Whistle Stop Review Of Three Weeks In China

Three weeks is a pretty long while and China is a pretty big country (Even before you add on Hong Kong) so here's my attempt at an express review;

- It's been surprising.
Before I arrived in China I expected the worst from what I had heard from others. I thought that I would want to see The Great Wall and The Terracotta Army then get home but it has not been like that. China has actually been pretty nice!

- Forget Everything You Know About Chinese Food.
The food you buy from Chinese takeaways is nothing like the food you get in China, oddly. There isn't a battered prawn ball in sight and there's certainly no strangely red sauce that stains the carpet like no other substance on earth. Equally, it isn't all about turtle soups, shark tongues or boiled chicken feet either. Yes, those dishes exist but there is some amazing food in China too. From the popular Cantonese menus found in Hong Kong to the Middle-East inspired food of Northern China. If I could recommend one dish it would have to be pork steamed buns...delicious!

- It is old AND new at the same time.
China is an ancient country and therefore some fantasic history. Getting to see The Great Wall, The Terracotta Army and The Forbidden City up close was amazing but there are also so many new things too. The city of Xi'an is growing fast and a trip to Shanghai and Hong Kong will see you nestled in amongst shiny, modern skyscrapers towering over the streets. I just hope they keep working on the environment, the smog (A fog caused by pollution) is no fun to breathe in all day.

- There are some things that take more than 3 weeks to get used to.
Spitting. Well, not so much the spitting but the hocking. In China it is perfectly normal to spit out a wet, phlegmy spitball outdoors or indoors. Nothing has made me wince like a man or woman next to me hocking up what appears to be their attempt at a world-record sized spitball and then firing at the pavement/sink/floor of the train. Moon pants are also interesting, instead of nappies young children will wear no pants and trousers with the bum area cut out, this allows them to do a Number 1 (Or 2!) on the street. It is pretty good on saving plastic used to make nappies and I'm told it also means nearly every child is toilet trained by 2 years old but it still takes some getting used to seeing!

- The weather changes...like the weather.
Because China is such a huge country there is such a change in temperatures. When up in Beijing it was nice and just like a perfect British summer's day with blue skies and a breeze, Shanghai was a bit wet and smoggy when we were there and Hong Kong has been just like Mexico, pretty hot and sunny. On top of that are parts of China that are desert!

Overall, I have really enjoyed what China has had to offer and I can see myself coming back one day if I get the chance.

In The Photo: I spotted this for sale in Beijing. I'm actually pretty pleased to say I didn't try that creation.

Review of Vietnam

If I had to choose one word to describe the country I'd probably go for 'mopeds'. There are quite literally millions of them!

There is so much more though, the country itself is beautiful. From the towering rock islands in Ha Long Bay to the bustling city streets of Ho Chi Minh City there is so much to see. I personally think that Hoi An is one of the most beautiful places in the world because of the hundreds of colourful lanterns hanging from old buildings and bridges that light up the streets, it was exactly like a painting of a 'traditional Asian' scene.

I will also remember the horns of cars/buses/mopeds being blown for what seemed like every second of every day in the cities. It was quite intense.

Overall, Vietnam is an amazing country and definitely somewhere everybody should visit if they get a chance.

Next up; China. The last country of the trip.

In The Photo: Here is a small part of a mosaic in Hanoi, the capital city. It is part of the longest ceramic mosaic in the world at over 2 miles from start to finish! Made to celebate the city's 1000th birthday in 2010, our taxi was driving past it for ages!

Cambodia Review

Cambodia has been a lot like Peru back at the beginning of the trip; I didn't know very much about the place as I entered but I have loved it.

I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about the history of this country and I want to learn more about it when I get home. I have also enjoyed the food again and the people have been really friendly too. On a side note, Nads and I haven't spotted a single McDonalds anywhere, a first on the whole trip!

It's on to Vietnam tomorrow for the penultimate (Last but one) country of my trip. The only thing I am hoping changes is that the temperature drops a little bit, 35°c+ is a little to hot for me to handle.

In The Photo: 'Friends' is a great restaurant in Phnom Penh and not just because it serves amazing food. It is a non-profit business that puts it's money into training and paying young adults that used to live on the streets of the country. Once they have been fully trained they can stay on as teachers or go to work in other restaurants around the city. It is a great way to help some of the many youngsters in Cambodia who don't often get a chance to get off living on the streets.

My Thailand Review

If New Zealand and Australia were about the wildlife then Thailand has most definitely been about the food. I went on my cooking course, ate a lot of different street food and while I certainly haven't been brave enough to try everything I have eaten insects (One thing I managed to avoid was durian fruit...it smells so much like vomit that it's banned on public transport!)!

It was also been great spending time with Reuben and Bex again. Meeting up in Sydney was fun but to experience a festival like Songkran with them over a good few days was fantastic. Thailand is also the first country on the trip where the first language doesn't use the same alphabet as the UK so it was great to have friends from home to experience this with.

I experienced a lot of Asian culture here too and as Buddhism plays a big part in many peoples lives there were so many temples. It was amazing to see how colourful each one was and the amount of time and effort that had gone in to decorating each one with colourful tiles, paint and precious materials like pearl and gold. It really has been a very colourful country and I would love to come back again one day.

For now though, next stop Cambodia!

In The Photo: This is quite literally one of the coolest ice-creams ever. In another food adventure I found a stall in a Bangkok mall that made ice-cream by taking the flavour liquid you want and adding liquid nitrogen! Liquid nitrogen is a chemical that is so cold it BOILS at -196°c and in the process freezes anything it touches! It was one of the smoothest ice-creams I've ever had.

My Malaysia Review

Just like Singapore I wasn't in Malaysia very long so there's not too much for me to put here really.

Unlike Singapore though, which is full of new and flash buildings, Malaysia seemed to be full of building sites that promised new and flash buildings. On one trip on the train I could spot a different building site bustling with machinery and workers in every block we travelled over.

I'm also starting to get used to the more humid weather when out and about but I have become a huge fan of air-conditioning. If the inventor is still alive I would like to find him and hug him!

In The Photo: This was taken on the train on the way back from The Petronas Towers, slap bang in the middle of Kuala Lumpur rush hour, talk about crammed in!

My (Short) Time In Singapore

With only a couple of days in Singapore there are only a few things I can mention:

1) With a S$500 (£250) fine for littering you'll not be surprised to hear that the streets are really clean.

2) There are some fantastic buildings about. Apart from the Supertrees there are many other big, modern constructions to see including a waterside football stadium with a floating pitch!

3) It's very humid. I don't mind the heat so much but I'm really not a fan of when it's humid and Singapore has been a suitably humid introduction to Asia!

Did You Know?: Singapore has four official languages (English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil). Can you work out which one's which? There is also an unofficial language of 'Singlish' which is when people speak the English language really quickly and with a speech pattern like Mandarin or Malay!

Review Of Down Under

For me, a big part of my visit to Australia was about wildlife unlike New Zealand where it became an added bonus. There were so many animals that I was desperate to see so I was so pleased I got to see as many of them in the wild as I could before seeing the rest at Australia Zoo and luckily I avoided seeing any venomous snakes or spiders in the wild or under the loo seat.

Swimming on the Great Barrier Reef will probably be the greatest memory I'll take with me. It's one thing I would tell anybody to do if they're in Australia and it would even be worth travelling there to do only that. Start saving your pocket money!

I was a bit disappointed not to see more live sport though. I'm glad I got to watch football in Sydney, even if it was pretty bad, but I would've loved to have seen some cricket, rugby or Aussie rules football (Definitely worth checking out on YouTube) while here however I was never in the right place at the right time.

An odd thing I did notice, and was not a fan of, was the pedestrian crossings. It took absolutely AGES for them to turn green even when all the roads were on red. Not fun for an eager tourist in a rush to see exciting things! I was literally stood still, waiting, along with loads of cars that weren't moving while nothing happened. I wouldn't have been surprised if a tumbleweed had rolled through! When it comes to pedestrian crossings; 1-0 UK (An important victory I'm sure).

Overall though I loved my time in Australia. It's now time to leave the comfort of English-speaking countries and start the Asian leg of the trip. The third and final part, starting with a few nights in Singapore.

In The Photo: A signpost in Sydney. I was only just over 17,000km from home then!