As you probably know, going to China is not an easy task. It takes time to learn and plan everything, otherwise, you will waste your precious time. It is a vast country and the linguistic barrier is difficult to overcome.
We had prepared ourselves this trip, we took some language courses to learn basic and useful words. Once there, our pronunciation with a French accent was difficult to understand and interpret by the Chinese. Luckily, a samaritan Chinese helped us to translate key phrases to book our train tickets. Without that, we would still be there!
The Chinese are not recognized for their friendliness, but the country is wonderful to visit, the Buddhist art is widespread and the gastronomy is superb. Total cultural choc guaranteed, make it a memorable trip for many years to come.
Favorites
Too many things we could add to this list, but here is our top 20 for the pleasure to read!
Shanghai
- The view of the Pudong district from the Bund. Night and day.
- The Buddhist temple of Longhua which is still active. Beautiful temple, filled with Buddhas: happy, Chinese, bearded, eternal sleep, etc. The most beautiful room is one that contains thousands of golden Buddha. A small pack of incense is included in the entrance fee.
Suzhou
- The labyrinth made with sea rocks in the lion’s garden where you can walk through. An amazing experience guaranteed!
- Suzhou Museum and its garden.
Hangzhou
- West Lake of Hangzhou. We had the impression to be in another dimension instead of being in China. Dancers and singers on every corner of this pathway. There are several small boats and tourist cars. You can also admire several awesome pagodas with great art on them.
- Hefang shopping street where you can try local specialties for free while visiting beautiful buildings and museums.
Datong
- Huayan Superior Monastery. Beautiful pagoda where you can climb to admire a beautiful view of the city. You can see the new “old town” under construction and the dilapidated quarters. The basement of the pagoda is worth a visit, with thousands of golden Buddha. Wow, and speechless by the view! Also, there was a central temple with a big Buddha. You can also see an old temple with old Buddha not restored and full of dust, cool to see, but to take photos were forbidden.
Yungang
- The Yungang caves are beautiful like a flower. Big Buddha of 15 meters high engraved in the solid rock accompanied with painted Buddha. Hall of the thousand Buddha, immense Buddha duo in the mountain flank. We started with the main temple which was lovely nice to admire. We were naturally be guided to the first cave. A small waterfall on the road, at the top of an arch, allowed us to see the smallest caves of the site.
Pingyao
- The historical district
- Temples
Xi’An
- The terracotta army is impressive to see. Also, you can also see live the work of restoring the artifacts pieces and safeguarding.
- The spirit of the Muslim quarter which is animated and unique in the evening. Good gastronomy to be discovered.
- Shaanxi History Museum.
- Museum of Xi’An.
Beijing (Pekin)
- Temple of Confucius, touristic site but worth to visit.
- The Forbidden City
- Capital Museum. Very beautiful collection: Buddha, bronze, porcelain, reconstitution of Hutong, etc. The temporary exhibit is accessible only with an internet reservation and it is worth it.
- The Great Wall, a bit of vertigo, a lot of leg work, but what more to say than Wow!
- Flea market where we made a lot of beautiful finds.
- Summer Palace. Wangcheng Museum, marble boat, lake tour to cross the bridge with 17 arches. Beautiful view from the top of the pagoda.
The irritants:
- Omnipresent security control in the subway, museums, train stations, everywhere, resistance is futile!
- The Internet access is very slow and several sites are blocked. Also, it’s hard to get a wifi connection if you do not possess a Chinese cell phone number.
- We had to show our passport to buy tickets for train, bus, and museums.
- Linguistic communication barrier. Even in hotels, restaurants, and museums, it was difficult to be understood.
- Payment by credit card is not possible. The outcome, automatic tickets machine are inaccessible to foreign tourists.
- Traffic. Difficult to know the exact rules. Almost no car respects the red lights. It is not easy to cross the streets, many bicycles and motorcycles do not respect the rules of the road and are ready to do anything to go before the pedestrians. Ouch!
- Lack of courtesy of the Chinese. In the subway, they rush to the benches even before you have the time sitting. Moreover, they pass by like a bull before letting out the people. They do not respect the waiting lines. They spit and smoke everywhere.
- There are many public toilets, but they are Turkish style toilets. Unpleasant odor assured, paperless and without hand soap.
- Parents have their children pee anywhere; in a dustbin, in the middle of a park, even on a busy shopping street!
- No indication or explanatory form in English in touristic areas.
- Some hotels are reserved exclusively for the Chinese.
- No escalators in older stations. Was hard to carry our luggage!
- A lot of pollution.
Prerequisites
- Vaccine: No mandatory vaccine, but some of the universal type are recommended depending on the regions visited: hepatitis A and B, typhoid, rabies, Japanese encephalitis.
- Visa: Mandatory, unless you make a transit of less than 72 h or 144 h in certain cities. For Canadians, you need 3 working days and $ 160. The visa will be valid for a period of 10 years or until the end of the validity of your passport. For other nationalities, you can find more details on the VisaForChina website.
- Passport: Must have at least 2 consecutive blank pages and be valid 6 months after the date of the visa application. Make sure you have your passport with you all the times, it is necessary to enter museums, public places, train station, etc.
- Language: Chinese. The Chinese speak almost no English, so it is recommended to bring a translating app that translates and gives the results in pinyin.
- Map: Most of the maps offered are only in Chinese. Another essential is to have an app like maps.me.
- Credit/payment card: Only Chinese cards are accepted and only certain ATM accept international cards to withdraw Yuan money.
Our trip:
Trip style: Couples
Luggage type: Backpack and small suitcases
Transport used: Train, subway, bus, walking
Cost of trip: CAD $ 2,102.09 / person (including YUL-SHA plane ticket)
- Accommodation : $ 515,47
- Hotel 3* and 4*:
- Lakeside Holiday Inn, Shanghai
- Bokai Westlake Hotel, Hanzhou
- Nanfang Hotel, Xi’an
- Pingyao Hotel, Pingyao
- Sicily Hotel, Beijing
- Guo Men Business Hotel, Beijing airport
- Hotel 3* and 4*:
- Transportation (train, metro, bus, baggage deposit): $ 417.60
- Visa: 156,34 $
- Food: $ 235.04
- Attraction: $ 166.88
- Extra (souvenirs, etc.): $ 112.26
Number of cities visited: 7
Distance traveled: 5450.96 km / 3359.22 miles
25 days itinerary:
Day 1 – Montreal
- Depart from Montreal via the VIP zone of the airport to relax before the trip.
Day 2 – Beijing et Shanghai
- 2h stop in Beijing before arriving in Shanghai around 23h30.
Day 3 – Shanghai
- Huangpu River
- Neighborhood of the Bund by day
- Old City
- Flea market
- Crickets Market
- People Place
- Museum of Shanghai
- The opera
- Nanjing Shopping street
- The Bund illuminated by night
Day 4 – Shanghai
- Shanghai Art Museum
- Lupu Bridge
- Cathedral of Saint Ignatius
- Red Town
- Improvised Thai Chi class on a public square
- Pudong
Day 5 – Shanghai
- Longhua Buddhist Temple
- House of Zhou Enlai
- Fuxing Park
- Mansions area
- Huaihai Street
- People Square
- Xintiandi district
- Mega department store
Day 6 – Shanghai – Suzhou – Shanghai
- Silk Museum
- Northern Garden
- Suzhou Museum and Garden
- Garden of the lion
- Bird and animal market
Day 7 – Shanghai – Hangzhou
- Shanghai South Railway Station
- West Lake
- West Lake Museum
- Leifeng Pagoda and its former foundation
- HeFang shopping street
Day 8 – Hangzhou
- Huqinqy Tang Pharmacy on Yan’an Street
- Random Art Gallery
- Wushan Square
- Gao Yin Jie shopping street
- 3 of the 5 oldest pharmacies and their museums
- Imperial city and the pagoda in honor of an emperor associated with the waves
- Washun hill and its pavilion of the gods
Day 9 – Hangzhou – Xi’An
- Bell Tour
- Drum Tower
- Muslim district
Day 10 – Xi’An
- The terracotta army of the first Qin Emperor
- Mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi
- Ramparts from the north gate to the east gate
- Beidaji Street
Day 11 – Xi’An
- Shaanxi History Museum
- Little goose pagoda and its park
- Xi’An Museum
- Mosque of the Muslim district
Day 12 – Pingyao
- Ramparts
- Historic temples
Day 13 – Pingyao
- Historic temples
Day 14 – Pingyao – Datong
- Historic temples
Day 15 – Datong – Yungang – Datong
- Yungang Caves
- The Yungang Central Temple
- Yungang Museum
- Rampart near the main shopping street
- Drum Tower
- Mosque
Day 16 – Datong – Beijing
- Buddhist temple
- Huayan Superior Monastery
Day 17 – Beijing
- Temple of Heaven
- Tian’anmen Square
- Commercial street and alleyways with touristic boutiques
- Hutong
Day 18 – Beijing
- North Station
- Xihai Lake
- Lake Houhai
- Lake Qianhai
- Drum tour with a drum show
- Hutong
- Temple of Confucius
- Crested Neighborhood
Day 19 – Beijing
- Forbidden City
- Coal Hill
- Isolated Buddhist temple
Day 20 – Beijing
- Capital Museum
- Military Museum, closed for restoration
- Temple of the White Cloud
- Pagoda
- Covered market
- Hutong
Day 21 – Beijing
- Great Wall, Badaling section. We walk it from one end the other of the badaling section permitted to the public.
- Beihai Park
Day 22 – Beijing – Rainy day
- Flea market covered
- Beijing Art Center
- Mall
- Carrefour
Day 23 – Beijing
- Summer Palace
- Wangcheng Museum
- Bridge with 17 arches
- Several interesting temples in good shape
- Pagoda
- Marble boat
- Suzhou Road
- South station
- Overnight train to Shanghai
Day 24 – Shanghai
- Art gallery center
- Pudong
- Walk East Nanjing Road to the Bund district
- Night layover in Beijing
Day 25 – Beijing – Airport
- Return to Montreal
