Attached below is a China Travel Diary written by Jo Calder-Potts of Harare, who has just finished a China Tour with China Highlights in the past February. The vivid description of her travel experience should be a good guidebook for those who wish to travel to South China.
Our Holiday in China. 1-12 February 2009. By Jo Calder-Potts of Harare, Zimbabwe
6am First of February 2009 found us at Shenzhen airport, clutching folder, passports and bags, waiting for the desks to open. Shenzhen is the Chinese town at the border with Hong Kong, from where we had come by train. We were travelling as a group of 3, my husband Peter and I, and my son George who is 23, and is teaching English in a town near Shenzhen … it was his urging that prompted the trip to coincide with his school holidays during the Chinese Spring Festival.
We had booked an online holiday with China Highlights, and had run the course owing to the professional way they handled our enquiries and changes. After much mind-changing and tweaking (my nephew had warned against the cold in Beijing) we settled on a trip which would take us to Chengdu in Sichuan province, Lijiang in Yunan, and Guilin of scenic beauty, and back to Shenzhen. Nevertheless – this wasn’t sitting at my familiar pc at home – this was reality …. Would they come up with the goods? I had religiously printed out the itinerary and details supplied by Sunny, our agent at China Highlights.
The desk clerk looked at the folder, then took our passports and confirmed that we were on the Chengdu flight at 8am. We were through! Shenzhen airport – and all the airports we saw in China – is new and clean and shiny, and very spacious. We were called on time, and after a comfortable flight with Air China we reached Chengdu.
Chengdu is an historic city in the Sichuan province in south west central China. We were going there because my son wished to go – Sichuan is famed for its spicy food and tea-houses – and because it is the home of the pandas.
Michelle our guide awaited us at the barrier waving a card with my name on it. She introduced herself and escorted us to the car where we met out driver. (At all stops we were given a seven seater vehicle to ourselves. Transport was always clean and comfortable. Drivers all had us feeling safe, and helped with our bags. We had the same car and driver for the duration in each town) We briefly discussed the itinerary – we had 4 places scheduled for that day, but the weather was a little dreary and we were tired, so we agreed to rest first, and defer one activity to the final day (we found that all our guides were very flexible within reason) and our scheduled lunch became a dinner (we had breakfast and lunch in the price on most days).
So after settling at our comfortable 3* hotel, we set off. That day we saw Dufu’s cottage, a museum, and Jinli Street. All placed us into traditional China – though I confess to have got very muddled by references to their different dynasties … I found a page in my phrase-book which dated the dynasties, and that helped. We saw statues and paintings and roofs with curly ends and animals on the ridges. We learned about the multiple structures of buildings, and were lucky to hear a Chinese orchestra. All places had New Year decorations in place. Jinli Street was great fun – market stalls selling all sorts of delicacies – we had a walking and snacking lunch – excellent, and cheap. We then rested up in a tea house – an expensive but memorable experience.
The next day Peter and I had a rest day while George went skiing. He had fun and so did we, wondering around central Chengdu at will. And enjoying Starbucks coffee!
The final day we went to see the Panda Breeding Station – a great experience, and a good healthy walk – the place is huge! With everything you ever need to know about pandas, including a museum and a movie. After lunch by our request we went to see a Brocade and embroidery museum/shop – we could have watched the man at the ancient loom all day. And the silks were fascinating. Then we went on to our final destination – a park beside the river, with a pagoda and statues, and many different types of bamboo.
That evening we said farewell to Michelle and our driver and flew to Lijiang in Yunan, southwest China, near the Tibetan border.
At Lijiang we were met by Louise who is a member of the local Naixi Minority (we learned much of the minorities during our time in China). She could not tell us enough about them! I am a little deaf and struggled to understand her, but my son is used to accents, and speaks rudimentary Chinese, and acted as interpreter. We were driven to Lijiang old town and to our comfortable and traditionally built hotel where we spent the next three nights. Old town is beautifully reconstructed – the oldest city in China to have survived the cultural revolution – but oh so full of tourists! And all the shops sell knickknacks for tourists – the few squares were a welcome relief from the press of bodies.
The next day was lovely - we visited a high meadow and saw the highest peak in the locality – Jade Dragon Snow Mountain – and museums and monasteries. Lovely outdoor walks and splendid scenery, an ancient magnolia tree which was just coming into blossom – and a ride in a cable car!
The following day we walked through lovely riverside parks in town, and were exposed to more minority culture at the Dumba Museum. Lunch was spoiled by loud Karioke music thumping out of the next restaurant. That afternoon we opted out of the city walk as there were too many people. I do not recommend beautiful Lijiang during Chinese spring festival.
We Left Lijiang and flew to Kunming where we were to catch a train. At Kunming we were met by Joe, who took us to a restaurant for lunch, and then a lovely walk round the fascinating back-streets and markets of Kunming. We were taken to the train station – very modern and more like an airport – and right to our compartment! Full marks to China Highlights for arranging all transfers.
The train journey was comfortable and fun – and there was enough of a moon to see by. We must have gone through mountains as we spent a lot of time in tunnels!
Our final destination was Guilin (with Jenny as guide) – a beautiful City with wide roads, parks and waterways, surrounded by and encircling the steep humpy mountains of the area. We had a night there, then a cruise down the Li river to Yangshuo for a night – where we did Kung fu, tai chi and went cycling! as well as walking round the lovely town and markets. We were driven back to Guilin for another 2 nights where we saw parks and lakes and Pagodas and did an extra tour – a night-time cruise round the lit city lakes – which was well worth the extra money. Guilin town certainly has done a lot to show itself off! There were even two different stages on the lake, performing Chinese Opera.
Son George flew back to Shenshen on the 10th to resume his teaching – the guide, Jenny, once more accommodated us and we went to the airport to see him off – we have no clue when we’ll see him again. Our scheduled tours were redistributed to accommodate this change.
Pete and I had a rest day at the end – Jenny arranged for us to keep our hotel room until 3pm on the last day, then took us to the Reed Flute Cave (fascinating, well lit cave but alas no more reed flutes on sale) visit a park and then we had a leisurely supper prior to catching the overnight train back to Shanzhen that evening. For the last time our China Highlights guides placed their charges onto a scheduled carrier. Jenny was our most mature and experienced guide and had empathy. Full marks to her, and to Mr Lucky our driver, for giving us a wonderful time in Guilin.
The whole trip went smoothly. Hotels were comfortable. Once we were in the rhythm we had few worries. We left all our bags and valuables in the car with peace of mind. At no time did we feel threatened or unsafe in China. A holiday to remember.
Oh – before we caught our train that last day we were taken to meet Sunny Xie (pronounced “sheer”) at the China Highlights Head Office in Guilin. What a charming lady! With really good English. She was interested in our comments, and we were each presented with a traditionally woven Bouquet Garni to remember our tour by. As if we could forget!
No comments:
Post a Comment