China has not been on my travel wish list for the last 20 years. That’s because I keep hearing about the stinky toilets without doors, people spitting all over and crowds everywhere.
Recent reports from friends who had visited were more positive.
I thought: “It’s a must-see” but dawdled.
It has been seven years since then, till a friend recently asked us to join their tour to go to Sichuan, Chongqing and the Yangtze River.
The clincher was when China lifted its visa requirements last year – visitors from Singapore could stay up to 30 days without needing a visa. I didn’t have any excuses left.
I can see why China is on more of my friends’ itineraries too. Being nearer, it’s easier on the budget. And one would not suffer jetlag, a very big plus now that I’m older and take a longer time to get over time differences.
Advertisement
Here's what I learnt from my recent China trip.
1. Think out-of-the-box when taking photos at crowded attractions
Jiuzhaigou or Nine Village Valley is named after nine Tibetan villages in the area. It is known for its pristine and crystal-clear blue lakes and tall waterfalls. This type of scenery, together with the autumn colours, is picture perfect.
It would have been surreal, except capturing the gorgeousness in a photograph is tough, with the hordes of tourists there.
After all, as our tour guide kept repeating, to remind us: “China has 1.4 billion people.”
Be mentally prepared to jostle and push. I quickly added two words to my growing Mandarin vocabulary – “pái duì” which means queue up.
Eventually our group of 14 people also settled on a way to ‘block off’ an area by bodily cordoning it for each other to take turns to get our shots.
2. The best season for silvers is not everyone else's
Over the years, I’ve concluded that ideal temperatures for travel are around 16 to 20 degree Celsius. We don’t have to lug around heavy luggage, a result of having to carry winter wear.
This trip to Jiuzhaigou also made me realise that we silvers must look for shoulder seasons when travelling. In the case of Jiuzhaigou, I would advise going in March or end November when the park visitors are halved.
3. Get the right e-sim as data costs can run up
Many popular websites and search engines like Google are blocked in China due to the Great Firewall. Due to this, getting the right mobile data carrier for your trip can be the best way around this.
The one thing that I was unprepared for was how much data I would need as I could not use the hotel’s free Wi-Fi to access my usual channels of information. I usually google to research on places we were going to visit the next day, or read news on Singapore and international sites.
One of my friends on the tour, who was downloading videos of her infant granddaughter sent every two days, had a nasty shock. She had exhausted over 25 GB of data, in about five days!
When travelling, I usually use the Airalo e-sim plan which is cheaper than our regular telco provider. For China, there are alternatives which cost even less. Here are some comparisons:
4. Decide on trip times before train bookings open
We took the high speed train from Chengdu to Chongqing. Moving at the speed of 160 km/h, this was another interesting travel experience to chalk up.
There are three classes of seats – business class, first class and second class, with different seating configurations (the seats also get progressively wider the higher the class). Business class, which is the most premium, also offers free snacks and drinks, as well as lounges at some stations. However, the prices are nearly double that of the other two classes.
Cabins in both the first and second classes were clean. It was a little noisier in the latter.
Take note that ticket reservations only open 14 days before. During the high season, the tickets to Jiuzhaigou sold out in 5 minutes. My advice is to do your homework beforehand as there are a few trains a day, with different prices, so that when the ticket window is open, you can immediately buy the tickets. You can buy online, or at the station (although you may run the risk that the tickets are sold out).
Buying through the official website can be buggy, I booked through my travel agent and that saved me a lot of fuss. My travel agent Intriq advised that it is best to book your train tickets through reliable sources as there are many scams around train tickets.
You would need your name as per your passport to purchase a ticket, as well as show your passport for verification. In my experience, they check your passport quite often, so do keep it somewhere easily accessible in your bag.
Additionally, do take a cabin bag along instead as only overhead luggage space is available on these trains. Our tour agency arranged for our bigger bags to be sent by a goods vehicle.
5. Don't leave home without a face mask
When I visited China 30 years ago, doors on toilets were the exception and very often the umbrella served as a privacy shield. This has changed.
In 2015, president Xi Jinping called for a ‘toilet revolution’. China media CGTN reported that this involved government spending of 15 billion yuan or S$2.7 billion. The big change was that by 2013, three quarters of the population had access to toilets.
Today, the toilets in the natural parks and most public areas are quite decent. They all have doors which extend to the floor, ensuring privacy. Most toilets are squat ones with a foot flush. A bin is provided for used tissues which creates a problem of noxious odours.
Bring enough masks, spray some perfume or medicated oil. It’s a must have.
China is thriving on domestic tourism. From the predominant use of Mandarin at the tourist attractions, I could tell that 90 per cent of the tourists were locals.
Coupled with tough economic conditions internally, it is not a surprise that more Chinese would choose to travel within the country. But there is so much to see within China, and this trip really opened my eyes.
What this means is that once I get over the psychological trauma of overcrowding at popular tourism sites, I will be planning my next trip to China.
READ ALSO:
Six Silver Travel Planning Tips
