Special China travel

I often spend my holidays visiting new places and so I was going to have the usual 2 months June-July vacations. Given that most of my friends in Lille are Asians and that I admire their courage to travel far and wide to study or settle in countries where they have to learn new languages, I decided to make China my next destination. I was equally keen in better understanding the people in their own home.

My mother in-law called to know if I was travelling and if so, she inquired about my intended destination (because she knows I always had interesting travel destination ideas). Informing her of my plan, my globe trotting family decided to join in the adventure, apart from Mat who was already working in Venezuela and their father who had to visit his home in Colombia.

Sent our passports to the Chinese embassy in Paris, got our visas and then set to go.
On the d-day, we all met at the Charles De Gaulle airport, took our different flights and rejoined ourselves in Moscow, where we finally took off for Beijing.

On our arrival at the Beijing airport, we jumped in a bus right outside the airport and headed to the centre of the city where we booked a hotel close to Tienanmen square.
I must say that I am proud to be one of the last people who saw China before they dismantled buildings in some parts of the city, in preparations for the forthcoming Olympics.

The streets of China

Even though we made reservations for the first 2 nights, arriving at the hotel in Beijing, you need some re-explanations for the receptionist to understand your demands. They already gave out our rooms to their Chinese clients for fear we might not show up, and they do not wish to loose their clients. One thing you need to know is that tourists in China are mostly the Chinese themselves.
We finally got installed and went to fill our stomach as well as visit the place, of course like other tourists would do.

Eating the Chinese way(Lao Tseu restaurant Beijing)

Happy to be in China

View behind is The People's Hero (Tienanmen)

Public bus

T he following day, we commenced our real visit starting with Tienanmen square, the Summer palace and other interesting sites. To visit these sites around the square, you do need to wake up early in order to avoid the big rush because the Chinese are anxious people who love to know and understand their legendary history . In other words, you will meet a never ending queue and will not have the opportunity to visit a site you made thousands of kilometres to see.

A view on Mao's memorial hall

The forbidden city

Ticket stand to the Forbidden City

The Forbidden City under reconstruction

Throne in the Forbidden City

Chinese playing game

The Cixi's Marble boat built in 1893 (Summer Palace)

Dragon head at the Forbidden City

Spectacle in Beijing

Transit boat through Lake Kunming (Summer Palace)

We went to visit the Great Walls of China after visiting the centre of Beijing. You might call us selfish travellers but we like visiting a site and having it all to ourselves. For this reason, we opted for Simatai which is less populated and you can have a swell time up and down the walls.

The Great Walls of China (Simatai)

We had the Simatai walls to ourselves

Simatai from above

After a few days in Beijing, we headed south ward to Xian and Chengdu in the Sichuan province. We first needed to make a stop in Datong to visit the Buddha cave. We arrived Datong at 3 am without hotel reservations but we sure got ourselves a place to lay our heads for the night (trust the Chinese business spirit).

The next day, we took a 2 to 3 hours bus to Ping Yao, a small mining town with traditional buildings. Ping Yao is expensive due to the fact that the locals are used to tourists; which explains why you pay twice for a product in Ping Yao than the price the same item is sold in Beijing, the capital city of China. We left for the train station to catch up with any train heading to Xian. Since we did not know in advance that we were visiting the cave, we could not board on an early train. We later got on a soft sitter space ready for a 10 hour journey to Xian.

Leaving for Datong (Beijing train station)

A Buddha encrusted into the mountain at the Datong cave

The way to Xian and Chengdu was very long and tiring. In the case of Xian, the roads were chocked up with commercial trucks and trailers and we spent more hours than previewed. Going to Chengdu was by train and since its usually a 16 hours travel, I demanded we travel by night. I also demanded we have the possibility to lay down comfortably and stretch out our tired bodies. Unfortunately, I learnt that the soft sleepers were completely booked. We had to contend with what we had at the moment (half loaf of bread is better than nothing) and this time, we reserved in advance.

You can travel by road either by train or by bus and I assure you that the transport system is very well organised and well maintained. The roads are long with many a times, tiny and high bridges in the mountains, but you will be entertained by watching Chinese movies and listening to Chinese songs.

If you must visit other states of China by road, try and book your tickets 10 days in advance, in order to avoid every inconveniences. In Datong, there is a system put in place to help visitors purchase their transport tickets (either by air or by land). Ask for the foreigners transport aide office at the train station in Datong.

Xian (armées entérées) old and new soldiers

If you wish to travel to China, the Lonely planet is a good guide to help you maneuver your way around thanks to some useful translated words in Chinese. If you are having difficulties in pronouncing some words to a Chinese, you can simply show the person you are speaking to, what you intend to say and you bet, the misunderstanding is resolved immediately.
The down side of this guide is that their accommodation proposals will only be useful if you are travelling alone or if you are a back packer. My advice is when travelling in China, look for newly built hotels; you are sure to sleep on a clean bed and take a proper shower.



Tea spectacle on the streets of Chengdu

Chengdu panda reserve

Mao's statue (Chengdu)

Traveling to China is an enriching experience and if you love to visit more than Beijing, you need to be adventurous and patient. This entails learning how to insist when you are refused some favours by the Chinese who are used to saying "meyu" (do not mind my spelling) meaning, it is finished or we no longer have in stock what you demand. You will learn a lot about the way the Chinese go about their daily activities; for example, the way they travel, like taking long hours transport, and the way the locals live. You will gradually feel at ease sharing common space with the Chinese who are comfortable with spitting in the public.

Asian and Western attires

Camping in the mountains of Tibet

Camp guards and Tibetan horse riders

Well, China was a great experience and I learnt a lot from the people whom I met. I had a wonderful time camping in the mountains at the border of Tibet. We all wished the holidays continued but we had to go back home.