China Trip Comments
We greatly enjoyed this visit to China, as we did the three previous trips we made
to that country.
For foreign visitors China is exotic. There is much that is interestingly different
from home; different architecture, different means of transportation, different
languages, a different history for thousands of years, different heroes, different
gods, different form of government, different customs and traditions, different
ways of doing things.
Much in China is beautiful. The temples and palaces are almost always beautifully
built and intricately decorated. Modern construction appears to be very
advanced. The scenery is often spectacular. Many of the museums are world-
class. Most cities have well-designed and beautifully maintained parks. The cities
we visited have wide, clean, well-lit avenues, as well as interesting pedestrian walks.
The Chinese we met were almost invariably courteous and friendly; we tried to
reciprocate. Never noted no hostility, and everyone tried to be helpful.
Wherever we went there was almost always someone who spoke enough English to
help us get to where we wanted to go. We were impressed by how hard-working
people generally were.
China has an excellent public transportation system The trains, especially
sleepers, are generally reliable, clean and pleasant and give the visitor excellent
opportunities to meet Chinese not related to the tourist industry. The largest
cities have fast, clean, reliable subway systems. Most cities are linked by
frequent air service. All cities and towns have frequent local and long-distance
buses going everywhere; few Chinese own cars. The highway system is good and is
rapidly being expanded with new super highways. We saw much new construction
everywhere.
There are many moderately-priced hotels and guesthouses catering to middle-class
Chinese and independent foreign travelers. Those lodgings are great places to
meet other travelers with whom to exchange experiences, comments, and suggestions.
We found small Chinese restaurants to be plentiful, cheap and good. Many of
these little restaurants at the sidewalk display in bowls or baskets the vegetables
they have available to cook for you. Most food is freshly cooked.
We found Yunnan to be especially interesting. Many different ethnic groups live
in the province; we saw many women still wearing traditional garb, especially the
Tibetans around Zhongdian. In Dali and Lijiang care was taken to preserve the
old traditional “old town” sections, which attract many tourists from other parts of
China. Like everyone else, we enjoyed the great scenery in Yunnan.
What was the downside? Independent travel is not easy in a country in which you
do not speak the language and few people speak yours; we managed OK but it
required effort, patience and courtesy. With one or two exceptions we did not
meet any Chinese with whom we could carry on an extended complex conversation.
This is the last page of descriptions and photos of our 2003 China trip.
We invite you to return to "Our Travel Journals" Main Menu to view some of our
other trips.