"I loved China from the first moment I... " a China Travel Page by melosh

Well truthfully I am have been in love with it before I arrived having read about Chinese history and culture for many years. I am now a bit overwhelmed by the beauty of China and the friendliness of its people. Although I still need some time to digest my experiences and better prepare myself for a third visit planned for the fall, I will continue adding tips and photos now after my second visit.

My first impressions:

1. "China is one large construction site." This was said to me by several Chinese citizens and there is certainly an element of truth to the statement. There are many building and modern infrastructure projects going on in the cities and in the countryside. This goes far beyond preparation for the Olympics. I wonder if it is partly the result of having engineer trained political leadership.

2. "China has the most dynamic market economy in the world." This seems to be the judgment of many foreign visitors. What was most surprising to me was the extent of the micro-mercantilism you see in the streets. These are not the staid streets of a state owned and operated economy. The Chinese seem to taken to heart the directive to "find their own way". Stores and shops are opening all over.

3. The safety net has holes in it. This is obvious by the presence of beggars on the streets. I also heard of this issue from many Chinese usually after some reference to "finding one's own way'.

4. In China there is a renewed appreciation of China's past and this is reflected by an explosion of internal tourism. The industry is dominated by the Chinese group tour. These tours are quite economical.

5. There are many residuals from the earlier state rigid control of the economy, but they may be hidden by the hustle and bustle of free market activity. Look carefully. Because of the young age of the population most of the people you see were not alive during the cultural revolution.

I have just returned from my second one month of traveling in China. Most of my traveling has been alone spending less than $40 a day excluding "souvenirs". I generally do not have English speaking guides and do not speak more than a little phrase book Chinese. I have found little reason for worry about safety and would not be concerned about someone being a single girl in China. Lack of language is a challenge and costs me time, money and comfort. The weather in April/May was great for travel; warm but not hot, often with a nice breeze. (Although a few less hazy days would have been appreciated.) Some small difficulty was experienced around the May 1st holidays due to sold out trains, etc. During January/February the weather was cold and cloudy in northern and central China, but much nicer in Yunan. Snow caused closure of roads and train delays in much of the country but my travel was not inconvenienced. If you are traveling in the wrong direction you can get caught in Spring Festival traffic; I did not.
This type of travel is not for everyone. It is not necessarily better. When people say that taking a tour is "too touristy" one needs to explore what they mean. Often people are referring to always being with a group and not being able to visit sites in solitude. Well I would say that if you are planning to visit famous sites in China do not expect solitude however you travel. China internal tourism is tremendous and growing, and most Chinese are traveling in groups. Being the only foreigner on a Chinese tour has its pleasures, but guide explanations are not one of them for the non-Chinese speaking visitor. Visiting "alone" also has other special pleasures, but there is the added cost of inconvenience and inefficiency especially when trying to see multiple sites. English guides are available for groups or individuals and can be contracted both as part of arranged local tours or often at the specific sites.

I looked at the self acclaimed most popular tour package site and found that the tours cost about $100 a day. What you get for this compared to my way of traveling is probably: 1) better accommodations, 2) English speaking guides, 3)convenience of pre-made arrangements of transportation, hotel and tours, and 4)a group with which to share experiences --expecially useful when going out to eat (Chinese eating is best as a group activity.) What you will miss: 1) the freedom to decide on your own exactly how much time you spend at any one spot including whether or not the tour stops for shopping, 2) the chance to change your schedule of travel based on your mood, 3) the shear "terror" of arriving at a bus station (or hotel lobby)with a schedule board written in Chinese script, no English signs and no one who speaks English to help, and 4) the greatest opportunities to meet so many friendly, helpful and generous Chinese who come to your aid.

One other negative of my way of travel on public transportation is that one can not get the bus or train to stop for a photo opportunity. The vehicle just keeps barreling along. Even if I spoke Chinese, I could not have done anything.
If you take one of these multi-city group English speaking tours, I would suggest that you sweet talk the driver and guide into letting you and other members of the group call for a stop whenever you see something special. And then do it. Your fellow travelers will appreciate it. Personally, I would be willing to show my appreciation for this special consideration, even monitarily if necessary. If the driver and/or guide is reluctant to "change the schedule" suggest that the time could be made up by shorter shopping stops. Because these stops probably result in some kickback to the driver and guide they may not look favorably upon this suggestion. Appealing to your group of fellow travelers may be an important tool to convince the driver and guide to show flexibility. The power of the group is really appreciated in China.

Any way you go, you will love China, bob

One of the challenges of a first visit to a large country is to somehow get beyond the large cities to experience something of country life. In China I failed this challenge on my first visit. I pretty much only saw the countryside from buses and trains. What was impressive was the large number of people seen working in the fields. Usually in ones or twos per small section of the landscape, not in large gangs, looking for all the world like they were gardening. This image that seemed to confirm that 70% of the Chinese population could be rural. On my second visit I was able to hike through the fields and see in much better circumstances rural China.

Even though I went to cities I did not know existed just months before my visit, they proved to all be very large cities. The only small place I visited on my first visit separate from any large city was Laoshan Mountain and this is not in anyway typical Chinese countryside. There I joined many Chinese to view the beautiful scenery for many centuries an inspiration for Chinese poets. Of course, I could not understand a word of the poetry.