China has evolved dramatically since 2017
2017 was the year Yat Thong and I did our own DIY trip to Sichuan. We wanted to tour China like the way we did in many other countries where we drove and/or took public transport to move around. We did a 20 day trip to various part fo Sichuan without a guide.
The sights and landscapes were stunning but after the trip we felt drained. We had to go on long-distance buses that took too much time, and looped a long way to reach our destinations. There was no direct connection from one rural destination to another and time was wasted returning to the bigger cities before continuing our journey to the next rural destination. It was too expensive to go long distance on a chartered taxis and sharing taxis was uncomfortable and cramp. Many times the taxis would not travel the entire distance. After that we decided we would only return to China only on “guided tour” or when the transportation improved.
Seven years passed and we were back in China. This time we were on a partially guided tour. The first 4 days was on our own exploring Beijing and the last 4 days again on our own to explore Xi’an. The self exploration would help us assessed if China was “travel friendly” enough to do more trips on our own.
It was such a wonderful positive experience and we were able to affirm that travelling on our own without guide was absolutely do-able and easy. We had the advantage of understanding the Chinese language too.
Transportation was a Bliss
Transportaiton was alsolutely inexpensive. The city buses were clean with aircond. The subways were similarly fabulous. And even the taxis fares were low. Though we could save more going by bus/subway, we were “cabbing” around everywhere because they were very affordable and they definitely saved a lot of time.
As for long distance travelling the “fast trains” were fantastic! They arrived and left on the “dot”, speeding down the track at 200-300 km/h was a dream! Each of us had our very own seat, no standing, no cramping. The business class and first class was luxuriously.
everything was online
We booked all our stay on Trip.com or Booking.com. We e-hailed our taxis on Didi. We tapped our phone to pay with Alipay or Wechat. Tapped to pay on the bus, on subway after a ride etc etc. The friendly online applications had made travelling around in China so easy. We used Chinese Baidu Map to check routes etc.
These online applicaitons needed a bit of getting used to. For the first few days it was a “huge” learning curve but once learnt, moving around in China became a Bliss!
China people has change too
It was amazing to see behaviour changes too. The Chinese people were very polite and helpful They had became more civic minded and more customer service conscious. The words “no problem” ( 没事 ) was commonly heard and used. When you bumped into someone and appologised, the person would say 没事. When some one assisted you and you thanked him, he would say 没事. Slogons was seen and heard every where, slogon like “We are a cultured society, we should not jump queue”, We are a cultured society, we would not pile our plate with food”… etc etc.
We definitely felt that China had became a wonderful destination, it had fabulous landmarks, cultural heritages, good food and lovely people.