China 2024 – Part 1 Beijing
There is a Chinese saying “he or she who has never been to the great Wall is not a true Chinese”. Although we went to several locations on our recent trip to China, the primary bucket list destination was the great Wall of China so that Helen, an Australian of Chinese heritage born in Vietnam who had never visited the wall before could tick that off the list. Also it gave us a chance to check out whether it was built to keep the rabbits out. 🙂 The following link will teach you how to say the phrase in Chinese. (not the one about rabbits)
Chinese Travel: 长城 The Great Wall (Cháng chéng) – eChineseLearning
This post is about our trip to China at the end of October 2024 and the wonderful time we had there.
We decided to go to China using TripADeal which had an offer for a ten-day trip at $888 per person. This included the flight to and from China and accommodation. Although the actual touring time was eight days it still was incredible value. Given such a low price we were a little concerned that there might have been problems with some aspects of quality with the trip. Maybe the accommodation would not be up to standard, or there may be large hidden costs or some other negative aspect to the trip.
I think to say that we were surprised and delighted would be an understatement. There were about 40 people on our particular trip, and I think the consensus was that everyone had a great time and thought it was really good value for money.
While on any trip you can always find something that is not to your liking, I’d like to focus on what was great for us and possibly good for you if you are considering going on a similar trip.
I must say that Helen and I typically travel by ourselves and not in a tour group. This is one of the first times that we’ve been part of a group following a person holding a flag high in the sky leading us through tourist locations like the forbidden city.
Travelling with a group of 40 people who you haven’t met before offers its own challenges and opportunities. Apart from the opportunity to make new friends and discover their back story you also get to experience the trip locations and tourist destinations not just through your lens or world view but through the lens of the other people on the trip who share their opinions and comments about the destinations we visited.
Our tour group members came from all over Australia and whether it was because they were travelling to China, a place that many people are currently a little nervous about travelling to or whether we were just lucky, we found that all the members on the tour were seasoned travellers who were great to get along with, accepting of the new experiences they were exposed to, and in their own way were ambassadors for Australia on the journey.
Our two primary tour guides for the major locations in Beijing and around Shanghai were seasoned professional guides with a great sense of humour, good knowledge and a willingness to share their own personal back stories to bring us all closer together. Both Tina and Joe (our guides) have lived through and are living through the most rapid period of modernisation of almost any country in the world over the last 30 years.
They are and should be very proud of the achievements that China has made in transforming a country of over 1 billion people into many modern cities that provide more than just accommodation but great liveability for hundreds of millions of people.
Of course, I’m sure there are many places that are still developing and are not considered to be at the forefront of modernity. We can travel to any number of communities in the Northern Territory or other states of Australia and experience living conditions that are probably worse than what we could ever imagine in the worst places in China. There are lots of people and circumstances are cultures are different to other countries and regardless of whether we are in South America, the US, Europe or other Asian countries – we always seek the good and choose to share the good.
I first went to Beijing in 1988 and the last time I was in Beijing was 10 years later in 1998. In 2008 the Olympics were held in Beijing and the lead up to 2008 and post Olympics could be considered the transformation point where China was no longer playing catch up to the rest of the world but in fact was leading in many cases.
There was talk about China’s past, present and future. Beijing represents China’s present and Shanghai represents China’s future. China’s past is woven into the structures and culture preserved in both of those cities and many other locations through this country. We found a good mix of being able to experience the rich traditional culture, lifestyle and architecture along with the striking 21st-century modern technology evident in many aspects of daily life in China.
Day 2 – Tiananmen and Forbidden City
It was fitting that we started our first proper day of the tour by visiting the forbidden city in Beijing. This was commissioned by the Ming dynasty in 1406 and the compound area covers 72 ha or 178 acres. In front of the forbidden city is Tiananmen Square which has a more contemporary history related to the Communist Party.
We visited both of these locations and a surprising fact is that there is a limit of 80,000 tickets per day for people to enter the forbidden city. And some days those tickets sell out.
Our bus trip into the city took us past the Beijing railway station where I travelled to Beijing on the train in 1988 as a student. I remember the clock chimes at that time used to play the song “The East is Red” (Dong Fang Hong). Chairman Mao’s portrait still has pride of place over the entry to the forbidden city.
The following link will take you to a photo album of this first day. Mark Christie – Tiananmen, Forbidden City, Old Beijing and Crickets
After visiting the Forbidden City we made our way to visit some of Beijing’s 700-year-old Hutongs (narrow lanes) in an area called Shichahai, a historic scenic area consisting of three lakes (Qianhai, Houhai and Xihai). This rather wide expanse of water, which although being three lakes was referred to as a sea back in the day and the name stuck. The lakes surround places of historic interest, scenic beauty and remnants of old-style hutong and courtyard local residences. There were also traditional shop houses selling a variety of foodstuff and crafts. We took a rickshaw ride around the back streets or “hutongs”. It felt like we were auditioning for a part in an Indiana Jones movie. Lots of fun.
We all had dinner in a traditional house owned by Mr Liu’s family, who has had connections with the martial arts movie business for three generations. Apart from providing dinner we were also treated to some traditional opera singing and playing of a two stringed violin style Chinese instrument called an “erhu”. Following that we were treated to a show about crickets. Maintaining crickets for fighting purposes is a serious hobby in China. The number and types of accessories available and demonstrated to us for looking after crickets was incredible. Although all of the equipment fits into the special wooden carrying box about the size of two shoeboxes, there were more than 40 items used to maintain the crickets in a luxurious lifestyle. Read the article in the link above for the incredible lengths owners go to in order to look after their crickets. Fortunately the actual cricket fighting is not as violent as one might expect and the crickets generally live to fight on or retire. When they do finally move onto the next world, there are actually special cricket coffins for the remains to be stored in. This is one of those things about a tour where you might not go out of your way to attend a show like this, however the experience was both memorable and entertaining.
Our hotel was located at a spa resort and we had hot spring water available in a luxurious hot tub arrangement in our hotel room. So the hotel, rooms, breakfast and surrounds were absolutely first class. Helen and I felt like crickets 🙂
Day 3 – Great Wall of China
The next day we headed to the Great Wall of China but first stopped by a Jade Artisan company to receive an introduction to the different types of Jade, view some of the manufacturing process and pieces for sale before having the opportunity to buy something if we wanted.
After that we travelled to a restaurant where we had Peking duck for lunch.
Some photos from Day 3 of our adventure – Great Wall of China and evening show
Juyongguan — Most Mobility Friendly Great Wall Section
Then we went to Juyong Pass to climb part of the great Wall of China which is the inner wall protecting Beijing. The previous two times that I had climbed the great Wall of China had been at a place called BadaLing which forms part of the outer longer wall.
Use the slider to view the editing I was able to do on this old photo of me on the Great Wall in 1988.
On the section we climbed, there were 12 parapets that lead us to the highest point of that part of the wall. It was a tough climb and our legs felt it for three days after the climb and we are pretty fit. It was a great experience and I include a time-lapse video of part of the walk up the wall above. I want to give a shout out to Steve who at 84 years of age and made it to the top parapet and didn’t hold anyone up. I hope to be as fit as him when I’m 84.
We discovered that in China we are eligible for reduced ticket prices or even sometimes free entry if we are senior citizens, i.e. over 60 years of age. So if you’re travelling to the great Wall of China by yourself entry is free if you are over 60 and can prove it.
After this wonderful bucket list item was ticked off we then hopped back on the bus and headed off to an evening show. This show told a traditional story with amazing digital effects, costumes and was climaxed by a torrent of water equivalent to 80 tons cascading down from the stage as a signature ending to the show.
Day two completed and we return for our last night in our hotel where we enjoyed a hot tub soak before preparing ourselves for transfer to Shanghai the following day.
To be continued…