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| Visited provinces in this post |
It was time for my second visit and another 15-day visa-free stay in China. I really wanted to use the new pilot visa-free policy as much as possible and just now that extended it for the entire year of 2025!
My start in China was much easier this time because I already had all the necessary apps, a Chinese SIM card, and knew a few things about how the country works. This time I wanted to visit Shanghai and the two provinces of Jiangsu and Fujian.
I took a flight from Taiwan to Shanghai, one of the world's most populous and important cities. Shanghai is the third largest city in the world after Tokyo and Delhi and China's main financial center. It has the world's busiest container port and pretty much the same population as entire Australia.
The city was really fascinating to see and the skyline was one of the most impressive, if not even the most impressive one I have ever seen. My personal top 5 skylines would probably be: Shanghai, Hong Kong, New York, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur (thanks to Petronas Twin Towers & Merdeka 118). Walking around Huangpu and Pudong was really cool and a fascinating mix of East and West. Its for sure the most cosmopolitan city of China.
I took a rapid fast-speed train to Nanjing, my favorite city on my first visit to China. I really wanted to spend more time in this nice city because my last time there felt way too short. I loved food all around China but in Nanjing it was especially tasty with an endless number of delicious restaurants. It started to get pretty cold there already with 13-15 degrees during the day and very cold nights so I needed to buy a few warmer clothes after years without any real winter.
Another project there was to rescue a stray cat, that got hit by a car. After bringing him to the vet and some x-rays the vet diagnosed a complicated fracture of a leg and the two options were to do a complex operation or to amputate the leg. I started a fundraising on WhatsApp and around 20 people from all around the world donated enough money to do the operation and save the cat. A warm thank you again to everyone who helped there, that was amazing!
Afterwards I traveled to Xiamen, a modern and affluent coastal city in the very South East of China. With a population of 5 million people, it's a rather small city by China standards (crazy to think that a 5 million people city only ranks as the 26th biggest city in the country). Modern skyscrapers mingle with some mangrove-like flora & fauna and narrow roads with great restaurants & nice coffee shops. Needless to say, the city developed like crazy in the last 10 years and construction sites are all over the city. Xiaman island is a really pleasant place to enjoy, with plenty of parks and an important origin for many Chinese migrants to Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
From Xiamen, I took a direct flight to Amsterdam in Europe to visit family & friends in Germany. It was time for my first winter and Christmas in Germany for years.
My flight for China part three is already booked: 1st of January 2025!
CHINA I - Beijing to Guangzhou
3 Highlights:
- Walks around Xiamen Island in Fujian
- The skyline of Shanghai, really impressive
- Former capital Nanjing with a green center and a cool mix of new & old
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| Visited places on this China trip |
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| Subway from Pudong Airport in Shanghai |
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| Neighborhood in Shanghai |
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| Uyghur Laghman Noodles, the only dish I missed a lot from Central Asia |
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| 5-star hotels along Suzhou Creek |
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| View from Waibaidu Bridge |
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| Having a coffee with a view of the skyline of Shanghai |
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| Shanghai is impressive at night |
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| Drying laundry in Shanghai |
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| Shanghai Railway Station |
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| BBQ in Nanjing |
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| Bringing an injured stray cat to a vet |
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| Complicated bone fracture |
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| He got used to people more with every day |
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| One of my favorite restaurants in China, I ate there 4 times |
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| Buying warmer clothes for the upcoming winter |
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| A kind of parade the kids (have to) do in a high school every day |
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| Residential life in Nanjing |
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| Shopping malls in China are on a different level |
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| Spicy levels 1 -4, level 3 was a hard fight |
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| My Chinese friend forced me to cook German food for her! :D Bratwurst, Sauerkraut, Bratkaroffeln, Spiegelei und Weizenbier |
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| Nanjing |
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| A cup of coffee with Shishi in an Irish Pub in Nanjing |
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| My favorite breakfast in Nanjing |
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| Snack paradise |
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| Two fish heads with green beans in my favorite restaurant |
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| Train out of Nanjing |
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| Flight above the harbor of Xiamen |
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| On the roofs of Xiamen |
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| Xiamen Island |
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| Flight to Europe! |
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A huge detour made the direct flight from Xiamen to Amsterdam 3.5 hours longer than usual. Many areas in the Middle East and Ukraine are no-fly areas now.
 | Travel journals of the last years
 | | Printing some journals and short stories |
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