China in my Pocket

Next stop… Beijing’s Great Wall is just one of many sights opened up by China’s growing rail network

CHINA

IN MY POCKET

A growing high-speed train network is making the Middle Kingdom easier to explore than ever

WORDS BY STEPHANIE BUCKLAND, CHINA SPECIALIST

YOUR TIP

“A great experience in Beijing is eating Peking duck and watching a kung fu show.” Liz Mason, Audley traveler

Guarding the gate A bronze lion in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in Beijing’s Forbidden City

WHERE TO GO IN CHINA… BY TRAIN

SHANGHAI

Start your journey ‘back to front’ by starting in Shanghai and circling in from the coast. This is ‘the China of tomorrow’, according to my guide Leo. The city’s headline attraction is the Bund, an elevated riverside promenade fronted by a motley collection of neoclassical and Art Deco British colonial buildings. It’s best in the early evening, when you’ll see loved-up couples posing for a pre-wedding photoshoot (a tradition for modern young Chinese people) against the Pudong skyline.

Across the river, this spiky assortment of modernist high-rises illuminates as night falls in a multi-colored light show. The great jeweled orb of the Oriental Pearl Tower contrasts with the soaring futuristic skyscraper of the newly opened Shanghai Tower. Observe it all from a rooftop bar, such as my favorite, Hyatt at the Bund.

But Shanghai is not all about architectural exuberance. Take a tour around Yu Gardens, a restored Ming dynasty walled retreat replete with rockeries, koi ponds and little tucked-away pagodas. For an insight into China’s more recent history,

lose yourself in the Shanghai Propaganda Poster Museum, an out-of-the-way archive of surreal, Soviet-style art and disquieting political messaging that was fed to the masses in Mao’s heyday.

One activity I’d heartily recommend is a guided bicycle tour around the city’s French Concession district. It’s a superb way of delving into the Shanghai that few visitors ever really see. Think warrens of traditional shikumen stonegate houses and the backstreets of the old town, with their lines of flapping washing, small street markets and residents nonchalantly sitting outside in their pajamas, chatting to their neighbours or playing chess. You can also nip into one of Shanghai’s manicured grassy parks, where people gather to practise t’ai chi, water calligraphy and folk dancing – don’t be surprised if you’re invited to join in.

Then it’s time to head to the station. Due to the ever-increasing volume of domestic visitors, Shanghai-to-Beijing trains have had their speed limits lifted to 220 miles per hour, meaning they now make the journey in four-and-a half to six hours as opposed to 13. Alternatively, you could catch the train to Huangshan (a four-hour journey from Shanghai), a dizzyingly sheer granite peak with temples at its summit and (on clear days) far-reaching views over the surrounding mountainscapes. Finish by

descending to explore some of the wellpreserved, centuries-old merchant villages, such as Huizhou.

BEIJING

There’s so much in Beijing that demands your attention. You’ll want to take in the gilded, Russian-doll-like palace complex of the Forbidden City, the yawning space of Tiananmen Square where Chinese dynastic architecture meets Soviet grandeur, and the hushed halls and altars of the Ming-period Temple of Heaven. However, beyond the grand sights there are many other experiences that will give you a sense of the city and its people.

I always urge visitors to take a private cooking class in the hutongs (low-rise grids of streets with traditional courtyard housing); wandering these ancient alleyways gives you a real sense of old-world Beijing. My favorite cooking class, by far, takes place in the Jiang Fa hutong. Carlyle – an enterprising young Beijinger with an infectious enthusiasm for Chinese cuisine – will talk you through five classic dishes.

The next day, escape the city and drive for two hours to reach a little-trodden section of the Great Wall, Jinshangling. Arrive early and you might just find you have the entire

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CHINA

Army maneuvers Xian’s Terracotta Army – created to guard China’s first emperor in the afterlife – was only found in the mid-1970s

pathway to yourself. Looking ahead, you’ll see the wall scampering over the crags and folds of the pine-studded mountains and disappearing into the haze. You can walk along it for miles.

From Beijing, take the high-speed train directly to Xian (a four-hour journey – it used to be 16), potentially stopping off to see one of China’s best-preserved walled cities, Pingyao.

XIAN

YOUR TIP “Seeing the Terracotta Warriors in Xian is a once-in-a-lifetime experience to tick off your bucket list.” Hilary Eccles, Audley traveler

a living, pulsating city in its own right.

As night falls, I always make a beeline for the Muslim Quarter, where the streets come alive with food stalls and vendors hawking their wares. You’ll pass everything from steaming piles of goats’ trotters to cold noodles in sesame sauce (a northern Chinese speciality), to trays of just-out-of-the-oven persimmon cakes stuffed with crumbly walnuts. My top eat: roujiamao – a pita bread-like bun crammed with succulent and fatty fried pork or beef.

LIFE ON BOARD CHINA’S TRAINS

China sometimes arouses images of jostling crowds, but this isn’t the case: you’ll find that travel on board the high-speed trains is a sedate affair. Seats partially recline and give you plenty of leg room. The toilets are clean, Western-style facilities, and there’s a dining car and coffee shop selling snacks and bentobox-style meals (you can, with a little Mandarin, also order hot meals at your seat).

Best of all (for an avid tea drinker like me), you’ll find boiling water dispensers located at the end of every carriage. Make like your fellow passengers and bring a reusable travel mug with you. Place green tea leaves in the bottom, and you can simply keep topping up your drink whenever you feel like it.

If you’re intrigued to try everyday Chinese cooking in all its many guises, Xian is a good place to try your hand. In a community just outside the city center, you can visit a family for lunch and experience famed Chinese hospitality firsthand. As your hosts ply you with plate after plate (including a range of delicious nibbles and exquisitely cooked rice and noodle dishes), your guide-cum-interpreter will then explain to you all about Chinese home-cooking traditions. Your hosts may even treat you to a quick dumpling-making lesson while you’re there.

Xian is reminiscent of old China (give or take the odd Starbucks and shopping mall), its center a neat rectangle girded by 12th-century Ming-era ramparts that you can circumnavigate on foot or by bicycle. It’s a place that’s mostly associated with Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s famed funerary objects, the Terracotta Warriors, and they’re immensely rewarding to see in person.

Your guide will expertly lead you around the vast pits containing these life-size brown clay models, helping you find a quiet spot to stand and admire them away from the crowds. But there’s much more to Xian than the Terracotta Army; it’s

Spicy street food Spicy noodles and lamb chuan’r (kebabs) are typical of the cuisine of Xian’s Muslim quarter

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For a real beyond-theguidebook adventure, clamber into an old military-style 4x4 with a private guide for a tour of the rural plateau surrounding Xian. You’ll drive through farming villages emblazoned with propaganda murals and meet a talented paper-cutter and armorer, both of whom will show you their craftsmanship.

From Xian, it takes three to four-and-ahalf hours on the train to reach Chengdu.

CHENGDU

If Xian feels more relaxed than the great metropolises of Shanghai and Beijing, then Chengdu is positively mellow. It’s a leafy, park-filled city brimming with traditional teahouses where the elderly, students and visitors alike all shoot the breeze for hours over bottomless cups of pu’er tea.

Chengdu also has a lively food scene, which is best explored on a Lost Plate

YOUR TIP

“My favorite hiking experience was in the Dragon’s Back Bone rice terraces of Guangxi.” Barbara Clarke, Audley traveler

food tour. On this evening walking tour, you’ll take a peripatetic approach to dining, stopping at various differenteateries to sample traditionally piquant Sichuan dishes. Just watch out for the infamously hot ‘numbing peppers’. Outside of food, tea and an easy-going ambiance, Chengdu’s claim to fame is its Giant Panda Breeding Research Base located 11 miles north of the city center. Arrive as it opens for your best chance of witnessing these famously somnolent creatures tucking into breakfast.

Those with extra time can continue on the train to Chongqing, China’s most populous city and an industrial powerhouse. Try its signature spicy hotpot dish before boarding a three-day cruise of the Yangtze River to experience little-accessed pagodas and the fjord-like scenery of the Three Gorges. Alternatively, carry on by train to Guizhou Province to explore off-thebeaten-path villages that are home to some of China’s 56 minorities, each with their own unique style of dress and customs.

Meeting an icon Chengdu is famed for its informative panda breeding center

TRAVEL ESSENTIALS

Flight information: Direct flights from California to Beijing and Shanghai take around 15 hours. When to go: Spring (March to May) and autumn (September to October) see China at its mildest, weather-wise. The summer can be too hot, and temperatures often drop dramatically during winter. Get me there: A 14-day tailor-made trip to China, including Shanghai, Beijing, Xi’an, Chengdu and all train travel, starts from $5,500pp. For more information, please contact Stephanie or one of our China specialists on 1-855-834-8220.

Illustration: Scott Jessop

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CHINA: YOUR STORY

‘I HAD DINNER WITH THE LOCALS, HIKED TIGER LEAPING GORGE AND TRIED BAMBOO RAFTING IN YANGSHUO’

Alan Hewison traveled to southern China with Audley

China has some of the

friendliest people that I have ever come across. Particularly in Shanghai, where I began my trip. If they hear you talk in English, people will come up to you and want to join in the conversation. Elsewhere, I was often the only western visitor in some of the off-the-beatentrack destinations I visited. It was quite a novel experience to have people asking to take my photograph.

One of my favorite places that I stayed in was Zhaoxing, a Dong minority village. They have their own traditional dress and language, and it used to be quite secluded. There was entertainment in the morning and the evening, the people were very friendly, and I found the traditional wooden buildings really interesting; the drum towers, which look a little bit like pagodas, tend to be meeting places for the older men who congregate around an open fire pit. They always made space for me to come and sit.

MEETING THE MIAO

The most unusual experience that I had while traveling in the south of China was in the Miao villages just outside Kalli, in southeastern Guizhou. I had dinner with a local couple there and we went out to their rice field to catch fish in an open-bottomed basket; they wore waders to catch them. They didn’t speak any English, and only see westerners twice a year.

After dinner, we visited the local silversmith to have a look around his workshop and the first thing he did was invite us in for dinner. Everyone was very hospitable. All the women in the area wear silver as it’s said to ward off evil spirits; at religious ceremonies the women are often decked out in silver ornaments and headdresses. It’s quite a commonplace material for people here as they have some big silver mines.

One of my standout experiences came in another of the Miao villages that I visited. There

was a funeral procession taking place, and the women were wearing ceremonial costumes while musicians played traditional bamboo reed instruments. They laid the coffin down outside the village gates and gathered around it. My guide told me that some people see it as a sad occasion, while others view it as a cause for celebration because the deceased has gone to meet their ancestors.

TAMING THE TIGER

As well as experiencing some of southern China’s villages and culture, there were plenty of walking opportunities.I hiked the Tiger Leaping Gorge, overlooking the Jinsha River in Yunnan province, one of the deepest gorges in the world. There were very steep sections on the first day, and then I spent four hours walking downhill on the second day – it was great exercise. Some of the leaves were turning when I was there in March and the water was very blue, which is typical for that time of year. After the dry winter period, the heavy rain comes and washes the mud down the ravine, giving the water a silty color.

I was also able to try some bamboo rafting in Yangshuo. It was very gentle, as we drifted down a series of dams that had been dropped into the river. There were two seats, for my guide and I, and someone driving the raft

with a pole behind. I found that I needed to pick my feet up all the time, otherwise I would have got soaked. I passed a few villages and large, looming karst mountains that came in lots of unusual shapes and sizes.

Another of the interesting experiences that I had in Yangshuo was a cookery class. I am not much of a cook, but I had tuition from a local chef and then ate what we had cooked for dinner – we cooked Yangshuo beer fish, chicken with cashew nuts and green vegetables with garlic. The meal was delicious.

Something that did surprise me were the fields of rapeseed – they’re a huge attraction. When I stayed at the Linden Center in Xizhou, there was a rapeseed field behind the hotel and newlyweds went out there for wedding photographs. Sometimes there were four couples in the field at one time.

I really enjoyed traveling through southern China. The people were very friendly and the accommodation I stayed in was comfortable and had all the amenities I needed. In particular, the Bivou in Lijiang was a nicely designed boutique hotel, while others I stayed in felt very authentically Chinese.

I enjoyed my trip to China so much that I’ve booked another trip with Audley to explore more areas in the region in 2019.

Embracing China Chongsheng Temple in Dali; (right) Alan learns about ancient traditions in Zhaoxing

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