That was our fist encounter with China. It blew our minds. Everything we knew about China was at least 10x more. More people, larger cities, denser jam-packed trains, but as well 10x yummier food, friendlier people and an impressive cultural heritage.

Route: Peking – Datong – Wutai Shan – Pingyao -Xian – Huang Shan – Hangzhou – Suzhou – Shanghai – Hong Kong

Departure 06.07.2011

BEJING

Hostel: Red Lantern House, No. 12, Xisibeiertiao, Xisibei Dajie – good choice!

We landed in Beijing and wanted to catch Bus No. 22, which should take us to our Hostel. We found the Bus departure in front of the arrival hall, but there was no Bus No. 22. We tried to ask the bus drivers but no one understood us. We tried it in English and with the few expressions that we learned in Chinese. Ok, if there was no bus No. 22, than we take another one, getting close to the place we want to go, but we had to buy a ticket before getting on the bus. We went back inside and found a woman behind a counter with a sign that read bus in English, it seemed as if she would sell tickets for the busses, but she as well did not understand. Finally we found someone who understood what we wanted, sold us a ticket, we hopped on the bus. With the help of the Lonely Planet Map we knew where we were and got out of the bus at the wright busstop. It is not that easy  to do that, because there is no street sign or sign in the bus, not to mention an announcement in English.

Tip: Take a compass with you! It feels a little bit strange at the beginning, but with the help of a compass we could orientate ourselves, especially after nightfall.

Our Top 3 in Beijing

• Sunday in the Park
  People meet in the park to dance. They dance to all kinds of music, but of course the music is very loud and not very far from the next group that prefers different music and as well plays it’s music very loud as well.

• Ridding a bicycle
  It’s a cool experience and you get in contact with Chinese bikers, although biking isn’t very popular nowadays. The modern middle class in Beijing drives a car, even if it means to stand still more as they actually drive – sounds familiar?!

• Forbidden City
  The good thing about organized tourists is, that they always follow the shortest way, in this case from the north entrance to the south. Just walk a litte bit to the west or east of the city and you will find yourself in truly fascinating world.

We took the train from Beijing to Datong. In our hostel we were asked if we would like to have a seat or a bed. Because it is only a short ride, we said seat. We bought the tickets ourselves at the station, because we wanted to ride the other day. With everything we wanted written down on a piece of paper, it wasn’t difficult to buy the tickets. The station itself was unbelievable crowded and it was a hint to what was about to come. As we went to the platform the next day, we couldn’t believe our eyes. Hundreds of people tried to get into the train. As we watched threw the windows we saw, that the train was already full?!?! Ok, we gave our best to get into the train. Forget politeness! Chinese people getting into or out of bus, tube, train, etc. will shove, push, use there elbows or give you a body-check like a hockey player. We managed to get at the beginning to the coach, and saw at least three people on every seat. Our seats were at the opposite side of the coach, no way to get there. Especially because nobody tried to let us walk pass them. Than a miracle happened, the conductor came and the see of people divided and even helped us with our backpacks to get to our seats. The absolut odd thing was to have seat on you own in such a crowded train.

Tip: Chinese people getting into or out of bus, tube, train, etc. will shove, push, use their elbows or give you a body-check like a hockey player – be prepared and don’t loose your temper!

DATONG

What we wanted: Garden Hotel … were we ended up: Yungang International Hotel*****

We arrived late in Datong. The sun started to go down. The CITS branch at the station was closed and the taxi drivers were nodding their heads as we asked them for the Garden Hotel, but they would like to show us another place to stay. To be honest, we didn’t believe them. With the help of our compass we decided wich direction we had to go. We followed the street for quiet a while. Meanwhile it was dark and we thought that we had to be in the proximity of the hotel. We checked the maps in our guide books, walked up and down, and finally recognized that we were at the wright spot. The only thing missing was the hotel and with it the whole block. So we had learned another lesson.

Tip: China is changing so fast, so that you have to be prepared that everything that was there yesterday, might not be there tomorrow.

Places to see around Datong

Yungang Caves
These 5th century 252 caves contain 51000 ancient statues. From small to 17 m high. You shouldn’t miss this! The theme park like entrance hits the taste of Chinese tourists, but the caves are one of the most amazing things I have ever seen!

Hanging Monastery, Hengshan Mountain

A really nice wooden monastery tucked on the mountain wall. We rented a taxi for the day to get us to both sides. It cost us about 20$.

WUTAI SHAN

Hotel: Foyuan Lou – cross the „excellent“ in midrange choice, it was ok.

We were there in preseason and were more or less the only tourists that stayed overnight at the time. The restaurants where open, but nobody was eating there. At the CTIS we found some young Chinese girls who spoke English and could give us good advice. At the time there was no ATM. The main street is touristy and as always the stores play buddhist music in an infinite loop, but they didn’t start all at the same time. The monasteries and the surrounding mountains however are beautiful and peaceful. At the time we visited, there was no map or advice available for hiking. Going by foot for pleasure seems to be a totally western concept.

Tip: As literally no one was in the restaurants, we chose to rely on caned soup. We had to ad water that we bought in one of the stores. One tasted better than the other although it was the soup. How could that be? We discovered that we bought not only water but as well sprite – we liked the flavor and stayed with it

Tip: We took the bus to Pingyao. You have to change the bus at Tayuan! Be aware that the bus to Pingyao leaves at another bus terminal. We wanted to take a taxi, unfortunately the taxi mob tried to tell us that the ride would cost 100 Yuan. We refused and had to walk quite a bit away from the station, because other taxis saw us, were empty but did not stop. Finally we found a taxi driver that took us to the station and the meter said 14 Yuan.

PINGYAO

Hostel: Harmony Guest House is a very friendly English speaking place with nice rooms in a traditional house.

In our head lingered the sentence “time warped Pingyao offers something extra – a rare opportunity to witness old China in action.” We thought of a village, but in fact the historic city center is surrounded by an old city wall and – you guessed it – outside this wall it is a big typical modern Chinese city.The historic center is very good preserved, you can walk in and outside the wall. The main streets are a bit touristy, but just around the corner you see normal every day live.

Wang Family Courtyard

We went there for a day trip. We paid the taxi driver 200 Yuan. We drove there avoiding the highway, so we could see many coal mines and steel mills. The streets were covered with coal dust. It reminded me of pictures of my hometown of the 1960s. So not beautiful, but very interesting. The Wang Family Courtyard is impressive with its 123 courtyards. Personally I liked the gallery of the Wang dynasty and where they are in the world today very much. So it is definetly worth a visit.

XIAN

Hotel Jin Jiang Inn (Downtown) – modern hotel, nothing fancy but clean spacious rooms reasonably priced

Obviously Xian is a touristic hot spot. Everybody goes there to see the famous Army of Terracotta Warriors – we too, but Xian has more to offer than that. We walked a whole day through this modern city. What we liked best though was the old Muslim Quarter with its narrow streets, markets and food stalls. We saw two guys preparing food on two big woks outside of a restaurant on open fire. It looked so good that we walked in. Surprise no menu – at least none that we could read. So we looked around the tables of the other guests, pointed to the waitress what we wanted to have and tasted a few minutes later a really fantastic noodle soup with tasty meat in it. Yummy!!!

The Army of Terracotta Warriors by the way is really stunning, so you have to go there!

HUANG SHAN

Hotel: (?)

Our experience with this poetic mountain started at the cable car. The technique was Austrian (as in the Alps) but unfortunatly they for some reason didn’t explained the Chinese how to get masses on top of a mountain in no time. So we queed for hours – but it was worth it. We saw these wonderful mountains in a light fog, so that we could easily feel the poets on this one. We walked around for some hours. We saw that everything that was consumed on the mountain was not brought there by cable car but by sheer man power. And all the wast that was produced took the same way back – tough work! As it started to rain we headed to our hotel on the top of the mountain. They had bunk beds for us. We had to separate because man and woman are not allowed in the same room. Was was really annoying was that the room was occupied with 12 people that all smoked. The room stank of booze and tobacco. I would have slept in the open, but the rain got heavier … no choice to escape. We went back to the real hotel and sat down in the restaurant until it closed. The food was good. The best was yet to come. Have you ever heard twelve Chinese guys snoring? I plugged by earphones in, turned the music on and I still could hear them. The night ended a 4 o’clock in the morning, because actually we wanted to see the sunrise. It still rained heavily. At day break it sill rained, so we walked back to the cable car, but couldn’t see a thing because now there was fog as well. Maybe it is because I am no poet, this experience didn’t inspire me to write a poem – still I don’t want to miss it.

HANGZHOU

Zhongshan International Hotel, was not our first choice, but like Mingtown Garden Hotel the places didn’t existed anymore.

As we were looking for the way we experienced another Chinese behavior. People are very helpful and friendly and try to help, but nobody  admits openly that they don’t know the answer to your question. We approached a public servant in front of a map of the area. We wanted to know were the Mingtown Garden Hotel could be. We knew it had to be around. We ended up with a discussion of four people all trying to point out where it could be, but it was relatively clear that they couldn’t read a map. We thanked them politely and tried it ourselves, just to find the place where it formerly was …

The Lake however is beautiful. In the early morning you see many taichi groups training while the mist vanishes on the lake. During the day you can see many young Chinese couples being commanded by as it seems army trained photographers – some with megaphones –  to shoot photos in rented wedding dresses.

SUZHOU

Hotel: Motel 168. It is like Etapp in Europe, cheap & clean.

We arrived much later than we had planned, so that we only had little time left. We chose to see The Humble Administrator’s Garden. The garden is really beautiful and definitely worth a visit.

Yangyang Shuijiaoguan Restaurant had a great menu with a lot of specialties like duck heads etc., but even for the more unadventurous traveller the dumplings were great.

We took the train to Shanghai.

SHANGHAI

Hotel: Old House

A lovely place to stay! Surrounded by high modern buildings, this hotel is really an old house with charm. You have to book in advance.

In the Old House we met an elderly man who in his youth went to the German School in Shanghai. He had many interesting stories to tell.

The metro is great. It is fast and reliable. So much better than the one at home. The ticket machines are easy to use. Signs in English are the norm.

Our top 3:

• The Bund – simply stunning.
• The Huangpu River Tours – the tour takes you to the point where the river flows into the sea and back again. Along the banks you can see the harbor live unfold.
• Shanghai Style Arcrobatic Show – the focus is on the acrobats and there is very little show. What they do however is impressive.

 

HONG KONG
Hotel: The Minden – midrange, with a nice roof terrace for breakfast.

If you are on a hunt for some souvenirs you will find a wide range of things and prices. The deluxe stores have waiting lines outside. We saw people wait for hours to get in.

Tip: We wanted to buy some snacks like chicken feet like we saw them so often in mainland China, but we did not succeed. We guess that you have to buy them earlier on your journey.

Our top 3

• Star Ferry’s Harbour Tour – Very interesting with a good view on the city.
• Victoria Peek – They even have a jogging circuit up there which is used by many locals.
• Kowloon Park Swimming Complex

If you hotel doesn’t have a good pool this is the place to go to enjoy some rest of all the hectic.

After this vacation we knew that we would come back to China … and we did.
in 2015 we spend around 60 days in China during our round the world trip. You can read about it here.

… and we will certainly return!

Safe travels!
Claudia & Tom