O/T: anybody been to China?

[Goldstone1976]

I'd echo the general thrust of the posts so far - a few things that are worth seeing; a couple of major problems (smog!); overall, I'm not sure it's worth a special trip. Japan though - now that's worth a special trip...

 

[The Birdman]

I agree with many of these points we did short stays in each place and visited the Great Wall Terracotta army Forbidden city river trip on the Li finished Train to Hong Kong to recover very organised by the guide who oftern suggested once back at the hotel don't go out again which on some occasions we ignored and ended up meeting some interesting pepole and cheaper beer. It was a lot of travelling.The Maglev high speed train was fun. The parks were also interesting with lots of different chineese sports for keeping fit played by very skilful locals and we had a go and they laughed at us. Also watch out crossing roads as you don't here the electric scooters/ bikes coming.

 

[Lower West Stander]

Been on business a couple of times and did some tourist stuff in Beijing and Shanghai.

Didn't like it personally. Very smoggy and their obsession with all things Western mean there's loads of impersonal buildings. The traffic is awful too.

On the plus side, the Forbidden City is amazing.


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[Stumpy Tim]

Thought Shanghai was over-rated, but like Hong Kong

 

[Bakero]

I've been several times, I quite like Beijing but prefer Shanghai and love Hong Kong. If you get the chance Yangshuo/Guilin are great places to kick back for a few days, and only an overnight train journey from Beijing. Xi'an on the other hand is an absolute waste of time IMO. I found it really overrated, it's miles from anywhere and other than the Terracotta warriors there's nothing there.

I disagree about Xian. I thought it had retained its character more than other Chinese cities and was an interesting place to spend a few days. Also, culturally it's a world away from Beijing. To top it off the food's great too, as it is everywhere in China.

 

[knocky1]

Travelled in China for 3 months a while ago. The highlight was Tibet - and October/November is a perfect time to go - clear skies over the Himalayas. You'd need about 10 days and depending upon the tour you take, it might end up in Kathmandu and you could easily spend a week in Nepal (and in fact you could do a trek there if you are into that sort of thing - I walked to Everest Base Camp at Xmas - fantastic, takes 2 weeks). Loved Sichuan Province just east of Tibet as well. No trip to China is complete without a few days in Beijing as well - despite the pollution.

Excellent. I've had a good sight of Tibet from Nepal. My heart says it's not China though. Done EBC twice, as well it is brilliant. Walked in and out though to make it 4-5 weeks. One can always trek to the Base Camp on the Tibet/China side of Everest but I think it needs to be in a group, which isn't for me.
6 weeks back in the Annapurnas in Nov/Dec. Can't wait. Don't know why anyone would want to go to a smoggy, busy, city......

 

[Kneon Light]

Went for 3 weeks a few years ago.
Absolutely loved it. Didn't go to Beijing but really liked Shanghai. Xian was also great to see - especially the terracotta army.
Highlight for me though was Guilin - completely different and far more rural (we stayed close to Guilin rather than in the town itself - I'll look up details of interested). The limestone scenery was incredible.
Also went to Hangzhou and Guangzhou both of which were very enjoyable.
Travelled around the country on public transport booking hotels etc as we went and had no problems at all. No pollution issues anywhere we went.
Liked Hong Kong but was too westernised for me so wasn't my favourite place but certainly nothing wrong with it.

 

[Medwayseagull]

Went on an organized trip June 2016. Beijing, Guilin, Xian, Chonquing and a seven day Yangtse river trip to Shanghai. We liked all of it although the weather can be rather changeable. We didn't find the people unfriendly but those from the rural areas vising the big cities themselves are more intrigued by westerners as they will have not seen them previously. I posed for photos with a number of locals for that reason although I am more noticeable than the average European. Food was as you would expect. We had an excellent tour director and some very good local guides. Don't forget to see some giant pandas if you are into some "aahh" moments. It was a totally different world culturally in many ways but also westernised in others, particularly Shanghai.
I would strongly recommend a visit.

 

[Goring-by-Seagull]

Went to Shanghai for 10 days last October. Really enjoyed it actually, not only because it was my first time abroad (I'm 31!).

The spitting thing you get used to.. Was even happening in the airport when we got there! We stayed in a hotel just across the road from our Gus's team's stadium. Food is pretty cheap, although in our hotel it was just over £10 a pint so we just went to the shop next door and bought bottles for about 70p. The train system is bloody brilliant and you can get from one side of the city to the other for under a quid.

Unfortunately didn't get to do TOO much sight seeing as the last three days that we'd earmarked for going out and about it absolutely HOONED it down so couldn't really go out and do the stuff we'd planned.

Oh and they have ZERO road safety

 

[Munkfish]

Are you walking the Great wall of China for charity?

 

[Trufflehound]

Taiwan is beautiful, and largely bypassed.

A lot of what China has on a smaller scale, few tourist hoards outside of holidays and weekends

Agreed. Toroko Gorge is spectacular, especially if you stay overnight after the day-tripping hordes have gone home. Alishan is beautiful as well.

 

[Tory Boy]

Mrs Tory Boy has been to china twice this year.

Loved Shanghai and Hong Kong, and liked Beijing and the Great Wall.

Didn't take to the creepy crawley food though.

TB

 

[Trufflehound]

It was back in 1993, so I can't speak about any modern stuff, but I spent 3 months backpacking around China. Four months if you count Hong Kong and Macau, which were still British and Portuguese then. Five months if you include Taiwan,

Loved Shanghai (albeit back then, the whole skyscraper area on the east side of the river was still mudflats), Hangzhou and Suzhou were quite nice, liked Nanjing, Qufu and Tai'an were OK (except we climbed the Taishan holy mountain in the fog and saw eff all from the top). Like others said, Beijing is a bit meh and enjoyment depends on the weather and smog (a bit of rain can actually be good for flushing some of the pollution out of the air). I was a bit underwhelmed by both the Great Wall and the Terracotta army in Xian (probably bought into the hype too much, and was expecting more). My favourite areas were all much further away from the east coast, but they are harder to get to if you don't have the luxury of time like I did. Xiahe, Songpan, Dali, and Lijiang are all breathtaking. Leshan's 'big Buddha' has to be seen to be believed (you can hold a picnic on his big toenail). Chengdu and Kunming are no more than OK. Guilin is horrible (granted, my judgment was swayed by having nowhere to sleep and spending 9 hours sitting on the steps of the railway station waiting for the first bus out), but the limestone karst area around it is jaw-dropping. I stayed two weeks in Yangshuo, about two hours by bus south from Guilin, and it really is a beautiful spot.

Xiahe, Lijiang and Yangshuo if I had to pick a top three.

Language was occasionally an issue, but you can get a long way with mime. In a lot of restaurants with no English menus I got into the habit of walking into the kitchen, pointing at some nice-looking veg or some meat with not too many flies on, and then making the international sign of the stir-fry by waving my arms about a bit. Perfectly acceptable, and I never failed to end up with a decent plate of food.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Going to Oz in September, transiting through Guangzhou. Got a 19 hour layover there on the way back with free hotel accommodation thrown in by the good people at China Southern Airlines. Would dearly have liked to have stayed for a couple of days and take a good look around. But being a bit asthmatic, I don't really fancy ending up in a Chinese hospital on account of the smog. Though fully intend just dumping my bag at the hotel and taking the train into town for a quick nosey round. One of the joys of using cheapo Asian airlines, you get to see a little bit of some places you'd likely never otherwise experience. Did the same thing last time I went to Oz, when I flew with Taiwan-based China Airlines. Got a chance to sample downtown Taipei. Which was nice.

 

[Trufflehound]

Got a chance to sample downtown Taipei. Which was nice.

Besides the National Palace Museum and the Chiang-Kai Shek memorial, downtown Taipei appeared to consist of almost nothing but cake shops and wedding outfitters when I was there.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Besides the National Palace Museum and the Chiang-Kai Shek memorial, downtown Taipei appeared to consist of almost nothing but cake shops and wedding outfitters when I was there.

How can you SAY such a thing

 

[Robinjakarta]

Been several times, and one thing's for sure. You're going to get a lot of different opinions as we see here. Mine are:
Beijing: love it. Very historical and the hutongs, parks and lakes are lovely. Great food and a very 'Chinese' atmosphere. Recoend Great Wall at Mutianyu rather than the nearer and more touristy Badaling.
Shanghai: cosmopolitan and less Chinese atmosphere and less interesting than Beijing.
Xi'an: very historical and a different feel about it. Great food!
Hangzhou: worth visiting for the beautiful West Lake
Guilin and Yangshuo: a beautiful boat trip and lovely countryside. Good for bicycle hire.
Hong Kong: soulless, unfriendly and overrated

 

[The Stout Yeoman]

I've heard about the spitting thing, and I'm well aware of the pollution, yeah.

Would look to travel around a bit rather than stay in one place. Got to do Beijing I think just to see the Great Wall, but other than that, various people have suggested they enjoyed Shanghai (and Hong Kong) more.

Thanks

Its not spitting per say we used to call it "Grollying Up" at school ... much more socially unacceptable ...

 

[royceyboy]

Giving it some thought for a holiday, say October or November time. It does look like an interesting sort of place.

Anybody been? Would you recommend it? Can't recall if we have a Seagulls Over Beijing branch

Please do not waste your money. I have to travel to China with my job. I have been to all the main cities, and I would never go back if I had the choice.
Hong Kong is nothing like main land China. It's a country in itself. It has a massive expat community and definitely worth a visit. But no more than a few days.
The good thing about Hong Kong is you can fly to much nicer destinations, especially Thailand and Singapore.
If I were you, I'd forget about China and head to Thailand. The food is far better (Chinese food in china is nothing like you'd get in your local takeaway), the people a nicer, and it's far more beautiful.
If however you like rude people. Lots of smog. Soulless cities and disgusting food, go to China!

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Yes, by mistake. Left again a couple of hours later