We traveled with Zack to China to see our friend Eli, who had moved to Shanghai. After seeing his home turf in Shanghai, Eli joined us en route to Beijing, Xi'an, Guilin/Yangshuo, and Chengdu.
Itinerary
Day 1: Flight from JFK to Shanghai
Day 2: Explore Shanghai markets, walk along the Bund, take in some city parks, and make multiple required dumping stops
Day 3: Day trip to Hangzhou to hike/bike around West Lake (just ahead of G20 summit)
Day 4: Walk through Pudong, visit top floor of Shanghai World Financial Center, and hit bars/late night street noodles with Eli's friends
Day 5: Fly to Beijing and Peking Duck dinner
Day 6: Tour Beijing, with stops at Palace, Forbidden City, Mao Zedong Mausoleum, and waterside drinks in Houhai; spicy crawfish dinner with Kevin (another friend living in China)
Day 7: Day trip to Great Wall of China
Day 8: Train to Xi'an and visit Xi'an city wall, Muslim quarter's street food vendors, and hotel birthday cake to celebrate Kenyon's 27th birthday
Day 9: Day trip to see Terracotta Warriors, with stops at Huaqing Palace and archaeological dig site; ended day with bell tower and fountain show near hotel
Day 10: Fly to Guilin with guided tour en route to hotel, stopping to see famous karsts in Li river during boat ride and hike to scenic overlook
Day 11: Bike through the rice paddies along Yulong river, with stops for snacks and swimming in the river
Day 12: Fly to Chengdu, walk through town, and stop for tea and card games at Renmin Park
Day 13: Visit Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Center, vegetarian lunch at Wenshu Monastery, and shopping for essential sichuan snacks and chili sauces
Day 14: Flight from Chengdu to JFK (through Shanghai)
Highlights
- Dan and Zack getting stopped to take many pictures with random Chinese people in Shanghai/Hangzhou for being tall
- Finding street vendor jianbing for breakfasts in Shanghai (crepe with fried dough, egg, and spices)
- Every. Single. Dumpling. From the first lunch of steamed dumplings with Eli, to fried dumplings a few hours later, to train station snack dumplings, to soup dumplings at Din Tai Fung...every single one.
- Wandering through Hangzhou and offroading to chase whatever path looked interesting (and then almost missing our train)
- Taking the chairlift up and slide down the Great Wall, with awesome views and great people watching
- Watching World Cup soccer throughout China, including massive projection on the ceiling of a mall near our hotel in Xian
- All food at Yangshuo Tea Cozy - when they ran out of the morning glory we wanted, an old lady from the kitchen ran to the nearby garden to pick more
- Swimming with local kids overlooking an ancient bridge to cool down during bike rides through Yangshuo (even though Dan never quite stopped fearing the chance of hidden snakes in the water)
- Learning about pandas - from the loner older pandas, to active play/feedings for the toddlers, to weeks old babies (the size of a gerbil with no fur)
- Crying our way through spicy hot pot in Chengdu
Hotels
- Grand Central Hotel (Shanghai)
- Renaissance Capital (Beijing)
- Westin Xi'An (Xian)
- Yangshuo Tea Cozy (Yangshuo)
- Dorsett Grand Chengdu (Chengdu)