It was my first time and I went with wife who is Chinese. Landed in Shanghai and stayed in a French neighborhood. Wow, so nice. Clean, cute, tree lined streets. It was warm then, so with jet lag I was up at 2am and went out walking to the store for water. There would be people on the corners cooking noodles for sale.
People just on the corners shooting the breeze. Very cool. Hotel was City Hotel, very nice and perfect!
Note to self:
1) Take melatonin next time for jet lag, thought I could fight it, but had trouble and wasted first few days due to it.
2) Take taxis everywhere; they are cheap in China and save your energy. I forgot what being on a trip was like…basically anything to be out 24/7 and that gets you very tired. Don’t try to walk long distances!
Oh and on famous Nanjing road, they think every white person needs a watch! Seriously, you will have 100 people try to sell you a watch. Silly and tiring. On to inner China, took train 4 hrs inland to Anhui. Wow, what a culture shock! This was the China I thought I wanted to see…but was just at a loss for words. Words that come to mind now: Dusty, smog!/dark clouds on a hot day, people starring at me constantly, dirt roads, spitting everywhere, don’t enter that bathroom! haha…but the positives: People loved me, loved Americans, couldn’t get enough, very nice.
The food was so good too! Oh and the watch out, the cars will kill you. No rules! Close eyes in the taxi! Now on to Huangshan mountains…wow so worth it! Gorgeous! Rented hotel room at the top of the mountain and woke up to see the sun rise…like everyone else. Let me tell you, boring, not worth it! The sun set is better, and less tiring. Sleep in and avoid the 1000 other people jamming to see the sun rise. On to Beijing: It was cold! The Great Wall was excellent! Thought I would hate it, but loved it! Same for Tiananmen! Wish I had more time there. It was very cool! Skip the Hutong bicycle tour…tourist trap! Anyway, China was nice! No one wears shorts, even in 100plus degree weather…so wear pants so you don’t stand out too much!