This is a special post, as it summarizes the trip to our first destination of a 6 month traveling journey. Already 3 years passed, since the birth of our daughter Valentina, and it was about time, that I would take the parental leave, which the government grants you. As our daughter will start with the kindergarden next summer in 2025, it was the last occasion, where we could travel as a family during several months.
My initial plan, was to live abroad during my time off from work, however it finally turned out as a mix of both, traveling and living (or roaming).
By coincidence, China would be our first destination. We have never been to China before, and we expected good and not so good things to occur during our trip. However we were surprisingly amazed about every single day that we spent in one of the biggest countries of the world.
Starting this year, citizens with a luxembourgish passport could travel visa- free to China for 14 days. However you gotta show a proof of a return ticket at the airport.
Beijing.
We started with Beijing, the capital of China. After getting out of the subway and taking an elevator to the main road near our hotel, the first view I got of a big crossing was exactly how I imagined Beijing to look: lots of bicycles, uniformed men standing at the entrance of the subway, and an unbearable heat. Locals sat in the park under the trees and played games.
We opted for a vintage-looking hotel, to get the feel of what Beijing used to be ages ago. The hotel was definitely not fancy, but it had a cool vibe going on. We were greeted by a friendly young lady with a bird on her shoulder “that’s Elsa, my pet” she smiled at us. At the lobby was a shaved ice cream bar, something we’d discovered in Hawaii. Americanized crap (from Hawaii) versus a culinary experience here in China. Their shaved ice was out of this world.
The local neighborhoods are called Hutongs. All of them kinda look alike. An entrance gate with gray bricks. Most houses are built with the same color, and same kind of bricks. Along the walls you will find a couple of red flags & banners decorating the gray mural backgrounds. The streets are narrow, so that only 1 car can pass.
Many places share this same architectural style and give Beijing a specific unique look.
On our first day, we headed towards the Temple of Heaven. A very unique temple. Great spot for photos. However the temple area was super packed with thousands of tourists. There were hardly any shadows around the temple, and due to the high temperatures, it was quite exhausting.
We quickly figured out, that nobody speaks English in China. There will always be a few exceptions, but most of the time, you gotta use a translator (like google). Actually it was the first country ever, where I used to show my phone everyday to get around or ask for things.
Alipay & Wechat
Two apps were absolutely useful. Alipay & Wechat. Whatsapp doesn’t work, or at least, nobody uses it. My WHATSAPP worked for a couple of days, however there's a 95% chance, that they will block your access within the first days. All the locals use WECHAT. You get around without texting the locals of course…however you don’t get around without using ALIPAY. The first subway tickets, we tried to buy at the vending machine, we were asked a personal ID number, which obviously wouldn’t work, if I just entered a random number. So the only way we could buy these tickets was with ALIPAY. You scan a QR-Code, and then you will be requested to pay through your credit card. Later on, we noticed that even beggars in the street would carry an Alipay QR-Code around their neck. Some businesses wouldn’t accept any cash, however, Alipay was always accepted.
The Great Wall.
On our second day, we visited our most awaited attraction, the Great Wall of China. To keep life easy, we bought a package at our hotel, to visit the Wall as a group. Transportation and all the tickets were included, so we wouldn’t lose much time figuring things out. Our tour guide Kevin was a pretty funny guy : “This is a good time for Chinese people to travel, as it is our summer holidays. Which means, it’s the worst time for you to be in China, because you will get long waiting lines.” And Kevin was so right. Everywhere went we had to stand in line for a very long time. On top of the Great Wall, you can use an enjoyable slide, which brings you down the mountain. With the slide, that everybody wants to use, you can slide down the mountain within 10-15 minutes. However, the waiting time was 40-50 minutes, in an unbearable heat.
There are several access points to the Great Wall. Some are busier than others. And we had absolutely no clue, which one would be the best. I opted for the one with the slide, as it sounded like a lot of fun. There are viewpoints that are more photogenic, as the structure of the Wall can differ from photo to photo. In the end, it was a pleasant experience. Lunch was included, we didn’t expect any good photos, as the tour guide kept talking about sweet&sour chicken. However we were blown away by the food we got served, everything was so tasty and completely different from the Chinese food we were used to in our country.
The forbidden City.
We weren’t well prepared, as we didn’t know that we should have booked our tickets for the forbidden city in advance. The entrance tickets are limited. And obviously, as it was their main holiday period, tickets were sold out. Outside of the holiday season, it might be possible to visit the forbidden city, however during peak season, it’s almost impossible.
Visiting Tiananmen Square was possible, however we had to fix an entrance appointment with our hotel. A passport was needed, and a specific time you’d visit the square. Everything is controlled. Again, a long waiting line,.. we waited 30-40 minutes.
The coolest part of Tiananmen was Mao Zedong’s Portrait on a mural. A photo I had in mind since I was a child. Finally, we made it to that specific location. One of the most popular landmarks of Beijing. Behind the walled “fortress” there wasn’t much left to discover, only if you’re totally into history. Two military teams were playing basketball, however it was strictly prohibited to take any photos. Those would have made great shots!
We headed towards Jingshan Park, where you get a beautiful over the roofs of the Forbidden City. Definitely worth it, if you can’t make it to the “city”. The park was lively with a lot of locals. Our daughter was enjoying her time playing with chinese kids, while we were taking our photos.
Another funny fact was the part where people kept asking us for photos. Many Chinese people were coming from the countryside, to visit the capital. Some of these countrymen have never met or seen a caucasian little girl with blue eyes. There were moments when the locals would stand in line to take a photo with our daughter. Same for my wife. I got mostly approached by young men who were intrigued by my tattoos.
Summer Palace.
Summer Palace is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens, and palaces in Beijing. If you expect just another park, you’re wrong. Summer Palace must be the coolest park I’ve ever visited. It’s huge, it’s very photogenic, and you can easily spend a whole day and still miss some of its attractions. We visited half of the park, and it took us a couple of hours. You can rent a pedal boat and ride it along the lake. Definitely a must-do while being in Beijing.
Beijing is huge. However, you can do the most popular touristic sights with 3 days. The charm of the city, are its hidden gems, that you discover while wandering around. For photographers it is a great spot. The architecture is inviting for photos, the locals are always a good subject to shoot, and the vibe within the city reminded me of the communist era, due to the colors and specific designs.
Compared to Shanghai, I would visit Beijing in a heartbeat. The only thing we were kind of missing would have been a nice bar.
Huhai - Nightlife in Beijing.
During our hot summer days in Beijing, there were time where we were desperately looking for a bar with a patio, where we could have an ice cold drink… a cocktail or a glass of wine. Sadly there weren’t any. Most cozy places were about tea & coffee. There were bars inside hotels or shopping malls. However finding street bars, was almost impossible.
One night we decided to meet up with a Luxembourgish couple, friends we met through Salsa classes. They were visiting China at the same time. Vanessa came up with the idea to meet up in Huhai, a lively neighborhood, especially at night.
At night, the closer we got to the meeting place, the louder it became. Huhai, was everything, we had expected the least: bars, bars, bars…. loud music, thousands of people. A completely different kind of Beijing, from what we had experienced so far. We shared a delicious thai-food dinner with our friends and went for a couple of drinks after that. It becomes less lively around 22:30. So I guess the best time to visit that place would be right after sunset.
Big brother is watching.
Another thing, that I haven’t experienced before. Wherever you go, most attractions within the city of Beijing, you have to present your Passport at a check-point. The Chinese citizens, mostly just scan their ID-card. Most of the tourist spots are free for Chinese people, however, to enter the site, they gotta scan their ID. So there’s always a control, when and where you’re moving. There are thousands of cameras spread all over the cities we visited. We were told that the face recognition, behind that camera system, would be out of this world. As soon as you do something out of line, they will know where to find you. Scary in a way, however, I got to admit, that we always felt very safe in China.
Guilin.
Guilin was definitely the highlight of our China trip. A month before our trip, the city was flooded and the whole area looked like a mess. We were saddened, as we were thinking about canceling our stay. In the end everything turned out just fine, we had the best weather, got spoiled with fantastic views of its beautiful nature. I kept repeating myself “If heaven would be a place, this could be it…”. No stress, friendly people, great food, majestic views of the mountains… we felt like being stuck in an Asian fairy tale.
Guilin consists of several small villages. We stayed in Yangshuo and did a day trip to Xingping. I think we made the right decision. Our hotel was located only steps away from the main river that is surrounded by the rocky mountains. I Yangshuo there are countless spots where you can rent an electric scooter, or even better, a scooter with a sidecar. This was funny and convenient at the same time.
However while being in Guilin, you gotta make it to Xingping, to see the iconic spot from the 20 yuan bill. A scenery of river and mountains. The landscape is pictured on the 20 yuan bill. Pretty cool, to the witness the spot in real.
Besides exploring the area by scooter, doing a bamboo raft cruise on the river, taking photos and having some amazing food. There isn’t that much to do. It gets quiet after sunset. However we wouldn’t get bored of the beautiful views around us.
Guilin was definitely worth every effort to get there.
Shanghai.
I won’t drop many words about Shanghai. After visiting Beijing, the Big Wall, Guilin… Shanghai had a tough job to convince us. After spending 3 nights in Shanghai, we agreed, that it is a nice city to live there, however for curious tourists, it isn’t the most fascinating city in China. It’s very modern. Compared to Beijing, it has a nightlife, it has plenty of bars. A cosmopolitan city with endless shops & restaurants.
Its popular skyline “the Bund” is mesmerizing. It’s without a doubt among my top 5 skylines I have ever witnessed, due to its iconic building the “Oriental Pearl” Tower.
If you can’t get enough of its skyline, try visiting a sky bar in a nearby hotel, where you can an even better view of the city, while sipping on a delicious cocktail.
I missed the traditional Hutongs from Beijing. Most buildings are modern & posh in Shanghai. Maybe we were tired of traveling and didn’t put a lot of effort into getting out of the city. There are water villages an hour away from Shanghai, which would have been interesting to visit. However, the continuous summer heat, took all our energy while traveling across China.
At night, we found a couple of cocktail places, but some of the bars, weren’t accessible with a stroller and child. So we enjoyed the few drinks we were able to get. We met a friendly local, who walked us home at night, as we couldn’t get an Uber on a weekend evening. We walked more than an hour, while listening to his stories about China and his experiences in Europe.
A wonderful experience.
Somehow Chinese tourists get a bad reputation all over the world. If you talk to japanese people, they can’t stand Chinese tourists. Where you go, people are fed up when groups with 100s of Chinese tourists show up. Some of them are considered as not well-mannered.
However we can crush those clichees, and approve that chinese people were among the nicest popullation we met on our 5 months of traveling. Everybody was super friendly and welcoming. Despite the the language barrier, we got involved in more conversations than in any other asian country we visited before.
The food was crazy good! Most things were very cheap. Getting around was easy, even though communication wasn’t possible. Using a smile and two hands, made it possible again.
When we left China, we knew that this wouldn’t be the last time, we visited this amazing country.
