Last year, i went to China with my mom and my sis. My mom was really excited, even months way before the trip. This is my mom's first trip in backpacker style, and she dreamed to be backpacker long time ago. It is my job to make it into as backpacker style as possible. Basically, the main principle is to keep the budget as low as we can.
Our first stop was actually Kuala Lumpur. Since there is no direct flight from Penang to Beijing, so we took a flight from Penang to KL, and we passed a night in KLIA. I did this intentionally because first, it saved some money from the hotel, and also sleeping in the airport would be a new experience for my mom.
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| Making ourself comfortable in KLIA ^^ |
The next day, we took a shuttle bus to LCCT, for the flight to Tianjin. Once we arrived, we had to took a train to Beijing. Obviously, we didnt take the new CRH (China Railway Highspeed), we took the cheapest train of the evening. So here comes the eye-openers. First, i got picked up for the spotcheck when entering the train station. I need clarify that in every train station in China, everyone has to pass through the security check in order to get inside the station, just like going into the boarding gate in airport, And then the officer acted damn rude, shouting at me and asking for my passport, bla bla bla.
Then the quality of the train is also an eye opener. The back of the seat is 90 degree straight up, not to say how COMFORTABLE it is. No air conditioner obviously, but there were fans attached on the ceiling of the train. Inside the light was dimmed. I cant say that the passengers were filthy, but they are totally dressed up differently. The man sitting beside me kept spitting on the floor!!! I am not sure if he felt embarassed or what, he then tried to wipe it clean with his slippers. The most disgusting part is he then took off his slipper and checked the bottom of the slippers!!!
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| Tianjin train station |
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| I dont know whether is it a fashion or what, many people there dont sit , they crouch, even women and children. So i try to 'blend into' the culture :P |
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| Inside the train, from Tianjin to Beijing |
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| My mom and sis trying to sleep after a long flight to Tianjin, but it is quite hard to fall asleep on a right-angle seat. |
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| Inside Tianjin train station |
We arrived at Beijing at night, then rushed to our booked hostel and got some sleep. The next day, we headed for the Forbidden City. It is super huge, it took us almost 4 hours to walk from one end to another.
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| Local police in front of Fobidden City |
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| I guess it is real kungfu, bags of things on the back of a tricycle |
At night, we went to the local hawker stalls for dinner.
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| in front of a shop selling Goubuli Steamed Stuffed Bun (Goubuli Baozi) 狗不理包子 |
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| the making of Fried Dough Twist (Ma Hua) 麻花, originated from Tianjin |
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| Sparrow meat |
The next day, the Great Wall. From Beijing, there are several parts of the Great Wall are opened for visitors. The most popular is the Badaling, and also the most crowded. Plus most of the wall in Badaling is renovated to be more 'walkable' for visitors, like the steps are less steep. We wanted to try the real Great Wall and experience how steep the staircase is, so we choose to go to Mutianyu. A bit further than Badaling, but less crowded. We joined a tour organised by the hostel, including the to and fro bus, a lunch, and a guide.
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| The cabel car taking us straight up the top of the Wall, saving some time for the tiring climbing |
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| Going down from the Wall with some fun |
In Beijing we also......
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| we tried some exotic snacks |
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| The Olympic park, and the Bird Nest stadium |
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| Tian Tan, Temple of Heaven. It doesnt seem magnificent in this picture, with the thick haze. |
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| Everyone trying to approach the tree, they believe the tree can give people longevity. Well there is a reason to believe so, since the tree itself is more than a thousand years old. |
And so the end of our stay in Beijing. Well, Beijing is just like any big city, crowded, noisy. It was summer during that time, plus the air pollution, the haze was super thick. Walking in Beijing is like being inside any oven, freaking hot, even for us from a tropical country. The air pollution is the worst i have seen in my life, even my skin got some sort of itchy and scratchy allergy.
We then headed to Xi'an. One stupid mistake i made, i was planning to buy the train ticket on spot, and it was the peak season, everyone wants to go home during the summer. Almost every train was overbooked, it left only some hard-seat ticket, every single sleeper-ticket was sold out. Some even not available until 2 weeks after!!! Well in desperation, i took 3 hard-seat tickets.
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| Waiting hall for the Xi'an train, super crowded |
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| Inside the train, Beijing - Xi'an |
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| It was a 20 hours ride, and this is what happened to passengers with hard-seat ticket. I sat like this for 20 hours!!! |
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| My sis even worse, she didnt go to the bathroom for 20 long hours, because the toilet is every dirty, even i admit that. Everyone was fully prepared for the ride, they took alot of food and some card or board games with them except us. Luckily, there was people selling some snacks. |
We were so glad to get off the train. The 20 hours were trully agonising. Finally we arrived at Xi'an.
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| Xi'an train station |
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| a hawker stall, his wok is going to fly like a rocket |
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| another hawker stall, there are many muslims in Xi'an |
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| making nan |
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| Infront of train station, we were trying to find the bus to Terracotta. The bus number is 306. But there are many fake 306 buses there. We managed to identify the right one by following the crowd. Those fake one are going to take you to many souvenir shop before you can even see the Terracotta. There are many people, very friendly but annoying also, trying to convince you their bus is the real one. They just would not leave you alone, like flies. |
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| In the real bus to Terracotta. |
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| Voilà, Terracotta |
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| The biggest artifact that made of bronze |
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| Cycling on the Xi'an old wall |
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| Da Yan Ta (the tower behind us) |
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| Zhong Lou, Clock Tower in the heart of Xi'an |
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| Masahiro, a japanese backpacker who slept in the same dorm with us. |
Xi'an, in overall, pleased me. My mom and my sis love Xi'an also. The weather is hot, but at least it is not like in Beijing. The air condition is good, the people we met are also nicer. After that we headed to Nanjing. After the terrible 20 hours of train, we didnt feel like taking train anymore. So we took a flight, ticket booked on internet in Xi'an. The flight took only 2 hours.
Our hostel is very hard to find. It took us almost an hour to search for it. We walked pass the hostel twice without noticing that there was a hostel there. Finally we found it. Our hostel is very near to the Confucius Temple, very happening at night.
The next day, we visited a few places.......
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| Sun Yat-sen's Memorial |
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| View over the city of Nanjing, from Purple Mountain |
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| One has to walk up those stair cases to visit Sun Yat-sen's tomb |
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| Nanjing massacre museum |
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| This is where japanese buried thousands of corpses during the WWII, one of the ugliest side the second world war |
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| Prayers from the people |
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| Giulietta, a girl from Switzerland, staying in the same dorm with us. She was suprised when i spoke french with her. |
After 2 day stay in Nanjing, we moved to Suzhou. It is just 1 hour on train to get there, so we bought 3 standing tickets, for the sake of trying new things.
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| In Nanjing train station, waiting for our train |
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| Standing tickets, so no seats for us, but we can take a seat whenever it is available |
Suzhou is famous for its beautiful gardens. In Suzhou, we visited......
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| Inside Lingering Garden |
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| Bai Juyi, a poet during Tang dynasty. Famous for the simplicity in his poems |
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| Suzhou train station |
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| Suprisingly, there is a law in Suzhou saying that men and women must sleep in separated dorms. These guys were all staying in the same dorm with me |
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| In the girl's dorm |
The next stop, Shanghai....... In Shanghai, my sis finally cant help herself away from shopping. So we shopped, since our trip was going to an end. I also bought a few books. The books there are really cheap, comparing to those in Msia, and actually interest me.
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| A thunderstorm hitting Shanghai, the sky turned grey in a blink of eye |
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| Shanghai Nanjing Street |
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| as a chinese saying, people mountain people sea |
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| A mosque near Shanghai Yu Yuan |
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| Translated directly, it means the street of the 潘 family, which is my family name also ^^ |
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| Shanghai Yu Yuan |
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| Our hostel, a small cafeteria, nice ambiance |
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| An exhibition inside Shanghai Art Museum |
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| The man responsible for all the drawings in the Museum, 张国龙 |
Our trip in China is almost to an end already. Our last stop, Hangzhou. According to our budget, we could still afford some luxury, so we took the CRH from Shanghai to Hangzhou. CRH takes only 1 hour while the normal train takes 4 hours.
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| Inside Shanghai train station, we found a vending machine selling medicines. |
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| Waiting hall in Shanghai train station |
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| Boarding..... |
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| Inside the CRH, comfortable, spacious, and classy. |
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| A very special statue in Hangzhou |
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| Hangzhou Westlake |
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| Taking the flight from Hangzhou back to msia |
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| When we arrived in LCCT, it was 4am, and our flight back to Penang is at 9am. At that time, we were really tired already. Here we were taking coffee to keep ourself up, at 6am in LCCT. |
This trip confirms some of my stereotypes on chinese in China. They spit. They are rude. Once a server of a hawker stall even told us that we are not from china, eventhough our origin is chinese, because we are too polite to be China chinese. They simply dont line up and you have to find your way to get into whatever you want, for exemple when buying train ticket. I almost couldnt keep my head cold when buying tickets in Shanghai train station. They will try to squeeze every penny from the travellers. I had read alot of advices on avoiding scams and listened to opinions from those who been there before me, so that i can avoid every scams during this trip, and i did it. Yet again, i am not saying every chinese is like how i described. Like those students we met in Suzhou, who were staying in the same with me, they are really nice. They are open-minded too, when i told my stereotypes on China chinese, we had some good discussions. During the conversation, even they stated out some bad sides of China and its politics, but i sensed that they still love and hope for the best for their country. This is good spirit that many youngsters need.
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| Notice the topless man?? I have to admit it is very hot, but still there is no way i wear in such way like him. Not only him, many men are wearing like this. |
