Travel
Tips: China
China
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Travel
Tips: China
We came from the border of Vietnam into China. The name of the town where you change is called Ping Xiang. From there you have to hire a motorbike to take you to the next town that has a bus and train station. We took a bus to Nanning.
In Nanning the bus station is far from the actual city. You can just tell the taxi driver to take you to the Nanning train station. The cheapest (and dodgiest) places to stay are around the station. There isn’t a whole lot to do in Nanning. We just checked email and ate at McDonalds. After Nanning we took a train to Guilin.
Guilin was nice for a big city. On the west side of the city, there is a canal. There are loads of bridges that go over the canal and they light them at night. It is a nice place to walk around. There are lots of parks where you can climb one of the small peaks. From any one of these peaks you can get a nice view of the river and surrounding countryside. I would pick the one with the cheapest admission price. On the other side of the river is the seven peaks park. We didn’t go because we didn’t have time but it is supposed to be nice. I have no idea what the name of the place we stayed was. It was all in Chinese and the people only spoke Chinese. There are no budget accommodations in Guilin. All those listed in the Lonely Planet have closed. Just tell a taxi driver cheap hotel and that ought to work.
After Guilin we took a bus to Yangshou. You can do this or take a river cruise. The river cruise is very expensive so we passed. Yangshou is a haven for backpackers. There’s heaps of budget accommodation near the river’s edge. There’s lots of Western food and lots of knock-off shopping. We got super warm Northface coats for Tibet for $20US. In Yangshou you can walk through the orchards or do a bike ride through the hills. I recommend both. Make sure you seem the moon rock. It’s a nice climb and you get a gorgeous view of the village. Do not go to the park and climb the peak in town. It is dirty there and the climb is really small and the view isn’t very good.
After Yangshou we took a day trip to see the Longsheng Rice Terraces (Devil’s Backbone). They would be really spectacular if it is rice-planting season and all the paddies are full of water. They weren’t for us (early October) but I still enjoyed it. You can get some really good hiking in. I would recommend forging your own trail up and down the terraces. We got some great pics and were free of all the other tourist and chair carrier guys. You could rent a chair and have two guys carry you up to the top of one of the peaks. They walk fairly fast and will trample you if you get in their way…another good reason to forge your own path.
After we finished all this, we hopped a train up to Beijing. We stayed near the Forbidden City. This was great. We were close to the subway and a main bus circle and within walking distance of the Temple of Heaven and The Forbidden City. There is great food in this area as well. There is a place called the Far Eat Youth Hostel. You can look it up on the web and probably find a decent map or directions in Chinese for a cab driver. We didn’t actually stay here though. We stayed across the street. There is a big hotel just across the way and in the basement they have a hostel. There’s a washing machine and kitchen facility. There are three beds per room. It was really quiet, safe, and clean. I was really please with it. They have a travel agency inside that will arrange everything for you. We priced around and they really are the best and much easier and faster than doing it yourself on public transport. Frequently they get the local prices for you so you actually pay a little less than every other foreigner. We went to the Chinese opera (okay); circus (awesome!), Summer Palace (good) and we also did a hike along the Greta Wall. This was one of the highlights of my trip. We hiked 4 hours along the wall. We started at Jingshanling and walked to Simatai. The wall is mostly restored and after about 2 hours you leave the Jinshanling tourists behind and you have the wall just you and your group. It’s good. Then the driver picks you up at Simatai and takes you back to Beijing. Awesome walk. It’s really beautiful!
If you walk out of this hotel and turn left, walk to the main road. When you get to the main road turn right and a fair ways down on the left is a sign (green I think) that says hand-pulled noodles. Awesome place to eat! Obviously the noodles are what to order. We just had noodle soup and usually 2 people can split one bowl. The portions are really really big. If you go out of the hotel and take a right walk down maybe 3 shops and there is a dumpling shop where you can order grilled dumplings for very cheap. Amazing as well. And if you continue down on the right almost to Quinmen Rd. you will see a restaurant that says Beijing duck on your left. The sign is red I think. They have the best Beijing duck and it is reasonably priced. They also have the best sweet and sour pork that I’ve ever had in my life. Between in the dumplings and the duck shop on your right is a pool hall or bowling alley (I can’t remember) but on the 3rd floor is an Internet café that has the fastest email access in the area.
After Beijing we took a train to Xian. We stayed at the youth hostel under the south gate wall. If you are inside the walled city, facing the wall, turn right and walk on the road that runs along the wall and it is just there on your right. It’s called the Shu-something Hostel. Maybe Shuyuan. I think the #11 bus from the train stations goes to the south wall. They are a proper hostel too with cooking facilities and laundry machines. They can tell you what bus to take to get to the Terracotta Army. It’s really easy. They have a brochure with a chart. Also, in the southwest quadrant of the walled city is the Muslim quarter. It’s a different world in there and the food is excellent!
After Xian we took the train to Chengdu. Xian is the only city we encountered where we could buy our own train ticket and not book through CITS. All other places you have to buy your ticket through CITS and if you buy it from some guy off the street, you are getting scammed. Anyway, in Chengdu you can stay at Sam’s or Holly’s. They are brother and sister. Sam will pick you up at the train station if you phone ahead. I don’t know the phone number but you could look in a lonely planet and write it down. If he is full, he will give you a ride over to Holly’s. The main reason to go to Chengdu is to get permits for Tibet and to see the pandas. Holly and Sam can arrange that for you. It’s a good deal. They make sure you get to the Panda breeding center at breakfast time so all the pandas are out and eating their bamboo. It’s great. We also took a cooking class organized through Holly and Sam. It was basic but it was really fun. As far as Tibet goes, there’s more on that page but the best way is to fly and you can’t find it any cheaper than $200US. I would recommend burning any pictures onto CD in China because you won’t find another place to do it until Kathmandu.