China coming uphas anyone been?

Hi All

Just got back to the Forum after a busy, tough 2005 and now leaving again in a week--for China! We have friends living in Shanghai, and had enough airmiles for the round trip, so....

We're going for a month, and I'm just now starting to get excited. Have been too busy, before. Our housesitter asked for a month's worth of prepared freezer food, so I've been cooking up a storm! Found time to start a few tomatoes (Tumbler, Brandywine) and some geraniums, but since I won't be back until the end of February it means my garden and greenhouse will be off to a very late start. Somehow I think (hope) it will be worth it.

Taking lots of batteries and memory cards, so watch out for the onslaught of pictures in March.

Has anyone been--any tips? It's a bit scary; most of our trip will be on our own and there's this huge language thing. Any other travelling we've done has been to a country with the same alphabet as we have.

But our first week--Chinese New Year's--will be down on the island of Hainan, which is so far south it's tropical. The beaches (I Google Earthed it) look incredible.

And I probably won't give more than a passing thought to all my Canadian friends languishing in winter.

Cheers,
Rosemary

Have a wonderful adventure Rosemary.... Can't wait to see some of your pictures...

Annetta

Some relatives but certainly not me. I hope you visit your public library Chilko and borrow some guidebooks. Don't know if this link will work or not: http://ipac2.vpl.ca/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1G3751B9G8509.615&profile=pac&uri=link=3100007~!881265~!3100001~!3100002&aspect=subtab13&menu=search&ri=4&source=~!horizon&term=China+--+Guidebooks&index=SUBJECT

Not all that came up are traveller's guides tho. Have an awesome trip and we are looking forward to seeing your pics! Ü

Have a wonderful journey. --Ginny, who is also looking forward to seeing your pics.

I haven't looked at all the titles there but given the type of trip your taking:

Wow
what a great opportunity! My dad was there in the late 60's and his travel with a university was very directed by the government.

My brother in law goes to the orient a lot with his job and he said
as long as you don't look over wealthy you will be fine. He said he has had wonderfull food and the people are shy by our standards but very willing to be helpfull. He did say that our normal asprin and hearburn stuff is not readily available so bring some in its sealed packages like blister packs,not bottles. He also found that baby wet wipes were handy when conventional bathing was in short supply.
Enjoy ... can't wait to hear about your adventure!!!
Ann

thanks for the good wishes...

I bought the Lonely Planet guide on my last shopping trip (before Christmas) and the library has been sending me info. One interesting book was a Reader's Digest picture book published in 1986--and then republished a few years ago. Same book--huge changes! Shanghai in '86 was the dirtiest city in the world; now it is one of the cleanest. (No mean feat considering it has 15 million people. Almost half the population of Canada!) I gather the Chinese are on the tourism bandwagon big time, so we shall certainly benefit.

Yes, even though our Western goods are supposedly available over there, I'm taking a basic first aid kit--including aspirin! We may not be near a big centre when we have a problem. We're advised not to rely on credit cards or even traveller's cheques in the smaller (say, the size of Lethbridge!) centres.

Going from our ultra quiet environment--no roads, no human noises--to China will be a huge shock, I'm sure. We'll have to learn--quickly--to create our own space around us, as they do. But then, I already do that on my bi-annual shopping trips when a supermarket can be quite overwhelming.

Rosemary,

Have never been to China. You might want to read up on etiquette though. I know that when exchanging addresses, many people exchange cards. If your computer has a printer you might want to take some with you.

Have a wonderful time.
Inanda

Digestive issues are often a problem - clean water sources are iffy in the more rural areas, and outside of the major cities (sometimes even in them) sanitation isn't great. Be sure to bring some Immodium or other anti-diarrheal remedy...Probably not a bad idea to stay with well-cooked items, or fruits and veggies that have been peeled. But don't be so concerned that you miss out on some phenomenal food!

It can be strange to be in a place where even the alphabet is unfamilar! I had a moment in Kyoto, Japan, where I got really overwhelmed by not being able to even puzzle out an "Exit" sign in the train station. (the fact that I was severely jet-lagged had something to do with it, I'm sure.) But you may be surprised how many people speak passable English - it certainly puts our (U.S.) foreign language teaching to shame!

Maybe we'll actually have some winter while you're gone. At least thus far this winter, I haven't had to think about too much snow on the cottage roof!

Have a great time!

Sarah

Sanitation--yes, a worry. We're expecting our hostess, an RN, to provide us with what we'll need! And yes, the alphabet is a concern too. I'm going to keep the symbols for his/her toilets handy, you can be sure!

Good idea about the business/personal cards. I'd packed some of Dave's, but had forgotten to print out mine. So many little details; somehow quite different from planning for going great distances from home but still staying in the Caucasian cultures.

I gather that I shouldn't expect much in the way of floral displays--landscaping, yes. There are some water oriented gardens outside of Shanghai I'm looking forward to, and of course the formal gardens around the various temples. I'm fairly familiar with Japanese landscaping but the Chinese will be quite different, I think.

Rosemary. on final countdown

Wishing you an exciting adventure.

The advice above in regard to simple remedies is probably good. If your hostess will provide you with needed things, will any instructions be in English? It's never a bad idea to have the basics with you.

DH has been to China a couple of times. I've only been to Japan, but we found that our various hosts there were very solicitous of us because of the language thing.

Hope you have a wonderful time.

Ann

You've probably left already Rosemary, but I hope you have an exciting and safe trip. ......wondering if you will get to use those holes in the floor.....

Brenda

Rosemary, Sorry for finding this so late, as you've probably left already. Have a wonderful trip. I've not been to China, it sounds like it should be a trip of a life time.

Linda

Rosemary, you must be back from China. Please come back and tell us about your trip. And pictures, we want pictures.

My cousin is leaving for China tomorrow....she cannot wait to see the Terra Cotta Warriors.............E

Yes, I'm back! What an incredible trip. China wasn't at all the suppressed, militaristic society we had expected. Polluted--yes, big time. Ugh. Instant allergies. And it was a very brown time of year, so combined with the smog, not many bright days and not much green. Your cousin will be hitting spring.

The people are absolutely wonderful. Very few spoke any English at all, and there are so many dialects that the few phrases we learned weren't easily transferable from, say, Shanghai to Beijing! Our skill at charades is now excellent. Ah, but the people--cheerful, friendly, helpful. Clean (no matter how poor) and with a sense of pride no matter how lowly (in our mind) their job--whether sweeping (literally, with straw brooms) the streets, sorting through rubbish (terrific recycling),or driving taxi. Lotsa taxis. Lots and lots. Cheap, too! And in Shanghai especially, very clean. In fact, Shanghai's clean streets would put even Vancouver to shame.

I was a bit disappointed after seeing the Terra Cotta Warriors--that I couldn't ever again have the awesome experience of seeing them for the first time! It's difficult to convey the impact that they had, and also the mind-blowing impact of the Great Wall. Pictures do NOT do it justice...but I'll attach a couple here. It really does run up the spine of mountains and in the zoomed (digital as well as optical, so it's a bit blurry) one try to imagine the poor devils who had to man that watch tower on the top peak, in -30 weather in a blizzard.

...a brown time of year, as I said. Tropical down south on Hainan, but still not a lot of flowers. Yangshou, still quite far south and home of those etherial dome shaped peaks, karst (limestone) formations was green but again, the flowers were only potted plants. In fact, everywhere we went, the large floral displays were all in 4" to 6" pots! See the attached picture--we didn't notice they spelled something in Chinese until we got home but given that it was Chinese New Year's, it was probably happy new year or some such.

Those ornamental cabbages are really big in China. At first I expected to see big chunks missing, eaten by the starving homeless...except, there didn't seem to BE any starving or homeless.

Will add bits and pieces about our 5 week trip as I get pics sorted (trouble with digital cameras; too easy to take pictures! Between Dave and me, about 1800.) and slowly try to assimilate the whole, huge experience.

...a brown time of year, as I said. Tropical down south on Hainan, but still not a lot of flowers. Yangshou, still quite far south and home of those etherial dome shaped peaks, karst (limestone) formations was green but again, the flowers were only potted plants. In fact, everywhere we went, the large floral displays were all in 4" to 6" pots! See the attached picture--we didn't notice they spelled something in Chinese until we got home but given that it was Chinese New Year's, it was probably happy new year or some such.

Those ornamental cabbages are really big in China. At first I expected to see big chunks missing, eaten by the starving homeless...except, there didn't seem to BE any starving or homeless.

Will add bits and pieces about our 5 week trip as I get pics sorted (trouble with digital cameras; too easy to take pictures! Between Dave and me, about 1800.) and slowly try to assimilate the whole, huge experience.

Rosemary

Rosemary it's great to see you home and hear about your trip. Please, when able, more pictures and commentary.

Linda

Welcome back Rosemary. I'm glad you enjoyed your trip. Yes, please more pictures. These are great.

Brenda

Glad to see you back with us Rosemary and thank you for giving us a wonderful sneak preview of your awesome trip! :)

glad you're back and will look forward to unfolding chapters

assume you will now be going double at your seeding etc to catch up