World Travel 2013-2014, China Wrap Up

Overall what we did: 12 days split into: 3 days in Beijing, 2 days in Xi’an, 1 day in Hangzhou, 2 days in Suzhou and 4 days in Shanghai from 11 October 2014 to 24 October 2014
Favourite part of China: Would have to be climbing the Great Wall. The food was also pretty good, when we weren’t with the tour group that is
Key tip: Always carry antibacterial gel, wipes and toilet paper. You’ll need it.
Cultural points:

Bartering: Always haggle, even in department stores haggling to a certain extent is accepted unless you are told that the prices are fixed

Great Wall, Beijing, China

Best Experience: Would have to be watching the little old lady on the plane attempt to speak to Takeshi in Chinese, even after he said in broken Chinese that he can’t speak the language. She kept trying!
Worst Experience: The food while we were on tour. Takeshi had really bad food poisoning from one of the included meals (he was sick for four days!) and in general the food quality was just terrible and it was nearly always cold. Fortunately it improved a bit from Hangzhou onwards, but it didn’t leave a great impression of the country.
Must See Attraction: Of course, the Great Wall
Most Over-hyped Attraction: Hmm, don’t know if they’re over hyped – it just depends on what your expectations of them are.
Would I go back? Unlikely. If I was to go back, I would like to see the more northern part of China (and definitely NOT do a tour); however, I had a lot more fun in other countries in South East Asia (would love to go back to South Korea and Taiwan) so I would prefer going back to those places first.

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