Motivation is simply to see it and learn a bit about it. Lonely Planet has a two-week “Big Ticket” itinerary with Beijing, Shanghai, terracotta soldiers, Great Wall, etc, and I thought I would do most of that, with a bit of Yangtze cruising added on.
Thanks tinhill. Yes please for the Airbnb link.
Meanwhile I’m looking at this which seems v good, though in Shinsaibashi area. 10 mins walk to the Namba airport limo bus stop.
We stayed in the Hutong area outside central Beijing which was really nice. It was close to a subway station which is easily the best way to get around and not that hard to follow. There is also an airport train which is quicker and cheaper than any of the alternatives.
If you get lost make sure you have a “Please return me to here” card in Chinese to show a taxi driver. Mind you the taxi drivers aren’t always keen on picking up foreigners.
One more thing, a good thing, do not tip. I’m not sure if they find it offensive but I was told it is illegal to accept tips. One waitress sprinted after us to return a few coins we had left.
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Your place looks a fair bit nicer, but this is where we stayed. There’s a huge construction site next door, which wasn’t noisy, but did feel a bit weird. The whole area is being developed. It borders into Nakazkicho, which has some hipster-esque shops and cafes, which are worth a look and take photos, but kind of run down.
Thanks tinhill
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I imagine things have changed a fair bit since 2006 when I was there, but my first half (tour with now-dead Kumuka) roughly matched your described highlights. The second half was down south (Kunming, Dali, Shangri-la* etc) and was a very different experience: you could see the sun and breathe the air, much more tourist-friendly, etc. More “southeast Asia”, der.
A little summary and photos/videos is available at
http://davidj.richardson.name/japan-china/favourites/ if that might help inspire/focus you. More photos at http://davidj.richardson.name/japan-china/
*yes, it exists.
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All I can add about China.
Beijing > Shanghai, for food and sites.
We had a driver in Beijing when we had a few huge days of siteseeing, rather than take a tour bus as it was -10 outside. He drove us around for what must’ve been 16 hours a day. Anything we wanted he just took us there. No doubt he got kick backs, but it made it incredibly easy having a ‘chauffeur / translator’ with us.
His name was Robinson Li, @ Beijing Taxi, and hes a bit of a comedian too.
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I just booked that apartment in Shinsaibashi.
Hopefully @mrjez doesn’t chip in & tell me its a bad idea (though it can be cancelled without cost (hopefully)).
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cough
you may not like to know this tinny, but it was alcohol free. I was disappointed when I saw all drink options, including the wines, were alcohol free. But I really felt like a beer with the schnitz so I went for it. Taste wise it was very good. Tasted like a very good wheat beer. I made up for it with the typical stein in the beer garden later.
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Well, I was going to go all high and mighty, until I remembered drinking this last week in Japan. I think the label kind of says you can drink it at breakfast, at work, and while you’re playing sport.
https://i.imgur.com/0iCdTK6_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium
It was terrible.
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Where do I start… First, if you are going to travel around a few cities, you may want to get a tour company to arrange this. I have been to over a dozen cities in China, and fortunately all my trips have been arranged by locals, but we are thinking of using Odynovo Tours [www.chinaodysseytours.com] for a longer visit.
China has 20,000 km of high speed trains, and it is better to go by train than fly if you are going between cities that are relatively close. However, for a non-Chinese person it is very difficult to get tickets. Even if you book in advance, the office to collect the tickets can be hidden away somewhere, or will take an hour of queuing up. If you don’t book in advance, the queues are even longer and the seats may well be sold out. Negotiating all this could be a challenge for a first time visitor.
Best time of year is probably what they call the “golden spring” though make sure your visit doesn’t coincide with a big national holiday, especially those when people go back to their home towns.
As to learning some of the culture and history, the BBC had an excellent series that you may be able to buy or download.
Once you get there, it is pretty easy to get around and all the cities I have been to have adequate signage in English. In the bigger cities, especially Beijing, take the subways. Beijing’s traffic is horrendous, but the subways are very easy to use and to get around most of the things you would want to see. You can buy metro cards from vending machines that have an English option. Try to avoid peak hour. The trains are always crowded, but peak hour is even more challenging.
Most cities have subways to the airport (unlike e.g. Melbourne) and these are the quickest option to take. But if you fly to Shanghai, take the mag-lev train to Pudong, where you can either stay at one of the fabulous hotels (Shangri-La is one of the best I have stayed in) or get a subway to other parts of the city.
As to what to take - a camera, obviously. Maybe get VPN for your laptop (e.g. abc news is blocked in China). Most things you can get in Australia you can get in China. The only thing I noticed that is much more expensive is wine.
The people are usually very friendly and helpful, though outside the biggest cities, most above a certain age won’t know English. Learn a few phrases - people will appreciate you taking the effort.
Someone mentioned smoking. This is now banned in hotels and (I think) in any public enclosed space including malls and restaurants. It is not much worse than here.
China is a very exciting and vibrant country to visit. I hope you have a great time!
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ANYONE GOING TO ASIA SHOULD TAKE THEIR OWN PILLOW!
Most decent places had soft pillows, but a few times we had these crazy ones with charcoal or seeds in them.
Just finishing off my brekky with an espresso when the waiter comes round offering a sparkling. It’s a very civilised practice and I could hardly say nein.
A glorious sunny day in Munich beckons.
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What is that thing you are eating?
Just a German cake.
Google tells me it’s a marble pound cake.
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No, that looks like a great location. Shinsaibashi/Namba is a far more interesting area to walk around, and that accom puts you right in Amerika-Mura just off Midosuji, which is lively if that’s what you’re after.
Limousine bus looks far easier than having to switch trains, walk with luggage, buy new tickets etc. You’ll have a seat and get delivered to the door.
Nice one!
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Excellent. Great to hear. Thanks for chipping in. Feel free to keep me posted with good coffee spots & eateries…
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I hope you were going to the technical museum on the island in the Iser. Well worth a Captain Cook.