Travel in China

Travel in China is fun. The driving isn't as chaotic as Egypt or Turkey, but it is comparable to New York all the time. The Chinese also have lanes that are devoted to bike traffic. Makes sense when you think about it, but I was shocked and amused to see it. But then Vietnam has been called the Land of Bicycles, why should China be so much different?

The trains and planes don't seem too much different then their European counterparts. Relying more on practicality then looks.

China doesn't always offer a lot of luxury, but there wasn't much to complain about. The one luxury there was, was the hotels. I don't know if China has anything less then a 5 star hotel for tourists.

When I travel I usually go upper mid-range, but theere was no mid about these hotels. They were nice. The lack of English TV stations was the only thing missing, but I was in China. Can't have everything, though I did watch a lot of CNN.

The food was absolutely amazing. I am not a food lover either. To me meals are optional. Ranging between 1-3 a day. But in China I fell in love with food. I have considered moving there for no other reason then the food. It really is that good.

The dumplings are great, but the noodles are like sex for your mouth. I know you are probably thinking we have Chinese food here how different can it be? The only similarity is that they look the same. That is where the similarities begin and end. I have heard Japanese noodles are on par with the Chinese. In my humble opinion they don't come close. Japanese noodles are kind of slimy. If you like that (which I don't) maybe you'd prefer Japanese, but I whole heartily endorse the Chinese over their island neighbors.

The ancient buildings are quite pleasing to the eye. The new ones look like something out of a European movie filmed in the 70s. You will see a lot of temples. I learned a lot about Tibetan buhdism. After a while they begin to blur, which is a shame because I am sure each temple has its own unique character. But being a stupid Westerner I didn't see it. Their temples are filled with beautiful statues. Many of which are over 20 feet tall. There is even a temple which is carved out of the side of a mountain. I'm not a big one of religion, but I do appreciate art. So I enjoyed visiting the temples for that reason. And considering that the Chinese still participate in a Communist government they are very tolerant about religion.

I was a little dissapointed with the lack of ruins and artifacts from the Three Kingdoms period. That is actually why I went there. To see where my heros fought and died. I read the book Romance of the Three Kingdoms. But I got hooked on the story by the old video games on Nintendo. My Dad calls them the most expensive videogames in history. The remains of the Three Kingdoms period is farmland, with a little sign saying this is where the old city was. The shrine for Guan Yu's head was interesting though. I got to touch a replica of Black Dragon, his sword!

When we got to Peking, our first day in China, it was actually the day Hong Kong was getting turned over to the Chinese. We didn't go to Hong Kong, but it was all that we heard about. From our hotel we could see the fireworks that were on the TV. Chinese deffinately know there stuff where fireworks are concerned. They invented them so I suppose they should. But I dare say I am ruined to fireworks forever now. No one is going to live up to the display the Chinese put on for the turnover. I don't even want to know how much money they spent on it, but it must of been a lot. The whole sky was constantly lit with explosions. Completely breath taking.

Overall the people were friendly, but they don't speak English as much as European countries do. You need a tour guide if you don't speak Chinese. There will be, what we termed the gauntlet, vendors lined up before the sites. But they take no for an answer. The Great Wall had the most. There were people on the wall selling things. Some of them were very nice about it though. They are almost as interested in talking with you as selling something. They like to practice their English. No doubt with that profession you live and die with the use of the English language. But I didn't get the feeling of being attacked when they approached me, like I did in Egypt. Also be prepared to go to a lot of friendship stores. These are gift shops that have different specialties (jewelry,clothing, etc...). They are very, very nice, but they are expensive. And we got one of the tour-guides to admit he got a 10% comission from what we bought. Not all of them operate like that, but Randy did (they all have English names as well as Chinese ones).

Overall I can't say there is any other country that I am as impressed with as China. Maybe Norway, but I lived there. If you are looking for a place to vacation go to China.