I got back from China and Myanmar about a week ago and wanted to share some of the highlights from my trip! Somehow I managed to squeeze in 9 cities in just under 3 weeks so I’ll do my best to recap. I knew toward the end of my time in Cambodia I wanted to travel somewhere slightly out of the box, but I was also wary about traveling alone. Unable to solidify plans with friends in the country I actually ended up booking a tour with this company named Yomads that caters toward a younger crowd. I ultimately decided to go to China namely because I had never entertained the idea of going there previously and seeing the Great Wall alone sounded pretty awesome. I also couldn’t quite give up on not seeing Myanmar either while in Southeast Asia given how quickly I know the country will change. A friend of mine was actually planning to visit Myanmar for the whole month of September so I met up with him part way through his trip.
Beijing: I flew into Beijing which took approximately 8 hours spread over two flights. That night I met up with our tour group “members” which consisted of four women from Chicago – two of whom were sisters and the other two friends of the sisters, and a French Canadian from Montreal. The French Canadian guy’s name was Xavier, but no one could really pronounce the French version correctly so we just started calling him Zavy. We soon realized no one had ever called him this his entire life. Needless to say I’m sure he went back and reported that these 5 annoying American girls had given him a ridiculous nickname. Anyway, that night we went to Olympic Village and walked around the Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube which were both beautiful lit up at night. The next day we packed in the highlights – Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, Summer Palace, several famous pagodas, and, of course, a market where we could buy the world’s most realistic fake purses. Previous to visiting Tiananmen Square I knew it could hold one million people, but I was shocked at how large the square actually was – it is made up of this grey stone which seems to stretch on forever. Interestingly, our guide did not make any mention of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. That night we were able to catch an acrobatics show which was entertaining, but also slightly terrifying. It seemed that each stunt could easily have gone wrong and seriously injured everyone involved – for example, one act consisted of a large transparent dome in which six motorcycles were crammed in and drove in circles around each other frequently going upside down as well. We finished off the night with Peking duck at the famous Quanjude restaurant which has been serving the dish since 1864.
The next day we headed to Gubeikou for our two days of Great Wall hiking along the Jinshanling section. This area is about two hours north of Beijing and thus sees fewer tourists. I think everyone involved was extremely excited to see this monument which you’ve heard mentioned ever since you’re young. However, just as we clambered out of the van to hike it started pouring rain. Not to be deterred we managed to get two hours of hiking in before we decided we’d had enough. While getting soaked wasn’t fun watching the clouds swirl around these massive towers as they snaked into view was something I won’t forget. The Wall is truly enormous and goes on for as long as your eyes can see. That night we stayed in a home stay near the Wall. When I heard the word “home stay” my mind went straight to those in Cambodia which don’t have electricity, running water, or wifi. This home stay had all of the above including hot water. Needless to say I was pumped about this. The next morning we hiked a different section of the Wall and the weather was perfect – temperatures in the 70’s without a cloud in the sky. About half way through the hike we came across vendors in one of the towers and realized they were selling beer. Thirsty by this point, most of us bought one and marveled at the fact we were drinking beer on the Great Wall.
After our van ride back to Beijing we headed straight for the train station which looked like an airport terminal to me. There were people everywhere. A lot of ramen noodles were being consumed and a mix of smells hung in the air that was impossible to identify. We were taking the train to Xian which is a 10 hour overnight train. The first discovery we made was that the toilet in our car was overflowing with water and to our dismay smoking is most definitely allowed in trains. We huddled into our cabin which consisted of bunk beds stacked three high with absolutely no door to seal us off from everyone wandering by. Amazingly, I slept fairly well and we arrived in Xian around 9:00am.
Xian: The main highlight of the trip in Xian was seeing the Terracotta Warriors. They are a collection of terracotta sculptures built to guard Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s tomb. Finished in 209 BCE they were not discovered until 1974 by a local farmer. There are three “pits” total which hold more than 8,000 soldiers combined – each of which is unique. Previous efforts to excavate what’s likely more unearthed sculptures have been postponed until the technology is developed to preserve their paint which disintegrates as soon as it is exposed to air. Similarly to Tiananmen Square and the Great Wall (sensing a theme) I was struck by the sheer size and scale of this archaeological wonder. Also, I couldn’t help but picture people walking over these statues for literally thousands of years before they were discovered. After seeing some other sites including a pagoda built in 652(!) we took a short flight south to Chengdu.
Chengdu: Being a huge animal lover and interested in endangered species conservation needless to say I was excited to see the pandas at the Panda Breeding and Research Center. The facility is (again) huge – with beautiful landscaped paths weaving you around the various panda enclosures. We were able to see quite a few of the animals – most of which were stuffing their faces with copious amounts of bamboo. The red panda exhibit was easily the most entertaining. We had to walk through double doors which should have clued me into something. Upon entering I looked up and saw a couple of them in the trees – they are small, about 2-3 ft. long with a face that looks more like a fox and a beautiful red coat with a large bushy tail. At this point I looked down and realized there were large holes in the fence. Shortly thereafter one of the red pandas slipped through the hole and started marching down the boardwalk WITH the tourists. I was shocked they allow the animals to interact with people like this – even more so after two of the red pandas got into a fight and were scratching and biting each other next to a 2 year-old child. Regardless, they were adorable and I loved seeing these animals in person.
Yangshuo: We took another short flight south to Yanghsuo. By this time the reprieve I had while in northern China from sweating every minute of my life in Cambodia was beginning to end as we crept further south. Yangshuo is a village compared to most Chinese cities with a population of only 300,000. It is known for its impressive limestone cliffs which were the inspiration for some of the scenery in Avatar. While we went on several cruises down the river, my favorite thing we did was biking throughout the countryside and getting away from the craziness of the big cities. We also rather embarrassingly ate in one of the “Top 10 Most Scenic McDonalds in the world”. Not having eaten McDonalds in about a year, however, I was completely fine with this.
Hong Kong: We took another overnight train to Hong Kong. This time I was more prepared for what we would encounter, but I managed to get stuck with the top bunk instead of the bottom. I realized why people pay more for the bottom ones; I literally could not sit up which left me feeling slightly claustrophobic. Our organized tour actually ended right when we arrived in Hong Kong. I was planning to entertain myself there for a day until I traveled to Myanmar, however, the girls from Chicago invited me to tag along with them. Kelly, an artist from Chicago, had done business before in Hong Kong so she had planned a whirlwind day to see as much of the city as we could. First we took a 30 minute ride on the glass-bottom cable cars which led us to Tian Tan Buddha – easily the biggest Buddha I had ever seen in my life. After this we took an incredibly crazy bus ride back down the mountain and visited a small fishing village called Tai O. Walking around the boathouses each displaying dried fish for sale you could tell this village took pride in preserving its way of life that contrasted sharply from the bustling city life not far away. At night we went to Victoria Peak and spent a good hour admiring the skyline. I’ve been fortunate to see many beautiful natural landscapes in my life, but never have I been truly awed by a city’s skyline. The buildings were packed in so tightly and went on for as far as the eye could see. Finally, the next morning we went to a tea tasting with a woman who Kelly had befriended on her prior visits. I’m more of a coffee person, but the tea was divine and made me want to learn more about all the different kinds.
I had no idea what to expect traveling to China. Boiling it down to basics, I knew it would be big and have a lot of people. This easily lived up to my expectation. While I knew Beijing with 20 million people was the biggest city I had ever traveled to, it was more visiting the “smaller” Chinese cities and still being overwhelmed by their size that surprised me. Xian contains approximately 8 million people and Chengdu about 14 million. Another thing that stood out to me was the rich and lengthy history of this country. When reading the guidebooks or listening to our guides we chatted about events occurring thousands of years ago and marveled at buildings of which I couldn’t even begin to fathom the age. Finally, it was interesting observing different social norms from those I’m used to. In the U.S. we (for the most part) respect lines and if we accidently push someone say “excuse me”. This was definitely not the case in China. Specifically on the subways it was basically a free-for-all. Also, spitting extremely loudly in public was totally acceptable. Every time we heard it all of us just erupted into laughter. At home this would be seen as totally gross, but was completely acceptable in China. The last thing I found amusing was people approaching us and asking to take photos or simply walking up and putting a phone in our faces and taking it without asking. This happened throughout the country, but it threw me off guard because it happened the first time in Beijing. Here we were in this developed city of 20 million and people were marveling at the American foreigners. Minus these rather funny differing social norms I really enjoyed seeing a completely different piece of the world and feel fortunate to have visited a country that is clearly in the process of changing its position in our global world.
From Hong Kong I headed to Singapore where I had to overnight before heading to Myanmar. My colleague Jia Ling is from Singapore and she put me in touch with her friend, Jian, who showed me around the city at night which was extremely nice of him. From there I headed to Yangon which I’ll save for the next post…..!
Singapore skyline