Time to go. China… here I come
After a month spent more or less home, with a few trips around the country, it is obviously, time to go somewhere … and my new destination is People’s Republic of China, the country which amazes any seasoned economist, but also any traveler. Obviously, being such a huge country, it is extremely varied – from frozen deserts to semi-tropical jungle, from Central Asian-type of culture to Tibet, from super-modern cities to rural backwaters… And as I love variety of experiences in my travels, I am looking forward for a multitude of experiences.
First of all, I will not travel alone. I will travel with other 11 people in a off-line project which I kicked last year called “Let’s Go with Imperator to…”. It is organized in partnership with travel agencies (in this case – Exact Travel Club) and readers or clients of the agency can join me. I am also involved into the design of the tour and I always try to bring something new for the Romanian market. This is the second edition of “Let’s Go with Imperator to…”, the first edition was a 2-weeks trip to Nepal and Bhutan organized in October last year.
But, let’s jump into the plan… What we gonna see… As I told you, I want to see the various facets of this great country.
We will see the super-modern China, the city who aspires to become the most modern city of the world – Shanghai. We would obviously, visit Pudong, the new Shanghai, but we will not neglect the older temples or the old European concession parts of old Shanghai (which is just almost as modern as the old one !).
We will see the traditional China, visiting the town of Wuzhen, an old town built by water, one of the few Venices of China nearby Shanghai
We will see the natural wonders of China – visiting Zhangjiajie National Park, an incredible setting judging from the pictures. Although it has been such a beautiful place for millennium, sometimes you need a kick to get into the spotlight… And sometimes Hollywood provides this kick. In the case of Zhangjiajie, the cult-movie who brought it to spotlight was the popular movie Avatar. Although it was not shot here, the sights of this park was the basis for the spectacular computer work – the mountains of Zhangjiajie look like the Hallelujah mountain from the Avatar planet where the main hero caught some fantastic flying creatures. We will not fly on the back of a bird, but by a cable-car… but the view will be as incredible, although the thrill a little bit toned down than flying a bird :).
We will see the historical China, the Terracotta army buried together with one of the first Chinese rulers and partly brought to light in the last few decades. Why partly ? Because the archeologists still discover new and new troops buried for more than 2000 years. I read about a new discovery of a regiment of terracotta warriors just a few days ago !
We will see the rural China in the incredible region of Guilin. Nellie has recently been there and just opened my appetite with her pictures and posts… It is a fantastic landscape, you can see the tranquil rural China, a great change after the cities of Shanghai and Xi’an… actually a great change of rhythm and landscapes… We will obviously cruise the river, visit Yangshou and be amazed of the incredible karstic landscape. This year, I’ve been to Halong Bay in Vietnam, Vang Vieng in Laos and Krabi in Thailand, so I can call 2012 as being “my karstic year” 
The last, but not to least, I should see again the Imperial China in Beijing. I will be for the 3rd time in Beijing (previously in December 2004 and August 2008 for Olympics), but I always enjoy to come back to some places from time to time !
I will keep you posted with my China trip via blog and hopefully, via Facebook and Twitter. I know the access from China to social media is pretty banned, but right now I am figuring out how to work with VPN and other technical sorceries :).
Where do I go in China
Shanghai, the City of the future
Avatar mountain
To meet the terracotta warriors of Xi’an
Guilin
Forbidden City of Beijing
Summer Palace from Beijing
and, of course, the Great Wall !
Looks like an amazing trip ahead of you – a little jealous! Last year we spent 6 weeks in China and saw some of the place on your agenda. Our favourite destinations in China were Lijiang, Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces and of course Li River. I see Li River is already on your list, but try to visit the other 2 places as well if you have some time. You can have a look at some photos here: http://www.2away.de/2011/10/31/the-most-beautiful-places-weve-visited-in-china/
Will be following your trip!
Thank you… now I am with a group of tourists I am guiding, so the program will be less flexible. But I plan to come back to China again
You cannot see China just from a visit… even after 4 visits (this is my 4th one 