Welcome to China

I loved China from the moment I first visited in 2009. I was lucky enough to have travelled widely, even at that point yet China was unlike anything I had ever experienced. During my first two trips I was visiting friends who lived and worked in Shanghai and were the perfect guides for the city and beyond, cultural ambassadors in a truly foreign land. We took overnight trains and explored the quaint streets of Ping Yao and spent several wonderful days in Xian coinciding our visit with a colourful festival. I cried when I saw the terracotta warriors I was so in awe of the mind that saw his vision to fruition, yeah I know what a total dork, can’t promise I won’t cry when I see them again this time though, they’re pretty amazing.

There is something magnificent about this oft misunderstood country, the colours and smells, the sheer amount of people. I find the near complete inability to communicate perversely liberating, hardly anyone spoke English (maybe it will be different now) and you can’t even write anything down for it to be read because the characters are so different. To smooth the process we’re joining a GA Adventures small group tour for the entirety of our 21 day Chinese Odyssey and I’m super nervous to meet our fellow travelling companions and see who we’ll be stuck with ☺️ for the next 3 weeks. We start in Beijing before making our way around the country visiting Shanghai, Xian, Chengdu, Emei Shan, travelling along the Yangtze river to Yangshao before ending our adventure in Hong Kong.

As much as the Great Wall of China will allow I’ll keep you posted in what we’re up to, but for now Welcome to China! (Which coincidentally I learnt how to say in Chinese and is my go to response when someone does something totally gross or rude right by me, which happened more than you might think for a country I fell so deeply in love with you 💕)

Ps we’ve arrived safely and found Ma Xx