Off to China!

Any suggestions people?

[Sanenet]

Yippee! Looks like I'm off to China at the end of Feb on a family holiday to see the sites - anybody got any tips about places to see, things to do (or not!) that a somewhat eccentric English family should bare in mind before landing?

[Essex_boy]

Sticky Derek_wong he lives in Hong Kong, Im sure he'll have some I idea.

[TheDoctor]

Sanenet, that's a bit like those Americans who say "I'm going to Europe, what should I see?".

China's an extremely big country. What part are you going to?

[Crush]

you can get me some bulletproof hosting sorted out whilst you are there. Go and see some of the king spammers.

[docbird]

Great Wall; summer palace, forbidden city
sichuan scenery (n spicy food)
northwest yunnan

[moneymancn]

We are living in China.
Yeah, a little more precision would help!

MM

[edited by: lawman at 2:19 pm (utc) on Nov. 21, 2004]

[bill]

The hairy crabs in Shanghai were really nice as was the Peiking Duck in Beijing...in fact I really love the food there in general. There's so much variety by region.

[Sanenet]

hairy crabs in Shanghai.. hmmm.

Looks like we're doing the grand tour, still not sure of exactly where to go, hence the suggestion question. Starting off in Beijing then flying around - should be fun!

[Neo541]

I went in April, Shanghai & HangZhou...Both beautiful in very different ways.

I would NOT suggest taking the train though, although that could be because I speak not a word of chinese and am mildly claustrophobic.

Oh yeah....buckle up! ;)

[Woz]

If you are only going for a visit, then drink bottled or boiled water, also for brushing your teeth.

Use hotel toilets as much as you can, even to "hanging on" when out and about if you can until you get back to the hotel.

Try and eat out in the streets a little if you can, or seek out eating places away from the tourits haunts, that is where the real food is. Just keep an eye on things to make sure it is cooked/heated well, but you should be OK. I ate in the streets as much as I could and never got sick once.

East first, enjoy it, then ask what it was later. ;)

No doubt you will be taken to the tourity places if on a tour, try and get away on your own to roam around if you can.

Above all, keep an open mind.

Onya
Woz

[elgumbo]

...anybody got any tips about places to see, things to do

Click a few PPC links?!?! [webmasterworld.com...]

[shri]

Drop me a line if you need any specifics researched. I'm on a small administrative island of the coast of China called Hong Kong. :)

[ska_demon]

I travel to China on a regular-ish basis for work. It is a very surprising country in good and very bad ways.

Like someone else said it is massive. There really isn't that much to see in the places i've been to be honest. Great wall blah blah. Pretty much every small town and city looks (and smells) the same to me.

However, the people (those few that speak english) are very friendly and the food can be very nice. It can also make you want to throw up as soon as you see it ;-P

Overall I like China and I am sure the charm of the place will catch you. It is just a bit wierd thats all. My friend lives in Shanghai and loves it.

Enjoy your trip and let me know if you find anything interesting in the eastern provinces. I gotta go back in January.

Ska

[mincklerstraat]

I stayed in Xiamen for a couple of months in '88 on some kind of language program (a Mandarin brush-up - rather pathetic in that department these days) and loved it. A bunch of us travelled north, and when we hit Shanghai, it seemed like everybody was sad and sort of rude. Until we came accross an old man in a park who just looked out-of-place by being in such a good mood. So I said hey and asked him what he was up to. He was visiting his daughter, had come all the way from Xiamen.

Be very, very careful about water and stay away from fresh vegetables in restaurants - you want to eat cooked stuff or wash it yourself. Ice also isn't such a good idea.

[fclark]

keep an open mind

I enjoyed how different some things are in S. China. Bring a video cam.

Traffic is crazy amusing -- mass wins. Pedestrians wait until they have a large enough herd to challenge large trucks at a crossing. Family of 5 fits onto a motor scooter with child under 2 years standing on gas tank and holding handlebars.

Karaoke (ka-le-oh-keh) has a bit of a twist. May not want to bring the family.

favorite food: sushi in hong kong (ok, not really chinese food). least favorite food: in Shenzhen the chopped cold chicken with bits of bone in the meat chunks.

[ska_demon]

Ok My Menu on the last day on a job.

Starters

Duck Head
Duck Feet (wheres the rest?)
Sheeps stomach

Main Course

Pig Tail in brown stuff
Pig Ear in slightly different brown stuff.
Donkey in green/brown stuff
Slimey melon type veg thing in slimier stuff.
Shrimp
Deep fried Scorpion
Boiled insects of some description or another.
Beef
Deep fried Pig brains
Rice

Desert
Orange

I tried to eat some of each but the pig brains were impossible. The donkey was very nice tho! (ducks head - scuse the pun - sorry vegetarians) Hee Haw Yum Yum.

Later

Ska

[Sanenet]

Thanks for the tips guys. After living in rural Spain, pig brains aren't the most terrible of things to be placed in front of you :)

[Shak]

keep us informed please

I myself am looking at tour in next 3 months of 6 or 7 destinations out East ...

Shak