"China - Beijing and Xian" a China Travel Page by tuoedisni1

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Great Wall at Badaling

Beijing

These pictures are from my trip to China in December 2002.
That's right, December - what was I thinking? It was freezing, but the chance to walk the Great Wall was definitely worth the frostbite :)

It's been a year and I still can't believe I had the opportunity to visit one of the last communist countries. China is a beautiful and exciting place to visit. It is also a safe place.

My advice to anyone wishing to visit this country is to go with a tour (if you do not speak Chinese, it is difficult to get around), to explore the non-tourist places and to go in warm weather. It gets really cold in winter! :)

I've included some pics from the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and the Sacred Way - all of which are must see places.

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Xian Fortress

Xian

An option on any tour to China is Xian to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. It is a 2 hour plane ride to Xian from Beijing and the views of the mountains are breathtaking.

When you arrive in Xian, you hop on a bus for about an hour ride into town. Our hotel was on the side furthest from the airport, so we got a chance to see just how much traffic could clog a small city.

Xian is a town whose tourism is built solely around the Terra Cotta warriors. If you want to see a more "authentic" (vs Beijing) city in China with tourist comforts, Xian is a good place to start.

While the Terra Cotta Warriors were the reason I went to Xian, it was not my most memorable experience. The smog was suffocating. At night it would come down below eye level. And during the day, the sun would burn through it until it got to about one story.

The smog caused us to almost miss our plane back to Beijing. On our ride from the hotel to the airport, the one hour drive turned into a four hour hold up because the roads were closed. Just when we thought we'd have to take a train to Beijing, the roads opened and all of my tourmates ran through the airport to catch the plane. Whew!

Would I go to Xian again? Probably not. But it did make for an exciting trip!

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Doorway - Forbidden City

China - overall

Travelling to China was a great experience, and if I had to do it all over again, it would be during warmer weather.

The pros are definitely the Great Wall and the shopping (what can I say - I'm a girl!).
The cons are the fact that it's pretty hard to get around with no knowledge of the language (maybe that's a pro) and the smogginess of Xian.

My camera broke while I was on the Great Wall (day 2), so I've included the few pics I have. Please enjoy!!