I can’t believe I’m back to reality already from what has to have been the fastest week ever!
And what a week……..
It’s fair to say I’ve never done anything of this magnitude before, despite having travelled to numerous parts of the world in my time.
Yes, China was one place I’d never expected to visit pre retirement, so I jumped at the chance when it came.
Over the next few weeks I’ll be blogging about each area of Shanghai and Suzhou to the west, that I visited. There is so much to actually get in, it’s impossible to do it all in one hit. So please keep in touch with my blog in the coming weeks if you are interested to see a little bit of what I saw!
I mentioned a few of the places prior to my trip and not only did we hit all of them, but we ended up seeing more!
The purpose of this blog today was to let all my customers and readers know that I am back at work as of today as normal, and to also give my readers a little feedback on the boring and practical stuff – like transit times and distances etc – I’ll leave the good stuff for the coming weeks blogs and show you my best pictures of the places I saw. Sadly they may not do it justice but it’s one of those experiences I think, that you actively have to do rather than rely on photos. Each person would have their own opinions about the place, some good, some bad I think.
So to get us started in this series, I will give you first a quick summary of Shanghai as a place, China as a country, and all the ins and outs of the transit part of the trip – AKA the boring but important stuff, this will build me nicely onto next weeks blog which will breakdown and highlight each place with pictures. I’ll have to do it this way because the amount of places I saw within such a small amount of time would make it impossible to fit into one blog!
So here are a few do’s and don’ts and bits that you might not think of:
The Flight:
It’s long, very long – if you can afford it, book premium or business seats. Make sure you buy a couple of bottles of water in the airport, I got massively dehydrated and had a blinding headache after just a few hours on the plane, which made it hard to think about anything else. We flew Heathrow to Shanghai direct overnight – looking back, a break in the flight at Dubai or similar might have been better. Also, we flew BA, which was OK, but Singapore Airlines is far better – pay the extra and go with them.
The Destination:
Shanghai & Suzhou are busy, and I do mean BUSY places, Shanghai is home to 24 million people and is by far the most sprawling city I’ve ever seen. So if you are travelling here, have your patient head on. Or if you want to do it like i did, get your London head on, and just go with the flow, pushing and barging is common practice here!
The Documentation:
You’ll need a Chinese Visa, which takes about 10-14 days to acquire – a free page in your passport, and two photos to send with your passport to the embassy. Download the form online and the cost is roughly £180-£200. You also should carry your passport around with you incase stopped. So make sure you have zip pockets as some of the crowded areas have a pick pocketing problem, similar to Naples.
The Food:
It’s true what they say, Chinese food in China is different. Amazing of course, but different to our western version. It’s about sharing initially, don’t be prissy about ordering your own dish. Chinese people see eating as social not functional, and it’s not a rushed affair. Also, they don’t really do cutlery! Chopsticks are order of the day – so buy some prior to going and get some practice in first! Lots of rice dishes, dumplings, vegetables, and other unusual things like street food on sticks, fried octopus, crab, frogs etc – worth a bash if you are brave. The biggest meat intake is pork – by a distance. So anything you see listed as ‘meat’ is likely straight from the pick, and could in essence be any cut. The Chinese eat the ENTIRE animal, ears, trotters, insides, nothing is wasted. Gluten free and other dietary requirements are less understood here, which is only compounded by the language barrier.
The Language:
This was an issue, and in fairness it was to be expected, only a handful spoke English, luckily we had a guide to help, but when on our own, it was a little complex. Perhaps learn a few Chinese words, or take a phrasebook/download the translate app – I did this and it helped immensely!
The People:
Although mostly friendly, a lot of the Chinese are not used to tourists, in fact people took photos of us like we were something from another planet, it was quite comical! Manners are a different ballgame altogether, lots of hacking and spitting all over the place, and belching after meals, which is seen as a mark of respect for the food there. Obviously these things are frowned upon in the UK, so be prepared to see a few things you may consider rude.
The Transport:
Driving and road etiquette does not exist here. They have the slow, mid and fast lane just like we do, but nobody observes it! They drive fast and weave in and out, it’s pretty hair raising, and more than once we almost got into a few bumps and scrapes, although we escaped it in the end. The way to combat this is to use the excellent public transport like the MagLev and the trains. Taxi’s though cannot be avoided most of the time, so if you are of a weaker disposition, make sure you carry a hip flask to calm your nerves!!
The Money:
Generally you can get good value for money in China on account of the Sterling holding well against the Reminbi or Yuan (RMB). £10 is about 80 RMB, so you can easily gauge what you are spending. If you eat where the Chinese eat then you’ll get great value for money if you are comfortable ordering by pointing at the pictures on the menu. If however you prefer something a little more formal or waiter service, you’ll pay a little more. Also tipping isn’t really a thing in China as we discovered. Tip your guide and driver but don’t worry about it in the restaurants or bars.
I could go on with useful tips all day, but if there is anything major that I’ve left off here, please do let me know and I’ll help as best I can!
This is just the starter for my blog series on my experiences out in Shanghai and Suzhou, so keep reading over the coming weeks to see how my adventure panned out!
Thanks for reading and as always, until next time…..