A quick visit to China | FindPenguins

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Trip start
August 21, 2018
A quick visit to China Traveler
Packing
August 19, 2018 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 21 °C
Fly out on Tuesday with a 16 hour trip to Beijing (hope China Southern economy is OK ☺). Spent the day packing and getting ready - more when we Anne, Carl and me) get to the airport.
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A quick visit to China Traveler
At Brisbane Airport
August 20, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
It’s always a thrill to be at the international departures gate even if the flight is delayed!!! 9 hours to Guangzhou, a layover of 3 hours and then to Beijing - hopefully a good flight 🙏
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A quick visit to China Traveler
Landed in Guangzhou
August 21, 2018 in China ⋅ 🌧 31 °C
We’re on Chinese soil. From the air the city is huge, on the ground the airport is pretty big as well. A little layover time then fly out to Beijing - if we manage to work out how the transfer to domestic works.Read more
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A quick visit to China Traveler
First day in Beijing
August 22, 2018 in China ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C
A big first day visiting some of the major sights of Beijing - Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square and Palace Museum. Also went to the “Golden Mask Dynasty Show” which was absolutely fantastic. Had lunch of Peking Duck at a great restaurant - food was great.

Squat toilets take some getting used to 🤔.

Tomorrow’s highlight day s a visit and a walk on the Great Wall.Read more
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A quick visit to China Traveler
Bejing 2nd day
August 23, 2018 in China ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
A big day climbing the Great Wall. Wow it’s spectacular, long/high, hard and busy - it’s nearly 1800 steps for the part we climbed. The bus ride is about 35 km outside Beijing (quite a long time ride to get out of the city - the traffic is pretty horrendous).

Age doesn’t seem to have a big effect on climbing the wall, it seems to be all about perseverance. Climbing in late summer on the hottest part of the day probably not ideal - I started off well, but about 2/3 of the way up I was passed by a Chinese grandmother who must have been on the older side of 75!!! Needed a few rests on the way (bring 💦). Ther’s a souvenir shop selling drinks at about 1,500 steps - a necessity. The photos below really don’t do it justice.

We also had a visit to a jade factory - okay if you’re into jade🤔. Aside from jewellery there were statues etc as well as a jade aquarium (pic below) if you have a spare $1.45M (not including fish).

We also managed to include a trip to the “Summer Palace” - the Emperors sure hade a pretty good life (when they went to the summer palace they got to take their favourites of the 3000 concubines with them - along with their wife 😮).

Had a free night for dinner and Anne, Carl and I walked to a “local” area and found a small very traditional Chinese restaurant. We had a few surprised looks when we walked in. Not sure what we ordered but one dish was offal and another sure had a lot of very hot 🌶.

Back to the hotel and I went to a bar to relax with a soft drink - listened to some John Denver, Beatle songs etc being sung (very well) in a strong Chinese accent.

Tomorrow - more Beijing.Read more
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A quick visit to China Traveler
Beijing 3rd day
August 24, 2018 in China ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Another early start with a trip to the Beijing Zoo for a visit to see 🐼. The enclosures aren’t huge and the Pandas weren’t exactly energetic but maybe to be expected on a warm humid summer day. I’ll d think they’d be happier in the wild.

After (another very good) lunch a visit to a Chinese traditional herbal institute. A foot massage, a short health consultation and the opportunity to buy $350 worth of “medicine” that would last a month - not for me!!!!!

A chance to visit a “street food” area - roasted scorpion or centipede on a stick anyone? A chance to walk around an upmarket shopping mall - same as in any sizeable world city. Same brand names with same high prices, it really shows the disparity in living standards just one street away.

Tired - dinner in the room.Read more
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A quick visit to China Traveler
Beijing to Wuxi
August 25, 2018 in China ⋅ 🌧 27 °C
Up early for a flight to Shanghai and then a bus trip to Wuxi. Have to say that Chinese airline travel (international and domestic) is more than fine - food is great and seat room (particularly international on China Southern) is good. Good selection of movies, wifi and USB power.

The 2 hour bus trip to Wuxi is almost one continuous metropolitan area - hard to describe the amount of high rise apartments etc - just incredible. Urban Shanghai itself is 25M people (that’s Australia).

Arrive at Wuxi and had a look at Lake Tai - a huge fresh water lake (2250 sq km but average depth of only 2 meters). A place for boating, families and picnics.

Dinner at another fantastic restaurant - great selection of food. You know the meal is finished when the watermelon comes out.

A chance after dinner to wander around near the hotel (which is in central Wuxi). There was some sort in festival going on with fireworks dancing and lots of people.

Another great day.Read more
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Trip end
August 31, 2018