China – An Experience to be Had
After a brief stopover in Singapore we flew onto Shanghai. I really didn’t know what to expect other than bracing myself for a huge amount of people and smog. We landed, collected our luggage and kept an eye out for someone from Gate One Travel who would be holding up a placard with our name on it – hopefully in English. And there he was! Charlie was waiting patiently to arrange a taxi to take us to the Shanghai Marriott. It was hot, it was busy and it was ” full on” traffic with a taxi driver who having no English could have been taking us to “Timbuk Too” for all we knew.
Finally, we jubilantly arrived at the Marriott safe and sound. Tomorrow we would begin the next stage of our Chinese adventure which would include spending time with a local family in their small home within the oldest part of Beijing.
We would have four nights on the Yangtze River, visit the Terracotta Warriors, the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and of course the Great Wall.
We had seen this trip advertised on one of the emails from Travel Zoo and were looking for something a little different at what seemed, to be a reasonable price. The trip was through Gate 1 Travel and as it turned out we were the only two Australians, most people were from the US or Canada. The group numbered around thirty people and were all a great bunch of folk and as excited as we were. Our travel guides were all Chinese who spoke fluent English. We had a “main guide” and at each different city or village another guide with the local knowledge would also join our tour. They were all very, very good and lovely people. Also I can’t forget Leo – introduced as the second best driver (apparently the best driver had broken his arm). Leo did a fabulous job – always with a smile with his white gloves on.
The two major cities of Shanghai and Beijing were cities of huge populations with varying degrees of wealth and prosperity. It wasn’t unusual to see a Bentley stopped next to a bicycle with all the wordly belongings hanging off it. Both cities were enthralling but different in their “feel”. Both had a mix of the old and the modern China.
It was extraordinary how industrious the people were 
with so much construction and engineering occurirng. From high-rise cities built from scratch and still not always populated, to the damming of the Yangtze. Then there was the mix of traditional life on this great river to take in.
China is full of history that dates back thousands of years including the amazing wall that still surrounds the old part of Xi’an. Built to keep the invading hoards out many centuries ago and of course the Great Wall that really blew me away – it was truly a wonderful experience to see the wall for the first time and then climb part of it. To think of the hard labour and lives lost with so many actually entombed in the construction itself. You could imagine the attacking Mongol Army of Kublai Khan and the Chinese soldiers valiantly defending their posts !
Then to visit the vast Forbidden City that also has so much history and which witnessed the end of the last emperor; ironically overlooking Tiananmen Square with Chairman Mao’s tomb within the square.
China is different. It has no doubt advanced towards a more capitalist ideology but is clearly still managed by the State. I wondered whether a democracy would actually work with such a large population.
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I could imagine how bogged down in red tape, buried in the bureaucratic process that would potentially have made it impossible for China’s rapid development.
In 1974, just outside of the old city of Xi’an, a local farmer was trying to bore another well for water. What he found became one of the greatest archeological finds in modern times – The Terracotta Warriors.
The site is part of an elaborate Mausoleum for the first Emperor – Qin. The site dates back to 209 B.C around the time of the Han Dynasty and is a definite must see. It’s truly fascinating. Only four rows have been excavated with no plans to go further. The Emperor’s tomb has not been touched, hence it’s not known how vast the site is or how many Terracotta Warriors and other treasures there may be in the vicinity.
We thoroughly enjoyed this trip, it was an eye opener on a large scale. The Chinese people were very friendly and inquisitive. We could keep writing about the many more experiences. Accommodation was four to five star. The food was great but at times a little different if you wanted to check out the street food which was to be expected and part of the experience.
Gate1 Travel were outstanding – their attention to local detail was first class, the service was outstanding and their skill in creating a fantastic and positively memorable experience was exceptional.
If you haven’t already, visit China – it’s worth it.
RD
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