Dàjiā hao, Wo de hao péngyoumen (大家好，我的好朋友们),
How are all of you doing today? I am TIRED! I woke up at 6 this morning for work but oh well, I will now have money. Anyway, sticking with the past few day’s themes, I am now writing about China! Zhōngguó 中国! I love this place!
China is the Second most populated country in the world, right behind India. I believe it is also the 4th largest country. It is also a country full of history, culture, stories, and firsts. They were the first to create gunpowder, paper, alcohol, and tea, including many other things that we need to survive in modern life. China is one of the most influential places in the whole world with cultural hubs as well as giant metropolises that are homes to millions of businesses.
I would start in Beijing and make my way into the downtown. In case you are wondering why I would head strait to downtown every time I write one of these blogs, it is because that is, in my opinion, one of the best ways to get to know about life in the city. You get to take a look at your surroundings and compare to what you know or consider normal. Fair warning though, watch your wallet. Pro-tip, if you are travelling, it would be wise to get a wallet to chain to make sure you do not get pickpocketed. Anyway, back to china.
When in Beijing, there are 2 things I know I will do. 1: I will stay in a Hostel. China has the best hostels in the world per another blogger I follow (onestep4ward.com) which I would want to experience. And, hostels are much cheaper than hotels or resorts. I would also head to the Beijing Zoo. This zoo is much different than western zoos. While I will always be partial to the St Louis Zoo (as it is free and I have been there thousands of times), I have never seen a panda in real life. I would take this time to explore and see what animals they have that we may not have in our own zoos.
If you do not know much about Chinese culture, I would suggest starting in Hong Kong. This used to be a British territory, so much of the area is written in English as well as many of the people there knowing English. I would head slightly away from Hong Kong and go to the city of Zhouzhuang in Jiangsu province. This is the Asian equivalent of Venice. This city is full of canals and streams, while the town is full of old culture, buildings, and designs. If you want “true” china, this is where to find it. This is honestly one of the most beautiful places I can think of and, when I visit china in a few years with some friends, I will make a point to visit (Nick, Alexis, if you are reading this, we ARE going lol).
Zhouzhuang, Jiangsu Province, China
I would now head west towards Sichuan Province, which is the native home of the Panda. I also have a friend that is moving to teach there in a 2nd tier city called Chengdu. We would probably have our Hostel in the city and go outwards to explore. If you do not know about the different tiers of cities, I did a blog on the “true” country a while back. You should check it out. I would see if there is a place around Sichuan that gives tours of homes of native pandas. This would be an amazing opportunity to see such an important creature to china in its natural habitat. I would be once in a lifetime.
Bamboo Forest, Sichuan Province, China
I would then take a train back to the coast and go to Shanghai on the border of Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces. This is the most populated city in all of china and where we would probably fly out of. This is where you can find all the shopping and entertainment. While here, I would try to find a tea-house and try to some real Chinese tea (I love tea).
Anyway, that is about it. Don’t forget to like and subscribe to Multi-stop if you like my page and if you want more about China, especially about budgeting, head over to Onestep4ward and check out his blogs. He has been to every country in the world and he is the one that convinced me to start blogging. Any who, I hope you guys enjoyed. 谢谢你，享受吧！
Ni Mingtian Jian! (你 明天见)
Gavin Williamson
Photo Credit: Panda: http://bingwallpaper.anerg.com/de/201507
Zhouzhuang: http://www.chinatravelca.com/places/zhouzhuang/
Bamboo: http://www.tourism-review.com/travel-tourism-magazine-top-7-travel-attractions-in-sichuan-article2614
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