Things to do in China

Russinating

Russinating

Russinating

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Spending 3 weeks in China next month and I'm aware we have some Chinese/dual Citizens here who might be able to provide some suggestions past the usual.

We're staying in Shanghai with friends and then going onto Kunming/Yunnan, Chengdu, Zhangjiajie, Beijing and back to Shanghai. Have a few things planned but after any insight or experience, especially for Chengdu and Beijing but also Shanghai as our friends haven't been there that long.

Particularly interested in best restaurants (I don't trust sources like Trip Advisor), both fine dining and just awesome street food, plus must-see's past the tourist haunts.

Thanks in advance :).
 
Yunnaan is beautifully scenic in parts, some countryside and traditional village tours would be nice if that's your thing. Yunnan cuisine is odd but a must try! They have loads of flower festivals but i think itl be the wrong time of year for that. They also eat a variety of flowers in their cuisine and the food not only taste good but looks spectacular.

I know you are not going that far north but i would personally love to try and catch the Yellow river at one of the times of year at full flow. The thing carries 20% of the worlds silt and looks fantastically violent.

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There is a lot to see in China. For me things of interest would be around beautiful vast landscapes and traditional forgotten villages. I am always impressed by vast and massive landscapes that almost seem alien. I wouldn't really know what to do in a city escape though.
 
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I've been to quite a bit of China, some tips on things to do...

- Great wall near Beijing. Do not go to the Badaling section at all costs, it's chaos. Mutianyu is better if you still want a developed bit. If you are looking for a good day trip to the wall a great agency to go with chinahighlights.com. They are not the cheapest but are the best service, I use them as a supplier when people who book North Korea tours with me want an extended trip in China.
- In Shanghai do a day trip to Suzhou if you have time, great dim sum and the canals are nice.
- Again if you have time Nanjing is a great day trip from Shanghai if you like history. The Nanjing massacre museum as well as John Rabe's house are both excellent museums.
- For street food in Beijing, Wangfujiang snack food street is the popular place to go. Scorpions on sticks etc.
- If you want to go see Mao in Beijing go very early. Like 7-8am. Still super busy but a bit quieter.
- In Chengdu, if you have a big budget, you can be a panda keeper for a day. I'm talking £1k+ though for this.
- Get a VPN before you go, Gmail will not work. For my Mac laptop I uses "UK VPN". It's not free but the only Mac one I've found to work well consistently in China.

Ill try and think of more...
 
Russinating said:
Thanks Mickey. Anything else then let me know or trust me :).
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Few more bits and bobs!

- Ctrip.com is probably the easiest online agent for buying train tickets, unless you've got Chinese friends who can book direct for you.
- If you have time to go further afield Xiahe feels like Tibet without having to get permits to go to Lhasa
- My fav food is just getting cheap steamed dumplings (Baozi). Between 20p and £2 for a dozen in a basket. With the dipping vinegar they are lovely. I've never gotten food poisoning in China, but maybe I've just had good luck.
- if you go up to the north east in Shenyang or Dandong let me know, we run day trips along the North Korea border which are very popular, even taking a speedboat into their waters were you can give Korean soldiers cigarettes etc.
 
-Great Wall - It's amazing, I hope you are reasonably fit as the steps can be steep in some parts

-Terracotta Warriors - I don't care what anyone else thinks, the sheer scale is damn ridiculous

-Beijing - We went into the Forbidden City, pretty cool. Same with visiting Tienanmen square, security was quite tight at the time

-Shanghai is awesome, such a lovely place and lots of little bits and bobs about. We went into a couple of the temples there, nothing like being inside a temple with a SkyScraper literally 10ft to the left of it. I'd also recommend looking across to the Pu-dong district at night time, lovely sky line, both at night and the day mind.

I can't recall where we ate one evening in Shanghai but it was essentially noodles with two frying sauces, then you dip in whatever food you want, was amazing :D

Honestly though, there is so much to do...Get a local touristy map also and just look at it and see what there is locally, lots of parks to walk around for instance as well, it's interesting walking around in these in the morning and watching everyone do their morning routines etc.

If I think of anything else I'll try let you know.

EDIT: MY GOD, the dumplings.
 
Most street vendors are usually fairly safe if you can see the ingredients are fresh because the food is served directly from the heat, so germs are dead. You're more likely to get food poisoning from a hotel buffet.
 
MickeyFinns said:
- if you go up to the north east in Shenyang or Dandong let me know, we run day trips along the North Korea border which are very popular, even taking a speedboat into their waters were you can give Korean soldiers cigarettes etc.
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Are you not in any way worried about being either shot at or kidnapped doing that?
 
Kemik said:
Are you not in any way worried about being either shot at or kidnapped doing that?
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The Koreans and Chinese treat the Yalu River has neutral territory so there's no concerns about going in to their waters here. There's not been any issues on the boat tours, a few hundred Chinese tourists do the tour each day :).
 
Russinating said:
Particularly interested in best restaurants (I don't trust sources like Trip Advisor), both fine dining and just awesome street food, plus must-see's past the tourist haunts.
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We were in Beijing recently and tried Peking duck from a few difference places and by far the best was Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant. We went to the branch near the Wangfujing food market. Service was pretty ropey at best but the food was excellent, the duck especially so. It's an utterly enormous restaurant so pay attention when gettihg taken to your table or it'll be tricky to find the exit.

Duck De Chine was a bit hit and miss. The duck was fantastic but nothing else was good enough to justify the cost.

Xiulan Xiaoguan was great too. The food was very tasty and well priced. The sizzling beef was especially good.

The best dumplings we had were at Mr Shi's Dumplings which is near the Drum & Bell towers. Get there early as it gets very busy. Everything is made to order so for a dumpling place it takes a while for the food to arrive.

I'd also second MickyFinn's suggestion of looking at China Highlights for day tours - it was at his suggestion we looked at them as part of our trip to China & North Korea. We did a 2 day tour with them and they were brilliant. The guide knew his stuff, spoke amazing English and was a nice chap to sit and talk to. They don't go to any shops or factories so there's no time wasted there.

The toboggan ride at the Mutianyu Great Wall was great fun, if we had enough time we would have gone back up and had another go.
 
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