All posts tagged: China

4 Places I Never Need to Visit Again

Published by Jenn

  Overrated, litter-scattered or completely charmless; some places just aren’t my jam. Given the chance to return I’d politely decline an invitation to these four places. Battambang, Cambodia My Fodder’s guidebook sang high praise for Battambang. (I visited in mid-2012) It touted colonial charm and a glorified bamboo train. A train described as “one of the world’s all-time unique rail journeys” by Lonely Planet. By all means I had it on good authority that Battambang would be a home run. What I recall most distinctly were disappointing accommodations, a bucolic riverfront restaurant operated by the world’s least attentive proprietor (British and grass smoking – neither which I am necessarily offended by), rats the size of small raccoons scurrying around the market after dark, and under cooked peanuts offered up by a street vendor. Soggy peanuts, just imagine. Sorry, not sorry Battambang. Olympic Village, Beijing.  Yawn, even for sporting fans like us. (I can’t help but tear up when Olympians receive their medals. They’ve worked so hard.) I’m not sure what we expected but basically we were greeted by a massive …

Reflecting on Our 10-Day Stay in Beijing, China

Published by Jenn

Beijing is an entirely different world. Old China and a political capital, the city is wound a bit tighter than New China metropolises Hong Kong or Shanghai. Slow moving, full of people, brimming with culture and bad etiquette, it really is unlike anything else. Dusty, hazy, dirty, smelly and polluted. This is all tolerated to tour its centuries old temples and monuments, purchase goods at Pearl and Silk markets, and experience everything authentic Chinese. Ten days was a little too long, I think six would have sufficed. Being the first stop on our trip, Beijing really conditioned us to Asia. It overwhelmed, preparing us for populations denser than those at home and humidity. It helped us adjust to foreign currency and it was so safe (a good place to make some mistakes). With experiences such as the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, Beijing certainly has its redeeming qualities. Though for us, we felt it was a nice place to see and a nice place to be able to leave.

The Great Wall + Observations After 10 Days in Beijing

Published by Jenn

We’ve since arrived in Bangkok and I’m pleased to have full access to my social media sites once again. One of the hostels we stayed at in Beijing had writing all over it which characterized its ambiance, and if you’re familiar with Tibet’s struggle you will notice the humor in someone writing ‘Free Social Media‘ in the stairwell. Mid last week I seemed to develop a persistent allergy to something in Beijing which rendered me dopey, sleepy and full of snot (which I cheerfully spat onto the street along with all of the other Beijing-ers, much to Greg’s disgust). That came about the morning Greg and I left on a twelve hour day tour to the Jinshanling part of the Great Wall. Pleasant. Six of these hours were spent on a cramped tour bus with ‘air conditioning’. Whatever that means. We arrived to blue skies (a relief from hazy Beijing) and stunning mountains. The wall snaked along the ridges of these mountains and was absolutely stunning. It really is one of the most impressive sites …

Exploring Beijing’s Mystic Forbidden City

Published by Jenn

Let’s catch up on the past few days. Monday saw us visiting Beijing’s most iconic sites: Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Our hostel is conveniently located roughly 20 minutes walking distance from the two, which are located next to one another. They also happen to mark the ‘geographic centre’ of the city. Following the beaten tourist path we headed past Mao’s mausoleum, through Tiananmen Square and to the Forbidden City. Greg had left me only for a moment before Chinese tourists began to ask for pictures, which I was all too happy to oblige. After all, it was a nice diversion from someone trying to sell you something. Apart from that instance, nothing remarkable happened during our wandering. Following the Forbidden City we decided to make a department store our heading. We ended up shopping on a ten lane highway, flanked by towering department stores. H&M, Adidas, Nike, Only, etc. Everything imaginable. Making our way back to the hostel we made a slight detour through a hutong and quickly realized we were lost. While …

Beijing: My Overwhelming First Impressions of China

Published by Jenn

Well, we have arrived in Beijing, China and it is crazy! First let me recount our journey here. We packed up and left on Friday morning, Vancouver time. I had to chuckle when I noticed Greg’s had packed not one, but two travel pillows. As we walked the 200-m to the bus stop from Greg’s parents’ house we congratulated ourselves with a celebratory high-five. I looked over at his backpack and immediately noticed one of the travel pillows had fallen off. We had already lost an item, not more than 20 seconds into our trip. Too funny. The bus arrived promptly thereafter this moment so the pillow remains where it fell. We flew Air China and much to my misfortune I discovered my in-flight entertainment screen was broken. Did I mention this was a twelve hour flight? Flying north from Vancouver we actually passed over Comox (my hometown) which made me pretty happy and then onward past Alaska, Siberia and the Koreas. Beijing greeted us with a grey haze (which I am beginning to believe is character of the …