Chloe, my mum and her DH went a couple of years ago. They did an organised tour which covered the main touristy bits, and quite enjoyed it. But they had done Vietnam the year before and enjoyed that more. Compared to Vietnam they found China less tourist friendly and my mum's DH likes his creature comforts. I think the highlight for them was the Great Wall.
I have been.. I went in 1999 so not really that recently! The flight was about 8 hours I think, and we flew into Canton. I didnt get to see alot of touristy things - I was there with my theatre group for a performing tour so I was doing rehersals and shows for alot of the time - but I did see some of the big main touristy things. When we were there, the thing that took up so much time was going through customs whenever we went into a new area (some times it took about 2 hours if it was a busy time, just for a 15 minute train trip). In the areas we went to, we found that alot of people spoke English, especially in Hong Kong.
DH & I spent 3 months there. It was good. The food is awesome. We were working and didnt travel as much as we would have liked. Flew into Shanghai. I think it was about a 9 hour flight? LIved in Hangzhou. I found it a bit of a culture shock. I think the amount of people, city size and the difficulty of the language. I had previously spent a lot of time in Indonesia where I had no culture shock so didnt expect that. If you are going for a quick trip invest in a guide. Be prepared to bargain for everything and be cynical about being sold stuff to. We would go back again (and I would be more prepared this time!). I still dream about the food!
I've been too and I LOVED it. Not recently - I went just after the student uprising. Flights were cheap and I was young, single and needed adventure! I loved it. I fell in love with a Chinaman!!!! I flew into Beijing in those days we flew Air China - it was interesting...
I loved everything about china. The people are beautiful. The children are gorgeous and the country is just mind blowing. I travelled around and did all the touristy things. I didn't do the south much just a couple of days. I was a vegetarian at the time and I found the food a bit of a challenge. I slso had very long blonde hair that stuck out like a sore toe and caused a bit of excitement wherever I went. I met some beautiful people and the experience has stayed with me so well that I feel like it was only yesterday... (I think it was 1992!)
One of my fondest memories is catching a taxi to the great wall. It was the ride from hell and it was snowing. The wall was the most awesome thing... spent hours there and we went back a number of times. The history is mind blowing (to me!)
Well, now i have itchy feet! My DH went for business last year and he loved it too. But it has westernised a lot more. I remember when I flew into Beijing there were hardly any lights in the city! It was bizarre!
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