As I was eating breakfast at the Kommune Cafe on this, my last day in China, I thought about all the things I saw and experienced on this trip. There were so many favourite things about this trip, but I’d say my top 3 are:
#1. Hugging a panda!
#2. Seeing the terracotta warriors!
#3. Riding in a vintage sidecar through Shanghai!
Ranking the places I enjoyed the most, it’d look like this:
#1. Shanghai
#2. Chengdu
#3. Xi’an
#4. Hangzhou
#5. Beijing
#6. Wuxi
#7. Suzhou
#8. Nanjing
Food that I’ll miss:
#1. Blueberry fluff at Breadtalk (so good! someone needs to franchise it in Vancouver!)
#2. Sun & Shine Juice from Hong Kong (I drank so much of it, if you were to cut me, I’d bleed berries)
#3. Lay’s wasabi shrimp flavoured potato chips
Things that I won’t miss:
#1. Horking / phlegm rattling / sneezing without covering mouths
#2. Squat toilets (which I’m proud to say I did NOT use once during this trip!)
#3. The “me first” attitude
Other observations from the tour (excluding Shanghai):
* Beer is cheaper than pop. There were 2 litres of Chinese beer to one litre of pop at the restaurants we went to.
* Toddlers have bum slits in their pants so that it’s easy for them to take a dump. Anywhere. Anytime.
* Traffic in China is horrendous.
* Beijing is besieged with tourists, mostly domestic. We were one in hundreds of tour buses on the road. It felt like we were cattle being herded here and there.
* When it comes to queueing, there’s no lineup etiquette. Just shove your way to the front
* Live theatre is not treated as sacred. Everyone whips out their camera/phones to take pictures and videos. If however, you take too many videos or too long a clip, there’s staff at the back of the theatre who will laser beam your ass, in an attempt to shame you into putting your camera/phone away. Not that the audience member will care because 5 minutes later, they’ll do it again. It seems like people don’t get bounced.
Despite all the above cultural differences, there will definitely be a next time. For China is so big and there is so much to see.
Next time I’m in Shanghai, I’ll visit:
* Ocean Aquarium
* Shanghai Film Museum
* Underground market at Shanghai Science & Tech Museum
* Chinese Martial Arts Museum
In Chengdu, I’ll have to visit:
* Wuhou Memorial Temple with the red walls
* Jinli Alley in Wuhouci
* Wenshu Temple
* San Xing Dui
* Wide and narrow alley
* Mt Emei + Leshan
So much to see in Beijing, I’ll have to check out:
* Mao’s Mausoleum / Tiananmen Square
* National Museum of China
* National Art Museum of China
* Cow Street Mosque
* 798 Art District
* Ming Tombs + Eastern Qing tombs
* Summer Palace + Old Summer Palace
* Stupa Forest Temple at Tanzhe Temple
* Recreated Friends coffee house, Central Perk
I also learned that I’m not cut out for tours. (and probably cruises for that matter) I don’t like the regimented schedules and the glossing over of main attractions. I want to take my time and relish everything.
And that as much as I love my mom, we are very different travellers. I need to travel with someone that’s more like me or just go by myself.
So much learnt in one trip, not to mention personal growth! S’why I will never stop traveling.
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