot of searching for train and bus stations, learning new public transport systems, and also a lot of time in cities (which start to blur together) instead of seeing sites. Not having a car also affected my ability to get good photos since we couldn't get to sites during the golden light of early morning or late afternoon. Either the buses weren't running at the right times, or we were too far away to feasibly get there. I didn't my best, but don't expect any world class shots. Bargaining was the norm, which is another thing that is tiring for me.
Some headlines from the English language China Daily newspaper:
~ The ex-chief of the tax bureau has been given the death penalty for accepting bribes
~ During the next 5 years Beijing will eliminate 1200 heavy polluting businesses
~ Since January China has reported 11 major bus accidents, each killing more than 10 people
I could (and probably will some day) go back for another 5 weeks at least. There's still a lot that we didn't see:
Shanghai, water towns, famous rice terraces, Shaolin Temple, Longmen Grottoes, Tibet, giant waterfalls, more ancient villages (with less tourists hopefully), more of the Great Wall, more Yangshuo, more different foods, the desert, take some tai chi classes, covered bridges, world famous national parks, the fish massage/spa (look it up), the Harbin Ice Festival, etc, etc, etc.
On a side note: If you've been to Hong Kong you can't say you've been to China. It is sooo different that you're practically just walking around Europe. Prices triple, there are foreigners everywhere, the bathrooms have toilet paper (!!), and you're surrounded by Luis Vuitton and Armani shops. Even the subway announcer has a British accent. But, if you can get out of the big city you'll probably get a taste of what China is like.
