China has been a country I always wanted to visit but was skeptical about what to expect, because I didn’t knew much about it. Thanks to Hong Kong it is mostly negative we hear about the Chinese government. Coming from India, we are not actually on good terms with Chinese
But when I found a deal for a 10 day trip to China for $600 on groupon getaways from Inter Trips, it is an opportunity I couldn’t miss. Due to the fact that I had to pay 1.5 times the price if I go by myself I instead invite a friend of mine to accompany me. Group Visa costs an additional $150 each. If may I suggest, never get a group visa to China (which is a separate piece of paper) and instead get a visitor visa on Passport. Half the time we were more worried about accidentally tearing up the piece of paper
I received trip itinerary 20 days before the trip and group visa via fedex few days before the start. A friend of mine actually went on this trip sometime before and got me prepared well.
Climate: China can be cold in winter. Beijing is in particular. I never imagined it to be so far north. There also happens to be a lot of smog in big cities. Depending on the air quality you may need to put on a mask
Customs: We had help from the intertrips rep. It was a simple process but they do take biometrics. No they don’t check your phone or computer. You can take what ever electronics you want to take. I myself just took my phone.
Apps: I managed well with following apps. I did travel a lot using the subway. Didi for cabs. Alipay for payment. Metroman for subway guide for most Chinese cities and google translate with Chinese(simple). Need to add creditcard info for Alipay and Didi before hand
Cleanliness/Sanitation/Water: Either bottled or boiled water only for drinking. I found China especially Beijing to be very clean and light years ahead of India. For some reason I always thought China and India are quite similar but realized China is light years ahead and the similarities end with certain aspects of society like close family ties etc. Sanitation facilities are quite satisfactory in all places our group has been to.
Day 1: It is supposed to be a free day. Plan is to do Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven and Jingshan Park. We woke up early and took subway to Tian’ anmen East and walked the rest to Forbidden City. The walk itself was fun and gave us an oppurtunity to explore China for first time. First thing I observed was how clean the streets and in fact even the metro stations were. Public Restrooms are conviniently located at almost every corner. We spent a good 3 hrs in the vast expanse of Forbidden city and took a break at local starbucks. The French Caramel Bread was very delicious. We had some good nododle soup for lunch and went back to the hotel.
In the evening just I went to Jingshan Park. The park closes by 8pm and they stop selling tickets by 7:30pm. It was almost a race against time. The park is in fact a small hill with multiple pavilions. Each pavilion offers a unizeq view. But due to presence of street lights I couldnt get good pictures. When I went there the following day there were almost no street lights and I got to take great pictures. For people who like to relax and be in peace while enjoying night time views Jignshan Park is a must
Day 2:
Jade Factory: We learnt different types of Jades, Jadeitte being the hardest, the colors that jades can be like purple, yellow, white, red. The process involved and how to differentiate between the real and fake one.
Great Wall of China: In my own experience there are few things in the world that can blow away life time of expectations like The Tajmahal or The Colloseum.. Great Wall of China belongs in that list. It is magnificient decorating the Yanshan mountain range like a necklace. Our bus parked near the entrance to no 7 watchtower and we were given 2 hrs time in total. Even though I felt it was not enough.. I set my timer to 45 minutes. I was able to hike up all the way to No 12 watch tower and actually felt a bit happy the way forward was closed. I got to experience the amazing vistas while meeting some nice people from all over the world on the way. I finished my hike with Jasmine Tea and reached a moment of Zen. Hope to come back here again in future
Day 3:
I took a break from the tour group and opted to visit Temple of Heaven instead. Didnt realize it is a place of animal sacrifice and religious rites for chinese royal family. The park is beautiful and one thing I remember from the morning is the chilly morning breeze cutting into the bones. It was a sunny day and a cup of coffee felt just tight
In the afternnon our group caught a 3:45 high speed train to Suzhou.The train traveled at around 301 kmph
Day 4: Lingering Garden in Suzhou. Learnt about traditional family structures, process involved in creating Chinese Bonzai, Fenshui. From there our group headed to a silk factory. Learnt a lot about Silk and its properties. I spent over $1000 on bedsheets, purse and silk underwear. Love the fact that silk comforters felt so comfortable to touch, they keep warm in winter and cold in summer, and machine washable. We headed to Wuxi from there. Stopped over by the Tai Lake where I rented a boat and got to explore on my own. We did the grand canal tour in the evening.
Day 4: We visited pearl factory and from there went to Hangzhou. It was drizzling, while I first did not like the idea of another boat tour, I had a great time. The scenery was beautiful. It is surrounded by lake towns, including one that has a pagoda. The sesame beef fried rice I had for dinner was exceptional
Day 5: We visited Tea Village in the valley. This is where I got ripped off by $2500 .. as there was a miscalculation on what I ordered. I should have been a bit more careful. From there we headed to Shanghai and did the night river cruise. I was blown away by the night views of Shanghai. In my opinion easily beats even Manhattan
Day 6: Last night in China. I slept most of the day and managed to visit the Oriental Pearl TV Tower which is 351 meters tall. Most of the attractions within the tower like the space observatory or VR roller coaster are sub – par and not worth the money
