5th to 16th July 2025
This is the last part of our journey through China. So what have we learnt?
China is developing incredibly quickly. The infrastructure is growing rapidly not only here, but through Chinese funded and built networks throughout Central Asia.
Property development has kept pace and the poor overcrowded housing situation I learned about 30 years ago has almost vanished. There are massive high rise housing developments which have replaced the old housing which would now be the slums.
Customer service is fantastic we have had so much help from people. However, out and about it is everyone for themselves. No politeness or rarely, lots of pushing and shoving.
Food has been fantastic, although confusing at times, with unexpected results, such as turkey stew involving a whole chicken in one piece including the head. I think the feet were missing as they are considered a real delicacy available in the snack section of every shop.
Pot noodles are incredibly popular with shelves devoted to them in supermarkets and convenience stores. Service stations railway stations, trains etc.have hot water points for hydrating them.
We have now experienced the bullet trains, incredibly smooth. You’d never guess the speed you’re doing, and a luxury, – western toilets available along with toilet paper (very rare in China) and soap!
We are easily identified as foreigners in a place with very few white people, which can be helpful. Everyone notices us and remembers us. In a restaurant they can immediately take us to the table with the others.
Particularly in western China, Chinese people like to cover their body from the sun. This became less prevelant towards the east but we still saw plenty of people with their face arms and hands covered.
In Eastern China we have seen a few churches and a couple of mosques. We are told that 4 religions are recognised, Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism and Protestantism. Confuciamism is a philosophy not a religion.
It has been a very positive experience, and this along with the rest of the journey across Asia has taught me a lot about the history, geography and politics of the area.
Now in our small group with our new leader Jemmima we set off south by public transport from Beijing.
Shanghai is very cosmopolitan with all the international chains operating. It has developed and increased tremendously over the decades, with sky scrapers competing for attention on the skyline.
We started off with a hop on hop off bus to get a picture of the city. Shanghai has its origins in the shipping and port industry particularly after the opium wars. One of the less glorious moments for the British Empire when we fought China for the right to smuggle opium out through Chine from India, leaving a trail of opium addicts along the route.
After the first war won by Britain, there was a British concession (area) in Shanghai and after the second which France joined with there was also a French concession. The French concession has its own character of shaded streets and French plane trees with many cafes. These concession areas have given Shanghai its international heritage and now it is now the biggest port in the world as well as a centre of international banking. the banking area adds to the skyline with its many unique tall buildings.
We took time out to see the sightseeing tunnel under the river. This is lit up with different themes through the short journey. At the far side we discovered we had paid for an interactive space theme experience. Ashley loved the ride through asteroids and falling buildings and space stations on a moving platform with video. We also took pictures of our selves in “free fall”.
We saw the “bottle opener” building, and also the tallest building in China designed to funnel the rainwater down for recycling. We ended up in a cafe in a park within sight of the built landscape.
The garden was a nice escape, with the ever popular rocks and water.
The next day we went to the Yu Garden a centuries old formal garden hosting the “exquisite Jade rock” the centrepiece of the garden. The garden is a series of buildings and garden areas built with water areas and many rocks
From there we went to one of the water villages, part of Shanghai’s inheritance as a fishing village. These are the Venice of Shanghai, complete with boats. We were unlucky with a boat trip as bad weather was forecasted and they had been stopped.
We did see several cat cafes where people go to enjoy the company of cats living there.
They have kept a couple of old buildings in their original occupation as tourist attractions. A post office and a medicine shop.
We ended with a night cruise to see the lights. After the heat of the day it was lovely to have the breeze on the boat and we paid and extra 100 yuan for the viewing deck which included a small beer and a small packet of biscuits, good value.
The buildings manically transformed as it got darker.
From Shanghai we moved to Haungshan and on to the Yellow mountains. Famed for many centuries for their role in art and literature. Home of bamboo forest lower down, and pines higher up with many peaks and low clouds floating between them.
The journey was by shuttle from the nearest town up through bamboo forest with really thick stems, climbing and climbing untill we got near the cable car and then a long ride up iby cable up nto the mountains.
The path up there was all concrete walkway and viewing points, with no way to step off due to the cliffs. Once past the crowds, it was peaceful and the walkways looked empty ahead. I’d have loved a longer walk However we were working to a schedule I didn’t want to be late.
We saw some unusual and striking birds which I think go by the intriguing name rusty laughing thrush They seemed quite plentiful up there
The photos really don’t do the views justice. As at other places, the shops on the way sold many walking sticks and most of the Chinese had these. It seemed a bit unnecessary with short sets of steps and flat paths. However, the unknown mountain is probably what sells them.
I did get to eat pea ice lolly at the bottom and back near our hotel I found great wall wine!
We were staying in Tunxi a quaint town with many tour groups visiting.
At night it was lit up and had lots of eating places. It was here I finally got to try Durian fruit- the smellyist fruit in the world. I checked out on Google how to prepare it but in the end the greengrocer offered to do it and presented me with a plastic tray of the edible part. I then met Jemmima outside the hotel to have a try.
I wouldn’t say the smell is particularly unpleasant or strong but the smell and the taste is slightly savory a bit like onion or garlic
After this we went to Suzhou another train journey and an interesting exit for us laden with backpacks and large cases
Here I decided to see the night show at the Master of the nets garden. We went through a series of garden “rooms” and saw different performances. It was a magical evening. I’m sorry I can put videos up on this site.
The next day I went to the Humble Administrators garden. A walk along a canal on a nice path and at a junction a view of the city skyline.
Halfway, we got onto a pedestrian only section where it suddenly got very crowded and it was full of exciting food. I’d love to have tried everything!
Inside the garden it was a bit busy but not too bad. Again there were many rocks. We were also treated to the many women dressed up for the day and adding to the beauty of the garden.
The colours were mainly from coleus plants and there were lotus plants everywhere in the garden.
We wandered through many different garden areas buildings, bridges and water ways. We found a whole bonsai garden with some large bonsai. By the time we left it had got unpleasantly crowded and once outside we could see an enormous queue to get in and more coaches arriving.
On the way back we did a boat trip up the canal, part of a queue of boats going up and down which took some of the fun out of it.
In the evening we had the local delicacy squirrel fish, which is actually a Mandarin fish prepared to look like squirrel with a light batter and sweet and sour sauce.
After this it was back to Beijing for a last day before our flight to South Korea. Unfortunately we had missed North Korea as it was still closed
For our last evening I went to see the acrobatics show. I’d heard it was good and it was. It was absolutely brilliant. We finished off the evening with a last Chinese meal ready to leave for S Korea
I’ll really miss Alipay the online payment system. You pay for everything with it, book taxis through it, monitor the route and pay through it. Scan menus through it and order food then pay for it and do much more. I have online receipts and proof of purchase.
There is so much more from our time in China- the flashing police lights and sirens at intervals along the motorway to keep drivers awake The model policeman and construction workers sometimes with moving arms to keep drivers attention. Always having to ensure our pockets were full of toilet paper (using public toilets so much which don’t have any).So many more every day things