A China Retrospective

Well, we did it; successfully navigated six cities in 29 days, traveled over 1200 miles and spent less than 3K, including our flights. Sure, we could have done it cheaper, but one of the lessons we learned in China is that when your money goes as far as it does, cut yourself a break and enjoy it! Compared with Japan, where we'd just come from, China was so much more financially forgiving. Even if you blow your wad on dinner, it will be because you spent 250¥ on a decked out hotpot instead of the 55¥ you could have on awesome street food- and if we're talking strictly bao buns and meat sticks, you're looking at more like 25¥. There are a dozen different ways to go about everything, and sometimes the choices were overwhelming, but I think we made some really great ones. Our awesome friends in Beijing, Zack and Kris, just started up a China travel website, www.chinaadventurer.com, and have decided to feature our blog on it, so to do these expats justice we figured it was time to share the little advice we think we can lend based on our travel style. If you are reading this and don't know us personally, how cool!

There are some basic choices that you have to make when beginning to plan a trip, wherever you're going. Our mission, when we began planning it in July of 2012, was to make our way west from Philadelphia, PA, starting in Japan and going as far as our money would allow. Our experience in China was greatly shaped by this because it was in a sense just one stop on a much longer journey, but I think the way we did it had several advantages.

Honestly, when we decided to do China in the middle of December, making our way south from Beijing to Hong Kong in a month, we weren't really thinking about the fact that it was going to be freeze-your-ass-off cold, or that a lot of the really beautiful verdant green scenery would be missed. But leaving the states in November and wanting to spent a month in Japan, we didn't have much of a choice. In addition to the timing factor, our research- done without the aid of a travel agent or a round-the-world ticket- indicated that by far the cheapest way into China was through Beijing, while the best way into Southeast Asia was Hong Kong -- Kuala Lumpur.

If you are thinking of traveling through China we highly(!!) recommend the north to south route, as there are so many ways to get from city to city. We also recommend going there in winter. If you can suck it up and endure the cold, you will be rewarded in countless ways. For starters, very few tourists make for very friendly locals. You can also haggle harder when you want to buy something, but there are very few hawkers pushing stuff in your face. The crowds at big landmarks like the Terra Cotta Army are a fraction of what they are in summer, and hotels have incredible deals during off season (we stayed in a 4-star in Xi'an for $45 a night, for example).




.BEIJING.
A city that needs no introduction, least of all from someone whose time there was as brief as mine, Beijing made a profound impression on me. Below are some suggestions for maximizing all this massive city has to offer.

1. Whether you stay in a hotel, hostel, or airbnb, don't stay outside of the Second Ring Road. Beijing is HUGE, and most of the action, including sights, bars, people, eats, is in the center of the city. The subway system is incredible, and you can get all over for 2¥, so if you were thinking of splitting the distance between the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, do yourself a favor and skip it.

2. Don't be afraid of street food, it wont make you sick. Well, it might, but so far weve been totally fine. Some of the best food we had was from dirty little stands, and you can get amazing pork buns for 16 cents each (US).

3. Go out at night!! Talk to people! Beijing has by far the coolest expat community we have encountered, and these people love their city. We met so many people from all over the world that had been living in Beijing for years, and having this kind of an asset really makes the difference.

4. Get into the hutong neighborhoods and wander. It's such an incredible vibe, and a living remnant of old Beijing. Plus, there are many unassuming and amazing places to eat.

5. If you are here for more than a couple days, find your beer guy, or lunch spot, and stay true. Many places are little more than closets perched on the side of the street, and your patronage will usually be rewarded with discounts or free stuff, and more so with each visit. Your loyalty means that they pay their rent on time.

6. Do everything in your power to find an unrestored section of the Great Wall. Most tour guides and books will refer you to sections that have been totally rebuilt, complete with souvenir shops and expensive food. We were lucky enough to be taken to a section that was remote, ancient, and desolate. It was by far the highlight of our stay.

7. Get in touch with Kris and Zack. They are the reason we have our sights set on Beijing as one of our future homes.


.SHANGHAI.
I don't know that I'm qualified to review it. We were there for just three days, and stayed on the outskirts of the city. The one thing I can say with confidence is that if you have similar priorities to mine, you will not love Shanghai. It's a city that seems to appeal to people that would be in NYC if they could, and imitate it as best they can, but with little success in emulating those wonderful and distinct characteristics. We stayed in a luxurious villa by the Shanghai Zoo, one of the last stops on a brand-new subway line. Maybe if we had stayed in the French Consession area we might have had a different experience, but we learned in Beijing about the rivalry between these two cities, and we are 110% Beijingers. Therefore, I will refrain from making bullet points and leave Shanghai to those who love it and know it intimately.

.SUZHOU.
The antiquity and charm of this tiny city is as authentic and impactful as to make it in my mind one of the greatest wonders of China. The winter there is especially peaceful, and as misty rains fell every day on the water and ancient stone streets, we were again grateful to have chosen this part of the year for our visit. I can only imagine the channel of tourists that would rival the flow of the canal itself in spring and summer, and would have perhaps dispelled some of the pleasure we experienced wandering these nearly desolate streets.

1. Stay on the water. There is a very modest hotel called the Royal Garden Inn just north of the XinMin Bridge on GuangJi Road that is perfect. For around $20 bucks a night we got a room with wooden windows that open French style onto the street with bobbing boats and red lanterns just outside. In the evenings, the swooning sounds of a Chinese orchestra playing in the opera house across the canal waft into your room.

2. Do at least one meal, preferably one full day of meals, in the square above the canal where countless vendors offer everything from dumplings to "omelets" where you pick all your own stuffings with tongs and place them into a bowl for the chef, to strange candied fruits. So cheap and delicious.

3. Climb up the large pagoda atop the archway just to the left of the square. Though my description is vague, you will know what I'm talking about if you are there. You can see the whole of the city and there is a tea house inside. It's one of the few pagodas I've visited that you can enter, and though I'm not sure of its age or general authenticity, it's still a lovely place.

4. Take an evening boat ride.

5. If you want to buy things like beer or produce much cheaper than on the canal where you will be charged bar / restaurant prices even for buying takeaway goods, go under the bridge where you will have had to enter from (the bridge that the major roadway is on) and buy from the local mom and pop places on that side. Much more reasonable.

.XI'AN.
Home to the ongoing excavation of the famous Terracotta Army, this city has much more to offer than old tombs. Fly in, get set up and hit the streets. Unfortunately as of December, the Bell Tower is covered by scaffolding for some renovations. But hey, that's China, always under construction.

1. STREET FOOD. The best area for it is inside a square formed by West Yangshi, GuangJi, Dapiyuan (Xihuamen), and Beiyuanmen Streets. To find it on a map, follow Xixin Street until it becomes Xihuamen, and then that too ends a little after North Street and becomes Dapiyuan Xihuamen. From here you will have an unparalleled selection of Chinese meat preparations, roasted nuts, fruits, candies, tea and more. It is utterly overwhelming, and extremely crowded, I suspect, no matter what time of year you are there as it seems to feed more locals than tourists. Cars, motorbikes, and bicycle porters honk and push their way through throngs of people. It's a trip, and the best meal I have had since leaving the states was in these very streets. If you come across a rotisserie stand or a shop selling beef bubble soup or dumplings, jump on that shit.

2. The 306. This bus will be your greatest money saving achievement in Xi'an. Walk outside the city walls and toward the train station, then keep heading toward the right of it and you will find a bus clearly marked 306 which will take you to the Terracotta Museum for 7¥. At the airport we were offered a private car service for 700. Pfft! Glad we stuck to our guns. Be aware of a few unusual circumstances: this bus doesn't leave until it is full, which usually doesn't take more than 15-20 minutes, and it makes at least 10 stops before arriving at the museum.

3. Don't eat at the restaurants outside Terracotta Museum, they are infuriatingly expensive and crappy.

.YANGSHOU.
This city is home to some of the most unique and expansive Karst mountain formations in the world. The narrow stone streets wind alongside the river and although the town is very tourist-driven, it's a charming and niche little mountain town. Take a boat ride in a shanty covered raft made of plastic piping, tires and bamboo, eat fresh river fish steamed in beer and chili, and bring your umbrella.

1. Traveling to Yangshou from Guilin can be somewhat difficult. If you are flying into the Guilin airport you will have to take a bus to the South Train Station almost an hour away and take another bus from the bus terminal there to Yangshou. There are only one or two buses per day and they run pretty early, while many flights to the airport get in too late. If this is the case, you will have to take the bus from the airport and then hire a taxi to drive you the hour and change out to Yangshou. Expect to pay 300-400¥ depending on your haggling skills.

2. There is a McDonald's overlooking a pond in the middle of the town, with a little footbridge and neatly trained foliage all around. It's a really bizarre sight.

.SHENZHEN.
This town is the bomb. We were there at New Year's (December 31 not the Chinese New Year) and the streets were PACKED. It looked like Times Square on acid, with people dressed as furries, crazy neon lighted Chinese signs, and horribly disfigured people pushing themselves along on wooden rolling stretchers singing and begging for money. I got a sour feeling in the pit of my stomach on seeing these people because they are almost certainly being exploited by some evil organization (how does a person with nubs for hands rubber band a microphone to themselves, or climb a set of 30 stairs with no motor capacity to sing and beg?) The shopping district is about a ten minute walk from the central train station, and whatever you are looking for, you will find it. And smack dab in the middle is the street food area- yesss! A few tips to help you along the way:

1. As if it needed to be repeated, always haggle in China. Even on street food. If not, you will get white people prices for the meat sticks you buy. Better yet, just watch Chinese people paying and then pay what they paid.

2. It's the perfect place to end up if you want to go to Hong Kong- you can literally walk to the border from the last stop on the subway.

3. There are many hotels who likely charge by the hour as well as by the night. A good way to gauge whether you are in one of these questionable establishments is to ask to see one of the rooms. If there are lubricants and cock rings in the bathroom, you've got your answer. We will not be staying at the Garden Inn Dongmen Branch again. Dongmen. Hehe.

4. Check out People's Park. It looks like a slice of Bay Area California, or Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, like nothing you'd expect in China. Beautifully manicured lawns, quaint fishing ponds, forested nooks with riverside benches, and a rose garden boasting over fifty varieties of roses. Unfortunately they were not in bloom while we were there, but with ten bushes of each kind of rose, I can imagine it's a marvel to see in the right season.

Davida