Seems an approriate blog post title as we bid farewell to China and I was reading Richard Clapton's autobiography on the plane on the way home!
We chose not to join the optional tour on our final day and instead visited AP markets (the good fake stuff) under our own steam. I told Matt next time I visit this type of place I'm not taking him with me as he's too impatient to really enjoy the barganing! Despite that, he actaully bought several really NICE things while I just got a few t-shirts! Hmmm, where are my jade earings?
The metro in Shanghai was very easy to use and I would love to visit this part of China again. It was 18 yuan for a day pass and connections were simple. Our hotel was a bit out of the way in the financial district but we had a nice suite (welly posh with a seperate lounge and bedroom + kitchenette) and it was only a couple of minutes walk to the metro. A few more minutes walk to to a local area, but sadly no things on sticks although there was a supermarket and we did have an interesting walk around. This was probably one of the more inconvenient locations for individual evening activites.
Night
and day views
and a view of hotel from the metro!
So... what did we think overall?
Great value for money - yes, absolutely. You squeeze a lot in to a short time.
Airline being full service airline - hell no. No upgrades to premium economy were available on the way over and on the way back they were $500 (my mental limit was $300 each). Not a drop of alcohol passed our lips. I would have liked to be offered at least a wine or beer with our meal. Very limited entertainment options, thank goodness I travel with a kindle!
The tour packed a LOT in and the days were very full. We were on the go with most days starting early and finishing late. You need to be prepared for long days, even though there isn't masses of walking it is on hard surfaces and in the sun - so wear supportive shoes and wear a hat! Take snacks for the first day or so, although you can buy some really interesting chip flavours. If you're a coffee fiend take an aeropress and ground coffee (& longlife milk if required) to preload before breaky - the coffee machines at breakfast buffets had long lines and you might miss out on amazing dumplings. If you get wheezy/have asthma make sure you take appropriate medication as the air quaility was horrible most of the time.
The hotels were all away from the city centres, in some areas this was OK as there were still plenty of options for late night dining, in other areas (like Shanghai and Beijing) not so good.
The majority of the guides were very pushy about tips - despite the brochure saying they recommend AUD$12/person per day but it's up to you they very much considered it part of their wages and were not afraid to chase you for it and tell you how much you "owed" them. Two guides we thought were claiming way more than they were worth and way more days than we were with them. One asked for a whole day less so got a bit more from us. And of course one was "just right". You be the judge but don't be afraid to push back and say no firmly. Given that all of the Chinese etiquette guides I've read say that tipping is not customary (and in fact in one restaurant when we left a little change on the table they chased us to return it) don't be mean, but also don't be bullied. We worked out our 12 day tour was actually TEN days as day one and twelve were travel to and from Australia (we arrived about 1 am which meant getting into the hotel around 3am on day two and the guide left us at the airport in the early evening of day 11 for a departure after midnight on day 12) and paid our tips accordingly.
We did enjoy most of the optional tours. We didn't do the shows but many people did and said they enjoyed them. Probably we paid for/did more tours than we needed to but it does make it easy when someone else does the logistics (unlike the rest of the places we visited English was commonly spoken in Shanghai so it is totally the best place to skip the extras and do stuff by yourself). We also had an e-sim for internet access and live access to google translate, this made life much easier and meant family could call us on whatsap (and vice versa) without global roaming charges.
Unless you REALLY REALLY want Chinese medicine/tea/silk/etc be entertained by the sales pitch but don't buy at premium prices! Haha you may notice I didn't mention the reproduction terracotta warriors or walruses there...
Watch out for the ebikes that are silent and deadly. I have no idea what the road rules are and I suspect nor do their riders but regardless of the direction of the traffic they seem perfectly legit setting up their own counter-flow.
Hotels were generally a bit tired but all had kettles. Not all had fridges. Common areas in several hotels had microwaves.
Group size wasn't too bad (the bus was not quite full) and we travelled with a great group of people. No charging facilities for phones and cameras or loos on the buses but no legs were that long. Take tissues/loo paper as there are public toilets everywhere but they don't have paper. Practice squatting unless you're willing to wait for the single disabled/family loo in most places.
What am I doing next? Why checking out the tripadeal 2fers for the northern lights!
