Just returned from holiday in China. Sofie and I went all over the place to all the usual places – including the Terracotta Warriors, Panda Centre, The Great Wall, Emperor’s Summer Palace and the Li River. Being such a huge country we needed to take several internal flights as well as a bullet train ride and river cruise. Much to my surprise everything went according to plan – no late planes and all arrangements excellent (except our last hotel, the Novotel, in Beijing where our room had a damp carpet (?) and Sofie insisted we change rooms.

My main impression was how big everything was, from the wide boulevards of the cities and towering buildings, to the awe-inspiring scenery, parks and gardens, etc. Also, despite some poverty down a few alleyways, the overall impression was of much economic growth and personal wealth. For example, although there are still many scooters, bikes and mopeds in Beijing the streets are clogged day and night with expensive cars. The main shopping streets rival anywhere in the world with international brands, swanky hotels and restaurants and much amazing architecture. The people, generally speaking, are cheerful and helpful. I was expecting beggars and pickpockets (we’d been warned) but found very few of the former and none of the latter. We weren’t ripped off, as far as I’m aware, although hawkers did try flogging us stuff in tourist places like the Terracotta Warriors site. We were accompanied everywhere (mostly) by guides arranged by the travel agent and they were all polite and charming, well informed and often invaluable in smoothing arrangements for us. On the other hand we were not prevented from going anywhere alone and often went wandering in the cities.

All in all it truly was the holiday of a lifetime and both of us would love to return, sooner rather than later, as we’re acutely aware of only scratching the surface of China.