China -The trip of a lifetime PART 1

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If you’ve got a bucket list and Chinas not on it, then add it now because I can tell you, it will be the trip of a lifetime and one you will never forget.

I was very lucky and excited to have the opportunity to do a 10 night Wendy Wu tour around China with a group of travel agents. I felt a bit nervous at first but so excited to be given the opportunity to go to China and see some of the famous and world famous cites of the country. Wendy wu is the UKS Leading specialist tour operator to China, Japan and Southeast Asia.

They have award winning national escorts and are dedicated to making sure you experience the true culture of China. We use them a lot for our special tailor made tours and tag a cruise on the end or beginning to make the trip of a life time for our customers.

The trip started with a massive bonus of us flying out to Beijing in Business class with British Airways. Now for those of you who have contemplated this service before but never gone through with it then at some time in your life you must give it a try as it makes travelling long haul so much more enjoyable and a real treat. Yes it’s not the cheapest but if you want a bit of luxury then the club class service with BA will be hard to beat. The moment you step on the flight you are greeted by a glass of champagne and elemis spa goody bag. The large comfortable seats have the option to transform to a bed position and with hundreds of movies to choose from, a pillow and blanket provided and your wine glass continuously topped up you arrive into China before you know it feeling fresh and relaxed and ready to explore.

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We arrived into Beijing for our first night and I expected to have a meal in the hotel but Wendy Wu believe in you going out and experiencing the sights and sounds of the local area so we were taken to the local restaurant round the corner from the hotel. The food was served in the same style it would be for the whole trip which is a large table with a lazy Suzanne and then several dishes brought out to you accompanied by rice and noodles

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(I must add here if you are not a lover of rice then you may lose a few pounds on this trip as there won’t be a day without it on the menu but hey ho you are in China after all).

After the meal we ventured out with our group round the streets of Beijing.0169

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It is a real mix of old and new with this city as one minute you are walking past Gucci and Prada shops and then we were wondering down little back streets with the hustle and bustle of a local market feel.0158

 

The smells from the stalls are interesting to say the least and there are lots of unusual things to see. The one street had several stalls all in a row and was definitely not for the faint hearted as they had it all on sale from spiders , snakes , sharks and bugs galore all skewered on sticks to buy.

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A few of us in the group were brave enough to try the snake and I can only describe it as like a crackling kind of texture with a very horrible after-taste and very salty!!!!…..Sorry any snake lovers!!

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The second day of the trip was arranged for us to visit some highlights of China including the Forbidden City , Tiananmen square and the summer palace.

I was so excited to see all of this but could not believe my eyes when we woke up in the morning and looked out the window to snow, rain and grey skies. If you visit China at this time of year it is unusual to have snow but not unheard of and I would always recommend to take plenty of warm fleeces and walking socks and gloves as the cold here was very bitter.

 

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The tour doesn’t stop though just over a bit of  bad weather so with an extra few layers on and my good sturdy trainers on for all the walking I was ready to go. We had our national guide called Cynthia with us and she would accompany us for the whole 10 days but we were also joined by the local guide Renney. These guides I have to say are absolutely brilliant and make the tours for Wendy Wu and my customers always have rave reviews for them when they return back from the trips as they are so full of knowledge and give you so much information from all the sites you are seeing. They keep you engaged from the moment you set of on the coach and are prepared to answer any questions and help in any way they can. They really are fantastic and make the experience fun and informative at the same time.

 

Tiananmen Square , The forbidden city were all amazing and we spent a good few hours going through the grounds where hundreds of years ago was only exclusively for the Emperors and members of the dynasty so to have a look at the buildings and the grounds was really amazing.0171IMG_0182

The buildings are very beautiful and ornate and so much detail put into the structures you can’t believe how they could of built them so long ago and so well.01920197

 

I have to say that the weather really did dampen the experience for us as it was so bitterly cold it was very hard to enjoy it all and take it all in. The thing with the tour that I must stress is it is very action packed and from the moment you set off in the morning you are on the go all day and always moving onto the next thing, only stopping for lunch.

Now on a day filled with snow and rain after being outside in it for 6 hrs plus you do start feeling it a bit and the cold at this point felt like it had got into my bones. One of the party had to go back as his shoes were not water proof and his feet had gone purple – so again make sure you pack your case wisely, high heels and party dresses really can be ditched for a  trip like this.

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Once the day was finished and we had gone for dinner we had a little drink back at the hotel before bed. The hotel in Beijing was fine, nice and clean if a little dated. Don’t expect your evenings to be wild with entertainment and lots going on because this isn’t the case at all. You are lucky if you get a bottle of wine at the bar and the Chinese don’t believe in serving their wine cold, its luke warm and wet and that’s your lot.

To be honest though it really doesn’t matter to much because the days are so full and busy by the time you get back to your hotel you are ready for your bed. Once I had defrosted myself and I could feel my toes again I put my head down ready for the following day of excitement and hopefully the highlight of the trip …..The Great Wall of China. Wait for my next blog for my amazing picture and insight into the wall.

 

 

 

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About Me

I have been working in the Travel Industry for 16 years and originally started out in Business travel. After doing this for a while I was given an opportunity to move into the cruising industry and haven't looked back since. I thoroughly enjoy my job and can't think of anything…

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