59. CHINA I - Beijing to Guangzhou

Visited provinces in this post

Finally China! This gonna be a small love declaration to this country. I remember the day in January 2024, when I sat in the garden of a cozy guest house in Urubamba, Peru and read a headline: "Visa-free travel for 12 countries for China tourists". I clicked the article and was happy to see Germany on the list of new visa-free policies on a trial base for 2024. That day I decided to abandon my Americas plan to travel overland from Argentina to the US and use the opportunity to go to China. I continued for a few months until Colombia and left Latin America.

China has always been my dream destination number one. So why did I travel to 80 other countries before coming to China? For various reasons, firstly, I needed to manage the visa in my home country because China does not issue tourist visas in foreign embassies, and secondly, the COVID outbreak with China make it one of the latest countries reopening. I even had a flight to China from the Philippines booked already in March 2020, and just a few days before departure, the tickets got canceled due to COVID-19.

India and China are the most interesting countries in the world for me. They offer a gigantic range of different cultures, food, historical dynasties, architecture and nature. One could spend years in those two countries exploring it in detail with all its varieties and regional differences.

So now finally about my first of many upcoming visits to this country:

Beijing, the capital, was my entry point and first stop in the country. The city was my first impression of the country and already presented the dramatic and lightning development of Chinese cities in the last 15 years. While Shanghai has the role of the economic & commercial center and Shenzhen the tech hub, Beijing is clearly the political and cultural heart of the country. The city is well known for its rich history as the capital of Imperial China, with its flat terrain and orderly layout. The Forbidden City kind of marks the very center of Beijing, mirrored by several rings of roads covering the area.

I had five days to explore the city, and the sheer number of new impressions was overwhelming and so interesting. I walked around 30,000 steps every single day until the middle of the night to see as much as possible. The contrasts between new and old are extreme here, especially within the 2nd and 3rd ring roads. Historical temples and alleys mingle with ultra-modern skyscrapers and technologies.

But the biggest pleasure for me when I arrived in China was something different: Food! I felt like in paradise after boring food in Central Asia. I created a challenge to myself not to eat the same dish twice during my entire time there. The challenge was easy to manage, and the variety of food in China was amazing. The food is insanely delicious, the ingredients are of very high quality, there is a whole new world of tastes to explore and taste. Food in China varies entirely from region to region and the often-used term "Chinese food" is a blanket term, about as descriptive as "Western" or "Asian" food. I always have to laugh when places in Asia serve "Western breakfast" or people in Europe say that "Asian" is their favorite cuisine :D I think I could write another gigantic blog post just about all the food I ate in China but I don't want to bore you with that.

I stayed with my Couchsurfing host Gao on the outskirts of Beijing for four nights and she taught me so much about the country, showed me her favorite food places, we went skating together and had walks in heavy rain with streets fully underwater. Beijing was particularly full during those days because of the public holiday, so I did not really enjoy the main tourist sites. Having walks all around the city was so much more interesting than visiting the Forbidden City or fighting your way to the crowds of the Great Wall, where I did not even go.

Another thing about China is its own universe of services, apps and products which is totally independent of the rest of the world. The Chinese government blocks most Western online services such as Google, WhatsApp, and YouTube, so I needed to create a new account for everything. My WhatsApp changed to WeChat, my new and only payment option became AliPay (I never saw a single money bill in my time in China, even the tiniest street stall with a grandma selling Jianbing has a QR-code-based payment) and my Google Maps was replaced by amap. I have never used my phone as much in my everyday life as in China. I also had to buy a local SIM card, which I rarely do to improve my travel experience. You need your phone literally anywhere to order food in a restaurant, pay for things, use the subway, or choose snacks from a vending machine.

My first Chinese train experience was from Beijing to Nanjing. The speed railway network is amazing. Railway stations are gigantic and rather feel like huge International airports with gates and security check-ins. The trains are lightning fast (above 300 km/h and 4 hours for a 1,200 km distance), and everything feels so clean, convenient, on-time, and comfortable. It's pretty much the opposite of the German railway infrastructure and provider, which is still one of the worst I have experienced worldwide.

Nanjing was my favorite city in China on this trip. It used to be the capital of several dynasties in Chinese history, and its literal meaning is "Southern Capital." The city center is very pleasant, with a lot of interesting landmarks. Public transportation is world-class, and I found people there super friendly. From this point on, I did not meet any foreigners until Guangzhou. I enjoyed my time there with my Couchsurfing host Shishi a lot, exchanging German & Chinese movies and having delicious meals. I enjoyed the city so much that I already plan my next visit there :)

Stop number 3 was Wuhan, a really cool city in the Hubei Province with around 14 million people (yeah, the dimensions in China are just different). The mighty Yangtze River, with plenty of ports and the city's skyline around it, is quite a sight and has a special atmosphere. Wuhan was created by a fusion of three cities: Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang, which all have different atmospheres and specialties.

Another four-hour rapid-speed train away is Guangzhou, the capital of the famous Guangdong Province. The third largest city in China is part of the Pearl River Delta, with a few other megacities such as Shenzhen, Hong Kong or Jiangmen. The food and the language of this area are known as "Cantonese" and Guangzhou itself has been a huge trading hub for centuries and boasts a huge number of cultural & cultural sights mixed with impressive modern architecture and towers above the clouds. A night walk along the Tianhe district's river is impressive, full of colorful lights, beautiful boats and cool bars & coffee shops. Dim Sum breakfast, Cantonese Hot Pot and wor-tip were so delicious there. I was lucky to spend the weekend there with Shiyu (who visited me from Nanjing) and Yuling and I enjoyed my time there in great company.

In general, I have to say that my experience with local people in China was extremely positive. In most countries around the world, the Chinese have a bad reputation, and there are many negative stereotypes lingering around them. Most of them come from the behavior of Chinese groups and tourists in restaurants and tourist sights around the world, which can be, I have to admit, very, let's say, "disturbing." International standardized rules, such as letting people leave the subway before you enter, not screaming in restaurants, or spitting around everywhere, don't really matter here. But once you get a little used to and not offended by behavior like that, Chinese people are very friendly, curious and warm. I never really struggled with any customs there (unlike in India, where so many people annoyed me like hell with the weirdest things on a regular base) and saw everything as a very interesting and positive part of the experience.

I loved my time in China so much, and even though I had high expectations about the country, I was still positively surprised. I can't wait for my next trip there, and fortunately, the Chinese government extended the visa-free travel option for Germans for another year! There is so much to explore in this country, and I can't wait to venture into some of its countryside and nature the next time. Part II soon :)

3 Highlights:

- Beijing, the political center of the country and my first steps into China

- Guangzhou, Cantonese culture with a futuristic riverside

- former capital Nanjing with a green center and a cool mix of new & old

Visited places in China Part I

My first home in China

Couchsurfing in Beijing

First dinner

Lama temple complex

I took around 20 selfies with people on the first day in Beijing. It was a public holiday with a lot of tourists from other provinces of the country

Subway in Beijing at peak hour

This line was around 1 km long

Kids spotting me in a park :D (yes, some parks have lines like that in Beijing)

Forbidden city from above

Crowds everywhere

Canal around the Forbidden City

Tiananmen Square, the biggest square in the world

I have never seen a society using their phones more than in China

Street food

Walks around residential areas of outer Beijing

This robot van delivers desserts around the city

798 Art Zone

China Zun, the highest building in Beijing (528m)

Shrimp and pork Jiaozi

Rainy nights in Beijing

A cool hidden and empty bar

My first speed train experience in China

Off to Nanjing

Couchsurfing place number 2 :)

Variety of snacks

Packed chicken feet

Block after block in Nanjing

One of my very favorite meals in China

Subway station in Nanjing

Xuanwu Lake

Train stations in China

They rather feel like international airports

Daydreaming

Wuhan!

Food night market in Wuhan

Capsule Hotel in Wuhan

One thing I strongly disliked in China: Many people leave their tables like that. Have you ever seen anybody leaving a table in a restaurant like that? Even food and cigarettes on the floor