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China Experience-Beijing, Shanghai, Guilin

There are several not-to-be missed attractions. The Simatai Great Wall should be at the top of everyone's list of places to visit.  The Buddhist Temple in Beijing was beautiful and fascinating.  We were surprised by the beauty and size of the temples we visited (Buddhist, Taoist, and Lama).  Here again, Alley was very valuable in helping us to understand what we were seeing.  She brought the experience to life for us and I personally was moved by the many people worshiping there.  The music at the Buddhist temple was beautiful and when we wanted to walk back to the parking lot by a side path, Alley did not miss a beat.  One piece of advice I would certainly give anyone asking is to take the road less traveled.  That is, when you can, walk where most people won't walk or don't walk.  The Longii Terraces were amazingly beautiful and well worth the long trip.  On the way up, be sure to try the dried fruits.  The dried figs were superb and we only wish we had bought more.  The Li River cruise was beautiful and Mark indicated that some people hike along the river.  Given an opportunity, I'd love to go back and hike the Li river and travel by the small boats we saw.  We both enjoyed the kung fu show, but the acrobatics show in Shanghai was great.  The seats were great.  When visiting Guilin, Gillian and I went back to the park on the Li River across Elephant Trunk Hill.  There are several small boats along the walk by the elephant statues along the river bank.  While I was enjoying myself climbing on the elephants, a Chinese couple invited me and my wife to sit with them and enjoy dinner (see attached picture).  We sat with the couple, who spoke no English, for over an hour and had one of the most memorable experiences of the entire trip.  Although we were not able to communicate through words, we were able to communicate.  When in Guilin, everyone should be encouraged to hike up to the Pagoda on top of Elephant Trunk Hill to watch the sunset.  It was beautiful (and I have a great picture to prove it) and very peaceful.  For most of the time on the top of the hill, we were alone.  Another experience that should not be missed is walking around the Hutongs in Beijing.  I'm not talking about the Hutong that we visited during the day with our guide, but the Hutongs Gillian and I visited around our hotel.  I was amazed at how many Hutongs were around the hotel and to walk among the areas and with the people was something else.  We sampled as much of the local foods offered in the Hutongs as we could.  There were people selling all kinds of different foods in small hole-in-the-wall places throughout the Hutongs.  We certainly needed a lot more time to sample more of the local foods.  We would recommend that everyone sample as much of the local foods as possible.  I think we were even able to surprise our guides by our desire and willingness to try new foods and local cuisine.  We didn't always know what we were eating, but we didn't care.  We were there to experience life in China and I believe we were able to do just that. 

The hotels were great.  The only 4 star hotel we stayed in was the Anting Villa in Shanghai.  Are we ever glad we kept that hotel.  We were surprised that in the middle of Shanghai was this peaceful hotel with beautiful gardens.  The suite was fantastic.  The Waterfall hotel in Guilin with the view we had was totally amazing.  We overlooked the Li'River and Elephant trunk Hill.  At the right time of the year, I would bet the sunrise from the room we had would be breathtaking.  We could not believe the hotel was actually a waterfall.  The Sheraton Hotel in Suzhou was spectacular.  I would have loved to spend a few more nights there. 

The one thing I would caution people about is the driving.  We were totally surprised by the rules of the road.  Once we learned to trust our driver, we were able to enjoy the wild rides.  Words can hardly express the driving experience or the crossing the street on foot experience.  We are happy to let you know that by the end of our trip we considered ourselves accomplished street crossers in the true Chinese fashion.  The entire trip neither Gillian or I used forks.  We ate with chopsticks at every meal and even when we made a mess of it and were offered forks by the staff at the restaurants, we refused them and continued to eat with chopsticks.  The only regret we have is that we did not buy the training chopsticks we saw for sale in Shanghai.  Our nieces and nephews would have loved them as gifts.  We arrived with two suitcases and left with four.  We flew first class between the different cities with Air China and the minimal extra cost was well worth it.  The service in First Class was better than most American Airlines.  Having the separate first class screening line was the best (something I wish they would do everywhere).  The lounges were better than many I have been in and the aircrew were more attentive than most. 

 

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