Some thoughts on my China trip

[renzhe]

If this is too off-topic, please move or delete, I thought some people might be interested. Visiting China is a must for any serious Chinese learner, warmly recommended!

Absolute highlights:

Skyline of Hong Kong Central as seen from Kowloon

Nanjinglu at night in Shanghai

An empty botanical garden next to Taihu in Wuxi, where time seemed to have stopped. For some reason, it felt wondrously calming and magical.

Hua Shan. Enough said.

White Horse temple in Luoyang. Very serene and relaxing.

Street food in Xi'an

Food in general!

Absolute lowlights:

Hawkers. "Hwatch? Bagz? Hallo! Hallo! HALLOOOOO!!!!!!!!"

That stupid underground train linking Bund and Pudong in Shanghai.

Interesting experiences:

Riding a tiny tourist bus with a driver who looked like some black society gangster out of a Beijing soap opera. That was some very innovative driving, some parts surely had artistic value as well.

Hard sleeper trains where I was the only non-Chinese on the train

Ran into 4 Croatians (and two Macedonians) in D-22. Talk about a coincidence.

The gawking outside the big cities. Hell, even in the big cities. In the traditional market in Wuxi, I literally felt like I had 5 heads. I'm sure many of the people there had never seen a foreigner before.

The 4 weeks there really helped my listening comprehension. Initially, I was upset about not being able to fully follow the conversations on the trains, or when my girlfriend's family spoke, etc. but then I remembered that I am in China, understanding Chinese, and this is a big thing. That was a good feeling. I really appreciate how important immersion is for Chinese language in particular now, and appreciate my own efforts here abroad a lot more.

Here are some of my recommendations for people planning to travel:

Zhouzhuang: A small water village near Shanghai, can be reached by tourist busses. Full of tourists, which ruins the effect, but if you get there outside of the high season, it is beautiful and picturesque. Avoid day-trips, cause they'll take you to some other places on the way (some boring temple), and you'll have very little time in the village itself, which is a shame. Many old traditional houses to visit, and it's nice to watch the gondolas sail under the bridges.

Hua Shan: It is truly beautiful and well worth the hike. I took the cable car to the first peak and visited the other four peaks from there -- takes about 6 hours, even more if you want to cover all the small and dangerous paths around. Some people climb the whole thing, which adds 3-4 hours each way. The scenery is breathtaking. There is a bus to take you there from the main station for 30 RMB, much better than the expensive day-trips.

Luoyang: It has a nice, renovated old city core, and not much else. But you can reach the Longmen caves and the White Horse temple (oldest Buddhist temple in China) with public transportation, and both are great places to visit. Shaolin Temple is also nearby. It is nice, if a bit touristy (the pagoda forest is awesome), but it becomes great if you couple it with some hiking around the Song mountain for spectacular views.

Big cities like Shanghai, Xi'an, Beijing and Hong Kong really don't need a separate recommendation. Awesome to visit, all of them.

I'll post up some photos later if people are interested, I don't have them handy right now.

[hanwairen]

Thank you for the useful tips. I am learning and reviewing my Mandarin at the moment. I hope I can wrap up my design and on the way to China this year.

[simonlaing]

sounds like you had a good time. You might want to add some of these experiences to the Wiki on the forums.

I am suprised you were in Xian and didn't mention the terra cotta warriors?

Also did you pick up a tea pot in Wuxi or try their xiaolun bao (also called mini soup baozi)?

have fun,

Simon:)

[YantoYan]

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